Acorn Squash Soup

I promise I'm not going to become a foodie blog (I'm not that good... yet!), but we've been frequenting the Heart of the City Farmer's Market and getting the best produce, so lately I've been into experimenting in the kitchen! After some encouragement from my momma to try acorn squash, I picked one up (80 cents, thank you very much -- can't beat those farmer's market prices!).  I heard squash is really good with just butter, salt and pepper (and I have enjoyed this easy preparation for spaghetti squash) but I've also become somewhat of a soup connoisseur lately so I wanted to give it a try with the squash.  I sort of melded a few different online recipes together and here are the delicious results and the recipe!

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Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Cut the squash in half on the equator and remove the seeds. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and place the squash cut side up. To one half, add a peeled shallot and to the other half add two peeled garlic cloves. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast in the oven until very tender, approximately 1 hour. Remove from oven and when cool enough to handle, remove the squash from the skin with a spoon. Reserve the roasted shallots and garlic with the squash.

In a pan, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 2 tablespoons of butter over medium-high heat and add 1/3 cup raw diced shallots and saute until they are starting to caramelize, about 5 to 6 minutes. Deglaze with 1/4 cup of chicken stock.  Reduce the heat to medium-low and add in the reserved squash, roasted shallots and garlic and 1 cup chicken stock. Stir to combine, then puree. Add a pinch of cayenne, a pinch of white pepper, some thyme, and 1/3 cup of heavy cream and heat over medium-low heat.

Proof of my kitchen endeavor:

Hooray Kale!

I've been thinking a lot over the past few months about all the things I put in my body.  As recently as 2 years ago, I considered myself a bonafide fast food addict.  The steak quesadilla at Taco Bell and a double cheeseburger meal at McDonalds were my two biggest weaknesses (and I still get the occasional craving) but Shane and I have been on a health kick and I've never felt better!  We eat much more fresh produce and less greasy fast food and it has made all the difference in our energy levels and general feeling good-ness.

Well, I've been hearing and reading a lot about the amazing nutritional benefits of kale so I wanted to give it a try.... Which is exactly what I have been doing in the kitchen for the last hour or two and I'm officially converted to this green god of a vegetable!

I hereby give you the recipes that Shane and I have both vowed will be permanent fixtures in our meal rotations:


Sautéed Kale with Garlic, Onions and Lemon (serves 4), courtesy of FoodFit

1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 cup diced onion
1 teaspoon minced garlic
4 cups kale, washed, ribs removed
salt to taste
freshly ground black pepper to taste
juice of 1 lemon

1. Heat the olive oil in a 10" skillet over medium-low heat.
2. Add the onions and cook until tender but not brown, about 2 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute more.
3. Add the kale, salt and pepper and toss with the olive oil and garlic until the kale begins to wilt, about 2 minutes. Squeeze the lemon juice over the mixture. Remove from the skillet and serve.


Kale Chips

1 head kale, washed, ribs removed
olive oil
kosher salt
ground black pepper
lemon juice
Any other spice you like! I've seen recipes with paprika, garlic salt (yummm), red pepper flakes, etc.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place the kale in a large bowl and dress very lightly with olive oil so the leaves are barely coated. Season with salt and pepper. Spread the leaves out across roasting sheet so they don't overlap.  Roast in the oven until crispy but still green, 12 to 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and dress with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice.


Green Smoothie

bunch of kale, washed, ribs removed
kiwi
green grapes
green apple
plain yogurt or ice (depending on your desired texture)
protein powder (if you're so inclined)

Coarsely chop up your produce and toss it in the blender!  Add more or less of each fruit or veggie to taste (kale is a bit bitter, so don't go overboard if you want to be able to stomach your beverage).

Happy Birthday, Golden Gate!

The Golden Gate Bridge is an American icon and San Francisco's most famous landmark.  The bridge first opened on May 27, 1937 which means that yesterday marked it's 75th anniversary!  Shane and I celebrated in Ghirardelli Square as we watched the most amazing fireworks show either of us have ever seen.  It was magic.  None of the photos I took turned out very well, so I'm including a video from the internet, which still doesn't truly do it justice... Enjoy!

