Breakfast with Dad. After Dad's eye treatment this morning, we decided to pop in to the Corte Madera Cafe for breakfast. It has been awhile since my last visit, since it's slightly off my beaten path, but I remembered it as good. The atmosphere makes you feel as though you are in a little country place with a chicken theme and painted backboard part way up the wall. It is clean, cheerful and friendly, and the proprietors obviously care about giving people a good experience. There are fresh flowers gracing a small table near the center railing, as well as beautiful hanging flower arrangements on the outside beckoning you to enter.

They obviously have a bias towards the fresh as both Dad and I originally had decided on dishes containing spinach, and we were informed because of the recall and doubt about fresh spinach it was temporarily not available. Dad enjoyed a 3-egg omelet containing ham, mushrooms and avacado.


I quickly scanned the menu after being disappointed that the scramble containing spinach and feta was not available and settled on the Eggs Benedict. There is a choice of hash browns or home fries and we both chose home fries. I am usually a bit wary of home fries as so often they are underdone on one side, and burnt on the other. However, I was delighted to find that Corte Madera Cafe does an excellent job on the home fries. They were cooked to perfection, golden brown on all sides without being over or under cooked, and were paired with yellow bell peppers and onion. Nice.

The proprietor kept an eye on the floor, and was friendly with the guests, filling in when the waiter looked busy to keep the flow going. I've been here several times in the past, and had positive impressions each time.

Suppenküche for brunch. Usually I wouldn't review a restaurant so close on the heels of the first review, but there is something to add.

Caren called the restaurant in the morning because we were told that they served pretzels during brunch on Sunday. She wanted to check whether they had pretzels today since that is what she and Emil were wishing to have for breakfast. The person answering the phone assured Caren that there were lots of pretzels today and to come on down...

Caren contacted me in case I would like to join and try a tradition in Emil's region of Germany, fresh baked pretzels. I accepted thinking it would be interesting to explore what a German brunch was like as well. So off we went -- and they did have pretzels, however the waitress was rather reluctrant to part with any, and was really stressed to give a second one to Caren -- it was very uncomfortable since Caren had called ahead and was assured that there were LOTS of pretzels. We were naturally charged for the pretzels as well, so I am really amazed at the waitress being so bad humored. She also forgot to put in Caren's order for hot chocolate, which then seemed to take a long time. She was quite inattentive, and would turn her head and dash off before we were finished speaking with her (and we weren't long winded). Such a contrast to the helpful and friendly Daniel who waited on us Friday night.

Caren & Emil ordered Kaiserschmarrn (Emporer's Pancake) with mixed berries. It was a little burnt, but good nevertheless.



While I tried an unlikely combination in the Geröstete Maultaschen mit Zwiebeln, Ei und Gurkensalat (Sauteed German Ravioli scrambled with Eggs and Onions served with a Cucumber Salad). Yes, the spinach and meat filled ravioli were scrambled in half pieces with the egg and onion. Quite good actually. And the cucumber salad with fresh dill and bits of red onion was quite reminiscent of my mother's.



Finally, Caren's hot chocolate came with a smiley face!




While our visit for brunch certainly wasn't as stellar as our Friday night foray, I would still go back to Suppenküche (and avoid a certain waitress).

Toast. The morning after such a rollicking good time the night before, and rich food, what does one breakfast on? Well, this one had a perfectly toasted slice of honey-wheat bread spread with bits of butter and Rare Hawaiian Organic White Honey. I was remembering the biscuits and honey at Madonna Inn, and recalled the delicious jar of honey I had in my pantry...

Toast is such a simple comfort food that has been around for centuries. It's something we take for granted. The ancient Egyptians created bread about 6000 years ago, and toasting it was a means of preservation. There is an old French joke about the English which says that the English invented toast as the only way to butter bread in their climate. The modern day word "toast" actually comes from Old French and was first coined in 1398.

What others are saying about toast:

The Art of Eating Toast
300 Ways to Enjoy Toast
Dr. Toast's Amazing World of Toast
Toast: A video
Dropping Toast
Wonderful World of Toast
The Toast Bible
The Toaster (Art made of toast)

...and that's about it for this morning!

Suppenküche. After a day of catching up with household things and arranging my next consulting appointment, I went with Caren and Emil to Suppenküche, a German Restaurant in the Hayes Valley District of San Francisco. Emil is from Germany and we are doing a Regions of Germany Supper Club in October -- so this was our excuse.

