A Tomales Bay Birthday Oystravaganza

When your loving lover has a birthday you want to make it as nice and fun and different and special as possible. When the camping trip we'd been trying to get together didn't work out, we went to Plan B, going to the farm at the Hog Island Oyster Company. We'd been thinking about also getting a bouncy castle or bouncy Twister game (inflated and everything) for the occasion, but ended up deciding that "bouncy" and "oysters" shouldn't go in the same sentence, much less in the same day.

A group of dear friends made the trek up to the Tomales Bay Oyster Company in Marshall. Although we weren't able to get a table there it was a blessing in disguise. Instead, we purchased 112 oysters and 20 clams, put them in bags full of ice, and took our party down the road to a secluded picnic table and grill overlooking a beach, which turned out to be much nicer.

Those friends initially timid of oysters came to embrace the pleasure of shucking and eating the fresh seafood, both raw and on the grill, much as I did on my first experience eating oysters straight from the sea farm.

The picnickers: Thrill, Rosie, Reid, me, Ross, Lindsay, Shannon and Johnny D.

Rosie brought an awesome Polaroid camera which captured the event in sweet style. You can see one of the photos here, at the Cabinet Shop blog.

Reid momentarily disappears in order to get the fire going.

Rosie eats a sausage.

Shannon and Johnny D.

This is your grill...

This is your grill a couple hours later, drunkity drunk drunk.

We ate all the oysters and most of the food we brought, and what we didn't get to the ravens took care of while we were away drunkenly frolicking on the beach.

The birthday boy. This photo is a visual metaphor for the events that next transpired, but ironically the beer was the only thing that the ravens didn't get to.

Johnny D.

Ross teasing Lindsay.

Lindsay's a happy girl in the sunshine.

Rosie and Shannon hanging out on the beach.

Brothers, Reid and Ross, wondering what happens next.

This was my second oyster picnic, (the first was our anniversary last year) and I think I'm starting to get a hang of what to bring to go with the oysters and make it a successful picnic.

List of what to bring:

• Crisp white wine
• Beer
• Lemons and Limes
• Hot Sauces (Tabasco and Tapatillo are my favorites)
• Worcestershire Sauce
• Red Wine Vinegar
• Chopped Shallots
• Salt and Pepper
• Brown bread
• Daddy Mack's Butter (see below)
• Pie
• Potato and Onion grill packets (if it's cold, it gives you something warm to eat. Chestnuts to roast were also good for that last time).
• Charcoal
• A Kitchen Towel and Shucking Knife

Both times I've made Daddy Mack's Oysters, a recipe from Allrecipes.com, which involves making a roll of seasoned butter in advance and putting a little slice of it on the oysters as they grill. It's been a big hit both times, for the oysters and for spreading on slices of bread. The birds seemed to really like it, too. It was all gone when we came back to the picnic table from the beach.

Mignonettes good for raw oysters:

• Minced shallots and red wine vinegar
• Lemon juice and Tabasco
• Lime juice and Tapatillo sauce
• Lime juice and black pepper

Toppings good for grilling oysters (don't shuck them first, grill til they open, then shuck and add seasonings):

• Daddy Mack's Butter
• Lemon juice, Worcestershire, Tabasco, salt
• Lime juice and black pepper.
  

But there are endless possibilities!

The day was a lot of fun and when it started to get later and drunker, we took our satiated and happy selves home.

I went to a fancy party

I went to a big party last week to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the agency I currently work for. It was held at the San Francisco Opera House and was a black-tie event.

True to the advertising industry, people got hammered. But not before we had a chance to really enjoy ourselves and our fancy clothes. 

We danced, went to the hospital, took prom photos, and at one point there was a man making ferret noises up on the stage.  I kid you not.

And, they had mini desserts! I sense a trend...

Did you know that the Opera House has a hospital wing?  Of course we had to give that a whirl.



Gavin
Me n my cubemate, Kevin, information architect


mini cream puffs!
When you get all snazzed up your hair has to be equally snazzy.

The Coast

When I lived in Boulder and told people I didn't like it, I was met with disbelief.

"But you love hiking!" they'd say.

And I do love hiking. But I can hike in the Bay Area year round, solo, without worrying about being trapped in a freak snow storm.

And the views, the beautiful views of the ocean that can be around every turn if you so wish, easily knock out the views of towns and land horizons that you might get in Boulder (if you hike high enough).

When I first drove back to San Francisco from Colorado I could practically see the ocean in the future ahead of me. I missed it with a deep ache. And when I finally saw it again it gave me that swelling feeling that you get in your chest when something suddenly feels very right.

