saturday bliss

saturday was a full day of exploring. bekah and i caught up over coffee and books at the book sale. it was so nice to chat with her.

jacob and i enjoyed the sunny weather by exploring sutro heights and hiking from sutro baths to legion of honor. i've never been there before so it was our first time to explore a place as newbies together. sutro heights is rolling and manicured until it drops off into the ocean. its a very interesting contrast and was originally built in the late 1800s.




we sat in a tree obviously smoothed from other climbers and enjoyed the view. its right next to the cliff house a restaurant and an interesting oddity the camera obscura, it uses the technology of the first camera ever invented by da vinci and gives a 360 view of the cliff house and beach surrounding the camera. we wandered around sutro baths, which was covered in tourists, but i would so have loved to come down there when it was in full swing and bathed and enjoyed the rides and the musee mecanique games. its a very different time and its interesting to see how a place evolves especially when its destroyed by fire and earthquake and rebuilt every few years. we left the crowds behind and walked along the cliff taking in the views. our lighthouse stood out across the golden gate and we saw dolphins swimming and diving for food. there were a couple close calls with renegade bicycle tourists but we made it along the path unscathed.



as the sun set we decided to try bill's burgers on clement st. it was very quaint with chandeliers and a plate collection on the wall. they served our burgers straight off the grill and the carmelized red onions were perfection but the best part was their fountain coke, they didn't short us on syrup and you could tell. A-mazing. i love exploring the city together.

the blue hour

i love this blog of photographs, food, and music, not least because,he lives in london, my favorite. check it out.

lentils

jacob and i made an amazing dinner from How to Cook. Its called smoky brown lentils with balsamic vinegar and pancetta/bacon. it was delectable. savory and sweet and very satisfying.

it served four but i'm going to halve the recipe here for you because that's what we made.
2 1/2 red bell peppers quartered lengthwise and seeded
1 lg red onion, cut into 8 wedges
1/4 cup olive oil
1 1/2 cups brown lentils, rinsed ( you can also buy a package of steamed lentils from tj's which is the perfect amount and even easier)
1 1/2 tbls balsamic vinegar
3 unpeeled garlic cloves
2 oz pancetta or bacon, we did bacon, diced
salt and blac pepper

preheat the oven to 400 F
Put the peppers and onions onto a baking sheet or roasting pan. pour over 1 1/2 tbls of the oil and add salt and pepper. roast in the preheated oven for 30 min.

Meanwhile to cook the lentils, put them into a large saucepan and add 4 cups cold water. bring to a boil, remove the lid, and cook at a fast simmer until the water has been absorbed and the lentils are tender about 20-25 min.

Put the remaining olive oil and balsamic vinegar into a small bowl and beat well. add the garlic and bacon to the onions and peppers and roast for 15 min more or until golden. remove from the oven.

Squeeze the insides of the roasted garlic out of their skins into the balsamic dressing and mix. drain the cooked lentils and put them into a large bowl. pour in the dressing, add salt and pepper to taste, and stir through.

Add half the roasted veggies and bacon to the lentils. stir gently, then transfer to a serving dish. spoon remaining vegetables and bacon on the top and serve.

you'll love it, trust me. i also made gorgonzola and walnut bread to accompany it. no yeast here so it wasn't too tricky so we had a delicious simplish {it was messy} meal.

i thought it might be tasty to roast tomatoes as well, there's lots of potential here.

the big book sale

one more reason why i love my job at reader's cafe is that it made me aware of the big book sale. this is the 46th annual big book sale and its in the festival pavilion at fort mason center. so its huge, the largest on the west coast apparently. old books, new books, in between books, on every subject imaginable. its incredible and its only this weekend so you should hit it up, especially since all the proceeds go to benefit the san francisco public library. and if you bring a receipt from the sale into readers cafe you get 10% off your purchase. coffee and books, the best combination

cooking

i found* a new cookbook called How to Cook by Lesley Waters. its amazingly simple but is something i've been lacking, fundamentals. it has sections on everything from boiling to braising and poaching. i've been winging it and wondering why my rice comes out crispy when apparently you're supposed to cook it with the lid off. no one ever told me these things. upstairs, at my job, i often found myself googling recipes such as stir fry, when i initially got started, to try and figure out how to "make it" as a personal assistant. i said i had cooked before okay, i didn't mean i was a chef or even truly comfortable in the kitchen. i made it work mind you, but i think i will now feel confident. i made steamed carrots for the first time with an orange, butter sauce, which made them amazing and tonight i'm attempting gorgonzola and walnut bread.

*at the book store connected to the Readers Cafe, i'll be posting about the Big Book Sale happening this weekend.

cloud atlas

elissa recommended this one to me. its intersecting and interlocking stories was beautifully done but what i loved most was the ending with its emphasis on the world being what you make it. while the book doesn't seem to hold much hope for people actually making a world worth living in, i think there is the possibility and that's what makes life worthwhile.

holga film

even though i got my film in may, around my birthday, i just now developed the pictures. it was great to see shots from that time of birthdays, the wedding and our honeymoon. most of them are very blurry but a couple really turned out well, i think. i can't wait to see what happens with my next set.

