Psoralea Pinnata

Spotted in Golden Gate Park - Psoralea Pinnata is an evergreen bush with flowers that smell like grape kool-aid. Also called the "fountain bush" or (my favorite) the African Scurf Pea.

Shiso Smoked

That's right, the salmon is all gone now, over, kaput -- so we picked up a lovely fillet of arctic char instead. The Chef decided to grill it over shiso leaves he purchased at the farmer's market. This resulted in wafts of pungent reggae fest type aroma escaping from our grill. Along with giggling, there was discussion of how were going to explain our backyard BBQ to uniformed officers lest they knock on our door. No knocks and the fish was delicious -- all praises to Jah (not to mention the Chef, a walk to Avedanos (nice fish!), and the farmers selling Asian herbs at the Alemany market.)

Local Cocktail Enthusiast says...

The Celebrity Cocktail Blogger continues to get mentioned in the press. This time he points out historic uses of "flowers behind the bar." Why, in fact, we are growing wormwood in our garden but I don't believe it will end up in absinthe unless used as garnish, unless the CCB has a secret up his sleeve. Perhaps I will read about it next month.

I also believe this is the first time the made-up word "flannest*d" has appeared in newsprint.

Still unbelievable, right?

Doodle 4 G**gle

Today for "work" I was assigned to drive down to Mountain View and participate in a presentation involving children's artwork and, um, lots and lots of balloons. It was awesome!

Quick -- search for something, and you may see this picture above (but only on 5/21). Grace was the grand prize winner for a competition that involved 100 finalists. She was a little dazed. Who can blame her, mass balloons are hypnotic.

I witnessed a videotaped balloon octopus fight. Today was a good day.

Chard Forest

For the last few months Chef & I have been doing nothing to control the outburst of chard in our community garden space. Perhaps it was a desperate attempt to win a blue ribbon at the country fair for "tallest vegetable stalk" -- only to discover this category does not exist.

Shamed by our fellow gardeners (and an army of aphids) we realized that this weekend we had to get out the axe and give them a chop. I still regret that we were not able to snap off the leaves and get them to a saucepan before they turned into awnings.

It was a feat to dismantle and cram into our compost bin, but the Chef prevailed! In their place we've planted marigolds and green zinnias. We can only hope that they grow this big -- stay tuned.

Friendship

For all my friends (the real non-Facebook kind).

Touch of Evil

Guess who is celebrating SF Cocktail Week?

baker's bourbon, rhubarb syrup, lemon, and a touch of...absinthe.

Touch of Evil (above) matched with "Green Eggs and Ham" (below) quite nicely.

A "Bourbon & Bacon" cocktail dinner pairing is fun. hic. stumble. thunk.

Alice

Happy Mother's Day

A five-handed Sazerac toast to my mom, because she is the best. Really. Why?

* Because the best response to the question why? is "Because I said so!" More moms should use this and stop explaining things to their children.
* She invented the Birthday Fairy who wakes up Birthday Queens with Birthday Balloons and lets you do ANYTHING you want ALL DAY.
* She is ridiculously silly and refuses to take anything seriously (recognize anyone?)
* She sang bedtime songs (like "Mairzy Doats") and read to us, a lot.
* She let me climb trees and wear cowboy boots with shorts.
* She loves to travel to faraway places and smuggles rocks, plants and other "found" objects back into the country. She presents them with great awe. "This rock is from Africa!"
* She took us all to the Art Institute of Chicago and quizzed us on Impressionist painters. Ballerinas? Degas!
* We all had to memorize Robert Frost's "Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening" and recite it around the holidays.
* She checks big decisions by asking, "Is it your heart's desire?"
* She embellishes stories so they sound more exciting.
* She drove me (for three hours) to see The Kinks play on my eighteenth birthday and sat in the car reading until the concert was over. (see "birthday fairy" above).
* She still tells me that I shouldn't hide my light under a bushel barrel.
* She pinches me very hard so I remember historic events.
* We had "no thank you helpings" of things we didn't want to eat.
* She encouraged my independent streak.
* She told me I was great at everything (which made all praise suspect).
* She says things like "What's the trouble bubble?"
* Sometimes she answers the phone in the voice of Eleanor Roosevelt or says "Hello, Pine Bar!"
* She gets weepy at parades and watching the space shuttle launch.
* She loves my dad, even when he's grumpy.
* She jumps up and down and hugs me a lot when she hasn't seen me in a while.
* On July 4th she makes everyone wear T-shirts that read "Camp Laf-A-Lot" and leads a march around the yard singing "We Love Our Flag!"
* She taught me that it was very important to vote.
* Because she put up with my adolescence without killing me (or making me go into therapy).

Jello Salad Surprise

An introduction that bewilders the Chef.

Recreated and presented with pride by Humuhumu from the 1979 Marysville United Methodist Women's Cookbook. Ingredients? Lemon jello, diced celery, horseradish, Miracle Whip and (get ready) a can of corned beef. wow.

This flesh-colored delight was brought to our "Cocktails for Catsitters" evening, which also included an array of fancy drinks for the Kitten Squad - no canned meat or horseradish required.

Getting Things Done

Haus Frau was relieved that her obsessive habit was now defined as "list capability" despite still having to "use paper" to "master work flow" and most importantly, "get to an empty mind".

These secrets of the go-getters revealed in a two day support group in Mountain View, where we all admitted our fears of drowning in e-mail and received a free book.

Mind still not empty.