A few weeks ago, a friend brought over sticky date pudding from Bakesale Betty and it was absolutely fabulous. We loved it so much we tried Betty's pumpkin and pecan pies a few days later on Thanksgiving. Both pies were excellent, particularly the pecan pie.

After all the great desserts, we had to check out the bakery for lunch to try their popular fried chicken sandwich. The shop is located in North Oakland's Temescal District. When we arrived at the small, unassuming corner bakery, the line was just out the door. It was a little chaotic as we tried to figure out what to order in the fast moving line. We quickly decided to order...

• Fried Chicken Sandwich ($7.25)
• Egg Salad Sandwich ($5.50)
• Lemon Raisin Scone ($1.95)
• Ginger Pear Scone ($1.95)
• Sticky Date Pudding with Caramel Sauce (price unknown)

Our order was taken by Michael Camp, who is an owner and married to Alison Barakat, a.k.a. Betty, a former cook at Chez Panisse Cafe. At the time, I had no idea who Michael was. He began putting our order together on a metal tray and asked for $16.00. Obviously, I thought he made a mistake and asked him for the total again, he said, "16 dollars." I asked if he included the sticky date pudding in the order because it wasn't on the tray. He replied, "it's on the house." Alrighty then! We ended up getting...

• Fried Chicken Sandwich
• Egg Salad Sandwich
• Lemon Raisin Scone
• Ginger Pear Scone
• Apricot Almond Scone (complimentary)
• Sticky Date Pudding (complimentary)
• Two Frozen Lemonades (complimentary)

Michael told us that he would bring out the sticky date pudding cake to us. We found a table, an old ironing board, in a sunny spot on the sidewalk and started digging into our bounty. The fried chicken sandwich was fantastic. The buttermilk-battered chicken breast was nice and crispy with cole slaw piled high on top of it. We really liked the lightly dressed, vinaigrette based cole slaw. The absence of mayonnaise in the sandwich and slaw was a big positive for us. Serving thigh meat instead of breast meat is the only thing that would make it better, since we prefer dark meat.

The chunky egg salad sandwich was equally as good. It was topped with peppery arugula, which was a nice addition. Both sandwiches were served on good Acme torpedo rolls. The egg salad sandwich was a decent size, but the chicken sandwich was a very generous portion.

The scones were light and flaky with interesting flavor combinations. Our favorite scone was the lemon raisin with plump and juicy raisins. The scones would be great for breakfast with a hot cup of coffee or tea. Hungry Bear enjoyed the frozen lemonade because of the balance between sweet and tart. It was too tart for me, but I have odd taste buds.

As we were finishing our sandwiches, Michael came outside and told us the sticky date pudding was sold out. He apologized and gave us a voucher for a free pudding cake along with two shortbread cookies. It was completely unexpected and unnecessary, but talk about a great way to build customer loyalty.

The line grew longer during the lunch hour and we saw Michael on several occasions giving away cookies to everyone in line. I was sold on the food itself, but the extremely friendly service has me completely hooked. It's now my favorite bakery in the Bay Area!

I'm excited about going back for the sticky date pudding and trying out the banana bread. Hungry Bear wants to sample the lemon bars. I also want to figure out which sandwich I like more, fried chicken or egg salad? It's a toss up right now. I can't guarantee you'll get the same amount of complimentary food as we did, but the quality of the sandwiches and baked goods alone will make you come back for more!

Tip: Go early for sandwiches or they'll sell out and you'll be sad.

Location & Hours:
Bakesale Betty
5098 Telegraph Avenue (at 51st Street)
Oakland, CA 94609
Tuesday - Saturday: 7:00 am - 7:00 pm
(510) 985-1213
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Another Thanksgiving, another feast in San Francisco. All of us SNDsters are transplants from the East coast or Midwest and we avoid traveling during Thanksgiving. Instead, we celebrate Turkey Day by hanging out and cooking at Jane and Mark's place. It's typically an eclectic pot luck with friends who also don't have family in the Bay Area.

This year there were 14 of us and the food was more traditional and less of an East meets West affair. Dinner consisted of...

