use real butter

We made it to San Jose without a hitch no thanks to United Airlines, but plenty of thanks to mystery UA ticketing agent who processed my “required” check-in ahead of a few hundred people waiting in line.

I managed to pick out a real winner of a sushi joint this time based on some local web reviews. We took Grandma to Umi Sushi in San Jose. Oh wow – that food was so good. I mean, this is almost on par with Ai. This will be a repeat restaurant for sure.

sashimi lover’s plate

special rolls

They had a huge selection of special rolls and a number of sushi items with poki. Delish! Grandma was digging it too. We checked into our hotel after lunch and took a nap since we had been up since 3:30 in the morning.

In the evening, we took Grandma to a party at my mom’s cousin’s house. There was so much Chinese food! It was really good, except we were still recovering from our sushi lunch. I don’t know how we’re going to survive this weekend.

Happy Birthday to all my mates born on this day! I know the autumnal equinox bops around a bit, but I love it when the first day of autumn coincides with my birthday. Why? Because it means the ushering in of a favorite season with pumpkin pies, fall colors, cooler weather, Halloween, apple cider, autumn harvest, hearing children at play in the school yard, the smell of smoke from chimneys drifting through the air, and frosts.

But today we managed to skip over all of that and plunge into winter. Okay, to be fair, the forecast calls for warmer temps and sunshine in the coming week. However, today I could pretend it was winter – except it didn’t require much pretending. On our drive to the trailhead this morning, the roads were completely slicked with a sheet of ice. Although I love winter, this punch of winds and then cold temperatures seems to have some aspens going from green to brown. Thankfully, there is still some color to spare.

last year, this expanse was full and brilliant

**Jump for more butter**

Jeremy turned 33 today. Happy Birthday, love! I picked up some goodies from Whole Paycheck and whipped up a simple dinner tonight per the Birthday Boy’s request.

I made spicy tuna handrolls, maguro sashimi, pan seared scallops with saffron beurre blanc, and for dessert – tiramisu. A sampling of the flurry of activities:

lovely hunk of tuna (maguro), pan searing the scallops

mix the mascarpone filling, layer the tiramisu

**Jump for more butter**