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  • Category: California

    • chef

      Posted at 12:02 pm by jasminedesirees, on March 12, 2014

      Last week we had an onsite work training that our whole team flew out for from all over the country. At the end of the second day, we did a cooking class as a group for something fun to do together.

      It was at Jordan’s Kitchen in San Francisco, and it was amazing. It is a full scale commercial kitchen, but they only do group cooking classes, so we had the place to ourselves. The staff were super friendly, and really knowledgeable.

      We arrived, and they had trays of cheeses and smoked meats for us to snack on, and they were handing out wine before we even got our jackets off.  We made mushroom risotto, flank steak with fingerling potato salad and chocolate mousse with sea salt for dessert.

      Our group got to do everything, they taught us how to chop vegetables, season everything, and prepare, plate and garnish each dish. The food was delicious, mushroom risotto is one of my favourite things in the world. I may have gotten a little too deep into the wine because before I knew it I had nominated myself as the grill master of the group, and was picking up the flank steaks with my bare hands, and expertly (ish) maneuvering them around the flaming grill.

      The chocolate mousse was delish, and we had a post-dessert mini-booze bottle pinata, which is not something I’ve done before but may well become a part of my supper routine every night. It was a really fun activity,  and we got a copy of all of the recipes we made so we can re-create them at home. Not promising I will, because even though it was delicious it was a lot more work than boxed mac and cheese, but still it’s nice to have the option.

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      Posted in food, recipes, San Francisco | 0 Comments | Tagged cheese, chocolate mousse, cooking class, flank steak, food, friends, Jordan's Kitchen, mushroom risotto, recipes, risotto, San Francisco, wine, work
    • bird by bird

      Posted at 3:35 pm by jasminedesirees, on February 6, 2014

      I just finished reading Bird by Bird by Anne Lamotte. It’s a book about writing, why she does it, how she does it, and how she teaches about it. I really liked it, it was funny and informative, with lots of quotes and poems from other writers.

      One of my favourite passages: “One of the gifts of being a writer is that it gives you an excuse to do things, to go places, to explore. Another is that writing motivates you to look closely at life as it lurches and tramps around.”

      In it, she describes writing characters and plot as similar to taking Polaroid pictures, you think you know what you’re focusing on, and what you want the end result to be, but it’s only as you are writing and watch what develops that you really see what the image is that you’ve captured. And often, it isn’t at all what you thought it was going to be.

      I had just read that chapter, and was walking down the street in San Francisco trying to describe the scene around me in my head, and take note of the little details that I usually breeze right by, when I noticed that someone had written LOVE on the back of a walk light that I walk by, just underneath, everyday. The sky was very blue, and I thought it would make a good picture, so I quickly snapped an image before dashing across the street, as the seconds counted down on the cross signal.

      It was only afterwards, when I was looking at the image, that I realized there was an sticker of Henry Winkler, aka The Fonz from Happy Days, stuck on the light post beside it.

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      Posted in life, San Francisco | 0 Comments | Tagged Anne Lamotte, Bird by Bird, writing
    • L.A. wanderings

      Posted at 12:54 am by jasminedesirees, on January 25, 2014

      Just a few more pics of our trip to L.A. last weekend. We ended up doing everything I had on my list, and lots of other things, like spending the day cruising down the PCH and checking out Venice and Huntington.

      We were there for four days, and didn’t have any real concrete plans so it was very relaxing. We ate lots of yummy food, and found hoards of 49ers fans in Huntington beach to watch the football game with on Sunday. The niners lost, but it was a beautiful day, and it was $3 mimosas so I wasn’t too upset.

      Also I read Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) on the trip and at the beach, and loved every second of it. Mindy Kaling is my spirit animal.

      It made me endlessly happy that there is a restaurant called Pink Taco and that their sangria was basically the nectar of the Gods
      Santa Monica pier at night
      Kt von D’s tattoo shop. I was very excited, her eyeliner makes my life complete
      Grauman’s Chinese theater, the Harry Potter cast
      Posted in beach, food, Los Angeles, travel, USA | 0 Comments | Tagged beach, California, L.A., Los Angeles, macarons, Venice
    • rectory

      Posted at 1:44 am by jasminedesirees, on January 23, 2014

      I signed up for AirBnB awhile ago, but hadn’t had a chance to use it yet. After the new year I got an email from them offering one night free if you booked two nights, so I decided to give it a try when we went down to L.A.

      We found this amazing house to stay in, it used to be an old Catholic rectory, turned into a home by a cool musician and his wife. Our stay was lovely, he worked nights and slept during the day so we barely saw him and had the place to ourselves, and it was one of the most beautiful and most unique places I’ve ever stayed.

