Last week I went out to Adagia with my friends Parker, Aamani and Dolores. We had all had desserts there a few months before and Parker was eager to try it for dinner. All in all we had a good experience, and I would go back.

I had their famous burger with provolone cheese, avocado and house cured pancetta. At $17.50 it was the most expensive burger I've ever eaten, but it was quite good. The meat was juicy, the toppings balanced, and the pancetta, in particular, was delicious. Still, I had an equally good burger at the Auburn Alehouse a few weeks back for only $11. I'm not sure that I'd order it again, but only because of the price. The fries that came with it were good, but not special.

Dolores had the Gorgonzola and walnut ravioli ($14.50) which came in a white wine cream sauce with arugula. I tasted the dish, and I liked it, but I think I'd grown bored eating the whole plate. Still, it's a good option for vegetarians.

The baked casarecce pasta ($16.50), which Aamani and Parker shared, could have been better. It had a very mild taste and was screaming for more kale (or so I'm told), neither would order it again.

Finally, both Parker and Aamani were happy with their shared falafel crusted halibut ($24), though I didn't hear any screams of ecstasy as in other occasions.

After our experience last time with the chocolate bread pudding, we all ordered it again and once again it was both delicious and satisfying.

Adagia
2700 Bancroft Way
Berkeley, Ca
510.647.2300
http://www.adagiarestaurant.com/

Original Review

Bay Area Restaurant Reviews

I just got back from another trip to the wine country (I'll blog about it later), where I bought only a couple of bottles of wine. This reminds me that it's time to figure out what wines I do have at home - so that at least it might encourage me to drink them. Indeed, Mike and I have promised that from now on we'll drink a bottle of "nice" (by which we mean wine over $15) wine at least once every two weeks. I mean, we buy these things, we should at least drink them!.

Anyway, this is what I have.

Cheaper Wines

120 Chardonnay Santa Rita - TJ's
2007 RavensWood Chardonnay - auction ($8)
Block 13 Sauvignon Blanc - auction ($10)

Atlas Peak Sangiovese, 2006 - no idea how I got it
Chariot, Gypsy, 2005 - TJ's ($5)
Charlone Vineyard Pinot Noir, 2006 - also don't know how I got it
Hawk Crest Cabernt Sauvignong, 2005 - bought at Safeway thinking it was a deal, it wasn't ($10)
Menage a Trois (by Folie a Deux, Napa), 2006 - TJ's
Pacual Toso Malbec, 2006 - TJ's

More expensive ones

Treana Winery White Wine Mer Soleil Vineyard Central Coast 2005 - won on raffle ($22)

Bink Merlot 2003 - won at auction ($35)
Bink Pinot Noir 2004 - won at auction ($40)
Bink Syrah 2003 - won at auction ($40)
Casola Lopez Malbec, 2002 - (my cousin Betiana Lopez gifted it to me in Argentina)
Chateu Souverain Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, 2003, - got at winery ($24.50)
Cline Ancient Vines Mourvedre, 2006 - got at winery ($18), we liked the very unusual flavor
Coppola Diamond collection Merlot, 2005 - tried at restaurant & loved ($15)
De Loach Zinfandel, 2004 - got at winery ($35)
Loxton Red Table Wine, 2006 - got at winery ($14), fruity and acidic, a bit unfinished
Roederer Estate Pinot Noir 2005 - got at winery ($23)
Ryhan Estate Rouge Sang 2004 - got at winery ($20)
Yorkville Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon, 2001 - got at winery ($40)

Sweet Wines

Eberle Muscat Canelli - got at winery ($14)
Navarro White Riesling - got at winery ($29 for 1/2 blottle)
V. Sattui California Muscat - got at winery (>$20)
Westover Port - don't know where it came from ($20)

Sparkling Wines

Roederer L'Ermitage Brut - at winery, $45
Villa Carlotti Proseco - TJ's

Mike and I just returned from a short trip to Sonoma and Lake counties, where we (OK, I) did a fair amount of wine tasting. As usual, I'm going to include my notes, which I think I will divide into wine-growing region (if I can, at least) - even though we may have hit the same region on different days. Our first day was a straight forward drive through Sonoma County, ending with a couple of tastings in Healdsburg.

During our short trip to the wine country last weekend, we hit a couple of wineries in the city of Healdsburg proper. The city features a dozen (OK, I'm guessing) tasting rooms from wineries in the area. Most of them charge a tasting fee, generally around $5.

