aw!

Oh EM GEE! It's been a great couple of days!

Yesterday after work, C and I went bowling and I won not once, but twice! I even broke 100! exciting!

I also finally received all my tax info from all my employers this year. YIPPEE!

But even more importantly, H-to-the-Eather and G-to-the-Eoff sent us a really amazing letter! Thank you for the adorable and artistic package! And of course, thank you very much for the contents! And for generally being the best people EVER. I miss you guys!!!!!!

The postcard definitely deserves a spot on our "random crap" (crap we love!) wall along with our brand new wall mountable FISH BOWL!

Behold! Thank you Target!


That's all for now...posts that relate to the theme of the blog are coming...I swear!

chocolat

Today has been a wonderful day!

Today I had my first official "chocolate tasting" experience!

Obviously this was not my first time ever eating chocolate or even eating good chocolate but it was my first time discussing it and analyzing it much like a fine wine. And for those of you who are into wine know that you haven't really ever experienced wine until you've tasted with a professional to coach you through it.

My professional coach today was none other than IM's IT guru Andrew. Andrew is an amazing guy. Not only is he a huge chocolate buff but he can help you with technology without making you feel like an idiot and he never loses his cool despite how many problems we throw in his face or how demanding we (our office especially) can be. I also love that he is a secret Mac user. IT guys are never into Macs.

BUT I digress.

We conducted the tasting in true IT nerd fashion...over Skype because Andrew is in Boston. It was super fun, I can see I have a lot to learn! I've never enjoyed a mid-day chocolate break so much! Today we tasted fancy dark chocolate from around the world and savored all the subtle toasty, sweet, buttery, raisiny, herby and citrusy flavors that can be found in cocoa! Andrew was so informative and so excited and the experience literally left a smile on my face. It's been a long, high stress week at work and this was by far the best way to celebrate Friday.

Now I want more chocolate and a hefty serving of wine!

Happy weekend all! I will have more posts with some recipes etc soon!

The Big Walk

Wow, aren't you fool(s) lucky! Two posts in one day! I guess I have to make up for my slacking earlier in the week.

C.Pop (who doesn't want his real name to be used on the blog because he actually thinks I have more than 2 readers) and I have wanted to do a big walking tour of the city for quite some time. As yesterday was his last real day of vacation before Law School starts up again, AND the clouds parted and we had the first sunny/warm/beautiful day in a long time, we decided to embark on the epic journey from the east side of the city all the way to the water. About a 7 mile (with hills) walk.

Here we go!


We began the day in the financial district. This Saturday was a special day where our MOMA membership would get us both into a bunch of museums for free! (AWESOME!) So we started at CJM to see the Wharhol's Jews exhibit which was pretty neat.


You can see the "cube" of the CJM and the crazy huge Marriott behind it.


Then we hit up the Cartoon Art Museum which was a lot cooler than either of us expected. If you have any love of comics/graphic novels/animation you should check it out.


After the museums we were off! He headed down Mission street for awhile then cut up to Market once the big protest cleared out. This is the SF Federal Building which is "So green it can't even be LEED certified".

We walked all the way down Market until it hits Valencia in the Mission. We then bought delicious burritos and decided to eat them in Dolores park.

Which was crazy packed with hipsters coming to enjoy the sun. It was really awesome.




View from the top of the hill in the park


I believe this is a high school.

So then we walked through the Castro and basically back up to Market and then up through this crazy ritzy neighborhood with an amazing view.


The city really is ridiculously picturesque isn't it???


Magical house/the stuff of fairytales.


blue blue sky


view down the other side of the hill with the fancy neighborhood


Gourds!

We then ended up near the Haight.


The Eye of the Tiger.

We were getting pretty tired at this point. We had been walking along the south side of Golden Gate park for quite some time and hadn't taken a break since the Mission. We wanted to find a bar/cafe for a pit stop, but nothing struck our fancy. Instead we decided to take a break in the park itself.


Gorgeous and secluded with a nice log to sit on. It was the perfect break. As you can see it's getting later in the day...


Nectar of the gods.

We then continued our walk through the park because it was so pretty.


ducks!

WE MADE IT!!!!!!!!!




Hurrah! What a fantastic day!

And a BIG thank you to Naz for feeding us caramel corn and driving us home afterwards!

Farmer's Market

I looooove to grocery shop. I think my love for grocery shopping started in college when I was a personal assistant for a family and was actually paid to do all their shopping at fancy stores like Gelsons ("when in doubt Katie, just buy the more expensive brand") and the "Cheese Store of Beverly Hills" ($85 truffle salt!!!!!).

But back to reality.

One of my absolute favorite things about living in San Francisco is the way I shop for food here. In LA, everyone makes a huge trip to the grocery store once a week and expects that food to last them all week. This always results in most of one's food spoiling thus less healthy eating habits because all you have left are starches and packaged stuff. Now I go shopping almost every day. Of course, I still make the weekly or so trips to Trader Joes for "the basics" (pastas, sauces, canned tomatoes/beans, the Kalamata olive oil I like, cereals etc) but I tend to buy all of my fresh stuff the day of. Market Mayflower is a block away from my apartment and they have great fresh produce for reasonable prices, so I tend to just pick up a bunch of broccoli or salad fixings etc on my way home from work. I find this experience incredibly liberating because I don't have to plan out my menus for the entire week for fear of wasting food and precious dollars.

