4 Years??

Seriously? Time flies when you are having fun! Love you Monkey! Here's to the adventure......

P and T seen doing their best high-paid fashion model poses in Smögen

Happy Birthday Froggie!!!!

Today, Tuesday, November 3 was the Frog's birthday, again. My how time flies. However, the birthday celebrations started already last week with a birthday dinner at Chez Panisse in Berkeley, with our friends Brett & EP, followed by a Sunday brunch at Waterbar with Brett, EP, Rob and Devon.

On the actual birthday we celebrated by eating even more starting with a late lunch at Le Garage in Sausalito and then in the evening with some drinks and more food at Piccolo Teatro.

Thank you to everyone who wrote, called and came out for the vast flora of eating and drinking activities.

Waterbar

The Ultimate Blood Mary at Waterbar is really quite the ultimate

Johnny Cakes

Crab Benedict

The view from the patio at Waterbar

A painting of le garage at Le Garage

Le Garage

Croque Madame....mmmmmmmmm

Another stunning view

Delicious latte

And there were presents too, such a lucky Frog

Thanks EP

France 2009

As usual we made our annual pilgrimage to Cannes in the south of France to spend some time with Kaj, Anneke and Tsabo but also to take in those lovely Mediterranean rays and the deep blue azure waters. And as usual, there were no disappointments, just wonderfully copious amounts of wine, cheese and other delicious foods, sailing, beach time, pool time, restaurants, warm waters, perfectly humid temps, fireworks, late evenings and even later mornings. If there was anything negative then the culprit was a lingering cold that I picked up on the way to Sweden. Most pictures are worth a thousand words, these are worth a million and summarize our trip quite nicely. Enjoy!!

Approaching Nice airport

Welcome-drinks on the terrace

Tsabo

Pool time fun

Pool side fun

Animals talking

Mmmmmmmm

Bidding farewell to the sun

French road signs.....exciting

Pegomas

Cannes

Le Suquet

Kaj & Anneke

Restaurant fun

World championships in fireworks

Taking out the bateau

Cannes harbour

Vigilantly searching for that elusive wind

Good times

Lunch on the Mediterranean

Enjoying another day on the water

Hello Frog

Hello winch

Heading back in.....

....carefully

Saturday morning.....

......market......

.....in Cannes.

Until next time.....au revoir

Lost Balls Wins!

Lost Balls (sans Peter and EP)

While we have made it to the finals many times, we have always fallen short....until now! Lost Balls are officially the 2009 Sausalito Fall Bocce Ball Champions! There was a little bit of controversy, a little bit of sweat, and of course a lot of trash talk, (a special shout out to the Wombats who can dish it out as well as they can take it!) but I am happy to report that the Nielsen Trophy for Bocce Ball Champions is back home where it belongs!

Unfortunately Peter has been under the weather, and EP was taking a class, so they were not able to make it to the court to show off their mad skills (which contributed to the aforementioned sweating), but they got us this far, and we were able to pull it together to bring the trophy home! For now, we will be basking in our glory, but will be anxiously anticipating next season.

A moment with the winning ball

Team Boccelism getting in on the action. We really wanted to play these guys in the finals.

A close up of the trophy (believe it or not, I was not the one who had it engraved)

One last kodak moment for the mantel.

Then we were off to Rob and Devon's for a little post bocce celebration....

Bob having his moment with the trophy

Brett and Kelly (Brett clearly basking in his glory)

Bonocore enjoying the sunset

Devon enjoying Bonocore enjoying the sunset

Brett taking his moment

Rob and the boys from Boccelism

Peter from Northside Bombers (the team we played in the finals) showed up with a magnum of champagne for the winning team. Not sure how he knew that 2 of my favorite things are winning and champagne. Thanks Peter!

And of course, Paulie

A friendly hello from one of my favorite furry friends

I think Rocky was ready to go home. Also another favorite furry friend.

Magnus & Johanna's Wedding

The main reason for our trip to Sweden this summer, other than to see family and friends of course, was to bear witness the joining of brother Magnus to his girl Johanna. The actual ceremony took place at the church in Hovås, which is the neighborhood where we grew up, at least during the times when we did live in Sweden. In fact, that church has now not only seen the wedding of Magnus and Johanna, but also, my baptism as well as my brothers, along with their confirmation (for some reason I had my confirmation at some sort of 3-week golf camp in central Sweden).

