Cone of Snow

Because I know how much you want to see ice in a cup.

It's been freaking hot lately, so frozen treats have been a must. I went to OTG again last week just to pick up something from Skylight Snowballs. Because I'm apparently obsessed with coffee, I had the Four Barrel Snowcone/Snowball/Shaved Ice Thing. It was delicious. Then again, it's just sugar water flavored with coffee...you really can't go wrong. I almost liked it more than the Coffee Pop I got at Ritual last SF Food Fest. But, I also think that the snowcone form suits the coffee syrup better because the popsicle feels like a block of sugar.

Off the Grid: North Berkeley
Shattuck Ave @ Rose St.

Cream Gets Creamed

An Ice Cream Cookie Sandwich for Adults

Recently, my friends and I have been puzzled by how Cream, the place on Telegraph that used to be Beard Papa's, gets so much business. Answer: Ice Cream Cookie Sandwiches for $1.50 (actually I heard it's changed to $2 GASP) . Questions to be asked: Why is it so cheap? And, what are college students eating these days?! Word has it (or the College Yelpers say) that Cream serves Double Rainbow Ice Cream and Otis Spunkmeyer Cookies. I'm not going to hate. I'm sure Double Rainbow is good, and I actually like good-ole Spunkmeyer on occasion. But do these kids realize they can make these at home for cheaper?! And, that they will not be as fat, overstuffed, and a mistake?! Go on yelp and look at the pictures! It is a sight to be seen!

Anyways, rage put aside. Tob-asco and I bought our own cookies and ice cream a few weeks ago and made said sandwiches. It was fantastic, and even just buying Andronico's cookies and Ben and Jerry's ice cream is a better deal. However, I decided to up the ante. I baked my own chocolate chip cookies and added some scotch to the ice cream to give it a kick. For the cookies, I turned to Smitten's "Crispy Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies" recipe:

http://smittenkitchen.com/2009/03/crispy-chewy-chocolate-chip-cookies/

I baked cookies that were medium size vs. her suggestions of large or small. However, the cooking time was about 15-17 minutes (same as the large cookies). Just a heads up, I ended up baking about 3 dozen with that recipe. :S For the ice cream, I bought Ben and Jerry's Mint Chocolate Cookie. I just scooped some ice cream into a bowl, poured a smidgen of scotch, and mixed. Throw the ice cream in between two cookies and voila, ICE CREAM COOKIE SANDWICH!

P.S. These sandwiches were made in celebration of getting into Grad School...just in case people were worried about my health.

Temescal Pilgrimage

Gibraltar + Donut

Fried Chicken Sandwich

Last week, I had a chance to head to the Temescal area because I had to go to the DMV. Well no trip is complete without food involved; especially in this area! First I headed to Pizzaiolo for breakfast. They have the most amazing homemade sugar donuts. They're all different shapes and sizes, which makes you feel like they're actually made by a human-being. Also, they serve Blue Bottle Coffee, which is always a plus.

After finishing up things at the DMV, it was already lunch time, so I (naturally) headed to Bakesale Betty. Advice if you go around 11:30am, there is absolutely no line! Noon and after is a different story though. The sandwich was delicious as always. The chicken was fried-amaziness, and the slaw was nice and tangy.

I'm glad I don't live over here because my health would seriously be in danger.

Pizzaiolo
5008 Telegraph Avenue (Near 51st)
Oakland

Bakesale Betty
5098 Telegraph Avenue (@ 51st)
Oakland

Happy Valentine's Day...

