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Category Archives: food

snippets of stuff

Written on September 9, 2011 by alyson in city life, food, Uncategorized

Some snippets of life in the last week, which after making a last minute ticket to Dallas and DC, mostly involved harried cooking and socializing.

From top: view from our roof / canning san marzano tomatoes from Mariquita Farms / $25 “mystery box” haul from Mariquita Farms / lunch at Russian River Brewing with Nosh This chocolates (and, uh, Nosh This (Kai) himself, along with Steve and Kimra) / limited edition posters commissioned by Fleisher’s Grass Fed and Organic Meat for their new Park Slope store / plum torte / cocktail hour on our roof / raw chicken pose / impromptu dinner party with Zuni chicken / chicken and waffles and yam tater tots at Criolla Kitchen / cocktail hour with the parents in texas with lemonbird handmade jam / and oh yeah, i bought some art! the top one to be specific.

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oktoberfest!

Written on October 20, 2010 by alyson in city life, food

October has proved to be insanely busy, with lots of food, drink, friends, and vacations. All good, but man, do I need to get some arty work done!

Wanted to share some shots from an Oktoberfest progressive dinner that we had a couple of weeks ago. This was our third progressive dinner and they are pretty awesome. Each course is hosted at a different house, which allows for a fairly easy way to host a dinner party for 8 to 10 friends, since everyone shares the cooking and drink duty. The host houses are all within walking (or a short Muni ride) from each other, so things progress pretty quickly.

And it helps that we have some crazy good cooks in the group — the spread included homemade soft pretzels, beery cheese sauce, an insanely delicious 8 hour roast pork shoulder, spatzel gratin, homebrewed oktoberfest beer, and german chocolate beer floats, and mini apple struedels.

Oh yeah, and I can’t pass up an opportunity for costuming….

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birthday boy

Written on May 27, 2010 by alyson in city life, food, my artsy stuff, steve

front of card for steve!

A happy belated birthday to my mister!

This weekend we heard that PacMan just turned 30 too, so I had to incorporate that into the card I painted for him.

inside of card

As is common for us, I didn’t get him a physical present, but rather a promise of a summer trip.

So excited to go to Pheonix to try out Pizzeria Bianco, often regarded as the best pizza in the US!

Steve also commemorated his 30 years by painting the eye on his daruma (which I made for him as a Christmas present). Traditionally, one is supposed to paint in one eye when they make a goal, and when the goal is achieved, the other eye is painted. I guess it is supposed to remind you with it’s one black eye to keep focused on your goals. or something. I’m obviously not really sure.

I’ve been healing from some minor whiplash, so although his birthday was on Monday, we just celebrated last night with an awesome dinner at a neighborhood sushi place that he’s been dying to try since we moved here. The food was delicious and the older japanese couple that runs the place are unbelievably adorable. I got a tip (from yelp) to order Kurosawa sake, as it is from the owner’s hometown of Nagano. From there on they couldn’t have been nicer, even showing us the pictures of a young Yo-Yo Ma and other famous musicians who have eaten and performed there over the last 26 years. Comparing our experience to the many negative reviews about the service on yelp, just confirms my theory that people get bad service when they are assholes. (This theory was also proved true at Momofuku Ssam Bar in NYC).

Other than that, busy busy here prepping for Indie Mart on June 6th! I’ll have some more updates before then!

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the green stuff

Written on March 17, 2010 by alyson in city life, food

As I’m still nursing a 3-week-old cold, I’ll be celebrating St. Patrick’s day with this matcha green tea smoothie, instead of thick foamy Guinness. ah well.

It’s an extremely gorgeous day here, sunny and over 70 degrees. This is all too rare in this city, and it seems like folks are taking advantage. I ate lunch in the Botanical Gardens in Golden Gate Park and it was pretty packed… as packed as a sprawling garden area can be, I suppose. Many of the succulents have started blooming too. I really regretted not bringing my camera.

I also stumbled into this amazing library of horticulture there. It was amazing, with all the books focused on plant life, including gardening, rare fruits of Bali, and about 10 “how to watercolor plants” books. It was pretty amazing, and I had no idea it was there! There will definitely be a return visit. For you locals, they are having a used book sale March 26-28.

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Blogging it Forward

Written on March 5, 2010 by alyson in food, travel

hello new people!

I’m psyched, like everyone else, to be participating in this Blog It Forward Mashup. (Um, Victoria, this is awesome.) Victoria, AKA sfgirlbybay brainstormed this idea with a couple of other creative types over Twitter, and asked for participants. Thanks for including me and spending the ridiculous amount of time coding everyone’s info. Thanks also to Kathryn at Dream a Little Dream for her great post yesterday, and be sure to check out Dwell Deep who will be posting on Monday.