The Oakville Grocery store seems to have a much larger local reputation than it size would imply. I had heard of it (no idea how), even though I'd never been to Healdsburg before. Still, I decided to go there to get pic-nic supplies for our canoe trip down the Russian River.

The little store sells mostly high-end gourmet products. They have a very nice selection of cheeses and charcouterie, a deli with expensive prepared food, a small bakery, and somewhat random choices of other gourmet delicacies. They didn't have packaged cookies, however!

We ordered a couple of roast beef sandwiches to take with us. They were very nice and large, well balanced and had a lot of meat. I think they were around $8-9. I'd order one again.

Oakville Grocery
124 Matheson Street
Healdsburg, CA
Tel: (707) 433-3200
8:00am - 6:00pm Daily

After a long canoe trip down the Russian River Valley, Mike and I headed towards Occidental, where we were spending the night. On our way we passed Korbel, and decided to stop for some refreshing sparkling wine.

Korbel seems to be a favorite destination for many, as the large complex was pretty busy that Saturday afternoon. There were people waiting for tours, people eating at their deli, and of course, lots of people drinking wine. A tasting is complimentary, though you get to chose 4 or 5 of the sparkling wines in their menu. The pours are pretty generous. This time, Mike tasted too.

I'm not a champagne snob (nor a wine snob, for that matter), so I will admit that Korbel champagne is perfectly fine for me. Indeed, as its offerings are sweeter than some of the more expensive champagnes, I probably like them more.

The Korbel Chardonnay ($10) had a sweet start and a bitter ending, and I wasn't crazy about it. The Brut Rose ($10), meanwhile, had a nice floral bouquet and wasn't too sweet while the Blanc de Noirs ($10) had nice bubbles, was fruity and sweet. But the wine I really liked was the Sweet Rose ($15), a floral, sweet and feminine champagne with a beautiful rose color. I got a couple of small bottles of it, and really enjoyed it.

Korbel also produces some somewhat more expensive wines. Mike really liked the Masters' Reserve Blanc de Noirs ($22), it was light, flavorful with subtle bubbles. The Muscato Frizzante ($22), tastes like a bubbly muscat that has had some sugar taken from it. And the Korbel Port ($30) was very flavorful, with hints of dark berries. Mike liked it.

Tasting at Korbel was just fun, which is why I imagine so many people go there, and it had none of the pretentiousness of tasting at other champagne houses, such as Domaine Carneros. In all, I found that their sparkling wines were perfectly acceptable and would buy them.

Last year, Mike and I took a short trip to the wine country and went wine tasting in the Russian River Valley, in addition to other areas. This year, we decided to repeat ourselves, though vary our locations a little bit. Still, our third day had us traveling from Freestone, where we'd had an enzyme bath, to Windsor, where we were staying for the night. The easiest (or at least, most fun) way to do it is by driving through the Russian River wine country, and then we (I) might as well wine taste. Of course, this time I chose wineries I hadn't visited on my previous visits to the region, and only visited three of them.

On the fourth day of our trip we headed from Windsor to the Lake county, but first decided to visit some wineries in the Alexander Valley - where I hadn't been before. I knew very little about the wineries, and pretty much stopped at those which were on the way.

We started with Field Stone winery, which looks like a partly buried stone building. It's pretty cool. The small tasting room is off the barrel room. There is a $5 tasting fee.

Mike and I found ourselves in Lakeport on our way to the Lake county from the Alexander Valley. We were hungry and Jack's Gaslight Grill was pretty much the first restaurant we came across. It wasn’t a bad choice for lunch.

The restaurant looks like it used to be an old tavern. There is a nice wooden bar with mirrors, and a relatively small cooking area. The menu is coffee-shop style, with burgers and sandwiches.

I got the steak sandwich which was just OK. The meat was tough but tasted fine. The onion rings it came with, were quite good. Mike got the burger, which he said was very good, juicy and tasty.

Service was very friendly, and the place is worth a try.

Jack's Gaslight Grill
135 N. Main Street
Lakeport, Ca.
707-263-0188

Restaurant Reviews

Bay Area Restaurant Reviews

Thai Satay is San Leandro's only Thai restaurant, and as such we visit it from time to time. Mike often gets pad thai from there to take to his School Board meetings, and we go there for lunch once in a while. Yesterday, my friend Lola was visiting, and we decided that Thai sounded good.

