Decadent Dragon Bakery

Recently, I noticed a friend eating her way through San Francisco’s best dishes. And I thought, the South Bay needs a list! So here’s my contribution of the best 25 foods to eat before you die in the South Bay Area.

 South Bay: 25 foods to eat before you die

How many have you tried?

 49er Flapjacks at Original Pancake House in Los Altos, CA.

Credit: Darwin Bell

Almond Croissant at Mayfield Bakery in Palo Alto, CA.

Authentic Chicago Stuffed Pizza with honey drizzle at Patxi’s Pizza in Palo Alto, CA. [...]

Scooping, spooning, leveling, sifting, tapping, weighing.
How do you measure flour and other baking ingredients? 

Do you ever have a recipe inexplicably fail? Or do you notice variations in how recipes turn out? Your method of measuring ingredients may be the reason. [...]

Looking for a simple crowd-pleasing cake? Have a gluten-free friend you’re entertaining? Try this rich Flourless Chocolate Cake from Martha Stewart!

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of hanging out with my new friend, Kristina. Being Sunday, we planned on maximizing relaxation. The game plan:

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My husband loves French Macaron cookies. I mean, he totally ❤ them. So I made a batch for Valentine’s Day Heart Shaped Macarons for him and my friends to enjoy.

Thomas Keller has a surprisingly (for him, at least) uncomplicated macaron recipe in his new book, Bouchon Bakery.

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Deceptively simple. This Orange Hot Chocolate tastes just like a Pepperidge Farm’s Orange Milano to me. It’s rich with the mild tanginess of fresh orange. 

My husband and I participate in a local farm cooperative. Each week we get locally grown produce from Full Circle Farm. Lately, it’s been a lot of citrus – oranges, tangelos, lemons, grapefruit, even pomelos.

It takes effort to find uses for all the citrus fruit. You can squeeze and freeze the juice but I wanted to use the fruit since it was so fresh. Thus, the orange hot chocolate was born!

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The 2013 Winter Fancy Food show was the biggest and boldest to date. Food entrepreneurs served up tremendous variety and some really cool new options. I wanted to share a few of the more interesting treats ‘n trends presented at the Winter Fancy Food Show this year.

Cup4Cup GF Flour

Gluten-Free. Old news, I know. But gluten-free foodies will be pleased to hear about new products entering the market. In particular, Cup4Cup drew a big crowd, introducing their new pizza crust mix. Yes, celeb chef Thomas Keller was there! Very interested to test this new mix out.

Tropical. In the last year, coconut has [apparently] become one of the top 5 food trends in the industry. It’s even popular with the mixology crowd! Other tropical flavors are in, particularly from Hawaiian vendors. One vendor, Kona Bar, featured a terrific Passion Fruit “Lilikoi” chocolate bar. Chocolate + Passionfruit makes a great combination!

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