Unfortunately, we had about an hour wait, so we popped over to Absinthe down the block for drinks first. I enjoyed a lemon drop. The bar area of Suppenküche was quite busy and noisy, so we opted not to stay there as there wasn't a corner in sight. I did take some photos of it and the very harvesty-looking ceiling decorations.










We were seated next to a family gathering of 7 in a bit quieter back room, sharing a long pine table in the back of the restaurant. We quickly made friends, and the father, John who was visiting from Minnesota also spoke German. Mark, his son, was sitting next to me and we discovered that we both speak Japanese - how coincidental. Then the singing started, and continued on an off the whole evening. What a blast! I couldn't sing the German songs but I sure enjoyed seeing my friends and new tablemate having such a rollicking good time. The waiter, Daniel, was quite friendly too and from Germany. So we invited him to come to our next Supper Club and exchanged information.

Caren & John




John, Caren & Emil


I videoed some very short clips of the singing and posted at Google videos. Unfortunately, these are really sound recordings because the lighting was too low. I posted the best ones. Singing at Suppenkuche I and Singing Auf Wiedersehen at Suppenkuche II and finally, Singing at Auf Wiedersehen at Suppenkuche III. Sorry that these didn't come out very well, but it still gives you a feel for the ambient sound. John said that he hadn't sung German songs with anyone in 40 years but had been practicing while washing the dishes (which makes the task bearable). Emil mentioned that John remembered the text even better than he. John told his kids that he used to sing them to sleep with these German songs while rocking them on his shoulder, noting that Mark was the most difficult of the four kids to get to sleep as he would start up crying just as he was slipping him through the door to the bedroom. We asked Mark if he were getting sleepy yet!

This is a place where you can really have a good time. So much so, that I forgot to photograph the Kartoffelsuppe (potato soup) first course we enjoyed. It had a nice flavor, and we were trying to decide which soup stock was used as the base. I posed the question, as I couldn't tell, and Emil thought beef, and Caren pork. The waiter told us it really didn't have stock at all, but that some bacon was purreed in with the potatoes. It had a smoky taste with a hint of pepper. They also served a good rye bread with the meal.

As a main course, I had the Sauerbraten mit Preiselbeerkonfitüre, serviert mit Rotkohl und Spätzle (Sauerbraten beef with red cabbage, potato dumplings and cranberry sauce). The meat was tender and the sauce well paired. The cabbage and potato dumplings were great as well. I did have take a photo of it after I'd taken a few bites.



Emil had the Jägerschnitzel in Champignonsoße mit Spätzle und grünem Salat (Sauteed Porkloin in Mushroom Sauce served with Spätzle and Green Salad) and Caren the Rindergulasch (beef goulash). We accompanied our meal with Emil's recommended beer, Caren and I had a light one in a small glass (I forgot the name-- UPDATE: Kölsch) which was good, and I usually don't like beer. Emil gave the thumbs up on the meal, and we would all go back. We finished the meal with the delightful pastry treat "Bee Sting" (UPDATE: Bienenstich in German). It was a light bun-like pastry filled with a delicious cream. He of course told us the authentic German name, which I'm not able to reproduce, and he said you could only get this dessert here in this area. Again, we were having such fun, I forgot to photograph it. He also said he thought it better than a similar German restaurant in Alameda that he'd been to in the past.

I also managed to get a quick peek inside the kitchen window and take a shot of some food in prep.

As we went out the door we were also already planning our next visit to be with a bigger crowd who like to sing. If you want to have a rousing good time, in a jovial atmosphere you couldn't do better than Suppenküche. (And the ages and attire were all seriously varied.)

Day of Rest. I woke up with a low-grade headache and decided to take it easy. Enjoyed the San Rafael Farmer's Market, barely missing Jo-Ann. I arrived later than usual, and in good time for some of the vendors to start discounting. I took advantage of a 5# for $5 special at one booth, netting some beautiful eggplant and tomatoes. I took a photo of some of the eggplant on my deck railing. I can see some grilled eggplant on the barby coming up! I also got three of my knifes sharpened, what a joy! They cut so cleanly through tomatoes now! There is a booth in the corner of the Market, try it, you'll be amazed at how inspiring a sharp blade can be! Still headachy I tried going to my chiropractor, who noted that I was so tight it was hard to adjust me, and might I consider a massage? No further pushing needed, I booked myself into a new place I'd been wanting to try, Mill Valley Massage with Nicole. It is reasonable ($54 for an hour of specialty massage - I like deep tissue), pleasant surroundings and very close to home. I had a great massage, Nicole is highly recommendable. Headache didn't go away immediately, but it was a good start to it sliding away.

