AN AFTERNOON IN THE (SAN FRANCISCO) MISSION.

Friday was an amazing, warm, and sunny day.  Perfect Northern California spring weather...Raf was heading to the city to attend a meeting, so I decided to tag along for the BART ride, but hopped off in the Mission.  I seriously love this neighborhood.  It is a bit like Brooklyn, lots of old school people who have been in the neighborhood forever, mixed in with a serious creative vibe, amazing bakeries, restaurants, bodegas, hip shops, neighborhood bars and a heavy dose of hipsters :)  One of my favorite restaurants in the city, Gracias Madre (organic,vegan Mexican food) happens to be in the heart of it all, along with my favorite thrift store, Thrift Town.

I was mostly hoping to hit up the thrift and then head over to Bi-Rite Market to pick up some organic citrus fruit (I've been craving kumquats) and then head across the street to get some Bi-Rite ice cream from the Creamery and then to Delores Park to relax in the sun a bit.  I ended up spending some time thrifting, but then wandered in to an AMAZING fabric store in the basement next door and picked up some great things for some new jewelry designs I have been working on.  Then I headed over to Bi-Rite, and realized I was a bit dehydrated, and ice cream was probably not the best choice.  I got a coconut water (so yum and refreshing!), some kumquats and mandarinquats (a hybrid, obviously) and headed past the creamery :( and over to the park.  The park was PACKED with people celebrating the amazing weather.  I got a few pictures of the crazy scene (folks selling their wares, barbecues fired up, hippy drums being played, a crazy guy hip thrusting at the crowd--creating a roar of cheering...you name it...Raf called saying that he was done early, so we decided to meet up at a BART stop and head home together.  We had a nice ride/walk home (after stopping to do some Capoeira on a patch of grass and then hanging out with some squirrels who just received the best gift--a bag of peanuts!)  It was a lovely, lovely day...I love living here!

STRAWBERRY/ALMOND/COCONUT BREAKFAST SHORTCAKE...

I'm so excited to have berry season here already!  And cherries are just around the corner.  Yay!  I am definitely making lots of jam again this year--Raf and I have almost finished our entire stock from last spring/summer (only 2 jars of fig jam left!). 

I bought a container of organic strawberries yesterday on my walk home from work (okay, so I got some gelato too...) with the intention of making a fruity breakfast before heading back to the shop this morning.  I ended up making a not-super-sweet version of my favorite childhood dessert:  strawberry shortcake.  I used Trader Joe's multi-grain baking mix (you could use any biscuit mix or recipe), and whipped up six biscuits in no time (just added almond milk, slivered almonds, and a touch of melted coconut oil to the mix), and baked those babies up in less than 10 minutes.  I washed and sliced (with my handy strawberry slicer!) and whipped cold (the thickest part of the can),full fat coconut milk into a thick cream.  After the biscuits cooled, I plated them up, drizzled them with a bit of maple syrup, topped them with the sliced strawberries, spooned on the coconut milk cream (a couple of tablespoons), and sprinkled more of the slivered almonds on top.  Best served with veggie breakfast sausage and a homemade latte!  So YUM!

HAPPY, HAPPY SPRING!

Berkeley has beautiful days all the time:  sun shining, birds chirping, green everywhere--pretty much all year round.  But, there is something magical about spring here--new blooms, fuller trees, abundant farmer's markets, fragrant star jasmine... Oh my goodness, the star jasmine.  I have never in my life smelled a more incredible flower.  Sometimes I pick a couple of the tiny flowers and weave them into my hair just to carry the scent with me a bit longer.

My plan in the next few months to is to take the time to indulge in really long walks in the hills to watch things grow and change from spring into summer.  Who knows how much longer we will live here in this beautiful place (Raf will probably be done within a year or so and who knows where our adventure will take us to next!), and I really just want to make sure that I take it all in.