San Francisco Day 1......

It feels so good to be home after a fun filled weekend of vacation. Vacation is always fun no matter where you go. Can I get an amen? However, after about 4-5 days, I find myself thinking, "I'm ready to go home." Then you finally get home. You walk in the door, and you INSTANTLY wish you were back on vacation. haha It is never a true win win situation. Chad and I did go to San Francisco this past weekend. We had a complete blast. Chad had to go for business, and I went to play. (Summer break is AWESOME!) The first couple of nights we stayed at the Orchard Garden Hotel right off of Bush Street. It was a fantastic hotel. The staff were extremely nice as well as the room/hotel itself. One thing I learned from planning this trip is San Fran is similar to New York City as the city is broken down into little "neighborhoods." Our hotel was in the Financial district which was really great. We were able to be right in the thick of everything that was going on and were able to walk to everything that we wanted to get to.

The first morning we were there we woke up early, of course. Our bodies were still on Eastern time. We decided to walk to this little breakfast cafe that was a couple of blocks away. It turned out to be one of the most amazing breakfast places EVER!

Taylor St. Coffee Shop was definitely one of the cutest little breakfast places I have ever been to. There were about 8- 10 tables crammed into this little tiny place. They had the BEST food. Chad got a spicy bacon hash with eggs and an english muffin, and I got the most delicious croissant breakfast sandwich with bacon, egg, cheese, spinach, and tomato!  We also got a side of what they call Millionaire Bacon. Boy did it live up to its name. It was a thick piece of bacon smothered in this spicy spice mixture and brown sugar. It was absolutely the best bacon I have ever had. It was super sticky and just delicious!

After breakfast, we headed down to the Fisherman's Wharf neighborhood and Pier 39. We walked around taking everything in until our audio tour at Alcatraz. 

I realized on this trip that I am horrible at remembering to take pictures. Alcatraz was so amazing and I do not have a single picture EXCEPT.......

We found out upon arrival to Alcatraz that there was a guest on the island. He actually used to be a prisoner at Alcatraz. He never told anyone that he was a prisoner except his wife. His name is Bob Luke. He was put on the island for robbing a bank using a semi-automatic weapon. However, he has been on his best behavior for the past 55 years. Mr. Luke decided to write an autobiography about his time at Alcatraz. Upon writing the book, he was forced to go back and tell his long life friends his most kept secret. Needless to say, everyone was excepting of him. He did write the book and happened to be signing copies of his book the day we were there. He and his wife were as sweet and cute as they could be. It was an extremely cool moment and experience. 

After walking about 6 miles that day, we decided to head back to the hotel to take a little nap. This momma needed a little break after all of that. We decided to go to dinner a little later. We went to the Tadich Grill. It had great reviews on multiple websites. However, we did not have a good experience. Everything from the service to the food was very non-impressive and disappointing. 

After dinner, we went back to the hotel and slept for a VERY long time......

It was heavenly!

Stay tuned for day two tomorrow! 

Seafood and SEE FOOD: Tilapia Sliders

Blackened Tilapia Slider with Spicy Chipotle Slaw

One of my favorite hobbies lately in life has been cooking. I do not mean out of a box either! I mean beautiful, colorful, healthy, and delicious food! The meal Chad and I had last night was simply that. 

Excuse the paper plates.......

Chad asked me yesterday if I wanted a hamburger. I responded, "I would actually love a fish sandwich." Let me just say.....my husband is usually ALWAYS on board with food ideas. This one was no different. We set out to the grocery store. The only thing that we needed from the grocery store was tilapia (our fish of choice....usually very affordable) and shrimp. We also decided to have a spicy slaw to go with it! We picked up a bag of just plain coleslaw in the bag. It is in the produce department by the bagged salad.

Spicy Chipotle Slaw

It all started with the spicy slaw. Anybody that knows Chad and I knows that we LOVE spicy food!

Spicy Chipotle Slaw: 

   1 bag of Coleslaw (green cabbage, red cabbage, and carrots)

   1 diced jalapeño (take seeds out)

   1 cup of Mayo

   1/2 lime (just the juice)

   2 tablespoons of honey

   1 1/4 teaspoon of Chipotle Chili Powder

   1/2 teaspoon of Cumin

I whisked the last 5 ingredients together in a bowl and poured over the top of the coleslaw and diced jalapeño. Mix all the ingredients together a refrigerate for as long as possible. The longer the slaw sits..the stronger the flavor!

After I made the slaw, I moved onto peeling and seasoning the shrimp and tilapia. We decided to buy half a pound of shrimp and 1 piece of tilapia. The tilapia fillet was really big, so Chad and I only needed one piece!

I wanted more of a blackened seasoning mix to put on all of the seafood. Below is the mix that I created and maybe should jar for next time!

Blackened Seasoning: 

1/2 teaspoon Sea Salt

1/2 teaspoon Pepper

1/2 teaspoon Oregano

1/2 teaspoon Paprika

1/2 teaspoon Dried Chopped Onion

1/2 teaspoon Thyme

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon Old Bay (Lemon & Herb)

I based the seafood with melted butter and then poured all the seasoning on to the shrimp and tilapia fillet. Then I handed the seafood over to Chad and let him work his magic!

NOW....my new favorite obsession is grilling bread! I LOVE IT! We had leftover Publix baked dinner rolls found in the bakery section at Publix. I just slapped some butter on those bad boys and we put them on the top rack for about a minute to a minute and a half. Watch them...you would not want that buttery goodness to burn!

I split the tilapia into 4 pieces and it made 4 little sliders! Pile that spicy coleslaw on top of the tilapia piece and cap it all off with that beautiful buttery grilled bread! You will NOT regret it! 

Happy Eating!!!