Diet & Fitness Extravaganza

As some of you know (because we like to brag), Shane and I have been on a sort of diet and fitness regimen since we moved to California nearly seven months ago.  It has been such a great experience for us and unlike most crash diets and fitness fads, it actually seems to be a sustainable lifestyle change.  I'm here to share with you what we're doing and how it's working out (pun intended)!

Diet

If you've met either of us, you know that Shane and I often have a weakness for unhealthy foods.  No, it's not your typical potato chip once-you-pop-you-can't-stop weakness, ours is more about pastas in rich, creamy sauces and olive oil-laden potatoes and breads.  I just started drooling...  Anyways, we made the decision that in order to be "allowed" our normal dinners at night, we'd eat lighter during the day.

I've always been a fruit fanatic so a fruit salad was an obvious choice for us.  We all learned in 2nd grade that we're supposed to have five servings of fruit every day, and Shane and I get it all in what we lovingly refer to as our "bucket 'o fruit."  It usually includes some combination of red apple, green apple, orange, banana, grapes, strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, papaya, pineapple, and kiwi.

SO delicious, but I won't dare share with you our monthly fruit budget
(it's scary, but so worth it!)

Shane is a bit more committed to the diet than I am, mostly because he feels he has more weight to lose than I do (for the record, I think he's perfect just the way he is!) so the fruit salad is all that he eats until dinner.  My body, however, is really sensitive to drops in blood sugar so I usually snack throughout the day.  At first I tried eating raw foods only since they contain more nutrients, but there's only so many carrot sticks and cucumber slices a girl can eat before she goes crazy.  Now I've gotten a little more creative and a little less strict so I take something light and mostly-raw like a caprese salad or shrimp ceviche, plus I graze on nuts and the occasional hard boiled egg for protein.  We're both completely happy with the change in diet, and we don't even crave anything during the day because we know we'll be having something delicious like french bread pizza or chicken alfredo for dinner (and Chef Shane never disappoints!).

Fitness

The fitness regime isn't really anything special.  We joined a gym and we do an hour-long workout 3 days a week.  Shane strictly does cardio and KILLS IT on the elliptical, burning between 700 and 1000 calories depending on the intensity of his workout.

I get a little bored if I spend too much time on one machine, so I usually rotate between the Arc Trainer (very similar to the elliptical, but easier on the knees), the inclined treadmill, the bike, and the stair-climber, and I also try to incorporate a few minutes of weight training.  I usually burn between 450 and 750 calories.

I also recently started attending a fitness class once a week.  My class of choice is called The Dailey Method.  TDM was started here in San Francisco (I attend class at their flagship studio) and it's basically a hybrid of ballet barre work, yoga, and Pilates so they focus on strengthening your core through various isometric exercises.  It's the most amazing workout I've ever had (beware of coming to visit us-- I'll probably drag you to a class with me!). 

Both of us have noticed considerable changes in our bodies.  Shane has lost serious inches from his waist, not to mention how strong and toned his calves have become (a true testament to the power of the elliptical!). I am mostly noticing improvement in the muscle tone in my arms, legs, and abs. In total I have lost 7 pounds and Shane has lost nearly 25!




So there you have it!  It turns out that it's true what the doctors have been saying all these years -- it's all about diet and exercise.  We still have more work to do, a few more pounds to lose, a little more muscle tone to gain, but we're definitely making progress!

Sweeney Ridge Graffiti

At the top of Sweeney Ridge there are a number of abandoned buildings which used to be the site of the SF-51C Nike missile control facility.  Project Nike was a U.S. Army project, proposed in May 1945 by Bell Laboratories, to develop a line-of-sight anti-aircraft missile system (thank you, wikipedia!).  Now that you've had your history lesson for the day, I will share with you the graffiti that now covers these old buildings...

San Francisco Segway Tour!

My friend Kennedy was just recently hired by Electric Tour Company as a segway tour guide. Oh. My. Gosh. You cannot imagine my excitement.  I have always wanted to do a Segway tour! Saturday afternoon, she had some room in her tour group so I was able to go and watch her in action!

