Nibbling through Napa

AudioDad's sisters are celebrating birthdays this week, so we thought it might be fun to have a family day with them in Napa. We decided to meet up at Oxbow Public Market and I was glad to see how popular it has become. I remember taking Munch there when it first opened and was so concerned that it would quickly close due to lack of foot traffic. My last couple of visits though, Oxbow has been as crowded as the SF Ferry Building Marketplace, and it looks like a sit-down restaurant is now in the works where the Wine and Cheese Merchant used to be. Now all it needs is a great kitchenware store!
First stop was a peek into the pastry case at Ca' Momi Winery and Enoteca-
we haven't eaten there yet, as it is a fairly recent addition, but the aroma of their wood fired pizzas puts them as a must-try on my next visit. Another merchant I haven't yet purchased from is Five Dot Ranch, but I imagine we'll also bring something home from there soon-
Next, Munch made a beeline for her Dungeness crab friends in the tanks at Kanaloa Seafood Market-
She loves to talk to them and I'm not quite sure she has realized yet their fate as someone's dinner!
Having arrived before the rest of the family, we had a little time to kill so the next stop was Oxbow Cheese Merchant-
As always, we found plenty to taste and buy!
Everyone arrived soon after that-
so it was time for lunch- Gott's Roadside for them, and a pabellon cachapa (shredded steak, black beans, and plantain on a corn pancake) with yucca fries from Pica Pica Maize Kitchen for me- After lunch, we wandered through the market, tasting chocolate sauces at Anette's Chocolates and olive oils from The Olive Press, where I bought a jar of olive oil salve- just right for my winter-dried hands, before buying ice cream for the kids at Three Twins and some cold cuts from Fatted Calf Charcuterie (MUST go back for more bierwurst!)-
Next we crossed the Napa Valley Wine Train railroad tracks and the First Street bridge over the Napa River to get to the downtown area.
We passed a dirt lot with Dim Sum Charlie's food truck,
which is also the location of Napa's Food Truck Fridays (I hear that Spencer On the Go, from Food Network's Great Food Truck Race, can be found here occasionally- my to-visit list is quickly getting longer!)
At the Napa Riverfront
we peeked into kitchen window at Rotisserie and Wine hoping for a Tyler Florence sighting, but it was too early for dinner serviceso we took a few more pictures and wandered up and down Main Street, popping into a few boutiques,
but not finding Sift Cupcakery which seems to have recently moved to another shopping area a few miles away, so we hopped into our cars for a quick stop-
and left with a half dozen cupcakes

Fathers Day

I've said before how much I enjoy holidays and special occasions now that Munch is old enough to participate and understand the event. Fathers Day this year was no exception. I knew exactly what Munch would be making for Daddy this year- a painted self-portrait because he's threatened numerous times to steal the one she made her grandparents last Christmas-So as soon as he left for work, Munch and I got busy. We started with sketching out the picture on the canvas-
Once we got to painting, Munch began with the background, then the main body. Unlike the last time we made a self-portrait six months ago, Munch had a very specific idea of how she wanted this painting to turn out and the colors and designs she wanted to use.The finished portrait is very her- the only problem was keeping it a secret for the next week!
The morning of Fathers Day, Munch also wanted to make her dad breakfast in bed. I'm not that huge a fan of finding crumbs in my bed though (and it doesn't work that well when you have dogs!) Instead, we made his very favorite chocolate chip scones. I've been letting Munch have more responsibility in the kitchen lately and she did really well! First, she sifted the dry ingredients-Next, she mixed in the chocolate chips...and yes, she immediately asked to taste everything!After the cream was mixed in, we worked on kneading the dough and I cut it into squares. Munch brushed melted butter over the scones and sprinkled on the coarse sugar-The scones turned out beautifully- and both dad and daughter were full of smiles-
Later, we headed out to meet my family at Brix for lunch. I LOVE their Sunday buffet brunch and we were incredibly lucky to get a small patio all to ourselves!Munch made herself a lovely plate of shrimp, fruit, and assorted charcuterie and cheeses. It was a gorgeous day in the Napa Valley and we took our time enjoying the restaurant's gardens after lunch-before heading over to Oxbow to pick up some cupcakes to send home with my dad. Munch perused the assortment and ultimately chose a gluten-free chocolate cupcake, in a show of support for her favorite cousin and BFF who was recently diagnosed with celiac disease. It was yummier than I expected!

More Fun With Gina and the Kids

Next stop of favorite blog trips for Gina & I (with kids in tow) was Scientopia and lunch at Oxbow Market. It was a pretty quiet morning and we were lucky to have Scientopia almost to ourselves for the first hour. The boys headed straight to the train tableand the digging pitwhile Munch painted and beaded.
All the kids had fun in the dramatic play area with puppets, costumes, and instruments.
At lunchtime, we headed down the street for lunch. Munch had her standard ham & cheese mini arepa with yucca fires from Pica Pica and I had a cachapa filled with steak, plantains, and black beans.
After lunch we walked around. Munch loves checking the tanks at Kanaloa Seafood, so we made sure to stop therebefore heading off to Kara's for some delicious cupcakes (thanks again Gina!)

Croak!

Poor Munchkin! After schlepping her all over the bay (our fun day in the city, then off to the grandparents, then errands around the Napa Valley the day after that), she came down with a nighttime cough and slept terribly for a couple of days. During the day, the cough subsided a bit, but was replaced with a bit of laryngitis. It was actually a little bit funny- she kept chatting (and singing) away anyway and most times sounded a lot like Donald Duck. Most disappointing was that she had absolutely NO appetite (unless ice cream was involved, which it was) because we were surrounded by some really great food. I had been anticipating our Napa trip all weekend because I had decided we'd go to Oxbow Market for lunch.
I've been wanting to try Pica Pica Maize Kitchen, which sold amazing looking Venezuelan sandwiches, and Three Twins Organic Ice Cream ever since my first visit to the market. So while Munch nibbled bites of her lunch, I happily enjoyed my chicken salad filled arepa and my sister had one filled with slices of steak and plantain. The yucca fries with a black bean dip were amazing- even better than Taylor's sweet potato fries (which I love)! Munch had a Maize'wich- basically a grilled cheese made with a slightly sweet corn "bread"- the Monterey Jack was so melty and delicious!
It was much too cold and rainy, but during the summer I'd certainly order the frozen coconut lemonade that they let us sample- Munch loved it and wanted more, but I knew that there was ice cream in her future! Once lunch was done, off we went to Three Twins. Munch had a scoop of an amazing Madagascar Vanilla and I had one called "Lemon Cookie".
Next we headed to the cheese shop where we sampled several great cheeses (the Munchkin and I love cheese shops!) and picked up a few treats for supper. My favorite finds were a cheese called Robiola and a tiny jar of black truffle honey. Later that evening I fixed up a beet and orange salad for AudioDad and I and everyone enjoyed the cheese course-