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Showing posts with label vacation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label vacation. Show all posts

Sandbox Bakery, Bernal Heights San Francisco

Sandbox Bakery, San Francisco
Sandbox Bakery, San Francisco

My friend Sumi and I went to Sandbox Bakery in the Bernal Heights area of San Francisco. The owner, Mutsumi Takehara was trained at La Farine and Chez Panisse...with time at Rubicon and Slanted Door. With that past, I knew it would be delicious.

Sandbox Bakery, San Francisco
The bakery has a lovely display of yummy pastries. They sell single drip coffee as well as some savory foods too. See the full menu here (prices I quote are from a January 2013 look at the website menu).

Sandbox Bakery San Francisco - Ginger Scone
Ginger scone. If there is a ginger scone in the bakery, it is going into my bag. I love ginger scones. This one was very light and tasty. I would definitely buy it again. $2.00

Sandbox Bakery San Francisco
Top: Melon pan. This is a very light, sugar topped brioche. I could probably eat a dozen of these...but they are brioche so that probably isn't the best idea :) $2.25

Bottom: Curry pan. Oh, this is yummmmmy. You can find a curry pan at many Japanese bakeries and it is an easy way to get a bite to eat. $3.00 (online menu, but from the photo I took, it looks like it is more than $3.00 now - anyway, worth it)

Sandbox Bakery - San Francisco, Negi-Miso Kashi Pan
This is the Negi-Miso Kashi Pan. It is challah bread with miso paste and green onions inside! Challah and Japanesey flavors? Lovely, and my favorite item from our little visit. $2.25

If you are in the Bernal Heights area of San Francisco, be sure to try out Sandbox Bakery!
Sandbox Bakery
833 Cortland Avenue, San Francisco
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Johnson & Wales University and BlogMary Conference, New England

Johnson & Wales collage 1
Continuing my New England adventures...

Helen's daughter Rosie is a junior at Johnson & Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island. She's in the Pastry Arts program and is busy learning about the biz-side of the hospitality industry now. (Hey Rosie, how's the accounting class going?! ;)

Johnson & Wales collage 4
It was "Parent's Weekend" at the University. Since Rosie isn't a lost freshman (not that she ever was one), we skipped all the official programs and hung out with Rosie and her friends. And OMG, have you been to a college campus lately? I'm jealous of Rosie's dorm/apartment. Four girls with individual rooms, full-size beds, own vanity sink, dishwasher, etc. Nicer than many of my apartments post-UCLA!

 BlogMary New England 2011
You've heard of the FoodBuzz conference? How about BlogHer Food? Well, the conference to be at was the BlogMary Conference in Connecticut (of course, made up of people named Mary! ;) Mary of Popsicles and Sandy Feet and I have been internet friends since 2008 (it all started with her emailing me asking for Los Angeles restaurant recommendations for a west coast wedding) and we finally got to meet! We call ourselves "East Coast" and "West Coast" Mary. Like the rap artists...sans the rivalry and unsolved murders, and with more baked goods.

New England collage 2
We totally lucked out on the weather. It rained at night and was perfect during the day! How sweet is that? We walked along the Connecticut coast, picking up some shells and sea glass. See the third photo? The sand is this color because the granite you find on your countertops is local! Coolness.

Do you want a trippy experience? Go to New England with someone from the "Old" or "Original" England.
Sample dialogue with Geordie (Northern England) Helen:
-  Oh, Colchester! That's in Essex back home
-  Oh, this area looks like North Yorkshire! Just like home....
-  Oh, Bristol! Oh, Manchester!
After passing New Britain and New London while in New England, Rosie and I say: Hum, your peeps weren't that original with the names, huh?

New Englad Trip collage 1
East Coast Mary took us to Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana in New Haven, CT. Ahhhhh...delicious! And almost even better the next day for breakfast. The line is long, but totally worth it. The pizzas are huge and served on sheet trays. Locally made soda from Foxon Park is available too. It was truly a New England weekend! Don't forget to go next door to get Italian ice squeezes - perfect ending to many many slices of pizza!

BlogMary New England 2011
And before eating all this pizza, Mary treated us to lovely locally made treats. This Feta Pesto spread is heaven on a plate! We also had the lovely Bundts pictured above...look for it during my upcoming I Like Big Bundts 3 series. Mary is even nicer, smarter and prettier than she is "online" - funny how them interwebs brings people together. I've never even heard Mary's voice until we drove up, and then our day was spent like old friends drinking lots of tea, hanging out and watching Modern Family.

On behalf of my friend for a zillion years, Helen and I want to thank Mary & lovely her family and Rosie & her friends for making our quick trip so much fun!!

Mary, I'm waiting for you & J and the shorties to come visit LaLaLand, L-E-G-O land and D-I-S-N-E-Y land. Rosie, keep singing Adelle on the top of your lungs, build houses with Habitat, and enjoy your undergrad years!
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Flour Bakery, Boston

Flour Bakery collage 3Flour Bakery, Boston 

My friend Helen and I recently went on a quick trip to New England! We took the JetBlue red eye on a Thursday night and arrived early Friday morning in Boston. Helen's daughter Rosie, a student at Johnson & Wales, picked us up with her roommate Kristen. First stop? Flour Bakery, of course! 

