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.

Don't Buy Cheap Cheese!

Since I'm moving, I'm trying to buy ingredients in small quantities. For a recipe that I didn't think I'd need the ingredient again I purchased a small container of parmesan cheese. That Is The Last Time I Ever Cut Corners.

Trust Me. It Ain't Worth It !

Got Shrimp?

Oh Boy! I tried this recipe from Bon Appetit magazine that I found on Epicurious that is Really Good!! It has all my favorite ingredients and is EAZY to make ahead and serve later or the next day. I bought a bag of frozen uncooked-deveined shrimp with tails on at Costco or Trader Joes and my sweetpea daughter cooked some for herself and boyfriend when I was out of town. I had a few left and wanted something different than tossing them with pasta so I ran across this recipe. I used a lot less olive oil than they suggested and it helped for me. (plus cuts the calories) The best thing is NO BUTTER!

I bought some Garlic French Bread and toasted it with butter and parmesan cheese as something crunchy to eat it with. That and a cool glass of Savignon Blanc was a perfect dinner!

Here's the Link for you shrimp lovers http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/102468

When I marinated it overnight the oil gets sort of congealed so I heated the bowl with shrimp in the microwave for about 30 seconds, stir and add more seconds as you need. You don't want to reheat too much or the shrimp get hard and overcooked.

The "Sample" Dorm Room

Mumties face is very telling in this shot don't you think? Why would some idiot hang such a huge shoe tree over the door? How many shoes are necessary? Its going to take some fixin' to make my little patch of home look suitable for a year... I'm open to clever ideas. They already said No Painting the room. Maybe I'll redo it in padded walls. Something I'll need when I get claustrophobic and more insane.

Here are a couple more photos of the dorm room where I'll be hiding out during the school year. The school supplies the dresser, the wooden matchbox size desk and the miniature dwarf bed. I've got to squeeze in my baby refrigerator, microwave, heater, and toothpicks.

I'm not sure if all the bathrooms are this daring bold orange. I can only hope not. Good thing I'm not taller or I'd get calluses on my knees from sitting on the pody. At least I won't spend a lot of time mopping the floor.

Fortune Cookie Pays Out $$

Food for Thought Category

The U.S. Powerball lottery drawing of the March 30, 2005 game produced an unprecedented 110 second-place winners, all of whom picked five numbers correctly with no powerball number. The total came out to $19.4 million in unexpected payouts. 89 tickets won $100,000, but 21 additional tickets won $500,000 due to the Power Play multiplier option.[3]
Powerball officials initially suspected fraud, but it turned out that all the winners received their numbers from fortune cookies made by Wonton Food Inc.[4], a fortune cookie factory in Long Island City, Queens, New York. Apparently, number combinations printed on fortunes are reused in thousands of cookies per day. The five winning numbers were 22, 28, 32, 33, and 39. The sixth number in the fortune, 40, did not match the powerball number, 42.[3]

Fried Disappointment JUMBO Style!

Southern CA has been preparing for the Big Storm of the season for the last couple of days. Yesterday, late in the afternoon the clouds were darkening and I was getting excited. When you live in So. Cal. it NEVER rains (okay, occasionally). By 6pm it started to dribble a little. by 6:30 when I was going to dinner with my daughter it was dry.

When I got home around 9pm it was dry. WTF?! Storm Watch 2007?? I wanted to call the weather news studios and tell them to quit their day job. There was 1 (one) lightening bolt thing. A token heavy weather promise. One. The rain gods were throwing us a bone.

When I got up this morning it was dry until around 10:30 then it started to Rain. Real Rain. Not dribbles. Coming down in sheets. This was fun! I got to turn on the inside lights like a real winter day, got a sweater on and made my tea so I could thoroughly enjoy the wild weather. Then I got an idea to take pictures of the rain streaming outside my bathroom window b/c it looked so cool. By the time I got the camera locked and loaded it stopped. It got brighter, I turned off the lights, took off my sweater and opened the front door and windows again.

