Beers, Bacon, Bikes and Bao!

To celebrate Jamie's arrival, we met up with a few friends in the Haight to check out Magnolia Pub & Brewery. I came across it on Yelp after searching for beer-heavy places for happy hour. The reviews intrigued me and I was looking forward to sharing a new neighborhood adventure with Jamie. Ta da!

It was a 2-bus trip, but I thought it was worth it. We were dumped off right across from the bar and it looked pretty cozy from the outside. We walked in and it reminded me of an old diner/coffee shop more than a bar. It was standing room only, so we moseyed on over to the bar and waited for friends. I started with the Kalifornia Kolsch and Jamie got the Piper Pale Ale. Mine was kinda wee for some reason and our total came to $9. Enh, maybe no happy hour special??

I really liked my second beer - the Proving Ground IPA. They offered it as draught or cask and I went with draught mostly because I had no idea what cask was. Later on I found out that cask beers are a little warmer and are a little less carbonated. Interesting. Personally, I enjoy a chilly, bubbly beer.

We eventually decided to do dinner so we grabbed a table in the small dining area. To kick things off, we ordered some Devils on Horseback (goat cheese-stuffed dates wrapped in bacon).

DELISH. Perfectly crisp on the outside and the dates were massive. Just a note, they came 2 per order, but they are able to work with odd numbers.

Jamie and I split a 1/2 lb Prather Ranch burger with pepperjack cheese. It was beefy and paired perfectly with the Blue Bell Bitter (my favorite beer of the night...it was like a Boddington's with just a little bit of a bite). We also split the Seafood Boudin Sausage (bay scallop, rock shrimp, nutmeg with dirty rice), which was pretty bland. I wasn't into the texture of it or the lack of flavor in the dirty rice. Meh.

Overall, I really liked Magnolia. Turns out they have a pretty sweet Tuesday happy hour deal...I'd definitely check it out. Totally worth the 2-bus trip!

We were up bright and early this morning and headed off to High Trails Cyclery to pick up Jamie's Christmirthday present. We had such a great experience while buying my bike so it seemed only natural to return for Jamie's.

He was determined to get the guy's version of mine, but after a couple test rides, he went with one just a step up from mine. Fancy.

We immediately headed off on our crosstown adventure that was supposed to take us approximately 6 flat-ish miles to lunch and then another 4 miles to Ocean Beach and along the Great Highway. Sometimes I have mapping fails. We all know this by now!

After biking downtown and through the Castro, we made our way through The Wiggle, a mile long zig-zag that is known for being fairly flat and biker-friendly. Perfect!

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The Wiggle dumped us out at the eastern-most side of the Panhandle and we made our way through the quiet bike path and took a quick pause. Then we had to take a little detour to deal with a flat tire (thankfully we rocked the smart phones and found out The Freewheel Bike Shop was just a couple blocks away). A few minutes later we were back in action and on our way through Golden Gate Park.

Then we hit a random slew of hills as we were mere blocks from our destination - Shanghai Dumpling King. I could just taste the xiao long baos! SO HUNGRY! After huffing and puffing up a large hill, I just wanted to sit and enjoy a piping hot, savory, meaty soup dumpling. It just wasn't in the cards. The wait was much longer than we were willing to deal with so we biked a couple blocks over to Shanghai House. I've been here before and they have delicious xiao long bao, but I just had my heart set on trying SF's 'best shanghai dumplings'. Ah well, maybe next time.

In addition to these little nuggets of soupy goodness

we also ordered the Vegetarian Goose

It's an odd name for mushrooms wrapped in tofu skin, but I LOVE IT. I didn't love this one, though. I'm used to it being served chilled without sauces. This version was warm, fried crisp on the outside and with some sauce drizzled on it. It was good, but just not what I was looking for.

We also got the Green Onion Pancake

Standard order whenever we're at a Chinese restaurant, but not a favorite of mine. These were a little greasier than I'm used to and they just weren't that exciting.

