December 22, 2011
It’s not too late to put together a great gift. The place to go? The Ferry Building. Here are a few of my favorite things, all under $10, that can fill Christmas stockings or be assembled into a basket for a foodie friend (hint..hint).
The Ferry Building dressed up for the holidays
G.L. Alfieri’s Egg Nog Almond Brittle $4.50 for 4 oz, $8.50 for 8 oz
Alfieri’s is one of my favorite weekly stops for the samples of their popular dark chocolate almond brittle. For the holidays they have an egg nog version. It has a nice flavor that reminds you of the festive drink.
Recchiuti S’more Bites- $8.00 for 4 SHOP
These are little heavenly squares of deliciousness. The marshmallow is light and fluffy and covered in a thin layer of chocolate. The thin graham cookie base has a nice crunch.
Miette Gingersnaps- $8 SHOP
Anything from Miette would look so cute in a gift basket, but for the holidays I like these generous-sized ginger snaps with scalloped edges.
Acme Bread Panettone- Small $4, Large $8
I love the petite panettone. It is about 6″ tall, the perfect individual size. The bread is dense and filled with raisins, golden raisins and pine nuts.
Happy Girl Kitchen Jam- 4 oz for $7.00 SHOP
Great to go with Christmas morning breakfast or for filling linzer cookies
Kika’s Treats Caramelized Graham Crackers- $7.50 for 5 SHOP
Stop by the La Cocina booth to support local small businesses. Kika’s caramelized graham crackers are a stand out and would taste even better if you made s’mores with them.
Ferry Building/Blue Bottle Shop Tote- $10.00 SHOP
An eco-friendly way to present your gift and also a nice way to share where everything came from. On one side of the tote is an illustration of the Ferry Building and the other is the Blue Bottle Coffee kiosk. (I’d say add a bag of coffee but that is $12 and goes past my $10 limit)
Ferry Building Marketplace
1 Ferry Bldg
San Francisco, CA 94111
Neighborhood: Embarcadero
Farmer’s Market
Tuesday: 10am–2pm
Thursday: 10 am – 2pm
Saturday: 8am-2pm (will be open Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve)
December 16, 2011
When I saw this adorable tweet by Donna, owner of pot + pantry, an equally adorable kitchen boutique in the Mission, I was instantly in the Christmas spirit and inspired to make a whole clan of gingerbread men.
The whole lot in ugly Christmas sweaters!
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November 13, 2011
With creative concoctions such as crack pie, cereal milk and compost cookies, (just noticing my unintentional alliteration) pastry chef, Christina Tosi has developed quite a following at Momofuku Milk Bar in New York. With the release of her new cookbook, Christina embarked on a nationwide book tour and brought her east coast treats to the Bay Area.
Her stop at Williams-Sonoma Union Square, San Francisco included a demo and samples of her famous cookies. No thanks to city rush hour traffic, I only caught the last bit of her demo, but the cookies did make up for it. FYI, I did not eat all of these on my own. I spread the love for Milk Bar to a few friends  Here are my notes on each one.
Taste Test:
Compost Cookie- chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, graham crumbs, pretzels, potato chips, coffee grounds and oats. Sounds like something you’d make when you have too many expired things in your pantry, but every one of these ingredients are essential to the incredible flavor of the cookie. The most immediate flavors I tasted were the graham/brown sugar and coffee. It was comforting. My favorite cookie of the bunch.
Corn Cookie- like a sugar cookie but with the sweetness from corn, easily recognizable when eaten but in no way overpowering. It makes for a very interesting cookie.
Chocolate-Chocolate Cookie- so intensely chocolatey, the name needs to repeat the word twice. It is actually not too sweet. There is much more focus on the cocoa. Must be eaten with a cold glass of milk.
Cornflake, Chocolate Chip, Marshmallow Cookie- this one reminds me of a rice krispie treat. Christina first bakes a sugared cornflake mixture that gets folded into the cookie dough. Its gives a crispy, chewy texture like in a krispy treat.
Blueberry & Cream Cookie- had a bit of cookie overload so I didn’t get one, but I did get it from the actual Momofuku Bakery in NY. Its like a blueberry muffin in cookie form. A bit sweet for me but I love the concept.
Christina Tosi’s tips for great cookies:
- 10 minute creaming process! I have never heard of creaming that long but if that’s what it takes to create her delicious cookies I won’t argue.
- Refrigerate for 1 hour before baking so the butter in the cookies can firm up again after the creaming process. The cookies will then bake before spreading. From experience, unless you like a sheet pan of one cookie, this is an important step.
- Pat down cookies slightly before putting in the oven. This will help the cookies have an even spread.
If you can’t make it to NY, luckily Momofuku cookies can ship!
Momofuku Milk Bar
251 e 13th st
new york, ny 10003
Order online
October 31, 2011
My long over due post on this year’s Dessert First event in San Francisco!
Thanks to Project Open Hand and their Facebook dessert photo contest, I got to attend Dessert First in August. San Francisco’s pastry chefs come together to for what I call the ultimate dessert tasting. All the proceeds go toward Project Open Hand’s efforts to provide healthy meals for those in need in the Bay Area. What better way to help out than by eating desserts?
There seemed to be a couple of recurring themes, not sure if it was an intentional or not, but peanut butter was a common ingredient and anything cream/yogurt-like was the dessert of choice. Here are my highlights from the event.
Upon first walking in, there was this gorgeous dessert display from Daniel Corey at the Intercontinental Hotel where the event was held.
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August 11, 2011
Of all the desserts I’ve tasted I’ve never actually explored wheat or gluten free sweets, until this past weekend. I was at the farmer’s market on an empty stomach so naturally baked goods were all the more appealing. That is when I discovered FlourChylde, a bakery based in Marin County. Aside from their beautiful occasion cakes, they bring treats to farmers markets around the Bay Area.
Vanilla Bean Cake with Raspberries- I had a sample of this and was hooked. It was incredibly moist and fluffy, a really fine crumb, which must come from the type of flour used. The sweetness from the vanilla bean was a nice contrast to the raspberries.
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August 5, 2011
It was off to Napa’s riverfront or what I call “restaurant row” as more eateries pop up including, Rotisserie & Wine. If I waited any longer to visit, Tyler Florence probably would have a chain of restaurants at the rate he’s going. R&W is one of three, including Wayfare Tavern in San Francisco and El Paseo Steakhouse in Marin County, that he has opened in the past year. Busy chef/entrepreneur.
   
