Love the Fall

“Appreciation is a wonderful thing. It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well.” Voltaire

Rumi's Quote on Loss

"Don't grieve. Anything you lose comes round in another form."

Rumi

Ads from the 50s

We No Speak Americano ft. Cleary & Harding

Pablo Picasso

"Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life"

                                    Pablo Picasso Petit Fleurs Art Print 11"x14"

Ma Maison

Ma Maison has dangerously cute home decor stuff. 

It's Fennel Time

This summer is all about the fennel. I've forgotten about the bananas, and Quinoa instead it's fennel time just about every time I am planning a dinner. My obsession started on a normal night when my friend Momo came home from work with a couple of fennels, fresh Parmesan, and made the most amazing salad I had ever had. Since then I have bribed, cajoled and pleaded with her to make it for just about every time we have dinner together. The last time I asked her to make it she decided it was time to teach me to fish. I slightly freaked out about this because she has some extraordinary cooking gene in her that I was not born with. I mean who can take some fennel, Parmesan, and add dressing to turn it a mouth watering salad? Momo is one of those people who can make just about anything taste good. So, I didn't think mine could possible be as addictive as her fennel salad. Even so, I was not going to miss out on my much anticipated for fennel meal. I reluctantly took the lead on the fennel salad making and I have to say it wasn't as good as hers. This is because I didn't shave the rough pieces on the fennel and I didn't cut it thin enough. I tried the recipe again recently. This time properly equipped with a good knife and a vegetable peeler to shave the outside a bit. 

I have to admit that this time it turned out mouth watering good. I just shaved the outside of  2 fennels a bit to smooth them out. Then, I cut the fennels really finely and added salt and pepper. Also, added 2-4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, with fresh lemon juice from 1/2 a lemon, a dash of Sherry Balsamic Vinegar (my favorite ;) ) and a ton of fresh shaved Parmesan cheese. It was delicious! Thank you Momo!

Tuesday Tunes: Sara Bareilles - King Of Anything

Who is settling in this relationship? | Vote on the couple in this picture!

This blog is totally mean..but kinda funny and definitely addictive. Who is settling in this relationship? | Vote on the couple in this picture!

Waiting For "Superman" | Trailer & Official Movie Site | Pledge Now

31.6% of high schools students in California will dropout this year

Waiting For "Superman" | Trailer & Official Movie Site | Pledge Now

Albert Einstein

"Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving."

— Albert Einstein

We All Scream for Ice Cream

"Ice cream is exquisite. What a pity it isn't illegal." ~Voltaire

Ever since I got my ice cream maker as a gift from my sweet friends M&M, I am starting to think that ice cream should be illegal. That’s because it is too addictive. If you don’t believe me, then drive by Bi-Rite Creamery at any time to witness the long line of people eagerly waiting for a scoop. Rain, wind and not even the crazy Mission commotions can stop people from getting their ice cream sugar fix at Bi-Rite.

I realized one day that if I had my own ice cream maker, then I could make my own unique flavors just like Bi-Rite does. The cherry on top of this homemade ice cream would be that I could avoid the long ice cream line. This is before I had even looked at an ice cream recipe.

Once I made my first unique ice cream, I realized there was more to this than just throwing some flavors in an ice cream maker. For example, the Persian Tea Ice Cream that I made a couple of weeks ago was definitely the most tasty ice cream I have had. However, it took me over two hours to make it. During the long process, I thought to myself that it might be easier to convince Bi-Rite Creamer owners that there was a market for Persian Tea Ice cream and have them make it so I could just wait in line for an hour whenever I wanted it. This weekend I made David Lebovitz’s Chocolate Ice Cream with brown sugar instead of agave-sweetener and I was very impressed by the taste. I decided that the long process is worth the sweet reward.

Cofffe Makes the World Go Around

The Fairytale Husband

Audrey Hepburn

"For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others; for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness; and for poise, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone.” Audrey Hepburn

Audrey Hepburn Art Poster Print by Bob Celic, 20x20

New Years Resolution - Resolved

After months of training for the Kaiser Half Marathon and going bananas this last Sunday we ran the half marathon and finished!

Sweet Buddha

I have come across Buddha statues at some random places before but I think this one takes the cake..it literally may. This one was at the Fancy Food Show at the Moscone Center right by a dessert display. I wanted to take this sweet Buddha home but it wasn't for sale.

