Cooking and Dining in the Bay Area Lately

Oops, I forgot to update my blog for more than a year. Between then and now I have certainly cooked some note-worthy things, I guess I was just busy. So I'll try to play catch-up a bit. I moved back to San Jose, but I spend the weekends with my boyfriend in Sunnyvale. We try to cook at least once every weekend, although sometimes "cooking" ends up meaning grabbing a rotisserie chicken from the store and tossing together a little salad. It has just been way too hot this summer to do much cooking. I'm really looking forward to fall so I can get in the mood to start using my slow cooker again!

In July, we made a delightful ratatouille. I don't remember which recipe we used. Basically we just chopped up some eggplant, tomatoes, zucchini, garlic, onion, and bell peppers, and cooked them together. It was very tasty and filling.

Also we have been to some great restaurants in the area that have become our go-to for different kinds of food. One of my favorites is Shah Restaurant in Sunnyvale. This Indo-Pakistani food is just the right amount of spicy, and bursting with flavor. We always get the raita, a cucumber yogurt dip, with naan, as well as the lamb curry and chicken tikka curry. I love their complimentary chai, too.

Our favorite brunch/lunch place is Roger's Deli and Donuts in Mountain View. They serve delicious deli sandwiches, donuts, bagels, bagel sandwiches, soups, and all kinds of breakfast items all day, like pancakes, omelettes, french toast, and all kinds of breakfast sandwiches. The food is simple and delicious, the ambiance is also relaxed and down to earth, you just order your food and grab it when it's ready, no one bugging you or checking up on you afterwards, which is perfect for a leisurely Sunday morning. I always get the blueberry pancakes and Irish creme coffee.

I occasionally work in downtown San Carlos, and when I do, I love going to Bianchini's Market for lunch. They offer soups, a salad bar, as well as pre-made sandwiches or sandwiches you can order from the deli counter. My favorite is their chili, which is satisfyingly spicy and filling at just one small cup. Just being in the store makes me feel so classy, because I am surrounded by gourmet products that I am sure add an exquisitely sophisticated touch to anyone's kitchen.

Well, that's about all for now.... getting ready to celebrate Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, during which I am sure to enjoy some excellent food and wine and enjoy the company of several like-minded individuals. Till next time!

The Most Delicious Foods of December

Not to make you guys hungry or anything, but I just wanted to share about some of the most delicious foods I have enjoyed this month....

These latkes are from Hanukkah last month but I also made more when I got back home in December. I made a big batch and they only lasted like two days, they're that delicious. I'll probably make some more when I get back after Christmas.

Might look a little grody? I don't know? But these chicken tacos from the little market down the street from me are delicious and about as authentic as you can get, taco-wise. Perfect enjoyed with a classic Mexican coke, made with real cane sugar.

Chicken and waffles! I just couldn't get that chicken and waffle dish from LA out of my mind, and I was pleased to find that San Francisco has some of their own chicken and waffle places, like Gussie's Chicken and Waffles. Next time I go I'm going to have to try their Georgia peach skillet cobbler for dessert, if I'm not too full after my chicken and waffles.

Good food is definitely one of the greatest pleasures of my life. It's so fun to be able to write about food every week for my writing job, and share those articles with my friends and family.

Chicago!

I just got back from a few days in The Windy City of Chicago (actually wasn't windy at all... occasionally a little breezy but mostly just really humid and hot, with a tiny bit of rain). My travel buddy and I went to some museums, ate at interesting restaurants, went and saw some live jazz, went to a movie, and just walked around a whole bunch and enjoyed the sights.

A little glimpse of downtown from our hotel room on the 12th floor.

Food-
Exchequer Restaurant and Pub- our first meal when we arrived that night. We just had to try some Chicago style pizza, and it was delicious. So innovative to have sauce, toppings, then more cheese, or however it is they did it. There was lots of cheese.
Lou Malnati's Pizzeria- More pizza, we ordered a pizza here one of the other nights. It was slightly better than Exchequer's pizza, in my opinion at least. Pizza at this place was like, toppings, cheese cheese cheese, sauce on top. Maybe some sauce snuck in with the "toppings" too (which were not really "topping" the pizza per se since they were bundled in with the other layers). Every time we passed by this place the line was out the door so we just ordered, picked it up and took it back to our room because we knew it had to be good but didn't want to stand in line for half an hour and then be crammed into a restaurant stuffed with people.
Grahamwich- A cute little sandwich shop, very reminiscent of San Francisco. Really sunny, seating was "family style" with comfy leather ottomans pulled up to a simple wooden table, with chalkboard drawings of vegetables on the wall. They had super healthy fruit juices, and a variety of tasty sandwiches and salads. I got the pastrami sandwich, very fresh tasting and filling.

