We sang to the woman working the window at the local taco truck last week. I think she rushed our order ahead of others in line because she thought we were completely bonkers and wanted to get us out of there. It's not as though we just randomly broke into song... well, maybe a little bit.
Here's how it all began. Every time Dave and I drove by the corner the taco truck typically occupies, we check out the line, see how much traffic they're getting, and wistfully discuss stopping just for a little snack. Generally we're en route somewhere or on the way home with a load of groceries from the market, so a stop is less than ideal.
One evening, just before Christmas, we drove by and the taco truck was not there. Maybe it was the Christmas Music, but next thing you know, Dave and I were singing "O Taco Truck, O Taco Truck, where have your burritos gone to?" to the tune of "O Christmas Tree". Gradually, this little ditty morphed into a full fledged jingle for the taco truck with several witty rhyming verses.
So, when we found ourselves at the taco truck - finally with a few minutes to stop for some of their amazing fare, we jokingly told the woman taking our order that we had missed coming there so much that we had written a taco truck song. That, of course, led to her insisting we sing for our supper.
Aside from them now being a little bit afraid of us, the taco truck on the corner of Lakeville and E. Washington St. is terrific. Super fresh and delicious food with a really wide variety of choices that include some of the more traditional Mexican dishes like beef tongue and my absolute favorite - fish tacos. There are not many places where Dave and I can both get a fabulous meal, with fresh ingredients for less than $15 - but this place is the exception.
O Taco Truck, O Taco Truck
We really love your tacos
They're fresh and fast
with yummy beans
You dishes are so nice and lean
Oh Taco Truck, O Taco Truck...
You get the idea.
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
The Viking Cheese Smuggler
I have a new skill to add to my resume. Viking cheese smuggler.
My job this past year has been undergoing a lot of change. Somehow, I now find myself flying off to Stockholm for customer meetings a couple of times a year. It's a lovely city. The people are beautiful, friendly, educated and very hospitable. My most recent trip, in February, was a bit chilly (arctic just sounds so dramatic) but as my colleague Nigel says, there's no such thing as too cold, just inadequate wardrobe choices. Considering I strolled through Stockholm in so many layers of clothing I could barely bend my elbows and knees, I managed to stave off hypothermia and actually enjoyed a walk one snowy afternoon.
The cold isn't the point though, is it? It's the cheese. Maybe cold cows make better cheese. Who knows? The cheese here is great! I've now made a habit of raiding a super market before I fly home because Dave and I are both completely addicting to something called "Viking" cheese. It's a sharp firm cow cheese with tiny little granules of salt in it. It is so delicious! We've now branched out and I regularly buy a few pounds of different cheeses to fit into the nooks and crannies of my suitcase.
This can be a problem when airlines weigh your luggage... My last trip home, my bag was 5 lbs over weight. That was going to cost about $40 in extra baggage fees. I'm talking about $20 worth of cheese - this is not super gourmet stuff. It's probably the Swedish equivalent of Velveeta, but it's so darn good I wasn't leaving it behind either. After some creative rearranging, four block of cheese was fit into my carry on bag and my suitcase made weight regulations.
Happily, I trotted down the jetway and boarded my flight. 19 hours later, I arrived in good 'ole San Francisco - not exactly fresh as a daisy, but really happy to be home. Then the excitement started. Seems the drug sniffing dogs are really fond of cheese. I was "marked" by one of them. A cute little beagle cornered me and the officer who handled him took me to "secondary". In retrospect, it's not such a great idea to have four, dense, gel-like rectangular objects in ones luggage. They looked at me like I was toting blocks of C-4. Oopsie!
After a few minutes, all was determined to be non-explosive, but there was a problem with me carrying too much cheese. One of the blocks was confiscated. I've since looked and looked all over the place to try and find the limit on how much cheese one can carry on one's person when entering the country and have yet to find it. I think the real answer lays in the tummy growling I heard coming from that cute little beagle.
My job this past year has been undergoing a lot of change. Somehow, I now find myself flying off to Stockholm for customer meetings a couple of times a year. It's a lovely city. The people are beautiful, friendly, educated and very hospitable. My most recent trip, in February, was a bit chilly (arctic just sounds so dramatic) but as my colleague Nigel says, there's no such thing as too cold, just inadequate wardrobe choices. Considering I strolled through Stockholm in so many layers of clothing I could barely bend my elbows and knees, I managed to stave off hypothermia and actually enjoyed a walk one snowy afternoon.
