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What’s in the fridge?

November 14, 2009 in Uncategorized by traveleatlove | 7 comments

Sleepy day, eh? I was up early and out of the house to meet some Boston bloggers for a run. I met up with Alison, Elina, Ina, and Beth for a run on the Cambridge side of the Charles. I am SO glad Elina arranged the run and that we actually went out and did it because the weather was brutal at times. By the time we finished four miles, my shoes were full of water, and my clothes clung to me as though I went swimming in them. Still, I managed to drag my soggy self into Trader Joe’s to pick up some food for the week along with my Super Red Drink Powder to bring to San Diego with me this week. Must.stay.healthy. My office is split up into two areas by the reception area, and word on the street is that the other area is full of sick people at the mo. They should stay away. I am taking a short break from California posts just to break things up a little bit. I could seriously write about our trip for the next couple of weeks as I want to remember every second, but other stuff has gone on since we returned, and I don’t want to bore anyone with constant wine chatter.

We flew into Boston on a red eye and arrived a little before 7 am Wednesday. Virgin America just rocks. They got us in 40 minutes early with another perfectly smooth landing. On the four flights I have had with them so far, every landing has been like setting down on pillows. And landing normally terrifies me. The internet on Virgin America is also great and is free from now until after the holidays! Anyway, we headed home from the airport and pretty much the second we got in the door, I unpacked the laptop and logged into my office computer to greet the flood of emails that arrived when I was away. THIS is why I work on vacation. I would much prefer to handle a few things a day than be completely swamped and miserable my first day back. People yell at me all the time for working on days off, but for me it just works and not doing it this time made everything pretty bad. . . Working all day on no sleep meant no time to go grocery shopping. I wanted a healthy meal to detox from my 5 days of eating and drinking everything in sight, so I scrounged around to see what we had leftover from the week before.

A hearty butternut squash – I love how long it lasts!

Panko bread crumbs, thank you Kikkoman and Foodbuzz!
Trader Joe’s chicken apple sausage, so yum. (This recipe could be made with beans or tofu, very easily) I started by cutting and gutting the butternut squash.

The stuffing for the squash consisted of chopped sausage, 3 cloves of chopped garlic, 1/2 cup bread crumbs, a few dashes of cayenne pepper, crushed red pepper flakes, and freshly ground black pepper.

Grenada nutmeg, love the travel memories it brings. . . The topping was topped off with grated Kerrygold Dubliner cheese.

I coated the butternut squash halves with olive oil and a bit of cayenne and popped them in the oven at 400 for about 25 minutes before I pulled them out and stuffed them. I returned them to the oven for about 20 more minutes, waiting until the flesh of the squash was able to be easily pierced with a fork.

Please ignore our ancient baking sheets 😉 This dish was easy, healthy, and actually a lot of fun to make and really, it could easily be vegetarian. I probably will make it with tofu next time. Being away from a kitchen for so long is always difficult for me. We have already talked about our next trip to California wine country and about maybe renting a little apartment or staying in a hotel that offers rooms with kitchens. Can you just imagine the wine and food pairings you could do in your own wine country kitchen? Travel Eat Love’s Wine Country Kitchen. . . I like the sound of it!

Tags: cooking, Food, recipe

Alexander’s at the Timber Cove Inn

November 13, 2009 in Restaurants, Travel, wine by traveleatlove | No comments

One of the great things about staying in a hotel in the middle of nowhere is the ability to stay in one place for a little while without having to drive or walk very far. Timber Cove Inn offers a restaurant right on the property, Alexander’s, and all we had to do for dinner was to walk down a flight of stairs and we were there. For our dinner, I started out with a glass of Cline Cellars Syrah and hubs got a glass of Rodney Strong Pinot Noir.

We shared the hazelnut crusted brie with a fall fruit compote, the fruits sweet and spiciness complementing the buttery brie which had a crunchy, nutty coating.

For my entree I ordered mahi mahi with creamy coconut rice, caramelized pineapple, and vegetable slaw. The photo is a bit blurry as the restaurant had a lovely, candlelit glow.

Caramelized pineapple where have you been all my life? It was so sweet and just popped full of flavor in my mouth. The meatiness of the fish worked really well with the pineapple, and what can you say about creamy coconut rice except for, yum? Hubs ordered cioppino which came with made to order garlic bread.

The light, spicy tomato broth housed perfectly cooked prawns, mussels, and clams which tasted like they were just out of the sea. Thick cut buttery, garlicky bread, dipped into the broth provided just the right amount of heft to this dish. We were both very happy with our choices. We were quite full from the meal, but when we saw chocolate soup on the menu, we had to have it.