First of all, segways rule. They are so fun to ride and are surprisingly easy too.  I was so nervous that I'd fall or roll off a cliff or something, but alas, I survived!  AND now that I've officially mastered the segway, I can go on the advanced tour that goes down Lombard Street, up to Coit Tower, and various other super cool places.

Secondly, for a girl who moved to the Bay area just a few months before we did she sure knows her stuff! I was seriously amazed at how much cool San Fran knowledge she has and dang do I live in a cool city!  I have compiled a list of a few of the most noteworthy San Francisco factoids that I learned during the tour:

• Cable cars were invented by the Scottish man who invented cables.  They operate by having a continuously moving cable underground that the car grips onto and releases at each stop.  The cable moves at 9.5 mph which means... you can beat it if you're racing it on a segway!
• Many people believe that Joe DiMaggio married Marilyn Monroe at the famous Sts. Peter and Paul Church because they had a ton of photos taken there on their wedding day, but they actually got married at City Hall because the church would not recognize Joe's divorce from his first wife.
• The tour guides at Alcatraz tell you that no one ever escaped from Alcatraz, however, there were 3 men who made it off the island by making a raft out of raincoats.  They were never found, but their raft and clothes were all found. Sounds like an escape to me!
• The verb "Shanghai" (as in: "He was Shanghaied") originated in San Francisco during the gold rush.  People would kidnap (or "Shanghai") men and throw them on a ship headed to far-off locales like Shanghai to gather more people to return to America and dig for gold.
• Bonus factoid: Kidnappers would identify men in bars as having crew experience (and therefore be ideal for kidnapping) if they were eating with their elbows on the table because that's what you'd have to do at sea to keep your plate in front of you when the ship was rocking back and forth.
• Russian Hill is not named for the Russian population here (Russian Hill doesn't actually have a significant Russian population).  It's named Russian Hill because when people were settling here in the 1800's they discovered a cemetery with Cyrillic (Russian) writing on the headstones.
• During the gold rush, people most often arrived to California by ship and were in such a hurry to get to Sacramento to dig for gold that they'd often abandon them in Yerba Buena cove.  Some ships just rotted there, some were turned into hotels, saloons or brothels, some were stripped for materials, but all of them were eventually covered over with sand when the coastline was extended.  Today, builders have discovered many ships beneath the city (one was discovered as recently as 2005!).  There are "Buried Ships" plaques all over the city to denote where they have been found.

Now that you've all learned a little something, I'll conclude with some photos.  The first two are just sightseeing photos I took on our segway breaks (you're not allowed to take photos while on the segway for safety reasons).  The rest are self-explanatory...

Fisherman's Wharf

Golden Gate Bridge

Read it and weep!

FREE STUFF

Dear blog readers,

I love free stuff and I love photos.  If you do too, check out this deal - VALID TODAY ONLY - for 25 free prints from Walgreens.com.  Seriously, totally free.  Just upload your photos at their website and enter FREEDEAL at the checkout.

Enjoy!

Top of the Mark

Top of the Mark is a rooftop bar located in downtown San Francisco, on California Street.  It has become a major tourist destination because of its magnificent views of the city and its menu of over 100 different martinis!

As they sailed off under the Golden Gate, wives and sweethearts [of sailors] would draw together in the lounge’s northwest corner, where they would tearfully gaze out the windows. This corner became known as the “Weepers’ Corner.” [source]

During World War II, servicemen would buy and leave a bottle in the care of the bartender so that the next soldier from their squadron could enjoy a free drink, the only requirement being that whoever had the last sip would buy the next bottle. The soldiers gathered before shipping out for one last toast to the Golden Gate Bridge, believing that the bridge was good luck and would bring them home. [source]

Uber

As I mentioned yesterday, Uber is a town car service that is not just for the rich and famous.  Shane discovered Uber several months ago (before we moved to SF) and has been uber-excited to try it out ever since we got here!