Day of Surprises. A little before noon a good friend of mine, Bishara, called and checked if I was in town and surprised me with the news that he was here too, staying at the Four Seasons, and would I like to have lunch? Naturally, I jumped at the chance to see an old friend who lives out-of-state and travels far and wide. Bishara favors ethic and hot food, so I introduced him to "King of Thai Noodles" on Geary. It's not fancy, and no appetizers, but consistently good (that's why there seems to always be a line), and Bishara was impressed with the array of 'hot' condiments on a tray at every table. It was nice catching up. I spent a little time at the Sports Club LA (since I parked my car there, why not?), and returned home. Not long after I had my second surprise, a quick e-mail query from Carl about having dinner -- from the club! Just missed him. We decided to meet in the Marina, and had a nice catch up dinner at a crepe house (I'll have to revise this when I remember the name!). I enjoyed their inventive Chinese Chicken Salad. I thought I'd put a shot of the evening sky at my place on this entry, I never tire of the light playing on the water at different times of day.

The Long Ride Home. I decided to take the trip home to Mill Valley in one fell swoop on I-5 from Long Beach. It was a very boring but quick ride compared to Hwy 101. On the way I stopped for lunch at "Willow Ranch". Having looked at my choices of "Express" fast food this-or-that, I decided to try out the decidedly local hang out off the Buttonwillow exit. There was also a "Taste of India" which looked intriguing, but it had a sign "Closed on Tuesdays" at the door.



The hostess and waitress were both charming and welcoming. I was greeted by six gentlemen (locals) waiting at the front for a booth and being questioned about my Prius. The newness has worn off in most places so it was a pleasant surprise to have my car noted and curious questions asked after a break from these in the bay area. Willow Ranch is well-worn and well-loved by the locals. It was plain and homey, and as I suspected a better and more creative choice than one of the fast food hangouts nearby. I had a country fried chicken salad which had a variety of garnishes and tasty fried chicken breast on the top. Their ice tea came in a huge glass - country generosity.

I drove from there, aside from a gas stop, straight to my favorite comfort food, sushi, at Akira's, then home.

September 8-11th: Family Time. Didn't pay much attention to food, but lots of attention to family. Shuttling between Rancho Mirage and Long Beach while I supported my niece Erika in getting Yurika's affairs in order. The coroner is not able to tell us the cause of death for 8 weeks.

We enjoyed some favorite family places, the Daily Grill in Palm Desert (Erika loves it), and Mimi's Cafe. I enjoyed time with Colin and Collette, taking them to the 3-D version of Monster House, and to the Discovery Science Center in Santa Ana. This is where I showed them what happens to kids who don't mind their Auntie -- a bed of nails for them!



Collette:



Colin:

Biscuits my mother would approve. The Madonna Inn really is a unique place. I've discovered it has an equestrian center and is opening a huge pool, tops optional, European Style. Naturally I couldn't check out the famous men's magical waterfall urinal in the men's room. But I did check out the Copper Cafe for breakfast this morning. There is an amazing amount of intricate woodwork and woodcarving in this place, if you appreciate ornate carved wood it's not to be missed.




Also not to be missed is the biscuits. Someone actually knows how to make real biscuits. They were fresh, warm and tender, and served with honey. Awesome! The Copper Cafe also makes an effort to include locally made products on the menu and make note of it, like Linguica or Swiss Sausage as an ingredient choice for their 3-egg omelets. It's true that the Madonna Inn isn't in my taste, but I appreciate that someone made the effort to give the place a personality. It is refreshing in the age of sterile, copy-cat lodgings. You'll also want to check out all the 'pink' themes -- even the bicycle rack is pink!

