You may have noticed my new found fascination with the food website FoodILY.com, and so it seems the perfect time to introduce you to the LARGEST recipe search site. They bring together recipes from across the web, enabling you to search and compare any recipe, in one consolidated location.

If you’ve ever used kayak for travel, you’ll quickly see the ease of use at www.foodily.com. And it is as easy as entering a group of ingredients, or a recipe’s name, and Foodily searches every website’s recipes—from top food sites to obscure bloggers. It sifts through all those recipes based on criteria you choose, and instantly delivers you the perfect recipe match.

And for the picky, allergic or otherwise food challenged, this site is going to make your cooking life so much easier. If there is an ingredient you don’t care for or are allergic to, delete it! The site then adapts and finds new recipes that meet your search criteria. I have a feeling that dinner party planning is going to take on an entirely new twist. Now instead of scouring 5-12 food sites, and spending hours pouring over menus on the Internet, you can quickly and easily review options in one location. Voila, this is the shift into the industrial revolution of recipe search.

I am excited to have been invited in to preview the site as a Foodily ambassador; to explore, share recipes and discover new recipes. Here are a few recipes that I’ve got my eye >ahem< rather palate on:
Easy Goat Cheese Appetizer
Almond-crusted Fish With Saffron Sauce
Butter Chicken
Monkey Meat
Almond Violet Dessert
Aussie Fruit Stew
Five Spice Ice Cream

I hope you will join me in discovering Foodily.com.

While I eagerly plan out a Thanksgiving meal that will treat and tease the palate, I become humbly aware that millions of people will go hungry this holiday season.

This Thanksgiving I am joining my friend, Jennifer Perillo, to help work towards closing the hunger gap. Whether your heart is drawn to helping those around the world, or those in your own backyard, we can all agree hunger does not discriminate. This empty plate represents the millions of people whom will go hungry on Thanksgiving. Whether you support local or global, we can collectively show our strength and work towards filling the plates of those whom are less fortunate.

When you look at this plate, imagine all those dishes you look forward to sharing with your loved ones and then imagine that this year things would be different. How would you change this holiday for the hungry? How can you make a difference? I am always inspired by American’s eagerness to evoke change. Today, we can feed someone. I hope you will join me and donate now.

Global Donations
Share Our Strength- No Kid Hungry

Feeding America

San Francisco Bay Area Donations

San Francisco Food Bank

Second Harvest Food Bank

Alameda County Food Bank

Holiday Food Drives in Marin (excerpted from the Marin IJ)

*Boy Scout Food Drive: The Boy Scouts of America Marin Council will collect donated food from homes throughout the county on Nov. 20. Scouts will start leaving hangers on doors in the middle of the month.
*Can Tree at Northgate mall: The Marin Food Bank will set up an 18-foot can tree at Northgate mall in Terra Linda where shoppers can donate up to 5,000 pounds of canned food during shopping center business hours from Nov. 22 to Jan. 3.
* NBC Channel 11/Safeway Turkey and Ham: The Marin Food Bank and Rotary clubs will have volunteers at all eight Marin Safeway stores from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Nov. 20 asking shoppers to buy a turkey or ham for the food bank. Safeway will bring all hams and turkeys to the food bank that day.
*Town Center Corte Madera Donation Turkey: The annual donation turkey will be at Town Center Corte Madera accepting food and cash donations through early January.
*St. Vincent de Paul Society of Marin County Turkey/Meat Drive: Volunteers will stand outside the Free Dining Room in San Rafael at 820 B St. accepting turkeys, chickens, ground beef, fish, canned tuna and other meat items from 6:30 to 1 p.m. daily starting Nov. 13.

To learn more about donating to or volunteering for the Marin Food Bank, call 883-1302 or visit www.marinfoodbank.org.
To donate to the St. Vincent de Paul Society, call 454-3303 ext. 12.

While I’d love to tell you that my time time at BlogHerFood 2010 #blogherfood was all about the sessions at the conference, that is not entirely true. In all honesty, it was also about the food and most importantly about the people. That is not in any way to minimize the quality sessions that I attended, I thought that the show organizers really put a lot of thought into making this event full of enrichment tracks and packed with speakers I couldn’t wait to hear. But at the end of the day, I know my experience was all the more satisfying because of what the people attending brought into the mix– the ‘social’ into ‘networking’; the element most often missed as we communicate on Twitter and FaceBook and LinkedIn.

