Food, wine and fun for everyone!

This past weekend was the Russian River Wine Road 12th Annual Wine & Food Affair, my new favorite wine-related event! We stumbled upon last year's event by accident and ended up snacking on some AMAZING dishes. Naturally, we kept an eye out for this year's event and organized the troops for another fun weekend!

Sunday morning was rainy and gloomy in the city, but that didn't stop us from heading north! Luckily the weather cleared up by the time we made it to our first winery (deLorimier, obvs!) and we had an amazing November day of wine and food :)

Our check-in winery was deLorimier where we were greeted with our cookbooks

and wine glasses

(clearly I've already made use of mine this week)

I will spare you deLorimier scenery since I was just there, but I will mention the fantastically tender and savory Beef Bourguignon and a few notable wines:

• 2009 Sauvignon Blanc - crisp and bright with a hint of tropical fruit. At only $18 a bottle, I think it's a reasonably priced, versatile bottle.
• 2005 Crazy Creek Cabernet Sauvignon - berry-ish flavors and tannins that aren't too subtle or too bold. Perfection in my book. On the pricier side at $40 a bottle.
• 2006 Malbec - a little acidic compared to others I've had, but still an enjoyable wine. Not too bad at $24 a bottle either.
• 2005 Mosaic Meritage - deLorimier has two Meritages (Mosaic & Artisan) and there's a very slight difference in the percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon in each. I prefer the Mosaic because it's not as tart as the Artisan. This is on my 'special occasion' bottle list at $40.

No surprise that I have a long list of deLorimier wines since it's one of my go-to wineries! Still haven't found bottles in the city though...anyone else?

Next up was Vintners Signatures (which may or may not have been driven by their menu item: Wild Mushroom Ragout with Goat Cheese over Porcini Mushroom Polenta)

Savory, mushroom-y, cheesy. Yum.

They were pairing an un-bottled wine with this dish, their new Cult Pinot Noir. It went really well with the mushroom dish and had just enough acidity to cut the richness of the dish. Unfortunately, they were only doing pre-sales of 6 bottles or more...ehhhh too big of a commitment for me. Notables here:

• 2009 Cult Pinot Noir - I forget the price on this one, but I believe they're bottling in December.
• 2006 El Roy Proprieter's Red - rich, slightly tannic (??) and reasonably priced at $18. Not bad for a weeknight bottle. In fact, it might get opened for V's visit this week!

Onward to Ridge! I'll have you know I refrained from buying any bottles here since I went a little nutty over Labor Day. Still love the scenery (pretty sure this is a standard location for photos at Ridge)

and the wine. No surprise here:

• Geyserville - Ridge is pretty consistent with this particular blend, so no matter what vintage you get, you'll end up with a great, balanced zinfandel blend. I've read that some people find it to be too big of a wine that needs a lot of time to breathe, but I've always enjoyed it shortly after opening. Favorite. $35.

They were serving a rich and comforting Cannellini Bean Soup with Duck Confit that totally hit the spot. You better believe I dog eared that page in the cookbook!

Amista was next and they were serving an AMAZING Cassoulet Amista, probably one of my favorite dishes of the day. I scarfed mine down quickly, so I'll just give you a glimpse into my cookbook instead.

It was paired with their 2005 Syrah and, naturally, they went well together. I wasn't totally into the wines at Amista, but I was adventurous and tried their Ilusion (Syrah/Zinfandel blend) dessert wine. I knew what I was getting into, but I was really curious about a red dessert wine. On its own, SUPER sweet. Once I snacked on a dark chocolate truffle (extra treat at the winery!), the wine transformed and the sweetness gave into slight tannins and it kinda grew on me. Very interesting!

Next up was Rued Vineyards. They took full advantage of the weather and had the tasting tables set up outside on a covered patio. On the menu: Lemon Ricotta Tarts (a smidge too tart and soft for my taste, especially with the wine pairing).

Notable wine:

• 2007 Pinot Noir - I usually don't like pinot noir because they can be too soft on the palette, but this was a little bolder. In fact, I preferred this to the zinfandel they were pouring! $35.

Notable random:

PUMPKIN PIE SOFT SERVE! I never realized how awesome pumpkin pie is in soft serve form. *drool*

Stay tuned for the second half of our wine adventures (o yes, we managed to hit TEN)!

