Eggplant and sun dried tomato penne with italian herbs sauce

Eggplant, sundried tomatoes, Italian herbs, salt, pepper, garlic, olive oil and grated parmesan cheese with penne.

Mmm! This was delicious! I love eggplant, but have never cooked pasta with it--definitely a great fit.

The perfect lunch at Split Pea Seduction, SoMa, SF.

Split Pea has some great new artwork on the walls! A customer/artist who teaches classes at 1:AM Gallery did these ballpoint pen drawings--so fun.

Love it. This was perfect for people watching while enjoying my lunch. :)

Everything on their daily menu always sounds amazing. I opted for the vegetarian option (last one listed) with bacon! Their bacon is so good so I really had to. ;)

I was so hungry and this really hit the spot. It was heaven between bread.

The Split Pea is always amazing and I'm stunned with how they keep their soup the exact right, edible temperature. I went for the Sugar Pie Pumpkin Veg.

Ridiculous. I love soups with bread/croutons in them. So so yummy and hearty.

A special little dessert for me! Everyone should try one of their ice cream sandwiches. They're not only adorable, but absolutely delicious!

Now THIS is what lunch should be. :)

Chefs Christian and Sam--you guys rock my taste buds! Thank you both for everything! SO fabulous!

I just have to ad a quick note--Split Pea Seduction is the must-try lunch joint, but Christian also has an amazing catering company, Jersey Tomatoes, that you will not be disappointed with!

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Wine and pizza tasting at Una Pizza Napoletana, SoMa, SF.

Una Pizza Napoletana opened a block away from the SF Station office! I'm so excited--our part of SoMa is finally getting cool! Haha. After hearing all of the hype, I've wanted to try it, but they aren't open for lunch and I haven't made it out for dinner just yet.

But! Much to my surprise, there was a fabulous wine tasting there today so I decided to stop and meet a couple co-workers there before heading into the office!

There was SOOOO much wine! And so many fabulous people!

My boss, Chris, chose this bottle out of the chaos and it turned out to be a nice, easy, red with bubbles! ;)

Anthony Mangieri, workin' that oven! Una Pizza Napoletana takes "minimalism" to a whole new level--it's actually kind of refreshing, it's just a big space with high ceilings and this beautiful oven. :)

Neapolitan style margherita pizza. Beautiful. Delicious. Super yummy crust--that isn't burnt! I learned this just recently, but the crust on Neapolitan style pizzas are meant to be browned spotty. But okay, this one may be a tiny bit burnt on the bottom, but the top half is perfect! ;)

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Homemade flatbread pizza with burrata.

I cannot get over the pizza I had at Delarosa! The burrata cheese on that pizza changed my life! I've wanted to make it since, so I decide to pick up some burrata at the store the other day and try a quick flatbread pizza.

Trader Joe's flatbread rounds make such great pizza crust! They get nice and crispy, but with some chew, too. :) On top I put some homemade marinara sauce with ground beef. I topped that with the beautiful burrata and chopped basil. This was pretty great. I'm super excited to start making more burrata pizzas!

Amazing dinner at Delarosa, Marina, SF.

Delarosa is a pizzeria. It's fast and loud and hip and fun and delicious! :)

Champagne courtesy of Delarosa! That's a large glass of champagne and it was glorious! :)

Eggplant caponatina with burrata 9

Appetizer courtesy of Delarosa. This was ridiculously good. I know I never stop talking about how much I love eggplant, but this was really something else. Lovely.

Fava bean and pecorino bruschetta 7

I overheard a guy telling his friend the Fava bean bruschetta and the meatballs were killer. Then I asked our server what she recommended and, right off the bat, she said the same two apps! We went with those and they were both fabulous!

I don't know how they grate the cheese into this beautiful cloud over the bruschetta, but the textures and tastes were all right on!

Meatballs in spicy marinara 6

Okay, I wouldn't say the marinara was spicy--really, it wasn't, but the meatballs and sauce were both fantastic.

Margherita with burrata 15

We ordered the Margherita with burrata and added panchetta--SO GOOD. Move over Delfina! There's a new thin crust pizza joint and it's good. Everything about this pizza was wonderful--the cheese was perfect, the sauce and dough were excellent, the basil was fresh and the panchetta was heaven. I'm already craving this pizza again!

Coppa Mocha 7

Coffee gelato, crème anglaise, chocolate sauce, candied almond, and meringue

Beautiful. Delicious. This whole dinner just kept getting better right down to this dessert. The coffee flavors weren't those muted frappuccino flavors you get with other coffee ice creams--they were real, and the texture of the gelato was spot on, too. The meringue was crumbled up as a topping, which is such a fabulous idea!

Delarosa is one of those spots that you'll keep going back to. That and every time you go back you'll want to order everything you had last time because it was so delicious, but you'll also want to order all new dishes because you know they are going to rock your world! Now, that's my kind of restaurant. ;)

A very special thanks to Lauren at Rivera PR and Delarosa for the fabulous reservation and for the drink and app! Rivera--you guys are always SO fabulous and represents the hottest spots! :)

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Uvaggio wine pairings at Ristobar, Marina, SF.

What a lovely, casual event with great wine and good food! I tried four of the Uvaggio wines with an assortment of yummy bites from Ristobar. The Uvaggio whites are bold and crisp and not afraid to be true white wines--it's so refreshing to see that!

The Uvaggio Muscato Dolce was fabulous with these sweet treats.

A special thanks to Lauren Eastman & Associates, Rivera PR, Uvaggio and Ristobar for the fun tasting!

