Cloud Shadows

Napa day trip from Sacramento

cloudshadows — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 19:15:52 +0000

Spring day in Napa, California. Wisteria is in full bloom and it was very busy at V. Sattui.

Peach cobbler smells like springtime!

cloudshadows — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 22:47:34 +0000

A great treat for those cool spring nights. A lighter dessert since it doesn’t have a crust but is savory and very flavorful. Anyone else have a supply of peaches in their freezer? This is the first time I made this so it is pretty easy. Use fresh lemons which are in season. I have lemons in my yard. Serve with vanilla ice cream. The Dreyers churned line is deelish. Yum!

find the recipe here

Quick Santa Cruz and Boulder Creek California trip

cloudshadows — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 16:41:57 +0000

We stayed at the pacific ocean lodge just a couple blocks from the Santa Cruz pier. This was nice for catching meals and strolling under the moon at night.

view towards wharf

Distillery tour and vodka tasting at Hanger One

cloudshadows — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 05:08:55 +0000

Awesome activity for a rainy day in Alameda, CA. Make reservations ahead of time and do a tasting before. They are almost out of their single malt whiskey, which is amazing! Cheers!

Buddha’s hand orange

Absinthe after it dissolves in the ice, a process called “louche” or a change in opacity

www.hangarone.com

iPad has arrived!

cloudshadows — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 00:56:33 +0000

Beautiful new iPad has arrived! This one is for my husband. Enjoying it, first iPad I’ve ever really had my hands on!

Sacramento beer week summary

cloudshadows — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 17:47:45 +0000

Sacramento beer week was incredible. It ran Feb 24 to March 4 this year. A limitless (well almost, many brews were getting tapped out, go early!) opportunity to enjoy many drinkable flavors. My husband and I are excited easily by anything extremely hoppy. I started pre-planning by making a list in Evernote of events and locations my husband and I were to partake in. Of course rules were listed too: 1) don’t drink before we leave the house and 2) hydrate!

This was an all-bicycle transportation event. We rode our bikes everywhere, not a gallon of gas was burned.

Friday 3/24
The porch, east sac, Sierra Nevada night
We also checked out socals across the street and then stone brewing at rubicon in midtown.

Maple pecan porter at SoCals:

Saturday 3/24
Folsom
(we took light rail up to Folsom from our house in midtown)

Lockdown brewery (not part of beer week, but there was a long line at Sam Hornes – they had pliny the younger for a limited time – and we were interested in the new lockdown location)

Samuel Hornes in Folsom is worth the light rail trip.

Very unique.

Next was hoppy brewing. Nothing special but good beer.

Sunday 3/26

Ruhstaller, a local Sacramento brewery was highlighted with brunch at bows an arrows in midtown.

This was an amazing pairing of flavors from fat face (Davis, ca) and Ruhstaller. Ruhstaller had a black ipa named captain and 1881 red ale.

Fat face sammies:

Ruhstaller is taking over Sacramento! I’m so excited for this brewery!

Next up is jazz and oysters at Ten22 in old Sacramento.

Ten22 was supposed to have lost coast specials but they said they didn’t. I could have opted for Pliny the elder in a bottle but I went with a 1554 by new Belgium.

Monday 3/27

Magpie catering market and cafe
Anchor brew and French cheese 1880’s night

Duck gnocchi, amazing!

After magpie, we went to river rock in midtown for Ruhstaller night. We can’t get enough! There was a special for glasses, bottles and beer.

Tuesday 3/28

Rubicon, midtown, drakes brewing
Deveres, midtown, imperial ipa from Lagunitas

Thursday 3/29
River rock, midtown, drakes
Shady lady, midtown, Sierra Nevada and live music, chico night!

Overall we loved beer week. The beer week app for iphone helped spot additional events than were originally spotted on the beer week website. Looking forward to next year!

Find me on twitter in the meantime. I love Sacramento!

Living, thriving Spring

cloudshadows — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 17:38:11 +0000

Orange blossoms

Camelias

Spring in full bloom in #sacramento

Peach blossoms

McKinley park is in full bloom

cloudshadows — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 18:54:31 +0000

Beautiful McKinley park. The history of the grounds dates back over a hundred years. A few features of the park include picnic tables, benches, duck pond, walking trail, horseshoe pit and a rose garden to reopen soon

Eating Out, delicious and healthy meals! Week Three: BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse

cloudshadows — Wed, 04 May 2011 17:08:10 +0000

I’ve been busy testing out many healthy and delicious meals, check back for my progress!

This week is BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse’s Balsamic Glazed Chicken

According to myfitnesspal.com, the Balsamic Glazed Chicken has 743 calories and 8 grams of saturated fat. This meal is a little high in fat for my liking, however it is still very moderate compared to many, many of the items on the menu. If you only ate half of the crispy onion rings on top, you would save a good amount of the calories and saturated fat.

BJ’s also specifies “Our marinated chicken breasts grilled and served over baby field greens, caramelized onions and white cheddar mashed potatoes. Topped with crispy fried onion strings and drizzled with sweet balsamic glaze.”

In summary, this menu item is very filling, good and leaves you feeling satisfied and not weighed down or sluggish.

Check out a BJ’s near you – link

Eating Out, delicious and healthy meals! Week Two: Islands Fine Burgers & Drinks

cloudshadows — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 05:39:08 +0000

Starting off week two of eating out is with Islands Fine Burgers & Drinks Restaurant

Islands’ Paradise’s Bikini Beach menu can’t be beat and very delicious!

Turkey Burger Lite – 670 calories and 5 grams of saturated fat

Turkey Burger, Bun, Tomato, Lettuce, Mustard,Red Onion & a side of Steamed Veggies

Nice crunchy veggies makes this one a hit!

Northshore Tacos, Limited – 589 calories and 5.2 grams of saturated fat

Spicy Chicken, Corn Tortillas, Lettuce, Salsa, Cheddar Cheese, Tomato & Includes a side of Ranchero Beans

I could have done without the cheese on this one and still remain deelish!

Check out the nutrition information yourself or find a location – Islands Fine Burgers & Drinks

All information from Islands’ website, photos taken by me!