Feeding the economy

We did our best to feed the economy this weekend, and ourselves as well. I decided on Saturday morning to play Hotwire.com roulette. I plugged in San Francisco as my destination and displayed on screen were a bevy of very expensive hotels in the city. Closer to the airport were some more reasonable choices. A suites hotel for $79 a night. We filled in the blanks a ended up at the Embassy Suites in Burlingame. The room was larger than our first apartment! A living room, dining area, refrigerator, wetbar and microwave separated from the bedroom and then there was the two flat screen T.V's. I could live here long term.

The hotel is located in a park like setting on the bay with a killer view of the planes landing at SFO. We took a little time to store up on some vittles for lunch and dinner. Check out Lunardi's market a couple miles away, they have a handsome prepared foods section.

We took a nice walk after lunch and intended to use the pool and work out facilities but laziness and the fact that the pool was packed with a million screaming kids cancelled that idea. The price of the hotel includes a full hot breakfast and a "managers reception". The reception includes cocktails and snacks. April flashed her killer smile at the bartender and I threw dollars bills in the tip jar so the cocktails were more than generous. The snacks consisted of goldfish and mini pretzels. Not gourmet but some of my favorites.
As I write this blog I am fighting a food coma from the breakfast I just consumed. I think it is time for another walk! All and all a wonderful trip for a price tag of $125.

view from our room

The breakfast place

Tomato Jamming.

I did not expect to have much of tomato harvest this year. We had planted late and the weather would not cooperate. Lo and behold we have tomatoes now, loads of tomatoes. We have gifted friends and coworkers with baskets of gold, orange and red tomato jewels. It was time to look for a new way to deal with the bounty. I had printed a copy of Mark Bitman's tomato jam recipe and located it folded in the bottom of my backpack.

All ingredients were on hand with the exception of clove so the jamming began. I was just about done when my son, the lover of all things Indian, entered the house.

"I smell Indian food being cooked," he announced.
"No, just tomato jam."
"Smells more like chutney."

It turns out he was correct. The spices called for are some of the base components for garam masala, a popular Indian flavoring. I've always wanted to play around with Indian food and did it by accident. Call it tomato jam or call it tomato chutney. Just make sure you call me for dinner!

Expect Anything

It was predicted to be a rainy day on Saturday but when we ventured outside the rain had stopped and gray clouds lingered. April suggested it might nicer in San Francisco, so off we went. We have a regular routine of taking the Larkspur Ferry to the Ferry Plaza and then we walk across the street to the Hyatt Regency where we use the facilities and then head off to our designation. On the way back home we make another stop at the Hyatt and have cocktails and snacks at their 13 Views bar. The last two visits that bar has been closed and replaced by a small uncomfortable bar plopped in the middle of the new restaurant. I suggest they name this bar the "No View" bar. I asked the bartender about the change and he said they would use the old bar for banquets. Why on earth would you change something so splendid? The old bar stools were very comfortable with the people watching and view superb. Sometimes change is good and sometimes it's NOT!

We would go in search of another bar to replace our favorite. We jumped on Muni and made our way into The Palace Hotel. The Pied Piper bar is a lovely room done in wood that would be impossibly expensive to reproduce these days. We checked out the The Garden Court where brunch is held. It is so magnificent and regal and would make a great replacement.

The Garden Court

It was early yet and there are many great places around this area so we continued our search. As we exited the hotel, we heard loud music and saw bright colors. Like moths to the flame we headed straight into the chaos. We stumbled into the staging area of the San Francisco Love Fest. It was a parade, Halloween and a bawdy Vegas review all rolled into one. Energetic people dancing and partying and wearing crazy outfits. I observed "wardrobe malfunctions" everywhere! We went from sedate to crazy in a block, what great fun. In San Francisco expect anything!

The parade roared off and with our ears still ringing we called my daughter who works nearby to have lunch with us. At her suggestion we ended we ended up at the Thirsty Bear for Tapas and sangria. We shared fried calamari, baby back ribs, patatas bravas, and flatbread with chorizo and peppers. The food was as exciting as the parade and the sangria outstanding.