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29 June 2008
Restful weekend. Friday evening,
after the gym, I took myself to a delicious solo dinner at the bar at Bar Jules (lamb chops with grilled eggplant and a glass
of rosé). Farmers’ market report: two farm chickens (total $55. Yes. $55), eggplant, beans, peas, corn, spinach, chard, arugula, lettuce, spring onions, spring shallots,
Rocambole garlic (new crop), parsley, thyme, potatoes, carrots, leeks, apricots, and that’s it, I think.
I cut up the chickens, seasoned
them, and put them to soak in buttermilk. I made a chutney from the apricots. I
baked the eggplants and finished them in a garlicky tomato sauce. I turned most
of the vegetables into a summer minestrone. I fried the chicken (in lard, of
course), after dredging the piece in flour and masa harina (so much better than corn meal). I cooked the greens down with
some spring onions (and Meyer lemon stolen from the neighbor's tree), made a corn custard, and some lardy buttermilk biscuits.
We had a number of bottles of various French and Spanish rosés. I made a home-style
ranch dressing for the salad, and we had my sister’s ice cream cake for
dessert.
Because the chickens were so
expensive, I turned the all the pieces (heads, feet, back, wingtips, etc) into a lovely broth.
The heads and feet were something of a shock to the Editor, who came over this morning. We walked down to the Gay Freedom
Day Parade in time to see the Ladies’ Motorcycle Contingent and Mikes on Bikes, my two favorite parts.
Tonight: packing, and otherwise
getting ready for my trip to NY later this week.
24 June 2008
Now that I am well into my early
mid-forties, my goal is to learn how to eat without messing up my clothes. Specific. Measurable. Achievable.
23 June 2008
Farmers’ market report:
corn, pork, a half-flat of apricots, a mountain of blueberries, squash, and brick-red lilies.
Lots of socializing in the past
few days for work, but in a good way. Sunday I spent by myself, for the most part. I saw two movies at the film festival,
Ciao, which had too many Sokolov(?) silences and still moments, and also Saturn in Opposition, which was better, but a bit melodramatic, in an Italian way. Both films were saved for me (especially Ciao) by the handsomeness
of the actors.
The heatwave has abated.
And I got words of appreciation from several unexpected and delightfully affirming sources, which cheered me up.
June 18, 2008
Someone is feeling that he could
use a little appreciation just about now.
15 June 2008
Well, a little more rest this
weekend. Did you remember to wish your Pops a happy father’s day?
Farmers’ market report:
beef (bavette steak and beef cheeks), fresh Monterey Bay sardines, wild arugula, the last of the spring shallots (they’re
teenagers now), Bing cherries, Blenheim (Royal) apricots (the only apricots), a nice bunch of savory, ditto of parsley,
bok choi, fava beans, and cream-colored lilies.
I grilled the bavette steak and
served it with a salsa verde for my parents on Saturday, followed by a very thin cherry galette. Today I went over to the house of old friends downtown and we braised the beef cheeks and had them with
fava beans (with shallots and savory), and the bok choi. Since the beef cheeks took three hours to cook, we had time to scale
and fillet the sardines. We marinated them for a bit with lemon and olive oil, and then roasted them on garlicky toasts. V.
marvelous. A cherry-apricot-and-peach clafoutis to follow. And yes, I pitted the
cherries. It's just pretentious not to.
11 June 2008
Much better mood today. Yesterday
was grumpy at work, and it was also the twelfth anniversary of Steve’s death.
I took myself after work to the AIDS Memorial Grove in Golden Gate Park and had a little quiet time, and then came
home and made myself a a nice dinner (a very parsley meatloaf, and corn with spring shallots, and then Bing cherries).
I had thought about treating myself to dinner at my favorite neighborhood restaurant, Bar Jules, but it was deafeningly loud in there, and I couldn't deal.
In other good news, Chad Fox is back! He’s one of the best.
9 June 2008
Tired! Long weekend, which included
a 25-hour trip to Santa Barbara and back for a wedding, the first outing of my new seersucker suit, a nap, and some work-related
anxiety.
Farmers’ market report:
beef, Bing cherries, a loaf from della Fattoria, spring shallots, and one other item I have forgotten.
Time for bed.
4 June 2008
Busy as a little bee. I haven’t had time to go to the grocery store in ages, so my food supply is dwindling. Not a good
habit for life in earthquake country, and a sign that my life is out of balance.
