Where we go for love

Food in Europe

2014-08-09T08:08:00.001-07:00

We have almost completed our 3 weeks of traveling in Europe and we have had some great meals and some not so great meals.

Eating in London:
- You will pretty much get what you expect... except for the "clotted cream" incident. This was served next to a lemon cake dessert and expecting it to be vanilla ice cream we had a big bite of warm, unsweetened clotted cream. Yeah.
- Desserts seem to be a little less sweet and spicy is quite a bit less spicy.

Some general things you should know about eating in Italy (where things are most different) are as follows:

- Close your menus so they know You are ready to order.
-You do not need to tip, it is included.
-Stay away from restaurants near tourist attractions or with a great view (unless it's a high class restaurant). Just a few streets over will make a huge difference in price and quality of food.
-If you order fish in Italy it will all be these brown slabs of meat in a sauce (we had this happen 3 times). To be safe just stick to things with pictures.
- You're pasta will always be aldente (a little under cooked/chewy). And the noodles seem to all be more eggy then at home.

- DON'T eat the bread they put on the table unless you want to be charged for it.

- You have to ask for your check, they won't bring it to you. And you often have to go up to the front or bar to pay.

- Venice was particularly challenging to get food. Most restaurants actually do close for the siesta or whatever it is called here. Between 3 and 5 and then promptly close around 9. It's definitely not impossible to find a place during the "off" hours but you will get a lot of unfriendly "NO'S" and shooing...

*I'll add some restaurant suggestions when we get home and I get a chance to go through things.

Tips for Traveling Europe

2014-08-08T14:46:00.001-07:00

We have almost completed our 3 week adventure through Europe. Starting just outside the EU in London. From there to Paris. On to Rome, then Florence, and finally Venice. These are some things I have picked up along the way.

Generally
- use Travelocity + Retailmenot for booking hotels
- use tripadvisor city guide apps for hotel reviews, as well as restaurant and itinerary suggestions.
- if your phone is in a case the compass will probably point you in the wrong direction...
- getting cash from an atm is usually "cheaper" then credit card fees. Check with your bank and credit cards!!! (Some Amex cards have no foreign transaction fees)

London
-city bikes are great use them (you can do it!)
-the underground (metro) pretty easy to traverse and super useful
- the pound has a higher exchange rate than the EU and on top of that London is not cheap.

Paris
- be at Notre Dame at opening time 7:45am and it's a great experience
- again the metro is great
- make sure to see the Eiffel tower at night, at the top of any hour.

Rome
- if you can afford it, take a tour (or three) with The Roman Guy. You don't wait in lines and get to see things you otherwise would not. Like the dungeons and 3rd floor of the colosseum and the sistine chaple with about 40 people vs 200.
- get free drinking water from ANY fountain
- you don't need to tip. It is included. If you want to tip just a couple euro extra you obviously can.
- go to the river at night to walk the tent line of restaurants and vendors (search for La Ranella)
- see the key hole (Google it)
- take the elevator for St. Peter's. It's worth the 2 euros trust me. Yup sul have 320 stairs to go. And it gets tight.
- you can pack the big stuff into 3 days of you are prepared to do a lot of walking. Add a day for Pompeii if that's a must for you.

Florence
- prepare to actually relax here
- great waking town, much smaller than you'd think
- go to Micheal Angelo's Piazza for the sunset. It's worth the climb. Bring crackers, cheese, and meat. You will spend a couple hours.
- see David right when it opens you will only wait 30 minutes vs 2 hours and beat the crowds (if you don't pre buy tickets)
- Pisa is a quick and easy day trip from here.
- head to castiglioncello to go to the beach. Exit the train station cross the street to the park walk through then down the steps to your far left and find a free (rocky) pretty beach.

Venice
- It's actually hotter here because it's more humid

Europe in the Summer...GO

2014-08-05T22:52:00.001-07:00

My husband's schedule is super unpredictable and I am a teacher so when we decided to go to Europe we opened up any time in the summer as an option. When we told people we were going to Europe in late July early August they basically said don't go and told us how miserable we would be.
They were WRONG! Yes it is hot. And yes apparently most Italians are on vacation in August. But I'm sitting in my hotel room in Florence this morning and it's not even 8 and the city is buzzing. We have had no problems with restaurants or hotels being closed. A lot of monuments are under construction but those are 18 month or longer projects so it has nothing to do with summer.
Another thing is that people say "book ahead! It's the busy season." Well we didn't. We wanted to go where the wind blew us. Of course we had all our major destinations picked out and even a general time line but when we decided we had had enough of London we went to Paris early. So we booked our train just a couple days ahead and our hotels on the Travelocity app on the train to the next city (which has worked out great so far).
We live in Southern California so like I said the heat hasn't really been so bad. The humidity takes a couple days to get used to. Where sunscreen, bring a hat or buy one from one of the billion street vendors like I did. In Rome all the fountains are free drinking water so refill your bottles often. And in Paris and Florence we have had a couple nice rain showers to get a break from the heat. We even did Pompeii on a 90 degree day and it was alright. There is a lot of shade and more potable fountains.
Don't be discouraged about traveling to Europe in the summer!!

Trains in Europe / Using a Eurail Pass

2014-08-05T00:54:00.001-07:00

Trains and eurail passes are difficult to use but not impossible. Warning: buying 1st class eurail passes does not guarantee you a seat in 1st class or even on the train. You DO need to make a "reservation", which really is an extra charge to be able to have a seat on the train. While eurail suggests making reservations 90 days in advance. We found we could get 1st class tickets by purchasing them just 3 days ahead or so (Traveling July 25th - August 12th). Our first ticket we bought day of and couldn't get on a very direct train and were only offered standard seats. Bottom line, even with the eurail pass you have to get an actual ticket per train ride and pay extra for each ticket if you want a seat. Also you must fill out the eurail paperwork attached to your pass BEFORE the train conductor checks your ticket, or he will be happy to lecture you about how it's fraud not to and may even fine you. Expect your conductor to be unfriendly and unhelpful. Another notable tip if someone's in your seat: old people, families, mean looking men, just tell them it's your seat. They risked not having a seat because they probably aren't going far but they will sit wherever and even if you give them the "Ah that's my seat LOOK and BODY LANGUAGE" they won't move unless you speak up. And they may give you the stink eye but do you really want to stand with all your luggage when you just paid an extra $30-$90 for a seat??
Buying your ticket is another task. You can go to the ticket window where you have to get a number in most places like we used to at
the deli but it will be awhile. Maybe even an hour or two. Another option is buying your ticket at the self service machine. Which you can do with your eurail pass and we tried to show you how here. All in all the trains vary in niceness (the longest rides won't always be on the nicest trains), they are mostly on time, and they are the best financial choice for traveling Europe.
OH! And there is this ear thing no one has ever mentioned. When you are on a train, especially the high speed trains, and it goes through a tunnel your ears react like you're on a plane. Doesn't seem to happen in the subway, guess those are not going fast enough. But consider yourself forewarned.

Flagstaff, AZ / Shadows Foundation

2013-08-28T11:14:00.000-07:00

So my husband was invited to play in a golf tournament this past weekend in Flagstaff, AZ. The tournament was for a great cause called the Shadows Foundation which provides financial assistants for individuals and families threatened with or affected by a life threatening disease. We were super excited to be involved and to be able to travel to a new part of Arizona.

The first thing I did before packing is look up the location and weather for Flagstaff. When I looked on Google Maps and saw Flagstaff's proximity to Sedona I figured beautiful desert. The weather report said thunderstorms and having spent lots of time in Louisiana I figured hot yucky quick rain showers and thunder. Now that I have been I know everything I thought was wrong!

Flagstaff is a gorgeous and lush forest area. I was told by many of the locals that the temperature has never reached above 100 degrees. And when it rains it pours, all day. So, let's just say I did not pack appropriately. But with some outfit repeats and a small trip to Ross that was rectified.

