Touristy Labor Day fun part I

OKAY! Time to get back to business :)

Two Fridays ago (o my, has it really been that long??) marked the beginning of my fantastically full Labor Day weekend. My morning flew by since I had tons to get done at the office and the next thing I knew it was time to meet Jamie and his mom for lunch at Yank Sing.

I've mentioned Yank Sing in a previous San Francisco-related post and how much I adore their Shanghai Dumplings, so when I found out Jamie's mom was staying at a hotel across the street I just HAD to expose them to the deliciousness that is Yank Sing!

We went with some Shrimp Dumplings, Shumai, Shanghai Dumplings (tried hard not to get two orders), Potstickers (mediocre), Peking Duck (fabulous), Crab Dumplings (not really into these...think crabcake in a dumpling wrapper), Scallop Shumai (AMAZING), Scallion Pancakes (meh), Chinese Broccoli (can't go wrong here), Pork Buns (I didn't sample these, but they were baked instead of steamed and had some honey on top). Sound like a lot of food? IT WAS! Thankfully we had a long day of walking ahead of us ;)

After lunch, we hopped into a cab over to the Palace of Fine Arts. This was one of the first places I fell in love with when I first visited San Francisco. I know that sounds super cheesy, but there's just something about it that makes me happy and want to take tons of photos.

Even with construction on a foggy/cloudy day I think it still looks great.

We walked from the Palace of Fine Arts over to Crissy Field where we stopped for a quick caffeine fix before walking along the Promenade.

We lingered along Crissy Field before heading back so we could make it to Off the Grid by 5pm. What is Off the Grid, you ask? Well, I've been dying to check this event out all summer. A bunch of food trucks park at the Fort Mason Center from 5-9 on Friday nights and set up shop with some chairs and a bar area. Instead of trying to track down all these tasty trucks around the city, they're parked in one spot.

I was completely overwhelmed by all the trucks. So many delicious options! I eventually settled on a BBQ Sammy from Seoul on Wheels.

Verdict: I've had better sammiches and better bulgogi. I think I expected a lot of this sammich. It was pretty plain with a smear of mayo and gochujang, lettuce and bulgogi on a soft bun. Personally, I think a nice kimchi slaw would give it a good tangy kick. I'd also like a little crunch to the bun and maybe a moist/saucy pile of bulgogi. Just a thought.

Jamie ordered a Bulgogi Rice Bowl with Kimchi Fried Rice.

Same deal with the bulgogi and the rice was surprisingly overdone...like mushy overdone. It made me miss the little yellow cart in DC :(

I will say that customer service at the cart was superb. Exactly what you want at a food truck: friendly, upbeat and fast service.

Once we had our fill of street food, we hoofed it up my favorite hill, through Fisherman's Wharf to Alcatraz Landing where we hopped on the ferry for our night tour of Alcatraz *insert scary music here*

It was a foggy evening so we couldn't see a thing as we approached Alcatraz (extra creepy). We arrived just as the sun was setting, hiked up a hill to the cell block and began our audio tour.

I must say, even though I got the heebiejeebies taking the tour in the foggy/cold night, I think the night tour rocks. There's a smaller crowd and they offer a few more walking tour options than during the day.

Just a little note: someone told me that there's a rumor Alcatraz might be closing in the near future (something about the tourist traffic causing the facilities to deteriorate??). Could be just a rumor or it could be legit. Anyone?

After all that walking (I can run for 5 hours, but for some reason walking always kills me), I decided to pass on my scheduled 20 miler (ehh, it's a holiday weekend ;p) and slept like a baaaaby that night.

The next morning, Jamie and I took a long walk to meet his mom at her hotel near the Embarcadero before heading to the Ferry Building for some Farmers Market fun. Yes, we braved the late morning crowds to grab some brunch and produce.

