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Full Circle Organic Produce Delivery Review + $10 off Coupon

Posted on June 22, 2012 by bayareafoodie


Full Circle launched the Bay Area branch of its produce delivery service during the first week of June. They contacted me to see if I was interested in a free trial. I get offers to try similar services often and usually I pass because I am happy with my current delivery company, but when I checked out the Full Circle website the option to not only receive fruits & veggies but other groceries caught my attention. I thought the opportunity to purchase artisan goods including:  dairy & eggs, bread & pasta, meat, seafood, jam, coffee, honey and chocolate was very unique and something I had to check out.

Box #1 with my balls of pizza dough

My first “Sprout” size box (feeds 2-3 people) arrived right on time and everything was fresh and pretty clean. Items come straight from the farm so you should expect some dirt and bugs. In addition to the produce I added 2 balls of pizza dough from the grocery. We love to make pizza on the grill in the summer. Each ball was the perfect amount for a personal size pizza. All it needed was some heirloom tomatoes, mozzarella and basil. Turned out perfect…nice thin crust.

We also made a risotto with the leeks. Insanely good. See recipe here

Box #2 came the following week and we had just about eaten everything from our first box.

Contents of box #2 with my addition of free range eggs

The baby golden beats were delicious. I just put them in foil and roasted them in the oven for an hour and they were good to go.

Beets ready for the oven

Overall, the service has been great. The produce arrived in good condition and tasted wonderful. Every new service has positive things going for them and some areas that need improvement. Here is my assessment on Full Circle…

Pros:
1. Variety! Since the produce is not coming from 1 single farm but 10+ California farms there are many more fruit & veg options and you can’t beat the added grocery items.
2. Choice – usually you make an exclusion list of produce you don’t want and if one of the items is scheduled the farm will just double up or in some cases triple up on other items already in your box. At Full Circle you can login to your account and see what is coming and switch items out yourself by choosing other items that are available that week – usually there are at least 10 additional items to choose from. I LOVE this option!
3. Delivery time – boxes are delivered overnight at the same time every week so when you wake up it’s there. No need to worry about having a delivery midday and everything going bad while sitting out in the sun.
4. Customer service – the website was easy to navigate and the process from signing up to receiving goods was a breeze. Customer service has been checking in to see if my deliveries were on time, produce was in good condition and to see if I had any concerns.

Cons:
1. Exemption list – they only allow you to select 5 items to exclude. If you don’t have time to go to your account and make changes each week you may receive things you don’t like or need. I happen to have a lot of exclusions because I have several citrus trees, herbs and veg growing in my yard so 5 doesn’t cut it.
2. Delivery schedule – boxes are scheduled to be delivered automatically every week. You have to personally contact the company if you want to skip a week or place a hold on your account. Not a big deal but a little incovienent. I would prefer to be able to login to my account and make adjustments to an online calendar instead of having to send emails or make phone calls. *They fixed this issue in August!

The pros definitely out-way the cons so give Full Circle a try. Next shipment, I plan to order salmon!

Website: http://www.fullcircle.com/

COUPON OFFER: $10 off your first box. Use promo code (exp 12/13): SOCIAL10

If you decide to sign up, please let them know Nicole Whalen referred you.

Filed under: RECIPES, REVIEWS OF PRODUCTS | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Risotto with Leeks, Shiitake Mushrooms & Truffle Oil

Posted on June 20, 2012 by bayareafoodie


This was the  first recipe I made with items from my Full Circle organic produce delivery. Mike is not a fan of truffle oil but he loved this dish. All the ingredients worked together magically!

Tip: It was hot out and I was not about to turn on the oven… so for the mushrooms I just sauteed them in a pan!

shrooms & onions                     leeks & cream                              rice & stock

Recipe link
Bon Appétit | September 2007

Filed under: Main Dish, RECIPES | Tagged: , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Los Gatos Gourmet Food Truck Festival

Posted on June 18, 2012 by bayareafoodie


In order to get folks in this neck of the woods to eat food off a truck the organizers had to step up their game. Unlike Moveable Feast here you will find real tables and chairs to sit at, a rockin’ band with a dance floor and a beer/wine tent (few truck events have alcohol). It’s a real classy affair held at the defunct La Hacienda Inn on Friday evenings. The crowd on our night consisted of thirty something year old parents with a minimum of 3 kids and 65 year old couples that like to shake a tail feather. Mike and I didn’t fit into either category but still had a good time.

