more coffee... SO MUCH MORE COFFEE! WHEEEE....

haha, that's my caffeine high starting in, right?

Wednesdays I don't have class on campus, so I sought out a new coffee house to study at. I ended up at Green Bean (down the street from me). I loved loved loved the feel of the place. It was very bright and very flea market finds type of decor. The chairs were of all shapes and sizes, the tables had that shabby chic sort of feel, and there were lots of reclaimed windows and frames that had bright happy messages written in them, like "fresh baked goodies!" "Tis all fair trade!"

In fact, the people there are also extremely happy... like happy to a point that had me wondering whether it was chemically induced happiness. I'm not just talking about the woman behind the counter with the infectious bubbly laughing. The CUSTOMERS were happy people (granted it was a sunnyish day in Seattle, which makes most Seattlites happier). It was a place where women came for late afternoon get togethers to chat and smile. The people behind me happily plunked down with coffee, conversation, and dominoes! It was actually not very effective for working, as there was so much happy chatter and domino clinking. But while I sat there grumpily reading some journal articles, it occurred to me that perhaps just being around such effusive happiness could make me happier. Yup, well, unfortunately, the drip coffee was just so-so, and the croissant was downright awful (tasted artifically made, no flaky crust and a sickly sweet raspberry jammy interior. It basically tasted like it came out of a package). So it's probably unlikely I'll head back there unless I'm desparately seeking a dose of happy.


Today, I'm at Wayward Coffeehouse, also in my hood. The coffee was good, and the chocolate croissant was ok (essential baking co, but it tasted kind of stale). But it's too DARK! It's a really large warehousey type place with windows at the front and back, but it's too big and not enough light!
It is open late though, and has live music on the weekends, so who knows? Maybe I'll be back here sometime when I'm not light starved...

So at some point, I will find the best coffee house for me, but the search must go on...

Craving the sweet things in life

It's the first day of Spring quarter, and since I was sick most of
break, I figured I would skip going home right after school and head
over to Ballard. I decided to go to Cupcake Royale for some sugar
and caffeine--a graduate student's two best friends. They serve Verite
coffee, which I have to say was quite delicious. They were brewing
Ethiopia Happy Valley today on drip, and it had a lovely earthiness to
go with my sweet red velvet cupcake. I didn't think to blog until
after I ate my cupcake, but the proof is there in the overly dyed
wrapper, eh? The cupcake itself wasn't that extraordinary beyond the
red dye. It was a little dry actually, but it still made me happy just
to have a pretty confection.

I like the vibe of this place. They already cycled through a Mates of
States CD making me extremely happy. The music selection has been
quite good in general after that too. It's a very laid back, Seattle
coffee shop with lots of pink cupcake boxes and globe lanterns.
There's of course free wifi (but there's rarely a coffee place here
without that), and there's a magnificent metallic cupcake right above
the doorway when you come in.



I have to say it's extremely delightful to sit here and watch children
come by with their parents and grandparents, so excited for a sugary
cupcake! Otherwise, the clientele are very unordinary Seattle people,
almost all of whom are on Mac computers (myself included).


Yikes! I think you can still see the Winter quarter blues on my face.

Overall, this is a great place to chill and pretend I have a life
outside of graduate school. You can take the 44 bus straight from UW
campus into Ballard and hit this joint on the way.

Cupcake Royale
Ballard 2052 NW Market St 206.782.9557

They have some cute cupcake shirts to check out too.

slippery white stuff

I still can't believe I live here.
I almost did the splits today walking from my house to the bus stop (the snow was powdery but slippery at the same time!) Of course I left the house at 7:30am to get to work for my meeting at 9:30a because I just assumed the buses would be out of whack. And really it did take me about 1.25 hrs to get to work. The buses were soooo full, we couldn't pick people up at all the stops.



While I'm actually blogging, I want to say that I love the cookbook ervy got me for christmas.


It has a lot of neat anecdotes about the time period and rations. Most of the recipes call for very few ingredients and are low in sugar and butter (since those were rationed heavily). I recently made Apple Butter Pudding with the Apple Butter I made and canned during the fall. It was amazing! It wasn't overly sweet and had a subtle flavor of apples and spices. I can't wait to bake more from this!

