Thanksgiving — Blog — Stay At Home Husband

Best Activity:

Touring San Fransisco in a VW Bus: For Thanksgiving we travelled to Berkeley. My brother is in the musical “Tales of Despereaux,” an adaptation of the Kate DiCamillo book. The theater group he formed with his buddies, PigPen Theatre Co., wrote the musical and are performing in it, too. The life of a stage actor means that the holidays are a busy time, so we went to him this year because he’s not able to fly back for Thanksgiving or Christmas.

Tiff, as she always does, dug up a cool experience for us while we were in Berkeley. We drove down to San Francisco on Wednesday morning and drove around the city in a VW bus driven by our tour guide Josh, who was awesome. The tour weaved in and out of the different neighborhoods, Josh had a playlist for different spots (including Jimmy Hendrix’s “Red House” when we drove by the actual Red House and the Full House theme song when we pulled up to that iconic row of houses.). We hopped out at particular spots for pictures, much to my mom’s delight… As we drove around, we were also a photo-op for others, especially as we weaved down Lombard Street.

If you’re going to San Francisco, make sure to a) wear flowers in your hair and b) book a tour with Painted Ladies Tour Company.

There were a lot of highlights from the trip. The views from our AirBnB in the Berkeley Hills, lunch at Chez Panisse, dinner at Cheeseboard, a trail run (with my head on a swivel for mountain lions), Thanksgiving dinner, and (duh) seeing my brother perform on stage on opening night in front of a packed house (I’ve seen him perform a ton of times in various cities and venues. It never gets old. So much fun. So much pride).

Best Watch:

“Tales of Despereaux”: If you live in the San Francisco or Berkeley area, this is a show you should see before it’s gone in the beginning on January. There were a ton of kids at the show we saw, and while it has some scary bits, the 2.5 year-old behind us was all smiles at the end.

The DNA of Murder: This show is probably not for kids. Paul Holes, made famous for cracking the Golden State Killer case, has cashed in on his popularity. He’s got a podcast and a TV Show. The show is really good. Each 60 minute long episode on OWN has Holes consulting on a cold case that might have some DNA that can be used to find the killer (or in Holes’ words, “the O-ffender”). If you’re interested in forensics and you don’t mind a show ending without closure (hint: not everything is solved during the show), then I’d recommend this one.

Best Listen:

Tim Ferriss Show with Adam Grant: Ferriss’ podcasts are typically very long, a conversation between him and some intelligent, successful person. Adam Grant was a fascinating listen as he discussed his methods at improving as a college professor and how he sets boundaries to increase his productivity.

Best Eat:

Mushroom Pizza from Cheeseboard: Cheeseboard is a very different kind of pizza experience. Every day, they make one type of pizza, that’s it. If you don’t like it, don’t buy it. The pizza changes everyday, and a long line forms around the corner. The beauty of the place is that even with the long line, it moves quickly because they’re just pumping out their pizzas. You get to the register and ask for a slice, a half, or a whole pizza. By the time you pay, your pizza is ready. There’s a few small tables to sit, and on this particular a jazz band was playing too. We had a mushroom and goat cheese pizza. It was amazing.

As we were eating our pizza outside, with a beer, and a cool chill in the air, a lady pulled up in her car, on a busy street, and asked through the window about the pizza. She was quite concerned about onions, but it just showed how popular the place is and how different the concept is. This lady was willing to cause a small traffic jam (or a rear-ending) to ask some strangers about the pizza of the day.

Duck Confit at Chez Panisse: If you’re going to be in the Berkeley area, make sure you book a table at Chez Panisse. This restaurant is one of the best in the country, it’s kinda fancy, but it’s still in Berkeley, so it’s not THAT fancy. We couldn’t book a dinner reservation, so we dined in their upstairs cafe for lunch. Between the five of us, we ordered five of the six entrees. I got the duck confit because, heck, we’re in a French restaurant, so I’m gonna eat duck! It was amazing, served on the bone, the meat came clean off without the use of a knife. It almost had the consistency of pulled pork, with delicious crispy skin. The celery root puree served with the duck was amazing, and I forced everyone at the table to try it. It was like mashed potatoes, so much so, that I thought it was mashed potatoes with some celery flavoring until I looked back at the menu at the end of the meal.

Best Drink:

Holiday Punch: One of our Thanksgiving guests brought an amazing punch to the house. It disappeared quickly, and left many of us rosy cheeked. It probably has many variations; as we head into the holiday season, if you’re hosting or heading to any holiday parties you should consider making it.

Here’s the simple recipe: Spiced punch (wassail) from Trader Joe’s, vodka (a flavored vodka could spice things up a bit), and a cup of lime juice. Ratio is 1:1 punch and vodka and 1/5 lime juice.

Best Plugs:

Movies of the Decade: Tiff and I gave out or five favorite movies of the decade. We talked about the award winners, highest grossing movies, and movie candy, too. Listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts… (Rate and review and subscribe!).

Leeds United Past and Present: In the third episode of this series, Both and I talk about Leeds United. It’s an incredible story. The podcast even has a stamp of approval from a Leeds United podcast called “Leeds That.” Check it out on Spotify… or Apple Podcasts (Rate and review and subscribe!).

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