A San Francisco Treat

At the very end of last week, I found out that I would be traveling this week to San Francisco for some meetings. I decided to stay an extra day to explore the city since I hadn't yet visited this part of California. my parents and I had a lovely time in Monterrey, but never got as far north as the bay area last time. And, as my mother reminded me, the last time I was there I was a queasy feeling and an aversion to fish that she just couldn't explain. (before realizing later that she was pregnant with me) So one hurried booking of plane tickets, two long plane rides and a couple of meetings later, I was ready to tour. Coworkers had assured me that I could "see it all in one day!" but I was skeptical. I've since learned that you can clap eyes on all the sites in one day, but you can't "do" it all in a day, as my still-aching feet will attest. I didn't book my ferry to Alcatraz early enough and refused to be ripped off by the secondary tour groups, so I'll have to save it for next time. I did succumb to the "hop-on. hop off" double-decker open top bus, so here is a pictorial record of my journey around town:

I started off my day with a trolley ride down to the Ghirardelli square area. It's a pretty beach front area with shops, restaurants, and the all-important chocolate gift shop and ice cream parlor, but frankly there's not a lot of "there" there. I was hoping to get a tour of an old chocolate factory or some sort of historical something, there was really just a nice plaque and boutiques. I did learn (from the plaque) that Ghirardelli was apprenticed as a sweet maker in Italy, but moved to Uruguay, Lima, and finally to California in the gold rush. He started as a grocery supplier, but both the store locations he had built burned down in an earthquake and he turned back to confection making, luckily for us. 

A cheeky seagull and an historical ship.

The Golden Gate started the day shrouded in mist

This may be my favorite picture of the trip. This was a candid I took of 2 "statues" on break in the Fisherman's Wharf 711 getting their change turned into cash and snacks. I think this was their usual money changing spot and they seemed to know the staff there. So funny. 

The Transamerica building from afar and from straight down. 

Some shots of the fancy SF City Hall. It's taller than the US Capitol building...upstarts.

Next up, some of the historic houses known as the 6 sisters or the "painted ladies."

Lovely, aren't they? I think it would be a lot of pressure owning one though, what with all the nosy tourists taking pictures all the time.

Another opportune seagull on a fountain in the garden between the California Academy of Sciences and the De Young museum.

And, at last, the Golden Gate Bridge with a little more sunshine late in the day.

I got a little fancy with a couple of double exposures next.

One more with the flag and the tourists...

The Palace of Fine Arts Pavilion was originally built for an international exposition in 1915, right after the city recovered from the big 1906 earthquake. It was originally built only to last a year as an exhibition space for...you guessed it, fine arts. The local residents petitioned to keep it, later it fell into disrepair, and it was permanently restored in the 1960s in materials built to last based on (and molded from) the original. This structure is hugely tall and really breathtaking in a warm sandstone color.

Look at those figures on the top- just crazy big!

While I was there a group of friends was gathering (then hiding) as a girlfriend was about to be proposed to. Nice setting, guy- well played!

Okay, in case you aren't asleep yet, here are a few bonus flowers...because you know I just can't help myself, I'm a macro flower junkie. Not in recovery. Not even trying to get well.

Thanks for coming on my tour of San Francisco!

Bathroom Reno, Part Deux

I've been continuing to work on the floor in the ragged corners of my time, but I think I've reached the midpoint of the project. Since I last wrote, I put down and then ripped up the mosaic tile border I had planned. *Sigh* I failed to think in 3 dimensions when I planned the floor and the mosaic tiles aren't as thick as the marble ones, which would have left a nice ledge around the outside to trip over at night. So I scraped it all up while silently cursing myself and resolved to use the marble over the whole floor. Here's the border that almost was: 

Oh well. I kept most of the mosaic tiles, so maybe I can reuse them in a table or a piece of art or something. 

The good news is that I finished cutting tiles today and have now laid, mortared, and leveled all the pieces. Whew. 

 

 

It may look a little blue in the photo, but it's "Grecian white" marble. Now I have to let the last pieces cure for at least 24 hours before I grout the floor. After that I can start putting things back in the bathroom and finally get the new toilet and vanity installed. It'll be nice to have the boxes and toilet out of our dining room, but the cats are really going to miss the vanity box! They like being up high on it, and it's their favorite new nap spot.

