Making Gelato at Home

Today, we decided to make Italian Gelato at home. I purchased a DeLonghi GM6000 Gelato machine to see if I could replicate the fine gelatos of Italy.

Our first attempt was to make the custard described in Ciao Bella. Unfortunately, the attempt failed because our analog thermometer did not work correctly, and we overheated the milk, heavy cream, and egg yolk. The whole mix was boiled, and the egg yolk was fried!

To test out the machine (while waiting for the other recipe), I tried another recipe for strawberry gelato from the DeLonghi cookbook. This recipe does not require custard preparation (no egg yolks are involved). I just tried the gelato, and it tasted too sweet. The recipe calls for 1/2 cup of sugar, which would have been better with 1/4 cup.

Our second attempt at the Ciao Bella recipe for the Plain Base, also known as Gelato de Crema, finally succeeded. The gelato came out genuinely remarkable!

Sunday, March 31, 2013

We also wanted to try the Chocolate recipe from Ciao Bella. We purchased Valrhona 70% chocolate. The chocolate gelato came out very well but a bit too thick. Perhaps we used too much chocolate. The recipe called for 2.0 oz, but we added 2.6 oz.

Monday, April 1, 2013

Today, we made Green Tea Gelato using Matcha Japanese  Green Tea. Alex really liked the flavor and ate all of it!

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Today, we decided to make Hazelnut Gelato or Nocciola in Italian. Everyone loved the flavor; this has to be the best so far. The only question is - what are the best Hazelnuts for this recipe? 

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Today, Inna and I decided to try to make Pistachio and Stracciatella Gelatos. We prepared the plain base the day before, so it was ready to go.

Our first attempt at making Pistachio gelato failed miserably; we followed the recipe, but it did not work. The Ciao Bella Cookbook's recipe called for pistachios to be roasted for 10-15 minutes at 350 degrees F. However, we found that shelled pistachios were smoking after 8 minutes at this temperature. Inna tried roasting pistachios for a shorter, but the pistachios still burned.

On her 3rd attempt, she lowered the oven temperature to 300 degrees F and roasted pistachios for 5 minutes. Then, she dropped the oven temperature to 280 degrees F and roasted the nuts for 5 more minutes. They still looked green (not brown) after burning for 10 minutes. The pistachio base looked light green after grinding them in the coffee grinder and combining them in a blender. The final pistachio gelato turned out well, but I hoped for a greener look. Are the pistachios from Italy (Bronte) any better?

The Stracciatella Gelato also turned out very well. Inna melted 60% bitter Ghiradelli chocolate and added it to the ice cream in a thin layer 5 minutes into the freezing process. The gelato turned out delicious!

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Exploring Yosemite National Park

Today, we drove to Yosemite National Park to see the beautiful park in the winter and spend a few days enjoying the snow and the beautiful waterfalls. We started our drive to Tenaya Lodge, near the south entrance, at 6:00 p.m., but there was a lot of traffic on US-101 heading south. 

After 30 minutes of driving on US-101, I realized I forgot to bring our skiing bag (with all the skiing clothes). We decided to continue our drive anyway, as there was a lot of traffic and we did not want to arrive so late. This was the right decision, as Badger Pass has only 28" of snow, and we decided against skiing there.

When we arrived around 9:20 p.m., the Sierra Restaurant at Tenaya Lodge was already closed for dinner.

A waiter at Jackalope's Bar and Grill allowed us to purchase some sandwiches in the nearby deli, and we ended up eating our "dinner" at Jackalope's. It surprised us that a significant restaurant would close at 9:00 p.m. on Friday!

After eating our sandwiches, we ordered a lovely, yummy ricotta cheesecake!

Valet car parking was free, and our rooms were pleasant and clean. The indoor pool smelled like it had too much chlorine, and we decided not to bother with it.

Inna wanted to try a massage at  Tenaya's Ascent Spa, but the spa was booked for the weekend.


Saturday, March 23, 2013

When we woke up around 7:30 a.m., we decided to get breakfast and head to Yosemite Village. We were in a hurry and chose the buffet breakfast at the Sierra Restaurant. Sierra had two kinds of buffets available: healthy and non-healthy. The non-healthy version added bacon, eggs, and greasy foods to the fruits and pastries included in the healthy buffet. We both chose a healthy breakfast. The fruits were fresh, and the breakfast was OK, but nothing special.

