List 80

Love: The Joey Roth ceramic speakers Erich gave me/us, which sound as lovely as they look.

Like: On the Gwyneth scale, I count myself as an occasional eye-roller as opposed to a full-time hater, but it's hard to deny the utility of last week's Goop feature on how to arrange flowers by vase type.   
http://goop.com/newsletter

Discovery: Rodeo Beach, a beautiful spot tucked away on the coast next to Sausalito, at the old Fort Cronkhite, which we only just found out about, despite having lived here for nearly 20 years.  Now that a drive all the way up and over to Muir Beach or Stinson beach isn't required for a sand-and-Pacific day, it's likely to happen a whole lot more often.

Obsession: Spice Kit's Asian breakfast sandwich - a steamed bun with Hobb's applewood smoked bacon, spicy egg, ginger glaze and scallions - made by guys who used to don toques at places like The French Laundry and Per Se.  

Complaint: Camping. It's just never been my thing, what with all the roughing it and outdoorsy-ness. I was excited to read about a new pop-up lodging service called Shelter Co, who'll set up luxury camp sites - tents with beds, fire pits complete with a s'mores kit, even an outdoor movie theater option - at the location of your choice. Many may no longer count this as camping, but for some of us it makes a night outdoors appealing. For once.

Their site:

http://shelter-co.com/index.html

Their gorgeous tumblr with imagery to get you in the mood:

http://shelter-co.tumblr.com/

List 78

Love: The Boxcar Children was a childhood favorite of mine - to read and endlessly play act - so it's been lovely to re-read it this past week with Stella. The idea of four resourceful kids fending for themselves while living in the abandoned train car in the woods (storing bottles of milk in their cold creek "refrigerator", gathering mis-matched cracked dishes and pots from the town dump, finding eggs in the woods for supper, etc.)is as appealing now as ever.

Like: Tasting Table's Year of the Dinner Party series, which promises to provide ideas and inspiration for entertaining for the coming year.  Based on the first two entries, I'm hooked.

http://www.tastingtable.com/multipart_article/national/121

Discovery: Friskies' brilliant Cat Fishing app, which played a small part in keeping our poor cat Clara sane during her 8-week confinement following surgery (she was hit by a car in January.)  As of today, she's a free girl and authorized to be a normal cat again. 

Obsession: The current post-advertising fantasy gig is owning a small, modern urban inn above a bar or restaurant. Not unlike Longman and Eagle in Chicago or Detroit's Honor and Folly.

Complaint: That I don't have a picture of the finished dish to help convey this, but I swear this recipe for Guinness-Braised Beef Brisket is the easiest and most delicious centerpiece to a St. Patrick's Day dinner, if you are so inclined this Saturday.

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/guinness-braised-beef-brisket-10000000577146/

List 70

Love:  Areaware's Alarm Dock. You lay your iPhone down on the ledge (the power chord threads through the back so it can recharge at night) and with the Flip Clock app you have a readable clock during the night which will wake you in the morning. It's a beautifully simple design that's beyond genius.(I got mine at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art Store.)

Like:  A twist on the classic panzanella salad. Oakland's Pasta Shop is now featuring an Autumn Panzenella, with shallots, butternut squash and brussels sprouts and shaved parmesan.  It's so lovely, I could have it for lunch every single day.

Discovery: I still remember clearly the first time I saw Blue Velvet and how strange and amazing it was. The newly issued 25th Anniversary BluRay DVD, with its 50 minutes of found extra footage, will surely be on my Christmas list.

Obsession: Downton Abbey, the PBS Masterpiece Classics series, which will start its second season in January. I'm watching the first season now and can't get enough. It can get me through 30 minutes on the treadmill with nary a glance at the clock.  Gosford Park intertwined the perspectives and stories of those residing both upstairs and downstairs in a grand English estate, and this show, also written by Julian Fellowes, picks up where that left off, with the drama of a family whose estate will be entailed away from its daughters to a distant male cousin, and everything that subsequently ensues. The house and the period clothes could not be more stunning.

Complaint: Working on Haagen-Dazs' advertising is starting to get dangerous, what with all the free ice cream tastings. During a meeting today I was forced to try the Caramel Cone flavor. With its crunchy bits of chocolate-covered cone and burnt caramel chunks, it's ridiculously good. Which is bad.

List 64

Love: The great McSweeney's foray into food-focused publishing. Lucky Peach (the new quarterly magazine done in collaboration with Momofuku's David Chang) and Mission Street Food, (the cookbook and story of San Francisco's "improbable restaurant") are both very fun to read, highly informative and beautifully designed. Hopefully this is the start of a whole McSweeney's food-writing empire.

Like: Oven-roasted cherry tomatoes (olive oil, kosher salt, 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes). They can make even typically bland boneless, skinless chicken breasts more exciting. Add a side of greens and you've got an easy, fast and healthy weeknight dinner that sits pretty on the plate.

Discovery: The Local Butcher Shop, Chez Panisse alums Aaron and Monica Rocchino's new Gourmet Ghetto, well, local butcher shop. Not only is the meat of the highest quality, butchered and cut to order, everything else from the subway tiles to the pin-stripped aprons makes it a stop that promises your meal will be somehow more special too.

Obsession: Creating a turntable/receiver/speakers set-up in both our living room and in the backyard studio. (Currently, we're one down and one to go.) I really like these Cambridge Audio S20 dark oak speakers and picked up a pair. Berkeley's Sound Well is a great resource for restored stereo components.

Complaint: That the Out the Door in the Westfield is "closed indefinitely." Their fresh vegetarian spring rolls have been my favorite lunch. Now I will have to schlepp down to the Ferry Building once a week to satisfy that particular craving.