Feeding frenzy

The past several days had been a whirlwind of frenetic feasting. Here’s the rundown:

Wednesday, June 22nd
- Breakfast at Rick and Ann’s in Berkeley (probably my favorite breakfast spot) after picking up Jeanne from the airport. I had their special egg scramble, which consisted of white cheddar, peppers, and bacon, with a side of homefries and coffee.
- My leftover raspberry and lemon muffin from breakfast on the drive home along University (I was starved).
- Dinner with Susie and Jeanne at the Cheese Board. The day’s pizza had mozzarella, feta, parsley, tomato, and lemon (the lemon was a surprising but nice touch). I had an Orangina too.

Thursday, June 23rd
- Smart Start cereal with a banana.
- Jeanne and I met Jon for lunch and we went to Little Nan King. The owner (a very nice Asian man) asked me in Mandarin if I spoke Mandarin, and I responded in Mandarin by saying, “No, I speak Cantonese.” I apparently didn’t realize I was speaking Mandarin to him when I answered. (Did I impress Jon with my language skills though?) Anyhow, we had some salad thing with watercress, yam, and shrimp; a dumpling soup with beef and fish; and a plate of fried chicken pieces with fried yam.
- Jeanne and I then had gelato at the little shop near Jon’s work. Mine was an interesting but good blend of pistachio and chocolate, I think.
- Jeanne and I had a two-person barbeque on my patio. We grilled up steaks and asparagus, and had mashed potatoes on the side. For dessert, we grilled pineapple and topped it with ice cream. So good. (Really, everyone needs to visit me and grill together on my patio while this patio’s still mine. Although Scott asked me to stop by today and said that he’d have “shrimp on the barbi.” Is he just pulling my leg or will my new home be full of glorious barbeques?)

Friday, June 24th
- Homemade fruit smoothies with pineapple, strawberries, a banana, yogurt, and orange juice.
- A Nutella and banana crepe at the crepe place in the Japantown center.
- Lunch at On the Bridge (or whatever that place is called in the Japantown center that serves curries and is located on the bridge). Jeanne and I shared cold soba noodles and unagi donburi.
- Sausage and mushroom pizza from Zachary’s for dinner with Jeanne and her UCLA friends. We scarfed that down with some Stella on the emergency stairwell at the Emeryville outdoor mall thinking that no one could see us but realized on our drive home that everyone could see us. We did, however, enjoy a lovely sunset view of the bay.

Saturday, June 25th
- Breakfast at the Ferry Building Farmer’s Market. Jeanne and I had little tartlets (one cherry and one peach) with coffee from the Frog Hollow folks.
- Lots of sampling: peaches, plums, nectarines, fancy cheese, various spreads, cherries, bread, olive oils.
- More breakfast at Olivia’s godparents’ home. Her godmother made Vietnamese noodle rolls and egg rolls.
- Bread chunks in the car. The baguette was so warm and crusty, while the challah was soft and eggy.
- Leftover pizza and leftover steak made into sandwiches, but not together.
- A red bean drink that my mom’s cousin made. Surprisingly not bad.
- Dinner with the family at Joy Luck restaurant in Oakland’s Chinatown. There was only one non-Asian person there, which I took to be a good sign. We had tofu, fish, and mustard green soup; lobster; fried pork chops; a stirfry with fish and snow peas; stirfried watercress; noodles; shredded chicken flavored with sesame, ginger, and soy sauce; and more red beans for dessert. The food was almost like Mom’s.
- More dessert at my place. Two little chocolate cakes bought earlier in the day from Citizen Cake cut up into four pieces and shared. It was so good; we all licked our plates.

Sunday, June 26th
- Egg, asparagus, and cheddar cheese scramble. A piece of baguette filled with more leftover steak and Camembert. A slice of challah drizzled with honey. A very squishy and juicy peach.
- Sticky rice and some slices of pork patty that were shaped into a ball and wrapped in plastic wrap that my mom brought me for lunch.
- Vietnamese noodles with egg rolls, more pork product, mint, and lettuce tossed with a lemony sauce.

Monday, June 27th
- Smart Start cereal.
- Fish tacos from some little place on Market between Noe and Castro. I’ve never been disappointed by their fish tacos. Their chips are good too, so is the cactus salsa.
- Leftover Vietnamese noodles.
- Leftover mashed potatoes with chicken apple sausage.

Tuesday, June 28th
- Bread and a plum in my car on my drive to work.
- A ham and turkey sandwich from Subway.

After several days with family, I’m getting back into my usual habits, both eating and otherwise. It was fun while it lasted.