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‘My family doesn’t know I’m opening a restaurant’: Inside two sisters’ journey launching one of the Bay Area’s only Uyghur eateries
Almira and Kalbi Tursungjan are the faces behind Mrs. Khan in downtown Menlo Park. Almira and Kalbi Tursungjan grew up in a foodie family. In their home region of east Turkistan, also called the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China, the two sisters’ parents ran a restaurant for decades, and the four of them would all go on epic six-hour road trips to seek out specific dishes, Almira said in a recent interview.
Your advent event calendar: 24 days of holiday happenings around the Peninsula
There’s plenty to do for all the little elves (and adults too) throughout December. For people who celebrate Christmas, the looming holiday on the 25th feels extra special if you grew up with the tradition of the advent calendar – a countdown leading up to the big day that’s most often celebrated with little chocolates. In that spirit, we’ve pulled together a selection of the most festive and fun Christmas, Hanukkah and Las Posadas celebrations happening throughout the Peninsula to give you activity and event options every day leading up to Dec. 25.
Seven family-friendly holiday reads for storytime
Cozy up with these children’s books that focus on empathy and overcoming differences. In a season that celebrates peace on Earth and good will to all, now is the perfect time to share lessons about empathy, overcoming differences and working together. Some of the best children’s books published in...
The nearly centurylong resilience of the Loma Mar Store & Kitchen
Inside the refurbished roadside restaurant and local landmark that has flourished under new ownership and attracted everyone from car enthusiasts to Neil Young. Once a lumber mill, then a post office, a dinner club and a general store, the site that is now home to the Loma Mar Store & Kitchen has served as a gathering place for Coastside residents since the 1930s.
Six decades of football photography: Michael Zagaris talks fighting for access, the San Francisco 49ers’ deep Peninsula roots and his new photo book
The renowned sports and music photographer will be at Books Inc. Palo Alto Nov. 30 for an introduction of ‘Field of Play: 60 Years of NFL Photography.’. In the late 1960s, Michael Zagaris entered law school at Santa Clara University with ambitions for political office at a time of national turbulence. Robert Kennedy declared his campaign for president, and Zagaris, who had interned for him during his final year at George Washington University, volunteered for campaign work.
Silicon Valley’s next meat substitute is being grown in a Morgan Hill mushroom lab
Mamu, developed with the help of Ettan’s Srijith Gopinathan, is being put to the test by Michelin-starred chefs and appearing on Peninsula restaurant menus. When it comes to trends in the sustainable food movement, the elusive plant-based meat alternative is often presented as a buzzy panacea. Now, there’s a fungus-based meat alternative debuting on the market, making waves in Silicon Valley’s high-end kitchens. Called Mamu, the mushroom-based substance developed by Sempera Organics comes packaged like ground beef and has already made appearances at Palo Alto’s Ettan and is coming soon to Los Altos’ Little Blue Door and Sunnyvale’s Oxford Kitchen and Gastropub.
The mysterious case of the SF Peninsula’s poop-polluted beaches
Some of the Bay Area’s most heralded coastline is infested with fecal bacteria. No one really knows why or what to do about it. It’s a foggy June morning in Pacifica and time is wasting for Noah Katz and his two colleagues, Nicole Schmidt and Cynthia Vazquez. The three water quality scientists point wearily to a sign, universally ignored, warning visitors not to swim at Pacifica’s surfer-friendly beach because of high bacteria levels. Then they get to work. Starting at the mouth of San Pedro Creek, between Soul Grind Coffee and Linda Mar Beach’s famous Taco Bell, the trio scoops a sample of creek water into a small vial and puts the vial into a cooler filled with ice, then moves on.
Where to watch the 2022 World Cup on the Peninsula
Grab your vuvuzelas and head to these Peninsula bars and restaurants as the World Cup kicks off Nov. 20. November is typically a busy time of year in the sports world; it’s a critical time for college football teams hoping to be bound for a bowl game as the end of the season nears, past the halfway point in the NFL regular season and weeks into the NHL and NBA seasons.
From classic apple pie to bourbon pecan, these Peninsula pie purveyors have you covered for Thanksgiving
We polled readers and sampled slices from Pescadero to Palo Alto so you can leave dessert to the pros this year. Short of March 14 for math nerds, Thanksgiving is traditionally the biggest day each year for celebrating and eating pie. And in my family, Thanksgiving pies are a big deal. We go all-out, baking my grandma’s pie crust recipe days in advance, blending an ungodly amount of Crisco into the dough before rolling it out, shaping it and baking it. The kitchen becomes a busy hub as we pack the crusts with various fillings – apple, pecan, chocolate pudding, and a favorite of mine, a blend of pumpkin and ricotta that bakes into a custardy-yet-textured consistency that goes perfectly topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a giant dollop of homemade whipped cream.
