The Canadian Arms Whisky Club's first annual pumpkin carve-off was a rousing success:















My entry:















And Trevor's:















Also a big yay for my first (successful, it seems) try at vegan mac and cheese for Sanchez, and for composting or recycling almost all of our waste. We are such hippies.

Gogol Bordello at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, Golden Gate Park, 10.05.2008















Haha, I know -- WTF?! If you try really hard and cross your eyes, you can see just a bit of the Star Stage where they were performing. This year was unlike any other year I've been to Hardly Strictly Bluegrass. It was CRAZY packed everywhere, in every nook and cranny in Speedway, Lindley, and Marx Meadows in Golden Gate Park.

Gogol Bordello sounded great (and probably looked it too), but we decided they sounded even better when we weren't being touched on all sides by dirt twirlers. So you can imagine that once we moved out of serious ganja range, the music, conversation, and people-watching was fun, rather than of the constantly-on-guard-for-stink-and-filth-getting-on-our-persons variety.

Trevor and I left our house with what we thought would give us an hour extra to account for parking, and we still showed up right when Gogol Bordello began. After circling a full 15 block radius that ate up that hour, we ended up parking about a mile away in the chichi Sea Cliff neighborhood, with a trajectory straight through one of my favorite neighborhoods for eats!

This time around we were craving sushi, so we settled on Shimo on Clement. Great sushi -- really fresh fish -- and plentiful helpings of daikon ribbons (I am my mother's daughter -- I can eat a bowlful of the stuff!) but they suffered from overcooked udon, and gyoza that was nothing to write home about. Still a pleasant atmosphere and a really friendly staff and owner. Made up for all the hassle of getting to Gogol Bordello!

That, and our walk back. Golden Gate, Bay, beautiful homes -- not a bad view for a stroll back to car.

I read an excellent article today in local and seasonal focus, free foodie mag Edible East Bay about one of my favorite foods, the sea vegetable.

Growing up with a Japanese mother, I was introduced early on to the tastiness of seaweed. I’ve also been privy to its use as a component in tissue engineering, thanks to my college friend Tim who would routinely begin the evening with an entire flask of Taaka, his confidence unshaken that someday he’d get a new liver that would be grown in a vat.

But I was unaware of the huge sea vegetable industry in California and Ireland, and seaweed's almost unreal health benefits. I think everyone should try to integrate just a bit of this superfood into your diet; to encourage folks the mag included a luscious recipe in the article, which I will use here to therefore encourage you, ma peeps.

Cooking savant, instigator of creative pantry-clean-out suppers, and nutrition nut that I am, I love recipes that seem loony and jacked up for most people but are good for you and taste divine. Plus, for all my dirt-twirler peeps, this one’s vegan, and cheap! Trust me, this one’s a goodun…

Sea Palm Fettuccine with Pumpkin Seed Pesto

Pesto:

1 cup pumpkin seeds
1 bunch cilantro
2 tbsp olive or flax oil
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
Juice of 1 lemon
Sea salt to taste

Puff pumpkin seeds on stove over heat for 1-2 minutes. Combine all pesto ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth. Add salt to taste.

Fettuccine:

2 oz sea palm fronds
3 cloves garlic, chopped fine
2 tbsp ghee or olive oil
2 1/2 cups water
2 red bell peppers, chopped
2 small zucchini, chopped
1/4 cup pine nuts
Sea salt and lemon to taste
Cilantro for garnish

Freshen the sea palm by soaking them in a large bowl of water for 20 minutes. Toast the pine nuts for 3-4 minutes. Drain the sea palm. Heat olive oil or ghee in a saucepan, add garlic, and then sea palm; sauté for 3 minutes. Add water and simmer until tender, about 10 minutes.

Sauté peppers and zucchini. When sea palm is tender, drain and add to vegetables. Stir in toasted pine nuts. Add lemon juice and salt to taste. Distribute between 4 plates, top with a dollop of pesto, and garnish with cilantro. Serves 4.