A Martini Day

The Scene: 4:55pm in a courtroom in 'da hood.

The Judge: "Off the record, five minutes before five o'clock. You all earned your paychecks today, not that you don't work hard every day."

Me: "Today was crazy."

Defense Counsel: "I think we all earned a glass or two of wine in addition to our checks."

The Judge: "Your entitled to your choice Ms. Defense Counsel, but I think today deserves a martini."

Who am I to not follow a judge's order? This past afternoon really does require a martini (or other vodka-based drink) for recovery. I'm typing this with a glass in hand.

Mondays and Wednesdays are always pre-trial days. A typical pre-trial day entails prepping files in the morning and court appearances after lunch until 3:30 or so. Maybe 4pm if it's an unusually busy day. Then it's back to the office for filing, phone calls, e-mails, etc.

Here was today: 17 cases on afternoon calendar in the courtroom, nine of which belong to me. My first case up was a local high profile case. Between the media attention and the need for delicate handling of the victim, I'm always edgy when this case comes up on calendar. We get through that okay, with some tears from both sides but no outbursts.

Then came the case that really took it out of me. It's rare that I completely lose it with opposing counsel. I have a pretty strong reputation for being fair, reasonable and easy to work with. But trying to discuss a case with this one old man PITA left me wanting to kick him. It should have been an easy case; the Probation Dept. had already drafted a pre-plea report. But old man PITA still wanted to dispute every single standard term on there, interrupting me at every possible turn as I tried to talk to the other, more normal defense attorneys on all those other cases. He even tried to argue with me about "making the minor a ward of the court," when the document clearly stated that the proposed plea would NOT make the minor a ward. It was like living a bad thread on The Nest. I didn't know what to do except stop talking to old man PITA and request a conference on the case with the judge. As we waited our turn, old man PITA still took it upon himself to mumble crap into my ear. Fortunately, the judge is a smart man. He quickly figured out what (or who) the problem was and reined in old man PITA. The only problem was that by the time old man PITA was out of my hair, it was already past 3:30 and I still had six cases to call. Oy.

I didn't leave the office until well past 5pm. I know that firm lawyers will have no sympathy for me on this point, but one of the perks of my job is the fact that I generally never have to stay past 5pm. When I stay past five, it's a sign that it's been a bad day.

So now you know why I am already halfway through an elderflower gimlet. I first had this drink at Nopa, but I think I have created a decent at-home approximation:

For one serving, pour 2 parts vodka, 1 part lime juice and 1 part elderflower liqueur over ice into a martini shaker. Shake well, pour into a chilled glass and garnish with lime.

Christmas in the City

So the week prior to Christmas, Big Bad came down to my new office location to tell me exactly how much I suck as an attorney during my annual evaluation. He even wrote an oh-so-lovely page expressing his true feelings about me. Despite his scathing comments, I still received my final raise and final step approval. All things considered it was a little Christmas miracle. But miracles aside, I was so.very.happy to have a week off for our holiday trip to San Francisco.

Driving conditions were good and we had a beautiful drive through the Grapevine. As you can tell in my previous post, we made a short stop to play in the snow.

Our first destination was actually Napa in order to visit Eddie's sister and her husband. J&W recently got a puppy, Riley, and were also dogsitting another dog, Yorkie. With each other to play with, Jack and Riley were in heaven. Yorkie decided the youngsters were too wild and crazy and hid out under the table.

Sunday night we had dinner at Elements. There is a wall of wine in the restaurant, held in place by a series of open racks. Why am I mentioning this? Because I unknowingly brushed against a bottle and knocked it clear off the wall. It was just mere luck that I didn't cause a chain reaction and take out the entire bottom row of wine. So embarrassing. I didn't take pictures of our food, but if you ever check it out you must try the tuna carpaccio with nicoise garnishes, either the black cod or the salmon and the semolina cake with meyer lemon mascarpone. And is you are a Pinkberry fan you will love the apple tart with greek yogurt sorbet.

The next day W suggested that we take a tour of the Castello di Amarosa winery. It was a great tour for both wine drinkers (such as me and W) and non-wine drinkers (Eddie). Built by Dario Sattui of V. Sattui fame, the winery is modeled after an old European castle. Many of the materials were imported from Italy and Austria, with some of the bricks having been used in other castles. There was even a replica of a dungeon with all sorts of cool torture implements. Here is the dining hall.

