CSAs and Monterey

Yes, I’m still here. No, nothing terrible has happened – I’ve just been super busy, as usual. I went to Florida for a quick trip a couple weekends ago and I am still wiped out from it. But, life must go on.

In any event, here are some updates, random thoughts, and so on.

A lot of my “food attention” has been spent lately on the idea of sustainable eating and what that means and how to achieve it. Have you ever done one of those online carbon foot print calculators (like this one: http://www.nature.org/greenliving/carboncalculator/index.htm -- this is just one of many, many out there)? They can be quite depressing. I did a couple recently and was dismayed by my results! I realize that I’m not perfect, but hell, I thought I was on the right path – shopping at the farmers’ market, making my own cleaning supplies, recycling – all that jazz. Apparently not. Sigh. Actually, I took this quiz as part of an online class I was participating in through Coursea (you should definitely check this out, there are a ton of free, interesting courses you can take). This particular course was a six-week course about the US food systems, and it was absolutely fascinating and enlightening (I got an A, in case anyone was wondering). The professor was actually very reassuring about the poor results from the quiz, and just how overwhelming these topics can be in general. I mean, no one can ever eat perfectly, even if you’re a vegan, or follow a raw diet, or only eat organic, local produce. There is always room for improvement, and even just making an effort counts for something. In that vein, I joined a CSA out here! I’ve been looking for one for a while now, and it finally all fell into place. This particular one is with Farm Fresh to You, and they deliver to my office, which is super-convenient! It’s all organic and locally grown, and I’m getting a delivery every other week, which is perfect, because in the past I’ve had trouble keeping up with weekly deliveries (I mean, that is a lot of produce). So far I’m really happy with it! I also finally joined Slow Food USA. So, good things happening in that department.

I’ve been kind of all over the place with my cookbook challenge – a recipe here and there, but no real direction. To that end, I’ve decided to focus on one chapter at a time, starting, naturally, with desserts. Yum. I’ll keep you posted.

So much to say, yet I'm speechless

Yes, the rumors are true – I had dinner at Chez Panisse last Wednesday! Yes, the Chez Panisse. And wow, was it something special. My darling brother and I went to celebrate my birthday a bit early. Consider this a life goal checked off the list. And I just have to say, it was everything I wanted it to be and so much more. I had high expectations for this dinner, and they were far and away exceeded.

Alex made our reservations a few weeks ago, knowing how much I wanted to go here to celebrate the big 2-6. We’d originally been hoping to go closer to my actual birthday tomorrow, but Wednesday was the closest we could get, and I have to say, it couldn’t have worked out better – but I’ll get to that shortly.

We got there just a few minutes before our 8:45 reservation and just hung out upstairs in the bar for a bit. Before too long, though, we were taken to our table – and it was a primo spot. We were seated in a cozy corner booth that looked diagonally into the open kitchen. From my seat I could see lamb roasting on the open grill, baskets of bread and fresh vegetables, and chefs hard at work. Also, I have to say a word about the atmosphere. Even though it was busy and a relatively small space, it still seemed quite and intimate. The whole room has a soft glow thanks to copper panels that reflect the light. In a word, magical. But enough about all of that. Let's get to the real matter here -- the food.

The perfect meal.

Eating my way through Jack London Square

Oakland has a bad rap, both in California and across the country. And yes, there are certainly some parts that I avoid -- but there are some really nice areas, too, that are completely underrated. The Lake Merritt area, Rockridge, and Jack London Square are all cute, happening areas with a lot of cool shops and restaurants. Because of its convenient location to my apartment, I've been eating at various restaurants in Jack London Square (and no, not just at Ben and Jerry's...). One of the best things about the area -- besides the awesome farmers' market there every Sunday morning -- is that it's on the water, so not only can one eat outside in the gorg California weather and enjoy a view of the bay, but seafood is abundant. And I know that you know how I feel about seafood.

So far I've hit up Scott's, Kincaid's, and Miss Pearl's.

I went to Scott's fairly soon after I moved in, along with my brother and my roommate -- and we all loved it. Sitting outside with a view of the water was a definite plus. We all shared a shrimp cocktail appetizer, made with bay shrimp, which are quite small -- but that worked out because then there were more to go around! My roommate had a warm lobster roll, which i am going to get next time (it looks delicious, and she loved it). Alex had a seafood saute, which he also liked. Finally, I had the seafood cioppino, a classic San Francisco dish. It had tons of fresh seafood in a slightly spicy tomato broth -- yum! And it was served with a slice of sourdough-turned-cheesebread that was to die for!

Alex and I went to Kincaid's (pictured above) pretty recently. The service was okay, but not great (a trend I've found in most of these places), but the food was really good. We both had clam chowder to start, made with bacon and leeks. Seriously some of the best clam chowder I've ever had. Alex had never had it with bacon before -- which makes zero sense to me, consider that clam chowder and bacon are two of his favorite foods of all time -- so he was in heaven. The restaurant serves these really garlicky rolls, which were outstanding...I ate way too many of them, and then barely had room for my entree. I actually had an appetizer -- the hot crab dip -- as my main course. It was okay, although it seemed overly sweet to me. But maybe I was just too stuffed to really tell at that point. Alex had a twist on seafood etouffee, which he enjoyed -- and it was served on cheesy bacon grits instead of rice, which was delicious. And then we had dessert. I know, I just said I was ridiculously full -- but when has that ever stopped me before? Alex had some kind of crazy chocolate cake with homemade hot fudge sauce, and I had a waffle sundae with homemade butterscotch and hot fudge. Both were crazy good, definitely the highlight of the meal. Alex couldn't even finish his -- another first. Of course, I somehow manged to eat all of mine...

