home cooking
We’ve been trying to eat at home more often and this week Jes made some pretty tasty dinners.
pork chops with rice pilaf and brocollini
pan-seared steak with mashed potato, mushrooms, and haricot verts
Sunday in Golden Gate Park
On Sunday, we went to the Cal Academy for the members-only hour. I can’t believe our membership will expire this month. Seems like we just joined. Glad we got to go more than enough to make up the cost.
Afterward, we visited the Japanese Tea Garden for the first time. 
It’s just across the street and it’s a lot bigger inside than I expected.
They have an actual tea house inside where we had some tea and tako yaki.
The garden is beautifully manicured and there were lots of nooks and crannies to explore. The koi pond is probably the coolest part.
The little bridges were the most nerve-racking for parents of a toddler.
Other than that there was plenty of room for Kumquat to roam.
FYI: Admission is $7/adult. SF residents get in for $5.
Action-packed Weekend
Some weekends are lazy and some are filled with friends, family, and fun. This past weekend was the latter. Saturday started with brunch at the Ferry Plaza where Kumquat practiced taking photos with the iPhone. 
This is the picture she took of me. Not too bad, kid.
On our way home, the kid fell asleep so we indulged with some wine and macarons from the cafe downstairs from our condo.
As soon as she woke up, we packed up our stuff and headed back out for a train ride to the Bangs’ for a BBQ. We started planning this BBQ since beginning of May and only recently found a mutual free weekend.
It was fun catching up and to see all the kids together. At one point, all the kids were in the backyard and Jesse was the only adult. He had a moment of panic and yelled, “Hey, I think we probably need one more adult out here.” He did just fine for those 10 minutes. Click here for more photos from Kumquat’s perspective.
On Sunday, Jia and Jason had a rare day off together so they came over to spend a very warm and sunny day in SF with us. At brunch, the two brothers were both cooking in the sun and had to cover themselves toward the end.
After a 2-hour nap/break at home, we all headed back out. We went to Union Square and found lots of party-goers finishing up them Pride Weekend festivities. We opted for drinks and sweets at a cafe overlooking the street, which was so nice.
For dinner, we went to Kin Khao (literal translation in Thai: eat rice). It’s created by Pim, a famous food blogger that Jes has been following for years. She was actually working there and served a couple of our dishes. The menu consists of dishes that are her playful twist on traditional Thai dishes. Some of them are actually spicy enough for Jesse to appreciate too. The papaya salad was legit, fried chicken was good and came with sticky rice made the right way, and the massaman curry was made with short ribs. Overall, it was a fun dinner but I don’t know if I’ll be going back there. When I’m in the mood for Thai food, I want the real stuff and lots of it for a cheaper price. Most of the dishes were good but made me crave dinner at Thai Nakorn.
Father’s Day Weekend
This past weekend was filled with lots of family time in the city. On Saturday afternoon, we went out for a long walk and dinner at Hog Island. Our party of 3 enjoyed the warm weather that day and took this photo together on Pier 14 with the GoPro.
On Sunday morning, I made spam, eggs, and rice for the family. Yum.
For the day, we went down to Golden Gate Park for a morning at the CA Academy of Sciences and then an afternoon at the SF Botanical Garden. Jes also took a work call at 1pm from the garden so I walked around the entire garden while Kumquat settled down in the stroller for a nap.
We even had a little cocktail hour at Pacific Catch while Kumquat slept and we reenacted one of our many afternoons in Hawaii with some mai tais and poke. 
We also got ice cream from the Twirl n Dip truck parked just around the corner from the museum.
For dinner, we went to Hillstone, our usual celebration spot, and these two were so cute together that evening.
Happy Father’s Day, Jes! Hope you had a fun day!
Baby Sprinkle
We had little party for Ranee who is expecting Baby #2 next month.
Lucy, our lovely hostess, prepared a bunch of yummy cocktails and we all pitched in on food, which is what we do best.
The little girls got to play and even little Henry joined in on the fun.
As with any baby party, there were cupcakes, gifts, and games.
Can’t wait to meet your little cupcake, Ranee!!
Mother’s Day Weekend
I had a really nice Mother’s Day weekend. On Saturday, we rode the train to the zoo and had fun watching Kumquat play and explore. 
On our way home, we stopped at Hog Island a second time in two weeks to have the clam chowder that I didn’t get last weekend.
It was delicious and this little kid tried it for the first time and loved it.
We sat outside with a gorgeous view and awesome weather that evening.
On Sunday morning, I was up with the kid but Jes got up shortly to make me corned beef hash with an oozy egg on top.
After some coffee, we popped open a bottle of champagne that we worked on for the rest of the day.
We also finally watched “Frozen”, which we all really enjoyed. Even Kumquat seemed to appreciate the slapstick humor, music, and loveable characters.
The rest of the day was spent hanging out at home. I literally did not change out of my glasses and PJs all day. Heck, Kumquat ran around with no pants on too!
For dinner, all I wanted was spaghetti so Jes made a homemade sauce and cooked up a mean bowl of pasta. It was perfect. As if this weekend wasn’t enough, Jes also made a dinner reservation for Thursday night at Saison. Awesome.
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