Music Monday - The Walkmen

Taking a cue from Catcher in the Wry, it's Music Monday here at the house of NSPJ.

Last week, AB and I went to the Fillmore to see one of our favorite bands, the Walkmen. I guess you could say they're kind of "our" band--we went to our first Walkmen show together in 2002, roughly a year after we started dating, and the year their album Everyone Who Pretended to Like Me Is Gone was released. Since then, we've seen them together more than a half-dozen times.

At the show, they played some old favorites as well as a lot of stuff from their new album, Lisbon, which was released that very day. We picked up a copy, and it's been on heavy rotation at home ever since.

At this point, my affection for the Walkmen is more than a little sentimental, but I have a feeling after a listen or two, you'll fall in love with their sound--a combination of gravelly vocals, vintage guitars, and delicate piano:

Reasons to love Minneapolis-St Paul

Minneapolis Sculpture Garden

Foot in the Door



University of Minnesota Shoe Tree

The Izze's Hot Dish

Ax-Man Surplus

Underpass Art

Ever wish you could just do this?

Midwest is Best

I don't know if it's because we're headed to Minneapolis-St. Paul next weekend, or if it's because my friends are posting photos from their current trip to Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, but I've been feeling nostalgic for the Midwest lately.

Over the past few weeks, I've been thinking about some of the recipes from my childhood, and the one that kept coming to mind was my grandmother's pineapple upside-down cake. Even though I haven't had it for years, I decided on impulse to buy a can of pineapple rings and a jar of maraschino cherries at the grocery store today, and I whipped up my own version of my grandma's recipe.

The hardest part was flipping it over... considering the amount of butter and oil that goes into this cake, you'd think it would be easy to get out in one piece. Luckily, even though I managed to break off a corner, I was able to put it back together enough that you can't really tell the difference! Clearly, I'm a Midwest Diva. :-)

La Mission

A couple of nights ago, a small group of my friends went to see La Mission, a movie set in the Mission district of San Francisco, starring the Mission born-and-raised Benjamin Bratt, and directed by his brother David. I wasn't quite sure what to expect going in, but it turned out to be one of the best movies I've seen in a long time.

Okay, full disclosure here, I’ve lived in the Mission for a while now, and I’m completely sure it’s biased me toward liking this movie -- it's exciting to see the details of my neighborhood on the big screen (even the not-so-pretty ones), particularly when it's done with the careful attention of people who love then neighborhood as much or more than I do.

But I also fell in love with the story, which felt extraordinarily honest as it addressed issues of sexuality, gender, race, and class without resorting to easy answers or neatly-tied-up happy endings. Although they were working with a limited budget and a relatively inexperienced cast (many of them Mission locals), the movie felt heart-wrenchingly real.

Just I was planning to write up this post, I happened across Lorenzo Herrera y Lozano's writeup of their experience of the movie, which I thought was particularly moving (check it out here: http://www.racialicious.com/2010/05/10/la-mission-and-latino-masculinities/). If you're in San Francisco, you should get yourself over to the theater to see it while it's here! If you're not lucky enough to have this movie playing in your city, definitely track it down when it's out on DVD. It's a beautiful movie that's worth seeing even if you've never been to San Francisco.

I'll be there on Saturday... will you???

For all you Bay Area folks...

This Saturday (5/8/10) is the release party for the latest issue of Aorta Magazine, a gorgeous publication that features really rad art and artists. Issues #1 and #2 are permanent fixtures on my coffee table, and I can't wait to get my grubby little hands on issue #3 in t-minus 3 days!

The lineup looks great -- hopefully I'll see you all there! Here are the details, courtesy Aorta's Facebook fan page:

Come see the biggest heartthrobs of the San Francisco literary scene reading some of the hottest poetry and prose. Dance the night away with hard pumping beats courtesy of DJ Puppet. Buy some yummy swag and look at some fantastic art from our very new ISSUE 3 of Aorta Magazine

(www.aortamagazine.com).

Words & performance:
Dusty Horn
Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha
Meliza Bañales
Charles Vasquez
Rose Sims

Delicious visuals from:
Judith Page
Umayyah Cable

Musical temptations by:
Linda Moody
Zoe Boekbinder
DJ Puppet

SATURDAY MAY 8
DOORS @ 7
SHOW @ 8

$5 - 10
(no one turned away for lack of funds)

Too fat for leggings?

