Braised Kale & broccolini Salad

One more new (at least to me) recipe for the record from tonight's dinner:

Braised Kale and Broccolini Salad Recipe

Ingredients:
1 bunch of Kale or Mustard Greens - trimmed and cut into one inch pieces (and all yellow/brown parts trimmed off, as is inevitable when cooking with week old veggies as I did tonight)
1 bunch of Broccolini (or Broccoli Rabe) - trimmed and cut into one inch pieces
Chicken/Veggie Broth
White Wine
Olive Oil
8 cloves of whole garlic
crushed red pepper flakes (or black pepper if you are scared of the red stuff, you know who you are)
salt to taste
Simple lemon salad dressing (recipe below) AKA our house dressing (or lemon juice if you are in a super hurry or just don't feel like it)

Add 4 garlic cloves to a large skillet with high sides along with the olive oil and heat to medium high until garlic cloves are very a slightly golden. Do not allow to burn.
Add half of the chopped greens, and when they cook down (30-45 seconds) add the remainder of the greens and the 4 remaining garlic cloves.
As the greens continue to cook, add salt to taste and pepper flakes, along with a good glug of white wine and chicken/veggie broth.
Bring to low boil, cover, and allow to simmer for about 10-15 minutes on very low heat.
After 10 minutes, check to see how your greens are coming along and if needed, add a tiny bit more chicken/veggie stock and wine. Taste to make sure salt and pepper is to your liking and cook about 5-6 more minutes, covered and on low heat.
After the veggies have reached your desired level of al-dente, add lemon juice or lemon dressing,
and serve immediately.

Lemon Dressing AKA our house dressing
Squeeze a meyer lemon or two (or a lemon + an orange/tangerine) into a small glass jar with lid, and add a pinch of salt, a pinch of cayenne and sugar or splenda to taste. Taste and adjust seasonings to your liking.
Add EVOO to above, making sure that the amount of oil is no more than a quarter to a third of the quantity of juice - reversing the traditional salad dressing ratio is key to this dressing.
Cover jar, make sure it is tightly closed and shake. Taste and readjust seasonings and Voila - now you have your very own preservative-free, low labor salad dressing that works well on all salads plus braised veggies like the one above.

Channeling Sandra Lee, and going one better?

We were getting hungry for dinner, and I hadn't made it to the Farmers Market or grocery store, so I had to come up with something quick and easy and relatively healthy from the fridge and pantry, and thus was born the Whole Wheat Flatbread Pizza.

Ingredients:
Whole Wheat Pita
Spinach - small handful (can sub with Arugula)
1 egg (farm egg if possible) at room temperature
Your favorite melting cheese (mozzarella/pepper jack slices
or brie or goat cheese or cheddar if that's all you have on hand
Crushed Red Pepper (optional)
Salt
Cooking spray or butter for the pan
Parmesan for grating (optional)

Preheat oven to 500 or 550.
Spray an oven safe pan with cooking spray (or butter for those so inclined) and heat.
Add the pita and let it crisp a little
Add cheese
Lightly saute the spinach in the space left over the pan next to the toasting pita,
and add a tiny bit of salt lemon juice if you like.
If using arugula or other salad greens, toss with salt and lemon juice and set aside.
As the cheese begins to melt, add the sauteed spinach or raw arugula.
Break the egg on top and carefully transfer pan to oven and turn oven dial to broil.
The egg should cook in a couple of minutes to soft set. You could also skip this step
and add a poached or lightly fried egg with a soft yolk instead.
Sprinkle with crushed red pepper flakes, and grate the Parmesan on top if using.
Transfer carefully (using a fish-spatula or regular spatula) to dinner plate and
eat while warm!

Hope Springs eternal every Spring

I'm finally absolutely sure of one thing and that is that Spring is my absolutely favorite season!
Everyone else I know seems to love Fall and Winter, and the change of seasons but I just don't get it. It's easy for me to hate Winter - I love heat and sunshine and long hours of daylight and hate being cold, so it's pretty much a no-brainer! In my mind, cold and rainy days are good for one thing and one thing only - staying indoors and lazing around all day without feeling a shard of guilt.

I have to admit that Fall in the Bay Area is gorgeous - filled with warm Indian Summer days, but that's small consolation for the end of Nectarine and Pluots Season, shorter days, the falling leaves, and the worst offenders, the end of Daylight Savings Time followed by anticipation of the dreaded advent of Winter. And the litany of sorrows continues: the Christmas carols beginning in October, the forced cheer of the Holiday Season, winter weight gain, dogs who believe that they are going to melt in the rain (but then maybe they are taking their cue from me?) and refuse to go outside. I'd be remiss however to not mention the only saving grace of this season: Cyber Monday scores! Now if I could only find a deal on Louis Vuitton, Fall and I might begin to repair our relationship. Maybe there's a Relationship Counselor out there we could go see?

But I digress..I digress from the hope that is Spring, hope that is spilling out of my every pore as I sit outside in our backyard in the sunshine. All around me are the signs of anticipation: the roses that will be a riot of color by next week, my first real clematis about to bloom, the heady smelling orange blossoms that dream of growing up into fruit. The hope that the tiny green apricots and pluots will survive the squirrels, that the hummingbirds and blue-jays will continue to party it up and feast on the brilliantly pink Fuchsias. The hope that this year I'll finally manage to grow arugula, and lots of it. The hope of a weed-free garden that takes care of itself, the hope that Obama will win in November and that I will actually manage to post regularly to this blog again. And then the hope spills over into dreams big and small: to be thinner, taller, rich(er). To have a perfectly organized closet; that the Supreme Court will see the errors of their current ways, that the conservatives will stay out of my womb, and that of all my sisters; the hope that Palestine and Israel will learn to peacefully coexist. And if I can hope and dream for all that to come true, maybe I can hope to win the lottery too (even though I never play - talk of miracles!). As they say, a girl can always dream!

