beets

Restaurant week LA

I know yesterday’s AM eats weren’t well documented at all, but I promise to make up for it with yesterday’s dinner. It’s restaurant week!! Three courses complete with wine pairings (included in the price no less) for $34.  You can’t turn that down. I was initially going with Ethel, my FPIC, but Kyle got out of school early and decided to join us. There were so many restaurants participating…it was a hard choice, but in the end we settled on La Grande Orange (mostly because of how fun it was to say in a ridiculous… Read more >

Weekend wining

My previous post left off on Saturday evening…so let me just pick right back up with dinner.  My goal is to eventually taste my way through every restaurant at Santa Monica Place, so we made a reservation at Sonoma wine garden to start our last night out in style.  My previous experience with Santa Monica Place’s dining deck was stellar, so I had high expectations for this meal.    We started with some rather pricey drinks.  They were good, but a bit steep given the sub-par size of the pour.  The amount of wine in our… Read more >

Visiting the vines

I’ve been meaning to introduce you all to the vineyard for quite some time now…but I, myself, hadn’t been to Healdsburg in a while. Fortunate for you, my Grandpa was kind enough to remind me that I was long overdue for a visit.  And fortunate for me, I remembered to bring along my camera.  Hello Zinfandel. Kyle and I left bright and early to arrive in Dry Creek Valley just as the clouds were clearing out.  It may be summer, but Sonoma mornings are still a tad overcast with AM fog.  In case you are… Read more >

Half raw-violi

The zucchini from my mom’s garden is out of control!  There’s my forearm as a reference.  Pretty ridiculous huh?  I guess her garden’s raised beds are doing the trick…no more gophers snacking on the veggies before we can get to them.  Since her produce is multiplying like the Jolie-Pitt gang, my mom’s been encouraging me to help her put them to good use.  Being the obedient daughter that I am, I got right to work.  Fresh from the vine vegetables?  You don’t have to ask me twice!  This meal is from last month (when I… Read more >

Welcome to Boxx

I’m on “vacation” in Washington and I’m surrounded by farms.  Some may fail to see the positive side in this situation (ok, the constant smell of cattle manure isn’t exactly the town’s selling point), but in my opinion things don’t get much better (read: fresher than fresh produce).  It seems like everyone in town has their favorite source for fresh produce.  Some like Barbie’s Berries.  Some like The Green Barn.  But (as per my future in-laws) Boxx Farms is simply “the best.”  Naturally, I had to see the best for myself; so the other day,… Read more >