Don’t you wish you could start your life backwards? It’s one of those situations where you accumulate all this experience and knowledge which you may never have the opportunity to use again. Instead, you have to learn these life lessons the hard way! The answers and wisdom come after you run that first marathon, get that black belt, or climb […]
Santa Cruz: a 1-2 hour drive from most parts of the San Francisco Bay Area and a most satisfying weekend destination. It is more than just a funky hippy town, but offers plenty of charm, fine food options, a plethora of hiking trails, a scenic wonderland, and of course, the beach. On a three day weekend, you can feel the […]
Summertime is filled with lots of fun seasonal activities, like blackberry picking. Picking this delicate and fragile fruit can be dangerously fun through all the poking, prodding, and piercings as you maneuver your body through the thorny landmine…so, grab a basket, a bucket, or bag and prepare yourself for some blackened hands! If you can’t or not up for this […]
Chef Cassandra Chen of CC Made, a maker of artisan Caramel Corn, Candy, and Sauces had the kind of challenging problem that every start up company wants to literally have: “Sweet Success!” With the limited hours at a small rental Commercial Kitchen (Marin County, CA) and the high demand for her handmade addictive treats, she was ready for a space […]
Cassandra Chen spent her early childhood years in Shanghai, China and watched her grandmother prepare elaborate, traditional Chinese Feasts. Meanwhile, her mother, who was also an exceptional cook, refused to make the same dish twice. Cassandra found herself working in the World of Finance after college where she felt unfulfilled. She wanted to do something with her life where something […]
See our first “Fun with Food Guru” Video – reactions to a taste test of the hottest condiment we have ever had. It is known as Atomic Extra Hot Horseradish. Watch the Video to see a combination of how tasters’ senses were blown away while laughing and crying.
Cupcakes, cupcakes, and more cupcakes…they are everywhere: at your local markets, farmer’s markets, bakeries, dessert bars, weddings, cupcake stores, and cupcake trucks. My go-to cupcake is the under-appreciated MUFFIN. I have one at least once a week and have 3 choice recipes I make and freeze. Aside from the ever so popular Blueberry, I finally have a muffin recipe for […]
Meandering through the many miles of the hilly, misty roads, cows and goats happily graze in this “Irish” looking landscape North of San Francisco. The region may be close to the Wine Country, but don’t count on a wine tour in these parts because this is dairy territory; it is the cream of the crop for food experiences. Ramini Mozzarella […]
No planes, no airports, no trains, no baggage and best of all no JET LAG when you enter the “Ireland” of Northern California. Grassy-green hills, misty-foggy climate, raging waves, sculptured- rocky coastlines mixed with Dairy farms and Oyster shacks line this desolate and unpopulated part of West Marin and Sonoma County. Within an hour’s drive from San Francisco, small communities […]
Creamy, fresh fromage blanc; tangy silken chévre; bracing blues, each fascinatingly different from its brothers; tastebud-waking, complex aged triple-crèmes…are you hungry yet? I am almost always hungry – for cheese. Last weekend, I was among the fortunate attendees at California’s 7th Annual Artisan Cheese Festival in Petaluma, one of the hubs of California’s booming cheese industry. The festival is a […]
My favorite beverage is coffee. It’s not only the caffeine that wakes me up in the morning and gives me that badly needed energy boost midday, but the aroma and strong flavor gets my mind and body racing. My love and addiction for coffee began over 20 years ago. I was a Marketing Consultant for a donut store chain in […]
Several months back, Slow Food organization coordinated a cupping and roasting demonstration at the Highwire Coffee Roasters’ facilities in the Oakland area. Rich Avella, Robert Myers, and Eric Hashimoto, the proprietors of Highwire, walked us through the step by step process from seed to cup. Think of cupping as similar to wine tasting. A Short Video Story click HERE.
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