Where I’ve Been

If I wasn’t so lazy, I would have scheduled a guest poster for the week I was away, but it didn’t happen. What did happen was a trip to hang out with my parents at their home in northern California. Lucky for my blog, I did little more than eat (although I went to my parents’ BAD. ASS. gym every day, which was way fun) so I’ll just share what photos I did take with some minimal commentary.

(Minimal—yeah, right!)

It all began on Thanksgiving day.

No parade-watching for me; I was on a plane out of NYC by 7am. Woof.

My nephews decorated the napkin rings and place cards.

Sorry, kids, but that looks nothing like me. Better luck next time.

I stuffed as much of my fave fare into my face as possible, which includes green beans, stuffing, mashed potatoes and a new-to-us-this-year dish, corn pudding.

Now that I’m thinking back on that day, I remember having slices of pumpkin and Dutch apple pies as well, but I guess the delirium of the 3:45am wake-up and jetlag had rendered my camera skills useless by then.

Despite the exhaustion, we made sure to acknowledge time-honored traditions…

…and pass them on to the next generation.

What, you don’t eat olives off of your fingers?

Among the delightful home cooked food (which I made sure to enjoy again…and again…), there were some notable meals out. I am quite glad to welcome Chez Panisse back to the blog!

And special snaps for its bread, which never fails to astonish and amaze. Looking back to my first post about Chez Panisse, I’m shocked that I didn’t take a picture of the bread. I’ll have to make up for that by posting two now.

Bam.

Sourdough = love of my life.

These photos are very dim because we were seated right next to the open kitchen. It was a very interesting (and busy!) vantage point, but my pictures suffered a bit as a result. Anyway, here’s what went down the hatch:

Eggplant and olive tapenades…

…with assorted crudites.

And an amazing pasta dish made of one of my favorite flavor combos: olive oil + garlic with veggies (cauliflower and peppers this time) and dried nuts + fruit (pine nuts and currants). Alice, you outdo yourself.

But wait—there’s more (as if I would go to bed without dessert).

I couldn’t resist sampling the persimmon pudding—I’ve been fascinated by persimmons ever since experimenting with them (with great results!) last year. (By the way, is that not the sexiest whipped cream blob ever?!)

But nothing could have prepared me for the chocolate ice cream.

While examining the dessert menu, I glazed over the ice cream because…well, who orders plain old ice cream when dining CHEZ PANISSE? My dad, apparently. And he’s a smart guy, so I too should have known that Alice would do up this simplest of desserts in a mind-blowing way. Sure enough, it was like eating the best chocolate bar in the world, just in ice cream form.

Looking at that sundae photo, I think I’ll share my last bit of CA eating in a separate post. You’ll understand why when you see it.

Back to the grindstone I go! Tell me about your favorite ice cream so that I may partake of it as well.