How dinner made itself AKA the advent of summer!

Since we finally made it to our local Farmers' Market today, I knew that summer was finally here! I tasted some sweet ripe California strawberries, the tiniest little clementines, and inhaled the delicately heady aroma of green garlic. Given the relative short season for green garlic, buying them was a no-brainer, but then my brain ached as I worried about how to showcase them without overwhelming them. But inspiration soon hit and it all fell in to place: I found some fresh oyster mushrooms and asparagus, and on the way home, I stopped by Trader Joe's (how did I ever cook before TJs?) to pick up some dried pasta, goat cheese and mache.

Our good friend Michele was over, and we went to work. We roasted the oyster mushrooms with some thinly sliced green garlic, tossed in extra virgin Olive oil, Salt, Pepper and some thyme from the backyard at 350 degrees for about 17-18 minutes - watch to make sure that it does not burn, and use your tongs to move the mushrooms around the cookie sheet a few times. Then we cooked about 1/2 a cup of diced pancetta, poured out the excess, added 8 oz of mascarpone to the pan, and heated it through, adding the cooked mushrooms to the pan at the very end. In the meantime, the dried pasta (pappardelle in this case, but fettucine or orichette would also work) was cooked al dente and added to the mushroom sauce and served with some grated pecorino romano at the table. Accompanied by a 2001 Scherrer Pinot Noir, it made a sublime dinner!

We also had a warm goat cheese salad and roasted asparagus, but the pasta was so incredible (and so simple!) that it warranted a blog post, at least IMHO.

And thank you Michele, for sharing in the inspiration, the cooking and the eating, and most importantly, for being my friend!

Slumdog Millionaire

My friends Dola & Laura asked me what I thought of this much acclaimed film... Frankly, I did not think much of it, and I fail to understand why it has become such a critics' darling. On second thoughts, maybe I have an idea why: it's timing - Slumdog set in Mumbai happened to be released just before the Mumbai massacre in November 2008. And with the world's attention focused on this city and its misfortunes, it is easy to fall in love with this vibrant hopeful movie set in Mumbai, even if it is seriously flawed as a film. Yup, the sympathy factor.

First and foremost it suffers from an identity crisis - it cannot decide whether to be a fable, a fantasy love story or a gritty art house film. It tries to be all of these, plus throws in a healthy dose of Bollywood Music for good measure and mass appeal. Granted, many movies combine genres with great panache, but in order for a such a combination to be successful it has to do so seamlessly. And have a heart. And for me, this is where Slumdog fails. The present day story is inter-cut with events from the Protagonist's past: These flashbacks are intended to explain his current predicament and advance the narrative - however, they end up feeling forced and the back and forth slows down the story significantly, and create a disconnect from the main characters.

If you have heard that is extremely violent, you've heard right. And the violence is excessively graphic - so bad, that ultimately I felt numbed by it. In spite of it though, or perhaps because of it, this film succeeds in one very big way: it brings to light the awful and very real living conditions of the slum dwellers in India. And if this helps even a small handful of these children escape those conditions it would be worth it. They don't need to become millionaires, they just need a real lifeline out of there...

That moment in time

My afternoon was pleasantly unremarkable by the standards of most people, but for me it was a very special time. Perhaps the stars had aligned: I happened to be working from home today, on an unseasonably warm January day (~ 69 degrees in the sun) and I happened to be reading a heartwarming book about love and wine Love by the Glass: Tasting Notes from a Marriage while taking a very late lunchbreak in our backyard. And my feet were being warmed by our lab Sammie while our sun worshipping dachshund Masala snoozed on her little bed right next to me.



It felt like spring had sprung early: the birds were chirping loudly enough to drown out the traffic outside, the sky was a brilliant cloudless periwinkle, and the callas that had just come into bloom were being ravished by a couple of butterflies. And the best part of all was that my two favorite girls were curled up side by side at my feet. Sammie and Masala are not known for their affinity for each other and it is a rare sight to see them sleeping close enough to touch! I desperately wanted to take a photo to preserve this tableau for posterity, but I knew that getting up to get the camera would ruin the moment. My only choice was to record it in my mind's eye.



And that's when it hit me - this was one of life's most perfect moments - the kind you wish you could bottle and preserve forever. And although I am lucky enough to have experienced a few of those moments with my amazing Sweetie, I cannot say I have ever wanted to freeze time while I was alone (minus other humans that is). And here I was today, experiencing a perfect moment of profoundly peaceful solitude, literally in my own backyard. True self-contentment. It was an enlightening and quietly empowering moment, and I have my dogs to thank for it.

Anderson Valley: My Happy Place

When life gets too hectic, my favorite escape is to the Anderson Valley, specifically to The Other Place . I wish I could say that it is really my other home, but sadly that is not the case :). It is a dog friendly rental home perched high above the town of Boonville and Hwy 128, and we like to go there once or twice a year for our vacation with the pups.

The dogs get a couple of fenced acres of their own to run around unfettered, and dig for moles and voles to their hearts' content. Sammie likes to swim in the pond, which also doubles as Kevin's Kayaking training area. And then there's a few hundred acres of private land to hike around on. Our favorite cottage is The Oaks, named after a couple of ancient oaks that shade it, and it offers 270 degree views of the mountains that surround Boonville.

I love the bucolic nature of Anderson Valley -- It is green and lush and still a whole lot unspoiled, at least compared to Napa & Sonoma. No fancy tasting rooms, low/ no tasting fees, no attitude, and no drunken frat boys veering wildly on the road. It is mercifully free of fancy hotels and resorts, and celebrity chef restaurants. What is has instead is several very good wineries -- most specializing in dry Alsace Whites and dustier, earthier Pinot Noir.

