Bakesale Betty's

There is a place in Oakland. It is called Bakesale Betty's. And it is hands down the most amazing place of its kind. It has a pretty limited menu, but I have a strong appreciation for places like that because it generally means that what they do, they do very well. If for instance, you want sugar crusted scones with such unique flavors as pear-ginger, or apricot-almond - Betty's is your place. Or chunky chocolate cookies to die for and strawberry shortcake that brings a tear to your eye - again, go to Betty's. I have had all of these and appreciated each and every one for the work of baking art that they are.

However, what I was still missing out on was Betty's famous fried chicken sandwich. A sandwich so good that on any given weekend, come noon, there is a 30 minute line out the door which people willingly and cheerfully endure because the reward is so magnificent. Fortunately, this weekend my deprivation ended when Marin and her brother and I found ourselves at the Temescal Street Fair on Telegraph, and in convenient proximity to Bakesale Betty's. Naturally there was a line of gigantic proportions but we joined its ranks regardless and in surprisingly little time were the proud owners of a paper wrapped bundle of joy. We found a spot at one of the ironing board tables and plank benches that constitute the outdoor dining furniture for Betty's and dove in. Naturally the fried chicken is what makes the sandwich great, but what makes it Betty's is the coleslaw that is piled in with it. Fresh, crunchy, tangy and slightly spicy (due to the sneaky little sliced jalapenos sprinkled throughout) it is the perfect compliment to the crisply fried and juicy sweet chicken. In a word, it is epic, and something I see myself becoming lamentably addicted to.

Lake Merritt Farmers Market and The Case of the Red Velvet Cake

The second encounter I had with the city that I have begun courting was at the Saturday morning Lake Merritt Farmers Market. It is the best that I have been to thus far in the Bay and has everything from fresh produce and delicious food to a petting zoo and horsey rides.

We began by working our way through all the fruit vendors, taking full advantage of the thoughtful little samples they set out. The peaches, nectarines, apricots, plums and pluots were all ripe and sweet. Marin got her favorite fresh orange juice from the guy who makes its fresh squeezed every morning and we both bought bottles of scrumptious dipping oils and vinegars from a couple who concocts and bottles them in their own home. The fresh strawberry and fig vinaigrette is killer - as is the sweet and spicy cherry-strawberry chipotle.

However, we found Bliss in cake form at the Charlie Frank's Pie booth whose motto - aptly enough - is " It tastes so good it makes you selfish." This San Leandro bakery is best known for two things: sweet potato peach pie and red velvet cake. Both of which are pretty fan-fricken-tastic. However, since red velvet cake is pretty much my favorite cake in the whole wide world (and Marin kinda likes it too) we decided to buy it and split a piece. Or rather we did until we saw the red velvet CUPcakes and pounced on those. One was as big as a piece of cake and so richly filling that not even the two of us could finish it. We had to call in reinforcements in the form of our coworker Karen who showed up at precisely the right time.

Now, I was formerly a big fan of the red velvet cupcakes from the shi-shi Beverly Hills cupcakery called Sprinkles which my roommate and I haunted nearly every weekend when I was living down there. But blessedly I have now found not only a replacement but an upgrade in Charlie Frank's. Sprinkles has nothing on this! The cake is so light and moist it melts in your mouth. And the frosting! The frosting is ooey, gooey, cream-cheesy, good. It gets everywhere and makes the cupcake's consumption a bit unsightly, but is so worth licking every last bit up!

Lesson to be learned - if you live in the East Bay and haven't been to the Lake Merritt Farmers Market GO. If you go, get a cupcake from Charlie Frank's. You shan't regret it.

Vegan Donuts, Anyone? Anyone?

I know I have been a bit lax about posting lately but I have recently discovered (through my manager Marin) the joys of a little town called Oakland, and would like to share my experiences with you (namely those culinary). While considered irredeemably ghetto by some, Oakland is in fact one of the coolest places I have had the pleasure of exploring. It offers endlessly varied and diverse delights to those who simply take the time to get to know it.