The day ended up being perfect with a beautiful and short ceremony followed by a reception and dinner at a very quaint old reception hall, near the harbor inlet to the city of Gothenburg. As always there was plentiful amounts of drink, food and dancing. The pictures beneath tell the story.

Hovås Kyrka

Parents and step-parents gather together for the first time for all to see

Sting-wannabe entertains the couple to-be with Fields of Gold

A bunch of Nielsens looking at some other Nielsens

Introducing Magnus and Johanna Nielsen

Smiles and relieved looks all around

The local paparazzi showed up to capture the moment

The couple surrounded by parents and in-laws

Monkey's mom with her Monkey

In deep and serious conversation in regards to how much booze will be consumed at the recepetion

The church, again

Off to the reception

Finally, Champagne

Anneke and Pappa Kaj with his brother and sister-in-law

The Frog

The Monkey and mom

Seating arrangements

The happy couple

Pappa & mamma

The cake was explosively good

T with uncle Bengt

Sneaking outside for cigars

Johan's Lisa and aunt Ulla

And then there was dancing....

...lots of dancing...good times, good times.

The Fun Theory

I feel like I tried to live life through The Fun Theory ever since I was a kid, but now our friends at Volkswagen have dedicated an entire website to this theory in an attempt at changing people's behavior through something as simple as having fun. What a concept. Check out the video that was filmed at the Odenplan subway station in Stockholm. I always love an opportunity to give a shout out to the Motherland! Holla!

The Sweet Life in Paris

I know, I know. We can't seem to keep up with our own life these days. There have been parties, wine tastings, new food discoveries, and a chili fest. Not to mention, I am still waiting for our contributing editor to post pics from the nuptials of Johanna and Magnus. That still seems like it was yesterday! And here it is October. I thought I would just jump in and post a few pics from the highlight of the week (besides our upcoming bocce ball win tonight! Come on Lost Balls!!)

I love a good street car sighting

This week I had the opportunity to meet David Lebovitz, the former Chez Panisse pastry chef turned cookbook author, not to mention hilarious blogger. (side note: how long has Chez Panisse been on my list now? I smell a birthday dinner!) David was in town for a food blogging conference that happened to be sold out, otherwise I would have been all over it, and he also made a few stops in San Francisco to talk about his latest book: The Sweet Life in Paris: Delicious Adventures in the World's Most Glorious - and Perplexing - City.

I stumbled upon David's blog a while ago, and follow him and his adventures in Paris quite religiously. I could not pass up the opportunity to get my book signed and my heart actually raced at the thought of exchanging a few words. I loved this book. I love his writing style, his sense of humor, and I am dying to try one of his recipes. It was also fun to read this book while sitting by the pool in France this summer as he commented on everything from French social conduct to the mysteries of men's footwear. I even asked him if he was ever able to find that blasted pair of 110 cm shoelaces. No such luck. Oddly enough, I had a hard time finding them myself in an attempt to give him a lovely parting gift, but that's another story.

It's no secret that I love food, and I have always had an admiration for chefs. But a chef turned author living in Paris?? He is my George Clooney of the food and writing world. Okay, maybe a little more like Neil Patrick Harris (who I also happen to adore) but I digress.....

A glimpse of the bookshelves at Omnivore Books. One of my new favorite spots in Noe Valley. Shelves oozing with all kinds of cookbooks, including various vintage books, collectibles and signed 1st editions. Saxby's Delicious Puff Pastry anyone?

Approaching the counter. Those Poco Dolce chocolates were melt in your mouth deelish. I would also like to thank the lady standing next to me who pointed out that I had said chocolate all over my face.

As I was getting closer to the counter among a handful of other fans and hopefuls the question was.....do I get the picture? Do I ask him to humor me and pose for a picture? Do I ask a stranger in the crowd to push the button on the camera? Do I embarrass myself as the crazed fan and writer wannabe?

OF COURSE! I am so glad I took a trip over the bridge to get a glimpse of what is ultimately possible if you do what you love. Successful people always say the same thing: do what you love, and the rest will follow. David, you are officially invited to my Celebrity Thanksgiving Dinner.

Sweden Summer 2009

So, as I mentioned during my last entry, we are indeed a few months behind on our blog entries in relation to when it actually happened.

On July 25th I got on a plane in Montreal (after a week in Hali and an evening in Montreal) heading to Europe. On the same day, The Frog did the same, but departing from SFO. Destination: the motherland and mothertown of Gothenburg.

