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I know its been a really long time since my last post. Don’t worry, I’m still eating and drinking. See my latest at https://www.instagram.com/bayareafoodie/
Filed under: VERY RANDOM THOUGHTS | Leave a comment »
The Farmer & the Chef Doc on VIMEO ON DEMAND
Posted on August 30, 2015 by bayareafoodie
Check out The Farmer & the Chef film documenting the unique relationship between Chef David Kinch (Manresa) and Farmer Cynthia Sandberg (Love Apple Farms).
A beautiful and meditative look at the seasonal restaurant — Food & Wine Magazine
Download a copy today!
He is a world famous chef with one of best restaurants in the world.
She is a Biodynamic® farmer known worldwide for her award winning heirloom tomatoes.
And one thing connects them…. the food served at Manresa Restaurant in Los Gatos,California. Together this farmer and this chef are revolutionizing how diners experience a modern Californian meal.
The Farmer & The Chef is a 1-hour documentary that takes you behind the scenes to see how two creative geniuses grow and serve the perfect meal at two-Michelin Star restaurant Manresa. Watch Cynthia Sandberg move from a 2-acre garden to a 21-acre farm that needs to be transformed into the new Love Apple Farms. And follow Chef Kinch as he confronts the challenges of cooking with a ten fold increase of product. It’s about the passion two people have for farming and cooking in a way that respects and pays homage to their local environment.
Watching them wordlessly root through the farm together is watching two masters at work. — TimeOut New York
Filed under: VERY RANDOM THOUGHTS | Tagged: cynthia sandberg, David Kinch, documentary, film, Manresa, restaurant | Leave a comment »
The Farmer & The Chef at Cinequest
Posted on March 16, 2014 by bayareafoodie
Back in 2012 I mentioned a documentary my husband was making on chef David Kinch (Manresa) and farmer Cynthia Sandberg (Love Apple Farms). Well, it is finally done! It premiered at the Cinequest film festival on March 9th to a sold out crowd. An encore screening is tonight at 4:30pm. If you are in San Jose check it out. Sorry for the short notice.
For more info and screening dates check out http://thefarmerandthechefmovie.com/ or https://www.facebook.com/thefarmerandthechef
Filed under: VERY RANDOM THOUGHTS | Tagged: Cinequest film festival | Leave a comment »
“The Farmer & The Chef” Documentary
Posted on July 22, 2012 by bayareafoodie
I don’t think I have mentioned this before but Mike, my husband, is a professional documentary filmmaker when he is not baking me cakes. I haven’t brought it up because his previous films were not related to food, but his current project is! He is working on a doc called “The Farmer & the Chef.” The film takes you behind the scenes to see how Chef David Kinch & Farmer Cynthia Sandberg of Love Apple Farms grow and serve the perfect biodynamic meal at two-Michelin Star restaurant Manresa in Los Gatos, CA . The idea came about following our amazing 3-year wedding anniversary dinner at Manresa in 2009.
This summer I have been helping with some of the production and I have set up a website and a facebook page for the film. Check them out and be sure to “LIKE” the facebook page to keep up to date with the progress. The film is scheduled for release in January 2013. It should be tasty!
Filed under: VERY RANDOM THOUGHTS | Tagged: biodynamic, celebrities, cynthia sandberg, David Kinch, documentary film, food, Los Gatos, love apple farms, manresa restaurant, michael whalen, michelin star, restaurants, the farmer & the chef, whalen films | Leave a comment »
Belated 4 year Blogaversary
Posted on January 30, 2012 by bayareafoodie
Yesterday marked the 4 year anniversary of Bay Area Foodie. I meant to do something special like go get a Jumbaco (j/k) then completely forgot. So on my way home from work today I stopped by a new cupcake shop in Campbell called Frost Cupcake Factory.
Luckily it was Mini Monday so I could get a bunch of flavors to try. I chose the following…
Mocha Java – stay away from anything with meringue butter cream frosting…has an unpleasant greasy/waxy consistency.
Salt ‘n sweet – should be called super salty! Probably better in the large size.
Frostfetti – frosting was overly sweet.
Maui coconut dream – good flavors but it has the dreaded meringue frosting.
Rose velvet – supposed to taste like red velvet but didn’t.
Snowball – THIS WAS THE BEST! Chocolate cake with marshmallow frosting and covered in coconut. WINNER!
The snowball will have me coming back for more.
