Ah, Sweet San Francisco!

I've finally landed and unloaded the last items of my life's belongings. Interesting, that after 50ish + years one can call a 16ft truck to cart off all they own. I would have thought I'd have qualified for at least a 25 footer. Actually, I never really gave it a thought.

I checked out the "new" digs today. It has this most unsuitable name called the Oasis Hotel on Franklin St. downtown SF. The room is bigger and has a more updated look, better bathroom and is bigger. Oh yeah, did I mention it was slightly bigger? With weekly maid service?? I HAVE landed on an Oasis! LOL The O Hotel is two blocks from the Academy so I'm certain to get 4 blocks of exercise every day. I'm further from the Tenderloin District which is better than being the other way around.

I'm right down the block from the San Francisco Ballet too. There's a thought. I'm going to be more cultural now.

The drive was swift and easy. No problems. The weather is a cool 60 something and much cooler at night. I'm in heaven. Its overcast most the day and windy a little. I love it.

I'm staying in my Aunt/Uncle's 6th wheel camper in their driveway which is lovely. Like a little hermit shell at night. I'll be moving to the "property" on November 9th and school starts November 12th.

I smile at night before drifting off to sleep. From Lemons to Lemonade. I've made it!

Wagon's Ho!

Today's the day to pack the truck with all my earthly possessions and drive uphill to San Francisco tomorrow 6am. This is it. No turning back, no last look. Buh-by smog and heat, toodleloo hazy days, Up Yours 405 fwy, and Hasta La Vista Baby!

I won't be bloggin for a few days obviously. Not like you really care anyway. I act like I have a real audience. Delusional figments. I've got all the audience I need right here in my brain. Uh-oh. More info than you need....

I wish I had an I Hate LA bumper sticker. What will I miss about LA? ummmmm, no, give me a minute here. ummmm, nope, not that, uh, no..... Oh yeah, my favorite cafe Polly's On The Pier! I love that place. Eat outside under an umbrella and sit over the ocean. Lovely. A definite Will Miss place. Ta-ta Polly's.

There ARE a handful of peeps here I will sorely miss. You know who you are. I won't name names. Love ya!

Letting Go

I've been packing and boxing and moving things into the garage all week to prepare for the MOVE.

I'd like to share with you how I'm feeling about all this but it is difficult to explain to the younger crowd how scared I am to be the oldster in the group and yet it is the same position that makes me the "go to" person for experience. An interesting dicodomy to say the least.

My dear sweet step daughter Karen and I spent the day packing and packing yet again. So much stuff so little places to put it. Most of the stuff she takes home thank goodness. Her little place must becoming quite a site.

I'm soooooo excited that it is hard to envelope. This is truely the meaning of finding out what makes you happy and following that path. I feel very fortunate that I can take this time now to follow my own dreams that I've be closeting all these years. It's a glorious escape to a fantasy made real.

I love San Francisco.

Ocean Feast of Crab and Shrimp!

Went to San Pedro's Fisherman's Village with my daughter and her boyfriend this past Saturday and had a wonderful feast of fresh steamed crab, lemons, hot sauce, avocados, garlic bread, roasted potatoes, beer and a grilled mix of shrimp and veggies. OMG! Delicious. What a great beautiful Saturday afternoon.

I love the Village for its fine fresh seafood cooked on open flames while you wait. We sat by the harbor and enjoyed the warm sunshine. It was a memory maker. I'm getting into the habit of making memories along my path to achieving my life dream of Chefdom. Gosh.... (kleenex handy?)

Whooo hoooo...... How fun.

Student Housing

I found out yesterday from Student Housing that I don't have to stay in the Academy's dorm room. There is an affiliated group that works with the Academy to house students and they have QUEEN SIZED BEDS. In Addition, the rooms are a tad bigger (figure matchbox to shoebox) and there is MAID service once a week. Does this sound like a slam dunk or what?!

Oh. Did I mention that the dorm Does Not Allow drugs, alcohol or firearms in their rooms??! What the hell would I do without my Uzi and AK47? So its a no-brainer that I'll head for parts NSEW or whereever the other place is. When I go with all my crapola this Saturday up I'll go and spec it out. Film at 11.

I holed up in my place like a fugitive at large for 3 days DOING NOTHING but try to get comfortable and read. My pinched nerve in my neck slowly got better with the anti-inflammatories, muscle relaxers, ice packs and pain meds. Finally. Today I went with my sweet daughter and her "poohbear" honey to San Pedro's Port's O' Call. I had Fresh steamed crabs, crispy roasted new potatoes, beer, and they slaved over a platter of shrimp with potatoes and veggies with garlic bread (and beer). I brought lemons, an avocado, hot sauce, salt and my "tools" for breaking down the crab. What a feast for Queens (sorry poohbear). By the time I got home I was back to mainlining (almost) pain meds, and the rest of the crippled team of medical dumb drops. Damn. Someone needs to treat me humanely and take me out back and just shoot me. You wouldn't let a horse suffer like this!!

I guess I'm back on the Wanted Poster in the Post Office again. Gotta git rid of this stupid condition somehow. It feels like my left shoulder blade is totally out of wack. Like if someone were to hit me with a hammer on my left shoulder blade I'd kill 'em. Slowly.