I had the roasted duck, which comes in a bed of spinach and rice, accompanied by a strong, somewhat sweet sauce. The duck was nicely salted and tasted great, but it was very, very fatty. There seemed to be more fat than duck. I sort of enjoyed it, but I wouldn't order it again. The sauce was pretty good with the rice, however.

Lola had a combination of masaman curry and basil chicken. The curry was good, though a bit heavy on the potatoes, but the chicken was unbelievably dry. The flavor, mild and inviting, was very good, but Lola couldn't stand eating it. She did like the soup and salad which came with lunch.

At $9 each, the dishes were a bit pricy for lunch, but from time to time you can get "buy one, get one free" coupons at the SL Times.

In all, while Thai Satay doesn't have the best Thai food in the world, it does have the best and only Thai food in San Leandro.

Thai Satay
1376 E. 14th Street
San Leandro, Ca
(510) 351-2345
http://www.thaisatay.com/

Original Review

San Leandro Restaurant Reviews

It'd been a couple of years since I'd last gone to Buon Appetito in Hayward. I'd meant to go back and try the pastas, but for one reason or another, it never came back. Finally yesterday, Lola and I were looking for a place to go to dinner, and Buon Appetito popped into my head.

The place looks just like before, though prices have gone up a few dollars. The menu, featuring pastas and Italian main dishes, is available online.

Dinner starts with fresh French Bread served with a sauce made from garlic, Parmessan cheese, olive oil, and either red pepper or tomatoes (I couldn't tell what was giving it that red color). It was delicious, and I ate much more than I should.

Lola ordered the Ravioli con Pomodoro, ravioli filled with spinach, swiss chard, pinenuts & ricotta cheese, that comes with a tomato & artichoke hearts sauce. She felt it tasted very Italian, like the pastas she'd enjoyed in Florence, but felt it was underseasoned. I don't think she'd order it again.

I went with the Gnocchi al Sugo di Carne - pottato gnocchi in a beef and carrot sauce. I liked the consistency of the gnocchi, they were dense without being heavy. The meat sauce was hearty, with chunks of stewed meat and carrots. There was nothing wrong with it, but I didn't really like it. I'm beginning to think that I may prefer Italian-American food, to that which more closely approximates the style of the mother country. In any case, I enjoyed my dish and the leftovers, but I wouldn't necessarily order it again.

Service was very good, and the kitchen boxed my leftovers for me - the type of service you rarely get anyway.

In all, I will return to Buon Appetito, but I may stick with the main dishes, which were so good last time.

Buon Appetito
917 A Street
Hayward, CA
510.247.0120
http://www.buonappetitorestaurant.net/

Original Review

Bay Area Restaurant Reviews

Last weekend we headed to Sonoma and the Lake county for a little vacation. Our last evening, a Monday night in July 2008, we stayed in Clearlake Oaks, a very small town on the eastern side of the lake. Monday night is a bad night to eat at Clearlake Oaks. There are very few restaurants to begin with, and none of them were open that evening. Our only recourse if we wanted to eat was to drive to the city of Clearlake proper - not a very long drive, but it was getting lake.

There are a few Chinese and Mexican restaurants at the entrance of Clearlake, as well as what I imagine is an American restaurant at one of the hotels. Mike wanted something else, however, so we drove all our town, unsuccessfully as it turned out. We ended up at the Cactus Grill almost by default. It wasn't a bad thing, as our meal, though not spectacular, was satisfying enough.

The little restaurant has a small dining room and patio - the dining room wasn't air conditioned and it was an extremely warm night, so we decided to eat outside. It was quite pleasant.

Service was quite good, the waiter brought us chips immediately - though I had to ask before being told that they had a salsa bar inside. They had about 8 salsas to chose from, both mild and hot, the one closer to pico de gallo that I chose was pretty good.

Mike had one of their burritos, and he was quite pleased with it. It was large and tasty. I had the carne asada plate - which came with rice, beans, guacamole and salsa, as well as huge, very hot, flour tortillas (corn tortillas are also available). It wasn't really different from a fajitas plate. The carne asada was a bit (only a bit) tough, but it had a very pleasant, somewhat vinegary, marinade. There wasn't a lot of it (specially as I don't eat either rice or beans), but I was satisfied. The guacamole tasted commercial, the type of bagged guacamole you can get at Safeway or Costco. It wasn't bad, but I would have preferred homemade, fresh guac.

