Yum Yum

I got tagged by Ms. Single Muslimah, and now it's my turn to list my five favorite places to eat. This is not going to be easy, as I love my food!

1. Sushi House - It's a wonderfully yummy mix of inexpensive Japanese food, including a lovely menu full of delectable and delightful sushi treats. This joint used to be just a tiny store-front restaurant in a shopping center in a tucked-away corner of the Bay Area. Now it's an area must with a sometimes two hour waiting list, and no, they don't take reservations. So, for an early lunch, a bunch of time spent gabbing away with Irene and a prelude to an exciting day of bargain shopping, it hits the spot. I recommend ordering a few different sushi options (especially the Cherry Blossom, yum!) and sharing around the table - so much fun I can hardly stay on my chair.

2. Mario's - Seriously the best burritos ever. Seriously. And so cheap. Drop everything, go to Berkeley and find this place, like NOW.

3. Pasta Pomodoro - My favorite chain Italian food (and location of the possible first date with WG, depending on which one of us you ask). Olive Garden's good, but Pasta Pomodoro has an often changing menu that includes things made with butternut squash and braised beef and sage. I just like saying the words. Their tiramisu is also quite enjoyable (though not as good as, theirs). Plus, they've got ambiance, and they'll let you stay until closing just munching on the last of your dinner and enjoying the company.

4. Alioto's - My all-time favorite special-occassion restaurant (something I share with Mama). People will tell you that it's a tourist destination, that "real" Bay Area people don't eat there. Well, so what? Then those "real" people are missing out on some fabulous seafood sausage, views of the pier and those characters they call waiters.

5. Home - With a mother who can cook like nobody's business, a father who's a whiz with that tower of flame that is apparently known as a BBQ, a boyfriend who's a perfectionist in the kitchen and a me who's not half bad herself, home is quite often my favorite place to eat.

Okee dokee, those are my top five. Now, I need recommendations from Ari (of Baking and Books), Mama, Clare (I would accept a simple three, in keeping with the theme of your blog), Parchemina and someone who reads this blog but doesn't usually comment, leave a comment with a link to your blog and your post about your fave eateries.

Understanding

"Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans."

Suddenly, and for the first time, I understand what this means.

Another One Bites the Dust

I just found out that the loathe of my life (the son of one of my mom's really good friends) is about to get engaged. This is the kid who teased me mercilessly throughout junior high. This is the kid who made me doubt my self-worth and my looks for...oh...way too long for me to think about now.

And now, he's going to go make some woman's life miserable for all of her days.

I pray for her.

I Heart Johnny Depp

In just over three hours, I will get to see the long-awaited third movie in the Pirates of the Caribbean series. Needless to say, given the title of this post, I am, in a word, stoked.


I remember waiting in a loooooong line at a Burbank movie theater to see the first film with my then-roommates. It was probably the best movie I saw during my time in L.A., and it was one of the better outings with the roommates.

The second flick I've seen twice...most recently with WG, because he wanted to see it, understandably, before watching the third. The second time through, instead of being unbelievably long and somewhat boring (I think it was my state of mind at the time), it was quite marvelous.

My love affair with the gritty, grimey, odd man known as Johnny Depp most likely began when I first saw one of my favorite movies of all time, Edward Scissorhands, way back in 1990 (wow, Johnny and I have one serious long-term relationship).

Tangent: A scene from my most recent birthday.

Me: "Oh my gosh! Edward Scissorhands!! I've wanted to own this movie FOREVER!"

Later

WG to my mom:"So, did she ask for this movie, cause we've been talking about it."

My mom: "No. It's one of her favorite movies. I just saw it and bought it for her."

WG: "Wow. That is fantastic! We have so much more in common than I first thought."

See, Johnny's so great he even helps my reality-world love life! Tangent over.

