Tweet When the kids were growing up and I had a 8am – 6pm job,  my saving grace many many times  was my slow cooker.   I rotated between that and a pressure cooker to keep my sanity.   Back then, dinner consisted of a meat dish, some kind of fish and vegetables. And rice.
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Two well known talents in San Francisco’s food and restaurant scene were collaborating for the first time, Ron Siegel in the kitchen creating simple, contemporary American cuisine that is not over-manipulated and Camber Lay at the bar creating an all new mixology program for the destination restaurant. The restaurant’s menu seeks inspiration along the geographic latitude Parallel 37 with food and wine celebrating the many cultures in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Tweet Our consensus on Day One of the Winter Fancy Food Show was that while cupcakes were definitely big in 2011 ~ gourmet popcorn will definitely own 2012.  We did our fair share of tasting some of the finest treats on display at the show and concluded that not all popcorn is created equal(ly).  We
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Tweet We’ve all heard of wine pairings which involve chocolates or cheese ~ and food, for that matter.  At the recently concluded 2012 Winter Fancy Food Show held at the Moscone Center, we were pleased to have discovered a fun alternative to the norm.   Meet Cookies &  Corks ~ fun, flirty and fabulous sweet
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Tweet Chef Phoebe Schilla  loved cooking from an early age growing up outside of Portland, Maine.   Her mother and aunt were accomplished self-taught cooks who welcomed curious Phoebe into their kitchens.  From tapping her own maple syrup from trees in the yard to baking homemade bread, Phoebe learned at an early age about the delicious
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Tweet Last year, we spent three full days at the 2011 Winter Fancy Food show which was held at the Moscone Center in San Francisco.  It was my first year at the show but not my first convention.  I knew a few good things about these events:  wear comfortable shoes and be prepared to walk
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Balance. The very definition of the word is: to exist in a state of equilibrium or harmony. It is what we all endeavor to attain in our hectic, crazy day-to-day lives. For Chef Michael Mina, “balance” is a philosophy, his cooking philosophy, to be precise. Acidity, sweetness, spice, richness, all must be in harmony to create a successful food experience. This harmony in all things is certainly on display at Chef Mina’s flagship restaurant Michael Mina SF. Located in the heart of San Francisco’s financial district in the very spot Chef Mina helped to conceive Aqua, this establishment bearing his name was voted Restaurant of the Year 2011 by Esquire Magazine and awarded a Michelin star for 2012.

Tweet It didn’t matter that we were almost in San Francisco when I realized how light my purse was because I had forgotten my camera .  ’Twas too late to turn around and I was we were all hungry, so the iPhone had to work it’s magic for me this time around.  The event was an impromptu
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When you think of the Ritz-Carlton, what’s the first thought that comes to mind? Worldly elegance, breathtaking decor, exquisite taste, amazing service and top notch everything? Well yes, all those do come to mind for most of us and the pre-party held at their new restaurant in San Francisco, Parallel 37, on December 9th did not fail to stand up to these standards.

A couple of weeks ago, I was asked if I was interested in tasting a new brand of jerky that was soon to be available in my grocery store. My reply was a quick and easy yes; my husband loves to munch on jerky when he is nervously watching a game, or even sometimes on his drive home from work. We’d pretty much checked out all the regularly available known brands (the usual suspects) in the grocery stores and have ruled out all but one familiar brand that did not cause what we have come to refer to as ‘jaw fatigue’.