coffee on my mind

Recently I have been hooked, addicted, obsessed, with coffee. Just this past weekend, my friend Paula and I checked out a local coffee "hideout" in SF called Blue Bottle on Linden. It's so small and is literally out of someone's garage in the middle of an alley. I ordered a mocha (for $4.50) and the foam/whip design was so cute! It was one of the main reasons why we, more like Paula, chose this place. I'm really glad we got to check it out. The mocha tasted more like hot, dark chocolate - very delicious! There was a park nearby and we talked, sipped coffee, and watched kids and dogs walk by. I hope I have many more days like that in the future.

Blue Bottle can be considered a hidden gem. Hidden from plain view, hard to find parking. I'm not an expert at coffee tasting but the taste of the Caffe Mocha was quite different from the ones that I have had in the past. It was more chocolate, but not in an overly sweet way. The price of the drink, in proportion to the size, was reasonable - comparable to the price of Starbucks. There were not a lot of selections but sometimes that might make it easier for the customer to choose. I noticed while we were there that they served espresso shots in tiny mug cups. And once they were done with the drink, they just handed the cup back. I like! :D

I would love to go back a second time, if only parking was easier. Another drawback was that it is so far from my house. I wonder if there are any nice coffee shops nearby my house.

weekend getaway

This weekend was AWESOME. It was such a nice treat from the craziness of the past week. On Saturday, I woke up at 6am to this beautiful sight. The colors were just so awe-worthy.

Around 2 hours later, we arrived at Pt. Reyes and went through one of the dirtiest and muddiest hikes yet. My shoes were slipping and getting sucked. The biggest surprises during the hike was on the way back, there were cows (huge ones!) blocking the trail! Too bad I wasn't fast enough to capture a picture of Brian running towards the cows, and scaring them off in the process. In addition, the first bed of water we saw in the beginning of the hike had subsided later on in the day, leaving mud and splotches of trapped water. Then we proceed to hit up the beaches.

At this beach, there were a lot of rock formations and we can even saw a lot of stratification. That was cool - seeing the layers of rock that has been there for ages. Of course I would not of realized all this without Brian pointing it out (duh).

On Sunday, we went yumcha at a place called Rice Bowl Restaurant in Sacramento. It was a decent place for dimsum but taste-wise, New Canton is still more favorable. Then we drove in circles (!!!) trying to find the local Ranch 99 and when we finally found the address, it turns out that the stated address, the location at which the Ranch 99 website posted up, was an EMPTY BUILDING. Oh. My. Gawd. It was so disappointing, but at least I was with good company. Plus, the hours or so nap that we took afterward makes everything better.

Good hike, food, nap, run, and company = AWESOME POSSUM! (Thanks for taking me Brian!)

the dump

I am finding myself in quite a rut. It is times like these I wonder why I choose to remain in Davis. The fridge in the house that I am staying at recently broke, and the repairman can only come by on Thursday, the earliest. I already had to throw out a lot of my meat and backup food because they had gone bad already. Tonight I managed to whip up a quick pasta dish (crossing my fingers that the tomato sauce in the fridge is still good, else food-poisoning here we come..) with some remaining ingredients lying around (onion, garlic, Parmesan cheese). On the downside, it's not as fun cooking for myself, versus cooking for someone else. There's no joy, no entertainment, no satisfaction (except for no longer being hungry, which is a plus I suppose). I would have rather gone out to eat, if only I could find a dinner companion. And here lies my woe. In this small town of Davis, CA, it consists of primarily college students, college students that flow in and out like a steady stream. Once pass the graduation date, the friends you've met, the people you are so familiar with, just flows on by. I feel like the leaf that got stuck in-between rocks and grounded by gravel. Sometimes I feel quite alone, and I wonder what am I doing here when I can be back home surrounded by family. I wonder, is this worth it. From the years I've spent in this town, I have come to the realization that I am a social creature. I need to constantly interact with others to feel happy, and only on occasion do I enjoy my "alone time."

yay for weekend!

Tomorrow is BAGEL FRIDAYS! Yay. I can't wait to take a big bite out of those delicious blueberry bagels. Add a generous helping of honey almond spread and that is PERFECTION right now. Hopefully I'll be more productive this upcoming weekend, not to say that last weekend was unproductive. I actually had a very laid back and fun weekend! I had a lot of good eats. Yum. :) AND, I went to the Farmer's Market for a brief minute and for the first time, in all my many years here in Davis, bought something!

Tada! May I present to you, my very first purchase.... APPLE JUICE! The vendor was selling it $1 per bottle, how could I have resisted? The one of the left is mine and after being so kind to share a sip with Brian, he decided to buy one as well! It was quite frozen when we first drank it - there was a big block of apple juice ice in the center, and it took a while for it to thaw out completely. But yes, so delicious! And it wasn't even overly sweet like the apple juice you buy at the supermarkets (aka Safeway). The only downside was that if you look very very closely at the label on the bottle, it's.. unpasteurized. Yup, drink with caution. Well Brian and I certainly threw caution to the wind and gulped these babies down like no tomorrow. Then we proceed to take the longest nap ever. Ah, bliss.

food on the brain

I should really be heading to bed, but I can't seem to tear myself away from all these wonderful (and saliva-inducing) food blogs. Seeing all the bright and delicious dishes in all its colorful glory just simply makes me want to cook. I've decided to start a recipe notebook (more like an old notebook from my studying days) to keep all the recipes I have attempted in the past, as well as those I would like to try my hand at. So far I want to give my chicken tetrazzini dish a second go. The first time I made it, it was so good, in a surprising I didn't know what I was doing and eyeballing ingredients and oh my god yummy kind of way. Hopefully the second time will be just as good, and maybe less buttery. Yes, I know butter adds to the flavor but when I reheated leftovers, you can clearly see some oil separating from the sauce. Yuck. As for new recipes, I would love to make a creamy risotto! I would give myself a huge pat on the back if it comes out half-decent. My stomach's already rumbling from thinking about it.