Friday Favorite: Scenic Drive

I loved this exhibit at a local boutique. I couldn't buy all the pieces, so I took a photo!

Even in the winter, it makes me want to hop in the car with a loved one or friends, and just take a scenic drive.

Friday Favorite: A Bowl of Ramen

For those cold winter days...what could be better than a bowl of hot ramen. Here are some pictures from a recent "Ramen Rave" I was at:

And the final product!

So good! I can't wait to have another bowl of Richie's ramen.

Friday Favorite: Boating Lights

A pretty photo of some boats in the San Francisco Bay. This was taken the night they won their last home game of the World Series!

A Pretty Star

Here's a little photo I took many months ago. I absolutely fell in love with it.

It was a bergamont meringue from Incanto. I'm looking at this star and thinking of my mom on her birthday and wishing she was here.

Friday Favorite: Pretty City Garden

Anyone know where this garden is? A few hints. It's in San Francisco. It's in the back of a business, and kind of hidden.

I absolutely love this little sunny oasis. And sorry folks, if you don't know where this is, I'm not telling! I want to keep this little gem all to myself. :)

Friday Favorite: Big Weekend of Friends!

I am so excited for this weekend! My Friday Favorite is dedicated to two of my best pals.

First, to Mr. JMB, who's coming to San Francisco for a conference and coming EARLY, just to hang with me. I feel so special.

Second, to my pal D, who's celebrating her BIRTHDAY! She has no idea what fun surprises are in store for her. :)

And to top it all off? An EARLY morning flight to NYC on Sunday. Looking forward to being in one of my favorite cities and seeing some of my dear friends. Yay!

Friday Favorite: Brunch

One of my favorite brunch dishes--from NOPA restaurant here in San Francisco. A house made bagel (yum!) with smoked fish, fresh farm cheese, and cucumbers and lightly pickled onions. SO good! Makes me want to go back every weekend for this pretty platter.

Friday Favorite: Scary Halloween Movie

Happy Halloween weekend! One of my favorite Halloween's in recent memory--last year, my very first house party. And in addition to a small house project (thank you Kristin and Bahram!), there was pizza, lots of cocktails, and one scary movie.

Not joking. People, this is NOT a kid's movie. This is one creepy movie. Can't wait to see what this halloween will bring!

Friday Favorite: Giant Horseradish

I've taken A TON of photos at the Farmer's Market before. But this one is one of my favorites. Check out the fresh horseradish. Makes me think of my friend's Bahram and John. We've got grand plans for a dinner party--and horseradish is going to have a role in it! Can't wait!

Friday Favorite: Best Tagline. Ever.

New York really does have everything. Including awesome restaurant taglines.

Friday Favorite: Sexy Beast

One of my favorite pics from my recent NY trip--adorable cookies from Dean & Deluca.

Absolutely adorable and hilarious!

Friday Favorite: Anchors!

Here's a shout out to my friend Matt. Anchors! We spotted these anchors on a Mast Brothers Chocolate bar in NY. So cute! Huge regrets for not buying it...chocolate and sea salt? Ummm. Sounds delicious!

Friday Favorite: Blackberry Picking!

Some friends and I recently had the best Sunday Funday. One of those days where we had no specific plans, and kind of just went where the wind took us. Where did we end up? In the North Bay, picking blackberries from a wild patch. It was my first blackberry picking experience!

I love those kinds of days...where you never know where you're going to end up or what you're going to end up doing. Thanks to Sarah and Evan for the fun day (and to Tatiana and Shawn for the tip and directions!)

Cardamom for Bowman

I love this simple photo of a spice collection in a restaurant kitchen. In looking at it more closely, I noticed that one of the jars is labled "cardamom". Well, I can't hear the word "cardamom" without thinking about my friend Bowman. So on this day, his birthday, I'm posting this in his honor!

Happy Birthday Bowman!

Friday Favorite: Rum Tasting

Some delicious rum, courtesy of Bar Agricole.

