A little bit of this and a little bit of that. If this was your pathway to work, wouldn't you feel happy every day? Pluck a 'local' lemon off the tree for your filtered water, leave your bike in the rustic building and continue down the path...

Artwork and colorful flowers and plants, changing with the seasons, mark the way.

If you feel like you are going in circles, you can actually walk them out on the labyrinth.

If you still feel a little wound up, the abalone shell fountain's peaceful tinkling will completely transform your mood before you walk in the door.

And there's a little nook for when I miss the Asian influence.

Lunch on the deck is delightful, and the weather almost always cooperates.

And a view from my room... I drove into the city the other evening, and watched all the congestion and really appreciated that I don't have to do that anymore.

And it's only a 5 minutes from my place (if I take the car) and I can use that gained back commute (and no tolls!) to enjoy cooking or other things. For dinner last evening, I grilled up some asparagus, shitake mushrooms and fresh bone-in pork chops for dinner.

I then I took my Dad to see the 3:10 to Yuma as he is a fan of Westerns, what a good movie! And by the way, I passed Fabrizio earlier n the day, and it's open!

English fare in the countryside. It had been awhile since I'd been to the Pelican Inn. In fact, I had only been back a couple times (once for a nice brunch) since I reviewed it in July 2005.

And it's the first time that I enjoyed sitting in the greenhouse attached to the main Tudor-style building. How charming and peaceful on a temperature-perfect evening. I had come with Sachiko, who I'd tried to bring here before after wandering around West Marin one time. We were in good luck. Not only in getting such a pleasant place to sit, but that the food had much improved over my last visits!

Sachiko ordered some very-English-import vegetable curry. She was delighted with it, and had me try a spoonful too. What a nice melding of freshness with curry made mild with coconut milk.

I turned a blind eye to my diet, and went for the Fish & Chips. How English of them to serve it with fresh peas! The batter was perfectly fried, not overly greasy, encasing some tender white fish. I couldn't even finish the half of it, but it was nice to try.

Sachiko and I decided to try the lightest of desserts on the menu, the English Trifle. She exclaimed upon seeing it that she hadn't seen sprinkles in such a long time! Neither had I, and we enjoyed the light, fruity concoction as the sun was sinking. A lovely end to a lovely day.

Red meat heaven. So Dad & I were feeling a bit run down with colds last week, so one night we went in search of some good red meat! We stopped in Corte Madera at Izzy's Steaks and Chops.

Dad started with a nice green salad, Izzy's House salad.

I tried their soup special, clam chowder. It was the best clam chowder I've eaten in a while. Creamy and filled with tender clams, it was just delicious.

Dad ordered the end cut of the prime rib as he likes his done on the well side. A choice of two sides is offered with every entree. Dad chose a baked potato and steamed broccoli, both of which he enjoyed.

I ordered the flat iron steak, medium, with carrots and steamed broccoli. The carrots were quite a surprise, waffle cut and sauteed with sweet onions. This dish was carb friendly and delicious all the way. The only negative I could find is that the service was rather slow. Otherwise, the food was good, served hot and to the correct degree of doneness.

Bright, clean and a bargain. I ventured into Szechwan 7 at San Rafael's Montecito Shopping Center for lunch the other day. I had not been in this space since it's predecessor had the Chinese lunch buffet going. The former business had let it rather run down, and the lingering memory of it kept me from trying the new. That was a mistake. The current owners have completely renovated this place, and it is bright and and shiny clean. And it also offers a nice mix and match lunch menu.

I had a choice of three soups, and I chose the egg flower, rather than the hot and sour or won ton soups. It was piping hot and a generous portion, not to mention it had a fresh taste.

For the main plate, I chose the two pot stickers, fried rice (you can also have brown for $1 extra), and the special entree of the day. The special entree was a black bean white chicken and asparagus dish, which also included sweet onions and artfully sliced carrots. This was hot and generously portioned. The freshness of the ingredients sang through the black bean sauce as well. This is a great place for a casual lunch.