Crush Restaurant -Modern American Cuisine

Crush Restaurant ~ Modern American Cuisine

Last night, mom and pop M (i.e., the in-laws-to-be) wanted to treat the ervy and me to a nice dinner in Seattle. It was the first time they'd seen us since we have gotten engaged (that totally slipped my mind, otherwise I would have cleaned the ring a bit...) so it was a celebratory affair.

We ended up going to the much hyped and super trendy Seattle restaurant Crush. The atmosphere reminded me a bit of Bay Wolf in Oakland in that the restaurant had taken over a house in the middle of the city. I should mention that the clientele did seem to be very pretty people better dressed (or just more dressed up) than I would normally expect. The decor was very trendy, very modern and architectural. All the glasses were Reidel (my first time drinking out of a Reidel water glass... it was nice, but admittedly, I was really worried about dropping it for some reason. I guess I'm too used to those clunky, thick water cups you get everywhere else). The plateware was all really neat. It was typical white, but everything was a bit off-balance, nothing symmetrical. Mom M's soup bowl leaned such that it presented her with a really neat thin layer of Red Kuri Squash soup facing and leaning toward her.


Wow, it's amazing what google images is good for! This is actually the very table we sat at... the lighting is alot dimmer at night or while serving though. It was too dark for me to take my own pictures with my camera phone.

On FOOD: I had a wonderful fresh (and local) chicory greens salad with roasted pumpkin pieces (which were so scrumptious!). Evan had some yummy sweatbreads which I actually thoroughly enjoyed (they tasted very chinese reminiscent, although I don't think they cooked it in a chinese style). Pop M had a neat looking dungeonous (sp?) crab cake thing.

I have to say, I think my main course rocked the hizzy. I had Alaskan Black cod with pork belly and spinach in a syrah sauce.... OMG... The fish was perfect and delicious. The whole thing was so rich and perfect that I really really REALLY wanted to lick my plate clean. It was absolutely one of the best fish dishes I've had ever.

The one thing I was disappointed in at Crush were the desserts. They were very inventive, but they didn't come together well. Erv had an apple tart with Amish blue cheese ice cream and a bacon cookie. (I tried this, and really, I felt like I should be eating a cobb salad... it was interesting, but didn't belong on the dessert menu... they should have had it as an appetizer!). Mom M had a molten chocolate cake thing with local huckleberries... I was actually surprised that I didn't like this. I normally love molten chocolate cakes, and I didn't expect to dislike this one as much as I did. It was overpowered by the huckleberries and fruity sauce. My dessert was the Warm Gingerbread cake with Chevre Ice Cream and figs in a pomegranite sauce. It just didn't really go together. I liked the Chevre ice cream. But I didn't really enjoy the cake or the fruit (much to my surprise).

If you go to Crush, which you should, have delicious appetizers, dinner, and wine (we had two bottles of Syrah, the $80 bottle was actually distinctly a lot better than the $40 bottle, I probably could have skipped the cheaper one without regret. I didn't pick out the wine, so I actually can't remember the names... too much cognitive load while trying to keep up greatadequate conversation with mom and pop). Skip the dessert.

Yay photos

Here's Clara and me at the office. You can see one of my big Ikea flower stickers on the wall. They REALLY help brighten up the windowless office fare.

Again I don't have too much time (why do I never have time anymore?) I wanted to post these cell phone pics of my friend Nicole and me from the end of the summer. We had lunch at Cactus in Seattle. It was soooo yummy! It was southwest type food.

cooking rice

I've introduced my friend Clara to a rice cooker (bought at Goodwill for 6 bucks). I hope it changes her life! I am always amazed when people don't own rice cookers. Coming from a Chinese family, it just seems like everyone ought to have one (at least if you eat rice enough).

C called me last night very happy with her purchase, as her rice had come out quite well in her new cooker.

So for all of y'all that are resisting this very necessary appliance, please go out and get one. It doesn't need to be expensive or huge. I got mine for $7 new at an evil large retail store about 3 years ago, and it's still going strong. :)

Rainboots and bars

I've been going through orientation almost non-stop! I've been to 3 happy hours (including a cockroach incident). I've been to a minority grad student potluck. I've learned that crazy things can happen when you teach in classrooms (an example given by our teacher: someone in her class interrupted her lecture by standing up and screaming, "YOU WILL NOT TAKE THE LORD'S NAME IN VAIN!"). I've learned I really really like the 16 other people in my psychology cohort.

