Category — Linda

By the time you read this, I will be on a plane heading to Barcelona, Spain!

The photo was taken in February 2013 at Peggy’s 50th birthday party.

Anne, Lorraine, Connor, Peggy, Stevo, Natalie and Samantha (standing)

Peggy, Lorraine (Peggy’s sister-in-law) and I are going for a nearly two-week long trip to visit Natalie, Peggy’s daughter, who is studying abroad in Barcelona.

How lucky are we?!?

There is supposedly internet in the house we’ve rented.  If so, I shall blog from there… if not, I hope to be able to blog at least intermittently.

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Here is what I’m up to today…

Who am I kidding?  It looks more like this…

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Please come back tomorrow to see if I’ve finally “cracked the code” of how to make these mind-boggling and out-of-this-world-delicious breakfast muffins.

Here’s a hint … I’m busy formatting the 30+ photos I took of the process and doing my best to edit one of the longest recipe posts I’ve put up in a long time.

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… it’s been six weeks since our last Friday Funnies. That’s five weeks too long!

This is how the three men in my life; my husband, son, and dad see me.

Whereas, this is how I’ve been feeling lately…

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As fun as Saturday was, I think Sunday might have come close to topping it. At the very least, it was a draw.

Photo

Marissa and Jeff came up to the Hotel Drisco for breakfast. There is French brie, smoked salmon, and all the fixings added to the breakfast buffet on weekends! After breakfast, Marissa and I went to her neighborhood nail salon, just 2 blocks down the hill from her house, to get a mani/pedi. Once our fingers and toes were as gorgeous as could be, we did what any glamour girls would do…

… we climbed onto a motorcycle! It’s called a GoCar, but it is technically a motorcycle. And it is the most fun, ever! We only nearly crashed it into a ditch once and then nearly killed ourselves one other time. Other than those two tiny moments … so much fun!

Oh, and I might as well tell you this part now before Marissa adds it in the comments – I was at the throttle both of those “life flashing before your eyes” moments! (I would say “at the wheel” but there is no wheel, just handlebars with a throttle.)

No foot peddles for stop and or go either, just the handlebars with the brakes. Oh, and the GoCar does not go in reverse. Do you need to back up? One of you gets out and pushes it backward. We each had to do that once. I pushed it back to get out of a parking space and Marissa pushed it back away from the previously mentioned ditch. I also managed to run over my own foot with the front tire while pushing it backward – luckily GoCars have sought their frames from somewhere like this fiberglass manufacturing company and therefore are quite light and not toe-crushing.

We picked up our GoCar in Fisherman’s Wharf and drove toward the Golden Gate Bridge, along Crissy Field, and then along the Pacific Ocean and through the Presidio.

Under the bridge, we stopped at Fort Point. Neither of us had been there before. It is so cool!

Fort Point was constructed just before the outbreak of the Civil War.

Military officials declared its position at the Golden Gate as the “key to the whole Pacific Coast.”

Fort Point never saw action, its massive brick walls look to be impenetrable.

Original plans for the Golden Gate Bridge in the 1930’s called for the fort’s removal. Chief Engineer Joseph Strauss redesigned the bridge, adding an arch over the fort, saving it from demolition.

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On Saturday morning, Marissa and I went to Craftsman & Wolves to finally try, The Rebel Within, for ourselves. The muffin with the soft, runny egg in the center that I previously wrote about and tried to make at home, without success.

You’d think that with this “Anatomy of a Rebel” from the C&W website, I would be able to figure it out. But how to get the egg to have that runny center – that is the mystery.

The guy at the counter, who took our order, thought Marissa was super cute. As well he should!

Anyhow, we sat down with our muffins (plus an amazing Chocolate Sourdough, Citrus, Almond & Coconut pastry!) and just admired the beauty of it all.

I held my breath and then sliced mine open. Pure Per-fec-tion! It was exactly as I hoped it would be. No, let down. Not an ounce of disappointment. Just perfection.

