week 15, day 100, and some exploration

Week 15 began with Easter. We didn't do a whole lot that day, but Steve made a panchetta-wrapped pork tenderloin that night for dinner. I had made a cheesecake the day before, with a little help from Steve, so that became my photo subject for Sunday. We used the recipe for NY cheesecake from Ruhlman's Twenty and topped it with strawberries and strawberry sauce that Steve put together. (No strawberries at the farmer's market that week, as you may recall from the last post, but the ones at the corner store near home were fine.) The cheesecake itself came out okay. The main problem was that the recipe didn't say to line or grease the bottom of the pan, so the crust stuck. I really should have known better, but I figured that if it didn't say so in the recipe, it shouldn't matter. Well, it mattered, but since the crust wasn't terribly special anyway, it wasn't so much tragic as it was annoying. In the end, I was pretty happy with the picture I got, and the cheesecake was good with the strawberry topping; however, I think we'll try a different recipe next time. Last year's lime vanilla cheesecake was better.

99/366 easter cheesecake

Day 100 fell on Monday, and I went downtown that afternoon to search for something worthy of the milestone picture. I wasn't feeling overly creative, so I ended up settling for a shot of one of the Union Square hearts rather than something that directly related to the number 100. Nevertheless, the picture somehow found its way into Flickr's Explore. I guess it was more interesting than I thought it was! I later realized from people's comments that they assumed the design in the heart was a reflection... Nope, it was just painted that way. A reflection from that spot on the edge of Union Square would only show the intersection of Powell and Geary—not nearly that picturesque. As Carmen pointed out, the painted part looks more like the view from Bernal Heights.

100/366

I thought we were done with the rain before, but it came back during week 15. The important difference this time was that it didn't last all day for several days in a row. There were a few rainy—and even thunderstormy—nights in a row, but there were actually dry periods in the afternoons every day. I took advantage of those, especially on Tuesday, and got my pictures when I could. A walk through the park and around the block was a good enough to spot some interesting flowers and berries, still dripping a little from the rain earlier.

101/366 magic berries

Wednesday afternoon, I decided that a walk to Ritual for a small mocha would be a good idea. On the way, I spotted some Pac-Man figures lovingly plastered on a graffiti wall. I think it's my favorite of the layers I've seen there. There were a few pieces of fruit, some "enemies" or ghosts, and of course this Pac-Man.

102/366 urban pac-man

When snack time came around on Thursday, I decided to head down to Dynamo Donuts again. Twitter told me that they had both lemon thyme and strawberry earl grey donuts that day, and I had been missing them on other recent visits. This way, I got one for a snack that day, and I saved the other for breakfast the next morning. Of course, I had just been to Dynamo and used it as a picture of the day a couple weeks before, so I tried to find opportunities for pictures elsewhere during the walk. It seemed like a good time to finally take a picture of the cake rolls that always catch my eye when I pass the Mexican bakeries on 24th St. I've never actually gotten one; I'm a little afraid they won't taste as good as they look.

103/366 mission cake rolls

I was lazier on Friday. After spending some time in the morning reading a friend's blog about her recent trip to Italy, I decided it was finally time to take a picture of my most recent Blurb books. I ordered them in mid-January and ended up wrapping the Spain & Italy one for Steve's birthday. Meanwhile, I hid the other in plain sight on the living room side table, in the stack with the books from 2009 and 2010. (As I predicted, Steve didn't notice that the stack had gotten a little bigger.) These books certainly aren't cheap at the lengths I make them, but it's pretty much the only way I print photos now.

104/366 blurb books

Last: a Saturday outing to Hayes Valley in hopes of some pictures and some ice cream at Smitten. I got some rhubarb crisp ice cream, frozen with liquid nitrogen, while Steve opted for some iced coffee from Blue Bottle. I was a bit less successful with the pictures than I might have hoped, but at least I got a shot of the wagon and sign over the cash register at Smitten. I was happy enough with that for the day.

105/366 the smitten wagon

That wraps up another week. I'm hoping to catch up—and keep up—with the blogging soon. It's gotten a little out of hand lately, and I'm pretty sure I can do better.