Navarro is a long time favorite of ours and we served some of their dry whites at our wedding - they are also very dog friendly, and have a nice picnic area -- make sure to taste their late harvest dessert wines -- sweet, but with enough acidity to make it interesting. We also like to stop by Roederer (preferable to go during the week when it's less crowded) Greenwood Ridge (the prettiest picnic area, and a very cool tasting room designed by one of Wright's disciples), Handley Cellars (with a female wine maker making some kick-ass wines) and Husch (their lighter white and dessert wines are a great value) and a comparatively new presence in the area: Zine Hyde Cunningham. I would be remiss not to mention, Golden Eye - they are the pinot arm of the venerable Duckhorn empire, but that venerability comes at a slightly higher price, at least by Anderson Valley standards. It is certainly worth visiting, especially if you can do a tasting in their beautiful outdoor tasting area overlooking the vineyards.

Our latest winery discoveries in this area are two of our favorites next to Navarro, and definitely fall in the not-to-be-missed category. And it is not just because they are really nice dog people, but also because they make great wines and are warm and welcoming when you visit. The first is Londer - chances are you will be tasting with Shirlee Londer in her kitchen, with her dogs at your feet. My favorite is their dry Gewurtaziminer but I also like their syrahs and pinots, especially the Anderson Valley Pinot.

The 2nd is Toulouse, which we found entirely by accident since they were one of the last ones open at the end of an afternoon of wine tasting. We really liked their wines and enjoyed talking to the owner, Vern, and his friends and bought a couple of bottles. The next day we went back and retasted the wines to make sure that our judgement had not been impaired the previous evening. We liked the wines almost as much, and bought quite a bit more. We have pretty much drunk our way through our Toulouse stash, and recently when I called to see if we could restock, learned that they had sold out of all our favorites. And that is also when I looked through their website and discovered that some their wines had been reviewed very favorably by both the Wine Spectator and SF Chronicle. Go Vern, we said, but we were just a little bit sad that it was no longer "our" secret winery. But we are happy at their most deserved success and wish them all the best!

Date Night Dinner with Melissa Perello

Kevin and I like to do monthly date nights. You know, keeping the romance alive, getting away from the daily grind and all that good stuff. Oh yeah, and creating an opportunity to indulge in culinary decadence of some sort on a monthly basis ...

December's date night happened to fall on a Monday -- one of those Mondays when Melissa Perello (former chef of Fifth Floor Restaurant) happened to be serving one of her $45 four-course dinners at Sebo. Turns out that she misses feeding a restaurant crowd (her new restaurant Frances is in the planning stages) enough to start serving a pre-fixe dinner to a reservations-only crowd on Monday nights when the restaurant is normally closed.And we also happened to snag a reservation for what apparently is rather a hot ticket in this foodcrazed town. And frankly, it wasn't even that hard - I read about it on tablehopper (or was it the Chron?), immediately joined Melissa's email list, and then responded with our reservation request as soon as she announced the dates for December! Easy Peasy... and I told myself that finally I had discovered an upside to working a lot - one can respond to important emails like these as soon as they are received!

We had reservations for the 2nd seating at 8:15pm (the first one is at 6pm would be way too early for us -- and I can see my friend Laura shaking her head in dismay at this!) and showed up at the restaurant, miraculously on time. We made our way through the small throng smoking just outside the door -- majority of the guests that night appeared to be from the bay area restaurant industry, and they were busy socializing with each other and with the servers sneaking in a quick smoke break before start of service.

We were greeted warmly and seated promptly at table 1A, close enough to watch some of the plating action in the open kitchen. This was my first visit to Sebo -- I could not find a website for it, but rumor has it that it serves very pristine and very pricey sushi on other nights in its true incarnation as a sushi joint, and is quite popular in foodie circles. Rumor also has it that Danny, one of the co-owners of Sebo, who is not at all coincidentally Melissa Perello's current arm-candy, also happens to be rather hunky eye-candy.

The restaurant is located in a smallish space with mellow lighting and soothingly uncluttered modern decor in a vaguely Japanese vein. The music playing on the night of our visit is probably best described as danceclub-ish, but thankfully just the thump thump thump of the bass beat was the only thing audible, and it was easy to have a conversation at the table.
The pleasantly unobtrusive but very capable service continued after we were seated and throughout the meal. Given that most of the staff working that night had also worked with Melissa at The Fifth Floor, it was not at all surprising that the service was at least a notch or two above what one could reasonably expect at this price point. Once we got the mildly annoying "bottled or tap/ fizzy or flat water" question out of the way, we were presented with the night's menu: 4 courses for $45 with no choices, based upon whatever was fresh at the previous days' Farmers Markets.

We started with lightly fried almonds - simple but yummy, salty crunchy and warm -- what's not to like? And not too filling - a much better alternative for starting the meal than bread or chips. Already excited at the prospect of a nice meal with a very reasonable $10 corkage, we were even more excited to see roast suckling pig as the main course. We requested the waiter open the bottle of 2001 Scherrer RRV Pinot that we had brought with us. It was smooth with muted but discernible fruit, and just enough mild tannins and acidity to be a good food wine -- once again I was reminded why I like drinking wines, and why I love drinking Fred Scherrer's wines.

The first course of roasted caramelized squash with pickled (and crunchy) currants with a sherry vinaigrette was the highlight of the meal for me - the contrast of the sweet squash with the sourness of the vinaigrette and and the interplay of soft and crunchy textures was just perfect.

The next course was a dungeness crab soup with chunks of very fresh tasting crab - a great way to showcase our local crab which has just come into season. The accompanying mini creme fraiche biscuits stole the show however - the warm, flaky, buttery golden orbs were just irresistible, and it did not matter that they were a bit too heavy for the rather thin soup.

The main course of roasted suckling pig was perfectly cooked, but a bit bland and overly fatty for my taste. I needed the accompanying scalloped potatoes and braised kale in every bite to "brighten" up my meat, but given its perfect symbiosis with our mellow aged pinot noir, I had no complaints. However, in the absence of the wine I might have been slightly less thrilled.

