Running Out of Room on the Fridge

As you know, I have a mini-fridge in my office.  It has magnets from Friends' and my travels from all around the world on it.  I noticed today that I'm quickly running out of room.  This could mean that I need a bigger fridge.  We'll see.

But, looking at the magnets really brought back a lot of good memories!  Memories of me going places with all of you, and memories of me thinking of you guys going places and all the wonderful things that you would see and experience!  It's like I was there with you.

I think that the first magnet that started it all was the one from Green Thumbs McGillicutty.  It could be one of two magnets.  The first candidate is the puffy Seattle one.  This one was from a short round-trip from California to Seattle for the express purpose of "keeping" her "status" on some airline.  The second candidate is the educational one from Philadelphia (she's a mom).  This one was obtained on her quest to defend the honor of certain gentlemen (i.e., work).  I honestly cannot remember which one was the first now, though the Seattle one looks older than the Philadelphia one.

But, let's play a game!  I have selected a few that are not so obvious where they're from.  Here are the trivia questions for each:

1.  Who bought these magnets for nonny nu?

2.  Which continent is this magnet from?
-Cl. Panic is conflicted out.

3.  Which state is this magnet from?
-Cl. Panic and A-Dog are conflicted out.

SUPER BONUS QUESTION:
4.  Which male model accompanied nonny nu on this trip?

I await your guesses!  Good luck.

Tourists in our Own Backyard

In honor of the return of Twinkies, I'm going to make a concerted effort to bring back The Nu Warren. I begin with a post about a rejuvenation...

Today, Green Thumbs McGillicutty, L. Woods, and I were tourists in our own backyard.  For L. Woods' and my birthdays, Ms. McGillicutty invited us to tea at Charles Chocolates in San Francisco.  Charles Chocolates is located in the Mission District.  This was the first time I'd been to that part of the city and I really liked it.  I felt like I was among the working folk, and not the fancy pants city folk.

When we got to Charles Chocolates, we were greeted with a menu that promised nothing less than scrumptiousness and wonder.  I chose the Yorkshire Gold Black Tea, L. Woods chose the Organic Maiden's Ecstasy Pu-Erh Tea, and Green Thumbs chose the Organic Blood Orange Pu-Erh Tea.  My Yorkshire tea and L. Woods' Maiden's Ecstasy tea were yummy.  I don't know whether the Blood Orange tea was good because Green Thumbs never offered me any.  Then, the food arrived, each item lined up to meet their fate in the Chamber of Horrors that is my stomach (my favorite victim was the Pulled BBQ Chicken Slider).  Most interesting item was the Fresh Bing Cherry Clafoutis, egg-y and light (for Cantonese speakers, the consistency is the same as lo bahk go).  We met Charles himself!  He's a great host!

After this delightful tea, the three of us strolled around the Mission District with endless possibilities before us.  We were open to anything!  Green Thumbs then suggested that we visit the mission and we did.

Just kidding.  That^ wasn't the mission.  That^ was the high school.

This is the Mission San Francisco.  It is also known as Mission Delores and is the oldest structure in San Francisco.  It was built before the Declaration of Independence (see right).

We met many saints there.  My favorite is San Juan Capistrano.  He was the only one with a sword (because he led a Crusade) (he's the one on the left).  Here is the altar where Pope John Paul II visited back in 1987.

Then, we visited the basilica that is part of the mission but the basilica was built in 1918.  I'm not Catholic so I'm not sure what is the difference between a basilica and a church, but the basilica was fancier than the church.  Here is its altar.

The mark of a basilica is the gold and red umbrella (shown at the right) and the crest of the church (it's on the left but blocked by a column in this view).  We saw many saints here, too.

Oh!  I take back my previous statement about San Juan Capistrano being my favorite saint.  He's only my second favorite because my first favorite is Saint Francis of Assisi, the saint for whom San Franciso and the Franciscan order are named.  Here's a picture of him (left).  Can you guess why he's my favorite saint?