Uvaggio Website

Ristobar Website

Yelp

sun-dried tomato pesto torta omelette.

This was heaven! I love a good, cheesy omelette. This was great with chopped up sun-dried tomatoes, pesto and a parmesan-cream cheese blend.

Tintoretto, The Venetian, The Strip, Las Vegas.

Caprese Salad.

There wasn't a lot of basil, but this mozzarella was to die for. It was plump, but soft and had the most lovely, light flavor to it. In fact, I think it's the best fresh mozzarella I've ever had. The tomatoes were juicy and rich in flavor, too and it all went together so nicely. I've never really seen roasted red pepper with a caprese salad, but it was a lovely addition, too!

Caesar Salad.

This was just eh. Lacked flavor and there was nothing special too it.

Dessert tray.

As you can see, everything looked amazing! Sadly, I was just too full after two days of eating my heart out in Vegas! :)

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Creamy arrabiata with pasta.

Yup. Prego. :)

Mixed with cream, Tapatio, spices, sausage, red onion, capers and eggplant. This sauce was SO good I wanted to have it as a soup! Haha.

It was perfect with some pasta though. I "slow" cooked everything in the sauce, over low heat, until the onions and eggplant were soft and I could really smell the capers.

I like my arrabiata spicy so this had a good kick to it. I topped with a little grated parmesan cheese and, oh man, I have to say--this was just really yummy!

Minor minor softball picnic.

Romaine, dried cranberries, toasted almonds, blue cheese vinaigrette dressing.

Spaghetti, kalamata olives, capers, tomatoes, red onions, garlic, olive oil, spices, balsamic vinegar. I added parmesan cheese to this after packing it in the tupperware. I always rinse my capers because otherwise I find them too salty. This went into tupperware for the picnic! :)

Softball game! There's a softball field two blocks from my place and it's so fun to go watch the minor minor league games! Haha. I'd been meaning to pack a picnic and take a friend to watch, so we finally made it happen! It was a lovely night, too. I was just too busy eating to take any more photos! :) Just to note--we weren't eating from there, there are bleachers and we parked ourselves behind home base. :)

Pizza, beer and a movie with my girls.

Pita bread and marinara sauce.

Toooooppings: red onion, red bell pepper, Italian basil, Cowgirl Creamery fresh mozzarella.

My pizza. :) Hahaha.. I had to make mine pretty, of course! I used garlic, mozzarella, artichokes, red onion, basil and olives.

Trinh's pizza: garlic, mozzarella, basil, red bell pepper, red onion, artichokes, toasted pine nuts.

Kat's pizza: garlic, mozzarella, basil, red bell pepper, red onion, artichokes, toasted olives.

Into the oven!

Unfortunately, not our best pizzas.. We didn't cook them for long enough, the marinara sauce we used was too watery and the mozzarella was bland, even for mozzarella. :( It was still fun though!

Ginger beer! I thought it was going to be great.. but it was harder than cheap whisky going down--far too gingery. I mixed mine with a little water and it was much more drinkable.

Anyway, we had the pizza and beer and watched The Blind Side. Fun night!

Simple, delicious Italian at Tommaso's, North Beach, SF.

Caprese salad. Under the basil leaves were four mozzarella balls, too. Very yummy.

Our waiter, serving us some cheesy slices!

Pepperoni pizza with Kat's beautiful smile in the background! ;) Very, very good pizza. The sauce is super flavorful, there is tons of cheese and yummy, crispy little pepperonis. The crust has the most amazing texture, too--mmmmm!

After watching the devastatingly thin models (that's just an observation!) at the amazing Academy of Art 2010 fashion show, of course Trinh, Kat and I decide to go out for pizza! Haha. I'd heard so much about Tommaso's, but didn't think I had ever been. Turns out it's the darling little restaurant I went to almost 10 years ago for my friend Sophie's birthday, while I was studying at Cal! Crazy. Such a great place. I want to go back and try their other pizzas soon!

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Simple creamy pesto penne.

I mixed together some pesto, light onion chive cream cheese and skim milk, garlic seasoning (that includes salt).

Tossed with some penne. It was good, but I think I prefer pesto pasta salads (cold).

Pre US Half Marathon carbo-load dinner.

Romaine, carrots, goat cheese, toasted almonds, honey mustard vinaigrette dressing.

Tomorrow I'm running the US Half Marathon: The Other Half, here in SF! My favorite part about running a marathon is, of course, carbo-loading the day before!!!! Yay! Here was the non-carb loaded part of the meal! :)

When carbo-loading, it's easy to go Italian, so that's what I opted for. I got a baguette, cut two pieces, sliced the pieces in half and then thew them in the toaster oven.

Meanwhile, I whipped together a balsamic vinaigrette, olive oil and herb mix, drizzled some on the baguette.

Topped with some sauteed veggies: zucchini, yellow onion, tomato, mushrooms with some garlic and a little balsamic vinegar. A mild feta to finish it off. These were awesome.

Whenever I do cream sauce, I just wing it! It's hard to go wrong. I used heavy cream, cream cheese, parmesan cheese, feta, garlic, black pepper and a garlic seasoning mix. It was a tad salty, even though I didn't use any salt (the garlic seasoning), but that was okay because veggies still needed to go in..

I just used the same veggies that went into the bruschetta: zucchini, tomatoes, yellow onion, mushrooms. Easy, delicious, not very healthy sauce, that was going over a bed of whole wheat spaghetti.

The whole meal! YUM! I think this was carb-loaded. It was also vegetarian! Everything turned out nicely, but the bruschetta was my favorite part. Mmm! :)

Here's wishing me luck in the race tomorrow! :)