Once I'm done with School I'll be primed for detox. Gotta go to school no matter what.

Okay my dear audience. I bid adieu. For now. More garbeled, incoherient stuff to come.

One Big Pain in the Neck!

I won't be blogging for a few days while I try and work out my inflamed neck and left shoulder. I guess it got all freaked out with the move or whatever. I need to get "back to nurmal" asap so I can move on.

Yeah, right. Me normal. HA!

Quick Chicken Dish

Tonight I was kitchen challenged since most of my GOOD stuff is packed. I was dying for some fresh veggies and protein with what I have to cook with so I found a chicken breast in my freezer and thawed it.

I had baby spinach, a tomato, a shallot, lemon, and olive oil and pepper. I dipped the chicken breast in egg batter then breaded it with some parmesan cheese and sauted it in butter and a dash of olive oil to keep the butter from burning. Then after about 5 min. per side, I browned it. If you're not sure if it is cooked enough slice it before plating (something a chef would NEVER recommend). When it is cooked white, no longer, plate it and add the "salad" on the top. You have to let the "salad" marinate at least two hours first to combine flavors before you add it to the chicken.

It was a very light, tangy and excellent quick dish to make with things on hand. I have other ideas to do with this dish now but those are my secret since I may want to do a cookbook.

Try it. I think you're going to like the quick simplicity.

The Limbo Bimbo

Well I've packed all that I can pack. All my dishes, glassware and most pots and pans. I eat off paper plates, which I will be doing come November 12th so I'm getting used to it. There's not much I can cook anymore since I've given things away or packed them. I'll have to get used to not cooking in my domicile too. Big changes.

This weekend the bedroom set, the barstools and the cat tree goes to a neighbor so I'll start sleeping on my sofa couch. My daughter will pick up my computer, printer and harddrive since I bought a laptop so I'll have to figure out the wireless thing on the laptop and get busy saving all my important files to disks. My ONLY best friend picked up my glass and brass coffee table so that's gone. I gotta find someone to take the fridge.

I'm happily stressed out but my neck and left shoulder are not happy. I've been going to physical therapy 3 times a week, taking anti-inflammatory stuff and pain meds. As long as its gone by November 12th I'm fine with it. Getting an audit letter from the IRS for 2005 taxes didn't help either. But hey, they can't take blood from a turnip. Especially from one that's been sliced, diced and lightly steamed with garlic butter! Ha

All in all, I'm just waiting it out till it gets closer to moving. Now I'll just chill. Watch some Netflix and read my chefing books. Life is good.

The Moving, Packing, headache

I've been packing and packing things as the days go by. I am using paper plates now since I packed all my dishware for my daughter along with my glassware. Its getting me started to getting used to living in a dorm room with no oven or stove. I don't need dishes or glasses. At 54 years old its pretty strange to be cutting my ties to even the simplest things. For one year I won't have an oven, stove or cooking area. For me this is unthinkable.

On the other hand, I am soooooo excited that its hard to explain. I'm reading chef books to prepare myself and finding out how much I DON'T know that it scares me. I recommend that everyone find something after 50 to excite them so much that it encourages them to forget about age and focus on creativity. That is what life is all about.

Cheers to all of you who are doing the most to create a life that is enjoyable and satisfying. That would be Andi and my baby girl Karen D.

A toast to all us Campos Family Clan!

Truck Driver Position Filled!

I finally found a guy to drive my moving truck up to San Fran! It wasn't easy and I have to purchase his flight back home. He's a family member that has actually been moving me since my 20's! We're all getting to old for this heavy lifting crappola. But he's on for One. Last. Time.

Everything should be fine, doncha think? No catnaps allowed in route!!

Weekend wit Da Goils!

Me and my girls had a LOT of fun in Porto Nuevo, Mexico. Drove down on Saturday morning and lunched at a fantastic rustic restaurant on lobster, shrimp, fried fish, and buckets of Mexican Beer, hand made tortillas, rice and beans, chips and salsa....what more could you want?

Then we did the street (dirt road) tour of all the shops and had even more fun clowning around. It was a great day. We stayed in Rosarito and spent the evening at Papas and Beer dancing and listening to all the music under the stars. We drove home at 8am the next day with a lot of memories to send me off to Culinary School happy. I love my girls. Mariah can BURP, Gaby cheats at table games, Michele is ALWAYS in charge and I was the tag along. Kinda.

I bought a couple of very colorful serving dishes for catering with color Mexican style. It was a fun weekend for all of us.

The Fish Market

I bought some fresh Sole yesterday for dinner last night. Just panfried it in butter and chopped fresh tomato with capers. Simple, but good. I found a decent artichoke at Whole Foods that I steamed too. Oh, I love artichokes. Right Paul? (he's artichoke challenged cuz he lives in Seattle). I would think that Pikes Market would have them....

Anyway, I didn't take a photo of my dinner but I added a picture I took when I was in Sicily a few years ago of the fish market in Palermo (or thereabouts). What a great trip that was.

Going to Mexico with my girls for the weekend so no posting till I return. We'll find nice hideaways to eat I'm sure.