I Heart Mr. Bento . . .Again!

And here's a pic from today's Bento delite. Haricot Vert, diet coke with ice, wheat thins, watermelon chunks, and leftover linguine with prawns, sundried tomatoes and spinach from Lucca.

I Heart Mr. Bento!

Having been inspired by KellyAnn's admirations of Mr. Bento lunches, I finally decided to treat myself to the high cost of a Mr. Bento from Amazon.com. $50, but that makes up for itself in just 2 weeks by bringing my lunch to work instead of going out ! This is my first picture of Mr. Bento. . . not quite the stunning cutesy-character esque bento creations showcased on the Mr. bento porn site on Flickr. http://www.flickr.com/groups/mrbento/, (safe for work. . I promise!) but very tasty! I will try to remember to take a new pic of my Mr. bento meal today, which includes a smidgen of tasty leftovers from Lucca, a really good continental reasturant near my house in Midtown. In the picture is wheat thins with Cypress Grove chevre and Molinari salami, spinach salad with feta and heirloom tomatoes, and some pre-marinated tri-tip from Costco I cooked up Sunday afternoon. I filled the fourth dish with watermelon, but I ate it before I thought to record it for all of time!

Mom and Dad share their anniversary with the kids

This weekend mom and dad came up to celebrate their 38th anniversary with their kids. Heather came over on Amtrak (sans Tyrone) and everyone had a good time lounging about. As Dad posted, we did a little shopping and Mom. . . . I'm so proud of Mom. . . tried Thai food again for the first time in probably 15 years, and (drum roll please) Enjoyed it! She was especially impressed with the sticky rice and mango dessert, perfectly garnished with a magenta-hued cymbidium orchid. I only wish i had the foresight to have taken a picture. Here are two pics Dad took of our crew at the Starbucks next to the Amtrak station Sunday morning.

Sittin' on the dock of the bay. . .

Hi Beautiful family and friends!

This weekend I got to sail around San Francisco Bay on a 20-something foot sailboat! We left from the west side of Fort Mason at around 2pm and returned about 4. I even go to sail underneath the Golden Gate to the ocean side! Did you know that part of the bridge's underside isn't red, but a turquis-ey green? true story! And let me tell you, it was SO windy, I thought we would keel over! But dead men tell no tales, so obviously I made it out alive to tell the story. Maybe Dad will tell one of his stories of sailing to Sausalito/tiburon when he was in high school. . . Anyway, i had a great time, and will look for more opportunities to earn my sea legs, or seal legs, whichever comes first.

Disneyland was a blast!

I can say with certainty that everyone greatly enjoyed the pilgrimage to Disneyland. Although the drive was long, the delicious churros and thrill of Disney made the treacherous trek worthwile.
Got to run to a meeting, but I'll post more on the trip soon!

Poverty Meal in Sacramento

So, last night Campbell, Sean and I tried to eat dinner at Ernesto's mexican restaurant in downtown, only because Sean and I got $70 in gift certificates for our wedding that we were saving until we were too poor to go out to eat. Which, or course, was yesterday. I don't get paid until Friday, Cammie wasn't going to be paid until today, and poor Sean doesn't get his paycheck until (gasp!) tuesday. So using a gift card for dinner would be a good idea, something to lull us into thinking we weren't actually poor. But no!

Despite our excellent parking karma, Ernesto's had a 35-minute wait, on Wednesday night at 7? weird. A crowd was gathered in the opening alcove, and since it was so hot and there was no space at the bar to have a drink and wait, my impatience took over and I decided we should go somewhere else for dinner, even if it meant using the seldom-used credit card. Which we keep around for fiscal emergencies, when it's too hot to cook, you feel sick, and have already spent your meager earnings on other essentials.

I voted for Pluto's, Sean voted for sushi, so the deciding vote went to Cammie, who rightly chose Pluto's. Cammie and I had "side" salads- which covered the dinner plate and formed a nice salad mountain-and foccacia bread, which had a lot of rosemary and was super-yummy. Sean had their sandwich special- kind of a french dip with cheese which reportedly was mediocre, but he graciously shared his spicy garlic fries with the salad-grazers. Coupled with a honey mustard, the fries made the meal.

Cammie treated us to yogurt at Big Spoon, also in the mall. We both agree that cheesecake bites are the best topping there, although they often are torn to shreds by the spoon and end up sticking together in the bowl. But they still taste good!

Altogether, a great meal with excellent company. I look forward to going to Disneyland with Cammie, Heather and (hopefully) Miss Acacia, where we will no doubt sample the fine dishes served at the Carnation Plaza Character Breakfast Buffet, the French Market, and Napoli in Downtown Disney! And churros for a nighttime treat, pineapple whip at the Tiki House for a midday heat-abating snack. Look for a post on our Disney adventure in a few weeks!

Cousin's Wine and Dine at Ella

So, Campbell had a great idea- lets meet up for Sacramento's week of prix-fix meals coupled with a wine flight, called "Wine and Dine". We chose Ella because they had fish selections in addition to the usual chicken or beef options, and because it's a new restaurant (opened about 6 months ago). The interior was fabulous! Inviting atmosphere, really nice lounge/waiting area with fancy modern (yet comfortable!) couches, and nice touches such as white cake pedastols and white vases as decoration.

The first course was really great- a lobster bisque with largish chinks of delicious lobster. Coupled with the soup was a sauvignon blanc from Easton winery in the foothills of the Sierra, which was crisp and delicious. The second course left both of us a little bewildered. Salmon with fava and corn (okay, sounds good. . . . ) but flavored heavily with huge chunks of ham? Needless to say, this one was bizarre, and the wine course didn't help it much. The grenache chosen to couple with the entree tasted unlike a granache, and more like a merlot mixed with port- no, seriously, it was a sweet, red wine. Ugh. It also didn't look like a grenache- it looked like port, even! Not to be a wine snob or anything.

The brownie and ice cream dessert was super tasty, and the chocolate flavor was rich and complex, so that balanced out a poor main course selection. However, the Muscat wine they served was on th sweet side for a Muscat. . I briefly entertained the notion of toning it down with a splash of water. the flavor was good, though.

Ella is a really fancy restaurant, and I expected the quality to be a little better than what I got for $50. I think next time I want a nice dinner out, I'll stick with Biba, or try a new place.