Over the 4th we were at a party in Malibu and I was offered a Margarita.  I noticed there was a half of a grapefruit sitting beside the blender.  I asked the woman who created it about the grapefruit and she said she was a mixologist and had came up with this Grapefruit Margarita recipe.  It was really refreshing and not too sweet, thanks to the grapefruit.  You could drink many of them and never taste the alcohol or the overly sweet flavors … dangerous!

Grapefruit Margarita Recipe

• Ice (enough to fill up the blender 3/4’s)
• 3/4 parts Tequila
• 1/4 parts Jose Cuervo Margarita Mix
• 1/2 of a fresh grapefruit

Put it all in the blender and go to town!

Two things about Verve Coffee Roasting in Santa Cruz:

• Light Coffee Roast Only! A Verve Barista’s Analogy = Dark roasting coffee beans is like making a steak well-done.  When you overcook your steak or do more than light roast coffee beans you taste the roasting rather than the coffee flavors (or juicy, bloody steak flavors).  And just a side note about ordering a well-done steak, if you have read Anthony Bourdain’s book “Kitchen Confidential” then you know, that your well-done steak is often an opportunity to utilize the worst cut of meat left on the kitchen chopping board and the this steak is sometimes thrown in the fryer before it’s served.  This is done because a well-done steak is not really “well-done.” So take it from me and enjoy some “well-done” coffee at Verve!
• Bowl of Soul is a big cup of tea steeped in steamed soy milk and honey.  Verve has a nice selection of teas for your bowl of soul. There is also another fancy drink name for tea steeped in soy milk.  What is that again?  I just learned this week that the tea they typically make with the Bowl of Soul is chamomile.

John: Verve is great when you want a gourmet roast and want some high caffeine joe.

Zach: I appreciate really dark, heavy, as dank as you can get, coffee.  If you like lighter coffee that tastes really good, you’ll really like Verve.

Lesley: I have to admit, I drank a few really strong iced coffees at Verve a year or more ago and remember thinking I liked the vibe of the small, modern coffee shop.  But I didn’t think a lot about it until I read an article in Imbibe Magazine: Liquid Culture.  Imbibe Magazine featured Verve in their April issue about American Microroasters as one of “Ten Tiny Coffee Roasters That Are Making A Big Splash.” When I went back to Verve I noticed they were competing in the Western Regional Barista Competition and decided to try the coffee and tea.  I like the modern, clean atmosphere and the dedication to making a very good cup of coffee.

Located on 41st Avenue – just down from Chill Out.

$15 for three drink tokens & a great big Drake’s glass Mug ($3.50 for extra tokens)

$5 donation to a charity (usually a local school)

Roli Roti Porchetta Sandwiches! DJ, all ages but you obviously have to be 21 or older to drink.  Bring a DD for sure! (the food changes, so check their site for the vendor of day)

It is in a crazy location between a Walmart and Sports Authority in San Leandro, CA.

This past Friday evening: 4pm-8pm (That part was a bit hard to get to because of it being a work day and everything.)

Vishal (Special Bi0tF Guest):  The Imperial IPA was good (10%).  I was familiar with the Quasar from Jupiter in Berkeley and didn’t realize it was a Drake’s beverage.  The music was nice and it made me think the summer events at Drakes will be great when the weather warms up.

John: The beer was great and so was the food.  It was a really good atmosphere.  It was hard to get there with enough time to fully enjoy the even coming from work in the South Bay.  So I was only there from 6:30pm-8.  It makes me really appreciate the Bay Area because of all of the good beers!

Zach: What they said.  My favorite was the Denogginizer and the Stout was also very tasty.

Les: I tried some of the lighter beers, not just the 10% alcohol brews, such as the blonde, amber, and hefe.  But I have to say the Imperial (Double) IPA was also my favorite out of them all!

Friday, March 5th: 2nd Big Friday Event

The Brewery
1933 Davis Street, Building 177
San Leandro, CA 94577

Drake’s opens it doors (and parking lot) for its second big Friday event of 2010! Food, music …. and beer! Join us! Starting at 4 pm we will have eight brews pouring, including our late-winter beer, “Drake’s Belgian Trippel”. We’ll be here, rain or shine. Hope you will be too!