I've also learned that I really really need some waterproof shoes and cute jackets to help me pass the winter away. I say this now, even though this past weekend was GORGEOUS. Earlier in the week, we got a taste of gloomy, wet, Seattle. All the Seattlites said, "that's it! No more sun. The rain has started." It freaked Clara (my new best friend, and fellow bay area gal) and me out. So tell me folks, which rain boot do you like?



$20 at target



I like the red one
$38 Overstock

I need cute happy clothes to keep me going this winter. Clara already suited up and donned this cute pair earlier this week!

from target

I tried going to Ross, but alas, I didn't find anything I liked!

I ended up coming home and buying this coat in teal:

I'm not sure how I feel about the buttons though.

Classes start on Wednesday! I'm still trying to comprehend that I'm entering graduate school--that I'll be here for at least another 5 years of my life! Man!

kitty update

My house is a kitty pharmacy.

Nikko is has two antibiotics, nose drops, and an anti-inflammatory.

Asha has eye drops and some sort of supplement.

I'm going slightly insane trying to keep all the medicine bottles on the counter straight for them.

So, Nikko's scope procedure went 'ok.' They didn't find any foreign object. It took the full 30 min so it cost about $600. They did find a huge hard plug of mucus which they have now biopsied. Yup, they were able to grow some things. They now think that he has something that sounds like a rhinocerous... I think it's rhinosinosomethingorother. Apparently most kitties get feline herpes as kittens, and some cats it affects the mucus lining/membrane stuff more than others. So he'll be more prone to URIs, etc. They're seeing if they can aggressively treat it over the next six weeks (hence nikko's kitty medicine cabinet).

Asha apparently wanted to join in the fun. I came home a couple days ago and her right eye was shut. I finally got sick of ervy calling her 'pirate kitty' and shouting 'Aaargggh' at her when he looked at her. So I took her into the vet with Nikko. The doc checked out her eye and didn't see anything under any of the lids. He then added that flouresence to her eye, and we took her to a dark room. There you could see this 8mm diameter spot on her cornea. It probably is also feline herpes related (although apparently not from nikko because they're not transmittable that way?). Anyhow, since there are no blood vessels to the cornea, it wouldn't heal on its own. So we have to keep her eye dialated, and a bit numb. She also has to wear one of those neck collars so she doesn't rub her eye. She is one unhappy kitty right now.

I guess the move really did put some stress on the kitties. It probably made them more susceptable to herpes flare-ups.

Oh, did I mention I also have been sick the past week? It's really fun having sinus pressure and not being able to hear out of both ears :(

Anyhow, I can't remember if I've posted this pic before, but I like it anyway. So I'll post it :P



As requested, here are some pics of my apartment before we brought our mess in :) Someday I'll clean up and you can see how we set it up.


notice the big double doored fridge! Our freezer is sooo big and empty! Behind the counter (near the chair) is our nice gas stove and above it is a nice vent hood! Adam if you come here, you can sit at the counter/bar, and we can make mac and cheese and pass it to you RIGHT THERE.



Living room/dining room

I don't have pictures of either bedrooms yet. I'll wait till I clear up.

cross your fingers for him

I just came back from the vet. Nikko has been making weird choking noises every once and a while the past few days, so we figured he'd swallowed something. Today I brought him to the Cat Clinic of Seattle. They think he has some sort of grass caught up behind his soft palate. Some cats have that problem when eating grass.

It's my fault. We have a yard out back of our new place, and I have taken him for walks there and let him eat the grass. He really seemed to enjoy it. *sigh* Now he has to be in the hospital and go under anesthetics tomorrow so they can try to get it out. Hopefully, it will all be ok.

Cross your fingers everything goes smoothly for him folks!

They're hot, sweet, and sticky...

They're cinnamon rolls!

I was stressing Monday when I was going through my human subjects application. I've always found that baking really helps me destress. Plus, I've been wanting to make these suckers for a while now.