In all, it was a nice dinner. I wouldn't be hurrying back, but if I was in the area I might visit it again.

Cactus Grill Restaurant
3900 Bayliss Ave
Clearlake, CA
(707) 994-0905

Marga's Restaurant Reviews

Bay Area Restaurant Reviews

Sometimes it seems like grapes for wine are grown in every region in California. Recently, I have discovered the wines of the Gold Country and Paso Robles, and early this week, I discovered those of the Lake County (or to be more precise, those on the eastern side of Clearlake). While I was surprised at how good the little-known Gold Country wines were, and disappointed at how mediocre the much-better-known Paso Robles wines were - I was unprepared for how much I'd dislike many of the wines from Lake County. No wonder I haven't come across them in other venues. In all, I went to five wineries in the region, the wines of the larger one were generally good, but the other ones left much to be desired. All the wineries we went had a $5 tasting fee - which only in the case of Ceago was justifiable.

I have one restaurant left to review from my trip to Sonoma & the Lake Country, and that is Omelette Express, a breakfast and lunch joint in Windsor. We had breakfast there last week, when visiting the area.

I only had a bagel with cream cheese and a mocha, so I can't really say much personally about the food. The bagel ($2.50) was a little bit too soft, but otherwise fine. The mocha ($3.50 or so) was pretty nice, but not stellar.

Mike had ham, onion, bell pepper and cheese omelet ($11), which he thought wasn't very good. It came with potatoes that were under-salted and sort of soggy, they left much to be desired.

Service was friendly and efficient.

In all, I wouldn't go back not just because of the mediocre omelet, but because they don't offer the sort of things I like for breakfast (pancakes, waffles, etc.), and because they seem quite overpriced. However, if you do go, pick p one of the paper take-out menus they have around. When we went, they had coupons for $3 OFF breakfast and lunch.

Omelette Express
150 Windosr River Road
Windsor, CA
(707) 838-6920
M-F 6:30-3 PM
Sa-Su 7-4 PM

Marga's Restaurant Reviews

Bay Area Restaurant Reviews

Never say never, right? Reading back my old review of Pea Soup Andersen's, it sounds like I'd sworn never to go back - but last weekend we found ourselves driving down south and hungry by the time we got to Santa Nella. And your choices for food in Santa Nella are limited: Pea Soup Andersen's, the restaurant at the traveler's center (which might have changed names since that review), and fast food. So I thought we'd give Pea Soup another chance. I probably wouldn't again.

It's not that the food was particularly bad. Mike actually enjoyed his croissant club sandwich ($9 or $10). But it wasn't particularly good either. My BBQ Western Burger (~$10) came with bacon, 2 onion rings and BBQ sauce (I asked for it on the side), but it was cooked medium-to-well-done, rather than the medium rare I had asked for. As a result it was dry. It still tasted fine, however. The portions were very generous, though I wished they were smaller and so was the price tag. I've noticed that prices of burgers at restaurants have gone through the roof (I recently had a $17 burger at Adagia), but come on! - if I pay $10 for a burger I want it to be good, if not excellent.

Anyway, I think next time I may actually drive a couple of miles out of the way to Los Baños and have something to eat there instead.

Pea Soup Andersen's
I-5 Exit 407
12411 S Highway 33
Santa Nella, CA
209-826-5534

Original Review

Marga's I-5 Restaurant Reviews

Bay Area Restaurant Reviews

I was visiting my parents in the SF Valley this weekend, and my sister Kathy suggested that we go to Thai West for lunch, a favorite restaurant in the neighborhood. Alas, it was close for Sunday lunch, so we went hunting for another alternative. Raaga was the first such alternative we found - and I was glad we did.

We got to the small strip-mall restaurant around 12:30 PM on Sunday (July 2008). The place was deserted, and they were just putting out the lunch buffet. I hope people in the area are late lunchers, because no one came while we ate.

The food was very good. The buffet consisted of three meat dishes (chicken curry, goat curry and tandoori chicken), and 2 or 3 veggie dishes - I noticed a vegetable sambaal and some daal, I'm not sure if they had something else. There was also rice, vegetable pakoras, raita and things of the sort. They brought fresh nan to the table, and it was very good, thick and warm.

