Paella

My roommates Stu and Mags have always been interested in hosting Couchsurfers at our apartment in San Francisco; they are planning a big trip in the next couple years and have already had a long vacation in Europe. I don't mind these visitors as they have never caused me the smallest inconvenience. I also don't mind because Stu, Mags and my third roommate, Katie have been more than accommodating when it comes to my frequent out-of-town guests.
Last week we had two great guests from Madrid stay with us. I really must go to Spain some day; every Spaniard that has ever stayed with us has always gone out of their way to be gracious and cook us amazing Spanish food! This time we had some amazing paella. One interesting thing they told us was that the yellow color of the paella, while traditionally achieved with saffron, was cooked with a yellow dye. "Everyone in Spain cooks it this way," they said. "It's cheaper." This amazed me. I've made paella before, and although it is a one-pot meal, it also has a gazillion ingredients and can be pretty spendy. I also remember thinking: can you even taste the saffron?
I wish I could tell you the dye they used, but I'm assuming it was just yellow food dye. And the verdict is in: I'll take Paella made by Spaniards with yellow food dye over the saffron any day!

Yamo- San Francisco Burmese food

 My Mom, Frani, came down to SF this week to attend my reading for Word World, and to just hang out and have fun. Today we went to one of my favorite places in SF - YAMO, a fabulous little Burmese noodle shop.

 The place is literally a hole-in-the-wall. There is barely room for a kitchen and a bar with seven or eight stools.

We totally lucked out - we got a parking space a block away and when we showed up at Yamo - the place was empty. It must have JUST opened up for the day. We sat down and within thirty seconds the stools were all full of people and there was a line out the door!

 The three ladies that run this place are AMAZING! It's entertaining just to watch them work. One woman takes orders, does the cold salads and apps, one chef preps for the other at the stove. It's like a well-oiled machine. Somehow they do to-go orders, make change and serve DELICIOUS food, without losing their timing or their temper. All in a kitchen the size of a closet.

Mom got curried prawns and I got the mango chicken with rice. We were both so hungry and the food was so yummy, I forgot to take pictures!! I recommend YAMO (18th and Mission) to both visitors and anyone who hasn't yet experienced it. Sitting there eating this great Asian food, it made me sad to leave SF. It's places like YAMO that make San Francisco a great place to live!