This is one of those “Do as I say, not as I do!” recipes.

Last night I decided to throw some potatoes, onion, and broth in my slow cooker to make a no-fuss potato soup for the next day.

It turned out to be a huge fuss. All because I wasn’t thinking about exactly how my particular slow cooker works.

I set it on “low” for 4 hours. Which would have been just fine, perfect in fact. I later went to bed. During the middle of the night, I rolled over and woke slightly to smell the delicious soup simmering away as the comforting aroma of soup wafted into my room. Fabulous.

Problem was, I forgot that my slow cooker switches to “keep warm” after the 4 hours is up. So for an additional 4 hours or so, the darn thing kept cooking the soup. Overcooking it, actually.

When I woke this morning and went to look in on it, it was still lightly simmering and it was dark… so dark!

Please learn from my mistake. If you know your slow cooker turns OFF when it is done, fine. If it switches to “keep warm,” be sure to be around (or at least awake) to turn it off.

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On Sunday, Dave and I went to a second baby shower for Tram. She’s having twins after all, so she should have a minimum of two showers! This was a couples shower that her best friends threw for her. It was at the home of Chef Michael Cairns and his wife, Dar. Michael is the Executive Chef at the Montelucia Resort and Spa.

So yes, naturally the food was outstanding! As was the decor, the company, and the relaxed casual vibe on an absolutely perfect and beautiful Sunday afternoon.

Everything was delicious but the two standouts for me were a delicious and ultra-creative quinoa bar that we started with. And a pureed sweet potato side dish that Chef Michael served.

After eating that addicting sweet potato dish, I was craving sweet potatoes on Monday and I could not shake it. That is how this recipe was born… out of a craving. As we all know, pregnant women are not the only people who get them!

Connor and I thought the heat from the chipotle peppers were perfect. Dave thought it was a bit much. If you’re heat-sensitive, cut the amount of chipotle in half. Or start with half as much, taste, and then decide if you want to add more.

Chipotle-Chicken Stuffed Sweet Potato Skins

3 medium sweet potatoes
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 large garlic clove, peeled and minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon chipotle chili powder
3 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, minced
Salt and freshly ground pepper
2 cups fresh baby spinach leaves
2 cups shredded rotisserie chicken
1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
Greek yogurt, for garnish
Fresh chopped cilantro, for garnish

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Since so many of you are still being held in winter’s tight grip – how about a wintry but warming dessert to help you see it through?

The recipe calls for almond paste, this is not the same thing as marzipan. Almond paste can be found in the baking aisle of any grocery store and sometimes in the kosher section, as well.

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I told you yesterday about the pasta dish I enjoyed at foreigncinema in San Francisco. I recreated the recipe at home, making a few substitutions, an addition of cherry tomatoes, and…

… believe it or not, the omission of cheese. Gasp! It really just didn’t need it. Feel free to add it back in if you’d like.

This was the menu description:

Orecchiette pasta: Brussels sprouts, fava leaf, delicata, wild mushrooms, Reggiano, garlic, chili flakes.

This is fava leaf. Unless you grow your own fava beans, fava leaf is going to be pretty darn hard to come by. Since spinach is very similar in taste, I used spinach.

Delicata is a winter squash, even so, it belongs to the same species as all types of summer squash including pattypan squash, zucchini, and yellow crookneck squash. Although delicata squash is common in markets this time of year, I didn’t see any the day I shopped, so I used yellow crookneck instead.

All that being said … here is my recipe…

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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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It makes me a bit sad to be entering my last post about Tram’s baby shower. Albeit, five consecutive posts about one party is a lot, I’ve really loved sharing it with all of you and reliving it for myself.

I’ll start with the beginning, what the guests saw as they entered…

… the front doors and the burlap wreaths that I made especially for the shower. I had purchased a couple of springtime wreaths at Home Goods last year, but they were all nasty and faded before the end of summer, so into the trash they went. Once I took down the Christmas wreaths this year, I had nothing to replace them with.

I had pinned THIS tutorial on how to make burlap wreaths on Pinterest and decided, “no time like the present” to get it done! Oh my goodness, it could not have been easier! I whipped them both out in about 20 minutes. Seriously, ten minutes each! Follow the tutorial and you can make some of your own. By the way, I used an 18-inch wreath form. I will be adding some sort of spring/summer embellishments in the near future.

I found the yarn and number twos at Hobby Lobby and the baby shoes at, Micheal’s, of all places! I used clear adhesive dots to adhere the shoes to the burlap and the twos to the doors. Of course, the shoes went home with Tram.

To the right of the door was a chalkboard sign (of course!) telling guests what to do and where to go. Some people are so darn bossy!

About an hour and a half into the shower, Peggy set the Party Favors out in the same front courtyard so the guests could easily snag them on their way out.

You have to know by now that there was another chalkboard sign, with instructions. This is a school theme, after all!

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Creating a party around a theme is all about the details. The little touches that tie it all together add up to a lot.

Once the theme for Tram’s baby shower was solidified in my mind, I began scouring my house for items to build the theme around. Chalkboards, Scrabble tiles, various items with the number 2 on them, scales, globes, children’s books, etc. Then I made a list of the additional items I’d need to purchase to make it complete.

Two such purchased items were these Dr. Seuss flipbooks. I bought them at Half-Price Books and then proceeded to take them apart.

In doing so, I could use the flashcard-like pages to place all around the inside and outside of the house.

Similarly, I cut up the pages of other books to make garlands and bunting.

These were strung on just about every surface available cabinet front.

I used vintage flashcards from an ABC set I already owned to make not only the garland seen below, but…

… also to scatter about as seen on the tray that held the classes at the drink station.

Notice that many of the glasses themselves are numbered, adding to the schoolhouse theme.

Other school-type items I used were rulers and yardsticks. This one is my favorite. It is from my husband’s family’s old lumber and fuel store in Rockton, Illinois. You can see just how vintage it is by the 5-digit phone number.

Oh, but not everything was a hit.

Tram and I had decided that neither of us wanted to “play games.” But at the last minute, I thought I’d put one out, just in case anyone felt the urge to partake in a little competition.

I found a Celebrity Baby Name Game on the internet and printed it out. Actually, I found two, so I printed them both out and called the second one, “Extra Credit.”  There were no takers. I should have known better and gone with my first instinct to forgo any and all games!

Much more popular was the opportunity for guests to give Tram a favorite parenting tip. Guests wrote down their best hints and tricks. Tram, Peggy, and I read through them after everyone left. Some were funny, others were sweet and touching and some should prove to be quite helpful to the first-time mommy and daddy.

When guests first entered, there was a place to drop off the unwrapped books they brought …

… to build the twins’ library.

I started it off with a set of ten classic children’s novels. (Oh, and the book in the wagon was sent FedEx by a sweet friend who lives in Texas – so very thoughtful!)

And this is what it looked like by the time the party ended.

Over on the gift table…

… we started out with a gift from Peggy and me and a second one that a friend who wasn’t able to attend had dropped off.

Another decision Tram and I made ahead of time was to not open gifts during the shower. This sign informed the guests of that matter upfront as they dropped their gifts off.

It reads, “Time has not been set aside for gift opening. We will be enjoying our time together ‘mingling.’  If you would like to have Tram open your gift while you are here, just pull her aside.”  Tram and I were happy with the decision, I hope the guests were too.

This is what the table looked like at the end of the shower. Such generous guests!

Speaking of the lovely guests… here they are.

Emma, Tram, and Jen.

Lin Sue and Tram.

Heather, Tram, Matt, and Kacie.

Tram, Cruz, and his mommy, Veronica.

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