Weekend at Bergie's (PUN WIN!!!!)

This was a weekend that might have been right for gluttonous moments, but I had to be strong and hold myself in check.  So far, so good, but we still haven't had dinner, so the weekend is not over yet.

On Saturday morning, I headed to Bergie's and picked up a great mix of veggies from our CSA, which included mizuna, a Japanese variety of mustard greens, as well as arugula, potatoes, an onion, garlic, okra, green black-eyed pease, some tiny little eggplants, and yet more basil.  Then, I was off to meet a friend for brunch at Wildflower Bread Company.  I love love LOVE this place, so I was so excited to go.  

One great aspect of Wildflower is that it has a company policy of giving back; each night, any un-purchased bread and bakery items to shelters throughout the state of Arizona.  It is also partnered with Share Our Strength, an organization devoted to ending childhood hunger (you may have heard about the Great American Bake Sale, one of this organization's many projects).  

This month, Wildflower featured Cupcakes for the Cure.  For each of these cupcakes sold, $1.00 is donated to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.  

Purchasing one of these cupcakes was actually two-fold for me.  First of all, I got to enjoy a delicious cupcake (and oh, was it delicious - I was going to take a picture of it, but I dug right in, so all you get in the pic below is what was left when the rest of our meal came - not much), but I also was better able to make a menu selection.  See, breakfast on weekends is my favorite meal - there are so many delicious options.  The tough thing is the question I've posted in the poll to the right - savory or sweet????  I know some people have their favorites, and there are a select few places that I always get the same thing for breakfast whenever I go.  But at most places it's more like the world's most difficult question.  I tend to have buyer's remorse; if I get the French toast at Chompies, I end up wishing I'd gotten the corned beef hash.  If I get the chorizo skillet at Brunchie's, I end up regretting the fact that I did not order their cinnamon French toast.

OK, so back to Wildflower.... in getting the cupcake, I was able to sit squarely in the savory corner - the feta and roasted vegetable frittata.  I do NOT regret this decision.  I had already begun to inhale it when I remembered to snap a pic before all that was left was a fork and some tomato remnants. 

The cupcakes had cute little pink breast cancer "ribbon" sprinkles.  You can't see them here because I had eaten them all at this point.

 The vegetables were perfectly cooked, and the salty feta combined with the dash of parsley made for a meal needing absolutely no seasoning.  All I had to do was pile it on that crispy buttered bread.
And the bread.... ohhhhhhh, the bread.  They make it fresh each day, and you can taste it (and if you want, you can buy a loaf or seven, which I highly recommend).
There were a few potatoes left at the end - I had to stop myself from eating them all after I got full, which I feel was on the herculean side of tasks for the day.

This little guy had his eye on our plates the whole time.  There is a sign requesting that patrons not feed the birds, but they are total opportunists; the SECOND a couple left, it was like the Hitchcock movie over at their table.

That afternoon, before we went to Chuck E. Cheese's for a toddler birthday party, Scott made some sandwiches using the aforementioned mizuna, Boca burger patties, and a spread of miso and mayonnaise.  While the spread, put on rather too thickly, was a little salty, the mizuna had a wonderful, refreshing flavor.  This would be great on a BLT, I think, but alas, we have no tomatoes to test that theory this week.


Today, after some of Scott's freshly made waffles, we were fortunate enough to meet a friend who lives in Houston for coffee.  We went to Bergie's (where we get those tasty veggies each week), and what a great day it was to sit outside (it had actually been in the 60s when Zooey and I took our morning run)!

This was, many many years ago, a place of residence that has since been turned into Bergie's with a GREAT patio area.

 As I've noted before, Bergie's has some amazing biscotti, so when Scott went inside to order our drinks, I made sure to request "a few biscotti, too."  He brought back and almond one and a lemon one.  I still think the lemon-lavender one I had a few weeks ago is my favorite, but these were tasty nibbles, too.

Lemon on the top - almond on the bottom

Biscotti is something that I don't always like - too many places make it so hard that it's like gnawing on a piece of dog rawhide.  I want to enjoy my food; I don't want to have to work at it once it's arrived in front of me.  
Not so with this biscotti.  The twice-baked nature of the cookie does mean that it's not soft and chewy like, say, a Chips Ahoy cookie (blech).  But these biscotti have a lovely give when you bite into them or break off a piece with your finger.  Once in the mouth, they have just the hint of a crunch and crumble easily on the tongue.  No matter the variety I have tried, all of the biscotti at Bergie's are flavor-filled in each bite, so there is no bite that is less satisfying than another (unless it's the last one, as you realize there are no more bites after that one... so sad).
Alas, our coffee talk was over all too soon!


Tonight, we are planning on having okra with onions sauteed with onion and an Indian spice mix (cumin, tumeric, cumin, coriander, cumin, etc...) and some of those eggplants stuffed with a wild-rice quinoa mixture that is leftover from the stuffed baked apples I made the other night.  They were good, but the rice mixture tasted like it was missing something; I can't tell what (Scott suggested bacon, but since it was a veggie recipe, that was a no-go), so perhaps tonight with the firmer eggplant as the "bowl," there may be a more satisfying response.  Or maybe I'll just put in more salt.


Tomorrow is a holiday for Scott, so we are both going to be home.  I am actually working, but I hope to try to get a bread recipe in in between taps on the computer.  I've never made bread without the machine before, but I found a recipe that (I really hope) appears to be nearly fool-proof.  I'm dreaming of taking it out of the oven, tearing it open, and slathering it with butter and jam, so hopefully this is a dream that will come true!