The dessert course was a light and buttery brioche bread pudding with distinct savory notes and it would have been nice with the black tea we asked for, but sadly none could be located. The bread pudding was served with a babyfood textured applesauce that did little to enhance it -- I would have much preferred a scoop of ice cream or caramelized apple slices instead. But my real quibble is that this applesauce was referred to as "apple confit" on the menu. Confit - pray why I ask? Confit = preserve in fat, or in the cases of fruit, perhaps candied. This apple sauce was neither -- even my lazy microwave apple sauce tastes far better.

Thankfully, my disappointment did not last long - the peanut brittle served at the end with our check more than made up for the lacklustre bread pudding. Made from the chef's grandmother's recipe, it was crunchy and yummy, with just the right balance of sweet and salty, and since my date dislikes brittle, I was more than happy to eat both our shares.

Overall, it was a very pleasant experience at a reasonable price -- particularly, the white tablecloth service at no-tablecloth prices. I am not the sort to be star-struck but I enjoyed the opportunity to comment about the meal to a celebrity chef right after she had prepared and served it to us (she stopped by all the tables at the end). I hope she was not offended by my comment that she should consider selling the cool burlap aprons that she had made for her wait- staff. And, if you are interested in repeating the experience, hurry up and email monday_night@me.com - you never know when she will stop doing these fun intimate one-of-a-kind dinners!

The mother of all thanksgiving meals!

Needless to say, I had a blast playing a food critic! I've linked the sfgate article with all the recipes, details and photos, and here's my personal play by play from the SF Chron Turkey Tasting.

We started with a soup from each of the chefs: a chestnut-pumpkin soup with pumpernickel croutons from Mina and a meyer lemon-miso broth served with a cranberry-goji berry relish from Keane. Mina was the winner in this round, hands down. I normally don't like chestnuts but this soup was somehow differerent. For starters, it had a lovely velvety texture, and it wasn't super creamy. I also enjoyed the fresh sage and thyme accents - strong enough to be noticable, but subtle enough to not overpower the delicate main flavors. And lastly there was the satisfying crunch of the pumpernickel croutons - a lovely counterpoint in both texture and taste, and adding just the right amount of umami. My only quibble -- the portion served was both too large and too heavy for the start of a multi-course holiday meal! A tiny portion of this soup would make a decent starter, but it would probably be best served as the centerpiece of a simple winter supper, with some crusty bread and a simple salad. And I learned an interesting trick: using water pitchers to serve the soup was so efficient and easy, that I was ready to run home and throw out all my ladles!

Keane's soup was thin and salty (and unlike any miso soup I have tasted inside or outside Japan) and strangely one dimensional. Too much umami perhaps? The best and most interesting aspect of this dish was the contrast of the warm salty broth with the cool sour-sweet relish, but even that was not enough to save it. In my book, this was a flop!

Next came the turkey -- separately confit-ed breast and leg from Mina, and a Hoisin Sauce glazed breast with a confit turkey leg from Keane. I was excited to try the confit-ed parts from both chefs but less excited about the Hoisin Sauced version. But once I had tasted Chef Keane's turkey, I was a convert to both turkey and hoisin sauce. As many of you know, I had never tasted a turkey that floated my boat, though the deep fried version made by some friends from North California came close! This turkey breast was flavorful, tender and lacked the signature overcooked turkey smell -- it was unlike any other turkey (or any meat for that matter) that I have ever eaten! And his hoisin glaze was light and balanced and added just the right amount of flavor to the meat, and it wasn't too bitter, too sweet or too salty like the commerially prepared hoisin sauces I had previously encountered in restaurants and on the shelves of my local Asian grocery stores. The confit-ed leg was also yummy, and very tasty and forktender, just like all good confit should be. Needless to say, I cleaned my plate --something I have never done at any previous thanksgiving dinner. But then, I had also never eaten a thanksgiving meal cooked by a 4 star chef until now!

Mina's turkey was a complete contrast: the confit-ed breast was not only slightly dry, but also tasted and smelled like many a turkey I had disliked in the past. The leg was slightly better, but it could hardly hold a candle to the superior bird cooked by Chef Keane. My first thought: wow, what a waste of 5 lbs of duck fat. My 2nd thought: even 4 star chefs have bad days. And my third and most evil thought: Mina could stand take lessons in turkey cookery from Keane!


The chefs were pretty equal in the stuffing catergory - Keane's fluffy sushi rice stuffing won points for originality with unusual ingredients like cilantro,chinese sausage and dried shrimp. I could have done without the dried shrimp which had burnt to bitter crispness in areas, but otherwise it was excellent. Mina's stuffing was more traditional but no less yummy! And unlike his turkey, his stuffing was not your mother's stuffing (unless your mother is an accomplished chef that is) - made with brioche, pecans, dried cranberries and several fresh herbs and baked and served in individual ramekins -- it was the best rendering of traditional stuffing I've ever tasted.

When it came to the required side vegetable, Keane's roasted brussell sprouts with candied kumquats won hands down in both the originality and taste categories. All the judges (including yours truly)
loved this dish and many of us felt this would be the dish we would be most likely to attempt at home. On the other hand, Mina's sweet potato-carrot puree was a toss up between glorified (aka highly buttered!) baby food and the salted version of my sweet potato pie filling.


And lastly, we had the desserts: The quince clafouti/cobbler with star anise (the recipe published on sfgate uses ginger instead) icecream from Mina had a slight edge due its contrast of sweet and sour flavors, however it would have been even better without the streusel topping which made it way too sweet for me. Keane's pumpkin custard pie with green cardamom icecream was a fantastic dessert too, but perhaps a tad too sweet a combination for me.

And what a sweet ending it was to the most memorable thanksgiving meal of my life!

So, do I want to be a food critic?