Southern California is the entire reason those fools sell CD's that sound like rain. We're probably the only people who buy them except for the brain dry people in Arizona in the summer. So. Cal peeps are Any Weather Challenged. I was planning to spend the day inside cuddled on the couch reading my novel. Now that its nice out I guess I'll get my list of errands done. (slow violins in background)

I can't wait till I move to SF! No. Cal. has REAL weather that lasts for days. And fog too.

The Academy Grill

I'm not sure yet if this is something only the students eat at or the public. Probably just the students since some students probably don't know squat about cooking and there could be some serious poo amongst some of the newbies. Heck, I've been cooking forever and I've made two serious mistakes, that no one lets me forget.

One was Vodka Soup and the other was some fish with a flaxseed crust. Good Grief. Do Not Try anything similar. I know this sounds kinda smug for the bazillion years I've been cooking but, hey, I got a horn for Christmas and I plan on using it!

I'll probably be annoyed at the "kids" who I have to "team up" with for team cooking. I will definitely live up to my blog name then. Darn spawn tadpoles.... I'm already in a cranky mood.

The uniform I will be required to wear is shown above by the 3 stooges. I have been plotting how to make mine unique in some unspeakably unfashionable way but the head chefs actually do uniform inspections on a regular basis. I'm glitter marker challenged now. Maybe I can wear neon panties and leopard bras.

I'm feeling better already.

The Culinary Academy, Polk St., San Francisco

Here is a photo of the front of the building - the entrance to the California Culinary Academy where I will be learning my skills. The building was the site of the old historic California Hall of 1912. Throughout the years it was many buildings including, most famously, a venue for up and coming musicians. Janis Joplin sang there and Jimmy Hendrix played at the classic nightspot.

Progress!

I found a storage site today for my remaining belongings. That is a BIG relief since I can't move without it ahead of time. You think it would be a breeze like I did but it is difficult to find someone who will "reserve" a space until the end of next month. One place would reserve until October 17th, one place I needed to check with them 7 days before moving in, ad nauseum. Finally we found one that would save a space until I moved in with no money down! My aunt (aka Mom) will be able to sign it up before I come up so I don't have to make another trip. Nice people.

I also went to scope out the Dorm Room for the Academy. Teeny Tiny but adequate. It is in a converted hotel (pics to come when I get home), which is conveniently located directly across the street from the school and has 24/7 security desk with a guard. Very reassuring since I'm in Downtown and not exactly a single woman wandering kind of neighborhood. Thank Gawd I have knife skills! opps...

I'll be heading back home Wednesday morning early so I can beat some of the traffic when I get to LA. Next project is to find a truck and some movers to pack it and someone on the destination point to unpack it.

The weather here is wonderful and cool. Just how I like it. I hope by the time I get back to Redondo Beach its going to be cooler than when I left. I hate working in the heat. Unless its over a big Gas stove!

Gonna run now. Family time. :))

My Daughters Favorite Chicken Dish

I cooked dinner for the family last night. Its easier to cook for more than myself. I didn't bring any recipes so I did old time favorites from my dusty brain. I'm sure many of you have a similar recipe since this one is so universal so don't expect anything exotic, just delicious.

I take a pint of sour cream, a cup of dry sherry and 1 can of cream of golden mushroom soup. (the store didn't have it so we sub'd with cream of chicken with roasted garlic). I mix these all together in a separate bowl. I take chicken thighs, (depends on who you're feeding but I used 6 for 4 servings here) and season them with marjoram, rosemary salt and pepper, then I place them on a warmed skillet sprayed with pam and with some olive oil added, just a bit so things don't stick. I brown them about 4-6 minutes over medium (we have electric here) turn them and brown the other side.

Once they are sufficiently browned, not fully cooked, I drain out the fat, add a bit of sherry to deglaze the pan then add the sauce and chicken back to the skillet and cover and cook for 30 minutes over medium. I don't walk away and ignore them or they will stick to the skillet so you have to turn them occasionally and baste them with the sauce. They're done when you poke them and no more red surfaces add another 5 minutes and serve over rice with some steamed broccoli for bright green color.

This morning I had the leftover rice with sauce - heated it up and put two over medium eggs on top for breakfast! It was really satisfying with my cup of tea.

