Zuchini Toastie

We start with just 3 simple ingredients. Fry zuchini in olive oil. Lightly toast the thin baguette slices. Rub garlic on them.  Smear some cream cheese and add some black pepper. Yummy for the Pampered Panda's belly.

Leonardo

Leonardo was adopted from the Walnut ARF. He <3 his car rides. Being his chauffeur is the best job ever.
We found some riped blackberries at the marina.All the riped figs got plucked by my felllow suburban foragers.

2019 Papeete

My blog on the famous Papeete market and the sushi joint will be up in a different blog. Here's the map of the 3 areas.

We walked towards the ocean to catch the sunset.

The main waterfront road is Boulevard de la Reine Pōmare IV. It's named after the queen.





November 29th 2019. Tonight is 1 week into the summer down in the southern hemisphere. But the French are Catholic and celebrate with some Christmas decorations just like the USA.



The French Navy is here.


At 6:30PM the waterfront area is full of families enjoying the food truck festival.



2019 Tahiti Wakame Sushi Restaurant

My wife and I were hungry and the resto was walking distance from our hotel. The surrounding area isnt that nice but we came here for sushi not tourist suouvenir shops. I spoke in French that we would like to pay by credit. Apparently the staff immediately knew I was American and referred me to Dominique the owner who lived near San Francisco for 6 months. He speaks excellent English. The plates on the conveyor belt have covers to keep away insects. We came in at 5:30PM. Around 30 minutes later it was almost filled with locals. That's my standard of a resto when locals frequent a place rather than one time tourists. We had 12 items from the conveyer belt. Salmon, tuna, and local fish nigiri and sashimi, and rolls. We did not order the specialty rolls which ranged $14-$20USD. We had 12 plates x 650xpf was the cost or $75 usd. The crew gave us a larger specialty and two spicy tuna hand rolls gratis (no charge). The crew made french fries for the families with kids. The sushi was good and we plan eat here again on our next trip.

2019 PPT to SFO Returning Home

The journey was long. We left the hotel at 5AM and go to PPT in 10 minutes with almost no car traffic. The lines to check in was so looooooong. I was selected to have my backpack searched and my bWdody swabbed for explosive chemical traces. Well that was slightly unconfortable. 
There are so many beautiful islands under us. Some are for sale! I think I can squat on one of these for my retirement. This picture is the wing of our A350. These beauties are made from carbon fiber and the trailing edges resemble sanurai swords.
We "decollage" take off around 8AM after a 40 minute delay due to stringent security screenings. No doubt caused by the terrorist attack in London.
We "aterrer" landed in SFO at 6PM
I dont have a picture of the monitor showing the external camera during touchdown. But the wind from the ocean was so strong that the plane was not parallel with the runway. The nose was noticeably pointed towards the wind. The pilot skills and plane design were incredible.

Suburban Foraging - 20191021

Leo is training me for the Tour de Tahiti. He is conditioning me for the rigors of the south Pacific. We often drive to the park or a near by area for a new adventure. Dog is my co-pilot, yin to my yang, Maverick to my Goose, and calm to my storm.

We often find many plants and some edible. Today we find olives by Mom's gym.




We pickle the olives in salt and vinegar. Should be ready in a couple of months. I think we can package the brine and sell to wealthy cyclists as a cure for cramps.



Slovak Biscuits - Pagáče

Pagáče is a Slovakian staple. The phonetic spelling is Pah Gáh Chay with an accent aigu on the second syllable. It has lard cracklings..aka bacon. Mmmm bacon. I often eat these when visiting Slovakia.
Rising Dough.

Ready to eat.


Blue Berry Coffee Cake

I will be in Tahiti soon so there won't be any baking then. So I am baking a lot this Autumn. Today my pastry of choice is coffee cake. Adam brings this treat weekly to feed his crew. He's retired from being a professional amateur category 4 cyclist and returning to the office. No more 30 hours per week of training and chatting on the NCNCA FB page for him. Though he still dreams of speaking French, eating pate and riding in the Tour of Tahiti. Quelques reves ne mortent jamais. Some dreams never die.

Fresh berries. I've got the blues!
I have very delicate feminine hands that bake with care.
I tasted and tasted until it's almost gone.

Hello World

Hello world. I am the Pampered Panda. Come with me and explore the world of travel and baked goodness.