Posts from — May 2008

I just got this package in the mail from my sister-in-law:



Cock flavored soup . . . oooh, spicy!

If I had known that some women had certain types of reactions to musicians I would’ve practiced guitar more. I’d better get some new strings and some sheet music this weekend.

As a follow up to my previous post How to *not* cook risotto I’d like to present you with some corrections/steps to make it better.

1) invite 3 really cool people over for dinner (this is key)

2) open up 3 or 4 bottles of wine to try a bunch- we had 3 different Eagle Point Ranch Syrahs (05 Stefania, 06 Stefania, 05 Copain) and a viognier from Cooper Garrod.

3) Go check out Far West Fungi in the Ferry Building and pick up some fresh brown butons, crimini and some dried italian or domestic porcinis

Use the fresh shrooms like I said in the previous post- but use the dried earthy porcinis as well. When you reconstitute them, keep the liquid and add it back to your stock when you’re ready to start putting it all together. It really makes the stock (and later dish) much better and with more complex flavors.

4) serve dinner, serve the wine, chill out and have some fun . . . As I’ve said before, it’s good craic

5) bonus: get really lucky because the girls friends you invited over brought some addiction forming chocolate pot-de-creme and parisian macarons from . Damn I wish I had taken a pic of them. I mean the desserts, not the ladies. . . or do I?

Embracing my inner snob I’d just like to say:

Lighter fluid is the smell of ignorance.

I’ll give you points for trying to use charcoal but . . .

Serioulsy people, get a cheap chimney starter.

Twitter is abuzz w/ the new Weezer video and the sheer volume of internet memes in it. . . .

Random stuff for Friday

Memorial Day Weekend is here. Break out the white pants! But not like this. (Thanks Bryan!) But then again, take some time to remember what Memorial Day is really for, and go punch a Nazi in the nuts.

Bittman has a piece up about broiling ribs in case it rains and you want to bbq. Looks like a decent recipe/method.

The Spurs are going to give me an ulcer. Game 2 Tonight v Lakers!

Lots of stuff online about the Santa Cruz Mountain Fires:


sfgate.com and a ton of links on Dave’s site. It’s not just bad for the wine obviously, but the people who live there. My peeps in Mountain View said they can smell smoke at their office.

Random tip of the day: keep your Google Reader in List view- helps you cruise through the posts much more quickly and drop the feeds you don’t really read.

Here’s how to not make risotto.

(I’ll have a 2nd part to this on Saturday)

Step 2: Get all of your ingredients together, your mise en placccccccccccce if you will:

What I used this time: arborio rice, chicken stock, some sausage, about a pound of mushrooms (I did a rough chop/slice), a cup of peas, butter, parmesan (shred it up!), nice olive oil, about 1/2 an onion (diced, or fine chop), some leftover prosciutto, white wine, red wine . . .

Step 3: Start to sweat the onions over medium heat with just a bit of olive oil (or a bit of olive oil and butter), after a few minutes add some chopped up prosciutto for flavor. As they are about halfway through sweating, add the sausauge (mine was already cooked, so I was just browning it). Keep cooking those over medium heat while you do steps 4 & 5

Step 4: Put your chicken stock in a 2nd pan to heat up (get it to just under a boil and then lower it to a simmer)

See more …

Today I was walking from the bus stop to work and realized that the line outside the Peet’s wasn’t too long yet. It usually goes out the door and around the building. I was getting there just as it was going out the door so I thought I’d get a cup there as I didn’t get a chance to pull a shot of espresso at home.

So as I’m standing there behind a tall banker, I kind of tripped on the wet sidewalk tiles as we were scooting up. I didn’t fall, but my shoes made a noise. He looked up at the noise. He kind of looked around conspiritorially and said-

“Yeah, you’ve got to be careful- they wet all the sidewalks down when they sweep in the morning,” he leaned in more and added, “because they piss and poop on the sidewalks.” He nodded towards some homeless people over by the bank.

“At my building over there, they have to sweep out near the wall in particular way back by that bush because it’s hidden so well and they poop over there because no one can see them.”

I said, “yeah, I’ve seen it more out in the open- right over there between the newspaper stands and that Bart elevator. The newspaper machines hide them from street view, but just barely. I’ve walked by and had to step over human feces” He scrunched up his face at that like that was just a touch too savage.

As we scooted up in the line and got in to the Peet’s he said, “At first I thought you tripped because you were looking at those two girls. That blonde looks like a young Heather Locklear.”

“Nope, I guess it was just the sidewalk. It’s Monday and I’m not awake yet.”

I didn’t want to admit I was staring at her friend. But then again, you all knew that anyway.

You know how to start off your lazy Sunday right?

That’s right, some Chilaquiles in Mountain View (or wherever you are)

Cory and I went to Tapatio Grill again so I could try the Tapatio Grill chilaquiles. Quite nice.

He got the red ones, and I wanted my verdes. The cashier told me that the red may be better. I’ll have to get those next time.

I wanted to try their Birria too but they said they didn’t have any left today. So that will require another visit soon.

Just as an aside, you know what kills the nice buzz of a 80F+ afternoon? Coming North on Caltrain in shorts to SF, getting off the train and wishing you had your jacket as you head to your foggy neighborhood. I’m not hatin’ I’m just sayin . . .

SFSU’s Xpress Magazine has a feature about Kevin and some other nutty swimmers:

Even with a wetsuit, it feels like suicide. With each stroke away from the secluded beach, the swimmer becomes more aware that if he stops moving his limbs, the cold of the fifty-degree water will consume them. Within about ten minutes, feet aren’t feet anymore, they become solid blocks attached to legs.

click here to read the full article.