It’s been pretty interesting to think about what inspires me in life and in my art. There are like a million things, but here are the top(ish) ones.

1. When I travel to a foreign country, I head straight for the grocery store.

Fresh beer bar in Hanoi, Vietnam

If I had unlimited money there is no doubt that I would travel all. the. time.

Guard hut at Tham Hin refugee camp in Thailand

I’m not so much into typical sightseeing when traveling, but am more interested in experiencing how people in other places live. Typical travels will always include rambling in residential neighborhoods, grocery shopping (in supermarkets and fresh markets both) and plopping down in local restaurants where no one speaks English.

The Fancy Lifter game at an arcade in Tokyo. Yeah, I can’t explain it more than that.

Traveling is inspiring to me not only because of the visual excitement, but also because it forces you to live in the moment and pay attention to the details in the world around you.

sidewalks in Hanoi, Vietnam

street art, hanoi

street art in Hanoi and jamon iberico in Barcelona

Sidewalk in Mae Hong Son, Thailand and detail of a shrine in Hanoi

puppy and Singha. together at last

Art at Buddhist temple coffee house in Mae Hong Son, Thailand. Close up of tiles at Buddhist temple in Bangkok.

2. Eating food makes me want to draw, and drawing food makes me want to eat.

L to R, T to B: Roadside gai yang in Thailand, Dungeness crab and cardoon salad at Commis in Oakland, cheese plate in Rome, mango and sticky rice in Thailand, Mangosteens and a Mangosteen valentine.

As my daily drawing project MEAT SECTIONS probably indicates, food is clearly an inspiration.

01.14.10

some daily drawings from my blog MEAT SECTIONS

And drinks too. (They can also, can help with the creative process)

Illustrations of a beer from The Bruery and a cocktail from The Alembic

I also love food packaging. One of our kitchen walls displays a bunch of food packaging (mostly from the aforementioned foreign grocery stores)

They are an excellent source for color palettes too.

3. People saying “f*** it all” and doing what they love

Screenshot from Michel Gondry’s “Science of Sleep”, via We Heart It

There is nothing more inspiring than someone basically saying “fuck it all” and doing what they love, even if it is a huge risk. In fact, the bigger risk, the better.

Stories of people learning what they love and then actually doing it, like the people interviewed in Po Bronson’s “What Should I Do with My Life?” are so exciting. I’m not a big life-lesson-touchy-feely-person but this life is all we know we have in the world and well, I’d like to make the most of it. There is so much planning and caution in most people’s lives that it is invigorating and often necessary to take a leap and do something outside of that plan. I feel like I did this when I quit my government attorney job last year. My husband is naturally one of these “necessary risk taker” types and has inspired me to be more so. (We even included this concept in our wedding vows…)

cover art for Neutral Milk Hotel

Creative people who have chosen a life they want to lead, and are flourishing in their chosen paths are just endlessly inspiring. And the weirder and more wildly creative they are, the better. (See filmmakers like Wes Anderson and Michel Gondry, musicians like Neutral Milk Hotel, Sunset Rubdown, and Owen Pallet, and chefs like Grant Achatz, Anthony Mangieri, and Peter Chang).*

5. SAN FRANCISCO

view of San Francisco from Sausalito ferry

And finally, the natural beauty and incredible creativity present in this city is a constant inspiration to do more, and do it well.

Pizzeria Delfina, one of my favorite places in the city.

As much as I love traveling, this is now my home.

My feet, my street.

Thanks so much for stopping on by, and be sure to check out Dwell Deep on Monday!

*I also have a soft spot for former lawyers who went on a different path, like the Zagats (of the Zagat guide), Matisse, and Kandinsky.

All photos are from me, unless otherwise indicated

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glimpses of holiday merriment and presents

Written on January 6, 2010 by alyson in food, holiday, home

L to R, top to bottom: row 1: frisee salad for xmas #1 at home, showing off the 4505 Meats poster, Denver airport with snow, BOOM Xmas wrapping paper. Row 2: Marc Johns print for steve, dungeness crab and cardoon appetizer at Commis, portugese sugar bowl and fancy christmas tea from my mom. Row 3: paper mache daruma I made for steve, super swank chocolate from NOKA, homemade salted caramel and coconut macarons, made with friend Sara, presents under the tree, Steve suspiciously eyeing the piment d’espelette present. Row 4: gift wrapping, made with thai masking tape, more hand-drawn(NOT foot-drawn) wrapping paper, slow poached egg, onion, and malt amuse at Commis, decoration at mom’s house, McSweeney’s Panorama, friends Pete and Kimra at Commis, and our Xmas #1 feast, featuring smuggled jambon iberico.

