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Teaser photo will become clear tomorrow, (or "Taco Tuesday" as we call it in our house). We have friends who live in Berkeley and Oakland, so we do get over to the East Bay from time to time. I doubt I will this week, though. There is some chance of a visit to the Dominican Sisters of Mission San Jose in Fremont, however. Ouch on the oven, you have my condolences. Hopefully no lasting resentments were formed.

I guarantee there will be cocktails! The, ahem, liquor collection (and various infusion and liqueur projects,) sort of over-ran its original space, is now spread in various cabinets in the garage. I try not to think about how much there is and periodically remind myself I really need to get earthquake locks for those cabinets!

Bruce, Every year there is a Chinese New Year in San Francisco. The biggest dragon in the parade is usually the Chronicle Dragon. That picture is a closeup of the eye of a particularly impressive Dragon from a few years ago. I've adopted it as my avatar because my Chinese Astrological sign is the Dragon. The range is next to the refrigerator, which I don't really like. Especially since the big burner is always in the lower right kind of close to the fridge. It was there when we moved in, and unfortunately, there is nowhere else to put either. One day we will save enough to remodel! The range is a bit of a story. The other night we were using it to heat some bread and then turned it off. We were later eating our pasta and realized something smelled really hot. We discovered that the oven no longer turned off, even when turned to off. We began to get very nervous. Fortunately, it is a newer stove, so when unplugged from electricity, it cuts off the gas. We were mulling new stoves for a while. Cooking on the range top. Lots of braises and Asian food. Then, when they asked me to do this Foodblog, we ran to the nearest Sears and checked on our stove of choice. Unfortunately, it was back ordered, and won't be delivered until the 24th of November. There will be no baking in this Foodblog! I don't have a proper bar, I just have my supplies stashed in a kitchen cupboard and in the garage. I usually just set up on one of the ends of our stainless kitchen table. I've been thinking of setting up some sort of bar in the garage or spare room in the basement, for when we have parties. I think we have room, and it would be fun to have. I worked with all sorts of people who were game testers. It is safe to say the most successful ones, who went on to other careers within the company, like programmers, producers, or artists, were incredibly bright individuals. I can't really generalize; but, I can't think of any who didn't at least have a least a 2 year Community College degree. Most had finished 4 year programs. Does that help?

If you follow the eGullet Recipe Cook-Offs, you'll know that last Friday I took a stab at a Daube. Or well, a Daube inspired Bean, Pork, and Lamb Stew. Daube Pt. 1 Daube Pt. 2 One of the tastiest stews I've ever made. We've been looking forward to leftovers for 2 days! Salad is just a simple vinaigrette made with garden tomatoes and Bariani Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar.

Believe me, it sounds a lot better than it is. While it did get me out of the day to day hard work of being a line cook, it's actually not a dissimilar environment from most kitchens. Free food (pizza usually), long hours, mind numbingly repetitive tasks, and a real guy-centric camaraderie. As far as I can tell, the only differences are the temperature, the type of repetitive stress you incur, and the fact that the hard deadlines occur after months (or years) of work, instead of days. Well, plus, you sit all day, instead of stand. Once you find a problem in a game, you not only have to be able to repeat it consistently; but, you must be able to document how you caused the problem so someone else can recreate it, and then test the same thing again, once the programmers claim they have fixed it.

The San Francisco neighborhoods I live, work, and play in are Bernal Heights, the Outer Mission, Cole Valley, The Inner Sunset, and the Upper Haight. I'm planning to document as much as I can of my weekly travels through those neighborhoods. We'll visit some restaurants, bars, parks, and markets. Tonight is just leftovers, though, which I must go prepare now. More pictures soon! Erik

...Somehow I managed to work my way from testing computer games to working in the Computer Support department of the game company I was working for. They sent me off to many classes, and it turned out I could be pretty good at System Administration, as well. Unfortunately, they did not pay very well, so during the so called "dotcom boom" I went to work for a couple other companies, gaining experience as I went. After a bad experience with one of the firms going under during the "dotcom bust", on the encouragement of friends, I started looking for jobs at Universities in the Bay Area. Eventually, I landed a job doing computer support and system administration for research labs at the University of Califonia, San Francisco. I've since changed jobs but still work at UCSF doing System Administration. UCSF (not to be confused with USF) is a Medical/Professional school. We have no undergrads, just post-graduate students working on PHDs in health related fields, Medical Doctors in training, Dentists, Nurses, and other related fields.

