Birthday weekend Under the “Sun”

September 5, 2017 by FV Strona

What a weekend; with temps as high as 103 in some areas, the house hitting 92 and trying to enjoy a long weekend and celebrate my birthday. Talk about some logistical challenges. 🙂

But we weathered the storm (barely) and we all made it to Tuesday. A short recap of the last few days;

After taking time on Thursday and Friday to write more text for the journal articles due in October, I finally called it quits as the heat in the house rose. Thursday as the weather grew warm, we opted for burgers so I did some searching online and came up with a recipe for homemade burger buns. Saving me a trip to the store as I was due to get Dino from “doggie day camp”. The super easy recipe had them done and ready to cool in less than 40 minutes, you can read about it here.

Friday hit warm and the house wasn’t going to be pretty but I tried to get some work done. Ended up getting drafts in, haircut for the next day and enjoying the messages, texts and Facebook posts that so many folks left me for my birthday. Getting them always helps to remind one of the power and space they take up in the lives of others. To be fair, I also posted a few of those “I can’t believe they still exist” images of me on my 5th birthday with the cake my mom made for me.

A nice surprise for the day was getting a delivery. One of the “you can’t go wrong with sending them” gifts. After Amazon gift cards they happen to be one of my favorites to receive. Thanks, Wayne and Tom! Paul also surprised me with a new knapsack – but this one has an Owl theme and is in rubber – perfect for gym and rain days.

As usual, Paul had his fun with the birthday card – – we have a long-running joke about the movie Frozen and “Let it go”, but he managed to find a new one:

That night we played it easy for dinner and tried to figure out a way to cool the house down. Saturday dawned hot again. Derailing some of our plans, so it was a lazy day until dinner that night at The Old Clam House. One of my fav places to eat ( they also own the outstanding restaurant Osso Steakhouse, another of my “can’t wait to go again places”, we went last January). After a rough start with delays for seating and some staffing issues they finally had a plan sorted out for us. Unfortunately, some people can’t hold warm weather drinking and another guest managed to knock over our post-dinner cupcakes from Noe Valley Bakery, which had been on the hostess desk waiting for the hostess to return. But the GM graciously offered to comp our desserts as an apology. They are a class act that way.

But before heading out, traditionally if I have a birthday dinner out, and it’s not hosted by me, I will try to make a little something for people to take home as a thank you for coming. Earlier that day we had been watching the chef and restaurant owner, Lidia Bastianich on tv and one of the recipes was for a Sesame Candy. It looked manageable time-wise and tasty and I happened to have everything on hand. So I knocked a batch together and wrapped them for with a simple rustic “Thank You”

: is it caramel yet?

: “add oil to the counter” this is gonna be messy isn’t it..

: Gift bags at the ready

: left over for ice cream

: Poor little cupcakes

: This is what I came for!

: for those “Fish & Chips” guys

We rounded out the weekend pretty mellow, Sunday night for Pizza as the city began to cool down and then managed to grill out for dinner again Monday night keeping it simple and easy with grilled skirt steak, broccoli before some TV and prepping for the rest of the week. Even found my new favorite nondairy ice cream on sale!

: and a few doggie naps

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So much for a day off…

August 25, 2017 by FV Strona

So we all love a day off. I know next week is going to be a bear of a week with writing – but I didn’t think today we be this full. It was the annual prep and cook day for Paul’s office picnic tomorrow. Thank goodness for Shadow helping today! (Rumor has it, I’m grill master too tomorrow).

Day “to do”

For our “bring” entree, a simple Chicken & Veggie egg bake with a caramelized onion bbq chutney. Then because the vegetables looked so good, some “quick pickled veggies”, a Fennel, Kale and Orange salad and for our “bake off” entry; while not the more elaborate Chocolate Cherry Bread I mentioned in the past this is an easier, no knead variation I made earlier in the week, got repurposed into a Bread Pudding with an orange zest cream cheese topping.

Then we needed to prep a quick Pear Cornmeal Cake with Rosemary Syrup for the other Paul’s birthday picnic that happens right after my Paul’s work one.