And to close things out, we had some Pork and Vegetable Dumplings

They smelled very cabbage-y and just paled in comparison to the flavors going on in the soup dumplings. I'm pretty sure they were boiled and the skin was super thick. Yeaahh, not going to order these again. Honestly, I would have been content with two orders of soup dumplings. I love them that much. *drool*

Bellies full of food, we began our trek back to my neck of the woods. We basically back tracked with a few little detours (apparently we went down a few one way streets the first time around) and then we encountered some not so friendly hills. Eeeh.

When we got home, I mapped our little adventure and instead of the planned 10 mile ride with a bus ride back, it turns out we rode 15.3 miles. DANG!

That elevation profile is no joke either. Kinda crazy for someone that's only gone on 3 long-ish bike rides as an adult and someone who hasn't ridden in awhile!

I'm proud of our excursion and the fact that I actually rode in heavy traffic - a first for me - and survived! :) Woohoo! Perfect Saturday afternoon (perfect weather too at around 65 degrees!).

A belated running update

I'm keeping this short because the whole thing makes me sad/angry/frustrated.

Remember the busted left Achilles that plagued me last fall? It seems that my right leg was feeling a bit neglected and decided to join the party. Perfect. Just in time for marathon #5 that I had hoped to run in December. Clearly I signed up too soon.

I know this is totally self inflicted. I know I barely stretched after Chicago. I'm lucky if I put 5 minutes of stretching in. BAD! Ladies and gentlemen, rule number one that I know I should be following but am unbelievably bad at: STRETCH STRETCH STRETCH!

The crazy knot I used to get on my upper outside left calf (the soleus) manifested in my right calf last week during a run and I knew exactly what I was getting into. In an effort to nip this sucker in the bud, I immediately called Psoas Massage + Bodywork to see if I could schedule a last minute ART session. I learned about Psoas and ART through my running group and knew what wonders a 15 minute session could do for me. Luckily they were able to squeeze me in the following day.

Tightness confirmed. I felt much better after my session and learned a little bit more about how connected all my leg muscles are and how one can affect another in a domino effect (quads to hamstrings to calf to foot!). I also walked away with a couple stretches and strengthening exercises to keep my legs loose and happy.

Still not 100% comfortable with getting back to running (right Achilles was a bit tender this morning) so I'm not sure if December's race is going to happen. I'll have a better idea in a week. It'll suck since I did pay for the race, hotel and train ticket, but I really don't want to go, run a bad race and end up with something even worse. Meh. We'll see. Right now I'm doing a lot of bonding with the stick, tennis balls and golf balls...might even rock an ice bath this weekend. Jealous?

I've got one more session at Psoas planned for Thursday and I'm hoping that, combined with some diligent home stretching/loosening up, will get me back on the road again. Fingers crossed.

It's heeere!

Race day is so close I can smell it! :)

So I'm definitely suffering from training burnout. How do I know this? Well, I'm no longer looking forward to my long runs...I just want race day here. NOW. Who knew I'd get so antsy?

How am I maintaining sanity? Apparently by doing some speed and hill work. Hill work?? Meh...it's pretty tough to avoid at this point. I'm going to embrace the hills. It'll only make Chicago seem easier, ya?

Tonight's run was FABULOUS. I met up with the running group for a breezy 5 miler that went over Fort Mason, through Fisherman's Wharf, along the Embarcadero and back. My legs were feeling particularly speedy and I whipped that puppy out in 44 minutes! Woooo! I even closed it out with a charge up the Fort Mason hill. Definitely feeling it in the booty, but nothing a little extra stretching won't fix!

And I had the pleasure of closing the run out with this lovely view:

Now the important question...who else, aside from Val and Jessica, is running Chicago??

Labor Day Parte Dos

After our Ferry Building adventure, we hopped a cab over to the Presidio so we could do one of the walks in my trusty walk book.

