The economy on our San Francisco Tours

On our San Francisco Tours, we are affected by the economy just like most of us. The question for us is how we react on our San Francisco Food Tours. Do we turn to what appears to be the lowest cost suppliers or do we take a more realistic views of what is really the lowest cost on our San Francisco Culinary Tours?

The question confronting us on our San Francisco Tours is confronting all of us.  When we engage in a race to the bottom for costs, we end up pushing others in our communities lower and set up the path for us to follow. As we see on our San Francisco Food Tours, when we force to compete with others making less than a living wage, our incomes as go down, as all of us end competing with other making less than a living wage.  As we see on on our San Francisco Culinary Tours, when we advocate to lift up others, we are all lifted up.

On our San Francisco Tours, the coffee we enjoy is fair trade coffee. That means on our San Francisco Food Tours, we can enjoy the coffee, but also feel good about it, knowing that the people growing are making enough income to support their families. Or, we know that the bread from the bakeries on our San Francisco Culinary Tours supports our communities.

Buying Locally on our San Francisco Tours

On our San Francisco tours, we realize the importance for buying locally.  In a slow economy, this becomes even more important.  Buying locally supports our neighbors in a time when they need our help the most. As we see on our San Francisco Food Tours, we see how shopping in our communities lifts us all up.  These local merchants can adjust to our local needs. It can be tempting to forget this in difficult times. As we see on our San Francisco culinary tours, we need to look beyond the short terms and shop in a way that supports our communities in the short and term. 

Time to Celebrate the Holiday on our San Francisco Tours

On our San Francisco Tours, we really enjoy the holiday season.  It's a great time to taste some of the special foods of the season on our San Francisco Food Tours.

Each neighborhood on our San Francisco Tours has special foods for the holiday season, from Chinatown to North Beach\Little Italy. And on our San Francisco Food Tours, we enjoy adding on special foods for the holidays.

Our Holiday Tours are a great example of eating locally and seasonally. These San Francisco Tours highlight the best of the season.

Perspective from our San Francisco Tours

On our San Francisco Tours. we focus on local food, We also believe that individuals can change their communities. Communities can be changed for the better or for the worse.  In a few days, those of in the US have a choice, between those who would lift us up and those who would tell us that the only way forward is to do so on the backs of others.  In listening to all of arguments, I'd suggest you ask yourself which arguments lift us up.

On our San Francisco Food Tours, we believe the communities progress when they move together and whenever everyone is lifted up. When we shop locally and eat seasonally, we lift up the entire community. From the shop owner who sells the food to the farmer who grows the food. When we look at our communities, there is no isolated part of our community and another isolated part of the community.    We are all part of the same community. It is only when we lift up the entire community that all of us are lifted.   

Holiday Foods on our San Francisco Tours

As I have found our San Francisco Culinary Tours, everybody has similar ideas about what are holiday foods. For me, apples remind me of the holidays. One of the best ways to enjoy apples is Apple Crisp. Just slice up some apples, toss in some cinnamon and all spice, cover with a combination of oatmeal, flour, and shortening,  bake and you've got apple crisp.  In my case, I like to use vegetarian shortening.   Find out what is in season near you, just like we do on our San Francisco Food Tours and go from there.

Economies and our San Francisco Tours

As we listen to the news about the economy, many of us wonder how we can gain more control of our lives. On our San Francisco Tours, we focus on local neighborhoods. Whether it is our Chinatown Tour or our North Beach\Little Italy tour, we focus on local artisans and communities.  We all heard it said that the ultimate power is at the grassroots level.  The neighborhoods we visit on our San Francisco Food Tours are a great example of how we can exercise that power.

Neighborhoods are the best example of the power of local thinking. Shopping in you local neighborhood keeps money in your community, and lets you decide where your money should be spent. On our San Francisco Culinary Tours, we can see how spending locally provides us with the ability to know where our food is from and how it is made. 

Perspective from our San Francisco Tours

As I listened to speakers from both party conventions, I realized that I had a perspective from our San Francisco Tours. Ultimately, as we see on our San Francisco Food Tours, the choices we make on a daily basis affect us not only years from now, but also affect on a daily basis. At the same time, our short-term may cost us more in the long run.

