Archive for the ‘Food and Drink’ Category

Christmas & Foodkakke

Tuesday, December 8th, 2009

First off I renounce anyone who says that AC/DC is not Christmas music. AC/DC is too Christmas music. Just listen to “I want a mistress for Christmas“.

Coffee_BackSecond, Why do the coffee gods hate me today? Four times it took me to get the caramel colored goodness past my lips. All ended in failure or worse…foodkakke.

The coffee conundrums:

Try number one was left on the train as I exited and it pulled away from the station. Someone might have a nice cup of coffee if they want it but I don’t think i’d drink a strange cup riding solo. That’s just me though.

The second attempt was less than successful. I tripped and gave my shirt a nice stain down the middle of my shirt and completed the mornings foodkakke. I’ll be wearing a jacket all day even while I’m indoors now.

As I tried to complete the third try I found myself walking between the two cafe’s that are on campus here at work. I decided to go to the ‘other’ one as I rarely go there and a change would be nice. The coffee machines were out for service. This doubled the time that it would have taken me to get coffee had I chosen the one I normally choose.

I headed to my normal coffee place and there was a cup of coffee waiting for me. I hope I don’t spill this.

Now if I could make that song into a reality and combine it for my love of coffee I’d have a happy happy Christmas…even if only for a little while.

We need some lesbians!

Sunday, September 6th, 2009

Today I went to the Highland games with my dear friend lil bear and had a great time. She’s a wonderful girl woman that always has a wonderful outlook on life and has taught me a lot. We’ve gone to two Highland games so far and I hope that this becomes a tradition that we continue in the future as I really enjoy it. I always have a good time and we always seem to come away with a few laughs and a couple smiles.

Anyway, last year lil bear and I went to the Whiskey tasting. Like this year we had extra tickets since the whiskey was really good but it spun the both of us (both years) quite nicely. Like I was saying, both years we called it quits with tickets left over.

In 2008, we went and found a bit of grub after the whiskey to soak up some of the booze. A really nice couple of ladies who were obviously together and had a snifter were talking about which whiskey they like best. Lil bear and I talked about it and decided that we were simply done with plenty of tickets left over that we  were not going to use. We asked this nice couple if they’d like to have our tickets in exchange for a smile and we got the biggest grins you could ever imagine.

Fast-forward to today, we again had a bit of extra tickets. As we’re standing in line for some fish and chips, I look at Kimmy after talking about our Whiskey trips (the one with the chocolate bits was the best) and I’m again spun. I forget where our conversation went but our conversation went to a lull as conversations sometimes do. I kept thinking to last year though and our extra tickets. Finally I just blurted out to lil bear…

We need some lesbians!

Apparently I was a bit over zealous and louder than I had meant to be. I know that Kimmy knew exactly what I was referring to but she started to giggle and sputter. The people around us just laughed and stared in disbelief. I tried not to blush as I was terribly amused and ashamed at what I had said. It sounded right in my head and I knew what I meant to say but when it came out of my mouth it was all crummy. I just hope that I didn’t offend or make anyone mad as it was not meant to hurt or shame anyone.

We got our fish and chips and ended up sitting on the side of a curb until a couple of nice ladies gave us their table. In turn we gave them our left over tickets and I hope they had a few good drinks. I made sure to tell them to try the one that also served chocolate as it was the best one available in my opinion. We ate our fish and chips and gave our table to a nice father and his daughter looking for a place to sit.

All in all, the circle of giving continued and it was nice to be part of the chain. I look forward to next year. I’m even thinking of getting a kilt for the occasion from my family tartan.

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Dirty Noodles & WOTD

Wednesday, January 14th, 2009

I went to dinner with my friend Briggs and Rhe last night to this place called "Maru Ichi" which is a small noodle house and has really big noodle bowls and small sake bottles. As we browsed the menu, which was small, Rhe pointed out the selection specifically intended for the Pervy people that must frequent this place.

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Oh and the word of the day is for the fricking obnoxious people that speak to waitress really loudly as if she didn't speak English simply because she was Asian or for the twerp trying to show off his horrible Japanese. That word is for you and that word is…DOUCHE!

