The Ferry Building, Part 1

We were in San Francisco for approzimately 19 hours this past weekend. We arrived Saturday night for an amazing wedding reception and left Sunday afternoon.

We stayed at the Harbor Hotel right across the street from the water, with a gorgeous view of the Bay Bridge.



I know I've told you before that San Francisco is one of my most favoritist cities ever. In such a short time there I knew exactly what I wanted to see. I've been looking forward to the Ferry Building ever since Adrienne blogged about it here.

I have no idea how it's possible I've never been there before. I've always wanteed to live in San Francisco but now I believe I want to live in the Ferry Building. I'll just sleep on the floor near the bakery.



I didn't get any good building pictures! Its the grey building in back. Next time I'm there I'll get some pictures and give you some history of the building. (I know you're holding your breath)

Inside the building, at the end of Market Street along Embarcadero, are the most delicious variety of food-related vendors.

Heaven.



I'll spend the next 2 years highlighting some of the fantastic shops inside.



Kingdom of Herbs "Organic Edible Plants for Garden and Home that Nourish, Season and Heal" Now they also carry lovely home goods and unique plants and plant containers.



It made me want to buy these things and then run home to tend my garden.

Then I remembered that my "garden" is actually a 3'x5' balcony.



These chairs are reason enough to have children. Actually now that I think about it, I could just put a cute plant on the seat.



Far West Fungi! Oh my, you should have seen B's face. B loves mushrooms. This place is a mushroom lovers dream.



Do you want to grow your own mushrooms? Buy this mushroom log!



I've never seen so many mushrooms. There were more in a chilled display case...and these are just the fresh ones.



Has anyone ever eaten fiddlehead ferns? I'm so curious.



They also offer dried mushrooms and medicinal mushroom supplements.

Oh and the truffle products. Sometime soon I'll show you the truffle salt we got and rant about truffle oil.



The people working there are really knowledgeable and can suggest mushrooms for whatever dish you desire. What a treat.



McEvoy Ranch produces organic olive oil in Petaluma.



Their displays are just gorgeous and I wanted to buy this little atrium.



Cowgirl Creamery's Artisan Cheese Shop. You love them already, don't you?



This place was packed. There is also a store in Washington DC if you live nearby.

I'm dying to take a tour of one of their creameries in Petaluma or Point Reyes.



Cowgirl Creamery has been catching the eye of cheese lovers around the world. Their mail order was featured in Zagats Food Lover NY addition. Their cheeses have won awards across the US and Europe.



Ok this isn't cheese. But I love the idea of spearment sugar and lemon verbena sugar.

I can see it all now. B & I picnicing, breathing in the crisp salty air, eating crusty sourdough bread with fresh cheese and strawberries sprinkled with spearment sugar. And champagne. Don't forget the champagne.

~sigh~



I love single thin blue ribbon in the cheese on the left.



There is so much I have to learn about cheese. Check out their library of cheese here. Unbelievable. I'll have to start checking them off one by one.

That concludes today's tour of the Ferry Building. I'll be back tomorrow with some more eye candy!

The good, the simple & the beautiful.

This past weekend was full of family and friends in a flurry of activities separated by lots of driving. Saturday consisted of a funeral in Fresno (4 hours away from us) and a wedding in San Francisco (4 hours away from there) and Sunday we drove back. On our way home yesterday B and I talked about what a good weekend it was. It was full of laughter and tears and fond memories. A celebration of life.

The funeral on Saturday was for B's Gung Gung (grandfather). The ceremony was beautiful and incredibly touching. The love in their family, our family, is palpable. It was a time for me to learn about Gung Gung. I learned things I never knew about a man so highly regarded by those who knew him. The butcher, the gardener, the painter, the philosopher. He lived a great 97 years. I think it was 97. It might have been 94. That's still up for discussion.

In the program there was a letter of rememberance and some of the words keep streaming through my head.

"We see you watching the world go by in awe and wonder. Now we gaze with you looking for what you saw- the good, the simple, and the beautiful in everything."

So today in honor of B's Gung Gung I hope we can all take a look around us a notice the good, the simple and the beautiful.

And the award goes to...

McVal of Sew Not My Day!

McVal said...
I would love to travel and write my own travel to Ireland books. You know the ones, little tidbits and little known facts about a fabulous country...
Please sign me up for your contest! My nephew gets back today from New Zealand after spending all winter there. This would be a perfect birthday present for him to remember his adventure.

Congrats McVal!!

Walt's Warf, Seal Beach

Let me start by saying that in our opinion Walt's Warf has the best Bloody Marys in Orange County. We may have to continue to try more to verify that. I would do that for you.