Russian Tea Time- We had a light dinner here on our last night of some beef and potato dumplings and a lamb samsa, all served with leafy green salad, carrot salad, and rye bread.
Berghoff Cafe- got a tasty lunch here, a pulled pork sandwich and a bottle of their own house brewed root beer. Very classy little cafe below ground level, with stained glass windows.

Toni Patisserie and Cafe- a delightful little French cafe where we got brunch one morning. I got a slice of quiche lorraine, an iced mocha, and some macarons.

Each table had pretty flower arrangements, like this one.

Sugar Bliss Cake Boutique- Here we got a dozen mini cupcakes, with fun flavors like banana, strawberry, pumpkin, chocolate, vanilla, mocha.. all with just a few decorative dollops of frosting on the top so they weren't too sweet.

Museums-
Smith Museum of Stained Glass- a pretty little museum at the Navy Pier, where you could walk down hallways and little rooms to see different scenes depicted in stained glass windows.
The Field Museum- A pretty neat museum of various aspects of natural history. We saw exhibits on creatures that glow in the dark on land and under the sea, the original Native American tribes, ancient wall paintings discovered in France, and mammal and bird exhibits too.

Etc.
Jazz Showcase- We caught the last hour of a show here at half price, and it was more than worth the money. Excellent musicians on the trumpet, piano, bass, an instrument kind of like a xylophone, and a full set of drums. Each of them were really into their instrument, given solos that were met with a wave of applause each time.

Millenium Park-  A vibrant community park, home to The Bean, some lovely plantlife, and a big fountain where kids love to cool off on humid summer days.

The Bean, a truly awe-inspiring work of art.

This fountain was really interesting, different faces would show on these LCD screens on these brick structures on each side, while water sprayed down the sides and onto the street to make a little pool that kids could walk on. 

Despicable Me 2- Went and saw this movie at an AMC theater near us, very funny and cute. I actually hadn't seen the first of the series but the movie stood well on its own. 

Random observations-

Gambling is totally not ok on the trains. They mentioned this several times over the intercom on the train. No soliciting, either.

Kids everywhere, but hey, I guess that's how it is in a touristy place.

The Shedd Aquarium has the longest line all the time.

Humidity is kind of exhausting, important to drink water all the time and take breaks every few hours to relax in an air conditioned hotel room.

So it was a really fun few days, always something to do and see. The city is a bit noisy, trains constantly passing by overhead, lots of people... but, it was cool to see what Chicago was like!

Epic Sandwich

Last weekend a friend and I went to Ike's Place, a sandwich place in the Castro district of San Francisco, near the Mission District. I'd heard this place had amazing sandwiches, and if you just check out their menu, you can see why. My friend and I both thought the Heath Ledger or The Joker sounded like the best choice-- the Heath Ledger (which my friend got) has "Beer Battered Zucchini, Ike's red pesto, Ranch, Vegan Meatballs," (and lettuce and tomato) whereas The Joker (which I got, with the addition of banana peppers) has the same ingredients but all beef meatballs. Want to see a picture?

This is pretty much the best sandwich I've ever had... aside from the Croque Monsieur I got from Tartine Cafe a few weeks ago, which was also amazing. 

So, we picked up our sandwiches (and chips and drinks) and went and ate at Dolores Park. It was a pretty nice day out, not too cold or too warm. We sat in a sunny spot but also near trees so we would have access to, as my friend aptly phrased, "theoretical shade." Lots of other people were enjoying the nice weather too so it was neat to people-watch and see all the dogs wandering around. There was even a guy flying a kite! 

So, that was really fun. This weekend I think a friend of mine from back home is visiting and we're going to some malls. Happy almost weekend, friends!

Commercial break

You know how when you're watching TV, there are commercials sometimes? Well, this is kind of like that, in the sense that there will be a brief break from our regularly scheduled programming of DC updates to share these amazing Mediterranean stuffed tomatoes with quinoa. My housemate has been growing a whole bunch of big tomatoes in our garden, so it dawned on me that stuffed tomatoes would be a fantastic way to use them. After a quick google search I found this recipe, which was perfect because I just made some quinoa that day.