So basically, whenever you need a ride, rather than hailing a cab you can either text your location or use their map on the iPhone or Android app to set your pickup location, and within a few minutes a town car will be there to pick you up! Both cars we used on our Anniversarish lunch were nice and clean, and the drivers were super friendly. Now, the pricing is certainly higher than that of a regular cab, but only by a few $ more per mile, and it's definitely not terrible if you compare it to a real town car service!  Plus the billing works entirely through the iPhone/Android app, which is perfect if you never carry cash (like me!).

Unfortunately, Uber is not available in all cities, but they're growing more popular everyday.  As it stands, they're available in Boston, Chicago, LA, NYC, San Fran, Seattle, D.C., Paris and Toronto.  I highly recommend you give them a try next time you want to have a swanky night out (this is directed to the handful of blog-readers who live in the aforementioned cities -- miss you friends)!

p.s. Shane is the master of promotional freebies and he found where you can get a $25 credit through RetailMeNot -- our ride to lunch ended up being free! Enter the code 9927c during your signup and you'll get $10, and then enter the code Pistachio to get the extra $15.  Enjoy!

Alamo Square & The Painted Ladies

Alamo Square is a residential neighborhood and park which consists of four city blocks at the top of a hill overlooking much of San Francisco.  A row of Victorian houses on Steiner Street, known as the "Painted Ladies", overlook Alamo Square Park. The houses were built between 1892 and 1896. 

 

 

 

 

 

I am the master of self-timer photos

 

P.S. Much of the intro to Full House took place in this park!

P.P.S. Whatever happened to predictability?

I love this city

I'm a few days behind on this post, but Kennedy and I had the most fantastic day last week exploring the great city of San Francisco! We started the day with little to no planning: meet at the Powell Street BART station (about halfway between her in Oakland and me in Daly City), find some sushi and do a little shopping!

When Shane and I were in Japantown a few weeks ago, we stumbled across the original sushiboat restaurant, Isobune.  They were packed, so we picked another restaurant that night, but apparently there's a second Isobune downtown, so Kennedy and I ate there! If you're unfamiliar with the sushiboat concept, its where the sushi chefs stand in the center of the bar making various fresh sushi rolls, then they place them on boats that float around the bar for patrons to choose from.  It's really cool to pick your meal that way, plus they do half rolls (4 pieces instead of 8) so they're between $2 and $5 apiece.  They also have a menu of specialty rolls made-to-order if you prefer dining that way.  It was such a cool experience!

After lunch, we wandered the streets shopping.  I was hoping to find something cool and hand-made from one of the street vendor carts, but alas nothing called out to me.  So we continued wandering and decided to head towards Fisherman's Wharf.  WHAT a walk! From Powell Street BART to the Ferry Building is about a mile, then from there to the Wharf is another 2 miles.  Needless to say, we earned the glasses of wine we drank upon our arrival at the Wharf....

SF Ferry Building

Gorgeous view of the Bay Bridge from behind the Ferry Buildling

San Francisco Port Authority

We finally decided we'd had enough San Francisco for the day, so we took a trolley back to the BART station (my first San Francisco trolley ride!).  I was kinda bummed that it wasn't one of those cool old wooden ones (this one was probably from the 50's), but I think Shane probably would have been bummed if I rode one without him ;-)

My first trolley ride!

Virgin America

So one of the many airlines that fly into the San Francisco airport (SFO) is Virgin America.  They're a pretty young airline so their airplanes are super high tech and flashy and basically awesome.  For me, they're one of those airlines I always heard about but never lived even remotely close to a city they fly into (they only service 16 cities).  We flew Virgin both to and from Christmas via Chicago (coach on the way there and First Class home!) and will DEFINITELY be flying them again whenever possible!

They're also surprisingly affordable! I don't totally understand how they remain profitable with this cost structure, but you can fly from Dallas to SFO for $99 (ahem, Nancy), Chicago to SFO for $99 (ahem, Harter fam), Fort Lauderdale to SFO for $149 (ahem, Slaton fam), and New York City to SFO for $149 (ahem, James & Jessica).  So come visit.  Please.

Excitement!

The seats recline AND massage!

All you can drink AND free DirecTV

p.s. they also fly SFO to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico for $141 (ahem, Shane take me here :-) )