Oh yes, it's that time of year again...when hearts, red, and pink, throw up everywhere. (As is the case with my own apartment.) So, Special K and I decided to throw an (Anti) Valentine's Day Tea Party. My contribution will be Strawberry Cupcakes. I usually try to make things from scratch, but the strawberry cake this time is admittedly from a box. It's been a stressful few weeks, and it was on sale for 89 cents at Safeway. Also, let's not hate on the convenience and deliciousness of boxed anything! Anyways, the strawberry frosting IS made from scratch. The recipe came from Martha Stewart's website, but she actually stole it from Sprinkles'. One thing I did change was the amount of confectioners' sugar and strawberry puree. I only used 3 cups of sugar because I ran out, but you honestly don't need that much sugar. The frosting is way sweet. So sweet, in fact, I kept adding more strawberry puree to balance it out. I think I may have doubled the amount, which ended up being too much. My suggestion would be to keep taste-testing the frosting and add puree until it tastes good but isn't too mushy. Here's a link to the recipe:

http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/candace-nelson-strawberry-frosting

Cheers and Happy Valentine's or Anti-Valentine's Day to you!

Berkeley Goes Foodie

Within the past year, a slew of new restaurants have opened in Berkeley. And, I'm not talking about the ice cream cookie sandwich place that opened in Beard Papa's old storefront, which by the way is possibly cursed because it seems like no business ever does well there. Anyways, Berkeley is getting more and more foodie. Last month I was able to visit/re-visit a few places: Summer Kitchen, Slow, and PIQ.

Summer Kitchen:
Cute, Casual, Family Owned, and all Local, Summer Kitchen is a nice addition to College. Whether you want picnic fare, a boxed lunch or to dine in, they've got it all. Not to mention Blue Bottle. I ordered Pork Sugo and Polenta (which according to the website was actually taken off the menu recently), a Mint Mojito Lemonade, and a Coconut Cream Cupcake. The pork was tender and the polenta was creamy and delicious. Lemonade definitely refreshing, and the cupcake was one of the tastiest I've had (no surprise, since one of the owners used to be a pastry chef at Chez Panisse). If you're up on College, give this place a try, but know that they close at 8pm.

Slow:
I've been wanting to try lunch at Slow for a while now, since the prices are a bit more reasonable than dinner. I finally got to it a couple weeks ago. Slow is yet another all local produce place and is probably named after the Slow Food Movement that began in the '80's by Carlo Petrini (something I learned in Italian class ;)). I ordered a Pulled Pork Sandwich with an Orzo Salad. The sandwich was pretty tasty, but I really prefer pulled pork with bbq sauce. The Orzo Salad was interesting...a bit too fusion-y for my taste. The dressing was made with orange, fennel, and soy beans. To be honest I wasn't too impressed with lunch. I prefer dinner, but the price and portion are another story.

PIQ:
This place first came under my radar as "The place with Ipads". Must've been some kind of publicity stunt, but I'm not quite sure if it worked. Yes, they do have Ipads. Rumor has it, one of the owners has an in and probably got some promotional/test models. Anyways, this place is supposedly tailored after Italian bistros. It actually is quite cute, and the pizzas, pastries, and paninis all look fresh and delicious. K.yo ordered a Prosciutto and Arugula Panini and I ordered something almost exactly the same except it was a Thin French Olive Loaf with Prosciutto. Sorry, I don't have the actual names of the dishes. The menu isn't online. Mine was pretty delicious and definitely worth it at $3.50. However, it was more like a snack than actual dinner, which is one of the complaints I've heard about this place. Even still, the place is pretty cute, so if you're looking for a quick snack/coffee place, check it out. (I haven't tried the coffee, so I'm not actually going to vouch for that yet.)

Summer Kitchen
2944 College Avenue
(Next to Ici)

Slow
1966 University Avenue
(A little past Milvia)

PIQ
91 Shattuck Square
(It's in that awkward median where Shattuck splits.)

The Sweetest Dinner

First of all, I'm going to detract any doubt I've ever had about American Cupcake. PB&J sandwiches as a meal?! Cupcake and wine tastings?! Red Velvet Breaded Fried Chicken?! Your first reaction might be like mine, WTF?! But believe me, you have to go there to realize how awesome it really is. K.yo, L.A., and I met up for dinner in the Marina district (where L.A.'s digs are). We decided to wander around until we found a satisfactory place. That's when we ventured into American Cupcake. The place is super cute and has a futuristic-dinery feel. Not only do they have cupcakes, but they also have savory food as well as cocktails and beer.