I found this recipe on allrecipes.com
I made the full recipe of dough, and rolled them all up into rolls and made the 'slices' with dental floss. I ended up letting one batch rise as usual, and the other half I froze for cinnamon rolls at a later date.

These were best out of the oven, steaming and nutty. What I liked best about these is that the dough was not overly saturated with stickiness. Of course the frosting was sweet and sticky, but the actual rolls still had that nice pastry/breadiness. And the chopped walnuts REALLY stood out in a delicious way against the browned dough. I would definitely do this again.

Cinnamon Rolls

for dough
* 1 cup milk
* 1 cup water
* 1/4 cup butter
* 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
* 6 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 1/2 tablespoons active dry yeast
* 1/2 cup white sugar
* 2 eggs

for filling:
* 1/3 cup butter, softened
* 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
* 3/4 cup white sugar
* 3/4 cup raisins (optional)
* 3/4 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

for icing:
* 2 cups confectioners' sugar
* 3 tablespoons butter, melted
* 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 3 tablespoons milk

DIRECTIONS:

1. heat 1 cup milk, water, and 1/4 cup butter until very warm (butter doesn't need to be completely melted). (I microwaved it all for 40-50 sec). Place milk mixture, salt, flour, yeast, sugar, and eggs in the pan of the bread machine in the order suggested by the manufacturer. Select the Dough cycle. Press Start. (or use your kitchen aid with the dough hook attachment).

2. Once Dough cycle is complete, remove the dough from the bread machine. Punch down, and divide into 2 parts. On a floured surface, roll each part into a large rectangle. (I think I rolled until it was about 1/2" thick, but it certainly doesn't have to be precise). Smear each rectangle with the softened butter. Combine the cinnamon and 3/4 cup sugar. Sprinkle over the rectangles. Generously sprinkle the raisins and/or chopped nuts over the top.

3. Roll the dough up into two logs starting at the long side. Cut each log into 12 slices. (here is where you can use dental floss or thread to make the slices. Slide the thread under the log, wrap around the log, and pull ends past each other). Place the rolls cut side down into two 9x13 inch greased baking pans (or silicone sheet). Cover, and let rise in a warm place until almost doubled (about 30 minutes).

4. Bake in a preheated 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) oven for 18 to 20 minutes, or until golden. Combine the confectioners' sugar, 3 tablespoons melted butter, vanilla, and 3 tablespoons milk. Frosting should be thick. Spread over baked rolls and enjoy.

Back from the dead, now coming to you live from Seattle!

Yup. I've now been in Seattle about 3 weeks! The first 2 weeks were spent with me madly unpacking. Since then, it's me throwing myself into research. See look, I'm throwing myselft at it...WHEEEeeeee!

*note to self, don't blog while in the middle of writing up research proposals*

I want to send out a BIG thank you to my colorswap partners for July and August.

My July partner, Cecily, sent me a fabulous purple package! Look at all the goodies. My favorite thing has to be the purple silicone spatula. Awesome. And the yarn is seriously scrumptious--the kind that makes you want to rub your face in it (er, not that I did that or anything). I actually received this package the day before I left California. I took a quick happy peek at it, and then sealed it up and didn't open it again until this week. It was like a new gift all over again. And I'm super excited about the purple nail polish. I'm definitely going to start the fall quarter with purpley toe nails.



Thanks Cecily!

My August colorswap partner is the lovely Erin of The Bookish Knitter. She also recently moved, so both of us had a nice "I'm changing my address!" moment. She also just got a new puppy and you can see cute pics of it on her bloggy. Erin sent me some yummy ginger and peach black tea that I'm drinking as I type. The tea and the pretty new mug she sent me are going to definitely go with me to my office at school. That way I can stress/destress in style while I'm analyzing data or meeting with RAs. Erin, you are a girl after my own heart. I love that you sent me food goodies. Mmm... cookies, caramel corn and nuts! Man, I'm going to be snacking up a storm :) Thanks Erin!




Seattle

I love Seattle.

Don't get me wrong. I miss California. I keep referring to how things are 'back home' which makes me feel a little bit country. But seriously, the Seattle summer weather can be gorgeous. And all the water is just breathtaking. I took a walk around Green Lake (near my house!), and it's seriously an enjoyable view. Plus, Greenlake has BUNNIES. There are like 40 of them! People feed them and picnic among them. It's very odd--like someone let their pets loose there and they just multiplied and stayed tame and oh-so-cute.