Sangria Recipe

Thursday, August 28th, 2008

For Bean, Flower Girl and Tomb Raider
Couple friends of mine like Sangria and I found a decent recipe It sounds like a lot of good stuffs so i might have to try it out.

P.S. I watched the movie Breakin’ last night and I can totally imagine my friends all decked out in 80′s gear. It makes me want to have an 80′s theme party.

Vegetarian rant

Thursday, August 7th, 2008

I’ve been thinking about going back and being a vegetarian once again but the more I think about it the more it doesn’t make sense to me for me. I like meat. The way the animals are treated… yeah OK I can see that as one possible reason why someone would be a veg-head.

However I’ve run into a lot of folks lately who give the reason of preserving the earth as their reason for being a vegetarian. Granted I wasn’t the best vegetarian in fact I ate mainly crap as NC will attest to but it was an experiment on my part that lasted a year and I’m glad I did it. The reason that I dis-agree with earthy vegetarians is that I think they are mislead. In fact they are robbing the animals of their natural foods, stealing plants that are going to produce oxygen for our atmosphere that we so desperately need to prevent global warming and so many other environmental friendly causes that one can twist and turn if they take the time to evaluate and use the so called ‘facts’ how they choose to.

I’m not saying that this is a bad choice I’m saying that the reasoning behind this choice is misguided and might need to be re-evaluated. If this is what you want by all means do so but just say because I want to rather then giving some high and mighty response that might elicit anti-PETA movement.

Friday — Food & Fun

Monday, June 9th, 2008

Chicken Tikka Marsala goodness with a heaping helping of concern

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Weekend Recap — What A Rollercoaster

Tuesday, May 27th, 2008

Another long post incoming so get some coffee.

Friday
Friday at work ended poorly. I had a spat with someone I consider close (still) and we;ll here’s the shortened version. Turtle messages me and says ‘Hey what are you doing tonight? I’ve asked all my friends if they are busy and nobody wants to hang out. I get her on chat and we start talking. She was throwing a pity party and wanted someone else to attend. That’s fine and all and I understand that she’s not in a good place so I offer her up friendship and companionship but the caveat is I have to stay home that evening. I had to get the place clean and do a few small chores before I could go out or devote myself to her needs of attention. Well she declined but the way she did so was rather hurtful. She tells me that she’s not interested in doing what I’m doing and basically ‘No Thanks’. I was hurt because I offered my friendship up and I felt that she snubbed her nose to me. This was not and hopefully is not the person I know. I felt degraded, humiliated, dejected, rejected and belittled.

My buddy Pirate comes over and brings his girlfriend. They were supposed to be here around 21:00-ish and didn’t show up until 23:00.  Pirate wanted to show off his new girlfriend and shoot some pool. He’s a great guy and I love him dearly but I’ll never understand his taste in women or in this case girls. His new girlfriend is quite young (of legal age — enough to drink plus two). The problem I foresee though, if it was my relationship, is that she acts her age. She’s not much to look at and wears clothes that are way too small for her belly so she’s constantly pulling at her clothes. The physical appearance that she gives though isn’t what makes her unattractive or at least to me. It’s how she carries herself. For instance, Pirate and I have been playing pool for years together now. This girl comes along and makes one ball in a match we have going and she’s taunting Pirate and I about how much better she is then we are. This would be fine if she was better then us but she’s not. It seems like she feels that she has to prove herself in everything rather then accepting that there are just things she doesn’t know. If you don’t know something thats awesome in my book. It gives you some new place to grow and learn. Oh well, I hope that Pirate is happy and if as I predict things don’t go well I’ll be there to pick up his pieces and reassemble him. Oh yeah…did I mention that this girl has already been married at 23 and has an ex-husband that is supposedly abusive and a stalker? Nice huh?