Website: http://www.frostcupcakefactory.com/
Filed under: Northern CA, PLACES TO EAT/DRINK, Silicon Valley (all cities), VERY RANDOM THOUGHTS | Tagged: 4 year Blogaversary, bakery, baking, campbell, cupcakes, food, frost cupcake factory, review | 3 Comments »
I’m on Facebook
Posted on October 19, 2011 by bayareafoodie
I bit the bullet and set up a page on Facebook for this blog. Now if you don’t feel like coming to the site everyday (which I know you do) you can keep up to date with my food escapades by finding me here or liking me on the left-hand sidebar <<<<<<<
Why did I do it? I needed a place to post links on the fly to cool upcoming Bay Area food events, news, restaurant openings and deals (groupon/yelp). I read and receive info on these types of things frequently and I rarely have time to create a full blog post about them so now you can find the details on Facebook. Enjoy!
Filed under: VERY RANDOM THOUGHTS | Tagged: bay area foodie blog, facebook, social media | Leave a comment »
Boston 2011
Posted on August 31, 2011 by bayareafoodie
View from the top of Bunker Hill Monument
We had an awesome trip to Boston the first week of August. We stayed at the Omni Parker House Hotel which is not only in a super location it’s the birthplace of the original Boston Cream Pie! The pie is actually a cake with a custard filling and if you order room service they will bring you a little mini version. So cute! I didn’t realize that the hotel was haunted by Mr. Parker himself until after it was too late to cancel our reservation but luckily we saw no site of him. They say if you want to get a glimpse you must stay on the 10th or 3rd floor. I made sure we stayed clear.
The legendary Boston Cream Pie
The first thing we did when we got off the plane was hit the freedom trail. I signed us up for one of those walking tours with a guide dressed in an 18th century costume. This was a highlight of the trip. Our guide was funny and very informative.
We also took the Upper deck trolley tour and learned very little historic facts. If you have a choice choose the walking tours and if you need transportation get the 7 day T (subway) pass – it’s the best deal ever!
Website: http://www.omnihotels.com/findahotel/bostonparkerhouse.aspx
Website: http://www.thefreedomtrail.org/
Filed under: Boston, Outside the Bay Area, PLACES TO EAT/DRINK, VERY RANDOM THOUGHTS | Tagged: boston, boston creme pie, freedom trail, haunted, omni parker house hotel, tours, travel | Leave a comment »
It’s my 3 year Blogaversary!
Posted on January 29, 2011 by bayareafoodie
Three years down… So this little blog that could keeps chuggin’ along.
What to look for in 2011 from Bay Area Foodie: Maui madness in March, a 5 year wedding anniversary French Laundry dinner in July (if I can get a reservation), 4th of July in Carmel and a Boston Bonanza in August. Plus, we’re trying to lose weight by exercising more (Goal =5k in October) and eating right (when not on vacation :cool:) so I’m subscribing to Cooking Light Magazine. Get ready for some healthy recipes.
I’m gonna leave you with my favorite photo of this month. Edison in much anticipation of eating his first “new and improved” Sprinkles doggie cupcake. The cakes are just like the real deal – soft and smell of vanilla. The old kind was solid as a rock. I know for sure they are made in-house now not sure if the previous version was outsourced or they just overhauled the recipe…either way Ed loves them!
Filed under: Sprinkles (Palo Alto), TREATS FOR DOGS, VERY RANDOM THOUGHTS | Tagged: 3 year blogaversary, 3 year blogging anniversary, sprinkles doggie cupcakes | 7 Comments »
Bon Appetit Food-Lover’s Cleanse Recap
Posted on January 24, 2011 by bayareafoodie
So the cleanse is OVER and Mike and I made it through the entire 14 days. When the 3 line description of the cleanse made no mention of what you were to get out of it a lightbulb should have gone off in my head but I was determined to start the year right so the claim of flavorful healthy food and no calorie counting was all it took for me to say…sign me up! I had no idea what I was getting myself (and Mike) into.
