Butterscotch

Your choices in San Francisco hotels are overwhelming. The prices can be too. So during our staff visit to the City by the Bay, we looked for reasonably priced hotels that had charm, location or both. We came back with 14 ideas on places to bed down. It's not a complete list, but it is eclectic, like the city itself. Mystic Hotel. This property, which opened in April, stands on a tunnel-adjacent block of Stockton Street that you'll never see on a picture postcard, yet it has style, as do the Burritt Tavern bar and restaurant downstairs.

You're handed a glass of a familiar holiday drink, and a deliciously unfamiliar aroma greets you: toasted coconut with hints of Tahitian vanilla, cinnamon and Jamaican allspice. You raise the glass to your lips and are surprised by the satiny texture -- nearly thick enough for a spoon but souffle-like. The flavor is rich and harmonious -- warm, caramel notes of dark Jamaican rum playfully flirting with the slight sweetness of coconut milk. It's the perfect tropical eggnog for a brisk holiday evening.

Dear SOS: Just back from some choice New York City restaurants and hoping to replicate in L.A.: Any chance you could get the recipe for the compost cookie from Momofuku? Thanks for taking requests! Wenise Wong Los Angeles Dear Wenise: These cookies are like taking every single one of my favorite snacks and packaging them in a simple, compact, magical treat. Chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, coffee, graham cracker crust, pretzels and even potato chips are tossed in with a rich cookie dough to turn out something truly inspired.

Dear SOS: Just back from some choice New York City restaurants and hoping to replicate in L.A.: Any chance you could get the recipe for the compost cookie from Momofuku? Thanks for taking requests! Wenise Wong Los Angeles Dear Wenise: These cookies are like taking every single one of my favorite snacks and packaging them in a simple, compact, magical treat. Chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, coffee, graham cracker crust, pretzels and even potato chips are tossed in with a rich cookie dough to turn out something truly inspired.

  Dear SOS: I absolutely love the butterscotch brownie at Clementine in Los Angeles . It's chewy and full of brown-sugary goodness — the perfect afternoon treat or sweet for a picnic. I'd love to be able to make it at home. Would you be able to find the recipe for me? Mindy Nyby Los Angeles Dear Mindy: Tender, rich and temptingly sweet, Clementine's butterscotch brownies balance that brown-sugary goodness with a nice hint of salt to make this the perfect treat for almost any occasion.

A cold breeze blew back the petals of a wild-haired daisy, causing her to shriek with terror. "My beautiful hair!" she screamed as she watched her orange petal hair fly away. The grass shook with laughter, and the flowers giggled, but the air tasted of cold wind, and the soil was bitter. Sophie longed for a time when the ground was soft and warm under her roots and the sunlight was butterscotch sweet. She trotted down the sidewalk, trying to ignore the blades of grass that tittered as she passed.

You're handed a glass of a familiar holiday drink, and a deliciously unfamiliar aroma greets you: toasted coconut with hints of Tahitian vanilla, cinnamon and Jamaican allspice. You raise the glass to your lips and are surprised by the satiny texture -- nearly thick enough for a spoon but souffle-like. The flavor is rich and harmonious -- warm, caramel notes of dark Jamaican rum playfully flirting with the slight sweetness of coconut milk. It's the perfect tropical eggnog for a brisk holiday evening.

Los Angeles' future-famous designers create styles that mirror this city. The trends they reflect are imitated throughout the world. Here, some young men and women--offspring of already-famous Hollywood families--show the designs that show the way. TIM KELLY Son of Gene Kelly "No, I don't dance. I'm on the other side of the camera. I was a photographer, but I've just finished a screenplay and will direct two music videos next month. I love New York and Europe, but I know I'll end up here. L.A.

For years, people went looking for Los Angeles Historical-Cultural Monument No. 137: a Dutch-themed hot chocolate shop that was one of Ernest Batchelder's earliest commissions. They came to a worn-looking building on West 6th Street downtown expecting to see the Arts and Crafts master tile-maker's murals of Dutch maidens in wooden clogs. What they found instead was a small, drab arcade, with stalls selling bargain vitamins, perfume, jewelry and hats. Tile was visible on the ceiling and walls, poorly lighted by fluorescent bulbs.