It was the perfect ending to an absolutely amazing (and tasty) evening!

Friday Favorite: A Return to NYC

Eight years ago, I made my first visit to New York City. I met one of my closest friends, Matt, out there. We had an awesome NY weekend--filled with lots of amazing eats, fun nights out, shows on Broadway, and even a nap in Central Park.

And although I've been back many, MANY times, I've never gone back with my friend Matt. Well, this weekend, I am returning to NY. With Matt!

Here's a photo of us from 2002--in front of the theater on Broadway. I can't wait for our weekend...we already have so many things planned. We'll have to plan a return trip just to get them all done!

Friday Favorite: Watermelon!

Just in time for the Labor Day long weekend...some delicious watermelon!

Not sure what is going on with all the news about seedless watermelons (you'll notice that the watermelon in the above photo don't have seeds). But personally? Even without seeds, there's nothing like a cold and refreshing watermelon on a hot day. Seed or no seeds.

Friday Favorite: A Photo for My Kitchen

It was one of those moments. The second I saw the photo, I fell in love with it. Good thing it was taken by one of my friends, and talented photographer Michael Harlen Turkell. He was kind enough to give me a copy of the photo.

I love it. Perfect photo for my 'new' kitchen. Thanks Michael!

Friday Favorite: Whiskey!

What's better than some good whiskey and good friends on a cold Friday night in San Francisco?

Thanks to my pal John for all of the tastes!

Friday Favorite: Waxy Tree

When I was hiking through Marin earlier this year, I came across this waxy tree in the beautiful Zen Garden.

There was just something about it that struck me as cool. So here's an erie looking tree for a Friday the 13th!

Friday Favorite: Mr. Toad

I was walking to work the other day, and I saw this. I was cracking up SO hard.

Then I saw in my favorite neighborhood blog, Mission Mission, this post. Turns out someone else had also seen it. They had snapped a photo (which I'm borrowing for this post since although I was laughing hysterically, I didn't actually stop to take a photo), and cleverly coined it "Mr. Toad's Wild Ride". Haha.

Oh just another day in SF...

Friday Favorite: Shrimp on the Barbee

Consider this belated post, the official return of my Friday Favorite photo posts! Sorry for being gone for so long...this summer's been a busy one.

What have I been doing? Let's just say I've been keeping busy with friends, time in the sun (and fog), and well, I've been eating well.

From one of my favorite days this summer, check out these delicious shrimp!! Yum!!

Friday Favorite: Pretty SF Shot

Just another gorgeous shot from San Francisco. I've lived in the Bay Area my whole life, and there are still days when I'm just taken aback by how pretty this city is. This shot was taken in an alley in North Beach--just so simple, but oh-so San Francisco.

Friday Favorite: Summer in Bloom

Some pretty flowers from the Farmer's Market! Happy Summer!

Happy Fourth of July!!

Happy Fourth of July!! Below are some photos from a recent bbq I had with some friends...there's nothing that says summer like some grilling and outdoor eating.

I hope I'll have lots of chances to cook and spend time outside with good friends this summer. Check out the spread we had! Yum!

Friday Favorite: Elephants on Parade

My fellow San Franciscans, where is this?

One of my favorite outdoor drinking spots in the city! Here's to summertime!

Friday Favorite: I'd Like S'More Please

Absolutely, one of the most beautiful birthday cakes I have ever seen. Thank you Chef Grace Nguyen for preparing this s'mores cake for a dear friend. WOW!

In case you're curious, it was a graham cracker cake, with a chocolate ganache, and marshmallow topping. So good! Thank you Grace!

Friday Favorite: The Gateway Meat

Saw this on the street a few months ago--hilarious! In case you can't read it, it says "BACON: The Gateway Meat". What does that even mean?

An Anniversary

Today would have been my mom and dad's 35th anniversary. Here's to my mom and dad...two people that have influenced me in so many ways.