The cleanse began after I spent hours reviewing the 30-page 1-point-font pdf of recipes so I could prepare my 4-page grocery list. We had to go to 3 stores to find all the items and many I ‘d never heard of (hello, bulger wheat?). The plan provided 3 meals and 2 snacks per day and Rachel Ray was definitely not consulted because there wasn’t a 30 minute meal in the entire 2 weeks! Recipes were very involved… especially dinner. I guess they thought it wouldn’t be “Bon Appetit” worthy if it weren’t. Thank goodness Mike and I have flexible work schedules or we would have quit on day 2. This was not designed for a person with a normal 9-5 job. We never cooked and cleaned so much before in our entire lives. To make matters worse the menus were poorly organized. Many recipes didn’t list serving sizes, days where you needed to make enough food for the next day wasn’t always noted, and they included too many courses at dinner which resulted in tons of left-overs. By week 2 we had to stop making everything they told us because it was not humanly possible to eat that much food. It became obvious that no one at Bon Appetit actually completed the cleanse before promoting it to their readers, which is a shame.
How was the food? We cooked things we would normally never make, and were introduced to cuisines from around the world that had unique flavors and tons of spices. There were a handful of recipes we enjoyed (see list below), a couple we didn’t mind and a bunch that were downright disgusting (Coconut Oat Pilaf). But we had issues with most of the menus because some foods didn’t complement each-other. It was as if the creators just haphazardly chose which recipes to pair together.
The results…how do we feel? I honestly feel the same as when we started. I was hoping for substantial weight loss, a re-energize body and mind, or at the very least vibrant skin. But, alas I didn’t achieve any of those goals. Mike ended up losing 5 pounds and I lost 2 (bitter party of 1 – right here!). Yes, as my mom said that is barely water weight. So would we do this again? No, but we will try and continue to follow the general guidelines.
Final words…Dear Bon Appetit: next time you recommend a cleanse to thousands of people test it out first! Having the creator do the cleanse with us may have sounded like a cool idea but hearing her blog about her daily struggles (many that I have pointed out) just pissed me off. To read how she would modify the cleanse next time really doesn’t help me now that it’s over. I feel like I wasted my time and money on someone’s practice run.
Mike – Sorry for making you do this. You are a trooper…
Here are the few things we will make again:
Vanilla-Date Breakfast Smoothie
Black-Eyed Pea Curry
Almond-Banana Smoothie
Bulgur Pilaf
Kale with Pine Nuts and Currants
Quinoa with Pomegranate, Apple & Scallions
Salmon in a Bengali Mustard Sauce
The cleanse: http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/food-lovers-cleanse/
Filed under: VERY RANDOM THOUGHTS | Tagged: Bon Appétit, Bon Appetit Food-Lover’s Cleanse, diet, fitness, Health, Recap, weightloss, wellness | 3 Comments »
We’re doing the Bon Appetit Food-Lover’s Cleanse!
Posted on January 4, 2011 by bayareafoodie
Week 1 Non-perishable items (took 3 stores to find)
Happy New Year! Mike and I are starting the year off right by doing the Bon Appetit Food-Lover’s Cleanse!! Yes, we started a few days late but who starts a cleanse on a holiday weekend?
Today is day 1 so don’t expect many new posts over the next 2 weeks.
We will do a full write-up of our experience when we are done but in the meantime you can follow our daily trials and tribulations on twitter: http://twitter.com/BayAreaFoodie
Let us know if you are doing it too…
Check out the cleanse here: http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/food-lovers-cleanse/
Filed under: VERY RANDOM THOUGHTS | Tagged: 2011, Bon Appetit Food-Lover's Cleanse, cleanse, new year resolution | 1 Comment »
Food & Wine Bucket List
Posted on September 29, 2010 by bayareafoodie
I’m forever seeing and/or reading about things/places I want to go and 99.9% of the time it’s food related but then I forget. So I’ve decided to make a list (in no particular order). This will be updated on a regular basis (hopefully crossing some things off the list as well as adding).