The initial chef of the restaurant was an incredible Italian American woman who had worked at L'Etoile in Madison. She valued team work, hard work, honesty, and well made food. Everything was from scratch, she put a premium on training and educating her staff, and brought in many other talented workers from previous jobs. When she left, they hired a guy away from another then-trendy restaurant in Madison. He was a cooking school grad who had recently moved up from Chicago. He brought his best friend in from Chicago to be sous chef. They were both just typical boozing, drugging, asshole cooks. The sort of guys who held a grudge if you were a better cook than them or beat them at ping pong. Which would have been OK; but, they started getting more prepped food in, the menu got worse, most of the other talented cooks and bakers left. So I switched to the day shift, which was run by another chef.

Just so this doesn't get too boring, I'll post a picture of our house and a couple angles of our kitchen. We have what is called a typical "Mediterranean" style San Francisco House. Our kitchen is pretty decently sized, compared to many other houses in the same style. And we have a nice breakfast nook, which as you can see serves also as a handy periodical storage area.

After a few years I discovered I was pretty good at the whole cooking thing, and did well. I guess the best memory I have is being part of the team that opened dinner service at a new Italian restaurant in Madison that was called "Botticelli's". Certainly one of the best working environments and best team I have ever worked with. But, these things never last, and the chef they hired to open dinner service left, a series of loser cooking school graduates were hired, and I got burned out, and eventually shifted to daytime service. Brunch and lunch, which burned me out further. Fortunately, at about this time, my wife (then girlfriend) was offered a job in California. We made the decision to move to California together, and thus started a new chapter in my life. I worked for about a year doing lunchy-brunchy stuff in Berkeley, CA, before I bonded with a co-worker of my wife's over computer games. When he got a job as a game tester for a well known company, he kept me in mind, and eventually, I also started testing computer games for a living.

Good afternoon. I'm Erik Ellestad. I apologize for the late start to this blog. You may know me as the guy who posts a whole lot in "Fine Spirits and Cocktails" and occasionally elsewhere. I'm also one of the Specialists who digests the San Francisco Chronicle Wine section. I've recently started acting as a host in the "Fine Spirits..." and "Food Media and News" forums here at eGullet; but, am relatively new to those duties. My wife and I live in San Francisco, CA in a neighborhood called Bernal Heights. You'll see more of that shortly. The short version of my bio, is, I grew up in a small town in Wisconsin. Went to school at UW-Madison. While at school, I started working in restaurants. My first job was at a place called Brat und Brau, where they initially decided to put me on the Cash register. Unfortunately, I did not handle the simultaneous pressure of social interaction and money handling well, (plus I'm fairly certain the manager was using my incompetence to steal from the till,) and they moved me to the early morning setup. Filling salt and pepper shakers, setting up the salad bar, that sort of thing. Doing dishes later in the afternoon after the customers started coming in. After that job, I made the transition to a catering company, where I first started actually cooking and doing prep work. Nothing like doing prep for really large functions to force you to learn how to use a knife. Eventually, I graduated from college, and not being particularly keen on pursuing further studies in my major (BA-English), I continued working full time in restaurants.

Have you been to the Haight? I just ask, as it might not be everyone's cup of tea. If you enjoy, uh, San Francisco color, and drama, it can be fun. There are, actually, quite a few good restaurants in the Haight, and the N Judah is not far to get you to downtown or out to the Asian restaurants and stores of the Sunset (and eventually Ocean Beach). Busses can take you to the Richmond, and the Clement Corridor, also rich in restaurants. There were plans to put in a Whole Foods at Stanyon and Haight; but, apparently, the Haight Ashbury Improvement Association killed the deal. There are quite a few smaller natural foods stores in the neighborhood, a Safeway at Church and Market near the lower Haight, and Andronico's at 11th and Lincoln. All are within MUNI/walking distance. I will also point out, that the commute to Menlo Park will include a 30-45 minute N Judah ride before your husband gets to the train (Cal Train) proper to commute to Menlo Park. I would guess at least an hour and a half each way for the commute, plus however long it takes to get from the train to work in Menlo Park. Transit 511 can be really useful for getting ball park estimates for commutes in the Bay Area.

I just realized you probably mean goat shoulder. Excellent. I can't wait to see it (and wish I was there to taste it). Erik

Oh, I'm sorry George, I misunderstood what you meant by "straight up". My father-in-law makes yer classic (if dangerously large) Savoy style Old-Fashioneds on the rocks. No fruit garnish aside from the lemon peel, though, and only enough water to dissolve the sugar. In any case, the Thomas Whiskey Cocktail, is no more "deadly" than an extra dry Martini. The only danger comes when you decide you need to fill that 8 oz (or larger) conical goldfish bowl all the way to the rim. Then, yep, you're in trouble, Martini or Whiskey cocktail.

