Holy moly this actually works! I watched Jordan’s video below and found a bunch of others. AH-mazing.
What is this madness?
No…but seriously…
this isn’t possible, is it?
Wizardry! From the French!
(If you know any ways to remove wine bottle corks sans openers, please leave them in the comments for the edification of all.)
A much overdue birthday post…
Last year’s birthday post has inspired me to keep up the tradition of tracking the birthday activities, venues, and eats.The past five where spent in NYC and how fun it was to look back on how things changed over the years - so this marked my first west coast birthday! The b-day fell on a Wednesday night this year so the night before my good friend Kate threw me a little girlie get together at her apt with apps and wine (we tried ReWinery, yay!), and then Wednesday night Jeremy and I dined at Nopa (which was delicious and took a month to get a reservation!) The weekend following, in typical northern California style, we rallied together Sarah and Danielle, who you remember from my recent travels and their BFs, and our good friends Jared and Carmen who you remember from many fun SF & Maine adventures and we headed up to Jeremy’s parents condo in Napa (thanks Franks!) for some eating, drinking, and living room dance-partying.
Thanks to everyone for such a great birthday! Some of the fun details and snaps below.
+++
Twenty-Eight
Venues: Kate’s Apt, Nopa, Weekend in Napa Valley (including Guilliams Winery, and Mumms)
Good Eats & Drinks: ReWinery, Strawberry Short-Cake & Strawberry Confetti Cake
(I’m on some weird strawberry kick this year I guess), Pinata (?!) + Flabongo, and lots of delicious wine and bubbles
Double the birthday, double the fun! Gar’s (Sarah’s bf) birthday was a week after mine so we thought it was the perfect excuse for us to combine forces and head away for the weekend to celebrate.
Group shot at Guilliams Winery in Spring Mountain district - highly reco this family run spot, you’ll need resi, but it’s totally worth the gorgeous drive up the mountain.
Pedro the Pinata
Pot de Crème a la Nopa
Apps via Lauren and Kate :)
Strawberry Short Cake
ReWinery success! How adorbs are those labels? We had to keep the bottles. The “Mission” Pinot Noir was our fav (far right).
What was in this box you ask? A tennis racket and 3 hour long tennis lessons at the CA Tennis Club!
Have you SF’ers heard of this amazing service?
Basically the next time you are desperately in need of a glass of vino and are too lazy or just can’t make it to the store - Rewinery will bring you a trio of delicious high-quality wines to your home, office, or even your picnic blanket in Dolores Park - for a flat free of $40!
You can order wine daily until 2 AM within SF by phone or via their iPhone app. I mean, this sounds like a dream if ya ask me. Reminds me of the delivery ice-cream club I joined in NYC which was amazing. I will give it a try and let you know how it goes.
Thanks to Tasting Table for the note.
Cheers!
About a year ago a bunch of us went to Lil Frankies in NYC’s east village for a nice hearty Sunday dinner. Lauren, (my current roommate!) happened to be in town visiting and we wanted to show her our idea of the perfect cozy NYC spot for wine and pizza as a way to wind down the weekend.
One thing that is AMAZING about this gem besides the food of course, is that they offer Wine by Consumption. What does this mean you ask?
As far as we know, we are the only restaurant that offers a program like this. We are willing to open any of the bottles on this list and pour you a glass. Or a half a glass. Or open the bottle and leave you alone with it until you have reached your limit, or the bottom. You let us know when you are finished and we will measure the bottle and charge you accordingly.
How great is that? This was the only restaurant I knew that offered such an amazing service until I moved out to SF and discovered Frances - another gem.
*Picture above: Sunday family dinner = Two pizzas, two pastas, two salads, two bottles of vino. Thanks Frankie. Saying we left full is an understatement.
Love these pretty little festive ladies. Will definitley be sipping some sparking Rose tonight! Stay tuned for the heart shaped pasta dish (oh, yes I am!) I am whipping up tonight with Jeremy, my friend/co-worker Kate, and her roommate. Should be a good one!
xo
J
(Source: fuckyeahweddingideas)
Went to Frances last Thursday night with J and um, wow. What a spot! I hear it’s the kind of place you need to make a reservation well in advance, but if you are very lucky (like we were) you can walk-in and pull up one or two of the 8 ball stools. Jeremy dropped me off to park the car, and sure enough we got a spot. It was a tight squeeze but well worth it.
While Jeremy was looking for parking the kind waiter asked me if I wanted a drink while I waited - well of course! I ordered their delicious mulled wine. Once Jeremy arrived we served rosemary almonds and asked about the very cool “pay for what you drink option” that comes with their house wine. We went for it. The only other place I know of that has this option is Lil’ Frankies in the east village of NYC. Love it. Next up, we couldn’t resist the market shots of the day - fresh squeezed juice mixed with god knows what - it was delicious.
Now for the food. The bacon donuts we could’ve done without. Good in theory, but ended up not being anything special. The salad was delightful and we both drooled through our entrees - both incredible. Barely had room for dessert, but had to make it happen - and we are glad we did!
Highly recommended this spot. The staff was funny and friendly and the whole experience was fantastic, not to mention the food was some of the best I’ve had here.
What we ate and drank from left to right:
Market Shots (whatever juice they find at the market that day, gets juiced, spiced, and spiked)
Frances Red (pay for what you drink; $1 per once. How rare and amazing is that!)
