Open House Sunday 1:30-4:30 pm 50 W Edith Ave #5 Los Altos, CA

Stop by my Open House at 50 W Edith Ave #5 in Los Altos, CA 94022 from 1:30 pm to 4:30 pm today

See why the Village of Los Altos is one of my favorite lifestyle neighborhoods.

This 2 bedroom 2 bath home is a great place to entertain friends and enjoy the downtown Los Altos lifestyle. 50 W. Edith boasts a WalkScore of 86 and includes two parking spaces in the garage for your cars to vacation.

Sit on the balcony and watch the world go by.

50 W Edith Ave is just minutes from all the wonderful shops and restaurants in Village of Los Altos.

New to Los Altos?

Let me make some suggestions of a few of my favorite places;

For pampering yourself visit Le Petit Salon on Plaza Central. Owner Nancy Tran has been treating Los Altos to the best manicures and pedicures for about 20 years. Schedule a facial for your next visit, your face will love you for it.

Want to show off that new pedicure? Head to Main Street and go to Crismon Mim for a great new pair of shoes. Check out the great selections of clothes while you are there.

Getting hungry? Draegers is a great place to pick up a custom gourmet sandwich & something special for dinner tonight. Don't miss their amazing wine selection.

Want to go out to dinner? I love the old school experience of eating at Beasejour on State Street. Their coq au vin is outstanding, save room for the chocolate souffle.

AND??

Well some local secrets are meant to be kept, but if you visit my Open House I may be willing to share...

Come see why the Village of Los Altos is one of my favorite lifestyle neighborhoods.

originally posted:
http://siliconvalleyrealestate-blog.com/

Chili Verde and Spanish Rice

A while back I had a friend out visiting and I had them share their grandma's Chile Verde recipe. I love Chili Verde and I did not have a recipe I loved. They shared Grandma’s recipe and I have been playing with it ever since. I am the kind of person that even if Julia Child had prepared a recipe just for me I would be fiddling with it the minute her back was turned.

Tonight I added roasted tomatoes & red pepper to this recipe. I had already decided that I liked about 75% Anaheim chilies and about 25% Poblano, which were not in Grandma’s recipe either. I also added some chicken broth to this version.

I wanted to have something to eat with the Chili Verde with so I decided I would try making Spanish rice. I like really good Spanish style rice but I have to say not many Mexican places do it very well, even some of my favorites. I again used the roasted tomatoes and red peppers in the rice plus tomato paste and lots of garlic.

I decided I better hurry up and share this on my blog while I could still remember what I did differently!

Chili Verde
2 Tbls olive oil
3/12 lbs of pork butt roast, cubed, remove excess fat
6 Anaheim peppers roasted and chopped
2 Poblano peppers roasted and chopped
1 small red bell pepper roasted and chopped
3 medium tomatoes roasted and chopped
1 clove garlic chopped
1 med yellow onion chopped
2 C low sodium chicken stock
Salt/Pepper to taste

I roasted the peppers and tomatoes at the same time I sautéed the meat with the onion and garlic. I salted and peppered the meat before adding it to a warm pan with olive oil. I browned the meat in batches and returned to a large soup pot. I then added the chopped peppers and tomatoes to the pot. Simmered for about 15 minutes and then added the chicken stock. Cook the dish for at least 2 hours on low heat with the lid on and then simmer for about an hour with the lid off.

Spanish Rice
1 Tbls olive oil
2 C long grain white rice
1 large tomato roasted and chopped
1 small red bell pepper roasted and chopped
1 clove of garlic chopped
1 small yellow onion chopped
1 Tlb tomato paste
3 C of chicken stock
Salt/Pepper to taste
Sauté the garlic and onion in the olive oil until clear add the tomato and pepper, cook another 5 to 10 min add the rice, stir to mix. Add the chicken broth. Let the mixture boil on the stove and then reduce to a simmer and cover. The rice will take about 30-40 mins to cook.

Serve with tortilla's, lime wedges, sour cream, avocado and salsa.

A beer or two would not be a bad addition either!

The transition from client to neighbor

I think even if you do not make official New Year Resolutions many of us reflect on the what happened in the past year and what we want to happen in the year that is about to unfold. One of the things I enjoyed most last year was when clients turned into neighbors.