K.yo, L.A., and I started off with drinks. We ordered the the Sunburned, the Shameless, and the Incorrigible. The most girly drinks ever! They definitely fit the mood of the place and made us giggle:

The Sunburned: Passion fruit puree, lemon juice, and IPA (the online menu says Amber Ale, but they've changed it). K.yo prefers it to regular IPA.

The Shameless: Strawberry puree, rosewater, mint, and sparkling wine. Fruity, tasty, and girly. L.A. was glad he got it!

The Incorrigible: Raspberry puree, pomegranate liquer, and sparkling wine. Cute and bubbly, it was a nice little drink.

Next up were the appetizers. Waffle Fries AND Tater Tots. We felt like children while devouring these fried goods. Delicious and crispy, they come with "grown-up" dipping sauces including: Malt Vinegar, Preserved Meyer Lemon Aioli, Curried Ketchup, and Wasabi Aioli to name a few.

Entrees:

Red Velvet Fried Chicken w/ Cream Cheese Mashed Potatoes and Vinaigrette Cole Slaw: It sounds totally bizarre. The chicken had a sweet aftertaste from the Red Velvet, but it was actually quite tasty and interesting. Mashed Potates and Cole Slaw were great. I was only able to finish half of it, but the leftovers smelled like Sour Cream and Onion Pringles...that's a good thing btw.

Pulled Pork Sliders: Jack n'Coke BBQ Sauce with Chilli Smoked Sea Salt. This was K.yo's choice. You can't really go wrong with Pulled Pork...especially when it's made with whiskey. Delish!

Last but not least, L.A. was able to fit in a Chocolate Sundae. Yumyumyum. The perfect way to end the meal. I highly recommend the place!

American Cupcake
1919 Union St. (near Laguna)
San Francisco

Cup o' Cake

Alright, I finally got around to going to SusieCakes in the Marina. But first, a little cupcake talk. Apparently, there's a backlash against the petite treat nowadays, and people seem to be veering towards pie. Some of the cupcake complaints I've read refer to the price of said treats. Yes, they are expensive, and you could bake a dozen for the price. However, I am strongly against people who will knock off a few stars on a Yelp review because of this. Don't buy them if you don't want to spend the money! Anyways, enough of that. If you are willing to spend $3 on a cupcake, then SusieCakes is a good place to go. It's a cute and small like their cupcakes, and they actually taste non-processed. I got the Chocolate Mint, and it was heaven. Then again, I was starving...nonetheless, if you're in the Marina area GO THERE.

SusieCakes
2109 Chestnut St. (@ Steiner)
San Francisco

Treat-or-Treat?

Last month, I was really effing serious when it came to Holiday treats. On the Friday before Halloween, I decided it was time to have another baking night. After deciding against Japanese Cheesecake because it would be way too complicated for "just some Friday night baking" (it's like baking souffle and cheesecake at the same time), I decided on Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes. Might I add that I made everything from scratch! And, I bought Halloween/fall sprinkles for the occasion. I was originally going to get orange frosting to make Giants cupcakes, but the store didn't have any...and I didn't feel like going through the process of mixing food dyes, etc. The recipe was taken from Special K's Cupcakes Galore cookbook, and as usual, it called for too much frosting. Since I was on a roll, I decided to save the frosting and made chocolate-sugar-peanut butter sugar sandwich cookies that Saturday. Let me also add that we had a pumpkin carving party that night, so my labor wasn't for nothing.

(I actually started this post last month and ended it with "GIANTS ARE GOING TO THE WORLD SERIES BITCHES." But now I can say, GIANTS WON THE WORLD SERIES BITCHES!)

