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.

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

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.

Epicurious recipe:

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, 2008

ingredients
• 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 parsley

preparation
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.

Sally’s Roasted Chicken*
Preheat oven to 375

Mix salt, black pepper, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, thyme and dried parsley together.

Separate skin from the chicken and spread herb mix on chicken between the skin and the meat part.

Place chicken on an upright chicken roasting pan. I heard you can also use a beer can if you don’t have this special pan.

Spray chicken with olive oil then sprinkle some salt and herbs on the outside. Squeeze a little lemon juice over it and insert a meat thermometer. It’s important to make sure you chicken is fully cooked.  I cook my chicken to 165 – 170. (The government recommends 180 but that’s for the mass produced chickens. If you get a chicken from Tara Firma Farms, you know where it comes from, how it is handled and you know it is not mass-produced.)

Depending on the size of the chicken it usually takes an hour (more or less) to cook. I also rotate it every 15 -20 minutes to get an even crisp.

Let the chicken cool for at least 10 minutes before cutting.  The skin should be crispy and the meat juicy.

I serve with brown rice, a mixed green salad and a veggie like green beans or broccoli.

How do you cook your chicken? I’d love to hear your recipes.

*This recipe is loosely based on Leanne Ely’s Garlic Lime Chicken. I originally discovered via FlyLady years ago.

With the leftovers I made Chinese Chicken Salad for lunch the next day.
Chicken cut in small cubes, tossed with sliced almonds, sesame seeds and romaine lettuce with Comfort’s Chinese Chicken Salad dressing (from Comfort’s Cafe). You can also add green onions. Yum!

PS. You can also purchase Comfort’s salad dressing at Paradise Foods.

]]> http://sallyaroundthebay.com/2010/08/in-memory-of-the-mill-valley-mushrooms/feed/ 0 http://sallyaroundthebay.com/2010/08/thai-food-in-san-anselmo/ http://sallyaroundthebay.com/2010/08/thai-food-in-san-anselmo/#comments Thu, 19 Aug 2010 00:45:01 +0000 Sally http://sallyaroundthebay.com/?p=3128 I love Thai food and Marin County seems to have endless choices when it comes to Thai food.  Today I joined a friend for lunch at a place called Lanna Thai in San Anselmo located on the Miracle Mile.  The décor is nice and the food is good.

We started with the Salad Roll appetizer “lettuce cups filled with jicama, crispy noodles and pine-nuts all tossed in a tangy sauce”. We ordered the Sauté Eggplant which is eggplant sauteed with Thai basil in black bean sauce with Tofu. It comes with a choice of Chicken, Beef or Tofu and it cost $7.95.

We also got the Crispy Basil Chicken: Tender chicken lightly breaded and tossed with a tangy sauce and crispy Thai basil for $11.00. I was expecting it to be more chicken nugget like but it the batter was actually light, crispy and delicious! I had a Thai Iced Tea with my meal.

I LOVE Thai Iced Tea!

Lanna Thai
810 Sir Francis Drake Blvd
San Anselmo, CA 94960
415-455-8300
www.lannamarin.com

Thanks to Twitter, Marilyn and I headed over the bridge. We wanted to have lunch with our Twitter friend Marjorie (aka @Boomerbabecoach). We met Marjorie thanks to Twitter. She actually came to one of our past TweetUps at Pacific Catch (which means she had to cross a bridge to come to a TweetUp – now that is dedication!). We agreed to meet at a central place Berkeley. We met at Fourth Street in Berkeley. Marilyn & Marjorie chose Café M. FYI – Café M’s address is on Fourth Street but it is technically on Fifth Street. Café M has really nice outside seating but today was another chilly Bay Area day so we sat inside.