It can be kind of tricky to hollow out the tomato without cutting through the skin-- I use a paring knife to kind of loosen it up and then my fingers-- but the filling manages to stay inside if you don't cook it longer than about 15 minutes at 375-- just long enough for the tomato to get nice and warm, but not fall apart.

The ingredients work perfectly together: quinoa, olives, artichoke hearts, feta, and a little olive oil. I used different kinds of olives and quinoa, but that's just what I had on hand. I've been eating these all week, and just one cup of cooked quinoa plus the added ingredients can fill up at least 5-6 large tomatoes. Super easy small meal or side dish. Tonight I paired one with some salmon.

The possibilities for stuffed tomatoes are endless, so grab some at a farmers market near you and enjoy! :)

East Coast- Restaurants

Hi! I am back from the East Coast where I had the opportunity to visit some great and interesting  restaurants in Washington, D.C. and Virginia. Among them:

American City Diner in D.C. for burgers and an outdoor movie,
Crumbs for birthday cupcakes in L'Enfant Plaza (D.C.) (chocolate dulce de leche for me--- and it was so big, I had to finish it the next day),
Graffiato in Chinatown (D.C.) for my birthday (hip Italian-style tapas-- we got the lemon risotto with rock shrimp, the flatbread with pepperoni sauce, lamb, and panna cotta for dessert-- and it was so neat sitting at the bar because you could watch them plating everything and cooking pizzas in this big wood oven),
Busboys and Poets on U Street (D.C.) for a mellow brunch-- I got the Oaxaca omelet (black beans, avocado, pico de gallo, and cheddar-- very tasty),
My Brother's Place for lunch after a visit to the Conservatory and Botanic Gardens (I got a nice chicken pesto panini),
Elephant & Castle after visiting some Smithsonians (where I also got a chicken pesto style panini... what can I say, it's one of my favorites),
Chutzpah (Fairfax, VA) while Friend was getting his hair cut (an authentic New York style restaurant and deli with a Jewish attitude where I had a very tasty pastrami sandwich and potato salad), and...
El Rancho Migueleno (Arlington, VA) for tacos one night (because we couldn't think of anywhere else and didn't want to travel far-- odd ambiance, to say the least-- the lighting was super dark and they were playing this loud South American music while a telanovela played on TV.. and no one else was there.. yeah, a little spooky, haha).

I read about American City Diner on the internet somewhere, and it looked like they were pretty much the only place in D.C. that was still showing outdoor movies at that point in the summer. Plus-- buy dinner and watch a free movie-- can it get any better? We ordered burgers, fries and a milkshake, and enjoyed watching The Hustler (1961). Every night is a different movie, many of them classics. They had really fun decor, too.

In the parking lot, they had a neat mural showcasing a bunch of different Hollywood stars. Humphrey Bogart, James Dean, Elizabeth Taylor...

Elvis Presley...

and Marilyn Monroe, Sammy Davis Jr., and Frank Sinatra.

More homage to movie stars inside.. James Dean and Marilyn Monroe on the restroom doors.

They played the movie on a screen in the outdoor deck area so people could watch the movie as they had dinner.

It was fun to see the neon sign all lit up once it got darker by the end of the night, too.

So, needless to say, the East Coast has an awesome food scene! Next time I will share more about the other places I went. :)

Boogie on the Bayou, and more sushi

Well, the festival was okay. It was really hot that day, and there were a lot of people. It was crowded because there was not very much space on the narrow street in which the festival was held, plus a lot of people were at the festival all at once. A lot of the same booths were there as I saw in Mountain View. There were a few New Orleans/Southern food booths....

......and one little Jazz band that made an appearance before wandering off...

.....but it wasn't as exciting as my friend from work had hyped it up to be. He was really disappointed because he lived in New Orleans for years and it is a lot different than this festival. I had an ok time though. I got some really good jambalaya, and there was a gelato place along the street so I got some gelato. I got to choose 3 flavors for my size, so I chose: white chocolate raspberry, creme brulee, and tiramisu. As far as I'm concerned, nothing is a bust if there is gelato involved! I could see myself going back to Campbell just to get some more of that delicious gelato.

