The Whole Wheat

Life over in The Whole Wheat household continues to change. Having a 15-month old and a second on the way is sure to do that! And because of that I think its time to relaunch The Whole Wheat with a new family & kid focus. So please stay-tuned! Its in the works and coming soon!

It will be hard for me to say enough positive things about the Foodbuzz Blogger Festival that took place in San Francisco this past weekend!  Not only was the event just fantastic, but I met amazing people: bloggers, farmers, artisan producers.  Amazing!!!

Friday night we started with drink & h’ors d’oeurves at Hotel Vitale. We had a spectacular view of the Bay Bridge – slightly shrouded in fog – and the Ferry Building. Afterward we walked over to the Ferry Building for a special street fare dinner that featured some local yummy treats.

Saturday afternoon was an amazing Tasting Pavilion event.  This event had another spectacular view from the top of the Metreon. The layout was fantastic – far larger than I would have ever predicted. And so many generous and talented purveyors sharing samples of their food.  For me, the sparkling wine fiend, one highlight was the California Sparklers Tasting hosted by Alder Yarrow of Vinography.com.  Well done & delicious!

Saturday night was a dinner hosted at the Greenleaf distribution center. What a treat to see their headquarters (immaculate!) and have such an amazing dinner served to us.  I was lucky enough to share a table with folks from Greenleaf, Frog Hollow Farms, and some other local bloggers.  We had wonderful conversations and found a lot of common ground.

I wanted to simply thank FoodBuzz again for hosting this event. I loved it and look forward to future years of exciting food blogging! What a great community you have created!

I’m BACK! I promise. I might not be back as often as I once was but I have missed this blog & am going to make the time commitment to swing by often!

Where have I been? I’ll show you – busy with this little love bug:

That’s Margaux, Brad, & I.  Margaux is already 6.5 months old – the time really flies!  And while I don’t cook nearly as much as I once did, I do have a lot of fun with her.  Brad however cooks much more than he ever did and I’ll share some of his recipes too – because they are great!  So come back and stick around!  The Whole Wheat has returned.

Hello my loyal Whole Wheat readers! Thank you for sticking by me during this drought of posts. As you can see – I’ve been busy baking my own little bun in the oven. I’m in my 30th week of pregnancy and it has been a great experience thus far.

However, my cooking has fallen by the wayside as many times food preparation has made me feel nauseous or I’ve simply been too worn out to deal with making a meal. This has been a really interesting experience for me as Brad has really stepped up to the plate and made much of our food. It has been very nice!

Even though the 3rd trimester fatigue is starting to descend, I think I will be able to start posting from time to time again. So please hang in there with me and we’ll get back to fun, healthy food – The Whole Wheat style – in no time. Plus for all you moms and potential moms-to-be, I’ll definitely do some round up posts of things I’ve found helpful during pregnancy and share how I deal with a little addition to the family too.

Thanks again for sticking around! There will be more soon! Happy Holiday season everyone!

For lunch today I took a trip to San Francisco’s Civic Center to check out the Slow Food Nation Marketplace. This is a great event because its free and casual. There is a farmer’s market with wonderful vendors, a beautiful garden that volunteers helped plant in the center, and food stalls selling wonderful lunch & snack foods.

Honestly Slow Food Nation couldn’t be happening at a more beautiful time in San Francisco – its sunny & warm – very unusual for us but enjoyable and lovely! The setting for the Marketplace is the lawn in front of City Hall. Its a stunning backdrop and really just epitomizes San Francisco! (photo from iPhone on the go)

I found a few new favorite vendors while poking around the farmer’s market section. Believe me – this is just a few I stumbled on – so many are spectacular!

• Grindstone Bakery: ancient grains, all gently stone milled, then made into exquisite loafs of bread & cookies. If you live in the Bay Area please try a loaf, you will not be dissapointed!
• Beekind: honey straight from Sebastapol in Sonoma County. You wouldn’t believe the flavors and infusions! My favorite was the Chai Infused Honey – unique and delicious – would be amazing on ice cream.

I had a lovely chicken biryani from Vic’s Chaat Cafe for lunch. The yogurt sauce really just brought it all together.

And after my tour and enjoying the sunshine, I headed back to the office. If you get a chance, swing by the Marketplace this weekend. It runs 9-4p Friday thru Sunday.

This weekend kicks off an event I’m extremely excited about: Slow Food Nation!  Slow Food Nation is the “first-ever American collaborative gathering to unite the growing sustainable food movement and introduce thousands of people to food that is good, clean and fair.”  Its going to be an amazing weekend here in San Francisco!

First, check out the Slow Food Nation website for full details!

Next, if you will be in the Civic Center area, go check out the Marketplace where you’ll find a farmer’s market and Slow Food Providers with tasty treats to buy.  You will find me at Primavera for sure – they make some of my favorite items in the bay area – especially their Chilaquiles, my favorite Saturday morning farmer’s market treat!

Some of my other favorite vendors will be around as well. Check these wonderful folks out if you have time! Market vendors: Blue Bottle Coffee, Massa Organics (best brown rice around), Bodega & Yerba Santa (wonderful goat cheeses by someone who loves his goats – ask to see the photos!),  and Far West Fungi.  There are so many outstanding vendors I can’t pretned to list them all but these are a few of my favorites.

Now onto eating!  If you make it to the market place – be sure to check out Slow On the Go to get a bite to eat.  Some top choices (though none will be dissapointing!) are Primavera, Out the Door, and Vik’s Chaat Corner.

Friday evening, you will find me volunteering at the Fort Mason Welcome Tent.  I will be at Guest Services all evening so please stop by and say hi if you will be around!

Saturday & Sunday the events I’m most excited about are the Taste Pavilions!  One fee gets you in to taste all kinds of delectable bites!  Find me at the Taste Pavillion on Sunday afternoon.

There are so many other wonderful events all weekend.  Please peruse the Slow Food Nation site and find something you would like to try!

I will do my best to post some photos and news from the event along the way!