COST:
$5 Donation to San Leandro’s Bancroft Middle School at the gate. 21 and over please. (Children with their parents, of course, are OK to enter.)
$15 for a Drake’s logo tasting mug and 3 tokens for full pours. More tokens can be purchased separately.

STREET FOOD:
Drake’s will have some great food on hand from one of your favorite local street food trucks. Come hungry!. This month it is: Food by Roli Roti, the fabulous mobile rotisserie operation. Check them out at www.roliroti.com

http://drakesbrewing.blogspot.com/

• Awesome Online Portland, ME Visual Food Map: http://www.portlandfoodmap.com/

• Novare Res: Great Bier Café w/ Artisan Cheese Plates – We want this in our neighborhood!

• Breakfast: Hot Suppa! – Best Corned Beef Hash Ever!

• Cookbook Bookstore: Rabelais

Over the holidays we headed home to Maine. This gave us the chance to checkout Portland’s foodie claims that attracted our attention in this years Bon Appetit article “Portland, Maine–America’s Foodiest Small Town.” Portland has certainly changed since the last time we visited five years ago with much more than your traditional seafood spots and pubs. There are more local breweries and bakeries, quaint & kitschy cafes that highlight modern takes on comfort food, and creative fine-dining with daily designed menus offering creative interpretations of regional favorites. We also went to a wonderful bier café with a beer list of more than 200 beers along with Maine made Meed as well as featuring great mix and match artisan cheese plates.

The Portland Food Map: This is awesome. It is a visual guide to food and drink in Portland separated by category such as kind of food, bakery, and specialty food shops and so on. When you click on the restaurant name it shows you a rating number as well as a list of the reviews about the restaurant. We are looking forward to every town having one of these.

One of my highlights was the cookbook bookstore Rabelais with books about food, wine, farming, and gardening and we of course we picked up more than our share. For one of our fathers we got a gardening for home brewers book and a canning and cheese-making book for ourselves.

At Hot Suppa! we had to try the Corned Beef Hash. It had so much more meat on it than we’re used to with corned beef hash. The meat was tender and was such a high-quality version and we could quickly tell why it is their flagship meal. We also had the special smoked duck breast sandwich with Gruyere, cranberry chutney, and dressed arugula on foccacia with the great mac and cheese side. The rolled French omelet was light and flavorful with the spinach, tomato, and chevre. It looked like there were lots of young and hip shops in this part of town just a few blocks from the old port.

At the Standard Baking Co. on Commercial Street we tried some of the European breads and pastries. We tried the Stolen bread, Fennel Pepper Crackers, and two suggested pastries. The Stolen was really great and we rationed it throughout the week.

Linda Bean’s Lobster Roll Perfect Maine had just opened and we wanted a lobster roll for lunch. Our mother had found the NYtimes article about the restaurant and we read the controversial aspects about the new fast-food lobster joint and the LL Bean heiress’s plans for its future. We have to say the roll was of a very high quality with lots of big chunks of lobster meat and not the typical mashed up, overly mayonnaise version. The clam chowder was also very tasty. It is essentially a Chipotle or Five Guys style higher-quality quick food lunch spot but we were pleased with the beer selection and tasty food.

Novare Res stole the show for us. We loved the HUGE selection of local and international microbrews and Maine flavored meeds. The bier café even seemed to be a family spot at 4:30-5pm on a Tuesday evening with young couples and their babies meeting friends. The mix-match artisan cheese bar was wonderful with the honey drenched Spanish almonds and chocolate drizzled on the plate. We want Novare Res in our neighborhood!

NY Times Article: “In Portland’s Restaurants, a Down East Banquet“

For some reason everywhere I went in Maui and Lania, they had blueberry drinks! Pretty tasty!

Serenity Blueberry Mojito

• 1 1/2 oz. Blueberry Stoli Vodka
• 8 Fresh blueberries (can thaw frozen ones)
• 8-10 mint leaves
• 3/4 oz. Blueberry Flavored Syrup (Monin Blueberry flavored syrup- instead of simple syrup)
• 1 oz. fresh lime juice
• 1 oz. Club soda

Muddle mint leaves and blueberries in a hi-ball glass. Add vodka, lime juice, blueberry syrup, and shake well. Pour in soda and garnish w/ lime slice and mint sprig.