Jamie snacked on (as usual) his Prather Ranch Breakfast Sammich and I broke off to find a breakfast of my own. I headed over to the Primavera stall, but was in no mood to wait in line so I shuffled next door to the Namu stall. Remember Namu? Well they had some tasty Korean/Japanese offerings that piqued my interest. I eventually decided on the Korean Egg Toast (carrots, cabbage & eggs in soft scramble between pain de mi bread with ketchup, bacon, kewpie and garlic home fries)

Ennhhh, not my favorite breakfast, but it was filling. The whole thing was super greasy (as in see through my paper plate greasy) and it needed more flavor...something sweet or acidic to counteract the grease. Lesson learned. I'm sticking with Primavera from now on.

After brunch we wandered around the market to grab some ingredients for our wine country picnic and Monday dinner. As I've mentioned before, I'm always overwhelmed at the Ferry Building market since I'm not familiar with the vendors. This time I had a general idea of what I wanted and where I wanted to go.

Definitely wanted some golden beets for the picnic-friendly Israeli Couscous & Beet Salad, but couldn't find any. That's when I started chatting with one of the vendors about his beets and sampled a couple different varieties. He also threw in a white beet and suggested I grate some raw on top of a salad. Can't find that sort of personal service at the big box grocery.

Grabbed some greens, freshly made ciabatta, tomatoes and called it a day. Phew. Stay tuned for more Labor Day fun :)

Oops I did it again

Man, the days are just zooming past me! It's hard to believe that June is almost over! So much for avoiding massive photo dump posts :\

I was pretty bummed after Jamie left last Wednesday so I tried to load up my Thursday with a nice long run and a light dinner.

I mapped a 5 mile route from my apartment (very first one!) that took me down Union Street for some fast window shopping, up that silly Fort Mason hill, along the Embarcadero, and through the Financial District where I snapped a quickie photo

I got up close and personal with the Transamerica Pyramid before heading up some monster hills through Chinatown. Yep, I failed to read the elevation chart on Mapmyrun.com (and by failed, I mean I obviously don't understand how to use it) and was greeted by a series of serious hills about 3/4 of the way through my run. WTF?

Thankfully I didn't have to dodge people in Chinatown (note to self, Chinatown is surprisingly empty around 7pm)! If only you could see my face as I stopped at this intersection...

That was only the second incline. I didn't even have the energy to take a picture of the 3 inclines to my apartment. Oy. I think the saddest part is that Jamie and I walked up those last 3 inclines...I KNEW those were there. D'oh! One day I'll share those gems with you...

After all that, I was too exhausted to even think about dinner (let alone get creative with the few grocery items I had) so I popped into the Top O' the Hill Market at the corner of Leavenworth and Union (it is in fact, located at the top of the hill). After wandering around the small market like a lost child, I walked out with some ingredients for a ghetto taco brown rice bowl. Oh my goodness. SO ghetto. You think I'm kidding? I wish I took a picture...chicken strips, brown rice, salsa, taco cheese and avocado. It was not pretty. I did grab a can of refried beans, but soon realized I didn't have a can opener. FAIL!

The market wasn't too bad...definitely pricey and there's a limited selection of food. I'd probably go there in a pinch, but one weird thing I noticed - it's always closed when I pass by? Bizarre.

My Safeway delivery was scheduled to arrive Friday afternoon and I was really excited to finally fill up my cabinets! Since I don't really trust others to pick out produce for me, I only got canned/heavy foods and pantry staples delivered. The rest I picked up on my walk home :)

First stop of the day was Cheese Plus. I'm trying not to spend a ton of money so I refrained from splurging on all their goodies. I walked out with sherry vinegar (what? I've been searching everywhere for it!), a bag of arugula and some Sabra Supremely Spicy Hummus (I've missed you!). I also found out that they do knife sharpening once a week, unfortunately it's not free :(

I found myself wandering into Real Foods next. I think this place is a little too expensive for regular groceries, but they do have a great variety of produce and food. I grabbed a couple fruits, yogurt and took note of the other interesting options they had to offer. I was surprised at how well I controlled my urges to buy!

I was really just holding out for Polk Street Produce. Ok, I have to admit that the first 3 times I walked into the store, I managed to miss ALL the fresh produce they have sitting outside. Obviously I'm a space cadet. Jamie mentioned he saw some good produce (in particular, some champagne mangoes) so I figured I'd stop in.