Don't tell my father-in-law! He's been making the same straight up rye old-fashioned (angostura, sugar, ice, rye, lemon peel) for his wife every night for almost 50 years now. I always ask for them when we are visiting and he is tending bar. They are very tasty. Practise makes perfect.

Really, Unicum is close to the Original Boker's taste? I had no idea. Are Abbott's and Boker's/Unicum close in flavor profile? I mean, aside from being bitter? I haven't tasted either, myself. I have been following the ABBOTT'S BONANZA thread over on the drink boy forums. Was going to try to track down assorted ingredients to give it a try myself; but, if you guys are doing it, perhaps I will save myself the trouble and just brave the shipping from Germany. Regards, Erik

There's an art to the Old-Fashioned cocktail. It's a simple thing, yet when you order it in two bars, you will seldom receive the same cocktail twice. By the time Jerry Thomas published his "Bartender's Guide" a whiskey cocktail had come to be a shaken "up" cocktail. Due respect to Mr. Thomas, I stirred, and did not shake with crushed ice. Some authors posit that the Old-Fashioned Cocktail came by its name as a shortened version of something like, "I'll have a Whiskey Cocktail made in the Old Fashioned Manner". That is to say, not shaken and served on the rocks. Presumably, a "Really Old-Fashioned" would be whiskey, water, syrup and bitters. From the Savoy Cocktail Book: Some time in the 20th century, Bourbon replaced the Rye as the whiskey of choice in the Old-Fashioned, and even stranger, bartenders began to muddle the garnish in the glass with the bitters and sugar. Also, for better or worse, soda crept into the mix. From Charles Schumann's, "American Bar": Even odder, in Wisconsin, the liquor of choice in Old-Fashioneds, is not Whiskey at all, but, Brandy (preferably Korbel). Wisconsinites, being cold weather folk, also have a tendency to make these rather large, and sometimes give you a choice of "Sweet" or "Sour". "Sour" includes a spritz of Soda and "Sweet" a spritz of 7-Up. Muddled Brandy Old-Fashioned (Sour) Recipe identical to the Schumann Old-Fashioned recipe; but, with a generous 2 oz pour of Korbel Brandy instead the Bourbon. Lately, however, I have found a return, in a few local bars, to the Savoy style stirred Rye Old-Fashioneds, with or without the orange and cherry garnish. This makes ordering an Old-Fashioned somewhat less of a crap shoot. Though, the bartenders do tend to ask, if you're sure you want it that way. Sazerac 18 year Old Straight Rye Whiskey And, of course, it wouldn't be complete without a drink of real old fashioned rye whiskey.

With that duck confit I just happened to whip up this afternoon? Actually the big problem with the cassoulet idea is that our oven, she's a dead. Kaput. New range is on order; but, won't be delivered until Nov 24. Until then, everything is cooked on top of the range (or in the microwave or rice cooker). Which is why the Daube, or Daube inspired stew with beans, lamb, and smoked pork, was so timely.

Bummer... I don't really think of the Compass Box Asyla as an "aggressive" whiskey, at least compared to the bourbons and ryes I enjoy. I can't compare it to Chivas, though, so I don't have an opinion there. I do think the Asyla works well in the cocktails I've tried it in so far. It's got a briny-savory element that I find particularly fascinating. But, yeah, you gotta balance your cocktails to what you're working with. My general starting place for manhattans is 2 oz of whiskey, 2 dashes of bitters, and 1/2 oz of sweet vermouth. However, I have a bottle of Binny's barrel select Buffalo Trace Bourbon which is very strongly flavored. I don't even really enjoy it straight. But, at 1 1/2 oz bourbon, 1/2 oz sweet vermouth, 1/2 oz dry vermouth, 2 dashes bitters, it makes a fine Manhattan. It doesn't really taste like any other Manhattan I make; but, it's a good cocktail.

Forgot to post a time line. 9:30 AM, picked up lammikins. 10:00 AM, Marinated lammikins. 2:30 PM, Browned Lammikins. 3:00 PM, Quick Soaked Beans, Started Simmering Lamb. 3:30 PM, Started Simmering Beans. 5:30 PM, Separated cooking liquid from meat. Deboned meat and removed fat and connective tissue leaving lamb and pork. Defatted Cooking liquid. Removed thyme sticks and bay leaves from pre-cooked beans, into Dutch Oven. Meat back in. Boiled Red Potatoes. Made a marinated tomato salad with last of the year garden tomatoes, Bariani Olive Oil, Bariani "Balsamic" Vinegar, fresh thyme, garlic. 7:30 PM, Tossed tomatoes with mixed greens and Served it Forth. Bonny Dewn 2003 Monterey County Barbera. Daube? Cassoulet? Something in between? Delicious in any case.