We grabbed our hiking boots and cameras and started our drive to the Yosemite Village. On the way there, we made a few stops to take photos.

Our first major stop was at Tunnel View, a car parking lot with a beautiful overlook of Yosemite Valley.

Our second stop was at Bridalveil Falls. Bridalveil waterfalls are tall, and the short hike to the waterfall's base runs parallel to a stream. The waterfalls generated a lot of mist and rain, and we quickly got soaked, so we did not stick around too long.

We made a quick stop at the Swinging Bridges parking lot. There were a couple of ducks crossing the narrow stream.

There were lovely views from the Swinging Bridge.

Right by the bride is a large meadow, where we walked around.

We parked our car and decided to get lunch at the Ahwahnee Hotel before going on our significant hike to the Upper Yosemite Fall.

We ran into a deer munching on the grass in the main parking lot. He did not mind all the tourists.

We continued our walk to the Ahwahnee Hotel, where we decided to get lunch. Since the main dining room appeared closed, we had lunch at the Ahwahnee Bar. The food was delicious and prepared extremely fast. Inna had the Chicken Waldorf Croissant, and I had the Hot Pastrami and Swiss sandwich.

After lunch, we took the shuttle to the Lower Yosemite Fall. The walk to the fall was relatively short.

The Lower Yosemite Fall was quite crowded with people. A lot of mist was coming off, but not as much as at Bridalveil.

It was windy and cold here, and some mist was coming down. We did not stay too long, as we decided to hike the Upper Yosemite trail to Columbia Rock to get a nice scenic view of the Yosemite Valley below.

We found a few rock climbers climbing and rappelling on the way there.

The Upper Yosemite Fall hike was strenuous, with over 60 switchbacks, before reaching Columbia Rock. It continues for over 3 miles uphill, reaching the Upper Yosemite Falls.

Inna decided to take a rest stop.

After reaching Columbia Point, we enjoyed the spectacular views of Half-Dome and Yosemite Valley and then turned back.

Here is a breathtaking view of Columbia Point.

The way back was much easier and faster. Although it took us 2.5 hours to hike to Columbia Point, it took us only 1 hour to return.

Once we reached the bottom, we took the shuttle back to Yosemite Village, where we explored the Visitor Center and the Ansel Adams Gallery. In Ansel Adams Gallery, Inna found a great book on Yosemite photography - The Photographer's Guide to Yosemite by Michael Frye (which we purchased).

I got some great ideas of times and places to photograph, like the moon below.

We decided to head to the Ahwahnee Hotel and had our dinner at the Ahwahnee Bar.

The Ahwahnee main dining room was booked, even at 5:30 p.m.! (but it looked empty!)

We hurried to finish our meal at the Bar to take pre-sunset photos.

On returning to Tenaya Lodge, we stopped by a few spots to take photos of Yosemite.

Sunday, March 24, 2013

When we woke up around 8:00 a.m., we decided to get breakfast and then head back to Yosemite Village for a hike to Mirror Lake. Unfortunately, it was closed when we arrived at our usual Sierra Restaurant for breakfast. It turned out that Tenaya's Deli had a chemical refrigerant leak in the deli, and Sierra Restaurant was closed.

We decided to drive to Yosemite Village and eat breakfast there. Once we got there, we ate at Degnan's Deli (as all other restaurants were closed for the season). Degnan's had fairly horrible food and coffee (it reminded us of Yellowstone).

After breakfast, we boarded the Yosemite bus shuttle to stop #17 - Mirror Lake trail. This is a short 2-mile round-trip hike to Mirror Lake. It was an easy and picturesque hike with beautiful scenery all around.

The Mirror Lake trail is very flat and easy, with a paved road most of the way there. A stream runs by the trail with logs and rocks buried.

Inna decided to try her hand at rock climbing.


She failed to climb the giant rock but gave it her best shot.

There were lots of fast-moving streams and large boulders.

We finally got to the actual Mirror Lake.

The Lake certainly looks like a mirror.

