The Napa Valley

So...I'm sorry I haven't written anything since day 2, there was both a lack of internet and then jet lag that got in my way. But let's pick up where we left off shall we ?

Day 3.

Leaving the wonderful San Francisco today, and heading up to Calistoga, a.k.a the Napa Valley. I've heard a lot about this place so I'm very much looking forward to visiting it. Big day, means big breakfast ! I had the pancakes in the Hotel restaurant and they were absolutely fabulous , I just can't get enough of american pancakes ! 

After that we got in our very american car and drove up to the San Francisco Bay bridge, took a few photos, and crossed it.

We also saw a line of food trucks getting ready for lunch, unfortunately it was too early for us to try them out.

We stopped at Saucilito for lunch, it was such a beautiful town. We ate on the terrasse of Le Garage, where I had a ham sandwich ( home-braised ham, avocado, garlic aioli, basically heaven ) and shared some chickpea chips (they reminded me of cecina which is a chickpea crepe I had in Italy a few years ago and was one of the nicest things I have ever eaten ! ) 

We arrived in Calistoga late afternoon, and wondered around our hotel, admiring the beautiful scenery. Being originally from Bordeaux, it was very strange to see vineyards surrounded by pine trees and olive trees, and there was something quite poetic about seeing these fields of green in the middle of dry, almost desert like, hills. 

We stopped for drinks in the garden of a cute little restaurants, and then bought some snacks at the supermarket for dinner. I had my very first beef jerky, flavored with chipotle and honey, and it was very nice. 

San Francisco adventure

Yesterday was San Francisco day 2, and it was "awesome" ( you have to imagine the american accent there ) !

I slept like a baby for 12 hours straight and woke up starving, good thing the first thing we did was head to a diner for a big american breakfast. I had the corned beef hash with two fried eggs and a pancake on the side ( because why not ), and everything was absolutely delicious, the pancake was the fluffiest that I've ever had, the hash was salty, crispy and moist and the eggs were cooked to perfection, all in all an incredible breakfast !

Then we headed to chinatown and looked around the markets, I loved all the fruit and vegetables they had, but I have to admit I wasn't a fan of the dried fish and bird claws, but to each their own. We weren't really hungry after that breakfast, but in the middle of the afternoon we stopped for some tea and ended up trying bubble tea. I didn't really know what I was putting in my rose black tea, but I wasn't a fan of the texture or sickly sweet taste that I ended up with. 

Finally we headed uptown for some nice healthy salad. I had the detox and loved all the textures and flavors that changed with every bite. Plus I tried a passion fruit matte drink...delicious ! It was a lovely dinner with a very nice atmosphere. 

California dreamin'

     My family road trip across California has officially started ! The four of us took a plane from Paris to San francisco yesterday and we've already experienced amazing food. 

I have always wanted to go to California for all it's innovative food trends, and general relaxed way of life.

I know whoever's reading this might not care about what I eat but if you're in the area you might want to try some places out, and I just wanted to write down everything so I'd remember it later on.

So it all started with a breakfast at the airport : bacon, mushrooms, cheese, omelette and crepes.

Then there were the meals on the plane, I love long flights, watching movie after movie while eating snacks...heaven !

We had to queue for about 2 hours at customs but they handed out cookies, there you go, my very first american cookie ! Delicious.

I had a look inside the ever so famous cheesecake factory, unfortunately there was too much of a queue, but I'll be back !

We decided to go wonder around the city for a bit to avoid falling asleep, I think we walked around for 1 to 2 hours but I just couldn't take it anymore I was so tired, so I just pointed at the first restaurant I saw hoping it would be decent, boy am I glad I was too tired to go any further, that was the best burger I've ever had ! I chose the avocado cheese burger that they cooked on the grill, and then they let you add all the toppings you want, plus all the vegetables were fresh and delicious !!

SO GOOD !

So that was it, we walked back to the hotel and I just fell asleep instantly and slept for 12 hours straight, it felt great ! 

So far, so good.

Healthy summer salad 2 : The return of the fruit.

And so the saga of summer salads continues with this cheeky red number. It seems I really like to put fruit in my salads, I just think it goes really well, but I guess you have to be (like me) a fan of sweet and salty combinations.
Last night I cooked an Aloyau (a cut of beef you find in Bordeaux) with some potatoes cooked in butter, garlic and onion. There was loads of meat left-over so I cut it in thin slices and seasoned it to eat cold with a salad.
For the salad I mixed together tomatoes, lettuce gems, mozzarella, watermelon, mint, olive oil, salt and pepper. It was a lovely and fresh salad for a warm summery day.

Yumsters ! 

Healthy and simple summer meal

So, slight change of plans, I am now back in Paris for a week because I didn't want to stay alone in my very exciting (NOT!) childhood village with no car, money or food :p ! But I will go back very soon, however in the meantime I'm back in the apartment. 

Anywho... since my sister had missed me so very much (again i might be exaggerating slightly) she decided to come for dinner (basically, the dinner was already planned and I tagged along, but I did make the food).

I made a very simple meal, with lots of fruit and vegetables, to welcome the sunshine onto our plates.

The starter was just sliced figs with spanish Iberico ham.

Then for the main I made a salad with :

- Crayfish

- Shrimp

- Lettuce hearts

- Nectarines

- Peaches

- Cherry tomatoes

- Avocado

- Coriander

And for the dressing I mixed together :

- 3 Tbsp of passion fruit vinegar 

- 4 Tbsp of olive oil

- 1/2 tsp of ground ginger

- Salt & pepper

And voilà, it was a lovely fresh salad that excites all of your tastebuds. I would definitely recommend it if your looking for a healthy meal filled with good nutrients but not boring in any way.

Yumsters!