Madonna Inn. Here I am at the very (deliberately) kitschy Madonna Inn. It is in San Luis Obispo, and is well known for its creative themed rooms. I'm in "Desert Sands". It's just like it looks. In the days of free wireless at even the cheapest hotels, I was rather surprised at the $9.95 per day charge for your choice of wired/wireless. I'll be taking some photos in the morning of the grounds and posting when I'm home again. I had lunch at Robata Grill & Sushi today and still find their daily lunch special at $9.95 a nice bargain and with good food. I finally left after having to go to Goodman's a second time to have them re-do my mail keys so a friend can check my mail while I'm out. The travel was very good, and it certainly was a plus that my clean air vehicle tags arrived in the mail today, just in time to place them on my bumpers and go! I sailed through the usual San Jose/Santa Cruz bound traffic in the carpool lanes with my perky red Prius hybrid.

My "Desert Sands" Room from the outside:

Akira. I had a big shock today -- Yurika, my niece's little sister died suddenly. She was only 39 and in good health, so it's a shock. I'll be leaving town tomorrow for Long Beach/Palm Springs with an open return so there may be a pause in my blogging.

I had a strong feeling yesterday that I should have my car serviced right away, and made an early morning appointment this morning. It was just for routine maintenance (can you believe 50K on my hybrid 2004 Prius?!) , but it was a good thing I followed my intuition since I'll be driving long distance from tomorrow.

I took advantage of being in the city to do some business and have lunch with my friend Masami, at the Sapphire on Sacramento Street. Sapphire does a decent job for what it is (like Panda Express, but in great surroundings) and the food is very inexpensive. Took the cable car back to my car, and came home and knocked about for awhile.

Feeling like I needed to be out with some light companions to get my mind off things, I decided to go to one of my favorite hang-outs, Akira Sushi Bar & Restaurant in San Rafael. The owner, Hiro, was off today, but his staff were doing a marvelous job of putting out fabulous sushi creations and keeping a friendly and comfortable atmosphere. I sat at the bar and enjoyed catching up with Takeshi (see in photo above) and the other friendly staff.

I caught up with the news at Akira -- there is a website now, and they are expanding into San Anselmo. From the looks of the picture on the website, it looks like they are taking over the previous "Yahiro" sushi place. Akira should be an exciting new treat for the neighborhood as it is consistently excellent. Success seems to be flowing through the door at Akira, and they deserve it!



Tonight I enjoyed the mushroom miso (above) and the chirashizushi (below.) Surprisingly, I had never tried the chirashi before, and it was really a great mixture of fresh and beautifully arranged sashimi over sushi rice with marinated mushroom surprises tucked in. I think it is going to become one of my favorites, although it's hard not to have a lot of 'favorites' there!

O Water. A cool find indeed at Molly Stone's! It was on sale too for $1 a bottle which had to have influenced my purchase. O Water has several flavors with just a blush of fruit taste. Very refreshing!

I picked up both peach and lemon/lime flavors.

There are a couple other drinks in this class of barely flavored, non-sugared beverages that I also enjoy:

Metromint and Hint - both of these hail from San Francisco, while O Water is located in Massachusetts.

I have a personal preference for the local these days, especially after seeing a graphic of how much oil it takes to ship bottled water in proportion to the water bottle.

See "Bottled Water = Oil". Although I have a water filter, I still find that I consume more water if it has just a slight flavor. And who doesn't need to drink more water? I especially like the brisk refreshing taste of Metromint. I image fresh mint leaves scrubbing my cells as it flows through my body.

Japanese Potato Salad. Since it's been a bit since I posted a recipe, I thought I'd make something up, and log in the instructions.

Given that I also had some organic ingredients -- and needed to use them while fresh, I thought I'd make some Japanese Potato Salad and pair it with some left over chicken breast tenders for a meal.

The essential ingredients for this salad are potatoes (duh!) and Kewpie mayonnaise.

Kewpie mayonnaise definitely qualifies as a 'cool find' though I found out about it when I was in Hiroshima, Japan at age 16. Actually, my home economics teacher there, Dotan-sensei nicknamed me 'Kewpie' because she thought I looked like a Kewpie doll! So began my relationship with Kewpie mayonnaise.

Kewpie mayonnaise is somewhat sweeter than typical American brands, and it give a distinctive taste to many Japanese dishes. In recent years, this mayonnaise has been added to sushi, okonomiyaki, and even curry! There seems to be a Kewpie mayo craze in Japan where it was the first mayonnaise introduced to the Japanese public in 1925.

As for Japanese Potato Salad, my first introduction to it had some surprise... the Japanese have no inhibitions about adding unusual ingredients to the mix. As long as there are potatoes and Kewpie mayonnaise they feel free to add such things as carrots, apples and yes, even octopus arms. It was the octopus arms that gave me a jolt the first time I tried potato salad in Japan.

