Friday, January 30, 2009

West Grand Rock N' Roll

So, what's up tonight? A rockin' show at El Rio, your dive! My pal and all-around butch stud mama hero Jackie Strano is back on her stage with her old Hail Marys band-mate Debbie in a new band. Called West Grand, they're describing themselves as "Jeff Buckley meets Black Sabbath" and I am very excited to go...I like Jackie's acoustic stuff but really, rocking out is what she was born to do.

I remember going to one of the very first Hail Marys shows, back when it was Jackie and a bunch of gay boys; it morphed into an all-dyke lineup later. At one point Shar & Jackie set me up with their new drummer, whom I ended up dating for a couple of years. I've been to more shows of theirs than I can count, and go-go'd onstage for them many times. This isn't the same band, of course, but the punk rock and roll heart will still be there. Don't miss it! Show starts at 9pm; West Grand probably goes on sometime around 10-10:30. $5 cover and cheap drinks all night long.

And, thanks to Downtown Donna's Facebook postings, I just realized that the line-up includes Reform School Girls, another all-girl band featuring the fabulous Pamela August Russell, of Better Off Dead Poets' Society fame, and ex-Pussy Tourette backup singer Sally Dana. Wheee! This is a night for an outfit and eyeliner, for sure.

And, you know, free oysters!!! from 5:30pm til they run out.

Monday, January 12, 2009

car pooling to eco farm?

So, who's going to Eco Farm next week? As usual, the carless PQ is looking for carpooling options...I can get down to Santa Cruz if necessary, but would love to get a ride from there. Happy to oblige with entertaining chat, gas money, and navigation assistance...Any driving farmies out there?

Friday, January 09, 2009

Cafe Gratitude, Chez PQ

Yep, we're rolling our own here at PQ Central. What are we grateful for, right NOW?

Nextmuni, which means never having to loiter on the corner praying for the otherwise-mythical 67 bus.

Debbie Harry, who is still performing, this time in a benefit for my Brooklyn writer pal Ayun Halliday's kids' school.

Qupe Syrah, red roses, charming company and beef carbonnade with silky mashers at the sweet and perhaps underappreciated South Park Cafe, tucked away South of Market between 2nd and 3rd Sts, between Brannan and Bryant.

Finally finishing the final edits on the cookbook manuscript, wheeee!

Swedish popstress Lykke Li and her acoustic, nearly a cappella version of Dance Dance Dance with Bon Iver, and Jane for turning me on to both.

Talking to my mom this morning, and hearing about her fab trip to Florida to visit her beau, always a good reminder that love can find you at any age.

Oops, Nextmuni is telling me the bus is almost here! More to follow!

Sunday, January 04, 2009

bonfire of the aloha cowgirls

Well, it just goes to show...there PQ was, yapping about her untarnished greens-hoppin' john-cornbread history on New Year's Day, and what did I have for dinner this Jan. 1 but roast beef, mashed potatoes, Brussels sprouts, gravy, and yes, a couple of black-eyed peas. I had my beans a-soaking when Shar called up to say that Mama was making a roast, and that's all it took, after a morning brunch at Rose's Cafe in Cow Hollow (mimosas and the salmon "cozy", a fat slab of fresh salmon tucked into a thin ciabatta-like bread with herb mayo, greens, and radishes)to nip on over to Fruitvale to knit, help with the gravy, and make cookies with the kids. And, of course, eat more meat! First, though, we had to wander through North Beach for a cappuccino at Caffe Trieste, perfect as always. It was a sunny, washed-clean day, a good one to wake up to after dinner at Chow (bacon always makes Brussels sprouts better! Really, their Brussels sprout app--done in the wood-burning oven, I'm thinking--is fantastic, as is the very nice roasted chicken with sweet-potato mash), a Marga Gomez show, and a little champagne party in Bernal the night before, with Roxy, Nance, and Papa Sueno.

The key to Brussels sprouts, as with its other brassica sisters like cauliflower and cabbage: caramelization! Get those suckers cooked through and then BROWNED, in the oven or in a hot, greasy pan on top of the stove, and you'll eat them like candy, I swear. Lynn, Shar's Canadian mom-in-law, did a bang-up job with these for dinner on New Year's Day, and even though nothing can compete with a rare rib roast, they came pretty close.

And then, a couple days later, there was Papa Sueno's cocktail party, featuring tasty Cable Car cocktails of rum and curacao with a cinnamon-sugar rim on the glasses, mmm. Plus sushi AND cheese balls, both made by star cooks Susie & Heather, who also did the amazing food at Papa S.'s wedding last year. Handmade cheese balls, two kinds! Who would have thought, besides Amy Sedaris? There were also dainty little Rice Krispie treat balls dipped in milk chocolate, which I didn't try (being distracted by the miniature dark-chocolate milky way bars) but which garnered numerous moans of molar-curling delight. And as if that wasn't enough, I nipped on over to Lulu's bonfire afterwards, a posse of lovely ladies gathered around the fire pit in her Emeryville backyard. I passed out homemade pumpkin cookies (still tweaking the recipe, but will post soon) and shopped the clothes swap, donating some of the dresses and shirts passed to me by my older sister, and coming home with a snuggly black-velour coat, an excellent "Aloha Cowgirl" t-shirt, and many other pretty things.