And then Alex and I went to Miss Pearl's for lunch just last week. We sat outside in the glorious sunshine, so that was awesome. He had -- wait for it -- clam chowder to start! (Shocking, right?) It was good -- also containing bacon -- and had something else that I can't quite put my finger on that gave it a certain uniqueness -- fennel, maybe? We shared some cornbread, which was good, although a little dry, and then he had a fried chicken sandwich and I had fish and chips with sweet potato fries. We were both happy with the main course. The batter on my fish had some Cajun spice in it, giving the dish a neat spin. Also, I know this is weird, but the iced tea was really good.

So, we still have to hit up Bocanova (small plates), Il Pescatore, and Haven, as well as the chicken and waffles place across the street. I'll keep you posted!

Three weeks in California

So, I’ve been in California for exactly three weeks, and I have so much to ramble on about, I’m going to do it as bullet points (of course, if I’d bothered to update in the past few weeks, I wouldn’t have that problem – but you move across the country and then tell me if you have time to blog right away).

Awesome things I’ve had to eat so far:

-Seafood cioppino with cheesy sourdough at Scott’s Restaurant

-Breakfast at the Oakland Grill twice – and the best chicken apple sausage – a surprisingly popular menu item around here

-Sweet crepes at Crepevine in Berkeley

-Dinner at Liaison in Berkeley – Alex had the trout almandine (a favorite of both of ours) and I had the canard a l’orange…and profiteroles for dessert

-Indian food I actually enjoyed at a little hole in the wall up the street, and pretty decent Chinese – and some Korean BBQ at a random food truck at the Treasure Island Flea Market

-Starbucks and Peet’s Coffee on every corner. You know I’m in heaven.

-Fruit at the farmers’ market. It’s like, oh, so that’s what a strawberry/peach/raspberry/cherry/orange actually tastes like

Awesome things I’ve done so far and that I love about living here:

-Death Cab for Cutie at the Fox Theater last week (they closed with my favorite song, with a freaking orchestra! It was epic)

-Starbucks and Peet’s Coffee on every corner

-Treasure Island Flea Market

-Target right up the road

-Sweet new patio garden going on

-Seeing the ocean every day

-Fresh crab meat for 5.99 at Safeway (the real stuff)

-Having money to spend on coffee and crab and cherries, and not constantly being on the verge of a mental breakdown due to a lack of funds

-Seeing my brother at least once a week

-Direct deposit!

-Weekly farmers’ market right next door

Places in Oakland I must check out – not even getting into the numerous Berkeley and San Francisco destinations (although, I must mention, I have never been to a Sur La Table shop and can’t wait…and Tyler Florence’s shop up in Napa…):

http://rockridgemarkethall.com/

http://www.urbanuniversity.biz/urban_furniture.htm

http://urbanindigo.com/

Oh, and Happy Mother’s Day, mom!

When you go to San Francisco...

So, it’s official – California dreamin’ is now California reality. That’s right, folks – in a few weeks, I am leaving the Berkshires behind and headed west to the land of fruit and nuts. I know you’ll want to laugh at me, but I have it in my head that I need to go westward, to the land of gold and oranges.

So how did this happen? I had a long talk with myself a few months ago about where I wanted my life to go next, what my goals are, and what I felt like I was missing. One of the biggest things to immediately pop into my head was family. As you probably know, my family is scattered across the country – my parents are in Texas, my brother in California, and then my extended family is mostly in Michigan and Massachusetts. My grandparents live pretty close to where I am now, as I’m sure I’ve mentioned. I have been so lucky to be able to be close with them – I mean, I’ve always been close to them, but once I moved to Vermont and then here, I was able to spend a lot more time with them. I try to visit them every few weeks, and I bring my dog with me – he and my grandfather have grown very close, too. 

So, I love being close to them…but the price I pay is that I see the rest of my family only about twice a year – and we’re all together over Christmas…and that’s about it. It makes me really sad, because I think that as far as modern families go, we’re really close. Sure, we squabble (and sometimes worse), but we all really love each other and enjoy each other’s company. That’s especially true with my brother and I – we’re fairly close in age, and I am lucky enough to say that he’s one of my best friends.

So to summarize, being closer to my family seemed like a worthy goal.

And from there, my immediate next thought was food. I mean, of course. And of course, San Francisco and the Bay Area are a major food hotspot. Not only is Berkeley home to Chez Panisse and the beginning of the locavore, slow food movement in America, but go a little north and you’re in wine country (ahem, the French Laundry – Thomas Keller is a god). Plus the city is overflowing with awesome restaurants, particularly seafood (which you know to be a passion of mine). So that kind of seemed to make sense.

And then I thought about my job. Food and food writing are still a passion of mine (thank goodness for this blog and the opportunity to spout off about whatever is on my foodie mind at the moment, even if it is rather sporadically). I hope to be able to pick up some freelance assignments out that way and continue to move forward in that sense – and there’s the thing. I wasn’t going to move forward where I was working. Although there are some major advantages to the job, it wasn’t going to get me where I wanted to be…and I was soooo tired of being sooooo broke all the time.

Put all that together and what do you get? California, baby! So I started looking for jobs and a great one came my way and off I go! I am going to miss my grandparents SO MUCH (I wish I could just pack them in my suitcase and take them with me), but that is the only con to an otherwise pro-filled list. As the guy from Doc Hollywood once said,"Sometimes a man's got to do what a man's got to do...and sometimes, that's in California."

I’ll write again soon – this time probably about the Dungeness crab I just ate and the cake from Miette that I’m looking forward to (never mind lunch at Chez Panisse). Looking forward to it!