The holidays are behind us and its back to the books for me.

I really enjoyed seeing Tyler, spending time with family, and eating way too much holiday food.

We enjoyed a delicious last meal with my family on the Monday night before my parents took us to the airport early for my flight.

For dessert we used something a little untraditional, balsamic vinegar.

At Foodbuzz Festival, I had the pleasure of talking to the people at House of Balsamic. They offered to send me a few products to try and review.

I love a good balsamic vinegar, so I was very excited when I received Saporoso: Balsamic Vinegar Aged for 6 Years.

I made everyone try a little on a spoon to see what they thought. My mom was impressed with how smooth it was and that it wasn’t vinegary like some balsamics.

I get bored of using balsamic vinegar on traditional dishes, so when I noticed some fresh strawberries in the refrigerator, I knew exactly how I wanted to test out the Saporoso.

My mom made some fresh shortcakes. We cut up the strawberries, added a little sugar, and let them juice to form a nice sauce.

After dinner we topped the shortcakes with the strawberry sauce and a little bit of ice cream. Then I drizzled a teaspoon of the House of Balsamic Saporoso over each dish.

I loved the little bit of tartness that the Saporoso added to and how well it combined with the vanilla ice cream.

House of Balsamic provided me some more suggestions on how to use the Saporoso:

• On crepes
• Drizzled over a vegetable frittata
• Brie and chive strata with balsamic
• Grilled asparagus with lemon zest and balsamic
• Lemon linguine finished with balsamic
• Grilled vegetables with balsamic drizzle
• Roasted potatoes with rosemary
• Baked ziti with balsamic
• Grilled tri-tip
• Drizzled over vanilla honey pound cake
• Apple tart with ice cream and balsamic

I love the idea of drizzling it over a frittata or strata.

What is your favorite way to use balsamic vinegar? Have you ever tried using it for a dessert?

Despite the craziness, I’ve been enjoying a little holiday cheer.

I try not to drink too much soda (my dentist agrees with that idea) but this stuff only comes once a year, so I have to enjoy it while I can.

And these only come once a year as well.

You saw that coming didn’t you, because you know of my love of SweeTarts?

And to take care of my mental health during the holidays I’ve been giving myself manicures and pedicures using this winter color: Essie Merino Cool.

I think its dark, but classy and doesn’t look harsh like plain black nail polish.  I’d show you how it looks on my nails but it has been a week since I did mine, so they are looking a little ragged. I can’t wait to pamper myself a little later in the week with an all new paint job.

In other news, I get to see Tyler in less than a week, if that isn’t exciting and a reason for holiday cheer, then I don’t know what is!

I’ve got another update on what he’s been up to, I’m saving it for a little later in the week.

The colder weather that has been setting in on most of us in the U.S. has also set in over Shanghai. The cold seems to cause the smog to settle low over the city.

Tyler has been working hard. He has a long commute to and from work every day. Between work and the commute, most of his daylight hours are eaten up.

While our Shanghai apartment is furnished, it did not include most kitchen items or some other basic things. Tyler was finally able to find time to take his first trip to the Ikea in Xujiahui a few weeks back.

He had to be able to carry everything he bought, so he got only the bare necessities: a set of pots and pans, bowls (the apartment came with some plates and silverware), a colander, cooking utensils, containers for leftovers, and hangers.

Recently, he made a second trip, I’m excited to see what else he picked up.

We are lucky to be provided with a shipment of some of our belongings to China, but we opted to use that shipment for when I move to Shanghai next fall. We brought as much over in luggage as we could, but things like pots and pans didn’t make the cut in favor of clothes. We’re buying duplicate basic kitchen items for Shanghai and will store the items we received for our wedding and items we bought to complete our kitchen until we return to the U.S. Generally, we are keeping our kitchen a little bare in Shanghai to avoid spending unnecessary amounts of money and accumulating more kitchen stuff than we need.

In the meantime, I’ve been packing up more things for Tyler to take back to Shanghai when he visits at Christmas, such as knives, office supplies, and some more advanced kitchen utensils (peeler, wine opener, can opener, etc.).

Since the kitchen is bare, Tyler relies on the cafeteria at work for lunches and has a good excuse to order takeout on occassion.

