Shamrock Milkshake Recipe

Happy St. Patrick's Day to all of you! I have a delicious and green-inspired treat to share with all of you today! This was a last minute dessert I made that I didn't even have the proper ingredients for, so I improvised. I don't know why I felt the need to be so festive, I'm not Irish (as far as I know) and generally I don't care for mint chocolate anything! But this was delicious and I highly recommend trying it for St. Patrick's Day dessert!

Piccino Restaurant Review

This is a special restaurant review because it's for one of my all time, (if not my absolute) favorite restaurants in San Francisco. I recommend anyone visit it because they are a very seasonal restaurant, using produce that's in season, and they change the menu everyday. I'm including in this post all of the photos, so far, of the food I've had.

I think one of the great things about Piccino is that if you don't have reservations, they usually have a seat at their counter bar seats, which are right in front of the kitchen, so you can watch them making your food. I find the counter seats are usually where I want to be sitting. They have regular tables, but I find them to be a little too dark at night for photos!

Another great thing is that they have a smaller cafe, where you can order coffee, or pizzas and sandwiches to go. It's right next to the main restaurant, so you can pop in there to grab lunch to go. I want to mention that unless you're getting a dinner second course dish, most of these are too small on their own, and you'll want to get a few menu items to share. Even if you get pizza, get about one for each person unless you're getting a bunch of other menu items. We usually just go through the menu that day and pick 3-4 menu items we want and share everything. They're very good about bringing extra clean  plates for each course.

Salads:

Pear, Pecan, and Blue Cheese Salad

Sienna Restaurant

I've been to Sienna Restaurant before for my birthday, and it was good! Overall, I liked it, so B and I decided to grab lunch here to try some of their other menu items.

We ordered the Toasted Ravioli as an appetizer. These were really good, and the sauce was perfect. A delicious marinara to dip them into.

Ike's Lair and Off the Grid (again!)

B and I had heard about this sandwich shop in Redwood City that had amazing sandwiches. I was a little hesitant, but after finally learning that Ike's Lair is a part of the famous Ike's Place sandwiches that's so popular in San Francisco, I couldn't resist! We went with his brother, and once we finally decided on sandwiches, we sat and waited for them to be made. I ordered this sandwich: 

4th of July: Macaroni Salad and Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

I was able to go visit the boyfriend for 4th of July, so him, his brother, and a friend got started on making some pulled pork for pulled pork sandwiches ahead of time. I wouldn't be able to get there until late, but I made some macaroni salad and oatmeal chocolate chip cookies ahead of time. I love this macaroni salad recipe, it's so good! For the oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, I just took my normal chocolate chip cookie recipe, and added about 2 cups of oats. Turned out great, and 4th of July was a lot of fun!

Monterey Trip - Day 2

Day 2 consisted of attempting to hike out in Carmel Valley after eating breakfast at one of our favorite breakfast places, Katy's Place. This restaurant is in Carmel and has all the breakfast staples, including omelets, eggs benedict in every flavor you can imagine, and all kinds of pancake and waffle flavors. Normally, I order the chocolate chip pancakes with bananas on top...and I probably should have stuck with that instinct, but instead I decided to be adventurous.

My mom ordered the Huevos Rancheros, it's like her favorite breakfast meal. I tried it and it was pretty good.

So, at first I was going to order the Crab Cakes Benedict, but our server recommended going with the Dungeness Benedict, which had spinach and better quality lump crab meat. I went with his recommendation, but I think I probably would have liked the crab cake benedict better. The one I ordered was good, and it was good quality crab, but I picked out the spinach and I was kind of craving that fried crab cake texture more than lump crab meat texture. I guess I should have just gone with my gut, but it turned out ok. 

After our crappy hike out in the Carmel Valley (it was an ugly trail, out in the hot sun, and extremely short), we stopped by the Earthbound Farms Cafe Stand for something to munch on. They had frozen yogurt, so we each got the raspberry-honey swirl they had for the day. We walked through their gardens and throughly debated getting something else to eat, but we decided to save our appetites for dinner.

