Note: Marita’s is now closed
For years, we’ve driven or even parked by Marita’s Sweet Potato Pie Co. as we visited our friends Regina and Boris, who live in the neighborhood, or stopped by for a drink at Zocalo. I’ve always been curious to check it out, but the concept of “sweet potato pie” just does not appeal to Mike. In the last few weeks, however, I’ve started walking by Marita’s once a week and have had my opportunity to give it a try, and another, and another 🙂
Marita’s is a bakery but one that sells basically two things, cakes (mostly by the slice) and pies. The cakes are simple affairs, consisting of plain cake and frosting. The slices are displayed in two large display cabinets, one of which is filled by slices of Red Velvet Cake alone. The latter is their pride and joy. I liked it, the cake itself didn’t taste like much but the creme cheese filling was delicious. Indeed, this seems to be the case with most of their cakes, the cakes themselves are not special but the fillings are just plain yummy. So far I’ve had the Red Velvet, the coconut, the butter cream and the yellow chocolate – I enjoyed the latter most of all. Still, I’m planning to taste them all in my weekly visits. The slices – priced at $2-2.75 each are quite generous, you shouldn’t have a problem sharing one.
The full cakes ($13-18) are quite large, and they only seem to have a few on display so you may want to call ahead if that’s what you are looking for. In addition to cakes, they serve sweet potato pie, peach cobbler, bread pudding and pecan pie.
The bakery doesn’t have a place to sit, it’s strictly a take-out operation
Marita’s Sweet Potato Pie Co.
600 Dutton Avenue
San Leandro
510-562-3844
Author: marga (Page 92 of 114)
A week or so ago I stopped by for a late lunch at Viva Pancho Villa, the new Mexican restaurant/taquer
Every time we buy meat at Costco it lasts us 3 dinners, I don’t like to freeze meat, so once again we had tri-tip for dinner. This time our dinner menu was:
Grilled Tri-Tip with Blue Cheese Butter
Truffled Mashed Potatoes
Grilled Asparagus
To make the blue cheese butter mix softened butter with blue cheese and some chopped garlic (I used the blender to mix it well). Put on wax paper, roll and refrigerate until it hardens. Slice it and serve on top of the meat.
The blue cheese butter worked well with the asparagus as well. To prepare them I washed & dried them and tossed with olive oil and chopped garlic. Grill for about 4 minutes.
To make the mashed potatoes I boiled three peeled and quartered Russet potatoes. I mashed them and mixed with a couple of tablespoons of leftover creme fraiche, a tablespoon or so of milk and as much truffle oil as I needed to get the desire flavor. I also added some kosher salt.
Once again we had a great dinner.
Casa Mar
For dinner tonight we had grilled tri-tip, grilled corn, migas and a celery salad.
Aside from vac
I found these Canadian sodas (also available on Cranberry & Raspberry, Cranberry & Blueberry and Cherry flavors) at the 99-cents store and I was intrigured enough to try them. They are organic, and GMO free, and have no artificial colors or flavors. They also come with the recommended daily value of vitamin C. And at 3 for 99cents, they’re pretty cheap.
Alas, I didn’t really like it. It’s too sweet for my taste, it tastes mostly of lemon oil with a hint of coconut (must be the “oil” aspect of it). I couldn’t even finish the bottle.
A few weeks ago I made a Breton dinner for a few friends and I’ve finally put up the recipes at:
http://www.marga.org/food/int/brittany
All the food was very, very good – and as soon as it gets cool enough to cook at home again I’m going to make that chicken again.
I had a pork tenderloin left over after I made the pamplona a couple of days before and I wanted a quick and easy way to make it. I got this suggestion from a user of the craigslist food forum who uses the moniker “Voltaire”.
Marinade the pork tenderloin in olive oil and balsamic vinegar, with some chopped garlic and rosemary. I didn’t have rosemary so I ommitted it but I did add a tablespoon or so of hoisin sauce to the marinade. Then we grilled it over medium-low heat until done. It was very good, in particular the outside part that had caramelized with the marinade. Next time I’ll butterfly the tenderloin so as to maximize the caramelized area.
I’m having a wine & cheese “salon” tonight and these are the cheeses I’m serving. The descriptions are from the web, not mine.
From The Marketplace at Rockridge
Tomme Crayeose
Tomme Crayeuse is a cheese from Savoie (along the Swiss-Italian Alps) in France. Tomme basically means wheel, although it is a generic word for piece or section. The rind of Tomme Crayeuse is grayish brown with yellow moldy patches that develop as the cheese ages. The taste of the cheese is slightly soft with citrus notes and somewhat earthy flavors
Fleur Verte
The “green flower” of the Loire Valley in France. Fresh, milky white goat cheese dusted with dried herbs that beautifully highlight the tangy sweetness of the cheese. Spread on a baguette and serve with a crisp, tart sauvignon blanc or a light fruity red.
St. Agur Blue Cheese
A medium strong creamy blue cheese, made from cow’s milk in Auvergne. It is excellent with full bodied red wines, great on bread for a snack or in a salad. Hard to find and extremely likable. Could be used as a more delicate substitute for Gorgonzola in sauces when Dolcelatte is out of season or too strong. The cheese has a very strong and spicy taste when rippens.
Le Tonneau
Le Tonneau is a new cheese from Switzerland. Its rind is dark in color, with grooves that resemble a barrel. Along with the character of a large cheese, it has a unique taste with a full, fruity flavor. It has a novel consistency and a softness, creaminess and delicacy never known before in a true cheese.
Midnight Moon
Aged one year, this firm cheese offers loads of flavor, including a hint of salted caramel. Intriguing and addictive, it is essentially a goat’s milk gouda. Named “Best New Product in Show” at the 2002 Fancy Food show.
And from Trader Joe’s, I got a:
Once a week I take my little girls to a “field trip” somewhere that is Bartable and yesterday we went to Rockridge. Camila (6mo) is pretty cranky lately and Mika (3 yo) gets bored easily but all in all we managed to have a good time. We started by visiting Crepevine, part of a chain of restaurants serving sweet and savory crepes, sandwiches, soups, salads and pasta dishes. I had told Mika that we were going to a “panquequer
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