The Coffee Identity

I have a coffee identity. It is the name I give at cafés that ask for my name with my order, because giving my real name led to conversations like: “Your name?” “Halsted.” “Awesome?” “Halsted.” “Houston?” “HALSTED.” “Halston!” “Yes, sure, that.” Several years ago, I gave up and started saying “Kelly” instead. Today, on my mid-morning break, I went to Sbux for a soy green tea latte. I gave my coffee name, as usual. The barista repeated it. Or so I thought. I wasn’t paying close attention through the fog of my LOST-hangover. When my drink was up, I glanced at the cup. In black marker, it said “Ally”. I made up a new rule on the spot:...

Read More
Posted on 24 May 2010 | 7 comments

Comfort Food

On to happier subjects: comfort food! Last Tuesday night, FunkyPlaid and I had friends over for dinner. Regrettably, no one took photos. We served: Selection of muscat grapes, dried apricots, Piave Vecchio and Fontina cheeses Slow-cooked tri-tip with feta and sun-dried tomatoesMashed potatoes with white cheddar and sageRoasted asparagus with garlic and parmesan Mariposa Baking Company’s Sour Cream Coffeecake and Apple Spice Peace CakeSelection of Recchiuti chocolatesTao of Tea’s Roasted Maté So … much … cheese! Unsurprising, since FunkyPlaid and I are such cheese fiends. We also had some marvelous wine to go along with our meal: Monteti Toscana 2005, Kuleto India Ink Cabernet 2005, and Siduri Keefer Ranch Pinot Noir 2007. I highly...

Read More
Posted on 16 May 2010 | 2 comments

The City of Stolen Time

If you don’t live in San Francisco or care about city infrastructure, skip this post. I am compelled by my own impotent rage to document the abject absurdity of commuting in this city. This is anecdotal and subjective in nature; for statistics, please see Joe Eskenazi and Greg Dewar’s excellent SF Weekly article, “The Muni Death Spiral”. Today the N-Judah train I was riding during rush hour stopped at Church and Duboce due to “train control problems”. (For those of you who do not commute in San Francisco, that stop is the last above-ground stop for the N, meaning that all the commuters trying to get downtown and to the Caltrain station are out of luck.) Above-ground, all the F-Market trains and shuttle buses were packed. I did...

Read More
Posted on 10 May 2010 | 6 comments