Everyone has a dog here. Some neighbors told me it was standard issue once you move into the neighborhood. Nikko has now met two doggies, 1) at the place he stayed while we moved (btw, I highly recommend Tenny Bug Pet Sitting if you're looking for pet sitters in the Seattle Area) and 2) our next door neighbor's big boxer, Bella.

Anyway, I'm learning the bus lines, making friends on Yelp (the Seattle yelp community is smaller, but seems closer knit than SF's Yelp). I better get back to work. Here's a preview for my next post:



hmm... what could those be?

Nai Nai's big birthday bash

My Nai Nai had her big __th birthday bash a few weekends ago which included a weekend trip to Reno/Tahoe, and culminated in a Chinese banquet. Above my cousin Erica (one of my bridesmaids) and I give my Nai big birthday smooches. You can tell she's tickled pink!

I love this picture. This is my little ring bearer, Yuji. He adores Evan! Whenever he's down, all he has to do is look at Ervy who'll make a funny face and send the little tyke into fits of giggles!



I was super excited that after the banquet, they brought out a huge Whole Foods Tiramisu cake! Yum! A happy birthday to my nai nai indeed!

sadness!

Earlier this year, I planted a volunteer tomato plant (popped up on its own from seed that must have dropped last year) out in one of the sidewalk plots. During the rainy season, the tree that had been in that plot was blown down. I thought that the tomato seedlings popping up around my garden were actually oak tree seedlings from the big oak that towers over our apartment.

I later realized it was a tomato plant, and over the past few months, I've watched it spread across the 2'x2' weedy dirt area. It grew out instead of up (probably due to the soil quality, and lack of watering). Last week, I noticed there were three tomatoes on the plant. Wonderful! Heirlooms in the middle of the street!

Yesterday, when my family visited, I pointed out the fruiting plant. We weren't necessarily quiet, but I didn't think much of it.

Well, today, after it grew in the street for 3 months, it was ripped from the ground. I don't know why. I don't know what happened. It's just gone. The weeds and broken bottles in the plot are still there, so people weren't trying to clean up. It wasn't that large, so it wasn't spilling into the sidewalk or over the curb. It's hard to understand why someone would tear it out. I only wish I had been more discreet about the plant yesterday.

I never even took pictures of it so as not to arouse suspicion. Poor volunteer tomato plant! Since I had 12 different types of tomato plants last year, I never even knew what type of tomato plant you were.

Phil'z Coffee in San Francisco's Mission District

I <3 Phil'z Tesora Coffee. I know it has got to be that scoop of brown sugar and yummy cream, but it's a tasty blend. Even the fu liked it, and he's not a coffee drinker.



The barista told us that newbies to Phil'z had to start off with this beverage. He then went on to make each cup individually. (He loved these photos btw!)









The store keeps a big bunch of mint on the counter so that they can add some minty freshness to each cup. I actually didn't think one leaf would impart that much minty flavor. Maybe they tucked some extract into the mix when I wasn't looking. But it was nice--not overly minty like a stick of gum, but just enough to be seductive.



On our second trip, Fu and I tried different coffees. Fu went for their iced coffee which he seemed to enjoy. I got the Phil Harmonic as the barista explained that it had cardamom (my favorite spice) in it. I was seriously dragging that day, so I got a large. Of course this was also the day I ate raw/live food at cafe gratitude, and man, that coffee hit me like no tomorrow. I was seriously buzzed in that nauseating-head-pulsing-palpitating-dizzying way. No more larges for me. The harmonic was yum, but I enjoyed the tesora more. Next time, I'd like to try the ether.

I guess the only thing that bothers me about Phil'z is that they use a 'z' instead of an 's' in their name. I suppose since I haven't met Phil, I can't really tell if the 'z' fits... he may be a lil' bit gangsta', so I'll let that be.

Cafe Gratitude

We brought in the vegan cheese today. Remarkably, after sitting out and straining it in cheese cloth over night, it actually tastes more like cheese! The plain actually did develop a cheddar like flavor! So F'son's name and mine should be in acknowledged when their cook book comes out... hurrah!