Saturday
Saturday I had a date with EM a.k.a. Sawdust girl. I called her sawdust girl because her phone skills are very lacking. Perhaps it’s because I hate talking on the phone but more so it’s because I was always driving the conversation. In person she’s much different and very cute. She calls me at 09:30 to confirm that we are still on which is a good thing. It’s a damn good thing she called because I was still sleeping.  I rushed out the door and headed to Mountain View. We had arranged to meet at a Starbucks there. She can hold a conversation decently and the lulls in the conversation seemed minimal but it was cold outside that day. After a while I had to get inside and we headed to the pastry shop nearby and stole a seat there. Our conversation continued and went well. We talked about each others family and likes/dislikes. After a bit she had to go and work. I walked her to the bus stop and waited with her until her bus was ready to go. A quick hug and off she went. I think I’d like to see her again but I’m not sure. There weren’t sparks or a connection that people speak of but she’s a nice gal and I made a new friend at the very least.

Star and I had planned to go to the beach with some friends but the weather did not accommodate anyone else wanting to go. Too bad because it was a lot of fun and we had a great time…until the rangers came. We were supposed to head out at around 18:00 so we could get there at 19:00 in case anyone decided to go. I called after my date with EM and Star said call me later. This was about 14:00 or so. At 18:00 I call again and she says sure lets go, I’ll be there in a bit. OK so how long is a bit I’m wondering? Apparently it’s a few hours. Around 21:00 Star and JJ show up. I was a bit peeved. Mainly because I had invited others and Star knew this but didn’t seem to take this into consideration. She and JJ were playing pool or I imagine she was playing with him from the conversation that I overheard. I was also miffed because this was the second day that someone didn’t seem to give a shit. I know it’s not, or hope it’s not, the truth but damn what was going on? Was there something that I needed or was missing? Did I forget to take some special pill that balanced me out?

As I waited for them I made some of the most awesome buffalo chicken strips. I had never made these before and I even surprised myself how well they turned out. I shared some with Fishy, Star and JJ as we had our yummy burritos and got ready to go.

Img_0427 After a while we headed out and I was able to find myself again. I put on the positive hat and tried to have a good time. It worked for the most part. The two of them still told secrets in my presence which was annoying but nothing that irked me too much I suppose. We went to the beach and nobody was there. After grabbing some wood from the backyard we had plenty for a fire in the sand, It took a bit to get the fire going but we did it and we had fun. We talked about everything from sex to politics and just about everything in between. Good times and they helped pick me from a place that I could have sulked in for a while. The rangers came around 23:00 or a bit after that and flashed their lights. Apparently thisImg_0430  means we have to go. We packed up what we had brought except for the firewood as it was still burning and headed home. As we left we continued our conversations and said goodbye to a nice evening.

Sunday
JJ and I had made plans to go to temple but knowing him he was going to bail but I accepted him anyway. He bailed and I went. It was good. I like going there because it helps me recenter myself and be the person I know I am. It helps me just let the worries and troubles go; let them vanish like a bad memory and move on with life. On my way home I grabbed a coffee and thought about the sermon. It made me grateful for being me and being who I am. I am so grateful for all that I have and all that I will accomplish in my life.

After temple, Orchid and I had made plans to go play and have a day together. The only two items that we had in mind that were definates were Col Lees and going to see Indy. The weather again was a bit chilly so we decided to go have a girls day in the spa. Off to one of my favorite guilty pleasures…Madame Jolie.

On our way to the manicure/pedicure estrogen fest we fond a house that we wanted to tour. So the open house was nice and not pushy. I liked that quite a bit as it let us explore and have fun. The house was only $4 million and change but it was awful nice. It even had a wine cellar. Though the wine cellar was stocked with a few bottles it was amazing that the realtor had chosen two-buck chuck to stock the cellar with.

Orchid had never had a pedicure before so I was excited to hear her review on what she thought. She loved it apparently. I think her words were "Thank you for introducing me to a new guilty pleasure of my own" or something similar. I was ecstatic. Usually I get some snide comment from people but not from her or at least not today. During the pedicure she kept trying to get me to color my nails. No thanks, getting a pedicure is already diving into my man-bank savings account rather heavily. Though it was funny when she did tease me about it. The even funnier part was when the girls at the salon also started chiming in and trying to get me to paint my nails with her. Man I was out numbered big time. I stood my ground and declined.

