impromptu tribute to KW

There was some big news in the teeny world of Sacramento food writing this week.  Kate Washingon has ended her (four year?) stint as food reviewer for the Sacramento News and Review.  She's moving on to Sactown mag.  Kate has written hundreds of reviews.  This is a Herculean, even Sisyphean, task.  She has consistently been professional, cheerful, critical, and discerning.  I find myself agreeing with her reviews more often than not, although I hate the star system, but that's not her fault.  She is quite kind in her reviews, sometimes almost too kind, but this is a natural outcome of the crazy time constraints she is writing under.  She usually only has time to visit a place once.  Also, think about how it feels to trash a place that you know someone has put their heart and soul into.  It's not fun.  OK, it's fun once in a while, but only when they really deserve it, and, when they do, Kate goes for it with gusto.  She has distinguished herself by being the only food reviewer in a big media outlet in Sac who would go to obscure and ethnic places, and she is game for anything, without making juvenile gross-out jokes (which I will often resort to).  She is erudite and can speak about the finest of fine-dining with authority.  She'll be missed!  

Nothing big here, just turnips, but I thought I took a nice picture so I posted it.

Thanksgiving came early to my house last night.  I roasted a chicken that I had stuffed with a bread heel I had laying around.  I also sauteed shallots, crimini mushrooms, and the chopped chicken liver in olive oil and wine, and mixed that with the bread, some fresh thyme, and a little broth.  It was liver-y, just like I like stuffing to be.  I rounded out the meal with turnips braised in broth and a little butter, and turnip tops sauteed with shallots and more broth.  Turnips are my new favorite thing, along with cauliflower.
The show on friday with the Vivian Girls and Nodzzz was one of the top shows of the year, for sure.  I love the Nodzz record.  Some of the songs sound sooooo much like the four eyes! 

Luigis is really shaping up to be a great venue.  

Here's the Ganglians at the DAM  house.  They were excellent.  Lots of new songs.
Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!  See you on the bike ride?

last of the DC posts

I could go on and on about food in DC, but it probably isn't that interesting unless you've been there or are planning to, so I'll wrap it up today.  

Number one: if you are there you need to go to Zatinya.  It's chic and it's owned by a celeb chef that worked at El Bulli, but the important thing is that it is delicious and sophisticated food for a very reasonable price.  

This food is from a place that I was so happy I tracked down called Akosombo.  It's Ghanaian food.  You can't even tell it's a restaurant from the outside.  It's pretty dumpy inside with just a bunch of steam trays that you pick from.  The picture below is rice and beans and spinach and fried fish.  Really hearty, wonderful, comforting food.

And piping hot, sweet/salty plantains!
I picked out one of the top-rated Ethiopian restaurants in the Little Ethiopia area, called Etete.  This was quite a meal.  The food formed the table top.  I would like all my furniture to be made of food.  I tried a new kind of Ethiopian beer and concluded that Ethiopian beer is really a cut above most ethnic beers of cultures that aren't super into beer, if that makes sense.
I got these frites and this Dupont Avec Les bon Voeux at a place called Brasserie Beck.  The Dupont ran me a cool 12 bucks, but it was really fun to get it on draft and the frites were perfect.
As for art, at the portrait gallery, I dug this hecka 70s portrait of Carter.
This was a nice Fairfield Porter picture of his brother, the photographer Eliot Porter
See you at the show tonight!

Yelp vs. Aioli

There is some really crazy stuff going on on yelp with Aioli.

The owner decided to respond to some negative reviews by posting upwards of nine fake reviews, and now it's getting personal and ugly. I would urge him to instead focus his energy on reading the reviews carefully, and taking the valid criticism to heart. Aioli was a place that I used to go to every once in a while, and I had more than one annoying interaction with staff and finally kind of cut it out of my rotation. Now if I want tapas, I go to Tapa The World.

We have some high caliber shows coming this weekend. On friday, it's Vivian Girls (I really like the album), Nodzz, and Love Is All at Luigis. This show will probably sell out so don't be late. On saturday there is a DAM house show, and you know those are always fun. Nightwounds, Ganglians, Hospitals. Has to be over by ten.

Another bomb-ass place in DC that I would trade my left nut for it to be in Sac is called Domku. Slavic and Scandinavian fusion with good Belgian beer on draft and creative aquavit cocktails? Yes please.

Blogger decided it would go back to up l0ading pictures in reverse order, so here is my main course, which were Polish-style crepes loaded with chicken and buckwheat (surprisingly good) and covered with a tomato sauce.  That's a fresh Hennepin on the side.

This was my first course, gravlax and knackbrod with accoutrement.  I had this with a dill-infused and muddled cucumber aquavit cocktail.  This was one of the best pairings I've ever had.

Here's a quick snap of the inside.  It's a little bit indie and cutesy, but it had shabby, comfortable vintage furniture.  This place rules!

memorable meals

I ate so goddamn much good food in DC.  I had a few of the more memorable meals of my life. Some of them I ate alone, which only enhanced my rapture.  This one below made me tear up a little.  I know that some of you might think that's weird.  I had lunch at this Capitol Hill spot called Montmartre.  The picture below is a lightly dressed frisee salad with duck gizzard confit and bacon. The dressing mingled with the juices to form a delicious sauce.  I had it with a glass of Ugni Blanc, which I just discovered is what the French call the trebbiano grape.