That love affair, while sometimes falling by the wayside for passing fascinations with Matt Damon and other pretty-boy actors of that ilk, I've remained mostly true to Mr. Depp. In that Christan Slater vs. Johnny Depp era, I was always in the Johnny Depp camp.

I've loved him through
* The Corpse Bride
*Secret Window (also a Stephen King story, how can you go wrong??)
*Once Upon a Time in Mexico
*Chocolat (swoon)
and all the rest (except maybe Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas...).

Johnny Depp is old school, new school and his own kind of school, and I'm anxious for his antics as Jack Sparrow.

He's a marvel of an actor, and I just can't wait to see what Jack Sparrow is up to tonight!

Break from Reality

Vacations are only vacations for the people on them.

By that, I mean that that the world keeps going while we're away, and we have to expend a great deal of energy getting back on track once we return from our brak from reality.

I was away, had an absolutely amazing time at the Celine Dion concert (my mom's the one who shed tears...I don't cry that much, one of my many faults/strengths) actually learned something at Hoover Dam and even had the time to unhealthily roast myself by the side of the pool (I know, I know).

But it's Friday already, and it's the first day I feel back in my own skin.

I hit the ground running practically as soon as the plane landed. WG picked me up, dropped me off and went off to his side of the mountain for the last of his wine classes this semester. I ran out to take care of two sets of pets, had dinner and ran errands with a friend and then was back at work on Tuesday. Yikes! It's just been go-go-go, but not in a crazy, must make it stop kind of way, just in a normal, hey, my life is busy kind of way.

And I like that...

And I also like that after tomorrow's sure to be crazy shift at work, I'll have three glorious days off without a lick of traveling to do.

One Night in Vegas

Tears were shed.

Purses were carefully tossed aside.

Feet were tapped.

Words were mouthed.

A 26-year-old woman bounced around like a six-year-old on Christmas morning.

A 51-year-old woman bounced around like a six-year-old on Christmas morning.

A 52-year-old man perked up a bit when two dudes started rapping towards the end.

And all too soon it was over...but...now that you mention it....

It's all coming back to me nooooooooooooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwwww.

Election 2008

(not my photo)
Every other month, I work on Saturday. I don't generally mind the way the library is on a Saturday -- it's either really quiet, and I get a lot of my work done, or it's incredibly busy, and the day passes with amazing alacrity.

Either way, on Saturday mornings, I treat myself to Starbucks. I get a coffee or, like today, something special like the Green Tea Frappucino. I also get breakfast, since they started serving breakfast sandwiches (although today, in anticipation of the greasy meal I'll enjoy at Sonic with WG before getting on a plane by myself, I had the yogurt parfait -- yum).

It costs about $8 a week, so $32 every other month. It's worth it.

But that's not what I want to talk about.

Starbucks amazes me. I want to hate them. I want to hate them as much as I hate Wal-Mart. But I can't. i almost...love them. It's not like I'd go anywhere else if Starbucks wasn't around. I wouldn't root out another coffee shop. I appreciate what Starbucks does, and I like the atmosphere, and I like how it unites people.

That's right. I said it. Starbucks unites.

Where else would you see a librarian ordering her Green Tea Frap, a dude with a neck tattoo, driving a Scion XB (or X-box, as I like to call it), sticking that familiar green straw into a drink as he leaves the drive through, a family on the way to little league, and anyone else you'd like to fit into that equation? Starbucks has such diversity.

And the perkiness of their baristas (see, I even know the word!) doesn't terrify me in the morning. I actually appreciate it.

Plus, every time I go in there, I see a CD I want to buy -- that whole "Hear Music" thing is a raving success, and they produce quality music.

No wonder Starbucks is everywhere.

Starbucks for President.

Songs by Celine

This Friday, in honor of the concert I will be happily attending in Las Vegas (w/my little family, not with WG) on Sunday (VEGAS, baby!), I present you with some lyrics from my favorite Celine Dion songs (yes, I know it's cheesy. No, I don't care.). It's songs like these that have made me the way I am about love. And I'm entirely okay with that.