I loved everything I had. The tandoori chicken lacked the red dye that is usually used to give the dish its distinctive color, but it was juicy and very flavorful, without being spicy. Indeed, Mika, my picky 6-yo, ate quite a bit of it. The chicken curry was both rich and deep, a tiny bit spicy and somewhat sweet, with layers of complexity. It was not the sort of dish you tend to get in a buffet - I really enjoyed it. The goat curry was almost as good, well balanced, rich in flavor, giving you something new, yet familiar (to eaters of Indian food). Kathy tried the veggie pakoras and she thought they were very good as well, Mika even ate a couple of bites without complain.

Service was great, if silent.

The bill came up to $38 after tax. They only charged us for 3 buffets (there were 3 adults and 3 kids, but the kids mostly ate rice), and we had 4 drinks. In all, I thought it was very affordable for the quality of food.

Raaga
10110 Topanga Canyon Blvd.
Chatsworth, CA
818-407-8898

Marga's Restaurant Reviews

I noticed that Cafe Sorriso has changed ownership. If anyone goes and has a comment, please put it in my original review page (like above).

Horatio's Lounge is undergoing a renovation - the whole bar was close on a recent visit, so we had to have our desserts at the restaurant. But it's opening in the next few days. I'm not sure if I'll get there any time soon, so if you go, let me know how it looks. The desserts we had at the dining room weren't as good as usual, they tasted stale. Hopefully, it's a momentary glitch.

It seems that the Italian restaurant on Bancroft and Dutton is actually getting ready to open and the Vietnamese restaurant at East 14th and Estabrook, is progressing.

Anyway, if you know of something happening in the vibrant San Leandro restaurant scene, please comment here.

I never buy top sirloin, because I don't find it to be the most flavorful of steaks, but it was on sale at Safeway and I figured it was worth a try. I looked for a recipe in epicurious.com, and found this one for Grilled Steak Verciano. I made it last night and it was *very good*. It imparted the meat with a strong flavor (lots of it from wine, so don't make it unless you like red wine), and both Mike and I loved it.

I didn't get the grill hot enough before I cooked the steaks, so 4 minutes on each side led to a very rare steak. Next time I'll get it hotter, but I'll probably do 5 minutes on each side anyway.

Grilled steak with wine-soy sauce marinade

1/2 cup red wine
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp. dried rosemary
2 large garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2-pounds top sirloin steaks

Mix the red wine with the soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, rosemary, garlic and salt. Add the steaks and cover well on both sides. Marinade in the refrigerator for 6 hours, turning half way through.

Heat a grill to medium-high. Grill the steaks until done, about 4 minutes on each side for medium-rare.

Marga's Best Recipes

I bought this wine during a recent trip to the Gold Country in California. I loved most of the wines at that winery, but this one was one of my favorite ones. At $26 it was pretty expensive for me - but I did like it a lot.

We drank it a few nights ago along with a simple dinner of french bread, soft cheese, sorpressata, coppa and olive oil. It was, once again, very good, with a rich flavor, full body, soft tannins, and memories of dark berries. It was also succulent and buttery. Mike liked it too, but I don't think as much as I did.

In all, one of my favorite wines.

Yesterday we went to the Washington Manor Library to see animals the Oakland Zoo was bringing, and decided to stop for lunch at the Great Wall Restaurant before the the "show". We hadn't been there before.

They serve a standard Chinese-American menu. Most lunch plates and a la carte entrees are about $5-7. We started with the fried pork wontons they also have plain wontons). They looked like money purses of fried dough around a pork meatball. I didn't think the meatball was very tasty (the kids didn't like them), but the fried dough was good with the standard sweet-sour sauce.

Mike ordered two of their set lunches ($5), one with sweet and sour pork, fried rice and chicken chow mein and the other with almond chicken and fried rice. I had the lemon chicken ($6).

The fried rice was very nice, the diminute pieces of bbq pork were smokey and full-flavored, and they imparted the whole dish with their flavor. Mika really enjoyed the chicken chow mein, and I thought it was quite flavorful as well. The almond chicken was very nice, it had a standard flavor but a lot of it. I was less crazy about the lemon chicken and the sweet and sour pork. The problem with the former was that the sauce failed to adhere to the chicken, and the chicken by itself was rather tasteless. The sauce was good, but not spectacular. The sauce on the sweet and sour pork, however, left much to be desired. It managed to be neither sweet nor sour, and was mostly "blah". The meat wasn't fatty, at least.

