This year my in-laws were out to attend the wedding of our son. We celebrated New Year’s Eve together with food, hats and poppers! This photo says love to me. I really don’t know why, except you’d have to know my father-in-law. Generally he’s pretty serious, but in this photo, he’s having a lot of fun. You can tell he’s happy, and so is my mother-in-law. My father in-law turned 90 a few days later.
National Peking Duck is a must-try for everyone. Two years ago my co-workers got take-out Peking Duck from the R & G Lounge in Chinatown. It was good, but from what I understand, the duck skin is supposed to be very crispy. This year we went to City View Restaurant and tried it again.
Peking Duck is eaten like a sandwich.
You take one of the steamed buns, split the bun, add a little sauce, a little green onion, and the duck.
It is delicious!
One of my friends said, “Isn’t the skin supposed to be more crispy?” and it was true. The skin was not crispy, but then again, it was served from a dim sum cart.
We also had Pork Shu Mai, two other kinds of steamed dumplings, but I don’t know what they were called.
We also had a delicious chicken lettuce wrap that was every bit as good as the one I enjoy at P.F. Chang’s.
My favorite of all is Sticky Rice.
The rice is mixed with chicken, Chinese sausage, and other things and then wrapped in a lotus leaf and steamed. It has a delicious smoky flavor.
Next year, be sure to celebrate National Peking Duck Day! Make it special and enjoy it with friends.
Thankful is such a beautiful word. It evokes warm emotions of love and caring, of being loved and cared for. Whoops – my husband would say I just ended my sentence with a preposition, but how else could I end the sentence? I am thankful and here are just a few things I’m thankful for:
Family -
This is only part of my family, but it represents many people that go into making each day special. Each person in the photo made my day special and I’m thankful that they all came out to share in some FOOD. Which leads me to the next thing I’m thankful for:
Food -
My goodness did we eat!!!! There was not much left over after we were all done. As my son-in-law said, “This photo doesn’t even include all the desserts”! Which of course, leads me to the next thing I’m thankful for:
Pie -
Words just cannot describe the goodness of pie. We had about three different kinds of pie and a birthday cake.
Most of all, I am thankful that my Heavenly Father loved me enough to send His son, Jesus, to die for my sins. Thank you, Father for calling me your daughter and allowing me to enjoy all these wonderful blessings. Thank you for my family, thank you for the food you bless me with every day as I know there are some hungry people in the world. Thank you for your love.
The other night was a full moon. I had been trying to get a photo like this for years!! Finally, I was able to do it.
It took a few tries, as well as my poor husband having to take numerous instructions from me, but finally, we had liftoff, so to speak!
I can’t believe I ate the whole thing! That’s what happens at Restaurant Ducroix. Their food is absolutly delicious. I recently had lunch here with my co-worker and normally I will only eat half of whatever it is I’ve ordered. She really took notice when I cleaned my plate!
After we were seated, a small portion of a sliced baguette was brought to the table, along with some olive tapenade. I should mention that while we were seated, I noticed the server bringing extra bread at a nearby table. One taste of the tapenade told me why more bread was requested. It was absolutely delicious. (Sorry the photo is blurry! I’m still trying to hold my iPhone still and eat at the same time!)
My friend and frequent lunch companion, Sandra, ordered the Mustard Chicken. The chicken was so tender, it fell off the bone. It was served with roasted vegetables and pasta.
I ordered the salmon and was so enthralled with every bite that, before I knew it, I had eaten everything. The salad was dressed with the correct amount of dressing. The salmon was served with capers and was a nice, thick, healthy portion. At the very top of the pan seared salmon was the most delicious, crispy seasoning that had been cooked so perfectly to a crisp perfection. The sauce was sublime! I couldn’t decide which was better – the salmon, the roasted vegetables, or the au gratin potatoes. The potatoes were the perfect doneness. Potatoes cooked correctly will have a texture similar to al dente pasta. This potato was full of substance and not mushy. The sauce, again, was heavenly!
