Sunday brunch took place at the famed Nepenthe restaurant in Big Sur.



While we waited for our giant table, I made the rounds to admire the view, which was only slightly tempered by the cloudy day:





Allie and I also moseyed down to the gift shop. I wanted to buy all of the dishes, but I did not.



I also wanted to eat this cake, but I restrained myself since it wasn’t actually edible:



When our table was ready, we made our way back up to the top deck, passing by some exciting alternate seating options that I will have to investigate if I ever find myself in Big Sur again.

Fire pit:



Pillow-chair benches:



Our table was located inside a giant log cabin of sorts with plenty of window space all around to facilitate view admiration.



I ordered a pot of Earl Grey and got excited about the pot and its mechanics:





The menu had some serious standout options, so Allie and I decided to share a bit with each other to maximize taste variety.

Allie ordered the pecan-topped goat cheese with slow-roasted Gilroy garlic and toasted baguette slices as her meal. It came with an entire head of roasted local garlic:



She made three little toasties for me like so:



I was freezing (as usual) and needed some comfort food stat. I ordered the soup and salad combo:



I chose the garbanzo and kidney bean salad, and soup of the day was one of my all-time favorite cloudy day flavors: tomato-basil-cheddar.



I shared half with Allie and inhaled the rest.

We hung around a bit longer to admire the view some more:



From Nepenthe, Allie and I hopped back in her car to begin the next leg of our journey and embark on part three of my bed-hopping west coast extravaganza.

What are your top three cloudy, chilly day comfort foods/beverages? Mine are earl grey tea with milk and honey, oatmeal, and tomato soup. I was three for three on Sunday, and all before noon! 😀

I woke up with a definite food hangover the morning after the wedding. I picked at my cup of fruit and ignored the Danish in an attempt to cancel out the 80 slices of cake from the night before.



There was no time for a run Saturday morning since I woke up at 9 and we had to be at the morning-after brunch by 10. I was still full, and my plan was to eat nothing.



I admired my dad’s bagel with cream cheese, cucumber, and tomato:



And then I gave in. After the wedding the night before, my sisters and I had spearheaded a movement to pack up all the extra cocktail hour appetizers and wedding cake. The scene from the reception bar 12 hours earlier:



When the highlights of the previous night appeared at the brunch, I could not resist the artichokes, the marinated mushrooms, and the strawberry garnish.



Oh right, and a sliver of wheat bagel with gorgonzola:



Ummmm, and 1/4 blueberry bagel:



(And lots of cubes of cheese that leapt into my mouth too fast for the camera!)

I also kidnapped baby Jack again … until his dad found me out and demanded that I step away from the child:



I had a hard time letting go …



But I consoled myself with the box of cake that I had lovingly pieced together in one box like a giant cake puzzle the night before:



The brilliantly talented cake baker (Barb) and I discussed the beauty of the cake carnage while I downed approximately one dozen more slices:



After the brunch, my sisters and I intended to go for a run on the beach. But I started gossiping about boys, and our run turned into an hour-long walk. That was fine with me, though — quality sister time trumps exercise any day:-D

After our walk, the girls helped me pack up my stuff and haul it a few blocks up the road to their hotel. Murphy had gone back up to SF for the opening night of his new bar, so there was a Sarah-sized piece of bed calling my name at the Wayfarer Inn. The room was nestled right behind this charming patio arrangement:



Once settled in my new digs, Emily, Allie, Chris (Allie’s boyfriend), and I bounded to the lobby for the complimentary wine and cheese hour:



I looked … but I did not touch!



I made myself some English breakfast tea and settled down at the table to drool over everyone else’s cheese plates. My stomach just couldn’t take any more solids at this point!



We chatted more, Allie announced she was pregnant, I had a heart attack, and then she announced she was joking. Good times.

Shortly thereafter, Mark came to collect us in his siblingmobile for a trip to Morgan Winery for a wine tasting. Emily dove in, but I passed due to my consistently overstuffed belly.



However, when Mark resurfaced with olives, feta, and gummy bears, I found room for them:



After the tasting, we headed back into Carmel for a farewell pizza party at Lobos Lodge where my dad and stepmom were staying. I kicked things off with a collection of Andes mints the hotel left on our pillows and a green tea ginger ale:



The pizza soon arrived from Pizza My Heart to a flurry of activity:



Everyone quickly moved in for the kill.



