Binkomonster!:

Although, to be more 'on the mark', the reality this past week has been more of a Party Week, rather than just a Party Week-end. Oh sure, we had to give the usual slave labor up to the Man. But in spite of that, it's been quite the hoo-ha. Between visits to Napa to show Uncle Jerry one of the nicest wineries (thanks Far Niente!), trips to the Embarcadero/Ferry building for lunch and fresh cheese, and parties at the castle, we've barely had time to get things back to normal and catch a few winks of rest. But the schedule, she is a very hard taskmistress. No sooner than we were able to pack a few bags together, we were off to Buffalo, New York to spend time with family for a wonderful Thanksgiving. As you can see, festivities have started off nicely. The Thanksgiving turkey was had with a bottle of 1987 Petrus. Yep, you heard right. There is a certain un-named liquor store that has a small stash of this wonderful libation. We were lucky enough to snag one. Note that our inhaling of the Petrus was preceeded by an afternoon of quaffing pomegranate martinis. Our recipe has been a work in progress with tweaking here and there, but it seems to be a good one, enjoyed by all. The garnish of cranberries makes it a little whimsical, but the main ingredient (gin) does its job. Before we even got our grubby hands on the cocktails, we'll make it known that the morning was spent with our CTO hauling her tuckus down Delaware Avenue in the 110th annual Turkey Trot.

Yes, the routine went a little bit like this:
1. 8:00 am - comb through hair, bundling up in fuzzy hat, muffler, thermal socks and layers
2. 8:15 am - toss back a careful concoction of 1/2 glass of juice (you know, sugar, for quick energy), and 1/2 glass of H2O (you know, for hydration).
Careful to ensure that our total does not exceed 1 glass
(you know, so we don't have to pee during the race).
3. 8:25 am - ok. One last pee. Just to make sure.
4. 8:30 am - getting into car, after a quick brush off of 2 inches of SNOW
and requisite hopping around to keep warm.
5. 8:37 am - fretting about not getting to the start line on time. Voicing said worries.
Listening to protestations of CEO assuring that indeed we WILL get to the start line with plenty of time.
6. 8:40 am - WHY IS THE LIGHT NOT CHANGING, we're going to be LATE!
7. 8:45 am - There it is! There's the starting line! Ok see everyone at the finish?
8. 8:57 am - Holy cow is it cold! Overheard at the starting line
'Yeah c'mon just get this thing started?
I just want to be FINISHED so I can go home and starting drinking the wine.'
Oh man, can we relate.
9. 9:00 am - National anthem concludes, start buzzer goes off, we're moving.
The next hour was, well, how to frame this? An excercise in running in the most adverse conditions and turning that switch on, throttling back to ensure we made it to the finish line. Running in cold has never been our strong point. And yesterday, you had not only cold, you had windchill, you had snow, and you had a CTO who has been rather lax in her overall training schedule for the past few weeks. But we pushed on, and the finish line was crossed with the wishes and cheers of bundled up supporters on the sidelines. Note to Buffalonians: those smiles and waves? that frenzied ringing of the cowbells? that clapping of hands and shouting of 'COME ON, the finish line isn't that far'? They really help. More than you can possibly know. We got to take in our old stomping grounds and see our lovely Buffalo all along the way, but nothing was a more sweeter sight than seeing the finish line appear. And although our finish time was abysmal (far slower than previous years), the upside was that we could stuff ourselves silly with Thanksgiving dinner (without guilt) AND it makes 2005 a banner year
1. Bay to Breakers
2. CAR Charity Swim Event
3. Turkey Trot
2 runs and 1 swim. We may be lazy and a little softer than 10 years ago, but by jove, we can get it in gear when the occasion warrants. And we're VERY happy about that.
And we are so thankful for everything we have (family, health, friends and opportunities).
Happy Thanksgiving folks.

It's on the late side here in bee-aay-ooo-tiful SF. And we are lucky enough to be sitting outside on the deck basking in the moonlight, without feeling cold. Wonderful how that works. Dinner has been served and cleared (chicken, salad, rice, and some good basic red wine). Dessert followed close behind (pumpkin cheesecake) with some tea. And now we're just gazing at the inky night sky, happily digesting. The CEO is busy watching Ocean's Twelve (bleah). This week and next will be full of adventures for the Binkomonster crew. Uncle Jerry from Down Under flies in tomorrow evening for a visit. And we are giddy with anticipation. The Binkomonster castle is at its peak when hosting family and parties. Speaking of which, there is a shindig planned for this weekend (for the lucky few) to celebrate the arrival of 'Uncle Jerry'. RSVeePees have started to come in, and suffice it to say it should be a pretty swank time. We'll remember to catch some pix this time (unlike our bad a few weeks ago at the Villa de Binkomonster Italia party). Yes, plenty of evidence to document. Who knows, if we are feeling brave, we may even setup the camcorder to capture folks in their full zaniness.
It's going to be a good couple of weeks. With Uncle Jerry in town, all of this week will quickly become a blur. Next week, the denizens of Binkomonster head out to (drum roll please) Buffalo, New York. The plan is to have a most intense week of Thanksgiving. There will be the traditional meal, (after of course slogging through the 5 miles of the Turkey Trot), the visit to Inniskillin, and hopefully (!) a visit to Corning to see some glass. And then? We return back to the castle, and begin to decorate in anticipation of Christmas festivities. And of course, with all of this comes the requisite cooking and foodie exploring. No new joints lately. We've been sticking to the classic list (Chez Nous, Absinthe, and of course Zuppa). We did make it to the 'reopened' Public in our neck of the woods (Folsom street), and are disappointed to state that we will now be removing it from our Top 10 list (both drinks and food). Sometimes, regime change is not such a good thing. 'Nuff said. We are however, VERY excited by the new bar/restaurant in our neighboorhood. The Sneaky Tiki has been a most intriguing delight!
The cocktail list is good, but could certainly use some polishing. For example: better garnishes, use real martini glasses, and not so heavy on the sugary components. The food? The menu is good though we admit to only trying a few items at this point. The one item completely worth going for is the steamed fish. Using market available fresh fish, they steam it in banana leaves (with kaffir lime leaves and a whole host of seasoning). The result? Words fail us. Just superb. The atmosphere is awesome (if a bit loud), the whole tiki theme (and glass bar) hit the sweet spot for Shag fans like us. The plan now is to go back and see how they fare on the 'classic' cocktails (i.e. your standard fare martini, negroni, sidecar, etc.) Need more joints like this in the neighborhood!
On other fronts, work for the 'man' continues, as it always does. But work on the Binkomonster castle has started to perk up. The collective weekend was spent completely redoing the sacred study area with results that proved to be most pleasing (before and after shots coming soon, promise). One result of course is some time spent moving furniture up for offer on Craigslist.
Happy Monday San Francisco, it's going to be a good week (we can feel it in our bones)!