La Di Dah.

How was your 4th of July weekend? Not long enough? My thoughts exactly ;p

I woke up Sunday morning well rested and popped on over to the Fort Mason Farmers Market for some produce. I ended up with just a few fruits...grapes, peaches, nectarines and a bag of mixed greens. I guess some of the vendors took the weekend off. *sigh*

I grabbed some sweet potatoes and brownie mix at Safeway and got to work on some delicious picnic treats. Plan was to bust out the mandoline and make some baked sweet potato chips. I googled how to bake sweet potato chips and it seemed easy enough...

See how pretty the potatoes were post-mandoline? Gorgeous!

Popped those puppies into the oven at 400 degrees (most of the recipes said 350-450) and set the timer for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, I opened the oven door and my taters were black. WTF?! They weren't even black and crispy. They were black and soggy!

Refusing to admit defeat, I tried another batch at 375. Again, FAIL. At this point, I gave up on the sweet potato chips and just packed up my brownie bites for our Stern Grove picnic since I was running out of time. Unfortunately I had a giant bowl of raw sweet potato that I didn't want to waste. In the fridge you go.

By the time we got to Stern Grove, I had forgotten about my kitchen disaster and soaked up the gorgeous weather and scenery. It was a little cloudy as we descended from the parking area to the concert meadow, but I loved how we trekked through this nifty path

It made me forget I was in a city...just for a little bit :)

Then we arrived at the concert meadow:

It was definitely packed when we got there (an hour before showtime!), but we had a sweet picnic table reserved. Hooray for not having to search for grass space!

So Stern Grove (in case you didn't catch it in the pictures) is an outdoor music venue in the middle of the city that offers free concerts in the summer. Our reserved picnic table came with wine, non-alcoholic beverages and some table service. We each brought a selection of goodies to share...cheeses (lots of cheeses), brownies, cookies, bread, chips, dip, you name it. A wonderful afternoon in the sun :) We picnicked to the sounds of the San Francisco Opera for a couple hours and then skipped out to prepare for dinner.

Dinner, a mere 2.5 hours after our massive picnic, was in Cow Hollow (I think?) with phenomenal views of the Golden Gate Bridge, Crissy Field and the Bay. I must admit that I wasn't quite prepared for a San Francisco 4th of July. I brought a hoodie and scarf with me, but apparently that wasn't enough to keep me warm once the sun went down. It got COLD. Cold enough to light a fire and cold enough to light up some heat lamps. Say whaat? SO different from DC.

The chill in the air wasn't the only difference. I had been given a heads up about the fireworks show and the fog. Let's just say it was more of a colorful sky show. No matter, a good time was had by all...also, I'm not a big fireworks fan.

The next morning was pretty rough. I was so tired from staying up past my bedtime (yeah I'm a huge nerd) and from feasting so much the day before. It was one of those days where I actually stopped to buy a coffee while running errands. Woah.

I walked down to Polk Street to grab stuff for a fruit salad and was reminded of this little tidbit I stumbled upon the other week:

You've all seen What Would Brian Boitano Make, right? Well, I never saw the sneak peak video until recently. Um, that's totally my new 'hood...Loving Cup!! and my favorite hardware store! Nerd alert!

I grabbed a kiwi and a champagne mango from the Real Foods in the video and picked up some berries and cereal (can't forget breakfast!) from a favorite of mine that he doesn't visit - Polk Street Produce. I've mentioned this place before and it's become my go-to place for fruits (well, the ones that I don't find at the farmers market) because of its convenience, price and selection. Two thumbs up.

I quickly threw together a fruit salad in a tupperware and headed out to Muir Beach for a hike with friends. We took a super windy drive (so windy, I sorta got a little queasy) to the beach, parked and set off on our hike to Pirate's Cove.

The first 10 minutes or so was quite a steep climb, but the views were totally worth it.

Since we got to our destination faster than planned, we decided to keep walking...hey, it's not like we had to get back to work ;p

On the way back, we climbed up a mini side peak and yep, gorgeous.

The chilly weather and clouds didn't even bother me that much (once we were moving, of course)! I'm sure these views are even better on a sunny day...

finishing up okinawa….finally

Well.  I originally started this post two weeks ago.  Due to my job, I have not been able to finish it up.  Imagine the audacity that my job has to interfere with me posting about Okinawa.  Jeez.

