SF: Boulevard

"Let's cancel the reservation and just eat some place around here" sounds to me like: 'How about some more blisters on your feet and letting your stomach growl until you just can't take it any more, then we can settle at whatever joint is closest!' This particular night, the lucky stars were right, and I was wrong.

While testing this anti-reservation strategy an earlier night, we walked by this beauty of an art deco building with an inviting dining scene shinning from the interior. Boulevard happened to be the best restaurant in San Francisco according to the hotel concierge, not accepting reservations this late. Two blocks later, we were sitting at the chef's counter, sampling the most amazing abalone, crab, and filets ever. The medium rare was medium rare! How rare! The fingerling potatoes tasted as if they had been boiled in butter, and the sarsaparilla ice cream made with sarsaparilla!

Page 2 of the Beverage menu was titled 'SANS', it hosted an amazing selection of non-alcoholic bevs: Ederflower must be a SanFrancisco favorite. It was so refreshing to have a selection of anything besides water and soda.

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Location:San Francisco

Taos: just Taos

just a quick collection of photos that say: Taos

Birthdays: the gift of baking

What better gift for my cookie-loving boyfriend than cookies in a cookie jar? Finding just the right cookie jar became harder than I thought, so when I saw this Darth Vader jar on ebay, I bid. It reminds me of his husky voice. Everything in my world needs a theme, so I set off looking for a recipe for star wars themed cookies, and lucky for me the 'wookie-cookie' popped up immediately. The cookies turned out pretty darn delicious and inspired me to continue making the traditional chocolate chip cookie, but twisting it up a bit with different chips or adding different spices.


However yummy, I do have one bit of advice: if googling the recipe, do not read the urban dictionary's 'wookie-cookie' definition before eating, or ever.

Taos: just a pretty picture

the breakfast room at the Sagebrush Inn: don't you just want to eat chipolte butternut squash and bacon soup?

Taos: I heart the Love Apple

I love a good meal. I love to travel. I fell in love with the Love Apple in Taos.

Scent is the first seductress...a wood fire in the courtyard waiting room warms the stomach. Inside the old church building, home cooking and real candles fill the fresh air.

The Table Setting: unmatched silverware, unmatched tables and chairs, and of course the fabulous food is served on unmatched vintage china and melamine, but all the perfect shade of blue that matches the outdoor trim.

My Meal:

blue cornbread muffins and chokecherry butter

farm greens with pecans, fried goat cheese, warm peaches, local honey dressing

ruby rainbow trout in a cornhusk with lime compote and chipolte creme

and they so graciously substituted: french lentil salad

I can't even talk about the lavendar honey panacotta for dessert

Taos: Believe It or Not

I love my yearly, weekend trip to Taos, New Mexico. It's a quick 5hour drive from Aspen (and if you don't like Eminem, you better bring your own CD's in my car) over b e a u t i f u l Independence Pass, down through reptile and alien gardens, and shazam...we are off the grid.

There is no place quite like this place on earth, and there is not quite the perfect words to describe it, but still you must fall in love with this little adobe town. By the time I left work on Friday, I was soooooooo spent. By the time I pulled into my home parking garage Sunday evening, I was inspired, revived, enthusiastic and energetic! It must be the water, or the coffee, or the rocks in the water and coffee. I'm serious.

Seriously, there is this little coffee shop with a 'Rock Bar'. For an extra dollar, you can choose to put a rock in your coffee. And for an extra $2.50, you can put three rocks in your coffee to make a 'Rocktail'. Now, if you know me, you know that I have put a dollar in a basket that changed my life, so I can't say that I'm not a believer but at the time, this seemed a bit.....mmmmm......Taosy? Yet I purchased a latte with a Carnelian rock: will bring creativity and passion. A confidence booster, Carnelian can help give you the vitality needed to make things happen. I love it. I'm inspired to host a 'Rocktail Party'.

Halloween: I Scream for Ice Cream

Every year I throw a deathly, dreary Halloween party to celebrate my escape from death. It's usually a dinner: a 'rib' cage from Hickory House, a meatloaf 'brain', or witches' stew. My BF and co-host cook all day, and never have time to dress up or enjoy.

This year, I'm having an 'I Screeeaam!!!!' theme. I'm t h r i l l e d! To distract myself from obsessing over the invites (I want them to make a screaming noise when opened), I bought the Kitchen Aid Ice Cream Maker attachment and am developing my recipes. Happy Halloween!

Last night, I roasted a pumpkin to make pumpkin puree for the 'five spice pumpkin ice cream' Oh My. I'll never buy a can again!

Birthday Surprise: weekend in San Fran

I am so lucky to be in a LDR: it requires creativity to celebrate special days, such as his birthday, which is on a Wednesday Work Day this year.

I've planned a (supposed to be surprise) weekend trip to San Francisco, including a Raiders game across the bay in Oakland. Priceline: ****hotel and 8 one-way tickets so that we can meet in DIA and fly together. Priceless: the surprise when he thinks his birthday present is a gingam Raiders wreath!