Celebrating San Francisco with Harry & David, And A Food Gal Giveaway (Sponsored Post)
San Francisco-Inspired Gift Basket (photo courtesy of Harry & David)
Even though I was born in San Francisco and have spent almost my entire life in the Bay Area, I admit that when I was younger I took this region for granted.
I remember spending college summers interning in Portland, OR and Boston, where the moment I told people where I was from, their faces would light up with envy. The same happened when I lived in South Florida.
It took living away to make me finally appreciate what was in my own backyard. Namely, a climate that is almost always comfortable; spoil-you-rotten pristine produce available year-round; a food scene other cities would kill for; a gorgeous setting with ocean, mountains and redwoods; and an educated, curious, multi-ethnic populace so often at the forefront of meaningful issues and trends.
Of course, these days, it’s also a breathtakingly exorbitant place to live, with nightmare traffic on the freeways, construction everywhere, and an increasingly frightening divide between the haves and the have-nots.
For all of that, though, I can’t ever imagine leaving. It is home. And always will be.
Harry & David recognizes just how special the San Francisco Bay Area is. That’s why it chose this area as one to spotlight in its new regional gift baskets. The other foodie areas celebrated with their own themed gift baskets are: Chicago, New York and Austin.
The San Francisco gift basket ($99.99) includes Cheddar Corn Chowder Soup Mix, Seafood Rub, sourdough loaf, Habanero Pineapple Seafood Glaze, Ghirardelli chocolates, a dishtowel imprinted with the San Francisco skyline, and a cute trolley-car cookie. It all comes packed in a woven basket.
For every regional gift basket purchased, 20 percent of net proceeds will be donated to food banks in those respective cities, including the SF-Marin Food Bank.
CONTEST: One lucky Food Gal reader will win a Harry & David San Francisco-Inspired Gift Basket ($99.99 value). #TasteYourCity
Entries, open only to those in the continental United States, will be accepted through midnight PST June 25. Winner will be announced June 27.
How to win?
You’ve already read what the San Francisco Bay Area means to me. Tell me what it means to you. Best answer wins.
WINNER OF LAST WEEK’S CONTEST: In the previous Food Gal contest, I asked you to tell me your fondest memory of La Pastaia restaurant in San Jose. The winner will receive a $50 gift card to the restaurant.
Salmon at La Pastaia. (photo courtesy of the restaurant)
Congrats to:
Amy Ward, who wrote, “We go to San Jose from SF every weekend to visit my (new) husband’s 93 year old mother. Last week we moved her into a memory (Alzheimer disease) care facility. Needless to say, weekends just got a whole lot more depressing. Food is love…and we love our food. I would sure like something to look forward to on a Saturday night.”
When I think of San Francisco I think a Romantic day with my wonderful husband. He Just sweeps me off my feet with a trolly ride the cool winding streets and perfect weather. A soft kiss with a candle night dinner and a beautiful view of the Bridge. San Francisco is the most amazing place with the most wonderful food.
We immigrated from Toysan, China, to San Francisco when I was four. I wasn’t able to understand it at the time, but San Francisco was literally and culturally the gateway for my parents to transition to a new world, and for me to get a taste (and the sounds, and the visuals) at what we had left behind. These included the cheap Chinese opera movies on Geary Street, the dim sum houses, the dark and smelly alleys housing the Chinese pharmacies and dried food stores. San Francisco is gentrified now, but all the memories remain whenever I walk through Chinatown.
My family moved from NY to SF when I was 11. At first, I absolutely hated it, and I missed NY so much. I was counting down to when I turned 18 and could go to college back home in New York. But as the years passed, I grew to love this city. 22 years later, I’m still here. Sometimes I even feel like an SF native*. I’ve watched the city change SO MUCH over the last decade, and some of the changes have been tough on the people who live here, but there’s still so much to love. It’s home <3
*I know I'm not… but I seem to meet fewer and fewer folks with the title of SF native lately!
I first time I saw the golden gate bridge it took my breath away. Then I went down Lombard street that is the coolest street ever. I couldn’t believe that they would make a street so crooked. But is was an experience I will never forget. Also the food can’t be beat.
I grew up in the ‘burbs, and most Saturdays my parents would pack my three siblings and me in the station wagon for a family culinary adventure in Chinatown. After a delicious dim sum lunch, we’d navigate the busy streets and pick up fruit at Orangeland; bok choy, cha siew, roast duck, and a whole, boiled chicken on Stockton Street and maybe an apple pie or two from Sun Wah Kue! My absolute favorite was the noodle factory where Dad would order several sheets of fresh rice noodles (fun). I would salivate and watch in awe as the ladies there would quickly and expertly pack the noodles into a pink box and tie the box with string. Even though our tummies were still full of ha gaw, siu mai, pork buns, and sticky rice, the ride home was agony, as all those delicious smells from the food permeated the car. Once home, my little sister and I would tear into the pink box, grab a plate and douse those perfect rice noodle goodness (still warm!) with soy sauce.
I grew up in the Bay Area and am also incredibly spoiled by all the opportunities available here. San Francisco is the place where all my dreams come true. I can climb in the mountains during the day, go to the beach, and be back in time for dinner at a delightful restaurant. Growing up, I hated being in the Bay Area because it meant lots of competition in school and constantly being compared to my peers. However, without that, I wouldn’t have found the drive to push and succeed in all aspects of my life.
When I think San Francisco no words could describe the most comfortable wonderful weather in the world. There is no place that I know like it. It is amazing to me that everyone doesn’t just want to live there. The weather, The food and the people. I have been to many places and this is my favorite. I have been to New England in the winter why anyone lives there is beyond me. I have been to florida in the summer to hot and sticky. But there is just something that draws me in to San Francisco. Maybe it is the California Girl in me but everything is there and maybe I’m spoiled but I like being comfortable year round. So I can under stand feeling like home.
A few years ago I won a San Francisco vacation give away. I never win anything that grand. It was the most amazing gift I could have gotten because both my husband and myself are disabled and have a very limited budget. It was an amazing trip that we wouldn’t of every been able to afford. The hotel was close to the museum and a really nice deli that had great sandwiches. We didn’t get to see everything because my back acted up and spent most of the time in bed at the hotel but I had a beautiful view and I still had a wonderful time with room service. I would love to be able to go back sometime to see the things I missed.