For dessert we ordered the Creme Brulee. Sandra and I had gone there for Creme Brulee on National Creme Brulee Day last year so we were expecting the same thing. However, Restaurant Ducroix surprised us with a delightful orange flavoring, along with the generous amount of vanilla bean present in the custard. The sugar topping was cooked to a crispy, crackely, crunchy layer. You had to break it with a spoon so you could savor the topping with every bite!
I cannont wait until our next trip to Restauran Ducroix.
Is it too late to plant zucchini? Normally in Northern California we have a very hot October. I’m not sure if it’s politically correct to call it Indian Summer, and I’m not sure why we call it that, but they do say it during the weather segment on the news.
This year we didn’t plant a garden in May. We were too busy this year I suppose – but the other day I thought, why not plant some now? We’ll see how this experiment goes. I’ve never planted this late before.
This is back on August 10. The raised bed was filled with weeds and dry soil. We have a significant gopher problem so I’ve lined my beds with 1/4″ hardware cloth to keep them out and then placed the soil on top of the hardware cloth. I’ve had these beds for about 5 years now and no problems with gophers getting into the beds (hallelujah!).
This is the bed with the soil watered, turned, and some organic fertilizer added.
This is 6 days later. The seeds have all sprouted.
I love seeing seeds sprout. It’s like a promise of good things to come.
We’ll see how our little late summer zucchini experiment turns out. I’m hoping to get some nice fried zucchini in the near future!
Yesterday we went on a “field trip” to Tony’s Pizza in North Beach. What an experience. We took the bus, which stopped in front of the office, up a few blocks to “Little Italy”. We did not realize that Tony’s did not open until Noon, so we took in some of the local sights. The most imposing sight was St. Peter & Paul’s Church. Many movies have been filmed at this location – such as The Bachelor and Sister Act 2.
It is filled with gorgeous stained glass.
Jesus turning water into wine
The altar is so beautiful.
Alpha & Omega
An angel statue with a basin of holy water.
We found Beach Blanket Babylon Boulevard. We just call it Green Street. (ha, ha!)
We walked around the park for a bit and as Noon approached, we made our way back to the restaurant. A line had already formed outside.
Since we were early we were seated quickly. Once we were seated, foccacia bread was brought to the table with some dipping sauces. A tomato sauce, olive oil and garlic that tasted very sweet. The bread was soft and delicious.
We ordered the Little Italy salad, a lovely sight to behold with mixed greens, chopped pugliese olives, walnuts, Italian Gorgonzola, olive oil, a balsamic reduction and shaved parmigiano.
We ordered the Margherita pizza of which only 73 are made per day. This pizza was the world pizza cup winner in Naples, Italy. This pizza was so good! Such a thin crust with such a wonderful combination of ingredients. The basil was just right, the cheese melted just so and so hot straight from the wood oven.
We also ordered the Wild Robiola with mozzarella, stracciatella and robiola cheese, wild mushrooms, truffle oil, speck which is a smoked cured pork, piave and arugula. Mmmmmmm. That pizza contained so many ingredients that I’d never had before.
The walk back was filled with surprises!
There was a nice little cafe with sidewalk seating.
This place had lovely hand painted table tops. If I ate here I’d have a hard time deciding at which table to sit.
This one…
or this one. I already have a hard time deciding.
This amazing building is on the corner of Stockton and Columbus Street. This is the home of Zoetrope Studios and is owned by Francis Ford Coppola. It has a copper facade. The building used to house Caesar’s Restaurant, where the legendary Caesar Salad was born.
You MUST try Tony’s pizza if you are in the area. They have many different types of ovens in which they make the pizza. Gas, electric, coal fired, rotoflex gas, wood fire. We talked about coming here once a month just to try all the different pizzas! Inside on the wall is a medal from the Food Network, a picture of Emeril and other award.
One sign outside intrigued me. I’m not sure what it means. I think it means “good pizza in here”! Try for yourself and see.