Img_0456_2 Orchid picked a awesome color. Ruby by ORLY Color number 40363. OK so it seemed a bit dark in the bottle but when she had it on my man-bank was suddenly replenished. I can’t say enough how much this color looked so good on her. One coat was pretty, two coats was OMG sexy and three coats was just pure passion waiting to be released. SheImg_0457  also got a manicure and the gal who had the horrible task of giving me a pedicure asked me if I wanted one too. I had never had one before so I thought ‘Heck, let’s make it a first for both of us’.  Again I’m assaulted with ‘what color did you want?’ multiple times. I go to pay and the ladies in the other room all ask what color did you get? Sheesh ladies! As I paid, this was my treat since Orchid hadn’t done this before, I found an awesome pair of sunglasses for only $5 bucks! How could I pass that up? So I didn’t and now I have a new pair of cheap-o sunglasses. Ever notice how the cheap ones stay around while the costly ones go bye-bye really quickly?

After getting my girlness taken care of we headed out to the movie with our squishy feet. This was the second time I had seen Indy and I still liked it. Though the ending is odd I again was able to suspend reality and just enjoy. Orchid didn’t like it too much but she didn’t hate it. We both came out of the show with smiles so it was a good flick in my book.

Img_0453We headed to Col Lees and had some noodle goodness. The place has changed and not only in appearance. The biscuits are different and not in a good way, the service is sloppy, the noodles are not the same and overall it’s just different then the Col Lees that I knew and loved. I’ll still frequent it a enjoy what I can but it’s just not the same.

On our way out we saw the oddest thing. A huge set of rims that were half as tall as Orchid. She and I had a good laugh at this as we walked to the car. Then we saw another one!! Geez people I mean really do you need to have 21" rims on your car? Anyway it was amusing. She drove me home and I gave her a quick hug and thanked her for a great evening as I went into the house and passed out.

Monday
I did a little meditation and set some incense up as I said some prayers for the troops. Then I logged on to WoW and played all day. I did three loads of laundry and cleaned the room a bit but other then that Monday was a waste. A very enjoyable waste.

Tomorrow is another day. let’s see what fun we can make and what happiness I can find in the world.

Sup Bitch? and other fun filled musings

Monday, May 19th, 2008

Girl 1: Sup Bitch?

Girl 2: …..

Girl 1: What you are a bitch!

Me: I’m so blogging this.

This was when I knew we were going to have a good day but I’ll need to back up a bit to get the whole story in. Earlier last week my friend CY and I decided that we should go to Napa. A new up and coming friend BT has expressed that she has a vast knowledge of this area so I pinged her for some advice on where to go.

BT suggested a few places I jotted them down. While I was really looking for quaint wineries that I didn’t express very well in my message to her she came through like gang busters with St. Supery. This place is not only cute but has really fantastic wines.

I got up at 6am to get to the train on time. packed up everything or so I thought. Camera, GPS, iPod, waters in an ice chest…basically everything I could think of to entertain myself for a long train ride to Milbrare then a transfer to BART as I made my way up to Oakland where CY would meet me. As soon as I get to the train stations I remembered that the piece of paper that I had typed up the night before with all the addresses and phone numbers of the winery’s and dining places that BT had mentioned. Back home then back to the station with 1 minute to spare. I hope on the train and crash.

We finally make it to Milbrae and CY calls. She’s upset that we’re getting such a late start but there’s nothing I can do.I got the first train out and made my connection so aside from asking the BART conductor to skip stops the earliest I could get there was 10:30. No biggie really but I could hear that she was starting to get annoyed. Luckily it passed because we both needed a good day after such a long week. I get off the  BART and say good bye to the folks dressed up who were going to the Bay to Breakers. Some were dressed up in tights and panties but they seemed to be nice guys. When CY heard of this she asked me why I didn’t take a picture of them…good question.

