Weeks 45 and 46, my computer was sick

So this time I have a good excuse, aside from life, that has put me even more behind in my food posts. My 6 month-old computer crashed. So then the hard drive was replaced. And then it died again the next day. So the motherboard was replaced. So essentially I have a new computer, although I kind of had a new computer before.

Lesson learned from the last time my computer died--back your stuff up, yo! Thank goodness I did, and all my lovely photos are still with me!

So how did weeks 45 and 46 feed me?

309: Egg scramble with homemade beet juice. I've been juicing a bit, trying to "cleanse" my system. Never works though. I just end up eating bacon later. (See day 314)

310: This is a latergram. I went to the SF Art Institute, and the rooftop view was ah-may-zing! And so were these croquettes.

311: We have learned from my 366 that I eat a lot of udon.

312: I don't know what this is, chicken and avocado. It looks awful and probably was. 

313: When I am in a cooking slump and burnt out at work, sushi to go is always a good thing. My sushi photos always get many likes on Instagram. And when I say many, I mean like 12. (Actually, day 310 got quite a few likes, but probably because of the view. It's pretty darn awesome.)

314: Being healthy with a breakfast burrito, and then I added the bacon. 

315: Going Italian in SF for my friend's birthday. Mangia!

316: Guess what? Udon.

317: I've been taking more morning photos since evening photos in the winter are crap. Here's an egg scramble. And a chocolate chip cookie. Because who doesn't have chocolate chip cookies for breakfast?

318: Knock knock. Who's there? Udon. Udon who? Udon you like my udon? (Get it? Get it?)

319: Had to work late, much too late. Thank goodness for In-N-Out!

320: Met up with friends at my favorite Burmese joint. It takes a lot of restraint to not gobble up everything in front of your friends. 

321: Homemade corn soup like mom used to make. And strawberry shortcake, which mom never made.

322: Had a girl's night out at 1300 Filmore. Loved the dark and moody interior. The elderflower and pear cocktail was tasty too. 

Weeks 43 and 44, not much more!

Hitting the home stretch! And I swear I will be caught up before the last week hits.

295: The Giants are in the playoffs! Went to the local sports pub for beer, fries and baseball! And we won!

296: Me and my udon. 

297: More noodles with some soup. I love just throwing in everything left in the fridge into these meals.

298: Back to the sports bar for quesadillas and baseball. Another win for the Giants!

299: Some store-bought ravioli with store-bought tomato sauce. Some nights just call for store-bought.

300: Friday morning I had some free time to make a nice breakfast. With bacon of course.

301: Up to the city to root on the Giants. Margaritas help with the rooting. Giants win again! 

302: Took a good long hike with the dogs and friends. Rewarded ourselves with burgers at Alice's. So pooped afterwards that I watched the Giants game at home. And they won the World Series! Yippee!

303: Some butternut squash chili, made a while ago and frozen. Great to have an instant meal when I get home!

304: Made a ton of turkey meatballs. I wasn't supposed to eat all of them... but I did.

305: Lunch at the desk. Lunch is ALWAYS at the desk. Thought I'd snap a shot of the pho. Pho sho!

306: Love the texture of lotus root. And it is so pretty to look at! Stir-fried it with some port and soy sauce. Easy peasy!

307: Night out with the buddies. Took them to Mission Chinese, which unfortunately was not as good as it used to be.

308: Made some fish tacos. Inspired by this post and the last photo on Sprouted Kitchen, and I threw some avocado into the poblano sauce. Unfortunately, evening iphone photos just don't look quite the same as their photos. 

November Mood Board

Well, hello there! It finally feels like fall, with that crisp breeze in the air that I love so much. My garden is a mess though and hasn't been tended to in over a month.

The grass is overgrown, the trees need trimming, and the vegetable patch needs to be overturn. There are still a few veggies that are popping up though.

I found this pop of color amongst the overgrown greens.