      There was a lot of stained glass windows, and lots of tiny little details that really made it special. I also loved his collection of musical instruments, scattered around the house as decoration, and also ready to be played at any time.

      Our first AirBnB experience was awesome, I’m planning a trip to New York in March (I’ve never been, and I’m soooo excited, I’ve wanted to go since I was little) so I’ll definitely be looking around to find a neat place to stay there during my visit.

       

      Posted in California, Los Angeles, travel, USA | 0 Comments | Tagged AirBnB, architecture, catholic church, decoration, design, Los Angeles, rectory
    • runyon

      Posted at 12:01 am by jasminedesirees, on January 22, 2014

      We had a truly gorgeous long weekend in L.A., it was upwards of 80 degrees every day we were there. One of the things I had been wanting to do was hike Runyon Canyon, we did the Hollywood sign hike last time we were in town, so even though it was sweltering, we grabbed some waters and set off.

      After spending 45 minutes searching for parking we finally made our ascent. The hike is beautiful, if a little crowded, with scenic views of downtown L.A. and the Hollywood sign. It’s also a dog park so there are dogs of every shape and size coming up and down.

      It’s not a very strenuous hike, there are some stairs that are kind of hard to navigate but other than that it’s a pretty easy, pretty quick hike, I would definitely recommend it if you’re in town and want to get some exercise and some sun.

      Hollywood sign
      Stark can not hang
      made it to the top
      Posted in California, Los Angeles, travel, USA | 0 Comments | Tagged dogs, exercise, hiking, Los Angeles, Runyon Canyon
    • south

      Posted at 10:38 pm by jasminedesirees, on January 16, 2014

      Happy long weekend!

      We are driving down to L.A. tonight, leaving right after work. I’d much rather drive down at night, it’s just 6 hours of singing and sleeping and then I wake up and we are there (sorry Derek).

      We don’t have a lot of plans, we’re going to tour a few universities tomorrow, but other than that we’re just going to creep around and explore, and try to decide if it’s somewhere we’d want to live.

      Other tentative plans include:

      A visit to the Santa Monica pier (and the Brandy Melville store right beside it)
      Breakfast at Toast Bakery
      A hike at Runyon Canyon
      Dessert at Bottega Louie
      The beach
      Visiting with Derek’s family

      And we found a really neat place to stay on AirBnB, it used to be a Catholic rectory so it has really neat architecture and stained glass windows, and a huge garden. And also a claw footed tub. I may never leave.

      I’m prettttttty excited to get going, is it 5 o’clock yet?

      Posted in beach, California, Los Angeles, travel, USA | 0 Comments | Tagged Bottega Louie, Los Angeles, restaurants, Santa Monica Pier
    • gotham

      Posted at 10:52 pm by jasminedesirees, on November 15, 2013

      Life in SF has basically ground to a screeching halt today, because of Batkid. It seems like everyone knows about it, but maybe that’s only because I’m in the Bay. It’s a pretty great story no matter where you live.

      A little boy battling leukemia told the Make a Wish Foundation that his only wish was to be Batkid, and to help save Gotham City. San Francisco rose to the challenge, with more than 12,000 volunteers helping to transform the city into Gotham, complete with bat signal.

      Batkid has been all over the city today, battling the Riddler and the Penguin, saving damsels in distress and also the SF Giants mascott, Lou Seal, from certain death. He’s been riding around in the batmobile, AKA a black Lamborghini with bat adornments, accompanied by Batman, and Batkid’s little brother, who gets to be Robin for the day.

      Batkid has been sick since he was 20 months old, so most of his life has been spent in hospitals getting treatment, and today he got to be a superhero. Wishing to be Batkid is pretty creative, as far as wishes go, and all of these people rallying to help make it happen is really amazing.

      The bat symbol in a building across the street from my office

      You can learn more about batkid here.

      Posted in loveliness, San Francisco | 0 Comments | Tagged batkid, batman, loveliness, make-a-wish foundation, San Francisco
    • buzz

      Posted at 3:42 am by jasminedesirees, on October 18, 2013

      It’s such a gorgeous day in San Francisco I just want to go play outside. I find it strange that it is 60 degrees here in July and 90 in mid-October, but that’s just one more thing to love about this weird little city.

      I am literally don’t think I can eat any more turkey, but I feel really guilty going shopping for any other food while we still have so much left because there are lots of people in the world that don’t have enough to eat, so there is actually no other food in our house.

