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September, 2011

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Enoteca La Storia Wine Bar: Los Gatos

Friday, September 23rd, 2011

On Blame it on the Food we’ve basically gotten to the point where we just write about the places we like.  Enoteca is no exception here, we like it. One of the reasons we’ve become fond of it is because as our cousin who works in the food industry says, when the management is good in a restaurant and there is a positive vibe in the work environment, the place shines all around.  This is exactly how the environment is at Enoteca La Storia because the owners have created this and are so nice and professional and therefore so is their staff. They always seem to welcome customers and they feel bad if you have to wait for a seat.  They feel so bad that they often give you a complimentary glass of Prosecco to sip on as you wait.  Enoteca has only gotten more and more popular since the first time we visited.

I’ve actually been meaning to write about Enoteca La Storia in Los Gatos so many times in the last year but it is very dim inside in the evening and it makes it really hard to get decent photographs of the food and space. So I finally accumulated enough photographs to give you a feel for the interior and a bit of the food. It is a wine bar that serves some food and you can sit at the bar or at tables.  The backroom has some larger tables that seem like they could be reserved for larger parties. When people come into the wine bar they typically talk, eat, drink, eat a bit more and drink and hang out for extended periods. This is actually something I really like about it, you can meet friends at 8pm and hang out from there on out ordering snacks, wine, and to end, one of their really tasty desserts.

The food ranges from cheese to salumi boards (domestic and imported salumi) and crostini as well as paninis, salads and great desserts (carrot cake bites and chocolate cake with bacon bits). The majority of the food is nicely displayed and served on cutting boards.  For wine you can order half glasses, glasses, and bottles to share or flights.  We typically get a glass of wine each (or a Pliny de Elder, they often have that too), a cheese and salumi selection (Are Salumi & Charcuterie the Same Thing?) and then an awesome dessert like the chocolate cake with bacon bits on top!  If you come with at least four people the better deal is to buy a bottle (it is something like after the first bottle corkage fee, you don’t have to pay quite as much for each additional bottle).  Check it out on an upscale date night or plan to meet a couple of friends for chatting and good times.  It is kind of a bar for when you want to keep it classy, not really a hip spot so to speak but definitely not hipster – trendy maybe for the older crowd (40’s and up in age and not a kid or family spot).  On Fridays and Saturdays it can get fairly busy so keep that in mind.

416 N. Santa Cruz Ave.
Los Gatos, CA 95030

Phone: 408-625-7272
Email: info@enotecalastoria.com

41st Avenue Liquor Store: Santa Cruz

Sunday, September 18th, 2011

Beer Snob?  41st Avenue Liquor is the place to buy beer in Santa Cruz.

41st Avenue Liquor has Belgian sour beers like rodenbach, a large variety of Ciders, IPA’s, German Beers, and large selection of microbrews.  In addition they have quite a good liquor selection including all types of whiskey, vodka, liquours, tequilas and so on.  The wine selection is not as large as BevMo but they do have a pretty good selection (the beer prices and liquor prices are usually a bit lower or similar to Bevmo).

Also, I like to randomly pick up unique drinking glasses and bar knickknacks here like the metal deer head shot glass and margarita glasses too.

2155 41st Avenue
Santa Cruz, CA 95060

(831) 475-5117

Blame it on the Food in the SF Huffington Post

Friday, September 16th, 2011


The Huffington Post San Francisco asked San Francisco Food Bloggers about the Best Noodles In San Francisco? When they asked us, we had to mention Tantan-men from Halu Ramen.

Check out the Article: Food Bloggers Reveal Their Faves:

Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk • Top 3 Favorite Foods

Tuesday, September 13th, 2011

Can you tell we’re trying to hold onto summer … I thought I would mention our Top 3 Favorite Foods from the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk so you don’t lose your chance to eat the goodness (hmmmm … badness).

Rides Open Only: 11am-7pm on Weekends now Weather Permitting

#1 – Cajun Corn Dog @ Surf City Grill … Homemade and delicious. They claim to have the best corn dogs and they may be right.