The San Francisco Chronicle article asked if I wanted to be a food critic. Duh, doesn't everyone? I am surely not in the least bit shy about expressing my opinions, especially about food, so I figured "why not?" and threw my proverbial hat into the ring. The prize: to be chosen as one of the six judges for the paper's annual Turkey Training Camp. This year's event was planned as an Iron Chef style battle of the chefs, the chefs being Michael Mina and Douglas Keene of Cyrus. I had enjoyed Michael Mina's eponymous restaurant http://www.michaelmina.net/michaelmina_sanfrancisco/ but saying that I loved the food at Cyrus restaurant in Healdsburg http://www.cyrusrestaurant.com/would be an understatement!
So, when Stacy from the Chronicle called to congratulate me, I was elated (another understatement)! I was ready to be wooed by the Turkey and trimmings made by these two famous chefs - hoping they could change my mind about turkey: dry, tasteless, and infused with a strange unpleasant smell!

And finally November 3rd dawned, rainy and dreary. By some strange coincidence, it was the day that one of my foster dogs was getting picked up by her new family. Just as I had sent her off, and shed the requisite tears as I waved my goodbye, my other foster dog Clark mysteriously started spraying blood! Thankfully, my sweetie was willing to rush him to the vet so that I could make it to the Chronicle offices in San Francisco on time. And I was so eager to be there, that my normally tardy self actually made it to their table with 20 minutes to spare! Wow, I said to myself, "I sure hope this bodes well!".

I met my fellow judges, got a tour of the Food Department, and then we got to meet the chefs. Sadly, they had already finished cooking, so we didn't get to experience that part of the Iron Chef competition. But their food was ready for us to dig into, so my sadness was very shortlived as we were presented with first the menus, and then the food! There wasn't going to be any wine pairings and all we had was water to cleanse our palates, but that was just fine with me. I was ready to start my critiquing career!

It was a memorable meal, or rather 2 memorable meals! The Chronicle made us judges promise not to scoop them and steal their thunder, so I will update you all on the meals in the next installment right after the Chronicle article is published on November 19th.

The Running Skirt Revolution?

Some of you have surely heard of this new craze in the fitness world by now: the running skirt.

If you believe this month's Runner's World , they are taking the world by storm, and are a must have for active fashionistas. I was surprised to see the large variety they had found to review, but most of them were pretty pricey at $40-$60. But the biggest proof that you will soon be seeing them in malls across America -- Target now carries not one, but a whole line of running skirts in their C9 line, and at $20, they are a bit more affordable.

The curious among us might be wondering how are these much touted (in the press, on blogs, by friends) garments different from our mother's skorts? For starters, the running skirts are not so much a hybrid, as an actual skirt that looks like a real skirt both going and coming, and most of them come with built-in shorts/ panties of some sort. Most of them are also made of stretchy, wicking hi-tec fabric, and do feel cooler than even my thinnest yoga pants (including those made of wicking fabrics). But their biggest attraction to most of us is that not only does the running skirt break the monotony of our exercise wear, but they also look cool and make us feel sassy!

A friend of mine swears by the SkirtsSport Outlet so as a slave to research (and yes, a sometime slave to fashion!) I ordered their "gymgirl" and "marathongirl" and even purchased a C9 version from Target. My verdict on all three: too damn short! If they are too short on my 5' frame, how must they be on normal sized women? Or perhaps I am too self-conscious? Now keep in mind, I am a prime candidate for starring on "What not to wear" since I often run errands before or after working out in my gym clothes! (perhaps reprehensible to some, but it does save me time and gas, and I am all about efficiency and multi-tasking!) Plus my gym happens to be located at my work, so it is a little uncomfortable to run into your VP in a 3 inch long skirt that barely covers them thighs, irrespective of how well sculptured said thighs might be!

As it turns out, Skirtsports does not do refunds on outlet items, so I decided to splurge on the uptown girl in exchange for the previous purchases, with the rationale that it could also do double duty as versatile vacation wear. I have to admit I like the Uptown Girl - it covers my thighs, and will come along on the next vacation. However, here is the catch: while it is great for running or hiking or the elliptical machine, it is useless on bikes, and even more useless for serious stretching or weight-training (leg-press, anyone?).

So, now I rock my running skirt only 2-3 times of a week instead of daily as I had hoped. And though it failed to revolutionize my life as claimed in many a fitness magazine and blog, it does add that little bit of pizzazz to my mood and a definite sass to my walk, and that is worth its weight in gold!

Walk and Talk at the Same Time?

Yes, that's what we do on the San Francisco City Walking Tours put on by City Guides. Well, the (volunteer) Guide does most of the talking, and we all do the walking as we learn choice morsels of San Francisco or California History.

Being that both Kevin and I are history/ architecture geeks and trivia junkies, it is pretty close to heaven for us. Throw in a meal before or after the tour in our favorite foodie town, and we are happy as clams. And since San Francisco is fairly hilly, the tours also double as mild to moderate exercise. We often bring visiting friends or relatives on these and sometimes even manage to drag local friends/ family and a dog or two, thereby satisfying my almost primal need to multi-task. What more could I possibly ask for?

Jokes aside, these tours are truly an amazing way to enjoy The City and learn more about its checkered past (and often more checkered present). They are offered year round, are free(though donations are suggested) and run by an entirely volunteer staff and guides. Check them out here. I promise you won't be disappointed!

Easy Spicy Shrimp and Easier Not-So-Spicy Green Beans

By popular request, here are some "India friendly" recipes. For anyone else, you will find AamChoor (Green Mango Powder) and Chaat Masala (a mix of certain Indian spices) at your friendly Neighborhood Indian Grocery Store or online. Email me if you can't find it, and I will try to get some to you by US Mail.

