Out and about on the Hill

Yes, on my days off, I occasionally wander around the City of St.Louis. This usually happens when I get off the highway and start going down streets I travelled in high school and college. Today, while I was out, I left St. Louis University near the hospital, cut over I-44, to the Vandeventer exit. I took Vandeventer to Shaw and before you knew it, I was on the Hill, St. Louis's storied Italian neighborhood.

As a college student, and in a couple of early jobs (which were both within 2 miles) I spent a lot of time on the Hill eating and shopping. Today it was a little of both.

First, I headed to Adriana's On the Hill. I usually get the Half and Half special (Franco and the soup of the day), but decided to just go with the soup today, even though they were predicting hot weather. This place does great soups, salads and sandwiches.  I had the Sicilian Cauliflower, and it was unlike any cauliflower soup I'd ever had. Picture a light broth with pasta, tomatoes and a touch of grated  parmesan on top. Served with Italian bread, it was a great light lunch.

Next, I went looking for some Abruzzese sausage and found it down the street at Vivianos, which led me to this recipe. I couldn't find any cheese that struck my fancy, so I drove down Shaw to Marconi, and went to DiGregorios Market.  Plenty of cheese...just which one? I got small pieces of Rustico, Caciocavallo, and Tallegio. They're all good, but I'd say the Tallegio is my favorite for now. It's sort of like Brie.

Finally, I picked up some bread, crostini, and some biscotti for Liam, and headed on my way. I could hardly wait to get home and test everything, since I had a light lunch. It was all delicious!

If you're ever in St. Louis and like Italian, the Hill is the place to be. Don't miss it.

Where, oh where have I gone?

Ah, the depths of graduate school work. Yes, it's online, but that doesn't mean I'm not printing out lots of stuff and using lots of paper.

More updates as soon as I get all the food photos downloaded. 2010 was a banner year for interesting recipes, so we'll see what we can get in 2011.

Sometimes I feel this way...

Umlaut fixed.

Waiting for class to be over so I can update my recipes! Just too much writing now on school topics.

See you later...

Middle age crazy?

Not yet, but I found this article funny in the WSJ recently. And later, also in the WSJ, I found this article about DARE, which appealed to the linguistics student in me.

It's boiling outside, so I might as well enjoy the weather inside!

More later...

High school flashback

I tried learning shorthand, but nothing seemed to stick. It seemed like another language, but you can't get by just speaking it well.

This Wall Street Journal article talks about a shorthand "translator" today.

Stormy weather

School's out!

For me, at least. Bubba goes back to school tomorrow, and he's not too thrilled about it, even though he got to go on vacation part of the time.

Since our instructor suggested we not do any homework (online) this week, I've been relaxing and doing other stuff. Here are links to a few of the fun items I've uncovered.

After a 10 year hiatus, we finally got to go back to San Francisco (darned kids and life can do that to you). Fortunately, we had glorious weather (it was not so glorious when we arrived, but was perfect after that) and a grand time with the kids running about.

Don't miss these in San Francisco:

The Top of the Mark (at the Intercontinental Mark Hopkins hotel) Nob Hill
We stayed there and only went to the top before we left, but sunset there was very pretty. Got a few photos and enjoyed the view. Too bad the bar was full on a Sunday night. I surely needed a drink (which I didn't get until we got home).

I was looking for something immediately when I woke up Saturday. I had dreams about the patisserie from this place for years. Marilyn got her wedding cake from them when she lived nearby--a custard-filled sponge cake with real strawberries and an ethereal frosting.

So I got a map, and I talked to the concierge and a desk clerk about the shop, but by mistake, they directed me to La Boulange on Russian Hill. It was a jog to get there (I dragged Bubba along to get him outside since he woke up at 0330 Pacific time), but since we had walked so far, I made sure we had plenty of goodies to bring back for Dad. Later, we also ended up at La Boulange's Pine store when Delanghe's was closed on Monday. It wasn't the same, but oh, my goodness. That goat cheese tart they were sampling...superbe!

Angel Island
We took the ferry from Tiburon here and had a blast. We took sandwiches and assorteds from Shark's Deli with us. With three young boys, we opted for the tram tour, because we would have never made it around the island walking. Segways and bikes are available for rent, too.

Following the marathon day on Angel Island, we headed to a crowded Pier 39 and some little fellow at our house got to see the sea lions, which had been his goal since he read a book about them in December. We got him a corn dog when he was hungry, but his stomach did not like it, though.

We retreated to Marilyn and Wes's house and ate Chinese with the kids who felt like eating. For dessert, we walked over to John Campbell's Irish Bakery. I had the Double Chocolate Almond Tart. Dave loved the rhubarb with crumb topping. From reading yelp, I wasn't surprised that people really liked the items from this place. The soda bread, scones and cookies are also pretty amazing.

After all the Angel Island excitment, we slept late on a glorious Sunday, then trekked through Chinatown on our way to Old St. Mary's Cathedral. After that, we also rode the Powell St. cable car to San Francisco Centre. I had Out the Door for lunch, which was lovely. The boys liked their lunches, too. It was a lazy Sunday strolling around downtown after that, shopping and window shopping.

Later Sunday, Marilyn and I met for coffee and strolled around the Laurel Heights neighborhood. We shopped where we could and window shopped everywhere else. When all was said and done, we got dinner for me to take back to the hotel for the boys at Asqew, which they enjoyed.

On our last day, before we headed out, we went to the Presidio and saw a few things in that neighborhood, particularly Crissy Field. We flew home on one of the last non-stops from San Francisco to St. Louis. We'll miss them.

More later...