The cold isn't the point though, is it? It's the cheese. Maybe cold cows make better cheese. Who knows? The cheese here is great! I've now made a habit of raiding a super market before I fly home because Dave and I are both completely addicting to something called "Viking" cheese. It's a sharp firm cow cheese with tiny little granules of salt in it. It is so delicious! We've now branched out and I regularly buy a few pounds of different cheeses to fit into the nooks and crannies of my suitcase.
This can be a problem when airlines weigh your luggage... My last trip home, my bag was 5 lbs over weight. That was going to cost about $40 in extra baggage fees. I'm talking about $20 worth of cheese - this is not super gourmet stuff. It's probably the Swedish equivalent of Velveeta, but it's so darn good I wasn't leaving it behind either. After some creative rearranging, four block of cheese was fit into my carry on bag and my suitcase made weight regulations.
Happily, I trotted down the jetway and boarded my flight. 19 hours later, I arrived in good 'ole San Francisco - not exactly fresh as a daisy, but really happy to be home. Then the excitement started. Seems the drug sniffing dogs are really fond of cheese. I was "marked" by one of them. A cute little beagle cornered me and the officer who handled him took me to "secondary". In retrospect, it's not such a great idea to have four, dense, gel-like rectangular objects in ones luggage. They looked at me like I was toting blocks of C-4. Oopsie!
After a few minutes, all was determined to be non-explosive, but there was a problem with me carrying too much cheese. One of the blocks was confiscated. I've since looked and looked all over the place to try and find the limit on how much cheese one can carry on one's person when entering the country and have yet to find it. I think the real answer lays in the tummy growling I heard coming from that cute little beagle.
Sunday, March 11, 2012
February 29
Harvest for February 29
Since this day doesn't really exist, hard work should be forbidden. That was our idea, anyway. While we did pay attention to the daily grind because nobody else has seen fit to make this a holiday yet, we did make time to take in the pleasures of our garden.
In about thirty minutes, we were able to harvest a week's worth of fresh produce. Ummm... this is February and we're still pulling stuff from our garden. Hard for a girl from New England to wrap her head around.
Having a few small plots to plant a row or two veggies in has been such a blessing. Dave and I only manage to get to our friend, Patti's, house a couple of times a month now but it's such a treat when we do. You see, Patti has four really nice raised beds on her horse farm she wasn't using so we are now "sharecropping" on her land. Our back yard will soon be suitable for a veggie garden, but it wasn't quite there in October when we decided to put in some winter crops.
As you can see from the photo above, we have a lot going on in those four little beds. Radishes, turnips, parsnips and beets for root veggies (the carrots we planted for her horse and donkeys didn't survive a gopher invasion). Great big heads of delicious kale, assorted lettuces and arugula for greens, Broccoli, cauliflower, snap peas, fava beans... the list goes on. We even put in three types of garlic, leeks, shallots and two kinds of onions to make sure we'd have some "spice" in our winter diets.
What fun this has been! It's been a wonderful experience working side by side with Dave. Learning about the different crops and their seasons here in California and trying to figure out how to outsmart those darn gophers (didn't Bill Murray finally resort to dynamite in Caddyshack?)
Not only did it add sustenance to our diets, it really strengthened our relationship. We love to work with one another on projects like this. We're gearing up to start our back-yard garden now. I'm starting seeds for about 25 different veggies and herbs today. Dave's been preparing the soil in the raised beds on our tiny terrace. Ten heirloom tomato plants are winging their way to us via US Mail for arrival next week. This should be interesting.
Don't be surprised if you get a can of tomato sauce from us for Christmas again this year. :-)
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Surprising Sazon
Peruvian cuisine? Like many Americans, I would have at first assumed that any cuisine from South America would be much like that of Mexico, and let's face it; we in the USA have a pretty poorly adapted version of Mexican food - but that's a story for another blog. Other than having the menus printed in Spanish, there are very few similarities between Mexican food and Peruvian.
Peru is home to more than 50 varieties of potatoes. It is believed that the beloved spud originated here. This is reflected in their cuisine. Where other South American countries lean towards use of corn (masa) or beans, Peru uses potatoes as a staple. That's just the beginning of the differences. Let us tell you about Sazon.