So right now, I can't muster the motivation to pull out my SLR and take photos. When I look at Karin A's mood board, I'm a bit embarrassed to post these blurry Ai-phone pics. But the reality it, I'm addicted to my Ai-phone and all the photo editing apps! They don't always make bad pictures look good, but it's convenient.

Happy November!

Le Dîner en Blanc, SF style

I believe Le Dîner en Blanc started over 20 years ago in Paris, where guests dress in white and meet at a secret location to wine and dine and make new friends. It has since spread around the world, with SF holding their own last year. I saw it on Eye on the Bay and was eagerly awaiting its return this year.

When the announcement came out, I pounced on the tickets. And then awaited for the location, which was not revealed until 3 pm the day of the event. The weather all week had been spectacular in SF, but of course, the day of the event, Karl the Fog rolled back in. I guess it was appropriate that Le Diner en Blanc actually have a white foggy backdrop.

Honestly though, it was still quite beautiful! It was held on the Marina Green and to see everyone wearing white was such a pretty sight! And people went all out with their meals and table decor. I thought mine was all spiffy...

until I saw the chandeliers, tents, streamers, and amazing centerpieces. What the what?! So amazing!

Unfortunately, night photography is not my forte, so I couldn't capture the meal I made for my friends. We started out with a potato and leek soup with a bacon jam. I kept it in a thermos and it came out piping hot! Perfect to ease the chill of the night. 

The best I could get of the soup

For the main course, I made a butternut squash and spinach pie with pancetta. I remembered to take a quick photo of it before leaving the house. Unfortunately, I was initially going to use phyllo dough, but my stash in the freezer was not fresh and I had to toss it. So I made a quick crust with olive oil. I guess healthier, but it was dry. Still pretty though!

Also on the menu was a quinoa salad and chocolate cupcakes with a coconut buttercream frosting. No photos, boo.

Casualty of the evening suffered by my friend.
We MacGyvered a dressing with twine.

Overall, the evening was a success. The setting was such that most people brought a ton of friends, so getting to know each other was not really in the cards. But it was still fun and I would totally do it again!

Napkin Wave

A little blur on purpose 

Weeks 41 and 42, oops, I made a boo boo

I'm totally off! This week is Week 43, but I'm behind and only up to posting Week 42. Blah!!! I really hope that when I hit the end of the year, I actually have 366 photos.

281: Spent another day in the city with friends watching the Blue Angels and other festivities. Winded down with some beer and fish tacos at Rogue.

282: Feeling all healthy making some salmon with tofu and veggies. 

283: Not much in the fridge now so TJ's to the rescue again with a cornmeal pizza. Not planning on buying that again.

284: Cut up the butternut squash and made a vegetarian chili with lots of cheese. Mmm, cheese.

285: Headed to our neighborhood pub to watch baseball. Not a good night for the A's.

286: Took a work lunch at Osteria Coppa. Affogato after lunch is the perfect midday pick-me-up!

287: Needed some fuel before a run, so aebleskivers and sausage were it!

288: On a baking kick, so made some beet chocolate cupcakes. 

289: Went to dinner at mom's the night before, and got plenty of leftovers. Lova ya mom!

291: Skipped Tuesday (went out on a date and didn't want to interrupt the moments with picture taking.... Should've taken the pictures.) Wednesday was homemade, with purple long beans from grandma's garden and mom's pepper sauce.

293: Lost another day, I think I had leftovers as I spent most of Thursday night cooking for Friday. Took part in Le Diner en Blanc in SF. So much fun and maybe I'll get around to even writing a blog post about it.

294a: Caught up on the photos by taking three on Saturday. Took part in a Food Styling Course with Joy the Baker and Tracy Shutterbean (yet another post to do). Made some bourbon pumpkin milkshakes, oh yes we did!

294b: Lunch at the course was a lovely catered meal of roasted eggplant and tomatoes and a light quinoa salad.

294c: Met up with a friend for dinner at Wood Tavern, on my list for a long time. Apps were delicious. Had the lamb as the main course, but it needed salt. Some restaurants don't put salt on the tables, but this one did. It's as if they knew...