Recently, he ordered from an Indian restaurant near our Shanghai apartment, Masala Art, using the delivery service Sherpa.

That’s Butter Chicken Patiala.

Tyler said it was spicy and a bit greasy, with large pieces of chicken and onion.

We’ve both been keeping busy with work, school, and planning for the months until I move to Shanghai. The time change has left us very few hours where we are both awake and available to take, but we find time for phone calls and lots of emailing back and forth about anything and everything.

The Christmas holiday will be a welcome reunion.

In the morning I walked with Melissa and Mellissa to brunch sponsored by Godiva at Perry’s. There was an impressive spread of food.

I took a little of everything to start.

But I had to have seconds on the scrambled eggs and french toast. I rarely make french toast, so I like to enjoy it when I can, and the scrambled eggs were amazing. I wish I could make them as well at home.

After brunch we walked back to the hotel and packed up to head to our respective homes. I had received an invitation to check out Foodzie’s new tasting room at their headquarters, so I decided to drop by there before driving back to Sacramento.

I ended up getting my own private tasting, as the rest of the people that RSVPed never showed up. Emily gave me a tour of their space. I loved the converted warehouse style, the ball jar light fixtures, and the bright green they chose for the counters and shelves.

Inna and Catherine of Community Grains provided a delicious spread of pastries, polenta, and cookies.

The pastries and cookies were made with their whole grain flours.

I sampled a little bit of everything.

I was really impressed with the texture of the pastries and cookies, whole wheat flour tends to give things an odd texture, but these were delicious and weren’t dense or dry. The polenta was unlike any polenta I’ve had before. Their polenta is made Organic Red Flint “Floriani” Cornmeal, and is heartier in texture and more distinct in flavor than the polenta I’ve had before.

Community Grains has a great mission. Their products are local (for me) 100% grown and milled in California, and when they say whole grain they mean it. Their products use the grain in its entirety – 100% of the germ, bran, and endosperm.

I sipped on some delicious apple cider while we chatted about food, blogs, and other things. I couldn’t help but be excited when Emily sent me home with some of Nana Mae’s Organics apple juices and mulling spices to make my own cider.

Emily also sent me home with a complete Tasting Box with some great things that I can’t wait to use at Thanksgiving.

Catherine and Inna gave me some Community Grains Fusilli and Linguine that I am excited to sample and cook with.

I really enjoyed meeting Emily, Rob, Catherine, and Inna and learning more about Foodzie and about Community Grains. I’m looking forward to sharing some recipes in the near future involving the great things I took home with me such as the pasta and the Pickled Figs from the Tasting Box.

Elise and I grabbed bagel sandwiches at Posh Bagel, where we ate last year, before shopping in Union Square and the areas around.

After buying a major Christmas present for myself, we made our way to the Tasting Pavilion at the Metreon.

Foodbuzz did an excellent job of organizing the Tasting Pavilion this year. There were smaller crowds and tons of friendly vendors excited to talk about and share their product.

Some of my favorite vendors included:

J. Lee Roy’s who makes some of the most delicious bbq and dipping sauces I’ve ever had and is owned by some of the friendliest people at the Tasting Pavilion.

I’m really looking forward to making some pulled pork with their Dippin’ Sauce.

Foodzie is owned by some more awesome people, Emily and Rob, and has amazing monthly Tasting Boxes and now Cooking Boxes.

They were showcasing some delicious products available in their boxes including Nana Mae’s Apple Juice and Fat Toad Farm’s Goat’s Milk Caramel.

Vignette Wine Country Soda was one of my favorite beverages (there were so many!).  I tried the Rosé soda, which I really liked. I want to pick some up for my parents to try, I think they would really enjoy it.

There were many other great vendors, it was nice to meet all of them and try their amazing products.

After the Tasting Pavilion Elise and headed over to pick up her race registration, then we jetted back to the hotel to get ready for the Gala Dinner.

The Gala Dinner was held at the Hyatt near Union Square.

The highlight? A cooking demonstration by Tyler Florence. He prepared pork chops with braised cabbage.

Before being seated for dinner Alexia provided a variety of fries.