I’m trying a new approach
to working late and exercising: going a bit early for me (6:45-7:00 p.m., say), and then returning to work until I just can’t
take it anymore. I think this will be better than working later and trying to go the gym at 9:00 p.m., when I am both physically
and mentally tired. It’s also nice to get out of my chair and move about.
1 June 2008
It has long seemed to me that
June1, not January 1, should mark the beginning of the new year. Perhaps it’s because my birthday is coming up, but
it’s the beginning of summer weather, and time for a fresh start. New moon on Tuesday, as well.
Farmers’ market report:
rhubarb, Bing cherries, beef, some kind of broccoli-rabe-like green, green (spring) shallots, parsley, and godetia (orange).
I worked ten and a half hours
yesterday (but made it to the gym and the farmers’ market), and I worked nearly as long today. I was going to cook dinner
for a friend tonight, but we wisely decided to go to a new sushi place in my neighborhood.
Next weekend: a quick visit to
Santa Barbara for a wedding, and the first outing of my new seersucker suit. (I’d
fly if I could, but the prices are way to high). I’m hoping to share a ride with a friend—someone who, like me,
would rather spend 11 hours in the car than spring for an overpriced hotel room.
28 May 2008
Now I’m back. Had a great
time in New Orleans. Fried food every day. Almost every meal was delicious. We saw the Mardi Gras Indians one day, were depressed
by the Ninth Ward another, strolled the Garden District, hiked along a natural levee between two bayous in the swamps,
had frozen daiquiris from a take-out place a block away from my friend's house, went swimming at the Country Club, took a tour of private houses in the Bywater, and ate one of the very last meals served at Casamento’s until next September (they closed for the summer at 2 p.m. on Saturday, we arrived at the end of a long line at
1:15 p.m.).
20 May 2008
Well, yes, I am still here. Hella
busy, as they say. The heat wave broke on Saturday, but I’m going to try
to keep the heater off until at least July. Our dear Pacific Gas & Electric
Co. informed me that I was one of millions of Californians who lowered home energy usage by 10% or more as compared to last
year. It's possible.
Farmers’ market report:
rhubarb, strawberries, Acme bread (a levain loaf), bok choi, and lilies.
And I survived the Bay to Breakers
pee and piss fest in my neighborhood. And I put up some pics on Flickr of the degradation. What is wrong with straight people
when they get drunk?
11 May 2008
Happy Mother’s Day to you
dear mothers reading this.
Farmers’ market report:
asparagus, spinach, green garlic, spring onions, peas, more tiny turnips, Little Gem lettuces, beef, ewe’s milk ricotta, rhubarb, and lilies.
Saturday, after the market, I
went to work, and then to the gym. I came home, napped, and got all dressed up for the GLAAD Media Awards. My first and last
time. It was a bit too self-congratulatory and perhaps a bit Uncle Tom-ish (did I say that out loud?). I had never heard of most of the celebrity guests or the shows or movies or plays for which they are apparently
famous. I did not come away wanting to know more about them. But it was fun to chat with old friends and new friends.
The Marriott food was inedible (surprise), and even the wine was bad. Well, not bad, but crude and in short supply. No excuse
for that.
Today: I had grand plans to be
very busy, but my body and my mind said no, so I stayed home and was quiet until I went to my parents’ place. I cooked pappardelle with spinach, ricotta, brown butter, and green garlic; then asparagus
with hazelnuts, peas with spring onions and lettuce (you fish the lettuce out before serving it); spit-roasted beef with rosemary
and more green garlic; and then a salad of the Little Gems in a crème fraîche-Meyer lemon dressing; and then my sister’s
lovely Red Velvet cake. Not bad.
8 May 2008
A palindromic date!
And Happy Fifth Anniversary of
“Mission ‘Accomplished’”!
7 May 2008
Well, after working too late
and sleeping too little, I woke up with my cranky pants on and have not been able to shed them and now it’s
nearly bedtime.
I cancelled my gay-gym membership
this evening. I had been thinking about it for a while. I hardly ever go. I’m not inspired by what I find there, and
it’s dirty. I went tonight after my hairdoo, and felt sand (!) under my feet as I changed out of my dress shoes into
my sneakers. Yuck. That and the fact that at 7:30 at night I could not do chest exercises because all the benches were in
use. And they were playing heritage gay dance hits from the ’90s generally and the aerobics class (or whatever
they call it these days) was blasting its own bad gay dance music. It was like going to the Blue Chairs/Green Chairs
gay beach in Puerto Vallarta.