The Power of Love
We're heading for something
Somewhere Ive never been
Sometimes I am frightened
But Im ready to learn
Of the power of love

The sound of your heart beating
Made it clear
Suddenly the feeling that I can't go on
Is light years away

It's All Coming Back to Me Now
But you were history with the slamming of the door
And I made myself so strong again somehow
And I never wasted any of my time on you since then

But if I touch you like this
And if you kiss me like that
It was so long ago
But it's all coming back to me
If you touch me like this
And if I kiss you like that
It was gone with the wind
But it's all coming back to me
(It's all coming back, it's all coming back to me now)

If You Asked Me To

Used to be that I believed in something
Used to be that I believed in love
It's been a long time since I've had that feeling
I could love someone
I could trust someone
I said I'd never let nobody near my heart again darlin'
I said I'd never let nobody in

But if you asked me to
I just might change my mind
And let you in my life forever
If you asked me to
I just might give my heart
And stay here in your arms forever
If you asked me to
If you asked me to

That's the Way It Is
When you question me for a simple answer
I don't know what to say, no
But it's plain to see, if we stick together
You're gonna find the way, yeah

So don't surrender 'cause you can win
In this thing called love

When you want it the most there's no easy way out
When you're ready to go and your heart's left in doubt
Don't give up on your faith
Love comes to those who believe it
And that's the way it is
(That's the way it is)

I Want You to Need Me
I want to be the face you see when you close your eyes
I want to be the touch you need every single night
I want to be your fantasy
And be your reality
And everything between

I want to be the eyes that look deep into your soul
I want to be the world to you
I just want it all
I want to be your deepest kiss
The answer to your every wish
I'm all you'll ever need

Of course, I hope she sings the Titanic Song and the Beauty and the Beast song and all of her other hits, but these are the ones, out of all of her songs, that have probably influenced me the most...especially that last one. I most certainly want to be needed.

This is not a Musical

nor is it a novel

or a movie

or a play

or even a sitcom.

This is my life.

Maybe it's because I have a writer somewhere inside me (not like a scary little elf, but you know, a part of my personality that would greatly like to sit down and churn out a fabulous novel), or maybe it's because I read so freakin' much (it's not that I watch too many Romantic Comedies, no, that's not it at all), but I tend to think of myself as a "character."

And I bristle at the fact that I am a terribly difficult character to write.

I'm not "the homecoming queen" or "the quirky and fabulous woman who saves the world and those around her with some weird little idea, all while wearing a scarf and carrying a funky purse." Nor am I the romantic lead. Or the goofy girl who simply accepts her goofy ways and loves herself no matter what. I'm no one thing, and really, who is? I'm just ME. But for some reason, I tend to have a hard time accepting that.

I want to be the glamorous, chic, pulled together woman who can have a dinner party without getting spaghetti sauce all over her white stove. I want to be the calm, cool, collected and fabulously beautiful woman who makes men drool at her feet.

But I'm not.

I'm all of the things that come out as I write. I'm something no words can describe. I'm Sarah.

And I need to stop narrating my life in my head, as though I were the omniscient narrative voice in one of those Brit Lit novels I read.

And I need to stop trying to write myself a new role.

Light Hearted Lyrics

It's Friday.

And I have a bunch of songs running simultaneously through my head...which means...Friday Song Lyrics!

James Morrison: You Give Me Something
For every piece of me that wants you
Another piece backs away

You give me something
That makes me scared alright
This could be nothing
But I'm willing to give it a try
Please give me something
Because someday I might know my heart

You only waited up for hours
Just to spend a little time alone with me
And I can say I've never bought you flowers
I can't work out what they mean

Relient K: Must Have Done Something Good
We should get jerseys
Because we’d make a good team
But yours would look better than mine
Because you’re out of my league
And I know that it’s so cliché
To tell you that every day
I spend with you is the new best day of my life
And everyone watching us
Just turns away with disgust
It’s jealousy; they can see
That we’ve got it going on

If anyone could make me a better person, you could
All I gotta say is I must have done something good
Came along one day and you rearranged my life
All I gotta say is I must have done something right
I must have done something right

Wicked Soundtrack: Popular
POPULAR! i know about popular.
and with an assist from me,
to be who you'll be,
instead of dreary who you were...uh, are.
there's nothing that can stop you,
from becoming popular... lar...