For my second attendance at #blogherfood I wanted to bring something special to a few special people that I was fortunate enough to meet over the past few years. (The Ultimate Cappuccino Brownie was the treat I brought to BlogHer 09 Food – worth a try if you love the coffee and chocolate combo!) And I’d like to think these little colorful boxes, with home made treats inside, were coveted by those who received them and enjoyed by them as much as I enjoyed making them with my lovely friend Rosa Lizbeth.

Inside each box were four petite home baked alfajores. What is an alfajores you ask? Well it is something like a blond Oreo cookie stuffed with caramel sauce – the cookies are a soft butter cookie infused with orange zest, and drenched in powdered sugar, and well the rest is just yummy goodness.

While the word alfajor stems from the Arabic al-hasú, which means filled or stuffed, the history of this cookie can be traced to Andalusia Spain. Alfajores are popular in Argentina, Uruguay and Peru, although they can be found throughout South America in many different varieties.

Note: Immediately following the recipe post is my photo essay, which I hope reflects some of the great photo tips I learned from Todd Porter and and Diane Cu.

Rosa Lizbeth’s Soon-to-be-famous ALFAJORES

Ingredients

1¼ cup cornstarch
½ cup flour
2 tsps baking powder
3 TBS butter, room temperature
¼ cup confectioners’ sugar
2 egg yolks
1 tsp orange peel, zested
2 TBS milk (more if necessary)
1 cup manjar blanco (caramel), you can buy Nestle’s Dulce de Leche (13.5 oz) can

Directions

In a medium-size bowl, sift flour, cornstarch and baking powder. In a small-size bowl whip butter and sugar until well creamed. Add egg yolks, one at a time, while beating the butter mixture. Add sifted ingredients and orange peel.

Knead with hands, forming a ball. Cover with a cloth and set aside for 20 minutes. Often times, if the recipe is doubled, the mixture may seems too dry, and you will need to add additional milk.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Generously flour a flat surface and roll dough approximately 1/8 inch thick. Using a small cookie cutter, about the size of nickle. Cut circles and place on an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes or until edges begin to color. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

To assemble, the caramel cookie sandwich, take one cookie and generously spread with manjar blanco/dules de leche. Cover with another cookie. Generously sprinkle with sifted confectioner’s sugar.

Don’t hold back, gobble them up! They are worthy of the work involved to make them.

Yields: 54 cookies, plus some tasters

Note: If you want to make the manjar blanco recipe, read on:

Ingredients

10 cups of milk
2 1/4 cups sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla extract or half of a stick of vanilla

Directions

In a medium-size sauce pan, lightly coated with water, boil the milk, stirring constantly. When the milk begins to boil, add the sugar and vanilla and stir with a wooden spoon being careful to not let it stick to the pan. When the mixture begins to stick to the spoon, and you start to see the bottom of the pan, move to a plate. The mixture should not be loose.

Continue to stir it, once it is removed from the heat so that the mixture softens slightly.
###

BlogHer Food 10 Begins!

The party at Orson’s kicked off the Scharffenberger and TootiFoodie Chocolate Adventure Contest complete with a fun blind taste test of some of their previous adventure ingredients, and chocolate recipe sampling. Thank you to Marcia Gagliardi/Tablehopper, Scharffenberger, TuttiFoodie and Orson, it was a great way to start the fun and get those taste buds flowing.

Tour of a few of the Ferry Building’s Culinary Offerings

Back on the conference show floor, Chef Elizabeth Falkner invites attendees to cup cake decorating party gourmet-style.

La Petite Soirée was an event to behold, the foodie theme was SF food carts and each one was better than the next – Girl From Empanada, Sataysfied, Local Flavor, Good Eats + more! I wish it had been possible to bring a second stomach to this event, as I was stuffed and wished I could eat seconds! Thank you to Stefania Pomponi Butler, Helen McSweeney Kristen Doyle, and Jane Maynard.

Back at the show, the cooking demonstrations continued and so did the prizes.

