Celebrate Good Times!

There are a lot of people who think I live the life of a cloistered nun...or maybe I should say a starving musician..I don't, not all all. Life is not all pain and suffering for me....really. I do have fun, and I do enjoy the finer things in life on occasion.

And when I do this, I really  do this right!

True, I tend to stick to a fairly rigid and calculated diet most of the time, but I also love food and wine and I love to let loose and celebrate, for no other reason than I feel alive!

Saturday David and I went to the Ferry Plaza Market in San Francisco. It is usually an eating and shopping extravaganza when we go.  We always (always) start off with fish taco's and red wine at Mijita. We sit outside and people watch.

Then off to the bread shop (Acme) and to get some cheeses too.

Next is Hog Island Oyster Farm. David eats several different oysters before he decides to buy dozens of the usual Sweetwater's....

I get three dozen mussels so I can make steamed mussels for lunch on Sunday. 

We stop at the Wine Merchant's for a glass....I have something sparkling and David has something still. I think it's about 11:00 am so that means it is 8:00 pm in Spain- time for a drink!

We are hungry again so off to Zuni Cafe for lunch, they hold 1/3 of their tables from reservations to accommodate walk ins - they value the neighborhood people! (good to know huh?) So you can almost always get a table just by wandering in!

We always order the shoestring fries, they cannot be topped. I believe they make their own ketchup too.

I love Ceasar salad and theirs has a good anchovy taste.

David orders arugula and shaved purple asparagus with citrus.  I think he just wanted the goat cheese toasts.

Burger time! They have some killer burgers here....I am really looking forward to this.

Rare...just the way I order it! On homemade foccacia with housemade pickles and onions and aioli.

 Yup, just what I needed.

I almost ordered the sand dab but David did and I figured it wouldn't be enough protein for me. But it looked great huh?

Dessert. Gateau Victoire...I have written about this cake before...It is so good it has been on the menu every single day since the restaurant introduced it in 1982!!! I am beside myself. 

Don't even try to take any from me!! But David and I will share this one piece.

Home, I unpack my bag of two boxes of Recchiuti chocolates...the Fleur de Sel Caramels  and the Peanut Butter Pucks. 

Sunday I will train hard and not regret the fun and food I enjoyed on Saturday!

Ferry Plaza Market

Saturday I was up at 5:15 and hit the gym for a quick 1 1/2 hour workout- LEGS! I trained hams, quads and threw in some calves (for what it was worth, I was pretty shot by then). 


I don't like rushing through my weekend training but sometimes I must make sacrifices!


I got home at 7:45 and rousted the boys, we had to pick up Lauren at 8:30 for our eating excursion in San Francisco.


I had the music on and nothing was satisfactory to the boys until I hit on Led Zeppelin, then I demonstrated the hair flying around, head banging car dancing only a crazy mom can do at 8:30 in the morning...and a mom who grew up with Led Zeppelin...(I know all the words....)


After every competition this is my dream destination, but after my October competition we were all so busy we never made it! So two months later, here I am having fish tacos and red wine for breakfast at Mijita. 

Lauren and Cooper enjoyed theirs, we also had quesadillas.  It was a bright but blustery day by the bay, coats were on most of the time.




Below David is introducing Lauren to raw oysters from Hog Island, David bought a bucket full!  Lauren liked them too! I have to hand it to her, not many people would be this adventuresome. Here- take a raw mollusk on a paper plate and stab It with a toothpick and stick it it your mouth...yeah...

After we ate and drank our way through the market, (tacos, wine, champagne, oysters, cheese), we stopped at Red's Java House for burgers.  The bartender was a little too overzealous when he opened David's beer, so the bottle flowed over the top when he plonked it onto the counter. He laughed and said "Hey buddy, keep it and I will give you another too! I think the stuff is organic or something, that keeps happening so I have been drinking them all day!"

I think David shared the beers....I had some very bad red wine, but  the atmosphere made up for it. Cooper and Lauren were having fun, the people watching was great! 


