Has the Baker had too many days off recently?  

Forgive me, but with such beautiful mild summer weather, I can’t bear to keep myself in the kitchen.  

With the spirit of summer under my wings, I took an overnight trip up to San Francisco to visit my darling sister.  She’s a bartender at Citizen Cake in San Francisco’s Hayes Valley.  

Citizen Cake is a great place to get a unique dish without staring at your plate, wondering what the the hell happened.  It’s a creative and still approachable culinary experience.

Powdered Sugar Dusted Donut Balls are served warm with a fresh raspberry and sugar glaze dipping sauce.

An Omelette with Chick Peas, Fava Beans and Asparagus.   Tasted like a fresh from the garden breakfast.  

Warm biscuits with scallions.  Hard to tell if they were sweet or savory.  The sweetness really came through and made these biscuits amazing.  Simple and delicious!

The view from my bar stool.  

In my life, the topic of food is completely inseparable from the topic of family.  I know this connection isn’t unique to me.  I’m sure you can all relate in one way or another.  My family comes together in the kitchen.  It’s like we’re a gang of rebel pirates (yes, pirates) and my dad is the captain.  He’s the sauce man, the dip man, the master biscuit makes and the pie guy.  He’s got it all covered and my sister, mom and I just follow directions.  We all have our jobs and our strengths, and together we take no prisoners in the kitchen.  We are pirates, after all.

The end product is always such a joy.  We laugh over huge pans of cheesy enchiladas, we celebrate with bowls of pasta and homemade marinara sauce, and we sometimes mourn over dense, sweet cakes.  We run the gamut of emotions always together, always in the kitchen.  

This Memorial Day weekend we came together in San Francisco.  Yes, I stepped out of my kitchen for a day… and into another, much more rowdy and crowded kitchen.

It was also my birthday and my sister and mom made me the beautiful Hummingbird Cake that you see above.

After the jump, my birthday Sunday, in seven pictures.  Sorry kids, no recipe in this installment, just pretty pictures.

We take a detour (sometimes known as a wrong turn) that lands of on San Francisco’s Treasure Island. 

Fresh Margaritas- lime, triple sec and tequila.  Over ice.  Simple Goodness.  Stick a candle in it and who needs birthday cake? 

The making of the guacamole.  Dad is the master.  No one messes with Dad’s guacamole process.  And when it’s all done, if Dad wants to eat half the bowl himself, well…. we all let him, he’s that good.

As though a chip weren’t good enough for dipping, sometimes you need a spoon to pile the guacamole onto the chip, or directly into your mouth.  When it comes to guacamole, we don’t play.  

Mom and sister put the finishing touches on the Hummingbird Cake.  With bananas, pineapple, and pecan, the cake was moist and had a great texture.  And the cream cheese frosting with toasted pecans and coconut…!  Don’t even get me started…

I’ve got a lot to smile about- great family, lots of love, a three day weekend and a birthday cake that I didn’t bake myself.  Cake always tastes better when someone else puts their love into it.   

Hope you all had a great holiday weekend.  More recipes and madness to come this week.  

Baker’s Note:  Thank you to all of my family who helped my celebrate my birthday this weekend.  I know I only seem to mention my Dad, Mom and Sister.  Thank you Scaglione’s for welcoming us into your house, and for the hilarious board game.  Thank you Chester and Julie for always being so welcoming, warm and hospitable.  Thank you little Madeleine for being such a beautiful new addition to the family. Thank you Launa for coming to spend you vacation time with the crazy family.  I love you all.

It’s hard to remember why my family went to Disneyland this past weekend.  It could have been because my sister was in Los Angeles from San Francisco.  It could have been because my aunt and uncle were generous enough to share their free tickets.  But in all honesty, I think the real reason for our Disneyland excursion was the hot apple fritters, churros, and hot fudge sundaes.  

I don’t know anyone else who goes to Disneyland for the food.  Just admitting that feels kinda gross and perverse.  Gross or not, it’s the truth of my family.  Forget pictures with Mickey, we want a picture at the churro stand.  So silly, and strangely true.

My gorgeous sister eating a warm apple fritter in New Orleans Square.  They also have heavenly funnel cake and mint juleps.  Below, I’m trying to look as though I didn’t just eat the last bite of communal fritter.  

I also learned a fantastic fact about Disneyland on this trip.  In Tomorrowland, where they house all of the futuristic themed rides, all of the surrounding plants and greens are edible.  What!?  I know!  It’s true.  See, Walt Disney, the big guy in charge, had a vision for the future when he created Tomorrowland.  He thought that sustainability would be important in the future, so he made all of the plants in Tomorrowland not only decorative, but edible.  There were lemon trees, cabbage, sage, strawberry plants, and rhubarb.  What a visionary!  I’ve been to Disneyland so many times, but I’d never before noticed the produce.  How cool is that!?

That was my day out of the kitchen.  Thanks to Dan and Judy for the lovely day!  I’ll be back with more kitchen adventures tomorrow!  That’s a promise.