The Prodigy

Goth, punk, raver, rocker. English, Russian, French, American. The Prodigy tour brought them all out of the woodwork. The shear power of the band is deafening let alone the volume at which they play.

May 28, 2009
The Warfield
San Francisco, Ca

Desert Garden

This is a wide shot that sums up my travels across Arizona. Many many desert plants in bloom and looking healthy after a recent spring rain.
Its not very often you get to see so many very large cacti flower and many people do not even know cactus and desert plants produce flowers at all. Many of these cacti looked to be over 10 feet tall and finding a spot to take a picture along a deserted highway was tricky.
We have a very particular affection for the desert since we spend 2 weeks each year at Burning Man. Seeing a bare landscape with thriving vegetation is an inspiration and shows that every environment can be adapted to over time.

Nimbus Brewing - Tuscon

Nimbus Brewing is located in Tuscon, Arizona in an industrial area. I purchased a case of beer to go since I was on a road trip and collecting beer along the way. The house corned beef was delicious and the sample of Maiboch was right on par the the best.
The brewery is a large spacious place with some pool tables, lots of artwork and a casual atmosphere. They have bands and a loading dock/porch that is open some during the busy times and weekends.
The brewery uses a monkey as their mascot and their images on the taps, bottles, boxes and marketing information are great. A nimbus is halo around an angels head and the connection to the monkey I am not quite sure about. However, this is one if not the best beer mascot I have seen. Next to the Boonville Beer of course (half deer half bear).
They had a large selection of only house beers on tap. Locals and nearby workers seemed to have made this their home base as it is out of the way and not something you stumble upon without looking. A more thorough review can be found here. Too bad I could not spend much time there this time.

T.I. Garden Update

After about a month, everything's up and thriving-- peas, potatoes,
carrots, multiple kinds of lettuce, chard, cilantro and radishes. Last
week's rain and our new close water source really got things up and
going. The photo shows the lettuce slice of the garden pie.

Anacapa Brewing

Anacapa Brewing is located in Ventura, Ca located on their main street just a few block from the pier. I had a couple of IPA's that were very good and clean tasting. The brewery had a very nice system out behind the bar. Truly this is how every brewpub should be for purely show purposes but logistically the brewer and bartender have a hard time sharing space.

The brew kettles were in the center with the fermenters on the right side of the bar and bright tanks on the far left side. I sampled several other beers that were all right on style. The seafood enchiladas were beyond delicious and full of fresh fish and scallops.

When traveling through Ventura or working there, which I may be doing, I will be sure to visit again. A near perfect brewery that I could easily call my home bar if I was local.

Rooster Cogburn Ostrich Farm

Many people have at some point come across ostrich on a menu before. I remember seeing ostrich eggs at the farmers market in Barcelona and eating ostrich recently in Cambodia. Ostrich is a red meat, not white meat as you may suspect. Most commonly I have seen ostrich served as burgers in several wild game areas of the US.

I came across Rooster Cogburn Ostrich Farm deep in Arizona on my way to Texas. It had the appearence of a tourist trap but I bet very few tourist pay the $5 to feed them. Hence my picture from a distance and over the fence.

Reality is that this farm had hundreds if not thousands of ostriches. It was a working farm situated right along the highway that offered monster truck tours. No telling how large it really was from my limited viewing but if I ever have time this would truly be an
experience to look into.

If you ever need ostrich egg shells or feather dusters then this is
your place!

Santa Barbara Brewing

Made a quick stop at this brewery for dinner. It was actually located within the farmers market I just posted about. The brewery kept losing power due to the fire a few miles away but I was still able to have a great burger and salad before getting back on the road. The did not bottle any beer so I did not get a chance to sample many of them.

The Beer list is below.

Santa Barbara Farmers Market

The day the fire started just above Santa Barbara last week I was driving a truck through on the way to Ventura. I had stopped for dinner and happened upon their weekly farmers market. The market was 2 city blocks long and in the closed street. Nearly all vendors were local farms with a few flower vendors spread through out. There were no prepared food vendors that I saw and a couple of "value added" booths with things like jams and sauces.

Since this market is in the warmer southern California there were many many varieties of avocados, blue berries, cherimoyas and other berries. Below are some of the berries that are in season . I was envious of the blueberries which have a season of about a month here in the SF Bay area.

