January 11th, Lunch. Green tea ice cream. Average. Not interesting. But I ate it anyway. I feel guilty.
January 11th, snack. I had a really good Italian Cerignolo olive. You can't get those trees here in the US, unfortunately; the olives are huge and meaty.
January 11th, Dinner. Yes, it's Friday, so we went to Zeman's with Rose and Mark and had too much food. That's Veuve Cliquot in the back if you are keeping track.
Jan 12th, breakfast. We ran out of milk at home, so we went out to Raging Sage for coffee. Before we left, though, Jan made some fresh squeezed tangelo juice.
Jan 12th, breakfast. Raging Sage. I did not eat both those scones. They were good though. fresh blueberry and orange currant. I drank the cold cappuccino in front and ate half of each. That's Jan's cappuccino in back.
Jan 12, Lunch. With that huge dinner the night before and the scone for breakfast, I wasn't hungry. A bit of aged Spanish manchego, some olives, and a piece of a good Palacio chorizo.
Jan 12, Ted and Barb's Chili and Eggnog. Every year, Ted and Barb used to have a Christmas party called Chili and Eggnog. It got so big, they had to move it to after christmas. Ted is also retiring this year! This is a cracker with some roquefort on it.
Jan 12, Chili and Eggnog. We had to go to dinner somewhere else, so I just tried one of the 5 chilis there. This was chili verde, very spicy, very satisfying.
January 12th, AAI Christmas Party. A great party every year, this was at Hacienda del Sol. I got to pick the first wine, which was a Turley 2002 Dogtown Zinfandel. It was absolutely incredible, at the peak of its life. Just enough fruit to really make it special. The grilled tomato on the salad was nice.
Jan 12. I had a roll. After the salad, I snuck over to another table where they were drinking a Pahlmayer 2002. We got the better deal with the Turley. Someone else drank a 2005 Turley---ye gads, what were they thinking?
I didn't eat Frank, but I lost the picture of what I did eat, which was beef. Since Frank is a beefy guy, I put him in here just as a reminder.
Just so you understand what we're talking about here, wine-wise, let me fill you in. Our table had a bottle of the Turley Zin, Colgin 2002, Plumpjack 2002, Bond Vecina 2001, Ridge Montebello 1990, the 1999 Masi Amarone, Caymus Special Selection 2003, and a 2000 Caprai Sagrantino. Scott wanted GOOD wine, for sure!
January 12th, Dessert. Some cheese. I didn't eat all of this, just a bit of it, to go with the red wine.
January 13, Breakfast. The usual. Coffee, Juice, Cat.
Jan 13, Lunch. Eating at my desk. A burrito de camarones from Nico's, and a Pepsi. I think that the tomato sauce that they use is not so good for the camarones, but I order it so seldom that I never remember that. Anyway, everything else at Nico's is great.
January 13th, dinner. At Don and Barbara's, swiss steak, sauteed spinach, mashed potatoes. We drank this with a 1990 Mondavi Reserve, which was very nice once it had a chance to open up.
January 13th, dessert. Ice cream, fudge sauce, and a chocolate chip cookie. Calories, calories, calories! But no whipped cream.
January 14. When Jan's out of town, I don't like to drink coffee at home by myself, and so I went to Raging Sage. The usual coffee (cold cappuccino) and a scone, currant.
Jan 14, lunch. Burrito al Pastor from Nico's, and a Coke. Eaten on the run working in the office.
Jan 14th, dinner, late night. Some smoked pork loin (from Spain), a bit of cheddar with sun dried tomatoes and oregano mixed in (some Trader Joe's weird thing), and some rosemary almonds. Glass of Fort Ross wine.
Jan 15, breakfast. Jan still away, so back to Raging Sage. A blueberry scone with the usual coffee today. I didn't eat the beeper.
Lunch, Jan 15. A "Western" sandwich from Baggins, with salt & vinegar chips and an iced tea. The Western is kind-of like BBQ beef, but without so much insane BBQ sauce. It is also advertised as having green chile and bacon in it, but I couldn't really discern them. Still, a good sandwich. Plus, of course, the little chocolate chip cookie!
Jan 15, dinner. A bowl of Posole from El Charro (East Side). El Charro is famous for their carne seca, but everything they serve is waaay too big. The posole is both good, authentic, and reasonably sized.
Jan 16, breakfast. Jan is home! We have a blood orange tree which offers up a small crop (for now, hopefully more in years to come).
Jan 16, lunch. A carnitas taco from Nico's, plus a half of a side order of rice. And a Coke.
January 16, Dinner. A bowl of Cocido from Rosa's, plus a Bohemia. They only have Cocido on Wednesdays, but when it's cold the "farmer's soup" is really good. You can order a small bowl, but its so chunky that it doesn't fit.
Jan 16, dessert. A Scharffen Berger chocolate and the remains of a 1994 "Aida" Turley Zinfandel, which is a truly wonderful wine. Definitely ready to drink!
Jan 17, Breakfast. The usual, plus a glass of juice and the vitamins. This time, the multivitamin has grown to horse-pill size. I suspect that it is largely filler.
Jan 17, lunch. A bowl of Hong Kong style shrimp wonton noodle soup, from Pacific Cafe. This is a fantastic soup, and you get vinegar and horseradish to dip your wontons in (see front). This bowl is half-eaten so you can't see any wontons on top.