All posts filed under: Neighborhood Eats

mobile farmer’s market.

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Yay, it’s about time I feature the mobile farmer’s market truck that comes to my work. Every Wednesday “CiCi” the truck rolls in with a bounty of fruits, veggies, dried goods, and flowers. It’s a highlight of the week every week and I always find something colorful and fresh to bring home. The truck is part of Fresh Approach whose mission is to connect communities with healthy food options from local farmers, and to share food and nutrition information – like fun recipes to try with produce that’s in season. This week’s bounty: strawberries, squash, peppers, cucumbers, and eggplant. Yum! What are some of your favorite farmer’s market stops and finds? Share below!

foodchella.

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My trip to the Palm Springs area was for business and for pleasure. I conveniently scheduled a work project meeting for the day before my cousin was to get married. Sneaky, sneaky! All the food adventures below plus links to all my reviews. THURSDAY I flew into the Palm Springs airport on Thursday evening and headed straight to food with my co-worker. Rooster and the Pig / pickled okra / green papaya salad / shrimp spring roll / panko-crusted rice ball with yellow curry Long wait, hole-in-the-wall feel in a strip mall. I’m liking my dinner choice! And once inside, a culinary experience. Dishes are easy to share; my fave was the pickled okra, but check out that rice ball on top of the yellow curry. Unique finds! If I wasn’t there during the work part of my trip, I would have tried a fancy adult bevvie. Regardless, my foodchella experience was off to a great start. FRIDAY Friday was the day of my work meeting so instead of trying a breakfast hotspot in the morning, I …

beautiful bowls – part two.

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All weather is soup weather for this girl! It’s been a while since my last soup post, but you can bet I’ve been on a mission to find some tried and true soup spots that are mouthwatering, reliable (i.e., they taste just like your remember them to taste from last time), and well worth the price. Boat NoodlesLarb Thai Tapas in El Cerrito is one of my favorite places for quick, not fussy Thai food that makes you feel like you’re at a cafe in Bangkok. Get the boat noodle soup with the thick noodles (my fave!). The broth is rich and the meat is hearty. It’s got fried pork rinds, and liver upon request (though I haven’t requested this yet). Ask for the assortment of spices to please your palette and enhance the flavors of the soup. The marinated jalapeños will add heat and a vinegary punch. It’s the perfect lunch on a rainy day type of meal, and then you won’t be able to wait until you’re hungry again to eat the leftovers …

NYC eats. 

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Well, well, well. My taste buds finally meet the eats of New York streets. All the foods we ate below! FRIDAY   Xi’an Famous Foods: Spicy and sour spinach dumplings, cumin lamb pulled noodles (biang biang), pork noodle soup / Highlights: house-made noodles, that dumpling sauce   Spot Dessert Bar: Matcha Lava (dark chocolate cake filled with green tea ganache, served with green tea ice cream, chocolate crunchy pearls, and cookie crumbs), Yuzu Eskimo (frozen Japanese citrus cream bar with Oreo crust, chocolate ganache, strawberries, sorbet, and chocolate crunchy pearls), mango passionfruit soda / Highlights: the crunchy pearls! SATURDAY Joe & the Juice: Breakfast Club (acai, avocado, banana, hemp granola, almond milk), Iron Man (strawberry, kiwi, and apple smoothie), and chocolate fiber muffins / Highlights: light and filling! Levain Bakery: Dark chocolate chocolate chip cookie / Highlight: melty chocolately goodness Shake Shack: Shack burger, ‘Shroom Burger (crisp-fried portobello mushroom filled with melted muenster and cheddar cheese, topped with lettuce, tomato, and ShackSauce), crinkle-cut fries / Highlight: cheese ooze Halal Guys: Gyro platter / Highlight: Halal …

good food days.

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The post you’ve all been waiting for. 😉 This was my third visit to Portland, and Hubby’s first. It was fun to explore new food destinations with him, and to revisit a favorite. All the food from our tasty travels coming at ya. FRIDAY: Taco City, Hillsdale / one of each taco, please. and guacamole. Not my favorite taco stand, but it’s fun to experience pod food while in Portland. SATURDAY: Seastar Bakery, Alberta Arts District / sweet dill-pickled beets, oven-fried egg, and cypress grove goat cheese on seedy nutty rye toast / cilantro-jalapeño white bean daal with pickled red onion, radish-mint salad on rosemary cornbread Easily my favorite meal on this trip. Fresh, unsuspecting flavor combinations! I am inspired to play more in the kitchen. Prasad, Pearl District / chipotle chili bowl with brown rice, chipotle black bean chili, avocado, green chili sauce, and jalapeño cashew cheeze / hot smokey tempeh / tabor bowl with quinoa, slow roasted tomatoes, kale, green chili sauce One of my favorites that I got hooked on during my first visit to …

sugar rush.