They have the perfect amount of spice and flavor. When we came to Seal Beach a few weeks ago it was specifically for the Bloody Mary's.

I was first introduced to Walt's Warf by a roommate in college and have been coming ever since.



I dream about these artichokes sometimes. Walt's Warf has an oak wood fire grill and the flavor is amazing. The key to this dish is the Lea & Perrins Aioli. I dip my bread in it. When you sit they give you a basket of warm sourdough bread. I can smell it now...



The steam pot is 1 pound of clams, mussels or both sitting in a broth of white wine, garlic, butter and scallions. They serve a side of butter for dipping. We ate all of it and then soaked all the remaining broth in the sourdough bread.

Walt's Warf started back in 1970 when then-dentist Walt Babcock and his wife realized there was no place close by to get fresh fish. So they opened up this restaurant and used their own fishing boat to bring in the daily catch.



I like the oysters at the bottom that are filled with all the chunks of goodness.

At some point Walt and his wife sold the restaurant to pursue another passion. They bought some land in Santa Barbara, pulled out the lima beans, planted some grapes and created Babcock Winery.

In the meantime they re-purchased Walt's Warf, took out the fish market and focused on the oak fire grill, oyster bar and award winning wine list.



This is the Walt's Special Salad and it has everything I love. Mixed greens, candied walnuts, golden raisins, red onions, gorgonzola cheese and a mustard vinaigrette. The clam chowder was exactly what I wanted. Creamy and comforting.



If you find yourself in the area you should stop by. You'll love the rustic feel and the energy of the locals gathering for good food and conversation.

A little giveaway for you!

We did very little shopping in New Zealand but don't you think for a second that I forgot you! I had every intention of doing this giveaway as soon as I hit 100 followers...which happened some time last month.



Hello 106 friends! I'm so very happy that you stop by and leave your thoughts. It completely makes my day.

I've been very bad at visiting you lately but I will be catching up. Sometimes life gets in the way of my blog reading. The nerve.



But that doesn't mean I don't think of you. All of my invisible friends. I've started talking about you to friends and family as if we've all known each other for years. "Oh my friend so and so did this the other day and told the funniest story about it....."



I just had to bring you back something from New Zealand.

I think New Zealand as a country should now make me their national spokesperson. I'd gladly promote their country for a free trip here and there.

Will blog for meat pies.



This lovely photographer Andris Apse has been photographing New Zealand for over 25 years. He really catches the magic of the ladscape in a way that is second to none.

I think I want to be him when I grow up. He is wildly talented and appears to spend his time travelling the world and taking pictures of amazing landscapes. Throw in local foods, a blog to babble on and you pretty much have my dream job.

Contest starts now and ends on Sunday night. Winner will be announced on Monday.

So leave me a comment telling me what job you think would be awesome to have (realistic to your situation or not) and you've entered to win!

The part of New Zealand that wasn't fun.

Did you know that I'm afraid of heights? I am. You might not think so because I managed to climb ice stairs and hike up a glacier, take a helicopter flight and stand at the top of the sky tower... but heights make me really uncomfortable.

I'm smiling here because we're still on the platform.



I'm not sure why I got us tickets to take the Christchurch Gondola.



I was sitting facing the mountain and trying to ignore B as he pointed things out. This is the extent of my "looking around".

I was too busy trying not to move and de-rail the gondola. I was trying not to notice the swaying. I was trying not to estimate how far down the mountain we would tumble....

I was trying to figure out why I married the man who thought it was so funny to bounce around the gondola, stomping his feet and generally terrifying me. And apparently taking pictures.

He got some of it on video but I can't share it with you because I didn't realize he was taking video and I may have used inappropriate language. Maybe.

I realize that gondola rides aren't on the top of lists of scary things to do for most people. I can't explain it. I'm feeling uneasy just writing about it. I'm a freak. Don't even get me started on the rest of my list. Sometimes I'm amazed I make it through the day.

What silly things scare you?

Is it March?

I can't believe that its March. Life seems to be moving in overdrive and I haven't been keeping up. My apologies for my lack of postage! This week I'll be catching up. I have approximately 45 more restaurant posts and I have a stash of New Zealand posts always sittin 'round. As I come up on a round of post-cancer check ups I'll probably be sharing some fun stories of cancer as well. "Fun stories of cancer" is a bit of an oxymoron but I really do think some of them are funny.

Oh and there is a giveaway! Did I tell you I bought something for you in New Zealand? I know its been forever since I got back but I haven't forgotten about you.

Happy Monday friends!