Spicy Oven Baked Shrimp
Aam choor (can substitute with lemon or lime juice to taste)
Chaat Masala (can substitute with cumin powder + coriander powder +ginger powder+garam masala)
Red Onion (or yellow,white, green if your heart desires)
Lots of Garlic or to taste
Olive oil or any mild vegetable oil (or even mustard oil if you so dare!)
Salt
Green (serrano) chillis
cilantro (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees if cooking shrimp or 475 degrees if making fish
Mix all the above ingredients together in the food processor to make a wet rub. It should be of spreadable consistency. Taste and adjust seasonings as necessary. If necessary add a smidgeon of sugar or splenda to balance the taste. The rub should be fairly strong tasting.

Mix the wet rub with tail-on raw shrimp or apply the rub liberally to both sides of any firm fleshed fish filet (salmon, halibut, sea bass and bake in the oven. Spread the shrimp or fish or lightly oiled cookie sheets, taking care not to crowd them. Bake in the oven until almost done as it will continue to cook even after it comes out of the oven. A couple of pounds of shrimp will cook in as little as 4-5 minutes, and a lb of salmon in about 8 minutes (4 minutes per side). Serve warm, accompanied by a white or sparkling wine with some residual sugar for maximum impact. This would likely also work pretty well with most light beers, or any fruity cocktails.


Easy Peasy Roasted Green Beans
Green Beans -- about a lb
Olive oil
salt, preferably coarsely ground or non-iodized sea salt
black pepper, freshly ground
Lots of peeled garlic cloves, at least 6-8 large ones

Toss all the ingredients, and roast in a preheated 350 degree oven for 12 minutes. Take out of the oven, retoss the green beans, for another 12-15 minutes until cooked through, and parts are lightly browned/golden. Serve warm or cold as a side dish or a cocktail snack. Goes well with many lighter red wines, and almost all white/sparkling wines that have some acidity.

wines, wonks, and weddings

How do wine wonks celebrate their wedding anniversaries? In the wonkiest possible way...

First there was the long deliberations about where to go... the criteria were hardly modest: it had to have a good wine list, it has to have good food to match the wine, it has to be a good value, and be Caltrain-able. The first 2 are not that hard to do in the San Francisco Bay area, but the third condition combined with the 4th was a toughie. After extensive research, I narrowed down my list to: Bar Tartine, Bar Crudo, CAV, South Food and Wine Bar, and The Dining Room at the Ritz Carlton. CAV was doing a tasting of older Rieslings, so that finally won out.

But then my lovely husband of 2 years came home after work, and remarked how beautiful it was in the backyard. And it was pretty warm to boot! So, out the window went all the research, and CAV was shelved for another day. Besides, we had gotten married in our backyard 2 years to the day, our dogs had been part of wedding party, and we still had the wedding music play list on semi-frequent rotation on our ipod. What a sweet little opportunity to recreate the magic -- how could we let it go?

We rooted through our fridge and cellar for something worthy of our anniversary celebrations. We found some spicy roasted shrimp and some sweet roasted peppers (recipes coming soon) that went nicely with a 2006 Toulouse Riesling (rich & balanced, slightly oily on the palate, off dry -- nice!!) and a couple of chunks of petit basque and aged manchego and some lightly salted cashews to match a 1999 Allegrini Amarone. The Riesling was lovely (Toulouse is fast becoming one of our favorite wineries) but the Amarone just blew us both away. It was a classic Amarone - a dry wine with a raisiny nose reminiscent of a tawny port, it was smooth and unctuous with nary a tannin in sight, and IMHO at its peak drinking age. It was everything I had expected it to be, and a little bit more! When I have such high expectations from something, it often fails to live up to it, but the Allegrini Amarone was a happy exception to the rule!

But the geekiest and best part was.....ta da...me reading aloud articles about Amarone and Riesling from Hedonist in the Cellar as we sat sipping our wines.

It was a magical night -- the moon was just barely visible among the clouds, the jasmine & honeysuckle smelled heavenly, our 3 dogs were relaxing around us (technically, Masala was sitting on my lap, Junnu was playing soccer with Kevin, and Sammie was scrounging for scraps :)), and our wedding music was playing softly in the background. In my mind, it was the perfect way to celebrate the now, while looking back on the wedding and other sweet memories of the past, and looking forward to the not-too-distant future and our trip to Veneto to see the making of Amarone in person. I could not have asked for a better or sweeter celebration!

My Happy Place: The Anderson Valley (and its Wineries)

When life gets too hectic, my favorite escape is to the Anderson Valley, specifically to The Other Place . I wish I could say that it is really my other home, but sadly that is not the case :). It is a dog friendly rental home perched high above the town of Boonville and Hwy 128, and we like to go there once or twice a year for our vacation -with-the-pups. They get a couple of fenced acres of their own to run around unfettered, and dig for moles and voles to their hearts' content. Sammie likes to swim in the pond, which also doubles as Kevin's Kayaking training area. And then there's a few hundred acres of private land to hike around on. Our favorite cottage is The Oaks, named after a couple of ancient oaks that shade it, and it offers 270 degree views of the mountains that surround Boonville.

I love the bucolic Anderson Valley -- It is green and lush and still a whole lot unspoiled, at least compared to Napa & Sonoma. No fancy tasting rooms, low/ no tasting fees, no attitude, and no drunken frat boys veering wildly on the road. It is mercifully free of fancy hotels and resorts, and celebrity chef restaurants.

What is has instead is several very good wineries -- most specializing in dry Alsace Whites and dustier, earthier Pinot Noir. Navarro is a long time favorite of ours and we served some of their dry whites at our wedding - they are also very dog friendly, and have a nice picnic area -- make sure to taste their late harvest dessert wines -- sweet, but with enough acidity to make it interesting. We also like to stop by Roederer (preferable to go during the week when it's less crowded) Greenwood Ridge (the prettiest picnic area, and a very cool tasting room designed by one of Wright's disciples), Handley Cellars (with a female wine maker making some kick-ass wines) and Husch (their lighter white and dessert wines are a great value) and a comparatively new presence in the area: Zine Hyde Cunningham. I would be remiss not to mention, Golden Eye - they are the pinot arm of the venerable Duckhorn empire, but that venerability comes at a slightly higher price, at least by Anderson Valley standards. It is certainly worth visiting, especially if you can do a tasting in their beautiful outdoor tasting area overlooking the vineyards.