Then we took our seats to watch Tyler cook. We had an amazing table.

That’s Kara, Kathleen, Elise, me, Mellissa, and Melissa.

While we watched Tyler cook, we enjoyed some appetizers including sushi, butternut squash risotto bites with roasted wild mushrooms, and vegetable samosas with tamarind dipping sauce.

After the cooking demonstration we were served a Bibb lettuce salad with honey roasted pear, glazed pecans, and bleu cheese vinaigrette.

The main course was Brandt Beef Farms Filet Mignon and Meyer Lemon Roasted Prawns with heirloom carrots, celery root puree, and peppercorn demi.

Dessert was a San Francisco Trio of Sourdough Bread Pudding, Cowgirl Creamery Cheesecake, and Scharffen Berger Chocolate Mousse.

Unfortunately, none of the food really impressed me as much as last year’s Gala Dinner did. Some things were undercooked, some were overcooked, and others were just very questionable, mainly the bread pudding that resembled a hockey puck. Fortunately, I had enjoyed a lot of amazing food at the Tasting Pavilion, so a lackluster dinner wasn’t a big problem, aside from the disappointment.

Have you ever watched a cooking demonstration?

And what do you think of Tyler Florence? I like him, but I think the fact that he shares a name with my husband has something to do with it.

I drove there Friday to enjoy a weekend of food, blog friends, and enjoying San Francisco at Foodbuzz Festival.

I met up with Elise, Mellissa, and Melissa at our hotel and then Elise and I went and registered for the festival.

Before we knew it, it was time for the Foodbuzz Awards Dinner at the Terra Gallery.

We had a cocktail hour complete with appetizers featuring Sabra Hummus and a variety of wines.

After mingling and enjoying the wine and appetizers we were brought upstairs for dinner and the Foodbuzz Blogger Awards.

There were 4 different food stations, one with some cold salads and appetizers including Brandade Cakes, Ceviche Shooters, Housemade Beet Ravioli, Mai’s Rolls, Lentil Salad “To Go” Boxes, and Tuscan Kale Leek and Ricotta Salata Tart. The Ceviche Shooter was my favorite from this station and was flavorful with tender shrimp.

Another station consisted of comfort foods made with recipes from bloggers. There was Brown Sugar Butter Roasted Chicken, Tuscan Beef Stew, Whipped Potatoes with Pecorino Cheese on Meatloaf Muffins, Baked Four Cheese Macaroni, Potato-Broccoli Soup, and Butternut Squash Orzo. The Tuscan Beef Stew was very good and was accompanied by some cornbread that had a delicious crispy crust and was slightly sweet.

Two more stations featured Glazed Marin Sun Farms Pork Belly and Pan-Seared DayBoat Scallops and were by far the best dishes of the night. The Pork Belly was accompanied by Broccoli Puree, Wood Roasted Florets, Pickled Shiitakes, and Chile Morita Vinaigrette.

After the Awards were handed out it was time for the dessert bar. The Heirloom Pumpkin Tart with Gingersnap Tart Shell, Candied Pumpkin Seed Nougatine and Milk Chocolate Crunch Center was my favorite. I also really enjoyed the Colorful Christmas Macaroons.

After a bus ride back to the hotel Elise and I headed towards the Presidio by bus and met up with some of her friends for more drinks and even a little dancing. It was a late night, but a lot of fun and worth getting a little less sleep!

I can’t wait to tell you about the Taste Pavilion and Saturday Night’s Gala Dinner.

Did you attend Foodbuzz Festival?

If so, what was your favorite dessert from the Awards Dinner?

And if you didn’t attend, what dessert are you most looking forward to at Thanksgiving?

I desperately needed to get out of the noise and seeming chaos of the city this weekend.

Saturday morning I searched frustratingly through the apartment for my Camelbak and then drove up to Auburn State Recreation Area to the Quarry Road Trail, a trail I’ve hiked before with Tyler.

I decided to hike the 6.3 miles to Poverty Bar to really maximize my time alone in nature.

The first mile was a little crowded and noisy and I found myself hiking at breakneck speed to get off the busy section of the trail. The other 5.3 miles were peaceful with only the occasional exchange of hello’s with passing trail runners. After a little over 2 hours of hiking I found myself at Poverty Bar.