Definatalie wrote this the other day, and I wanted to share it here because it really struck a chord with me.

I love leggings because they're cute and comfortable, but every time I put them on I have a debate with myself about whether to leave the house wearing them.

Not because I felt unattractive (quite the opposite, actually), but because to wear leggings as a fat girl is a political statement, and I have to decide if I'm ready to deal with the hateful backlash that might come with walking out my front door and into the general public.

Today, I wore leggings, thank-you-very-much.

Eating Well in San Francisco

It's been a decadent couple of weeks for me, and a reminder of what an amazing city I live in, when it comes to food. Since it's been a while since I've shared some drool-worthy photos (if I do say so myself), I thought I'd treat you all to a few of the highlights.

Earlier this month, I got to check out the much-anticipated (at least, for me) Local: Mission Eatery on 24th Street at Folsom. My Yelp review is here.

Now, on to the photos! First, the most lovely, fresh asparagus and poached eggs, with an out-of-this world sauce, on buttery brioche...

And, brown butter caramel-y french toast...

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Then, this morning, we decided to head over to Ti Couz for a crepe and Bloody Mary (or "Bloody Maree," as they call it). They make their savory crepes with buckwheat, as all awesome creperies do, and mine was filled with almonds, sauteed mushrooms, and swiss cheese.

AB opted for the egg, ham and cheese and we were so excited to see the egg came sunny-side up, peeking through the top of the crepe. Gorgeous!

The Bloody Mary was a work of art too, with lots of garnishes--including a chilled, spicy shrimp. It packed a punch with lots of hot sauce, cracked pepper, and horseradish.

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Last night, we paid a visit to ForageSF's SF Underground Market, where we feasted on everything from vegan currywurst, to bacon caramel candy, to mushroom empanadas, to mortadella. The highlight of the evening for me was SF Delicious' Salmon en Croute, with a garlic cream sauce, and topped with shaved asparagus. AMAZING. Unfortunately, the event was so packed with people, I could barely walk, let alone take decent photos of anything... so you'll have to make do with a photo of our loot from Urban Preserves:

That's all for now... does anyone have suggestions for any other restaurants or events I should check out? I'm always looking for new and exciting food adventures!

Happy Easter!

Every year in San Francisco, the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence put on an Easter party like no other, complete with costumes, music, dancing, and a Hunky Jesus contest.

Unfortunately, they had to take the party indoors this year, but here are some photos from Easter 2009:

Since I haven't been posting...

I really do want to get back to the whole blogging thing, so I guess I'll ease into it... Via Mission Mission, a beautiful song that deserves sharing:

60 years in 60 days

My mom has been working on a awesome mini-autobiography project, "60 years in 60 days," over at her blog... check it out!

It's inspiring me to jumpstart my blog again as a New Year's Resolution... more to come, I promise.

My Favorite San Francisco Blogs

I haven't been blogging so much myself, but I'm definitely still reading everyone else's blogs! Here are some of my favorites from San Francisco:

Mission Mission
Beer & Nosh
Burrito Justice
Mission Street Food
Muni Diaries
The N-Judah Chronicles
SFist

Because I can't be bothered to actually write anything

Thanks Mom...

1. How old do you look? Apparently not old enough, because I get carded all the time.

2. Where do you live? Potrero Hill, but only technically.

3. Are you waiting for something? Vacation.

4. What’s one pet peeve of yours that is not common? unreliable people.

5. Do you want/have kids? Not now, but probably someday.

6. Have you ever thought about converting your religion? I've considered starting my own.

7. Last shocking news you heard? Nothing shocks me anymore, but losing more than half of my retirement savings was a little disconcerting.

8. What was the last thing you drank? Stale water out of a Guiness pint glass. I think it had been sitting on the table since this morning...