When we arrived very early in the morning to our accommodations, Woodlands Hotel, our rooms were not ready yet (it was around 9am since it was suggested to take the earliest flight due to Monsoon season) so we headed to the Hotel Restaurant for breakfast. The food was just okay. I ordered the Banana French Toast which was tasty but very unlike french toast, it was more like a corn bread. My husband ordered the Chicken fried Steak and he enjoyed his breakfast. We were with someone else playing in the tournament and he sent his foo back because it was very cold. All in all it was a hotel breakfast.

After breakfast our rooms were ready so we headed up. We had a King suite I think and it was small but plenty nice and clean. Nothing over the top. After knocking out for an hour or so the boys went out for a round of golf at Flagstaff Ranch. When pulling up to the club house you cannot miss the amazing red rock set against the driving range. After dropping them off I took the rental car and headed out to find the historic downtown. After getting back on the main road I realized I was on Route 66 which was pretty neat and just off San Francisco and Route 66 was the Historic Downtown. I parked on the street, for free, and walked up and down the streets. The neat shopping area was not all the big so I probably only spent about 45 minutes there. I went in a few nic nac shops and clothing stores but I didn't see anything I had to have. If I had more time though there were quite a few eateries that looked pretty cool.

After my short exploration I headed back to the hotel to kick back and then get ready for the first event of the weekend for the Shadows Foundation. After the boys finally made it back and my husband got ready we were picked up and taken to the theater at Northern Arizona University. There was a great cocktail hour with an acoustic guitarist outside on the lawn with some nice appetizers. After awhile of mingling there was a short auction and then we moved in to the theater for the nights performances.

First up was comedian Scott Henry. He was extremely funny and not too crude or anything, which I appreciated. After he went on a local band named Telescope was introduced and played about a 45 minute set or so. The band was very friendly and entertaining. After a short intermission America's Got Talent runner up David Garibaldi put on an hour show where he and CMYK painted 9 masterpieces in a very upbeat and entertaining way. It is just incredible to see David create these fantastic portraits in 5 minutes or less. After the incredible show some lucky members of the audience were able to walk away with David's paintings from the night during another short auction, to benefit the Shadows Foundation.

After the show nearly everyone moved to the Taverna Greek Grill for the Poker and Blackjack tournament and general mingling.

These wildflowers are everywhere in Flagstaff!

The Taverna Greek Grill was very lively inside and had a nice aesthetic, very current not too fancy. It definitely seemed like a bar and grill type place. Although we didn't order food there was an open buffet and the food was very tasty!

The next day my Hubby and I slept in a bit and were starving by the time we got moving around 10am. So we headed to Google to find somewhere for breakfast/brunch and found a Wildflower Bread Company a mile away. We were stoked since we had been to one in Sedona last summer and loved it. When we got there it was very crowded and it did take awhile to get our food but we were being leisurely anyway so we didn't mind. I ordered the veggie frittata and my Hubby ordered the sausage and egg sandwich. Both were delicious! And we even went back the next day to try their pie of the month which was a Tangy Lemon Pie that was custardy goodness! After we got back from brunch the boys that were participating in the tournament in our group went back to the golf course for another "practice" round and the girls were treated to a massage at Massage Envy.

I had never had a massage at any Massage Envy before but I always kind of looked at it as the fast food of the massage world and I am not saying all of them are like this but my experience didn't really change my view about it. My masseuse was friendly the massage was relaxing but it wasn't great, she spent a lot of time stretching me and I was the last one in and the first one out. But more importantly about this location. There were about 6 or 8 of this in our group and I think only myself and maybe one other person had female masseuses. So if this matters to you, it does to me, you may want to request a woman ahead of time.

Saturday evening we met the boys back at the club house and ate out on the beautiful deck. And I have to say the food at Flagstaff Ranch is very good. My own mother works for another country club and I will even say this place was a step above.

The next morning was the day of the Golf Tournament. Although it was raining everyone participated and had a great time. By hole nine for our team the rain let up until the end of our 18 and it was really beautiful and enjoyable. Of course this day I took the most pictures. My Hubby's team didn't win the tournament but we all had a good time, even me just riding around in the cart and eating at the sponsored holes ;) A great lunch was served after the golfing was finished and the awards were distributed to the winners in the clubhouse.

It was really a fantastic weekend, for a great cause, in a beautiful location! I would definitely recommend Flagstaff as one of the amazing places in our incredibly diverse country. Hopefully next time we will get to explore some more of what nature has to offer in Northern Arizona!

Destination:

Flagstaff, AZ

Points of Interest:

Shadows Foundation http://www.shadowsfoundation.org/

Woodlands Hotel http://www.flagstaffwoodlandshotel.com/index.cfm

Flagstaff Ranch http://www.flagstaffranch.com/sites/courses/layout9.asp?id=900&page=50564

Historic Downtown http://www.flagstaffarizona.org/plan-your-trip/tours/historic-downtown/

Scott Henry Comedian http://scotthenrycomedy.com/

Telescope http://test.telescopeband.com/

David Garibaldi http://garibaldiarts.com/home/

Taverna Greek Grill http://tavernagreekgrill.com/

Wildflower Bread Company http://wildflowerbread.com/

Massage Envy http://www.massageenvy.com/

Wicked Way Cafe (Westlake, Ca) UPDATE: CLOSED

2013-08-17T09:41:00.000-07:00

The most amazing find was made by my hungry husband Yesterday. He was headed to Del Taco for lunch and ended up parking in front of the Wicked Way Cafe. After eating lunch there instead and chatting with the Chef he decided that it was a must share place. So he insisted on going for Breakfast this morning. And boy am I glad he did!
We drove over to Westlake and pulled into a strip mall where this amazing foodie treat is camouflaged between a nail salon and a retail store. We decided to sit outside at one of their cute two tops since the weather was perfect. When I opened the menu to pick my poison for the morning I realized it was not going to be an easy choice. Everything sounded amazing!
I finally decided on The George Lopez. A spicy chorizo breakfast burger, with pepper jack cheese, fried egg, and jalapenos. YUM! My husband went for the classic Porky pancakes. Which are huge pancakes sprinkled with meat. It's a man's meal. Not to say that I didn't make a good dent in those too.
At the cafe you take your order up to the counter and then they bring it out when it is ready.

Everything was so ridiculously good! I immediately began telling everyone about it, and honestly I would be totally fine with making this a regular Saturday morning thing. At least until I have tried every last thing on the menu. This place has spunk, attitude, and the skill to back it up. Try it! You will not regret it!

Destination:
Westlake, CA

Point of Interest:
Wicked Way Cafe

Lake Arrowhead/Lake Gregory, Ca

2013-08-07T12:43:00.002-07:00

Summer is almost over and we have finally had the time to get out of town. For the day. Our summer plans went from being: two weeks in Europe, to a weekend in Vegas, to a night in Ojai, to one day in Lake Arrowhead/Lake Gregory. So obviously my husband has been VERY busy. Which is good but has left me with little to share this summer. But I will take what I can get.

So Friday morning my husband had taken the day off and we decided we wanted to go to the beach. Well, while checking the weather we couldn't help but noticed how dark and gray the live cam was so we started rethinking. I through out Lake Arrowhead thinking that there was really no chance he was going to go for that but he did! So we jumped in the car in our beach wear with our pool rafts and headed towards Lake Arrowhead. It was a little over two hours getting there but it was 10am so the drive was pretty easy (minus the ticket we got for using the phone...). When we made it to the lake, you kind of drive right into the middle of town and I spotted the visitor center and suggested we stop to ask where a beach was, but my husband being of the male species said "Nah. How hard could it be to find a beach around a lake?" So we drove around like 15 minutes before he gave up and we went back to the visitor center.

