gratuitous pic

Had a tasty weekend being spoiled by two amazing gastro-a(i)mis. Started off with some berry-picking at Impossible Acres just outside of town, arrived in Oakland a short drive later with a pink mouth, then cat belly scratching and much good conversation which turned to food, leading to tongue tantalizers of oysters in soy sauce and tabasco, then broiled salmon bellies marinated in soy, ginger and guava jelly joined brussel sprouts, carrots and morels sauteed with onions, garlic, cumin seeds, fennel seeds and a touch of powdered chipotle over curried mung beans. Sleep soon followed, and motivation for getting up the next morning was provided by the spongecake downstairs waiting for its whipped cream and berries.

Swung over to SF to join Jack only to run into a farmer's market at our meeting spot and barely escaped without more fish. Despite the cake breakfast, I found myself hungry for the chocolate croissant Jack so kindly provided in the car, and ate half before making it to Palo Alto to meet up with Bess and her friend for dim sum. A blissful parade of dumplings followed, the meal ending with soft tofu in a warm sauce of ginger sugar syrup. We were dropped off in downtown Palo Alto and made a brief foray into Anthropologie (inspiring in some of their designs though horrifying in their prices for the quality--oh yeah, so the point of this post was to show off my inlay on my bass headstock since I came across the photo while looking for photos to modify into silkscreening designs since $70 for a T-shirt seems a little much given the quality of the fabric and I might as well print my own). Some interesting stores/galleries, but was not tempted to buy anything other than jade and snowflake obsidian whorls for my drop spindles. And food.

We stopped at a tea bar for some refreshment and knitting, then moseyed over to a New Orleans bar for some beer and fried yams, zucchini and potatoes. Next stop was an Italian restaurant where we shared butternut squash filled (sage butter drowned) ravioli and sauteed brussel sprouts, asparagus, mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes, eggplant, onions and zucchini. We walked back to Bess's, dwaddling over the many plants (and couple cats) along the way, fortified for the long walk by a couple cardamom chocolate truffles propitiously acquired at our last stop at Coupa Cafe before leaving the downtown area. Back at Bess's, managed to wait for Jack to arrive before sharing the end of the spongecake with berries and cream, then made it back to Davis without eating anything more.