Taking a Walk Break

It seems to me, we don’t always realize how run down we get until we give ourselves time to breathe. Trust me when I say I was more than well aware of my need for my rest day on Saturday. My workouts on Thursday and Friday left a bit to be desired and I just felt myself trying to plug along to finish out the week. Friday night, I met Nathan and some of his coworkers for happy hour and then we had possibly the best Chinese meal we’d ever had!

Five Spice Hot and Spicy Pork Shoulder

Chicken Clay Pot

Nathan got some serious side eye when he ordered the pork shoulder after saying “I know, you want healthy.” So healthy.. right. It was darn tasty though! We had an easy and quiet Saturday morning before deciding to head into the city. We chose a new spot to check out—Noe Valley—and we loved it! We had a great lunch at Savor, went for a nice walk around a few blocks, and stopped for a little sweet treat on our way to Dolores Park.

Fabulous salad with anjou pear, roasted red pepper, caramelized walnuts, and a huge hunka salmon.

Almond milk peanut butter, chocolate, and the cheesiest cheesecake froyo I’ve ever had!

Busy, beautiful day at Dolores Park

Enjoying the beautiful day!

After a pretty relaxing day and quiet night, I thought I’d be roaring to go yesterday. Turns out my body was still craving lots of rest. I slept until 9! Usually I’m lucky to make it to 7 so I’d say that was a huge success and took it as a sign when I was still not feeling up for hitting the gym. We had another quiet morning and then went for a nice 4 mile walk by the water with a lunch break halfway. I definitely had Lindsay’s post about taking walk breaks on my mind.. it’s nice to have that reminder sometimes.

My favorite dungeness crab I’ve had yet!

Another sunny day!

After a quick trip to the grocery store and a little food prep, we’re set for the week! It was another great weekend and it just reminds me how lucky I am to be married to my best friend.

And a super exciting side note, we’re going home for Thanksgiving! Actually, we’re going home for a whole 2 weeks so we can celebrate Thanksgiving, my cousin’s wedding, and Jilly’s first birthday. I’m beyond excited for it and had to keep it a secret for a few days until my cousin got her wedding RSVP from us. But the word’s out now!

Weekly Meal Plan

Sunday – Leftovers
Monday – Thai basil turkey and lemongrass cauli rice bowls
Tuesday – Smokey chipotle turkey burgers with Mexican corn fritters and side salad
Wednesday – Leftovers
Thursday – Sesame carrot noodles with chicken and broccoli
Friday – Yom Kippur dinner –> matzah ball soup, brisket, potatoes, and roasted brussels
Saturday – BREAK FAST! I don’t care what I eat 😉

Food for Thought

Do you ever had one rest day turn into two?

A “Crazy” New Years Eve

Remember I mentioned recapping my crazy New Years Eve? I guess you could say it was crazy in its own right..

We had never really gone out for NYE, it was always spent with my family for dinner and then with friends afterward to watch the ball drop. Since we’re still newbies around here, we decided to give the whole crazy night out a go! Boot & Shoe Service, a restaurant that is known for their pizza, was having a cassoulet dinner followed by a dance party with live music at their sister restaurant, Penrose, across the street. Sounds like a good time, right? Sold!

Dinner was fabulous but unfortunately the lighting was not so I decided to spare you and show smaller pictures. You’re welcome 😉

Dinner came with a drink ticket for the “josephine baker”—spumante, bonal, & cane sugar. It’s not the drink that I would have chosen from the list but it was fabulous! The sparkling wine cocktail was a nice, light way to start the night. Not long after we arrived, they began passing the hor d’oeuvres. The gougère—mini cheese pastries—were warm and light.. perfect for popping! The caramelized onion tart was loaded with flavor and really, you can’t go wrong with caramelized onion and a crunchy crust.

By this time, we were ready for a couple more cocktails. I went for the “elevator to the gallows” [Caitlin would be proud!]—islay scotch, housemade french prune brandy, & génépi—and Nathan chose “the upright”—amaro montenegro, cocchi rosa, suze, & lemon. After he took one sip of my drink, I agreed to share. What can I say? I’m good at choosing cocktails! I grabbed a couple of dungeness crab bites on endive with creme fraiche and an oyster on the half shell; these were my least favorite of the hor d’oeuvres.. I really enjoyed the warm bites more and I’m not a big fan of creme fraiche. I suffered through it to get the crab though!

