Tidbits from the past few weeks

1. Another serendipitous substitution, happened upon on a weekday morning: if you're making French toast and you run out of milk (or you discover, like I did, that the milk you have has gone bad), you can use horchata as a replacement.  The difference is practically undetectable, especially when the intended eaters haven't fully woken up yet; but in fact, the substitution could actually be an enhancement, since I tend to add cinnamon to my French toast anyway.

2. A quick mid-morning breakfast at Mayfield Bakery.  Sadly, the Curse of Mayfield appears to be intact at the Bakery as well as the Cafe; my cafe au lait was first served to someone else, and the staff took quite a while to figure out their mistake and make me a new bowl.  Preexisting melancholy aside (having just dropped off a certain someone at SFO), I was not pleased, even though the coffee was good once it finally arrived; at least the weather was lovely!  The almond croissant was much smaller and more delicately textured than La Boulange's croissant, but there's certainly nothing wrong with portion control.

3. More curried chicken salad from Whole Foods.  Paired with steamed broccoli and some French bread, it makes a ridiculously easy lunch (and/or dinner) that doesn't mind being jostled in my bag on the way to work.

4. Trader Joe's mint chip ice cream.  Ideally eaten with a generous sprinkle of toasted sliced almonds and a mug of green tea.

5. A late lunch from La Baguette in the Shopping Center, after a fruitful visit to Gap with E.  Ham and Swiss Parisian sandwich, served toasted, and a muesli cookie for later.  This sandwich was really simple, and arguably kind of thing that I could easily make at home if I had the right ingredients.  Impeccably fresh bread (and, ok, plenty of butter) is key.  The cookie was great, albeit much more cookie than muesli (seriously, nothing healthy here, either).

Muesli cookie

6. Teriyaki chicken bowl from Nexus in the Clark Center, to go, with brown rice.  I always ask for extra broccoli, and the staff has never been denied me this request.  After a few questionable Nexus experiences (more specifically, salmon tikka masala and a funky pasta salad), I've decided to stick with chicken entrees.