I stopped for a snack, some stretching, and to take out the camera for some quality photos.

The first 3 miles of the hike back to the car were still pretty secluded. By then my head felt much clearer than it has in weeks. I even realized I inadvertently managed to continue the tradition of going for hikes on (or near) Halloween.

The first other hikers I really encountered had a dog and I stopped for a moment to answer a couple of questions they had about how far they were and how far it was to Poverty Bar. They were really friendly and I enjoyed the break in silence. After that I passed quite a few more hikers, especially around the quarry.

The last mile back to the car I enjoyed the views of the river and looked forward to getting back to the apartment and dinner.

I spent the last little bit of the afternoon nursing some sore muscles.

I hoped a little walk would loosen my legs up a big. Subway provided dinner and a short walk.

Five. Five dollar. Five dollar footlong.

Anyone else constantly have that jingle stuck in their head? Good job Subway.

I took my Subway home and enjoyed it while I watched another horror movie on Netflix.

I should have known from the crowds out when I walked to dinner that I was not in for a quiet evening.

Around 10 it started getting loud outside, lots of people heading out to the bars or just walking around. Then 10:30 rolled around and I started hearing helicopters circling around above my apartment and the surrounding neighborhoods. Shortly after there was an announcement, possibly from the helicopter. I didn’t catch the whole message but I did catch that it was the police advising people to stay inside and lock their doors and windows because there was a suspect on the loose in the area.

To say that I was scared is an understatement. I frantically locked the doors, made sure all the windows were secure and blinds closed, and called Tyler while peering through the blinds into the darkness. I probably looked like a scared freak, but that is exactly how I felt. Tyler calmed me down some assuring me that nothing was going to happen. I camped out on the couch watching a cheesy family movie until things finally calmed down around 1:30 in the morning. It was definitely not the most restful night, every little noise had me jumping out of bed to check out the windows.

I think the night nonsense was in part due to Halloween weekend. News reports rattled off quite a few crimes and neighborhood disturbances on Saturday night.

Lastly, Happy Halloween!

Are you dressing up or doing anything fun?

What do you do to find solitude in chaotic times?

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

6

Timestamp: 2011-10-26 20:38:56 UTC

Comment # 6:

A total guilty pleasure, but i LOVE lucky charms. i NEVER buy them, but if they have them at a hotel continental breakfast, there is no other choice…

Congratulations Elise, you should have an email from me!

And now an update on Tyler and life in Shanghai.

We were very lucky to find an apartment on our house hunting trip that we loved and even luckier when all the paperwork and dealings went through and we actually got that apartment along with all the extra things we requested.

This past Sunday, Tyler moved in. There have been a few snags, with internet issues and such, but he’s really been enjoying not living out of suitcase.

We really could not have asked for a better apartment. Its on the 24th floor of our building and has views of the Huangpu River from the balcony and the bedroom.

The complex is in Pudong and has a club with a restaurant, gym, and pool where we were able to get a membership.

The kitchen sold me on the place.

We would never be able to afford an apartment like this on our own, and we very are grateful for the generous housing allowance provided by Tyler’s company. We love that we can share the benefits with any family or friends who come visit, because we have a real guest bedroom and bathroom. No more bed-size couch in the living room for our guests.

Tyler also went on his first grocery shopping trip on Sunday. He hasn’t had a chance to buy any kitchen supplies yet, so we made a list of foods including things he could cook with only a mess kit, kitchen stove, and microwave.

He walked to a market about 8 minutes from our apartment complex and picked up:

• Bread
• Frozen Shrimp
• Chicken Breast
• 8 Eggs
• Butter
• Milk
• Yogurt
• Apple Juice
• Skippy Peanut Butter
• Strawberry Jam
• Asian Noodles
• Fusili Pasta
• Salad Dressing
• Dishwashing Liquid

All of that was under $30. Tyler’s been eating pasta with chicken and grilled PB&J sandwiches for dinner and Clif bars (I packed some in his luggage) with yogurt for breakfast. He eats lunch at the cafeteria at work for $1-2 and probably will continue to do so until I move there. Hopefully this weekend he will have a chance to pick up some kitchen items from IKEA. I’ve already made a list for him, but he hasn’t had time to get there.