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My friend and I went to a cupcake tasting with Angel Cakes and we had way too many cupcakes. Yes, there is such a thing! When we signed up we were thinking “oh yea, they will probably have five or six flavors they want us to try and we’ll rate our favorites.” The day before the tasting they announced that there would be twenty flavor combinations to try, plus an additional sixteen gluten free and vegan varieties. I’m assuming they didn’t expect everyone to try every flavor because twenty mini cupcakes apparently equals eight normal sized cupcakes, but um, food enthusiast here! My friend and I were determined to try all the flavors so we could accurately report on all of them! The flavors: Mexican Chocolate Chocolate cake with cinnamon and chili, chocolate buttercream Strawberry Vanilla Strawberry cake, vanilla strawberry buttercream Turkish Coffee Coffee and cardamom cake, mint buttercream Rose Cardamom Rose cardamom cake, vanilla buttercream White Chocolate Raspberry White chocolate cake, vanilla buttercream, raspberry Red Velvet Red velvet cake, cream cheese frosting Rainbow Sherbert Lime orange cake, raspberry …

good morning. 

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Hubs and I have started a coffee shop tour! It’s easy to get stuck in a routine, or stay home because pajamas, but it really does feel good to get dressed for a coffee shop date and some strolling. Also, it’s nice to go somewhere together when it doesn’t involve errands or getting something done. We get to sit and talk with each other without distractions or responsibilities (even though some of the conversation might be what needs to get done when we get home. Ha!). Explore along with us! Hal’s Office in Albany, California We ventured to Hal’s, a new kid on the block. Sit by the window on a sunny morning and take fancy pictures, people watch, dragon watch (yes, we saw a dragon pass by – it was Lunar New Year weekend), dog watch. The workers get excited when you order mochas “for here” because they get to practice their coffee art skills. Check out this beauty. We tried the cherry pastry and the sausage & cream cheese croissant, both by Firebrand. And to …

fish pickles.

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My last wish list skill for my summer learning was fish pickling and curing. I know what you are thinking — “That’s totally awesome!!” (See macrame and indigo dyeing, too!) I had been wanting to take a class at Preserved for a while now and as I perused the class list, pickling and curing fish, stood out to me as a unique craft. Even though I know people have been doing this for centuries this is a completely new to me endeavor. And this time I brought my friend Lennie along for the fishy ride! Preserved houses all the supplies for all  your preserving needs. I got to class early and spent the entire waiting time just staring at the shelves, imagining all the things I could make. Our instructor Danny is a fish curing expert, and class was like a live cooking show, complete with food stand ins. Danny reviewed a number of curing and pickling techniques, and we got to feel, smell, and taste the various methods. My favorite technique might have to be the water-vinegar …

curfee.

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Saturday morning plan: Roll out of bed and head straight to a coffee class! ☕️ I recently took Handbrew 101 at Allegro Coffee Roasters in Berkeley. Our instructor Nat was the coolest. Self-proclaimed coffee nerd, she walked us through four handbrewing methods, sharing her techniques and coffee insight along the way.  Coffee coffee coffee! It all starts with a good roast. Nat selected the Ethiopia Watona roast. She also prepared worksheets for us to take notes and start our “coffee diary” (bt-dubs: important if you want to keep tabs on how you like to make your perfect cup). I took all the notes. So much to learn!  Nat walked us through four coffee brewing contraptions plus all the accompanying equipment – scale, gooseneck kettle, coffee grinder, cupping cups…. We sampled the same beans via French press, Chemex, Hario V60, and Aeropress. I can’t say I have a favorite but they all produced different flavor profiles. What I thought was most interesting was how the flavor changed as the coffee cooled. Science!  At the end of …

a lesson in pie. 

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As part of wedweek festivities my sister and God sister planned a pie night at Pietisserie in Oakland complete with the cutest apron party favors! Welcome to Pietisserie! The ambiance – clean kitchen, warm & cozy, filled with inspirational baking tools. My God sister loves to get pies for all of her occasions from Pietisserie. Also, she knows everyone this side of the lake. Not only did she special request this class for me, but she special requested for some food to be delivered from Portal next door. All the ingredients were set up for us and Owner/Instructor/Pie Lady Extraordinaire Jaynelle walked us through each step in the pie making process. The evening’s pie menu: Triple Berry – blueberry, strawberry, and blackberry Blueberry & Pear, and Pecan We learned how to make all the fillings, and Jaynelle divulged all crust making secrets and demoed how to create fancy lattice work. Fresh out of the oven! They turned out so pretty! All that was left to do was to devour them. Yay for pie and pretty aprons! A huge thank …