Pineapple Blueberry Lemonade

• Pineapple, cut into chunks & some Pineapple juice
• 10 Blueberries
• Lemonade (1/4 cup of sugar, 1 cup of water, 1 cup of lemon juice)

Cut up a pineapple into chunks and then blitz it in the blender for a couple of seconds with some pineapple juice to break it down to drinkable sizes before mixing it with lemonade or blueberries. Muddle 10 Blueberries in the bottom of a Boston shaker. Add ice, pineapple puree w/ juice, and lemonade and shake. Pour contents into a hi-ball glass. Garnish with a Lemon wheel.

We at BiTF appreciate a good blog, especially when it concerns tasty beverages.  This blog not only appeals to our search for new tastes, but also to our aesthetic sensibilities.  With its faux polaroid/recipe card layout, one has the ability to experience a blog in a different (to us) and refreshing way, even if it solely aggregates the work of our bloggy brethren. We invite you to check out Liqurious.

www.Liqurious.com

Along these same lines, we finally got our hands on a beer we’ve been jonesing to try.  The beer is a Rauchbier, made with malted barley that has been dried over an open flame.  We tried the Schlenkerla version, which seems to be the most available brand.  According to Wikipedia, there are a few US microbreweries that make rauchbiers, along with some interesting international varieties including a Japanese beer named after the smokescreens used by ninjas.  But, you certainly don’t need to be a ninja to enjoy this style of beer.  As we love some BBQ smoke in most of our food, this beer hit just the right spot.  Truly, if you were craving bacon and beer, this would satisfy both.  Not only is the flavor in the beverage, but it will carry over to any food that you happen to be eating.  Feeling too lazy to get out the grill?  Grab a few rauchbiers and take a sip before each bite, it’s that easy.  I look forward to pairing this with an actual smokey meal to fully enjoy the experience.

www.Schlenkerla.de

Easy & Enjoyable Saturday Afternoon at the Burrell School Winery

• Great Deck & View: You can buy a bottle of wine and sip it on the deck at Burrell School Winery with friends.  The view is beautiful and looks out over the vineyard towards the Monterey Bay.  Open Thursday through Sunday, 11am to 5pm.

• Short Weekend Drive: 25 minute south of San Jose, 15 minutes south of Los Gatos

• $5 Tastings or Buy a Bottle to share on the deck

• Free Tastings for You & Three Friends when you are a Wine Club Member: If you are a member you pay $70 for three bottles four times a year.  With this you receive free tastings including three guests and often can enjoy pick-up parties in the garden when you stop by for your wines.  We do this often when friends are visiting from out of town or even on Friday afternoons.

Summit Road Wine Tour Idea after the jump…

Quick Saturday Afternoon Santa Cruz Mountain Wine Tasting Day Trip

• Easy Three-Winery Tasting Tour: 15 Minutes from Los Gatos

Santa Cruz Mountain Wineries: http://www.scmwa.com/

Summit to See Wine Trail: http://www.summittoseawinetrail.com/

Stop #1:

Regale Winery: http://www.regalewine.com/

Daily Selection: $10 tastings for 5 wines, exquisite view and interesting mural painting in new structure

Winemaker’s Selection:  flight of six wines, with an emphasis on Pinot Noirs and Cabernets, for $15.

NOTE: You are welcome to purchase wine by the glass or a bottle to share and spend some time enjoying our beautiful Italian inspired decor. Picnics are welcome with wine purchase.  The Bocce Ball court is available on a first come, first served basis.  We ask that you limit play to one hour if some one is waiting to play.

Our tasting room is open Saturdays and Sundays from Noon to 5:30 p.m.  Please call (408) 353-2500 or CLICK HERE for reservations.

Stop #2:

Burrell School Winery: http://www.burrellschool.com/

Cute tasting room next to the old school house and a great deck to sip your wines

Thursday through Sunday, 11am to 5pm.

Stop #3:

Loma Prieta Winery: http://www.lomaprietawinery.com/

26985 Loma Prieta Way – Los Gatos, CA 95033

OPEN for Passport Days the third Saturday of January, April, July, and November, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. (open other Saturdays sometimes as well)

Came across a post at Serious Eats and I couldn’t resist giving it a try.  Basically, you take a gallon of Apple Cider from Whole Foods ($7.00), put some cider yeast in it and wait.  I’ll let you know how it turns out in a couple of weeks.