Time to find a different way
to be gay.
5 May 2008
Still here. Busy. Family things.
Trying not to panic.
Farmers’ market report:
asparagus; strawberries; tiny, marble-sized turnips with their greens; spring onions; green garlic; and lilies.
29 April 2008
Argle-ghebargle! I could use
some rhubarb pie just about now. I hope it doesn’t get worse.
27 April 2008
Quiet weekend. Did nothing but
relax at home (alone) on Friday. I got a little sunshine on Saturday after the market, and made dinner for a friend. We then
walked a few blocks over to the Symphony and enjoyed the all-Haydn program. We are turning into Gays of Certain Age.
Today: a quick visit to my parents.
The roses are in full bloom. The cherry trees are laden with fruit (unripe, of course). On the way back I had my first experience
with $4.00 gasoline (actually, $4.11) and my first $50 fill-up. I’m glad I don’t have to drive much these
days.
Farmers’ market report:
wild sea bass, asparagus, leeks, baby turnips with their greens, more fresh olives, strawberries, and marigolds. With the warm weather, the performance artists are out again: elaborate outfits, artfully dressed children
(e.g., a boy of about 5 in a straw hat, blazer, and tie) and huge (and impractical) “market” baskets, to be ostentatiously
filled with flowers and a few seasonal foodstuffs that will no doubt end up going straight into the compost bin or be featured
in an attempt at conspicuous competence in an under-seasoned and ill-considered
meal inspired by the goadings of one of the fear-based cooking magazines (e.g. Food & Wine). (And don't get me started about that exercise in bad faith, Cooks Illustrated, every
copy of which, in my opinion, should be seized and burnt to ashes before it misleads anyone else with its pseudo-scientific
methodology and misinformation.)
And how was your weekend?
25 April 2008
Another long week. Feeling a bit swamped with work and family
issues. Hay fever in full flower. I am determined to have a better Friday than I did last week. I’m going to the symphony
tomorrow for an all-Haydn program. I wish I had someone to take with me, but classical music lovers are few in my univers affectif.
22 April 2008
Five years, dear readers. Thank
you for following along. I don’t know how much longer I will or can keep this up.
Lots has changed in my life. I’m still living in the same apartment.
Still trying feng shui cures. New job, though. More nieces and nephews. Thinking about moving or buying in the next year or
so. Still going to the farmers’ market every Saturday, but not cooking as much as I’d like. Going to a new gym,
which I generally like very much, though it is not as much a part of my life (a “third place”) as it used to be. Still looking for a boyfriend. I no longer seem to
be allergic to citrus or figs, but I try to avoid pistachios and mangos out of fear of anaphylaxis. I’ve gained quite a bit of chub. But I don’t care about it as much as I thought I would. Isn’t
that the lesson of life?
20 April 2008
Farmers’ market report:
Pinkerton avocados, Fukumoto oranges, green garlic, red Russian kale, asparagus, and irises.
Friday was an extremely trying
day. Many technological vexations, and a few internecine ones too. Saturday I
went in to work after the farmers’ market, visited the gym (shoulders and abs), and then went on a date (!).
You must be shocked to read that. It went well enough. He’s going to his South American homeland for nearly a month,
so I won’t see him for some time. We’ll see how this progresses.
The olives I started curing a
month ago are now ready to eat. Tiny, but quite delicious. And so easy. I just covered them (literally) in sea salt, and stirred
them around. They gave off a brine after about a week, which I periodically drained. And a month later, I rinsed them well,
let them soak in warm water for a while (not quite long enough), dipped them in boiling water for a minute or so, and coated
them with olive oil. I can’t stop eating them. I will make another batch if they’re still available next week
at the market.
17 April 2008
A new record this morning: It
took me 20 minutes and several miles of driving (in a tight radius) to find a parking space this morning. I needed to avoid
the street sweepers. Part of the trouble is that Pacific Gas & Electric is replacing the old gas lines on a street a few
blocks away, which means no parking on either side of the street there, which means spillover on to the neighboring blocks,
like mine.
I did find a parking spot not
too far away, but it’s on the Friday side of the street (as we say around here), which means I’ll be repeating
this routine tomorrow morning.
13 April 2008
Heat wave! The fog came back
this afternoon, so all has returned to normal (read: frigid), but it was great while it lasted. I have never seen so many
people in Dolores Park. I made lots of vitamin D. I slept with the windows wide
open (this can happen only once or twice a year, and endured the mosquito (no screens, it’s San Francisco)).