It was quite a warm, breezy day, but overcast so it was very cozy inside.  The pacing was wonderfully slow and the server was very friendly.
On impulse I ordered a second glass of wine, and asked the server for her recommendation.  She suggested the house French pinot noir-I don't know any more about it than that.  This is a vegetable soup with pistou, the French version of pesto.  It was more subtly flavored than pesto, and had a nice chicken-y broth.  There were chunks of carrot, chickpea, yellow squash, onion, and best of all, cauliflower.  One reason this meal made me so emotional is that I bought my tickets to go to Paris in the Spring and I'm so excited!  If you guys have any trips planned you should check the airfares right now.  They have plummeted.
Looking up pistou online I see that the most traditional dish to be made with it is a Summer soup with seasonal vegetables.  I'll try that next Summer for sure.

By the way, my New Year's resolution is to figure out a way to take better food pictures this year.

Wintry delights

Despite the fact that the weather isn't very Wintry, I've still been moved to cook a ton of Winter-type dishes.  I cooked coq au vin the other night, and it was really fun to make and really delicious.  I butchered the chicken myself for the first time using my new poulty shears and directions from "All About Braising" by Molly Stevens.  It was pretty easy and very satisfying.  The grossest part was crunching through the bones on both sides of the backbone.  I used the excess fat on the chicken to make some schmaltz, which I am keeping in a jar in my fridge in anticipation of making chopped liver in a few weeks.

Here's Julia Child's recipe for coq au vin.  I consulted this, but ultimately used Molly Steven's recipe.  I used bacon instead of lardons, and I didn't have cognac, so I used wine to deglaze the pan.  I have to get a bottle of cooking cognac so I can light the chicken on fire next time!

Last night I made a variation on a soup using dried cranberry beans from my Marcella Hazan book.  Sautee an onion and some bacon or pancetta until golden.  Throw in chopped whatever you have on hand.  I had purchased kohlrabi at the farmer's market and didn't know what to do with it, so I peeled it and chopped it and threw it in, along with some mustard greens I had sitting around. Throw in a can of plum tomatoes and juice, along with the beans that have been soaking for a day (this is important-I only soaked them for 8 hours and they were too firm even after two hours of cooking-one cup of beans with a bunch of water), salt and pepper.  Simmer for 2 hours.  Really good.  The greens were great in there, you could use collards or kale or whatever. 

 I have been using little bits of Morant's bacon to flavor a lot of my dishes.  I bought a pound of it and split it up and froze it, and I just defrost as needed.

weird show

Heckasac is probably going to be powering down until next week because I'm going to Washington DC for a few days.  I have a list of many exciting places to eat.  What about museums? Last time I was there I was kind of paralyzed by my options and perhaps didn't utilize my time wisely.  I saw a bit of contemporary art, but I'd like to see more.

I forgot to mention the Dreamdate show on friday.  I loved it, what did some of you readers there think? These girls are adorable and fun. I wish I knew the name of my favorite song, because I didn't get to request it. I hope to see them play again soon.

The Boyfriendz/Ganglians/Woods show was weird.  I got there at 8:30 and missed Boyfriendz. Ganglians set up fairly quickly and played three (or maybe 4) songs and were then kicked off the stage by the sound guy against their will.  I don't get this because they were off the stage by 9:05.  That left two hours for the next two bands to play.  I would urge Luigis to not book four band shows if they are going to be fascist about the times.  I paid to see the Ganglians!

cat circus

Hello, folks.  I'm on deadline for some Midmo stuff so not much time to post.  

I happened to be at Taylors on saturday when they were having their first wine tasting in the space next door.  It was from 1-4 and I can't tell if they're going to do it every saturday or once a month.  It was a crazy good deal of large tastes of 6 wines for 5 bucks and they had a lot of snacks out.  They had duck confit, figs, cheese, and other good stuff.

I guess I missed this cat circus at the Crest yesterday?!?!? Did anyone go?

lightrailpubcrawlgate

I can't believe a nation that was brought together by the election of Barack Obama has so quickly been torn asunder by Lighrailpubcrawlgate.  Will Guphy attain the notoriety of G. Gordon Liddy? Can I be Deep Throat?  I've earned the title, believe me.  Ha! J.K., you literal-minded folks out there.

I'm on the fence about whether I want to see Orgasmic Birth tonight at Movies On A Big Screen.  But for sure I'm going to see Dreamdate.  I know I've linked to their myspace a lot before, but I'm gonna get a little micromanage-y right now and say that the first song that pops up to play is not one of my favorite.  If you're on the fence about the show, I recommend you listen to "the one I need" or "why don't you make me".   I've heard this band is popular in Davis, so it's not like it will be ill-attended.  I just think some of you would like it.

Oh yeah, Javalounge is having two days of benefit shows.  Remember, they serve beer now. The Four Eyes are playing on saturday sometime from 2pm until midnight.

I know I will catch shit for this, but...

Have you ever seen anyone take a lightrail pub crawl so seriously?

