Day 3: Dinner at Spruce

Cleanses, or any kind of diet, makes being social difficult. In some cases you can warn the people you're with to avoid being rude (i.e. I have book club tomorrow and already emailed the host to let her know I will not be able to have a bowl of her clam chowder in sourdough bread bowl- tragic!). In other cases, when you're at one of the more reputable restaurants in the city, dining on your company's dime, and entertaining clients...you take the cookie. And by cookie, I mean the Italian red wine, fresh cranberry bread with salted butter, and a couple of piping hot out of the oven brioche beignets. Sadly, photos of food at the table is a tiny faux pas, but Yelp had one I could borrow. Pillows of steamy heaven.

Most of the day I was able to keep it within the lines:
- Breakfast: Overnight oats: 1/2 cup old fashioned oats, 1 cup almond milk, sprinkle chia seeds, 3 chopped dried apricots, 4 large chunks frozen mango

- Lunch: Leftover brussels sprouts and tofu stir-fry over coconut rice. *I solved the second sriracha near-crisis of the 24 hours. My teammate assumed her bottle had run out, so she threw it away. I fished it out of the recycling bin and shook out a few last drops over my lunch. There's empty, and there's empty.
I'm not proud of this.

- Snack: Apple with almond butter (on the go! in an uber). Later, a hard boiled egg and carrots.

- Dinner: A slice of cranberry bread with salted butter

Smip Ranch beets over goat cheese labneh, roti and cocoa nibs

Roasted red snapper with caramelized sunchokes, satsuma mandarin oranges, oil-cured olives

2 Brioche beignets with bittersweet chocolate sauce and creme anglaise 

Bites of the pear and walnut tart, parsnip pudding, cassis, and long pepper ice cream

...and with the bill, a square of peanut butter and chocolate fudge with flaked sea salt

It was a good day.

Off the Grid Dinner Date

The plan for tonight was to cook dinner, play board games, and watch house flipping shows. On the walk to the store to pick up groceries, we called an audible. The glowing lights, the savory smells of 20+ food trucks and and the sounds of all the people having fun derailed our low-key night in. 

The thing about food trucks is that you're always subject to severe food and drink envy because there is no way to have everything. Death by indecision. The no-brainer was the Magnolia Proving Ground IPA, San Francisco's finest.  

The other no-brainer was The Chairman's Coca Cola braised pork steam buns. We knew ourselves enough to know we weren't going to be those people in the 50-deep line for a lobster roll or the new Korean BBQ truck, so we opted to split some chicken and veggie dumplings in spicy vinegar sauce. Then the sub-zero temperatures hit (at least 52 with a breeze!) Yep, fall is here... and it's time to call it a night!

Clearly a steam bun and a dumpling isn't quiiite enough for a growing girl. So on a Safeway run to grab a banana, Nathan couldn't resist the cinnamon scented pine cones. Now autumn has really made it's presence known in my apartment. 

To top it off, some sourdough toast with peanut butter, banana and pumpkin... heavy on the cinnamon. 

Gratitude journal entry: In case it wasn't obvious...I'm grateful for all things fall!

DIFFA’s Dining by Design

Tonight I was able to attend Design Industries Foundation Fighting Aids (DIFFA)’s Dining by Design, featuring dining table exhibits created by design industries (furniture manufacturers, interior design firms, commercial design, construction, etc.). The tables were completely outside the box. I especially liked the one my company created with a commercial design firm and construction company:

However, the other tables were pretty amazing…

The appetizer stations were provided by local restaurants, and almost as beautiful as the table exhibits.

I washed it all down with a banana, strawberry and nutella crepe from the French café’s station. Now I’m tucking myself into bed after a big second day of work.