On our way to the valley we wanted to stop off and grab a bit of coffee and a blueberry bite. So the local Starbucks served us well. We found a couple places that we wanted to go and sat and talked about this and that for a good long time. Already the day was a win and I hadn’t had a drop to drink. I think that’s wonderful. The point wasn’t to go get blitzed but just have fun and we were doing it. We were having a great conversation and just enjoying each others company. Even when the conversation had a lull it felt comfortable.  This where the two girls come into play. I say they were white gals while CY seems to think that they were of another race. No matter though we found it amusing that the greeting was so off beat. This morning I messaged CY "Sup Bitch?"

Stsuprey
We started down the road to the Napa Valley area and saw St. Supery which I mentioned earlier. Thanks again BT. After touring the grounds a bit, which are far more quaint and attractive then the grounds of any other winery that we visited that day, we went in and decided to do a tasting. I am really not a drinker by any means but when it comes to wine I know one thing for sure. I know that I do not like white wine. So all day I stuck with reds. This was good for me but CY broke out and did a little of both. At St. Supery she favored the red there as did I. I was partial to the Petit Verdot while she liked something a bit more mellow. I think CY liked the Dollarhide Cab. Though I could be mistaken of which one she liked the best. Regardless we had a great time there. We both decided that we’d pick up a bottle of our favorites here so we did and we left but not before snapping a few more pictures.

Bv
We then headed to BV. BV stands for Beaulieu Vineyards. The wines here were so so but CY found one that she enjoyed and I found a great cookbook that has some really neat recipies that I’ll be trying soon. The young lady pouring the tastes, Jill, that we enjoyed was either new or tired.She didn’t seem to engage us much and we didn’t really seem to connect with her so our experience there was hampered by her lack of ability to converse. I’d much rather have had Peter pour for us as he seemed knowledgeable and engaging let alone friendly. All in all though the wines there were hum-drum. The gift shop was fun though as CY (a.k.a. Orchid) started to get her glow and  the wine started to hit her. It was rather amusing. Not only were we relaxed but we were in that fun state. Not mean and nasty just fun. Not obnoxious just giggles and smiles. Orchid bout some goodies consisting of some candle holders, a few place mats and a bottle of wine. I picked up a cookbook of Mustards famous delights.

Markham
From there we headed out to a few others most notable was Markham . This place was neat too but the entrance had a handle bar mustache.  The guy pouring the wine here was nice enough even though he told CY that her palette was shot. I really liked the Syrah here. At BV they said their Syrah was spicy and well it just wasn’t. So when this guy said the same thing I thought to myself…geez do they all have the same lingo and use it on people who look like new folks? Well this one DID have a spice to it and it was nice. So good in fact that I bought a bottle here too. Though again the grounds were not as nice as St. Supery the last spicy syrah was quite good.

We tried to go to one more winery but failed as they closed before we got there. Fine by me because any more and I would have been falling asleep on the trains home.

Off to Mustards! Mustards
We chose this place as CY and BT had both been there and both gave decent recommendations of it. We made a promise not to get the Mandarin chops as we’re going to make those at home now that I have the cook book and we can do that another time.

*Note to NC — I suggest you and Phil go here for a get away. Lots of scenery and very romantic. Though that wasn’t want CY and I were after since we don’t have that relationship .. you and Phil do so take advantage of it.

The loot:

Loot
The loot I came home with ended up being two fantastic sauces from a crappy winery whose name I luckily forget but CY will know, a couple things not pictured or mentioned as they are presents for my sister, a sharpening steel for my knives, and two wonderful bottles of wine. I hope I get a chance to share them with a couple of good friends over a dinner I create from the new book that is also pictured. Anyone interested?

All in all it was a wonderful time and the conversation flowed better then the vino. We talked about everything from cameras to our wedding dreams (though neither of us have a hint of that in our futures…yet), to what would you do if you had the opportunity to be the opposite gender? What would you change about me? about you? Did you see Iron man yet?  Basically we talked deep and shallow and had a lot of fun enjoying the varying depths.

Thanks to BT: The suggestions you gave me helped me learn about a world I didn’t know anything about. While I’m still new at this it was a wonderful experience.

Thanks to CY (Orchid): I had a wonderful time and thanks for putting up with me and my goofyness. I know I’m a bird with different colored feathers and I appreciate you spending time with me. I hope you had as much fun as I did. Enjoy the pizza cutter!