Category: Events

18 Reasons Cooking Class

by toastedbunz, posted in Events, hobby, information, Recipe, Uncategorized

18 Reasons is a non-profit based in San Francisco that not only provides cooking classes to community members but also free cooking classes to low-income communities throughout the Bay Area. 18reasonsIMG_470418reasonsIMG_470618reasonsIMG_4705

The night my friends and I went was ‘Spring Soups’!

We made crispy salmon, warm potato salad with a watercress sauce/soup. A build your own tortilla soup bar and for dessert a strawberry champagne soup with vanilla ice cream, fried basil, and other accents.18reasonsIMG_4709

Making the crispy salmon was easy and delicious.18reasonsIMG_4710

Building the tortilla soup and adding the broth at the end allowed for a fun and different aromatic experience!18reasonsIMG_4713

Next the crispy salmon over the warm potato salad and watercress sauce was served! 18reasonsIMG_471818reasonsIMG_471718reasonsIMG_4719

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Fried Basil! I have never seen that before!18reasonsIMG_472118reasonsIMG_4723

Everything we prepared was easy and delicious. This cooking class was a lot of fun and I love the mission behind 18 reasons. I highly recommend taking a class here! Enjoy!

Fav Things in the Bay

by toastedbunz, posted in beer, coffee, east bay, Events, exercise, Hikes, hobby, information, people, Restaurant, restaurants, travel

This past weekend I had a couple friends visit, last minute, in the middle of the week… which can be the best kind of visits… the best places are way less crowded on a Thursday!

The weather had been rainy all week but we were lucky to have sunny skies over us on the day they were visiting.

First Stop… Beauty’s Bagels! Yes, it is a bit hipstery ( whatever that means…) but it isgenuinelyy delicious and one of my favorite places in Oakland for breakfreast.

I always take people here who are visiting and they always love it. I love the Veggie bagel but this particular day I tried the fried chicken and let me tell you… it was some of the best friend chicken I have ever had.IMG_4411

After fueling up, we headed to Tenessee Valley for a hike!  This is a leisure hike that you can make more challenging or longer as you see fit for you and your group.

Always layer!FullSizeRenderIMG_4416756FF0A7-DC46-484F-A84C-7CD04E432AE9IMG_4418IMG_4422

Next stop! One of my ALL TIME fav mexican restaurants I have ever been to, The Sausalito Taco Shop. The crema, the micheladas, the seafood… yes PLEASE!IMG_4445

After lunch, it was time for some beer! We headed back across the Richmond Bridge for one of my fav breweries ( are you sensing a theme? Of course I would take my friends to do my favorite things! ), Fieldwork in Berkeley.

I am NEVER disappointed here and I always take home a crowler, growler or apparel! … I just love it!IMG_4447IMG_4449

Next stop, Rare Barrel… If you LOVE Sours…where have you been??? Get to The Rare Barrel. The server asked if we were on Spring Break… We took it as a compliment… life should be one long spring break!IMG_4456IMG_4454IMG_4457

After heading home to clean up we hit my neighborhood brewery, Temescal.IMG_4488IMG_4494

Love the beer garden here… dreaming of Summer already!IMG_4502IMG_4495

SO glad that these two came and visited me! It allowed me to visit my favorite places with two of the funniest people I know!

Come back anytime!IMG_4510

We then headed to one of my fav Korean spots, Bowl’d BBQ. IMG_4512

After that, we hit one last brewery, Woods in Uptown Oakland. Love the fire pit vibes they set up!IMG_4513IMG_4514

Additionally, if you want to dance on a Thursday night, head to Era Art Bar… always a fun time!

And… there you have it! A few of my favorite things… in the BAY!

Potato Chip Rock Hike

by toastedbunz, posted in beer, Events, exercise, Hikes, hobby, travel, Uncategorized

I am in San Deigo for the Weekend, celebrating one of my besties birthdays and we wanted to make sure to get in a little physical activity before over indulging!

You will begin the hike at Lake Poway. During the week parking is free but on weekends expect to pay to park in the lot.

We started hiking around 11 and finished at 2:30. We probably hung out on the summit for 30 to 45 minutes.

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There are trail markers all along the hike, but the mileage can be odd, sometimes it will tell you how far you have come and other times it will tell you how much further you have to go.

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When we reached the summit we were pretty dang tired… the hike is about 90% uphill and in full sun. We were excited to chill at the top and enjoy our summit beer.