After the hike, we returned to the Ahwahnee Hotel for lunch at the Ahwahnee Bar. The service was speedy, and we ordered a Hot Pastrami, a Swiss sandwich, and a Chicken Waldorf Croissant. The food was well prepared and delicious (as usual).

After lunch, we drove back to Mariposa Grove to see the giant sequoia redwoods. The trees were quite massive.

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Green Smoothies in San Francisco

Today, we decided to explore the various smoothie bars in San Francisco.

First, we stopped by at Sidewalk Juice on 21st Street. The place looked like a hole in the wall, but there was a long line to order juices and smoothies. I ordered a Green Energy Juice containing spinach, parsley, kale, celery, cucumber, apple, lemon, and ginger. It tasted fine, but nothing special. The shop is pretty dirty, and I noticed that no one washed their hands between making juice, taking money, etc. It did not look very sanitary.

Most juices or smoothies are sized at 12 oz. or 16 oz. Sidewalk Juice has a pretty extensive menu, but the Top 10 Drinks are listed below:

Top 10 Drinks
1. Green Energy Juice spinach, parsley, kale, celery, cucumber, apple, lemon, ginger 6.00 / 7.00
2. Berries Valencia Smoothie blueberries, strawberries, banana, orange juice, marion berry sorbet and ice 4.95
3. Apple Beet Kombucha Juice one whole beet , one apple , kombucha 5.25 / 6.25
4. Mango Berry Smoothie apple juice, strawberries, blueberries, mangos, mango tangerine sorbet, ice 4.95
5. Mission Elixir Juice carrots, celery, apples, beet, ginger, parsley 5.00 / 6.00​6. Green Kombucha Juice bundles of spinach, kale, parsley, celery, ginger, kombucha 6.00 / 7.00
7. Kale Colada Smoothie fresh organic kale, coconut juice, pineapple, coconut shreds, pineapple sorbet, ice 4.95
8. JJ's Tropics Juice: apple, pear, pineapple, carrots 4.25 / 5.25
9. Almond Delight Smoothie almond butter, almond milk, banana, and ice 4.95
10. Apple Lemon Ginger Kombucha: 2 apples, half a lemon, 2 inches of ginger, kombucha 5.25 / 6.25

Inna ordered a Kale Colada Smoothie (fresh organic kale, coconut juice, pineapple, coconut shreds, pineapple sorbet, and ice). She liked it.

From across the Street, Sidewalk Juice looks alright.

Afterward, we decided to check out another Smoothie Bar - Frapez on 18th Street. Frapez looks like a professionally developed smoothie bar. It was clean, well-designed, upscale, and bright, happy colors. 

However, it did not have the same number of customers (as Sidewalk Juice) and was half-empty most of the time. The prices at Frapez were higher, which may have turned off some customers. Also, the sizes at Frapez were more significant (16oz / 20oz) and more expensive.

We ordered a couple of drinks. First, we tried the "D-Stress" (lotus seeds, pineapple, Panax ginseng, spirulina, spinach, honey, soy milk, coconut milk). Then we ordered a "Venus" Smoothie (strawberry, blueberry, goji berry, kelp, cashews, sucanat, orange juice, almond milk). They were both good but nothing extraordinary (or better than the ones we make at home). I really didn't care for the almond milk in my smoothie.

After being full of smoothies, we decided to explore the neighborhood. She spotted a Philz Coffee and wanted to show me this coffee shop. We tried the Tesora and Ambrosia coffees and really liked them!

Afterward, we stopped by Tartine Bakery, which was highly rated on Yelp, and wanted to see what the fuss was about. Inna ordered the Croque Monsieur (open-faced sandwich with béchamel, gruyere, thyme, and pepper, and topped with either smoked Niman Ranch ham or seasonal vegetables), which she enjoyed. Tartine Bakery does make delicious bread, but the other pastries and baked goods did not look as presentable as the ones in Fleur de Cocoa bakery in Los Gatos.

Bi-Rite Creamery had a massive line for ice cream. Later on, we stopped by to try their ice cream. It was pleasing - about the same quality at Lappert's in Hawaii - but not as delicious as in Florence, Italy. There is not much competition for quality ice cream in San Francisco.

Samovar Tea Lounge looked exciting, and we should stop by to sample their teas sometime. They had lots of tea varieties.

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