      As a direct result of this situation, I had a very large coffee and some chocolate for lunch today and it was delicious and decadent but between the caffeine and the sugar rush I am feeling a bit crazy and I might be developing a twitch in my left eye.

      It might just be excitement though, I’m off to Vegas tomorrow to see two of my most favourite girls, drink a lot of margaritas and spend all my money. It’s not the gambling that gets me, though I do seem to have a unusual talent for craps, it’s the shopping.

      There is a Zara here in SF, but for some reason when I walk into the one in Vegas I want EVERYTHING! Plus they have a Top Shop. Life is good.

      Posted in life, San Francisco | 0 Comments | Tagged coffee, Las Vegas, life, San Francisco, shopping, travel, zara
    • birthday plans

      Posted at 6:22 pm by jasminedesirees, on October 4, 2013

      Next week is Derek’s birthday, I’ve been trying to decide what to get him. Last year, we went on a road trip down the coast and just kind of crept around Santa Cruz, Monterey and Carmel exploring. It was really fun and spontaneous.

      I’d really like to do something like that again this year, I was thinking Morro Bay. There is so much beautiful coast line in this state, and I’d like to see as much of it as possible while we’re here. We even bought a tent this summer that hasn’t been used once as I bought it for a camping trip and then ended up sleeping in the boat under the stars.

      We’re so busy this month that we wouldn’t be able to go until November, but it’s California, how cold can it be by then, really? I’ve camped many a May long weekend in Canada where there was snow on the ground and nothing but red Sourpuss and Sky Blue coolers to keep me warm.

      There is something so romantic and wonderful about just getting in the car and driving with no real plans. Maybe we’ll make it to the campgrounds, maybe we won’t. Maybe we’ll visit Hearst Castle, maybe we’ll get mugged on the beach. It’s a mystery, but I bet you it will be a memorable weekend.

      We’re seeing Matt Nathanson at the Fox Theater in Oakland tonight, I saw him last year at Now and Zen and he is great live, so great that I am willing to overlook his nose ring.

      Also on the agenda for this weekend, a massage, book club, and making perogies for Thanksgiving next Sunday while I creep all over the internet trying to find season 4 of Downton Abbey because it doesn’t air in ‘merica until January.

      Posted in California, exploring, life, travel, USA | 0 Comments | Tagged birthday, explore, life, road trip, travel
    • breast friends

      Posted at 6:51 pm by jasminedesirees, on October 1, 2013

      The Avon Walk for Breast Cancer was this past weekend. We signed up in February, fundraised for months, thought about training for months while sitting on the couch and not actually training (to be fair, it’s walking, right? I’ve been walking pretty solidly for like 26 years by now).

      I was excited for it, and excited to be doing it with my mom and sisters, I thought it would be fun and that it raised money for a good cause, but I didn’t give it much more thought than that.

      It was a really great experience, even just as far as getting to see the city. If you only have one weekend to visit a place, think about signing up for this event because it was really awesome, we walked through Fisherman’s Wharf, down the Embarcadero, through China town, North Beach, the Presidio, past Golden Gate Park, it was really an amazing way to see the city, and to get to really appreciate so many of the places that I drive by all the time and think to myself “Oh I should really stop there”, but then never do.

      As we were at about mile 8, we came to a corner where a woman was standing alone. She was pale. thin, and she looked frail but tough. From her close cropped hair, it was clear that she was either in the midst of chemo, or had just finished it. As each walker passed by her, she would look them directly in the eye and say “Thank you for walking for me.” I almost burst into tears, but it was so inspiring, especially at about mile 25 when all I wanted to do was lay down and drink a margarita.

      That night we went to Cheesecake Factory for some carb loading and some truly delicious Asian Pear martinis, I didn’t even blink at finishing most of our shared piece of cheesecake myself, because let’s be honest, I had earned it. We were sitting there, feeling proud of what we’d accomplished, 26.2 miles the first day, but tired, sore and injured, and really disheartened at the prospect of doing it all again the next day.

      All of a sudden, my mom pipes up with “Maybe that’s kind of what it’s like when you are actually fighting cancer. You’re tired and sore and injured and you’ve already come so far and you feel like that should be enough, but it isn’t, and you have to wake up the next day and do it all over again, even though you don’t feel like you can, but you have to do it.”

      I guess that’s why we have moms. All in all, it was a great experience and a very memorable weekend.

      Posted in family, life, San Francisco | 1 Comment | Tagged avon walk for breast cancer, breast cancer, family, health, San Francisco, thoughts
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