Archive for the ‘Social’ Category

Garden Party Perfect

Wednesday, September 1st, 2010

I recently had the pleasure of attending The. Most. Gorgeous and Supremely. Super. Delicious garden party and I couldn’t wait to share it with you. I am the proud member of a very glam-very secret -dinner club and every month I am wowed by how gifted the members are in both cooking and hosting.

{gorgeous right?}

{grilled figs, tortellini salad, black bean salad, grilled tenderloin}

{homegrown heirlooms, marscarpone dip, grilled shrimp}

This month, we were lucky enough to have received a special cocktail component for our guests to experiment with and there is no doubt it was a huge hit.  If you are a tequila lover, I highly reccomend you try Centenario Roseangel hibiscus infused tequila. Now, seeing as how I am in a family way, I did not have the chance to sample these beautiful cocktails but I was assured by several guests and the steadily emptying bottle that this is a special tequila.

{the posh potluck's Rosy-tini}

We named our cocktail the Rosy-tini and here are the ingredients:

2 parts Rosangel Hibiscus Tequila
1 part St. Germaine
splash of sparkling water
splash of lime juice
shaken in a cocktail shaker until very cold and served in a martini  glass with a lime wedge

Hungry and ready for happy hour?  Thought so.  My work here is done.

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Best Thing I Ever Ate

Monday, August 30th, 2010

{Afternoon Snack – Roasted banana ice cream, housemade graham crackers, caramel sauce and whipped cream}

On my last trip to SF, I had a night off from the wedding festivities and enjoyed an evening out on the town with some of my favorite City dwellers. First up, Erin took us to Nihon Whiskey Lounge, a hip lounge featuring Japanese Izakaya (sort of like tapas) and over 400 types of whiskey. It was no joke. Fun for tasting different types of whiskey, but try as I may, its just not my favorite spirit.

So its a Friday night, you’re in the Mission, what do you and 6 adults do next?

Ice cream, naturally.

The first destination was closed, so our cabbie switched routes and dropped us off at Bi-Rite Creamery. I had seen it featured on an episode of The Food Network’s Best Thing I Ever Ate: Dessert Edition and made a mental note to get here on my next visit to SF.

Lots of other adults had the same idea and there was a sizable line, which luckily moved quickly. Once we entered the doors and spied the menu, the debating on flavor combinations began. While many of the sundae concoctions were very tempting, I knew I had to go with their unique special:

Sam’s Sundae: Chocolate ice cream with bergamot olive oil, maldon sea salt and whipped cream

Olive oil?! I know you may wrinkle your nose in confusion, but honestly this was one of the best treats. The high quality olive oil has a distinct citrus taste and balanced with the rich dark chocolate and the sea salt, it was heaven for my tastebuds. I am not the biggest whipped cream fan, but it was freshly homemade.

I definitely recommend Bi-Rite as a must-do in SF.

{my glenrock girls + ice cream aficionados}

Some of the other available flavors:

  • Salted Caramel
  • Chocolate Coconut (vegan)
  • Ginger
  • Mint Chip
  • Honey Lavender
  • Coffee Toffee
  • Ricanelas (cinnamon with snickerdoodles)
  • Roasted Banana
  • Balsamic Strawberry
  • Brown Butter Pecan
  • Malted Vanilla with Peanut Brittle and Milk Chocolate Pieces
  • Brown Sugar with Ginger Caramel Swirl
  • Earl Grey
  • Cookies and Cream
  • Toasted Coconut

I also love Bi-Rite’s mission:

Bi-Rite Creamery is committed to creating ice cream in a responsible and sustainable manner. We are proud to be the first ice cream shop in San Francisco to use Straus Family Farms organic dairy to create our ice cream. We strive to create unique and exciting flavors that are made with local, organic or sustainable products. Not only do we care deeply about our ingredients, we also care about the impact we have on our environment. We use cups and spoons that are biodegradable, our sugar cones are made from organic ingredients, and we source our ingredients as locally as we can. Our tastes are served on metal spoons that don’t create waste. In doing so we save over 500,000 plastic spoons from filling our landfill every year.

You can see the Food Network video that inspired it all here (Bi-Rite is at the -4:58 mark)

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Aloha

Friday, August 27th, 2010

{photo by Quoc}

My “summer of love” continues. I am sure you are all very tired of me droning on about this, I myself am tired of talking about it. But I sure am enjoying the ride.

This will be wedding #3 in as many weeks. We are sort of getting the hang of this – having the times of our lives each weekend with all of our good friends is a good routine. Its the waking up and functioning the next day part that is alluding us. Any tips?

And I forgot to add that this next nuptial will be celebrated on the beaches of Hawaii. Rough life, I know. Congrats to Danny & Laurie Beth, we can’t wait to be there with you!

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Hitched

Friday, August 20th, 2010

Any local Southern California Brides or soon-to-be-Brides out there?

(Special congrats to my dear friend Elizabeth who got engaged this past Saturday)

If you can get to LA, you should go to this event:

Featuring some of my very favorite vendors:

The Flashdance

Smog Shoppe

Confetti System

100 Layer Cake

Annie McElwain Photography {a lovely, talented girl & fellow Bruin}

Read about all the vendors & happenings here.

I so wish I could go, but alas, I’ll be getting ready for yet another wedding that day xoxo

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A Small Town for All Seasons

Wednesday, August 11th, 2010

Apologies, I am a little backed up on my blog posts. My suitcase is a permanent fixture on my bedroom floor with a steady rotation of bridesmaid dresses waiting for their debut.

{bella vineyards & wine caves}

Ever since our trip back in June (!), I wanted to share about our girls weekend in Healdsburg for Megan’s Bachelorette. Healdsburg is a lesser known destination on the way to Napa Valley; a smaller, sleepier version of neighboring Sonoma. We lucked out that Megan’s soon-to-be in-laws have a quaint family cabin located just above the Russian River and were kind enough to let 12 bacheloretting girls invade for the weekend. It was the perfect trip.

{photos by Laura D.}

After a pit stop at Oakville Grocery for some of the best sandwiches in Northern California, we set off for our first tasting – Bella Vineyards and Wine Caves. Shortly after arriving, we were greeted by friendly staff and taken to our own private wine cave for our tasting.

{enjoy the lawn}

Personal servings of mac ‘n cheese perfectly complimented the Zinfandels that Bella is famous for. After working our way through the flight of wines, we retreated to the shady grass picnic area, slightly tipsy and ready to indulge in our picnic lunches. Some hula hooped and others lounged in the grass, all while the live music entertained us. The warm sun and bottomless glasses of Zinfandel prevented us from making our second appointment, we were just having too much fun at Bella.

{bridal hula hooping}

Highly recommend Bella on your next tour of the wine country. Other must dos:

  • Barn Diva: for a lovely dinner al fresco (post wine tasting)
  • A dip in the freezing refreshing Russian River
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