Speaking on Cafe Gratitude, I suppose I should actually post about our trip to eat lunch there last week. We sat at a community table with 2 other folks we didn't speak to the whole meal (which was a bit awkward... I'm normally friendlier at communal tables... meh oh well)

We sat down at colorful muraled tables and were immediately given glasses with hemp cloth napkins and an inspiring bottle of water. Ours said "worth"


the close-up fu had me take


Now take a look at the menu. You have to get past the inspiring names to enjoy your meal... I ordered the I AM CELEBRATING which was their daily special. It was cucumber noodles with a yummy vinaigrette and stuff I can't remember, over salad. It also came with some amazing sunflower crackers with some sort of spread (now I think it was one of the flavored cheese spreads... having made some myself now).



I ate it all... so scrumptious! (i liked this photo on bay area bites... so i'll bite their photographic idea)


the fuster got the I AM ABUNDANT sampler plate with live nachos, kale-sea veggie salad, stuffed mushroom, olive tapenade, live hummus, and a mini Thai coconut soup. Served with assorted live crackers and almond toast. It was an amazing array of raw food. Delicious too as the fu generously (perhaps the gratitude stuff was rubbing off on him) shared a taste of everything on his plate.
If you come here for the first time, I'd definitely recommend getting this dish.


Seriously though, the live crackers are the bomb. I may have to seek out a dehydrator in Seattle just so I can make these things!

We also split an I AM GRACE Frosty coconut smoothie with young coconut milk, almonds, dates, and vanilla. Fu really liked it. I thought it was a bit rich, but I've never had a smoothie quite like it. So yes, you should try the smoothies.

Okay. I will later blog about the Burmese restaurant Fu and I went to today... it was still crowded around 1:30p and we got to eavesdrop on the old peeps next to us talking about Rachel Ray.

vegan cheese making

Fu just left after we made two quick batches of vegan cheese. Vegan cheese basically consists of soaked cashews, red miso, coconut oil, salt, and water.

While I tried to be a good food blogger and ensure that there were photos documenting the process... unfortunately, vegan cheese is not a pretty adventure... it's actually a rather bland photography subject.

Judge for yourself

Begin with wet cashews in a blender. Then blend with all the other ingredients until you get a smooth consistency.


hang in cheese cloth


I wanted to get a pic of the funani trying the cheese, but apparently, I missed that moment...

Anyhoo, it really doesn't taste like cheese... it tastes like... miso. So we're hoping after draining for a night, that it will taste more like cheese. Our first batch we left plain, but the second batch we flavored with cumin.

Tomorrow we bring it all back to Cafe Gratitude for the manager to taste how we did...

new food blog

My friend Ming has gotten a group of our friends together to food blog... actually it's Fewd Blawg (which to me, looks like Feud Blog).

After debating about cross-posting, I have decided that I like talking about food enough on here (and have a mostly different audience here) that I will cross post most of my food posts from now on unless I feel it's a particularly 'special' post (perhaps delicate or horribly tedious...)

Anyhoo, I will soon post here my adventures in 1) coffee and 2) vegan cheese making.

thanks long overdue

I have to send out a very belated thank you to my June colorswap partner Amanda of GigiBear. She sent me a wonderful blue package. I absolutely adore the bracelet she made with the sunflower clasp! Isn't it darling?! She also included lots of yummy candy (I ate the mini m&m's already as they happen to be a personal favorite, how'd you know?).

Thanks Amanda!

Butterick 4790 and a tshirt dress

I finished my dress for the sew retro sew-a-long! I love it! I brought it to a family reunion over the 4th and my family liked it quite a bit too! For me the pattern was a bit big at the bust, so I ended up shortening the top at the shoulders after sewing it all to make it fit better.

I want one in every color and pattern now!!



I absolutely adore the full skirt!


I also brought the texas tshirt dress I made, but I didn't get a chance to wear it. The family reunion was in Reno/Tahoe, and we only had a few days. The first day I wore a kimono top I had just completed, but I don't have photos of that yet...