#2 – Tater Twist (Put hot sauce and some seasoning on it)

#3 – Chocolate Covered Bacon @ Marini’s Candies

White Chicken Enchiladas Recipe with Pecans

Sunday, September 11th, 2011
This is a Better Homes and Gardens’ oldie but goodie recipe for White Chicken Enchiladas with Pecans.  As you’ve noticed I occasionally like to use the blog as a place to store some favorite classic recipes (when I say classics, I mean comfort foods, we are from the midwest after all).  This isn’t the healthiest of recipes, but it is a party hit comfort food that is great for rich weekend potlucks!  For a lower fat version you can use fat free cream cheese, fat free sour cream, and skim milk. However, we don’t advise it because no matter what, it ain’t gonna be low cal.  It will make you pretty happy though, for the few moments it passes through your flavor finder.
  • White Chicken Enchiladas Recipe

Rustic Italian Dinner Party Menu & Recipes

Thursday, September 8th, 2011

There is an art to planning a menu for a great dinner party.  It can be more doable when each guest is given a recipe to make and bring to share.  Of course, these have to be good friends in order for you to feel alright about assigning them a recipe versus telling them to bring a salad so this is more of a Gourmet club style dinner.  This Rustic Italian menu was very well planned not only because each recipe fit well with the theme but because each recipe was recommended fairly well by online reviews.  One of our friends even made his dish the week before to test it out. Then he perfected the dish he made for our dinner night, seriously impressive!

We made the Rustic Nectarine and Blackberry Crostata with Cornmeal Crust and we served it with ice cream and apple brandy (as an after dinner drink).  This is a great dessert and we non-bakers even pulled it off!

Rustic Italian Dinner Party Menu:

Appetizer: Olives & Classic Tuscan Flatbread w/ Olive Oil & Balsamic

Find New Food Photos & Recipes Online: Pinterest.com & StumbleUpon.com

Tuesday, September 6th, 2011

These are two websites that I just started using as a way to gather new recipes, food photos, and online inspiration. Check these two websites out, if you’re not already as overwhelmed by the ever-changing cyberspace like I am!

  • Pinterest.com – Food + Drink Photo Collections – View Others Inspirations Online & Create your own Food Pinboard (I just found Impressive Chocolate Abstract Garnishes, Bacon Pancakes, & Donut Hole Acorns under various Pinboards like Nuts for Nutella on Pinterest).  I think of Pinterest.com as a Virtual Sketchbook to keep and browse for Photo Inspirations.
  • A student of mine claims it is a postmodern gathering place for moms and housewives that is similar to a 1950’s sewing or bridge club community meet-up.

Pinterest is kind of like a virtual sketchbook of images (they compare it to *RL bulletin boards where you pin up inspirational photos and magazine clippings of recipes & dishes that you want to remember and share with friends).  You can organize sets of photos and images you find online into your own groups (cakes, cupcakes, casseroles, party ideas etc…).  You can even view other peoples “pinboards” like I shared above under Food + Drink.

*RL: Real Life

  • StumbleUpon.com

Through StumbleUpon I found The Vegan Stoner Blog (seriously awesome illustration-style presentation of recipe ingredients) and Punk Rock Cookie Jar Mixes on Post Punk Kitchen Blog, and Hasselback Potatoes.

Tell me more, What is StumbleUpon.com?

Through collaborative online “community” opinions websites are ranked so that you can search and find websites that are liked by a lot of folks that like the same things you like! StumbleUpon.com tries to search and find quality websites that may be of more interest to you than web search results acquired through places like google searches. Then you can create your own set of favorite websites, photos, and videos to share and also view others favorites.

Labor Day’s Last Hurrah: Special S’mores Variations

Monday, September 5th, 2011

Graham Cracker

Roasted Marshmallow, must be burnt

Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup OR White Chocolate & Strawberries OR

Hershey’s Chocolate Piece + Oreo + Another Hershey’s Chocolate Piece OR

Andes Mints OR Crunchy Peanut Butter & Banana + Toasted Coconut

Graham Cracker