Tag Archives: eating

Visiting Bittersweet in Danville

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Bittersweet Cafe

This is my last post about our yummy stops in California. So, here we are satisfying another chocolate craving. We had a great lunch with my aunt, uncle and cousins and on the way back to Vacaville we stopped by Bittersweet: the Chocolate Cafe in Danville. Not only was this place cute and quaint, but the chocolate they stock is impressive! You walk in and the chocolaty aroma just swallows you up… so delicious and luxurious. Mmmm.

Chocolate from all overMore chocolate at Bittersweet

Placing our orders

What lured us in was our cousins telling us this place has THE BEST hot chocolate. So thick it’ll knock you out. You know how they make it? With chocolate ganache! Brilliant!! You just choose the kind of milk you want: skim, 1%, whole, etc. Abby chose skim, and still, it was rich, but not overly so. Perfect for her.

Tasting the desserts

We also took the opportunity to try their desserts. Unfortunately for me and Ollie, there were a lot of good looking pastries but with nuts.

Homemade raspberry marshmallow

This was my choice to go with the hot chocolate ganache: homemade raspberry marshmallow. Seriously, it makes me want to make my own. Why buy the white styrofoam-ish nuggets when you can have fluffy clouds that melt in your mouth…

A discerning palette

Finding THE Donut Shop – Dynamo Donut

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We were really thrilled to find Dynamo Donut and Coffee in San Francisco. And it’s all because of the Apple Maple Bacon Donut. I don’t know who was more excited, me or my husband? The kids had fallen asleep while we were driving around half-aimlessly (we had a GPS in the car) in completely unknown territory. I felt like we were in the Pacific Northwest, not sure if it was because of the artsy storefronts, the small kitschy-ness of the vendors in the area. I don’t know. All I know is that I really liked it.

Across the street from Dynamo

So, we’re driving, and the GPS is beeping at us telling us we were at our destination, and I look around totally confused. Then my husband says something like, “There it is!”

“Where?!”

“There!! The green awning!”

Dynamo Donut - The front awning

“Cool!” We pull in and then we figure out how many donuts we should buy. How goofball am I for standing out there taking pictures of the facade like a starstruck fan?

Waiting in Line

As I’m waiting my turn at the counter, I realize they don’t have the bacon donut. All out! Hmm. So I strike up a conversation with the man behind the counter, who is really funny in a subdued sort of way, and he tells me not to hold it against them that they’ve run out. “There are plenty of tasty donuts here still!” and I believed him, of course. What’s not to love about donuts that are made by hand, cut by hand, fried in a small fryer by a person… it’s all good.

I mentioned that we saw them on Food Network (again) and he said, “Oh, man, ever since that airing, it’s been nuts around here, ” and with a grin he says, “Man, I wish people would leave us alone.”

Dynamo Donuts - yum

Even though we didn’t get to sample the bacon donut, we did walk away with a green tea and a half dozen donuts: cherry buttermilk, monte cristo (complete with ham bits!), and chocolate rose. I could only imagine what they might have tasted like fresh out of the kitchen, but they were still delicious. Crisp, nice flavors, fluffy on the inside, not too sugary sweet… I’ll definitely be looking for more handmade/homemade donuts around the Chicago area.

At a foodie destination in San Francisco

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Oh my goodness, one and a half days without internet access from home is brutal. We rely on it so much! Looking up recipes, sending e-mail, reading the news, reading my favorite blogs… Even our little one was suffering withdrawal from not being able to log onto The Disney Channel’s webpage. Anyhow, after an hour the cable technician was able to diagnose some loose cables outside our house and he found a nick in the cable that comes from the main line. Apparently he put in an order for the line to get replaced. Who knows when that will actually happen.

But what I really wanted to write about is The Ferry Building. I really don’t know if we have something similar to this in Chicago, so you can only imagine how excited I was to walk into this place with all these specialty food shops! My husband spent $50.00 within 30 minutes… it was so easy to do. I did visit some plant/garden/gift shops, too, but our main focus was on the eats.

Walking into the Ferry Bldg.

For the mushroom fans, Far West Fungi. It was strange that no one seemed to be working there at the time… kind of eerie. Unfortunately, we didn’t really visit too long, but it was neat storefront.

