Grand Lake Farmers Market

We definitely have become fans of the Grand Lake Farmer Market.  We’ve known it existed but we’ve never gone there until we moved to North Oakland.  Upon the recommendation of our server at B, we decided to go the week after we moved into our house.  It was a blast.  The vendors are almost uniformly [...]

Recipe Success – Pork and Tomatillo Stew

It was one of those perfect Saturdays.  The sun was shining.  The people at the farmers market were their friendly selves and we were able to get a million things done in the space of two hours.  One of the reasons why we got our weekend errands done with such dispatch was because they were [...]

Two reviews – Julie and Julia/My Life in France

In anticipation of the Julie and Julia movie, I decided to write a joint review of Julie and Julia the book and My Life in France. One I like.  One I didn’t. You can probably guess which one is which.
Here’s what’s so weird – I related more to a dead lady who lived a big [...]

Digs Bistro – A Tale of Two Evenings

J and I have this thing when we go to restaurants in the Bay Area, we end up totally connecting with the staff. It happened at B, it happened at Aunt Mary’s (review to come) and it happened last night at Digs Bistro.  Located in our ‘hood on the corner of Sacramento and Dwight Way, [...]

Pavlova – Two Ways (or Damn you Barefoot Contessa!)

It’s been intimated that J and I have some eating restrictions, me with the diabetes and J with dairy allergies as well as an allergy to artificial sweeteners.  That makes dessert a huge challenge.  I’ve resolved this challenge by making the same desserts two ways – one with Splenda and dairy (for me) and the [...]

A weekend of deliciousness

How was all of your July Fourths?  This was the first July Fourth I spent in Oakland, as last year, I was down in SoCal visiting my parents.  It was truly a blast and great to have a longish, lazyish weekend.  Because J and I are who we are and we live in what I [...]

You asked for it

House pictures!  Here you go.

Meaty!

Dear Scotte:
You are a genius.  Full stop.  This week, the in-laws were in town to help us do the finishing touches on our move.  After a Saturday night dinner at B that was four courses of spectacular, we wanted to eat at home on Sunday.  We had a fairly lazy Sunday, just doing errands – [...]

Moved!

So Saturday, marked the end of the beginning for our foray into home ownership.  We moved.  It took five hours to move but it was worth it for the first uninterrupted weekend of sleep we’ve gotten in a year.  You see we loved our neighborhood of Old Oakland, all except for the crazy noise where [...]

We know how to show a gal a good time – Part 2

Prom Date was only in town two days, coming in midday Saturday and leaving midday Monday.  We had to show her the best of the Bay Area. Here’s where I have to admit something slightly shameful for a bay Area resident – I’ve never been to wine country.  There, I said it.  It’s totally embarrassing [...]