Quick picture update with the kids

Because vacuums are the devil


They have melted


Holding hands


=)


No room for me

It only took less than a month...

For the kids to get along. First two weeks were hell. We put a gate up and Ginger would go nuts barking because the cats would come out for literally 5 seconds a day. What a tease. Then around three weeks, it was exponential improvement! The cats kept jumping over the gate (because Whiteman was hungry and wanted a food refill!!!) Whiteman was the one with the balls. He would jump over every night while Buddy hid behind the corner. Anyway, We don't even use the gate anymore. Gingy loves Whiteman and sticks to him like glue. But he gets annoyed and hits her nose all the time. POW! Buddy hisses and moans at her sometimes, but he's a lot better now. He's starting to sprint all over the place. Ok, here's some pix:

Smooshy face




What's doggie tail smell like?


Too bright!


Tooo bright!


Brotherly love




I was super pessimistic at first because Gingy would go crazy in the beginning and the cats would never come out of the room. Sigh, at last! The impossible is possible!

Ode to my first condo

Closed escrow on 5/16/07



















I will miss you. All for the sake of all things culinary.

I sold it to my crazy neighbor who is allegedly going to rip out the carpet and paint the whole place white (shudders).

Baby Kyle

My buddy, Charles just had a baby. His name is Kyle. He has these really beautiful black eyes... but he was so sleepy that he couldn't keep them open for long.

Charles, me, Phuong, and baby Kyle

Confit de Canard dinner

Finally prepared the confit de canard that Raf's family in France gave us.

Carlo's first traditional French meal of confit


A few more pix of FOOD here.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CARLO!!!

Last night, we ate ourselves close to our deaths at Tanto. Japanese tapas. SO FREAKING GOOD!!!!!!!!!

Diki comes to the Bay

Miki Diki came to visit us this weekend. We pretty much spent the weekend eating (and planned it that way ;). Friday, I picked her up at SJC where she happened to bump and chat with Giada. Then we went to eat Santa Ramen - ummmm coagulated PORK FAT broth. YUMMY!!! Later we baked green tea and vanilla muffackes, as well as brownies! THEN, later on in the evening we ate at EVVIA's. UMMMMMMM

Next day we went to go to Giada's book signing. The line was around the corner even though we arrived an hour early so we decided to go eat at Banana Leaf, then headed back to see Giada.

Sign in Banana Leaf bathroom


Boner, Weenie, and Diki


Giada teeth


Giada head and boobs


Overall, it was cool to see Giada but they didn't give us a chance to really talk to her. We were shoved like cattle with ppl yelling "NO FLASH!!! NO FLASH!!! GO GO GO." Giada remembered Miki and gave her a high-five for coming. Her head isn't that big in real life. hahah! She's really cute and nice too (for the brief minute we saw her).

Afterwards, when we came home, this is what I found! Raf took all the cupcakes and brownies... and left this for us.

Brownie... bite?


Later that night the girls went out to SF and my old tired butt stayed home to sleep.

Look what I found on my couch the next morning

More Ginger snaps

Guess who buys so much Nutella which then results in a couple of free T-shirts you can only purchase with a # of proofs of purchase?

Ginger is such a good model


The minimum size is Men's size M - too big for me but Ginger can wear it.


Yesterday morning, I came out of the shower to see THIS!


She was snoring away... she is a strange one!

Bordeaux (Blanquefort): Day 3

Our last day in Bordeaux. Raf went running at a park nearby. It was an awesome park where you could fishing. THere were always castle remnants all over the place, caves, geese, duck, muskrats, etc. etc. Unfortunately, we didn't bring our cameras the first day, and everything was blocked off the 2nd. They had this one particular, super cool man-made castle where you could go exploring. There were hidden caves, holes, and paths throughout. Raf and Manny used to play there as a kid.

Anyway, here is Raf after his run. We would have brioche, coffee, and OJ for breakfast every morning. UMMM brioche. J'adore le beurre !


We had to catch the train back to Paris around 1pm. Mami, Papi, and Oncle came with us to the train station where we had some more coffee and hot chocolate. We got back to Paris around 4pm. By this time, I had decided that I wanted to apply to Ferrandi. I just got a great vibe from them so we rushed to the school, backpacks and all to meet up the the Admissions director again. When I got there, she graciously asked one of the chefs to sit down and talk about the program with me. This turned into a 45 minute meeting (poor Raf had to wait outside!). He showed me everything from the curriculum, to recipe worksheets, to their cookbook (the bible as he called it). Everything is in French, however, the courses are taught in English and French (with an English translator). It's funny because even though he was speaking English, he kept saying "Bon, Alors" before he would begin another sentence. HAHA! Anyway, they are very thorough and really care about the students! It was nice. =)

Afterwards, got back to the hotel and settled in. We decided to eat at Chez Julian, a restaurant I found in a book as a very good restaurant that locals go to. It was around the corner close the Derya.

This terrine was EXCELLENT




Salmon - I liked this better than the trout


Trout


Profiteroles - we thought these were okay. Our favorite profiteroles were what we had at Cafe du Commerce.


Overall the food was very good and nicely prepared. Tomorrow we would have to catch a flight back home.

A bientot, Paris !

Bordeaux (Blanquefort): Day 2

Day 2 begins yet again at Oncle's house EATING.

I think this was smoked Norwegian Trout


Yum


Veal (this is how meat is really cooked)


White beans - really good. I think these are the same beans used in cassoulet.


Artichoke puree




Cheese plate


Papi fell asleep at the table - we all ended up taking pix of him. hahah


Framboise sorbet type of cake


What we all do best - EAT


Ladzi chillen w/ his pops


Hugo - Francoise's doggie


All the animals they had were saved from abusive homes and/or strays. =) Hugo's previous owner broke his nose!! How horrible is that??)

Anyway, our lunch ended around 4-5pm.

Then we started dinner at 8pm - we had raclette again! Our days in Bordeaux always begin with eating and end up eating. =)