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Ptown Week 2 recap and home again

August 15, 2017 by FV Strona

I can’t believe how fast the second week went. but I can believe how much work I came home too

So how did the rest of the week go? Pretty much the same as week 1!

Mornings I spent at Joe’s Cafe trying to draft out notes for the first two journal article due at the end of the month. On several occasions, we enjoyed the great foods from Chach (luckily I don’t mind eating in the same places if I like the food) as the other guys liked it as well., we continued to ride the bikes, sometimes some of our road longer than others. Lots of the time we grabbed lunch at the condo to take advantage of the weather.

: Lox – the beach story

From Connie’s Bakery, I scored a day old fresh loaf of bread so french toast made a visit this year on the deck. (FYI: both Connie’s and Joes offer day old parties in the am. the best part is they come wrapped in plastic to easy to grab a quick snack for later). But many of sweets and sandwiches they offer are reasonably priced and great tasting.

Other highlights of week two included a few meals at the Burger Queen shack – while set up as fast carry out food – meets the quality of many of the more formal ones. (or as in the case of the Mayflower; exceeds it) and the Canteen which with its new expanded back area makes for a great casual place to hang out and eat.

We even get everyone to tackle the Provincetown’s Pilgrim Monument on one of the few gray days. If you have never been – it is well worth a visit. While the Monument itself is a nice walk – the museum also offers a changing collection of history and art.

: Yeah as if we plan to run …

: Vintage life

: Cool art

We took in a beachside jazz night at Herring Cove and got to enjoy the casual mid week time with vacationers and locals alike that ended with a great seaside bonfire.

Of course, we also saw our pal Varla Jean Merman and her new show Bad Heroine (go see it when it comes to a city new you!)

The trip home on Saturday was mostly uneventful on our part. Just a long process and we were ready to get home. Luckily the folks at the Marriott let us park our bags for a few hours while we took in the sites near the waterfront in Boston, then it was off to Boston Logon airport.

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Ptown Week One Recap!

August 8, 2017 by FV Strona

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Settling In and stuff

August 1, 2017 by FV Strona

Settling in at the Cove each summer is always a whirlwind for the first few days, but rarely lasts long. On this trip, we also have a few friends here – so its added some fun additional options.

After a very long coach ride into Provincetown on Saturday . It was nice to just sit back and breath.

Come Sunday we were in full vacation mode. Bikes needed to get rented for the next two weeks, as that makes being able to go to Stop & Shop for groceries much more doable.

So we made the short walk up to the road to PTownBikes (Address: 42 Bradford St, Provincetown, MA 02657, Phone: (508) 487-8735). After getting our annual “rules of the road” reminders, we were off for a short ride to Herring Cove to show the boys around that end of the town.

After we got back from the ride, it was nap time for the boys – so I had some time to connect with local friends and get the skinny on the season and the annual “what do you want to do for activities” ticket discussion begins.

Once we were all refreshed and we had enough coffee in us. Yes, I had made sure to run by Joe’s Coffeeshop (170 Commercial St, Provincetown, MA 02657) . You can check out Joe’s Facebook page for more on this little slice of Provincetown. It was time for the dreaded Stop & Shop run.

So, empty backpacks ready, we got on the bikes and took to the store for supplies to get us through a few days. While we always love eating out – being here in a unit with a kitchen allows me the luxury to also cook some of the days. Especially those when we just don’t want to deal with the crowds. (Note: first time to Ptown? Don’t shop on Saturday if you can avoid it – that’s turnover day in town and usually a mad house. We tend to go later Sunday or even better on Monday am when we can).

It was still early when we got back, so everyone hit the deck for some late rays, while I went in to think about dinner. For tonight, we went with marinated (yes – with bottled italian salad dressing, along with some ginger beer added for zing) to toss on the grill, grilled sweet potatoes and quick pickled carrots.

After dinner we took the first official “ice cream” walk to close out the day.

