Photo Essay: Berkeley and Oakland

My last days in Berkeley were spent sleeping with Mo, and sometimes Marcus would join us. Here they are being unusually affectionate with each other.


I also spent my time packing up, getting ready for the return to Seattle. Here, Mo is checking out the huge bag that my sister gave me.


Mo and I became quite attached. Here she is laying down on top of me, preventing me getting any more packing done. We enjoyed this position for a good 20 minutes at least. Such is the pace of my life these days.


I tried another gluten-free recipe. This time crepes. I would have like to use buckwheat flour, but didn't have any on hand, so used a recipe from one of Gretchen's books. I don't know if lack of refrigeration botched the thickening or if the book was just way off. I had to seriously adjust the ingredients as the batter was way too thin. I filled them with spinach, mushrooms, onions and chicken. This was the side-dish to a delicious dinner that KC and Gretchen whipped up.


On Sunday, my cousin Jim came over to pick me up. We gave him a tour of the house and sculpture garden. Then we were off to Oakland Chinatown for some yummy food at Shan Dong. (The yelp review is pretty good - If you know any chinese at all, read the one from 3/16/07 - hilarious for the mandarin-english translations.)


Unfortunately, we were late in meeting his sister/my cousin, Emily, there. Thankfully she was patient and stayed extra to chat with us. Emily is a teacher in the Bay area, recently returned from 7 years abroad studying Buddhism. Jim is an avid bicyclist and his girlfriend Susan was away working the Lifecycle ride to LA. Since Emily already ate, Jim and I shared 7 dishes (Shan Dong special dumplings, jiu-tsai cakes, sweet do-jiang, seaweed salad, vegetarian bun, a tofu dish, and yo-tiao).


Jim and I walked around Chinatown afterwards, where we spotted this car. That's right, take a closer look at that license plate.


We picked up some mini egg puff treats - which I was excited to try because they're one of my favorite things to get in NYC Chinatown. The woman in NY sells bags for a dollar each, and they're fresh made from her little cart and ready to go in minutes if not seconds. The ones I saw in Oakland were in a cafe, took at least 15 minutes to order and prepare, were 3 times as expensive and tasted like fortune cookies. I wouldn't recommend it.


We also spotted cherries for 99 cents a pound. So I bought a bag to bring home to Gretchen and KC. I put them in a tray next to the 3.99 a pound cherries from Berkeley Bowl and the 6.99 Rainier cherries from the Berkeley Organic Farmer's market. I split the Chinatown cherries into 2 sections - the normal looking ones and the mutant, double butted ones. The blind taste test resulted in the Berkeley Bowl cherries in first place, with the mutant Chinatown cherries in a close second. The others were far behind in 3rd and 4th.


I also made a gluten-free Italian Herb Bread. It turned out really well - even better than the French Bread. I used fresh parsley from Gretchen's garden.

Italian Herb Bread
adapted from The Best Gluten-Free Family Cookbook by Donna Washburn and Heather Butt

1 1/3 c sorghum flour
1/2 c whole bean flour
1/3 c potato starch
1/3 c tapioca starch
1/4 c granulated sugar
2.5 t xanthan gum
2 t instant yeast
1 1/4 t salt
1/4 c snipped fresh parsley
2 t ground dried marjoram
2 t ground dried thyme
2 eggs
1 1/4 c water
1/4 c oil
1 t cider vinegar

1. In large bowl, combine flours, starches, sugar, gum, yeast, salt, herbs. Mix well.
2. In separate bowl, combine eggs, water, oil and vinegar until well blended. Slowly add dry ingredients at low speed until combined. Scrape bottom and sides of bowl. Beat at medium for 4 min.
3. Spoon into 9x5 greased loaf pan. Let rise, uncovered, in a warm, draft-free place for 60-75 min or until dough has risen to the top of the pan.
4. Bake at 350 for 35-45 min (until loaf sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom). Remove from pan and cool completely on rack.

I woke up on my last morning to Marcus sitting at my feet, laying on her back and cleaning herself. KC, Gretchen and I fit in a few more rounds of cards. I had taught them how to play Vietnamese Poker (with a more forgiving format than Tuyet's Grandma allowed) and we'd been playing all week, keeping tally of the score. KC couldn't pull himself out of a huge deficit, and we promised to start over from scratch in Seattle for the next 13 Cards Tournament. (Here's a site with rules pretty close to how we play.)

I flew out of Oakland, to LA, and then to Seattle. Yes, it was cheaper to go south first rather than a direct flight north. Crazy what I'll do to save $50. That was Monday June 11.