- French Laundry – Napa
- Manresa – Los Gatos
- Go to New Orleans and eat up a storm
- Eat pizza in Italy
- Drink Guinness in a pub in Ireland
- Foreign cinema – SF (brunch/dinner)
- Chez Panisse – Berkeley
- Meadowood – Napa
- Tour France wine country
- Benu – SF
- Wayfare Tavern -SF
- Eat tapas in Spain
- Morimoto – Napa
- Redd – Napa
- Cyrus – Healdsburg
- Francis Ford Coppola Winery -Geyserville
- Little skillet – SF (fried chicken)
- farmerbrown -SF
Bi-rite Creamery-SF- Eat a crepe in Paris
- Naglee Park garage – SJ
- Humphry Slocombe -SF
Long Meadow Ranch Winery/Farmstead – St Helena- Town Hall – SF
Wine Spectator Greystone– St Helena- Pizzeria Mozza – LA
Bakesale Betty – Oakland- Tony’s Pizza Napoletana -SF
- A16 -SF
- Pizzeria Delfina -SF
- The American Grill cheese kitchen -SF
- Flour+Water -SF
- NOPA -SF
- Momofuko milk bar -NY
- Momofuko noodle bar -NY
- Hells Kitchen -LA
- Umami burger -SF
- Dynamo Donuts -SF (maple bacon)
- Frontera Grill – Chicago
- The girl & the Goat -Chicago
- Joe’s Cable Car -SF
- Frances -SF
- Fish Story -Napa
- Table-52 -Chicago
- Una Pizza Napoletana -SF
- Scream Sorbet – Oakland
- Smitten ice cream -SF
- Baked – NY (cupcake,PB banana cream pie,brownie)
- BABBO -NY
- Lobster in Boston
- Zuni cafe- SF
- Lobster in Maine
Note: if something is crossed out it means I have completed the item listed and if I have written a post about what occurred the item title will have a link.
List started (in my head): July 1, 2009
Have any suggestions on things I MUST do? Leave a comment!
Filed under: VERY RANDOM THOUGHTS | Tagged: Food & Wine Bucket List | 9 Comments »
Two Year Blogaversary
Posted on January 29, 2010 by bayareafoodie
An ebelskiver not a meatball
It’s been 2 years since I started this blog. Time has really flown by. ’09 was a truly filling year (I have the tight jeans to prove it!). To celebrate I broke out our ebelskiver pan and the new chocolate pancake mix from WS.
2010 should be a tasty year on Bay Area Foodie since Mike and I are heading to Spain and France this summer!!! Keep an eye out for that. If this is your first visit or your 100th — THANKS for stopping by!
See the chocolate ebelskiver post here.
Filed under: VERY RANDOM THOUGHTS | Tagged: 2 year blogging anniversary, Blogaversary, year 2 | 3 Comments »
Top Chef Season 5 DVD Giveaway!
Posted on October 21, 2009 by bayareafoodie
Hey Everybody!
A&E Home Entertainment has sent me a copy of the “TOP CHEF: NEW YORK – Season 5” DVD collection (which was just released yesterday) to give away to one of my fine readers. Jam-packed with enticing extras including never-before-aired Stew Room footage, extended interviews, cooking demonstrations and more — TOP CHEF: NEW YORK will satisfy the appetite of any fan, foodie or cook.
To win this tasty set all you have to do is leave a comment on this post that answers this question… which cheftestant (any season) would you like to cook you a meal?
As Padma would say “Readers… you have 10 days to enter. Your time starts NOW — Good luck!”
Filed under: VERY RANDOM THOUGHTS | Tagged: A&E, bravo, complete season 5, DVD, free, Giveaway, new york, top chef, Top Chef Contest | 5 Comments »
New Orleans Vacation Wrap-up
Posted on August 9, 2009 by bayareafoodie
Mike and I just returned from our trip to the big easy. We had a blast eating our way around NOLA. When people said it’s hot in August I figured I could handle it since I went to school in Arizona but this was a heat that I had never experienced. I could only make it one block before the sweat began drippin’ everywhere. Since we new it was going to be steamy we planned to keep our adventures casual and fun. Here was our itinerary:
Day 1 (Sat): Dinner at Mother’s, walk down Bourbon Street
Day 2 (Sun): Brunch at Dante’s Kitchen, Ride the St. Charles Streetcar, French Quarter Culinary history tour and tasting
Day 3 (Mon): Air-boat Swamp tour, Dinner at NOLA, walk around French Quarter
Day 4 (Tue): Breakfast at Cafe du Monde, Lunch at Cochon Butcher, Cupcakes at the Kupcake Factory, Vampire tour
Day 5 (Wed): Cooking class, Check out farmers market, dinner at Luke, Music on Frenchmen St.
Day 6 (Thur): Muffuletta sandwich from Central Grocery
*I will write a separate post for each of the restaurant reviews over the next few days.