Mat Kearney: Bullet
Yesterday i was sitting recalling reminiscing
trying to remember whenever there was nobody listening
before the hugging and the kissing, the booing and the hissing
all i had was just a vision, all i had was my ambition
your love without condition kept me swinging when i’m missing

it doesn't matter if they call me wrong
doesn't matter if they steal my song
doesn't matter if we're all alone
it doesn't matter at all
‘cause i would take a bullet for you
i would take a bullet for you
i would cross any line, i'd swim across the sea
i would take a bullet for you
i would take a bullet for you
i would lose it all, i'd take my fall
to show you it’s for real

Michael Buble: Everything (from the new CD!!)
You're a falling star, You're the getaway car.
You're the line in the sand when I go too far.
You're a swimming pool, on an August day.
And You're the perfect thing to say.

And you play it coy, but it's kinda cute.
Ah, When you smile at me you know exactly what you do.
Baby don't pretend, that you don't know it's true.
Cause you can see it when I look at you.

You're a carousel, you're a wishing well,
And you light me up, when you ring my bell.
You're a mystery, you're from outer space,
You're every minute of my everyday.

So Not a Spy....

I know. I know. Dreams are one of the less creative things to write about...but...but..BABIES.

I know I'm not the only blogger dreaming about babies, but this time, it felt more serious and silly at the same time. It's ridiciulous. I dreamt I had just given birth to a son named Mattaeus...see, I can't even spell my own son's name, I'm destined to be a bad mother, oy! Anyway, I got invited to some party at a friend's house, and I asked my mother if she thought if it was a good idea if I took my one week old son with me and my husband (yes, it was WG) to the party. She did not. And I couldn't decide whether I wanted to leave him with my parents for the night and go to this thing. I mean, he was only a week old, and I was already bored with him?! Come on!

In my conscious life, things are good. I have realized this week that I really and truly am comfortable with WG.

A while ago, say in March, I set up a MySpace. Then I set up a Facebook. WG is active on Facebook, seeing as how all of his college and many of his high school buds are all on there, constantly talking to each other. He knew I was exploring "social networking" (such a professional term for such a non-professional activity),and I could have sent a notice asking him to be my friend, and it would have gone through. But I decided I could let him have Facebook and not check up on him and see who is friends are and who he talks to and whether or not he really did change his status to "in a relationship" like he randomly told me months ago that he did.

But I didn't do anything with my page, and I wasn't using the site. So, letting him have it was sort of meaningless. It's like letting someone eat the coffee ice cream out of the freezer when you hate that flavor anyway.

And then, as it happens, this week my high school group, my core posse, started to get actively involved, "friended me" and we started posting on each other's walls. Now that I'm actually using Facebook and not just mildly familiar with its existence, I still find that I really don't want to friend WG. I don't want to check his status. I don't need to see what he says to and about other people or what his friends say about him. It's like horning in private conversations, conversations he has to be able to have!

I am comfortable with him having a life that doesn't involve me spying on him.

Just the same, I mentioned that I had used Facebook this week...it'll keep him on his toes wondering whether or not I'll try to "friend" him. I take strange comfort in that.

Fan for Life

I am so in love that I need a pop song written just for me.

I am so in love, that I want to scream his name out loud and clap my hands and dance to the beat of the music on the loud speaker.

I am so in love, that I want to wear his jersey every day.

Oh, wait, you thought I was talking about WG?