Cinnamon-Sugar-Butterball...I Mean Snickerdoodles

Finding a Snickerdoodle recipe without corn syrup or shortening is nearly impossible. According to some, shortening makes the cookies a bit more puffy. But oh well, I'm not dying to die from shortening any time soon. The recipe I decided to use is once again from Smitten Kitchen. She adapted the recipe from Martha Stewart and basically just took out the shortening. The cookies turned out a bit flat and didn't really crack, but they were pretty tasty nonetheless. You're supposed to use a small ice cream scoop to scoop the dough, but you can just use your hands to roll the dough into balls. Here's the recipe: http://smittenkitchen.com/2009/09/snickerdoodles/

Scandalous Cookies

I made these 2 months ago, but thought I'd blog about them anyways. Special K., K.yo, Tob-asco, and I like to play the "if you were on a island and you could only have one _______ (insert blank; ex. type of cookie, breed of dog, form of cuisine), what would you choose?" I chose the infamous Nipple Cookies for the cookie question, which I believe are just called peanut butter kiss cookies, but my friends and I have dubbed them this name. It's the perfect amount of peanut butter cookie to chocolate kiss ratio...way better than the usual recipes, which basically tells you to plop the kiss on top of a peanut butter ball. The recipe was acquired from Special K's awesome International Cookie Book. The photo of the cookies is quite scary, since they're surrounded by a shit ton of teddy bears. But, do not be turned off by the way they look or the bears. THEY ARE THE MOST AWESOME COOKIES EVER. Don't feel like putting up the recipe at the moment. However, if anyone really wants it, just let me know!

"Everyday" Chocolate Cake

Piece o' advice: Don't bake chocolate cake unless there's an occasion or a ton of people around to eat it. On a thursday night, I randomly decided to make this sweet morsel. The recipe was plucked once again from the Smitten Kitchen Blog, and I'd been eyeing it for months. I'm still wondering what "Everyday" Chocolate Cake means tho because chocolate cake, although delicious, should not be everyday. However, I am not complaining. This thing was freaking tasty, but Special K and I were eating it for days even though we were able to pawn off a few pieces to friends. Here's a link to the recipe:

http://smittenkitchen.com/2010/08/everyday-chocolate-cake/#more-6620

I followed it exactly, except I made my own buttermilk substitute, and I didn't have berries on hand. Just in case you don't want to buy buttermilk, here's the recipe for the substitute:

Milk (just under one cup)
1 Tablespoon white vinegar or lemon juice

Place a Tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice in a liquid measuring cup. Add enough milk to bring the liquid up to the one-cup line. Let stand for five minutes. Hella easy!

"Third Wave" of Coffee Hits College Ave.: Bica

Apparently people think we're going through the third wave of coffee, and that College Ave. is slowly becoming one of the homes of said wave. I didn't realize there were waves...but I guess I have a vague idea of what the first and second might be. Anyways, Bica opened recently. Go there for coffee from Ritual, De La Paz, and other Bay Area/Northern California Roasters. Also, try their pastries. The Morning Bun was delicious! :)

5701 College Ave (near Rockridge Bart and Trader Joe's)
Oakland

Mission: Eat and Study

Bay weather has been insane for the past few months and can't decide whether it's spring or fall. A couple Saturdays ago, I was awoken by the wonderful rays of the sun. My mission that day: to drag my fellow German-studying friend Le-asco into the Mission in order to eat and study. Were we successful at studying? Not quite. There are too many distractions in Dolores Park. But here are our Mission Food Chronicles:

First Up: Los Coyotes
So, here's a slightly embarrassing confession: prior to this trip I had only had Mexican food once in the Mission. FAIL. Le-asco and I have been planning a burrito trip for ages, but for some reason have never gotten to it. Unable to find the joint we originally wanted to go to, we decided to try Los Coyotes, #4 on a recent list of best burritos in the Mission. We decided to split a Wet Burrito, since there's no way either of us could finish an entire one ourselves. Said burrito was pretty delicious. The pork was amazing. Probably because it was roasted on one of those mini-spits. The only issue we encountered was splitting the thing...one side had more meat and the other vegetables. It's okay though, we are used to dealing with such sharing situations. :)