As always, I try to make this trip every year to see family and catch up, however this year's trip was more centered on my brother Magnus' wedding (see upcoming post). A couple of days after arriving I caught a really horrible cold, so not that much got done during the week, other than lots of coffee drinking and tv watching. We did manage to squeeze in some tasty dinners with mom and Leif as well as dad and Anneke, who also were in Sweden for the wedding, naturally.

Below are some of the few pics we managed to take that were non-wedding related.

Where the Monkey grew up

More snaps of the ol' hood

Dangerous gangstas from the ol' hood

Happy Birthday Joof!

A birthday shout-out to my little brother Jeff! Here's to you and a brand new year ahead! We are thinking of you and wish you nothing but the best. As you would say, miss you heaps! Cheers!

Note: this is an older pic of my brother and me on his birthday...or maybe it was my birthday (which is also coming up, so one should note that there are not many shopping days left.) I am not quite sure when this was taken, but based on the bad bangs and high-waisted shorts, I am going to say it was the late 80s. Oh the 80s.....

Spaghetti alla Carbonara

I have been threatening to make an attempt at homemade pasta from scratch for a while now, and finally dug deep for some inspiration.  It actually wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be, although I do have a new appreciation for the perfectly prepared pasta seen in the store, not to mention my Kitchen Aid mixer!  After some brief collaboration, P. was officially in charge of the Carbonara sauce.  It was fantastic!  How can you really go wrong with garlic, cream, and pancetta?  Next up:  ravioli.  

Rolling out the dough

Cutting the spaghetti

In the pot for 2 minutes

Back in the pan to absorb the pancetta goodness before adding the sauce

Adding the sauce, being careful not to scramble the eggs

Final product paired with a glass of Flowers Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast.  Divine. 

(Note:  poor quality picture does not even do it justice, but I didn't want it to get cold!)

I smell Wombats!

The weather is getting warmer, the streets are becoming less crowded with tourists, and Tom Jones actually had enough potatoes at the chicken truck! Yep, bocce season is here! It was a great turnout for the season opener, and we were anxious to meet the new team Frarness Kraun. This team has caused quite a controversy in the league, and I won't bore you with the details, but the rumor is, that the captain of this team, his great great grandfather invented bocce ball, and he has been trying to get into the Sausalito league for 10 years. It has also been said that that this captain has never even washed his bright orange lucky bocce socks. (The story only got better with increased amounts of wine.)

In an attempt to look like we came to win, we decided to go with team uniforms. Not having our act together to come through with t-shirts, we opted for the next best thing, which of course, were sweatbands. I thought we looked like champions, and they must have made a difference since we won our first game! Here's to a great season!

On the way to the game

T. with her game face

The Nielsen Trophy for Bocce Ball Champions with some special touches by last season's champions: The Wombats.
They have officially set the bar and now we want the trophy even more!

A couple of  Balloon Knots.
I think Devon just realized she was going to have to tell Rob they lost.
Brittany clearly in denial. Clearly.

And the Van Emsts definitely brought their A-game

The sun was setting and the fog was rolling in on the walk home

Going back to Hali, Hali, Hali

So as many of you have discovered we are running a little behind with our blog entries. Our explanation is simple, we've simply been traveling and having way too much fun to post any new blogs. The best part is that the majority of all the traveling has been for pure pleasure, which is always a bonus. As such we have a couple of months of posts to catch up on.

As most of you may know we headed over to Europe in July. However, before that, I made a stop in my old stomping grounds of Halifax, Nova Scotia. Sadly I discovered that next time I come for a visit I need more than a week to really do and see all the people I want to. Alas, some of you were not graced by my presence and for that I apologize.

However, in my short time there I was able to squeeze in some quality time with some of my oldest and best friends. It was all capped off with perhaps one of my favourite places in the world, Stefan's cottage, which is where all the pictures were taken. Good times, good times. Still hard to beat summers in Hali. I'll be back next year, for an extended visit. Thanks for the memories.

Colin, Andy, Stefan and Mike T in from TO

Aaargh, she's a beauty

Andy enjoying the combined tranquility of the ocean and texting

The Captain (Jr., the real Captain is Paul, as we all know)

Darren and Glen sippin' on some grape juice in fine crystal

Vortex of happiness and debauchery in the distance

Gorgeous

Gorgeous