This past weekend I took quite a bit of time to make its acquaintance and the next few posts shall address that burgeoning relationship. It all began with the festive event called Art Murmur, which takes place the first Friday of every month. Their mission statement is to be " a coalition of art and cultural venues dedicated to increasing popular awareness of and participation in the arts in Oakland." It also has the nice side benefit of getting a lot of cool and interesting people milling around in the same place which provides for endless people watching opportunities. My manager and her friends go pretty much every month and this time I finally accepted the invitation to tag along.

Along with the obvious attraction of checking out the various art installations and galleries - all of which were amazing in their own special ways (even the vomiting mannequin...) - there were plenty of enterprising individuals selling food, which we naturally took full advantage of. Marin's brother chose to sample some tamales that a dude (wearing the loudest shirt I have ever seen) was selling out of a ice chest. But Marin and I were much more interested in satisfying our sweet teeth. We milled around for a bit in search of something delicious but amidst all the crowded chaos, the only thing we could find was a guy selling vegan donuts. We looked at each other, shrugged, and went for it. $5 and 2 donuts later we were converts. They were the best donuts I have ever had! Forget Dunkin Donuts and all their heavy, sugary, fat soaked pastries. Vegan donuts are where its at. You can see Marin proudly displaying our selection above - a basic plain donut with sugar glaze and sprinkles (delish!) but the other one was the clincher. It was a blueberry donut with blueberry frosting. Unique and scrumptious.

The company that makes them is called People's Donuts and while their main shop is on Telegraph in Berkeley (conveniently close to my office...) they sell their product to coffee shops and stores all over the Bay Area. To find the location nearest you check out this website:
http://www.peoplesdonuts.com/ and go get some! You shan't regret it = ).

Himalayan Trek

In the interest of constantly expanding my culinary horizons I went to Nepal last night to sample some of the cuisine. Well, actually I just went to a Nepalese restaurant in Downtown Berkeley, but close enough.

I went with a friend who had formerly lived in Nepal for about 6 months and let him order what he thought would be best. We ended up with a delicious array of appetizers and entrees. We started out with the typical - and apparently hard to get - momos. They are steamed dumplings filled with minced chicken, onion, green onion, cilantro & spices and served with tomato chutney. Definitely yum. Think samosas minus the deep fried part. We did have some fried stuff though - in the form of pakoras, a golden-fried vegetable fritters served with mint sauce. Also yum.

For our entree we had what you see above, a mixed Tandoori platter with lamb, beef, chicken and shrimp served on a sizzling platter with grilled veggies and rice. Lots of flavor and I am always a fan when you can try multiple things in one dish.

All in all it was quite delish - but as my friend said: Its hard to pay $40 for something that would cost $4 in the country of origin... = )

Dessert Superstar

Because I love Burma Superstar with the burning passion of a Shakespearean hero, I simply must do another post on it.

I took my friends Kate and Ross there this past weekend to introduce them to her seductively addictive charms. After stuffing ourselves with chicken satay, the incomparable samusa soup, walnut shrimp and sesame beef we managed to find just enough room to sample one of their desserts. As I am always down for anything fried we went for the fried bananas slices with coconut ice cream, mango sorbet and sliced strawberries. Oh My God. It was incredible!

I tend to be more of a savoury than a sweets person so it is rare that I even bother with dessert, but Kate and Ross both have an insatiable sweet tooth so they required further satisfaction. The fact that I hate all things coconut aside - it was quite the stellar dessert. Kate and I just dumped all that coconut ice cream on Ross' plate and then attacked the rest with gusto. The mango sorbet was simply pureed and frozen mango and was ridiculously good. The bananas we fried to utter perfection - with a thin, crisp layer on the outside and hot, mushy goodness on the inside. Yum!