9. Who do you most look like in your family? I'm a pretty even split between my mom and my dad.

10. If you could have something right now, anything, what would it be? More quality time with my husband.

11. Where does most of your family live? Illinois

12. Where did you grow up? Illinois

13. Where do you want to go on vacation? Everywhere. Starting with Vancouver (next week) & Australia (this fall).

14. Have you ever had a panic attack? Yes... not in a long time, but I still have some serious anxiety issues.

15. What can’t you wait for? Long waiting lists for restaurants that are only halfway decent.

16. When’s the last time you told someone you loved him or her and meant it? today.

17. Have your parents ever smoked pot? Well mom? Have they?

18. Want someone back in your life? Definitely. I've lost touch with a lot of friends over the years.

19. What do you order at the bar? Gin & tonic

20. When was the last time you cried really, really hard? hmm... I'm not sure, which is weird because I think of myself as a pretty frequent crier.

21. Ever licked someone’s cheek? yup.

22. What is your favorite thing to eat with peanut butter? Apple slices

23. Where were you on July 4th, 2008? Throwing a party at my house... well, actually AB was throwing a party, and I was sitting around with a broken foot watching him do all the work.

24. What are your nicknames? Janer

25. If you could go back in time, how far back would you go? I think I'd rather go to the future...

Purging

When AB & I moved to San Francisco from the Midwest, we were thrilled by the amount of space in our apartment. We weren't expecting to find a place we could afford that was bigger than a shoebox, let alone a 2-bedroom apartment with four large closets! And yet, there we were, with more room than we knew what to do with.

Oh, how times have changed... Like most people, we have an amazing ability to fill up any space we're given. Three years after moving into our spacious apartment, our closet doors will barely close, every last inch of cabinet space is filled, and now our collection of junk has spread to most of the flat surfaces in our house. As I write this, my desk is covered with stacks of paper, and the dining room table is covered with an assortment of Christmas gifts that we haven't yet found a place for.

Up until recently, we still had enough storage space to hide the clutter for the rare occasions when we would have guests over, but we recently moved AB's drum kit back into the house (he recently gave up a shared practice space), and we took a bunch of stuff from a friend when he moved out of his apartment a couple of weeks ago. We literally have no place to put this new stuff, and for me, that turned out to be the last straw.

So, last weekend AB & I started a major de-cluttering project. Unfortunately, the job was even bigger than we first thought... We only managed to clean one room in our house that weekend, mostly because we discovered three boxes (that hadn't been opened since we lived in Illinois) filled with random junk that needed to be sorted through to decide what to keep.

But even that small bit of progress was extremely satisfying. We were able to throw out and give away a TON of crap, and now we have at least one spot in our house that's organized. Only five more rooms and three more closets to go!

Here's a photo of all the junk we're getting rid of:

NYE at the Monk's Kettle

AB and I hadn't really made plans for New Year's Eve, so when friends suggested going to the Monk's Kettle with them, we jumped at the chance. We were lucky enough to score the last two seats for dinner, and even luckier that we got to sit with our friends at the bar, instead of at two separate tables.

The four-course dinner featured Malheur beers -- each course included a Malheur beer as an ingredient, and the dish was paired with a glass of the same beer. The menu can be found here.

First Course - Portobello Mushroom Soup
For me, this was an amazing start to the night. The presentation was lovely, with a gruyere-covered crostini floating in the middle of the bowl, the way you get a crouton on top of your french onion soup. The mushroom soup was creamy and rich with truffle oil, and the crostini was delicious (although a little awkward to eat, since it was larger than bite-size, and difficult to cut while it was floating in the soup). Unfortunately, it was so good, that the second course was a little bit of a letdown.




Second Course - Parmesan Risotto Crusted Loch Duart Salmon
Although it was good, this course didn't really stand out for me -- it wasn't especially flavorful or unique, and it reminded me of something that I might make at home for dinner. The salmon was cooked well, and the lemon flavors were nice, but predictable. Although I've never had a crispy scoop of risotto on top of my fish, that part wasn't especially exciting either. The salmon was also served with some sauteed broccolini, which again, I felt like I could have made at home.













Third Course - Pork Tenderloin
The chef definitely got back on track with the pork tenderloin, which was tender and delicious. The cheddar potato cake on the side was also amazing, with a breadcrumb crust and warm cheesy goodness inside. When I first saw the menu a few days ago, I was really looking forward to the caramelized parsnips and brussels sprouts, and they lived up to my expectations -- perfectly browned and buttery.






Fourth Course - Chocolate Fondant Cake
Dessert was also wonderful, although at this point I was far too full of beer and food to finish. :-) The cake was moist, with a melted chocolate filling, and the vanilla sauce surrounding the cake was garnished with just a little bit of raspberry sauce. Yum....