Our latest winery discoveries here are two of our favorites next to Navarro, and definitely fall in the category of not-to-be-missed. And it is not just because they are really nice dog people, but also because they make great wines and are warm and welcoming when you visit. The first is Londer - chances are you will be tasting with Shirlee Londer in her kitchen, with her dogs at your feet. My favorite is their dry Gewurtaziminer but I also like their syrahs and pinots, especially the Anderson Valley Pinot. The 2nd is Toulouse, which we found entirely by accident
since they were one of the last ones open at the end of an afternoon of wine tasting. We really liked their wines and enjoyed talking to the owner, Vern, and his friends and bought a couple of bottles. The next day we went back and retasted the wines to make sure that our judgement had not been impaired the previous evening. We liked the wines almost as much, and bought quite a bit more. We have pretty much drunk our way through our Toulouse stash, and recently when I called to see if we could restock, learned that they had sold out of all our favorites. And that is also when I looked through their website and discovered that some their wines had been reviewed very favorably by both the Wine Spectator and SF Chronicle. Go Vern, we said, but we were just a little bit sad that it was no longer "our" secret winery. But we are happy at their most deserved success and wish them all the best!

A warm salad for a cold day

True to form, the weather here now has cooled down to the point of being categorised as sweatshirt weather in the evenings and early mornings. In other words, Masala is sporting one of her now famous sweaters.

So, I made a warm salad, or at least a salad that warms me up!

The World's Easiest Goat Cheese Salad

*Several Handfuls of mache or watercress (very tender baby spinach or baby arugula could be possible substitutes)

*Several clementines or mandarins peeled and "strings''removed, or segmented oranges (Though to me segmented oranges are not synonymous with any "easy" recipe) or even canned mandarins in a pinch

* Finely shaved slices of sweet red onions or shallots (optional)

* Spicy Pecans from Trader Joe's (or lightly roasted pecans/ walnuts plus a tiny bit of crushed red pepper or cayenne or a couple of flavored croutons) - ground coarsely using a mortar-pestle or any similar implement of your choice

*a small log of goat cheese

Preheat your oven or toaster oven to 350.

Place the nuts on a side of a large cutting board. Cut or divvy up the goatcheese into about 1 to 2 Tb portions, and shape each into a disk no more than 1/3 inch thick. Break each disk into half and roll it in the crushed nuts. Shape it back into a disk again and roll it in the nuts again to make all outside surfaces are covered, and be sure to press the nut bits (he heh he) into the cheese. Set aside.

Now make your easy-peasy dressing: Add freshly squeezed meyer lemon juice (or a mix or lemon and orange juice, or even plain lemon juice if you like) to a small jar with a tight fitting lid. Add sugar or splenda, salt, pepper and cayenne to taste and shake vigorously to mix. Add Extra Virgin Olive Oil to taste. I like 1/3 as much EVOO as the juice, but if you like your dressings oilier, you can use a 50-50 ratio of juice to oil.

Place the previously prepared cheese disks on a non-stick cookie sheet and place in the oven. Set your timer to three minutes, and start tossing your salad of greens, oranges and optional onion/shallot. Divide the salad onto individual plates (or large pasta bowls like I do).

As soon as the timer goes off check the cheese to see if it is just slightly melted, and warm to the touch (If it is too melted, you will need to set your oven to 300 next time.)

Place a disk on each plate on top of the salad and serve immediately. And more importantly, be sure to eat it immediately!

Bon appetit!

Did I just hear you say Canine Pilates?

"Did I just hear you say Canine Pilates?" Yes, that was my reaction last week when Masala (my 13 year old wirehaired dachshund diva extraordinaire pictured here) went to see the Doggy Orthopedist. As many of you know, Masala is the "mini" love of my life, what some might call my soul dog.

She is a client of Dr Andrew Sams, http://andrewsamsclinic.com/who is not only an extraordinary doctor, but also a nice guy. He checked her out, pronounced her in fine shape and attributed her slowing down to her age. And he had a solution to the slight problem with her spine (after all she is a doxie!) - rest and then rehab. Resting we had done for the last 6-8 weeks, and now it was time for rehab.

So off we went -- to see Sarah Johnson, his rehab specialist. Sarah has a Masters in Canine Rehab and used to be a a pilates teacher in a previous life. And she is the one that suggested doing Pilates and related exercises with Masala to build up her core. Now, I have been trying to build up my core as well, so I thought "hurray, we can do this together", and had visions of rebonding over sweaty sessions at the Pilates Studio. I even had quasi-matching outfits picked out for us.

The reality thankfully (and I can just hear my husband thanking the 330,000 Indian Gods that he does not even believe in!) turned out to be a little bit different. It was determined that Masala is too little (she is only 9 lbs, and her legs are barely 3 inches tall) to do most of the exercises on the "Canine Pilates DVD" that Sarah has put together. Same with the equipment in her exercise studio. Necessity being the mother of invention, we had to improvise. First Masala was made to walk around on exercise mats of different thicknesses and densities, and with different levels of squishiness. Then she had to walk all over, and balance herself on, a wobble-board http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000G0ON2U, fitness disks of different heights

http://www.amazon.com/Natural-Fitness-Balance-Disc-Rock/dp/B000OENSWY, and lastly the BOSU https://www.bosu.com/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=bosu/story.html.

(Disclaimer: I am not connected to the sale of these in any way :))

Funny, my butt hardly fits on the BOSU, and here she was walking around on it! And whereas I can barely balance myself on any of these objects, Masala walked around on them like Nadia Comaneci on the balance beams. She pranced around like she belonged there and had been practising as long as Nadia.