*these are iphone pics of film pics. i'll work on getting them put on a cd

beach

the beach has been calling to us for about a week now and with our weird schedules, tuesday was the day. i'd checked the weather it was supposed to be sunny all this week but when i checked again the day of it was partially cloudy and 58. but it said it would get sunny and in the 70s. with that promise we set out, i even wore my swimsuit. jacob had not been to stinson beach before and we are both busy till the next tuesday. we puttered along highway 1 with volksy and as we climbed mt tam the sun peeked out, we were ecstatic, until we pulled back into the fog. that remained as we drove into stinson beach. i tried not to be sad. we walked out to the beach with the wind blowing, but not enough to drive the clouds away, apparently, and sat. then i remembered the book store, jacob said we could go wander around and the sun would come out. so we walked over, it is open every day EXCEPT tuesday, typical. we would not give up though, this was our day at the beach and we were going to have fun. i had never been to bolinas, but had heard of the elusive town that tears down the sign pointing out their location, mainly so they can smoke pot and be undisturbed by tourists. so we asked for directions and headed out. it was picturesque. there was a farm, and a little town square and a remembrance shrine, and galleries. and this awesome sign.


we found a lot of sea glass as we meandered down the beach.

it was lovely even if there was no sun. we went back to stinson and jacob bouldered on the rocks. we had to head back to work but we grabbed a couple of ice cream sandwiches on our way out.

amelie

is one of my favorite movies so when i heard that it would be showing in washington square park i knew we had to be there.

so we packed our picnic basket and off we went. it was a perfect night in the city. there was a good sized crowd, they played delightful music as we waited and the weather was just cool enough for cuddling. not to mention the wonderful colors, the themes of kindness to your fellow man and of course, love, in my favorite movie ever. yay for date night!

fall is coming

i love fall. though its warmer here than it normally is the feeling of fall is everywhere. the tomatoes, amazing, especially the peach tomato on the right, perfection, and the breeze blowing leaves around. fall is probably my favorite season and i can't wait to enjoy it!

cucumbers

via she-fit.com

this year has brought a new love for veggies in general. its true they weren't always part of my diet, i'm not proud but i'm making up for it now. i love salads and i eat carrots, and tomatoes and peppers plain. its kinda crazy knowing my history. but cucumbers might be my new favorite. i love their touch of sweetness and how perfect they are with tomato, red onion, tomato and goat cheese with a bit of oil and vinegar. yum. but my new favorite way to enjoy them is in water. they sweeten and brighten it up just a bit and make it my new favorite bevearage. and its a great way to use them when you don't have the other ingredients and we all know how fast produce goes bad.

I'll Seen and I'll Said

this blogger is one of my favorites, stick with me here people, she's funny, but confessional, design-oriented but down to earth. i won a poster from her and she's the blog i check the most and never get bored by. she does one feature called where we blog from that's getting alot of attention in the blog world, cough-cough, i don't have homework to do okay??, but my new favorite is her inspirational women feature and i just didn't want you to miss out because it rocks. so far she's focused on two of my favorites Anna Akhmatova, a russian poetess who i discovered in college,

and Jo from Little Women, fictional, sure but i love her and the inside information she revealed about the book's ending was fascinating. she's also revealed women who i didn't know existed such as Land Girls & Jills, you'll have to check it out yourself, you won't be sorry, in fact i think you'll thank me.

off the grid

the harpers and us went out on friday to fort mason to check out off the grid. its a gathering of street carts that i've heard of before but this was the first friday i had off to enjoy its treats. there were about ten carts. they had all kinds of food from ramen, to tacos, to asian buns-longest line ever, to creme brulee-finally!, and smores. there were so many people there mingling and eating and drinking and there was music. the typical bay weather blew threw but it was worth it to huddle together and decide what to eat, gathering the best and sampling it all. emily and i tried hapa ramen, who apparently prepare their broth for days before. my favorite part was their lightly pickled cucumbers to put on top. jacob and jody both tried barbeque and the yucatan cart. i love the mentality of delicious, sustainable, good food without the restaurant atmosphere and with so many options. even better, the company was the best part. thanks for making us laugh!

exploration

jacob and i had the best day recently. we were going to the dinner at church, it didn't work out which is the first sign that something good is coming. we then checked out the record store, grooves, which had awesome selection and listening stations. we started walking down market street and found an interesting book store called ideas books. which we perused for a while among city planning and bike books as well as a book about iceland. we were close to zuni, a san francisco tradition of a restaurant, everyone always talks about their classic staples and twists on older dishes. so we wandered over for a light dinner. we sat in the front window and tried their ceasar salad, divine, and their polenta, tastily comforting and a white wine. perfection. as april said when i described the night to her, its so nice to just be.

Father of the Bride

This goes out to our favorite FOB ever. We love you, Ronnie!

Shot on Holga.

Bryan Johnson posted this today. so cute.

thanks dad for being the best!

the help

this book was recommended to me several times and i read about it on book reviews and lists. it came into the book bay, the book store next to readers cafe, and i snatched it up. i loved it for many reasons. as someone who helps out other people for a living its an interesting read. obviously different circumstances but i feel a connection with them because of it. i also enjoyed the authors use of voice which captured the characters and made them very believable. the south is a subject that is dear to my heart because of my time in college and i appreciated her careful, loving and imaginative capturing of a very complex group of people. while it was heart rending at times, overall it was a beautiful testament to relationship and a woman's path to independence.