my first cheesecake

In honor of our dear friend Mike's 29th birthday, I made my very first cheesecake. It was a New York style cheesecake with a shortbread crust. This type of cheesecake doesn't call for a water bath- which I was expecting to have to attempt. In fact, they're actually cooked at a 500 degree temperature for the first 15 minutes. This was a little unnerving, as I was sure the unseen crust was getting burnt to a crisp. It turned out fine though, with the promised golden brown top from the extreme heat.

I've decided to declare cheesecakes as my new favorite dessert to make, not only because of the seemingly endless variations of fillings and toppings (I made a raspberry coulis for this one), but also because they seem to force one to not procrastinate, since they need to be chilled at least over night. I think next will come a graham cracker crust and some sort of lemon topping....mmmm....

bay to breakers

I recovered from horrendous food poisoning last week just in time to make it to Bay to Breakers this morning- a 12k race done in San Francisco every year. Well, it's actually less like a race and more like a parade for those that walk. We went up and stayed with Mike on Saturday, and I met Karen and a few of her friends at the start on the east side of the city.

Karen and I walked the whole thing, which was pretty entertaining. It started with the confusing tradition of people in the packed crowd near the starting line tossing tortillas up in the air. It was amazing how creative people got with costumes, many of which included some sort of cart carrying beer. Did I mention this was at 8 in the morning? The race went through a lot of residential areas, where people were gathered on their front porches and balconies, playing loud music and having fun people watching. We didn't dress up this year...maybe next time...

You can check out some extra shots from The Chronicle that are pretty amusing.

After the race I met up with John and Mike to eat at North Beach Pizza (one of our staples when we're up in the city). There's nothing like some delicious pizza after a couple of days of having nothing but water and crackers!

long weekend

oops....I guess it's been a while since I've posted....but my mom came for a visit this past weekend and now I have some fun pictures to post! We went to the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose one day. Sarah Winchester designed the house (160 rooms), and its construction continued on for 38 years! Apparently a psychic told her that the only way she could appease the spirits of those killed by winchester rifles would be to build a house that would never be finished. The house is well known for several peculiarities, including a dead-end staircase that leads to the ceiling and the door to nowhere:



We also stayed a night up in San Francisco. We did a lot of walking and shopping, went to Fort Point, Grace Cathedral, and drove down Lombard Street (San Francisco's crookedest street).



We were fortunate to see a huge tanker come into the bay right when we got to Fort Point...if you look in the foreground you can see a group of surfers.

Driving down Lombard Street.