We ordered a large Big Sur with sausage, pepperoni, mushrooms, and whole garlic cloves:



And a large feta, sundried tomato, and olive:



And a medium pepperoni:



I had baby slices of the two exciting types:



And a couple more baby slices after that. Just look at this beautiful garlic:



Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm …



We capped the night with a slideshow of my millions of food pictures. It wasn’t even my idea, but everyone was fascinated:



Have you ever seen such enthusiasm over a photo of poached eggs?

Back at the Wayfarer Inn the next morning, I went for one last rejuvenating four mile run on the beach and then took part in a light breakfast to tide me over until brunch plans. The hotel had an excellent selection, right down to the make-your-own-waffles-from-scratch station:



My body was craving wholesome simplicity, so I went with an old standby:



A quarter cup of instant oats, half a banana, a spoonful of cranberry granola, apple juice, tea, and a mealy apple (that I did not eat):



This bowl tasted just like home.



And my tummy thanked me for going easy.



After breakfast, Allie and I loaded her car with our luggage and then busted out of Carmel en route to brunch in Big Sur …

If you had to choose, would you snatch babies or cakes?

What’s all this marriage stuff about anyway?

Friday afternoon, my siblings and I headed over to the cottage where our brother Chad was getting ready for his big day:

The girls and I held down the fort and nibbled on fritos while the boys lived out a high-anxiety cuff-links drama of sorts.

Once the cuff links situation was resolved, pre-wedding photography was able to resume.

Chad went off to collect his bride, and the rest of us headed down to the beach (the site of my early morning runs!) to stake out the perfect wedding location:

And then the family photos commenced. Kids:

Left to right: me, brother Mark, sister Emily, brother Chad, new sister-in-law Laura, sister Allison, “cousins” Charles and Rob.

Bliss …

Bliss continued …

See the couple looking slightly stressed directly behind me to the right? That would be the baby’s parents wondering where their two-month-old son went. Just kidding … sort of.

As soon as I saw my brother’s best friend walking down the beach steps with baby Jack in his arms, I immediately transferred veil-holding duties to my sister and beelined straight for Chris with a “sogoodtoseeyouagaindoyouwantmetoholdyourbaby?”

Successssss 😀

After the ceremony, we headed up to La Playa for cocktail hour … which was a dinner in itself!

I had a few bites here and there (including a couple slices of that incredible pizza), but my hands and attention were otherwise busy with baby!

Once inside, I found my seat and marveled at my luck:

A straight shot to the six wedding cakes!!!!!

But first, I happily sat through a delicious salad with gorgonzola and walnuts:

And my entree: local crab ravioli with prawns in a tarragon butter sauce with julienne veggies.

This was amaaaazing. I definitely picked the winner!

The other option was this osso bucco with citrus glaze and risotto cakes:

I wolfed my meal down so I could go and kidnap this little guy again:

Just kidding. I asked permission first.

Jack got hungry for his mama just in time for the cake cutting …

Seriously, between the cakes and the baby, I wasn’t sure I was still awake. This sort of thing only happens in my dreams!

There was a multi-layer chocolate cake, a coffee cake, a carrot cake …

Almond cake …

Cinnamon cake:

And raspberry-lemon cake:

Chad and Laura opted for cinnamon for their first slice:

And then I swooped in for one of each.

Almond, coffee, and carrot:

Cinnamon, chocolate, and raspberry-lemon:

They were terrible:

The raspberry-lemon and carrot were tied for my favorites.

Post-cake, I ordered myself some Earl Grey to try and quell the sugar shakes:

The tea that arrived was fancy and robust:

Murphy was particularly impressed with the leaf on the end of the pyramid bag and insisted on hand modeling:

He also insisted on me eating more cake and posing with it.

And then, tragedy struck. All of the unmarried ladies were rounded up for the bouquet toss, whether they were interested or not. I strategically placed myself at the back of the pack and pulled my big sister Allison in front of me with the command, “Block me, Allie. Keep that thing away from me.” Next thing I know, the bouquet comes sailing straight for my chest (ummmm, big sister, what happened to your job???), where it decided to lodge itself. This had to be the most passive, hands-free bouquet catch ever. I almost broke out in tears. The offender:

Seriously, if it were up to me, I would skip the whole marriage thing and just continue poaching other people’s babies for the rest of my life. Oh wait, it is up to me!!! 😀

How do you feel about the bouquet toss?

