afternoon roadtrip to Pescadero

An afternoon drive to Pescadero along the scenic highway with late lunch at Duarte's for their famous artichoke soup (I ordered half artichoke and half chile) served with warm sourdough bread and then I couldn't resist a slice of pie (strawberry rhubarb). After refueling we headed down the road to Harley Farms Goat Dairy with the best lavender bud soft goat cheese and quirky carved wood details and hand painted signs.

morning stillness

water on the moon

a walk through the sprinklers and then around the moon 

still life with figs

sometimes an afternoon snack turns into a still life portrait 

local's corner

My friend Courtney had been on the East Coast for a bit visiting family and it was time to catch up and try a place that'd been on both of our "must try" lists for some time now. I've heard so many good things about Local's Corner and it held up to the accolades. I snapped a few pictures before the sunset, but after the natural light went I put my phone away and really settled into enjoying the meal... without pics to share. I've wanted to try uni and it was on the menu.. hooray. This is said to be the replacement for foie gras that was banned in SF as of last year. The uni with preserved lemon and jalapeno above was creamy and delicious. Below is dungeness crab salad with blackberries, avocado, and roasted beets. Not pictured, but devoured was an confit eggplant, and spotted prawn with white gazpacho. I had Pinot Noir by Banshee out of Sonoma that is my current top favorite local red wine. To the nice guys that sat next to us at Plow, hello, and yes... Local's Corner is now one of my favorite dinner spots in SF so feel free to add it to your list.

foggy brunch at Plow

The rain that came through when the city was still asleep left a chill that lasted through the morning and fog that left us in a slumber state until our second cup of coffee. The crisp air had me wearing boots (that match fallen Magnolia leaves) and shorts... which had me feeling like a toddler that was reluctantly allowed to pick out their clothes, but I knew the sun would break through at some point. http://mikaylabutchart.blogspot.com/ and I headed to Plow on Potrero Hill for breakfast, which quickly turned to brunch with the wait and casual vibe that lets you take your time and savor every bite. Below is "the plow" with two small ricotta pancakes, two eggs any style, four small chicken apple sausage links (you can go spicy or pick bacon), and the bast fried potatoes that are soft and fluffy inside with a crispy skin with course salt and fresh rosemary. The bottom photo is of a fried egg sandwich with crisp bacon and more potatoes. We devoured it and this is still hands down one of my favorite breakfast spots in SF. 

treasure hunt

in desperate need of another photo backup a friend offered to go on a Costco field trip with her membership card so I could get a good deal on a bigger external computer drive. It'd been years since I'd ventured into a Costco store and I was thrilled to see so many small label brands and organic produce and goods. Needless to say I was thrilled to find the treasures above and I'm ready to make brandied peaches this season and snack on Jarlsberg cheese and Nutella for a few months. The Tartine cookbook had to come home with me and seeing this next to the Tyler Florence cookbook had me welling up with pride for the Bay Area food scene. 

Summer peaches for the Fall

I found a great deal on Organic peaches when I was in the East Bay and decided to put them up for later. One jar of sliced in a light sugar syrup, spiced peaches, and then a small jar of pie filling.  

treat time

catching up with my sweet friend Bethany over Tartine treats. Bridge traffic had her running a little late so I had some extra time to take a few pics of our food before she arrived. Pictured above is a Croque Monsiuer with ham, a ham and cheese croissant, and a lemon cream tart. YUM! 

the future

I was walking downtown after catching a movie with friends when I spotted this neon sign. I really wanted to take a picture for my dear friend Mikayla's birthday. This intentional blur took a few takes, but I wanted it to shift off the wall. 

fog filter

a quick stop at Mikayla's house where the light was so ethereal  followed with a walk to and through the Mission 

Grand Lake farmers market

is in Oakland by Lake Merrit and it's still just as charming as it was as few years back when it was my neighborhood market. I really like these well loved wooden fruit and veggie boxes and this one had a little extra charm with the newspaper lining. 

blue

... hour with the foggy bay in the distance

update update

Hello,

I have an update in the works. My computer is at full again and I need to move some photos out so I can move new ones in to share. I picked up another external hard drive today with huge capacity so here's to hoping this smooths out soon. I should be back up and running in the next day or two with pictures to share.

hugs and love,

b

balance

 Another walk to the Golden Gate Bridge to take in the view. Here are a few photos taken from Fort Point and then a cheers to SF with "bright green" Juice Shop juice followed up with an Americano pizza from Tony's Pizza Napoletana for balance.

the people's art project

I walked downtown to meet friends at the farmers market and after we came across the Inside Out Project. Here are some of the best Inside Out Group Actions. There is a truck that looks like a camera, with a photo booth above the rear bumper, pictured above. The photos are then printed out of the side of the truck in a large format and then adhered to the flexible backing which looked like roofing liner with wheat paste and left to dry. Some people had a message card with them to include in their portrait photo. The mayor of SF is in the image above, guy on the right) and someone added text to the surface of his photo. Many of the messages were about equality, love, or immigration rights. This project is so inspiring and I was elated to be a small part of it.