noelle’s posthaven

Jumped in the car and made the long, stomach-churning trip to HMB for the
Pumpkin Festival. Traffic got us a bit down, so we arrived with only 20
minutes till closing! But just enough time to take a quick spin around the
art, pick up some free cereal and yogurt, and enjoy some pumpkin ale,
sausage, and pumpkin ice cream!

Adrian, Melissa and I split one pint of pumpkin ale. We all thought it was a
good ale, but it didn't taste like pumpkin at all. The sausage was quite
tasty. It had some dollops of marinara sauce. Yum! And the pumpkin ice cream
was delightful in every way. Light, fluffy, creamy and, best of all, very
pumpkiny.

On Jennifer's suggestion, we went to Café Bermoni, which is in Menlo Center,
on El Camino in Menlo Park. The food was gourmet and affordable. I had a
lovely soy latte and an egg scramble with spinach and feta. I also couldn't
help myself and got a cold glass of fresh-squeezed orange juice. Yummmm.

Thanks for the tip, Jennifer!

Sebastien and Joseph put in helping hands when I lost my student ID down a
crevice in my car! Oh no! But luckily, with Joseph's car training, and
Sebastien's adeptness, we got it out. Whew.

Then had a pleasant dinner at this Japanese restaurant in Redwood City.
Round tables were sprawled in the middle of the floor, like a café, and we
sat at a booth against the wall. There was a Japanese guy singing jazz by
the front door. The owner said the place was new, and they are working on
putting up a full bar in the future.

The food was a good deal. I got a whole tray (seen in the picture) for only
$8. And Josh was able to find vegetarian options, which is usually difficult
at Japanese restaurants. It's not quite a super authentic place, but a fun
place nonetheless. I'd go back.

Yummm. Seafood spicy tofu soup at tofu house! Accompanied by a strange salty
pink soup at the end. Not bad, not bad.

Aaaand, after small group, we went to this Chinese restaurant that gives you
bubble tea for FREE. You sit down, and they put a glass right in front of
you! Given, the pearls a little old and the tea isn't that flavorful. But
it's free! What a novelty.

At that place I got the omelet rice. It was sooo yummmyyy.

Yummm. We melted a few blocks of Mexican chocolate and added a shot of
amaretto and a shot of grand marnier. So warm. Kind of a treat.

Also tried apricot ale on another occasion. It's great to get in the mood
for fall.

Sake in a cool box from dinner with my aunt. The Japanese restaurant on El
Camino in Menlo Park has some really delicious ginger udon. Which I
tragically forgot to shoot.

But the sake was great! Dry and not too sweet. And the box is so much fun to
drink out of.

The food was kinda greasy, but tasty. They seated us at a big round table
with a couple we didn't know and eventually with an old man.

Still good!

Blueberries and strawberries. :-D

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www.fraicheyogurt.com
644 Emerson, Suite 110
Palo Alto, CA 94301
(650) 566-0055
Yelp reviews: http://www.yelp.com/biz/fraiche-yogurt-palo-alto-2

A few weeks ago, I went to the Castro Street Fair. Castro in San Francisco
is a very gay part of town, and apparently every year they put on a little
festival. They had lots of food there and some arts and crafts. Good times.
Josh got some fried vegetable thing, and Erin and Alex got some rib
sandwich. I had just eaten leftovers from Japantown, so I didn't get
anything. Although I rather wanted to try those beer battered fries.

For dinner we came back to my aunty's house and cooked dinner. Using her
vine-rippened tomatoes, we made a pasta. It was a simple sauce of two types
of tomatoes, fresh garlic, fresh basil, red onion, olive oil and salt.
Looking back on it, it would have been a bit nice to add a splash of
vermouth or wine. But still very delicious. Ate it with some sparkling water
and a salad of lettuce from the Menlo Park Farmer's Market and a simple
balsamic vinaigrette.

For my aunty Paula, we whipped up a whiskey sour, one of my favorite drinks.
It consists of whiskey (for some reason I like Jim Beam bourbon), fresh
lemon juice, simple syrup, and a touch of egg white. She said it came out
alright!

Thanks to Aunty Paula for letting us cook at her house and use her
ingredients!

Food pics from our day adventure in the city! We started off at the Improv
Everywhere mp3 Experiment in San Francisco, then I met a new friend from
Dwell magazine, then we went to Chinatown for bubble tea, dim sum and
pastries. Then we drove to Sunset beach for a bonfire--sausages and roasted
marshmallows! Then I got a beef donburi from Japantown (it was like oyako
donburi but with beef). And then we went to a cake and champagne birthday
party.

What a fun day!

See the mp3 experiment video here:
http://improveverywhere.com/2008/10/20/the-mp3-experiment-san-francisco/

You can even see my friend Joseph's face! And my back.