Every time we make a purchase that is not local, we help to eliminate that product locally. In other words, every time we purchase food from overseas, it has a number of effects. Local producers go under, so that product is not produced. More often than not, the product is being produced by cheap labor, so we help to encourage exploitation of labor in other countries. And local jobs go away. Even though the product may have been less expensive at the store, the real cost has been way higher.

As we  see on our San Francisco Tours, neighborhoods are created by people making choices. Left to their choices, larger chain stores would take over the local artisans that we see on our San Francisco Food Tours and shut them down.

As we see on our San Francisco Tours, we that it is that variety that gives a vibrancy to neighborhoods.  The people in the neighborhoods we see on our San Francisco Food Tours cover the spectrum. What they have in common is that we see each other on a daily basis. They know the other people are just people and their differences enhance their lives.

When I heard anyone talking about who and what to fear, it reminded about how people in the neighborhoods on our San Francisco Tours have made the choice to enjoy our differences. Just like the people in these areas have made the choices to buy locally.  

On our San Francisco Food Tours,  we see how our lives can enhanced by our choices.  It is the choice to understand the idea that every time we allow others to exploited, we end up opening ourselves to be exploited.

Museum Exhibits Near our San Francisco Tours

When we're not on our San Francisco Tours, we like to take advantage our local amenities in San Francisco. We've managed to see several museum exhibits recently. During our San Francisco Food Tours, we get below the surface and see how the food is made.  One of the ones we recently saw was an exhibit on French Impressionist Women.

I actually saw a number of analogies to our San Francisco Tours.   Most of us go through life dealing with the problems of daily life.  Sometimes they seem overwhelming.   Think back to the last day that was going great and then something kicked you right into the stomach. And the thing the hit you seemed to take over everything else. Our San Francisco Food Tours may seem to have nothing to with that.

French Impressionist painters had an incredible ability to look at something and seemed beyond the obvious. Our San Francisco Tours do the same. For example, most of look at coffee and think we know how coffee is supposed to taste. After one has tasted how coffee is supposed to taste, that is it supposed to have complexity, as we do on our San Francisco Food Tours, we see beyond that.

French Impressionist painters had the ability to take us out of day to day problems. The are subtle parts of our life that get covered up by that everyday kick in the stomach. Our our San Francisco Tours, we try to appreciate those every day things, such how bread is supposed to feel and taste. Or tasting the subtle flavors of antibiotic-free, hormone-free, and organic meats on our San Francisco Food Tours. 

Sometimes, just after you feel like you've gotten the hardest kick in the stomach, try to sit back and notice the subtleties around you. It may not eliminate the kick, however, it may help you put things in context.  That kick in the stomach may have not have been as hard as you thought.

Fresh Food on our San Francisco Tours

A few of us took a day off from our San Francisco Tours and went up to Sonoma enjoy a hike and dinner at a local winery. As we talk about on our San Francisco Food Tours, I think tastings wine comes very much down to what do you like.  What does help is learning about the food. I like California wines, however they have different characteristics than wines from other regions. For example, we just opened a Merlot that is about eight years old. I'm not usually a Merlot fan, however, after eight years the tannins in the wines have smoothed and it is like drinking silk.   The winemaker had a great description of the wine, when he talked about how if you drink a California Merlot that is only three or four years, it's drinkable, however if you lay it down six to eight years, it is something really special.

On our San Francisco Tours, we try to do the same thing. For example, one of my favorite coffee drinks is known as a macchiato. When it is good, it is wonderful, when is not, it like drinking nails.  When we try coffee drinks on our San Francisco Food Tours, we learn how is roasted, that way you know how find good coffee back home. As that winemaker told me today, learning a few things about the food can be the difference between okay food and really delicious food.

Talking to the winemaker reminded me about the importance about knowing where you food is from. The wine we tasted not only tasted good, it was grown organically. Which meant that it was not good for the environment, it was good for me. As we talk about on our San Francisco Tours, when something is not grown locally, you can only hope the growing methods were good.

