Pasolivo Olive Oil Tasting

Pasolivo
8530 Vineyard Drive
Paso Robles, CA 93446
Website HERE

Free tastings. Visited 8/16/09

I love these dishes! They sell these online, too, and apparently a lot of other people like 'em too. The olive oil was delicious, and the women who helped us were friendly and nice too. They had olives, vinegar, regular extra virgin olive oil, different olive oils flavored with a citrus blend, tangerine, lime, and lemon, and jars of tapenade expensive though!) They also had a mix of spices, called Dukkah, that you can add to the oil that tasted pretty good...and also some black salt, which was pretty darn salty. We ended up buying an olive oil (unflavored) and an over-priced tapenade.





tree chair (haha):

the toilet:

Another Meatloaf Sandwich

World Sports Cafe
7746 N Blackstone Avenue
Fresno, CA 93650
Yelp reviews (there aren't that many as of 8/26/09)

Go HERE for my post on the meatloaf sandwich at BJ's.
I also took a picture of a homemade meatloaf sandwich too.
See below the picture for my thoughts on this order.


I liked this meatloaf sandwich a lot, but I should have chosen a different side. Maybe a baked potato next time...the pasta salad was kinda boring (I guess that's better than extremely salty, peppery, pickly, etc.)...and almost too sour. I liked how it wasn't all mayonaise-y or mustard-y though (this is why I tend to dislike potato and pasta salads...they almost always have too much mayo or mustard)!! The bread, as you can see, was toasted and buttered, so that made the bread tasty and easy to eat (you know how big, fat, dry, unflavored sandwich bread can be gross sometimes). I actually prefer my bread intrinsically delicious without butter, but this was still good, and I'd order this again.

Daddy Made Me an Omlette

...on 6/21/09

Pan de Leche

pan = bread (in both Spanish & Japanese)
de = of
leche = milk

Milk bread, basically. Milky bread? Milk's bread? lol Any of those would make sense. Anyway, they sell these, Pan de Sal, and some other breads that look delicious (some made of ube, or taro) at R-N Market (this Asian grocery store that stinks like Asian nastiness but has some good stuff...and some good non-Asian and Asian bread), apparently.

Nori and Gohan (nigiri)

Helped Mom make some nigiri (rice balls) on 6/13/09, according to my camera. I think we made them for my dad to eat on his fishing trip.

Great Harvest's...Cinnamon Blueberry Cream Cheese Bread?

I'm not sure what this is called, but it did have cinnamon, cream cheese, and blueberry specks in it (I think). It's pretty good, but there's too much of that sugary cinnamony stuff. My dad got this for someone, but he wasn't able to see that person, so we're eating it.

Cocoa Brownie Smoothie

Was experimenting. My first try on 8/12/09 was a failure: white rice + cinnamon + cocoa + half 'n' half + ice. Gross. I was trying to make a sorta horchata-like thing, but the rice chunks were nasty (even though I love rice chunks in rice pudding). Bleh.

So I tried again, and this one came out better. I think I made it with ice, cocoa powder, milk or half 'n' half, and a brownie from Bakesale Betty (it's not so great alone, so I thought I'd try it in a smoothie).

Yosemite Ranch

Yosemite Ranch
Website here
1520 E. Champlain Dr.
Fresno, CA 93720

I loved their salmon and mojito (I didn't like the one I tried at North Indian Grill, but Auntie let me try hers, and it was good!), but their chocolate cake wasn't good. Their bread pudding was good, but it was sooo sweet and buttery. Their bread rolls were delicious! I don't know if you can tell, but these pictures are sideways. Oops.



Yeah. I only took pictures of the bread (this was when I got home too).

Taro Mochi

My friend from Spanish gave me these for my birthday (hers is the day before mine too!):


Aw...dang. I had a picture of the inside somewhere, but I'll have to find it (I took it at a different time, so it's not with these pictures in the same photo album). It's mochi with a filling kinda like an (red bean paste) but made out of taro, apparently.