10 Steps to Banana Bread-Muffins

I can't get enough bananas to eat and I am running out of ways to eat them. Meaning I need more recipes. I was delighted to find out that the new food blog - Orangette that I've been reading has six different banana bread recipes! Apparently, the writer is also a big fan of bananas or at least banana bread. I really enjoyed the recipes on the blog and the stories behind them. I decided to adapted my banana bread recipe below from this post. Actually, I couldn’t find my loaf pan so I used my muffin trays and so it doesn’t look like banana bread. Until I learn the technical distinction between a muffin and bread, I am calling these Banana Bread-Muffins.


What to gather: 1 cup sugar; 1 large egg; 1 stick unsalted, at room temperature; 2 ripe medium-size bananas; 3 Tbs milk; 2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour; 1 tsp baking powder; ½ tsp baking soda; ½ tsp cinnamon.

How to make it:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Butter a standard-size loaf pan. I used a muffin tray because I couldn’t find my loaf pan.
3. In a large mixing bowl, cream sugar, egg, and butter. I used a food processor instead of whipping it myself because I was feeling lazy this weekend.
4. In a separate bowl, mash bananas; then mix in the milk.
5. In another separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and baking soda.
6. Add flour mixture to butter mixture in three parts, alternating with banana-milk mixture in two parts, stirring by hand until just combined.
7. Stir in the cinnamon.
8. Turn batter into muffin tray (loaf pan). I fill each little muffin holder 2/3 full and smooth out the top with a spoon.
9. Bake for about 30mins, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
10. Allow to cool for a few minutes; then remove from pan and cool on a wire rack. Enjoy with some tea or coffee.

Going Bananas for Bananas

I remember a year ago reading an e-mail with the subject line ”Wow-go bananas! Good info!” At the time I briefly read the email and rolled my eyes before closing it. Thank goodness I didn't delete it. I was convinced it was some promotion campaign started by the society of banana growers trying to get me to buy more bananas. Today I actually searched in my gmail account to revisit the e-mail because I think there may have been some truth in it. I basically needed some more evidence to justify my recent food obsession with bananas. Ever since I read that bananas are a great snack before runs, I've gone bananas for bananas. Since I am pretending to be a runner for the half-marathon, I have to adopt the runner food choices as well. The reason runners load up on bananas is because they are full of potassium. Potassium helps normalize your heartbeat, sends oxygen to the brain and regulates your body's water balance. All important functions that need to happen while you run, well basically at all times. Other than giving your body fuel, bananas turn out to have have a lot of other important uses as highlighted in the banana email. The email states that a Professor at CCNY for a physiological psych class said the expression "going bananas" is from the effects of bananas on the brain. Bananas not only help you live by giving you oxygen, they make you happy too! The email suggests that bananas are the reason monkeys are so happy all the time. This is the one statement, I personally don't agree with since I have been attacked by an angry monkey. I have realized that there may be some truth to the banana e-mail so I’ve decided to keep a bunch of bananas in my purse at all times. The next time I come across an unhappy person or an angry monkey, I am going to do them and myself a favor by handing them a banana.

2010 New Year's Resolutions

So far we are halfway in the first month and I am not doing so well on my first New Year’s Resolutions. My first one is to write more. Considering, this is my first real blog entry in 2010, I need to pick up the pace on this one. However, I did sign up for a writing workshop that starts next week so there is still hope. I can’t really complain too much about my lack of commitment because my other resolution is not to complain so much. This is hard one because I think complaining is inherent in my culture. My last resolution is to run a Half Marathon. This one I am super excited about because I’ve been running more than I ever thought I could. I never ran more than 2 miles in my life but since October I’ve been running 2-3 times a week to be able to do the Kaiser Permanent Half Marathon next month. This week we did two 6 mile runs. For someone who barely passed P.E class in High School this is huge. I have actually started to enjoy running! I never thought I would use the work enjoy and running in the same sentence. I’ve also discovered some great run paths in San Francisco that I never had taken advantage of before. This picture is from a
View Larger Map">6 mile run from Fort Mason to the end of Marine Drive. Each way is about 3 miles so if you look back you get to enjoy a scenic 6 mile run by the bay.

FAKE IT TILL YOU MAKE IT

Fake It Till You Make It exhibit last weekend at The Untitled Gallery . The artist Kourosh G. in front of one of his art.

Happy 2010

Cheers to 2010! May it bring you air to breathe, fire to warm you, water to drink and
the earth to live in.