After much searching, we finally decided to try the Old Fisherman's Grotto out on the wharf. We've tried several places out on the wharf that were just ok, but what finally sealed the deal on this restaurant was that they had the ever elusive fried artichoke hearts on their menu! We got there and immediately ordered some before they ran out too! They were delicious, and served with a creamy ranch dip. We somehow managed to finish the whole plate of them, and still have room for dinner and dessert.

My mom ordered the Sand Dabs, which we had seen on many menus, but theirs was delicious. It was served over a caramelized onion risotto, which was almost better than the fish itself!

I decided to order a special appetizer they had for my dinner, because I couldn't choose between the coconut shrimp and the crab cakes. The appetizer was the best of both worlds, and I asked for some tartar sauce to dip the shrimp in, which turned out to be a good idea. The crab cake had a tropical fruit salsa on top, and a delicious sauce. I mopped up my whole dinner. 

For the piece de la resistance, we ordered the chocolate creme brûlée for dessert. It was amazing and the sauce on the plate was the perfect complement to the brûlée. The sugar top was thick and extremely crunchy, and the creme below was a thick, cold, pudding-like consistency, which I loved.

This turned out to be by far my favorite meal of the trip, and I highly recommend this restaurant to anyone traveling to Monterey, or anyone looking for a good place to eat on Fisherman's Wharf. It is a little pricey, but no more so than other places on the wharf that are half as good.

Boonville Beerfest

B was going to be in Europe for his actual birthday, so we decided on a day to do his birthday celebrations with me, today. We were thinking of some kind of beer tasting, and were going to go visit one of his favorite breweries, Anderson Valley Brewing Co., but then I was looking through their events page, and found the Boonville Beerfest would be taking place on this day. We thought, even better! We'll go to the beerfest and visit the brewery all in one day! It was awesome!

So, we took a road trip, routed through Napa so we could visit some of our favorites from our Napa trip, including the Bouchon Bakery. We finally get to the beerfest, after a three and a half hour drive, mostly on a windy, back woods, road. It was really hot, but at least we had all-we-could-drink, cold beer ready for the taking.

One of our early favorites, was this special brew from the Stone Brewing Co. that isn't available for purchase, and they only had this one, small keg at the beerfest. We went to their booth right after they tapped it, and it was delicious. I don't like IPA's and I don't like the flavor of oak, but this was a truly amazing brew, that I wish I could have again. I love when beers and wines make me rethink my taste preferences. And this beer certainly accomplished that.

We were starting to get hungry, so we wandered around trying to decide on which of the many vendors we wanted to eat at. B decided on the sausage place that had various game sausages, like bison, boar and elk. He got the bison sausage, and it was very plain on the toppings, but very flavorful, and it didn't really need any other toppings.

I decided on the fried pickles, after getting a free taste. Now, I've had fried pickles, and I didn't think I really cared for them. All the ones I've had were sparsely breaded, and not very flavorful, and of course aren't made better by lower-than-average sauces. But the Fabulous Frickle Brothers were doing something different and delicious with their fried pickles. They were heavily breaded with panko, and they served them with a choice of two of their three yogurt-based sauces. They had a spicy Sriracha dip, a ranch dip, and a mole bbq dip to choose from. I picked the ranch and Sriracha, because those were obviously the best ones! The were so perfectly cooked that when you bit into one, the pickle didn't come out and the breading stayed in place. They were so good, I had one order for lunch, and I ordered another on our way out of the beerfest and ate them while walking to the car! I hope I have another chance to try their Frickles, at another event sometime. 

Here was another surprise favorite from the fest, the Black Diamond Brandy Barrel Aged Grand CRU. Now, I have tried to find this in stores ever since the event, but I can only find the bourbon barrel aged, which has a very strong bourbon flavor, which I can't quite stand. Looks like if I want this beer, I have to suck it up, and pay for shipping and order it online.