I grabbed some cherries, a few berries, some salad greens and toppings and headed home in time to greet the Safeway man with my goods. Woo! To celebrate, I made myself a massive salad:

I mixed some salad greens with my arugula, threw in some pickled beets (yay!), corn (double yay!), green pepper, avocado, hearts of palm and some deli chicken. Topped it off with some Brianna's Home Style Poppyseed Dressing:

SO yummy and SO not healthy. I'm usually not a creamy dressing person, but ever since I had this on a salad at Cafe Capriccio I've been hooked! It was actually a great addition to the salad :) Fabulous end to the week!

Saturday morning took me on a bus adventure to the other side of the city. Why? For a 10 mile run with the running group, of course! Our run started off at the Beach Chalet parking lot on the Great Highway at 9:30am. My morning started a little after 8 for my hour-long, 2-bus commute. Woah. It actually wasn't too bad. Now that I know how to get there, I might be able to nap next time ;) The bus stops right before the ocean!

Hey, ocean!

Oh Great Highway....we meet again. Not going to lie, I may have gotten a little choked up remembering marathon #1. *insert laughing at my nerdy sentiment here*

We headed south along the bike path and back to put in 4.5 miles before heading north on the Great Highway for an additional 5.5 through Golden Gate Park. Running along the path immediately reminded me of Saturday runs in DC/VA. It was fairly flat and quiet with a little greenery for good measure.

Running through the park - not as fun. I think it's because we stuck to a dirt path and you know how I am with unpaved paths...yeh. I also found out that we were running a very long and gradual incline to our turnaround point (the De Young). Jeebus. I don't know what happened (perhaps my gel kicked in or maybe it was the slight downhill), but a little while before the turnaround point, I got this freak burst of energy and next thing you know I'm zooming through the next 3 miles! It felt awesome! Ended up finishing in 1:42...not bad for first long run back.

I was STARVING by the time I got home and wasn't really looking forward to cooking breakfast on my own so I opted to splurge on brunch. I paid a visit to Rex Cafe since it didn't look like it would mind my post-run look. I sat at the bar, guzzled a couple glasses of water and chowed on this monster:

I got the California Omelet (avocado, jack cheese, fresh salsa, & sour cream, served with home fries & toast) because you know I love avocado. Oh, did I mention the massive side of ham I ordered? Had no idea they'd give me a giant plate with 3 slices. Dang.

I ended up only eating about 1/3 of my omelet because it was just too rich. I had no idea they'd shove a ton of avocado inside the omelet on top of the cheese...WAY too rich. I guess it's a good thing I got that side o ham. I ended up eating that with potatoes.

Walked home with the intent to be productive after my shower, but ended up vegging the rest of the day. I forgot how tired I get after the first couple long runs of training season. Useless! To counteract my ridiculous post-run meal, I made another massive salad for dinner. Yep. Had to be done.

What's your favorite post-long run meal? Favorite post-long run activity?

There goes that idea...

Yeah, um so much for posting during the week and catching up on my overflowing Google Reader! As usual, I've got quite a massive and random post for you guys. Hopefully these will disappear once I get settled in my new home!

Let's see...I left you with Lost and mattress shopping. Exciting stuff. Tuesday night's run was super quick. Instead of the usual out and back route by the water, our run took us through the Presidio for a not so flat, not so hilly change of pace. My tummy got a bit grumpy with me so instead of pushing it up the Fort Mason hill for the last mile, I cut my run short to a mere 3 miles. Eh, sometimes it happens. Of course the bathrooms were locked by the time we got back. D'oh!

I wasn't about to miss the weekly group dinner, so I hoofed it over to Let's Be Frank on Steiner for some hot dogs. I like a good hot dog every now and then...I've become pretty picky lately, though. Rumor has it these were pretty legit dogs, plus I think there was a 20% off special? Who knows.