Reluctantly back from over two weeks of celebrating both here (xmas #1) and in Dallas with my family (xmas #2). And xmas #3 is this weekend with Steve’s fam a little further south. Lots of relaxing, crafting, eating, cooking, and times spent with friends and family.

Seriously great presents this year! I always feel like I’m probably difficult to shop for, because I rarely want more stuff (part of years of constant moving in my adult life, mostly to small apartment) and can be kind of picky. But my gentleman friend, my parents, and friends did a great job.

Highlights included a super cool chicharrones poster from 4505 meats*, this beautiful necklace from etsy seller Lauren Haupt (Local Library on etsy), McSweeney’s Panorama**, simple office supplies from Muji, and 5 bottles of Texas Pete’s hot sauce.

I have never had this in Texas, despite growing up there. First time was two years ago while on a government training base in Georgia. It has great flavor, not much heat, and damn it goes well with greens.I was clearly, very excited about this one:

My parents also came through mainly with Ad Hoc at Home and a new, and much need ipod. Not only was my mom able to get the Ad Hoc book before it sold out, she stood in line for HOURS to get it SIGNED by Thomas Keller! Great mom, right?

Until now, I’ve been proudly rocking a 3G ipod. As in 3^rd generation. As in 10 gigs of 2003-era awesomeness. It has served me proudly and well, but the last few months, it has been frequently losing its charge, so much so that sometimes it dies in the middle of a gym session. Which means I HAD to stop biking. So, welcome to my shiny, skinny, new 32 gig iPod.

You are beautiful, and useful, but you lack personality like my old boy. See:

I’m excited about the new year — lots of personal milestones for me and my family members to come. I’ll be posting some goals soon.

So far, my new daily drawing project – MEAT SECTIONS – has been keeping me busy. I think I’ll give a formal introduction in the next few days. In the meantime, check it out.

*though I can’t see the supposed lard thumbprint of Ryan Farr. Boo, I guess. The concept was kinda weird though, right? Seems like it would eat through the poster.

**Which, as it turns out, was actually purchased by our friend Pete, who graciously relinquished it to Steve so he could deliver it to me on xmas. Pete’s copy is on its way this month.Thanks Pete!

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a glimpse of the new year….

Written on January 5, 2010 by alyson in food

it involved a lot of crab. nom nom nom.

longer recap to come. seriously.

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art in the age of awesome.

Written on December 8, 2009 by alyson in city life, food, other people

Kate of For Me, For You had a great post today about gift ideas from AITA that reminded me of this post I’ve had in draft mode for a few weeks. So here it is!

I learned of the company Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction and their root beer liquor, Root, from DesignSponge last month. At the the time, I was enjoying the wedding-induced overpurchase of Virgil’s Root beer. I have a fondness for almost all root beers, but Virgil’s is my favorite, because it isn’t super sweet and it is fairly complex, with flavors of wintergreen, herbs, vanilla, and spices.

The descriptions of Root sound similarly promising (“Incredibly unique in flavor, fairly clean on the palate with strong notes of birch, peppery herbaceousness, spices, citrus and vanilla bean,” “Imbued with notes of tobacco, vanilla and allspice,” “truly divine stuff, very much a root beer flavor but much more herbal and grown up,” “Straight up, it smells like birch and vanilla beans suffused with gentle wisps of pipe smoke. An ice cube releases some of the spices, dominated by the allspice.”)

And as if the concept and packaging design wasn’t enough, this little gem of a watercolor animation greets visitors to the website.

Love it. I’ve been contemplating a series of drawings related to adult beverages (with bourbon leading the pack) for a while now. This might be the push to get me to do it.

Aaaand… lucky for everyone who lives in SF, you can just head on down to Cask to pick up a bottle.

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spoiler alert: stomach wins.

Written on November 22, 2009 by alyson in food, my artsy stuff

I drew this on the way to lunch at the French Laundry in Yountville earlier this year. The lunch was a parental present for passing the CA bar exam. It was an epic meal, but will likely never be repeated. It was, uh, expensive to say the least.

Elysian Fields Farm “sell d’agneau rotie entiere” (ummm…lamb)

Devil’s Gulch Ranch Rabbit Sirloin (with half a tiny kidney and teeny tiny rack)

Every dish was an origin-noted, perfectly prepared morsel of deliciousness.

But, honestly, I think the meal we have a few months earlier at Ubuntu in Napa was more impressive because 1) it was vegetarian and I didn’t miss meat; 2) the techniques and preparations were a bit more innovative than at the FL; and 3) I feel like the FL food was maybe a bit too clinical and perfect.

The well-known, but currently on an you-have-to-ask-for-it basis, “Coffee and Doughnuts” yeah, I nailed it.

The mid-meal garden walk at the FL was a nice touch though.

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