Orange is not a colour, it's a state of mind

I asked my new friend the Bay Bridge on Twitter (yes, a tweeting bridge) if there were New Year fireworks in the harbor – he replied that they were right overhead!

We decided to stay awake this year so invited Kara over for dinner and a show, and dressed up a bit.

We had pulled pork and I made lemon meringue pie from scratch – hot on the heels of the successful non-tanty pastry for Xmas fruit mince pies I thought I would try a full-sized pastry based pie. It was touch and go with the pastry being a little crumbly and I had to patch the sides once I got the pastry into the dish but other than my lemon filling being runny and my meringue not being anywhere as fluffy and high as Mother’s it worked out fine!

After being worried earlier in the day that the 2 towering apartment buildings out our window were going to block the fireworks we were very exited to see that we could actually see most of them! They were good and noisy and went on for 15 minutes with lots of whooping in the streets below. It was freezing out on the balcony taking photos. Traffic on the bridge slowed down and everyone on the fireworks side slowed to a crawl and the cop cars with their loud speakers that came along to shout at them to keep moving didn’t have much luck!

We opened some orange and green fortune cookies to start out the year.

Happy New Year everyone!

I’m famous on the Xero blog again! To finish off the year with a nice personal post seeing as most of the rest of Xero is off on holiday in New Zealand or Australia where it’s summer I did a piece on the coffee I’ve had in the States on the trips I’ve been on for Xero in the 4 months since we’ve been here.

It was fun to write and it’s getting a few comments and suggestions which is very pleasing! Take a look – Coffee in the USA.

With The Mister being a bit snuffly between Christmas and New Year it was the perfect opportunity to have some potato-based comfort food. These little treats were in the Cuisines Magazine years ago and are great to eat on the couch in front of the telly – not sure of their proper name but we call them Mash Toasts! (Garlic & parsley mash on grilled ciabatta, sprinkled with parmesan.)

Spent so much time on the couch today trying to relax in true Boxing Day style that we were treated to the very rare sight of the bridge emerging from the fog – firstly because it doesn’t usually get foggy in this part of town and secondly because if it does we’re usually at work during the day and miss it clearing.

It took about an hour from thick pea soup all morning to clear.

Our first San Francisco Christmas (but not our first one overseas because we were in Washington DC a few years ago) has been great. As much as we’re supposed to miss family and friends and all things New Zealand it was good to have a day of just us doing what we want – even did some washing (Steph would be proud!).

We spend much of Christmas eve on Skype to friends and family – actually a really nice Christmas eve thing to do. The Mister is still hacking and coughing and getting over his ChristmasManFlu but we went for a quick walk outside to get a coffee.

And cooked our traditional Christmas Eve feast – this year spinach lasagne.

On Christmas day:

The Mister got his pancakes

We opened presents next to our little tree

We made and took some little ricotta and tomato tarts out to Bev & Dan’s where we feasted with their friends on lots of meat and Kiwi puddings!

We drove through their neighborhood on our way back to the freeway and saw quite a lot of decorated front yards – this was one pretty spectacular.

We were walking back from an errand in town earlier this week and saw a huge red sign above a store on Folsom Street.

Huh? Seriously? ‘Coffee bar & boutique electronics.’ Just a block from work? Was it too good to be true? We went up and peered in the window, the door was closed and the window was fairly reflective so I couldn’t see in until my nose was practically pressed up against the glass and HELLO – cool dudes, coffee machine, bar stools, bags of Blue Bottle beans, coffee menu and hario rack. Yes!

We burst through the door and rather too exuberantly greeted the 2 guys inside. They’d just opened that weekend. It’s a very VERY cool open space inside where they’re going to showcase and sell high end audio equipment with a coffee bar to the side. The Mister’s eyes were bulging already, they didn’t have much equipment set up but I could just see him cogitating on where his next home theatre was coming from! Anyway, back to the coffee (and we’ve had several now) – consistently good, smooth, strong, good temperature and very well made. They’re very methodical and careful in their technique and each day we’ve gone in there has been a growing crowd of lads making coffee – they’re all in their training period. I hope they maintain this care as they mature.

It’s funny, The Mister reckons when they see me coming they bring out everyone to make the coffee!

Everyone is so friendly and interested to hear about Xero and Vend and they’re grateful to have some regulars so early on. I do feel bad for Eipcenter, but Elite’s coffee is so much better and a tad closer to the office. We encouraged them to get on Twitter and it was awesome to see one of their first tweets:

Elite Audio Cafe, 891 Folsom St, San Francisco, @eliteaudiocafe

Last night we had our little Xero Team US holiday party (more PC than saying Christmas) – we’re now up to 3 on staff! President Jamie surprised us by bringing Santa hats to the office and The Mister surprised me by agreeing to wear one!

Of course he couldn’t take it off all night for fear of what his hair might look like underneath and even walked all the way home wearing it! We invited Kara and James (who manages the shared office space) along to dinner as well as a couple of new staff who’ve just been hired but don’t start until the New Year. It was a great evening of pizza, wine and ice-cream. It’s going to be a big year for us next year and it was great to go out as a group and all get on so well.

Without diplomacy or agenda, based on taste & consistency, these are the best places I’ve had coffee in 2011.

1. Ninth Street Espresso Chelsea Market – New York
2. Customs Brew Bar – Wellington
3. Blue Bottle Ferry – San Francisco
4. Stumptown Ace Hotel – New York
5. Blue Bottle Mint – San Francisco
6. Public Domain – Portland
7. RBC NYC – New York
8. People’s Garage – Wellington
9. Stumptown Roasters – Portland
10. Fuel Espresso Willis – Wellington

Received a photo of little Enrico wearing his San Francisco Xero knitting! What amazing colored gingery hair!