A Side of Sweet

North Beach Neighborhood Guide

North Beach is a charming San Francisco neighborhood with a rich Italian history. It features great restaurants and cafes and beautiful outdoor spaces.

Exploring different neighborhoods in San Francisco is like taking mini vacations. Each neighborhood has different characteristics that make it special. North Beach is a relatively new neighborhood to me, so I thought it would be perfect to explore and share my finds with you. To make sure I hit all the right spots, I enlisted my girls at The Violet Fog, a new San Francisco-based online publication. My friends at Noosa Yoghurt also made sure that we were well-stocked with healthy snacks for our adventure…. Read More »

Roasted Squash & Wild Rice Soup

Vegetarian Vegan

This butternut squash & wild rice soup from Heidi Swanson’s new cookbook, Near & Far, is as delicious as it is beautiful. It’s also healthy and gluten free.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I’m so thankful to you for stopping by A Side of Sweet for and connecting with me via comments, emails and social media. The internet is a big place and it means so much that you landed here in my little corner of the internet.

As I was sitting down to write about Heidi Swanson’s (of 101 Cookbooks) new cookbook, Near & Far, I was thinking of the right word to describe how I feel about Heidi’s career as a food blogger. The first word that popped into my mind was envious. I immediately threw that out. I think a better word is actually inspiring. Heidi has made clean and healthy eating mainstream, I think more than any other blog. She is a household name and a blog that all of my non-blogging friends read. She was one of the first food bloggers and it’s amazing to see how she turned her passion for clean eats into a career…. Read More »

Big Sur & The Trust for Public Land

Even though I love living in a big city, easy access to natural areas is a huge factor in our choice to live in San Francisco. Big Sur is about two hours outside of San Francisco and it’s one of our favorite places in the whole world.

We had the chance to go to Big Sur a few weeks ago and let me tell you, Fall in Big Sur is a magical thing. The summer tourist traffic has slowed, but the weather is still amazing. Plus, the nights are a bit cooler making camping super pleasant. It was the perfect thing to put work aside and just enjoy nature…. Read More »

Apple Picking in Sebastopol

As I mentioned in my last post, my friend Rachael and I went on an apple picking adventure north of San Francisco a few weeks ago. I just wanted to share a few more pictures since it was such a lovely day! This blog is a bit of an online journal for me and this is one of those memories I want to tuck away and keep safe here. At the end of the post you’ll also find some details about what I wore too.

If you’re in the San Francisco Bay Area and looking for a place to pick apples, check out Apple-a-Day Ratzlaff Ranch in Sebastopol. It’s a darling little mom-and-pop operation (not joking, we actually met them!) with great apples for reasonable prices. The apples are also pretty low to the ground making it totally possible to include the kiddos in this one. Pro tip: Their apple juice is crazy good too…. Read More »

Apple Cream Cheese Hand Pies

A recipe for apple cream-cheese hand pies. The dollop of cream cheese nestled under the pie filling makes these desserts flaky, buttery, apple-y perfection.

Apple season is a busy time in our house. If you’ve been meaning to visit, it’s a good time to stop by. I treat the months of October and November as one long lead-up to Thanksgiving, which, coincidentally, is one of my favorite holidays. Thanksgiving is all about my favorite things: family, friends, and eating. The kitchen smells amazing for weeks at a time as I churn out pies, tarts, apple butter and gallons of applesauce.

All of these apple desserts mean I need a tremendous quantity of apples.

This year, I decided to get my apples straight from the source. I wrangled my friend Rachael into going with me on a you-pick apple adventure about an hour north of San Francisco.

In addition to picking some apples for eating, I was also in search of seconds.

Seconds are the apple-lover’s gold mine. The apples are a little worse for the wear, with a few nicks and dings or even a soft spot or two, but applesauce doesn’t care. The seconds go into the pot and emerge just as tasty as the perfect apples. For baked goods, I just cut out the mushy spots and my dessert eaters are none the wiser. Seconds often cost half the price of first-quality apples. This is key when you’re looking to buy more apples than you can carry…. Read More »

Event :: Ebay Wish Bigger Airstream

eBay Wish Bigger Airstream

I don’t know about you, but I skipped the chaos of Black Friday in favor of time in my pj’s drinking coffee. Navigating the crowds at 5am just isn’t my scene! I still love deals though, and all of those holiday gifts won’t buy themselves! That’s why I’m excited to share an awesome shopping event that eBay is having this Friday in San Francisco.

The eBay “Wish Bigger” Airstream will be rolling into San Francisco this Friday, December 4th, decked out for the holidays. The Airstream will be parked at Justin Herman Plaza from 12-7 p.m. offering shoppers some of their most wished-for holiday items.… Read More »