I'm dedicating one of the most romantic and beautiful images I have ever seen to them:

This is completely made out of chocolate--such a masterpiece! The creation of French chocolate maker and artist Mark, friend to San Francisco's extraordinary Michael Recchiuti.

Friday Favorite: Crab, Oysters, Tacos Oh My!

On a recent Sunday drive home from Sonoma Country, my friends and I decided to make a pit stop in Tomales Bay for some Oysters.

We ended up at the Marshall Store.

It was the PERFECT casual spot for us. We splurged on steamed crab, fresh oysters, BBQ'ed oysters, oysters Rockefeller, and even fish tacos! YUM!

You can't beat all of that food, a few cold beers, amazing friends, and this view! Hope to make a return trip up there very soon!

Almost Summer Farmer's Market Bounty

Some of my favorite pics from my Saturday trip to the Farmer's Market! I love that all of my favorite summer fruits and vegetables are coming into season!

And check out these beautiful bouquets of flowers I saw, how beautiful!

Friday Favorite: Little Apron

So adorable! Hanging at one of my new favorite spots in the city, Mr. & Mrs. Miscellaneous ice cream shop in Dog Patch!

I can just picture Ian and Anabelle's little daughter running around the store one day sporting this adorable apron.

Friday Favorite: A Small Urban Garden

Such a pretty garden! I walk by it every day and hold onto hope that some day I'll have enough space (and time!) for a serious garden of my own!

Friday Favorite: Sangria and Girls!

Such a simple and beautiful thing. Good friends. Sun. Sangria. Ahhh. Perfect Sunday afternoon.

Salt!

I recently read this post about salt and whether or not people had special containers for salt. It caught my attention because I am one of those people. Not only do I have a container for salt, I have many. But I never really thought about it.

When I took the time to think about it, I realized. I had five. There’s the kosher salt in the small round ceramic dish—which was once a cheese dish. It's kind of my go-to salt dish when I'm at the stove cooking.

There’s the “Salt Lady”, which I inherited from a college roommate. I’m not really sure the history or story behind the “Salt Lady”, but I love her. She (filled with regular table salt, not kosher) gives my little stove top area some character.

Then there’s the Brooklyn salt and pepper shaker that I picked up Fish’s Eddy—the New York dish store that an old crush first told me about (you can see behind them, there are a few other item in my kitchen from Fish's Eddy!) There’s the little woven ‘basket’ that I use for my sea salt crystals. Believe this was originally a take home from some event or another that I went to. Long after the event, and long after I can even remember where I got this from, it still sits on my counter and is something I look at every day.

My newest edition? These beautiful small containers for salt and pepper. They’re now sitting on my table ready for dinner guest. Don’t you just love these little spoons?

When I do stop and think about salt, something else comes to mind. I think of my friend’s Serene and Mark’s wedding and to something the priest said during their ceremony.

“It’s hard to keep a house without salt. It adds flavor and taste to just about every dish.

But if you run out of toothpaste, you can brush with a mixture of soda and salt because of salt’s cleansing quali­ties.

If you develop a sore throat, you can gargle with salt because of its healing properties.

If you’re hungry, you can cure a ham or other meat with salt because of its preserving qualities.

You can use salt to melt the ice that builds up in the winter cold; salt can also be used to put out fires that flare up.

So if you’ll bring to the marriage the qualities found in salt — the cleansing quality, the healing quality, the preserving quality —

If you use it to enhance the flavor of your life together; to melt the ice that will build up and put out the fires that will occasionally flare up between you; and, of course, if you take everything with a grain of it, you will have a long and happy life together.”

The night of the wedding, my date (also someone in the food world) and I talked about that verse. I think it stuck with us because of our love for all things food related. Almost a year later, I still think about that verse. My friend Serene still tells me that aside from she and Mark, we’re probably the only people that were at the wedding that remembers that verse. I guess some things just strike a chord and stay with you.