No photo here as I thought the camera would get sauced and eaten once I plated it!! LOL

Base Camp - San Francisco

I drove from my Redondo Beach, CA home yesterday to "base camp" Millbrae, CA. My temp home until I get into the Culinary Academy's Dorm Room. It was a perfect driving day and I made it in 6 hours straight stopping only once for gas. I was greeted by my mom/aunt/godmother, my cousin, the superbly talented watercolor artist Guy, and my uncle John who always hides away a perfect bottle of red for these special visits.

"Mom" made lamb shanks in the slow cooker with plenty of osso bucco type sauce, a gremolata topping and nice lumpy semi mashed potatoes with parsley (garden grown) butter, salt and pepper which contained the sauce very well. It was falling off the bone GOOD. John served a Cabernet Savignon by Raymond Burr vineyards. It was a perfect pairing.

The weather is way cooler here than my place so it was nice to settle down from the long drive with a hearty meal since all I ate on the drive was an Ensure, a nectarine, an aisian pear, and a 1/4 of a club sandwich from the day before. I was real hungry when I got to the gas station so I bought M and M's with peanuts and a small bag of Ruffles with Sour Creme and Onion flavoring. Ugg. Burp.

Tomorrow I will head to the Academy via the BART to check out the dorm room demo and look for storage space for all my belongings somewhere near my mom's place in Millbrae.

I'll stay for a week then head back home for the final packing and moving. I should be here in Millbrae by the end of October and ready to hit school November 12th!

Getting closer! I'm getting more excited! Can't wait to play on the BIG GAS STOVES!! (read: big ass stoves) I've put up with freakin' electric for the past 24 years and I'm done with that!

Wow.... I'm amazed at myself. cool

In Remembrance - 9/11

I will never forget this day. The memory of it still overwhelms me. We were all affected by it emotionally, some physically, definitely mentally and sadder still, spiritually.

God bless our soldiers defending this country regardless of my political beliefs about our presence on foreign soil. Because of their sacrifices I am able to have my dream of becoming a chef, have a blog to express my thoughts without retribution and enjoy my family and friends in laughter and tears.

I wish they could all come home to their family and friends again soon.

Buck Fush.

Grumpy, grumpy

I'm in a KitchenBitchy mood today. Don mess wit me now. I don't have my stuff to cook with since most everything is packed. I'm getting frustrated trying to figure out what to eat with what I have.

I'm throwing in this photo to keep food hounds off my back for a while. I'd caption it "Turkey Thighs and Mashed Potatoes anyone?"

Great Cabbage Salad

I LOVE this salad. Its easy to make. Thinly slice some cabbage (I used a third of a half cabbage), add chopped green onions (I used 3) chopped cilantro (a handful) and some diced avocado (3/4 of one b/c I love avocados). I sprinkle garlic powder, salt, pepper to taste then squeeze lime juice (1 lime), vinegar and olive oil. I toss it then wrap it in saran wrap and put it in the refrigerator to blend the flavors. Should feed two.

I usually make it with my "Chicken with Hats" which is basically roasted chicken thighs with marjoram and rosemary, salt and pepper. Sometimes I add sliced garlic in between the skin and meat if I have time. I called them hats because the skin is so crispy that the skin comes right off like a hat. You have to put the chicken closest to the top of the oven to get it crispy like that. I usually don't eat the skin but it's soooo good and crispy! I also had to come up with interesting names for food so my young daughter would be more interested in eating it at 4 and 5 years old. She still refers to it as Chicken with Hats at 23 years old. Sometimes I'd serve it with "Little Trees" (broccoli) to interest her. I'm sure lots of young moms have resorted to this culinary subterfuge to get kids to eat.

At this point in my blog I'm doing the BASICS of my cooking recipes. Also because I'm packing my stuff daily and realize that I don't have the gadgets and tools I need for more elaborate stuff because they're packed.

Also, a lot of my friends, family have asked for the easiest stuff to make life easier. I won't be cooking too many unique things from now until I move to San Francisco for Culinary School.

Life is tasty.