For lunch, I had the Spinach Salad with Salmon on top.  It was yummy. It was fun spending time with Marjorie in person, getting to know her better and being able to talk with her in more than 140 characters. After lunch we strolled around Fourth Street. We found a store full of sparkles, Jest Jewels. Sparkles and bling are the thing Marjorie, Marilyn and I have in common. We’re the sparkle sisters. We like sparkly things. We had fun poking around Jest Jewels looking at all the sparkles.

Every time I cross over one of the bridges I always say to myself, “Why don’t I do this more often? I love it here!”

Dr. Michelle Gannon (aka @DrMichelleXO) is another Twitter friend turned real friend. She’s great! Michelle is very active on Twitter and Facebook, I love meeting professionals that “get” how social media works (ie. tools to build relationships, not just to broadcast yourself). Besides being a successful Psychologist, a wonderful mom & wife, and a super fun person, Michelle is a fitness freak inspiration.

Because of her expertise in relationships and exercise I asked her to share some fun fitness things to do around the Bay Area (with or without your partner). ~Sally

Dr. Michelle Gannon is a Psychologist in private practice in San Francisco working with individuals and couples for the past 20 years. She is also a founder of Marriage Prep 101, Award Winning Couples Workshops for Engaged, Newlywed and Seriously Dating Couples that she has led with her husband, Dr Patrick Gannon for the past ten years. The Gannon’s recently won the SF Bay Guardian Best of the Bay Award for Best Couples Counselor for the 6th year, and are often featured in local and national media. Michelle loves what she does, and she tries to practice what she teaches…

Below Michelle shares some fun ways to exercise in the Bay Area.

Hi Sally, It has been such a treat to meet you. As you know, I am a big believer that all of our relationships benefit from us taking good care of ourselves. For many of us, physical exercise makes a significant difference in our mood, and emotional and physical well being. For those of us who live in the San Francisco Bay Area or Marin, we have some great options for exercise. I am happy to recommend some of my current favorites.

Also, I wonder: If you are in a relationship, are you someone who likes to exercise with your partner? Or would you prefer to exercise on your own? I have tried both options. Since my husband and I both like to be fit, I thought it would be fun to exercise together. However, our different personality styles come up when we exercise. When we run or bike together, he actually wants us to be completely quiet. He likes his exercise routine to be meditative and introspective. No surprise to you that I like to chat if we are together. What’s the point of exercising together if I have to be quiet? Ha! So over the past sixteen years together, we have decided to do our regular exercise independently, and then come together for the occasional hike or bike ride. Also, since we have children, it has worked out well for me to get up early and exercise without him! When I spoke with the coaches at my current favorite gym, Tamalpais Cross Fit, they reported, “Exercise builds camaraderie with their spouses. Working out together gives new dimension to their conversations and how they spend their free time. They even felt closer after they exercised together”.

What about you Sally? Do you and Celia like to mountain bike together?  Um, no.

Or do you have better times hiking?  Exercise together or apart? I prefer to hike with my dog. She prefers to bike without the dog. We occasionally come together for a hike or a mellow bike ride along the bike path of Mill Valley & Sausalito. ~Sally

What are your favorite running, hiking or biking routes?

I live in Marin, and like to hike with my golden retriever, Max. The loop around Phoenix Lake in Greenbrae is one of our favorites.  It only takes an hour to walk around the lake so you can easily squeeze it in no matter how busy you are. You can also make the hike longer by following any of the uphill trails. My office is located in Presidio Heights in San Francisco. One of my favorite running routes starts with a jump over the Presidio Wall, then a twisty run through the Presidio and along the Marina Green and Chrissy Fields. I enjoy passing by the Palace of Fine Arts, beautiful Pacific Height homes, and finishing by running up the Lyon Street Steps. It is indeed a challenging San Francisco route rewarded by breathtaking views of the city.

In terms of biking, we like to bike out to China Camp along San Pedro Road in San Rafael. In San Francisco, one of our favorite routes is to bike from the city, across the Golden Gate Bridge, and up the Marin Headlands. Of course, biking in Sonoma or Napa from winery to winery is another good way to spend an afternoon.