Here's the Texas tshirt dress. It's actually made out of 2 red texas themed shirts (goode company bbq from houston-- yum! and a texas tech shirt I found at st. vincent) and 1 black bay area shirt (the bay area print was hideous, so I put it on the inside of the dress).






random note...
Hey Minger! Sorry ev and I missed your phone calls this weekend. All the family reunion stuff in tahoe made it pretty impossible to do phone calls :( Happy belated 4th of July!

Charles Krug, Peter Jr. Mondavi Wine Dinner

Last week, my parents invited erv and I to the Lafayette Park Hotel's Duck Club where Charles Krug Winery was having a winemakers dinner with Peter Mondavi Jr. to host the festivities. Erv and I were under the impression that this would be a large group, but when we got there, we found out there were just 20 of us there to meet and hob nob with Peter Jr. and each other.



As soon as we arrived, we were given glasses of Charles Krug Sauvignon Blanc, Napa Valley, 2005. The wine was actually quite yummy. They made it after the New Zealand style, and it really was nice as the heat of the afternoon was burning off. We spoke with Peter Jr. about our nuptials next year in Geyserville, and the heat in the Valley while the Duck Club staff passed appetizers of foie gras, smoked salmon and caviar, and ceviche around.

Our first course was a Lobster Martini. No actual alcohol (thankfully... as we were going to have waaay too much wine throughout the dinner as it was). It was lobster and seaweed in a tomato consomme.



The consomme really was like essence of tomato. It was interesting, but definitely not something I'd seek out again...

We moved on to an Asparagus and Morel Mushroom Salad, with a Vin Blanc Vinaigrette to go with our Chardonnay, grown in Carneros, 2004.



This dish was actually quite good. The wrapped prociutto and salty parmesean strip really lifted the dish up to yummy standards! Unfortunately, I did not enjoy the Chardonnay. This isn't that unusual... I'm not a huge white wine fan.

We moved on to a dish of Ginger Soy Glazed Black Cod, Braised Baby Bok Choy, with a Miso Consomme. This was paired with the 2004 Pinot Noir from the Carneros region. Despite the lore that only white wine goes with seafood, this was an outstanding pairing on the part of the chef. Actually, the fish was phenomenol overall, but I thought the pinot wasn't one of the better ones I've tried. It did complement the dish though.



We cleansed our palate with a Rhubarb Mint Sorbet, which was way too minty/rhubarby... the texture was this weird thick kind of grainy substance. ick.

The next course was a Tamarind Braised Angus Beef Short Ribs, with Potato and Turnip Puree and whole grain mustard sauce paired with the 2002 Generations, "Red Blend" grown in the Napa Valley. I didn't actually eat this course, as I don't eat beef. I happily ate a second serving of the tasty cod though! The Generations wine is modeled after a Bordeaux blend, and this was my second favorite wine of the night. I have had better Bordeaux blends, but this was still good. I think, had I eaten the beef, it would indeed have gone well.



We started out our desserts with a humboldt fog cheesecake (cheese by the Cow Girl Creamery), with Pineapple Tartine, and Candied Walnuts. My dad took one bite of this and yelped in disgust. It was sort of a misnomer. You think cheesecake and you take a really big first bite. The cheese is not sweet and a bit pungent. It was okay with the pineapple and candied walnuts, but still it was difficult to finish.



The saving grace of dessert was the last course. The Duck Club Pastry chef must be praised. This was absolutely amazing... a Treasure of Basil and Strawberries with White Chocolate Basil Mousse and Strawberry Gelee on a Red Peppercorn Sable Disc. It was so tasty. What an interesting combination of flavors! It was delightful! So delightful, that we all were halfway through scarfing it down before we remembered to take a photo!



They served it with their Zinfandel Port from the Napa Valley. Peter Mondavi Jr. didn't know too much about ports, unfortunately, and couldn't answer my questions as to how it was processed differently from the ports of Portugal. I didn't like it that much. They mixed different vintages together to get young sweet flavors with a more complex older vintage. Unfortunately, I just didn't feel like it came together well, and it was a little cloyingly sweet.

One of my favorite parts of the dinner was when ervan asked Peter Jr. about the labor union strikes going on in the Mondavi winery. Peter Jr. absolutely clammed up. It would have been interesting to hear his side of the story, but apparently, he just wasn't interested in speaking on it.



My parents, Peter Mondavi Jr., and erv and me