A Winter Wonderland

St George Spirits in Alameda is truly one of the most magical places on earth. It's a craft distillery located in an old air force hangar (next to the Mythbusters shop), where they make the most exquisite small-batch hand-crafted spirits, including eau de vies (which are like grappa) and liqueurs, single malt whiskeys, and Hangar One Vodka (we are huge fans). Last year they debuted Absinthe Verte , the first absinthe legally made in the United States since 1912. We have a bottle of that too, and it's incredibly smooth and oh so delicious.

They recently released their handmade agave spirit, Agua Azul, otherwise known to most folks as tequila. However, just like how all "real" champagne has to be made in France's Champagne region, all "real" tequila must be made in Jalisco, Mexico - otherwise one cannot call it tequila. Just like the rest of the St George stuff, it's made on-site in their hangar (with agave pinas that they exported from Mexico), and thus can only legally be called an "agave-based spirit".

St. George hosts Open House events a few times a year, and this time around the theme was "1980s Winter Prom". For $40, they gave attendees tickets for 4 cocktails, 1 absinthe cocktail, 1 photograph at the photo station, and unlimited (ahem) "tastings" of all of their spirits. It goes without saying that there was also plenty of water stations to keep everyone hydrated, and plenty of hearty yummy food to keep the spirits in check.

Russell, Alden, and I had a blast. For more pics of the debauchery, click HERE.

RibDobo

A night of beer-fueled karaoke at the friendly neighborhood dive bar always seems to lead to an urge to cook the next day (like this). And Isa's mention of adobo last night put all sorts of crazy ideas into my head. I ended up waking up to a fever-dream of making adobo-glazed barbecue babyback ribs. Could I pull it off?

Click HERE for the answer!

Booze Cruise

Some very cool friends recently got us the gift of boozin' and cruisin' with Hornblower Cruises. So we took off on a beautiful clear weekend morning to enjoy a champagne brunch on the seas. The unlimited pours worked their magic, and we couldn't discern whether it was the boat swaying or whether it was us.
For more pics, click HERE.

Eat Your Colors

The onset of cooler weather signals the influx of hearty green and orange colors from Terra Firma Farm, the organic CSA farm we subscribe to, located in Winters, CA.Here's our box of produce this week. Loaded with goodness, just in time to fortify ourselves in the wet winter months. One of the things I love about Terra Firma is their inclusion of seasonal recipes in that week's newsletter, like this yummy Butternut Squash and Spinach Soup. Their recipes come in handy for those times when they send us vegetables I'm unfamiliar with, and I've learned so much!

A blog I've been following is Darya Pino's www.summertomato.com, which is filled with information on eating & living healthier. I like her approach, which doesn't focus on diets but instead talks about small & simple steps to improving your health and being mindful about what you put into your body. But at the same time, it leaves room for occasional indulgences without the guilt. I like this piece on Saving Money While Eating Healthy. It's realistic and do-able, and I highly recommend you check it out.

LA Labor Day

We took a trip down to SoCal to hang out with Isa, Jay, Marley-dog and Sidney Vicious for the long Labor Day weekend. Highlights from the trip:
- Sweet Tea Vodka
- Del Taco
- Scoops Ice Cream (shoulda tried the Brown Bread, darnit!)
- Ostrich tacos at El Coyote Cafe
- Seeing the freaks at Venice Beach
- Meeting friends & family for san-nakji at Masan Korean Restaurant (and everyone had some, yay!)
- Hanging out with Isa & Jay's pals Meg & Lyle, and meeting the Charlielator
Click HERE for our pictures!

Eat Real Food. Drink Real Beer.

We checked out the Eat Real Fest in Jack London Square on what was possibly the hottest day this summer. The organization was "created to inspire eaters to choose tasty, healthy, good food. Through a vibrant, local festival in Oakland, CA, and a focus on delicious and sustainable “street food,” Eat Real puts eaters in contact with the real people -- the farmers, chefs, and producers -- who make our food." This also gave us a chance to meet some of our rockstar street food vendors who've been making waves in SF this year, see them in action, and sample their goodies.

Pretty much all of the vendors are on Twitter, and there were a few that I was determined to try. We noshed our way through Phat Matt's BBQ, the Adobo Hobo, 4505 Meats, and succeeded in finding Steve of Gobba Gobba Hey, creator and purveyor of delectable Gobs and Gobbles. We were pretty much stuffed by the time we made it to the Beer Shed to guzzle a few servings of local microbrews.

Pictures of the sweltering (but satisfying) summer day: HERE.

The Hood

I just discovered http://theoutersunset.com/ which gives a pretty good visual description of what it looks like in our neighborhood. A few more things:

• The Outer Sunset is also sometimes called The Parkside, and it's totally different from the Inner Sunset (which is East of 19th). The Inner Sunset is a bit more Old Money and also includes the 9th/Irving St strip (aka the New "Chestnut Street"). The Outer Sunset is rougher around the edges and is more old-school working-class Irish & Asian, many of whom have been here for generations.
• Everything in the Outer Sunset displays a distinct patina of rust & salt corrosion, thanks to the thick, omnipresent, and salt-laced fog.
  
• It's pretty quiet out here. We often hear the waves, & can sometimes smell the ocean, from our house. On warm/sunny days, it's a crapshoot whether the fog will actually lift from our neighborhood (and for how long before the fog rolls back in), even though temps are soaring everywhere else in the city.
• There's really no rhyme or reason to the house colors & design. Anything pretty much goes in this neighborhood. The most entertaining street has to be 48th Ave - the seaward-facing homes have the craziest nautical themes.

I wouldn't trade living here for anything in the world.