Just a couple storefronts down from Askew Grill, Let's Be Frank is an itty bitty, brightly colored shop that has a very distinct and delicious hot smell just wafting from it. YUM. I was concerned that we wouldn't fit (seating is limited to a couple tables outside and some bench seating inside - did I mention it was a little misty out?) I was torn between the "Hot" Dog (spicy family-farmed pork sausage) and the "Not" Dog (vegetarian Italian-style sausage) since someone mentioned the veggie dogs were pretty good. I ended up going with my gut and getting the "Hot" Dog...with Devil Sauce.

I need a jar of Devil Sauce in my life. So I expected a spicy relish of some sort, maybe a chunky sauce reminiscent of chili? Not at all. This sauce is AMAZING. It wasn't painfully spicy (especially on my spicy dawg) and there was a surprising curry-ish flavor. Or at least that's what I thought it tasted like. Can't wait to grab a bottle to experiment with!

Wednesday night was a huge night for me since I picked up my apartment keys!! YAY! I wandered around the new neighborhood for a bit until Selin met me for dinner and we decided sushi was a must. Where did we go? Sushi Groove. We drove on Hyde Street and saw a ton of cute bistro-y places and I thought the street was cute in general. Apparently Sushi Groove has legit sushi, so naturally that's where we ended up.

We split a few fun rolls:

Mermaid's Tail (spicy scallops wrapped with crispy shrimp tempura inside and avocado, cucumber aioli and wasabi infused tobiko), Gilligan (spicy tuna and cucumber inside, layers of bonito outside and finished with ginger, scallions and ponzu), Kamikaze Roll (salmon, avocado, scallions and tobiko), and a Wayne's World Roll (yellowtail, salmon, spicy sauce and cucumber rolled inside out with tobiko and scallions). Also added to the list were a couple pieces of the Tuna Caliente Nigiri (tuna diced with ginger, garlic, tobiko, jalapeno and soy).

Everything was fantastic...except for the Gilligan and I think it's because I expected bonito flakes. I've never had bonito before and it's a very fishy tasting fish. Kinda up there with mackerel. It wasn't terrible, just really not my thing. The Tuna Caliente was super caliente! I loved the flavors going on in it and I thought it would be great as a maki roll!

We didn't get out of dinner until about 10 (they were super slammed and gave us some edamame for free as we waited - yay!) and then we trekked over to the apartment so Selin could check out the new digs (slash advise on layout). Tastebuds satisfied and belly full, we headed back home and I passed the f out. SO exhausted.

I passed on my Thursday run (tsk, tsk!) to be productive and head to Bed Bath & Beyond for a few essentials and seal the deal on my mattress. WOO! I thought it was worthy of an excused absence, don't you? For dinner, I got a little experimental since I had lentils and tofu leftover from previous meals. I present to you Spiced Lentils with Tofu!

Not exactly the most photogenic dish, but it was pretty tasty in my opinion. A good effort considering what I had to work with!

Spiced Lentils with Tofu

1/2 package cooked lentils

1/2 block high protein tofu, diced

1/4 onion thinly sliced

1 tbsp garam masala

1/3 c spinach

1/3 c chicken broth

1 tbsp olive oil

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbsp sriracha sauce

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp grated ginger

Heat olive oil in a pan over medium high heat. Add tofu and brown for about 5 minutes. Add onion and cook until onion starts to turn translucent. Add garam masala, salt, garlic powder and sriracha. Cook for 2 minutes. Add chicken broth and lentils and cook for another 4-5 minutes before stirring in spinach and ginger. Cook for another 3-5 minutes and serve.

This made just enough for dinner and lunch the next day. Again, I wish I had some other spices to play with, but not bad for what I used!

Friday night's pre-long run meal was...wait for it...

PUPUSAS! Of course. This time they were from the original La Santaneca and they were GLORIOUS. Made my evening!