Closing Key note was an inspirational treat with Shauna James Ahern, Michael Ruhlman , Molly Wizenberg

And for the foodie event crescendo (AKA the closing party), at the California Culinary Academy, home of Le Cordon Bleu, Elise Bauer, Jaden Hair, and Ree Drummond hosted the first all gluten free party I’ve ever attended. It proved to me that everyone could eat gluten free and not feel deprived; it was delicious! I am still dreaming about at least 6 of the recipes served. I am inspired!

Thanks to BlogHer for such a great conference! It was mentally stimulating, socially engaging and totally foodgasmic!

To read additional recaps of the conference, there are a few links to reference (and if you’d like to have your post added to the list, just send me an email at bowllicker@gmail.com):

The Italian Dish: BlogHer Food 2010 in San Francisco

Panini Happy: Memorable Moments from BlogHer Food ’10

Bay Area Bites: BlogHer Food Conference, Day 2

Celiacs in the House: BlogHer Food 2010

Celiac Teen: BlogHer Food and Irish Soda Buns

Chef Druck: 9 Cheap Props Every Budding Food Blogger Needs

Dine and Dish: Defining Success (Recipe: Slice and Bake Sugar Cookies)

Eat the Love: Don’t Forget the Homos! Blogher Food 2010

Everyday Alice (of SavorySweetLife): BlogHer Food 10 – My Blog Conference Take Away

Food Blogga: Nine Things I Learned at BlogHer Food 10 Conference

Food Woolf: How to Go to a Food Blogging Conference

In Jennie’s Kitchen: Chestnut Orange Crisps

Picky Palate: BlogHer Food Extravaganza

Steamy Kitchen: Oinker

Use Real Butter: something about best intentions + blogher food 2010 recap

What’s Gaby Cooking BlogHer Food and San Fran

Will Write for Food: BlogHer Food, the Love Fest

White on Rice: Appreciation- Speaking at Blogher Food 2010

***And last of all, for those whom might enjoy reading my take-aways from BlogHer 09 Food: The Denied Inner Cook (the monster post unwrapped) you may just see a few familiar faces. Enjoy!

(Traditionally known as Beauty and the Beast)

The San Francisco production of Beauty and the Beast was a treat to behold. The costumes, special effects and acting was nothing less than Disney-tacular. The story line mapped so closely to the animated film that at times I had to remind myself that I was watching a LIVE performance.

Liz Shivener, who played Belle, gave a fantastic performance, transporting the audience away to her small provincial life. And Sam Zeller, who played Gaston was spot on his self consumed, narcissistic character, as he proclaimed, one of my favorite lines of the play, “I use antlers in most of my decorating.” (What a catch!) The cast of characters was fun- Gaston’s side kick, Todd Schlader, gave a great gymnastic performance as he rolled with each of Gaston’s punches while Carl Danielsen, who played the suave Lumiere, added his flirtatious flair to the show. Cogsworth, Gene Brundage, and Arlene Thomas, Mrs. Potts charmed the audience with their love and affection for the Beast and their newly found potential spell-breaking Belle. The Beast, Mark Campbell, added a touch of fun to his tumultuous story as he learned how to properly woo the young woman whom would ultimately grow to love him and break his transformative spell.

In honor of this event, I’ve whipped up a drink to help you release your inner beast and celebrate the beauty of the moment.

Mandarin Beastie

Ingredients

Ice
3 oz Mandarin orange vodka
1 oz lemonade or fresh lime juice
1 oz club soda

Directions

Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Add the vodka and lemonade. Shake well and strain into a chilled martini glass. Add club soda. Garnish with the twist.

Note: a fun alternative is to add ice, vodka, lemonade, 2 large slices of peach in a blender. Mix well. Add a splash of club soda or 7 Up.

Thanks for prompting me to come up with a drink recipe and a concept JoJo!

Tinsley Island Part II- Food to Camp By

This last visit to the island for the summer had me chomping at the bit. On our previous boat camping/cooking escapades, I had left with a long list of new ideas to bring to our next adventure.

While no one does a shoddy job of planning their meals at Tinsley Island, my challenge was to come up with a tantalizing new adventuresome, yet uncomplicated series of meals, that enabled us to make good use of our leftovers; so that nothing on the food front had to be carried home. I am pleased to say – mission accomplished! No leftovers and an ample amount of others circling the fire pit asking about our menu and meal preparations – most importantly, the feedback received from my toughest critics made it well worth my while.