It took us through old and new parts of the Presidio, new really meaning the Letterman Digital Arts Center. I think the center blends perfectly with the older buildings as it reflects a modern spin on the older buildings. Am I a mega nerd for appreciating this? Perhaps, but I work with architects. Of course I'm going to notice this sort of thing!

Well, almost everything blended in with the old...

I also enjoyed the peaceful landscaping and creek installation. I seriously wouldn't mind working at a place like this...

*big sigh* As you can see it was a little foggy/overcast on Saturday...so much that the top of the Palace of Fine Arts is missing!

We did another walk from the Presidio through Crissy Field and Fisherman's Wharf before hopping on our Explorer Cruise of the San Francisco Bay. The 90 minute tour took us past Alcatraz

Ta daaa! Finally out of the fog!

And past the Bay Bridge

With views of Treasure Island and everything the East Bay has to offer. On the way back the fog let up for a bit and we had phenomenal views of the city.

Dinner on Saturday was at a restaurant in my neighborhood called luella. Selin had mentioned this restaurant before so I figured we should give it a try. I loved it the minute we walked in. It's small, but not cramped and the decor has crisp, clean lines but feels cozy. It seemed 'fancy' at first but the waiters rock jeans so it lacks that stuffy feeling. My kind of place :)

Bear with me, I just looked at my photos and they're incredibly dark and blurry since I didn't use my flash :(

EVERYTHING on the menu sounded fantastic...here are the items we enjoyed:

Ahi tuna tartare tacos with lime vinaigrette and mango salsa - These were delicious, but I thought there was a little too much mango salsa going on...it was all I tasted. Yummy, but I really wanted to taste some tuna.

Veal meatballs with tomato porcini sauce - AWESOME. I wish I could dump this plate onto a crusty roll topped with cheese. Moist and flavorful meatballs in an equally delicious sauce.

Grilled local halibut with lemon beurre blanc, asparagus, and farro salad - Light, zesty flavors in this dish were a perfect end to the day.

Seared beef "Wellington" in puff pastry with horseradish cream, bone marrow butter and Yorkshire Pudding - Woah. Jamie got this artery clogger and I sampled. Richest. Dish. EVER. My first time trying Yorkshire Pudding and it was tasty, but I felt like I was just sucking down pure fat. Way too rich for me.

It was also a dessert sort of evening so we split two between the three of us:

Blueberry lemon cake with cream and caramel - the description didn't make me jump at the plate, but o my was it light, fluffy and delicious. Who knew I liked blueberries and lemon??

Banana creme pie with chocolate sauce - I usually don't like banana desserts (ripe bananas and I don't get along) but this was excellent. Crisp crust and slightly sweet filling topped with home made whipped cream.

Luella is definitely worth checking out if you're in Russian Hill. It doesn't hurt that they also offer a $33 prix fixe menu Monday thru Thursday. Ah haaa!

Next up, a day of wine tasting!

Dang!

I haven't posted since Monday. Woah. I am happy to report that I managed to find motivation the following day :) Instead of rushing over to the Marina Green for the scheduled 2 mile group run, I opted to run my flat office route...until I realized I forgot my access card. D'oh!

Since my home is on top of a hill, I decided to walk down to flatness and run until the timer on my phone went off. Seemed like a pretty good idea. 30 minutes later, I had completed exactly 3 miles...a pretty rough 3 miles. Yeeh. Dinner was leftover couscous salad (hooray for eating all my leftovers this week!)...exciting, I know.

Wednesday's run was MUCH better. I left my office and did the same timer thing (15 minutes, turn around, 15 minutes) and almost made it to 30 minutes, except the stupid light changed on me :( I got home, mapped my run and turns out I did 3.23 miles. In 29 minutes. O hey!

My run must have been an indicator for how the rest of my evening would pan out. I got home by 7 and knocked out some laundry and cleaning. I even sorted my recycling bin and broke down a bunch of boxes! Talk about productive ;) I also made a random quick dinner: Ghetto Tempeh & Swiss Sammich.