Monday

Come Monday, we were all in “vaca mode”. I tend to wake up early, so generally out with the camera walking around by 6:15 then heading back to Joe’s coffeeshop around seven. Spent a few hours drafting some notes for a journal article then met up with Brent and Josh before walking back to the house to figure out the game plan for the day.

All in all, it was just a very nice relaxing day at the Cove; lots of sun and catching up. We ended up eating lunch in doing that old standard “make yourself sandwiches” since we knew that evening we will be going to a show and dinner.

After all getting showered we went over to the Canteen (225 Commercial St, Provincetown, MA 02657) for dinner, one of my favorite of the small places here in Ptown. A nice assortment of fresh and fried foods and probably the best crispy brussels sprouts we’ve had. They do their brussels sprouts cooked to get fried crispy and then top it with the vinegar fish sauce working with the natural flavor of the smoky sprout. The
other guys went with some basic fish and chips, I opted for “fish fries”, a.k.a. fried smelts.

After dinner, we walked over the Crown and Anchor where we checked out an early show of the Generations Project (thegenerationsproject.info). Part of a new intergenerational, transnational LGBT queer storytelling project that hopes to serve as a bridge between older and younger folks by sharing different stories frint points in our lives (coming out, risk, dating etc.). Tonight’s specifically highlighted the stories related to Ptwn.

After a really well-done show, we once again took a walk so the men could get ice cream and I splurged at the Portuguese Bakery (299 Commercial St, Provincetown, MA 02657) for a pastry; Malasada is the Portuguese version of a “fried dough” treat. Italians grow up with a similar version serves on Sundays or at street fairs. As they do with the italian version – they cover it with sugar hot out of the grease.

On Tuesday

Paul’s parents were scheduled to come down on the 11 o’clock ferry, so after getting up and doing a few hours of work I went back to the unit and made some breakfast for all of us.

Then we took a nice leisurely stroll to the ferry for his mom and Eddie. Looking for something to do that wouldn’t require them to walk as much, we decided to make use of the new Provincetown Mayflower Trolley tour.

What a great ride. We were able to get to a bunch of locations with the tour we hadn’t checked out before. While we heard some really interesting stories and history of the people who founded Provincetown. Not to mention learning about the environment & ecological structure. Overall well worth the money for the $20 tickets and I would reccomemd to anybody who’s never been here to take advantage of it. And I got a recipe to try as well!

We caught sight of some fun street based art that often can be found tucked away in nooks and crannies.
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Travel day

July 30, 2017 by FV Strona

Travel

We all love it, but travel can just as easily go wrong. I have to say the hardest thing about the early morning flight is actually the early morning itself. In order to catch a 6 AM flight out of SFO, it means leaving as early as 4:15 AM.

As luck would have it, it was a pretty uneventful travel experience. The airport was a little more crowded than usual but I managed to get on the plane, make my connections and found myself a Boston, 15 minutes ahead of schedule, albeit 12 hours later.

Next stop, Residence Inn Seaport downtown to meet Paul, with old friends Josh & Brent in tow, who came in from San Diego and would also be staying Ptown.

Residence Inn Downtown

Any visit to Boston for me that is non-work related, usually begins and ends with a stay at this facility. Between the friendliness of the staff, the super convenient location for both water events and inner city Boston events, just makes for it to be a perfect place to relax & recharge.

This inspired, converted building turns the stay into something that feels like you’re actually on a “urban adventure”. From it’s super airy atrium, to the modern desired modular rooms; this place, has lots of nooks and crannies to explore. Each of the rooms we’ve stayed in, has a slightly different layout which is how they all fit into the natural structure of the building. Giving those who live in tradition houses an opportunity at staying in a super cool urban environment.

Close to public transportation, including the ferry for those folks headed down to the Cape. They’ve got in-hotel full service coffee shop that caters to the neighborhood, as well as it’s traditional Residence Inn morning buffet. Much like other Residence Inns, the staff tend toward the awesome side of hosting. Working at whatever they can to help make your stay the best.