So, my final day in Okinawa started out pretty much as normal as could be expected…with a can of Chu hi!  Haha, just kidding.  But since it is juice I think it could be placed in the category of breakfast cocktails.  However, I won’t be lying when I say lunch was spent at MOS Burger.  Heheheh.

I forgot to mention in previous postings how Mr./Mrs. Tater took me to the JUSCO that is located in Mihama American Village. 

I should say a little something about these hypermarkets.  Asians seem to have the right idea when it comes to shopping complexes.  In the States we tend to build a large strip mall that contains at least two of the following stores: Target, Best Buy, Office Depot, Home Depot, Borders, and a grocery store.  Sometimes there may be a movie theatre.  Usually there is a chain restaurant like Applebee’s or Don Pablo’s that is not connected to the strip, but within the same complex.  They take up a lot of space and look like concrete or brick warehouses with no character.  Over here, imagine all of those box stores in one five to seven story building.  The structure is operated by one company; JUSCO is Japanese and Korea we have Lotte and EMart.  Selection is the same as having seven different stores, but you have them all in one single building.  And quality is not something that is skimmed over…clothing, electronics, and household goods are all name brand.  Food and other grocery items are the same as what you would find in a Wegmans.  One delectable item that I picked up in the bakery section was a round pastry filled with mini sausages.  It was about the size of a small pizza.  I thing maybe 10 inches in diameter.  YUM.  Everything is located in one super convenient shopping complex that takes up less ground space.  Also, since the building is usually owned by the operating company, architectural design is sometimes opened up and can result in some pretty wacky creations.  I found out JUSCO also has something else that is not easily found in the states: Japanese-style crepes. 

Ah, Japanese-style crepes.  One of the greatest creations on Earth.  I was informed about these by a Japanese friend before Karena and I had a Tokyo stopover on the way home from China.  I pulled Karena’s arm off when I first noticed one while walking around in Shibuya.  You want ice cream, custard, and fruit?  Okay!  You want ice cream, cheese cake, and sprinkles?  Check!  You want a cutlet smothered in curry sauce?  Roger that!  How about tuna fish salad on lettuce?  Sounds fine!  You can get so many different sweet and savory combinations.  I think if there was a crepe stand in Gunsan I would stop there every night.  It is probably better that there isn’t one.  Check out the sample selection below:

Okay, back to my last day.  So we lounged around and entertained the idea of visiting another castle or temple.  Instead we decided on checking out the Ryukyu Glass Village (fun Okinawan website here).  It was an entertaining drive to the village.  We got to hop on the expressway.  The last time I was on the expressway, Tater and I accidently drove through the lane for pass-holders and didn’t get a toll ticket.  Whoops!  This time we didn’t make that mistake, however, we did exit off the expressway too early.  Time to break out the phonebook map.  Yes, the island map is in the phonebook.  And it is not the greatest map in the world.  First off, it is spread over 25 pages.  Second off, not all the roads are labeled…and when they are, it is inconsistently.  We had to pull about two U-turns before we figured out that we were headed in the right direction.  Also, the maps don’t give you an accurate gauge on the amount of time a drive will take.  A long portion on the map could only be five kilometers, depending on the scale.  So, once we ended up on the correct road we had no idea how long it would take.  The drive was fun though.  We went through some less-trafficked areas of southern Okinawa.  It was pretty cool driving down the two lane road and seeing farms and small homes dotting the landscape.

Arriving at the glass village, we were presented with a pottery center AND glass-making center.  There were some tours going on in Japanese and some people who were making their own Shisa.  I love these little things. 

It is such a fun activity to walk around and check out all the different designs that you see on people’s homes, shopping centers, businesses…everywhere.  They give people a chance to show some individual flair! I bought two the last time I was on-island to protect our home.  They now rest comfortably on a bookshelf.  Quite a nice life for a pair of Shisa.  Tater joked that we should have a Shisa-making contest, but he was vetoed on that one.  We walked down to the area where the magic happens.  There were a lot of people milling around and not a lot of glass-making happening.  We stood around for a bit and watched what we could. 