Service was good, the waitress was accommodating and the food came very promptly to the table. In all, I'd go to the Great Wall again if I was in the neighborhood and had a hankering for Chinese food.

Great Wall Restaurant
15048 Farnsworth St
San Leandro, CA
(510) 352-8343

San Leandro Restaurant Reviews

Bay Area Restaurant Reviews

A couple of nights ago I made balsamic-glazed sirloin steak from a recipe from epicurious.com. Mike thought it was quite good, but I didn't like it. I thought it lacked flavor, and it wasn't very tasty - despite all the good ingredients in the marinade. It was also not as tender as the steak I'd made a couple of nights before, despite being pretty much the same type of steak. I wouldn't make it again.

So, you ask, why blog about it? Well, it's so if I come across the recipe again, and I'm tempted by it, I can do a search on my blog and find that I didn't like it the first time around :-)

Last night I made Canarian food for my little family. We had oven-baked potatoes, a very nice braised chicken with onions and an almost healthy banana pudding. The recipes are up at:

http://www.marga.org/food/int/canary/

Today I baked. Mika wanted me to make brownies from scratch, and as I'd never made them, I decided to give it a shot. I used this recipe from epicurious.com, which had gotten great reviews. The recipe was for a 9"-square baking pan - but who has a 9" baking pan? The two standard ones pyrex ones I have are 8X8 and 9X13. So I decided to use the 8X8 one instead.

I should have used less batter. As it was, the brownies rose a lot and were undercooked - they were pretty crispy on the top but still wet in the middle. They were pretty good, I thought, though I still like Trader Joe's brownies better. The girls didn't like them. I'm actually happy about that, as I had no idea just how bad brownies are. They are pretty much sugar and fat. I don't think I'll make them again. I should say that these brownies are particularly rich, so you wouldn't want to eat more than a little bit anyway.

A couple of days ago Mika said she wanted to make pizza - from scratch. I was resistant at first, but I figured, what the heck, I can try it - so I did today. Needless to say that Mika's enthusiasm for the pizza was all gone, and she didn't help at all. And as the only topping she likes is cheese, she wasn't even excited about putting toppings on the pizza.

To make the dough I used this recipe, which had also gotten pretty good reviews. I'd never made pizza dough before - my only experience with pizza had been using the pizza dough you can buy at Trader Joe's. But, making it from scratch gave me the opportunity to use the hook attachment on my mixer, which had been rather useless until now.

The dough itself wasn't hard to make, just a matter of mixing the ingredients. I was amazed to see that it actually rose - my aunt used to make pizza when I was a kid, and she often complained that it didn't rise. But we are in summer, and it's pretty warm here, so I'm sure that helped.

The problem was working with the dough. It was so hard to get it to not stick to the working surface and my hand. Turning it was impossible, stretching it just as hard. *sigh* These, btw, were the same problems I'd had with TJ's pizza dough, so my technique may just be terrible.

In any case, I finally sort of stretched it and made the pizza.

For the sauce I used this recipe, also from epicurious.com, which basically consisted of simmering a can of crushed tomatoes with a little olive oil for an hour, and then seasoning with salt. I was surprised at how good it actually was.

But the results - the dough, the sauce, the cheese (I made a mozzarella only pizza) weren't great. I thought the dough tasted pretty good, but the problem was that the taste of both the dough and the sauce completely overwhelmed the cheese. You couldn't taste it at all. Now, mozzarella is a very light-tasting cheese, so I understand that, but all pizza-places manage to make mozzarella pizzas that taste much better.

Oh well. I've learned my lesson, from now on, I'll order in.

I've decided to make a list of the cookbooks I own, so I don't have to search all over the place to see if I have one in particular. It's a time consuming task, but c'est la vie.