Word up though; while not the most expensive of the hotels in this area it isn’t inexpensive. So plan ahead, sign up with Marriott deals so that you can utilize your points or discounts as appropriate. This site also is within a short walk to the childrens museum; so on this visit also staying were more families than previous stays which made navigating the breakfast buffett a little “treacherous” as not all children (and some adults it would seem) have been taught proper public shared food space/buffett curtesies or hygiene practices. So if you want particularly kid or family-friendly you might want to call ahead to find out if there’s a kid focused weekend happening. Another fav feature is the “grocery option”. Many of the facilities will now do some basic grocery runs to stock up the very workable kitchens. Billing your rooms and saving you time.

Dinner and what not

This is a great central location for nice walk to the italian area of town. Which we do each trip for pizzia at Regina Pizzeria (the original one). If you want calm, quiet dinner – this isn’t the place. It’s loud and ethnic as only a small family place can be. The 30 min walk, takes you through several community parks, right by the front of the Boston Children Museum, which is sure to have something fun going on and eventually right into the Italian section of town.

Travel to Provincetown

Our next stop of the trip starts on Saturday am, and brings us to to the Ferry. Which normally would take us out over the water into Provincetown. But for the first time, rough weather water warning meant this trip taking a motor coach supplied from the Bay State Cruise Company to get us to Provincetown. [By the way, “rough weather water” warnings means more than a few passengers on the early ferry, ended much “green around the gills” than normal]

Now, while I will miss the boat ride, I don’t need a tossing boat & seasickness to start my day. I say as long as “someone else takes the wheel, and it’s not me driving” go for it. Needless to say the 2.5 hour drive by coach bus, ended up almost 3.5, but was pleasently stressless it a bit cramped. [hint – this is the Cape, time flows differently so 2.5 hours = 3.5, its new “old” math for the Cape]

Getting Settled

Once we got settled in at Fisherman’s Cove, our “home away from home”, it was time for a short walk and some food. Since it was already 4:00, we opted for sandwiches now and diner later. We walked further down the West End to Relish, (I wrote about Relish in previous trips as well here (2015) and here 2014) bringing them back to the condo and our first waterside meal of the summer. Then it was time for the boys to go down for naps, while I took a walk to get caught up with my local peeps and the “news” around town.

The day slowly came to an end with a pleasant sunset watching on the main deck, while we waited for everyone to get ready for dinner. For the opening night, we took a short walk into town for burgers at Local 186 (I wrote about Local 186 previously here). Closing out the evening with a stroll to walk off the dinner and meander around till we settled in for the night.

Over all, a good first day.

: El Guapo Burger from Local 186

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Another “Salon” dinner saturday night with the perfect “Cowboy” Lasagna.

June 4, 2017 by FV Strona

This was a dinner shot during the last visit

A gathering of the tribe last night for a “salon” dinner. A night focused on food, talk and stories. For this month, my old friend Josh and his husband Brent were in town, taking advantage of “retiree” time and visiting the Bay Area. Now Josh and I have been friends, “sisters”, co-facilitators, both ran focus groups and volunteers for local programs for many years and all around were “those two are trouble together” for over 24 years.

Instead of a dinner out like in the past (the last visit we took them to Old Skool for a great meal), I suggested we eat here and invite some other friends we’ve known for years and just kick back old school style.

For the menu I wanted easy, solid and fun. Years ago Josh and I manned a mens social group called the Social Exchange Network as a way to gather men to get out of the city to camp, eat, remember, heal. This was during a time of great pain and change for us, when so many of our friends were dying or sick with AIDS. So the socials and SEN were an opportunity to “stop the madness” for a few days. We did everything from camping trips to Disney World to house parties.

Often for the weekend SEN events, I tended to do all the cooking (except for the junk food table which often held every sweet treat, salty, sugary snack that we ould pre-buy that would sit on a table for the whole weekend for those late-night munchies) while Josh would serve as the front man-cruise director for the social stuff. On those trips when an oven was available – our first night menu was frozen lasagna dinners with a green salad and garlic bread. As it was easiest meal to get prepared on the day of travel as people rolled in.

