My life- End of school

I am SOOOO cool. I know our kids don't think I am, but I know I am. I made a fire last night and let our middle daughter burn up some of her school books (of course the ones she doesn't have to return back to school!).  It was very cathartic for her.

Guest Bloggers - My brother & sister-n-law - San Francisco

I want to the my sister-in-law and my brother for being my first guest bloggers!!  I am honored they  thought of my blog on their vacation.  I, too, have been to the Slanted Door (years ago!) and totally agreed with their choice to go there.  I haven't been to the other places, but, trust me, I'll get there.  San Fran is one of my favorite cities!!  Enjoy and again thank you for writing!!!!

While we were travelling in San Francisco, the foodie capital of the states, we decided to invite ourselves to be guest bloggers on the Super Mom the Foodie blog.  It amazed us that each restaurant is better than the last in San Francisco.  The food ingredients are always local and usually organic.  The presentation was lovely and the service was consistently good wherever we went accepting that “California” flavor where the wait staff take themselves and their ingredients very seriously.   Even the prices weren’t THAT bad.

In preparation for our trip, I googled the top 10 things to do in San Francisco, and this great list came up from Time Magainze http://www.time.com/time/travel/cityguide/article/0,31489,1845230,00.html which included eating at the Slanted Door http://www.slanteddoor.com/ in the old Ferry building on the waterfront.  We dined on contemporary Vietnamese food while overlooking the Oakland bridge.  The next morning we went to another recommendation from the list http://www.mamas-sf.com/ -- a quaint breakfast spot called Mama’s on Washington Square.

Although the article warned us that there might be a long wait on weekends, we thought we’d be o.k. since it was Friday morning.  We arrived at Mama’s and the line was out the door and around the corner.  We have a general rule against waiting in line for food so we considered leaving.  But the veterans in the line convinced us it was worth the wait.  We had a great time talking to this other couple who literally drove in from Sausalito (over 2 hrs) to eat at this joint.  What an endorsement!  We had a nice chat in the 45 minutes it took to get to the door.

This is a tiny restaurant, so all the waiting is done on the sidewalk.  Once you get to the door, they let you walk up to the counter and join a line of about 4 people.  While waiting in that smaller line, you can see all the ingredients and the chef’s doing their thing.

 At the register you order and pay, and by the time that process is done a table has magically become available and you can sit down.  The style is the sweetest little country French restaurant.  The tables are spacious, and the atmosphere inviting.   Just a few minutes after you sit down, breakfast arrives!  And just at the sight of it, we knew it was worth the wait. 

G ordered a Monte Cristo sandwich and a piece of chocolate crumb cake (to be saved for later) and I was craving my mom’s best Sunday morning dish – lox, eggs and onion with a bagel on the side.  G’s Monte Cristo was mouthwatering.  The cheese was melted to perfection.  It was served in quarters - sitting upright on the plate – making for a wonderful presentation.  Although I chose to order simple, my Lox, eggs and onions were perfect and hit the spot.  

We don’t have a photo of the crumb cake, because I broke into it on the ferry ride to Sausalito and it was so good, I couldn’t stop eating it.  The cake was moist and held together while the topping lived up to its name “crumb cake”.  Mmmmmm, powdered sugar, chocolate chunks and yellow cake.  It was the perfect snack while the wind blew through our hair and we gazed at the beautiful San Francisco skyline from the water.

Restaurant review - Original Bagel and Bialey

I met some friends for breakfast and look at this healthy dish....

Egg white omelet with broccoli and onions.  No hash browns here....tomatoes instead.  Good for you Susan!!!

Here was my breakfast....

 Delicious but not the healthiest......oh my!!

As a side, personal note....Happy Anniversary to Heidi and Gary....and to Amy and Ron!!  A happy marriage is a special gift you give each other and your children....not easy, but very worth the work.

Lunch/Dinner - Amazing salad

I used the first thing from my garden....lettuce! I somewhat copied a salad I wrote about that I had at Butterfield's.  Here is my version.......

I poached eggs - the first time I have ever done that.  I added vinegar to boiling water.  I cracked an egg into a small bowl.  I swirled the water and dropped in an egg.  I stopped stirring and left it alone in the boiling water.  I didn't have a slotted spoon, but I used a little strainer. Improvising works....just try it!  I made two poached eggs for my salad.

In the bowl, I put fresh picked lettuce.  Then cut up papadew peppers and marinated artichokes, put them on the lettuce and put crumbles on goat cheese on it as well.  I drizzled in very good balsamic vinegar over the whole salad, and then put on top the two poached eggs.

This was an amazing dish....definitely restaurant quality if I do say so myself! Tasty and pretty. The warm egg yolks mix with the goat cheese and made a creamy texture.  The bites of peppers (sweet heat), artichoke hearts (different texture), balsamic vinegar (tangy), and fresh lettuce (crunchy).....oral nirvana.

My life - Great Idea

Look at this.  I think this is a great idea.  I could use it outside or at a bar mitzvah.....it is from Martha Stewart.  Can easily be done on a smaller scale.

"Bars and buffet tables must be adequately lighted, but they're often located far from electrical outlets. An easy, inexpensive solution is to gather clear apothecary bottles and fill them with lamp oil and wicks. Arrange the bottles under a large hurricane for protection. We set these on a sturdy glass cake stand."