Town's End

Last weekend the family and I met up for brunch at Town's End Restaurant & Bakery. The place was completely packed on a Saturday afternoon, but the food was (mostly) delish.

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Where: 2 Townsend Street, San Francisco

The Scene: Neighborhood bakery serving up baskets of amazing mini muffins

Delight: Baked goods and breakfast items

Disappointment: Club sandwich and the noise

There was no wait when we arrived but Town's End was buzzing. Our waiter was quite sweaty, likely from working hard. He skipped the pleasantries and went straight into drink orders. The service was prompt and the mini muffins that they bring complimentary are to die for. My family and I plowed through that basket in record time. Too bad they didn't offer us a second basket.

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My dad and I ordered the club sandwich and the rest of the table ordered breakfast items. When the breakfast items arrived my mouth was watering. Huge stacks of pancakes, fresh eggs and bacon. I couldn't wait for my sandwich. When my club came I was thoroughly disappointed. The sandwich was swimming in vast amounts of empty space on the plate. Compared to the equally priced breakfast items, the sandwich was tiny and frankly quite tasteless. It came with what looked like hash browns (some fried potato thing) but mine was cold and mushy so I didn't eat it. I should have ordered the breakfast.


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Town's End was incredibly loud. So much so that my parents could barely hear the conversation. I suppose that's what happens when you have a popular place that probably has a few too many tables squeezed into a small space. It was a shame it was so loud; nearly inhibiting brunch time conversation.

I will definitely return to Town's End though. (It's only a block from my brothers apartment.) I had a bite of the pancakes and I can say without a doubt that I will be ordering that upon my return (and possibly the eggs benny).

Pumpkin Parmesan

While I think $15 is a bit much to be spending on pasta sauce, I honestly am a bit tempted by Williams-Sonoma Pumpkin Pasta Sauce. No, I just can't justify $15 on pasta sauce that isn't even from a grocer, it's from a housewares store! After a bit of research I did find this Rachel Ray 30 minute recipe for pasta with pumpkin and sausage. This seems much more practical. 

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Wedding: In pictures

Our wedding day was an amazing day! Just perfect! The weather was perfect and the ceremony and reception went off without a hitch. Rather than rattle on and on about it, I thought I would just share a few photos. Enjoy!





Viansa Winery, Sonoma, CA



Pictures before the wedding



The ceremony



bouquet toss



Turn it off

I personally always turn off my computer at the end of the day, but I've worked with many people who never did. My computer always seems to freak out, blue screen and just be completely uncooperative if I leave it on for more than 12 hours. I ran across this video and wanted to re-post it for 2 reasons. Firstly, this is the first time (ever!) I have been able to successfully identify a kiwi accent, even though I'm married to one. Secondly, the message is pretty is powerful; so much could be saved by the click of a button.

Turn it Off from Nigel Upchurch on Vimeo.

Pumpkin love

The other night after a great dinner on University Ave in Palo Alto, my friends and I headed over to Fraiche for some dessert. Even though I stuffed myself at dinner, I was still able to polish off a small pumpkin frozen yogurt sprinkled with graham crackers.


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Fall is one of my favorite times of year. The changing leaves, the crisp but sunny days (at least in California), the start of the holidays and the promise of cozy fires and lots of food. I absolutely love pumpkin and would definitely be doing more pumpkin baking in the UK if canned pumpkin were easy to come by. After my pumpkin frozen yogurt I decided it was high time to give mama reprise's kitchen a whirl. I usually let my mom do all the cooking and baking when I'm home (that's why children go home right? Oh, and of course to do their laundry). It's literally been years since I baked anything at home. I think I'm going to start with a Martha Stewart recipe for pumpkin cupcakes. They look and sound delicious!

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Dreaming of jetsetting

While I have known about Glit, the Groupon of fashion, for a while I just joined Jetsetter a few days ago. Possibly because I am currently stuck in California awaiting my new visa back to the UK (yes, I am hitched - pictures to come), I have more time than usual to dream and plan future vacations.


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I am currently dreaming of a post Christmas trip to Morocco or possibly again to Egypt because it was so amazing to lay out in 30 degree weather in the dead of winter.


While a lot of the deals on Jetsetter are still a bit pricey, it's a great place to look for deals on 4+ star places for special occasions. I can't wait to start booking our holidays!