We went to El Rio this afternoon
and had a blast. The lemon and fig trees were still there (having undergone a severe butchery pruning), but the other
tree on the deck had vanished. We stuck with beer instead of margaritas and went for pupusas at El Zocalo afterward. I met (or re-met) two nice gentlemen. We’ll see where this leads.
Farmers’ market report:
asparagus, bok choi leaves (or something like that – I’m not sure of the actual name), dates, rhubarb, green garlic,
and lilies. I think peas might be ready next week. I made a nice lentil-and-rice salad for lunch, and a rhubarb compote, and
I did my taxes. I might put my refund toward a seersucker suit. I’ve wanted
one for years. Don’t you?
8 April 2008
A palindromic date. My hay fever
is dreadful this year. Hoping that it won’t be so bad tomorrow in L.A.
7 April 2008
Farmers’ market report:
a whole hen (head and feet included), beef, artichokes, spinach, chard, ewe’s milk ricotta, green garlic, baby cipollini,
Meyer lemons, a bunch of carrots no thicker than a Sharpie pen, and tulips.
A miscommunication led to a long
drive Saturday to Sonoma and back. A mini-road trip to clear the mind. Then a nap, and then a Saturday night spaghetti Bolognese
dinner at the home of good friends. Lots of good talk and good wine (except for the one I brought, a Malbec, which was unfortunately
corked).
Looking for a muse, still.
Sunday: cleaning and cooking
(braised artichokes, then chicken stuffed under the skin with chard, spinach, green garlic, with a little pan sauce, and glazed
onions and carrots on the side; and then a Meyer lemon pudding).
And the kumquat marmalade I made
last week turned out great.
3 April 2008
I am still being driven crazy
by the once-a-minute beeps of the smoke detector. I thought it was the one in the hallway I share with the now-vacant apartment
next door. The handyman is AWOL and the landlord unresponsive. I can’t fix it myself as it’s on the ceiling above
the stairs, about 14 feet above the landing. It has been going off since Friday. Yesterday
I got out my ladder, set it up on the stairs, and took a swing at it with my French rolling pin. Two strokes and it was down
on the stairs. Alas. The battery in it was nearly expired, but the beeping is coming from the vacant apartment, which is locked.
It is a sign that I need to move. I am feeling that this apartment has served its purpose in my life.
30 March 2008
Farmers’ market report:
bok choi, kumquats, pork, eggs, bread from della Fattoria, a Pinkerton avocado, naval oranges, and white & green tulips(!).
Instead of going to the gym today,
I turned the kumquats into marmalade. See below. I wanted something easy to make (no long periods of maceration or boiling).
However, I forgot just how many tiny little pips there are in each tiny fruit. All had to be removed by hand. I cut them on
a mandoline to get even, fine slices. I also cut an even, fine slice of the tip of my thumb.
I went into the office yesterday,
but could not bring myself to do so today. Instead I paid the bills (golly!), cleared off my desk, and rehung the Tibetan
prayer flags (after ascertaining that it is not an inauspicious day to do so), and puttered.
I also enjoyed Stuff White People Like, featured in today's NY Times "Style" section. I feel that he is satyrizing my personal lifestyle choices
as a white man. See, e.g., his entries on San Francisco, Dinner Parties, Graduate School, Wine, Living
by the Water, Farmers' Markets. Not Having a TV. The comments are by-and-large clueless, so don't bother.
25 March 2008
A long day at work, but very
productive. Completed one project and started a new one, which I hope will lead to good things.
I’m trying to cut down
on my spending. Perhaps making $100 withdrawals from the ATM (“to save time”) is not such a good idea. I’m
going back to my usual $40 or $60 withdrawals. No matter how much I take out, I seem to spend it at the same rate.
The little triplet squirrel pups
over at Squirrelhouse.com send me into cute overload.
No dating to report. What will
my therapist say if I don’t come up with something quick? After the gym tonight (back & biceps), I noticed
as I was donning my togs that I'm now using a new notch on my belt (and it's one that's closer to the tip of the belt).
Hmm. Skipping cardio for a month had had an untoward result. When is the International Bear Rendezvous?
23 March 2008
Farmers’ market report:
it was crowded on the day before Easter. Lots of tourists, but also lots of food buyers. We got: kumquats, white guavas, chard,
bacon, bread, green garlic, cardoons, asparagus, Blue Bottle coffee, and tulips.