After cocktail hour, we were seated at a long family-style table where we shared a charcuterie plate with the couple next to us. I was already being “that girl” taking pictures of everything so I thought I’d spare Nathan and not take a picture of the shared plate too! Included on the plate was duck liver pate, rabbit terrine [the best!], whole grain mustard, mini gherkins, pickled carrots, and crostini. We’ve grown to really love terrine so we definitely enjoyed this starter.

Next up was the frisee salad with marinated beets and perigord truffles. It was lightly dressed and topped with crunchy garlic chips which really pulled everything together. Unfortunately, the truffle didn’t really add anything to the dish but I loved it anyway and ended up eating most of Nathan’s beets too! The star of the meal, the cassoulet, was served next. Nathan and I shared the big ceramic pot filled with pork belly, duck, and white beans, and you bet we polished it off! It was a hearty dish and the meat fell right off the bone. There were also plenty of crispy bits which added a nice crunchy texture to the stew.

We finished off our meal with vol au vent with poached pears. We were both so full but it was too good to waste! Not too sweet and the layer of homemade whipped cream under the pears gave the dessert a nice balance. And as if that wasn’t enough, they also brought us stuffed figs. I’m not sure what they were stuffed with, but I could have eaten 100 of them!

After we rolled ourselves out of the restaurant around 11:15, we decided we were perfectly happy to head back to the hotel [yes, we’re old] and have a quiet end to the night watching the ball drop.. in New York. So bizarre that they just replayed the ball dropping in Times Square! But hey, I guess no one else does it quite like they do in New York!

Cheers to 2014!

Food for Thought

Do you have any big plans for 2014?

We’re looking forward to getting settled in California and having lots of friends and family come visit!

A Weekend Escape

Did you know that wine country is right around the corner from me now? Yea, that’s going to be dangerous.. but do you see where this past weekend’s trip is going..

As I mentioned last week, we have been taking advantage of our surroundings as much as possible and going on road trips on the weekends. It was only a matter of time until we made our way to wine country!

But first..

Buckwheat crepe with cheese, tomato, and mushrooms

..a quick trip to our new local farmers’ market for breakfast. Did I tell you that we got a place to live?! Well, we actually got 2 places to live. After putting down a deposit on an apartment, I heard back from someone on Craigslist with a place that looked even better [and cheaper..] so I figured it couldn’t hurt to go take a look. Turns out, it was better and we signed a new lease! We had to check out the closest market to see what we got ourselves into 😉 We were quite pleased and will definitely be returning! [Thank goodness for year-round markets in California!]

After breakfast, we made our way out to St. Helena, just north of Napa. The first stop on the trip was Beaulieu Vineyard. It was such a beautiful day and this place was so cute.

Beaulieu Vineyard

We each went for the red wine tasting which consisted of a pinot noir, merlot, red blend, and a cabernet sauvignon. The merlot and cab were my favorites until we got a couple extra free tastings of two of their other cabernets. Of course, the more expensive, special cab was our favorite!

Since it was about an hour and a half drive out to the first tasting, we didn’t get to the first tasting until close to noon so we decided to grab lunch before another winery. When we saw a stand with outdoor seating and a huge line of people waiting to order, we knew we had to pull over! Gott’s Roadside was one of the places recommended to us and we couldn’t pass up the idea of sitting outside for lunch in December!

Dungeness crab sandwich on a fresh acme roll

Green chile turkey burger & garlic fries in the background!

The west coast has it’s dungeness crab which is pretty darn tasty so I couldn’t turn down the special sandwich.. I have to admit, though, it’s no blue crab! Nathan got the green chile turkey burger and we shared an order of garlic fries and spicy tomato soup. It was all fantastic and I’m so glad we stopped.

After refueling, it was time for more wine! The next stop was St. Clement Vineyards. Their most popular wine is the Oroppas which is a cabernet. Fun fact: Oroppas spelled backward is Sapporo.. the owners of the vineyards!

The fabulous hilltop view [thanks for the picture, Nath!]

I can’t wait to go back there with friends when it gets warmer to do the hilltop tasting!

Our final stop in wine country was Heitz Cellar. They are one of the originals in that area and one of the only wineries to offer a free tasting. They had about 4 or 5 wines out to try but grabbed a few extras from the back for us to sneak a few tastes, including a bottle of cabernet that sells for $200! This was also about the time that I forgot to take pictures.. whoops!

On our way back, we stopped at V Marketplace in Yountville. We noticed it on our way out and it looked so nice that we wanted to check it out. We happened to get there right as the live music started 🙂

I enjoy a little Christmas music every now and then 😉

And what would a weekend trip be without a little beer?! There was a ton of traffic heading back into Oakland so we decided to pull off and make a pit stop to the Torpedo Room. This place just recently opened about a month or so ago and we were so excited to see some new Sierra Nevada beer on tap that we’d never tried before!