Uncle Zeke's of Lake City, Calif., sells old-fashioned homemade butterscotch candy that slowly melts in the mouth (it's not for chewing). Some people might find it has too much molasses flavor, but not when it appears in Uncle Zeke's other product, luscious 2-ounce chocolate chip cookies with butterscotch chunks. Both products are made with fresh butter. Uncle Zeke's butterscotch cookies or cracked butterscotch candy, 1 pound of either, $15 plus $3.

  Butterscotch pot de crème Total time: 1 hour, plus cooling time Servings: 10 Note: Adapted from Travis Lett of Gjelina. Our recipes, your kitchen: If you try this or any other recipe from the L.A. Times Test Kitchen, we would like to know about it so we can showcase it on our food blog and occasionally in print. Upload pictures of the finished dish here. 9 egg yolks 3/4 cup (1½ sticks) plus 6 tablespoons butter, divided 1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar 1/2 tablespoon salt 1/2 vanilla bean 4 1/2 cups heavy cream, divided 2 cups granulated sugar 1/2 cup water 1 cup crème fraîche Flaky sea salt (such as Maldon)

  Dear SOS: I absolutely love the butterscotch brownie at Clementine in Los Angeles . It's chewy and full of brown-sugary goodness — the perfect afternoon treat or sweet for a picnic. I'd love to be able to make it at home. Would you be able to find the recipe for me? Mindy Nyby Los Angeles Dear Mindy: Tender, rich and temptingly sweet, Clementine's butterscotch brownies balance that brown-sugary goodness with a nice hint of salt to make this the perfect treat for almost any occasion.

A cold breeze blew back the petals of a wild-haired daisy, causing her to shriek with terror. "My beautiful hair!" she screamed as she watched her orange petal hair fly away. The grass shook with laughter, and the flowers giggled, but the air tasted of cold wind, and the soil was bitter. Sophie longed for a time when the ground was soft and warm under her roots and the sunlight was butterscotch sweet. She trotted down the sidewalk, trying to ignore the blades of grass that tittered as she passed.

Uncle Zeke's of Lake City, Calif., sells old-fashioned homemade butterscotch candy that slowly melts in the mouth (it's not for chewing). Some people might find it has too much molasses flavor, but not when it appears in Uncle Zeke's other product, luscious 2-ounce chocolate chip cookies with butterscotch chunks. Both products are made with fresh butter. Uncle Zeke's butterscotch cookies or cracked butterscotch candy, 1 pound of either, $15 plus $3.

I used to be a staunch ABC man. "Anything But Chardonnay" (and Cabernet) was my motto. I was simply bored with the sameness of the oak-flavored grape syrups so many California vintners were producing from the state's two predominant varieties. But as a confirmed evolutionist, I've taken delight in observing the California wine industry's rapid progress toward lofty goals. Well, relatively rapid, given that changes in vineyards and wineries take years to show up in wines.

DEAR SOS: I recently had the most delicious butterscotch bread pudding at the Boulevard in San Francisco. It was, without a doubt, the lightest pudding and most interesting presentation I've seen. Could you try to obtain the recipe? DEANNE VANDERNOOT Pacific Palisades DEAR DEANNE: Chef Nancy Oakes of Boulevard sent this recipe for the pudding with its crumb topping and caramelized walnuts. Yummy.

DEAR SOS: I recently had the most delicious butterscotch bread pudding at the Boulevard in San Francisco. It was, without a doubt, the lightest pudding and most interesting presentation I've seen. Could you try to obtain the recipe? DEANNE VANDERNOOT Pacific Palisades DEAR DEANNE: Chef Nancy Oakes of Boulevard sent this recipe for the pudding with its crumb topping and caramelized walnuts. Yummy.

I used to be a staunch ABC man. "Anything But Chardonnay" (and Cabernet) was my motto. I was simply bored with the sameness of the oak-flavored grape syrups so many California vintners were producing from the state's two predominant varieties. But as a confirmed evolutionist, I've taken delight in observing the California wine industry's rapid progress toward lofty goals. Well, relatively rapid, given that changes in vineyards and wineries take years to show up in wines.

DEAR SOS: During a vacation in the Midwest this year, we discovered a most delicious butterscotch pie at PJ's Restaurant in Cozad, Neb. Perhaps the baker there will share the recipe. --BONNIE DEAR BONNIE: Bev Schneckle, "the pie lady" at PJ's, writes: "I have two butterscotch pies, but I assume our Butterscotch Dream Pie is the one requested. It is our most popular pie and many have asked for the recipe, but I would not give it out.