A San Frantastic Workcation

Sometimes work can be fun. In particular, when work takes you to San Francisco!

First on the list—a visit to the Ferry Building where each Saturday they have an incredible farmer's market. The highlight was definitely this strange fruit called Buddah's hand.



The beautiful hallways at The Clift. So Starck.


One night I was lucky enough to get a tour of Palo Alto, attend a lecture at the offices of IDEO and tour the campus of Standford.


Around the corner from the hotel is an incredible breakfast place called Dottie's True Blue Cafe. The routine—line up at 7am so you can get in the door when it opens at 7:30. Don't forget to bring your own coffee, all their creative energy went into the food.


By Saturday morning, I'd had enough of Dottie's coffee so I searched for breakfast options on Yelp. I found The Butler & The Chef, an awesome French bistro


The smolked salmon eggs benedict, fresh squeezed o.j. and a delicious latte. It was so good, I went back the next day so I could line up for 45 minutes to have a breakfast crepe.


Heading to the farmer's market, I walked along the Embarcadaro and right under the Oakland Bay Bridge. Beautiful.


I love my macchiato from Bluebottle Coffee. The only problem... you have to line up for 20 minutes to get one. It's worth the wait.


They have food too! Hello Mr. Waffle.


Random chocolate fountain!


An outdoor indie music fest in the Mission.

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A salad that reminds me of Christmas

Beautiful feathery white ribbons of fennel mixed in with paper-thin slips of apple. Pretty to look at, fresh and crisp to cleanse your palate.

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Last night's dinner

Mushroom gyozas (sorry, I wasn't ambitious enough to make these myself) pan fried and some beautiful purple cauliflower which just got more psychedelic blue-y purple after roasting in the oven. The cauliflower weren't as crisp as I'd hoped, maybe I should have broiled them after the initial roast? But you can bet the dumplings were crispy on the outside and savoury on the inside. The traditional Korean dipping sauce for dumplings and wontons? Vinegar and soysauce.

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addicted

I am seriously addicted to and obsessed with this granola. If you've been following my tweets, or sit next to me at work (yes, you Lionel!) you'll know that I eat my version of olive oil granola every single day with a dollop or two of Liberté Mediterranean-style extra thick, extra fat yogurt with a side of coffee. Friday is my granola supply shopping day, which I usually do with Tomi, who introduced me to brown rice syrup. I think it's the je ne sais quoi ingredient that makes the granola taste like there's crack in it. I substitute brown rice syrup for the brown sugar and maple syrup that the NY Times recipe calls for. This week's granola contains: pepitas, almonds, sunflower seeds, wheat bran, dried cranberries and flax seed.

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Eating what's in my cupboard

A couple of months ago, I decided to run an "experiment" where I had to eat only what was in my cupboards and fridge/freezer. No grocery shopping for special ingredients, or any ingredients for that matter. Once I completely ran out of something, that's when I'd allow myself to go to the store for replenishment. The experiment was supposed to last a week, but it went longer… only because then I sort of got used to not buying groceries and making due with the stuff I had. Also, it kind of became a game for me to see what I could whip up with the odds and ends laying around. I should mention at this point that C was also doing the same experiment at his place so we had double the amount of food since some days he'd cook for both of us. And, I didn't need to buy vegetables since we were getting a weekly delivery from our CSA.

The dinner I made tonight sort of typifies what I would have during the no-grocery days and eating what would be in my fridge and pantry… dried beans, whatever greens would be onhand, and good old eggs. Presto! Navy bean stew with rapini and spinach, potato and eggplant frittata, and a salad with carrots.

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Prosecco eats broccoli (and cauliflower)

Chez moi ce soir: Spelt linguine with Ontario broccoli and orange cauliflower sauce. Deliciously and lovingly prepared by C, now christened by Broccoli as "Risotto". Are you still with me? A dash of olive oil and a dusting of Romano (which I mistakenly bought thinking it was Parmigiano) and dinner is served. Enjoy!

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Dinner last week

I know this looks like a weird, random mélange of food, which it is. But it's not just about looks, it's the taste that counts: kale chips, carrot sticks, marinated eggplant wedges and last but not least– pommes de terre boulangère. As a sidenote: I never used to think I could be a vegetarian, but this dinner was all vegetable and I was very satiated. The only thing preventing me from becoming a vegetarian (and Jewish): PORK. The meat-love of my life.

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A Happy Birthday!

What could be better than having a birthday dinner with friends? For me, only a home cooked meal with friends on your birthday. Prosecco and C (C—I'm officially giving you the blog name: Risotto) invited fusilli and I to the villa for an extravagant meal with fine wine, fine dining and even finer company.

To start we had pork lard on fresh toasted bread... yeah, I ate that so fast, no time to take pictures. Next, melon wrapped prosciutto and a delicious frittata. It was tough, but I was careful not to fill up, I could see at least three more courses waiting in the wings.

Risotto made an excellent, well... risotto. The incredible colour is from the beets.


Another favorite — Osso bucco.


I hope I get this right... chocolate peanut butter bacon pie, with candied bacon on top. Insane? Yes. Delicous? If you like choco-peanut-bacon pie... YES! This wins for the most unusual dessert I've ever had.

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