Many people on our San Francisco Food Tours comment how those of us in San Francisco are lucky to live in an area with the amazing variety of food we have here and how we can easily meet the people who grow our food. The good news is that you can do that, as well. It is your local farmers market. That is where you meet the food producers and learn how the food is produced. We try to give all of guests on San Francisco Tours guests a resource list with websites that list farmers markets all over the US and around the world.  

Just like the winemaker at the winery today, a farmers market is where you learn the best to enjoy the food. On our San Francisco Food Tours, we meet the people who know their food best, the local coffee rosters, chocolate makers, bakers, and more. They know how to best enjoy their food. Think of your local farmers market as your local winemaker,  guiding you to how enjoy your food in the best way.

Olive Oils on our San Francisco Tours

Last time I was in Paris, I intentionally tried to taste wines that I could not get back home. On our San Francisco Tours, we try to taste foods that you can only get here. It's not that other areas don't have great foods, but why have foods that you can get back home. On our North Beach\Little Italy (on of our San Francisco Food Tours), we taste a variety of olive oils. The olive oils that we taste on our San Francisco Tours are all local California olive oils.  By trying different olive oils, I believe you'll learn how to find good olive oils back home. 

On our San Francisco Food Tours, we emphasize local foods because if you want to have local foods, you need to support local producers. Fresh olive oil tastes wonderful. If I was in Italy, I would be trying Italian olive oils. Since, we are in San Francisco, we taste local olive oil from here. One reason we have some many local olive oils is that we are a big wine-growing region. Olive trees love the same climate as vineyards. 

As you'll find on our San Francisco Tours, olive oil tasting is a great deal like tasting wine. In other words, what do you like. By trying different olive oils , you'll find that some you will like, some you will not. Also, you'll start to see that different olive oils go with different foods, just like wines. 

There is another reason to try local olive oils. On San Francisco Food Tours, we make a point to include local merchants who support family farms and who support local agriculture. That way, we know the each of vendors on our San Francisco Tours is helping to ensure that the farmers growing the food are making enough income to take care of their families and communities.

Just as important, we know that the foods on our San Francisco Food Tours, are hormone-free, antibiotic-free, and healthy. Whether it is olive oil or bread or whatever, anything that goes into the food goes into you. If the olive trees which produce the olive oil are grown in an area that lots of pesticides, those pesticides are probably going into you. By knowing where our olive oil is coming from, we know what is in the food. Otherwise, you have to trust a multi-national company to look out for your best interests. You can decide whether you want to do that. Personally, I would rather not.

New Addition on our San Francisco Tours

We've added a new stop on our San Francisco Tours. If you've joined us on our San Francisco Food Tours, you know how important we believe local foods are. La Spiaggia Deli is a new stop on our North Beach\Little Italy tour, on of our San Francisco Tours. La Spiaggia specializes in local meats and cheeses, which are hormone-free, antibiotic-free, and free range. Additionally, they make a special effort to support family farms. On our San Francisco Food Tours, we think it is incredibly important to support local business, and those business that support sustainable agriculture. Family farms are an important component of sustainable agriculture.   With the pressures from corporate farmers, support from local communities is incredibly important.

In addition having delicious meats and cheeses, their reliance on organic meats makes them a great addition to our San Francisco Tours. If you've been on one of San Francisco Food Tours, you know the importance we place in organic foods.  In addition to tasting great, organic foods don't fill your bodies with antibiotics, hormones, or pesticides. So when could add a deli that emphasizes organic meats onto our San Francisco Tours, it was a perfect way to allow our guests to taste how different organic meats are. The reaction to our new addition to our North Beach|Little Italy tour has been excellent,  The taste really comes through. So whether you are joining us on of our San Francisco Food Tours, or at home, try to search for a deli like this. I think that you will be amazed how much better the food tastes . And the added bonus is that is better for you.