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August 4, 2011
Quote Cards from Napa Valley General Store
August 1, 2011
Beautiful sunny day in late July, perfect for a foodie trip to Napa and as per tradition, the first stop was Bouchon Bakery. I made my way over to the 10-person deep line and inhaled the aroma of fresh bread coming from the window. It was worth the wait.
 Inside the bustling shop
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June 6, 2011
I was inspired to make these after seeing Eva Longoria prepare skirt steak recipes to promote her new cook book, Eva’s Kitchen. She was on Martha Stewart’s show to demonstrate her technique with grilling skirt steak for tacos. I must say, she was a great guest. I find some people don’t know how to interact with Martha, who is such an authority in the culinary world. Eva was really knowledgable and informative as she walked through the recipe and was being interviewed. After that, on Food Network’s Mexican Made Easy, Eva created chunky guacamole, the perfect topping for quesadillas.
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May 31, 2011
Over Memorial weekend I caught up on some reading, cookbook reading that is, and I browsed through Gwyneth Paltrow’s book, My Father’s Daughter: Delicious, Easy Recipes Celebrating Family & Togetherness. I have to say, the pop of color from the bowl on the cover caught my eye. It comes from Anthropologie.
 
Anthropologie inside out bowl SHOP
This mod-style bowl is part of a collection of four different patterns that are all equally beautiful. You can buy them separately so you can mix and match according to your liking.
The book is worth a read. I enjoyed reading about her relationship with her father and how he inspired her to cook. Each recipe has a little story to introduce it and I like her voice in the book. All the photos are styled but in an un-fussy manner so it all looks realistically doable and delicious-looking. I will be sure to post on a recipe as soon as I’ve tested one.
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My life is food and I am lucky to experience it in San Francisco. Williams-Sonoma is my 8-5 and more because I dream the store is my kitchen. The Ferry Building farmer's market is my inspiration for baking in my half-sized apartment. When I'm not there, I'm out searching for the city's best eats, with special attention to sweets. I hope in perusing my blog, you are inspired with ideas for cooking, entertaining and tasting new things. Email me
 
baking: chocolate chip cupcakes, giada's parma style carrot cake
in my market tote: panettone from Acme Bread
reading: momofuku milk bar
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