polkadotsandpaleo

For my birthday, Sara gave me this wonderful Paleo cookbook, The Zenbelly Cookbook.  I made a Spanish rice cauliflower burrito bowl for our dinner tonight and it turned out so delicious!    I adapted Simone’s Spanish cauliflower rice recipe a smidge. I  grated a whole cauliflower head using my food processor’s grating blade into cauliflower rice .  I sautéed 1/4 chopped red pepper and a 1/2 chopped red onion for a few minutes  prior to adding the grated cauliflower rice. Next,  I added chili powder,  chipotle chili powder,  dried oregano, and  ground cumin..  Then I added  a finely diced large yellow heirloom tomato and 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro.  Saute until cauliflower is done.   Finally I added  a squeeze of lime to complete my scrumptious Spanish cauliflower rice.

Beautiful sautéed rainbow chard

Our Spanish cauliflower rice burrito bowl is made from an enchilada chicken breast, sautéed rainbow chard, Spanish cauliflower rice (Zenbelly), and a romaine, heirloom cherry tomato, and avocado salad. I wholeheartedly recommend it!

George Clooney and polkadots!  Giorgio Armani suit customized by artist Yayoi Kusama

Congratulations George! Congratulazioni per il suo matrimonio!

In June, I went for my usual walk around the Lake.  I noticed something very tiny moving lightning bolt fast in a small stream beside the lake.  All of a sudden, a small yellow and brown duckling came hauling ass across the walkway in front of me.  She was on a mission.  Scurrying across a patch of green grass, she plopped  into the lake.  She began to swim frantically around the lake.  I became very concerned about the future of this baby duck. What was she doing and where was she going?  Where was her family?  Recently,  I had seen so many duck families start out with a dozen cute yellow fuzzy ducklings only to find a few weeks later only a couple of ducklings left.  The Circle of Life. (Lion King song plays…)…anyway back to my story.  Our little duckling looked so forlorn and was getting extremely exhausted from all her frantic swimming when all of a sudden her papa, mama and siblings appeared out of nowhere.  Happy ending(duck family reunited)!  Moral of the story: Never give up hope:)

For my birthday this year,  my girls made me a surprise paleo chocolate birthday pie!  They found the recipe on one of my favorite paleo food blogs, Nom Nom Paleo.  As you can see this was the last delectable piece left.  Thanks Sara & Melissa!

http://nomnompaleo.com/post/62705391803/kelly-brozynas-chocolate-pie-raw-graham-cracker

One of my favorite places for brunch in Palo Alto is Pastis.  It’s a cute little French restaurant that has delicious omelets, tasty eggs benedict(lamb & caramelized onions), and this delicious coconut & banana pain perdu.  Pastis reminds me of Paris.  Bon Appetit!

After our scrumptious brunch, we all ventured along California Street to the farmer’s market in search of fresh golden zucchinis, heirloom tomatoes(pomodoro sauce), delectable blackberries and strawberries, and grass fed ground beef for our evening’s dinner(meatballs).  We used Cappello’s fresh gluten free fettucine.  It’s very delicious & takes only 50 seconds to cook.  Colorful and beautiful dahlias from the Palo Alto farmer’s market.

What a beautiful indoor pond!  Teance is a cool tea shop at the Berkeley Fourth Street Shopping area.  It even had a rain shower over the pond that made such soothing sounds of rain. (Something we surely need here in the Bay Area).  Can you see the cute orange koi swimming around the pond? They serve delicious cups of tea at their tea bar.

We walked and perused the cute boutiques on the Fourth Street.  Cute cats & kittens from the rescue were trying to find new families. My birthday dinner at Iyasare was delicious!  Iyasare is a relatively new Japanese restaurant located at the old Ochame restaurant site.  The interiors are modern and the variety of seafood is fresh and wonderful!  I would say it is “modern” Japanese food.  We especially loved the hirame carpaccio, grilled squid, and pork belly with manila clams.

Relax, contemplate, and restore your energy for the upcoming week!

Yesterday, I had a wonderful day with Sara and Melissa in San Francisco.  The weather was perfect and lunch at the Slanted Door was delicious!  It was a great day catching up with my girls & shopping, eating, seeing people riding the cable cars, and perusing the street vendors outside the Ferry Building.  I love San Francisco!  Here’s a few sights of my favorite city.

Welcome to my blog! My name is Pat and because it’s almost my birthday, I thought I’d create this blog to share my experiences with all of you.  A special shout out to my daughter Melissa for helping me get it started!  I’m hoping to talk about some wonderful paleo recipes, art that I enjoy, places I’ve visited, and just some DIY projects I have in the works.  As you may have guessed from my blog title, I love polka dots and cooking.  My favorite paleo cookbooks & blogs these past few months have been Nom Nom Paleo, Paleo Kitchen(PaleOMG), and ZenBelly. Join me as I journey through the San Francisco Bay Area!

 

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