Getting right back on the horse. I'm finding the delightful thing about the South Beach Diet is the ease with which you can get right back on. Inspired by Kalyn's love of the silicone muffin pan, and equal love of the egg muffins (she's given us recipes with delicious counterpoints of same), I thought I'd try my own variation, and of course get my hands on one of those silicone pans!

Right off I can say that the silicone muffin pan is an immediate hit with me. The muffins held their shape and popped out quite easily with a little push from a spatula. It cleaned up in a jiffy too!

The recipe for these egg muffins is astoundingly simple. First I sprayed the clean silicone muffin pan with Pam spray, then I took one bunch of green onions, chopped and divided them evenly in the pan. I used just the green ends, and saved the white bulbs for other purposes.

Next I put a tablespoon of Mexican mix low-fat shredded cheese on top of the onions. You'll want to fill the cups about 3/4 full before adding the eggs.

Then I simply cracked an extra large egg into each. I then placed it in a pre-heated 375F oven for 25 minutes.

And out popped the finished egg muffins.

Which I then plated with a sprig of fresh mint growing on my deck. See the layers? The eggs were very shiny, the 'egg wash' effect, and there was a thin tough coating around them, similar to cellophane. I think I should have cooked them a little less (the egg yolks were completely done), or perhaps put a little bowl of water in the oven so there would have more of a poaching effect. At any rate, when you cut into them, the insides were tender, and the flavors of the cheese and green onions were a nice complement. Tableside, I added a dash of "Real Salt" from Utah, which I've found pairs wonderfully with eggs, and freshly ground black pepper. My father invited me to add it to my permanent repertoire. For those that are eating carbs, these would be awesome between toasted English muffins!

I'm also submitting this post to the ever-enjoyable Weekend Herb Blogging event, this week hosted by Katerina of Daily Unadventures in Cooking. It is fitting that I should enter a variation of Kalyn's egg muffin recipe since she was the originator and creator of this event, not to mention the one who keeps its quality consistent. This makes it consistently enjoyable week after week too.

I'm rather inconsistent at entering posts to the event, but I always take a look at other's creations each week. Kalyn's blog, Kalyn's Kitchen is one of my favorite go-to spots as well, and I've become an even more frequent visitor since starting the South Beach diet as she makes it easy to find recipes that work well on each phase at her site!

My featured herb is green onions. These culinary workhorses are often taken for granted, and have a variety of names - scallions, spring onions and bunching onions are common ones. Some call them shallots as well. Green onions have nearly four times the vitamin C and up to 5,000 times the vitamin A (beta carotene) that is found in red, white, or yellow onions. Surprising for these green bits that are scattered about the plate for garnish, or added for a little mild onion flavor to various sauces, particularly Asian ones. A member of the allium family, the World's Healthiest Foods site talks about the health benefits in terms of the whole family of onions. Not a bad idea to keep these around and use liberally!

French charm. La Boulange has been open long enough in Mill Valley to have garnered quite a following. As it is a BAKERY, I have been avoiding it as I suspected its wares might prove too tempting. But hey, if you are going to blow your low-carb diet, don't do it with Wonder Bread, but something worth the sidetrack. And besides, I blew past the 2.4 lbs gained on the cruise, relosing it quickly, and added some more for a new total of 12.6 lbs down from beginning point. In fact the on-line program told me I was losing weight too fast. Now that's a problem I've always wanted to have!

So I was tempted first by the French Onion Soup, and I was surprised that they add a couple pieces of delicious whole wheat bread with it, and an entire condiment corner, which besides the standard butter, jam and honey also has Nutella! My cup came in an actual cup. I wouldn't have had a sandwich had I known about the extra bread, so I only tried a corner of the bread so I could report that it tastes delicious.