Velvety, warm chocolate mixed with incredibly fresh berries, the kind that you can smell from several feet away. They tasted like they had just been picked. We retired to our room shortly after dinner and got to watch a bonfire that was down near the ocean. It smelled so incredible and provided the perfect glow to the surrounding area. The next morning, we planned on skipping breakfast at the inn so that we could explore and then head to Sonoma for some wine tasting. But our stomachs had other plans, and boy am I glad! Breakfast at the Timber Cove Inn is just as gorgeous as dinner. We sat in the same, ocean facing table and started out with a cappucino and a latte. I ordered the Coastal Continental breakfast which included fresh fruit, half of a buttery croissant, a wedge of brie cheese, and a couple of miniature cranberry scones.

Hubs ordered the Eggs Stewart, basically Eggs Benedict with smoked salmon instead of Canadian bacon.

This ended up being one of the best breakfasts we have ever had. We sort of shared both plates so that we had equal portions of runny, bright yellow egg mixed with Hollandaise over melt like butter smoky salmon with fruit and cheese. The service for both meals was friendly and outstanding, in fact everyone in the area was just very friendly and welcoming. Prices are very reasonable, especially after you have been dining in San Francisco for a few days, and all of the food was just fresh, well prepared, and downright good. Thank you, Timber Cove Inn and Alexander’s for a fantastic retreat! We will be back, hopefully with friends or family. This place is too good not to share. edited to add: Hubs was telling his sister about our trip over the phone, explaining how far out we had to go to get to Timber Cove. She knew EXACTLY where it was because they got engaged there! What are the odds? 😉 Go here, its very special.

Tags: breakfast, California, Dining out, dinner, Food, Restaurants, Sonoma Coast, Timber Cove, Travel, wine, wine tasting

Outstanding in the Field. . . or Warehouse

November 11, 2009 in Uncategorized by traveleatlove | No comments

After a long and filling day meeting bloggers and eating lots of yummy food, the Foodbuzz festival attendees were treated to yet another culinary delight, an Outstanding in the Field dinner in the Greenleaf Produce Warehouse.

We all met up at the Hotel Vitale and were bussed to a warehouse district of San Francisco. It was a little bit shady. . . Once inside, however, it was absolutely enchanting. A long, winding series of tables dressed in white tablecloths and set with mismatched plates and chopsticks awaited us. Randall Grahm from Bonny Doon Vineyard was pouring wines all night, and started us off with a crisp albariño. Baskets of spicy shrimp crisps arrived on each table, and servers passed tonnato on crostini. Somehow I still had an appetite from the tasting pavilion. That’s what happens when I run in the morning!
With Andrea and Mardi
I spent a lot of time talking with so many bloggers whose blogs I had never read, and I am quite excited to start reading them. I have a stack of blogger business cards as well as a ton of recipe cards to start in on as soon as I have time. Once we sat down, we were treated to quite a feast, starting with plates of pickled vegetables. Kimchi deliciousness, I could eat it all day long. The first course was a mushroom dashi with maitake, shimeji,and enoki mushrooms.

It was followed by grilled calamari with a brown butter ponzu reduction with cucumber, kaiware, frisee, and yellow pear tomato with chojang and sesame vinaigrette served over udon noodles. The thick noodles paired well with crunchy cucumber, sweet tomatoes, and ocean-y calamari.
Seltzer water from The Seltzer Sisters was flowing throughout the meal in old fashioned seltzer containers. Anyone who knows me knows my love of fizzy water, and the containers, which were fun to use and cute to look at, kept it fresh extremely bubbly, just the way I like it. There was also mushroom risotto with koshikari rice and crispy maitake mushrooms and sea trout baked with dashikombu, fried garlic, and Japanese curry powder.

It was served with the most amazing Brussels sprouts I have ever had.
They were roasted with ponzu fried garlic, guanciale, and bonito flakes. Salty, caramelized, and to die for delicious, I could have eaten the entire serving bowl. Brussels sprouts have such a bad rap, but I would guarantee pretty much anyone would love this dish. Believe it or not, I also bravely consumed soy braised beef cheeks with baby carrots and fingerling potatoes, OB beer, and denjang demi. Foodbuzz is for adventurous eating, and this beef was melt in your mouth yumminess. The evening ended with koshikari rice pudding with cookie crumble and warren pear which was served with a 2008 Bonny Doon Vinferno, a sweet, almost syrupy dessert wine that paired well with the creamy rice.

We capped the night off with prosecco in the Hotel Vitale.
What an incredible evening! All of the food and wine was locally sourced and scrumptious, and sharing it with new friends made the night fly by. Thank you to everyone who contributed: GreenLeaf Produce ABS Seafood Bonny Doon Vineyard County Line Harvest EO/Small World Trading Company Frog Hollow Farm Far West Fungi Iacopi Farm Marin Roots Farm Marin Sun Farms The Seltzer Sisters Totally Bamboo And of course all of the amazing chefs from Namu, Hog Island, and Walzwerk, and Outstanding in the Field who are truly outstanding. I came away from this night with such an appreciation of farm to table cuisine and a desire to cook a lot more. I have to say that there were definitely things on the menu that I had never heard of before, and I can’t wait to learn more!