Local "drugs"

I know that several times before that I have waxed poetic about the crack cheese. No more. It has been replaced with a much more local source.


The Pierce Pt. and the Mt. Tam

Yep, that's right. Cowgirl Creamery. Appreciating food and all that I do, it's not like I have not heard of these folks. I have just been avoiding them because I was sure that they would become my new addiction.

How did this all start, you ask? Well, I blame Cookiecrumb. She mentioned the Pt. Reyes Farmers Market on her blog and it got me to thinking. As it turns out, it's only an hour's drive away. And such a lovely drive it is.

So Saturday morning, I awoke at 6 a.m. and watched the previous nights episodes of "Law and Order" and "Numb3rs." Oh yeah. And I fed the cats because Boris was howling as soon as I woke up. By 9 I knew it was time to get dressed and to hit the road. Along the way I saw all these trees changing colors and thought of Neil. I would have taken a picture but I also did not want to wreck my car. Now that I'm a little more familiar with the route, next time I may pull over to take some photos for the poor guy since he is desperately missing autumn.

The cheese was not the first of my finds at the market though. The first thing I found were these wonderful jellies and jams from The Wild Pear Co. I sampled them all. I need them all.


Jalapeno and Garlic Jelly

The woman tried to warn me that this would be spicy. Pah! I have eaten olives stuffed with habanero strips. The spice of the jelly was near the end but it was pleasant. I got a jar for my dad. Next Saturday is the last day of the market for this season. I asked where I could find these wonderful goods the rest of the year. The answer? The best selection can be found at Cowgirl Creamery. Coincidence, you think? I think not. I foresee many trips to Tomales in the future. Although I can also email her to get more. We also talked about Berkeley because as it turns out her sister lives in Berkeley. She has been invited to the Oakland market but is not sure if she should do so. It would be nice if I didn't have to drive so far but I loved it all so much that I am willing to drive for it.

Next was honey tasting. I wanted them all. The problem is that payday is not until Tuesday. I knew I was limited to two selections so after a couple of tastings, I narrowed down my choices.


Wildflower Honey and Lavendar Honey

I have her card and so now have the address of the Beekind shop in Sepastapol -- another town I really should visit more often. When I return next week, I will complete my collection. She has a wonderful honey that comes from tree sap. It has hints of chocolate and coffee in the flavor. Oh, and there were creams including a raspberry flavored one. And beeswax candles. I thought I had died and gone to heaven.

After making my purchases, I hit the road. As I hit the northern end of Pt. Reyes Station, I looked at the sign. One way pointed to Petaluma, the other to points north. It was only 12:30 and so I headed north because I decided that it had been some time since I had seen the Pacific. Driving along Tomales Bay was wonderful but it still wasn't the ocean. Neither is Bodega Bay. Finally north of Bodega, I saw the Pacific.


Carmet Beach

The strange thing about driving along this stretch of 1 is that on one side of the road you see cows grazing in fields and on the other you see the ocean. I never really thought this was strange until several years ago when a friend came to visit from Virginia. She loved how in the drive from San Francisco up to Bodega Bay via the Napa Valley everything looked so different.

Finally I hit the Jenner area and figured I should head back south before I suddenly found myself in Mendocino -- another weekend. It's been years since I have driven through Monte Rio, Guerneville, etc. Too many years. These towns are so close that I really should do it more often. And on the way home, I realized that this was all possible because I had not been out until 5 a.m. the previous night. When I lived in Virginia, I regularly took drives like this to relax. I think it's time to add more days like Saturday into my life again. For many reasons.

In the kitchen

You Are an Excellent Cook

You're a top cook, but you weren't born that way. It's taken a lot of practice, a lot of experimenting, and a lot of learning. It's likely that you have what it takes to be a top chef, should you have the desire...

Are You A Good Cook?

Well, this just means one thing. I must head off to the Pt. Reyes Farmers Market for more supplies. Who knows? Maybe I'll run into a blogger or two there.

And yes, the time is correct. I cannot believe that I have been up since 6 a.m. Grrrr.

Who's on second?

"No, what's on second."

"That's what I want to know. What's the guy's name on second?"

"Exactly."

No, this is not a post about Abbott and Costello, although I love them. Just like I love The Stooges. With this last one, I was able to be rated as "truly one of the guys." There was this whole discussion about the Stooges elements in the Lethal Weapon movies. So this paired with my understanding of characters in comic books, suddenly made me "truly one of the guys." Don't even get me started about cars. Or the debate about the designated hitter in the American League. Or why pitchers should also go to bat. I still love my A's though.

And no, this post is not about being one of the guys either. Although I have spent many years doing that. I guess it's what happens when you are one of the few girls in a mostly male family. And if you're from my mom's family, shut up. I know that your generation is mostly female. Not the same for mine. One of my first major lessons in life was when making a fist, make sure your thumb is on the outside. Otherwise you might break it when you swing. And nothing like the weight of a roll of quarters in your hand when you're swinging, especially if you are a slender girl. Not that I ever actually did that. I just use the quarters when shadowboxing.

No, instead this post is a revisit to my second love. I also realize that I forgot to mention my third love in the previous post -- movies. Yep. You've got it. My boyfriend came in fourth. Maybe that's why he turned cold. Nah. He just has commitment issues. Even greater than mine -- if that is at all possible. Reminds me. I need to drop him an email. See if he is wishing death upon any children yet. Yep, he has rejoined the workforce and is also a teacher. He is also the guy who remembered from my casual mention that red vines are my fave movie candy. That's why I kept him around back then.