Last year I decided that I was going to really concentrate selling homes in my own neighborhood. In fact my first blog post as part of the ActiveRain community was about my neighborhood, the Shoreline West neighborhood in Mountain View, CA

http://siliconvalleyrealestate-blog.com/post/1283658/homes-for-sale-in-shoreline-west-mountain-view-ca

One of the greatest things that happened in concentrating on my own neighborhood is that I have clients that have turned into neighbors. I tell everyone that one of the greatest perks of my job is picking out new neighbors. After I say that almost always they lean in and ask me; “What do you do if you have a client you don't like?” Lucky for me I have not had that problem. I have however had wonderful clients that I would have loved to have as neighbors and we were not able to find them the right place in Mountain View. Some other community has gotten lucky and has them as new residents.

So as 2012 starts to unfold I am happy for my new neighbors that moved into the neighborhood in 2011 and I am excited to meet new clients that will be new neighbors in 2012!

Also posted
http://siliconvalleyrealestate-blog.com/local/California/Mountain%20View

Happy Thanksgiving

I love the idea of reflecting on what an honor it is to live in this country, the sacrifices made by those who first came here from Europe; especially with all the flaws and shortcomings being brought up in the news every day. Those of us in the 99% have a great deal to be thankful for compared to those who live in other places.

In addition, we can never gather family and friends around our table often enough and enjoy their company. We seem to get busier and busier every year on less and less important things. This is a great Holiday to reset what is important.

The food served on Thanksgiving is not my favorite. A slice of turkey is more than enough and don't get me started on what a bad idea I think marshmallows and yams are. Then there is just the sheer quantity of food eaten in such a short period of time. So I have my own traditions that do not include turkey and candied yams. To me it is about spending time with friends and family not the food.

This can be a tough time for many people because they cannot go home to be with family for various reasons. So if you know someone that may be facing the day alone invite them to your house. Do not worry that you are not the best cook nor about the dust bunnies that are breeding in the corners of the living room. Enjoy their company, your family, and friends and let the day unfold.

I am not going to kill myself to provide a meal that Martha Stewart would envy but I am preparing a few dishes I think my family and guests will enjoy and I am looking forward to sharing bread and laughter and being thankful and grateful for what I have.

I hope you enjoy the company and laughter of your family and friends on Thanksgiving as well.

The Penn State Scandal, how it has impacted me

Like too many adults I was the victim of sexual abuse as a child. Reading and listeining to the Penn State Scandal has made me remember and feel things I do not want to. Being sexually molested has damaged my life in ways that I am still trying to deal with and move beyond well into my middle age.

Also like many victims, I have lived with someone else's shame. I did nothing wrong, I was just a child but like so many others like me, I felt like I caused the abuse and was responsible for hiding the secret. There is so much pressure to hide the secret when the abuser is a relative, there are so many ways for them to seek and get retribution on you.

Young children do not have the language to tell you what is happening to them. I told my mother that this person hurt me and that I did not want to be with them but she did not know that they were sexually molesting me. She listened with her head not her heart about what I was telling her. She did not understand the level of terror and fear I had of being left with this relative. I think that this is issue is compounded in an extremely religious environment where sex and anatomy are usually never discussed. All things sexual have a hushed secretive nature. The message is often we don’t touch or talk about anything “down there” so if you are not allowed to talk about that part of your body, how can you describe that someone was touching you inappropriately? You really do not have the language to explain what happened to you.

I beg any adult that has a child or knows a child that is unduly fearful of an adult or older child, listen with your heart to what they are telling you, not their words. A small child does not know what words to use other than "Help me, they are hurting me" I know it is so hard to face, but the neighbor who likes to babysit or the aunt or uncle who comes over all the time could actually be child molesters. Child molesters are people who work hard to blend into the community and appear to be helpful so they have access to victims. The damage this does to child is unimaginable unless it has happened to you. They lurk in churches and in schools. They do their best to be respected members of society so that their word is always believed over the word of the child.

I also beg anyone else like me that has stayed silent that now is the time to talk about this and get changes in how our society is dealing with this issue. The statistics are staggering; something like 1 in 4 of girls and 1 in 6 boys are being sexually molested by the time they are adults. This has got to stop.

If the child molester did it to you they will do it to someone else you love as well. It breaks my heart to know that the same thing happened to another one of my relative’s years later because I was not able to get my message to my parents about the pain that was inflicted upon me. It is a club I wish they did not belong to. And what terrifies me even more is to think how many other members of this special little club there are because nothing was done when I was a small child. Just like the special little club created at Penn State. No one wants to be a member of this type of club.

