Salt of the earth

Tuesday morning I had an hour to breathe in the glory that is the Ferry Building in San Francisco. Positioned right on the bay, the seagulls, fog and ships make it all the more alluring. http://www.ferrybuildingmarketplace.com/ The FB is a place I go back to on each trip to the Bay Area. I am always drawn in with great anticipation to the Ferry Building. In fact, it is somehow like going home for me--and when I say "home" I mean somewhere deep inside myself. This trip I found myself focused on salt. The night before at Farralon,http://www.farallonrestaurant.com/ I experience crunchy chunks of red Hawaiian sea salt on butter that was a new culinary experience for me. Simple and exquisite. At home I have a few kinds of salt in my pantry, Fleur de Sel, Pink Himalayan, Kosher and Sea Salt to name a few. But I had never bitten into the glorious red crystals and was intrigued. As I went from shop to shop, I searched for salts and I wasn't disappointed. I found every kind you can imagine and more. At the mushroom shop, Far West Fungi, there were tiny salt shakers of mushroom infused salts that were a whole new world for me. Black truffle oil infused salt was another I couldn't resist. At the Boulette's Larder, a French Cafe with a common table in the kitchen, they had all sorts of salts that they had infused with various herbs like Rosemary or Thyme or Fennel. They were packaged in little cups with lids and hand written labels. Who can resist? I tasted a fleur de sel caramel at Miette (means tiny morsel in French) and was renewed in my commitment to make hand made caramels this year (mom's recipe) but with a bit of special salt. I did find a small tin of the red salt at Prather Ranch Meat Co. but not before sampling Filipino salt that is actually hollow and has a nice little crunch to it. There is something just natural and good about salt. It is unassuming. It comes from the earth. It has been relied upon for centuries by every society on the planet. It reminds us that we part of something bigger, more resilient than ourselves. It is god's little gift to us. Something tells me that my salt adventure has just begun.

Kelly loved her tea so much she kissed it

One night Kelly and I stopped by one of my favorite places, The Slanted Door for a late night snack. We sat at the bar and indulged in glass noodles with chunks of fresh crab and crunchy vietnamese eggrolls. Kelly ordered a cup of Lychee Blossom tea. The aroma was unbelievable. We just kept smelling it and thinking "this should be a candle." As the Lychee blossom absorbed the hot water, it opened up and gently floated to the bottom of the glass (not a cup) and was almost too beautiful to drink. But she did anyway, after kissing the glass with sheer joy.

Culinary delights

As promised, I am sharing with you my culinary pleasures from my san fran trip. For some reason, San Francisco has the most amazing experiences available to the simple traveller such as myself. The Ferry building promised and delivered on a fluffy italian donut stuffed with raspberry jam, artisan cheeses, fresh oysters and hand made chocolates. Tonight's dinner at Farralon, featuring "coastal cuisine" complete with giant jelly fish hanging from the ceiling was just amazing. We started with fresh bread and chunks of sweet creamery butter sprinkled generously with red salt crystals. The first course we indulged in caviar and creme fraiche on toast with copious amounts of the condiments: capers, red minced red onion, hard boiled egg and chives. Delicious. Next course was seared scallops and mussels. My main course was a beautifully seared Pike on a bed of black truffle polenta. Dessert was an apple turnover and caramel crunch ice cream that can only be tasted to be believed. I had a glorious time and now i need to go home and see my boys. I miss you!

Isaiah: What it means to be Two

Have you ever walked through a bamboo forest? It is eerily serene, quiet and peaceful. The trees also have a sense of power and majesty. They are very very very tall. And, they are very thick and reproduce like crazy. Bamboo isn't native to Costa Rica, but the bamboo I found in Costa Rica this past February was making it self quite at home. I am longing to be back in this space again. This time I plan to spend more time there and soak it all in. It takes a few hours to hike up to this bamboo forest so I better start getting in shape. The trip is in March. Want to come along?

How I stopped resisting and fell in love with birthday parties

I don't know why for sure, but I've been resisting the whole idea of having a big birthday party for either of the boys--you know the kind with the bouncy, lots of screaming kids, cake, pizza, melt downs, the whole nine yards. I'd say to myself "a nice quiet party at home with the family is all they really need." Well, turns out that the big party is really a blast, not just for the kids (which it totally is) but for the parents too. I mean, how often can you jump around, scream, act silly and not be in the slightest inebriated? I really had a great time on Saturday at Jackson's 5th birthday party. As he opened present after present, I kept shouting "cool" and "no way" and "Thanks so much!" even though none of the gifts were for me. In fact, i had so much fun, I may just plan a big one for Isaiah in March. Afterall, turning 3 is no less important that turning 5...or 44 for that matter! (to see the photo album, go to my Facebook page. If you don't have an account--open one up it's easy.)

Jackson turned 5 and had a great party with his friends at Party Kingdom.