Festivals!

Sunday was an absolutely gorgeous day - PERFECT for wandering around a street festival!

I woke up pretty early and started out the day with a spicy oat bowl (oats, cheese, MSF maple sausage patties, arugula, sriracha, salsa, egg).

Nothing says g'morning quite like a smile in a bowl!

I also made my first french press coffee

Does that look strangely light to you?? It sure tasted light.

I hung out and cleaned the apartment a bit before heading out to meet a friend by Fisherman's Wharf at noon. We had plans to check out the San Francisco Wine Market - a "farmer's market for wine" that takes place every Sunday. Tastings are free when you buy a $20 wine tote (just have to remember to bring it each time!). I stumbled upon this while searching for free things to do in San Francisco and we thought it would be fun to check out. Unfortunately, I missed that it opens at 1pm, not noon ha!

Friend and I wandered and stopped into the Winery Collective to see what sort of tastings they offered as we killed some time. The tastings were not free, but we learned about the wines of Lake County and I took note of some tasty, bold reds I would like to own one day. We also learned that the wine market was actually closed because of Father's Day and the North Beach Festival. Good to know!

We started wandering toward North Beach for the festival not really knowing what to expect. We saw everything fenced off at Washington Square Park and decided to commit to that location for some food, beer and spots on the grass. Can I just say that poor food decisions are always made after a wine tasting??

Yep, we ate all that - mozzarella sticks, 'deep fried chicken breast' (still can't figure out why they weren't just chicken fingers), 24 oz refreshing adult beverage, and a potato & spinach knish. All while soaking up the sun and scenery!

Beautiful!

After awhile we gave up on the grass and music and explored the streets of North Beach. We turned the corner onto Green Street and poof more food and people. Obviously we should have studied the map! At that point, we were starting to grow tired of the crowds and decided to head back to my place to hang out on the rooftop. Hey, gotta make use of it, right?

On the walk back, my eye caught a display of baked goods and something inside of each of us screamed 'Go inside! Buy some treats!'

M'okay.

We found ourselves inside Mara's Italian Pastries, drooling over cannolis and tiramisu. Yea, I might have a soft spot for Italian pastries. It might be my Jersey roots coming out. Prices and names are not listed for any of the items, so it was a 'let's hope we have enough cash' sort of thing. We got 2 cannolis, tiramisu and 2 chocolate rugelach (last minute addition b/c I LOVE chocolate rugelach) and hoofed it to my apartment. Check out the spread:

You bet I sent a picture to Jamie ;p

The tiramisu was excellent. The creamy part wasn't too dense or too sweet. The espresso ladyfingers - perfectly soaked and had a delicately sweet and only slightly bitter coffee taste. AAHHH! The cannolis were good, but I'd like to try the chocolate dipped one next time (I think that's the one I saw the most reviews for). Rugelach...I want more. Enough said.

We enjoyed those treats with some wine from the Winery Collective

and enjoyed the weather and views. An excellent end to the weekend :)

After all the weekend indulgences, all I wanted was a salad. So I made a mini one. Ok, who am I kidding. I made another massive salad! I promise, no more boring, big salads for dinner!

Tuesday night I made a super quick noodle stirfry for dinner. I was pressed for time, so as soon as I walked in the door, I started cooking. 24 minutes later, I had a hot bowl o dinner ready! What was this ridiculously fast dinner? Spicy Peanutty Noodles with Eggplant

Spicy Peanutty Noodles with Eggplant

1 tbsp peanut butter

1 tbsp hoisin sauce

1 tsp mirin

2 tsp chili garlic paste

1 1/2 tbsp chicken broth or water

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp olive oil

1 c baby bok choy, sliced

1/2 c baby spinach

1/2 block high protein tofu, cubed

1 package tofu shirataki noodles, boiled

4 large shiitake mushrooms, sliced

1 1/2 c eggplant, diced

1/2 small onion, thinly sliced

Combine first 6 ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Saute onion and eggplant with a tablespoon of peanut sauce until eggplant begins to soften. Add mushrooms and bok choy and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add tofu and peanut sauce. Stir and lower heat to medium. Let cook for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in spinach and shirataki noodles, cover and cook until spinach wilts. Serve immediately.

Not bad for a totally random experiment! In hindsight, I'd probably peel the eggplant since a couple pieces were still a little tough after cooking. If I had more time I'd cook them for a little longer with the peel. I had no idea I bought tofu shirataki noodles, but I really liked them. They were only a little different than regular shirataki noodles...maybe a little tofu overkill in this dish, but I'd buy them again.

I had the leftovers the next day for lunch - still yummy!! Hooray for my first noodley stir fry!

To counteract the super savory sauce, I snacked on some cherries for dessert.

Good thing I ate them because one more day and I think they'd be too ripe!