So, lesson learned. Next time I go to Burma Superstar (which will be as soon as I can drag the next unsuspecting victim down to Alameda) I shall endeavor to save some room for dessert. = )

Juice Cleansing

So I am doing a juice cleanse. I have wanted to attempt one for quite some time and finally circumstances have worked out perfectly to enable me to do so. Those circumstances being:
~ my cousin came home for Spring Break and provided both the impetus and the expertise to get my aunt and I on it.
~ it is a slow week at work so my low energy level wouldn't be too big of an impediment to functionality.
~ we were all feeling somewhat bloated from the Easter holiday and were thus ready and willing to do a bit of a purge.


Now the reasoning behind this process is that over time -with all of the processed foods that we consume on a daily basis - toxins and preservatives build up in our systems and it sometimes takes drastic measure to get them out. Such as consuming only organic fruits and vegetables in liquid form for 3 to 7 days.



The idea is not to go out and buy bottled juice - even ones that advertise themselves as being organic - as these will inevitable contain some type of preservative themselves. To be truly effective the juices consumed need to be made fresh on a daily (if possible hourly) basis from fresh, organic produce. When I returned home from my family's Easter festivities I walked into the kitchen to find all the available counter space covered with just such produce. It was a beautiful sight. Also prominently displayed was the juicer - Juiceman Jr - ready and raring to go. My cousin is doing a much more intense cleanse - called the Master Cleanse - where she basically just drinks glorified lemonade for three days. But my aunt and I were easing ourselves into it by drinking fruit and veggie juice, and we even got the okay to munch on fruits and vegetables as well since we both felt the need to chew. Thus the delicious dinner you see featured above - a crunchy salad dressed with lemon juice and accompanied by fresh apple-carrot juice. The glasses were my cousin's sweet but futile attempt to keep us from missing our evening glass of wine.



I am now on my second day and I am definitely feeling the effects, but overall its not nearly as bad as I had anticipated. I am not constantly hungry and while I am somewhat less energetic than usual, I am not completely incapacitated. I managed an hour of Pilates late night with no problem and am even starting to feel like this is may be doing me some good. Tonight my cousin and I are headed to Piedmont Springs for a sauna session to sweat some of these purged toxins out of us. Hopefully neither of us passes out...!

my burgeoning love affair with the girl and the fig

For those of you unfortunate enough to have never had an encounter with Sonoma's The Girl and The Fig, I am telling you now - get yourself there! It is breathtakingly fabulous, addictively delicious and I am in love. The head over heels kind.

Again, it was a place that multiple friends had recommended and I have been trying to get there for over a year now. And at long last, this weekend, I made it. Joy!

My partner in culinary crime (my aunt) and I headed into downtown Sonoma Sunday morning to experience the delights that The Girl had to offer. In our eagerness we got there a bit too early for the burgers we were jonesing for so we cruised the square for awhile, constantly checking the time.

Finally 11:30 arrived and we were promptly seated and served. We started with some festive morning beverages - a Bellini for my aunt and a Mimosa for me, accompanied by a flavortastic arugula and fig vinaigrette salad with feta cheese and pancetta. And then....our burgers arrived.

Now let me just take a moment to describe the wonder that are the burgers at this fine establishment. They are made from ground sirloin - sirloin - and come on a perfectly crisp Dutch Crunch bun with greens, red onions sauteed in balsamic vinegar and your choice of Brie or Cambazola cheese. I chose the Cambazola and it was sheer heaven. Melted to ooey gooey goodness and bursting with flavor, it was the perfect compliment to the beef. As our server set our plates before us my aunt and I looked at each other with unmitigated glee, preparing ourselves to dive in. The first bite of a big burger is something that must be approached with all the concentration and forethought of a good battle plan. You have to discern where the best place is to breach the bun's defences so that you get everything in one bite - bun, meat, cheese and all the toppings. After considering carefully I picked the big, juicy, messy slice of heaven up and struck gold on first bite perfection.

Now, while we were victims to the throes of a massive burger craving this weekend, The Girl has an extensive and varied menu so I shall be returning to sample some of her other charms...as should you!!