65:365 eerie even in the daylight

65:365 eerie even in the daylight
these trees reside in front of San Francisco's City Hall and for as long as i can remember, every single time i see them they're bare. they're ugly and they freak me out. and i'm not sure why but they remind me of camels, which sort of trips me up even more. i don't even know why i took this pic, as my face is currently grimacing as i stare at it. 

63:365 hot pot!!

63:365 hot pot!!
today i went over to my parents place and my dad mentioned that he was going to hot pot with my grandma. with so. much. time. on my hands lately, i immediately jumped at the chance to join them. plus, i like my Pops and my Poh-poh so it was a win-win in every way possible. we went to The Pot's. before i go into how awesome it was, can i just say that that name makes no sense whatsoever. why is there an apostrophe? the Pot's what? what does the Pot have? oh, nothing? yeah, i thought so. anyway, this place is great. there are like ten different soup bases you can choose from and like 50 all you can eat items. many of the things they have here are not available at most hot pot places. things like bean curd skin (which sounds gross, but i love it) and shrimp balls, and even spam.  it's inexpensive, and you see mostly chinese people in there (a good sign).  i intend on bringing Marjie here soon because she is a lover of shabu but i'm not sure she's had the chinese version yet. and i wanna say that this place is about to become her favorite once she gets to try it. 

62:365 ice cream fix

62:365 ice cream fix
if i had to choose one thing on this planet that i would have to eat every day for the rest of my life, it'd be ice cream. cool, creamy and full of happiness...why would anybody choose anything else?? yesterday i was in Oakland and because i'm nearly never on that side of the bridge, i wanted to make use of my time there. i headed to Ici, one of the best ice cream spots ever!!! their flavors are always magnificent and their homemade cones are sort of magical. i got the mint chocolate wafer and the sherry caramel salted almond. both amazing! if you are ever in the area, do yourself a favor and bring some happiness into your life. go to Ici and thank me later.

61:365 cab ride home

61:365 cab ride home
Muri and i had happy hour with our awesome coworkers at Social Kitchen the other day. we began drinking around 5pm and left around 10 when Kris came to pick us drunkards up. immediately following, we got slices of pizza because that's whatcha do after drinking. however Kris wanted to go out still so we headed to Otis with her and Tracy. unwilling and nearly unable to drink anymore, we brought any more alcohol consumption to a halt. due to the delicious pizza in our tummies, twenty minutes into our time at Otis, we sobered up and both decided that we'd much rather be at home asleep at this point. as lame as it may be, we left around 1130 via a cab back to our cars (so sorry Kris and Tracy!). and thank goodness we did, because we both had work at 8am the next morning. nearly the whole crew looked like shit that next day. good times. 

60:365 bottle cap

60:365 bottle cap
Marjie and i went to Bottle Cap tonight for dinner. i wasn't sure what to expect with this place, as it's a gastropub. i find that often times bars carelessly throw the word "gastropub" around, which would imply high end food and alcohol yet fail to successfully execute. it was Marjie's idea to go and i'm glad she suggested it, because it was actually really good. i should have taken pictures of the food but was too hungry to do so.
we had:
tuna poke: very good! perfectly seasoned and fresh and  had just enough sesame flavor.seared scallops with smoked salmon creme fraiche and a wild ricecake: a tasty dish. not amazing, but i still enjoyed it.slurp n turf: bloody mary oysters and steak tartare. i don't eat oysters, but the tartare was good if you can handle completely raw meat.fried pizza dough: with a tomato sauce, fiscalini cheese, basil and chicken meatballspork belly: with a minted pea puree. SO good!! fatty and perfect. the pea puree and pea shoots gave the dish a nice refreshing way to cut through the richness of the fat. butterscotch pudding: with toffee, whipped cream and lacey cookie. yum!
i know,  i know! it's a lot of food for two people. but we killed it all. and it was all worth trying. 

59:365 guts of the CT scanner

59:365 guts of the CT scanner
this is a view into the interior of a CT scanner. this thing is a beast! gotta give it up to the engineers and physicists who created such a monster. this thing helps save lives.....with my help of course! haha jk! 

key lime pie

key lime pies were never my favorite. i much prefer a banana cream or a strawberry rhubarb. but then one day i had the most amazing slice of key liminess at Houston's (now called Hillstone). i saw plates of key lime pie float across the dining room all night long and became intrigued. i couldn't help but order it even though everything in my mind reminded me that i don't like key lime pie. but after taking one bite, i knew i was in love. found myself thinking about the pie weeks later. months later i called Houston's on a weekly basis to see if they had that pie. finally, when they had it, i ordered two to-go. i ate one slice in the car and froze the other one for another day. that's when i knew my love affair with key lime pie began. 

but i've got to say, more often than not, key lime pie disappoints me. if it's remotely neon in color, i refuse to eat it. if the crust is a typical pie crust and not a graham cracker crust, i'm reluctant to order it. so one day i decided i'd find a good recipe so that i could make it at any time. 

on a nice hot day, a chilled slice of key lime pie almost comes off as refreshing. and with the warm winter we've had it was only fitting that i salute the sun with a creamy tart pie. i made a pie on sunday and when my cousin and i ate nearly half the pie in one sitting, i decided to make a second one on monday. (because i made the same pie twice, you'll see pictures from both days kinda jumbled together.)

roll the hell outta them!

is butter great, or what?

please excuse my old woman hands. pressing the pie crust with your hands/fingers is much easier than with a spatula. for the edges i found pressing with your four fingers on the inside with your thumb pressing against the  outer glass gives it a little added pressure. 

squeeze juice over a strainer or you'll be fishing out seeds for days with a spoon. trust me, i've done that too many times to ever make that mistake again. plus you don't want any pulp in your pie! 

at this point my hands felt arthritic. squeezing those tiny little things isn't easy if they aren't all super juicy. 

key lime pie

ingredients:

for crust:

- 1/2 c crushed graham cracker

- 6 tbs butter, melted

- 2 tbs sugar

- pinch of salt

for filling:

- 1/2 c key lime juice (i used a little more than that bc i like mine really tart)

- 1 14oz. can of condensed milk

- 5 egg yolks, beaten

directions:

1. preheat oven to 325 degrees F

2. in your pie pan, mix together graham cracker crumbs, butter, sugar and salt until all of mixture is moist

3. with hands press in to pie pan to cover bottom and edges

4. bake for about 10 minutes so that the pie crust sets a bit

5. take pie crust out of the oven and allow to cool a bit

6. increase the heat of the oven to 375 degrees F

7. in a bowl mix egg yolks, condensed milk and lime juice until smooth and a uniform consistency

8. pour filling into pie crust

9. bake on bottom 1/3 of the oven for approx. 22 minutes or until the filling has set (is not jiggly)

10. let pie cool and chill in fridge. serve with whipped cream. 

simple, and not that pretty, but SO EFFING GOOD!!!! trust me, even if you think you don't like key lime pie, you'll probably like this one. i've changed minds with this pie. it's that kinda magical.