General Cookbooks

Bay Wolf Restaurant Cookbook - by Michael Wild et all
Better Homes & Gardens New Cookbook - 1953
Frugal Gourmet - by Jeff Smith
The Frugal Gourmet Cooks with Wine - by Jeff Smith
Joy of Cooking - by Irma and Marion Rombauer Becker Rombaucher

Specialty Cookbooks

The Barbecue! Bible - by Steven Raichlen

All About Braising: The Art of Uncomplicated Cooking - by Molly Stevens

The Fabulous Fondue Cookbook - by Carmel B. Reingold

Ben & Jerry's Homemade Ice Cream & Dessert Book

The Frugal Gourmet Celebrates Christmas by Jeff Smith

Children's Cookbooks

Great Girl Food: Easy Eats & Tempting Treats for Girls to Make - by Jeanette Wall

Better Homes and Gardens New Junior Cookbook - 1997 edition

Kids' Party Cookbook! - by Penny Warner

Ethnic Cookbooks

The Frugal Gourmet on Our Immigrant Ancestors - by Jeff Smith
Bon Appetit Tastes of the World
Ethnic Cuisine: How to Create the Authentic Flavors of Over 30 International Cuisines - by Elisabeth Rozin

Unusual Acadian Recipes for the sweet tooth - by Mercedes Vidrine
The Africa News Cookbook: African Cooking for Western Kitchens - by Inc. Africa News Service
The Africa Cookbook - by Jessica B. Harris
The complete American Housewife - 1776 - by Julianne Belote
British Museum Cookbook - by Michelle Berriedale-Johnson
Las Recetas Económicas de Doña Petrona - by Petrona C. de Gandulfo
The Balkans Cookbook - by Jugoslovenska Knjiga
The Basque Table: Passionate Home Cooking from One of Europe's Great Regional Cuisines - by Teresa Barrenechea
The Basque Kitchen: Tempting Food from the Pyrenees - by Gerald Hirigoyen
Cocina Vasca - by X. Costa Clavell
Traditional Bulgarian Cooking - by Atanas Slavov
Caribbean and African Cookery - by Rosamund Grant
The Complete Book of Caribbean Cooking - by Elisabeth Lambert Ortiz
Sky Juice and Flying Fish: Traditional Caribbean Cooking - by Jessica B. Harris
Coastal Carolina Cooking - by Nancy Davis & Kathy Hart
The Frugal Gourmet Cooks Three Ancient Cuisines: China, Greece, and Rome - by Jeff Smith
Danish Cookery - by Susanne
Natural cooking the finish way - by Ulla Käkönen
A Taste of Florida - by Dorothy Chapman
The French Chef Cookbook - by Julia Child
Monet's Table: The Cooking Journals of Claude Monet - by Claire Joyes
Green Cookery - by Marin
Authentic Indian-Mexican Recipes - by William Hardwick
Prashad-Cooking with Indian Masters - by J. Kalra (Author)
Best Ever Indian Cookbook - by Mridula Baljekar et al.
Indonesian Regional Food and Cookery - by Sri Owen
The Frugal Gourmet Cooks Italian: Recipes from the New and Old Worlds, Simplified for the American Kitchen
The Korean Cookbook by Judy Hyun
Mediterranean Cooking - by Paula Wolfert
Great Book Of Couscous - Classic Cuisines Of Morocco, Algeria And Tunisia - by Copeland Marks
Book of Middle Eastern Food - by Claudia Roden
Savor the Flavor of Oregon - by Junior League of Eugene
Tradewinds And Coconuts: A Reminiscence And Recipes From The Pacific Islands - by Jennifer Brennan
Las Mejores Recetas de la Cocina Peruana - by Mirza Vasallo González
Philippine Fiesta Recipes - by Leonarda R. Belmonte and Perla B. Del Mundo
Polish Cookbook - by the Culinary Arts Institute
Traditional Quebec Cooking - by Micheline-Mongrain-Dontigny
The Romanian Way of Cooking - by The Geroy's of St. Mary's Romanian Orthodox Church in Ohio
Russian Cooking - no author
The Foods and Wines of Spain - by Penelope Casas
Delicioso! The Regional Cooking of Spain - by Penelope Casas
Tapas: The Little Dishes of Spain - by Penelope Casas, 1987
The Elegant Taste of Thailand: Cha Am Cuisine - by Sisamon Kongpan and Pinyo Srisawat
The Complete Book of Turkish Cooking - by Ghillie Basan

Time-Life Foods of the World collection

American Cooking: The Northwest
The cooking of the British Isles
The Cooking of the Caribbean Islands
The cooking of Provincial France
The cooking of Germany
The cooking of Italy
The Cooking of Japan
Latin American cooking
Middle Eastern Cooking
The cooking of Scandinavia
The cooking of Spain and Portugal
The cooking of Vienna's Empire

I just came back from a shopping expedition to Santos, a sort of Indian supermarket in San Leandro. Santos is a distributor of Indian spices and other foods, but its store is open to the public. Here you can find (almost) all kinds of spices, in particular those used in Indian cuisine. They have a large variety of lentils, flours and teas - and pretty much anything you'd need to cook Indian food. What they did not have is black cumin - which is strange as that's a very common spice in Indian cuisine - and one I need for the recipes I plan to make this week. Well, perhaps I can find it at Mangal's. But in all, I love Santos.

