New Hip Shop Friends, Breeder's Cup 09, and Fries With Eyes

We have been busy making silk flower hair adornments and selling them at all manner of festivals this autumn. It has been great fun but and we appreciate that there is a real good reason why retail stores exist for this kind of thing. We can't resist the invitation to join the jewelry designer/employees of the super hip Delfina for their annual Holiday Craft Fair (Sunday, December 13, 10 - 2, with cheese and wine involved here friends, so please come too)! In addition to this last little bit of behind-a-booth-fun, we have recently begun selling through some of our very favorite retail stores in SF! So if you are looking for Luluandme.com merchandise please email us or visit Minnimal 364 Hayes @ Gough, Urban Merchantile/Egg 85 Carl @ Cole, or at the best hair salon on the planet, Tom's Beautiful Hair 701 Greenwich @ Powell. FINALLY back to entertaining, eating and general partying activities which I would like to share.

The Mr. and I had big fun at the Breeder's Cup Race at Santa Anita Race Track last month. In case you don't know it was an historic event in that a female horse Zenyatta (and Zen she is, the picture of peaceful) ran, and then won against all those foamy seething male horses. It is a rare occurrence that a girl horse runs, and it was the most exciting race I have ever witnessed. Our Friend Who's Name Rhymes With Scary (and who btw at one time supported himself entirely on his racetrack winnings) quietly predicted what would happen at 8:45 in the morning - well before the first race. Riding to the track with our friends, and their parents and their friends, in the party bus that shuttled us red eyed and blinking from the Standard Downtown LA where we all had stayed the night before, I asked if he thought she could win. She would be dead last until the very last moment, we would all assume it was lost to her, but then like a miracle she would close that race in the blink of an eye - exactly what happened! Makes you wonder why he doesn't spend so much time at the track any more doesn't it? The nice New Pharmacist Girlfriend might have something to do with it, and I will say that I made pretty good coin that day sticking with the 7 and 3 horse or a favorite name thrown in for good measure (sorry that Gretsky let me down). Perhaps handicapping doesn't always produce the most stable income flow after all.

The roof of the Standard is a bar with a swimming pool and fireplaces, kind of a hot spot that gets a big crowd waiting in line on the weekends to get in,but as a guest you are given a wrist band to allow you up without waiting. One of our Dear Friends from The Mr.'s Business School Days who lives there took us out for an authentic LA experience - which meant we only ate and drank in places that had originally had nothing to do with food at all. We started at Edison , a maze-like Goth bar in an old power plant that had a cool vibe but small tables, and so we dined at Cicada which is located in a stunning Art Deco building that used to be a famous Haberdashery. Amazing food and a very old school feel to the place, it was fun. The next night after the race we had a wonderful dinner in the patio at Zucca with a large crowd, and the following morning the best restaurant breakfast ever at the 24 hour diner the Standard sports. On the drive home we stopped at the gorgeous historic Mission San Miguel arriving just after Mass and in time for their Holiday Craft and Bake Sale! Amazing hand made rugs, embroidered things and great homemade Tamales. It is so beautifully restored don't miss it if you get a chance to stop.

It's good if your daughter makes friends with a little girl whose parents own one of the best restaurants in SF (Delfina and Delfina Pizzeria) but it's really really good when it turns out that the parents are fun generous people who invite you to dinner and treat you to their wonderful food! I knew Sand Dabs are supposed to be a delicacy here (I think my Uncle and Aunt swooned over them at Sam's when they visited us in 1998?) not being much of a seafood eater I had never had them. We ate at the Pizzeria side - homey and rustic in a hip way, cute waitstaff, yummy wine (we had a Pecorino from Abruzzo), thin thin slightly charred pizza (Heaven). This was not all. At the time they were serving their house made Tuna Conserve (lemony- lemony and oddly not too fishy for me), mozzarella hand pulled just before service, and fried Sand Dabs. Apparently the entire thing is cooked - which is why they are referred to as fries with eyes although mercifully one can not really see the eyes. Ok, so I was a tad worried about it but had to be polite and take a piece and then my goodness that is the sweetest fish I ever tasted - lightly crispy, delicate flaky white fish so good - my Daughter ate a whole one herself too which is not typical. Yum. I don't know when the season ends but it is worth a trip for those alone.

Thanksgiving I made nothing exciting - Pumpkin Cheesecake blah, blah, bah. It was lovely to go to someone else's house for the main attraction this year though! Our hostess cooked a perfect Turkey stuffed with Seaweed and Chestnuts and the entire feast was amazing. Friday we had the Next door neighbors and the Wine Collectors over for Carne Adovada (my favorite pork recipe ever) which was super fun with great wines. Sunday last night I made spicy slow cooked ragut and "Sformato Di Cavolfiore Alla Toscana" (baked cauliflower Tuscan-Style) with a bit of tweeking from Marcella Hazan's Marcella Cucina. That is worth talking about. Nutmegy bechamely goodness that one. His some spinach in there and ever the Mr. had seconds on the veg so check it out! It is good to catch up dear friends - more later!