Local Love: Zut! on Forth

My friend Vanessa is one of my favorite people to dine with. She loves food, cooking and is stickler for fresh, local, organic and options. We often make a point to check out as many cool restaurants that support the farm the fresh food movement; sometimes the restaurants are so on point with the we spend quite a bit of time hemming and hawing over all the amazing menu selections. When V and I go out together there is no rushing us through our meals; we like to share plates, taste as much as possible and discuss the food and flavor combination's. You know fancy cocktails are a must! We recently had an amazing lunch at ZUT! in Berkley that reminded me of my meals in Italy, where dinners lasted hours. It's all about allowing patrons to thoroughly enjoy their dining experience and not about getting customers in-and-out of tables as quickly as possible. If you're ever in the Bay Area I would highly recommend checking out ZUT!

This chorizo stuffed squid was not only one of the top 5 things I have ever eaten, it's also one of the reasons I could never go back to being a full-time vegetarian.
Food like this is too good to miss out on.

Vanessa and spent a good 20 minutes {maybe longer} deciding on what to order.
There was just too many amazing options!

I tried the Maltese and Vanessa tried the Philanthropist, both were incredibly fresh and some of best cocktails I have ever had.

And I can't stop thinking about this Point Reyes Blue Cheese Pizza topped with caramelized onions, fig jam, peppered walnuts and argula. It was so fresh and had an amazing combination of flavors, it was almost an epitome of Farm to Fresh local eats.

Alright I'm ready for lunch now...

Amber's {FWM} Notebook: Linguine and Clams

To celebrate my good friend's, Vanessa and Annie's Bon Voyages, Vanessa's parents had us all over for her father's famous linguine and clams. I've been over for many meals, but never one this indulgent and fabulous. Completed with a fresh squeeze of garden lemon and a plentiful dusting of Parmesan, this meal was the perfect one to send V and Annie off with. I'm still dreaming about it now. Thank you to Mrs & Mrs V for having us over for a fabulous meal!
This meal was definitely FWM {Food Worth Mentioning} in my notebook.

Tried and true recipe, made many a time at Vanessa's house.

Simmering away.

Only the freshest organic ingredients are used in the V's kitchen.

Wine from a recent wine tasting trip.

Final prep.

And dinner is served.

Cheers!

Miss you V and Annie!

Things I Love: Tickled Pink

On Friday Casey and I went out for my "last supper" before my tonsillectomy and boy did we go out with a bang. Since a quality dinner was in order we headed over to Flemings to have a toast with my last meal, and their new Tickled Pink 99 Calorie raspberry cocktail was the perfect drink to go all out with. That night was all about eating, so I was more then happy to save a few calories on a cocktail, especially one that tasted so yummy. Plus it was pink, and raspberry! I was tickled, to say the least!

Indulging at Flemings was exactly what I needed to do in order to prepare for my surgery.

Tickled pink.

Belvedere vodka, raspberry preserve, and Mionetto Prosecco.

It was so good I had two! That's only 198 calories if you're counting.

We ordered the french onion soup, bone in rib eye steak, chipotle mac and cheese, and the fish special of the night.
It was all amazing! I even went all out on the bread basket and chipotle butter.
I wasn't holding back!

My fish special was excellent. It was the perfect last meal! The avacado, black beans, cucumber, corn and chipotle sauce complimented the fish perfectly, while satisfying my need for something spicy.

I couldn't imagine a better meal to send me off with.

Someone go enjoy a tickled pink cocktail for me this week, please.
And something spicy, spice is not going to be in my diet for about a month!
Thank you Flemings for having us in, it as an amazing dinner.

Things I Love: Weekend Wanders

My weekend was filled with great food, good friends, fantastic views and a little shopping.
I hope your weekend was a good one as well!
{radio flyer}

{green tea salad from burma superstar}


{beet salad and tacos from tacolicious}



{view from Twin Peaks}

{hop kicks in the marina}


{a goody from LF , thanks Krystle for your help}

Today I will be relaxing and enjoying this three day weekend.