This is my summer bonus post- yes, two recipes to let you know that while I’ve been a bit challenged on uploading my recent blog updates, it was not due to lack of wanting to tell you more.

I must admit, as I sat down to plan this out, I had to think of Jane Maynard’s site as it is no easy task to put together menus. I recently ran into her at BlogHer10 in New York, and she seemed pleased not only with my menu, BUT with my modifications to make an adult version of the banana boats.

Voila! My no-left over weekend menu plan and a few recipes to savor your eats in the great outdoors.

Banana Boats (and Special Adult Dessert Modifications)

Ingredients

1 banana, slit on the concave side and slit into rounds
1-2 TBS chocolate chips
6-8 mini marshmallows, or 1 large marshmallows cut into small pieces
heavy duty foil

**Adult version modifications**
rum
lemon, squeeze of lemon wedge
honey

Directions

Lay the banana on its “back” and peel slit the top open. While in the skin, cut banana rounds every half inch. You may need to take out a few slices to make a bit more room for the yummy filling.

Stuff chocolate chips and marshmallows between the pieces. Wrap in foil and cook approximately 7-10 minutes until outside of banana skin turns dark brown.

If making the adult version, you may want to substitute the chocolate chips for a generous splash of rum, a squeeze of lemon and honey.

Serving: 1

Photo: Jane Maynard

Norwegian Stick Bread

If you found Siri’s Norwegian Sweet Buns recipe charming, you must try her Coveted Norwegian Stick Bread Recipe. On her recent visit to the United States, we brought her with us to enjoy our version of camping, and her menu contribution was wonderful. So many islanders wanted the recipe, that she agreed that we had to post it!

Ingredients

8 cups flour (I used 4 cups white flour and 4 cups wheat flour)
4 TBS sugar
1 tsp salt
2 1/4 cups water
1 TBS oil
3 tsp baking powder
four for dusting
sticks for cooking bread

Directions

Wash all sticks so that they are free of dirt. Make sure that stick is wet before wrapping dough around it so that the stick does not burn in the fire.

Mix all ingredients together, dusting hands with flour, take approximately 1/2 cup of dough and wrap around the stick. Place on grill and continue to move frequently until bread is browned equally on each side.

Servings: 8-10

Step 1- You will need a few good sticks.

Step 2- Take a piece of the dough.

Step 3- Wrap dough around sticks and place on grill or in fire.

Step 4- Cook the bread until brown on all sides.

** Weekend Menu**

Friday
-dinner: Norwegian Stick Bread, pork tenderloin in a honey soy sauce glaze, grilled pineapple, roasted bell peppers and onions, and heirloom tomatoes/red onions/focaccia crouton salad
-dessert: banana boats (adult and kid-a-fied)*

Saturday
-breakfast: blueberry pancakes with pineapple and pork tenderloin hash
-lunch: grilled veggie and Swiss cheese sandwiches on focaccia, fruit salad, green salad with grilled bell pepper and fresh basil
-dinner: seasoned tri-tip, corn on the cob, sauteed zucchini and onions, grilled portobello mushrooms
-dessert: s’mores

Sunday
-breakfast: portobello, zucchini and onion scrambled eggs with Pan Fried tri-tip and broiled tomatoes, skillet toast and fresh picked blackberries and left over s’mores

Last month I was invited to participate in a fantastic blogger summit hosted by the Yahoo! Mother Board. It was the first conference of its kind that I have attended since I started blogging. There were a number of things that were unique about the event that impressed me. The agenda for the sessions was targeted, relevant and robust, the bloggers were hosted by the organization which brought together a lot of wonderful thinkers/writers who may not have otherwise have had the opportunity to travel to this summit. While I was not alone in the food blogging realm of attendees, I was amongst the minority that comprised this collective group. You may wonder why I attended? Well, as a former writer for the Silicon Valley Mom’s Blog (which recently closed down its operations)- I was there to learn more about what Yahoo! had to offer me in terms of an alternate place to post my content.