I will officially proclaim right now, that yelper Scott C. invented the idea of taking lightrail to various bars.  I haven't read the article yet, but I imagine that Guphy was making a gentle joke when she claimed to be copyrighting the term.  We young hip gridsters are so busy putting on our tight pants and riding our fixies around and getting stds and wearing neon sunglasses or whatever the fuck you think we Midmo contributors are all doing that we don't have the time to come up with original material, sorry.  I  do indeed feel great shame that I did not personally contact the "round corner crew" to verify the fact that yelper Scott C. has all rights and claims to this phrase and concept in perpetuity.  

Beer and wine is fine.

OK, this it totally fucking ridiculous!  One thing that struck me when I was in Portland (which our city is supposedly aspiring to be like) is that it feels much more adult and cosmopolitan because you can get alcoholic beverages everywhere, including really good beer at the Stumptown coffee shops that are all over the place.  What are we a bunch of Puritanical babies?!!? This is not Salt Lake City.  Does anyone have an idea of where I can take this outrage of mine, as far as letter writing, protesting, what I can chain myself to, etc.?

Luis! Luis!

Well, there's nothing more that I can say about the national elections, and I'm sad about some of the propositions that passed, but what about that KJ?  What an arrogant speech!  You sir, are no Barack Obama.  You won because of your fame, not despite many obstacles.  Although, at the end when he called up Luis (in a dick move, rubbing that city hall thing in Fargo's face) and he started to chant "Luis Luis Luis" that was pretty Sac of him.  If you want to watch it, go here and start on 11 minutes in.  You have to watch a short Amway commercial first

http://www.kcra.com/video/17896537/index.html

Great show tonight at Luigis.  English Singles start at eight and they are debuting their new mascot, Dishums,  and their pyrotechnics display.  The Crystal Stilts record is good, I'm stoked to see them.

vote for Maries

Well, I voted (of course).  No lines.  It was great.  My polling place is right by New Roma so I impulsively bought a dozen doughnuts, and, boy are Marie's doughnuts the best or what?  Soooo much better than New Roma.  

this one is pretty cute


a reggaeton version

big week

So everyone knows that there's a veryveryveryveryvery big day this week.  On this day we need to leave our warm cozy houses, and line up to....get into the Crystal Stilts/Cause Commotion/English Singles show on wednesday at Luigis!!!!! 

Starts at eight pm, five bucks (cheap).  Wednesday, not tuesday even though I pulled that little trick on you.Also, on friday, an excellent pop show at Luigis.  Dreamdate at Luigis.  If you like pretty pop sung by girls then go to this show.  

On Tuesday, Midmo is having an election night party that Th' Losin' Streaks are playing at.  It's at the Press Club, it's free and Th' Losin' Streaks promise to play by ten.

This is going to be a long week and possibly a horrible or wonderful week, so you probably don't want to think about friday, but do you want to think about Orgasmic Birth?  I finally made it out to Movies On A Big Screen for Suspiria and it's an awesome space.  And I was able to fit in a quick meal at Vientiane beforehand.  I'm going to try to attend more movies there.  They have an upcoming Star Trek  movie that has Uhura and Chekhov and Cameron from Ferris Beuller in it?!?! Mikermike are you coming to that with me?

Another poverty dinner yesterday, inspired by an inspiring article on the Auvergne region of France that was in Saveur and a trip to Morants.  I finally tried the bacon at Morants and it's wonderful.  It's kind of like a cross between Canadian bacon and regular bacon.  It is very meaty and barely shrinks when you cook it.  For this dish I sauteed bacon and then added chopped onion, carrot, and celery.  Then I threw in the lentils du puy from the co-op and a couple of bay leaves and some flat leaf parsley.  Simmer for a little over an hour.

Meanwhile, I cooked these two Italian sausages in a cup of wine and a cup of water until the water evaporated, and then I added some oil and browned them on each side. The smell of this was indescribably delicious.  What Heaven probably smells like.
Here's a quick cheesecake shot of Steve in the back yard.
Here's the finished dish.
The side dish were all the vegetables I had sitting around, roasted.  The leaks and cauliflower tasted the best.  Smiller despised the parsnips.  Parsnips are a much-despised vegetable, but I like them.

weird wet night

I showed up  to do phone banking and the campaign worker informed me that due to a recent push of donations they had been able to hire people to do that, which is great.  She said my other option was to go to 16th and J and hold a sign.  I really question the efficacy of that, but she's a pro and she said that's what the campaign is currently focussing on, so I did it.  I walked from 5th and J in the rain, stopping by the Crest briefly to kvetch and check out the haps as far as the Creature Feature doc that Midmo blogged about.  I noted that the Cosmopolitan restaurant is now open.

It was pouring down rain, and I picked up my plastic sign and started waving it around.  There was a small group on each corner.  We got about 20 to 1 positive reaction with tons of honking and waving.  There was some kind of Christian convention going on at the convention center yesterday so we got a lot of flack from folks in nametags.  As soon as I arrived this teenager came up to me and asked why he should vote no on 8.  I stammered, "because..." and he quickly said, "just because?".  Then I recovered and said I felt my gay friends should be allowed to marry their partners and he interrupted with, "even if it's against Biblical principles?".  Well he had me stumped there, and he quickly turned and walked off anyways.  Others took great delight in yelling "yes on 8" or flipping us off or yelling "faggots".  But like I said, the majority were positive.  One women gave us her giant Monarchs umbrella to stay dry, and then she went and bought a bunch of rain ponchos.  It was very touching.  It was crazy to see how many people were talking on the phone in the rain and dark and rush hour traffic at downtowns busiest intersection.

