Chinatown alleyways

Speaking of Chinatown, there's this whole dimension of Chinatown we just discovered! Suzanne had the opportunity to go on a tour of Chinatown's alleyways, with a little bonus tour of an SRO (Single Room Occupancy) apartment - the SRO isn't on the regular alleyway tour.

Chinatown is the 2nd most densely populated neighborhood in the U.S., Manhattan being the most densely populated, but Chinatown doesn't have high-rise buildings like Manhattan does. A key contributor to Chinatown's density is that a majority of its population lives in SRO's. Occupants of an SRO rent a single room, usually less than 100 sq ft in size, and share bathrooms and kitchens, usually 1 per floor... now that's compact living! Consequently, outdoor public spaces are the "living room" of the neighborhood. There are a couple large public squares and parks that are well used, but in addition to those spaces, the alleyways have become essential community spaces.



This map is in the middle of Waverly Alley. There are 41 alleys, and recently there has been an effort to enhance the usability of those alleys through lighting, seating, plantings, re-paving, etc. It's a fascinating, San Francisco original experience, complete with a stop at the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory.

In with 2011

2011 started with a birthday celebration for our friend Adrian - it was also his baby daughter's 1 month birthday!



A couple days later, Ma & Pa came for a visit. In 2 days we gave them the grand, whirlwind tour of the San Francisco highlights including a short walk on Golden Gate Bridge,



...the classic SF view from Alamo Square of the "Painted Ladies",



...an exciting walk around Chinatown including some Chinese food and of course, a stop at a Chinese bakery for some red bean curd buns,





...and some spectacular sunset views of GG Park and GG Bridge.

The Paramount Theater in Oakland!

Who knew there was something in Oakland to write home about? But this is definitely worth writing about! The Paramount Theater in Oakland is a newly renovated, Art Deco theater built in 1931 complete with an organ, several lounges, plenty of plush public space and lots of Art Deco detailing. And they show old movies for $5 several times a month - we got to see "The Wizard of Oz" in Technicolor - along with vintage newsreels and cartoons accompanied by the organ.

Union Sq. the day after Christmas

We decided to brave Union Square the day after Christmas - mostly to check out the novelty of seeing people ice skate in a city that never freezes.





Oddly enough, it wasn't nearly as crazy as you'd think, mostly because so many people leave the city during the holidays. In fact, it's really the best time to visit because the city is relatively empty - not in an eerie way, just pleasantly so.

Annual Christmas Cookie Exchange

How many people can you fit in a studio apartment?!







I think the final count came to 18 adults, a 3-year old and an infant - that's what happens when you promise people cookies. And there were some great ones...unfortunately I was having so much fun taking pictures of the people and EATING the cookies I forgot to take pictures of them, so you'll have to take my word on it.

Cooking thru the storms

We may not get snow here in the Bay area, but we sure get some serious wind and rain storms. Luckily, with the produce bounty, there's always something to cook up when the rain starts.

We came up with a killer recipe for Brussels Sprouts - we had to do something with those $4 stalks - we fed them to all our friends at Thanksgiving and even the Brussels Sprout haters had good things to say. The secret is to saute garlic, pancetta and pine nuts together with thinly sliced Brussels sprouts. It seems to come out best if you cook the pancetta some first, toss the Brussels sprouts together with olive oil, garlic and pine nuts in a separate bowl, and then throw them in with the pancetta when it's almost cooked.



We baked up several kinds of homemade pizzas - Bob tried his hand at throwing the dough NJ-style.





And we made some great shortbread for the Cookie Exchange (the key is in the European butter).



And just so I don't have to call and ask my brother to look up the shortbread recipe once again, the proportions are: 1 lb. butter/1 c. sugar/ 4.5 c. flour. Flatten dough to 3/4" thick and cook on an ungreased baking sheet, at 300 degrees, for 1 hour.

Thanksgiving with friends

This year Thanksgiving was a group effort - and delicious because of it.



Matt & Jess carving the turkey (after some serious contemplation)...



Laura mashed up some amazing potatoes (don't watch how much butter she puts in)...



Bob cooked up his Brussels sprout concoction...



Petrea helped out wherever she could...



Logan whipped up his special fresh ground nutmeg whipped cream...



And everyone ate so much we had to take an hour long hike after dinner in order to make room for dessert!