Chocolate Chip Cookie tasting #2

Let me start off this post by saying one thing: I have AWESOME sisters!  Truly I do.  And because they are fantastic, we love spending time together.  Luck for me I live within a 10 minute walk (ok, 10 minutes downhill to see her and maybe 15 minutes for her to walk up the hill to see me...oh San Francisco!) from one sis and not too far from the other (Alli: move up to Nor Cal!!!!!)  While Jeannie and I see each other more often (and she is the one doing the cookie challenge with me - thanks!) we still always manage to chat about Allison (only good things) and wish she was there with us.

But now onto the cookies.  So a few days ago Jeannie and I had our weekly dessert date at Spruce.  It is a fancy schmancy place but it's choco chip cookie is on the list so we had to go.  Plus it's close to my place and on oh-so-cute Sacramento St.

You normally get the cookie to go at their cafe section but Jeannie heard that their beignets were delish so obvi we had to try those too.  The cookie was served cut up in little pieces for us and with fresh whipped vanilla bean whipped cream!  YUMMMM  The cookie would've been better warmed but we still devoured the pieces with their bug chocolate chunks.

Sorry you can't see Jeannie...  Their beignets were tasty too.  Not like regular beignets I've usually have (there were more like big donuts holes covered in cinnamon and sugar) but still a treat.  They had two dipping sauces: chocolate and creme anglaise.  Needless to say we were in a sugar coma at the end of this.

Can't wait for our next cookie (or any other dessert) tasting!

Beer and Food - the way to my heart!

A little belated Valentine's Day post here.  But better late than never!  Also the last week and a half was SF Beer Week - another cause for celebration!

My valentine this year was my good friend Brie and we went to dinner at a place that is down the street from where we both live yet we each had never been there.  It's a cute little Italian place called, Delarosa.  For SF Beer Week they put together a menu of some small plates, each with a beer pairing. 

Here's a sampling of what we ate:

We first started out with roasted brussel sprouts paired with a beer from the North Coast Brewing Co in Fort Bragg.  Sorry I forgot a picture of this!  Brussel sprouts are a new favorite of mine so this was an obvious choice.

Next up was the burrata.  This was not on the beer week menu but we'd heard that it was a must have here and it was delicious.  I must admit that I'd first tried burrata - an Italian cheese made from mozzarella and cream - a few weeks ago and it is tasty!  But really, what cheese isn't?  Well except blue.  Blue is an ok color for berries but not in my cheese, thank you very much.

We then had a yummy panini with goat cheese and roasted red peppers.  It was paired with a beer from the Triple Voodoo Brewing Company.  We also had house made chips - delish!

Our next plate was a bit confusing for us (sorry it's hard to see but really there wasn't much to see.)  We thought we were getting crab, as in the crab you'd have to crack yourself.  False.  There were like rice and crab balls.  Good, but totally not what we were expecting!  Oh well, at least they were paired with the always tasty Back in Black beer from 21st Amendment Brewery.

And of course we had to get dessert!  We ordered donuts with three dipping sauces: chocolate, raspberry and marscopone.  Surprisingly the marscopone mixed with raspberry was my favorite.  This is odd as lately I've some of my favorite desserts haven't had chocolate in them.  If you know me then you know chocolate is my absolute favorite!

Also, I thought this was super cute:

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Chocolate Chip Cookie sample #1

My sister Jeannie and I have accepted a new challenge.  The online magazine for San Francisco, 7x7, put out a list of top chocolate chip cookies in the city.  Um, I may or may not have been drooling while reading that list.  Chocolate ship cookies may be so simple but when done right they are oh so tasty.  I have some pretty good ones that I make that are a family recipe but it is always fun to find a bakery that gets that ooeey gooey, chocolatey goodness down too.

But back to our challenge: Jeannie and I have decided to try all of them.  Yep, we will make the sacrifice and try all the cookies and see how they measure up.

First up comes from an unexpected place, a fro yo place.  Yeah, I was a little skeptical too but still willing to try!  So let's talk about the choco chip cookie at Fraiche.

When we get there they were actually all out but said that the cookies would be ready in about 15 minutes.  No problem, I can always chill with my sis.  Our timing was actually great because we got hot-out-of-the-oven cookies (which i think we can all agree are the best.)  These cookies were gooey and not over baked - a common problem with store bought cookies - and had plenty of chocolate chunks (versus chocolate chips, a common thing I am seeing in cookies and something I need to try at home.)  I would say these are a winner.

Thanks for trying them with me Jeannie!  On to the next one...

Super Bowl

So I know the Super Bowl is done with for the year...sad ending for us fans here in SF...but I thought I share my little treat I made this year:

red velvet whoopie pies in the shape of footballs with gold (ok, it's more yellow) frosting!

 The whoopie pie recipe came from one of my favorite blogs and they're the perfect 49er dessert.

I didn't feel as guilty eating them because I ran a 5k plus some extra miles this morning.  A great way to start a day of eating and drinking.

Ok, so I don't think I burned all the calories that I consumed but it's hard to turn away the tasty food we had at our party!  Props to Brie for the nachos and Ashley for the cute cookies!