Then I headed back towards my car and decided to get a drink at the Cosmopolitan.  Even though I was in sneakers and soaked and musty smelling they were quite nice to me at the bar as I drank my ten dollar cocktail.  Holy shit is this place filled to the gills with white-haired richies, recession be damned.  It's because the first show next door is "Forever In Plaid" and it was starting in an hour.  The menu is boring as hell, the beer and wine list are terrible, but the food I saw looked damn good.  I want to try the roasted chicken with pomegranite seeds, which is quite lovely, and they have corned beef and savoy cabbage, also.

Then it was on to the movie "Watch horror movies, keep America strong".  This was the slogan of "Creature Features", which ran on late night TV in Sac and the Bay Area.  It was one of the first places that "Hardware Wars" was shown.  Even I remember that.  I was very stoked on this movie as soon as it started.  All of this was just a scoche (is that  real word?) before my time, as Bob Wilkins retired as the host in 1975, but Bob Wilkins is a complete badass.  There aren't many clips online, and the one below doesn't demonstrate how fucking funny he is.  Look at him, though!  So rad.  He smoked the cigar the whole time the show ran.

cockamamie plan

How do Republicans sleep at night knowing that their party is trying to get 200,000 new voters thrown off the rolls in Ohio over typos?  Have you been following this story?  The Supreme Court already ruled that this is a no-go but now the Bush administration is getting the DOJ involved.  Scary.  Voter fraud is not a real problem!  It hardly ever happens.  Getting these people off could swing the state.

I have a question about a cockamamie plan I am hatching.  I am thinking about going to Guadalajara over the Christmas break.  For those of you that have been, what do you think of this plan?  I would meet my mom there possibly (for those of you who know my mom, I know, I know, this will probably turn out badly).  I guess my questions are regarding safety, and it's probably as safe as any American city for a female on her own, so I'm probably worrying unecessarily, and just sort of wondering how much the city will be shut down between Christmas and New Years.  I've only traveled a few places in Mexico, and not around the Christmas Holiday so I don't know if people are out partying or at home with family.  I wouldn't be there ON Christmas, just right after.  My Spanish is limited.  I can get by, but barely.  Thoughts?

Witch!

Soo.....I thought that I was dead set on seeing the Ganglians this friday at Javalounge, only cuz they haven't played a show in so damn long, but last friday I ran into friends who had just been out to West Sac to Movies On A Big Screen to see Nosferatu, and they told me that they were screening Suspiria this friday.  I love this movie sooooo much!  Even seeing these stills from it is giving me chills, as much from the fashion and decor as for the gore. And thinking about the soundtrack! I think maybe I will have to try to do both, especially since Suspiria screens at seven.  Wow, the week after that they are screening a documentary called "Orgasmic Birth".  Hmm....

no on prop 8!

The cheap digital camera that I bought to replace my expensive digital camera has already broken.  Ha! Ha! Ha....Ha.

Until two days ago I had just ASS-umed the prop 8 would not pass because we are in California and California is the best.  But apparently not everyone in Cali is the best, because I guess it is close.  That is unbelievably sad.  I donated a little bit yesterday because I figure Obama has enough and although it's hard to believe, some idiots make up their minds how to vote according to commercials.  The prop 8 foes need more airtime to counteract that stupid commercial that if prop 8 fails teachers will be required to teach children how to be gay.  Even though I reallyreallyreally don't want to, because I hate talking on the phone even to my friends, I'm going to their headquarters at 7th and K on thursday after work (now that I've written this I'll be forced to keep my word) to do phone banking.  Here's the website where you can go to donate or volunteer.  They called me right away when I entered my info and one of the things they want is for people to volunteer time on election day to make sure no one gets confused about what a "yes" and "no" vote mean.  They said that some people are getting calls saying a "yes" vote protects gay marriage.

So there's a raw restaurant in Sac now?  I'll have to check this out.  Has anyone been?

oh yeah!

Before you read the wedding report, I have to tell you that there's a really good show tonight.  Press Club, DJ Mike C., Touchez, Friendly Creatures, and the Sanwitches?  I haven't heard them and I can't find a myspace.  It's only three bucks! Starts at nine?

oh what a night!

Can the word "wedding" really encompass the spectrum of vibes that occurred this weekend?  It's like we need a new word.  There were so many great moments, but some of the highlights included the best man sharing how his love of James Woods have bonded he and the groom together for life, the father of the bride praising the city of Sacramento and all our wonderful trees, that same dad losing his shit when "I wanna dance with somebody" by Whitney Houston came on, the song "december 1963, oh what a night" played twice in a row (I wish it had been thrice), "Porcupine Pie"making its long-awaited (by me) appearance, walking home barefoot (I should have known better as this happened to me the last time I went to a wedding at the Masonic Hall), and a million other things that I can't even put into woods.  Of course the best moment of all was when Janatalie were officially bonded into one celebrity supercouple.  