There's a whole lot of yellow going on in that picture. I sliced up my block of tempeh and spread some Nando's Peri-Peri Garlic Sauce on each side before baking.

Toasted up some bread, a slice of swiss cheese and a generous smear of my favorite mustard:

Dinner was served in no time.

Was it good? Eh, not really. It lacked greens and flavor. I ended up digging through my fridge for something to dip my sammich in. Sadness.

Since I had 2 slices of tempeh leftover, I made a similar sammich for Thursday's lunch subbing in hoisin sauce for the mustard. I crossed my fingers that it added enough flavor to keep my tastebuds happy.

Again, flavor fail. Belly was full and happy though! Happy all the way through my last group run...a whole MILE from the Marina Green to a bar. Haha. I love my running group. To justify changing clothes, having to shower, and rushing out of the office, I tacked on a little more for an even 2 mile jog to the bar.

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At the Final Final in the Marina, I had a wonderfully balanced dinner consisting of a Racer 5 IPA and bowl upon bowl of free popcorn. Hey, they were addictive! I also chatted with fellow runners and managed to find a potential new long run buddy. Hooray :)

Time out.

Hey guys, it's been super busy around here so I'm going to do a quick photo post. I'm also taking a brief time out from posting since Jamie returns on Tuesday!! He's only here for a week, so I figure I should spend time hanging out w/him and not blogging :p Don't worry, we'll be doing some touristy stuff and I'll have PLENTY to write about later!

Big news first - I MOVED! I finally have my very own apartment :) After a somewhat stressful Memorial Day weekend move, I think I've finally gotten the bulk of my stuff unpacked and organized. One of these days I'll show you the final product!

From now on, I'll be creating delicious dishes in here

And blogging to you from somewhere in here

All while staring at this

Hurrah!

During all the moving/shopping/unpacking, I was able to meet up with Susan for dinner in the Mission. We met up at Limon, a pretty snazzy looking Peruvian spot on Valencia and 16th. From the website:

Limon's menu boasts entrees that offer a bounty of fresh Pacific seafood, hearty beef, succulent pork, and rich savory sauces. Tempting ceviches and masterful tiraditos tempt your palate with the freshest sashimi grade Ono, Ahi Tuna accompanied by flavorful and colorful Peruvian sauces.

So many delicious options on the menu! I settled on the Ceviche Limon (mixed seafood ceviche - fish, calamari, shrimp)

and the Costillas Nikkei (crispy spare ribs with Peruvian style slaw and rocotto-soy sauce)

The ceviche was good, but not as exciting as I wanted it to be. The ribs were deliciously crisp and sweet, but the slaw was way too bitter. Have you ever had cabbage that was incredibly bitter? bleh. Overall, I thought the food was ok, but not worth the price.

The weekend ended with some serious outlet shopping in Napa, where I loaded up on fun accessories. No fun weekday eats since my cabinets and fridge are pretty bare. By the time Friday rolled around, it was time for me to head back east for a wedding in Vermont!

I've never been to Vermont and I was really bummed I'd only be spending a whopping 14 hours in the state that has such awesome stuff, like Ben & Jerry's, maple syrup and Magic Hat!

I wandered around Burlington and loved all the cute shops along Church Street...such a great pedestrian street to stroll!

The wedding was in nearby Charlotte, Vermont (note: it's pronounced shar-loht) and was absolutely gorgeous. Of course I forgot my camera in the hotel room, but I managed to get a few little shots w/the camera phone

The breathtaking view from the reception (held outdoors in the bride's backyard)

no one could resist busting out the phone cameras for this one!

Speaking of Magic Hat...

I was told that the Wacko was a legit summer brew and had to sample one. Two giant thumbs up. It was crisp, refreshing and much lighter tasting than my favorite #9. Big sadface moment of the evening - THEY DON'T SELL THIS IN SAN FRANCISCO! AAAAGGGHH!! At least that's what the location map says :( :(

After a few Wackos and appetizers, we sat down to dinner at this simple and pretty table

Salad was exactly what this girl needed and it was promptly followed by a dinner of salmon and chicken

Not sure how the salmon was cooked, but it tasted sort of teriyaki-ish to me. There was definitely a sweet factor in there.

