Pallea for eleven

Twice a month I do not have to answer the question, "what's for dinner tonight?" thanks to my new dinner co-op. For years now, Naomi and I have said why don't we double our recipes once a week and share. I look fondly back on those hazy daze we would eat at either our house or theirs once a week and the rule was that the guest did not touch a dish nor pick up a toy that our wild ones spread across the house. I remember sitting at their table in a stooper of sleep deprivation, not moving an inch for a couple of hours while being fed amazing pasta dishes, chicken paprika, chopped radish salads...but we never did follow-up on our plan to cook/share. I was on a walk with a new kindergarten parent in Eli's class that lives five blocks away and she mentioned wanting to start a food co-op with me and Naomi. What do you know, a few days later Nina shows up with an amazing green soup that we paired with a salad and some bread. It was so tasty, served with lemon and olive oil for the parents and heavy cream for the children. Last night I made paella from this month's Savour Magazine. As I was prepping the dinner I lamented the loss of dinner with the Goldner/Katzs since starting this co-op. Moments later Naomi called and gladly accepted our invitation to dine at our house instead of picking up the goods, it was a quick meal with friends. Over Spring break we'll have a pot luck with Nina/Chris/Ella, bringing a social element to our co-op and to meet my goal of HAVING MORE POT LUCKS in 2010. Last night I also pulled out my leftover raw beet salad doctored with feta and pinenuts and a yummy new cold lentil salad I made for two nights with left-over Japanese sweet potatoes, parsley, red peppers with a vinegrette...yummy.

Pumpkin photo shoot

At the request of my college friends back East, Sydney + Kara, I got some photos of pumpkin + me, not in action but you'll get the gist. Today, I was riding down Valencia Street on the way to school, the first of the 5 miles, and I heard, " JAN!" and who did I see but my honey waiting for a friend outside of Big Mouth Burger, though I had to remind him we're having hamburgers tonight for dinner. Lucky meeting, as I'd just had a thought as the blue sky was drifting away behind the clouds that I had no rain gear for Eli who is already skeptical of our rides. Art gallantly offered his coat, sweet guy huh? I had him snap the first photo. Later when I got to school I naively offered for Eli to ride with Leon/Naomi thinking he'd not want to but he did, and yes my feelings were hurt. After some back and forth we decided he'd ride part-way to Duboce Street Cafe, we'd meet, have a steamed milk/biscotti treat and then I'd scoop up the little guy. I beat the car by a good 6 minutes probably on the parking curve. Anyway, while enjoying our treat, we thought it'd be fun in the future for Naomi meet me at 15th/Valencia for me to take both boys home on the bike path while she has a student, something to work up to. p.s. the sky was blue the entire ride home though it is storming right now! These photos bring a smile to my face just looking at them, they're a bit ridiculous but boy is it fun! I just had to include the final photo for contrast of my and Eli's face.

Eli's Viewmaster

There is secret behind this Viewmaster that I'm not willing to divulge but you may look at Neema's blog to guess on your own. I finally gave Eli his belated birthday gift yesterday, as I had the VM but just got discs this week from ebay. As well, I'm hoping that these dips in to popular culture will not make him such a nerd as he's blocked from viewing the moving images for a few more years, Art rolled his eyes and laughed at me at the thought of THIS having any help in that department. Saturday our friend Leon was telling him about Donald Duck and Toy story, well here you go Eli, you now have visuals to go along with the stories.

ps - Love you Neema! It was worth it just so I can think of you every time I see him with it.

new game

Eli invented a new game with the pulley. I'm not privy to the rules but he tied it to the trapeze and he stands down the all and launches it back to home base. Eva came home and he was able to fit in to the sequence. Over the course the afernoon there were rules, a system of scoring and loads of laughs.

just like my 5th birthday....NOT

We were fortunate to attend a fabulous birthday party for a litte friend in Eli's class, Nithan. Nat and Jib, his parents own Corriander, a Thai restaurant in the Bloomingsdale mall. Their business partners and best friends own a chain of amazing restaurants called Osha Thai, where they hosted the party. Let's just say we all went hungary as instructed and were greeted with an endless buffet of the most scrumptious dishes including my favorite pumpkin curry, the best children's magic show I've ever seen and the favorite parents. This was one cozy event on a chilly SF day. Both my children want their next birthday to be at Osha.

hot water bottle addiction

The children go through meloncholic phases that come in cycles and emerge at bed-time, this booboo hurts, my tummy aches, my back is soar...you can imagine the contestants on the list of maladies. SOMETIMEs, I do not have the patience to tend to every bump and bruise, especially when they cut in to my evening. I hit on the cure when each child snuggles up to their own hot water bottle. They settle down and are quiet in minutes and off to sleep soon there after. We're in an addictive phase right now.