Here's what I got at the bakery earlier in the day, their chocolate donut. It happened to be the last one they had for the day, and boy was I lucky to get it! It was so perfect, with little chocolate coated, crunchy malt balls on top, and thick, creamy chocolate ganache filling. Ben ate half earlier in the day, and for some reason I waited until I got home, to eat my half. It sat in a cold cooler all day, the bag got soggy, and it stayed crispy, and fresh, like it it just came out of the oven. 

Overall, we had a great time at the Boonville Beerfest, and I think it will become a tradition. We do wine tasting for my birthday, and beer tasting for B's birthday! Everybody wins!

Sausage, Mushroom, and Pepper Pasta and Cupcakes

I made some late birthday cupcakes for myself after seeing an article in the Food Network Magazine about making frosting colors. So I chose a couple colors and just made some box cupcakes, and frosted them with homemade frosting. They were colorful and delicious!

I also made some pasta for dinner, which wasn't a recipe, I just kind of threw together some things we had in the fridge. I cooked the sausage and mushrooms until they were cooked, and in the mean time cooked up some fresh pasta. I added some peppers to the sausage/mushroom mixture and then added part of a can of crushed tomatoes. I seasoned it with some salt, pepper and some red pepper flakes, then added the drained, cooked pasta to the sauce. Mix it all together and grate some parmesan cheese over the top, and top with fresh basil. Then eat it! It was a delicious mix of ingredients, and it was just some stuff we had leftover in the fridge. 

Napa Birthday Trip, Day 2

Day 2 of the birthday trip! So I forgot to mention the wineries we tried day 1, so I'll mention them here. Day 1 was Castello di Amorosa (which is actually owned and built by V. Sattui Winery which was on the agenda for day 2). The castle was very cool, and we opted to do the tour and wine tasting at the end. I just couldn't say no to a tour of a castle, I'm sorry. The tour was very cool and I highly recommend. The wine tasting at the end was very good as well. Even though we were only supposed to have 5 tastes, he was very nice to just pour less of each and give us pretty much whatever we wanted to try. I appreciate that when wine tasting, because if they're stingy with the wine, I'm less likely to find something I really like and less likely to buy something. 

I'm also going to mention that many of the wineries in Napa, and other wine areas have 2 for 1 tasting coupons, or 2 for 1 tour coupons. This was really nice for B and I because we saved a lot of money on the wine tasting itself by using these. They have them right on their websites, and every winery I've encountered has done the discount if I just mention it, or show them on my phone. No need to print it out. Which made it one less thing to forget about doing before we left.

I will preface my selection of my favorite wines from the castle by saying I do prefer white wines and especially sweeter wines, B tends to like reds. But, if we find a white or a red we both really like, we tend to buy it. I love wineries that can make a red I like, those are the kind of wineries I like. We both like Gewürztraminers and theirs at the castle was delicious, and their dry version as well. I ended up buying the Gewürztraminer, the Simpatica and their grape juice. Now, I don't know if you've ever tried grape juice from a winery, but if their wine is good, their grape juice will probably be the best grape juice you've ever tried! I highly recommend taking a taste if a winery offers it on their tasting menu. It may be expensive, but I bought two bottles of grape juice on this trip.

We decided to forgo breakfast out, and instead ate our continental breakfast at the hotel, because there were make your own waffles. And duh...we ate that. The next winery we tried on day 2 was Sterling Vineyards. They had a tram you took to the actual winery, and there were beautiful views of the Napa Valley, but their wine was unimpressive. We tasted, we enjoyed the view, but we didn't buy any wine there.

The next winery was V. Sattui. Now, I know of this winery in kind of a weird way. And you may have heard of it yourself, because I would say it's one of the top wineries in Napa wine country. Anyways, I know of it because I used to go hiking a lot, and whenever we went to a place near this winery, we would stop into their food shop/cheese shop they have there, and get a picnic lunch for the hike. Their cream cheese artichoke dip and a loaf of bread is a necessity if you're ever in there. They have all kinds of sandwiches, cheeses, samples, jams, and all the knick knacks you could ever want. So day 1 we got lunch here, but day 2 was for wine tasting! V. Sattui is now up there with my other favorite winery, South Coast. They are both wineries, where I could walk in, spin around, pick up a bottle of wine, and it would be delicious. 

