Straw Restaurant Carnival Fare For Sunday Night Supper

Straw is your Hayes Valley neighborhood spot serving carnival-inspired comfort food. There are accents from your favorite carnival throughout our decor and menu. Oh yeah, and a Tilt-A-Whirl booth.




It was Sunday and my brother and I were looking for a fun, new to us restaurant in San Francisco. Nothing too touristy. Nothing too formal. We found it in Hayes Valley. Straw! I made reservation online and requested the Tilt-A-Whirl booth.

Seated on time, we were treated to bowl of popcorn that's both sweet and salty, cold water in mason jars, and ping pong paddles for drink menus. I felt like a little kid and was so excited to try everything!!




Step Right Up! Here we are in the Tilt-A-Whirl booth! So much fun. Upcycled children's books use as menus. Straw offers dinner, lunch, brunch, kids menu, and drink menu.



Mini Corn Dogs
Hand-dipped all-beef evergood hot dogs with raspberry dijon dipping sauce. SO GOOD! The sauces were amazing, too. Great way to get the pallet awake.







Perfect wine selection that paired well with our carnival-inspired food. Just chilling in a fish bowl. Nice touch.

We ordered a bottle of the 2010 Leese-Fitch Sauvignon Blanc with "high-tone citrus zest aroma with minerality reminiscent of a brisk ocean breeze. There's a hint of freshly squeezed grapefruit juice and tropical Pina Colada. The palate is zippy and alive with Lemon grass spice, but balanced with a touch of creamy tapioca to round out the mid-palate." wine.com review



It's a small restaurant with fun clown art on the walls and a big heart! Non-Profit Monday!

"Every Monday, Straw donates 10% of all food sales to a local non-profit. Over the past four years, we've donated more than $25,000 to non-profits throughout the Bay Area. Come in any Monday, and help us support the community."



ME: Fried Chicken -n- Waffle Monte Cristo.
cornmeal belgian waffle, crispy chicken, melted swiss, raspberry jam, powdered sugar, syrup, hand-cut fries (I got the sweet potato tater tots).  The waffle was easy to pick-up, the swiss cheese added a nice flavor and the chicken was cooked to perfection.

BROTHER: The Ringmaster: Straw’s Famous Donut Burger
golden gate meat co. organic ground beef, melted cheddar & jack, house-made glazed donut bun, hand-cut fries add maple-glazed bacon. I had a bite of this and, to my surprise, the donut was not too sweet and paired well with the meat and bacon. Very lovely flavors.

My favorite was dipping the waffle Monte Cristo in the raspberry jam. The mix of sweet and savory was perfect.




Cotton candy nights, Moonshine nights, ferris wheel lights



The Ringmaster: Straw’s Famous Donut Burger - Side view



Fried Chicken -n- Waffle Monte Cristo - Side view

STRAW
203 Octavia Blvd.
San Francisco, CA

restaurant: 415.431.3663
catering: 415.863.3509
fax: 415.863.3504

How to ReUSE Glass Bottles and Plastic Bags by Shopping in Bulk

Shopping in bulk is not always 'easy', but like Kermit the Frog said, "It's not easy being green". I keep my empty plastic/glass containers, bags, and herb bottles and reuse them at Rainbow Grocery, a worker owned coop.

Rainbow Grocery's has been in San Francisco’s Mission District since 1975 and some of it's employees have been working there for over 25 years - some history in this beautiful City.

Updated 2019 - Rainbow only uses compostable bag. These plastic bags I'm using in the above photo are from my house and I re-use them.


I keep all my grains and nuts in glass mason jars. Once they are empty, I keep them in a canvas bag ready for my next shopping adventure. Shopping in bulk allows me to purchase the exact amount of a product I need for my week or for a specific recipe. I can purchase 1 cup of unsweetened coconut flakes, 2 teaspoons of cumin, 3 tablespoons of curry, 1/4 cup of brown mustard seeds, 1/2 cup of bath salts, small amount of detergent, body lotions or nut butters. The point is you do not have to purchase a full bottle of an ingredient or product when only a small amount is needed for your recipe. Shopping in bulk allows you this freedom.

In this case, I was able to purchase my quinoa plastic free by reusing my own glass mason jar. I've got the tare weight and the product number listed on the jar.


I used my empty mustard seed container to purchase whole black pepper. Cover the label and the barcode on the back of the container.

TARE weight is the weight of an empty container. By subtracting it from the gross weight, the weight of the goods carried may be determined. Read more about it here: Tare weight


I've got my empty plastic bottles washed and ready to go!