The one surprising thing that may just be the key to unlocking the mystery of how they keep that egg center soft instead of hard-cooked … it is served cold. Not ice-cold, but it was obviously refrigerated after being baked. When the staff arrives in the morning, my guess is that they must remove the muffins from the refrigerator, to allow them to come to room temperature, before they open the door to customers.

I attempt to make it again, soon, and I shall prevail!

After breakfast, we spent the day shopping. I wanted to check out a cookbook store called Omnivore.

It is housed in an old butcher shop. The former meat locker is the storeroom and office. There’s a huge meat scale hanging from the ceiling.

It is full of lovely new, used, and vintage cookbooks and in the front window, there is a funny chicken with a toque upon his little head.

Oh, how I’d love to have a quirky kitchen store/school in such a unique and fun space.

Next, Marissa surprised me as we pulled up to Big Daddy’s Antiques. My friend, Sheila, and I visited and fell in love with Big Daddy’s Los Angeles store a couple of years ago. This location did not disappoint.

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I’m sitting at gate 30 in SFO waiting for my morning flight home.

I am sad.

I hate leaving my girl. I always wish that a weekend trip could be longer.

Even so, it was a glorious long weekend together. As is our tradition, when I arrived on Thursday night, we drove directly to San Tung Chinese Restaurant for their dry chicken wings.

Marissa used to live in Outer Sunset, which is near San Tung. Since she moved to Pac Heights, which is quite a bit farther, we call ahead for take-out instead of waiting in the long line – there is always a long line at San Tung! We take our food home and devour it like a pack of starving dogs.

That was pretty much it for Thursday. I checked into the hotel and went to bed happy with my tummy full of those amazing wings! Someday, I’m going to do a boatload of research and figure out the recipe.

Marissa worked from home on Friday. Before she clocked in, she came over to the Hotel Drisco for breakfast, then we went back to her apartment. While she worked, I did my usual “Mom is here to visit and do stuff” things.

I repaired a broken part of the reclining couch. I cleaned a problem area in the tub/shower. No need to go into detail here. It was a nasty and difficult job that Marissa couldn’t figure out and that honestly took me several trial and errors before got right.

I then made a Target run to get a replacement microwave (an Emerson brand she bought in May had already died!) and a new toaster oven. The oven she’d had since college was too nasty for me to approve of any longer!

I walked down two blocks to the corner market for some stuff. Then walked back down three blocks in the same direction to the hardware store for more stuff. I did all my little fix-it jobs until she clocked out at 5:00.

Then, we went up the hill to the Hotel Drisco for the wine reception. After relaxing there, we called for a Lift car and went to North Beach for dinner.

 Photo from SFGate.com

Have you heard of Lift or Sidecar? They are these great “urban taxis” that San Francisco has. Regular people use their own cars to give you rides to where you need to go.  The drivers are checked out and hired by Lift and Sidecar and you use an app on your smartphone to find drivers in your area. No cash is exchanged. You are sent a bill at the end of the night and you pay online. It’s fabulous! Marissa said that Lift is now in Phoenix. I can see how it might work in Old Scottsdale or Tempe, but with our urban sprawl, I don’t know how it can survive in our area. It’s perfect for a city like San Francisco though!

Anyhow, we planned to eat at Tony’s Pizza Napoletana, but the wait was 2 hours. Maybe next time.

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“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.

Good morning from beautiful San Francisco. I arrived here on Thursday night to visit my sweet girl for the long holiday weekend.  We have been eating sumptuous food, seeing beautiful sights, going shopping and to the theater. We are having a ball!

The weather has been perfect!

Ever since May, when Marissa moved to Pacific Heights, when I’ve come to visit, I’ve stayed at the Hotel Drisco.  It is on the corner of Pacific and Broderick, a quick three-block walk to Marissa’s apartment.

Well, it’s a quick walk to her apartment, since it’s all downhill… not so quick or easy of a walk back! It’s not called Pacific Heights for nothing! The photo above is a “selfie” I took on the walk to her place. Yes, that’s the top of my head in the lower corner, so I’m considering it a selfie. It is a home that is for sale at the corner of Pacific and Divisadero. My future home! In my dreams, anyhow.