While there are an ever increasing number of conferences for bloggers to attend, what I find has changed over the past few years is that the level of ‘experts’ that I am engaging with at these shows has greatly shifted, as has the overall content, which remains skewed to the entry level blogger. Those who might have been considered experts a few years may no longer be the best spokespeople, nor are these sessions the most relevant for me. This was far from the case with the Yahoo! Mother Board Summit. While I do realize that that I was presented with predominantly Yahoo! focused content, I found their business acumen approach to be worthy of my time. Yahoo! has realized that to best work with the blogging community, to expand their digital voice and footprint, they must also invest in educating their constituents about their products. Refreshing! I am constantly approached for various types of corporate projects and on one hand I do feel honored to be exposed to these various opportunities, I am very aware that many of these come with a specific expectation. I am not a stalwart writer or investigative reporter- I blog to celebrate food and fun (and occasionally technology). While I remain unconvinced that I want to make blogging or cooking my full time career, I adore keeping this world as my coveted hobby/passion project. I maintain this space because I like to be here. I like to talk to you..whomever you are…and some-days I even think someone may be listening to my random thoughts on fun and food. I am not convinced that my site is about advertising revenue, or that I want to blog daily, but I do want to curl up on my sofa with my laptop and share some words and thoughts and engage with this exciting frontier of cyber space.

While I debated just telling you about the content presented, which ties closely to my professional comfort zone, I did think we could meet half way and I could share with you my new favorite recipe with PURPLE INGREDIENTS (the same color as the famous Yahoo! logo) in appreciation to the folks at Yahoo! Mother Board for having the vision and foresight to assemble such a stellar summit. And for those whom wish to know more about the summit, scroll down to the bottom of the post for a few more insights.

Now time for foodie fun- purple food! Cherry Clafoutis or clafouti (pronounced kla-foo-TEE) is a rustic looking French country dessert from the Limousin region that has become very popular in North America. Traditionally it was made with the first sweet cherries of the season, and the cherries were left unpitted so their kernels could release their delicate almond flavor as they baked. It is a bit of a pudding of sorts, with the sweet cherries covered by a thin pancake-like batter and baked in a hot oven until the batter has set with nicely browned and slightly puffed edges. The clafoutis should be served immediately with a dusting of confectioner’s (powdered or icing) sugar. Et voilà!


Cherry Clafoutis

Ingredients

1 TBS unsalted butter, softened
4 TBS powdered sugar, plus a sprinkle
1 TBS + 1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 cups (about 3/4 pound) mixed fresh Bing (or Rainier) cherries; stemmed, rinsed, drained on paper towels, pitted, and left whole (frozen pitted cherries are an easy alternative to use as well)
1 1/2 cups half-and-half
4 large eggs
6 TBS flour
5 TBS unsalted butter, melted
2 TBS sliced almonds
1 TBS honey
2 tsps pure vanilla extract
1/8 tsp salt
1 TBS kirsch (optional)
1 cup creme fraiche (optional)

Directions

Preheat over to 400 degrees. Center a rack in the middle of the oven.

Rub approximately 1 TBS softened butter over the bottom and sides of a 9-inch oven-proof glass pie pan. Dust with 2 TBS powdered sugar, then about 1 TBS granulated sugar and tap out any excess; set aside.

Arrange the cherries over the bottom of the prepared pie pan.

In a blender or food processor, combine the half-and-half, eggs, flour, butter, the 1/4 cup granulated sugar, almonds, honey, vanilla, salt and kirsch (if using). Process until it forms a creamy, smooth batter.

Pour the batter over the fruit. Bake approximately 30-35 minutes, until the custard is golden brown around the edges and puffy yet firm in the middle.

Remove from the oven and immediately sprinkle the top with 2 TBS of powdered sugar. (It will deflate as it cools). Eat warm or at room temperature.
Serve with a dollop of creme fraiche.

Adapted from Bay Area baking expert Flo Braker’s latest book is “Baking for All Occasions” (Chronicle Books).

And if you need a bit of reading while devouring your dessert, I shall continue to tell the tale of the Yahoo! Mother Board…

The Four Seasons in Palo Alto was the backdrop that kicked off this lovely roof-top cabana clad event. The cocktail party was well done and as people arrived from their flights they filtered into the location creating a fun filled room of both conversation and tweets. While the after party migrated downstairs to the main bar, and few other room parties took center stage things didn’t run late into the night as we all knew that the morning would come early and we wanted to be well rested.

