More California

Unfortunately, I forgot my USB cord for the camera so I won't be able to upload any pictures for another couple of days, but it's been a whirlwind visit.  Carrie (Mrs. Mac 'n' Cheese), my daughter and I shopped practically non-stop Thursday, Friday and Saturday for the supplies necessary for a 16-person wine and food blowout to be held Sunday.

First it was a mega-trip to Costco, where Carrie and I picked up 5 racks of lamb, Kalamata olives and assorted other goodies, then I was off to Trader Joe's and Whole Foods, where I got a bunch of excellent cheeses, crackers and tomatoes.  Off to the bakery to order the bread, then a trip on Saturday to Bryan's Fine Foods in Corte Madera to pick up an 8 1/2 pound piece of strip loin (New York steak).  I could shoot myself for not getting a picture of it because it was a thing of absolute beauty.  Perfectly trimmed and incredibly marbled.  More on the beef later.

Of course, for that journey we had to fortify ourselves, so we went to the Ferry Plaza Farmer's Market in San Francisco to shop for a couple of items of produce I'd forgotten to get, then to Ton Kiang out in the Richmond to meet my old pal BoomBert for dim sum.  The dim sum was fabulous and the first I've had since my last visit to San Francisco 4 years ago.  Portland is a vast wasteland for Chinese food, but I digress.

Ton Kiang had excellent ha gow and siu mai and fabulous squid, though the potstickers left a bit to be desired and the selection was a little limited. Chicken and duck feet were absent (not that I'd eat them, understand) as were many tofu and rice noodle dishes I'm used to seeing, and the service was a little spotty. We had to ask about 5 times to get baked pork buns and the final item - sesame balls.  But I gotta tell you, the sesame balls (jin doy) were absolutely the finest I've ever had. It helped that they were hot out of the fryer, I guess.

More to come . . . stay tuned.