Post-church stroll at LandsEnd with hot chocolate

Church had become our Sunday ritual. Having the buddy system helps, Ed (of Row, Julias, Skyla) usually texts Art either Saturday night or Sunday morning. I'm not sure what they say but I imagine something along the line of CHURCH BOUND? with us2 following. The only complaint I have is that it takes over the day with lunch out and before you know it, it's time to head home with restless children to begin our weekly prep. In December we had a great solution, riding out bikes to Boogaloos for breakfast (1 mile) before church. This Sunday we decided to go hiking at Landsend directly after church which was facilitated by the fact they provide sandwiches to honor the volunteers of the Rececession Food Pantry (Art helped out a few times.) One probem, Art did not text Team-Fraunheim before so they turned up with only church clothes. Luckily the archeological layers of coat + hats in my car were enough to go around. It was a nippy, breezy day but the hike is so beautiful you'd never know were still in San Francisco proper. Art + Ed threw a football to quicken the pace, only pauseing above surfers far below the cliffs and to gather fennel seeds to nibble.  The promise of a hot chocolate at Louis' kept the momentum forward. We were hoping for a tradition to emerge, no such luck yet but there's still plenty of time for that.

friends and family in Virginia

New Year in Virginia

I got a fun fish-eye lens on clearance, it's a help since my big/wide lense was frozen last New Years. The lense helped document our whirlwind vacation in Virginia just about how I felt,a bit distorted. It was a bit surreal at times, Eva throwing-up every 40 minutes on the plane ride/car ride, being displaced out of my brother's home so he wouldn't get sick, staying in my old house that is staged for sale thinking I'd never spend another Christmas there, oh too quick family visits, sneaking in a quick glance at friends, snow/freezing weather. I loved it all. Happy New Year everyone

which holiday will it be?

I did a photo shoot days before leaving for a holiday card, someday we'll all find out which holiday I'm referring to?

First Christmas Eva in San Francisco

This was our first Christmas in San Francisco as a family. After Mom + Dad moved out of their home to Summit Square, going back toVA was looking different for me but I was willing to give it a try.After our visit this past summer Eva declared when we got home that she wanted to celebrate in SF this year. I was not sure but let it sit for the fall. I'm not ready to give up winter visits so we'd go after New Years. Our house is busy, like everyone's from Halloween through the new year, adding E+E's birthdays in there has me stepping up to "create" a new vision for every occasion, yes, I know that's my own fault. I could scale it down but would that be fun? I want to provide memories of the feeling, the sounds, the homemade love, not so much the presents but the thoughtfulness of the holiday. I tried this year to keep it in check, not letting it all take over which meant a few long nights of sewing instead of dragging it on and on. Art is a trooper but I know he tires of the sound of the machine long in to the night. I also missed just sitting around the tree sipping cider. Next year.

This year we took off on the 24th  on B.A.R.T. to the Embarcadero to see the snow villages in the Hilton, see the ice skaters, shop for food at the Ferry Building Marketplace and a few bits of last minute shoppping. This was our second year at the Hilton, the lobby is so festive with the gigantic miniature village covering the same square footage of our house. The mood in the Bender family was a bit more subdubed, I wonder how long this will remain a tradition. I'm thinking we'll keep going for a few more years at least, if not to at least ride the elevator up and down to the 11th floor, I even love this.

After a quick cold picnic outside with tasty salami sandwiches, we headed past the ice skating rink to the Ferry Plaza. As we passed, a woman gave the children a candy and invited them to see Santa. They each got a card and off we went. I made a comment to Art about the sign asking for donations to have photo taken with Santa. I did not hear this but evidently Eva wanted to know what I was saying, Art told her about the man wanting money. Poor sweet Eva, she went hysterical and started saying, "I want to go home." Once in the Ferry Building, I finally got it out of her that she was embarrassed because she'd told that man pretending to be Santa what she wanted for Christmas, she was looking around the room so distrusting of the people.I was so sad for her. I hugged her over and over and told her he could have been the real santa, I was not sure and just to look around us and see all the people happy to be celebrating Christmas together. She remained in the long line with me as I got the mussles for our dinner, she finally calmed down. I was heart broken as her innocence was shattered. I'm not certain it was for keeps, she picked up later and became enthusiastic,especially after her macaroon from Miette Bakery. We got bread from Acme, 24 oysters and were ready to head home.

I'm not up to telling another key event from this day,another posting. I will share that Uncle Randy arrived from L.A. David, Naomi, Leon and Marcel came for our dinner of raw oysters with Champagne-Vinegar Mingnonette, steamed mussels with orange fennel and garlic, and two delicious varieties of ravioli (ricotta/spinach, pumpkin) from a local shop. After some stories around the Christmas tree, E + E were ready for bed after a long day, they were asleep by 7:30.

Santa finished wrapping and installing by 10:30 much to my surprise.