Hormone and Antibiotics Free Meats on our San Francisco Tours

On our San Francisco Tours, we try different types of local meats on our North Beach\Little Italy tour. What makes these meats excellent, in addition that they taste good, is that they are hormone and antibiotic free. As learn on our San Francisco Food Tours, good food should nourish your body. When meats are not antibiotic free, those chemicals go into your body. The result is that people are losing the ability for antibiotics to do any good for them, because they are consuming so many in their food. When meats are not hormone free, those hormones go into your body, as well. On our San Francisco Tours, we focus on local foods. When it comes to meats, that is incredibly important. When meats are not local, it becomes much harder to know what goes into your meats. As we learn on our San Francisco Food Tours, a local delicatessen and butcher are the best way to buy local meats, A local butcher can tell you where the meat is from and usually knows the suppliers. On our San Francisco Tours, the local delicatessen makes a special effort to carry meats that not only taste good, but are also hormone and antibiotic free. Just like the place where we try dim sum on San Francisco Food Tours in Chinatown only serves dim sum that they would feel comfortable giving to their own children, In the same ways, the delicatessen that we go on our San Francisco Tours, would never sell anything they would not give their own children. When food is produced and sold by local merchants, such as the merchants we have on our San Francisco Food Tours, the producers and the merchants have a connection with the community. That connection is only fostered when the community supports them. Consider that the next time you so go shopping.

Weather on our San Francisco Tours

We've had a unusually hot time on our San Francisco Tours. Admittedly, when we are on our San Francisco Food Tours, we think the 70's is a heat wave. The good news is that the cold eclairs that we have on our San Francisco Tours in North Beach is just the thing on a cold day. On the other hand, it never stays hot for long in San Francisco. The hotter the inside the interior of California gets, the colder we get. It just pulls the fog right off the ocean. On our San Francisco Food Tours in North Beach, we start we great coffee drinks, Just the thing on a cool San Francisco day, On our San Francisco Tours, the temperature is usually is the 60's. As we talk about on our San Francisco Food Tours, just about everything we eat here is grown within a short distance from San Francisco. Thirty miles from San Francisco, can be 30 degrees hotter. So just about every climate can be found in Northern California. On our San Francisco Tours in Chinatown, we try different teas. That tea can also be just the thing during the summers. On the hand, being a chocoholic, the truffles on our San Francisco Food Tours are good anytime.

Wine Tasting Results

We took a break from our San Francisco Tours and went up to one our favorite places for wine tasting, Healdsburg. As our guests on our San Francisco Food Tours frequently hear, my theory on wine tasting is that I think that best way to find good wine is to taste it and see what you like. Just like when we taste olive oils on our San Francisco Tours, I think that the same idea applies to wine tasting. in fact, some of the best wines that I have found come from small independent wines. As we talk about on our San Francisco Food Tours, food that is produced using sustainable methods tastes good. What is interesting is the same seems to be true for wines. As we talk about on our San Francisco Tours, organic food food allows you to really taste the food. Organic wine falls into the same category. I'm running across more winemakers who have found that producing wines organically produces better wine.

On our San Francisco Food Tours, we occasionally talk about how higher priced food isn't always better. In fact, food out of season frequently costs more. One of our tricks for finding great wines is stop in wines we don't recognize. On our San Francisco Tours, we only taste local foods. Just like on our San Francisco Food Tours, local wines are the same. The not only taste good, they frequently cost less. It is great bargain, organic wine, sustainable agriculture, great taste, and it costs less.

Corn Season on our San Francisco Tours

On our San Francisco Tours, we talk about eating locally. The good news is that on our latest trip to to farmer market, we found that corn is in season. As we mention on our San Francisco food tours, fresh food, in season has great flavor. The good news is that corn is starting to show up at the farmers market. As we talk about on our San Francisco tours, fresh corn in incredibly sweet. I'm not usually a fan of microwaves, however it is really an easy way to cook corn. Just take the corn in the husk, put it into the microwave for three minutes, give a quarter turn, go for another three minutes, give a quarter turn, then cook for a final three minutes. On our San Francisco food tours, we talk about cooking food simply. Fresh food doesn't need much to have it taste good. Fresh corn is like that. I like to eat it within a day or so of after I get from the farmers market. As we talk about on San Francisco tours, fresh produce has lots of natural sugar. The older the produce is the more the sugar breaks down and turn to starch. As we mention on our San Francisco food tours, the best place to get fresh foods is the farmer markets, so it is very fresh and really sweet. Some people like to boil corn, however I find that the water absorbs alot of the corn's flavors. On our San Francisco tours, we find the good foods is complex and has great natural flavors. As we find on our San Francisco food tours, good food has those great flavors. It doesn't need much more added to it.

