Cherimoya

I have a new favorite fruit. 

When we were at the farmers market in San Francisco last week we saw these.  I asked what they tasted like and we were given a sample.

The best description I can come up with for the flavor is a mix of pear, papaya and banana.  The flesh is very smooth and creamy which I scooped out with a spoon.  They are ready to eat when the outside gives like that of a ripe avocado.

I did find out while watching an episode of Chopped that the seeds are poisonous.  That would have been nice of the vendor to share although I hadn't eaten one.  They are a bit pricey - these were $6.00 a pound and I paid $7.00 for the two but I do think they are a very tasty treat.   My plan is to check out our local farmers market Saturday and see if anyone is selling them here. 



Spring Break

The birthday month continues with Spring Break.  This past week was Spring Break for two of my favorite children.  Rachel unfortunately is a working woman and no longer getting spring break vacation.

Kelsey and I started the week heading to Napa for two days, leaving the boys to their own devices.

Even the birds in Napa have their own tasting rooms.

 We ended our visit to Napa at Domaine Carneros enjoying a glass of 2007 Tattinger Brut Rose and a cheese plate.  Life really is good.

Aren't they cute??

 Later in the week we headed to University of California at Berkeley for a college tour.

Our prospective student, all decked out.

 California is in need of rain and of course it decided to rain this week.  Touring Berkeley in the rain made the decision to get galoshes for our upcoming visit to San Francisco a necessity.

 The boys wore their regular shoes but Kelsey and I were styling in our matching galoshes.

 Our feet stayed dry!!

Rain or no rain we headed to Alcatraz.

I don't think the prisoners were this happy at Alcatraz.

There wasn't any mention of knitters but apparently there were prisoners that were crocheters.

                       

 This was housing for some of the workers at Alcatraz.

On the ferry ride from Alcatraz.

 Saturday we visited the Ferry Building which  also hosts a farmers market.  I'm trying to figure out how I can justify driving 2 hours each way to go to the market each week - the offerings are phenomenal.  We came home with macaroons,  bread, cheese, sausage and fruit.  Oh my.

A contrast of art and man.

I was sad to see them go but look forward to May when we will be back in Texas for Hagen's graduation.

Birthday Dinner

Tonight was the official dinner of the birthday.  I wanted to try something new so we had a reservation at the Village Bistro in Fair Oaks. Our  reservation was at 7:30 p.m. and we were the last to enter to a half empty small restaurant.  Our count was about a 36 seating capacity.  It was reviewed February 27 in the Sacramento Bee with favorable accolades.  Apparently it was either an off night or my taste buds are not the same as Blair Anthony Robertson.  We started our dinner sharing the date nut ramaki- dates stuffed with walnuts wrapped in bacon- served hot these probably would have been delicious- room temperature they were just okay.

Following the appetizer was the salad. Jim had the valley salad which was tasty.  I had the dinner salad that was included with my entree.  Skip the dinner salad, some mixed greens with bits of tomato with the house dressing and pay the extra for the Valley salad.  Jim chose the beef Stroganoff and I chose the veal canelloni.  Both got a nod from the restaurant review.  While Jim said the Stroganoff was good my canelloni was just okay. One, the food was just lukewarm and it seemed to miss much in the way of flavor. Plus not sure why I had potatoes and a carrot salad on my plate along with green beans and the canelloni.  There was plenty of food on the plate I'm just not sure how they worked together. The hit of the evening was the wine - a bottle of Revana Wine Cabernet Sauvignon 2008.  This we brought with us.

I was really bummed the food tonight was not better.  I had hoped to find a restaurant around the corner from us to frequent.  We are still looking.

Birthday Month

This is my birthday month - let the celebration begin!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We''re kicking it off with a lovely bottle of Le Reve from Domaine Carneros.