The funniest thing I heard about the afterwedding is that a certain trio of dudes stayed up until dawn drinking Kahlua on the tracks, went to the Zebra at 6, got kicked out, went to the Flame, got cut off (a quote according to Goodtimes: No, you can't have another drink. I shouldn't have served you the first one.), then tried to sneak back into the Zebra and got kicked out again. They really gave it their all.

I have three wishes: that I could print the text of the best man's speech (I heard the Armeniac had a copy and left it!), that the bachelor party Elvis movie gets posted to youtube, and the MH print her cupcake recipe.

Were you there?

While certain folks were watching the new Dead live at the pyramids DVD at my house, I checked out the play "First Person Shooter" at Capital Stage.  It has certain cringy things about it, but I enjoyed it and I cried at the end.  The actors were really pouring their hearts into it, despite the half empty house and the dude next to me sleeping.  It runs until November 2nd.

roast chickens?

I know that people always complain when anything changes, but I really hate the Sacbee redesign.  I was just trying to see if there are any new restaurant reviews and I couldn't tell.  Now they have a "featured" one at the top that may or may not be new.  I wonder if you can pay to have your review featured?

Have you guys seen the new Edible Sacramento?  It looks really nice, and has some good articles.  It's quite an attractive publication.  I liked Hank Shaw's article on the bluefooted chickens.  I thought about ordering one but then thought better of it.  I got a chicken at the co-op and roasted it the other day and it was OK, but not very chickeny and some of the dark meat was stringy and tough.  This was a ten dollar chicken that was free range or something.  I expect more. What's your chicken roasting technique?  This was the first time I'd used a recipe from "roast chicken and other stories"-a British cookbook that everyone freaks out about, and the cooking times seemed to be completely off to me.

I finished this book, "The United States of Arugula" the other day.  I read it ravenously.  I recommend it.  It's the history of foodie-ness in the U.S. My eyes would sometimes glaze over when the author when the author went into who cooked under who at Le Pyramide or Le Cirque or whatever, but I love how, whenever you get down to it every big movement boils down to a few people, many of whom are fussy cranks.  OK, this is a crappy book review, but pick up a copy.  There are juicy stories about sex and drugs at Chez Panisse, of course, and Darrell Corti gets a brief mention, too.  It gave me a lot of ideas for other cookbooks and food books I want to pick up, like something from Craig Clairborne, who the auther posits as (did I just use that word right?) the first important food critic in the U.S.

hot coupon tip

You guys ever read any Colette?  Pretty hot stuff.  How about Gary Snyder?  I never read poetry but there's an article in the New Yorker that makes him seem pretty awesome.  He's built this beautiful house in Nevada City.  So...that's what I've been up to.

Here's another exciting tidbit.  Hollywood Hardware (the one with the awesome sign on Freeport) has a coupon in the NandR that's out now for 20% off any kitchenware.  I guess they have a new kitchenware section.  That could be a sizeable amount if you went for something expensive, like a new knife.  I hate my knives.  They are so dull and I don't know what to do about it.

the 90s never left

There's a What's Up/Standard Tribesman (oh yeah and Zach Hill) show in Davis tonight that will probably be even more fun than the show at Luigis, just cuz it's Davis and people get excited.  Sac is getting some crazy good shows coming up.  The three that come to mind are: Crystal Stilts/Cause Commotion/English Singles on November 5th, Dreamdate (an excellent 90s style pop band-keep an open mind!) on November 7th, and this one is nuts for real: Vivian Girls and Love is all on November 21st.  These shows are all at Luigis.

The poverty meals continue.  The famer's market on sunday had some good, sweet end of season roma tomatoes for 50 cents a pound.  I used Marcella Hazans recipe to make a sauce.  Couldn't be simpler, really.  Blanch the tomatoes for a minute to skin them.  Chop roughly.  Put a little butter in the pan, throw in the tomatoes and an onion that you've halved, to take out later (that part is weird).  Simmer for 45 minutes.  Delicious.

I also used her recipe the same night to make pasta by hand (as opposed to machine).  Her instructions for this are stern and frightening.  They contain instructions such as: you must execute this complicated, five-step motion QUICKLY and SMOOTHLY and if you hesitate all is lost.  It helps to have started learning at your mothers elbow when you were five. Best of luck.  Nevertheless, it turned out OK.  Here is the dough, kneaded smooth as baby skin as Marcella commanded.  Letting it rest for at least 15 minutes is key.
Then you roll it to this diameter but under no circumstances can the rolling pin pass the edge of the dough!!!! I don't know why.
This is when it starts to not look so hot.  During this part you use your hands and the rolling pin to stretch without pushing down at all.  It's hard to not tear it, and it has to be done quickly cuz the dough starts to dry and look like elephant skin.
Then you fold and cut.  Your knife had better be pretty sharp or you will press the edges of the dought together and someone might cry. Not me, though.
Spoon out the sauce, garnish with fresh basil and parmesan, take a blurry picture.  Voila!

abstract apache

I'm back, obvs, and it's hard to know where to start.  I guess with this guy.  Smiller overheard him tell a lady that he's an "abstract Apache" which is a perfect Kiedis line if I've ever heard one!