Things I Love: Iron Chef

Right before Christmas our friends Matt and Lei moved to America. Matt moved back after being in China for just over 3 years and this is Lei's first time ever in America. They surprised 3 weeks ago on Tuesday and we have had dinner together every Tuesday since, we had being taking lei to new foods she had never had before, sushi and Mexican food. This Tuesday Lei said she wanted to cook dinner for us, and I was more the excited.

Lei, Matt, and Casey went to Ranch 99 for all the ingredients and when I came home Lei was already chopping away. I was so impressed by her knife skills! Lei doesn't use any measuring tools or recipes when she cooks and it was so fun to watch her in the kitchen. I think it would be so fun to host a cooking party and Lei could teach us some of her stir frying skills.

Ranch 99 Goodies:

Lei used lots of veggies because she knows I love them. Her new favorite vegetable is brussel sprouts, she never had them in China.

Stir fry action. Lei was a pro!




And the feast.
Lei made 4 dishes in about an hour. She was working it Iron chef style.
It was amazing!

The dinner party.

Appetizers were '1000 year eggs'. Lei explained that it's an egg preserved similar to how cheese can be preserved or milk made into yogurt.
I felt like I was back in China!

However, I think this face shows how I felt about the egg.

It was a great night and the food was amazing. I am so lucky to have friends like Lei who can teach me new things about their culture!

Lei and I, in Beijing on June 14, 2009. We were celebrating my 27th birthday!

Things I love: Curry In a Hurry (with Murray)

I don't make resolutions per se, but I do use the New Year to motivate myself. And I know one thing I wanted to stop doing this year was stop making messes. Yet tonight I made a mess in the kitchen.

But it wasn't all bad.

I wanted to get back in the swing of things, and start cooking regularly again.

Honestly, I lost my cooking motivation back in June when I got sick, then went to Europe and then...well it's easier to just go out right?

Also, this year I want Casey to try new things. So tonight I made Indian food. I've never made Indian food at home before. And surprisingly, it went well.

I'd like to thank Kath and her recent post for my motivation and the Happy Herbivore for the recipes. It was delish.

So if you're like me and are trying to cook more, expand your husband's pallet or just need a new recipe, be sure to check these out.
I served the red lentils and spinach with a curry yogurt (hot curry, greek yogurt, cilantro and chopped orange bell pepper). So excited for leftovers for lunch tomorrow!

Things I love: Share and Share Alike

Eating good food with good friends it one of things that brings joy to my life. While I have been sick these past couple days I have been looking over recent pictures of fun times that I had taken but never made it to the blog.

This particular evening was one spent with Jen and Vanessa at our favorite tapas plate restaurant. It's on the pricey side but their selection of local, organic and unique ingredients never ceases to amaze us. And as produce goes in and out of season the menu changes frequently, so it is always fun to go in because there are new surprises on the menu.

One of the things I love about tapas is that we all share the plates, so we ohh and ahh over the same flavors in unison -- or we find how our palettes differ. I find it to be such a engaging dining experience.

On this particular evening we ohhed and ahhed heirloom radishes with hummus.
We all picked a radish we liked best and none of us picked the same one.
{I liked the pink ones best}

As well as an accoutrement of cheeses.
Vanessa made sure we all tasted the cheeses in the same order.

A tomato dish and flash fried spinach.

And Heirloom tomato gazpacho shooters.

A fabulous night full of good food and friends! I can't wait until I feel up for that again soon!
And thanks you for all the $100 to shopbop Entries!

Things I Love: Thankful Tuesdays

Tuesdays don't just have to be for tacos, although you'll never see me turn down a Taco Tuesday. Yesterday I was feeling inspired so I made a lemon Rosemary roasted chicken, roasted brussel sprouts (over cooked-- fail) and mashed cauliflower. Quite the nice Tuesday nigh dinner I have to say. And a loaf Semifreddi's bread always helps.

Boiled Cauliflower and garlic. Mashed with Greek yogurt, goat cheese and chives.

The brussels before I ruined them. No wonder they get a bad name!

All together.

I was very thankful this Tuesday for all that I have to be grateful for. Cheers!