About Author: consumableJoy

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I live to eat.

Posts by consumableJoy

  • Welcome to this week’s foodblog round-up — the “all dessert all the time” edition! Maybe it’s because I’m in the middle of my quest to get in shape, but so many sweet luscious photos caught my eye this week. Irresistible. I’m thinking that if I blog about them, maybe I will be able to resist actually baking and eating them. The Waspy Redhead took votes for her featured post, and since I voted for Strawberry Limeade Granita, it seems fitting to rave about it here. It looks so beautiful and refreshing… perfect for springtime but even more perfect for summer....

    Foodblog-a-round: Week of 2010.04.05

    Posted on 2010.04.12 | 1 Comment
    Welcome to this week’s foodblog round-up — the “all dessert all the time” edition! Maybe it’s because I’m in the middle of my quest to get in shape, but so many sweet luscious photos caught my eye this week. Irresistible. I’m thinking that if I blog about them, maybe I will be able to resist actually baking and eating them. The Waspy Redhead took votes for her featured post, and since I voted for Strawberry Limeade Granita, it seems fitting to rave about it here. It looks so beautiful and refreshing… perfect for springtime but even more perfect for summer....

    Continue Reading...

  • A couple of years ago a brown, nutty, slightly chewy grain started appearing in the dishes I’d order at restaurants. It usually came as an accompaniment, a few grains or a small pile amid some fresh vegetables or a flavorful sauce. And maybe once or twice, a bowlful prepared like risotto, rich and cheesy and a bit al dente. I was super curious… what was this curious new grain chefs were sneaking in on the plate? That grain turned out to be farro. Farro, also known as emmer, is a hulled wheat closely related to (and sometimes mistaken for) spelt....

    Hello, My Name is Farro

    Posted on 2010.04.11 | 3 Comments
    A couple of years ago a brown, nutty, slightly chewy grain started appearing in the dishes I’d order at restaurants. It usually came as an accompaniment, a few grains or a small pile amid some fresh vegetables or a flavorful sauce. And maybe once or twice, a bowlful prepared like risotto, rich and cheesy and a bit al dente. I was super curious… what was this curious new grain chefs were sneaking in on the plate? That grain turned out to be farro. Farro, also known as emmer, is a hulled wheat closely related to (and sometimes mistaken for) spelt....

    Continue Reading...

  • Gather Restaurant in Berkeley has been well-received by both “official” critics and local food bloggers. Located across Oxford from UC Berkeley, it’s got the corner spot in the David Brower Center, a recently-completed LEEDS certified building with the mission of housing non-profits with an environmental bent. So Gather’s a great fit – with a focus on fresh, local and sustainable ingredients, and This Week’s Farms featured prominently on a chalkboard. From the beginning it has been Gather’s goal to offer breakfast, lunch and dinner with local sustainable fixin’s at a reasonable price. I’ll leave the dinner review for another time...

    Breakfast and Lunch @ Gather

    Posted on 2010.04.09 | 2 Comments
    Gather Restaurant in Berkeley has been well-received by both “official” critics and local food bloggers. Located across Oxford from UC Berkeley, it’s got the corner spot in the David Brower Center, a recently-completed LEEDS certified building with the mission of housing non-profits with an environmental bent. So Gather’s a great fit – with a focus on fresh, local and sustainable ingredients, and This Week’s Farms featured prominently on a chalkboard. From the beginning it has been Gather’s goal to offer breakfast, lunch and dinner with local sustainable fixin’s at a reasonable price. I’ll leave the dinner review for another time...

    Continue Reading...

  • Spring is sprung, and berries are all over the market (at least here in California… maybe where you are too). And as the weather gets warmer a nice refreshing dessert is in order. This is a great fruit salad — easy to make, not even any chopping or slicing since it’s all berries whole. You can make variations of course with strawberries (I’d cut them in half or quarters in that case) or other fruits. Of course, you want to start with great berries. But the element that brings it all together is aged balsamic vinegar. Make sure to choose...

    Very Berry Marinated Salad

    Posted on 2010.04.07 | No Comments
    Spring is sprung, and berries are all over the market (at least here in California… maybe where you are too). And as the weather gets warmer a nice refreshing dessert is in order. This is a great fruit salad — easy to make, not even any chopping or slicing since it’s all berries whole. You can make variations of course with strawberries (I’d cut them in half or quarters in that case) or other fruits. Of course, you want to start with great berries. But the element that brings it all together is aged balsamic vinegar. Make sure to choose...

    Continue Reading...

  • And here’s the foodblog-a-round for the posts that most caught my eye in the last 7 days! Easter week yielded a lot of great posts about my favorite Easter goodies: Peeps! And the coolest “new” peeps development this year is the arrival of Peepshi. Full instructions at Serious Eats show how to combine Peeps with Rice Krispie Treats and Froot-by-the-Foot into colorfully sweet treats. Awesome. Simple Good and Tasty tells us where to get “homemade” Prariepeeps in gourmet flavors of Chocolate Heirloom and Coconut Vanilla. And Blondie and Brownie did ‘em up right with a great “Let My Peeple Go”...

    Foodblog-a-round: Week of 2010.03.29

    Posted on 2010.04.05 | No Comments
    And here’s the foodblog-a-round for the posts that most caught my eye in the last 7 days! Easter week yielded a lot of great posts about my favorite Easter goodies: Peeps! And the coolest “new” peeps development this year is the arrival of Peepshi. Full instructions at Serious Eats show how to combine Peeps with Rice Krispie Treats and Froot-by-the-Foot into colorfully sweet treats. Awesome. Simple Good and Tasty tells us where to get “homemade” Prariepeeps in gourmet flavors of Chocolate Heirloom and Coconut Vanilla. And Blondie and Brownie did ‘em up right with a great “Let My Peeple Go”...