We went to a lot of fun places in Ashland and Portland, but Kenny and Zukes Jewish deli in Portland was kind of like heaven on earth.  Do you peep that pickle plate? House made green tomato pickles?! That sandwich was as big as my head and contained: delicious lean and smoky pastrami, creamy and dreamy chopped liver, coleslaw, and Russian dressing.  I know that sounds over the top but it was very restrained.  
This is Cork on Alberta, it's my favorite wine store ever along with Appellation in New York.

We ran into Teddy from What's Up on Alberta, he just moved to Portland from Sac.  I mention it because What's Up is playing at Luigis with Zach Hill tonight.

those mates of state sure know how to party

Let's play a game.  I'll tell you what I drank last night and you can tell me how I'm feeling right now.

1. Pale ale early in the evening with dinner

2. Sam Adams Oktoberfest (disgusting)

3. well gin martini (disgusting, not finished)

4. huge glass of the worst red wine imaginable

5. shot of tequila

6. bottle of water (this is why I'm still alive)

7. smaller shot of tequila

I'll consider any kind of answer, from the conceptual ("you feel like pond scum in a pond that has dried up") to the quotidian ("dog poo").  Prize to be determined.

I'll tell you what I'm NOT feeling like-going to see Dark Star Orchestra.  

poverty meals

Because of my crappy ugly pictures I can't show you a picture of my first fall supper.  It consisted of a wine-braised wiesswurst (say that three time fast) from Morants, Braised green cabbage, and mashed russets.  The wiesswurst was great.   It was pale and lean, and had a spongy consistency, but in a pleasant way.  Very German.  Weisswurst is the traditional sausage of the German second breakfast (Zweites Frühstück), which is eaten before noon along with pretzels, mustard, and wheat beer.  How do I know this?  Because I have the current Saveur, which is about breakfast and is super fun to read.  This was also my first try at my new Fall food philosophy: poverty cuisine.  Not because I am actually living in poverty but because food inflation has reached such insane levels that I am going to try to just stick to fun variations on cheap staples like beans, lentils, whole grains, cabbage, potatoes, etc.  I can include Morants in there because it's very affordable.  

I'm going to see Mates of State tonight!  Shortly smiller and I will be leaving to follow Dark Star Orchestra and I won't be posting for a week or so.

to the bp peeps

To all my boulevard park bros, here's something you might find interesting:

Subject: 1926 Capitol Avenue Neighborhood Meeting

Dear Neighbors,

Some of you may have received an email from Heller pacific regarding their latest proposed development at 1926 Capitol Ave.  For those of you who did not receive the notice, please read on and see the attached to learn about the follow-up neighborhood meeting:

Heller Pacific invites you to follow-up presentation featuring its latest development project: 1926 Capitol Avenue (corner of 20th & Capitol Ave.). Our presentation will focus on the proposed building design. Additionally, the Thiebaud Family will be in attendance to unveil plans of the public art component to the project.

Date: Thursday, October 9th

Time: 5:30pm – 6:30pm

Place: 1050 20th Street, Suite 200 (HLA Office @ MARRS Project)

●Enter Lobby and go upstairs to the HLA Office

●Directional signs will be posted

●Refreshments will be provided

To RSVP and to have your questions answered, please contact Andy Ekstrom, Development Project Manager with Heller Pacific, Inc. at  (916) 638-2400 or by email at aekstrom@hellerpacific.com.

Janine Martindale

Neighborhood Resources Coordinator

Serving Council District 3

Neighborhood Services Department

921 10th Street, 5th Floor

Sacramento, CA  95814

Office (916) 808-8193

Fax (916) 808-6534

it's just a mellow fire, baby

If this is what I have to do to win best blog next year, I'm prepared to do it.  Anybody got Hef's number?

Wow, of all the weddings in the woods that I've been to, that was by far the best.  The best part was the nuanced fire, which we stoked into a subtle fire, which then fully flowered into a mellow fire.  No  j.k. the best part was Cool 101.  This year I was not drunk enough to drown out Joel with my own singing while he was singing Cat Stevens songs (maybe because they didn't do Moonshadow), which is good because there were a lot of people and I probably would have had to commit suicide the next day from embarassment.

wedding in the woods

uh no, no there isn't

Man, does AP have a sweet gig or what? He gets to review some obscure place in Burlingame (where the hell is that?) and get it printed in the Bee.

That's all I got.  I'll be back on tuesday.  I'm going to a wedding in the woods!

kim's, it's exciting and new

New development on the Corti's front.  And...let the assholeish comments begin!

An awesome new yelper clued me in the Kim's market in Davis and I excitedly headed over there for lunch shortly after I read the review.  As you can see I maybe got a little too excited about the kimchee.  But that whole big jar was only 8 bucks!

They make the kimchee at Kim's and it's pretty good.  It's not as good as my favorite brand, Cosmo, which is so fermented that it sometimes kind of explodes when you open it.  Kim's had none of that fizziness and is not quite hot enough.  Oh well.  But they make a lot of their own pickles in the store, and they are better.  That feast above cost about six dollars.  The plastic clamshell has beef and various banchan, and the lettuce leaf has yummy salty bean paste inside.  The sushi has regular and spicy tuna.  But it's not raw, it's tuna salad from canned tuna.  It's funny but tasty.  It also has lettuce, pickle, fake crab, and some other stuff.  They also had cooked beef sushi, and a small vegetable section in the store, which will be great for cooking future dinners.  I was so excited to find this oasis of culinary quality within the wasteland of Davis that I almost got hit by a car leaving the store.  Dork!

sour brau

I think we've all seen this woman around town, right?