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Shoutout to Mother Earth and their Cali Creamin’PowayPotatoChipHikeIMG_5910PowayPotatoChipHikeIMG_4612PowayPotatoChipHikeIMG_6138PowayPotatoChipHikeIMG_5286PowayPotatoChipHikeIMG_5173PowayPotatoChipHikeIMG_6394

I brought 32 oz. of water and could have been happy with more! Keep in mind that it is all uphill to the chip rock and then completely downhill back to the Lake.

If you can get there early I would recommend an early start instead of hiking in direct sun!

Happy Hiking and enjoy the green!

Additionally Resources:

https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/california/potato-chip-rock-via-mt-woodson-trail

https://www.yelp.com/biz/potato-chip-rock-poway

Favs on Friday : Food and Drinks

by toastedbunz, posted in beer, coffee, east bay, Events, hobby, information, Restaurant, restaurants, Uncategorized

My fav mocha…. and I am not even a mocha person, but the mocha at Blue Bottle is made with tcho and is ohhh so good. Pair it with a waffle and you have a decadently sweet breakfast.bluebottle

My love affair with Firebrand continues. Not just a bakery – they serve up amazing breakfast and lunch fare… They also recently started serving beer and wine in the evenings. Need to check it out soon. firebrand

Another place I love every time I go but I just don’t go enough is Drake’s Dealership.  Went here for lunch and may have had a little too much to drink, but the beers were SO good. drakes

If you love German food head to Gaumenkitzel in Berkeley. This is my second time there and I LOVED it both times. Great for vegetarians and meat lovers alike with an extensive beer and wine menu. germanfood

Branching out from the East Bay for this last one! The Jug Shop on Polk in the City has an AMAZING selection of beer, liquor, and wine. They also put on wonderful tastings. My friend and I went there for a sour tasting and we were blown away by how extensive and delicious it was. As you can see I went home with quite a bit!! jugshopsourbeer

Enjoy!

Links I love to get you into the Weekend

by toastedbunz, posted in beer, Events, exercise, Hikes, hobby, information, people, talk, travel, Uncategorized

In need of more trip ideas? Check out this list of most iconic places and when you are headed there make sure to pack some of these essentials for surviving abroad.

I would like to think that I could have a home on wheels and I love how simplistic and affordably this guy converted his truck.

When I am not dreaming about being a vagabond I like to find ways to make my home more homey. A perfect way to do this, in my opinion would be to grow your own hops!

Always love a good wellness article and this one in particular is in relation to foods that give you glowing skin.   Now who doesn’t want that??

Links I Love – Moons, Careers, Avocados and Beer ( duh!)

by toastedbunz, posted in beer, Events, hobby, Holiday, information, Uncategorized

If your Friday night plans don’t include a Full Moon, Comet and Lunar Eclipse you are missing out! I am hoping our skies are clear enough to check this out!

Maybe this weekend you are going to do a little soul searching, career got you in a rut? I enjoyed this article from Fast Company about the skills you really need when starting your career.

If your weekend takes you out on an adventure with friends you may need to use this Beer-Based Gratitude Scale to show them your appreciation.

Avocado toast is an important part of most of my days and an un-ripe avo will give me the blues. This is an awesome article about how to quickly ripen an avo!

Now just for some fun, inspiration reading, this NY Times article about Russel Westbrook.

SF Beer Week 2017

by toastedbunz, posted in beer, east bay, Events, hobby, information, Restaurant, restaurants, talk, travel, Uncategorized

It is almost that time of the year again…beer lovers across the bay unite for some of the most unique beer events.

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The SF Beer Week list can be daunting, so I have a few tips for you to overcome FOMO ( fear of missing out).

If you can get this beer regularly, I wouldn’t go out of my way to get it during beer week. Save your beer week belly for unique brews that you can’t get normally.

DO support local business and friends when you can.  My friends band is playing at SF Beer Week’s Battle of the Bands Kickoff Festival – so naturally I am being supportive and going… I would however, normally try and steer clear of all you can drink events.

My last tip is to seek out opportunities that are outside of the norm or more rare.  Beer Week is a great time to try new beers, meet brewers and other beer lovas and have a great time doing it!

….When you aren’t drinking beer during these next couple weeks I reccomend planning a few workouts, drinking plenty of water and throwing in some greens every few days!

Happy Drinking! Cheers!

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