Far East Fungi

Imperial Tea Court had a great selection of loose teas, but what we were really looking for was…

Imperial Tea Court

…this place! Boccalone! Their tag line reads, “Tasty salted pig parts”. How awesome is that? This place was featured on Food Network recently, and we just had to try the salumi cone. Deliciously salty and fatty. It can’t possibly be good for you. We did bring home some nduja, spreadable salami, along with some cheese from Cowgirl Creamery. A $20 grab bag of cheese and a little cheese knife.

Boccalone

Salumi Cone

Special of the Day

Scharffen Berger chocolate… oh my dark chocolate goodness. The kids were so good in the store. You’d think they might go nuts in a place that has samples at every turn, but no, they were very well behaved and Abby really impressed the staff with her taste for 60%-70% dark chocolate. “Your daughter has a surprisingly mature palate.” Why, yes, thank you very much.

Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker

We ended our little foodie excursion with dinner at Taylor’s Automatic Refresher, a casual diner but with some upscale diner meals. We caught up with my college roommate (daughter’s godmother) and her new husband of one year (happy anniversary!!). I tried the Ahi Burger and we also ordered the Grilled Mahi Tacos. Fresh, delicious, light… mmmm. I’m sure the beef burgers were great, but we definitely wanted to try the seafood.

Taylor's Refresher

I think this pretty much sums up the day. My kids are such troopers when it comes to their dad and me dragging them to all these specialty groceries and food markets.

Eating Again, but where?

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The pictures of food never stop, do they? Even Abby is getting into it. She loves taking close-up shots and she’s getting better every time. We were running errands and stopped for a snack… can you guess what this is and where it was taken?

Delicious

Not that this is any help, but here’s another view. We love visiting this neighborhood place, which isn’t in our immediate suburb.

A better look

More California journals coming. They’re in the works along with more projects, too.

Lunching in the Napa Valley

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Most people go to the Napa Valley for wine tasting. We don’t drink much, to the bewilderment of some of our friends, but we do love to eat!  On another note, do people call it “THE Napa Valley” or just Napa Valley? I think that I might be a little too much into my Chicago-ese, like “da Bulls”, “da Coach”, “I buy my meat at THE Jewel.”  *sigh* Oh, well, we digress. DA Napa Valley was great… we celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary slightly early with a lunch for two at The Wine Spectator Greystone Restaurant thanks to our cousin watching our kids.

Greystone Cellars was beautiful. Built in 1888 as a co-op winery, then bought by the Christian Brothers in 1950, it’s easy to imagine monks wandering around campus and stomping on grapes to make wine. The Culinary Institute of America now inhabits the campus, and it’s their students who work in the kitchens and are wait staff.

Greystone Cornerstone

Culinary Institute of America Napa ValleyMenu readingMenu of the DayEntrees

Eastman’s mock mojito… he couldn’t get enough. Like Summer in a glass… except, for the lack of rum.

Mojito, no, Mock-jito

Chef’s choice appetizers were fabulous.

AppetizersSeafood RagoutPan Seared Scallops

Eating this crepe with rose syrup (It tasted like roses) was like tasting Spring on an early morning.

Strawberry Crepe with Rose Syrup

We wandered into the campus bookstore after lunch to take a peek at the wares. The book section was so cozy. I just wanted to sit there and read. These were just the cookbooks, too.

Bookstore at Greystone CellarsGreystone Cellars-Inside the Main Building

We ended our “day date” with a visit to the V. Sattui winery, but opted out for the tasting. It was so chaotic, we could hardly get a server’s attention!

V. Sattui Winery

Quick Tip: Leftover Crudites

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So here’s what you do with those leftover vegetables from a crudite platter you’ve served at your party. You chop or dice up all the veggies and you make it into a quiche! Thank goodness for the extra frozen pie crust I had in the freezer.

Easy Quiche

  • 4 eggs
  • 1 cup milk (2%)
  • 1/2 cup mayonnaise
  • 2 tbsp. flour
  • 1/3 c. minced onion (or a couple of tsp. onion powder)
  • 8 to 16 oz. shredded cheese (I had mozzarella on hand, and only 8 oz., save some for sprinkling)
  • 10 oz. vegetables, diced (could be one pkg. frozen spinach, could be roasted veggies from last night’s dinner)
  • salt, fresh grated peper and garlic powder to taste
  • 1 9-inch pie shell

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine eggs, milk, mayo and flour and whisk well. Add onion, cheese and vegetables and stir. Finish with salt, pepper and garlic powder (I used about 1 tbsp.). Pour into pie shell. Sprinkle some cheese on top.  I had some leftover grated parmesan cheese from another dinner. Bake for 45-50 min. or until center is set.

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