Old Tarny (house red wine, nuts and spices, served warm)
Wheat Flour Crepe Crespelles - robiola nostrana, braised winter greens, and mushrooms
Five Dot Ranch Bavette Steak - creamed spinach, butterball potatoes, black truffle jus
Applewood Smoked Bacon Beignets - maple chive creme fraiche
Fuyu persimmon salad - treviso raddicchio, escarole, percorino, walnut vinaigrette
Chocolate Almond Clafoutis - caramelized banana, burnt caramel, salted caramel ice-cream
Trust me, try it.
3870 17th Street, at Pond.
Ah, how I love this website. I received a gift card to Napa Style (which is one of my fav fav home stores - you might remember these champagne flutes and this wish list from a while back) for Christmas this year - and with Lauren’s help we’ve just narrowed down the purchases! It wasn’t easy, since I want nearly everything on this website, but I tried to pick items we needed or items I knew I would have forever. Here is what’s on it’s way…
I needed this desperately. The floor mat we keep under the sink in the kitchen has faded from light blue to gray and is just not cute. This goes so well with our country-style kitchen. Love.
Sunrise Citrus Pitcher and Glasses
Couldn’t resist these for the price tag. Love the color and will display the pitcher atop our cabinets when not in use - decorative and useful. Love.
This just spoke to me. We have a hook above our stove where we currently hang this holiday-ish peace sign. It needs to be replaced and this whimsical, colorful, sign does the trick. Love.
This one I have yet to purchase, but it’s high on my list and I had to share! I mean, seriously, how cute is that???
Booze bag? Took me a minute, but I am totally on board with this thing. Forget showing up with your wine in a box - now you can tote it along in this fancy wine sack.
Uncommon Goods in a great website for corky gifts just like this!
This is happening soon. Very, very soon.
via mytrendyfriendscloset via champagnetoasts via graceinplace
via Nanny Nutmeg
I have often associated sangria with summer. There is just something about that fruity sweet wine mixed with delicious liquor soaked fruit and screams outside summer party. As I stared at a bowl full of honeycrisp apples I knew I had to do something with them before they went to waste. I searched online and found a lovely Fall inspired sangria. It mixes deep fragrant flavors of cinnamon, ginger and cloves with light crisp citrus flavors. It would be perfect for a party or even to enjoy alone
My favorite part of the sangria was munching on the apples that were left over. Amazing! The great thing about using honeycrisp apples is that they are crisp (the name really does fit the product), hold up great to soaking and still keep some of their natural sweetness. If you are planning a party I seriously recommend making this. I used one of my favorite unoaked chardonnays, Wishing Tree, but use whatever unoaked you prefer. Enjoy!
Honeycrisp Apple Sangria:
2 Honeycrisp apples
One 750-milliliter bottle unoaked Chardonnay
1/3 C. peach Schnapps
1/4 C. pisco (I could not find this so I used a bit more peach schnapps)
1/4 C. honey (I used orange blossom)
2 oranges- 1 quartered
1 lemon – quartered
1 lime – quartered
2 cinnamon sticks
2 quarter-size slices of fresh ginger
3 whole cloves
2 T. sugar
1/2 t. ground cinnamon
Ice
Club soda
Mint sprigs – for garnish (did not use)Peel, core and chop one of the apples. In a bowl, combine the Chardonnay, Schnapps, pisco and honey. Add the quartered orange, the lemon, lime, cinnamon sticks, the chopped apple, ginger and cloves and refrigerate at least 4 hours. (I let mine sit overnight)
Strain the sangria into a pitcher. Peel, core and finely chop the remaining apple. Peel, section and chop the remaining orange. Mix the apple and orange in a bowl.
On a small plate, blend the sugar and cinnamon. Moisten the rims of wine glasses and dip in the cinnamon sugar to coat. Fill the glasses with ice. Pour in the sangria until three-quarters full. Top with a splash of club soda. Garnish with a spoonful of the chopped apple and orange and a mint sprig.
Source: Adam Seger & Food and Wine Magazine
Weekend Snaps.
Row 1: Friday night dinner was at Off the Grid SF. I have been dying to go to this food truck food fest. The local street food culture here gets me so excited. Off the Grid is San Francisco’s mobile food truck extravaganza with 10 events in 9 locations, 6 days a week. We checked out Friday nights Off the Grid at Fort Mason from 5 PM to 10 PM. Check out the schedule here.
We tried Mama’s Empanadas (Chicken), Happy Dumplings (Chicken & Pork), 3 Sum Eats (Rice Crispy Fried Chicken Sandwich served with summer succotash, carrot and cabbage slaw, and Sriracha aioli), Brass Knuckle (Fryin’ Maiden: Buttermilk fried chicken sandwich with buttermilk aioli and jalapeno slaw), amongst nibbles of other things and sips of beer and wine - it was all out of this world good! Can’t wait to go back.
Row 2 & 3: Saturday we brunched at Cafe Elite which is one of my neighborhood go-to spots. Pictured above is my roommate Lauren, Andrea and Lauren who were visiting from the east coast, and Jackie - a group of my high school besties. We then headed over to my co-worker and friend Claudia’s rooftop party to watch the Blue Angels! What a beautiful day and an awesome show. Fleet Week in SF, check.
Row 4: Wine Country! Andrea, her BF Colin, Jeremy and I headed up to Napa for the night. We made a delish dinner and took the golf cart over to the club house for some night caps. Good night sleep and then Sunday was spent sipping vino and enjoying the sun. More details here on where we went.
Busy, fun-filled SF, CA weekend indeed.