The summit topics ranged from services like how to optimize your SEO, Social product offerings, utilizing your network, Flickr to a powerful session on Online Safety that showed a tragic video of cyber bulling gone horribly wrong. There was so much content that my mind was spinning, I’ve only provided a glimpse of the topics broached. Hats off to Jeanne Moeschler and Amy Heinz for acknowledging the value of bloggers and for Elisa Steel, Mother and Yahoo! CMO, for being brave enough to personally speak to this audience – it’s not easy talking to a group of bloggers who hardly look at you when you speak amidst the laptops and cell phone tweets and blog posts. That said, no one is better suited to talk to a group of people that appear not to be listening than a mother!

Yahoo! Mother Board Factoids:
- Yahoo!’s has grown its network from 16 to 80 smart, savvy, influential women bloggers
- On Friday, July 16th, it took less than an hour for the 62 summit attendees to have two trending topics on Twitter—Elisa Steele (proud mom and CMO keynote speaker) and #ymotherboard
- Attendees at this summit cover topics ranging from living a vegan lifestyle to the impact of political issues on moms—from across the U.S. and Canada
- This summit was dubbed “the mother of all conferences”, conversations were sparked between the 62 attendees and Yahoos from Shine, Flickr, Yahoo! Safely, Yahoo! for Good, Yahoo! Green, Social Products, Yahoo! Editorial, Yahoo! Accessibility and Ad Products.

A few photographic outtakes to bring this experience into color!

Vanessa Druck, Jessica Rosenberg, Lindsey Krolik, Gina von, Jennifer Perillo

Gina and Ilina Ewens finally meet!

Gina and Stacy Libby

Other great posts from this summit. (And a picture of the rice krispie treats with purple M&Ms)

Yahoo! Mother Board Summit Exceeds All Expectations

Yahoo! Mother Board Summit: The Mother of All Conferences

Yahoo!’s Mother of All Conferences

I went to the Yahoo! Mother Board Summit and all I got was this wonderful time.

The Yahoo! Mother Board Summit

Yahoo! The Mother of All Dirty Martinis

There is a small island in the Delta Region of Northern California that conjures up wonderful childhood memories for me. It is a simple, yet special location, and the closest I manage to kinda-sorta ‘camping’ – boat camping. While it may not seem like reality, the scope of ‘tents’ range from mega yachts to small sail boats. No cell phones are allowed, and there is only one TV on the island for the guests that make reservations well in advance to stay in the ‘light house’ (there are approximately 4-5 rooms in this locale). There is no grocery store on the island, and guests typically have their own small run-about or take the complimentary ferry over from King Island. This year, as a new addition, we found that there are now weekend bar tenders walking around to take your drink and/or snack bar order – but for the most part you have to bring what you want to eat and drink.

As a child I often wondered if this was anything like all of the posh East Coast spots I had heard the yachties speak about – Maratha’s Vineyard, The Cape, or Newport Rhode Island. Having grown up sailing on San Francisco Bay and taking a few summer sailing camps at the island I have spent a nice amount of time at this hide-away during the summer months. As I have grown-up, my love for this place has also grown deeper. Since returning as an adult, I recall all of the fond times spent with my Dad, Step Mother and brother running around with large bamboo sticks for the bonfire marshmallow roast, swimming endless hours in the pool, writing in my diary, playing dominoes (Dad’s favorite- don’t beat him he just isn’t made for loosing), backgammon, fishing, hunting crawdads (BTW-they like salami or other meat), water skiing, sailing, reading books and listening to music…..the memories abound! I’ll close the chapter on this aspect of memory lane, and not bore you further, as it truly is time to talk food. The focus of this post is on meal planning – while my friend Jane Maynard, of This Week for Dinner, does a great job of posting weekly menus, I felt inspired to share my humble attempt at this camping menu. The menu worked well and we ended up with very few things to take home with pleased fully bellies all around.

Camping doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy a bit of gourmet, au contraire.

