4th of July in Berkeley

We spent the 4th in Berkeley this year. First we had brunch at Bette's Oceanview Diner, which is famous for their souffle pancakes. They were also featured on Food Network's Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. That show also featured a menu item called "scrapple" which is ground pork shoulder mixed with cornmeal and spices. We ordered a side of it and it tasted a bit like mushy breakfast sausage patties. They did manage to get a nice crust on it by cooking it on their flattop. We also ordered the salmon hash which was a special today. It was good, but the portion seemed small for what I would consider a diner would serve. The banana rum souffle pancake was excellent and filling, but since its full of air, you'll be hungry a hour later. Next time I go there, I'll have to remember not to order their muffins since the sweet pancakes left me wanting something more salty. If you decide to go their on a weekend, be prepared to wait an hour to be seated. There are plenty of shops around the area to do some shopping while you wait.

Next we went to the marina to get to all the holiday festivities. Unfortunately, if you decide to park there until the fireworks start, you'll be trapped their until they release traffic at 11:30pm.

A couple amusement companies setup some rides on the pier for the kids. Each company has their own tickets so you'll need to be sure you buy the right tickets for the rides you want to go on. If you want to tire your kid out, nothing beats the inflatable slide since they spend 95% of the time climbing to the top of the slide. We left way before the fireworks started and our daughter had a long nap afterwards. 

Strawberry Patch

Back in May we decided to go pick our own strawberries. We went to Chan's Strawberry and Fruit Stand in Brentwood. I have to say, these were the sweetest most delicious strawberries I have ever eaten, period. On top of that, we paid like $7 for a full tray (roughly 5 pounds). There's a sign that says you're not supposed to eat any until you finish picking them, but as you can tell by the stains on her face, my daughter couldn't help herself (nor could we).

Although, the cost of gas would probably offset any discount compared to the supermarket, this is certainly great fun for the family and rewards you with a bounty to take home and enjoy.

Curry Paella

A couple weeks ago. we made this after my wife found several paella recipes in her Japanese magazine. Instead of saffron, we used curry powder. It tasted great but I think we either used too much water or the wrong kind of rice because I couldn't get the rice at the bottom to produce a nice crunch. We still got some a lot tasty browned bits on the bottom so my cast iron skillet still managed to get scraped clean.

Once I nail down the recipe, I'll share it with you all.