My recipe today uses carrots as the unusual ingredient.

Japanese Potato Salad

Potatoes (creamer) and carrots, peeled and filling 2/3 of 2 1/2 qt. pan, filled with filtered water
Thinly sliced celery (3 ribs)
Minced garlic (3 cloves)
Kewpie mayonnaise
Sea Salt

While potatoes and carrots are boiling, thinly slice celery and mince garlic finely. Put the celery and garlic in a mixing bowl. When potatoes and carrots are done (not mushy, but so that you can easily put a fork through), pour off water and let cool slightly. Add the potatoes to the mixing bowl first, salt and add Kewpie mayonnaise to taste. Roughly mix the potatoes so that they are not left whole, but are in irregular chunks. Don't go overboard and get mashed potatoes! Add carrots, and more Kewpie mayonnaise. Fold in carrots so that they do not break. Cool to lukewarm or colder, and enjoy!

Cat N' Fiddle. The weather in Sausalito today was outstanding. I took a walk along Sausalito's waterfront and decided to enjoy the Cat N' Fiddle for lunch. I've lived in Marin 9 years, and have never been to it, mostly because friends labeled it 'mediocre'. However, there's nothing like seeing for yourself, and often things change.

First, the photo at the left is what you normally see from the road but when you go around to the front entrance, shoreside, it gets colorful!


Your eye is so caught by the bright red that it takes you a minute to realize that the true entrance is actually a little further down the sidewalk.


Walking up to the second floor and entering the bar and dining area, you'll see it's filled with sea-theme memorabilia and old pictures covering the wall. There is a cat and fiddle against one side of the bar wall. The proprietor is very friendly and seats you promptly. Water and bread is brought out instantly. There is old music, like my Dad would enjoy, playing in the background. Looking around it looks like the lunch crowd is close to that vintage as well. I'm the youngest there.



The view is fabulous outside the window - the bird in the corner is wooden. The two menus are handed me, one the standard laminated one, and one a photocopy of a full page of handwritten specials, thick with description, and the writing has flourishes. The specials certainly are described best!



My order is taken promptly (from the handwritten menu naturally) and soon comes my cold Indonesian noodle salad at $17.00. Very nicely composed, very fresh. The only fault I had with it is the 'spicy' dressing wasn't, and the dressing was a bit heavy on the olive oil side. I left some of the lower spinach leaves which were over saturated, and there was a visible green virgin olive oil pool left behind. It seemed a little pricey for the surroundings, but then, the view was worth a few extra dollars.

It looks like it may be a fabulous place for appetizers and drinks sometime. I'll try it again.

Lesser-known eating places. In my July 12th post on Las Camelias I noted:

"I'm going to be making some effort to go to out-of-the way, smaller places which may be missed by the standard reviewers. Hopefully, this won't mean a slew of poor reviews, but I think there may be some hidden gems for more casual and inexpensive dining. Stay tuned."

Thought it was time for a round up of the smaller places in Marin County!

Most are too small to have a website, or much in the way of reviews. I've linked the best external source I could find as of this post for each. Here are the ones I've reviewed in my blog:

Sushi Lin in San Rafael (reviewed July 6, 2006)
Panchitos Restaurant in Terra Linda - San Rafael (reviewed July 11, 2006)
Gourmet Garden To Go in Mill Valley (reviewed July 14, 2006)
Strawberry Gourmet Delicatessen in Strawberry Village - Mill Valley (reviewed July 18, 2006)
Saigon Village in San Rafael (reviewed August 17, 2006)
Caffe Oggi in Mill Valley (reviewed August 30, 2006)
Sartaj India Cafe in Sausalito (reviewed August 31, 2006)

I am also working on adding the ability for readers to add comments to this blog... stay tuned!

A visit to Sonoma. I picked up Dad and we tried a new place on Sonoma Square - Sunflower Caffe. It is not a full service restaurant, but really a casual, but upscale, sandwich and salad place.

There are two doors, one leading to the line to order (left) and one (right) that opens you to the hall where there are seats and into the garden.


Dad and I ordered our sandwiches and chose a seat in the relaxing garden in the back.