We’ve been talking about once a day, either on the phone, on Facetime, or on iChat. I would love to talk more, but I know how busy he is, so I understand when he can only chat for a few minutes.

All in all, things are going well so far. I haven’t started counting down the days until we get to see each other again, yet, but I’m sure I will once another week or two goes by. It helps that I have so many things to look forward/worry about in the meantime: Foodbuzz Festival, a road trip with my mom, Thanksgiving, finals, and shopping for the holidays.

I’m planning to post weekly updates about what Tyler is doing. I know our families will enjoy them.

Let me know if you like hearing about Tyler’s life in Shanghai and if there are any things in particular you would like to know about living in Shanghai or in a foreign country in general.

*The prize package for the Big G Cereal giveaway was provided by MyBlogSpark and General Mills.

I am not one of those people, although sometimes I envy them. I eat breakfast almost every morning, because if I don’t I will end up very hungry and often grumpy within a short period of time.

Sometimes breakfast is a big production, waffles, french toast, omelets. Sometimes it’s big, but easier to prepare, like a bagel or toast and scrambled eggs. Sometimes it is on the run, a bar or fruit as I wait for class to begin, or a quick protein shake.

Cereal is sort of a middle ground for me between eating on the run and having time to make eggs. It is quick. Just pour some in a bowl, pour in some milk, grab a spoon, and eat up. And it tastes good.

I got to enjoy some of the prominent cereals of my childhood this month when I was sent a package of Big G cereals from MyBlogSpark.

I received Cheerios, Chocolate Cheerios, Cookie Crisp, Golden Grahams, MultiGrain Cheerios, and Total.

I’m sure I’m not the only one who grew up eating these. Cereals were one of our staple breakfasts.

My favorites from this package were the Golden Grahams and the MultiGrain Cheerios which are slightly sweeter than regular Cheerios.

General Mills and MyBlogSpark will send one of you a package of cereal as well.

The package will include one box each of the same cereals I received: Cheerios, Chocolate Cheerios, Cookie Crisp, Golden Grahams, MultiGrain Cheerios, and Total.

To enter to win leave a comment here telling me what your favorite cereal is.

I’ll pick a winner on Wednesday, October 26, so hurry and get those comments in.

*Disclosure: The cereals and giveaway pack in this post were provided by MyBlogSpark and General Mills as part of Big G Breakfast Solutions.

Last weekend in Foshan, China, a little girl Yueyue was the victim of a hit and run.

Source

While the girl lay in the middle of the road, severely injured, multiple bystanders walked by and ignored her or purposely walked around her. Another vehicle ran her over a second time. Finally, a woman, Chen Xianmei came upon the little girl. She tried to locate Yueyue’s parents, moved the little girl out of the road, and eventually found the parents, who had left the little girl at the store while they went to run an errand. Yueyue was taken to the hospital where doctors treated her for seven days and nights. Sadly, Yueyue passed away Friday morning.

You can read more about this terrible incident here, here, here, here, and here.

I was horrified when I watched the surveillance tape and read the articles about what happened to Yueyue.

Yueyue’s story has received international attention. Some commenters have been quick to judge and say that an incident like this would never happen in the United States, or in their respective country. Unfortunately, these people are ignoring the many similar instances of behavior like this in the United States.

This reaction is nothing new. It is known as the Bystander Effect: “where individuals do not offer any means of help in an emergency situation to the victim when other people are present” (Source). One example of the Bystander Effect is Kitty Genovese who was attacked outside her apartment. While no one witnessed the entire attack, neighbors heard and saw parts of it and failed to act.

Situations like this are bound to elicit strong emotions and reactions from people. I have been thinking about and praying for Yueyue and her family since I first read the articles earlier this week, and have talked about it with a few people. Now, I would like to hear what you all have to say.

Why do you think people fail to act when they see someone in trouble?

Have you ever had to act to help someone?

What do you think can be done to encourage people to help when they see someone needing help or in trouble?

Please take a moment to pray for or send healing thoughts to Yueyue’s family and to all those involved.