Big stuff happening....

Things are good in California. It's amazingly sunny. All. The. Time. I am used to it, which is dangerous. I have now made *9* trips to the Northwest, and have not lost the fascination (and expectation) with coming home to sun.

My last trip, however, was not so fun. I ended up in the emergency room in Seattle twice and in Portland once. In three days. The bottom line is that I am going to have surgery on May 22nd to have my gall bladder out. I could not have asked for a better schedule. A friend will have the kids on that Thursday and Friday, Sanjay will pick them up Friday afternoon, then we have a three day weekend. Perfect.

In much more exciting news, we are making an offer on a house. I am completely in love, it is my dream home (do I say that every time? that and "I'm never moving again" which has already crossed my lips at least once). It is a 1907 Craftsman in the Naglee Park neighborhood, very close in to downtown San Jose. It is a fantastic neighborhood consisting mostly of Craftsman homes, with a few Victorians, a handful of Spanish style and some lovely Storybooks. This particular house has never been touched. All of the original wiring and much of the original plumbing is in tact. The kitchen is original, the light switches are the original switches with mother of pearl buttons. There is an *enormous* amount of work to be done, however (shocked? I think not.) The foundation is failing on one side causing the dining room to dip, the wiring is original knob and tube with a Zinsco panel, the plumbing is atrocious, the downstairs bath is unusable, the porch needs reconstruction, the plaster is damaged in many spots. Having said that, it is also one of the most original, untouched Craftsman homes I have ever seen. It is also in our price range (which shocks me to no end). I am attached. I am smitten. Head over heals. Done.

More pictures here.

Stickies!

Every Thanksgiving, the story is retold. How my Grandmother used to make stickies all the time, then something happened and she stopped. No one knows why, she just did. In 1994, I called my Gram to tell her that I would be bringing a guest. She asked if I would like her to make Stickies, to which I replied "What are those?". I brought Sanjay home for the first time, she made Stickies. They were heaven! I have never had anything so melt-in-my-mouth tender, with the perfect amount of unadulterated sweetness. Sanjay stayed, and the tradition of the Sticky returned to our family.

We have them at every holiday with brunch (even the ones where dinner is the star), always served with Voget's ham, scrambled eggs, steamed asparagus and fruit (either frozen raspberries and blueberries or a citrus salad)

What are they? Very simply, a baking powder biscuit, rolled out into a large rectangle and spread with a very thin layer of butter and brown sugar (cooked together, 2 parts brown sugar to one part butter, 1/2 stick of butter per batch of baking powder biscuits), rolled, cut into 12 pieces (because that is how many holes are in a muffin tin) and baked in a hot, 425 degree oven for about 15 minutes. Of course, serving hot with a pat of butter is essential.

I can say without hesitation, that Stickies make everything a little better.

As promised...

Expertly edited by Arjun.

Diwali and Dim Sum

We did not do much for Diwali, as far as I can tell. We did go to the temple in Sunnyvale last weekend. There were things happening, but we are not in the 'know', so we missed the cool stuff. We did eat at a few of the many food vendors there, and apparently the mendhi woman was back, but we didn't get that done.

On Sunday, we had Dim Sum with SnS in Cupertino. It was lovely and amazing dim sum, the kids are always happy with these meals, there is always something for them to eat, and they get to stuff themselves silly with their most loved char siu bau.



I managed to snap a photo before it all disappeared. From the back, the round domes that are cut in half are steamed egg custard buns, then the char siu bau is the ragged topped steamed pork buns. Chinese broccoli with oyster sauce is my favorite, especially when coupled with sriracha sauce (super hot chile sauce). On the place in the right front, is the last chicken wing. This was something that I had never experienced before. They were mind blowing. Very simply prepared with salt and pepper and deep fried. We ended up having to order another plate of them because everyone wanted more. The shallow bowl on the left is a noodle dish, that was very good, but needed salt. This particular restaurant has made it's way to the highest parts of my dim sum list. Their siu mai is absolutely outstanding, and they do lovely things with pea shoots and fresh waterchestnuts.

For anyone around here, who wants to check it out, it is The Joy Luck Place in Cupertino.

So, a chicken, a witch and Obi-Wan Kenobi go walking down the street....

They had a great time trick or treating, the neighborhood was great for it. We met our neighbors next door who have two boys, and the neighbors across the street who happen to be from Camas, Washington. Too much candy. I'll post the video of Julian tweaking on sugar, soon.

Wild things in San Jose...

There are some things that are best left unexplained. Wild turnips in San Jose? This shifty fellow was hanging out in front of "Real Ice Cream". Suppose he has a complex about being a turnip?




Driving back from a mall, we were witness to a beautiful triple rainbow. The multiples barely showed up...look hard.


A cockroach hanging out at San Jose State University.

The house...

I took some pictures of the house to satisfy a couple of friends. The house looks like we just moved in...shocking, no?


Living Room


Den (that door goes to me and Sanjay's room)


Kitchen (and the door to the laundry room)


Our very own putting course


Pool table (door to the art room/office)


Our very large back patio


One of the murals in the back patio