Blueberry Season

On our San Francisco Tours, we love explore what is in season. Much to my delight, when I went down to farmers market, I was delighted to find that the blueberries from the Sierra Nevada foothills are coming into season. For the past couple of weeks, blueberries were coming from the San Francisco delta. The ones from the delta are good, however the ones from the Sierra Nevada foothills are even better. On our San Francisco Food Tours, we talk about pairing foods. Admittedly, the blueberries are great with other foods, however they are so delicious, you can eat them by themselves. When we try coffee drinks on our San Francisco Tours, we tastes the complexity of the flavors of the coffee and how great coffee doesn't need to be covered up with tons of sugar and cream. As we find on our San Francisco Food Tours, the flavors of the coffee can get lost when you cover them up. When blueberries are in season, they don't need anything. They are great just as they are. The same way that the truffles we try on our San Francisco tours have just enough sugar to bring out the flavor, but not enough to cover up the taste. Many people are used to bland berries, and assume that is norm, so therefore one has to cover them us. As we find on our San Francisco food tours, many people confuse old food with bad food. On our San Francisco tours, we emphasize the importance of eating locally seasonally and locally. However, eating locally and seasonally is not only good for environmental and economic reasons. As we find on our San Francisco food tours, it is also important because it tastes really good.

Natural Disaster and Eating Locally

On our San Francisco Tours, we talk about the effects of eating locally and seasonally. When we watch world affairs, we see how natural disasters affect communities around the world. On our San Francisco Food Tours, we see how local artisans balance a neighborhood. That is having local bakers, coffee shops, butchers, and so on. As we see on our San Francisco Tours, these local artisans help a community come together we things go wrong. When a community is out of balance, whether it be a lack of local artisans, or a lack of local food producers, communities are not able participate in their own recovery. On our San Francisco Food Tours, we focus on these artisans, Every community has similar artisans. As we see on our San Francisco tours, it is the support of people in the area that allows them to survive, As we see on our San Francisco Food Tours, on of the fun things to do in San Francisco is to shop in one's neighborhood. As we see on our San Francisco tours, while local San Franciscans enjoy shopping that way, that very act allows them to be there for us when we need. them. When an economy is out of balance, local artisans have been replaced by interests only concerned about maximizing income. The essential food producers have been replaced by whatever best serves those corporate interests. And we end up with a continual race to the bottom. For the sake of saving a few minutes, communities end up without local hardware stores. For the sake of "saving" a few dollars, we lose local food producers. As we see when we visit local artisans on our San Francisco Food Tours, the cost of saving a few dollars means that when communities lose artisans, shops, and food producers, they lose local vibrancy and the ability to support themselves. While one of the fun things to do in San Francisco is to support the kind of local artisans and food artisans that we see on our San Francisco Tours. That same point of view allows us to be a community and support ourselves in times of distress.

Cherries are in

On our San Francisco Food Tours, we talk a lot about eating locally and seasonally. The good news is that we are in cherry season. On our San Francisco Tours, we talk about how different foods have different tastes and subsequently should be paired with other foods. For example, on our San Francisco Food Tours we try different olive oils and compare the flavors. When cheeries first come into season, we first get the sour cherry, which are great for pies but not too good for eating. A couple weeks we get the bing and rainier cherries, which are perfect for eating. On our San Francisco Tours, we always talk about the importance of trusting your what you like. That's a good reason to go down to the farmers market and see what you like. On our San Francisco Food Tours, we learn how foods should be complex, rather than one-dimensional. For example,when we have coffee on our San Francisco Tours, we taste how the coffee has complexity. Fresh foods have more complexity, because the natural sugars are still there.

