cook: winter break eating

I cooked comfort food like adobo and (brown) rice... 

...and breakfasts like eggs gratin for those leisurely mornings on my winter break.

However, I still had unopened cans of crab and oysters in the fridge left from thanksgiving feasting. The crab turned into my favorite sandwich that I used to order from the Sardine Can. Luckily, I had scallions and a lemon in the fridge--those ingredients with Best Foods and Kewpie mayonnaise and the crab make for the most delicious salad. And I remembered I had avocado too.

 

But I don't like avocado and crab salad too warm in a crab melt. And so I grilled the buttered sourdough and cheese first before layering sliced avocado and crab salad into the sandwich. 

 

And what's left of the crab turned into our New Year's Eve dinner of crab pasta. I cooked a mashup of Northern European and Vietnamese butter garlic noodles by combining vermouth and cream with oyster, seasoning, fish sauces with garlic, butter and Parmesan cheese.

 

But of course with lots of scallions and roasted broccoli.

And this time instead of my favorite Chardonnay, a glass of Petanque.

And now I'm craving fruits and vegetables after all the holiday feasting, but I had two tortillas to use up in my pantry. After swimming yesterday, I bought fried potatoes and chorizo and stuffed them into breakfast burritos Meral and I ate before going to the ceramics store.

 

I satiated my vegetarian cravings with a Veggie Delite from Subway and stuffed the rest of the avocado from my crab melt into it.

I ate more of my adobo before my road trip to Los Angeles tomorrow. Oh right! I'm going to view Luna Luna in the Arts District and maybe stop at the Griffith Observatory too. I went to the public library to check out audiobooks for that 12 hour drive to and from: chick lit, literary fiction and nonfiction from my favorite Op-ed columnist, David Brooks. I'm bringing just my gym bag with a night shirt and toiletries, my art bag, my computer case and pencil case and a couple bottles of water.

 

I wish I could travel lighter, but I relish my creature comforts in my hotel room.

travel: tourism in my own backyard

I’m lucky to live right by San Francisco, which is surrounded by a lot of natural beauty. And the reunion with my sister and brothers included lunch and window shopping in the Mission the day after Christmas. I had my siblings stroll with me into a boutique shop where I bought a gold chain with a tiny rose quartz pendant and an enamel pin in colors I love. I almost bought a book on graphic design to resist capitalism (copyright 2007) at that local independent store. I wish I'd bought the book (ironic!). And I so wanted to peruse another bookstore.

While waiting for my other brother and sister-in-law and nephew to arrive, I did go into a store, drawn to the byline, "tools for nomads." I saw portable watercolor sets perfect for Eli to go with the drawing pads, pencils and pens that I gave him to use for his Sketchbook Skool class on urban sketching. They finally arrived, and we ate lunch at Señor Sisig. I actually would have preferred my nachos without the tofu as I found the soybean curd too sweet, but the crunchy chips helped me to demolish them sans tofu.

I did have Eli accompany me back into the gift shop, and we chose a Japanese watercolor set with a pigment pen and a travel watercolor brush pen with a barrel to fill with water. 

 

After exploring the Mission and failing to find a coffeehouse to hang out, we went on Alex's suggestion to the Tunnel Tops. We parked by the Disney Museum and the dog park.

The views already from afar were gorgeous despite the blustery weather.  Maps are a good thing to draw in one's sketchbook maybe.

Ahh, I see now why the national park is called the Tunnel Tops; it's above where I've sometimes driven to get on the Golden Gate Bridge.

  

And of course, I needed to read the history of the fort point.

 

Further closer to the headland were more incredible views of the bay.

Since we couldn't find a nearby café, we headed to Japantown for coffee and tea and to drop off Alex and Gen at the Kabuki. I plan on sketching this structure in my journal.

 

While waiting for my boba tea, I did a teeny bit of window shopping.

 

I told my niece next year that I won't shop Five Below and that I'll find gifts at Daiso instead and that we should bring all my grandnieces to Japantown after thanksgiving. I'm already looking forward to our next holiday gathering and family reunion.

celebration: christmas family album

I was full of trepidation before reuniting with my siblings: I've been estranged from my sister who resides in San Francisco (just a 15 minute drive away) and a brother who resides in San Diego and whom I hadn't seen since the Christmas before the pandemic. December 25th was without negative incident, thankfully and hopefully, baby steps toward reconciliation and warmer relationships. Children made the holiday a lot merrier as shown in the pics shared by my sister-in-law and niece. 

Below are my brother's oldest grandson and grandchild as well as his youngest grandson and grandchild.

 

Darn cute.

And Bexley was less crabby this year while Halo was still her adorable self.

Dani cracked us all up with her hoarse voice, and Damian was scampering all over the house and backyard.

 

These two remain my favorite grandnieces.

My niece insisted on taking pics of the receivers with their presents from me.

Bexley and Isla.

 

While the kids were decorating cookies (last year I got to help them construct cookie houses), I was cooking dumplings.

And the chicken and cilantro wontons and my dipping sauce of soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, crushed garlic, sesame seeds and scallions were a hit with the kids. I look forward already to next Christmas.