Bricktop, Do you consider the Orangerie a liqueur? I haven't tried it and can't quite tell from the press materials and reviews whether it is sweetened or just flavored. Would you use all Oragerie or a mix of Orangerie and other Scotch? I'll be curious to see what you think of the traditional Affinity with or without the Orange.

Marinated 2 1/2 pounds of mixed bone in lamb (about 1 1/2 pounds of neck-ish pieces and a 1 pound shank the butcher sliced for me) in a bottle of Cotes du Rhone with an onion, a few crushed garlic cloves, a carrot, 1 tsp. herb de provence, zest of 1/2 meyer lemon, bay leaves, salt. Drained lamb of marinade. Browned lamb in 5 qt. cast iron dutch oven, set aside. (Small disaster here when the marinade tips about half of it hits the kitchen floor.) Added marinade to dutch oven, packed in browned lamb and a small-ish cut ham shank. Added home made chicken stock to cover, covered oven and brought to simmer. Soaked 1 cup cannelini beans. Drained. Diced 1 carrot, half an onion and added to beans along with bay leaf, a couple thyme sprigs, and 4 cloves garlic. Covered with water and brought to a simmer. to be continued...

46 cocktails into the Savoy Cocktail book, we’ve finished with the letter “A”. Of those cocktails, I thought the following were outstanding: Affinity, Alice Mine, Artist's (Special), Astoria, ATTY, and, of course, Aviation. There were a surprising number that fell into the very good category. I'd say at least 15 or so, including the Alfonso, Allen, American Beauty, and all the "Apple" Cocktails. Of the “dessert” cocktails I thought the After Supper was the tastiest. To my taste, the only spit-out awful cocktail was the pousse café style Angel's Kiss. Perhaps I should have had a cup of coffee to go with it. In regards the Aviation with or without violet liqueur, I’m not sure where I come down on that issue. It definitely adds an ethereal floral complexity to the drink. But, unlike both the Absinthe and violet liqueur in the ATTY, I don’t know if I think it is essential. Also, as an ingredient, it is one of those which must be handled carefully. Too much, or even the wrong Gin, and its bitter side starts to show itself. I hope you have so far enjoyed our journey through the Savoy. The “Bs” look quite exciting, with star cocktails like the Bronx and Brooklyn to look forward to. For some inexplicable reason, the Bass Wyatt is the cocktail which has really caught my eye. On to the Babbie's Special...

Digest: San Francisco Chronicle Wine Digest and 96 Hours section, Friday, November 10, 2006 East Bay rising, Winemakers find fertile ground in the urban environs of Alameda County, W. Blake Gray THE SIPPING NEWS: Barrel-aged beer is a growing favorite among aficionados. Can you change a tire? Then you can make wine. New release: Beaujolais Nouveau Sweet and unusual couple: Moscato d'Asti and chocolate Soap can cloud your crystal glasses permanently. "Fill 'er up" is not usually a phrase heard at wineries. The Cocktailian: Heavenly drink inspires musings on bartender as God, Gary Regan Recipe: Washhouse Adapted from a recipe by Neyah White, bartender at Nopa, San Francisco Letters to Wine: Beer drinkers know their hops The Cheese Course: Coat your tongue with the lush creaminess of Rocchetta, Janet Fletcher Pairings: Syrah and short ribs make a meaty matchup, Lynne Char Bennett Recipe: Asian-Style Beef Short Ribs The Chronicle's Wine Selections: South Central Coast Syrahs, Jon Bonné 96 Hours Bar Bites: Sky Terrace (at Medjool), Tara Duggan Bargain Bite: Mega Mouth Burgers and Beer, Bill Addison CRITICS' PICKS: White magic, GETTING A TASTE FOR THE FUNGI, Bill Addison "Some Bay Area restaurants are using truffles as decadent grace notes to rich dishes. Servers at Michael Mina grate truffles over lobster pot pie or Kobe beef prepared three ways. Acquerello offers a classic Italian preparation: tagliarini with parmesan, butter and a showering of white truffle shavings. Other restaurants offer extravagant events at this time of year in celebration of the fabulous fungi. It may cost a pretty penny to savor this seasonal prize, but, in the right hands, the mysterious taste of white truffles can haunt your taste buds -- and memory -- for weeks." Dining Out: Saha surprises with eclectic Middle Eastern dishes, Bill Addison

Where is the line drawn between ragout and daube? Is one a superset or subset of the other?