Junblog

January 20, 2010

How to Make Ad Hoc Fried Chicken At Home

Driving home from Napa, still under the spell of the best fried chicken I have ever had, I started planning on recreating Thomas Keller’s famed fried chicken. There are two things that set Keller’s fried chicken apart from the rest. First, the chicken is brined for 12 hours in a herb-lemon brine, which seasons the…

January 19, 2010

Ad Hoc Fried Chicken Night

I have found the best fried chicken. It’s in Yountville in Napa Valley fifty miles north of the Golden Gate. It’s served every other Monday night in Thomas Keller’s amazing Ad Hoc. The fried chicken is by far the best I have had. The skin is crispy, the meat is moist, the chicken is…

January 14, 2010

Vibrant Winter Colors in Napa Valley

Tired of the gray? Where can you find the most vibrant winter colors in the Bay Area? Napa Valley. It’s mustard season in Napa. It’s the season when the grapes take a winter break and the yellow wild mustard flowers bloom. Driving down Highway 29 is a delight. Winter is a great time to go…

January 13, 2010

Lelenita’s Nicaraguan Tres Leches (Three Milk) Cake in Bernal Heights

If you find making your own tres leches is a bit daunting there’s a Nicaraguan bakery in Bernal Heights that makes this seriously delicious sweet treat. Check out Lelenita’s Cakes. Lelenita’s makes delightful tres leches cakes and other Nicaraguan baked treats like the Pio Quinto, a Nicaraguan rum cake with walnuts and dark rum. Many…

January 12, 2010

Milk is the New Chocolate: How to Make Tres Leches (Three Milk) Cake

For my birthday this year, Dennis graciously offered to bake me a tres leches cake. I’m actually very proud of Dennis and very proud of myself, too since I feel responsible for converting him. You see, Dennis is, or rather was, a strict chocolate only for dessert person. He loves chocolate and chocolate alone. But…

January 11, 2010

Homemade Split Pea Soup with Homemade Cornbread

What’s another hearty soup that’s perfect in this cold weather and pairs well with warm cornbread? Split pea soup! I usually make split pea soup when we’ve had ham. It’s a great way to use the ham hock or ham bone without throwing it away. Split pea soup can also be made without pork. For…

January 7, 2010

Mom’s Hearty Homemade Chili with Homemade Cornbread

Where can you find the best cornbread in the city? Just for You Cafe in the Dogpatch. Just for You is the place-to-be for tasty big breakfasts: fried eggs, ham, home fries and their freshly baked cornbread. I love my cornbread sweet rather than savory, but not too sweet and I love it moist with…

January 4, 2010

Discovering the Dogpatch

Two old cranes loom large over the Dogpatch. You simply can’t miss them. I actually think these old cranes are very cool. Well, I think the Dogpatch is very cool. It is a bit rough but, definitely, in a good way. Old Victorians and old industrial and commercial buildings that survived the 1906 fire and…

December 31, 2009

Blue Moon in San Francisco

If round things are a symbol of good luck and prosperity then I think there will be lots of it in the New Year. We may just need to work doubly hard to find it. Here’s hoping for the best for everyone. Happy New Year!

December 29, 2009

12 Round Shaped Sweet Treats for Good Luck: A New Year’s Tradition

Every New Year’s Eve, it has been my mom’s tradition to gather 12 round fruits to bring us good luck in the coming year. It has to be twelve, she says, one for each month of the new year. And it has to be round-shaped for prosperity, abundance and wealth. So she buys grapes, oranges,…

December 25, 2009

My Little Corgi Poinsettia

Happy Holidays to everyone! May the joy of the Holiday season fill your homes today and throughout the New Year.

December 23, 2009

House of Filipino Sweet Treats

Just right outside the city is the House of Silvanas Bakeshop. This tiny bakeshop in Filipino-town Daly City truly lives up to its name: it’s the House of amazing Filipino sweet treats, from food for the gods to polvoron. Food for the gods are tasty candy bars made of dates and walnuts. Polvoron,…

December 20, 2009

Homemade Bibingka for the Holidays

A true Filipino Christmas is never complete without the beloved bibingka — the native rice cake topped with cheese and salted egg baked over hot coals in a clay oven and served with butter, sugar and grated coconut. It is very popular during the Holidays but it’s virtually available back home anytime of the year.…

December 18, 2009

Hitchcock Holidays at the Castro Theater

I love old movies and the old Hollywood musicals. And I love them even more when seen on a huge wide screen. And for this reason I love the Castro Theater. I just think Ann twirling and tapping in Kiss Me Kate or Bette bitching and screaming in All About Eve is more breathtaking when…

December 16, 2009

On Frying Bananas and Making Banana-cue

I was so excited to see saba bananas the other day at this Filipino grocery store I recently discovered in the city. The first thing that came to mind: I can fry them and make banana-cues! Banana-cues are deep-fried bananas with caramelized sugar on a stick. It’s one of my favorite after-school snacks growing up. …

December 14, 2009

Piloerection: Even Pigeons Do Get Cold

I was walking down Market Street the other day, obviously cold, and saw this small group of pigeons hanging out by the Cable Car Turnaround at California Street. They looked a bit fat, I thought, like they were completely fluffed up. I knelt down very close to them and snapped some photos. To my surprise…