Freeloading on friends' blogs

Obviously, my enthusiasm for blogging has waned a bit in recent months. Partly that's due to the fact that computing and writing have taken a back seat to what's turned out to be a rather full dance card of Bay Area socializing. (Incidentally, as a youngster I attended a weekly dancing school where I learned the boxstep waltz and cha cha from the same pair of fogies that instructed my parents. In the whole antique spirit of the thing, we actually did receive and use dance cards. I would hope that mine was always filled with the cream of the junior high crop, but time and memory have mercifully conspired to blur this particular detail of my mortifying adolescence.)

Now that the summer is over, the houseguests have departed, and my workload has calmed down, I've been catching up on everything that my friends are up to. And I realized that they have all done a much better job of recording their activities than I have. So many meals have passed and yet my blog has remained mute!

So here's a small chronological collection of links to other people's entries. Some wrote about meals we had together, while others are just doing some interesting things that I think you should know about.

April (Yeah, I know, this was a LONG time ago.)
Peter, husband of the beautiful and talented Chloe, writes about whether or not it is in fact possible to consume too much hot pot. We attempted this feat at 7 Stars Peppers in Seattle.

"It's more about the gluttonous frenzy of downing pound after pound of meat, tofu and cabbage, all the while imagining the intense game of chicken you are playing with your GI tract as the evening progresses and you find yourself standing defiantly on the tracks of an oncoming crapulence train."

July
Randy and I join my cousin Michel and her husband Stephen at their new tapas bar Cesar in Oakland. A delicious meal ensues, replete with many bottles of wine and several menu items that I can't stop thinking about: my first encounter with romesco sauce, fresh crunchy green garbanzo beans, and lovely orange churros wedged in a delicious dish of ice cream. I didn't blog about this, but I thought you should know that it was fantastic. Go support Cesar! (Not that it needs your help. You know a restaurant is popular when you're dining with the owner and you STILL can't get a table.)

July
Mrs. and Mr. Delicious come to the Bay Area. We eat at Dona Tomas. Watermelon salad and carnitas. Oooh yeah. Mrs. Delicious just returned from Helsinki, where she partied with the descendents of Eero Saarinen and ate a whole lot of herring. Check out her pictures.

"The herring section of the supermarket is the size of an entire dairy section here, and the dairy section there is the size of an American produce department."

August
Brian, my friend from college, leaves New York to teach English in Shanghai. Read about his exploits involving fire alarms, pirate costumes and strangely sensual haircuts.

"A dead crab almost whacked me in the head."

September
I gorge on Chinese Muslim with FoodNerd at Darda Seafood in a rad Asian stripmall in Milpitas. I love a girl who, when you sit down to eat, says, "I'm not at all afraid of over-ordering. I hope that's okay with you."

"The tendon terrine was beautiful, all marbled shades of brown, savory with a bit of five-spice, and just slightly chewy, becoming more yielding as it warmed. The cod was perfectly cooked and tasty, and the bread, oh my god -- the smell alone, all yeasty and oniony, is just dreamy."

September
Randy and I join the incredibly organized Mary Ellen and her husband Eric for what I can only describe as a Moroccan food extravaganza at Opera in the Park. That girl has some serious event planning skills. And she's so diplomatic as well; I contributed what may have been the soggiest baklava to ever see the light of day, and yet she kindly describes it as "lovely" and "syrup-soaked". I contend that only half of that description is accurate!

"Seriously, I've been both chilled to the bone and sunburned simultaneously at previous Opera in the Park events -- where else could such a thing happen but in San Francisco?"

September
Christine and I have dinner at Delfina, one of my new favorite SF restaurants. She leaves a few days later for Boston, where she begins an internship at Cook's Illustrated. Read about her adventures!

"I love being around people who are as crazy about food as I am, and I'm trying to develop and train my palate by dissecting the things that I'm tasting to see if I can come up with coherent thoughts and descriptions."

Well said!