Much of the castle is used for wine storage and aging. Overall, I preferred the Castello wines over the V. Sattui wines. There were a few misses, such as the merlot, but I walked out with three bottles (dry gewurtztraminer, chardonnay and the blended red "Il Brigante"). Even though there are over 100 rooms and several events are hosted throughout the year, the winery has no plans for on-site lodging.

My battery started dying on the tour and during the tasting, so I made sure to save my last shot for the exterior of the winery.

Monday afternoon we drove to my family's home in San Francisco and spent some quality time with my folks. The next afternoon I met up with some of my old PCX friends for lunch. I should have been at home resting since I had (and still have) the most miserable cold ever, but it had been way too long since I had seen my friends. We went to a casual sandwich and salad shop in the FiDi.

The food was quite good. But I completely forgot to take pictures since the three of us started gabbing right away and never stopped until we parted ways. I miss these flower named girls.

After lunch I set out for an annual holiday tradition. Along the way I caught glimpses of some SF landmarks. This is what I used to see every morning walking out of the BART station.

I took this picture to prove a point for tourists. You do not need to stand in the middle of the intersection in order to take a picture of the Chinatown gate. Repeat: do not stand in the middle of a busy downtown intersection for pictures.

Finally I reached my destination. For every year as long as I can remember, I have gone to Union Square to see the Christmas tree, the windows at Macy's and the ginormous tree at Neiman-Marcus.

When I was a kid, the windows at Macy's had the most elaborate displays. In recent years they have downscaled the decor for a very good cause. Partnering with the SF SPCA, the store now features adoptable shelter animals in its windows. There is always SPCA staff on hand inside to take care of all the animals' needs, as well as staff outside to collect donations for the no-kill organization. The doggie and kitty condos are all well decorated and stocked with toys and other comforts.

You can see Neiman's tree through the windows. The base is on the first floor and the tree goes up all the way to the glass topped Rotunda.

As much fun as I had on Tuesday, I paid the price for it that night. My cold got a lot worse. Blech. But I just reminded myself that being sick on vacation was still TONS better than being at work.

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were fairly low key. Most of the time was spent with family, old family friends or curled up on the sofa. I needed to conserve my limited energy for Friday. In what has become a holiday tradition for me and Claire, we went to the Embarcadero Center for a little ice skating.

The rink is set up from November through January. I love skating outdoors.

The rink was crowded, the ice was bad and it was too early for the Bay Bridge and Embarcadero Tower lights to come on, but can one really complain about this? Winter in California rocks.

After skating we walked across to the Ferry Building & Marketplace. We picked up a gingerbread cupcake to share from Miette and stopped by Peet's for a cup of coffee. As we enjoyed our goodies at one of the communal tables in the building, we were highly entertained by the 50-ish woman at our table who was trying to pick up on a 60-ish married man. Her M.O. was to offer him her cookies. I kid you not.

By the time we finished our coffee it was time to meet FogCityDweller for our annual BFF holiday dinner. A few years ago we decided that spending time with each other over a good meal would be better than gift we could exchange with each other. This year we went to Beretta, a new restaurant that has taken over the location of one of our old favorites. RIP Last Supper Club. :-(

The restaurant was actually bustling, but we were the first party of the evening to be seated in the downstairs dining room.

Beretta has a creative cocktail list. On the left is FogCityDweller's Spiced Sazerac with spice infused apple brandy, sugar and orange bitters. On the right is my Acadian with rye, sloe gin, lemon, honey, absinthe and rosemary.

The antipasti dishes are definitely meant to be shared by no more than two people. Tiny but tasty. It's a good thing the three of us share so well. We started off with the meatballs in spicy tomato sauce. We also had zucchini parmigiana but I spaced out on taking a photo of it.

We shared the saffron risotto with osso buco. Delish. This was my favorite dish of the evening.

We ordered the spicy italian sausage pizza. The sausage was definitely spicy and the pizza tasted good, but Mozza's definitely has the edge.

We also ordered the mushroom and fontina pizza. This was a bland, boring disappointment.