Our flight of newbies!

Of course we couldn’t get anything that we’d already had. From left to right, we had the Weizenbock, French Style Saison, Beer Camp Imperial Red Ale, and Audition Pumpkin Ale. They were all great, as usual, but my favorite was definitely the pumpkin. It wasn’t heavily spiced but had a nice, round pumpkin flavor to it. Nathan’s top picks were the saison and red. He couldn’t just choose one.. the saison is an all-around easy-drinking beer and the red had a nice amount of hop flavor. It really depends on your mood.

And the perfect ending of a day full of wine? Chocolate! [And peanut butter..]

Homemade peanut butter cup

Well, that’s really the best way to end any day, right? 😉

Food for Thought

Have you ever been to wine country?
What is your favorite type of wine?

What I Ate Wednesday #12 – Baltimore Restaurant Week

Baltimore Restaurant Week is one of my favorite weeks of summer. I guess winter too, but someone summer just seems better!

I absolutely love trying new restaurants and this is the time to do it. You get to taste 3 courses for $30, and if you choose the right place, you’re really getting a steal! Often, the restaurants on the list serve entrees ranging from $20-$40, so to add an appetizer and dessert to that makes it all worth it.

This time around, we decided to check out Salt. It’s a trendy little restaurant that we’ve been to before, but it’s been years. And while we usually use restaurant week as an excuse to try something new, we just couldn’t pass up the incredible menu.

Being that we went out on a Friday, the first part of my day is uber normal. Aka not so exciting. Except for this awesome pancake!

[Breakfast]

Chocolate coconut protein pancake topped with Earth Balance Coconut Peanut Spread, coconut, and cinnamon plus Bombshell Spell with ZICO. I’m absolutely obsessed with the coconut peanut spread. It’s like a little taste of heaven melted over chocolatey goodness!

[Snack]

(not pictured)
Apple

[Lunch]

(not pictured)
Mixed green salad with cucumber, tomatoes, onions, green bell pepper, carrots, zucchini, diced avocado, & chili sesame tofu. This tofu recipe is divine and so simple. I’ll be sharing it soon!

[Snack]

(not pictured)
thinkThin Creamy Peanut Butter Blizzard + a few pieces Almond Maple Pecan Snackle Mouth. The blizzard was a fun way to mix up my usual protein bar and the little chunks at the very bottom were so tasty! And the Snackle Mouth is really something special.. I was lucky enough to win a couple boxes and I hope to be featuring these (or some new products soon to launch!) in a giveaway very soon!

[Dinner]

The most exciting part of the day. Everything on the menu sounded absolutely phenomenal and we couldn’t make any decisions without asking for recommendations (of course!)

Primaterra Pinot Noir • Roasted Red Pepper Tapinade with freshly baked bread

Cool Vichyssoise Soup
Dungeness crab, pommes frites, chive oil

Country Pork Terrine (not pictured)
Pistachios, figs, dijon mustard

I went for the soup, Nathan for the terrine. We were both equally pleased with our choices and it was something new for each of us to try.

Grilled Swordfish with Charred Gazpacho Vegetables
Lemon and olive quinoa, avocado puree

Crispy Creek Stone Farms Beef Belly Confit
Ginger glaze, white kimchi with asian pears, spicy sriracha creamed corn

The swordfish had been recommended to me by a friend and the side dishes sold me. It was delicious and I savored every last bite. But Nathan totally won. The beef belly confit was rich and savory with a slight sweetness from the creamed corn, which wasn’t all mush, as some would assume. If I went back the next day, I’d get the beef belly confit, hands down!

Key Lime Tart
Coconut meringue, blue berry coulis

Goat Cheese Donuts
Lavender honey, vanilla sea salt, coffee ice cream

Finally, the best way to end a wonderful meal; with an even more wonderful dessert. I opted for the tart while Nathan chose the donuts. Really, he’d choose anything fried, but drizzled with honey and ice cream on the side? He couldn’t say no! They were fantastic, but I definitely preferred my key lime tart. It was light, sweet, and tart, and just the perfect ending to the meal.

[Summer Staples]
Fresh fruits and veggies. Not a day goes by that I don’t get my fill of all of the freshness that summer has to offer and Salt definitely feels the same way. All of my favorite restaurants are those that take advantage of the freshest ingredients available and plan their menus around that. Why offer farm-raised tilapia when rockfish are jumping?

Speak Up!

What would you have ordered? Are you a meat-and-potatoes kinda person or a sea-foodie?