Non-Foodie Highlights:
SWAMP TOUR – We went on an air-boat tour of the Louisiana swamps. It was fast and furious. This is not a nature tour, this is a high speed excursion through the swamps on a search for alligators… and there were plenty! Check it out:
Website: www.airboatadventuresllc.com
MUSIC – Walking back to our hotel on Monday we ran into a 7 piece brass band on the corner of Canal & Bourbon St. in front of the Foot Locker. They were fantastic and they played for a couple hours for tips. What made it even more entertaining is that people would just start dancing in the street. It was hilarious to see some battle as if they were on “So you think you can dance”. This location seems to be where many groups come to play because we saw a 10 piece band on Wednesday night but they were not as good. Here is a sample of the boys from Monday:
Start of Vamp tour - St Louis Cathedral (check out that full moon)
VAMPIRE TOUR – Interesting tour about the history of vampires in New Orleans. We also saw some of the sites from the movie “Interview with the Vampire”. I gatta be honest it kinda creeped me out. Tip: wear your bug repellent. We didn’t and we have many bites all over (weird… no other night did we even see mosquito’s…)
Website: www.hauntedhistorytours.com
PEOPLE – everyone from the tour guides, to the taxi drivers to the hotel staff were really friendly. Very polite folks.
Low-light:
BOURBON ST – We had no idea that Bourbon Street was just a string of bars blaring cheesy karaoke type music, strip clubs, daiquiri/pizza joints and more strip clubs. It’s Vegas to the 10th power. Don’t expect cool jazz clubs cause you won’t find them here – go to Frenchmen St!
We did everything we wanted to do except eat a peanut butter bacon burger at Yo-mama’s bar. We just couldn’t get ourselves to do it. Maybe next time.
Tip: if you’re going make sure you have a tourist guide mailed to your home before you go. You can get one here. This was the first city I’ve been to that didn’t have millions of “things to do” kiosks and flyers/brochures all over the airport. The place was a ghost town.
Filed under: New Orleans, VERY RANDOM THOUGHTS | Tagged: cafe du monde, central grocery, cochon butcher, cooking class, culinary tour, food, luke, mothers, New Orleans, NOLA, swamp tour, vampire tour | 1 Comment »
Farm Fresh To You – ($15 off coupon) Organic Produce Delivery Service
Posted on June 20, 2009 by bayareafoodie
If you were thinking about having organic produce delivered to your home here is your chance. I received a coupon code for $15 off your first shipment from Farm Fresh to You, a Bay Area delivery service. We’ve been getting deliveries from them for over 5 years and we really enjoy it. To redeem this offer mention promo code #NICZ9497 when signing up. Enjoy!
Website: http://www.farmfreshtoyou.com/
*This discount is for NEW customers only or those who have not received a delivery in 3 months.
See my past posts about this great local company:
Our first delivery
Recipes made with our produce
Filed under: VERY RANDOM THOUGHTS | Tagged: bay area, cooking, coupon, discount, Farm Fresh To You, food, grocery, Health, northern california, Organic Produce Home Delivery, service | 1 Comment »
Top Chef Masters
Posted on June 11, 2009 by bayareafoodie
I hope you all watched the first episode of Top Chef Masters last night. We enjoyed it although I was a bit grossed out by the shower scene. I’m happy to say that Mike stayed awake for the entire hour which is unusual since it’s on way past his bedtime. My only hope is that host Kelly Choi gets her eat on during the season because she is a tad skinny.
As you can see we had a pre- show pizza party courtesy of Bravo (we couldn’t wait till 10pm to eat!). They provided the grub and swag. Thanks Bravo!
So what are your predictions for the winner? Without seeing all the chefs in action I’m going out on a limb and picking John Besh because of his Iron Chef experience — Mike is keeping his choice local and thinks Cindy Pawlcyn is gonna take home the prize. We’ll see..
Leave a comment with your choice of Top Chef Master!
Filed under: REVIEWS OF PRODUCTS, VERY RANDOM THOUGHTS | Tagged: bravo, cooking show, kelly choi, Top chef masters, tv | 2 Comments »
Washington DC Night Lights Tour
Posted on May 27, 2009 by bayareafoodie
I know this has nothing to do with food but I wanted to share a cool tour we took of Washington DC at night. If you get a chance I would highly recommend the tour company OnBoard. They specialize in small tour groups (25-30 people) and if you’ve been to any monument in DC you should recognize that this is a major benefit. Most tour groups we saw were 50+ deep and forget about hearing what the guide had to say off the bus (if they even got off the bus) because there are hundreds of people (mainly loud kids) roaming around each site. This was a 3 hour tour (7-10pm) that flew by because it was filled with interesting information and even though a thunder/lightning rain STORM came pouring down on us we still had a great time. If you’re in DC for a short time this is the way to go to see it all!
