So Crystal bought me the Ad Hoc cookbook randomly on Sunday, little did I know I would be cooking not one but two recipes out of it so soon. We settled on starting with the endive salad and the skirt steak.

Well I lied, Crystal helped - she put together the endive salad.

Ad Hoc’s Endive Salad - slightly modified.

salad: arugula, sliced pears, sectioned endives, salt, cracked pepper

dressing: pear puree, diced clementines, diced pears, balsamic vinegar, rice vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, salt, cracked pepper

pear puree: pear, cinnamon, sugar, lemon

While that was going on the skirt steak went into the oven for 10 minutes, basted with the thyme butter.

Ad Hoc’s Skirt Steak

skirt steak , marinated and sectioned. canola oil, rosemary, thyme, bay leaves, shallots, garlic, peppercorns, salt, butter, finishing salt.

All this and a bottle of 2005 Ridge Lytton West Syrah. Nomz.

-Wallace

This weekend began innocently enough, Crystal watching doves on her patio attempting to build a nest.

Only to run out, chase them away and inspect her patio light to make sure they never began.

Crystal also bought me the Ad Hoc cookbook out of no where, d i d i lish she would say…except come to find out it was an investment to ensure her Ad Hoc inspired meals outside of Napa. Clever that Crystal.

Sniffy was also sneaking around, stirring in random spots and finally settling under the coffee table.

Finally we headed to Jonathan’s apartment where Crystal met “Maggie” short for “Chick Magnet” - Jonathan’s brother originally owned the dog, and Jonathan ended up adopting her. He had to think quickly when obedience training asked what his dog’s name was. “Chi….ehhh… Maggie!” Funny.

While that was going on we prepped the goods and set up a hot pot dinner for Sunday evening. I miss Sunday group dinners, this was a good way to re-connect with a pre-Crystal practice.

Super relaxed weekend. I’m ready for Carmel this weekend!

-Wallace

Stop and smell the roses, or so the saying goes. Just how much stuff could one find if they forgot about time and actually explored their surroundings through their senses? Quite a bit apparently.

We began in Japantown where we found this super cool solar array next to a new modern space called ‘new people.’

Bearbricks, once super rare stateside have made it big in a big way - especially ultra collectible collaborations with urban artists such as KAWZ. This was displayed in the entry of new people and was one of many through the space.

After Japantown and Wekfest we headed toward the mission. Grabbed a bag of ‘Who’s Your Daddy’ bacon potato chips and decided that they were more hype then flavor. Kind of gross actually, imagine dehydrated bacon, powdered then tossed onto chips. Well…that was it but 10x more oily.

Per Oliva’s recommendation a couple days ago we visited Humphry Slocombe in lieu of Bi-Rite Creamery, for some San Francisco ice cream.

Is that “Blue Bottle Vietnamese Coffee” I spy? It was, and if there were ever 4 perfect words - those were it. So perfect that I neglected to notice ‘Perfect Breakfast’ above it.

Delicious. Just enough to add a bit of energy to get back home. However, before we left I noticed these lard caramels.

That’s right. Boccalone, an artisan salami venture from Chris Cosentino(of Food Network) and Mark Pastore of Incanto Restaurant in San Francisco, has expanded and have made caramels of all things from the excess lard of their butcher house across the bay. $1 a piece, but I was honesty a bit grossed out to be in the mood for a caramel.

Perhaps my favorite part of the day, stumbling into lucha libre wrestling masks on a corner of the Mission. Crystal talked me out of purchasing one - if I had, I’d probably be chasing Sniffy around right now.

Take a walk. Breathe, and take it all in. We did, and at the very least, I enjoyed it.

-Wallace

More then my fair share of vinyl toys have made their way past my doors, but this is probably one of the most hilarious. Andrew Bell has created a series of 3 pre-packaged “O-No-Sushi” offerings in Red, Green and Blue. I picked up a set from Neon Monster in San Francisco the other day.

How would you feel watching yourself being eaten? That’s what Andrew Bell’s sushi is wondering in these packages.

The funny thing is for all the vinyl toys that have passed through my hands I’ve never seen one of them so concerned with “This is not a toy, this is a COLLECTIBLE!”

Kind of takes the fun out of things. I say let the Darwin Winners win Darwins. These things on the other hand are otherwise great.

Now I just need to find more desk, shelf, storage space.

-Wallace

Awhile ago I mentioned that I was contemplating between Apple’s sleek magic mouse or Logitech’s Anywhere MX mouse. Apparently this I was not the only one deciding between the two, as many already know the Anywhere MX won.

It’s a bit smaller then I had hoped; read - ergonomics, however works beautifully once you’re familiar with it’s features. I hated the dual speed scrolling at first, but now miss it when I move to other mice. Not to mention I don’t care if I beat it up, the ‘dongle’ can safely remain in my macbooks, and the thing works on every surface that I’ve encounter thus far - even the stubborn table in my meeting room!

If you travel often as I do, I recommend the Anywhere MX, if you are looking for a desktop solution try the Performance Mouse MX.

-Wallace

For whatever reason I decided to attend wekfest this year. On wait…I remembered, I wanted to catch up with some old car show buddies and see the evolution of my show team Europrojektz. In doing so I dragged Crystal up with me, let the record show she voluntarily came up, and by the time we got to Japantown I’ve never seen it this full. We did however luck out on parking, just about three blocks up on Sutter we found street parking.

Usually the first thing I’d do at these events is dial someone up and go, “Hey, come get me!” - didn’t do this here as I’ve been away for so long and well I just felt too old to be doing such things. Finally when it was apparent we’d have to wait some 2 hours to get through ticketing I thought, ‘no way’ and we got past the line.

What I love about wekfest is no one is holding back, there are a few conservatively modified vehicles here but so many are pushing the scene in terms of modifications especially on the wheel and tire fitment front. I also dig the resurgence of the ‘old school’ - old datsun wagons, a plethora of c-10 nissan skylines, toyota starlets, et cetra. So much more personality then the conservative and arguably boring ’safe’ BBS and H&R set ups we see so much in the American Euro scene.

Crystal actually mentioned something about wanting the car above; well she’d buy the 5 series and I could build it to look something like that - which I’m more then happy to. That car is always at Sonic MS and everytime I see it the more and more I like it. Not big on stickers, but diggin the JDM Advan decal on the fender. Mad Tight!

Toward the end we were becoming nauseous of the conflicting noise, errr discjockeys, hipster kids everywhere, and what we could only assume were exhaust fumes or some sort of underlying parking garage carcinogen.

We bolted up through Japantown and found lunch at Suzu Noodle House. Miso Ramen is the perfect ending to such a show.

It was also good catching up with many old faces; Kasey, Rick, Jenny and so forth. Missed Manu, but we catch each other enough.

[ via Flickr ]
[ wekfest Flickr pool ]
[ europrojektz ]

-Wallace

If you recall a piece of me died when the Russians bought out one of Britain’s last sportcar builders TVR, and I pondered on how one could federalize a Sagaris. Turns out someone was listening, and shared my same empathy. According to Autoblog, one could dial up Carmel Motorsports in Indiana and order one much like one is able to order the Noble from 1G Racing.

The car is parted out across the pond into two main pieces - the chassis and the motor & transmission. The two pieces are then shipped separately across the pond and then re-assembled once stateside. Rather then going through the federalization process, these vehicles are now able to register as kit-vehicles. Some 300 spaces are allocated through California’s DMV for these vehicles when I last checked.

Anyways, excited to catch the promise of one of these vehicles at upcoming track days.

[ original tvr post ]
[ via autoblog ]
[ carmel motors ]

-Wallace

Treating each other well shouldn’t end just because Valentine’s Day is over, so as a reminder our cards sit next to each other on a kitchen shelf. Her’s definitely more expressive, and mine a bit more conceptual.

Didn’t do a whole lot this weekend, none of the stuff I originally planned as Crystal caught some sort of bug and is in preventative/recovery mode. Even being so, it didn’t stop up from relaxing and opening a couple bottles of exceptional wine. One of which being Brown Estate’s phenomenal 2008 Zinfandel.

One thing I just noticed about wines purchased through K&L Wines is the thoughtful barcode they provide on their bottles. This prevents cellar junkies the need to create their own labels for their own cellartracker database.

Crystal also tested out her Christian Louboutin’s in the office and figured out they were a size too small, she only lasted half a day in them. As a result, she exchanged them for a half size larger.

Finally, I was able to change out the rear derailleur hanger on the Kestrel and throw tires on to my new carbon clinchers.

Just need to take it in for a rear derailleur adjustment and take it for a full test spin. Looking forward to testing out the Reynolds Attack wheelset, should provide all the benefits of a carbon rim and the simplicity of clinchers. No more flatting out and getting stranded 30 miles away from home.

-Wallace

Not sure what it is with me and gadgets, but I love gadgets. Ever since the Nike+ system came out some year or so ago I wanted to test it out. Being a more avid cyclist, I never got one, however lately I’ve been running more then I’ve been spinning and finally picked up a pair of Nike+ compatible shoes I gave it a shot.

Learned the hard way that the system doe not work with my iPhone 3G, or any of the iPods I had lying around so added a new 8th generation iPod Nano to the collection. This thing is fresh - coverflow, video camera, voice notes, over all…it’s smart, real smart. I’m impressed, and actually kind of excited because I might need another!

Took it out on an initial test run and it needs a little calibration, but otherwise it’s plug and play. Cool little system, should keep me motivated for awhile along with Ryan’s suggestion of “Chi Running.”

In other news, oem navigation and xm modules arrived. I wanted to keep the hands free functionality as well as the integrated look and feel of the VW which is why I went with OEM. The XM module came with the RNS2, not exactly sure if I’ll even install it but I also have a Denison IceLink iPod adaptor with DICE cradle en route - hence the second iPod Nano.

Just waiting for my Fakra GPS antenna and the Ice Link and it’s install time. Excited.

As for the XM module…I guess if it comes with a free XM subscription I might as well install it, but if not…look for it on eBay.

-Wallace

This past Monday Crystal surprised me with a road trip of sorts, well…come to find out a rather extravagant…I mean, decadent picnic. A picnic of the most lavish sorts.

It all began with an innocent cappuccino from Starbucks and a hot tub soak.

My instructions were to relax and just go with the flow, for some reason I’ve always had an issue with walking into the unknown. However with Crystal as my guide…I dove in head first. After all, she’s been slyly planning this all week - grabbing serving platters, kitchen gimmicks from Sur La Table and what not. I was told it was something similar to Outstanding in the Field, but not. I was excited, curious, and yes a bit frightened.

Our next stop was Tsar Nicoulai. Something was up…I wasn’t sure what…

After Tsar Nicoulai, we made a pit stop at the Ferry Building where I played “waiting cab,” then Crystal threw something in the trunk and directed me up through the Golden Gate and into Belvedere / Tiburon where we ended up at Paradise Park.

It was here where her plot unfolded, as I had to lug down the cooler and whole bunch of other stuff. I was stunned. An absolutely gorgeous spot where we could really just enjoy each other’s company. Then the goods started to pile up on the table…

Hog Island Oysters & Tsar Nicoulai Caviar?!

Not just a dozen, but a total of 3 dozen?! A mix of sweet waters and kumamoto’s

A testament to Crystal’s thoughtfulness. This may look like any deli sandwich but it’s the ‘Presido” - roast beef, soft cheese all topped off with a handful of caramelized boiling sweet onions.

Hitachino Nest White Ale…if you haven’t yet, you must seek this stuff out.

another picture of the caviar. This was really surprising giving Crystal’s general dislike toward fish eggs in the sushi sense. She had a bite of real caviar at Plummed Horse and it seems she was smitten.

So, was I surprised? You bet. Did I enjoy this? Absolutely. Should there be more? My expectations bar has been upped!

Jokes of course, but I really appreciated all the extra effort and footwork that Crystal put into this day. As we ate the fog cleared up and we were given an unprecedented view of the Richmond Bridge. A real hidden spot, highly recommended if you feel like surprising someone with a picnic as well.

Thanks Crystal!

[ Tsar Nicoulai ]
[ Hog Island Oysters ]
[ Paradise Beach County Park ]
[ via Flickr ]

-Wallace