Claim Jumper Goodies

Mommy brought home some dessert the other day:


Blueberry muffin (more like a mini blueberry pound cake):

Little strawberry pie (I was surprised that Claim Jumper sells small things!):

I Love Bakesale Betty

Bakesale Betty's
5098 Telegraph Avenue
(Southeast corner of Telegraph & 51st)
Oakland, CA
Website here
I took better pictures the last time I went there (click here to see them). This time, Mina Y. and I shared a fried chicken sandwich (plenty!) and got cookies, etc. I asked for a box of eight randomly-chosen pastries + a box of four randomly-chosen pastries (each, however, with one pecan cookie haha), and the really nice lady gave me two extra cookies in the four-pastry box and a free lemon ice drink! She was so generous. I knew that they gave out full baked goods as free samples, but I wasn't expecting to receive three freebies.

Hmm...I do have to say that I don't really like the cookies that I've tried. The brownie isn't to-die-for either. I do really like that pecan cookie, the lemon ice, and their fried chicken sandwiches though. You can tell a lot of other people like this place because there is always a line out the door. Here are some more reviews on Yelp.

Birthday Food!

Steve and I went to Mary's...and when the door opened, Mary and James greeted us with this cake and some singing ...hehe (so cute...and such a surprise! thanks to the three of them!):


Before going to Mary's, Steve and I shared food at Taste of the Himalayas, which, according to Steve, has the best Indian food in Berkeley. That little bowl of curry looks tiny, but there's SO much in it. I tried to find the names of these dishes on their online menu, but I couldn't find them. The dish on the left was some kind of sizzling chicken dish with vegetables, and the curry on the right h

Post #500!: Dinner After General Convocation

My family and I celebrated my graduation from Cal on Friday, 5/22/09 at this restaurant (after the general commencement ceremony; psych grad dinner pics to come). I'm so fortunate and thankful to have had such a delicious meal with my family.

Il Fornaio
1265 Battery Street (in Levi's Plaza)
San Francisco, CA 94111
Website here

My dinner ("Cappellaci di Zucca ... Ravioli filled with butternut squash and walnuts topped with brown butter, Parmigiano-Reggiano, crispy sage and marinara") - RICH but sweet. Wow. Felt so guilty eating this. Really should have gotten the small order because that was three ravioli...and I ended up eating only three of these five (I didn't waste the rest; don't worry):


I think this was Dad's salad (mmm...fresh cheese):


Mom's salad:


Appetizer #1 ("Bruschetta [pronounced 'Brew-skeh-tah' or 'Brew-sheh-tah,' according to Alton Brown] al Pomodoro ... Grilled ciabatta bread rubbed with garlic and topped with chopped tomatoes, fresh basil and Tuscan extra-virgin olive oil")


Appetizer #2 ("Prosciutto e Melone ... Tuscan melon, Prosciutto di Parma, Parmigiano-Reggiano and mint"):

Appetizer #3 ("Calamaretti Fritti ... Baby squid, lightly floured and deep fried, served with spicy tomato-basil, prosecco vinegar and parsley sauces"):


Uncle Jerry's dinner/salad ("Insalata Caprese ... Heirloom tomatoes, fresh mozzarella and basil, drizzled with extra-virgin olive oil"):

Ryan's dinner (Gnocchi alle Melanzane ... Housemade potato dumplings with fried eggplant and eggplant ragu, pecorino and smoked mozzarella"):


The inside of one of my rich ravioli:

Didn't take pictures of what everyone else got, but here's their menu.

The desserts options!:


Mom's Affogato Al Caffe, which she shared with the rest of us ("Espresso poured over two scoops of vanilla ice cream and topped with fresh whipped cream"):


The dessert we all shared (Zabaoine Alla Gritti - "Chilled zabaoine with fresh berries, Bellini sorbet, fresh whipped cream and an amarena cherry"):

They sell baked goods too:


They hung noodles up as decoration (we asked because they were all gross and dusty):

Here's the dessert menu (in case you wanted to know what the other options were):