Overall, it was a wonderful dinner. They were also extremely generous with the beer all night long -- although I was expecting small tastes of each beer, they kept refilling our glasses the whole evening. The beers were interesting and delicious, and we toasted at midnight with the Malheur Brut, which was as close to champagne as any beer I've ever tasted -- they carbonate the beer in a similar style, and the flavor was light and fresh.

Christmas in Illinois

Going home for Christmas is always an adventure - we fly across the country, then drive all over Central Illinois and Chicagoland visiting three sets of family and two sets of friends, we eat too much and drink too much, stay up late, and finally we fly back to San Francisco exhausted, but so happy that we went.

On top of the usual excitement, we had stranger-than-usual Illinois weather to contend with. In the time that we were there, the temperature swung from 3 degrees below zero to 65 degrees above. We experienced rain, sleet, snow, ice storms, thunderstorms, tornado warnings, and flash flood warnings... I'd practically forgotten what real weather is like, coming from a city where the temperature is always between 40-70 degrees, and the only precipitation we get is a light drizzle once in a while.

Here are some pictures of the snow, which was especially nice:

Hamster on a Piano...

eating popcorn.



One of these days, I'll get back to posting actual text, I promise.

Milk

Ever since they started filming in San Francisco last year, I've been looking forward to the release of this movie. AB just bought tickets for us to see it on my birthday.

Thai Cooking Night

For your enjoyment... Photos from Thai Cooking Night at our friend's house.


Making banana-leaf boats:




Delicious beef strips:




Banana-leaf boats filled with fish curry, topped with coconut milk, thai basil, and hot peppers:



Abundance:




Crispy fried rice noodles:



Tasty toppings, including fried egg, bean sprouts, green onion, pickled garlic, and tofu:

Good News/Bad News

I've been meaning to write about election night for a while now, and I know it's a little late at this point... but it's my blog so I can do whatever I want. :-)



I guess our biggest mistake was starting our evening too late. AB and I had met our friends around 7:30 at 16th & Valencia, about a mile away from a bar called El Rio where we wanted to eventually end up. After a quick pizza break, we started walking south, past all of the bars on Valencia street. Every bar was filled with people, all of them glued to the television screen. Block by block, we could feel the excitement growing, until all of a sudden people were running out onto the sidewalk, honking their car horns, calling their friends and family on their cell phones... CNN had called the election for Barack Obama, and San Franciso was celebrating like it was New Year's Eve.

For a few minutes, we didn't quite believe it had already been won -- between the time difference (this was my first Presidential election on the west coast) and the quicker-than-expected results, we were caught a little bit off guard. My first thought was to call JM back in Illinois... I knew she'd be glued to the television, so she'd be able to confirm whether it was true. For the first five minutes or so, I couldn't get through. Everyone in San Francisco was on their cell phone at the same time, and the lines were all clogged up. Finally, on my third or fourth attempt, the phone rang through, and JM was able to confirm that he had indeed won.

At this point, we knew we had to hurry if we wanted to catch the concession/acceptance speeches, so we hailed a cab to get us the rest of the way to El Rio. While we were driving, JM was narrating over the phone, and even held her microphone up to her television, so I could follow along. Once we arrived, we were disappointed to discover that El Rio was at capacity and the line was about a dozen people long. We went to Nap's next door instead, and managed to get settled in just in time to see the end of McCain's concession speech. And then, Obama accepted the presidency, and the bar was full of happy cheering (and even some joyful crying).

Once the speeches were over, most of the bar cleared out. We were able to go back to El Rio, and get a seat outside to watch the local election results roll in.

We probably should have gone home instead.

We were all feeling high from the good news about the presidential election, but that feeling disappeared as the results for Prop 8 came in. For those of you who haven't heard about it, Proposition 8 was an amendment to the California constitution that banned gay marriage. I had heard, in the weeks leading up to the election, that it was going to be a close call... but as a native Midwesterner, I was POSITIVE that Californians are generally super-liberal and would shoot this proposition down. Unfortunately, the predictions were right, and Prop 8 passed. I think the final numbers were something like 52% to 48%.

So, the night ended on a very depressing note. One step forward, two steps back. The good news is that various groups are trying to fight this in the courts now, and there's still some hope that it could be overturned.