David really was having fun, he was just a little grumpy after I elbowed him as he walked up with my wine. The peels of laughter didn't help matters....He wiped it up and I drank the remains.

Red's has some seriously good burgers. There is nothing fancy about this place, nothing. In fact, they even have a sign "We do not serve lettuce or tomatoes" ha ha We decided it was because those are fresh items and would require monitoring or regular shopping..

My haul for the day? Two bags of Blue Bottle Coffee the fantastic, organic coffee we enjoy at Chez Panisse.  Lauren bought some for her father too. Sunday I shall have the Bella Donovan and....

A slice of this! My absolute favorite spelt and rye bread from Acme Bakery. When I told the guy at the counter I wanted 4 he looked at me like I was an oddball. I cannot really imagine any better breakfast than a THICK slice of this, toasted, with peanut butter and then a cup of scrambled egg whites on the side. I want to go to bed early so I can eat it sooner.


This bread is hefty and chewy, David described it to Lauren like thick cardboard, but I think it's more like semi dried oatmeal...I love it. It is only made twice a week, and available in San Francisco or Berkeley. I suppose it isn't high in demand. David is slicing and wrapping it up to freeze as I type this.

Then we bought a 2.5 pound rib eye from 4505 meats, look it's as big as my head! The four of us will have it for dinner on Sunday. 

I will serve it with roasted baby turnips that I bought and some steamed Romano beans. The turnips will be cleaned and dried, coated with fruity olive oil, salt and pepper and roasted in a small open pan in a high oven until soft and almost caramelized on the outside, they will take on a sweet flavor, perfect with meat. 

Tonight (Saturday) I shall make clams (from Hog Island) with chorizo (from 4505 meats) and onions and wheat beer. It's like a Spanish stew, served with homemade aioli.

David will continue to eat the oysters he bought, I will find shells all around for days...

So was any of this on my "diet"? Nope. I am OK with that. I do believe it is important to eat clean and healthy, and I do 90% of the time. I also believe it's important to celebrate life and the things that bring us together, days like this. How many more times will my 17 year old son want to bring his girlfriend and hang out all day with us? Not many...How many days can I diet? Too many to count.

The food I ate and bought may not be low fat, but it is all (except the greasy burgers) from purveyors of local and sustainable goods. The greens were crunchy and just harvested, the coffee roasted the day prior, the meats local, the breads still warm as I placed them in my bag. The champagne? Came from France...ha ha but where else does real champagne come from?

Sunday I can get back into the groove, and enjoy my toast and coffee, thinking about the weights I will push the rest of the week.


And it gives me something to dwell on too. I do love to spend days like this and the fact that I don't do this often makes it oh so very special to me. We laughed and had such a good time, and luckily didn't get pulled over by all of the cops prowling Highway 280! 


Check out the video below to see Red's. Go straight to 10:24 because it's long! (Email subscribers will need to navigate directly to the blog to view the video)

San Francisco Ferry Plaza Market

David and I will drive up to San Francisco to have fish tacos and red wine for breakfast whenever we can. I know that sounds a bit odd, but don't knock it till you have tried it!


We head straight for the Ferry Plaza Market. Saturdays is a huge outdoor market in addition to the regular shops and restaurants. 


The last time we were there was after my last competition in October, 2010, so you can see we are rather busy and don't make it there very often. Lacrosse season in the spring pretty much eats up the weekends....


I am enjoying my red wine in the sunshine, on a glorious day, it's only 9:00 a.m. 

Fish taco on the right there, and we split a quesadilla.  They make their own tortilla's at Mijita Restaurant, and that can't be beat!

We bought fresh oysters and clams at Hog Island Oyster Company.

Bread at Acme, this is where I get my rustic rye and spelt bread.

And I left David at Cowgirl Creamery as he tasted his way through all of the goat and sheep cheese!

Loaded up on pork and beef at Prather Ranch.

Then had a glass of sparkling wine.

We wandered around the outdoor market, sampling wonderful fruits, vegetables, cheeses, oils, nuts, tasty treats from myriad restaurants. 