Even more disappointing was the dessert menu. There wasn't a single thing that sounded appealing to any of us. And we love our sweets! Most of the offerings featured gelato or sorbetti which seemed so out of place for the season. Did not compute.

The remainder of the weekend flew by, filled with visits to more family friends. Eddie received a rapid introduction into the world of Indian hospitality. We had to have chai and snacks at every house we went to. Saying "no thank you" is simply not allowed. I was a bad wife and forgot to (a) forewarn him and (b) explain how to pace oneself for chai madness.

I could have easily spent another week in SF. There never seems to be enough time to see all the people I would like to see or to do some the activities I can only do in the City.

A final bit of SF randomness on our way out of town. Get it? :-)

Cooking Cajun Style

October 25, 2008

We opted for sleep in lieu of breakfast this morning. We had to be at the New Orleans School of Cooking by 9:45am, which is a little too early to be functioning for a weekend.

We had signed up for a two-hour cooking demo, during which we would watch our lunch being made. Our instructor, Miss Pat, reminded us a bit of Paula Deen. She had several of the dishes partially prepped before class started and had a nifty mirror so we could see every step. While she cooked she gave us an overview of the culinary history of New Orleans. We started with a chicken and andouille gumbo. I told Eddie to pay close attention, since he had been having a cup of it at every meal. If there is anything he should learn to cook, this should be it. I was pleasantly suprised to learn that it is not as complicated as I thought it would be to make. Apart from all the onion and bell pepper chopping, the trickiest part seems to be making the roux. I've made a roux for mac n'cheese before, so I think I could handle this.

Next up was a cajun style jambalaya. The cajun style differs from the creole style in that the creole version utilizes a tomato-based sauce for moisture. This preparation used chicken stock. My parents gave this one two thumbs up. Eddie preferred the creole style. I was Switzerland.

We learned how to make bread pudding for dessert. Miss Pat decided to get creative and made a pina colada bread pudding. I was skeptical while watching her pour in the pina colada mix, canned pineapple and shredded coconut, but this was actually quite tasty. The pineapple and coconut flavors turned out to be much more subtle than I anticipated. We also learned how to make pralines. I suspect my neighbors will be receiving some of those for the holidays.

Everything tastes better with a local brew in hand.

After our lesson, with recipes safely tucked away in my purse, we hopped on one of the trolleys for a ride around the city. The original plan was to ride along the Riverfront, but due to the Voodoo Experience several trolleys were being rerouted. We ended up taking the St. Charles trolley out into the Garden District.

I probably should have tried to take some pictures of the homes, but (a) it was crowded, (b) I didn't have a window seat and (c) I was zoning out. I did manage to catch this odd billboard as we came around a corner. It says simply "EDDIE". No one seems to know why. Someone's head expanded a bit after seeing it.

We transferred trolleys and hit up the shops and stands at the French Market for souvenir shopping. A lot of the merchandise was repetitive and somewhat tacky. After finally finding some kiddie t-shirts for the grandkids and godkids and a faux Venetian mask for myself, we headed back to the hotel.

My parents headed up for a nap, but we stopped in the lobby since I finally spied empty seats at the Carousel Bar. The main attraction is obviously the slow, rotating bar but the rest of the interior was to my liking as well: a dark, sparkly ceiling, oversized booths and a grand piano. It was difficult to get a good picture without flash; New Orleans really seems to like its dark and mysterious spaces.

The drink you are supposed to have at the Carousel Bar is a sazerac. However, I chose to have a sidecar in honor of FogCityDweller (it's her favorite). I think she would have been pleased with the quality. The sidecar actually ended up being a conversation starter with the two couples seated next to us, since neither had heard of the drink before.

Post-cocktail we went upstairs to get ready for dinner at a place owned by this dude named Emeril. I think he has a show on tv or something.

