Sonoma.

How else would I start the wine country leg of the trip?  By eating!  I was getting my base.  At one of the coolest diners I've ever been to, Fremont Diner.  The kind you would drive right by because it's a shack...

I ordered the "Whole Hog".  Pulled pork is one of my favorites and the chocolate malted milkshake was a great compliment.  Based established...

The first vineyard we stopped at was Scribe.  It was picturesque in spite of the fact that it was raining.  That was where the charm ended.  We paid for a tasting and got barely enough to wet our palettes.  Next...

Dinner at the girl & the fig more than up for the disappointing winery experience.  The food was fantastic and the wine flowed steadily.  I'd go back in a heart beat...

San Francisco.

I will do my California trip in a series of posts - the city, wine country, and more of the city.  It was so much fun...

Stopped in to what will be the new location of The Common, a friend's retail shop specializing in men's ware, opening March 3rd in the Mission!

Went to a very hip coffee

shop, Four Barrels...

...for pour over service.  It was excellent.

 

Sunset after a rainy day + fixin's for a picnic gathered from the Ferry Building = perfect end to our first day.

Gone Spelunking.

Trading in my snow boots for my travel scarf and heading to San Francisco, CA {then Napa Valley} for a quick getaway.  I've never been and can't wait to explore!  See you next week...

Like a Summer Breeze.

What better way to get through this particularly brutal winter than by having meals that remind you of warmer weather?  Bobby Flay's Grilled Mahi Mahi Tacos is just the thing...

Fresh cilantro.

Citrus vinaigrette.

Red cabbage slaw.

Tomato and avocado salsa.

Flaked Mahi Mahi.

A super flavor filled tortilla.

Coffee 101.

For Christmas this year, my boyfriend got he & I a cooking class, Coffee 101, at Stir in the South End.  I couldn't wait to go...

Upon arriving, we were served our first {operative word} small cup of coffee and were given a brief overview of how the class was going to work.  Details, details...

Suddenly, the door swung open and a woman with a tray full of white bowls came in.  In them was the most incredbile tasting Oeuf en Cocotte.  In English: lentils with mushrooms and a poached egg in black truffle broth.  Hands down, one of the top ten best things I've ever eaten...

Then we got down to business.  The business of brewing a great cup of coffee.  Ways I had never heard of:  V60 Pour Over, MoccaMaster, Chemex Drip.  Differences in the beans:  Longberry vs. Peaberry.  On and on...

Several cups later, they placed this Blueberry Sour Cream Coffee Cake in front of me.  Nothing goes better with coffee than baked breakfast goods.  It was fantastic.  And now that I have the recipe expect a post come berry season...

They finished the class with a Milk Punch to my over caffeinated self's delight.  It is made with whiskey and the alcohol helped to take some of the edge off.  I should have had seconds or thirds after drinking who knows how much coffee on a Sunday afternoon...

**I cannot wait to take another class, it was awesome!**

Ice Capades.

My new favorite wintertime activities is to go ice skating on the Frog Pond in the Commons.  It's not crowded during the week, they play fun music and I always get a hot cocoa while the Zamboni cleans the ice.  Feels like 'A Charlie Brown Christmas' every time I go...

Winter Blues.

After being away for a week, I treated myself to a manicure.  I love dark polish on short nails but tire of the same old deep reds.  For a change, I opted for OPI's Sapphire in the Snow...

Purple in the sunlight, navy blue in other light, and sometimes almost black.  It really depends where you are.  It's versatile while different enough to be funky...