Second Up: Spiderman Popsicle
Like I said before, it was a hot day, so the line at Bi-Rite was out the door and around the corner. Way too lazy to wait in the line, Le-asco and I headed to the Park, where I purchased a lovely Spiderman Popsicle from a cart. Yay, nostalgia! The strawberry-lemonaid-ness was amazing. More Cartoon Character Popsicles will be consumed in the near future. Oh, and I forgot to mention it came with gumball eyes!

Third Up: Mission Chinese
I like to call this the time I ate fire because that is what I did. This place has been on nearly every food blog I read, so I thought I'd see what all the fuss is about. Mission Chinese actually operates out of Lung Shan. Expect to see a janky place with bars. I say that in the best sense too. As K.yo and I said while we were in Europe (about Chinese places), "the jankier, the more legit." The Ma Po Tofu is one of the most buzzed about items, so I thought I'd go for it. BAD IDEA. (Unless you can actually take the heat.) When they put two fire signs on the menu, THEY MEAN TWO FIRE SIGNS. Szechuan Peppercorn and Flaming Chili Oil are mentioned, but they forget to mention that there are also a bajillion little skinny red peppers, green peppers, and ginger. Oh, and there was a bit of tofu and pork mixed in too. It was tasty from what I could taste through the fire. Pleasepleaseplease, take my advice and only order this if you can TAKE THE HEAT. I'm not exactly a wuss, but this seriously became a chore to eat. I had to take bites of Le-asco's Chicken Chow Mein in between the fire. (But yes, I'd probably go back. I just wouldn't order this again.)

Los Coyotes
3036 16th St. (near Mission/the Bart station)

Dolores Park
On Dolores Street b/w 18th and 20th

Mission Chinese (Lung Shan)
2234 Mission St.

Slocombe-sicles: Yay or Nay?

I think that K.yo will agree with me when I say that we're kind of Slocombe fan girls. Case in point: We actually follow the Mission ice cream parlor on Twitter. It's the only way you know what their flavours are for the day...other than calling the parlor, but there's always a line out the door, so they probably wouldn't be to keen on reading the entire menu to you. Oh, and they also update twitter followers on when and where other local restaurants/food stands will be serving their products. As of late, I have ventured into the world of the Slocombe Pops that are served at the 4505 Meats stand at the Ferry Building Farmer's Market.

First Pop Consumed: Coconut Cardamom Pluot Pop. Hmm...If you really like Coconut and Cardamom, you will love this. It was just okay to me because I prefer a more fruit-y pop. You will also love it if you enjoy eating frozen Thai Curry because that's basically what it tasted like. (Hey, some people might actually enjoy this, so who am I to tell you not to try it?)

Second Pop Consumed: Strawberry Margarita Pop. Exactly what it sounds like. Strawberry Margarita, but in popsicle form. I was quite delighted that it tasted like/was made with actual strawberries and not syrup. The legit strawberriness balanced well with the tangy margarita-ness.

Analysis of Slocombe Pops: Like everything Slocombe, the Pops are definitely unique. Be ready for that. But to be honest, I actually like their ice cream more. If you're at the Ferry Building on a Market day and feel Slocombe-y, then definitely give the pops a try. If you're actually at Slocombe, you might want to just go for the ice.

4505 Meats
Ferry Building Marketplace
One Ferry Building

Or

Humphrey Slocombe
2790 Harrison Street, San Francisco
(Cross-street is 24th)

(I'm labeling this Ice Cream because it's related to Slocombe.)