Then it was time for dancing!

How cute is this setup?? I've never seen the pointy tents before and I like them!

A few hours later, I was up and at the airport for my 6:45am adventure home. Apparently I was so tired that I took a brief nap pre-boarding and a very kind person woke me up as the tail end of boarding took place. PHEW. I eventually made it home with a pitstop in Chicago and Orange County (o hey, John Wayne Airport...I didn't know you existed).

It was a very fun filled weekend, but now I'm so exhausted I can barely move! How was your week/weekend??

Caipirinhas, Fish Tacos, Martinis...Oh Heeey!

Friday night meant a yummy dinner party followed by a night out bar hopping. I played sous chef as Selin made some yummy fish and shrimp tacos,

her 'crack sauce' (I mentioned my green crack sauce and we realized we used several similar ingredients), cabbage slaw,

salsa, corn and black bean salad and...

Caipirinhas! Between seven of us, we polished off an entire bottle of cachaca before heading out on the town. Many good times were had and the evening was quite a blur.

Needless to say, we weren't exactly functional the next day.

I love vacation.

We had a late start on Saturday morning and went to Yank Sing for some dim sum. Selin had been talking about this place for awhile and said the dim sum was legit and worth the extra cash (we're used to super cheap dim sum places). Oh my god. No joke.

So dim sum is a little too overwhelming for me so I never remember to take pictures - things just happen too fast and honestly, I'm usually more concerned with flagging carts down and eating the tasty treats. (Thanks to some intense Google image searching, I found a couple pictures of our dishes.) We sat right next to the kitchen - money spot! Immediately we grabbed some Pork Shumai,

Shrimp Dumplings,

BBQ Pork Buns, and Shanghai (soup) Dumplings.

Heaven! I was SO excited they had soup dumplings! I haven't had them since our trip to Shanghai a few years ago! These were nice and gingery and had just the right amount of meat and soupy goodness inside.

We HAD to throw some fried goodies in for good measure. Some Fried Prawns and Sesame Bean Balls were welcomed to our table as well as these awesome fried glutinous rice balls filled with a savory (somewhat barbeque flavored) meat filling. I loved the crisp shell paired with the sticky, slightly sweet rice and salty meat!

Selin's friend flagged down the Peking Duck cart and I originally wasn't going to sample any...until the woman opened her basket of buns! So you know how Peking duck is usually served with thin flour pancakes? These were fun little steamed bun pockets!

So much better than the thin, dry wrappers!

Sadly, we ended up passing up the rest of the lovely day for a nap post dim sum. At least the window was open haha. We got a couple of things done before heading out for (surprise!) dinner at Henry's Hunan in Noe Valley. Apparently we HAD to devour some meat pies. I never object to meat in pie form :)

We get to the restaurant, sit down and the five of us order three of Diana's Special Meat Pies. The waiter questions us and says 'Three?! No, maybe two.' Oh no, we were determined to order three. We then proceed to order one entree each so we can dine family style...and for some reason our waiter didn't question that decision. Hm.

The meat pies arrived and oh my they exceed my expectations! Basically seasoned meat, cheese and lettuce are sandwiched between two crispy flour tortillas. Sprinkled with some chili sauce, they were absolutely perfect!

A little note about the chili sauce I've come across on this trip - it's not only the chili flakes in oil. They mix up some fermented black beans in the chili sauce and it makes a nice salty, beany sauce! I want a jar!

For entrees, we barely made a dent in some Chow Mein Noodles with Prawn and Veggies

Bean Curd with Meat Sauce (aka Ma Po Tofu with some peas)

Hunan Spare Ribs

Sauteed Eggplant

Hunan Scallops

Ridic. We all went home with leftovers...not that we needed them! UGH! SOOO much food! Wait til you see what was consumed the following day ;p