*sorry the pics aren’t super clear but the rain made things difficult
Filed under: REVIEWS OF PRODUCTS, VERY RANDOM THOUGHTS | Tagged: monuments, night tour, onboard tours, tour, tour guide, washington dc at night | 1 Comment »
1 Year Blogaversary
Posted on January 29, 2009 by bayareafoodie
I can’t believe I’ve been blogging for an entire year. In celebration I’m holding my first ever giveaway. Leave a comment below and let me know your favorite Sprinkles cupcake flavor (if you haven’t had a Sprinkles cupcake …shame on you! j/k –you can just put your favorite cupcake flavor in general).
The winner will be chosen at random and receive a lovely canister of Sprinkles cupcake mix. Yum!
Good Luck and thanks for eating with me for the last year!
Don’t forget to include your email address with your comment so I can contact you if you win. Contest ends Feb 8th, 2009.
Leave your comment after the jump… Continue reading
Filed under: VERY RANDOM THOUGHTS | Tagged: 1 year blogging anniversary, free, givewaway, sprinkles cupcakes | 5 Comments »
Food Blogging Award
Posted on November 6, 2008 by bayareafoodie
Fellow food blogger, Foong, over at The Food Site bestowed the Fabulous Food Blogger Award on me last week. The award was created by Jessie of The Hungry Mouse. Both have great blogs that I read regularly. I was honored to be recognized. Now, this post is not intended to pat myself on the back. I wanted to spread the love. I’m going to take this opportunity to introduce you to some additional food blogs that make me drool…
- the Good Mood Food blog – dude in Ireland that can do magic with a camera.
- off the (meat)hook – this blog leaves me hungry and laughing…
- culinary concoctions by peabody – insane baked goodies can be found here.
- Thursday Night Smackdown – Michelle serves up tasty dishes with a side of potty mouth.
Check them out. You’ll be happy you did!
Filed under: VERY RANDOM THOUGHTS | Tagged: cooking, Fabulous Food Blogger Award, food | Leave a comment »
Gilroy Outlets
Posted on September 9, 2008 by bayareafoodie
Mike hates going to the Gilroy outlets. About once a year I can convince him to go with me. Last Sunday (9/7/08) was that lucky day. Usually I have about 5 clothing stores that I like to check out and then we leave. This time we got sidetracked at the Le Creuset and Calphalon kitchen stores. I don’t know when they opened but I’m so glad they did. Mike instantly fell in love with these two stores. The prices were amazing! They had discounts on top of discounts. We must have caught the tail end of the Labor day sales. For example Mike purchased a cast iron grill skillet at Le Creuset for $49.99 (Outlet price $92.93). Then we picked up a pasta insert for our Calphalon stock pot for $37.50 (original MSRP $74/Outlet price $62.50). If you’re in need of some pots and pans you have to head over to the outlets, you may want to call ahead to make sure they are having a sale.
Note: Since these are outlets some items could have minor imperfections so inspect your goods before purchase.
Website: http://www.premiumoutlets.com/
Filed under: VERY RANDOM THOUGHTS | Tagged: Calphalon, discounts, gilroy, kitchen, Le Creuset, outlets, pans, pots, sales | Leave a comment »
Bottle Shock
Posted on August 29, 2008 by bayareafoodie
© 2008 Unclaimed Freight
Mike and I spend a good amount of time in Napa so we of course had to see Bottle Shock. When I saw the previews I was a bit worried that a movie about a 1976 wine tasting competition between the hippies of Napa and the wine snobs of France could get boring fast. Fortunately this was not the case. As it is not heavy on wine mumbo-jumbo those who are not fans of the grape juice will be able to enjoy the film, and those that are will love the film. Check it out before it leaves the theaters. See Mike’s more in-depth review here.
Film website: http://www.bottleshockthemovie.com/
Filed under: Napa Valley, VERY RANDOM THOUGHTS | Tagged: Bottle Shock, france, movie, review, wine | Leave a comment »
Cake Wrecks
Posted on August 17, 2008 by bayareafoodie
I usually keep the content on this blog to restaurant reviews and recipes but when I stumbled on to this site called Cake Wrecks I had to share. The name says it all…it’s a blog about really bad/crazy/weird cake designs. It’s pretty hilarious especially the commentary. Keep in mind these baked goodies are NOT homemade; someone actually paid cold hard cash for these beautiful disasters. Here is a sample:
I have a feeling when the people ordering this cake said "Write Welcome on it" this is not what they meant.