Once at the store, weigh your empty bottles on the scale. The weight of my empty reusable bottles is different for each container, so weigh them all and label them with a sticker.  The TARE weight for this bottle is 0.13 - on a sticker, write "TARE 0.13".


Find a product that best fits your budget and fill your container. You'll notice a number associated with each product. With a sticker provided, write the product number on the bottle next to the TARE weight. In this case, it's 9009. It's that easy!



I had an empty olive jar and I needed more olives. Clean out the jar and lid, get the TARE weight and post the sticker over the barcode.



After weighing the jar, find the olives you wish to buy and fill the jar.




After filling the jar, I add a sticker just above the TARE weight with the product number. This makes it easy for the checkout person to find all the information in one area.

I don't have to worry about the olive juice spilling in my bag or on my bike ride home like it would when I used the containers provided by the grocery store.




This looks much nicer in the fridge as well...

I'm going to make a soup that requires 1 cup of cannellini beans. I measure out one cup, use my own bag, tag the product number and done! In some cases when I'm purchasing herbs, I will write what's in the bag or jar. This will help with herbs that look alike.

When I run out of hand soap, I keep the plastic container and refill it with more hand soap. Seems simple, but it takes some effort. This bottle leaks when I travel with it, so I found a container that holds the same amount of liquid with a strong lid.


Get the TARE weight and cover the barcode with the sticker. Find a hand soap you enjoy and fill the bottle.



Once home, fill the 'nicer' container with the hand soap.


Here's the kicker. This soap is just as nice as any, but much more affordable at $4.01 compared to the other brand at $12.95



Being green and saving money... it's worth the effort.



Looks nice and it smells just as good as the $12.95 hand soap.



In a reusable glass jar, fill up on coconut butter or oil. I use this on my skin, in the fry pan, to brush teeth, etc.


Why do all this? Well, besides being a little kind to the environment, shopping in bulk is a great way to save money. For every bag I bring from home, I get 0.10 back at check-out. Also, knowing that I'm shopping at a local coop is a big plus.


Little Vine on Grant Street has the BEST bulk Bozzano Ranch virgin olive oil and it's a local producer out of Stockton, California. In 2006 I purchased beautiful bottle of olive oil while traveling around northern Italy. I love that I can continue to use this bottle.

Bozzano Olive Ranch offers Bulk Purchases, as well as Custom Milling and Bottling at competitive rates.



If you need more information, please watch this video on 'Rainbow Grocery's How to Shop in Bulk'. It's a little old. Currently, you get .10 cents for plastic bag you reuse.

How To Cook and Clean Fresh Dungeness Crab

First you should have a current fishing license and know the legal crabing areas outside the Bay. Second, you should keep the male crabs while tossing back all female crabs so they can reproduce more crabs for next season.

Note: Dungeness crabs (Cancer magister) may not be taken from, or possessed if taken from INSIDE of San Francisco and San Pablo bays at any time. For complete regulation information, see the California Ocean Sport Fishing Regulations booklet. Read more here: Fishing Map Of San Francisco Dungeness crab



If you look at a crab’s underside, there’s a 'flap' or apron with a distinct shape. Male crabs have a narrow, long apron and female crabs have a wide, triangle apron. Please make sure to return females back to the ocean. It's not legal to keep the females.




Bring a large pot of water to a boil, then add one or two carbs. The crabs should be fully submerged and covered by water. The water will stop boiling for about 3 ot 5 minutes when the carbs are first put into the water. It's OK. Boil the crabs for about 10 to 15 minutes depending on their size. After boiling or steaming your crab, take them out of the water and 'clean' them for storage.

For starters, turn the crab over and use your thumb to pull the apron away from the body. See above photo




Place both thumbs into the apron area to pull apart the carapace from the body. The carapace detaches completely from the body, but watch out for the yellow guts. They sometimes fly all over the place.




Here you see the yellow guts in the carapace. Rinse the yellow guts off the body. I don't keep the carapace. Some people enjoy eating this part of the crab, but I do not.




Cleaning a crab is very time consuming and messy. Take your time and sample as needed.




Remove the gills from around both sides of the body. What I'm holding in my hand on the left side of photo




Decision time: Do you want to crack the body in half down the middle and server as is OR do you want the crab meat without the shell...?




Two crabs ready for anything!




I'm going to remove all the crab meat from the shell to make a salad. Remove the legs first and place them somewhere safe while you clean the body.




