Author Archives: Administrator

Zucchini and Orange Marmalade Tea Cake

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Our charge nurse brought these huge zucchinis to work to give away. Apparently she didn’t know they were growing this big since they were hidden underneath some huge leaves. I used 1/3 for vegetable stew so I still have plenty left which I thought I’d try this Tartine recipe for Zucchini and Orange Marmalade Tea Cake (substituting apricot jam as the recipe suggests).

I think I put too much shredded zucchini so the cake ended up more moist and doughy that it probably should have been but I love Tartine’s recipe for the topping, since it’s covered with sugar, it makes the top nice and toasty looking and a bit sweet and crunchy.

It still tasted okay, just wasn’t very pretty.

Ella’s and Flour + Water

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I had the opportunity to try interesting restaurants today. This morning I went to Ella’s for brunch. I walk by this place whenever I walk home from work but it’s always closed. Little did I know that it’s only open for breakfast, brunch, and lunch.

I tried their ginger orange punch. The ginger note is at the end, refreshing.

So many yummy options for brunch.

We shared the freshly baked sticky bun. Not as moist as I would have liked but the topping was fantastic.

I tried their famous chicken hash, served with your choice of egg and toast. Here is an egg over-easy with wheat toast. The greens on top gave it a bit of a bite but I still needed some ketchup to moisten the hash. It had lots of chicken but I think I prefer corned beef hash.

So that was breakfast, for dinner, we went with friends to Flour + Water. We shared a few appetizers and had our own main courses and then shared desserts.

This is a stuffed squash flower. Not something that is easy to share as it was hard to cut the fried flower but it was nice and light with the fresh tomatoes.

This was some sort of braised oxtail meat made into a fried cake served with a salad and mushrooms.

We shared the margherita pizza with a fresh egg on top. A little soggy in the middle and the toppings were sliding off the pizza. A bit messy.

Fried peppers for our veggie dish. Lightly salted. I’d order these again.

Ron’s pork dish with fig and beans. I remember it having a nice flavor but not sure what was so nice about it. I probably only really liked it because of the fig.

Eggplant/cheese stuffed pasta. The cheese overpowered the flavor of the eggplant. The tomatoes were delicious though, very sweet.

Couldn’t resist dessert. We ordered one of each.

I loved the rosemary panna cotta.

The chocolate budino. Very rich.

Plum semifreddo with almond praline.

Ella’s
500 Presidio @ California

Flour + Water
2401 Harrison st @ 20th St

Giants vs Reds at AT&T Park

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Ron had won some free tickets for the Giants vs Reds game today at AT&T Park. It was a beautiful day and we had great seats. It’s quite a trek around the ballpark though but with great views.

Before settling down in our seats, we walked around checking out the food. This was Ron’s first time at the ballpark so we just wanted to see each level. We finally settled on a few food items like the bacon wrapped hot dog.

Included are chips and salsa.

The hot dog is wrapped with bacon, covered with some melted cheese and grilled jalapenos.

Ron wanted the fish and chips along with a beer.

Lastly (and later on), the chicken nuggets with Gilroy garlic fries.

View from our lower box seats. It was good to be protected from the sun and since it was a nice day, it wasn’t windy or cold.

It was a pretty exciting game with 2 home runs by the Giants. We left during the 9th inning to avoid the crowds and the Giants were winning.

A nice way to spend the afternoon.

Butter Mochi

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Made some butter mochi for the first time.

Really simple and delicious. Very dense too so a very filling breakfast or midday snack.

Recipe as follows:

1 lb mochiko (16-oz box)
2 cups sugar
2 tsp baking powder
2 cups milk
1/2 cup butter, melted
5 eggs, beaten
1 tsp vanilla
1 can coconut milk (12 oz)

Combine and mix dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Add in remaining wet ingredients. Use a wire whisk to mix thoroughly until batter is smooth. Pour into 9×13 inch pan, greased or sprayed with Pam. Bake at 350 degrees F for 1 hour. Let cool and cut into pieces with a plastic knife.

How the kitties share…

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The cats have three food bowls and a water container. Two bowls are square and one is round. For some reason, the cats prefer the round one… we think it’s easier for them to eat because it’s not as deep, so they feel they can eat more faster.

Misu, now that he’s all better from his illness, he’s becoming a bit of a meanie again and is hogging the coveted bowl. Poor Maxwell has to find a way to eat between the two without becoming stuck between Misu and Mochi… so he decided to crawl in between the wall and the food.

I don’t know why he doesn’t want to be between them but I’m guessing he just doesn’t want to be bothered and wants the ability to make a quick getaway.