Missouri Wine Country

As you can tell, Missouri wine country is beautiful!

Yesterday, I went on a day trip to Missouri wine country (the Hermann and Augusta area) with some of my husband's family. Seven area wineries participated in the Very Berry Wine Trail event, where each paired a berry dish (mostly desserts) with wine. We made it to all seven wine trail participants, plus one additional winery - the Augusta Winery. After sampling dozens of wines throughout the day, we unanimously determined that Adam Puchta is still our favorite. Their vignoles and homemade strawberry shortcake were a perfect pair for a hot July day.

San Francisco Sourdough

A sourdough crustacean at Boudin

Before leaving town, we visited one more San Francisco culinary attraction - the Boudin Bakery, home of San Francisco's original sourdough. Located in Fisherman's Wharf, Boudin (pronounced Bo-deen) has been making sourdough for more than 150 years. We toured the bakery to see the whole sourdough process and were treated to a tasting at the end of the tour. My favorite was the cinnamon chocolate sourdough and Ken preferred the ciabatta. http://www.boudinbakery.com/

Napa Valley, Cont.

On Sunday, we continued our journey through Napa Valley. We drove from Santa Rosa to Calistoga. First stop - Sterling Vineyards (www.sterlingvineyards.com). As part of our tour, we rode the gondola up to the tour area, tasting room and shop (see view above).
We continued to St. Helena, where we had lunch at Pizzeria Tra Vigne (http://www.travignerestaurant.com/pizzaria.htm). We created our own pizza with mushrooms and pancetta - it was wonderful! After checking out some of St. Helena's great little shops, I convinced Ken to take me to the Culinary Institute of America (http://www.ciachef.edu/california/default.asp). CIA's California branch is in the historic Greystone building (see website for info). Their Spice Islands Marketplace had every cooking tool you could imagine! We just missed a cooking demonstration featuring lemon pudding cake, but I bought the Luscious Lemon Desserts cookbook so I can try it at home! I also bought an apron as a souvenir of my (very short) time spent at the CIA!
Next we visited Yountville, another culinary heaven and home of Thomas Keller's The French Laundry and Bouchon. We visited the shops inside Vintage 1870, then stopped for a snack at Bouchon Bakery - by far the best baked goods I've ever tasted (http://bouchonbakery.com/). I had a chocolate bouchon and Ken tried an apple tart - although the small treats were quite pricey, they were worth every penny! If I could ever make something half as good, I would be thrilled!
We ended the evening with dinner at John Ash & Co. at the Vinter's Inn in Santa Rosa (http://www.vintnersinn.com/dining/). This time, Ken had pork loin and I had a filet. My filet came with asparagus wrapped in fresh mozzarella and prosciutto and polenta fries. Ken's pork had an avocado topping. For dessert, we shared an "ice cream sandwich" made of a delicate sugar cookie and strawberry gelato. I also purchased a cookbook - "Cooking One on One" by John Ash. It is a beautiful book and has great recipes for many basics such as vinaigrettes, salsas, pestos, sauces, etc. It explains techniques in-depth and really is like having cooking lessons within the pages of the book.

San Francisco, Part 2

Miette
Miette

More photos of the marketplace (above). While Ken scouted out the meat market, I visited Miette Bakery (http://www.miettecakes.com/index.html) (see two pictures above). Everything was picture-perfect! I purchased a small bag of bite-sized peanut butter cookies and two mini scones, one orange-chocolate and one cream fraiche. By the time I tried the scones the following day, they were slightly hard, but the cookies kept well and served as great snacks when we were stranded in the Denver airport two nights later!

The marketplace was a culinary heaven, with ingredients, gear, and foods to satisfy even the most particular foodies. San Francisco cooks are lucky to have such a great marketplace! If you're ever in the San Francisco area, it is worth your time to stop at the Ferry Building, even if you're not a cook!

In addition to Miette, favorite merchants included:
Scharffen Berger Chocolates http://www.scharffenberger.com/
Ferry Plaza Wine Merchantshttp://www.fpwm.com/
Cowgirl Creamery http://www.cowgirlcreamery.com/

We finished our Ferry Building tour in time to catch part of a San Francisco Giants baseball game at AT&T Park. It is a relatively new stadium built right on the bay - our upper level seats came with a fantastic view!

San Francisco

On Saturday, we visited San Francisco. Our first stop was Fisherman's Wharf, a tourist area. After a quick sandwich, we shared a chocolate-chip cookie sundae at the Ghiradelli flagship store in Ghiradelli square. A few years ago, my friend Amanda and I shared one of these treats at a Ghiradelli store in Nashville, TN. I believe the store has since closed, but the memory of that wonderful sundae remains. I wish I could have brought one home from San Francisco for her!
Next we went to the Ferry Building, home of another great farmer's market and gourmet stores. Most things sold in the Farmer's Market, and many inside the marketplace, were organic. The photos above were taken at the Ferry Building (http://www.ferrybuildingmarketplace.com/). (More photos in following post)

Culinary Journey through California, Part 2

After browsing the Chef's Market, we had reservations at Ristorante Allegria in Napa (conveniently located at the end of the Chef's Market on First Street). I'm a little hesitant about taking pictures of my food in restaurants, so you'll have to visit Ristorante Allegria's website to see pictures of the restaurant (http://www.ristoranteallegria.com/).
We first ordered Funghi Portobello Mushroom. It came on a bed of herb polenta, with crumbled blue cheese, marinara sauce & balsamic reduction. Ken tried the special - a bacon wrapped sirloin. I had grilled pork loin. It was marinated with garlic, rosemary, mustard, served on potatoes, pancetta, and topped with whole grain mustard-merlot wine reduction. Our food was wonderful - no room for dessert!
After dinner, we wandered back through the Chef's Market and bought a mini cinnamon swirl tea cake to share for breakfast from the Artisan Baker stand (http://artisanbakers.com/).

Culinary Journey through California, Part 1

After business meetings in Reno, Ken and I headed through Lake Tahoe (it is beautiful!) and into the Napa Valley area. We arrived in Napa Friday afternoon, and as luck would have it, were just in time for the Chef's Market. Napa's First Street (a dining and shopping area) was blocked off for food and wine vendors. It was a gourmet farmer's market with fresh fruits, vegetables, and flowers, baked goods, oils, honey . . . . and all kinds of foods and beverages. It was the perfect beginning to our trip through Napa Valley - if only we could have brought back some of the fruits and veggies. . .