I could tell when he walked out that something was wrong. And when he said "their not open" I thought okay the office is closed we will just have to ask around. But no no the beaches are no longer open to the public... They used to have one but now Lake Arrowhead is entirely private. So luckily Lake Gregory was only 10 minutes or so back so we turned around. We made it to our destination and walked up to the tickets taker for the lake with our rafts and she said "That's ten bucks and you can't take the rafts in." So back to the car, put the rafts away, try again. We made it in and the lake was great! It was much smaller, therefore, much warmer. The little beach wasn't crowded at all. They had a food stand on the beach. It was 80 degrees out it was absolutely perfect. And awesome to have a different beautiful "beach" view. We some how managed to not take any pictures...this was really a go with the flow day. Leave the phones in the car and just enjoy each other. All that to say, thank you Google:

After a few hours on the beach we spotted a Mexican restaurant across the way and we can never really resist Mexican food. So we walked across the street to La Cocina De Tony. This restaurant has obviously been here for a long time so it's not fine dining that's for sure. But it is totally fine after a beach day and has a great view of the lake. The salsa was awesome! The food was pretty good. I got shrimp tacos that were just so so but the Hubby loved his Carne Asada burritio. After our meal we decided to head back over to Lake Arrowhead to kill some time before jumping on the freeway for Friday traffic. We walked through Lake Arrowhead Village, which is super cute and had tons of cool and some unexpected stores. We grabbed frozen yogurt from McDonald's (they have an ice cream shop but no frozen yogurt there). After making a mess with my chocolate dipped cone I embarrassingly had to rinse off before we could continue our walk. We stopped and watched all the ducks and ducklings for awhile and then just sat down at the water line for awhile.
It was really a fantastic, leisurely day. It didn't cost us much. Just $10 for the beach, around $35 for lunch and $4 for ice cream. The biggest cost was gas and time on the road but we love getting away. And even though we didn't have time to spend the night it was a perfect day trip. There is really something to be said for changing your scenery. We will definitely be going back!

Destination:
Lake Gregory

Points Of Interest:
The Beach   http://www.cityofcrestline.com/lakegregory.html
La Cocina De Tony   http://www.yelp.com/biz/la-cocina-de-tony-crestline

Destination:
Lake Arrowhead

Point of Interest:
The Village   http://www.lakearrowhead.com/village.html

Inn of The Seventh Ray (Topanga Canyon, Ca)

2013-04-29T16:43:00.002-07:00

Saturday morning my Husband and I were supposed to be out of town for the weekend. But since he dropped the ball on making reservations and everywhere we wanted to go was booked we were just home sitting on the couch. So to make up for my disappointment my Husband suggested that we go to this restaurant I have been wanting him to try, for lunch. The Inn of the Seventh Ray. It sounds totally hippy/bohemian, and it kind of is but not in a way that makes you feel awkward.
I had been once before, with my mom and sister, but it is such a romantic spot I was dying to go back with my Husband. To set the scene it is mostly an outdoor restaurant set up against the mountain side along a creek. As if this isn't enough, they have formed the seating areas following the natural shape of the mountain side and have added beautiful plants and flowers everywhere. Everything feels very organic. In addition to the natural beauty there are fountains, white lights in the trees, tables under gazebos, large clear cabanas with sheer white curtains flowing down from them, and fresh flowers on every table. It is just beautiful.

We were seated facing the creek (which isn't running this time of year, but has some water). We watched the butterflies, birds, and squirrels running through the trees as we ate. Now let me warn you here, this is one of the few places in Los Angeles where life really slows down. So your meal will be at least an hour and a half. Ours was a little over two hours. So be prepared for this, everything is cooked fresh as you order, meaning it is delicious but takes a long time to make it to your table. And as a native socal resident you might have to prep yourself for this.
To the meal...

Warm Brown Rice

To start we each ordered a soup. I had the Raw Soup, which is cucumber soup with apple slices and avocado. It is a cold soup that has a ton of flavor! Totally makes me nostalgic for Fiji where I was introduced to these cold soups. My Husband went for the St. Germains hot tomato soup. It was also very good. For the entree I had the Vegetarian Quiche, which was sooo good. Very cheesy, and dense, and also not in a crust so it is different than you might expect but very good. My Husband had the Warm Brown Rice and boy was that tasty. To me it sounds totally bland but it was incredibly flavorful. I have to say every dish I have had here has been extremely tasty. However, the desserts are oddly consistently disappointing.

Vegetarian Quiche

Both this time and the last I was let down by the desserts. I am really confused by this, but don't let it deter you from anything else they have. Just let me save you the $8 or so that the desserts are. And I'll tell you the first time we had the cheesecake, and the apple crisp, which were both okay but not really good. This time my Husband had the sorbet (which was more like ice cream) and it was okay since it is hard to mess up ice cream. But I had the almond brulee and it was awful. The shell was way to thick and the "custard" was runny and had an overall gross gritty flavor and texture.
I really do suggest this place,overall it has an amazing setting and fantastic food!! Just steer clear of dessert.

Destination: Topanga Canyon, Ca

Point of Interest:
http://www.innoftheseventhray.com/

Another Night in San Diego

2013-02-01T22:16:00.000-08:00

So the Hub was down in San Diego for work again and we decided I should take the train down to meet him on Friday. I jumped on the Amtrak after work and wobbled my way down the tracks. We sprung for a business class seat so I had lots of leg room and FREE snacks and drinks :). After a 4.5 hour ride I found myself in Downtown being picked up by my smokin' man.
We spent the one and only night at the Marriott Coronado. I actually really liked the room. I have a preference towards large cavernous rooms and this was one of them. High ceilings, king size bed, small sitting area, huge patio overlooking the pool and the harbor, and a bathroom with a huge jacuzzi tub. The sheets were like crawling in between two slices of butter they were so smooth and comfy. Since it was late when I got there we ordered room service for dinner which came quickly. It was on par for room service food. Nothing notable.
In the morning we woke up to ducks in the moat between our patio and the pool. With some left over french fry bits we were able to see how friendly these ducks could be.

When we finally got our things together and were finished feeding the ducks we checked out and headed out to feed our own bellies. We picked The Mission in downtown and when we arrived it looked like an hour wait so we headed into Old Town to see what was there and found nothing but 10,000 Mexican restaurants. So after accidentally ending up back at The Mission (long story) we waited what was then the 30 minutes (it was obviously meant to be). We were seated outside and even though it was a little chilly I ordered the Mocha shake. So good! My Hub ordered the strawberry granola pancakes and I had the french toast, both with the eggs and double smoked bacon on the side. The food was so worth the wait! What a delicious brunch.
After brunch we headed to the Fashion Valley Mall and did a bit of walking around. It took forever to park and the stores are all pretty high end so we just windowed shopped. It wasn't all that amazing but if you are a real shopper than it might be just what you are looking for.
Around 3 o'clock we headed out of town and to a friend's birthday party in Irvine. It was a quick trip with a free nice hotel room and a great brunch. Always fun to get out of town, even for a short while. And catching a sunset like this on the way home makes quite a good end to the trip.

http://www.crystalcovestatepark.com/

Destination:
San Diego, Ca

Points of Interest:
Marriott Coronado http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/sanci-coronado-island-marriott-resort-and-spa/
The Mission http://www.themissionsd.com/
Fashion Valley Mall http://www.simon.com/mall/fashion-valley

San Diego / Julian, Ca

2012-10-30T20:05:00.000-07:00

Well, we have been in dire need of a vacation so we decided to run away and take a quick one. San Diego is only a three hour drive from us. Or at least it should be. TRAFFIC :( But here was our plan...
I had sadly never seen a true fall tree before so I did some hunting online and found Julian, California. Julian is located about an hour East of San Diego and claims to experience all four seasons due to its elevation. Armed with this knowledge I was set on going. Then we researched what time of year to go and we settled on the last weekend of October. So along with my husband's awesome job perks we booked are little getaway. We used Marriott points for Friday night and a free night he had won at an event for Saturday.
We left Friday afternoon around 2:30pm and sat in traffic for the next five hours or so. When we finally arrived in San Diego we checked into our first hotel. The Courtyard San Diego Rancho Bernardo. It wasn't anything fancy but it was clean and the room was a decent size with a view of a large duck pound and the staff was very nice. We asked the man at the front desk for a dinner suggestion and he sent us to a restaurant just across the street. Urge Gastropub, which is now my husband's favorite restaurant. He is now referring to it as "my birthday restaurant". It was a really cool atmosphere and had good food. Not to die for or anything but it was a really fun place. I will suggest the Serrano Sculpin Hot Wings they were very tasty, and not too hot in my opinion but I do like to eat fire. I also had some tacos that were so-so but the salad that came with them was so good. Seemed like a Caesar to me but it was top notch.