Check out one of the worst cakes. I hope it doesn’t make you lose your appetite!
Filed under: VERY RANDOM THOUGHTS | Tagged: bad cakes, baking, cake wrecks, cooking, food, funny | Leave a comment »
Growing blog on WordPress.com
Posted on July 22, 2008 by bayareafoodie
Today July 22 marks the day WordPress included me on their list of growing blogs. I’m number 62 out of 100! Thank you for checking out my blog.
To show my appreciation here is a Jamba juice coupon . Enjoy! Expires 7/30/08
Source: http://botd.wordpress.com/2008/07/22/growing-blogs-816/
Filed under: VERY RANDOM THOUGHTS | Tagged: Blogs of the day, botd, growing blog, jamba juice coupon, wordpress.com | 1 Comment »
Mendocino
Posted on June 29, 2008 by bayareafoodie
For those of you who have not had the pleasure of visiting the Mendocino Coast here are a couple snap shots for you. These were taken June 14, 2008. The weather at this time of year is cold and there is a good amount of fog. I have been told that going in October is better. Still chilly but at least there is no fog.
Filed under: VERY RANDOM THOUGHTS | Tagged: mendocino california | Leave a comment »
Bay Area Foodie Online Store
Posted on June 8, 2008 by bayareafoodie
Have you ever seen a cookbook or a kitchen tool on Bay Area Foodie and wanted to purchase it for yourself or a friend? Now you can! Check out the Bay Area Foodie online store powered by Amazon. Inside individual posts when an item is mentioned there will be a link to the store or you can visit the store by clicking the permanent link on the right sidebar after the categories section.
I shop on Amazon all the time especially when I know what I want. Amazon has great prices and free shipping on most items if you spend over $25!
Filed under: VERY RANDOM THOUGHTS | Tagged: amazon, bay area foodie online store, cookbooks, food, kitchen tools, magazines, shop, shopping | Leave a comment »
Sprinkles Cupcakes are FINALLY coming to town!!!
Posted on March 6, 2008 by bayareafoodie
My prayers have been answered…THIS summer Sprinkles Cupcakes is opening up in Palo Alto. It’s not my backyard but it’s closer than LA. I’m truly excited. It will be at the Stanford shopping center. Start your diets now!
image © sprinkles cupcakes
Filed under: Peninsula, VERY RANDOM THOUGHTS | Tagged: california, cupcakes, new store, Peninsula, sprinkles cupcakes | Leave a comment »
One-Pot Dinners
Posted on February 27, 2008 by bayareafoodie
Williams-Sonoma in Los Gatos has a series of cooking technique classes on Sunday mornings before the store opens and guess what? They are FREE. Mike and I went to one entitled One-pot dinners last week. The class was about 45 minutes and the demo was for beef bourguignonne. Our instructor was Brad who had tons of personality. He kept us entertained and was well informed on the art of making food in a pot. The set up is not all that comfortable, you are standing in a group of 25+ people around a 5 foot cooking station but what can you expect for $0.00. They provide a handout with 4-5 recipes/tips and you get to sample the dish prepared. It was a nice way to spend a Sunday morning. If you stop by the store you can find the list of upcoming classes next to the register. Some of the other topics include souffles, spring pasta and grilling. You will see one of our attempts to prepare a one pot meal on a future post.
Our reason for wanting to take this class…
Our new massive Rachael Ray 7 quart cast iron dutch oven
Oh, how was the beef? Super tender, great aroma and color but the sauce needed some more seasoning. It was a bit bland. Mike said he would use a Cabernet instead of a Pinot to give more flavor.
Get your Rachael Ray dutch oven
Filed under: VERY RANDOM THOUGHTS | Tagged: food, one pot meal, technique classes, williams sonoma | Leave a comment »
Let the eating begin!
Posted on January 29, 2008 by bayareafoodie
Welcome to my blog dedicated to food! Here you will find reviews on restaurants I visit with my husband, Mike. You will also find some favorite recipes and dishes we attempt to make at home and other random thoughts that pop into my head.
Please feel free to comment on my posts and let me know about your food experiences.
Filed under: VERY RANDOM THOUGHTS | Leave a comment »
Bay Area Foodie 