So onto the real topic. Last night I was de-stressing at home. This means sipping on a glass of red wine while listening to tunes on my headphones. Why headphones, you ask? Because I want to block out Boris's wailing. Not that he did any that I could tell.

Tuesday night was all about bringing out my East Bay roots. Well, to start of with. I kind of get a sense of getting grounded in who I am. (This is helpful because I went to the hairdresser on Tuesday after school and now have a slightly new hair color. This I could live with but she also insisted upon lightening my eyebrows. This will take some getting used to as I keep looking in the mirror and not recognizing my reflection.) I started off with Too Short's "Blow the Whistle." My kids have tried to do the whistle part in class. I've cut them off with, "There will be no Too Short in here." You should have seen the stunned looks I received. Followed by, "How do you know that song?" I swear that teaching is what keeps me young in some ways. Another popular song in my classroom is "London Bridge." I have one male student who likes to sing the chorus. Oh, and he jumps out of his seat to do it with a lot of pelvic thrusting. Did I mention that I teach ten-year-olds? It's really quite disturbing.

As I listened to song after song, I thought of my dating life. Drummer Boy is history. I have not heard from him in over two weeks. Oh, and his band is playing locally tonight. Will I be there? Nope. And I thought of Musician Boy from earlier this year. After a couple of weeks, he finally stopped trying to contact me. But this love of musicians goes back further. I spent the last half of undergrad in an on-again, off-again relationship with a bass player. He was in a cover band and only sang lead on two songs -- "Ask Me" by The Smiths and "Great Balls of Fire" by Jerry Lee. At shows he would look at me on the second one. And so many women hated me for dating him. Thing is that I had met him at least a year before I started dating him. A common friend who was also in ROTC had introduced us. Unfortunately at the time he looked like the engineering geek that he was in some ways and I was dating this really hot pre-med student who had just been accepted to Chicago. Geeky engineering student or the suave Beer Doctor? Seemed to be a no-brainer at age 20.

I also mixed in some latin music as well as some Dirty South stuff. Tonight I booked my ticket for Mexico to visit my mom for Christmas. This will be the first Christmas that we have been together since 1994. And the Dirty South stuff? Well, I have to get ready for the family reunion (my dad's side) in DC next summer. And yes, I know that DC is not part of the Dirty South but most of family who will there are from the Dirty South. Just can't figure out those Falcons fans.

Oh, and as far as the kids are concerned, staying in this past weekends seems to be just what I needed. I have found that even though I cough occasionally, I seem to have the same energy now that I had during the first week of school. I even managed to change the seating arrangement in 20 minutes yesterday. Because the kids have personal stuff in their desks, this means actually carrying desks across the room. It was so much easier when I taught middle school. *sigh*

Hacking up a lung

Note: I had planned on posting this in the morning but Blogger was not cooperating. Grrrrr.

I spent the majority of the weekend at home recovering from a cold. Yep, that's what it takes to slow me down. Being sick. In those moments I decided to be conscious, I caught up on some of my DVD viewing.


A view of the cats before I was sick. I cannot leave my boots out because they both seem to think they make a perfect bed.

By Sunday, I was feeling much better. I was also in need of other company besides the cats. They have been great company during my cold, always making sure that they are nearby.

So the plan was to head out but where to go? Then it came to me. Tower! My dad had told me earlier in the week that they were going out of business and therefore, were having a huge sale. As it turns out, the sale is only 20%. Pah! I did pick up Cinderfella though. I love the scene when Fella shows up at the ball.

Oh, and then I decided to brave Berkeley Bowl on a Sunday because I had this vision for dinner. Of course, these visions often include ingredients that are not already in my kitchen. I now understand people's love of Berkeley Bowl. It was well worth the insanity of trying to negotiate the narrow aisles with too many people in the place. They won me over the minute I entered the store because one of the first things I saw was the cheese. And they had the crack of cheese at about two-thirds the price that Andronico's sells it. Or at least it seemed that way. Alas, they did not have the number one item on my shopping list -- baby bok choi. What is up with that? I then headed over the Andronico's near me. They were out as well. I was starting to believe that all of Berkeley was suddenly having the same baby bok choi craving that I was. I was going to try the huge Albertson's in El Cerrito, but then decided to try another Andronico's location first. I lucked up there.


Here's what happened to the baby bok choi. On the rest of the plate is rice, seared tuna with sesame seeds, and a sauce of wasabi, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, lemon juice, and sugar.

I just remembered that there are a couple of other photos I've been meaning to post.


This is the watercolor I received the first week of school.


And this is the homemade curry chicken that one of the families brought me after school on the 13th. It was yummy.

I just hope that the children do not decide to infect me with something new today. I know they're how I got the cold in the first place. Little germ carriers.

We all scream...

You Are Strawberry Ice Cream

A bit shy and sensitive, you are sweet to the core. You often find yourself on the outside looking in. Insightful and pensive, you really understand how the world works. You are most compatible with chocolate chip ice cream.

What Flavor Ice Cream Are You?

I wish I could have some ice cream now but it seems that I have a cold.