Below is one of the many booths selling both large and smaller cherimoyas. If you have never one you search it out and give one a try. We fell in love with them in Costa Rica where we bought a bunch from someones yard and ate it for a week.

The Dead

May 14th, 2009
Shoreline Amphitheater-- Mountain View, CA

(Set 1)
Jack Straw
U.S. Blues
Mason's Children
Ship Of Fools
Friend Of The Devil
Standing On The Moon
Lady With A Fan
Terrapin Station
Standing On The Moon

(Set 2)
Estimated Prophet
New Potato Caboose
Born Cross-Eyed
Dear Mr. Fantasy
Drums
Space
Morning Dew
China Cat Sunflower
I Know You Rider

(Encore)
Scarlet Begonias
Fire On The Mountain
Deal

The Big Eat SF

I'm a sucker for lists, and an even bigger sucker for food challenges. So naturally I was all over 7x7's list of 100 Things to Eat and Drink Before You Die. I checked off 11 items right from the start, and made it to 18 in just a few days. Here's a few highlights:

#40 Cheeseburger from Taylor's (shown left): I've worked in the Ferry Building for over 3 years and this was my first time here. Delicious indeed, though I can think of many other burgers that deserve to be on the list. Oozing with cheese, nice squishy bun, crunchy pickles.


#27 Papaya salad with salty crab from Sai Jai Thai (left): Nearly burned my face off. The salad was worth the venture into the 'Loin, except for the gray mealy tomatoes and massive hunks of cabbage rind on the side. What was that about?


#36 Dry-fried chicken wings from San Tung (not shown): The place was packed when I showed up around 1:30 on a Thursday. Everyone was eating the wings! I got my order to go and went straight to the N Judah. They smelled so good I got off the bus 3 stops to eat them on the sidewalk. Fried in batter with garlic, ginger and roasted red peppers.

#8 Morning bun from Tartine Bakery (not shown): The bun was good, but the gougère was better. I'm just not that into sweet breakfast. Here's the recipe if you'd like to make them at home.

#50 Giant pretzel with mustard and and beer cheese at Monk's Kettle (left): Giant is an understatement. I came in for a snack and ended up with a meal. Served piping hot with stone ground mustard and house-made cheddar ale sauce. I couldn't resist a glass of the bourbon barrel aged ten FIDY from Oskar Blues.

#91 Albondigas soup at Mijita (not shown): I had this for lunch on Cinco de Mayo. Perfect for the cold rainy afternoon it was. A tomato based soup with beef and pork meatballs and LOTS of veggies. Served with tortilla strips (think fritos).

I'll keep working down the list, even though it has a few flaws. For example, the coffee-rubbed pork shoulder (#2) hasn't been on the menu at Range for quite some time. But, if you're up for the challenge you can track your progress with the Big Eat facebook application. Check back soon for progress reports...

Spiritual Salad

Amazing how you can start with an empty bowl and end with a feast. Unfortunately our annual garden party was postponed due to yesterday's rain, but luckily the few gardeners and guests that came anyways weren't deterred. With a little creativity we put together a spiritual salad (in the tradition of stone soup) made with veggies from the garden and offerings from our guests. The romaine, butterhead and red leaf lettuce went first, followed by grated carrots, baby red onions, peas, tomato, celery and cucumber.

It's comforting to know that, with all the challenges we face as urban gardeners, we can still come together and nourish both body and soul. Many thanks to everyone at the table yesterday for your contributions to the pot.

Magic Curry Kart and Amuse Bouche Stand

So we finally made it out to the Magic Curry Kart. We have meant to for a long time but always get sidetracked or never make it out of our little SOMA area. The green curry was great though we were probably the last ones of the evening. It's been some time since we have actually seen decent street food in the US. Street food is a key to all of our trips around the world. Eating food off the street not only supports individuals but also brings you back to the roots of your food supply. Recognizing that eating is a human necessity and not just a fancy private event in a restaurant is very important. Eating food in public and supporting food stalls bring a sense of community that is hard to reach in a large restaurants.

To occupy the time we snacked at the Amuse Bouche Stand below and played some reggae music for the visitors. Murat had some excellent onion tarts as well as a small quiche. He also had some delicious Evening Glory Muffins that were nice little treat while we waited for the curry list to shorten.