Nice Weiners

So in Copenhagen they had these hot dog stands EVERYWHERE - and as a fan of processed meats (seriously I love hot dogs and sausages...not so much ham - but anywhoos... The standard hotdog came in this bun. not like the traditional bun you see where the bun is split so it folds open in half but it has a freaking hole in it.... A FREAKING HOLE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE BUN! It was almost too obscene to eat - but we ate them anyways - and they were delicious. If just a little heavy on the dressing.

Dinner @ Herman

This post is long overdue...but while in Copenhagen, I was able to go to Herman - a FREAKING amazing white tablecloth type of restaurant. Want to post pics now... but will get to describing what these are later.

Godmorgen Kobenhaven

The first week of October, Forrest and I headed to Copenhagen Denmark...without the baby - AHHHHH! I was headed there anyways for a work conference so we tacked on 5 additional days and headed out for our European vacation. Leaving the house was the hardest to do as Donut seemed to know something was up and was bawling the entire time. But as we checked in later, she missed us but was having a blast with Sam, Molly, Herminia and my mom. The biggest ever thank you goes to Sam and Molly for being fill in parents while we were both gone. The phrase "it takes a village" has never rung more true - and when they have kids, Forrest and I are at the ready to watch their kids so they can get out.

Copenhagen is one a little island called Zealand off the coast of mainland Denmark. It's not a big city, but cute and with lots of culture. My friend's cab driver actually told her "I love living here but I don't know why tourists come here." hahahaha.

We didn't waste a second either! We spent each day with a morning and afternoon outing...walking upwards of 5 miles per day plus a variety of public transit. Here's just a subset of pics - Check out all the pics here

above: Forrest and I at the Viking museum in Roskilde - why does he always look photoshopped into the pictures?

below: Kronborg castle in Helsignor....forever immortalized in Hamlet as Elsinore and now knows as Hamlet's castle. Every summer various productions come through to perform Hamlet.


Holy spire! There is this church in Christianborg that you can walk up to the spire....on the outside! I have never walked so fast up and down stairs in my life...haha

San Jose Half Marathon

I was all trained up to run it... but the week of the race, I threw out my back while on a business trip to Canada so I had to bail. Thoroughly disappointed since I trained for nothing, I put on a "brave" face to cheer on the rest of the team - hahahahaha.

The Adventures of Donut, Eggplant and the Wooden Car

It's nice that she likes vegetables but it's kind of funny at the same time too. Apparently she was too tired to carry around her eggplant anymore so she decided it needed to get a set of wheels...her dad's old car toy from when he was a kid no less.

Dinner at Benu

To cap off a crazy schedule week of VMworld, I made reservations at Benu for myself, Forrest, Tiffany and Dean. Benu is the real life representation of Corey Lee's dreams. The space is beautiful...stark and modern but not cold and with a unique personality. The food - well shiz - there are not enough words to do it justice. Hailing from French Laundry fame he uses the most refined classical techniques and takes lots of asian flavors (many of which are crazy pungent) and turns it into a subtle and sublime creation leaving us "working" with every bite so that we wouldn't miss out on any of that perfection. I don't know how to describe it except that every last minute detail was considered, details beyond the food...the beverage pairing of course was perfect (go Mike Ireland!) and even down to the flatware and the magnets holding the custom menus on the metal trays... the dishes - don't even get me started on the custom dishes. The mind of madness and greatness are separated by a hair....

buckwheat crackers with nori to kick off the party

thousand year old quail egg, ginger, celery a
paired with Bailly Lapierre reserve Brut, Cremant de bourgogne france

tomato, dasi and summer blossoms. The first two courses came out together and were paired with paired with Bailly Lapierre reserve Brut, Cremant de bourgogne france

Geoduck clam, seaweeds, raspberry-bonito vinegar

Carmelized Anchovy gelee, peanuts, lilly bulbs, chili, basil both dishes were paired with Wittman Scheurebe, Troken, Theinhessen Germany 2004

veal sweetbreads, yuzu, carrots, pickles, mitsuba paired with Horst Sauer, Escherndorfer Lump, Silvaner Troken, Franken, Germany 2006

Eel, Feuile de brick, avocado, creme fraiche paired with BEER! Kiuchi Brewery, Hitachino Nest, White Ale, Ibaraki, Japan

Risotto, sea urchin, corn, lovage, black truffle paired with Paul Pernot, Bourgogne, France 2007

Monkfish liver torchon, turnip, onion, mustartd seed relish, cherry, brioche paired with Prina, Hallgartner Jungfer, Riesling, Spatlese, Rheingau, Germany 2007

Poularde cuit en vessie served in 3 courses - meaning chicken cooked in pig bladder. did NOT taste like pee.

Breast - celery, almonds, black truffle paired with Michaud, Pinot Noir, Chalone, Monterey County, 2005

Leg - mountain yam custard, abalone, snap peas, radish paired with Kiuchi, Gekkakow, Junmai Daiginjo, Ibaraki, Japan 2003

Bouillon - jardiniere summer vegetables paired with Lopez de Heredia, Vina Tondonia, Reserva, Rioja, Spain 2000

Pork Belly, fermented pepper, cucumber, perilla paired with Jean-Michel Gerin, Cote Rotie, Rhone Valley, France 2005

Beef Saucisson, crisy maitake mushrooms, lettuce, scallion, asian pear paired with Prieler Johanneshohe, Blaufrankisch, Burgenland, Austria 2007

Sweet rice sorbet, pine nut puree pine needle infused honey

Strawberries, vanilla soymilk, buckweat sable, green tea. I think this was paired for the entire dessert course but now i'm not sure - eek! Chateau Pierre Bise, Les Rouannieres, Coteaux du Layon Beaulieu Loire France 2007