Dave and I had been hearing a quiet buzz start about this new place in Santa Rosa called Sazon. We were dubious. Sazon is located in the Roseland neighborhood of Santa Rosa on Sebastapol Road. This neighborhood is known for carnicerias and taco trucks more than it's known for fine dining. This is changing. Located in an unassuming strip mall with good parking and a cute window area for outdoor dining, Sazon packs a lot of surprises into a small space.
If you decide to try Sazon, it's a good idea to either go early or make a reservation. The first time we tried to eat here was on a Friday evening at about 6:00 PM only to find that they had a two hour wait! What?! Seriously, in this neighborhood, a two hour wait? Now we were both piqued and intrigued. We had to come back. The following week, we decided to try again. We arrived earlier - 5:30 which is WAY early for us to have dinner, but we'd been running around all day and it was nearby so it all worked out.
We were seated right away in Sazon's small but very attractive dining room. Earth tones and stone tile made the dining gallery feel warm and welcoming. There are about 8 tables plus a few seats at the bar, so that would explain why they fill up so fast. The service was great - I suspect one of the owners was our host. He was delighted to hear that I had actually visited Peru, albeit only for about 24 hours on a business trip.
Their menu was eclectic, reflecting the many cultures which have influenced Peru's cuisine. For much of the 20th Century, waves of immigrants from countries throughout Europe and Asia moved into South America with many settling in Peru. They brought their recipes and spices with them from home.
I ordered the seafood stew. It was packed with shellfish and fresh whitefish in a light broth seasoned with saffron and served with bite size pieces of potato and those huge, juicy corn kernels that are so sweet and tender. Dave had a wonderful dish of roasted vegetables that included a wide variety of fresh local veggies and a side of some very yummy fries.
Long story short - this place is great. We hope that it is just a hint of the renaissance coming to the Roseland neighborhood. There's no doubt that great food abounds here, but moving from the taco truck to fine dining can be elusive. Sazon seems to be really bringing the standards of the neighborhood higher and teaching about the great varieties of cuisines that can be found in South America.
Peru is home to more than 50 varieties of potatoes. It is believed that the beloved spud originated here. This is reflected in their cuisine. Where other South American countries lean towards use of corn (masa) or beans, Peru uses potatoes as a staple. That's just the beginning of the differences. Let us tell you about Sazon.
Dave and I had been hearing a quiet buzz start about this new place in Santa Rosa called Sazon. We were dubious. Sazon is located in the Roseland neighborhood of Santa Rosa on Sebastapol Road. This neighborhood is known for carnicerias and taco trucks more than it's known for fine dining. This is changing. Located in an unassuming strip mall with good parking and a cute window area for outdoor dining, Sazon packs a lot of surprises into a small space.
If you decide to try Sazon, it's a good idea to either go early or make a reservation. The first time we tried to eat here was on a Friday evening at about 6:00 PM only to find that they had a two hour wait! What?! Seriously, in this neighborhood, a two hour wait? Now we were both piqued and intrigued. We had to come back. The following week, we decided to try again. We arrived earlier - 5:30 which is WAY early for us to have dinner, but we'd been running around all day and it was nearby so it all worked out.
We were seated right away in Sazon's small but very attractive dining room. Earth tones and stone tile made the dining gallery feel warm and welcoming. There are about 8 tables plus a few seats at the bar, so that would explain why they fill up so fast. The service was great - I suspect one of the owners was our host. He was delighted to hear that I had actually visited Peru, albeit only for about 24 hours on a business trip.
Their menu was eclectic, reflecting the many cultures which have influenced Peru's cuisine. For much of the 20th Century, waves of immigrants from countries throughout Europe and Asia moved into South America with many settling in Peru. They brought their recipes and spices with them from home.
I ordered the seafood stew. It was packed with shellfish and fresh whitefish in a light broth seasoned with saffron and served with bite size pieces of potato and those huge, juicy corn kernels that are so sweet and tender. Dave had a wonderful dish of roasted vegetables that included a wide variety of fresh local veggies and a side of some very yummy fries.
Long story short - this place is great. We hope that it is just a hint of the renaissance coming to the Roseland neighborhood. There's no doubt that great food abounds here, but moving from the taco truck to fine dining can be elusive. Sazon seems to be really bringing the standards of the neighborhood higher and teaching about the great varieties of cuisines that can be found in South America.
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