The set-up only has room for 6 trucks but I was happy to see a few new options. We started off with a fried chicken sandwich from Pollo Fritto. Very reminiscent of the sando from BakeSale Betty. Nice crispy chicken, fresh slaw with a hint of heat on a toasty roll. Along with a Shocktop brew it was a great start.


Then we grabbed a Greek taco from Arabian Bites. It was basically a gyro but with the meat chopped up. Very flavorful. It came with a side of fries and a small tomato/cucumber salad…big bang for your buck.


For dessert we hit up the ice cream truck – Twisted Chill.


Note: As with all of these new truck events the food averages $8-10 for a sandwich/burger or couple of tacos…the days of cheap truck eats is over! Be sure to hit up the ATM and prepare to spend a couple Jacksons for 2 people.

Website: https://www.facebook.com/LGFoodFest

Filed under: Los Gatos, Northern CA, PLACES TO EAT/DRINK, Silicon Valley (all cities) | Tagged: , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Smitten Ice Cream

Posted on June 14, 2012 by bayareafoodie


Smitten Ice Cream first gained popularity when owner Robyn Sue hit the streets of SF pulling a red wagon equipped with a homemade liquid nitrogen run ice cream machine named “kelvin.”  Eventually she opened a brick and mortar store in a converted shipping container in Hayes Valley. Mike and I finally had the opportunity to check it out 2 weeks ago. The shop has 4 “kelvin” machines and each makes a single flavor: vanilla, chocolate and two seasonal flavors (that change daily). Every single scoop is made to order in 60 seconds using liquid nitrogen! It will be the freshest, coolest, creamiest ice cream you’ve ever had!

Check out our ice cream being made:

The final product…..

Ritual Coffee with Cocoa Nib brittle (left) and Strawberry pink peppercorn with lemon caramel sauce* (right)

I’m sure the vanilla and chocolate are good but if you’re making a special trip to this place be adventurous and try the suggested flavor combination of the day as I did*.

Website: http://smittenicecream.com/

Smitten Ice Cream on Urbanspoon

Filed under: Northern CA, PLACES TO EAT/DRINK, San Francisco | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Green Bean Spaghetti Carbonara

Posted on June 11, 2012 by bayareafoodie


This was soooo good….like breakfast for dinner. I did add the egg to the noodles too early which ended up making my sauce more scrambled than oozy but that didn’t stop me from devouring every last bite. Next time, I will remember to let my spaghetti cool a bit before mixing all the ingredients. I had some spinach on hand so I added that to the bacon/onion mixture. Yum.

Recipe link
Rachael Ray Magazine /Oct 2011

Filed under: Main Dish, RECIPES | Tagged: , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Food Trucks @ Moveable Feast

Posted on June 1, 2012 by bayareafoodie


Food trucks are increasing in popularity more and more each day. Moveable Feast is a company that organizes events that feature groups of food trucks at locations all over the South Bay similar to Off the Grid in San Francisco. It seems like every couple weeks a new city is added to their list. It took me a while to try because I wasn’t interested in the trucks they had lined up until I saw that the Nom Nom truck (yes, the runner-up on the 1st season of the Food Network’s “The Great Food Truck race”) was coming from SF to Willow Glen.

Moveable Feast: Willow Glen happens every Friday night and has the largest number of trucks of all the feast locations – usually 10+. We arrived just as it opened because I had read about the super large crowds that gather.

Like restaurants, all food trucks are not created equal. Here are the things we ate that are worth trying:

1. Nom Nom: pork banh mi sandwich – at $5 a pop this not only tasted good but was the best deal of the night. Great fresh crusty bread and sweet pork with tart veggies.

2. Eat on Monday: Fried chicken club sandwich – maple syrup glazed bacon …. nuff.said.

3. le bon: garlic noodles w/ bacon and grilled shrimp – very flavorful

4. Fairy cakes – looked and tasted like your mom’s homemade cupcakes. Just a little pricey ($3) for the size.

Peanut butter cup, salty caramel, pb&j, pineapple upsidown cake

If you see the red buckets you know you are in the right place. No fancy seating or tables here. Grab a couple buckets and get eating!

Tips for a successful food truck excursion….arrive early (within 1st hour) so they don’t run out of food, the lines are not long and the wait for your food is short. Also, hit the ATM.

Note: best way to find out when/where and who is showing up each week is to check out their facebook page.

Website: http://www.mvbl.org/

Filed under: Northern CA, PLACES TO EAT/DRINK, San Jose, Silicon Valley (all cities) | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »