Looking to escape the heat, we decided it was time for some boating & jet ski fun. Since 2011 is a slow travel year for us, we kept it local and drove 2 hours away to Lake Berryessa. A drive through the winding, tree-lined roads lead us to a part of Napa I’ve never seen before.
Thinking about making this an annual trip.
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Pleasure Cove Marina
6100 Highway 128
Napa, CA
http://goberryessa.com/
That’s right, 4 pigs.
Once a month Chop Bar (the geniuses that hold my ranking for favorite cheeseburger in the Bay Area – see post) hold a pig roast feast. This roast went through 4 pigs like I went through a pair of pantyhose back in the early 90s.
Why it’s fun
For about $25 (I honestly can’t remember how much we paid but it was anywhere from $20-$30, so I went with the average price) it’s an all you can eat meal of arugula salad, potato salad, watermelon, and of course…roasted pig. It’s simple, honest, and a fun experience. There’s beer, wine, and if you’re lucky – Fernet Branca.
Held outside of the Linden Street Brewery, come early to find parking and avoid the long lines. UPDATE: Linden Street tweet from 9/13/2011 – “Chop Bar Final Pig Roast this Sunday at Linden Street Brewery!” Does this mean it’s over for good or only at Linden Street? Hmm, I will have to update this when I find out.
Linden Street Brewery
Port of Oakland
95 Linden Street
Oakland, CA 94607-2510
www.lindenbeer.com
In keeping up with my Cheeseburger Diet, where I must eat at least one cheeseburger a week, we visit Sliderbar Cafe on University Ave. Owned by Ashwani Dhawan, owner of Mantra Restaurant, Sliderbar offers tiny, little sliders of all natural beef, lamb, chicken, portobello mushroom, and sausage. I think I’ve savored everything on the menu, except the vegetarian slider.
I visited Sliderbar in March with the hubby and later again in June with the co-workers. I haven’t been for Happy Hour, but the menu boasts $2.99 pints M-F from 2-6pm. Bring a wad of cash because the average price for a single slider is around $4 (yes, they accept credit card).
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Sliderbar Cafe
324 University Ave
Palo Alto, CA
www.sliderbarcafe.com
What’s New, Cupcake?
My first go at a cupcake class. I love baking cupcakes for family & friends and so I thought this class would be a good way for me to expand on my decorating skills.
I took the class at Sur La Table in the Town & Country shopping center and I can definitely say I’ll be back for more classes! From the book What’s New, Cupcake? by Karen Tack & Alan Richardson, we attempted 4 different recipes. It was only a 2 hour class, so there was no baking involved. We basically focused on simple, yet creative decorations.
No piping techniques, but hopefully during the next class!
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What’s better than bowling?
How about a spontaneous night of bowling with 2 games and shoes for $6.50? Awesome!
If my team could have a name, it would be ALMOST for all the times we ALMOST picked up a spare or got a strike 
Happy Birthday Ksenija & Ivon!
Funny how 642 Ramona Street became a part of my life. When I first moved to CA in 2005, I lived in San Franciisco, more precisely the Outer Richmond district, near Ocean Beach. Part of my daily commute involved the 38 bus line. Each morning we went past this restaurant, Hukilau. Each morning when we passed Hukilau I thought to myself, “I’ll bring Kanoa there one day”. Given that Kanoa was from Hawai’i, I thought he might want to check it out. Little did I know Kanoa would end up applying for a job at Hukilau in Palo Alto. Little did I know that establishment and some of the people associated with it, would become a huge part of our lives. One of the investors for Hukilau Palo Alto, would later open Pampas.
Hukilau Palo Alto shut its doors early 2008 and what moved in later that year was another island-themed restaurant, Coconuts. A taste of the Caribbean moved into downtown Palo Alto and we’ve never seen the building & patio packed like this before! The amazing jerk-laden recipes and 6 hour braised oxtail are something worth keeping 642 Ramona in of our lives.
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Funny how a desire to do nothing for my birthday turned into a little culinary weekend getaway.
An amazing weekend in Napa Valley. Two night stay at The Rutherford House. Dinner at Morimoto…mmm, ice cream sandwiches. Tastings at Provenance, St. Supery, & Kelham Vineyards. Lunch at Mustards. Dinner at Rutherford Grill…mmm, ice cream sandwiches. A relaxing massage at Massage Envy. Followed by brunch at Bouchon.
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Did I mention I love cheeseburgers? Did I mention I’m on a once a week cheeseburger diet? Checkout the “cheezy” tags for all things cheeseburger.
In the neighborhood, we decided to walk over to The Workshop to give it a try. Can’t recall how long it’s been open but I think it’s a new fixture for 2011.
Why I like their burgers
The hubby had the Mushroom Swiss and I went for the Cowboy burger. Both were juicy and came on toasty, kaiser-rollish buns.
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Workshop Burger
233 University Ave
Palo Alto, CA 94301
650.328.7437
In search of a tasty burger, I found what I consider to be the tastiest burger in Northern California at Chop Bar in Jack London Square.
Straight from their website: A chop bar, in West African parlance, is a roadside bar/restaurant that also serves as a gathering place for the community. One can go there for a meal, coffee in the morning or drinks at night. It is a place where neighbors can meet, share information and ideas, and connect with each other.
Why I like their burger
The Niman Ranch ground chuck with bacon, avocado, Heirloom tomato & aioli was just AMAZING on the lightly toasted Acme Kaiser roll. You can choose between Swiss, cheddar, or blue cheese…I went for Swiss.
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Chop Bar
247 4th Street
Oakland, CA
www.oaklandchopbar.com
Back in September I baked some cupcakes for my cousin’s baby shower. I had been in the mood to make homemade buttercream frosting and I still had the cupcake tree from my wedding, so this was the perfect opportunity to make my frosting and achieve full ROI on my cupcake tree.
The cupcakes and frosting turned out pretty well for my first time I haven’t yet mastered the piping bag or perfected making them into little pieces of art, but hopefully in time I’ll improve. One thing I did not expect was how fun it would be to make something cute and tasty for someone else. The whole process and end result gave me such an overwhelming warm-fuzzy feeling that just felt…good.
I wonder if this is how pastry chefs and bakers always feel? If so, what an amazing job!
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