Through cold weather and several northern California monsoons, I holed up and shuttled between my studio and the kitchen. I finally had an opportunity to get into Plenty More, an amazing cookbook I received as a Christmas gift from my son. Plenty More is full of vegetarian recipes heavily influenced by Ottolenghi’s (the author) Israeli, Italian and British background. Asian influences shine through as well. While the book is vegetarian the author frequently suggests that many of the recipes can be used as side dishes for meat or fowl. I cannot give enough praise to this chef and I am determined to try every recipe in the book before the year’s end.

In spite of the cold, my partner and I also made a few foodie excursions to San Francisco. Among the restaurants we sampled, Aster, Liholiho Yacht Club, Cala and Al’s Place are the ones that I recommend. Eater.Com offers some great info and reviews on all four. Continue reading