Everything I tried at V. Sattui was delicious, and I wanted to take it all home. It took quite a bit of time to decide what I wanted to buy, but I finally decided on the Moscato, Gamay Rouge, their Gamay Rouge grape juice, and my splurge item was the Madeira. I had to pick one expensive dessert wine, and I almost couldn't decide between the Madeira and the Angelica, which is wine fortified with brandy. Also, their port is wonderful. I'm thinking of just joining the wine club at V. Sattui and South Coast and just be a happy girl forever.

After the wine, we were finally hungry enough to go get some lunch, at Gott's Roadside. We were trying to save as much room as possible for other meals in the day, so we just ordered one meal and split it. First, we tried the Dulce de Leche milkshake, which they happily split into two containers for us. It was delicious, and I could see myself wanting to try all their milkshake flavors, if and when I go back. I should mention they have other locations other than just Napa, including San Francisco.

We decided on the Spicy Chicken Sandwich, because we tend to like those wherever we go. I was surprised to see it grilled, because a spicy chicken is usually fried. It was very flavorful, and even better after I started pouring ranch on it : D

Their fries were perfect, and their ranch was very good. If a place has good ranch for my fries, I'm happy.

Then we headed out Mumm Napa, which is all sparkling wine. The tasting part was nice, they bring the wine to you, while you sit comfortably on their patio with winery views. What we tried was just their main tasting selection, and he gave us a few others to taste. We liked it overall, but once again didn't buy anything. Sorry, you have to really impress me, to buy a bottle. Life shouldn't be wasted on mediocre bottles of wine.

Next, we went over to the Bouchon Bakery. I'm not rich enough to enjoy a meal at the world famous French Laundry restaurant, but by golly I can enjoy a delicious pastry at the chef, Thomas Keller's bakery! B got an eclair, which he devoured before I got a photo, and I ordered a couple macaroons and a ho-ho. The ho-ho was light and creamy, and I really enjoyed it.

The macaroons were delightful. They were my first macaroons, and very good. I got a pistachio, caramel, vanilla, and an espresso. They were sort of how I imagined the perfect macaroon would be, without really knowing it. I have no idea if that makes sense, but they were just light and airy, crunchy at the first bite, the filling were creamy and tasted of quality ingredients.

We had some time to kill before our reservations at our dinner restaurant, Solbar. It's a Michelin Star restaurant and fairly inexpensive, so we had to go. It was way farther out of the way than we anticipated, and kind of in the middle of nowhere. But, we got there and realized we weren't quite hungry enough for a full dinner, so we sat in the lounge and ordered some appetizers, before heading back home. They've changed the menu since, but we ordered the Solbar Fries for starters, and it had a wonderful lime aioli to dip the fries into.

The next thing we decided on were the Korean Wings (which are also no longer on the menu). I wasn't thrilled with these, I think I was expecting something else, and for them to actually be spicy. They weren't spicy, and were more vinegary and sweet than I wanted in a wing.

The last thing we ordered were the Bacon-Cheddar Sliders with 10 hour caramelized onions. These were good, and the onions were delicious. But, I think we were a little too full to fully enjoy this meal. We got through it, but I think both of us could have gone without. 

Overall, the trip was a success, I came home with several bottles of wine, a full belly, and great memories. Cue the, awww. Anyways, B and I both had a lot of fun, discovered more wine we like, and I had a great birthday. Can't wait for number 24...there will definitely be more wine!

