Author Archive
Authors Around the Bay: A.R. Silverberry
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A. R. Silverberry is actually the pen name for Peter Allan Adler. “His novel, Wyndano’s Cloak
Peter grew up in Marin, and is a long-time resident of the Bay Area. A licensed psychologist since 1991, he works with children and families in Cupertino, and balances his clinical practice with writing. Wyndano’s Cloak is his first novel, and has captured five book awards. A sequel is in the works. Visit his website at www.arsilverberry.com.
Silverberry will be at Borders Books, San Rafael, on September 25th, 2–4 PM; and Borders Books, Santa Cruz on October 2nd, 2–4 PM. He will donate a portion of author profit to DrawBridge, a nonprofit that provides expressive art programs for homeless and other vulnerable children in the greater San Francisco Bay Area. He encourages donations directly to DrawBridge at www.drawbridge.org.
Did the Bay Area inspire your book?
Absolutely. I like to use real places as jumping off points for settings, and everything I needed for the kingdom of Aerdem was right here. I wrote the book while riding the Caltrain from Morgan Hill to Palo Alto. For inspiration, all I had to do was look out the window to see the farms, fields of mustard, and wildflowers painting the hillsides. The Bay Area is magical. Even as a child, I imagined all kinds of fairy folk lived on Tam or about the trails behind my house in Homestead.
Where is your favorite place to hike/bike in the Bay Area?
The Los Gatos Creek Trail is great for biking or walking. The trail runs right through Vasona Park, where there’s a lake. Sneak preview of the book, the setting for chapter 29 was inspired by Oak Meadow Park, which merges with Vasona Park. If you go there, you’ll see a carousel, and other places where I got ideas.
What is your favorite restaurant in the Bay Area?
Gardino’s in Los Gatos. I love the chicken pesto salad, and the chicken kabobs are to die for.
What is your favorite place to get coffee or tea?
Peet’s. I buy their Mocha Java for my home coffee.
What is your favorite place to shop for clothing?
Macy’s at the Stanford Mall, and Patrick James in Aptos.
If you had an out of town guest coming to visit that had never been to the Bay Area where would you take them?
Can you ask something easier! Muir Woods or Golden Gate Park, but they’d have to choose. For me, there’s nothing like those redwoods. I’m in awe every time I see them.
Favorite independent bookstore in the Bay Area?
Kepler’s in San Mateo. They do a wonderful job bringing children and books together, partner with the surrounding schools, and support nonprofits in their community.
Appliance Techs of Marin
Posted by: | CommentsWho do you call when your appliances stop working? If you live in the Marin, the answer is simple. Call, Tweet or Email Appliance Techs of Marin!
A few weeks ago my garbage disposal stopped working. I had a very old garbage disposal, at least 20 years old. I knew I wouldn’t be able to fix or change the thing myself. It was big and old and stuck. I thought to myself, who do you call to fix a garbage disposal? A plumber? An electrician? A handy man? Then I remembered my Twitter friends Mike and Nancy of @ATOMsanRafael and posted this on Twitter:
In less than a half an hour, I got the following response. I didn’t even have to pick up the phone! Who says Twitter is a waste of time?
Mike from Appliance Techs of Marin came out that week and put in a brand new, quiet garbage disposal in no time. I was so impressed with their work I asked if I could interview them for my blog. Everybody needs an appliance tech at some point. They do so much more than garbage disposals!
Where is your favorite place to hike or bike in the Bay Area?
Having a 6-day a week job doesn’t leave too much time for fun. So we consider ourselves little ‘homebodys’ who really enjoy our own neighborhood (Terra Linda/Marinwood) for both walking about, and the even-rarer, biking about. Very hard to balance work, our kids’ school & work schedules, and family obligations, with personal delights.
What is your favorite restaurant in the Bay Area?
This is probably the hardest question to answer, because there are SO many wonderful restaurants around. I guess it really depend on the ethnic dish we’re craving on any particular day. We do find ourselves going back quite often to Sol Food, Jennie Low’s, Fish, Roadside BBQ, Chipotle. The list goes on, but you get the idea.
Favorite Coffee/Tea shop?
We are definitely bean lovers. Whole, not ground, please. Hold the sugar and ‘cream,’ but please add the Coffee-Mate … liberally. With so many variations of flavors & world regions they’re grown in, it’s actually quite fun trying a new one each time we run out of our latest pound of beans. We do explore a bit with different vendors, but gravitate more towards Peet’s because they’re local; home-grown right here in the Bay Area. The free medium drink offer when we buy a pound of coffee beans is always nice, too. What can we say .. Free is fun. And, supporting local business is really important to us.