Based on my experience doing this project, I have a few nuggets of advice for anyone thinking of doing their own tile project.

• Invest in a tile saw. If you're super coordinated and can have everything ready ahead of time, maybe you could rent one and save some money, but I got one at a Black Friday sale and will use it for several projects.
• Wear eye protection when you cut tile. In this case, eye pro is not just for suckers and mama's boys. Stuff will fly off the saw no matter how careful you are, and even if you used the snap kind of cutter it's a good idea to cover your eyes. 
• You can make curved hole with a straight saw- it just takes some time and requires some ingenuity 
• Leveling is important and annoying. Make sure you have a 3 or 4 foot level and a little one for tight corners and small pieces. 
• Cut your tile with the "good" side down. The marble I used usually chipped a bit at the end of the cut. Cutting with the rough side up ensures that you don't ruin your piece of tile with a chip on the side that shows. 

That's the news for now! Next time I blog hopefully it'll be the beauty shots of the finished room!

Chef Sarah's Choice: Empanadas

Clearly I've been a little remiss in my blogging lately, so I'm going to make it up to you with food. I intend to post recipes from time to time that I've been enjoying and adapting so that you can do the same if you like. My title here is a nod to our middle school cafeteria, which used to offer "Chef Sarah's Choice" entrees that were usually either something easy or something to use up leftovers from earlier in the week. Let's hope my recipes are a little more enjoyable than hers were :)

First up is Venezuelan Empanadas. This recipe came originally from the Food Network. I made it faithfully the first time and then of course abandoned half of it and did my own thing. Here are the ingredients as listed, with my notations in green:

Ingredients

For the Fillings:

• 1 1/2 pounds beef blade roast, cut into 4 pieces, trimmed (any kind of beef roast works)
• 4 bay leaves (I've skipped these with no detriment to the dish)
• Kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 medium onion, diced
• 1/4 green bell pepper, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 shallot, diced
• 1 scallion, chopped (I sometimes just add more shallot if I don't want to buy a whole other onion item)
• 2 teaspoons paprika (I go about half on the paprika because I'm not a huge fan)
• 2 teaspoons sazon completa (seasoning blend found in the spice aisle- use Sazon Goya)
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• Freshly ground pepper
• 1/3 cup (ish) of beef stock

For the Dough:

• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil, plus more for greasing and frying
• 1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 3 1/2 cups precooked cornmeal (such as P.A.N. brand)
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

For the Sauce:

• 1 1/4 cups cilantro (leaves and stems)
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 medium avocado, halved, seeded and peeled
• 1/4 green bell pepper, chopped
• 1 scallion, chopped
• 4 teaspoons white vinegar
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
• 
  
• Make the sauce: Combine the cilantro, olive oil, avocado, bell pepper, scallion, vinegar and garlic in ablender. Add 1 teaspoon salt and 2 teaspoons pepper and puree until smooth. Thin out the sauce with up to 1/4 cup water and serve with the empanadas.

I make this dish in the crock pot and it's very easy and smells amazing when you come home. I throw all the ingredients from the filling portion, plus a little beef stock, into the crock pot on Low for 6 or 8 hours. I usually chop up all my onions etc and measure my spices the night before. I store them in a tupperware container in the fridge so I can just dump it all in the crock pot and add the beef (with a little salt and pepper) and go to work. Now this is where you choose your own adventure. I am both lazy and frightened of the frying process, so I frequently make the filling and put it in regular taco shells with a little white mexican cheese or monterey jack and either this sauce or green salsa. (okay fine, I don't use the sauce, but George likes it a lot). I'm including the recipe link so you can follow the real empanada instructions if you wish. You could probably also make the dough, fill it, and bake the empanadas instead for a lower fat, lower risk version. I haven't tried it yet, but I should because the dough turned out well. So depending upon your level of motivation, this disk gives you lots of options. 

Que te aproveche!

Spring Snap of the Day

The clematis flowers that I planted on the balcony of our old
apartment are looking great again this year.

Painted bathroom

On Friday the bathroom was lavender-grey. Today it's a blue-grey and
I've got the new light fixture up. :)