The next morning we checked out and headed to Julian. It was a windy road but a very nice drive. You climb about 5,000 feet in elevation if I remember correctly, and drive right passed the San Diego Wild Animal Park, which we will have to hit next time. The closer we got to Julian the more I nervously anticipated the sudden change to fall, but it never really happened. Oh well.
We arrived at the cute little main street. You CANNOT miss it. There were at least a hundred motorcycles there and cars in every spot. We finally found a parking spot up a side street and headed out for something to eat. We started at the far end of main street and poked our heads in every restaurant we passed but nothing struck our interest. They were all hot dogs and hamburgers and just not what we were in the mood for. We decided not to settle and kept walking making a turn back on to the street we drove in on. There was a tiny cafe down the ally way that we chose since it had a nice bistro style selection. The Candied Apple Pastry Company had the best food of the whole weekend by far! Their website below doesn't even mention their food, only their pastries but do not let that fool you!
I had a delicious sandwich. My husband ordered a meat sandwich and a quiche and a bowl of butternut squash soup. Every bite of everything was incredible! I wish we lived closer because I would go here at least once week. After our ridiculously good meal we mulled around main street. Going in and out of all the quaint little shops. Buying our magnet as we do on every new adventure. My husband also purchased two jars of honey (it's his thing) that were locally harvested.
After our purchases we spotted a old cemetery up on a hill, and maybe it was the Halloween spirit in me but I wanted
to go explore. We headed up the wooden stairs and under the old iron arch that read "Julian Cemetery". There were headstones and grave markers from the 1800's everywhere it was so neat. And some of the family plots were families that some of the stores on main street were named and operated by still today. But the best find came at the far end of the cemetery. There it was, my fall tree. The most idyllic one I could have ever asked for. I ran over to it, got as close to the trunk as possible and stuck my head up through the branches. I acknowledge this sounds extremely odd, but I wanted fall everywhere. So when I did this and looked straight up it was like I was standing in a forest full of fall trees. When we finished taking pictures of the tree and ourselves with the tree we headed to our last stop of the day. Moms Pies.
We couldn't possibly leave Julian without trying one of their famous apple pies. I ordered a crumble crust apple pie al amode and my husband ordered slice of bumbleberry al amode. I have to say I was surprisingly disappointed. Maybe my expectations were too high but my slice was not the apple pie I had been dreaming of. But surprise surprise my husband's pie was scrumbdiddlyumpcious. I dislike each berry that was in his but all together it was magic. With bellies full we headed out of Julian and to our next hotel, Estancia La Jolla.
We checked in around 6 or 7pm and went to our room. Which was a far walk from the front desk. When we arrived in our room I was slightly disappointed. It was very small and dark, mind you my husband had been talking the hotel up quiet a bit so maybe that added to the underwhelmed feeling that was over taking me but it was just a blah room. I went to open the window to let in some light and what is there but 2 feet and then a wall. Dirt on the ground, weeds growing unkempt, hands down the worst view offered by any hotel in my experience. I mean honestly I would rather see a parking lot than a wall. But maybe that is just me. The rest of our stay was just as disappointing so I won't bore you with the details. I will just end with saying I wouldn't go back and I am so thankful it was a free night.

Destinations: San Diego, Ca
Points of Interest:
http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/sanbo-courtyard-san-diego-rancho-bernardo/
http://urgegastropub.com/locations/

http://www.estancialajolla.com/

Destination: Julian, Ca
Points of Interest:

http://www.candiedapplepastry.com/index.html

http://www.momspiesjulian.com/

Greek Stuffed Pitas

2012-09-26T18:54:00.001-07:00

http://www.finecooking.com/recipes/greek-salad-pitas-olive-garlic-tapenade.aspx

Love this recipe! It is so easy and healthy. And to make it even quicker (and cheaper) skip the tapenade and it is a five minute meal. Can't beat that!

Ingredients:

Tapenade

1 medium garlic clove

1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives

1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

1 1/2 tsp red wine vinegar

Sandwich

1 1/2 cup diced cucumber (1 cucumber)

1 1/4 cup diced tomato (3 roma tomatoes)

3/4 cups crumbled feta

1/2 cup finely diced radishes

2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

1 Tbsp red wine vinegar

1 tsp dried oregano

Freshly ground black pepper

4 pitas

Directions:

Tapenade

1. Put the garlic in a food processor and chop.

2. Add olives, olive oil, and vinegar and process until spreadable but not completely smooth.

Sandwich

1. In a large bowl, combine cucumber, tomatoes, feta, and radishes.

2. Add the olive oil, vinegar, oregano, and a few grinds of pepper and toss to combine.

3. Slice the pitas in half and open the pockets.

4. Divide the tapenade among the pitas, spreading evenly inside each.

5. Stuff each pita with about 1/2 cup of spinach and 1/2 cup of the sandwich mixture and serve.

Ojai, Ca

2012-09-25T19:56:00.000-07:00

Camping and kayaking for the weekend! ...Or at least this was the plan.
Saturday morning we headed up to Lake Casitas with the dog and my dad's kayak for a day on the lake. I grew up camping here and still love it as an adult because of its proximity to Ojai. Ojai has a lot of great little shops and food so it makes for a good day trip destination. When we made it to the gate we were immediately informed that the kayak had to go through an inspection (which included a 10 day quarantine) before it could be allowed on the lake. So, kayaking was out. ...Apparently there is some mussel invading California lakes and my recreational pass time.

The good news, we were able to get a spot in my favorite campground, Area C. The gate workers were nice enough to lock our kayak in their storage for the weekend and then let us on our way. We set up camp facing the creek that runs along the shaded campsites of Area C. When we were finished setting up we decided to go for a walk and explore. We ended up at the camp store and decided to buy some marshmallows to roast and some popcorn that was later burnt over the fire. When we came back to the site we lounged around next to the fire until it was time to eat. We grilled some burgers on our portable grill, including one for the dog, since someone forgot dog food...

After our meal Hubby mastered the fine art of marshmallow roasting but broodily failed at over the fire popcorn popping. After filling are bellies with sticky mallow goodness and letting the pup in on the action a bit we three headed into the tent for bed.

Photo Credit: Yelp via Chris W.

Photo Credit: Yelp via Connie T.

When we woke up Sunday morning we headed into town. Apparently too early because all of the stores were still closed. Just our luck. So we decided to have brunch and stopped in at Knead Baking Company. Hands down the best part of the weekend!
We happen to stop here because they had a large outdoor seating area so we could bring the dog. When we walked up we noticed that it was cash or check only so my Hubby had to run down the street to an ATM while I stayed with the dog. After arriving with cash and mulling over the not too large menu. I chose the House Sandwich and my Husband chose the Quiche. The house sandwich has prosciutto, cheddar, roasted tomato, mixed greens, and cornichon all on a freshly made Italian country roll. They have four breads they make in house which make their sandwiches out of this world fresh and flavorful. The Hubs quiche was good too! We ended our meal with a pastry, that I allowed Hubby to pick for once so I don't know what it was called. But it was also made fresh and had some kind of fruit in it, all you need to know is it was amazing.
Discovery of the weekend: If you find yourself in Ojai, stop at Knead!