The BEST day of the week for shopping, however, is Thursday because that's when the Farmer's Market comes to the Financial District. I go just about every week with my partner in crime Katie Quinn and I always walk away happy. Plus, almost everything there is organic and you get to meet the families of the people who own the farms and I enjoy the general "feel good" atmosphere. Here are some photos:


Can't you feel the "feel goodness"???


The FM is held in the Crocker Galleria and has a pretty glass roof so you sort of feel like you're outside, but you stay dry if it rains! hurrah! I purchased: 3 heads of organic broccoli from the stand pictured here, about 5 of those little red/yellow potatoes (organic), 3 red beets and 3 yellow beets (organic), 4 pink lady apples and an over priced yet too delicious to pass up spinach Bolani from the pushy Afghanis.

I also accepted a free sample from the date guys who are a bit creepy and bit into it and hurt my tooth on the pit. Damn you date guys!

Last night (Saturday) I made a tasty roasted beet salad with carrots and cilantro. Katie Q gave me the recipe from a yoga magazine. It's pretty good and very colorful. It's not a mind blowing salad, but it's very different. The dressing is just olive oil, cilantro leaves, lemon juice (I put in about twice as much as the recipe suggests) and a bit of soy sauce. I think it might be good with some dried basil or something added...next time.

Let's do it.

Hello my following of one (maybe two?). As you can see, I'm starting a blog (again).

I created this blog for a variety of reasons, however the primary reason is that I realize I have entered a very new and exciting phase in my life and I guess I have the desire to share it. So pay attention fool(s)! Call it what you will...pseudo-adulthood...independence...dependence (as I'm living with my boyfriend)...adventure...or simply "real life". Whatever it is I am here for the time being.

Aside from the obvious advances (moving out of my parents house and into my own place in a fabulous new city) I've realized in the last few months that while I used to pride myself on always being on the go and in the know (thank you Citysearch!), I am actually quite the home body. I am happiest when cooking dinner and serving guests, baking pies, browsing through Crate&Barrel, buying overpriced kitchen gadgets and cutting lemon peels for cocktail garnishes.

In fact, I am downright Domestic with a capital D.

I have found Domestic to be considered a four letter word to the modern woman (Westridge bred or otherwise). I am all for fighting the power, but what I have found is this aversion to all things Domestic has not led to the empowerment of womankind, but instead led to a severe lack of survival skills.

Now wait a second and hear me out.

I think of myself as a relatively smart girl and a relatively pretty girl and a relatively talented girl. However, in the course of my adult years I have been complimented more for my cooking than any other skill I posses! This is hard for me to believe because I'm really not that great of a chef! I pale in comparison to my friends Allyson (ruler of the tea party and queen of everything vegetarian) and Anya (crepe-master)! And yet, compared to almost every young adult I know, I am Julia Child reincarnated.

So this is Domeschtik. My blog. I promise you won't get too many philosophical ramblings or angry rants.


Just a whole lot of photos of food.

Let's have a potluck soon k?

Love,
Katie

Post Scriptum: check out this interesting book review on Mark Bittman
I can't wait to finish my current book and read this! This segment I felt was particularly astute:

Of all the challenges confronting the "Food Matters" plan for "responsible eating" -- agribusiness lobbying and marketing, the low price of subsidized junk food, even evolutionary factors that attract us to high-calorie foods -- probably the single most obdurate is the fact that so many contemporary Americans simply don't know how to cook. By "cook," I don't mean being able to concoct an impressive dinner the one night a month you have guests over while otherwise subsisting on nuked Lean Cuisine. Real home cooking means having a good repertoire of reliable, quick, uncomplicated recipes and understanding enough of the underlying principles to improvise when needed. It means knowing how to stock a pantry and plan your menus so that you shop for groceries only once a week. It's a set of skills manifested as an attitude, something you can acquire only through regular practice, and it's the one thing that can make a person truly at ease in a kitchen. (An example of this everyday expertise is Bittman's suggestion that, when determining how long to steam a vegetable, you "try bending or breaking whatever it is you're planning to cook; the more pliable the pieces are, the more quickly they will become tender.")

In short, this is home economics -- although when I was taught that subject in high school, our time was largely wasted on learning how to bake perfect biscuits, a special-occasion food if I ever heard of one. Like writing, driving, touch typing and balancing a checkbook, basic cooking is a life skill (not an art or hobby) that everybody needs, and it ought to be taught in public schools as a matter of course. The fact that cooking can also be a craft, featuring a certain amount of self-expression, or that contemporary star chefs have been exalted to a degree far exceeding their actual cultural worth, shouldn't be allowed to obscure that humbler truth.