Dad enjoyed a vegetarian vegetable sandwich on foccacia. It contained roasted vegetables and hummus. The salad was some crisp, blanched crudites lightly dressed in Italian vinaigrette and arranged on a lettuce leaf. He enjoyed his sandwich.


I chose the roasted pork loin sandwich with carmelized onions on a baguette. It was delicious! The Sunflower Caffe has gourmet touches and the food was good. The garden was quite pleasant, although I think the interior would be a bit too noisy for my taste. There is also a Labor Day barbecue from noon - four p.m. in the garden. The barbecued items looked promising as well, including a lamb burger and grilled oysters.

After lunch, I visited Linda, Yalda & Olivia in Glen Ellen and gave Linda an Excel lesson. We went to Cafe Citti, one of our favorite hang-outs for dinner, and we all enjoyed their lasagna. Coming back, I noted the traffic on 101N was entirely stopped and backed up all the way past my exit near Seminary Drive, to the Richmond Bridge exit and beyond. The Bay Bridge closure is really affecting Marin traffic.

Night at the Improv. After trying the new Pizza Antica at Strawberry Village with a friend, and a puttering around the house kind of day, I joined Daniel & Kit at the Improv at Fort Mason.

As for Pizza Antica, silly me forgot to bring my camera to the restaurant, but Sachiko and I enjoyed sharing a chopped salad and pizza with sausage, portabello mushrooms and grilled onion. Slow service, but good food, and a nice touch to leave a carafe of water at the table.

Daniel has been taking improv lessons from BATS Improv and has been inviting me to come for awhile, so tonight was the night to accept. It was enjoyable with a lot of audience participation -- they had a sonnet writing contest during intermission. It was done in the style of Shakespeare, which is a tough choice to maintain. Well done, but I think I would have preferred a different style. Will have to try again!

Sweet Ginger. It is nice working in Sausalito. EMU is the perfect setting, and only fifteen minutes by bike from my house. And I have a chance to reaquaint myself with some Sausalito-based eateries. Today I ventured to the crossroads of Caledonia and Litho for some oyako-don at Sweet Ginger.

I note the crossroads as the foliage has half-obscured the sign outside, and it could be missed.

The restaurant itself is bright and cheery and not having very much in the way of sound-absorbing materials, can occasionally get a little clattery.

The proprietors are quite friendly and prompt with greetings, orders and bringing out the food. This is especially welcomed when trying to get a number of things squeezed into a short lunch hour.



I was given a starter of some well-flavored miso soup, which was a very pleasant surprise as many restaurants do not make this pairing without a special order. The oyako-don had a bit of an individual flair as thin ribbons of carrot were included in the dish, which is not traditional. It added nicely without making the dish too soupy. (Restaurants innovating with this dish at other establishments sometimes get carried away with the watery veggies, making the oyako occur more as jook.) The only flaw in this dish was that the rice was ever-so-slightly undercooked. Just enough to lend a little discordance to the eating, but still edible.

I've been to Sweet Ginger a number of times in the past and have had consistenly good experiences. Their salmon over garlic soba and sprouts is a particular favorite of mine.

To Fisherman's Wharf. We stopped and walked along Fisherman's Wharf, and searched for a restaurant to wind up our day with. The girls were interested in crab, so we chose a restaurant based on their crab offering, loosely.

We ended up at Nonna Rose Seafood Trattoria.

The interior was warm and ambient, and although had the feel of a grandmother's lovely home, also had a very romantic air.


We started out waiting in the bar, corrupting the youth.



In at last, and a starter cup of Boston Clam Chowder, with tender clams and a nice rich base of creamy soup.



Anna's Filet of Sole Dore was served in a fish-shaped platter, with accompaniments of sauteed zucchini with mushrooms, and onions as well as some broth-flavored rice. The sole looked cheerful with capers, fresh tomato and fresh green onion pieces scattered across the top of its lemon glazed goodness. It reminded me of an Italian grandmother's kind of cooking, and was done to perfection, even if a little crispy around the egg edges.

The waiter told us that it was founded by the owner's grandmother, Rose, and were pointed to a lovely portrait of her on the opposite wall.


Collette grinned and posed with her bib, ready to tuck into the succulent fresh steamed crab with melted butter. Maya and Collette polished it off without difficulty!


After dinner, it was back through the Marina, over the Golden Gate Bridge for the last time this trip, and on home to collect Collette's things and say good-bye to Auntie Anna. It was a wonderful week together.