It's fine to do this, in fact its a healthy way to eat (well maybe not the wine with breakfast), but the point is, you can enjoy life and food without going overboard. You can eat what "normal" people eat and stay lean, you can look great and be healthy. 

Shop in the right paces, enjoy the good foods, splurge on occasion. Enjoy life!

Good Eats Post Competition

Yes these are small suckling pigs in an oven. Did I tell you I was craving some good food?

David took this picture last time we were at Chez Panisse following my last competition, it was July 14, on Bastille Day.  I love this restaurant, real food, prepared with care, and always something intriguing on the menu, like the little piggies above!

I always have a list of things I want to indulge in after my competition, and the funny thing is that often I will only eat half of what's on the list.
What I am craving and will have in my bag backstage:

Two bananas. They are high in sugar and carbs, I haven't had a banana, or much fruit to speak of since August!

Doritos. I eat them only on Christmas morning and the night of a competition- go figure (no pun intended).

Dark chocolate covered caramels with salt on top. From Peet's Coffee... wicked I tell you!
Peanut M and M's.
Snickers bar.

Peanut Butter and rice cakes.
Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich.

Sparkling wine.
My homemade fig pop tarts.

Then I will get in my car, and drive home where David will have REAL Champagne for me and a cheeseburger. Then some red wine and a long, hot, steamy shower.
We will laugh and have too much wine and go to bed happy and tired.

 
I will sleep in, probably until 6:00 am and get up and have a big cup of hot, black coffee and a piece of my fig pop tart along with a big spoonful of peanut butter, or two.

When David wakes he will make "David's Famous Ramos Fizz" and I will make eggs Benedict with fried potatoes.

Lunch I am not so sure yet, Cooper has a lacrosse game at 2:30 so that means it will be something at home. I would really like a  Nicoise salad drizzled with olive oil, whole eggs on it and anchovies. I hope my garden still has tomatoes. And a nice crusty pieces of bread to soak up the juices.

I am sure I will see my friends and neighbors, Mark and Virginia for even more sparkling wine, they usually stop by after a competition. If not, we will just walk over to their house!

I would also like a tuna fish sandwhich  on sliced sourdough with sweet pickle relish and lots of romaine lettuce. Odd, but that sounds good right now.

Dinner will be a juicy skirt steak, aioli, steamed new potatoes and an artichoke, cooked at home, along with some red wine.
 

The where do we go from there?

We are craving lobster rolls and the most fantastic onion rings from the Old Port Lobster Shack in Redwood City, California.  Cooper may try their fish and chips this time, I might have some lobster bisque before my lobster roll.

I have been dying to go to The Counter for a cheeseburger.  I went there and walked inside and LOOKED once, but I couldn't eat at the time. Cooper went with his friends and said it was one of the best burgers he has ever had. I am a cheeseburger freak!

I would like to have a salad Lyonnaise  with french fries at the Left Bank in Santana Row, David will have the steak tartare.

I think some al pastor tacos in downtown San Jose sound good, there are so many great taqueria's I am not sure where I will go.

I plan to make a torta cubana, one of my favorite sandwiches, but it is terribly fattening and calorie laden so I rarely make it. It has chorizo, ham, melted cheese, avocado, tomatoes, onions, jalapenos, and mayonnaise, all on a grilled roll.

I am looking forward to a bowl of pasta with Parmesan cheese. I am not sure if I will make a ragu or a broccoli rabe with anchovies and garlic, both might be in order!

That gets us to Saturday when David, Cooper and I will make the pilgrimage to the Ferry Plaza Market in San Francisco. We will go to Mijita's and have fish taco's and red wine for breakfast.

We will shop at the huge farmers market and buy clams and mussels and some fish from Hog Island Oyster Company and I will make bouillabaisse with rouille for dinner.

 
Then we have reservations for lunch at Zuni Cafe in San Francisco, their food is fabulous. Here I am enjoying dessert there after my last competition in July.