It has gotten even easier for me to make sushi with practice. This week, I made coconut curry shrimp sushi with cucumber and avocado, topped with a chipotle mayo sauce. Eating that delicious, spicy jambalaya at the festival just made me realize how much I like spicy/really flavorful foods, and I should cook that way more. Using multiple spices together to create unique flavors is really an art, and it's an art I want to learn.

On Saturday, a friend came into town to visit me and we went to San Francisco. We walked to the Mission district and got dinner at Bar Tartine. I heard it was a good restaurant from one of the blogs I read. It's kind of one of those "hidden gems," because on the outside it's just this unmarked, inconspicuous little shop. I knew we were there because the map function on my phone told us we were there, but I had to ask a security guard nearby exactly where it was, and we were right next to it. Their dinner menu is really specialized, it's just one page. My friend and I shared a biscuits and gravy dish with potato and herbs that no longer seems to be on the menu, and the stuffed chicken with stewed smoked sausage, sauerkraut, mushrooms and sour cream. These dishes were just packed with flavor, so even though they were not huge dishes, we were quite full and satisfied by the end. Two servings of bread before our dishes came out helped too, I'm sure.

This weekend is Fanime again! That is the anime convention held here in San Jose that I went to last year. It will be nice to see my friends and all the people in fun costumes. I realized I never shared any pictures of people in their costumes, but next post I will post costume pictures from this time and last time I went.

Fun times in Mountain View

So, a few weekends ago I went to Mountain View for "A la Carte & Art." It was a lovely, sunny day, and everyone was out to celebrate the arrival of Spring.

There was art, there were crafts, there was food.....

 This one's for you, Al. Bacon wrapped hot dogs!

There was music......

And there were other nifty things... such as the sushi making kit I bought.

It's really simple to use, you just put the nori underneath, the rice inside the frame, use the top part to make a channel for the filling, add more rice, tuck it in, pull the frame up over the roll, roll it up in the nori, wait a few minutes, and slice up the sushi! What takes longest of all is the rice. You have to get a special kind of rice and then you have to cook it, and then you have to mix in some rice vinegar and sugar and mix it around for a bit, and let the rice cool to room temperature. After that though it's pretty basic.

Before....

....and after! It actually makes about eight pieces but I didn't put all of them in for the picture. In this sushi roll I added salmon, cucumber and avocado.

So, I've definitely been enjoying myself in my free time. I finished up with my end-of-the-semester projects and final test, so that gives me a little more free time in the evenings. Can't wait to try out neat new combinations for my sushi rolls!

San Francisco: The Mission District

Last weekend I made my first visit to the Mission District of San Francisco. It's called that because there is a mission there, along with several cafes, some restaurants, and markets.

I was meeting with a friend there, and before the meetup I did some exploring. I came across Duc Loi Supermarket, which is frequented by one of my favorite bloggers over at Brokeass Gourmet.

They had a great selection of produce, and various kinds of Asian noodles, among other things. I can see why she likes shopping there. :)

 This is the pastry display at Tartine Bakery, a very popular cafe. The line was out the door, as you find in the best places in San Francisco.

This is their quiche. I got a piece of it and it was delicious.

 My friend and I got sandwiches from Bi Rite Market. I got a very tasty turkey sandwich with lettuce, tomato, lemon aioli, and avocado mash.

We had our sandwiches at Dolores Park. It's a lovely park full of grassy hills and trees.

There's even a fun playground for kids.

We got ice cream at the Bi Rite Creamery, too. They had really unique flavors. I got a roasted banana and lavender honey ice cream cone.

So, that was a nice day!

Celebrating Sandwiches

Well, I certainly had my share of sandwiches over the past week. The festival was fantastic, and I tried two kinds of po-boys there:

1. Oysters Rockafeller: fried oysters with lettuce and mayonnaise. Very tasty!

2. Hot sausage with collard greens and pickles. Different, but surprisingly pretty good.

There were a lot of people at the festival, and wherever there's a crowd in New Orleans, a "second line" (impromptu parade with a little band and people following it down the street) is bound to break out. That's so much fun.

While I was at the festival, I stopped by the "artist's village" and got some pretty ceramic art tiles for my family that featured famous landmarks of New Orleans, like the French Market and Cafe Du Monde. I also bought a cool vintage purse at a clothing exchange store, and a nice instrumental jazz CD at a book fair along the street. I tried some nice bread pudding, too, of a white chocolate variety.