    Continue Reading...

  • When I made plans to meet up with @BasilLeaf, I suggested dinner and she responded with an enthusiastic, “I LOVE FOOD!” So I decided to take the opportunity to try out a new restaurant I’d kept forgetting to visit — one that I first spotted in The Perfect Spot back in February. Opened by a married couple, Chris and Veronica Laramie, the restaurant hints of an elegant, modern meal with two (prix fixe) courses at $25 and additional courses (say, dessert) at $11. BasilLeaf and I found ourselves tucked into the restaurant on a rainy evening. The restaurant was a...

    Dinner @ eVe Restaurant

    Posted on 2010.04.01 | No Comments
    When I made plans to meet up with @BasilLeaf, I suggested dinner and she responded with an enthusiastic, “I LOVE FOOD!” So I decided to take the opportunity to try out a new restaurant I’d kept forgetting to visit — one that I first spotted in The Perfect Spot back in February. Opened by a married couple, Chris and Veronica Laramie, the restaurant hints of an elegant, modern meal with two (prix fixe) courses at $25 and additional courses (say, dessert) at $11. BasilLeaf and I found ourselves tucked into the restaurant on a rainy evening. The restaurant was a...

    Continue Reading...

  • Currently in love with First Aid Beauty Face Cleanser. Always searching for a gentle face wash because my skin is ridiculously sensitive and this stuff is great, cleans thoroughly but with no irritation. I’m so excited by it. This is an example of a Sephora sample doing the trick – got a free travel size a while back and have been hooked ever since.

    Faves: FAB Face Cleanser

    Posted on 2010.03.31 | No Comments
    Currently in love with First Aid Beauty Face Cleanser. Always searching for a gentle face wash because my skin is ridiculously sensitive and this stuff is great, cleans thoroughly but with no irritation. I’m so excited by it. This is an example of a Sephora sample doing the trick – got a free travel size a while back and have been hooked ever since.

    Continue Reading...

  • This week I observed that the stock at Ciao Bella Gelateria on Shattuck in Berkeley was getting thinner and thinner and got down to the reason for it yesterday: they were closing. I stopped by yesterday and I’m sad I didn’t pick up one last treat (I would have if I had known it was their last day). Well, now there is just more excuse to make my own gelato. Since the hubby has been out of town I have cooked almost nothing (multiple pots of popcorn probably don’t count). But my mouth is still watering over the blog posts...

    Foodblog-a-round: Week of 2010.03.22

    Posted on 2010.03.29 | No Comments
    This week I observed that the stock at Ciao Bella Gelateria on Shattuck in Berkeley was getting thinner and thinner and got down to the reason for it yesterday: they were closing. I stopped by yesterday and I’m sad I didn’t pick up one last treat (I would have if I had known it was their last day). Well, now there is just more excuse to make my own gelato. Since the hubby has been out of town I have cooked almost nothing (multiple pots of popcorn probably don’t count). But my mouth is still watering over the blog posts...

    Continue Reading...

  • Today I hit Gregoire for lunch. If you don’t know Gregoire, it’s the East Bay’s premiere take-out place — a little tiny postage stamp of a place, but which churns out great food. For dinner, gourmet French food (my first visit there I had seared duck breast… to die for… I will have to review dinner separately).And for lunch, sandwiches, salads and lavash wraps. Both the lunch and dinner menus change monthlyAlways offering a selection of various potato products (don’t miss the crispy potato puffs… little poofs of crispiness surrounding surprisingly light “mashed potato”), and a choice of desserts (anything...

    Lunch at Gregoire Restaurant, Berkeley

    Posted on 2010.03.28 | No Comments
    Today I hit Gregoire for lunch. If you don’t know Gregoire, it’s the East Bay’s premiere take-out place — a little tiny postage stamp of a place, but which churns out great food. For dinner, gourmet French food (my first visit there I had seared duck breast… to die for… I will have to review dinner separately).And for lunch, sandwiches, salads and lavash wraps. Both the lunch and dinner menus change monthlyAlways offering a selection of various potato products (don’t miss the crispy potato puffs… little poofs of crispiness surrounding surprisingly light “mashed potato”), and a choice of desserts (anything...

    Continue Reading...

  • I want to love Commis. I really do. And I expected to, based on the rave reviews of the restaurant everywhere (e.g., OpenTable, Yelp, Foodhoe). After two visits, I feel a little bit like a girl whose lover has turned out to be almost everything she wanted, but she can’t quite put her finger on why she can’t fall madly in love. I’m caught in a state of… “I really really like you but…” We went to dinner last week at Commis for Gus’s birthday. I had in mind to try what I’ve heard is their new tasting menu, but...

    Commis Restaurant

    Posted on 2010.03.25 | 1 Comment
    I want to love Commis. I really do. And I expected to, based on the rave reviews of the restaurant everywhere (e.g., OpenTable, Yelp, Foodhoe). After two visits, I feel a little bit like a girl whose lover has turned out to be almost everything she wanted, but she can’t quite put her finger on why she can’t fall madly in love. I’m caught in a state of… “I really really like you but…” We went to dinner last week at Commis for Gus’s birthday. I had in mind to try what I’ve heard is their new tasting menu, but...

    Continue Reading...

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