I had a ham and cheese baguette as well, and it was wonderful. The interior of the shop is so well decorated in a French Patisserie style, even having little black chalkboards in front of the selections with their names. The prices were exceptionally reasonable too. La Boulange is open 7 - 7 and serves breakfast! If you haven't tried it yet, don't miss it - maybe I'll see you there with one of their open faced sandwiches next!

Empty but not closed. Walking by Cucina Restaurant & Wine Bar in San Anselmo, if you didn't read wooden sign, then you would certainly believe this place was closed for lunch.

The sign directs you around the corner to 'the bridge' where people were happily eating and chatting, and there was a small door open to the bar where lunch was also being served.

First thing, the waitstaff brings you a pretty serving of water and hands the menu over.

The menu is a bit limited, but I had a lovely Italian frittata of the day, which had mild green peppers, cheese and prosciutto folded into a form that was reminiscent of a crustless quiche. If you are looking for a very pleasant outdoor lunch, and don't mind a limited menu, this would be a good choice if you are near San Anselmo. The dinner menu looked much more promising choice-wise, so I'll have to make my way back some evening to try it.

Thai Restaurants in Marin. Marin seems to have a taste for Thai, as there are certainly quite a number of Thai restaurants here! Links to my reviews or other information about the restaurants below.

Thai Restaurants I've discovered

Corte Madera
Tub Tim Thai

Larkspur
R'Noh Thai
Tha Siam

Mill Valley
Thep Lea

Novato
Cafe Bankok

Sausalito
Arawan Thai Cuisine
Kitti's Place
Thai Terrace

San Anselmo
Orchid Thai

San Rafael
Citrus & Spice
Magnolia Thai Cuisine
My Thai
Signature Thai
Thai Smile

Tiburon
Virapan's Tiburon Thai

Thai Restaurants I've yet to try

Fairfax
Siam Lotus

Novato
Chao Praya

San Anselmo
Lanna Thai Restaurant

San Rafael
Bankok Thai Express
Bay Thai Cuisine
Jhan Tong
Royal Thai Restaurant
Thai House

Other Greater Bay Area Thai places I've reviewed

Sonoma
Rin Thai

Hidden bargain. Dad and I happened upon China Dynasty Restaurant on 4th Street in San Rafael merely because I found a parking space right next to it, looked up, and there it was. There was a list, by predominant protein - including vegetarian, of lunch specials mostly for $4.95 including a choice of hot and sour or tomato egg flower soup, and there was even a choice of brown rice.

We wasted no time placing an order. We both enjoyed the Tomato Egg Flower Soup, which came with won tons to crinkle on top for the non-carb watching set. I had a bit of a sore throat and the homemade chicken broth was very soothing.

I tried the beef and tofu dish with brown rice. It was just the right temperature and very wholesome tasting.

Dad tried a more 'expensive' choice, mango chicken at $5.25. He said it was fabulous and ate every bite. He was also pleased with his fortune!

My egret friend. Often the egrets come by to visit as I'm enjoying the deck. Last night this friendly fellow hung out with Dad and I as we grilled and ate. Knowing that the days of summer are drawing to a close, and the evenings will be getting darker and colder we decided to capture some more relaxation on the deck.

I set things up pretty casually.

And threw everything on the grill at once.

And our vegetarian meal turned out pretty, and pretty tasty indeed. And I lingered on the deck for hours in the beautiful California evening, pulling out my Mac laptop and virtually chatting with my new professor about the possibilities of becoming involved in some exciting research involving brainwave measurement as part of my coursework!

Irish Music. Daniel & I looked around for some Irish music to enjoy dinner by last night, and thought we'd found some at Finnegan's in Novato. We went there, trusting the calendar on the website, and alas found that the band hadn't showed up in at least a month. It wasn't a complete loss as we both enjoyed a tasty bowl of vegetarian black bean soup. Remembering The Mayflower in San Rafael as having some good Irish sound, we tried calling them to find that there was no music there either. I was sure that there would be some in San Francisco proper, but we decided not to chase it further...