I have to admit, Emeril's was not my first choice for our dinner. But what the birthday boy wants, he gets. And my parents watch Emeril's show often. I started off the evening with doubts based on a bad experience I had at another one of his restaurants. Fortunately my doubts were laid to rest. Our table had a view into the open kitchen; if I were to go back I'd love to sit at the counter.
We shared the Barbeque Shrimp with Petite Rosemary Biscuit and Fresh Chives as an appetizer. We scarfed all of them down before I could take a picture. :-) Instead of the standard loaf of french bread that we encountered at most restaurants, the waiters at Emeril's brought around miniature sized brioche buns, french bread loaves & corn muffins. I ordered the special salad of the evening: Warm Duck Confit with mixed greens, pecans, blue cheese and satsuma vinaigrette. I'm usually not a fan of mixing sweet with savory, but this was wonderful.
For my entree I departed from my usual choice of seafood and instead had the Pan Seared Filet of Beef with Creamy Mascarpone Polenta, Slow Roasted Pork Belly, Wilted Swiss Chard, Tomato Confit and Goat Cheese. This.was.SO.good. I was the last one to finish dinner because everyone else claimed they were too full to finish their entrees. Wimps. I ate every single perfect bite of this deliciousness.
The perfect ending was a light tasting Vanilla Bean Crème Brûlée with Seasonal Fruit and Shortbread. The only issue with this was that the seasonal fruit consisted of a strawberry, blackberry and raspberry, all of which are not in season. They were tasty though, not bland and watery like most out of season fruit, so I'm left wondering where Emeril's secret berry hook-up is.
After dropping my parents off at the hotel, Eddie and I took a leisurely stroll down Royal St., pausing to admire the window displays at all the art galleries. I even found a jewelry store still open and walked away with another souvenir. We headed up to Bourbon St., to see all the craziness one last time. Suprisingly, it seemed rather quiet in comparison to the previous night even though it was still bustling with pre-Halloween revelers. It was just fine with me.

Po'Boys and Partying

October 23, 2008

Our bodies needed some replenishment after the Katrina tour. Literally. We decided on a quick lunch at the oldest family-owned po'boy sandwich shop in NOLA:

Johnny's is a tiny, quick and casual place. I had the oyster po'boy. As hungry as I was I still could only eat half of my sandwich.

Eddie had the muffaletta, which is only sold as a half sandwich. But what a huge half it is! I definitely preferred the flavors of the muffaletta over my po'boy. It's all about the olive salad in the sandwich.

It was starting to rain again after lunch, so we retreated to our hotel rooms and lounged the afternoon away. In the evening Eddie and I headed to a New Orleans institution for dinner:

There was a line of almost 15 people outside the door. The line moved quickly though. It wasn't too long before we were sitting down at the oyster bar. We started off with a dozen raw oysters accompanied by a local brew, Abita Pecan Harvest. I'm not a huge beer drinker, but this one was nicely balanced and went well with the oysters.

I also had hush puppies. Eddie had his usual cup of gumbo. Don't let the sign below fool you. The service was actually great. Very efficient and friendly. The wonderful advantage of sitting at the bar was having an oyster unexpectedly turn up on your plate when your shucker thought you weren't looking. Curtis totally hooked me up with at least another 1/2 dozen oysters on the house.

After dinner we met up with my friends for a night of drinking and dancing. As we walked towards our first stop of the evening, we passed by one of my favorite window displays. It's a little hard to see in this photo, but those are all Ken dolls, dressed up in some of the best Barbie outfits.

We kicked the night off at Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop Bar. The oldest building in the French Quarter, legend has it that it was used as a hideout for pirates as they traded their balck market goods. Despite being on Bourbon St., this place retains the feel of being a neighborhood bar. Perhaps that is because it is a few blocks off of the main party row. Or because it is so dark and almost dive-y on the inside. Whatever the reason, I enjoyed it a lot.

We managed to get a great table in front of the piano man, who fit in with the dark, pirate-y vibe of the place.
Yes, I had more hurricanes. Note Eddie's "asian glow" after just 1-1/2 drinks.
After a few drinks and some of the most hilarious conversations I had in a while, we headed back down Bourbon St. in search of a good band. We ended up at the Bourbon Street Blues Co., dancing along as an '80s cover band played. Ignore Mr. Emcee's and Mr. Fraggle's serious faces; we all had a fun time.
The Southerner might have been having even a bit more fun than us old boring married folks.
We definitely did start feeling like old folks the closer it got to 2am. There were plenty of places where the parties were still going strong, but we were beat. It was time to stroll back to the hotel.