SURPRISE!

Yesterday, I called My Sweeter to check in really fast before a meeting...I asked him what he was up to and he told me that he was really busy but was off work early. I suggested that he come up for the weekend and visit, knowing full-well that he was going to be a busy bee this weekend. We hung up the phone, I went to my meeting and he continued on with his busy schedule.

A few hours later, I called again for another quick "hello." I asked him what he was up to, and when he said "Nothing..." in that mischievous tone, I knew he was up to something. During our phone conversation I heard his car make some noises and I asked if he was on his way up to see me, not expecting the response, "No..." (Again, in his mischievous tone.) He then got a little flustered because he was already past the Grape Vine and on his way up for a surprise visit! He was upset that I ruined his surprise! :-)

It was such a wonderful surprise to have him come up to see me! I wasn't expecting to see him until next weekend! WOOHOO!

I had yet another meeting and immediately following I was looking up recipes on the Food Network website for some inspiration. I was not sure what I was in the mood for, so I was just browsing when I came across a Giada de Laurentis recipe. I walked over to Trader Joes and bought all of the ingredients that I did not already have, and a few minutes after my return home, My Sweeter arrived!

We made Ravioli with Balsamic Brown Butter. To be honest, My Sweeter and I, both, were a little worried about how it would turn out, but it turned out so YUMMY! I bought spinish raviolis from Trader Joes that were delicious and fresh. I wish that they had some meat raviolis because it would have complimented the sauce really well.

After eating the entire dish, we discussed how we could make it better the next time. Next time, instead of using butter we would use olive oil and definitely not as much as the recipe asked for. We also, may add a little flower to give the sauce some more texture and not have it be only a dressing on the raviolis. And we would let the noodles soak in the Balsamic sauce a little more before we ate it because when we went back for seconds, the noodles had been soaked in the sauce and it was even better than the first time around. Also, do not forget to put the Parmesan cheese and the walnuts, the flavors and the textures really bring the entire dish together!

This was a yummy, yummy meal and I will most definitely be making it again!

raviolis

What a Beautiful Sunny Day to Catch up with my Favorite FRIEND!

I had a super busy day yesterday! I woke up in the morning to have some much needed time (As always) with FRIEND! We initially wanted to go to Mama's Cafe in North Beach, but the line was out the door and around the corner! We decided to try our luck down by Ghirardelli Square. We walked around looking for a tasty breakfast spot. We found one, I cannot remember the name, and we were given AMAZING service! We were asked about 6 times if we were ready to order in the first 4 minutes of sitting at the table, by different waiters! Then once we finally got our food, we had been forgotten :-) Oh well, it was a fun experience and provided for a funny story/memory!


After breakfast we walked over to Ghirardelli Square to buy some tasty Kara's Cupcakes! I bought the "Seasonal Flavor" Organic Strawberry Cream and the Fleur De Sel(My Favorite) and FRIEND ordered the Meyer Lemony Lemon and Kara's Karrot. We both decided to eat one in Ghirardelli Square while enjoying the beautiful Sunshine in San Francisco and take one home to save for a later fix.

We chatted and caught up and gossiped (of course) about life while soaking in the sun rays! After we finished our cupcakes, we decided to drive over to Chrissy Field and walked along the beach and to the Palace of Fine Arts. We sat on a bench and took in the beautiful scenery and the lovely weather! I can't say enough how wonderful it was outside yesterday!

After our catch up session we drove back and FRIEND dropped me off!

I would not have wanted to spend my Friday morning ANY other way! I love you, FRIEND!

cupcakes

Lime

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MICHAEL!

Yesterday was a coworkers birthday, 21st birthday! So, Melissa and I took him out to dinner and for his FIRST legal 21 drink!

We went out to the Castro (Area) and went to a Lime, a restaurant and bar. His first legal drink was a Cosmo and Melissa and I got Lemon Drops. The drinks were yummy!!

The restaurant has set up their portion sizes to be bite size and for everyone to share. So we decided to sample a large part of the menu by ordering one of a lot of things! We ordered the Chipotle Fries, Chicken skewers (My favorite), mini burgers, fried green beans (a little interesting--I wasn't a fan of the texture), and a port quesadilla. The food was small and fun to share!
The waiter brought us a dessert menu. The desserts were all bite sized and $1/piece. We decided to get one of each-to try them all :-) The two mini cupcakes were very tasty! One was a red velvet and the other was an apple cinamon, both with cream cheese frosting--so good! There was cheesecake dipped in chocolate (on a skewer)-this was my favorite! The strawberry was cut in half with cream cheese frosting on both sides. The creme brulee was not very good, they over cooked it (as you can tell from the picture of the black sugar on top). There was an ice cream cookie sandwich that was very yummy-it was 2 chocolate chip cookies with pistachio ice cream in the center. And lastly, there was a yummy chocolate brownie with vanilla ice cream on top!

Our waiter took great care of us since it was Michael's birthday and brought us these other yummy drinks on the house! They were lemon drops with grenadine at the bottom! They sure were tasty!
The restaurant was great and had a very fun atmosphere! It was a little pricey, but totally worth it! For the three of us

Mangarosa and Cafe Jacqueline

My Sweeter and I celebrated our year anniversary about 2 weeks ago. It was such an amazing weekend! Since I am a starwood perferred guest, and we stay in hotels often, we had earned a free night at an Starwood Hotel. We stayed at the St. Regis and were given drinks on the house at the fun bar in the Lobby of the hotel. The room was gorgeous (sans the fact that we had a smoking room--which is GROSS) and very high tech! We thought it was the coolest place!

On Saturday night after checking in, we walked from the hotel to North Beach. It was warm outside, but overcast. We walked to Mangarosa, the restaurant that we ate dinner at. The ambiance was very trendy and fun. We were seated kind of in the back and we were worried that we were going to be forgotten about, and we kind of were...We ordered an appetizer and it was never brought to us-fortunately it wasn't put on the bill, but we were excited about trying something new and different. Mangarosa has Italian/Brazillian cuisine. I ordered a ravioli dish that had pesto and marinara sauce-it was delicious! My Sweeter ordered pesto risotto with chicken and mushrooms, his was very hearty and delicious! We also ordered wine. The glasses were amazing and big and beautiful!

Overall, I would recommend trying Mangarosa out! our meal was about $65 with tax and tip. Not too expensive considering we ordered wine.

For dessert, I was searching for a romantic place that sold yummy desserts and I came across the absolute perfect place! Cafe Jacqueline. It is about 1 block from Mangarosa and they are known for their gourmet souffles. The restaurant is a quaint little place, it holds about 15 tables in the restaurant and it is warms and smells of french pastries and delicious-ness :-) We were seated and knew exactly what we were planning to order-Chocolate souffle. It took about 20-25 minutes for our dessert to be prepared, but it was totally worth it! The waiter brought us the souffle and My Sweeter and I looked at each other like we were crazy for wanting something so HUGE! We dug in and, literally, LICKED the dish clean! It was so light, airy and fluffy! We decided that we want to go back to try their entree souffles. After we paid the bill, our waiter told us to go into the kitchen and tell Jacqueline, herself, that we enjoyed the souffle. We headed back into the kitchen where we were greeted by a little old French woman preparing and cooking all of the souffles to perfection.

Cafe Jacqueline was absolutely delicious and I plan to go back there for an entire meal. It was a little pricey-I must say, but totally worth it and it is a very special treat! It was about $45 including tax and tip for our chocolate souffle that can feed 2-4 people.

Our special night was wonderful and romantic. I can't wait for many more to come :-)

mangarosa