Well, sure, I do love him, but, much as I love him, he's no baseball player.

Today, it's all about Bengie Molina.

Lucky me, I got to be at the Giants game last night! Yep. I was there! I was there when they scored 9 runs - NINE - in the sixth inning, and my hero, my love, Giants' Catcher Bengie Molina hit two homeruns in the inning. The first time a Giant has done that since Willie McCovey did that it in June of 1977. Almost exactly thirty years ago!

Oh, I love my boys, and being at the ballpark last night reminded me how much.

Taste Buds Dance With Joy

In the past couple of weeks, some yummy things have danced across my taste buds.

I'll start with Daddy's birthday dinner, because, alas, I have no pictures and can only describe the meal in words. We ate at Syrah and throughoughly enjoyed it. We started with a cheese course including:

Crescenza
Bellwether Farm, Valley Ford, Sonoma, California. Cheese Maker Liam Callahan. Jersey cow's milk, this soft, creamy, smooth, yeasty, slightly tart cheese gets fruitier as it ages A great "Bridge" Cheese to have with opposing cheeses. Aged 2-3 weeks.

Red Hawk
Cow Girl Creamery, Tomales Bay, California. Cow's milk, organic triple cream, washed rind made by Maureen Cunnie, aged 6 weeks. This staff favorite is flavorful, rich & unctuous.

(picture from the Syrah website)

Something from the Cheese Monger
Changing Often at the Cheese Monger's Whim -- this happened to be the best cheese of the bunch, and was something called a St. Patty's

Mommy, Daddy, WG and I all quite enjoyed an actual cheese course, then dined on our fancy little salads. Mommy and I had mixed green salads that were actually wrapped in two long cucumber slices and included uncooked peas and pistachios! Daddy and WG had the romaine salad that included a side of prosciuotto. Everyone was quite content.

And then, on this rainy evening in Santa Rosa, a city that is home to none of us, yet vaguely familiar for some reason, we dined on our main courses. Mommy had lamb, something she never eats at home, because I refuse to eat it, and Daddy doesn't really like it. WG had spicy pork loin over a marscapone cheese and grits mixture. I had roast duck. Daddy, though. Daddy had the best thing, a five-pepper steak of 28-day aged beef. Incredible. Lucky, took, as it was his birthday, so it's only right that he got the best meal.

After eating, we just sat at our table (the nice little table that had a lovely "reserved" sign on it when we walked in--it's been a long time since I actually saw one of those) and enjoyed the warm, pleasant contentment in our stomachs. We forgot the crazy May rain, the fact that WG had to drive a far distance to get home, that the remaining three still needed to get back to Mommy and Daddy's hotel to do presents and cake (an amazing German Chocolate cake that my mom only makes once a year)and then that I needed to drive away to my own little apartment and get up for work this morning.

We just sat and enjoyed the company.

Happy Birthday, Daddy (not that he reads this blog, but hey...)!

Other foods passing through my kitchen of late:



I wanted a good salad. Like a really good salad. And I made one! Yeah! Gorgeous green spinach, craisins, walnuts, gorgonzola all tossed with a vinegrette mixed with just a bit of blue cheese dressing. Mmm. Veggies can taste so good sometimes!


Two salmon dishes were enjoyed Chez Sarah last week, and the one in the picture above is the one that involved cedar planks and a gas grill. It was scrumptious.


But the truly lovely surprise of a meal was this one, Salmon in Lime Butter Sauce (see the full meal pictured above). Mmm. I served it with the salad up top and a sourdough baguette.

And then, of course, there must be dessert. I fell back on an old favorite (and a recipe I make fairly well, if I do say so myself): Chocolate Chip Cookies from the Better Homes and Garden cookbook. Try it with dark chocolate ghiradelli chips - soooo yummy.



So, that's the latest installment in the Small Kitchen Confessional (the fake name for my fake cooking blog)...till next time, happy eating!