Happy Birthday to Ed C. and belated to EC!!!

I went to June's the other day.  It was fun and she and Dennis were charming, as usual.  This chicken katsu was delicious.  June cuts a chunk of fresh chicken off, breads it in panko and fries it up to order.

I ordered chop suey out of curiosity because I'd never had it.  Can you tell how hot off the grill it was?  It was Ok.  It had cabbage, carrot, zucchini, and pork.  
Sac Brewing Co. has a couple of brews on draft that were made with wild yeast.  They have the Deschutes Dissident, which is the first wild yeast beer that Deshcutes has made and it has been aged for 18 months.  I liked it, but not as much as any wild yeast Belgian.  It was kinda thin tasting and bitter at the end.  I liked the New Belgium one (Eric's ale) better.  It was very wine-like, with a faint fruitiness from the peaches.  Here's a description I found online at "the thirsty hopster" blog.:  Eric’s Ale: “This Peche, or Peach beer, started as an ale aged in 130 hL wooden vessels called Foedres for 3 years. It was then transferred and real peaches were added. A second Strong Golden Ale was brewed and blended back into the sour ale. Subtle peach, tropical fruit and tart aromas in the nose, plus some vanilla and oak. The flavor is a balance of sweet and sour. A drinkable and refreshing sour beer hybrid.”

Sac Brewing Co. is reasonably nice inside.  I sure wish it was downtown!

fargobama?!

Have you guys seen these weird bumper stickers?  I guess no one knows whos making them.

Not to be petty, but I think this article should have made it more clear that these ladies are blogging about places their PR firm represents.  Maybe not always, but it's a huge company so it's hard to tell.

making the news

There's no reason I'm posting this picture.  I just love it. Last night I decided that Mick Ronson is the foxiest Jew since Elliot Gould.  That's saying a lot.

Speaking of foxes with curly hair, smiller on news 10. Blink and you'll miss him.  

politico post

So....RTL and Ancient Sons (it's armeniacapalooza!) at West Capitol Bowl tonight. Go to this show. It will be fun. I will be out of town. Also, if you don't agree that West Sac is the Best Sac, Baby Grand is having their CD release show at Old I. And will be on NPR today at 2, right? I'll link to the archive of that later.

I was listening to wednesday's Democracy Now this morning, and they have these two economists on who were tearing shit up. Here's the link to the transcript. I found it interesting that they are the only ones I've heard disagreeing with the media party line that the government HAD TO bail out AIG. This was my favorite part:

AMY GOODMAN: Meanwhile, John McCain tried to strike a populist tone on the campaign trail. 

SEN. JOHN McCAIN: While employees, shareholders and other victims are left with nothing but trouble and debt, the people who helped cause the collapse make off with tens of millions in severance packages. Disgraceful. I’ve spoken out against the excess of corporate executives, and I can assure you that if I’m president, we’re not going to tolerate that anymore.

AMY GOODMAN: Professor Hudson? 

MICHAEL HUDSON: That’s his constituency. His constituency are the people who have caused the crisis. That’s who he’s representing. Now, of course, you’re not going to come in and say, “I’m going to support the people who have caused this crisis at your expense.” If you’re going to bail out your constituency, you’re going to say exactly the opposite. So what he’s saying has no reality at all. 

These are the people who sang, “There’s no money for Social Security. We’re going to have to privatize it. We’re going to have to turn over your Social Security to Bear Stearns, to AIG”—to the very people who have shown how they’re mismanaging money. Imagine if the Republican program had gone through and Social Security had been privatized and these were the jokers who were managing your Social Security. They’d stick you with the losses. 

So, these are his constituency. He knows he’s not telling the truth. He’s not paid to tell the truth. He’s pretending that it’s a crisis that has to be bailed out, that it’s the financial system. But it’s not the financial system that’s being bailed out; it’s the debt system. And it’s the debts that the homeowners own and the industry owns. And now the government is coming on the side of the creditors, who are going to close down the industries, sell them off to pay the debts, foreclose on the houses, sell them off to pay the debts. And the economy is going to shrink and shrink. That’s the program that they’re standing for. 

get freaky in the club

OMG, I am totally LOLing at this R. Kelly interview.  If you can watch the beginning of this clip, please do.  It is so classic when the the guy asks, "do you like teenage girls?" and R. Kelly hesitates and says "When you say teenage, how old are we talkin'?"

I got his album "double up" recently and there are two super good songs on it. I'm a flirt.  Click for the video. 

