home and garden and restaurant review

We live in the cool, foggy part of San Francisco--the part where we might not see the sun all day long in the summer and it might not get above 63 degrees. I have been very chagrined that this means that I cannot grow basil! I get basil in my CSA box, but there's nothing that can compare to fresh-grown basil, that is picked right before you need it, in quantity.

CSA....I have to stop and comment here. CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. The concept is that you subscribe to the services of a small, usually completely organic, family farm. Then, each week, you get a box full of whatever is currently growing. This idea is right at the heart of eating fresh and local. The fossil fuels used to bring the food to you are minimal--my CSA farm is located 73 miles from here, not in Mexico or Chile. The food is fresh, because it was just picked within the last couple of days before it comes to me. The food is organic. The food is diverse, because the farmers know they are catering to a group of people who don't mind trying new (to them) vegetables, like rutabega, kohlrabi, or baby turnips. Oh, those are winter vegetables--nowadays, we're getting heirloom tomatoes, summer squash, corn, cucumbers, and yes, basil. Mmm. I've been enjoying receiving basil every week, and even so I have to ration my bunch of basil each week, because I love the stuff so. And I can't grow it! Until now....

Yesterday, in the Home section of the newspaper, I read about a variety of basil that grows well even in this climate! It's called Italian Blue Leaf. I hurried out to Sloat Garden Center and bought me three plants of it. (I thought I was buying five, but in my haste and giddyness I accidentally bought two of another variety....) They're in my garden now! I'll report back as to how they do.

So, now I come to the restaurant review portion of this post! ;-) The kids declared a "Dad and Kids" day, and they went off to a movie together and pizza afterward. So, I treated myself to a "Mom and bookstore" day! Afterward, I went to Chow on Church St. Whenever we're in that area, trying to find a place to eat, I always say "we could try Chow..." and then everyone else says "no, let's just have pizza." :-( So, today I went where I wanted to go. My dinner was so scrumptious! I had something called Garden Noodles, which was soba noodles with a peanut sauce, cilantro, bok choy, and tofu--all very flavorful. I burned my mouth because it was too hot, but I couldn't stop shoveling it in. A wonderful glass of Merlot was had with it, with chocolate cake and a scoop of vanilla ice cream, drizzled with chocolate sauce, for dessert. My tummy is still very happy. :-)