Courtesy of hoteldiva.com

From the airport a friend and I took a $15 each shuttle to Hotel Diva on Geary Street, not far from Union Square. If you are traveling with more than one person I would recommend taking a taxi to and from the airport as it was only $35 from our hotel and of course does not make any stops.

Hotel Diva was wonderful; great location, interesting room, clean, free Internet, and moderately priced. There were three of us in a standard room and our total came to a little over $400 each for 5 nights. The staff is extremely friendly and helpful.

That night there was not time to do much, so we headed to the bar to catch up and pick out some things to do that week, while we waited for our friend to arrive. Our first stop was Harry Denton’s Starlight Room located in the 21st floor of the Drake Hotel. Drinks were a bit pricey, but totally worth it for the view. Best view in the city and that saying something when the city in San Francisco. It looks fancy and the staff is dressed in bow ties and ball gowns, but don’t feel bad dressing casual. The entire bar was in jeans and nice tops.

Courtesy of flickr.com.

When our last friend arrived we headed to the Gold Dust Lounge. While our Starlight bartender called it a tourist trap, it seemed a little too grungey for that. Bottom line, cheap drinks, live band (usually some kind of classic rock cover), and an old school decor.

Garrett, Erin, and the man who called himself Gregg Roberts singing "Sitting on the dock of the bay."

After a diner stop and a meet and greet with street singer, Gregg Roberts, it was time for bed.

What out, he's gonna get ya!

According to Wikipedia his name is David Johnson and he reportedly “makes $60,000 on a good year.” They claim crowds wait around to watch him in action. The day we went, it was just three of us that were traumatized on our way to book a tour to Alcatraz. Coming from Philly where the homeless aren’t as much fun, I was kind of pissed of. But I’m happy to be one of the lucky ones to screech at this San Fran fixture.

It may not be as much fun now that you have been warned, but I definitely recommend visiting the guy who will creep up somewhere along the piers.

Turducken just out of the oven.

Turducken: I ordered mine from Hebert’s in Louisiana. While my entire family was raving about the dish, I was quite disappointed. First, of all I did not read the instructions when I received it and didn’t notice that it had to be thawed 4 days ahead of time, so the night before I left it in a bucket of cool water in the refrigerator to thaw. That may have affected the taste, but I doubt it. Overall, I thought it was too salty and for the price you could hardly taste the duck. There was also a ton of pork sausage stuffing, which I did not like at all. I found myself just picking out the turkey, which bothered me because I could have just bought a turkey at a much cheaper price than the turducken. To sum it up, the turducken is not all it’s cracked up to be.

Mashed yams

Candied Yams: So I didn’t make these and I kind of wasn’t planning on it anyway, because I make a mean yam mash. My yam mash is extremely easy, just a little time consuming, but delicious. There’s no defined recipe, just play around with it and take a lot of samples. I’m on a bit of a health kick so I used a lot of organic products, but it still came out great. Start with 6 yams for about 12 people. Skin and cut into small chunks. Boil for at least 45 minutes, but check to make sure they are soft enough to mash. Yams take a while. When soft, place back in the pot. Add a stick of butter (I used soy) and a little bit of milk, but be careful not to make it watery (I used goat milk). Finally, add brown sugar (a lot, in fact keep tasting until it is sweet enough for you), a bit of cinnamon, and a pinch of salt (again, I used all organic brown sugar, cinnamon, and regular salt). When it is mashed, place in a dish, layer on the marshmallows and place in the oven at 350 degrees until the marshmallows turn brown.

Looks like throw up, right?

Cornbread Stuffing: I went out on a limb and made Oyster stuffing, a recommendation by someone on twitter, instead. I was either punked or didn’t make it right, but it turned out disgusting and was a huge waste of money since raw oysters are really expensive. I posted a photo, the recipe is on a comment in my original Christmas post, but it’s really nothing to look into further.

Corn bread, not nearly sweet enough.

Cornbread: I followed the recipe posted in my original post. It was bad. I just prefer sweet corn bread. This definitely was not sweet and was a little dry. You’re better off just making Jiffy corn bread. It’ll save you time, money, and you know what you are in for.

Pecan Pie: I did not take a picture, but it was absolutely delicious. This was my first time making pecan pie and I am really pleased with this recipe. Again, I used all organic ingredients. I added a extra pecans and took it out about 5 minutes earlier.

Jambalaya, scalloped potatoes, and green bean casserole were made by guest and turned out delicious.

Courtesy of amazon.com

I usually make everything from scratch, but I’m leaving this concoction up to the experts. Several places claim they made the first turducken, but I believe Herbert’s in Louisiana. Since I mailed a turkey/duck/chicken in all the way from LA, I think it’s only natural I accompany the centerpiece in my menu with other southern classics. Here’s what I’ve got so far. Any recommendations or recipes would be greatly appreciated.

Turducken

Candied Yams

Jambalaya

Scalloped Potatoes with Carmelized Onions

Green Bean Casserole

Cornbread Stuffing

Cornbread

Pecan Pie

Amnesty is great at symbolizing human rights violations and getting attention for it.

But I guess nowadays you don’t need an outlet to recharge. My dad told me the other day about new backpacks with solar panels. You can recharge your cell phone, camera, etc. on this baby. Definitely comes in handy when you’re in the middle of nowhere.

I’m not sure what the better quality brands are for the solar backpack so any feedback would help. But I was looking at this Voltaic Systems Backpack. It’s pretty roomie (1,850 cubic in.) and has a space as well as padding to protect your laptop. It has 4 watts of solar power and 11 adaptors. Cost: $249

The Voltaic Systems backpack.

It would be great for hikers that are out in the sun all day. Instead of building a fire to eat, bring along a hot plate and warm up some oodles and noodles.