Of course it goes without saying that T. Pain's part is weak.  Can he just die already?  The other song that's good is Freaky in the club.  That should have been a hit.  I wish I had the CD case for Double Up here because he has the funniest dedications to his four kids.  It's as if he's never met them.  He says stuff like "I hear you're getting real good at playing with your dolls.   I'm proud of you".

look a real post

Do you like blurry pictures?  Good, cuz my camera does too.  Here's a fabulous shot of the inside of Pho King #3.  I know it's a really cheap thrill, but if you attempt to pronounce "pho" correctly (kinda like phuh?), that name is pretty funny.  PK3  has some nice fake fruit inside, but that's about it for decor.  It's no frills.  The people there were very nice on my visit.  I was there for one thing and one thing only.

This blurry soup called bun rieu.  The menu describes it as "tomato vermicelli" soup, and it is, but it's so much  more.  In addition to the hunks of pink tomato-the tomato was terrible, but at least the fact that it cooked a little bit in the broth helped-there was blood cake (dotted with holes like red Swiss cheese), two quail eggs (what a treat!), fried tofu cake, and best of all, a big, greyish, crab/pork meatball.  The broth was quite fishy, or actually quite crabby, or maybe shrimpy?  From shrimp paste?  They gave me lettuce and cabbage to put on the top, and I like the way the lettuce cooked in the broth.  It was great.  Everyone enjoyed their food.  The rest ordered pho (great broth, although Pho Saigon I think has the best pho I've had so far on Stockton), pork chop with rice, and chicken bun.  Everytime tripe is listed on the menu it is listed as "bible tripe".  I don't know if that is a real thing or what.
Remember that wine sale at 58 Degrees I mentioned?  It's a doozy.  There are some great deals to be had, and it continues the rest of September.  The wine on the second from left was 40% off eleven bucks!  The wine second to right was decidedly not on sale, but I'm so excited they have it!  That was my favorite kind of vinho verde I had in Portugal.  Although in Portugal I think it was like 3.80 euros maybe.  At 58 Degrees it was 17 bucks.  That's kind of too much to pay for vinho verde, but who can put a price on a memory?  Who can catch a falling star?  Who can take a nothing day and suddenly make it all seem worthwhile?
Perhaps MH can weigh in on purchases?  I'd like to know about the one on the far left and the one in the middle.

who's that on your party barge?

In these troubled financial times, we can all drown our sorrows a little more cheaply for the next two weeks, because 58 degrees is having a harvest sale.  Selected wines are 20-40% off.  My wine rack is looking a little empty right now, so I'll be heading over there, hopefully tonight.  

I was stoked to get to go out on a boat on the river on saturday.  People are big into "funny" boat names, only some of which are actually clever.   This one was good, and what a cute boat!

This person is probably a zinfandel lover, be sure to say it out loud to get the "joke".
This, I had to take a picture of because it's actually a suntracker brand party barge.  Don't be confused by the boat in the background, the party barge is merely an open platform with low barricades around part of it.  Perfect for partying, right?  Everyone will get third degree sunburns and then fall off the boat and drown.
There's no better way to accessorize a houseboat than with a confederate flag.  Here are two separate houseboats that both sport one!
This houseboat is decorated with a paper mache orca on the front.
This boat has its own small boat.
We docked our boat and went and had a drink at Le Rivage.  That's right, I was living the high life briefly, before it was yanked out from  under me this morning when my hedge fund lost a fortune.  I can highly recommend the margarita mas fina from there.  It was strong as hell.  

Jackson Griffith is stoked on Ahoy.  He wrote something really nice about their show.

MD liked Masullo's.  Not really a glowing review, but positive.

babs is killing me

Happy birthday Heckamax! Does this end the summer birthday rush yet? Jeez.

I'm kicked off my computer so I can't think straight. All I've got is this streetcarnage clip, which is the first one that has ever made me laugh. I watched it twice and I may make it thrice.

Anything goin' on this weekend?

ah, thrice! It's killing me the way she says "hi barry" in that little girl voice.

homemade with cheese!

It was smiller's birthday yesterday, so we started off the day right, by going to Cookies for a homemade with cheese. We also went so that we could eat probably the last Muzio buns we'll ever eat. Tuesday was the last day of the bakery. I asked the Cookie's owner and she said they are going to get buns from a company that a former Muzio baker started, so maybe there won't be much difference. The Muzio bun is certainly integral to the delicious character of a Cookie's burger. They have a unique, chewy texture. I think a homemade is not quite as good as a Whitey's special, but I like the variety that Cookies offers. I got an ostrich burger.

I thought this story in the bee about a fracas at the l street lofts is interesting, because it provides some information about how these things are selling. I always wonder that about the various developments around town. Like those fake brownstones on s street. That development seems to moving really slowly. What if you bought one and they don't sell enough to build the whole thing? The naked backs of those fake brownstones look cheap and terrible, yet they sell for more than nice houses on the grid. I saw an ad (maybe on the back of mm?) for one of the first loft places that was built, around 6 years ago, it faces the light rail tracks. It's a duplex, I can't remember exactly where it is. Anyways, it's silver metal and wood and it's pretty cool looking, but it's selling for way more than a much bigger 1920s era house in east sac with a backyard in the same ad. Who the hell would choose the loft?

new article

The LA Times did a great article about Corti Bros. Ruth Reichl said she calls him when she wants to know anything about food! Do you think that this would be enough to prove to some curmudgeons that this is about more than yuppies having to drive a few extra blocks for food? Probably not. Probably nothing would prove that to them.