I popped out of bed around 7am this morning to do an early run with a friend from the running group. We both needed to be places late this morning so we agreed to meet up at 8 to knock out our 7 mile route. SO great to chat while running again! We knocked out a super easy 7 miles in 1:15 with a hill and no tourists (thank god). It felt so good to get everything done before 9:30 :)

I was starving by the time I got back and it was a good thing since we had plans for bottomless sangria brunch at Don Pisto's! When we got there everyone was already set up with some chips and guac and 2 generous pitchers of sangria. Delicious and somewhat fizzy sangria. It went down very nicely :\

To fill my empty belly, I had some Huevos Rancheros

Not too large or too small a portion, I polished this puppy off in no time. Doused in some hot sauce, those eggs and cheese and beans and mmmmmm. Hit the spot. Did I mention the perfectly sunny side up egg and bits of avocado?? YUM. I kinda wish there was a 3rd one instead of potatoes on the side...is that so wrong? haha.

I had to skip out of brunch early since my mattress arrived early. So much for delivering within a set window. Jeebus. For some reason I'm hungry again. Surprise. Welcome back, bottomless pit summer. I'll probably post more this weekend. Lots of fun stuff going on! How are you guys celebrating the long weekend?? Hope you're eating well!

Ah yes, good day indeed :)

Sorry for that spastic first post. I was way too excited to download all my recent food adventures that just kept piling up in my camera! I guess I'll just add the recipes onto that post??

Just got back from a nice long gym session - I put in 50 minutes of QT with the elliptical machine! I think that's a big deal for me, no?? I also did a 10 minute shuffle on the treadmill, which bothered me a little more than my 20 minute adventure on Friday. I think it might be because I attempted to stop heel striking, but maybe it's too soon. I'll take it. 10 minutes of shuffling is better than nothing.

I had another fun playlist with some songs that actually had me grinning since they were pretty old and brought back memories. Ahh, college.

Beija Flor - Thievery Corporation

Meet Me Halfway - Black Eyed Peas

Put Your Hands On Me - Joss Stone

All That We Needed - Plain White T's

Underneath the Sky - Oasis

Ghostwriter - RJD2

Body Movin' - Beastie Boys

Higher State of Consciousness - Josh Wink

Runaway (Charlie Fanclub Remix) - Grum

Flight Tonight - The Avalanches

Straight Out the Jungle - Jungle Brothers

I was pretty surprised that I was able to stay down there so long...perhaps it was my brunch of champions:

After seeing a couple of Allison's posts (Green Dog Wine) on Spicy Oats, I was determined to try them.

I didn't have any sausage handy so my spicy oats contained oats, one egg (microwaved scrambled), shredded cheddar cheese and a whole lotta sriracha! Verdict? Savory, spicy oats = yummy in my tummy!

Why on earth did I have a container of oats in my home? Well, I was busy baking up a storm since I'm sending a package over to Jamie this week. It appears he's in need of some items that he can't find on base so I figured I'd toss in some goodies.

I took a basic chewy oatmeal cookie recipe from Smitten Kitchen (who btw, has a lot of fun recipes - two thumbs up for the Dal recipe which I'll write about later), subbed in some ingredients and voila! Oatmeal Raisin with Dark Chocolate Chips and

Oatmeal Crasin with White Chocolate Chips!

Personally, I prefer the craisin one. Basically, I doubled the recipe, using 1/2 c butter and 1/2 c shortening. Then I split the dough into two bowls and subbed in the chips for the nuts. Very easy and delicious!

Mimosas, Fried Chicken & Waffles, Gorgeous Weather.

Apparently a weekend trip to San Francisco isn't complete without Bottomless Mimosa Brunch!
We paid a visit to Bar Johnny in Russian Hill
where we drank some deliciously refreshing mimosas and noshed on Fried Chicken & Waffles.
The chicken was perfectly crisp and boneless, though it could have used some seasoning or even just salt in the batter, but whatever, it had me at first crisp. It came with syrup and a barbecue-y chutney sauce that had a little kick to it - great combination.

They also had an amazing plate of Fried Chicken & Mac n Cheese that looked like heaven. Such creamy looking macaroni!

We continued the madness at Pier 23 Cafe, a pier turned bar with a gorgeous view of the bay.
Well, we were sitting in the middle of the deck so lots of people got into my picture :\

Lots of drinks and snacks were consumed, though no happy faced glasses of sangria
and then we went in search of more food...duh!