Fair Trade and Local Neighboorhoods

On our San Francisco Tours, we emphasize the importance of fair trade products, Fair Trade products are grown in environmentally sensitive methods and the people who grow them make enough to actually feed themselves and their families.  On our San Francisco Food Tours, many guests comment how wonderful the neighborhoods are in San Francisco, How people look out for each other, they care about other. On our San Francisco tours, our guests enjoy meeting local artisans. Neighborhoods like these do not happen, unless one starts from the assumption that it does matter what happens to some else. On our San Francisco Food tours, many of our guests comment how that this no longer exists back home. The more one insists on fair trade products, the more neighborhoods get created, as many people in a community take responsibility for each other. On our San Francisco tours, we can see the result, people shop locally, so we have local butchers and bakers. On our San Francisco Food tours,  the local food artisans may not be "cheaper" than a major grocery chain. However, the result of cheap food is that you lose local artisans. And eventually, the good income that you get from your job is less, because some else is cheaper than you are.  Maybe not down the street, or across town, but maybe in a different state or country.

On our San Francisco tours, everyone we deal with benefits from what we do. On our San Francisco Food tours, that philosophy helps to build local neighborhoods.  The neighbors we visit on our San Francisco tours do not have to be some thing you only visit on our San Francisco tours. By buying trade foods, shopping local artisans, you can start to create the same kinds of neighborhoods we visit on our San Francisco Food tours.

Start of Cherry Season

On our San Francisco Tours, we love to keep on what is in season.  The good news is that cherries are starting to come into the market. On our San Francisco Food Tours, we talk about pairing foods. Since the cherries coming into the market are sour cherries, they are great in pies, however if you have ever eaten a sour cherry, they are little too tart to eat raw. On our San Francisco Tours, we try different  kinds of food to see how different food have different flavors. Our San Francisco Food Tours, you'll find how it is really a case of what do you personally like. Our San Francisco Tours try to emphasize how important it is to trust yourself.   So, as you'll find on our San Francisco Food Tours, if you like to eat sour cherries raw, that's great. You are the best judge of what you like.

Outside San Francisco Food Tours

In addition to our San Francisco Food Tours, be sure to check our Food Tours in other areas. Just like or San Francisco Foods Tours, Foods of NY is great way to enjoy New York. For example, just like our San Francisco Tours, their tour gets into local New York City food. I really enjoy food tours that focus on foods from that area. I always figure, why go somewhere else to try foods that I can get back home? On our San Francisco Food Tours, we only have food from the San Francisco area. For example, when I was traveling in France, I intentionally tried only wines that I could not get back here. It wasn't that the wines were not good, but I figured why try things I could get at home. On our San Francisco Food Tours, we have a resource for finding foods close to you. 

Fresh Oranges

On our San Francisco food tours, we talk about how fresh foods taste. Yesterday, we were at the Alemany Farmers Market and picked up a bag of fresh oranges. They are so sweet that it's hard to only have one at a time. One of the fun things to do in San Francisco is enjoy fresh citrus fruit. On our San Francisco tours, we emphasize local foods. Local foods are sweet and delicious. On our San Francisco Food Tours, the fresh flavor of the foods are sweet and delicious. Just like we do on our San Francisco tours, try local foods near you. The flavor is wonderful.

Fennel Season

On our San Francisco Food Tours, we're really big on seasonal foods. Right now, fennel is in season. Many people don't know much about fennel. It has a really great licorice flavor that is really nice in soups. It's also great grilled, with olive oil and parmesan cheese That's when it's fresh. When it's not fresh, it loses much of it's flavor. On our San Francisco tours, we spend time talking about how to pair foods. One of the fun things to do in San Francisco is to try new foods at the Farmers Market. The advantage is that the farmers usually know some great ways to prepare their foods. The idea about grilling fennel came from one the vendors at the Farmers Market. On our San Francisco food tours, we're always finding new foods to try,

Getting What You Are Paying For

On our San Francisco Food Tours, we try a variety of local speciality meats. Many of our guests comment how they think it would be hard to find these types of meats back home. It may not be as hard as most people think. On our San Francisco tours, we visit a variety of local artisans, who specialize into one type of food. Check out the local artisans, from bakeries to delicatessens in your own backyard. They are a great way find local foods. On of the fun things to do in San Francisco is to wander around the neighborhoods and try creations at the local bakers or delis.  On our San Francisco food tours, we're always finding new foods to try. Try the same thing at home. You might be surprised what you find.