Destination: Ojai, Ca
Points of Interest:
http://www.casitaswater.org /lower.php ?url =camping
http://www.kneadbakingcompany.com /KNEAD/KNEAD.html

Avocado Egg Salad

2012-08-15T23:01:00.001-07:00

This recipe is so easy! And a yummy way to spice up a regular egg salad recipe. (At least mine which consists of only egg and mayo with a little pepper, thanks to my Grandpa Mickey). But throwing a little avocado in the mix and some curry powder, who knew, makes it a filling and super delicious meal.

http://www.neverhomemaker.com/2012/06/family-and-food.html

Ingredients:

4 hard boiled eggs (I usually let the water come to a boil and add eggs for 20 minutes)

1 large avocado

2 tbsp of mayo (or to desired consistency)

1 tsp of curry powder (I used a little less, since a little goes a long way)

pinch of salt and pepper

Directions:

Mash and mix :)

Recipe from: http://www.neverhomemaker.com/2012/06/family-and-food.html

Honeymoon Part 3: Savu Savu, Fiji

2012-08-13T10:25:00.007-07:00

Alright this is going to be the last post for the Honeymoon but if you have any questions let me know!

These activities took place over the next couple of days...

We did a lot of relaxing and what good is a honeymoon without a day at the spa??? That's right we hit up the Rain forest Spa. Appropriately sitting in the middle of the rain forest next to a running water fall. We opted for the couple's massage. And banana leaf wrap.

Those leafs you see, picked from actual banana trees growing right nest to the spa! Talk about fresh! The treatment lasted 2 hours. It included a brown sugar scrub down with coconut oil, followed by the wrap and finished up with the hour full body massage. Oh yeah, it was great!

After that we lounged by the beach awhile until we decided to take a bike ride. The resort had free bikes and the island really only had one road that went around it. So we road, through the intermittent rain (warm island rain, and you're wet from the beach anyway so who cares!). We went about 2 miles until we came to a big beach; which naturally, had a random deserted tiki bar.

Not the most flattering picture of My Love, but he was trying to get me in the background :)

We scavenged the beach for awhile for some cool shells to sneak home. AND we found some that we later put on the counter in our room and then couldn't find... You know that saying "it's not like it grew feet and walked away" well it did. Our shells had hermit crabs hiding inside, so when we found them we relocated them back outside.

The next day we took one of the resort day trips to a local waterfall. This was by far one of the coolest experiences of my life. The waterfall was located in a village and to visit it we had to present the chief of the village with a gift. So we went and bought some Kava root, with our guide, and presented it to the chief. The Chief was a 90+ year old blind man who was so happy to have us there! There was only one other couple with us so we all got to sit in his bungalow on the floor in a circle while he accepted our gift and did a ritual singing and chanting. And even though we didn't understand a word of it and our guide didn't speak this same language it was amazing because the Chief was just smiling and laughing and so

happy the whole time.

After meeting with him we were led to the falls by some more amazingly nice villagers. We played for about an hour and I even rummaged up enough courage to climb up the rocks and jump. It was just an amazing experience!

The whole Fiji trip was great! It was a VERY secluded area. So you don't feel like you are in a tourist town at all. But if you want that "excitement" vs. the relaxation you probably wouldn't enjoy this particular place. Hands down the best part of it was the people. Everyone in and outside of the resort was amazing. Even though it is really a 3rd world area people are so much happier then people here in the states. We think because they have so little they would be sad but they're not! They are free and self sufficient. It was really inspiring!

Honeymoon Part 2: Savu Savu, Fiji

2012-08-02T14:54:00.004-07:00

Now it has been awhile and you probably don't want a 7 day long play by play anyway so I am just going to give you the highlights.

One of the next things we did was sign up for one of the resort adventures to go snorkeling at a near by reef. It was about a half an hour drive around the island to this reef. There were probably eight of us guests that went and we were all excited and ready to snorkel. When we arrived our activity guide, John, warned us about possible itching we might experience after snorkeling and said that this was sea lice. You can imagine everyone's reaction. He added that it was not dangerous and we could put vinegar on our bodies after the swim if we itched badly enough.

Okay, so here we go about to step in prepared to possibly come out a bit itchy. But when our flappy feet hit the water we instantly felt the sea lice. It doesn't hurt but it is uncomfortable. Although it doesn't hinder your abilities it was actually pretty funny to look around underwater and see everyone rubbing themselves to diminish the feeling you could not get to go away. Regardless we snorkeled and explored for about 45 minutes and it was great.

After the trip I was of course the only one to have actual red bumps appear and I still itched for about an hour afterward but it was totally worth it! And the vinegar really did help. Who knew.

Destination: Savu Savu, Fiji
Points of Interest: Koro Sun Resort http://www.korosunresort.com/

Apple Crisp

2012-08-01T13:52:00.007-07:00

In the midst of cooking 7 days of homemade dinners I had to throw in one dessert! I gave My Love three options and this is what he chose. Super easy and super yummy! Can't go wrong with that! Even better, the only things I didn't have were the apples and cake mix. Most people might have to buy the oats too but My Love is from the south so he eats them for breakfast.

The most labor intensive part of this meal is peeling the apples but it's not too bad. Then you just mix the rest up.

Quick note: It says one pack of yellow cake (9oz) I couldn't find any that small. I think the box I bought was 14oz or something like that. I used the extra to make the snickeroodle recipe that was on the back of the box ;)

Ingredients

7 cups thinly sliced peeled tart apples (about 7 medium)
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Dash salt
1/4 cup water
1 package (9 ounces) yellow cake mix
3/4 cup quick-cooking oats
1/3 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
Vanilla ice cream

Directions

Place apples in a greased 2-1/2 qt. shallow baking dish. In a small bowl, combine the sugar, flour, cinnamon and salt; sprinkle over apples. Drizzle with water. In a large bowl, combine the cake mix, oats, butter, brown sugar, baking powder and baking soda. Sprinkle over apples.
Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 45-50 minutes or until apples are tender and topping is golden brown. Serve warm with ice cream. Yield: 8 servings.
http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Oat-Apple-Crisp?pmcode=ILIDC05U&_mid=2286129&_rid=2286129.904601.464131

Vacation/Day Trip: San Diego

2012-07-30T12:39:00.000-07:00

So this trip was kind of unplanned. My Love has had a new job for the last year which he travels a lot for. It kind of stinks that he is gone so much but on the rare occasion that I get to tag along it can be a nice adventure.

This one was close to home. Relatively. We drove down on a Saturday morning and I left Sunday afternoon, he stayed for the week. Because his work was paying for the room we were able to stay in a pretty nice hotel. We stayed at the San Diego Marriott Marquis & Marina, right next to the convention center and more importantly for me Seaport Village.

http://deltaskymag.delta.com/Destinations/San-Diego/Shopping/Seaport-Village.aspx

Being a Southern California native I have visited San Diego a few times and I love walking around Seaport Village. There are a bunch of cute little unique shops and a few restaurants to indulge in. While My Love was in a conference, boo, I was able to slip right out the back of our hotel and walk down the boardwalk to Seaport Village. It was maybe a mile walk next to the harbor.

I found a cute little jewelry store that I had actually been to with my mom many years before and decided to treat myself to some pretty cz studs. Surprise, My Love!! ;) That's what you get for leaving me alone for an afternoon with nothing to do but shop.