With this in mind, I thought it would be fun to recreate a home version, but that wasn’t the old school all day sauce version that I normally would make , which I know he loves. So Trisha Yearwood’s “Cowboy Lasagn a” recipe came to mind. I originally tried the recipe back in a few months ago (that post is here) after seeing it on her cooking show to a great success. I recall saying that the mean-sauce was like “crack”, “one spoonful and you couldn’t stop tasting it”. To start the night I re-used another favorite starter; my adapted version of Roasted Carrot Hummus that I have mentioned back in my February post

When all was said and done – it was a win for sure. Two of our other friends Russel (Russell has know Josh almost as long) and David, brought a fresh baked apple pie (crust and all) incredibly infused with rosemary. Which paired perfectly to the lasagna meal.

: Yea I know – I got a little artsy…

Date night to kick off a 3-day weekend

May 28, 2017 by FV Strona

On Friday as a treat, Paul took me to a resturant neither of us had been too – but often walked by; L’Ardoise Bistro .
This would be one of those “hidden gems” that get so easily overlooked. With so many decadent options I went old school with Coq au Vin‬ while Paul Burke splurged on the Hanger steak. Started off with little Charcuterie Plate with housemade Patés and an incredible carrot soup special was rich with “American butter” and hot. In fact, the entrees were solid sized and rare it seems of late in restaurants – actually HOT and just just warmed under a heat lamp.

From start to finish, an outstanding diner, well prepared and lick your plate good. Reasonably priced and great portions topped only by the welcoming staff. I would go once a week if my waistline would agreed. A new favorite on my list of “go to’s”.

Pardon the fuzzy shots – but the atmosphere is so nice and we had such a lovely time – that I refused to fuss with my camera.

They have a great menu online (http://www.ardoisesf.com) for those that like to review them

L’ardoise Bistro

51 Noe St
San Francisco, CA 94114

b/t 15th St & Henry St. Duboce Triangle

Phone number(415) 437-2600. Business website: ardoisesf.com or on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LArdoiseBistro

You know it’s good when I start with the empty plates!

Read my review of L’ardoise Bistro on Yelp

Sessions at the Presidio

May 27, 2017 by FV Strona

So last week we went to the Palace of Fine Arts to see Bernadette Peters in concert. We wanted to go to dinner beforehand somewhere close and when looking for places that had a 6 o’clock reservations we came across sessions.
I don’t have any expectations and what we would find; reviews were mixed from 3 to 5 stars depending on where you looked.

I loved the inside of the restaurant, nice balance of light and airy with substance. They were very gracious, we were seated pretty quickly. They were really helpful when we explained we were going to the theater and our server felt we had plenty of time. But that’s when service got a little wonky.

We ordered pretty quickly, going with the sliced meat appetizer and then the hanger steak entrée, the chicken entrée and a burger. I think the kitchen may have been having a bit of a off night; our waiter did mention they were short one staff but it sort of feel like maybe the kitchen was a little short. He came out to tell us that there could be a chance for appetizer would be out after our entrées because of timing in the kitchen and with that be a problem for us. Now I appreciated him asking because in some cases we wouldn’t care but it did feel kind of odd.

Now we did notice the food coming out looks wonderful. We got our appetizer first, and just finished when our entrées were served. I was sort of underwhelmed with the burger; it was a seared on both sides but nearly raw inside (and had been ordered medium). The hanger steak looked very and tasted good as did the chicken although I have to say that the chicken portion was underwhelming for the price of the entrée. I’m sort of wondering if some of our food may have been held up so that we could eat ourbappetizers first as both the other entrees weren’t particularly hot, even though the place themselves were.

Luckily they redeemed themselves at the end of the night with a very very good banana nut cake with salted butterscotch ice cream. I could’ve eaten that as my dinner and been happy. They did remove the cost of the burger from our tab then asked about my not eating it.

So while I wouldn’t rule out going to Sessions again, I probably wouldn’t order the burger. I noticed they do have a squid ink seafood pasta dish that reads good on the menu, that is likely what I want to try next.