Each morning, the Hotel Drisco puts out a complimentary breakfast spread.

I especially look forward to Tom’s “Best Ever” Granola – which is very close to my Glinda’s Wickedly Delicious Granola.

Then, every evening, there is a complementary Wine Reception. They always feature various wines from Napa and Sonoma counties and sometimes have the wine makers here to share information about their specific wines. Like going to the wine country, without the drive. Marissa and Jeff usually join me for breakfast and/or happy hour. They love the Hotel Drisco as much as I do!

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I am currently in the frantic throes of planning for/working on 6 upcoming events/classes which are occurring between tomorrow and a week from Saturday. And that doesn’t even take into consideration Christmas decorating, which I have not even began to think of tackling.

That is so far off my radar that it might as well be September at my house. But I do see a little light at the end of the tunnel.

One of the things on my “Must Do” list was to get the handmade invites out for Tram’s baby shower. The shower isn’t until mid-January, but I felt that with all the Christmas cards and catalogs clogging up people’s mailboxes, it would be best to get them out now, as in today!

I’ll be dropping them off at the post office in the next hour when I go out to do the grocery shopping for my cooking class at Les Gourmettes, which is tomorrow night. So that will be 2 of the 6 items done or nearly completed by the end of today!

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Today is my birthday!

Yahoo! I really truly totally and completely love my birthday.

There are so many silly people (my husband included) who sigh, moan, and groan about their birthday. “Woe is me, yet another year older.”

Wake up people, the alternative is not so happy!

You may be wondering then, “If she loves her flipping birthday so dang much, what’s up with the ‘birthday pity party” title?”

Oh, that has nothing to do with it being my birthday.

The Pity Party is in reference to today’s featured craft from the 2013 Fall Craft Party.

See that photo above? How darn cute is that?!? It’s an Urban Scarecrow Wreath. You know, urban, ’cause there’s not a real need for scarecrows in suburban Scottsdale.

No corn that we need to scare crows away from.
To be honest, there aren’t even that many crows here in suburbia.

We have plenty of pigeons though, so if somebody invents a working scarepigeon – I’m in! Until then, I’ll continue to research ways of taking the matter into my own hands. I quite like using my pellet gun to control the pigeon population in my yard!

Anyhow…. one of the nine crafts the guests might have chosen to make was an Urban Scarecrow Wreath.

There were 23 crafters and 13 wreaths available. Guess how many wreaths were made. Come on, shout out your best guess…

No, not thirteen.

Not nine.

Not even five.

…………..

…………..

…………..

None! That’s how many!

Not one wreath was made.

Sigh. Moan. Groan.

This photo was taken late in the evening. You can see ladies in the background, happily working on their Boa & Glitter Wreaths and Bundt Pan Pumpkins. Yet, there in the foreground we see the sad, empty, and ignored scarecrow wreath station.

Bitter?

No, I’m not BITTER! I’m fine with it.

Look, at what I’ve done with all the fake pumpkins, gourds, some of my rusty springs, and one of the crows… I’ve made a really cute centerpiece for one of the patio tables.

The crow stands guard, watching for any returning crafters who regret NOT making the cutest fall wreath ever.

Don’t try coming back.

It’s too late!

The 13 crows and me – yeah, we’ve moved on!

(*For links to all the craft projects please scroll to the bottom)

His other crow friends are now part of the Halloween decor throughout the house, including this disappointed happy little guy on the living room mantel.

The 13 wreaths are neatly and happily stacked in the dining room, awaiting their next potential project – most likely some sort of Christmas wreath craft that anyone with good taste will be fighting over – just for the chance to make.

The people at Goodwill will be happy to resell all the shirts I bought, that have now been re-donated.

All is well, don’t worry about me. I’m just fine. It’s my birthday, for goodness sake, I am happy, happy, happy!

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