Oh, hello again!

I've neglected you, my friends!

Well, I'm now more or less back... where was I? I actually don't really know. Days have just sort of passed me by since I last posted, which is a little sad. This is how the end of the year is going, and I can hardly remember what I did in the last days since I posted! Although, that's not entirely true-- I have been finishing up my classes (last few days are this upcoming week), and have been wrapping things up with lots of meetings. Not entirely blog-worthy, I suppose.

Two finals this upcoming Friday, but after that, I'm done! I have over a week to relax, pack things up, and finish up my business on campus. It's definitely an exciting time, but I'm not sure I want things to come to an end. Luckily, I don't have to totally disconnect myself from this campus upon graduation, but it's the end of my undergraduate career. The four years I've had have only gotten more and more incredible as time progressed, and it makes me want to keep going forever. Given that though, I'm ready to move on to bigger things (I don't think I can say bigger and better, since being an undergrad is so great) and discover the real world. Here I come!

OK, so recap of things that passed--

Friday, our house had another special dinner, this time in SF! We went to the wonderful Bar Tartine. They accommodated 30 of us, and service was absolutely incredible. The manager was great and really educated us about the wine pairings that were picked for our meal, and about the restaurant itself. I love that place.

The setup, with a custom fixed menu for us.

First course: little gem lettuce, artichoke, green almond, andante etude, bergamot and creme fraiche dressing. Wine pairing: sauvignon blanc from France (don't remember the specifics). It was incredible- light, refreshing... the green almonds were fascinating... they tasted... green. Tangy, grassy, slightly firm but also juicy, since they are unripe almonds. The wine was perfect, matched the flavors almost exactly-- grassy, light, citrus rind-y.

Second course: dry aged sirloin steak frites, beef jus. Incredible. A small cut of meat, medium rare that was cooked perfectly. The fries were to die for, slightly salted with thyme on the top. I may or may not have mentioned that thyme is my favorite herb-- totally underrated and so delicious.

Second course: black cod, english pea mash, mustard greens and spicy brown butter. Mustard greens so deliciously bitter and spicy, pea mash so wonderfully sweet. The black cod was mouth-meltingly amazing. It was so flaky and wonderful, except each flake was so moist and oily. It was fabulous. Wine pairing: Grenache from Languedoc region in the south of France. I would never have thought to pair red with a fish, but since the restaurant had to pair a wine with both the steak and the fish, red it was. It was better with the fish than with the steak, I thought. Not too overpowering, and just enough body to support the fish. Yum.

Dessert: finally, a coconut rice pudding with gingersnaps and rum raisins. I love rice pudding. I also don't normally like raisins, but these were phenomenal- just enough meat still in them, not chewy and sickly sweet which makes me not like raisins normally. The gingersnaps were also a fun flavor to dip and eat with the rice pudding.

It was a lovely affair, and the place itself has a wonderful ambience. Close and classy.

OK, I have postponed my work for far too long.

This weekend (happy three day weekend, by the way!) is about relaxing, enjoying and work. Today I had a wonderful lunchtime sandwich with Kenzie, and I'm dreaming about my next meal. What shall it be? Only time will tell.

à plus tard, mes cheries~