I volunteered at the festival during the evening, handing out maps so everyone would know where to find the po-boys they wanted according to which side-street coincided with the main street at which the festival was being held. People were very appreciative. I got a free t-shirt, too. Whoever created the picture on the front has amazing talent.

Later on, at a restaurant in the Mid-town area called Lil' Dizzy's Cafe, I also had a fried shrimp po-boy. So, suffice to say, I've definitely given my love to po-boys this time around.

Next post: some pretty architecture and scenery! :)

Birthday Weekend!

Well I had a very nice birthday weekend. My family and I had a barbecue with tri-tip, chicken, french bread, beans, potato salad, and corn. Santa Maria style tri-tip is famous worldwide. Our beans are famous too, and super good.

Then after that we had s'mores and exchanged funny stories. Also, my parents got all of us cupcakes from KK's Gourmet Bundt Cakes as my cake. My dad got me a customized wine bag, a charm photo bracelet, and a CD. My mom got me a pretty snow globe with kitties in it. My sister got me a salad spinner and a flexible liquid measuring pouring cup for baking. My boyfriend gave me one of his treasured beanie babies and his mom got me a pretty bookmark. So I felt very special.

The next day, my boyfriend and I went to a Chili Festival in Arroyo Grande, near Lopez Lake. It was really fun and we got to try all kinds of different chili recipes-- vegetarian, red (spicy), chili verde, and some other unique styles of beans. The spicy beans I voted I liked the best were one of the groups that won-- these beans came from Chele's Food & Spirits, in Pismo. Apparently they haven't changed their chili recipe in 22 years and they've won at the festival two years in a row. I may need to check out that restaurant sometime! :)

There isn't much summer left, but I'm trying to enjoy the rest of it as much as I can. Saturday, I'm having a birthday party with my girls. Looking forward to that!

San Jose Area Fun Times

My blog is long overdue for an update, which is easy to do without pictures, which may be added at a later time. I just got back from a lovely week in Sunnyvale, and that means I had some memorable experiences with food. Picnics. Excellent home cooked dinners/ breakfasts. Fun Japanese snacks. Organic produce. I was a very lucky lady, and not just because I scored a huge head of Kohlrabi, but because of everything I had the good fortune to experience.

My boyfriend's parents are fantastic cooks. Our dinners included meals such as Greek steak with potatoes and corn on the cob, shrimp scampi, and customizable hot dogs. We also went on some picnics, once with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches using my mom's home made plum jam, and the other time with cheese, crackers and apple. Sunnyvale has some lovely parks, of which we had time to visit four. Next time I go over there, I hope to visit some of the others.

One day we went to Japantown in San Jose and visited Nijiya Market where I bought some soda flavored hard candies, chocolate filled Koala cookies, and a funny looking cartoony rice seasoning to send to my penpal in England along with some green tea. I also found some cute strawberry flavored Hello Kitty cookies. Let me loose in an Asian market with candies/cookies with cute, brightly colored packaging, and I can't resist buying at least $10-$15 worth of goodies. I guess it's one of my weaknesses. :)

Anyway, while we were in San Jose we went to Kazoo Japanese Restaurant for a late lunch. We both got "lunch box" meals which included miso soup, rice, some California roll, salad, and (for me) some sashimi and fried seafood and (for him) some sashimi and teriyaki chicken. Truly a satisfying feast, and we managed to still be hungry for the home cooked dinner awaiting us a few hours later. That's why I love Japanese food!

This other day in Sunnyvale we went to this Chinese place called Wok's On that one of my friends recommended I check out, and to be honest, it wasn't as amazing as my friend made it seem, but I think it's hard to find truly "amazing" Chinese fast food. I got sweet and sour chicken and some chicken chow mein, which were fine, but my hot and sour soup was a bit too peppery for my taste. Should have went with the egg flower soup. Chinese food is all kind of the same to me, but I enjoy it more if it's at a nicer sit-down restaurant.

One day we went to Full Circle Farm and took a tour. We learned about the planting and tending process, what kinds of fruits and vegetables they grow, and how the community comes together to help. Along the way we got to sample some herbs and berries, and we were given some kale and kohlrabi to take with us. At the farm stand we bought some basil and some honey they also make at the farm with their own bees. They have about 20 chickens on the farm too, and it was so cute watching them gather around to eat some of the kale we gave them.

So, that's about it for now... can't wait to go back to Sunnyvale in about a week and a half!