Sh-low Day

So K.yo and I got a bit peckish on our way to Trader Joe's today and decided to stop by Slow, a new restaurant that opened in Berk a week ago. The Chef's mission is to provide gourmet, not-overly-priced food from local/seasonal ingredients. Sounds good to me! Lunch actually does look quite affordable...sandwiches range from $5-6. But, dinner's a tiny bit more pricey. Plates range $9-12. However, the Braised Short Rib with Mascarpone Polenta, Escabeche Carrot, and Roasted Cippolini Onion was quite tasty. The short rib was perfectly tender, and the polenta was creamy nom-ness. K.yo and I both ordered it and were quite satisfied. We also left with a Double Chocolate Chip Cookie that was probably one of the best double chocolate chip cookies we've ever had. :) Definitely check it out. But if you're strapped for cash, go for lunch. They have pulled pork! Oh, and also vegetarian options!

After said adventure, I decided to bake some matcha green tea cupcakes. I absolutely love cupcakes, but every now and then, I can't justify buying one for 3 bucks, when I could bake a dozen for the same price. Special K. (my roomie) and I have been eye-ing the "Orient Express" recipe in her Cupcake book...basically it's an almond, green tea cupcake with ying-yang frosting. As you can tell from the pictured I avoided said frosting. Oh, and I despise anything with the word "orient" in it, but I thought I'd give these cupcakes the benefit of the doubt. Honestly, the recipe was a bit weird. The consistency of the dough was kind of bread-y. Not quite sure why...maybe there were too many almonds? IDK. Frosting, which was from another recipe, turned out pretty well though. I had to bust out a new can of matcha green tea, which has a prettier tint of green than my last. So, if you're making green tea frosting, know that the color will vary depending on the matcha.

Life of RP

This is what my life is made up of now: Philz Coffee, Kafka, and Sweets of some sort. If someone wants to hold an intervention for me at some point, please do! Because at this rate, I'm going to become a giant, penniless panda quite soon!

So the delicious morsel in the box is actually a Blueberry Pie Roll from Cinnaholic, one of the new foodie places on Oxford that I mentioned in my last post. Things to know about this place:

1) It's vegan.
2) You get to build your own roll from assorted frostings and toppings.
3) There's De La Paz Coffee.

It was probably the most amazing cinnamon roll that I've ever had. Also, the coffee was equally as amazing. I might need to experiment with De La Paz more. So, gogogo! You might get a little overwhelmed at first because the list of frostings and toppings is quite extensive, but don't fret! They have some specialty and pie rolls that act as assembled examples! Also, don't forget to show your student ID...you'll get a discount.

The other pic is obviously from Philz. :P Mini-red-velvet-cupcake that they strategically put next to the cashier, knowing that I would buy it. Sneaky devils! Coffee was a nom-y concoction brewed by one of the baristas. If you are feeling adventurous or have had a lot of the blends already, ask for something different. There's always one dude who makes me some crazy concoctions, but I can't vouch that every barista there does...so just ask. :)

Food/Friends-athon

Friends (who came from afar), Free Food, and Some Not-So-Free Food

Buttered-Corn Ramen @ Katana-ya
430 Geary Street (across from ACT)

Red Velvet Cupcake @ Cako
211 O’Farrell Street (at Powell)

Affogato @ Four Barrel (w/ Beer Ice Cream!!!)
375 Valencia Street (b/w 14th and 15th)

• The free food was actually free Slocombe for an art opening at Four Barrel. Picture of the icy goods not included because it was a little less epic than the Affogato.
  

Sausage, Sauerkraut, and Potato Salad @ Schmidt's
2400 Folsom Street San Francisco (@ 20th)

Break-Fast/Fast-Break: Members Style

RC + RP head to Philz for a quick breakfast. And believe me, we have mastered the art of quick coffee meets.

Purple (Blueberry?) Organic Vegan Donut from Pepples
Members Coffee (1/2 Silken Splendor and 1/2 Philtered Soul)