Savory Dishes

• Deep-Fried Turkey - brined, dry rubbed and fried (Garry/Chuck)
• Gravy - made from pan drippings and turkey stock from a roasted turkey wing (Jane/Chuck)
• Uncooked Cranberry and Orange Relish - chopped raw cranberries and oranges (Stacy)
• Spicy Artichoke Dip - jalapeno, cream cheese, sour cream, mayonnaise and other heart clogging ingredients (Stacy)
• Mashed Potatoes and Parsnips - potatoes, parsnips and chives mashed using a potato ricer - (Jane)
• Cornbread Stuffing with Sausage - sage, thyme, fresh corn, buttermilk cornbread and hot Italian sausage (Chuck)
• Brussels Sprouts Lardons - brussels sprouts and bacon (Stacy)
• Chinese Sticky Rice - sticky rice, Chinese sausage and BBQ pork, shiitakes, oyster sauce, green onions and cilantro (Hungry Bear)
• Spanish Seafood Salad - shrimp, squid, chorizo, sun-dried tomatoes and butter beans on frisée (Garry)
• Three-Seed Dinner Rolls - poppy seeds, fennel seeds and coarse sea salt (Karen)

Dessert

• Fruit Salad - cantaloupe, honeydew, watermelon, pineapple, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, kiwis, persimmons and mandarin oranges (Hungry Bear)
• Yogurt - fresh homemade (Sukhchander)
• Apple Pie - deep dish pie with pink lady apples (Stacy)
• Pecan Pie - from Bakesale Betty in Oakland (Ajita)
• Pumpkin Pie - from Bakesale Betty (Ajita)
• Chocolate Bouchons - small chocolate brownies (Chuck)

Hungry Bear and I did the majority of our cooking at home. It's more fun cooking together at Jane's place, but it's also more difficult with only one stove top and oven. When we arrived at Jane's, there was a buzz of activity in the kitchen as Stacy, Jane, Garry and Karen were prepping and cooking.

Garry brined and dried the 12 lb turkey and I added a dry rub to the bird before dunking it into the electric deep fryer. As the turkey was frying, we snacked on a warm, spicy artichoke dip with pita chips. It was so good I couldn't stop eating it and overfilled myself with chips and dip. Thankfully, the turkey only took 45 minutes to cook, otherwise I would have eaten even more dip.

The deep-fried turkey was moist and fantastic as usual. This year we tried a brined turkey for the first time and we really like the extra flavor it added. The gravy was the best we ever made because of the pan drippings and homemade turkey stock. We normally forget about the gravy and scramble at the last minute to make it, or send Howie out to pick up a jar. I'm very happy that Stacy and Jane had the foresight to roast a turkey wing and make stock!

We really enjoyed the brussels sprouts dish. I love all things cabbage and it's even better with crispy bacon. Ina Garten's brussels sprouts lardons recipe calls for golden raisins, but Stacy didn't add them. I'm glad no raisins were used, as I'm not a fan of sweet and savory dishes. The brussels sprouts were delicious with just bacon... imagine that.

The seafood salad and Chinese sticky rice were the only non-traditional items we had this Thanksgiving. The seafood salad was very unique with jumbo shrimp, squid, chorizo and a butter bean vinaigrette. The salad was a great change of pace from the normal, heavy Turkey Day fixings.

After one big plate of food, I was completely stuffed. I usually go for seconds, but couldn't do it this year. Dessert started with fruit salad. Hungry Bear's giant fruit salad is always a big hit at Thanksgiving because it's light and refreshing. We should have ended dinner with just fruit, but we had three pies and chocolate bouchons to try.

It was a complete struggle to eat the sampler pie plate that Karen doled out. On each plate, there was a small slice of apple, pecan and pumpkin pie. Jane, Hungry Bear and I shared a sampler plate and we were at our food limit. The pecan pie from Bakesale Betty's and Stacy's apple pie were extremely good. Last week, we had Betty's sticky date pudding cake and it was amazing. It was so good we asked Ajita to pickup a pecan pie from Betty's. Somehow, a pumpkin pie also made the trek across the bay for dinner. There was entirely too much pie at Thanksgiving, but I loved every bite of it.

Once again, our Turkey Day meal was delicious. It was fun cooking and sharing great food with old and new friends. There was an overabundance food at dinner and I could go on forever. I'll end this post now, but I'll follow up with new posts/recipes on the cornbread stuffing, Chinese sticky rice, chocolate bouchons and fruit salad.

I hope you also had a great Thanksgiving and were able to hang out with friends and family!

SNDsters: Chris, Winnie, Chetana, Isabel, Polly, Sukhchander, Ajita, Stacy, Karen, Garry, Mark, Jane, Hungry Bear, Chuck

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