Friday
- dinner: Kobe steak kabobs with zucchini, red bell pepper and Maui onions (the vegetables were bushed with olive oil and rosemary. The meat was seasoned with salt and pepper only), field greens and whole wheat baguette served with a crisp white wine from Portugal
- dessert: watermelon au natural, ice cold

Saturday
- breakfast: cheesy scrambled eggs with fire roasted veggies and skillet butter toast
- lunch: honey roasted turkey grilled cheese sandwiches
- appetizers: salami with cream cheese, roasted garlic hummus with carrots and celery
- dinner: honey marinated chili chicken breasts; Yukon gold potato/onion herb packets; white corn on the cob brushed with paprika butter; romaine salad with carrots, Capri tomatoes, and home made croutons served with a crisp white wine from Portugal
- dessert: s’mores and coffee

Sunday
- breakfast: steel cut oatmeal with caramelized bananas served with fresh fruit salad (plums, white peaches, nectarines, apples) oh yes, and left over s’mores because it is vacation!

Upon leaving the island, we drove to our favorite spot in Stockton for lunch and had killer sweet potato fries, decadent milk shakes, delicious burgers with grilled onions and secret sauce- Moo Moo’s Burger Barn.

But when we arrived back home, we just couldn’t let the vacation feeling escape us, so we immediately invited some family over for dinner. The menu was simple, yet fresh and reeked of summer! BBQ’d sword fish, baked potatoes and some fresh greens.

Oh wait, what’s that you say? You wanted a recipe? Well, I had a feeling…but it is summer and I like to keep things on the simple side.

Photo Credit: Butteryum Blog Spot

Corn & Black Bean Salad

Ingredients

5 ears of corn, shucked (approx 2 cups)
1/2 cup small-diced red onion (1 small onion)
3 TBS cider vinegar
3 TBS olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 cup red or yellow bell pepper, chopped
4 whole bell peppers, sliced in half (this is your serving bowl, parboiling them is a plus if camping equipment permits)
1 (14 oz) can black beans, rinsed
1 lime, juiced
1 (4 oz) container, crumbled Feta (optional)
1/2 cup basil, finely chopped plus additional basil (garnish, optional)

Directions

Husk corn and rinse. Heat grill to 350F.

Shuck corn and remove all strings, place in foil and crimp edges tightly to retain moisture. BBQ corn packets for 20 minutes, turn every 10 minutes. Remove corn from foil for the last 10 minutes and allow to brown, turning regularly.

Note: Length of cooking time will vary depending on the tenderness, variety and age of the corn – some types of corn may be done in half the time.

Immediately immerse corn in cold water to stop the cooking and to set the color. When the corn is cool, cut the kernels off the cob.

In a large-size bowl, add all remaining ingredients and allow to sit for 15 minutes. Taste for seasonings and serve cold or at room temperature.

———–
A bit more history I dug up while writing this post that I wanted to share for those of you still interested in learning/reading more about Tinsley Island.

Trivia: the lighthouse was one of a chain of seventeen stations that started at the entrance to San Francisco Bay (Point Bonita) and ended at Roe Island in Suisun Bay.

In 1955, the U.S. Coast Guard automated the light and fog horn mechanisms, and the main building of the Carquinez Strait Lighthouse was sold to a private party who, in 1957, moved the building by barge up the Strait to its present position at Elliot Cove, overlooking the scenic marina. Of the seventeen original lighthouse buildings, only two others remain in existence: the St. Francis Yacht Club on Tinsley Island, and the East Brothers lighthouse in San Pablo Bay (now a bed and breakfast establishment). Tinsley Island is located at latitude – longitude coordinates of N 38.0377 and W -121.49578

More great photos and historical information can be found at California’s Majestic Lighthouse’s blog.

When a new market comes to town with an especial kinda flair, you just can’t help but to make this local outing into an excursion – Mi Pueblo is Marin County’s newest Latin supermarket/ethnic culinary hot spot. It is a lovely hidden treasure of flavors and seasonings. You’ll see from the images below that you can find cinnamon sticks in large bundles and in quantities that far surpass the regular spice bottles typically on offer, countless chilies, guavas, papayas, fresh mole sauce, salsa fresca, carne asada, and more varieties of fresh cheese than I’ve ever seen in one shop even South of the boarder. Even if you are not anywhere near my neck of the woods I think you will appreciate what they have to offer. Since I first went to explore this trove of ingredients I’ve been back two more times; once to pull together a fun dinner party menu for Cinco de Mayo and the second time to try out a new recipe that I am developing at the encouragement of my friend Veronica. (Sidebar: this recipe just may be featured this week…stay tuned.) Sit back, relax and imagine you are with me as I explore this great new local business.