Napa Birthday Trip, Day 1

For my birthday, I decided on a wine tasting trip to Napa with B. It wasn't going to be just wine tasting, but also food tasting! I had picked out a few restaurants and wineries I wanted to try while on the trip, and we got to almost all of them. Which, was impressive for a 2 day trip! The first place we hit was The Boon Fly Cafe. I had heard about their amazing donuts, so obviously we had to stop by. We got there for Sunday brunch, and we started with some delicious cinnamon sugar coated donuts. They were quite small, but we shared an order of 4, and downed them with a gusto. 

I decided to order the Boon Fly Benedict, which had a deliciously spicy Jalapeño Hollandaise covering perfectly poached eggs, thick cut ham, all on some artisan bread. It was amazing! I had never had Eggs Benedict before (I know, where have I been?) but it was a great introduction. 

B ordered the Eggs in a Hole, which is his favorite. I make it for him all the time, and he said it was good, but not quite as good as mine. I was glad to hear he liked mine better ; ) 

For lunch, we stopped by V. Sattui Winery and got a sandwich, bread, their famous artichoke cream cheese dip, and their sesame noodle salad. We shared the sandwich, which was their spicy italian, and it was quite possibly the best italian sandwich I've ever had. We went on a hike, and then ate our food after we finished. 

Here was the sesame noodle salad, which I've had before at the winery, and it was delicious as always.

Since, it was the day of my birthday, I made reservations for an Italian restaurant for dinner. We ate at Bistro don Giovanni, which was right near our hotel. I have to give a link for the hotel we stayed at, because we were really happy with it. It was the Best Western Premier Ivy Hotel and the photos look just like the hotel, it was very nice, clean, complimentary breakfast (with make your own waffles, breakfast sandwiches...etc.).

So back to the dinner; I ordered the Orrecchiette with Spicy Sausage. It was absolutely delicious, but B and I definitely did some trading of our dishes.

B ordered the Margherita pizza, and it was probably one of the best I've tried. I managed to convince B to give me about half of his for half of mine. We had eaten lunch not that long ago, so we didn't want to much for dinner.

The winner of the show, was dessert. We ordered their famous "Bostini" Trifle. It had vanilla custard, chocolate cake, whipped cream, clear caramel and toasted almonds. Delicious! One of my favorite desserts I've ever had, and that clear caramel was the star of the trifle. 

Everything we ate from the first day was wonderful, and I highly recommend trying any of these restaurants!

San Francisco Food Tour, Part 3: More Food Trucks!

I made another trip to San Francisco to try more food trucks with B! It was raining so, we didn't want to venture far into the city. So we took public transit to the city, and then walked a few blocks to seek out the Bacon Bacon truck and the 3-Sum Eats truck. They happened to be at the same spot, but unhappily, there wasn't a covered area to eat our food. We decided to go back the the Caltrain station, and ate our food there. I totally binged, I couldn't quite believe how much food I managed to eat. Here's the 3-Sum Eats menu for the day. I know they have varying items on different days, but here's what they had the day we went. 

Here's the sandwich B ordered, which I only got one bite of: the Cornflake Crusted Fried Chicken Sandwich. There were 2 chicken breasts, which I was surprised by. It had a great flavor and the slaw was a nice crunchy addition to the fried chicken. It also had a delicious mayo on it that had great flavor as well. 

This is the sandwich I ordered: Rosemary, Black Pepper, and Brown Sugar Crusted Bacon BLT. The tomato jam was delicious, and there was so much thick cut bacon on this! It was pretty messy, but I worked through the mess and ate the whole thing.

Now to what we ordered from the Bacon Bacon truck. Below, the Spicy Belly Fries, which were pretty good. The spicy peppers were a nice spicy touch to all the pork trimmings covering the fries.

Here's the Triple B Taco. This had some crunchy bacon interspersed with the pork and more of the peppers. By the time we got to eating this, the tortilla was kind of soggy, but it was still tasty. 

We then headed to Palo Alto on the Caltrain, and went to Edgewood Eats, which is kind of like Off the Grid. Some of our past favorite food trucks were there, including Chairman Bao and Koja Kitchen. I didn't really try anything new, just wanted to get some of my favorites again, while I had the chance. Here's a shot of the trucks...