In this shopping expedition I got some Indian yogurt and pistachio ice cream - and bags of almonds, cardamon pods, fenugreek seeds and sumak, as well as a big box of Twinings Tea (50 bags for $4.50!) and a jar of ghee.

Santos Spice Products
1188 Montague St
San Leandro, CA 94577
(510) 357-0277

I found this wine at Safeway last year for $15 off $32. I thought it was a very good deal, and though I didn't know anything I about the wine, but I'm always willing to experiment. We finally opened it last night and I liked it a lot. It was extremely fruity, with low acids and only hints of tannins and oak. It was still full bodied, though, and just very tasty. I'd definitely buy it again, if I could find it. Alas, I imagine by now it's all gone and it doesn't like like Fife makes a meritage any more.

I tasted this wine at our friends Alistair & Suzanna's last night - though I have a bottle of it at home which I bought at Trader Joe's a few weeks back. I'm pretty sure that we bought a bottle of this same wine at the winery, many years ago, in our pre-kids days, so I thought it was a good bet to get it when I found it at TJ's. It was.

The wine is not as full and sophisticated as the Fife Meritage we had enjoyed earlier in the evening - but it was similar in that it was unbelievably fruity. Indeed, there seemed to be fruit coming out of everywhere, and even though the wine wasn't exactly sweet, it's likely to be a good introductory red for people who see reds as being too dry. It had no tannins, little acidity and a medium body - it was well paired with the chicken apple sausages we had with it.

In all, I think I may get a couple of extra bottles. It seems like a good wine to take to friends' houses, as it's likely to be a crowd pleaser.

I don't remember how much it was at TJ's, but I think under $10.

Allspice, ground
Allspice, berries
Arrowroot
Bay leaves
Cardamon, ground
Cardamon, pods
Cayene pepper
Celery salt
Chicken Masala (box)
Chili powder (box)
Cinnamon, ground
Cinnamon, sticks
Citric Acid
Coriander, powder (box - buy more)
Coriander, seeds
Cloves
Cloves, ground
Cumin, ground
Curry powder (need to buy more)
Curry powder - mild (box)
Fennel seed
Fenugreek seed
Garam Masala
Garlic powder
Ginger, ground
Herbs de Provence
Mace, ground
Mustard, ground
Nutmeg, berries
Oregano
Paprika
Parsley flakes
Peppercorns, black
Peppercorns, white
Poppy seed
Red pepper flakes
Rosemary
Sage, rubbed
Sesame seeds
Star anise
Sumak
Sweet basil
Tarragon
Thyme (need to buy more)
Turmeric

Cajun mix
BBQ mix

Need to buy

Cumin seed, curry powder, green cardamon, thyme

Last Friday, I made a cheesecake for the first time. I've been at home with the kids for a while, and I've been having this weird need/desire to bake. It's weird, because I've never been much into baking, or into making desserts, for that matter. But lately, that's what I've been wanting to cook.

So Friday I made this recipe for white chocolate and strawberry cheesecake. I omitted the strawberries, but the cheesecake by itself was REALLY GOOD. Alas, it didn't taste at all like white chocolate, but it didn't matter, as it really tasted like cheesecake and I love cheesecake.

So I learned a few things while making it. First of all, cheesecake is freaking expensive! I don't want to think how much money I spent in buying all the ingredients. Just like with ice cream, it's cheaper to buy the pre-made stuff. Second, cheesecake is pretty much fat and sugar. That's why it tastes so good, but I could feel my arteries clogging while making it. I don't think I'll make it again, unless it's for someone else to eat. Third, it's not hard to make cheesecake, though it can be time consuming.

Anyway, the recipe I linked to is pretty good. If you make it, read the comments. The recipe makes enough batter for 1 1/2 cakes. I didn't have 2 cake pans, so I put the remaining batter in ramekins and cooked them along the cake on a pan with water. I actually liked these "cheesecake puddings" more than the cake itself. I used chessmen chocolate cookies for the crust, which was good.