Fresh Shucked BBQ Oysters

Spices, Bakery, Tastings & Produce (sigh)

Well, I guess it was just too difficult for me to go commando on the wordless concept – I considered it, but just couldn’t do it! Gracias Mi Pueblo – I am inspired and I especially like the tequila bar- that’s something you just don’t find at Safeway. “Tequila!” And for those of you whom knew me in college I’ll ask that you respect the TCE {tequila code of ethics } and not provide any revealing comments. Por Favor(pôr’ fä-vôr’) Chicas!

Have I stumped you yet? What on earth could I be talking about now? It all starts with an invitation to lunch at an adorable restaurant in Palo Alto called Vino Locale. The proprietor is the seventh son of a seventh son and had quite a personality. While the restaurant is typically closed on Monday, this colorful gentleman played host to a group of ladies serving his finest savory and sweet nibbles. The event was the then upcoming release of Just Let Me Lie Down – the necessary terms for the half-insane working mom – written by Kristin van Ogtrop, the editor of Real Simple.

The food-side chat not only gave great insight into her book, which is wonderfully witty and ironically realistic, she was kind enough to want to learn more about my first book and help me plan the next one! She had some great professional insight and ideas into the marketplace and now has me laser focused on book #2. Speaking of food, (go figure right? how unlike me- not!) one of my favorite excerpts from Kristin’s book Just Let Me Lie Down is a recipe…

Recipe for disaster: Things you believe you can accomplish in the kitchen during those deluded moments when you think devoting an entire day to cooking actually works with your schedule and lifestyle. Including, but not limited to, osso bucco, cassoulet, and pavlova. (She is a woman/mother after my own heart.)

And Kristin even manages to encapsulate my mobile dependency when she writes about Technical bipolarism: When you wake up in the morning and can’t imagine how you would get through life without your BlackBerry, but by bedtime, you want to strap a bomb to it and blow it to smithereens. (Heck yeah!)

I’ve selected this recipe from my treasure trove just might fit the bill- easy to make and allows time for the cook to ‘just lie down’ and take a nap. It makes a nice side dish or light stand alone meal. It is one of my favorite summer recipes taught to me by my Zia Maria Rosa when we spent some time one summer in La Maremma, Italy. The weather there is so hot in the summer that the dinner meal is typically prepared at breakfast when it is still cool enough to turn on the oven. This recipe can easily be modified to include most anything yummy in your fridge or pantry — the possibilities are endless, have fun with it and know that in some way this reflection of my time spent in Italy ties back to my chance meeting with Kristin to celebrate her new book and our discussion of my upcoming cook book – it’s really all just ‘Real Simple’.

Maremma Rice Salad

Ingredients

2 cups cooked rice
1 cup dry mozzarella, cubed
1/2 cup peas, cooked
1/2 cup pearl onions, cooked
6-10 cherry tomatoes, quartered
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup olive oil
3 TBS red wine vinegar
2 TBS mayonnaise
salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Cook rice according to package directions. Set aside to cool. Slightly under cook peas and onions and drain and set aside. In large size bowl, mix all prepared ingredients together. Then add Parmesan cheese olive oil, vinegar and mayonnaise.

Special thanks to my good friend Stacy Libby for all of her photos from the luncheon. For a great blog-time check her out on Laptop TV Mom at www.ltvmom.com. And thanks to the Silicon Valley Moms Blog for the wonderful opportunity to meet Kristin. You can order Kristin’s book on Amazon.

Gina von Esmarch, Kristin van Ogtrop & Stacy Libby

While I am not typically a wordless Wednesday kinda-gal, I have been tempted to anti-up. Today’s the day. My trip to Yountville still has me dreaming of these images on a daily basis…the heart of a foodie unleashed. My photo diary of Bouchon Bakery, Napa Style and French Laundry.

Below the Napa Style image of the store and salmon colored salt, you can see the picturesque grounds and the organic vegetable garden at French Laundry…