What is your favorite yoga studio?

I have a Sunday morning ritual of yoga and coffee date with girlfriends. We really like the classes taught at Yoga Works. Originally, I went to The Yoga Studio, and was hesitant about the change in ownership. The Yoga Works studios in Larkspur and Mill Valley have both kept their commitment to offer excellent yoga instruction in an inviting setting for all levels.

Any other exercise recommendations?

Every couples of years, I like to try something new for fitness. Two months ago, I began the most challenging workout program ever: CrossFit. Coaches Michael, Corey and Meshelle at Tamalpais Cross Fit encourage, motivate and support us in small group classes. They deliver an hour long high intense, constantly varied workout utilizing weights, gymnastics, plyometrics, running, rowing, kettlebells, pull up bars, and more. My fellow cross-fitters are the kindest, most encouraging fellow exercisers I have ever met. The coaches are also available for personal training, but I like the group support. We can moan and complain out loud here, and not get in trouble for talking!

Please consider making time to exercise as an intentional way to become more physically and emotionally fit. As an intentional way to work on your relationships, please consider Marriage Prep 101 or call Michelle at 415 905- 8830 for therapy, workshop or reading recommendations. You can also follow her at Twitter.com/DrMichellexo,  Facebook.com/MarriagePrep101 or read her blog at DrMichelleGannon.com.

Thanks Michelle!

Madeline Schaider!!!

CONGRATULATIONS!

Since many of the entries were made by friends and I wanted everyone to win, I asked @pdost (an unbiased observer from Indiana) to use random.org to select the winner. We had a total of 31 entries combining blog comments, tweets & Facebook posts. Thank you!

I really enjoyed reading all the comments thanks to everyone who participated!

* * *

Contest is now closed. 8/10/2010

How would you like to have a $50 gift card to Guaymas Restaurant in Tiburon, CA? Guaymas serves authentic, delicious, fresh Mexican food and is located in one of the most beautiful places on earth (in my humble opinion). If you like good food and amazing views of the San Francisco Bay then Guaymas is the place to go!

Here is your chance to win a $50 gift card to Guaymas! All you have to do is leave a comment below and tell me what you love about the San Francisco Bay Area.

The winner will be picked randomly using random.org. The winner will be announced on Monday, August 9, 2010. Winner must email me their mailing address in order to receive prize. Please only send me your address if you are the winner.

Photo borrowed from www.guaymasrestaurant.com

Want more chances to win?

1. “Like” Guaymas & Sally Around The Bay on Facebook and leave a comment on the Sally Around the Bay Facebook page saying “I want to go to Guaymas!”.
2. Follow me on Twitter and tweet this contest by simply copying and pasting the text below and posting it to your Twitter account:

Hey @Sally_K I want to go to @GuaymasTiburon http://bit.ly/GuaymasContest (Pls RT)

Guaymas
5 Main Street
Tiburon, CA 94920
www.guaymasrestaurant.com
415.435.6300

I love Fairfax! It is my favorite town in Marin. Fairfax still has the original Marin feel. Fairfax is full of cool, fun and interesting people. Fairfax is also the first town in Marin to ban plastic bags. Fairfax is a town that leads to many great hiking and mountain biking trails. It’s also the place to find night life in Marin. If you want to go out after 9pm Fairfax is the place for live music and dancing.

This is quickly turning into a post on why I love Fairfax. Just go to Fairfax and see for yourself. It’s a very cool town.

If you are craving some Thai food be sure to check out Siam Lotus. Also you must try a tiny little ice cream store called Fairfax Scoop. Everybody loves Scoop. But be prepared to wait in a long line if it is hot out. The place is tiny!

I lived in Fairfax when I first moved to Marin. I still miss that place!

*Photo borrowed from the Siam Lotus Website.

Siam Lotus
www.siamlotusfairfax.com
25 Broadway Blvd, Fairfax, CA
415-453-5967