We made a last minute decision to see Norm Macdonald (ha, remember him?) at the Warfield Theatre so we rushed over there to buy tickets before heading to the Mission for some pupusas!
La Santaneca De La Mission was worth the transit adventure. We were in a rush so we quickly ordered and were so excited when our pupusas arrived. I got three pupusas (don't judge!) - pork, pork with beans and cheese, and pork with cheese. To go with the pupusas, there was a fresh salsa and a tangy cabbage slaw that was a perfect balance with the richness of the pupusa. Perfect $6 meal. Yes, $6.
I had the plain pork first, followed by the pork bean and cheese pupusa and um, I'm not a fan of the pork, bean, cheese combo. I think I just wasn't into the texture of the beans? The plain pork pupusa was by far the best piece of food I had all day :)

I threw the last pupusa in my bag for later since we had to get over to the Warfield ASAP.
We found our seats during the opening act and promptly fell asleep. Apparently an early morning followed by a day of eating and drinking is not a good idea before 1.5 hours of Norm Macdonald. I found myself randomly laughing and passing out. Good times!

We were all exhausted by the time we got back to the apartment so we immediately went to bed - early morning departure for wine tasting the following day! I think that's a good sign vacation has arrived, no? Wait til you hear about my not so pleasant surprise the next morning...

Buns and burnout

I think I'm suffering from running overload or just life overload. I was SO exhausted during this morning's run - not leg or lung tired...sleepy tired! Could be due to the busy week or it might just be that we woke up at 5am for today's run. Ha.

This morning's run was pleasantly cool and dry...the best kind of running weather. We set out on a 12 mile out and back route on the W&OD trail around 6am and it felt good until about mile 5. That's when the sleepiness kicked in (I think that may have been when my Mocha Clif Shot Gel wore off too). All I wanted to do was stop, walk and curl up on the grass. Wow.
V and I kept going after Jamie hit his 10 mile turnaround point and I snacked on a Luna Moon since I heard my tummy growling. I figured eh, it's just one and the sugar will do me some good. Um, 10 minutes later, tummy wasn't so happy. Remember the two other times I tried solids during a run? This confirmed I should never have solids again. It was just one little Moon! ONE! Agh.

On the way back, I decided I needed to make a pit stop at the one 'rest area' we know of on the trail. I booked it there - I was feeling that bad. Tried to open the door - LOCKED! Men's Room - LOCKED! WTF? It was close to 8am at that point...why wouldn't they be open??? UGH! So we took it slow and easy the rest of the way since we only had a little over a mile left. Started to feel that pang in my Achilles again soon after so we walked a bit. It felt better after about 1/4 a mile so I figured, eh...let's take it to a jog. That lasted all of 5 minutes. Done. No f-ing around. We probably did 11 miles and that's fine.

I'm getting really concerned now. Can you bruise your Achilles?? I mean, it only hurts every so often and it's a bruisy feeling. Plus, it was pink when I took my sock off. Maybe this new pair of sneakers has a weird bump that's been poking me? So weird. It doesn't hurt any other time. Might also be the new cute work shoes. There is a little nubbin in the back that might have irritated me. *sigh*

Post-run we stopped at Best Buns Bread Company in Shirlington because, well, I was craving a chicken salad sandwich...AT 9am! I grabbed a Chicken Salad Sandwich with Apples, Walnuts, Dijon Mustard Sauce and Watercress on Rustic Italian Bread and a small Americano - um, definitely needed caffeine.
You bet I wanted to tear into this as soon as I got into the car, but I waited the 15 minutes until we got home. :) DEVOURED half before jumping in the shower haha. I liked the flavor of the Dijon Mustard Sauce, but I thought it was a little too creamy. The watercress, walnuts and apples added some fun crunch and the flavors went well with the Dijon. The bread was perfectly squishy in the middle and crusty on the outside! I'm a big fan of chicken salad on crusty bread :)

Off to work and then celebratory dinner for Jamie...will post last night's and tonight's dinner soon!