An old friend was visiting from
out of town, so after the market we went to Bar Jules for a delicious lunch (a bread and sorrel soup, and then grilled chicken with chickpeas and green peas, and a lemon tarte).
I then puttered at home, not doing what I should have done, and then went to Dolores Park (along with the rest of San Francisco)
to sit in the sun. The gym (back & biceps) and a long walk to Rainbow Grocery followed. I miss my bicycle.
Lent is over. I can resume my bad habits.
19 March 2008
Working nonstop for three days
until noon today. Resting now. Went to the gym in the Castro, which is getting more and more run down, crowded, and uninspiring.
My bicycle got stolen. I have
hay fever. I have been in a low-grade funk for weeks now. But on the bright side, I have running hot water in my kitchen,
for the first time in two months. And the back deck on my apartment is no longer “supported” by rotten posts.
Protests all over the city today
to mark the fifth anniversary of the war on Iraq. No one came to chain himself to my desk today, alas.
16 March 2008
Big family gathering today. Lots
of pasta, then lots of ham and other vegetables, then several salads, and then six desserts. No one goes away hungry. Many
babies, too, which was fun. We took lots of pictures, including some line-ups by generation. Only one child of my grandfather
(born in Tuscany in 1885) is still alive. Both of my grandfathers were born in the 19th Century.
Farmers’ market report:
ham (a seventeen-pounder!), guavas, navel oranges, bok choi, tulips, and bread.
It has been five years since
the inception of our great patriotic triumph, the liberation of Iraq. My, what a success. Let’s all wave a flag and
slap a yellow ribbon magnet on the back of our SUV. That’s show’em! (And gas here in San Franci. (at least premium)
is only days away from hitting $4 a gallon.)
Tornadoes in downtown Atlanta!
The pictures looked shocking. So much damage in just twenty minutes. I had no idea that brick buildings could be destroyed
by wind. And the coverage in the online version of the Atlanta Journal Constitution
was so lame I had to turn to a Yankee paper to make sense of the damage.
A long week at work is ahead
of me. I hope to make it productive.
12 March 2008
Eliot Spitzer is out. Straight
people can be so disappointing.
The squirrel mother has had triplets
at Bob’s Squirrel House (check out the inside cam). They’re often there in the evening, nursing
away.
9 March 2008
Well, let’s see. I missed
yesterday’s palindromic date. But the farmers’ market was good. Everything now looks full of life. Spring is here.
I got: sausages, eggs, tangelos (Minneola oranges), bok choy, bread from della Fattoria, and tulips.
While sweeping the stairs I got
a call from a gentleman I met the night before. He was seated next to us at the sushi counter and we struck up a conversation.
When he found out I was cleaning my apartment with my bare hands, he recommended his own maid.
We have a date on Tuesday night. He likes sweets.
Later, I tanned my flab on my
neighbor’s roof, had a lovely nap, hit the gym (shoulders), and watched “Young Frankenstein.” Not as funny as it seemed when I first saw it in junior high school (“What knockers!” “Vhy
zank you, Doctor.”) (“What is it that you do do?”)
Today’s plans: pay the
bills, work on my taxes (complicated yet again), a spot of work, some tanning, buying some tea to replace the vast quantity
I spilled this morning, and then dinner with friends. I hope I can nap again.
4 March 2008
So, today the California Supreme
Court hears oral argument in the marriage equality cases. Because of the way the court works (long story), we know they have
already made up their minds and drafted their opinion(s). Today’s questioning may shed some light on their plans. An
decision will be rendered within 90 days. Keep your fingers crossed.
2 March 2008
I attended the saddest funeral
yesterday, in deepest Bakersfield. My sister and I drove down on Friday afternoon, had dinner at the Noriega Hotel (a Basque restaurant qui vaut bien un détour). Old fashioned, genuine, hospitable.
We ate, family style, at long tables, which, as long-time readers know, are very dear to my heart. Our meal was a near
clone of the one depicted in the link above.
I did the driving on the way
back (376 miles in one afternoon). Highway 99 was lined with wildflowers and
acres and acres of stone-fruit orchards in pink and white bloom.
What impressions do others glimpse
of our lives? I can only imagine how we looked as we leapt past at 90 in my sister’s big German sedan, still dressed
for the funeral (somber tie around my neck, my sister in a dark twinset), windows up, air conditioning on, a magazine in my
sister’s hand. Bourgeois husband and wife on their way to a christening? The country club? How many observers would
have come close to guessing anything like the truth?
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