Although, we can’t cross tea off our list either. Hate to admit it, but we keep a box of Lipton’s cold-brew tea bags in the cupboard, because it’s the easiest to make, and the taste is always refreshing. Yep, we’ll have a glass of tea, hot or cold, plain or sweetened, with or without lemon, thank you. Loose tea is fun, lots of flavors, too, but waaay more work than we have time for.
Favorite park for people and dogs?
We love Point Isabel park in the East Bay, because we can bring our dog, Mala, along. It’s really big, and they have a fantastic view of the Bay; lots of trails to roam, picnic tables and benches along the way. It’s free, but you have to get really creative with parking sometimes. There’s also a doggy shower in case your pup decides to get dirty or jump in the Bay (there is a fee), and a little shop for drinks and what-nots.
McInnis Park is another favorite park, because it’s local. Plus, we love visiting the Marin Humane Society’s dog park after regular hours, too. Mala loves being with the ‘pack’ and we love watching her play.
Favorite pub/bar?
It would have to be Moylan’s in Novato because they brew their own, and we’re really big on craft beer (especially since the last stronghold, Budweiser, sold out to a Belgium company). We like trying different microbrews; we follow Lagunitas Brewing Co. on Twitter so we know what’s currently brewing in the tanks. And, basically, any and all micro-breweries that are not so well known get a big thumbs up from us. We love the little guys!
Favorite place to shop?
This is probably the category where we tend to go national, but really try to shop local wherever, whenever we can, even if it means spending a little bit more. For example, Ideal Stationers instead of Staples or Office Depot, that kind of thing. Craigslist is another favorite to shop from (For Sale categories we love include: free, clothes+accessories, furniture, materials, general, household, business, farm+garden). That website has been good to us; we’ve been able to sell & purchase several items. It’s fun to reduce-reuse-repurpose.
What do you love most about the Bay Area?
Fascinated with the micro-climates; absolutely love the stunning landscape of rolling hills, quaint towns, and picture-perfect water views of the San Francisco Bay; sports teams to watch and root for from every level of talent; innovative companies are born here; rock-n-roll legends are from here, play here, and live here; area farmers who share their goods with you and take time for conversation; and the best wineries and brew masters around! That’s what we love most about the Bay Area.
Favorite book store?
Boy, that’s like a dying breed these days. Border’s was a favorite hang out, but lately the store feels like it has way more ‘open space’ instead of bookshelves.
Thank you!
To reach Appliance Techs of Marin visit: http://www.appliancetechs.net/
Follow them on Twitter: @ATOMsanRafael
Call: 415.726.4413
Quinoa Salad with Beets
Posted by: | CommentsIt’s one of those rare hot weeks in the Bay Area. It’s actually 90° in my house right now. For Wordless Wednesday I thought I’d share a great summer salad recipe with you. I know I’m not exactly being Wordless but this salad is too delicious to not talk about.
The original recipe is from epicurious.com but I tweaked it a bit (thanks to advice from my friends at rel.ish catering). I added Orange Muscat Champagne Vinegar from Trader Joe’s and feta cheese. If you don’t have the orange vinegar you can add a splash of orange juice to get the sweet flavor.
Enjoy. Be sure to let the quinoa cool in the fridge for 2 hours before adding the other ingredients. I got impatient once and threw it all together while the quinoa was still hot and ended up with a big bowl of mush, still tasty but not as pretty. I prefer to use golden beets, if you use red beets the whole salad turns red.
quinoa salad with beets
Created by Susan Spungen
The whole grain quinoa in this salad helps you feel satisfyingly full long after the meal is finished.
5-6 Servings
Submitted by anadeau
December 14, 2008ingredients
• 1 1/4 cups quinoa
• 1 1/8 teaspoons salt , plus more for dressing
• 4 medium beets , trimmed
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• Freshly ground pepper , for dressing
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 large, seedless cucumber , chopped
• 1 pint yellow cherry tomatoes , halved
• 1 cup green beans , blanched and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1/2 cup chopped flat-leaf parsleypreparation
Rinse quinoa thoroughly. Place in a medium saucepan with 2 1/2 cups water. Add 1/8 tsp. salt; bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cover. Cook until quinoa is tender, 12–15 minutes. Remove from heat; let stand 10 minutes. Transfer to a bowl. Cover and refrigerate about 2 hours.Meanwhile, place beets in a large saucepan; cover with cold water (by about an inch). Add 1 tsp. salt; bring to a simmer. Cook until beets are tender when pierced with a paring knife, 35–45 minutes. Drain; cover with cold water. Let sit until cool enough to handle. Peel and cut into 1/2-inch cubes.
In a small bowl, mix vinegar, lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste. Slowly whisk in oil. In a large bowl, combine quinoa, beets, cucumber, tomatoes, green beans and parsley. Toss in dressing to serve.