Crack the crab leg shell with a hammer or crab cracker. I've not mastered this process yet, but a good hammer and some chopsticks are very useful in a pinch. Toss the shell and keep the meat.




Now I have my crab meat ready for a salad, crab cakes, crab omelette or by itself with butter.




Thai Crab mango, carrots, cucumber Salad mixed with lime-pineapple-jalapeño-mint dressing. Another favorite is Crab Avocado Mango Salad with Pomegranates! You must try all of these dishes!

Crab Avocado Mango Salad with Pomegranates

Or an omelette like the one below?




Crab Omelette with ginger, green onions, corn, eggs, basil, avocado, and red onions with a side of brown rice, ginger and mint.

Crab Avocado Mango Salad with Pomegranates

Take one:
Dungeness Crab with avocado, mango salsa, citrus dressing, and garnished with pomegranates


Take two:
Add arugula to the dungeness crab salad


Take three:
Stuffed avocado with dungeness crab. Add arugula as a base to help the avocado sit and not roll around on the plate



Ingredients:

- 1 Fresh dungeness crab meat (I harvest my own dungeness crab out of the Pacific Ocean, cook and clean it myself)
- 1/2 mango
- 1/4 of a whole orange, just the juice
- 1/3 cup red sweet onions chopped
- 2 tablespoons of cilantro
- 1 teaspoon of cumin
- 1 whole lime - juice
- 1/2 teaspoon of lime rind
- 1 small jalapeno chopped fine
- 2 avocados cut in half
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 fresh pomegranate









Make the salsa first

In a bowl mix the olive oil, lime juice, lime rind, orange juice, cumin, jalapeno, cilantro, red onions, and chopped mango. Put that in the fridge to marinate while you work on the crab and avocado.



Cut the avocado any way you want. Cut it 1/2 and stuff it. Slice it in small strips and plate it. Toss it in a salad.



Tossed avocado and crab salad



Say hello to my friends from the Pacific Ocean.

Swimming in the Bay at the Dolphin Club of San Francisco

The Dolphin Club at Aquatic Park in San Francisco. Established in 1877 by John Wieland and his brothers, along with the Kehrlein brothers, all immigrants from Germany.



Views from the club's main room - looking out to Aquatic Park.

Hazel Langenour becomes the first woman to swim the Golden Gate in 1911.  In 1915 the concept for Aquatic Park was approved by the city of San Francisco.



Moored at the north end of Hyde Street Pier is a square rig sailing ship called Balclutha (1886). She is a U.S. National Historic Landmark.



Enjoying the lounge with views of the bay, a bar and a TV.



After a swim in aquatic park, turn on the TV and watch a soccer match.



The Flag!  A landmark known to all who swim in AP.

Swimming in autumn in San Francisco Bay with water temps at 59 degrees.



Balclutha! She is the only square rigged ship left in the San Francisco Bay. It's said Balclutha rounded Cape Horn 17 times in 13 years while carrying goods such as wine, oil, timber, and grain.

At high tide we'll swim up to her and play on her mooring lines. She is a beautiful ship with lots of history.



Swimming in salt water makes everyone happy. The cold water mixed with salt clears the mind of all problems and leaves a feeling of pure bliss and joy.



"The Jacuzzi" at the end of the Muni Pier and the opening to the Bay. The quality of light under the pier is beautiful and a common swim destination.




"The Jacuzzi" at the end of the pier. Check out the other landmarks in Aquatic Park. Aquatic Park Landmarks



A place to sit and enjoy the flowers and veggies



I don't have much information about this person, but he is responsible for the 'il giardino de Cecco' at Dolphin Club. His photos is weathered from the saltwater and time, but you can still see a very charming smile.



Two lovely labs frolic in the sand in the garden as their master pulls weeds and tends to the veggies. It's a very communal club and everyone volunteers their time to keep the club looking fresh.



In 1976 women are allowed to join both the Dolphin Club and the South End Rowing Club.



While reading about the club, I found this interesting tidbit of information on their website, "1967 - Lieutenant Colonel Stewart Evans swims from the Farallon Islands to Point Bolinas (20 miles north of San Francisco), becoming the first and only person to achieve this feat."



The boathouses at the Dolphin Club



The boathouses for rowboats, kayaks, and SUP's.



Tuesday night sunset on the club - view from the deck



View from the deck of the Dolphin Club



Boat launch



The Dolphin Club



After working on the boats, communal dinner with members. One thing we all have in common, addiction to swimming in our beautiful Bay.


Website:
Dolphin Club