After that we got antsy and went into the gift shop.  IT WAS HUGE.  And there wasn’t just one.  There was THREE different galleries.  Pieces got increasingly expensive as you moved from gallery to gallery until you reached the shop where things cost into the millions of yen.  I won’t lie.  I was a bit nervous walking around this place with so much glass.  The message “You Break, You Buy” kept passing through my head.  I walked out of the shop only having purchased two glass cups made in the village, and a Okinawan talisman called a susuki.  It is basically a knot of grass.  I can’t help that I’m a sucker for things that are supposed to help my luck.  Sometimes you need the extra help!

We returned to “home, sweet Hamagawa” after a short detour through downtown Naha.  This time we picked up the expressway all the way to Kadena.  Much faster.  We decided to search for dinner options.  I don’t know how we go on the topic, but I started telling Mr/Mrs. Tater about Shabu-shabu.

I have been depressed ever since Bob’s 88 closed.  Karena and I have been searching for a good hot-pot place in DC ever since.  Anyways, I found this restaurant, Miruku (Japanese here), and insisted that we would be going there for my last dinner.  We geared up and took the best directions we could find (see the English link) and headed out.  I love driving directions in Okinawa.  Sometimes they crack me up.  You never get straight-forward directions.  They always involve navigation by landmarks which is sometimes difficult in unfamiliar areas…100m past CoCo (not Coco Curry, but the convenience store) turn left, continue until you see a sign for Highway 401, make a U-turn, drive 20m and turn right.  Look for a house with Japanese writing and Christmas lights on it.  Hilarious stuff.  It took us 20 minutes longer than it should have to find the restaurant.  We drove through a residential neighborhood because we kept miscounting the number of streets.  I’m sure this block is gorgeous during the day.  It is situated right on a bay in a quiet little area.  Arriving at the restaurant, we see it is closed.  SO SAD!  Now we are scrambling and decide to head back to the American Village.  There are tons of restaurants over there that we know would be open.  So, instead of shabu-shabu on my last night we settled for some delicious Thai food at a place Tater and I discovered last year.  The food made me happy, as did the cold Orion, and the fine company.  Besides, dinner in the American Village meant we could sneak over and have a couple of crepes for dessert!

I hope you guys have enjoyed my writings about Okinawa.  I know it seems like a lot, but I only included the highlights.  There is so much delicious food and the island is so beautiful.  It was real hard to leave the next morning.  I was helped by the fact that it was a rainy day.  The rain eased me back into realizing that I would be flying into the snow covered land of Korea.  Okinawa really is a wonderful island…great people…great food…and so much to do.  I can’t wait to go back.  And trust me when I say that it’s not “if,” but rather “when.”

Foodie whaa?

Hello again! I've been super productive this evening and once I'm done blogging and cleaning, I'm hoping to get Jamie's mini-care package pulled together. Do you like pulling together care packages that remind people of home? I sure do :)

As promised I've got some recipes from last weekend's PTT dinner to share, supplemented with some gift ideas for that foodie in your life...you know you've got one! I love that all my favorite magazines have gift guides posted. Tonight's installment is inspired by Food & Wine Magazine's Holiday Gift Guide. They've got a ton of fun ideas and here are a few more to marinate on:

Food & Wine Magazine 2 subscriptions for $19.99
There's no denying that this is one of my favorite magazines. I've been known to dog ear almost every page because the recipes always sound fantastic! Plus, the recipes usually have wine pairing suggestions and bargain wine ideas. GREAT read for a food and/or wine lover :)

Tastebook $30 - $35
I started pulling one of these together pre-blog as a way to keep all my recipes. Basically, you build your own recipe book with your recipes and/or recipes from magazines. You can pick from different covers and there are even pre-made Tastebooks for you to choose from. Very cool personalized gift!

Kombucha Brooklyn Home Brew Kit $25
Know a kombucha lover? Why not give them the tools they need to make a batch of their own? I'm a bit freaked out at the whole kombucha thing, but even I think this would make a fun gift!

Gourmet Sea Salts vary with size and type
All salts are not created equal. I've always been curious about the different types of sea salts out there and so far Fleur de Sel and Himalayan Sea Salts have piqued my interests. Most of the websites I've visited have at least 10 varieties, including Smoked Sea Salt. You can definitely find a variety sample pack out there!