On Sunday morning I woke up needing to see the ocean from the broadest possible vantage, where you look out on the horizon and feel that you can see the curvature of the earth. I drove out early and took the Coastal Trail from Muir Beach to Tennessee Valley Beach, and all along the way this is what I saw:




The trail follows the coast all the way to Mexico, according to signs on the path.

The part I walked on is nearly a cliff, with fissures here and there, where if the earth is damp you could potentially slide all the way down the face to the waves breaking below.

I'm so glad to be back here.

A Series of Creepy

At an early hour Saturday morning Reid, Whitney, and I all went to the Maker Faire, an indescribable hodgepodge event showcasing the works of burning man artists, creepy crafters, inventors, hobbyists, cervix scopers, and steampunks.

It had a creepiness about it. It was the kind that can only come from throwing together a bunch of people who usually hole themselves up alone at home who suddenly must share with others what they do, holed up at home. You'd think they'd never seen a woman before. I was creeped out.

creepy sculptures

not so creepy bike lights in creepy room

creepy steampunk house with two-headed lamb

not so creepy motorized cupcake covered with oversized prozac (however, it was secretly creepy as the guy had his baby barely peeking out from the opening in the cupcake--not visible here)

creepy giant sculpture with eye that looked at you

not so creepy art car


But I got a pretty cool electronics kit out of the fair to teach me how to play with LEDs. Yay.

The creepiness was added to by the fact that Reid had shaved his beard into a pervy mustache for the weekend. That was creepy on its own. I unintentionally managed to take some pretty creepy pictures of him by the by.



That last one was the creepiest, at a creepy restaurant with dirty menus. But the mustache is gone now and my clean-shaven boyfriend has returned and it's almost like I haven't seen him in a long time, a funny but good feeling.

On Sunday I tried to avoid the creepiness by staying away from the Weird Street Festival but ended up walking around the city for hours, landing at the Wave Organ, one of the creepier locations in San Francisco. Built from the stones of a demolished graveyard, inhabited by rats, oddly Dr. Seuss-esque (not that Dr. Seuss is creepy, he's not), the wave organ is at the tip of a tiny finger of a peninsula extending from the Marina harbor into the bay. It has great views of Alcatraz and the Marina. But it's creepy and lonely as hell.

Thankfully, the creepiness was contained by the weekend, maybe even started by the weekend as Friday night we walked in darkness on Baker Beach after waiting in the trees for the cop to close the gates, all the while feeling like something was going to jump out at us.

The Delight That is Warm Nights and Warm Days in San Francisco

This past weekend in San Francisco was one of those truly incredible weekends of amazing weather that comes so rarely in the city that it inspires something of a frantic disposition in its denizens.

"Must do something!!!! Must be outside and make most of every single ounce of sunshine and warmth! Warm weather will not last! Every man for himself, except that we must enjoy this gloriousness collectively!"

I’m predisposed to this frantic nature as well.

I have to say, though, that I had such a fun weekend!

On Friday Reid and I had a date (tee hee) and after dinner and a movie we went to the Tonga room at the Fairmont to enjoy drinks and middle-aged people dancing, while it rained from the ceiling into a pool where the band played on a little boat.

Afterwards, we scooted around the city. The night was so warm that we didn’t even have to wear jackets. We scooted past Grace Catherdral, through Nob Hill where we saw the San Francisco Twins walking arm in arm as always, down Polk Street where we saw the Friday night rollerskaters and people out walking around. We rode all the way down to Crissy Field where the bay water was like glass, reflecting the bridge lights in straight lines.

Saturday was hanging out on the Jo-tel roof,


in the Rogue Brewery patio,



and grilling at Reid’s.




Sunday was an amazing bike ride with Shannon from North Beach through Golden Gate Park to Ocean Beach and Beach Chalet, which shall be called, from here on out, Babies n’ Beer.

(see Shannon with Ocean Beach windmill in the background!)

Babies 'n' Beer! (both were everywhere)


On the way back I stopped at a BBQ in the Haight at Allison and Ellen's house (sometimes called the Haigh-tel but they're not so into that).




But, what happens when the weather is nice in the city is that you get three days where the city enjoys itself in sunshine, and then

suddenly

it tires of it

and the fog rushes back in off the bay.

A welcome respite and pleasant ending to the heat and frantic-ism that the lovely and temporary weather inspires.

It's as if the city is saying, that's it, I've given you this lovely gift. You can go home now, relax, and relish your memories of these wonderful days.