Another shot of trucks...

Here is my Steamed Pork Belly boa, which this tasted better than the first one I had. Don't know what that was, since it wasn't because I was starving. Perhaps, it was because the pork seemed hotter and fresher? I have no idea, but I'm planning at trying my hand at making this at home soon, so look for that.

Here's the Steamed Coca-Cola Braised Pork bao. The last time I had this, was on a baked bun, and it was just as delicious on the steamed bao. 

Then I headed over to Koja Kitchen and ordered what I got last time, the Kamikaze Combo. I didn't bother with photos, since I already got good photos the first time there. But, I didn't get a good photo of the Mochimisu dessert, so I got a great shot this time. Here it is, in all it's glory...

That was the end of the eating, we were so full by the end of the day. To be honest, I wasn't blown away by the Bacon Bacon truck. It was good, but I thought 3-Sum Eats was much better. I mean, they have that whole "everything on our menu has bacon in it" thing going for them, but I didn't find the food very original or life changing. 3-Sum Eats is much more original, with their menu changing almost everyday. I was disappointed I didn't get a chance to try the chips with Dirty Ranch from 3-Sum Eats, because I love ranch. I also ordered their lemonade of the day, which was a nice refreshing blend of white nectarine, pear and mint. I highly suggest trying 3-Sum Eats, and if you really love bacon, maybe try Bacon Bacon. I don't think it would be worth making a special trip though.

Drewski's Food Truck and Ettore's European Bakery

B came to my house today, and since we have been on a food truck hunt/binge, we sought out the Drewski Hot Rod Kitchen Truck by my house. They serve sandwiches, and some delicious tater tots! It was raining and cold, so we ate in my car. As usual, we both ordered different items, and then shared. Here's a look at the truck...

I ordered the Mustang: Korean Braised Beef, House-Made Kimchi, Shredded Daikon, Sriracha-Wasabi Aioli, Aged Harvarti and Swiss Grilled on French. I also ordered their famous tots, with rosemary and garlic. Mine was quite good! I was kind of picking out some of the kimchi, but it had some interesting flavors including the sauce.

B ordered the Hemi: Slow Roasted Carolina Pulled Pork, Mac 'n Cheese, Grilled Onions, Cheddar Cheese, Grilled on Sliced French. His was very good, so good he didn't want to give up half when it was time for our usual trade! But it was so much food I managed to snag a couple bites, before I was too full.

We decided to head over to Ettore's Bakery, which is a favorite of mine. I discovered it several years ago, and have had some of their cakes as my birthday cake. They serve breakfast and lunch, but also have their bakery with cake by the slice, and other tasty goodies. We were still too full from lunch, but we decided to take a few slices of cake back to my house for later.

The first slice I knew I had to get was the Princess Torte. It was something I ordered the first time I came here, and knew I had to get it again, since it had been a while since I've been there. It is kind of a drive for me, about 30 minutes away. Anyways here is the description of this cake: A three layer vanilla sponge cake filled with raspberry preserves and pastry cream. Iced with whipped cream and covered with smooth marzipan in your choice of pink, green or almond colors. Yeah, it's super good! It's really light, and I love raspberry anything pretty much. 

The other slice I ordered was the Napolean. I don't remember ever having this before, and it turned out to be not as good as the Princess Torte. The Napolean consists of three layers of flaky puff pastry, rich pastry cream and fresh strawberries, topped with shaved chocolate. The puff pastry was too hard to cut through and had little flavor. It looked pretty, but I know for next time not to order this again.

B loves chocolate, and could eat the richest slice of chocolate cake everyday, and still love it. So of course, he ordered a slice of the Truffle Cake, which was made with three layers of dense sour cream chocolate cake, filled with chocolate ganache and topped in rich handmade chocolate truffles. I didn't really like his, but he seemed to enjoy it.

We had a great time, and I can't wait to try some of the other food trucks in my area. There are only a few of them, but I hear good things! Look for some of those in the future!