One week ago today, I set out from Brooklyn for my foray across the country to attend my brother’s wedding in Carmel. I flew to San Francisco via Chicago, so a normally 5 to 6 hour trip took me 10 hours … but I did not mind because the groom-to-be used his frequent flier miles to make sure I could be present. (Thanks again, Chad!!) The other reason I did not mind:



I did not actually buy anything from this cafe, but just seeing the name of it in the Chicago airport made me happy, especially considering what was to come my way in terms of cake. (More details on that in the next post.)

Anyway, I landed at SFO around 5:30. My sister Allison’s friend Amanda was conveniently driving down to Carmel at that time to visit her family, and she had offered to pick me up for the 2-hour drive. We had a great chat all the way down, and she provided me with excellent historical background on the region … such as the high quantity of artichoke farms. (Thanks, Amanda!)

My evening arrival in Carmel meant I missed the first part of the rehearsal dinner. Luckily, my dad was able to temporarily fill in as food photographer and snapped this shot of my brother Mark preparing his contribution:



I am so sad I missed this appetizer! Mark made grilled polenta bruschetta with goat cheese, tomato, and pesto:



Mmmm, that picture makes my jaw ache. I can’t believe I didn’t get to taste it!

Luckily, however, my sister’s boyfriend Murphy was on call at the grill and jumped to attention when he saw my protein-starved, travel weary face. He threw a big pile of smoked meat on for me and gave me a rundown of the various rubs (one was a green herby rub, and one was a spice rub … I think?) and smoking techniques that he and my sister had used for preparation.



I went to catch up with my siblings and some other family. Next thing I knew, Murphy reappeared with a big plate full of meat that included the most enormous chicken breast ever and a hunk of pork tenderloin. I made a quick run inside to hunt down the final remnants of produce in the form of fennel salad and puttanesca sauce:



To eat dinner, I parked myself at this table full of cheese, crackers, hummus, carrots, and every other addictive finger food in the world:



After cleaning my plate and most of the table (with some help from Murphy and Emily, thank goodness), it was time for dessert! My siblings’ mom, Alice, had made pumpkin cheesecake:



Mmmmmm, it was delicious and fluffy and light and perfectly spiced. I had many “slivers.”

I found blow pops lying around and compulsively ate one (in the company of brother Mark, stepmom Rae Ann, and siblings’ cousin Charles):



I also found these deliciously iced sugar cookies and split one with my sister Emily:



Ummmm, I felt very full by the end of all of this.

The next morning, I started texting my brother Mark at 7:30 am to get some running plans underway. He finally replied at 8:30, and I met up with him and Charles shortly thereafter for a glorious few miles on the beach alongside the dolphins and sea lions. Mark, being 6’3″ and triathlon-fit, could have lapped me like 10 times, except he dropped for 30 upside-down pushups off the edge of the cliff every time he reached the end of the beach first and had to wait for me. Caaaaahraaaaaaaaazy.

When I got back to the room I was sharing with my dad and stepmom, the continental breakfast was waiting! I had apple juice, a perfect blueberry muffin, and a little fruit cup:



Can you spot the dad?



Once I pulled myself together, a bunch of us headed out for a stroll up and down the quaint streets in search of brunch.

We wound up at Little Swiss Cafe.

I looooooooved the decor (as usual). Check out the room dividers cleverly camouflaged as shutters with landscape paintings in the background:



I ordered an Earl Grey tea with honey and milk, my favorite cloudy morning beverage:

I was NOT hungry because I had eaten so much the night before, so I looked at the lighter options.

Ummmmm, $3.50 for half a grapefruit???? If I wanted a whole grapefruit, it would cost $7? That is CRAZY. Sadly, I was craving a grapefruit and nothing else would do. My dad stepped in and offered to treat me, so I overcame my aversion to $7 grapefruits and graciously accepted 🙂



And I made sure to get every penny’s worth out of it!

In between bites of grapefruit, I took advantage of my multi-tasking brother’s distraction to have a bite of his Belgium waffle:

(Mind you, he followed his waffle “appetizer” with eggs Benedict for a second breakfast course.)

I also had a bite of my stepmom’s avocado (hiding under the scary hollandaise):



And my dad’s steak:



Because I finished my food way faster than everyone else, I had time to inspect the local artwork. Do you notice anything off about this painting?



Zoom:



I swear the artist strategically placed two fried eggs, sunny-side-up, in the flower pot. What do you think?