At the basilica, we saw beautiful cupolas and stained glass windows.  The windows showed many saints, many after whom cities were named:
Santa Clara
San Juan Capistrano and San Luis Obispo (boo...long live Pomona!)
San Gabriel (*claps!!*) and San Antonio
San Carlos and San Diego
Santa Barbara and Junipero Serra

There was also an ancient cemetery ("goo mo"), which is something that So Ba Sing really loves to visit.  Because we are in the West, which is a younger part of the nation than the East, our goo mos aren't as goo.  The oldest one I found was from 1830, the grave of Don Luis Antonio Arguello, the governor of "Alta California," back when California was still a part of Mexico.  Interestingly, that  picture I took is almost exactly the shot that is on the Wikipedia entry for Senor Arguello (scroll down). There was a sundial in the cemetery that was off by only about 20 minutes, and that depicted Father Time (not the Grim Reaper) (so says L. Woods and Green Thumbs).

On the way back to our parking spot, we found a pair of shoes and its owner a few yards away.

All in all, we spent a relaxing day experiencing San Francisco and being tourists in our own backyard.  Here, again, are the ladies who lunched:

Welcome back, Friends!

Happy Birthday to Mr. Nonny Nu!

Today was Mr. Nonny Nu's birthday!  So many friends and family wished him a happy birthday--it really made the day special. Not sure what I could get for the bear that his own paws could not obtain, I decided to offer my services in the kitchen.

But, what to cook? Mr. Nonny Nu has long since loved Eggs Benedict. In recent days, he has been foraging in the forest on his own in search of EB with porcine-level enthusiasm for truffles. Alas, no local diner could satisfy Mr. NN's standards. 

Enter The Rabbit.

This morning, we got up early and I tried to make EB for Mr. NN's birthday breakfast. I watched about 10 YouTube "how to" videos the night before, but I still disappointed myself with an F. Okay, maybe a D.  Not only was the English muffin too crunchy (actually hard because I think I let it cool too much before serving), the sauce was not tangy enough and the components were not all hot. But, Mr. NN gamely ate his entire plate, and half of mine.  This was a serious case of "it's the thought that counts."  Now that EB has throw n down the gauntlet, I accept the challenge. I'm trying again tomorrow!  Here's what today's attempt looked like:

Dinner was a different story. I got high marks!  We had broiled salmon (an ursine favorite) with Bearnaise sauce. (The Bearnaise sauce was attempted last week as a dry run for today's birthday dinner so I was actually confident this time.) We also had roasted asparagus in lemon juice and olive oil, potatoes au gratin (okay, this was a box concoction requested by the birthday bear), salad, and French baguette. 

  At the end of the meal, Kashy crashed the party. He was dressed up with his hair slicked back and wearing his usual ascot (name tag on the side instead of in the middle). If you look closely, you can see him starting to go cross-eyed. That's what happens when he is in a feeding frenzy. Skillet did not partake.  She is usually disgusted by human food, even fish. 

Update September 2, 2012 (the morning after): Improvement!  The English muffin was still on the toasted side, but the sauce was better (slightly too tangy), the egg was just right, and everything was hot.  Check out the B-grade EB:

Happy Birthday to Wah Toh!

Wah Toh, for the mouse who has it all (food-wise), I baked you a mouse cake and wish you much cheese in the future!

Love you lots,
nn

Happy Belated Birthday to Nonny Nu! by guest bloggers Cl. Panic, A-Dog, and Little Miss

We found you a cake that goes on and on and on and on and on and on and on.  Just like your birthday celebrations....(how many birthday bbqs did you have?)

Love Cl Panic & A Dog & Little Miss

Happy Belated Birthday to Cl. Panic and Kashy Boy!

What's a birthday without a cake picture found by Nonny Nu?

Cl. Panic, happy, happy birthday.  I thought this cake was especially appropriate for you.  You are diving into such an adventure!  I admire you.  Way to go!

And, for my little boy, you truly walk the line, don't you?  For you, a jaunty Kash cake.  I love you!  You are a cutie pie with a cutie face.

Happy Belated Birthday to Ca Loc!

In anticipation of your trip to France, I have baked you a Marie Antoinette cake! I hope you will enjoy it. It's a yellow cake with cherries. Thank you for being such a wonderful sister and good luck traveling with the cheapest skate on Earth.