After that we hit the Midway tour. Something we both had always passed by but never stopped to explore. We like stuff like this so we both enjoyed it. And if nothing else it is a great workout. It is miles of walking. Up on the deck there are also some planes to look at. I was kind of done at that point but of course that is what My Love had been waiting to see so I put on a happy face.

After the tour, which took about 2 hours we spent some down time in the hotel. We avoided eating there because it was really expensive. We had grabbed a quick appetizer when we first arrived down by the pool and you get a little for a lot so we went out for dinner.

We asked the concierge where to go and of course he suggested the Gaslamp District. Which is a very neat area. Kind of the nearest downtown and definitely where the night life is.

After a hunt for parking, and a $10 spot we headed over to Urban Bar and Grill. Of course since it was suggested by the hotel this place was pricey too, but well worth it. Let me warn you now when we eat we splurge. We are pretty frugal people as far as activities go but if you are going to spend money on something you have to eat ;)

We each got our own starters. I had the Trio Bruschetta, yum. My Love had the Eggplant & Mozzarella Rolls and that was so Delicious. It comes out looking like an amazing lasagna dish and it's hot and gooey and scrumptious! For our actual meals My Love had the Top Sirloin and I had the Baked Rigatoni. Both were great, but mine was better ;) (I am not a huge fan of red meat). All in all it was a great meal! Expensive yes, but worth it, most definitely!

This was basically a one day trip for me because I left first thing Sunday since My Love had orientation and I didn't really want to hang out on my own all day but it was a great date day!

Destination: San Diego, Ca

Points of Interest:

San Diego Marriott Marquis and Marina http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/sandt-san-diego-marriott-marquis-and-marina/

Seaport Village http://www.seaportvillage.com/

USS Midway http://www.midway.org/

Gaslamp District http://www.gaslamp.org/

Urban Bar and Grill http://www.urbanbarandgrill.com/

Chipotle Shrimp Taco with Avocado Lime Coleslaw

2012-07-27T11:00:00.000-07:00

Ok. So I was on a bit of a cooking kick and challenged myself to cook a weeks worth of meals from Pinterest. That's right, I made a home made dinner every night for 7 nights in a row. Not every recipe was post worthy but this one was amazing!! Now fair warning my version looks only vaguely like the version on the link but regardless it tasted great!

Now in case you don't remember I am not a cook. I attempt to follow recipes I find online and sometimes I succeed and sometimes I don't. But the number one thing I look for in a recipe is ease, and this wasn't too bad at all.

The real winning part of this recipe is the avocado lime coleslaw. The first thing my husband said when he got home was something along the lines of "eww that looks gross" but I assured him he had to try it. After he scarfed down 3 tacos he ate the left over coleslaw out of the bowl. It's that good! And he really wants to put in on burgers next time we grill.

Ingredients:

1lb of medium shrimp, peeled

8 cjorn tortillas

1 tsp kosher salt for shrimp

1 tsp cracked pepper for shrimp
1 Tbsp olive oil

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 Tbsp dijon mustard

1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, minced

1 tsp of the adobo sauce

2 garlic cloves, minced

4 sprigs of cilantro, chopped

2 Tbsp of olive oil

2 Tbsp cider vinegar

For the Coleslaw: Mix all ingredients together and refrigerate

1 bag of coleslaw mix

1/3 cup of plain Greek yougurt

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

juice of 2 limes

1 medium avocado, mashed

1/2 tsp paprika

Directions:

Season the shrimp in a ziploc bag with 1 tsp salt, pepper and olive oil. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

Mix together the brown sugar, chipotle pepper, adobe sauce and next 4 ingredients in a small bowl. Set aside.

Heat a grill pan to medium-high and cook shrimp for 3-4 minutes until slightly curled. Now add in the sauce and toss, making sure to coat all the shrimp. Cook for another minute or so until pink and then serve.

Meanwhile, heat 1-2 TBSP of vegetable oil in a shallow skillet and grill the tortillas, until slightly charred and pliable, about 20 seconds per side. Serve with the shrimp and avocado lime coleslaw.

http://www.kitchenbelleicious.com/2011/10/03/chipotle-shrimp-taco-with-avocado-lime-coleslaw/

Pinterest Frustration

2012-07-27T10:27:00.003-07:00

Message From the Author:

2012-07-26T11:24:00.002-07:00

I am getting back in the game :) I am not sure why I ever really stopped but I miss writing and now I have enough interesting this going on to talk about ;) So here I go again...

Arizona Anniversary Foodie Road Trip

2012-06-21T20:19:00.000-07:00

The idea behind this trip was a foodie road trip. My husband had already been to a restaurant in Scottsdale that he literally could not stop talking about so this was the center of our trip. We had a couple of other stops in mind from our hours spent on the food network channel. Besides that we did some searching online and found a couple of other great spots.
The trip we took was supposed to be 5 days but my husband had a last minute meeting so it was knocked down to four. We left Thursday night after work and headed out intending to miss the traffic and knowing we would get there late. We arrived at our first hotel in Phoenix, The Clarendon Hotel around 11:30. We were happily satisfied by this artsy boutique hotel. We had bid on a night at this hotel at a fundraiser so we weren't really sure what we were getting ourselves into. We went right to bed and woke up in the morning ready to hit our first stop.

The breakfast special at Over Easy is called Waffle Dogs. What is a waffle dog you might be asking... heaven dripping in a special heavenly nectar. But really, it is sausage dipped in waffle batter and fried. Then they serve it with syrup mixed with Tabasco. So so good!! We ordered this in addition to our meals. Yes, laugh now. I don't know what we were thinking. Hubby ordered a typical eggs and waffle plate, which he said was very good. I had to go for something more unique. And I do not regret my caramelized banana and pecan brioche french toast. Not at all.
After our heavy but delicious breakfast we decided it would be a good idea to put our bathing suits on... oh yeah we don't care, food babies and all, we headed to the pool.
Ready for lunch we looked up the next place on our list. Los Taquitos was the winner, and I can always go for Mexican food. This place was not what I expected. We went to the 16th street location and it was nice and clean just more of a middle grade restaurant. But mostly the people were not friendly or helpful. Whatever, you can't win every time. But the food was good. I had the shrimp street tacos.
For dinner we went to another place my hubby had gone on his first trip. In downtown Scottsdale there is a very popular restaurant called Culinary Dropout.
As a comparison for something I am familiar with in SoCal, I would say Culinary Dropout is on par with the feel, size, and decor of a Macaroni Grill but I don't believe it is a big chain so the food was really good! We started with the soft pretzels and provolone fondue. Yum. After we ate we walked around the mall a bit but it was closing up already so we headed back to the hotel and went to bed.
The next morning we were still full from dinner so we grabbed a quick breakfast at the hotel and then headed up to Sedona, stopping for some river rafting along the way. We opted for Tubing Madness through Sedona Adventure Tours. It is suggested to make reservations, not needed. Not on a Saturday in mid June anyway. The adventure here began in finding the "office" to purchase our tickets and get directions to the launch site. The office was NOT easy to find. It is more like a hut in a rough part of Camp Verde (still 45 minutes from Sedona fyi). Once we checked in and paid the $28 per person we drove down to the launch site. Which would be difficult to find if not for their little signs.
When we arrived there were two hippie chicks and a pile of tubes. You grab one and jump in the not so mad river. Not to say that we didn't enjoy ourselves but this was a VERY lazy river. At certain points we had to do a hand waddle in the water (that special paddle you can't do while awkwardly sitting on a tube) to keep moving. There were two "rough" parts that lasted about a minute each. I have rafted the Truckee river in Tahoe, no helmets or guide or anything so it wasn't crazy intense but still something. The rough parts here were the equivalent of when my sister tries to stand in the dingy to get into the ice chest... Anyway after our meander down the river, with lots of laughs and sunshine, we dried off and headed up to Sedona. You can take a second trip down the river after the van at the bottom takes you back to the top if it is within the allotted window of rafting time but 2-3 hours was good for us.
We made it up to Sedona with our tummies growling so we had one mission in mind, FOOD! We drove through the gorgeous red rock mountains and through many of roundabouts, a new thing for me, and found ourselves a great little bakery with the help of Urbanspoon. Wildflower Bread Company, an Arizona chain, I will compare it to Corner Bakery or Panera Bread. It was super fresh and the perfect post sunshine and river lunch. We shared the Tuscan Minestrone, good but not my thing. And I had the Wildflower grilled cheese, not your typical grilled cheese. Gourmet cheeses with a slice of tomato. After lunch we took some touristy pictures and headed back down a little south of Scottsdale to our second hotel, the Wild Horse Pass Resort.

