More sweet sweet Sonoma

On Saturday, we were ready to go for some more wine tasting. This time, we chose the Ferrari-Carano winery because our inn is actually affiliated with them. The surrounding is quite impressive, and much bigger than other places we have seen before... no wonder the price of their wines is quite expensive when we checked at the stores! As for the taste... I wouldn't know because we didn't do any wine tasting, saving our pass for another time.




The weather wasn't good, but if you know how to appreciate it, you can find beautiful scenery in all kinds of weather!

It might be a bit drab visiting the wine country in the winter time, but there are tons of wild mustard flowers to be seen everywhere! Just as pretty!

After that, we went back to our hotel for a walk in the vineyard (it's quite difficult to make H take walks with me and he obliged without much protest this time!! So happy!) And then, it was time to go back to our room and prepare for our in-room massage! First, wine and cheese was delivered to our room, and although the taste was so-so, we felt really pampered!

It was H's first time getting a massage and he totally loved it. Actually, he enjoyed it so much that he even felt asleep. He used to be quite against the idea of massages, but now that he's tried it and liked it, it means we can go to spas together in the future! Yeah!!

There are quite a few Michelin star restaurants in the Sonoma area, but because we wanted to try out some local eateries, we decided to have dinner at a small restaurant I found on the Internet. We were quite curious about the "cuisine of the Himalayas" from this Annapurna, but it ended up that Nepalese food is not much different from Indian food... unless it's just the choices we made from the limited V-day menu. Anyways, it was still very enjoyable and the food was really good.

It was such a romantic weekend, it was so much fun, so relaxing, so enjoyable! Thank you H for a great experience!

535 Ross St.

Santa Rosa, CA

Vintners Inn + John Ask & Co

The Vintners Inn H booked us in is a cozy vineyard type accomodation that has a very quiet and serene setting. Too bad the weather was always cloudy and wet, and I didn't get to take better pictures of the surrounding. In winter time, the naked trees give out a sense of desolate beauty, and I'm sure it's another kind of wonder when the place is filled with colourful flowers or with autumnal leaves.

Because we made our booking at the last minute, there was only one room left for the weekend, and we had to pay a little extra to upgrade to that Family Sized Room. That's how the two of us came to spend two days in a huge suite. Boy was it a big place! There was a living room, a dinning table, and even a fireplace! Talk about being pampered!

Sitting in front of the lit fireplace at the end of the evening, listening to music and sipping wine... it is so romantic and so relaxing! Whenever we go on vacation, H and I usually prepare a full schedule to make sure that we use up every seconds of every minute, and by the time we go back home, we're more tired than before we left. This time, things were different and we got to really relax and simply enjoy a "do nothing" time together. Also, because of the bad weather outside, we felt even more like staying inside and doing nothing.

Our package included a credit to be spent at the John Ash & Co restaurant belonging to the inn, so we decided to book a table for dinner on our first night. I went on Yelp to check out the reviews beforehand and it seems that the restaurant was THE place to be in Sonoma 10 years ago. However, recent reviews have both good and bad things to say, so my expectations weren't too high.

The economy might not be doing well, but the place was packed, from its bar to its salle à manger.

What we had:

• Complimentary amuse bouche: smoked salmon and salmon caviar with couscous.
  
• Fresh corn bread with a chunck of butter that looks like cream cheese (quite awful tasting!).
  
• A hot and delicious butternut squash soup.
  
• Pork tenderloin with grits, that was very tender but lacking in taste.
  
• The day's special: Grilled salmon with mushroom risotto and brocolini. The fish was grilled to perfection to the right temperature, and the risotto was tender and flavourful. Yummy!
  
• A blueberry and raspberry crisp thingy that might have been quite healthy but not good at all.
  
• An oatmeal cookie ice cream sandwich that was so-so.
  

The wine H chose was much to my liking, very good!

In general, the atmosphere of the restaurant was quite good, we had a nice sitting, and even though the waitress wasn't too familiar with the menu, she was eager and helpful. The quality of the food is quite good, but the taste could be better.

Sweet sweet Sonoma

This year's Valentine's Day being a long weekend, H booked us a romantic getaway package up in Sonoma County, and we got to enjoy a wonderful time! And even though it was cloudy and rainy every day, it didn't affect our mood in any way.

On Friday, we drove up north early and our first stop was a return to Santa Rosa to revisit Snoopy's hometown and allow Olaf to see his family. When we were there last year, all the stuffed toys were out of stock, but this time, there were many many many Olafssss and I was so excited to see them all! After a visit to the shop, we had lunch at the Warm Puppy Cafe, ordering their special served in a jumbo sized dog bowl... how cute!



After that, we checked into our hotel and even though we were early, our room was already ready! Yeah! (I'll post about it next) We got some wine tasting passes from the receptionist so decided to pay a visit to the closest winery: Kendall-Jackson. It was quite a nice place and I had my very first wine tasting there! Although I didn't particularly like their wines, I still learned some basic concepts and we ended up buying a bottle of Zinfandel to bring to a friend's party.

We're not big drinkers so after one winery visit, we decide to go for a walk in Healdsburg. The little town is really quaint and quiet and we have a great time discovering it in the rain. There are many boutiques and restaurants and is totally worth a visit. Compared to the better known Napa Valley, we both prefer Sonoma because it is much less crowded and touristy, very enjoyable!

Recent creations

I've been lazy in updating this blog, but still kept busy in the kitchen! Here are some recent cakes I made:

Non-bake Bailey's Cheesecake

Non-bake banana Orea cheesecake

Mango chiffon

CNY parade