My heart aches for all the children and the inner children that were hurt by this man at Penn State and not helped by others that were in a position to do so. I wish I did not know the pain they feel of thinking that the person that did this to me is somehow more important than me. We have got to break this cycle and one of the best ways to do that is for people like me to stand up and tell our stories.

If you have a story to tell like mine tell it!

Recipe: Italian Sausage, Pine Nuts and Exotic Mushroom Dressing

A friend of mine just posted a lament on Facebook about what kind of dressing to make for Thanksgiving. So I decided I would share my favorite recipe. I like my dressing to be browned and a little crunchy. I really don't like stuffing; it is too moist and gummy for my taste.

Actually it is kind of a family tradition not to make a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, no one in my family likes turkey so we never make it. I am partial to dressing and I plan on making it this Thanksgiving but I have not decided yet on a roasted chicken or a pork roast to serve along with it.

However you celebrate Thanksgiving; I wish you and your family a wonderful day.

4 C day old baguette cubes

1 Italian Sausage browned and crumbled

1/2 C Celery diced

1/2 C yellow onion diced
1 Leek chopped

6 cloves of garlic minced

1 C exotic mushrooms, chopped. I am using Chanterelle, King Oyster and Shitake this year

1/4 C pine nuts, browned

1/4 C fresh herbs-sage, thyme, rosemary

1 C chicken broth

1/2 stick of butter
1 -2 egg beaten

Salt & Pepper to taste

Cook the sausage and set aside to add to the dressing. Lightly toast the pine nuts, watch carefully not to burn.
Melt the butter & add the onion, leek, garlic, celery and fresh herbs. Sauté until lightly browned add the mushrooms. Cook until the mushrooms are cooked through.
In a large mixing bowl add the bread cubes, sausage, pine nuts and mushroom mixture. Add the chicken stock and beaten egg to the bread cubes until you get the right “wetness” for your taste.
In the pan you cooked the mushroom mixture lightly brown the dressing. Adding more butter as needed salt and pepper to your taste.

My secret to eating what you want and losing weight

A big part of my life is cooking and eating great food but, believe it or not I have been eating what I want and losing weight.

I share a great many recipes on my blog because I love food and I love to eat. However, in the past year I have managed to lose over 20 lbs or about 2 1/2 dress sizes. I recently bought a pair of jeans in a size I have not worn since Nixon was still President!

I know it sounds contradictory that I share very calorie rich recipes and yet I still have managed to lose weight. I do not believe in diets, the minute I put myself on a diet I get hungry and obsess over food I think I should not be eating. What I have done instead is to make choices about what I eat.

I evaluate what I eat and I try to make a rational choice about what I put in my mouth. I have lost weight by doing the simplest things: I eat less and I exercise more. We need so many calories a day to live and if we consume more calories than we need our bodies store it somewhere for another day.

I know that sounds too simple to be true but it is. I do not eat until I am full at any meal, I stop at the point I am no longer hungry. I also try and add another 10 or 15 minutes at least of cardio every day than I want to do. Plus I really push myself on my cardio workouts. If I am not sweating I am not moving hard enough. I have also found that for me running is my ideal cardio workout. It helps me feel good emotionally, it challenges me and I can set real goals around challenges to continually get faster or increase my endurance running.

My knees and back seem to agree that less of me to carry around is a good thing. However, I want to strike a balance. If I cannot enjoy the foods I love I will lose some of my passion for life. I know that it sounds crazy to some but I think you can have the pleasure of eating ANYTHING you want and still maintain your weight. It is really about portion control and eating because you need to refuel not to entertain yourself.

I think so many people are told you can enjoy food or you can be thin but I am sure that you can do both if you are careful about the quantity of what you eat.

As an example, I ate out recently and I really wanted to have some fried Calamari. Which is not a low calorie food, plus I ate the tartar sauce on top of it. I ordered the dish and ate only until I was not hungry. My waiter wanted to know if I did not like the dish because I ate so little of it. I loved it but I only needed a few bites not a 1000 to enjoy it!

So with "Food Season" upon us find ways to eat what you want but make sure you are eating to refuel not to entertain yourself.

See you at the gym!