You all may remember back when I made pizzelles earlier this summer that I had found the recipe in a book, Always on Sunday, written about Italian family traditions. As it turns out, the author’s daughter came across her mom’s recipe here on Brown Eyed Baker, shared it with her mom, who then emailed me [...]

“You put the lime in the coconut…”  If you’re as old as I am, you’ll now have that song stuck in your head all day.  You’re welcome.  But it’s totally worth it when you taste these tropical, summery cakes of deliciousness.
Not only do they have a fluffy meringue topping, but hiding underneath is a sweet [...]

Please welcome guest author Garrett McCord of the vanilla-flavored blog, Vanilla Garlic as he shares a favorite cupcake. ~Elise

It raises my hackles when someone calls something “plain vanilla.” Plain? Plain?! Are they insane?! There’s nothing plain about vanilla!

Given, I’m a little more passionate about the spice than most (if it wasn’t apparent enough). Heck, I named my blog after the stuff. I have no less than 9 varieties of vanilla beans in my pantry. Not to mention 6 kinds of vanilla extract - three of them homemade. Vanilla oil, vanilla sugar, chopped up vanilla beans. I even keep a dried bean in the filter of my vacuum so the place smells like vanilla when I clean.

Even when we discuss the flavor of vanilla, there’s nothing plain about it. Mexican vanilla has a velvety, sweet and creamy scent that begs to be made into puddings. Tahitian vanilla has a heady aroma of figs, that reminds me of summers eating the sticky fruits stuffed with cheese and honey. The dark and rummy smell of Madagascar beans that hint at a slight, musky nose of tobacco. My favorite, the Tonga vanilla bean which, after deep inhale, will bombard you with images of black cherries.

Continue reading “Double Vanilla Cupcakes” »

Many of you have written to me in the past requesting a list of my favorite “everyday” places to eat, drink, and shop in San Francisco. So, I’m taking a stab at it. This is by no means a comprehensive list of all the great places in this city - it’s more of a brainstorm of places I find myself often. Many I can walk to from where I live, others take more effort - a hop on a train, or a trip across town via car. It’s clear I know some neighborhoods better than others, so feel free to add to my list with your own favorites in the comments. Let’s keep it SF-specific for now (no Marin/Oakland/Berkeley) this time around.

I thought this list would be most useful if organized (roughly) by neighborhood. This way someone visiting from out of town will have a bit of a go-to guide they can print and slip in their pocket (or bring up on their phone). I started by focusing on food-centric destinations, but couldn’t help throw in a few other favorite non-food spots I love as well.

I’ll do my best to update this, and if you’re coming to San Francisco I hope you enjoy your stay here. I feel lucky to live in such a special and unique city. And my apologies for taking so long to pull this together!

Mission/Castro:

- brown rice egg bowl with tofu and schizandra iced tea at Samovar Tea Lounge.
- paneer kati roll (unda style!) & side of daal at Kasa.
- buying saisons at Healthy Spirits.
- Sunday brunch at Dosa (Mission location).
- a fresh-out-of-the-oven croissant at Tartine.
- broccoli raab Pizza at Pizzeria Delfina.
- sampling wines from Delfina’s wine list.
- taking a sandwich from Bi-Rite Market deli to Dolores Park for a picnic.
- kid’s scoop of toasted coconut ice cream from Bi-Rite Creamery.
- homemade english muffin egg sandwiches at Mission Beach Cafe.
- macchiato & chocolate spice doughnut at Four Barrel Coffee.
- La Palma Mexicatessan
- glass of La Chouffe at The Monk’s Kettle then grabbing a buckwheat crepe at Ti Couz across the street.
- Sunday Brunch at Bar Tartine.
- Cha-Ya - Vegan Japanese
- Rainbow Grocery - a whole foods playground. If you love to cook with whole foods - grains, flours, sweeteners, spices - you can’t pass up a visit here.

Hayes Valley:

- gibraltar at Blue Bottle Coffee while sitting curbside on Linden Lane.
- sweet treats from Miette - they have black M&M-shaped ‘lentil’ candies I like.
- light lunch at Bar Jules
- coconut macaroon from La Boulange de Hayes.

Downtown:

- soup of the day (always veg-friendly) at SFMoMA.
- eggs for brunch at Boulette’s Larder. (Ferry Building)
- spring rolls & mushroom buns from Out The Door (Ferry Building)
- chilaquiles from Primavera stall during the farmers’ market on Saturdays. (Ferry Building)
- Sunday and Tuesday farmers’ market at Ferry Building

Golden Gate Park / NOPA / Avenues:

- sitting at the counter over-looking the kitchen at NOPA.
- Little Star spinach deep-dish.
- samusa soup, tea leaf salad, and beer/lemonade drink at Burma SuperStar followed by a visit to Green Apple Books.
- Aziza, so worth the drive out there. Moroccan.

Fillmore:

- Japantown - White Crane Tea Co., Kinokuniya Bookstore
- dresses at Sunhee Moon.
- magazine from Juicy News.
- pretty things at Erica Tanov and Nest.

Potrero Hill/Dog Patch:

- Center for the Book letterpress classes.
- sitting outside at Piccino enjoying thin-crust pizza and rose on a nice day.
- tasting organic and bio-dynamic wines at Yield Wine Bar.
- sipping a macciato at Ritual at Flora Grub Gardens while plant-shopping.
- Michael Ricchuiti chocolate classes & tastings.
- browsing the stacks at Christopher’s Books.

Noe Valley:

- enjoying small plates and Spanish wines at Contigo.
- adding to my collection at Omnivore Books on Food

North Beach/Marina/Russian Hill:

- dinner at Coi - favorite for special nights.
- looking at new arrivals at William Stout Architectural Books
- fawning over the Pavonis at Thomas E Cara Ltd.
- fresh foccacia wrapped to-go at Liguria Bakery near Washington Square Park - go early.
- Swallowtail

- picking up a few bottles of obscure Italian whites at Biondivino.
- more magazines at Smoke Signals.

Phew, I think that’s it for now. I worry, that I didn’t even scratch the surface here and I’ll try to add more and keep this page updated. But if you need more ideas, I’d encourage you to go back through Marcia’s tablehopper archives, and/or subscribe to her newsletter. It’s a great resource and reference related to the San Francisco food scene. You can get to the archives directly by clicking here.

Feel free to load up the comments with your favorite San Francisco spots, I’d love to hear them. Also, thank you Wayne for letting me run your nice photo up above. xoxo.

Continue reading San Francisco Favorites…