Creating Local Demand

On our San Francisco tours, we go behind the scenes at local artisans. We often hear our guests comment how lucky we are to have these local artisans. I'm of the belief that demand creates supply. In other words, the more people demand local butcher shops, the more local butcher shops will open. One the fun things to do in San Francisco is to try foods at local artisans. On our San Francisco Food tours, you'll experience meeting local artisans. Try it in your own backyard. The result may be that more local artisans are available where you live.

Fair Trade and Eating Locally

On our San Francisco tours we emphasize foods that are seasonal and local. Some foods are not grown here, like coffee. There is currently an excess of coffee in the world. The result is that the coffee growers are being pressured to lower their prices. The other result is that coffee growers may not be able to make enough money to feed themselves. On the fun things to do in San Francisco is to enjoy coffee. We find that we enjoy coffee even more when it is fair trade coffee. Fair trade coffee is coffee that the grower makes enough money to feed themselves. On our San Francisco tours, we are dedicated to ensuring that everyone we deal with benefits from what we do. Fair trade coffee ensures the people growing your coffee benefits, as well.

Sustainability

One of the important things on our San Francisco Tours is sustainability. On our San Francisco Foods tours, we focus on local foods, produced using sustainable methods. One the fun things to do in San Francisco is to enjoy salmon in the summer. This summer, we may not have any. For a number of years, there have been water diversions in a number of rivers in Northern California. The assumption is that the environment can simply adjust. The reality is that it can not. On our San Francisco tours we learn how food is made that not only tastes great, but is produced using sustainable methods. One of the fun things to do in San Francisco and elsewhere to enjoy those kinds of food. They not only nourish you, they nourish the environment.

Asparagus Season

If you've joined us on one of our San Francisco Tours, you probably know that we get really excited about eating seasonally. One of the fun things to do in San Francisco is to take advantage of asparagus season. When the asparagus comes in from the delta, it is amazingly sweet. A great way to enjoy asparagus is to grill it, then serve it with parmesan cheese and olive oil. On our San Francisco tours, we try several types of local olive oils, which are delicious with the asparagus.

Almost End of Crab Season

It's almost end of Dungeness Crab Season, but fortunately, not yet. A number of wineries are having their annual crab feasts. We'll take a quick jaunt from our San Francisco Food Tours to head up Healdsburg and Sonoma and fill up on crab. On the fun things to do in San Francisco is to pair some regional wines with local crab. On our San Francisco tours, we'll be trying some local oils, which goes great with the crab. I like olive oil with crab way more than butter.

Given that at the last crab feast, the winery finished dinner with a nice port wine, we'll be bring truffles from San Francisco tours to pair with the port wine.

Chinese New Year

One of the interesting concepts of Chinese New Year is the significance of oranges. The seeds help spread good luck for the coming year. On our San Francisco tours, that same concept is very important. I hope that by "spreading seeds", our guests will take the seeds from our tours and search local out artisans. On the the fun things to do in San Francisco and everywhere it to search our local artisans back home. A great resource is www.slowfood.com

Valentine's Day

We're getting ready for some special San Francisco Tours. One of the fun things to do in San Francisco is to celebrate Valentine's Day for most of February. On our San Francisco Tours, we've got some special surprises in North Beach\Little Italy during the day and also at night. Just in time, we've found some special foods, just in time for Valentine's Day.

New Wine Finds

Our day off from our San Francisco tours resulted in a couple new wine finds in the Russian River. Trying new wineries is definitely one of the fun things to do in San Francisco. In addition to finding some great new wines, we're seeing an exciting trend among wineries to grow using organic and substantial methods. If you have taken our San Francisco food tours, you might know that we always excited when we see more people embracing the idea of eating locally and seasonally. When you are out buying wines, check out labels for California wines. A number of the wineries are indicating on the labels about their enlightened growing methods.

Checking out the Wineries

When were not doing our San Francisco tours, we're off checking out wineries. One of the fun things to do in San Francisco, in addition our San Francisco Food Tours, is to head off the wine country. Now days, in addition to Sonoma and Napa, check out the Santa Cruz mountains for some excellent Petite Sirrahs and the Sierra Foothills are producing some really good ZInfandels. Our trick is go into wineries we don't recognize. Those are frequently the wineries that are producing excellent wines, just not enough to sell outside the wineries. If you find a new winery find, let us know and we'll let people know about it on our San Francisco Food Tours.