This was a stay under another work deal. It also happened to be the home of another restaurant on our list. The Kai restaurant, something I stumbled across in my research on The Food Network website. As we checked in we asked if we needed a reservation, they said yes and that denim wasn't preferred...hmm. Well we made our reservation. Hunted for the nicest things we brought, besides the dress I was saving for our anniversary dinner the next night. I ended up having to buy a blouse in the gift shop... and settle for my nicest jeans.
When we arrived for our reservation we were seated in a holding type lounge area and made specialty drinks while they got our table ready. As we were guided to our table around the mysterious corner I knew I was in for way more than I expected (we later acquired the knowledge that Kai is AAA 5 diamond restaurant...yeah). So we sat down with our full wait staff at one of maybe 15 tables. We opened the menu and instantly asked my Husband if we should go and he said no so there we were. Me in my nicest denim, yep, and my gift store blouse in a five diamond restaurant. The menu isn't too extensive but at the bottom there is a "tasting' menu with a "short story" option and a "journey" option, either are to be shared by the entire table. We chose the journey, of course. Our motto "if you're gonna do it, you might as well go all the way". The problem here is I can't tell you anything I ate because I have no idea what it was called or what it was. Even though I looked at the menu I was suffering from severe sticker shock and only know that I remember having a lot of seafood. But what you need to know is that this was the most elaborate, delicious meal I have ever experienced. Even though it was three courses there were really like ten. Because there was a starter, each course, a pallet cleaner between each course, and a dessert. Oh yeah! You totally get your money's worth! Best of all you leave stuffed and feeling like God's dinner was accidentally served to you this evening. I do remember that our chocolate ice cream dessert was made from coco that came from some exotic place that this Chef buys the entire crop of each year. So you can literally not have that chocolate anywhere else. May be a ploy but it sounds cool.
So if you happen to have nicer clothes and are prepared to drop $250 on dinner, this would be a very enjoyable experience! Note- if you are not comfortable in really fancy situations where you have five servers per table then either seriously prepare yourself or maybe skip this place. If I could go back again I would be more relaxed but being served upon in this manner is a little uncomfortable for me.
After our extravagant dinner we went to bed and woke up to our 1 year wedding anniversary. This was the night my Husband had been waiting for, we were finally going to Roka Akor. We spent our day watching a double feature at the local theater and eating popcorn to tide us over but save room for our dinner to come. When it came time to go we put our actual fancy clothes on, I know you girls understand I couldn't where the same outfit two nights in a row. Off to dinner we went.

Again I am no help to what we ate because my husband ordered the Omakase. Which basically means the Chef cooks you whatever he feels like. I have to say I was a little disappointed with this experience. Not because the food wasn't good. It was but they had a hard act to follow. Though comparing it to Kai seems completely unfair. What disappointed was the food the Chef selected. I love sushi and sashimi but this place is also a steak house so it was a lot of meats and stuff. Which is just not my thing. They did treat us well though and bring out a very nice anniversary dessert platter. The night was great because I got to spend it with my Husband, and I did get a bit of notable bling as well.

Anniversary Gifts

The next morning we woke up with one location left on our list we had a small room service breakfast, laid by the pool a bit, and got on the road. Our mission was to consume the Sasquatch Burger at The Lodge. We arrived to a relatively empty restaurant. But it was a Monday afternoon. We ordered our Sasquatch Burger, to share, and started in. This burger's buns are two grilled cheese sandwiches and the burger is stacked so high you have to eat it sideways. No worries we succeeded. With our tasty mission complete we headed on the highway back to la. About two hours into our drive we managed to lock our selves out of the running car. Not because I wanted to take a picture by a road sign or anything. Thank goodness for a kind strange (yep both cell phones were in there too) and OnStar.

On our way again we made it another hour till the Hubby was complaining of stomach cramps. Uh Oh. By the time we got home he was reliving our last AZ meal. I didn't have any problems. But I include this for fair warning that the Sasquatch burger may only be for those of us with an iron stomach.
Arizona was a success! We ate tons of good food, had a perfect road trip mishap, and enjoyed the rays of the AZ sunshine for a long weekend. Happy Anniversary to us!

Destinations:
Pheonix, AZ
Scottsdale, AZ
Sedona, AZ

Points of Interest:
http://www.goclarendon.com/
http://www.eatatovereasy.com/
http://www.ltgrill.com/
http://www.foxrc.com/restaurants/culinary-dropout/
http://www.sedonaadventuretours.com/tubes-rentals/tubing-madness/
http://www.wildflowerbread.com/
http://www.wildhorsepassresort.com/location-wild-horse-pass.html
http://www.rokaakor.com/locations/scottsdale/
http://lodgescottsdale.com/

New York

2012-02-03T17:18:00.000-08:00

New York for the weekend.
It sounds like such a hoity toity thing to do but that's what we did. The Hubster was actually going for work anyway but had a full 2.5 days off. Being that I had never been before and ticket prices weren't atrocious we decided I should meet him there. So I flew out Friday afternoon and arrived in Newark, New Jersey by Friday evening. Lucky me my husband was there to pick me up so I didn't have to navigate the train and subway systems alone.
We made it back to our hotel, the InterContinental in Time Square which had a far but good view of the Empire State building. But the hotel in general was very nice. We had a quick bite in the hotel restaurant and made it back up to our room to turn in. Just as I was taking my shoes off the phone rings and it is my Husband's boss asking if we want 5th row tickets to War Horse...for free. Umm Yes!! So back on the shoes went and we jumped on the subway to Broadway.

The show was incredible! The only thing I knew going in was that Spielberg made a movie called War Horse but other than that it was an amazing surprise. I don't want to give anything away but there is a major puppetry component to this show and it is the most fluid, beautiful thing I have ever seen.
After the show ended, around 11pm, we were so exhilarated by the city that we opted to walk the 22 blocks back to the hotel. I think it took a little over an hour but it was so enjoyable. Besides my ears freezing off. Did I mention it was January?? But the best thing about New York city... lots of 24 hour food options. So around 1am we found ourselves in a diner eating coconut cream pie. Yep, that's how we roll.

Closest I got to her.

The next day we had to fit in every attraction we wanted to hit since we really only had half a day Sunday since I would be flying back. My number one sight to see, the Statue of Liberty, and it was closed for reconstruction. Just my luck. So off to number two we went. The Museum of Natural History. We took to the streets and walked most of the way there and hit a food cart for breakfast, who knew?
The Museum was huge. It took hours to walk through. The highlights can be seen below (pictures are way better than my words):

Across the street from the museum, Central Park. We walked through; however, I was slightly disappointed. Now in my defense we do not experience four seasons in Southern California so I did not at all take into account that it was winter in New York. So, when I looked out over the park and all of the trees were bare and not covered in the awesome fall leaves that are in every movie, I was bummed.

Regardless we walked through and saw the boat house I recognize from many movies and saw lots of street performers. We sat on the rocks above the outdoor ice skating rink for awhile and then made our way back through the city.