Last week was short but crazy. I was only at work through 1:00 on Wednesday because of my trip out here to SF for my brother’s wedding, and I’m also in the process of a slight job change within the agency, so I had lots of loose ends to tie up — and fast!

Monday morning started out with the realization that I had half a block of silken tofu left in the fridge that was on its way out. A rescue mission was in order. I immersion-blended the tofu with a pile of freshly grated ginger and about six sunsweet prunes while sauteeing one of my CSA pears in canola.



The caramelized pears went on top of the quick tofu pudding for an atumnal pear-ginger mess. I ate half and found it the perfect way to start a chilly October (!!!) day:



Upon arrival at work, Deborah plopped this canister of excitement down in front of me:



Mmmmm, cookie sticks in chocolate frosting. Not complaining!



Deborah also procured a hunk of champagne cheddar from Danilda, so I enjoyed a few slices of that on top of Belkis’ apple wedges:



Lunch of the week was a CSA salad made from romaine and arugula and topped with caramelized rainbow chard and baby bok choy that I had sauteed with olive oil and a bit of molasses:



(Love that natural park sunlight!)

On the side, I had CSA butternut squash and radish fries that I had sliced, marinated (olive oil, cinnamon, nutmeg, sea salt, and cayenne for the butternut squash; olive oil, balsamic, sea salt, and coriander for the radish):



For a pre-karate dinner, I had a defrosted eggplant and ground turkey casserole of sorts that has been hanging in my freezer since mom gave it to me a couple months back. I pepped it up with tons of my fresh CSA pesto, and microwaving it made my office smell like a pizzeria. The Pizzeria, to be exact. (Mmmm, I haven’t been there since college. And apparently it is closed now! SAD.)



Erik and I went to karate, and I did not get beat up this time, woooooooooot! I just got really confused at the rapid sequence of blocks, punches, and swirly hands and became even more convinced that I would be burnt toast in the case of a surprise attack.

We hopped on the subway after karate (yay for F train buddies! the commute goes so much faster with company) only to get stuck downtown due to smoke in a Brooklyn station further down the line. After waiting for 20 minutes with no sign of subway service recovery, we were forced to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge (AGAIN) on the clearest night ever. Darn.



We hopped the C on the other side and took it past the smokey station to transfer successfully back to the F. Sure, I got home at 11:15 instead of 9:15, but I managed a Hollywood-style stroll in the process. Sometimes train drama can be a good thing.

Tuesday morning, following more pear-ginger tofu perfection, Belkis gave me a little wedge of her bran muffin:



And she also supplemented my lunch with some steamed batata:



Then, Rosey shared around little hunks of her dad’s famous homemade authentic Puerto Rican dulce de coco:



Just looking at that picture turns my mind to mush.

Also, some Satanic person shared lots of freshly baked and buttered French bread with me:



After work, Jose, Erik, Erik’s friend Wes, and I went around the corner to Orbit to watch the highly anticipated (ummm, who am I??) Twins-Tigers game. Honestly, I was on the edge of my seat for a good chunk of this game as it went to 12 innings! Or maybe being on the edge of my seat had to do with the fact that I kept reaching across Erik for his fried calamari:



With cocktail sauce and chipotle mayo, mmmmmmmmm …



After a hearty egg sandwich breakfast early early Wednesday morning, I zipped up to work by 8:25 because I had a million families to meet with before I left for vacation. After meeting with my first mom of the day, I joined our weekly department meeting to this sight:



Ahhhhh, more warm and buttered French bread!! Apparently, my agency has gone out with the cake and in with the bread. Still delicious, but no less damaging to my chances of fitting into that bridesmaid dress, ack.

Accompanying the bread craze is a donut craze, perpetuated by Deborah. She is determined to bring us all down with her and keeps showing up at the office with half dozen boxes of Dunkin Donuts. I can’t say no. I need serious help.



A minute later, I received a gchat from Erik that he had picked up some cactus for lunch. I was at his desk in negative 5 seconds:



One bite of cactus and roasted onion later, I was off and running on my way to Brooklyn to pack, back uptown to the Upper West Side for class, and back to Brooklyn for the night … for a grand total of six hours on the subway in one day. Can I win an award??

Thursday morning, it was time for escape from the city, part 10,007. Wedding updates to come soon …

Have you ever eaten anything that used to be prickly?