Flour collage 2I've made several items from Joanne Chang's Flour Bakery cookbook and they've all been delicious. I was excited to visit one of her bakeries. Oh my goodness, we certainly weren't disappointed! Everything we got was soooo perfect! At the top is Joanne's famous Thrown Down Winning sticky bun.

Flour collage 1
Helen and I were thrilled to meet up with our friend Christopher. We all worked together at Project Angel Food in Los Angeles many moons ago...we had so many laughs and late nights together (left photo). Right photo is Rosie and Kristen...one day they'll have a bakery as famous and yummy as Flour!

Flour Bakery(there are three locations, we went here)
South End 1595 Washington St., Boston MA 02118
617.267.4300 Mon-Fri 7a-9p; Sat 8a-6p; Sun 8a-5p

If you can't make it to Flour Bakery, be sure to pick up the cookbook so you can try make some of the treats at home.
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Saturn Cafe, Berkeley, CA

Saturn Cafe, Berkeley CA
I spent the Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend in the Bay Area (Northern California). In other words, it was all about friends and foods! A couple of my friends are vegan and vegetarian so we went to Saturn Cafe for brunch. It was my first time at this George Jetson retro-looking vegetarian cafe. The main restaurant is in Santa Cruz and they opened this Berkeley location in 2010. It is located across to Gather where I went last year.

Saturn Cafe, Berkeley, CA
Sweet Potato Fries with wasabi dip $6.95
These were great! Seriously, you can fry a shoe and I would eat it with wasabi dip.

Saturn Cafe, Berkeley, CA
Heavenly Benedict $7.95
2 poached organic eggs on an English muffin with sliced tomatoes and avocado drizzled with hollandaise sauce and served with home fries (description from menu)

Saturn Cafe, Berkeley, CA
Vegan burger with vegan cheese $9.50

Saturn Cafe, Berkeley, CA
Vegan Pozole (Soup and Salad $8.95). Pozole is usually made with pork and hominy, but this was a vegan variety. The soup was pretty good...but where was the cabbage garnish? All the pozoles I've had came with a plate of cabbage and radishes (like getting bean sprouts and herbs with pho). I mean, cabbage is vegan. Was it cooked into the soup? I don't remember...but I wish they had it on the side so you could add your own and have it crisp. I got 5 extra lime pieces to add more flavor too.

Restaurant
Saturn Cafe
(The original is in Santa Cruz, CA)
2175 Allston Way
Berkeley, CA 94704
(510) 845-8505
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Ferry Building (Delica & Miette) and Tartine, San Francisco

Holy Smokes. I'm finally at the the end of my Restaurant Week from recent gallivants around Los Angeles and a recent trip to San Francisco. New resolution: Eat, Shoot and Post.

Today, we celebrate eating, laughing, walking around, and enjoying a recently freaking freezing August trip to the Bay Area.

Julia in San Francisco, CA
This is 5 year old Julia. I was lucky to spend 4 days with her and her mom, Agnes in SF. We drove up from Los Angeles to visit our RA from the UCLA dorms, Sumi. Julia is a doll - full of life and just so sweet. She is really polite - always offering me a Mentos candy in the car. Her older sister was with Agnes' husband at the Star Wars convention in Florida, so this was one of the first times Julia got her mom all to herself.

Ferry Building, San Francisco, CA
Of course, we headed to the Ferry Building on our first full day. And even though there are so many delicious places to eat in the Ferry Building, I always head toward Delica, the Japanese deli. Here are some of my favorite Delica dishes: Wasabi potato salad and spinach sesame salad.

Ferry Building, San Francisco, CA
Delica's Roast Beef sushi (so fantastic), green bean miso salad, potato croquette, and a FANTASTIC corn mascarpone salad. Oh, it is fresh and delicious.

Julia in San Francisco, Waiting for the Muni
I just love this photo of Julia. She's waiting for the bus to take us to the Ferry Building.

Ferry Building, San Francisco, CA
See the beautiful cakes and pastries in the Miette display case? Julia had her pick...and she picked...
Ferry Building, San Francisco, CA
A bag of jelly beans. She loves pink. She love jelly beans. So naturally she bought candy at Miette!

Ferry Building, San Francisco, CA
Agnes and I split a double ganache chocolate cake. Forget the jelly beans.

Ferry Building, San Francisco, CA
Inside looks like this.

Tartine, San Francisco
We also went over to Tartine for some breakfast. All San Francisco mornings should start with a big dose of hot chocolate and butter. I mean, Tartine's croissants.

Tartine, San Francisco
Tartine's ham and cheese croissant. Agnes said it was delicious!!!

Tartine, San Francisco
Almond croissant for later.

Tartine, San Francisco
Tartine's lovely lemon tart. Holy smokes...this is beautiful and lovely.

Julia in her Wicked dress
Yes, a four-day period, I saw Natalie Merchant in concert, and Wicked at the Orpheum Theatre, and ate and ate. Here is Julia all ready for Wicked in her perfect green dress. She knows all the songs too. The family listens to the CD in the car a lot!

Agnes, Julia, Sumi, Diane, Pam, Toby, Shannon - Thanks for a great trip to the Bay Area. Let's do it again very very soon! - mary

Restaurants and Shops, San Francisco:
Ferry Building Embarcadero at the foot of Market Street
Delica
Melitte
Tartine 600 Guerrero Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 487 2600
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