We stopped at one of a billion pizza places along the way. I didn't catch the name, but I also despise thin crust pizza so I didn't really make an effort to remember either. Sorry. After pizza we headed to Canal Street.
We arrived and it felt just like The Ally in Los Angeles, but a little more sketchy and with a lot less variety. I could have totally skipped this in retrospect but we were there so I was determined to buy something and to haggle for it. Literally every store had the same purses, shoes, watches, and cheap clothes so I decided to go for a purse. I found one I wanted and went to work. Haggling freaks my Husband out, so I was on my own. The asking price was $23 and I decided my price was $18. I went in low. "$15" I said holding the bag up to the cashier. She shook her head and said "$20". I pretended to mull it over, "$18". I rebutted. She retorted with a quick "$20". I looked at my Husband and shook my head no (all for the benefit of the negotiation), and I hung the bag up. I make it to Him as he is saying "It's okay babe, $20 is fine. Get it." as I shove him towards the door I say "I will." Which of course completely confused him. Until the cashier says "Ok, $18." I smiled at my husband and turned around to claim my prize. This was obviously a good moment for me. I don't think men quite understand the high of bargaining. Now that our Canal Street mission was complete and the sun was beginning to set we jumped on the subway and head over to the Twin Tower memorial. But we weren't aware you needed reservations and they were on the last tour anyway. So we viewed the new buildings but couldn't see the memorial because it was fully fenced in.

The site however was right next to Wall Street so we walked around a bit as the sun dipped behind the buildings and the chilly night set in. After a few pictures on the steps we headed back to the hotel and caught dinner down the street at O'Donoghue's Time Square. The food was good, but the service was awful and it wasn't even busy (I have since been told that is to be expected in the city), doesn't fly with me though.
The next day we stuck closer to Time Square since I was leaving around 2pm. We did take the subway to 5th Avenue so I could see FAO. Schwarz. Total let down besides the giant piano, by the way. The Toys R' Us in Time Square was cooler.

Anyway, while we were on 5th Avenue we found ourselves wondering into Tiffany's and some other high end stores. No purchases of course. We wandered back to Time Square as the looming hour of departure crept ever closer. We stopped at a fancy burger place for lunch. So expensive and just okay really. When we were back in Time Square I sat up on the red steps (they light up red) I don't know if they are always there, while my husband had a quick meeting. And then the trip was over as quickly as it began.

View from the "red stairs".

Reflecting on my trip, there were a few other things I would have liked to squeeze in, like the Statue of Liberty or maybe the Empire State building, and another show. I really had the most fun just running around the subway and trying to chase the right train down with my husband. But all in all, that was enough New York for me. I am not a big city girl. I like living 30 miles out of Downtown la. It is perfectly close enough. Life was too fast paced in the city. Fine for touring the way we did, but it would totally stress me out to run at that pace all the time.

Destination: New York City
Points of Interest:

http://www.interconny.com/
http://www.warhorseonstage.com/
http://odonoghuestimessquare.com/
http://www.amnh.org/
http://www.fao.com/shop/index.jsp?categoryId=3810526

Bowtie Pasta

2011-08-25T11:54:00.000-07:00

http://www.favfamilyrecipes.com/2011/05/anniversary-bowtie-asparagus-pasta.html

Well, I made the pasta and it was very yummy!! I forgot to take a picture (slap on the wrist) so I will have to take one when I get home since there are plenty of leftovers. Although there really isn't much to see since I made a much less involved version than the recipe. I basically just made the sauce. It says to ad nuts (which I don't like), fresh Parmesan (which I don't have) and parsley (which I never bother buying, because it is usually just a garnish).
Besides my lack of beauty the taste was great! The only thing that was disappointing was the texture of the sauce. As I poured in the pint of heavy cream it went from thick (cheese, garlic and butter) to super thin and liquidy. And I personally prefer a thicker sauce. However, when it tossed with the pasta it stuck really well so it wasn't like a pasta sitting on top of a liquid sauce.
The cooking process was pretty easy and quick minus dissolving the bouillon cube. Which after about 15 minutes a just mashed into the sauce instead...we were hungry. The recipe says to add it at the same time at the cheese but I personally think it just makes the mixture too thick to effectively melt the cube...maybe you'll have better luck if you try it. Let me know!
But I will definitely make this again! And possibly throw in some sun-dried tomatoes next time for some added flavor (since I skipped the nuts).

Recipe: http://www.favfamilyrecipes.com/2011/05/anniversary-bowtie-asparagus-pasta.html

Baked Donut Muffins

2011-08-24T12:26:00.000-07:00

Well...I didn't get to cook the pasta last night because I completely forgot when I wrote that that I was starting school last night. So, in the mere hour I had between work and class I decided to heat up some soup instead. BUT...I held out on you yesterday...

Not only did I make the bell peppers but I also made these yummy treats...
They were so easy!!! An answer to a craving for sugar, because it is one of those miracle recipes that you always seem to have all of the ingredients already stocked in the pantry. The only thing I didn't have was a mini muffin pan, so I made do with a brownie pan I got as a wedding present. Thanks Schweppes!!!
So the recipe consists of sugar, butter, milk, flour, baking powder, nutmeg and cinnamon.
Simply mix the batter, bake. Dip in melted butter and roll in sugar/cinnamon mixture. And let cool (My husband likes to eat everything while it is still cooking, and in my opinion they were much better cooled than hot).

Ingredients:
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup unsalted butter
3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup all-purpose flour

Topping:
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/2 white sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter 24 mini muffin tins. Mix ½ cup sugar, ¼ cup butter, and nutmeg in a large bowl. Stir in milk, then mix in baking powder and flour until just combined. Fill the prepared mini muffin cups about half full. Bake until the tops are lightly golden, 15 to 20 minutes. While muffins are baking, place ¼ cup of melted butter in a bowl. In a separate bowl, mix together ½ cup of sugar with the cinnamon. Remove baked muffins from their cups, dip each muffin in the melted butter, and roll in the sugar-cinnamon mixture. Let cool and serve.

http://www.keyingredient.com/recipes/8666100/donut-muffins/

Stuffed Bell Peppers

2011-08-23T12:53:00.000-07:00

http://www.kalynskitchen.com/2010/09/recipe-for-stuffed-green-peppers-with.html

So I finally made myself make the bell peppers, and it really wasn't as difficult as I was dreading but it did take a long time to cook. I started by putting the brown rice in the rice cooker (since that takes about 35 minutes). Then I chopped up and hollowed out the bell peppers. And sauteed the bell pepper pieces (again skipping the onions since I am allergic). After I sauteed those I realized that I bought the wrong kind of sausage. A novice mistake. So I cut the sausage into bite size pieces, a bit tedious but oh well. And I threw the sausage in with the bell peppers.
I seasoned the mixture as instructed and then I added the rice...I did have to wait awhile for it to be done. I had preheated the oven to 375 so I added the cheese and then stuffed the bell peppers. I didn't have a square pan as the recipe suggested so I put the bell peppers in bread pans, two in each.

Then the peppers cooked for 30 minutes and then you pull them out and add mozzarella cheese on top and put them back in for 10 minutes...I did like minutes because I was starving and My Love didn't want the cheese topper so he had already started eating.
Then I served myself took a bite and realized...I don't like this. Right when I added the Parmesan cheese it created this smell that was not too pleasurable. And I really hoped that would go away or die down but it didn't and I couldn't really get past it. My Love however, thought they were great! He took the leftovers to work for lunch today and said they are even better now that the flavors have set in. So, if you think you will like this I would still suggest the recipe...it just wasn't for me.

Stuffed Bell Pepper Recipe: http://pinterest.com/pin/116108908/

Tonight's Dinner: Bowtie & Asparagus Pasta