We concluded the session with a nice relaxing massage for Masala as Sarah showed me how to do this at home. And guess what, just like me, Masala is only able to partially relax on the massage table. As she worked on Masala, Sarah told me "Wow, this little one has some really well muscled hamstrings!" Ummm, swell! I have been trying to build up my hamstrings forever, but they are still puny shrivelled little twigs, while my quads have begun to look more like miniature tree trunks. And Masala has nice hamstrings without even trying? But then nobody ever said life was fair, did they?

Celebrating Laura

Yesterday June 21st, my very very very good friend Laura (she blogs at http://musingsfromtupelost.blogspot.com/) turned _0. We had a Girls' Night to celebrate this big milestone -- After all, she had warned us repeatedly that she did NOT want a surprise party (hmmm - maybe she is well aware of my penchant for throwing surprise parties?) . So, we had a lovely dinner at Massimo's in Fremont with just "The Girls" -- a dinner party that lasted four fun hours, and a good time was had by all!

I was happy to be there to celebrate a great friend and a great woman -- she has influenced me in more ways than she realizes. Her influence ranges from the profound (she was my first & primary role model to be unapologetically childless by choice), to the mundane (how to talk to strangers and have a good time doing it). She has been there for me through the ups and downs, the laughter and the tears, through boyfriends good and bad, for the breakup of one major long term relationship, and the birth and nurturing of another. Laura and I first bonded over our love of gardening, and our dislike of a manager who harassed us both. We went on to discover our shared appreciation for architecture, liberal politics, Mexican food, and being unabashedly opinionated.

We both changed jobs, but managed to stay in touch. In fact, our friendship blossomed away from State Farm. We travelled to the Big Apple and to Los Angeles to indulge in our shared passions of museums and food, and surprise surprise, had a good time! She was part of our wedding two years ago, and I hear even had a role to play in the planning of Kevin's wedding proposal.

But for Laura, I might never have been a regular concertgoer. Or a KFOG Kaboom devotee. Or ever done the AidsWalk. Or gone traipsing through the homes of perfect strangers while on the Annual SF Victorian House Tour. It does not matter that I am an adventurous eater and she is not. Or that I love both spicy food and cilantro, but she detests them both. Or that I'm an oenophile wanna-be and she's a teetotaler. Or that she loves football and I can barely tolerate it. Or that she's a cat person but I am dog lover.

I love her for who she is: for her warm heart & her generous spirit. For her love of Pearl Jam & Ryan Gosling. For the fact that she makes a killer spinach dip. Because she says she is jealous of my dog Junnu's ultra long legs (but then who isn't?). Because she is never afraid to speak her mind. Because she cares about the environment and Women's Rights. Because she has one of the biggest hearts ever. And because she is Miss Laura.

But in spite of (or perhaps because of?) all our differences, we are good friends -- the kind my 10 year old niece would likely describe as BFF. And amazingly enough we've now known each other for 14 years -- as Laura herself would say, "Good Night, Irene"!

a cool salad for a hot day

For the past 4 days the temperature in my home town of San Mateo has been hovering around 100. I love hot weather, and besides, as my friend Madhu said in her blog (post called Summer Solstice), this is nothing that a Kolkata girl cannot handle! http://lifeinallitsrandomness.blogspot.com/ .

It is too hot to use the oven, so what to eat? These are 2 of my favorite eats when the weather heats up.

Summer Stone Fruit Salad with quick & easy dressing

A couple of handfuls of mache, arugula or mixed baby greens
2 medium ripe (but firm) nectarines/peaches/pluots - cubed, and preferably slightly chilled
A dollop or two of goat cheese - optional
1/8 to 1/4 cup spicy nuts ( I like the spicy pecans from Trader Joe's)-optional

Salad Dressing
Get a small jar with a tight fitting lid.
Add Balsamic Vinegar, Splenda or Sugar, salt and cayenne to taste.
Shake all the above and taste and adjust as necessary
Add Extra Virgin Olive Oil to taste (I swap the traditional percentages, and
like to use only 1/4 to 1/3 the amount of oil compared to the Acid.

Add the dressing at the last minute, just before serving.


Lassi (Indian Yogurt Drink)
About 20 ounces of non fat or low fat yogurt (I prefer to use TJ's or Fage Greek Yogurt for its high protein content)
juice from half a regular lemon or 1 small meyer lemon or lime
Splenda or sugar to taste (I like 5 packets of splenda)
A smidgeon of salt
A smaller smidgeon of cayenne

Mix all the above with a fork or stick blender - adjust seasonings
Add about 20-30 oz of cold water to taste and mix again.
Add a few ice cubes if you want yours colder.

Voila! you have a cool, refreshing drinkable entree, with lots of protein, zero to no fat, and lot of water to keep you hydrated on a hot day.

The Ten Year Nap by Meg Wolitzer

I recently finished reading "The Ten Year Nap" -- a slightly sprawling saga of 4 New York women in the present day who have all followed the "mommy track" to raise their kids. It weaves back and forth between the lives of these 4 women, and their mothers who were/are very different from their daughters. Although I was mildly annoyed at first by the mothers' stories (I was anxious to learn more about the 4 women of today) but soon figured out that it was necessary to understand the mothers in order to understand their daughters.

There is no mystery, no great reveal, no secrets, but Meg Wolitzer's writing and story line really held my interest all the way through. It actually made me want to go to the gym and do my hour on the elliptical or bike, just to have a chance to read more of this book. Not a bad thing, huh?

Now I am looking forward to reading some of her older books, most notably, The Position and The Wife, considered by some to be some of the best modern writing about women and sex.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meg_Wolitzer

And something said by one of the minor characters in The Ten Year Nap really resonated with me:
"But mostly, though, he knew that if you longed for what you did not have, then you would be one of those unhappy people you could find anywhere in any setting, the ones who couldn't appreciate what they had as long as they saw something they did not have. "