Cuisinart Mini Food Prep $30
Best. Doodad. Ever. I have an older one that I actually use more than my full size food processor. It's great for everyday use or even for big Thanksgiving feasts ;) Compact and powerful. A must have in every kitchen!

Color Coded Cutting Boards $15 for a set of 4
Safety first! These silicone boards are color (and picture!) coded so you avoid cross contamination and all that gross germy stuff!

Microplane Grater $15
I think this is a must have item. I got a mini one a few years ago and love it. In fact, I think I started using citrus zests because of it! Shh...I've also been known to use it for grating cheeses, spices and even garlic!

The Momofuku Cookbook by David Chang $26 online
Ok, unless you are currently living under a rock (or maybe not so into the foodie scene), you are probably familiar with all things Momofuku - Noodle Bar, Ssam Bar, Momofuku Ko, and Milk Bar (did I catch them all??). Last time I was in NYC for a fine dining experience, my sister and I almost made it to (I think) Noodle Bar but passed on it since they didn't take reservations. I've only heard excellent things about the food and the pictures alone make me drool at my computer. Amazon's preview of the book shows some fairly reasonable recipes if you have access to Asian condiments and sauces.

Mini Paella Kit $50
I've mentioned my love of LaTienda.com before and I've also mentioned the Mini Paella Kit (that definitely serves more than 2) - it's packaged neatly and ready to give as a gift! They've also got a ton of fun goodies and gift packages on their website so check it out! :)

What fun food/kitchen gadgets have you received lately? Any you've been eyeing??

Or perhaps you've just been eyeing Thanksgiving goodies and are waiting for some recipes ;p

I've got THREE for you tonight! Ready?

Goat Cheese and Sun-dried Tomato Tarts
1 package Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry Sheets (thanks, FoodBuzz Tastemaker Program!)
1 4-oz log goat cheese
1/4 c caramelized onions (see recipe that follows)
1 jar sun-dried tomato halves in oil
1 1/2 tbsp fresh (or dried) thyme, minced
salt
pepper
flour for dusting

Flour a flat surface and roll puff pastry out. You want to be able to cut 16 squares/rectangles from the sheet. With a knife, score a square within the square so you create about a 1/8" to 1/4" border for your filling. Set aside and preheat oven to 375.

In a small bowl combine goat cheese, thyme and salt and pepper to taste; set aside. Slice sun-dried tomatoes in half crosswise until there are enough for all the tarts.

Lightly spray cookie sheet with olive oil and begin assembling tarts. Place a small spoonful of cheese mixture in the middle of the square, top with some caramelized onion and a piece of sun-dried tomato. Bake for 10 minutes or until pastry turns golden brown.

Caramelized Onions
1 large sweet onion, thinly sliced
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/4 tsp sugar
1 tbsp water
pinch salt

Heat olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add onions and saute until translucent. Drop heat to low and cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in balsamic vinegar, sugar and salt and cook for another 10-15 minutes stirring occasionally and slowly adding water if mixture looks too sticky.

Baked Flatbread with Brie, Caramelized Onions and Pears
1 package tandoori naan (I used the WF brand that has 4 in a pack)
3/4 c caramelized onions
1 wedge brie, thinly sliced
1 ripe pear, thinly sliced

Place slices of naan on a baking sheet and layer first with caramelized onions, brie and then pears. Broil for 3-5 minutes or until brie starts to melt and naan looks toasty. Slice into triangles and serve immediately.

Horseradish Shrimp with Bacon
(makes 30 pieces)
30 large shrimp, tail on
15 pieces bacon, cut in half crosswise
2 tbsp horseradish sauce
1/2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp Tabasco sauce
1 tbsp cocktail sauce
toothpicks

Preheat oven to 375 and line a cookie sheet with foil. In a small bowl, combine horseradish, Worcestershire, Tabasco and cocktail sauces. Reserve all but 1 tablespoon of the mixture for serving.

To assemble shrimp, lay one piece of bacon on a cutting board. Smear a SMALL amount of horseradish mixture onto the bacon, place shrimp on top, wrap and secure with toothpick. One tablespoon of mixture should be more than enough for 30 pieces.

Bake for 10 minutes or until shrimp looks pink and bacon is crisp. Drain cookie sheet halfway through cooking if needed. Serve with reserved horseradish sauce.

Enjoy and keep an eye out for travel-friendly gift ideas!