Groggy After Holiday

My little brother flew out today. I woke up at 5:30am, drove him to the airport. He is so old now that they wouldn't let me in through security with him. So I got him a hot chocolate at a newsstand, and after we finished our drinks, I watched him go off into the terminal on his own. Well, he was accompanied by his backpack, which must have been as big as he is. It was rainy when we drove out; the rain fell even faster when I drove back. I'll see him next after his next birthday.

He was visiting this week. It was fun. We saw Harry Potter, which we agreed was actually a good movie for once. In any case, they weren't trying desperately to cram in the plot. They actually let the movie breathe a little.

And we spend three hours running around the exploratorium in downtown SF. It was soo cool! There was this thing that blew air upwards. You dripped drops of water over it, and they would fly off into the air. But if you were very careful, you could make them float! And there was a big metal turntable. You could take loops of metal and get them to spin on their sides by holding them over it. Then you let them go and watched them go around. It was tricky to get some of them spinning, and we competed for who could do it better. The one thing I didn't get to do was play with the giant soap bubble hoops. There were kids who got bubble tunnels to go over their heads!

We walked through San Francisco afterwards, and we discovered the super windy bit of Lombard Street. It was really cool. The street is so sloped that you needed stairs to go down. So the cars get down by doing a ton of really short switchbacks. Around the switchbacks are manicured gardens. Oh, and we saw the sun set over the Golden Gate bridge. My brother decided that San Francisco was exactly how he pictured it: Chinese people and hipsters. Oh, and hills.

Being over Thanksgiving week, the visit obviously had more food than normal. Y-- managed to squeeze in making two pizzas. I half suspect this was so he wouldn't have to try any weird food. He may no longer be an airport minor, but he's still a picky eater! On the other hand, a friend of mine visited me, and we went to an Indian restaurant. Where it was discovered that my brother likes tandoori chicken and naan. He even got seconds at the buffet. Who'd have guessed?

The suspicion isn't really fair, though. Y--'s pizzas are really good; he's been practicing for about two years now. He's uber pro: he tosses them up in the air to make them the right shape. And he knows how to kneed the dough with one hand. It's pretty impressive. (And, like I said, delicious.)

The big cooking day, though, was Thursday. C-- and I roasted a 20 pound turkey, most of which is in a gigantor tupperware in C--'s fridge. C-- took good care of it, basting it every hour or so, and it turned out a deep golden brown. On top of that, we had soo much other food. And half of it managed to be vegetarian! I was impressed.

I made two cakes. A persimmon bread-cake which had whiskey-soaked currants in it and cream cheese icing, and a pumpkin cheesecake with a pecan-bourbon topping. I guess there's something about late-fall foods that invites whiskey. Whiskey is, after all, a nice fall-colored drink; it's the color of changing leaves. And it has a deep flavor, but it's not too heavy and sleepy like a winter beverage. Sure, why not. We'll say it is an Autumn Drink.

The persimmons came from a tree C-- and I picked one night. It grows on campus, and currently has lots of beautiful red-orange persimmons on it. You're allowed to pick it; it just happened to be nighttime when we got to it. I climbed on C--'s shoulders and got a couple, and he jumped for a couple more. So we had a bunch ripening on his windowsill, which is why I had to make the cake.

But this is a post about Y--'s visit. When I took the persimmon cakes out of their pans, I gave him one, hoping he'd just try a little bit. But he snatched it up, and scrapped out most of the bread still stuck to the bottom! He thought the currants were funny, though.

There were lots of things we didn't get to do, though. I promised Y-- hot chocolate and nutella crepes from this place around here. But we were always rushing somewhere, and when we finally made it there yesterday, they were closed. I don't think airport hot chocolate counts as a replacement. That was the main thing. But I had also promised him some frisbee, but we couldn't find the disk. I hope it still counts as a California experience if no frisbee was played . . . Also DDR. Another thing that didn't happen. All things to be left 'till his next visit!