Prohibition rum runners and deadly shipwrecks: Pescadero’s Pigeon Point Lighthouse turns 150
The local landmark that hosts daytrippers and hostel guests alike is about to undergo an $18 million renovation project that could increase public access. A lighthouse that has stood sentinel over San Mateo County’s rugged coast since the presidency of Ulysses S. Grant is turning 150 this month, a milestone anniversary that will be recognized at a celebration this weekend.
An eight-car garage and an indoor ice hockey rink: A look inside Silicon Valley’s luxury homes
Even with the market cooldown, demand for homes priced at $5M and up remains steady. During a year that has seen a residential real estate market cool-down thanks to rising interest rates and other economic and political factors, the Midpeninsula’s luxury home market has not been immune from its effects.
10 Peninsula holiday fairs for your one-stop shopping needs
Check out these annual holiday events to pick out unique gifts for everyone on your list. While online shopping for gifts over the holidays has become the go-to choice for many, there’s an indistinguishable spark that arises when you spot that perfect present or snag the last available must-have gift of the season off the shelf. Throw in some holiday activities like wreath-making, dancing and ice skating to make shopping an outing to remember at these Peninsula holiday fairs, craft boutiques and other seasonal events. These one-time events often feature one-of-a-kind wares, from food and clothing to artwork, toys and home decor. Here are 10 happening around the Peninsula this month and next:
Growing up: How vertical plantscapes are bringing the outdoors inside
Vertical gardens, once rarely found outside of Silicon Valley buildings, are making their way into Peninsula homes and gardens. For some, having a large blank wall in a home might be soothing, but others feel the need to fill such spaces with a showstopper like original art, or maybe a gallery wall or a beautiful piece of furniture. But what about a wall of…plants?
Healing in harmony: Stanford medicine faculty, students and staff debut new orchestra and chorus
“Art is its own kind of medicine,” says Jacqueline Genovese, the executive director of Stanford’s Medicine & The Muse program. Gary Steinberg was a serious trumpet player in high school, where his orchestral band was the best in the state. He minored in music at Yale University, spent three months after graduation intensively studying music at an institute in Switzerland, and kept up playing through the middle of his medical residency at Stanford University.
Cider House Blues: All of the Peninsula’s hard cider makers have shuttered recently. Why?
Red Branch, South City and Redwood Coast cider makers are all gone. Here’s what happened. There are about 25 breweries in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties, and, as of last month, zero hard cider makers. Sunnyvale’s Red Branch Cider Company, San Carlos’ Redwood Coast Cider and South San...
How a Palo Alto woman became a pumpkin-carving pro and Food Network regular
Competitive carver Leigh Henderson shares her tips for carving seriously scary scenes for Halloween. As power drills buzzed in the background, pulverized rind and pulp flew through the air and frantic contestants desperately searched for lost tools, Palo Alto resident Leigh Henderson, a finalist on the third season of “Outrageous Pumpkins,” a pumpkin-carving competition show on Food Network, calmly carried on with her work, transforming a massively lopsided pumpkin into a fiendish ghost story. “Not super-fast, (but) super-precise,” she said, wielding her favorite sculpting tool, an X-acto knife.
‘This is an indefinite project’: Asian American art in focus at the Cantor as part of new Stanford initiative
The Asian American Art Initiative aims to make Stanford a major center for the study of Asian American art. With multiple exhibitions now open and a symposium planned for the end of the month, Stanford’s interdisciplinary Asian American Art Initiative (AAAI) aims to make the university a major center for the study of Asian American art.
A piece of cake: How a Sunnyvale woman launched a nationwide army of bakers delivering birthday cakes to underserved kids
Cake4Kids volunteers have baked 40,000 birthday cakes for youth across the country, but they need help to meet demand on the Peninsula. Twelve years after a Sunnyvale woman first decided to bake a few birthday cakes for a Los Altos nonprofit serving kids in foster care, Cake4Kids, now a national nonprofit, delivered its 40,000th cake to a youth in need this year.
How the Silicon Valley tech boom and a baseball background shaped a College of San Mateo professor’s new novel, ‘Tell Us When To Go’
Emil DeAndreis’ fictional book is ‘a love letter to the San Francisco that I knew,’ but also a recognition of how tech’s influence has changed the Bay Area. Emil DeAndreis, a born-and-raised San Franciscan, isn’t a typical writer. For starters, he says he does a lot of writing during his day job as a substitute teacher in San Francisco public schools (he’s also an English professor at College of San Mateo). He began teaching and writing after seeing his dreams of becoming a professional pitcher fall apart following a diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis — the subject of his previous book, a memoir called “Hard to Grip.”
Watch world-premiere documentaries without leaving the Peninsula at the 25th annual United Nations Association Film Festival
The film festival’s focus on human rights is as urgent as ever a quarter-century after its founding. Much has changed since the United Nations Association Film Festival (UNAFF) made its debut 25 years ago. The documentary festival has nearly quadrupled in size, growing from three days of screenings to...
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