Category Archives: Foodie Fever

Food For “The Big Game” From Allrecipes.com

If you’ve been following my blog, you know just how big of a football fan I am. Although my San Diego Chargers didn’t make it all they way through the playoffs this year, I’ll still be watching the Superbowl because it’s the final football game until the new season in August. My husband is big on preparing great food for any sporting event, so I’m glad to share with Any Second Now readers some awesome recipes for your Game Day get together through this fantastic graphic from Allrecipes.com, in partnership with Tabuleau Software. After you click on the picture above, it will take you to the graphic where you can use the circular icons to filter recipes by type, which will update the map to show you the top recipes for that type by state. If you would like to see all of the recipes available regardless of state, the list on the lower right hand side will also update by type as well.

I’m going to spend some time clicking through all of the great recipes in the graphic to help my hubby create our final menu to enjoy while we watch the Seattle Seahawks play the Denver Broncos. Cheers and enjoy “The Big Game” on Sunday!

Allrecipes.com, the world’s largest digital food site with more than 1 billion visits each year, partnered with Tableau Software to share a state-by-state look at America’s Super Bowl game day favorites, including chili, dips, drinks, sandwiches, snacks and wings. Using a massive amount of data from nearly 95 million visits, Tableau has created an interactive graphic that can be viewed here (or by clicking on the graphic above). Some interesting findings include:

– When it comes to snack recipes, we are a nation divided. Depending on where you are, Americans appear to have a strong preference for Little Smokies recipes, nachos or meatballs as their gameday snack of champions. Note that in both Washington and Colorado, the top snacks recipe is Mexican Potato Nachos. However, in New York/New Jersey, the top snacks recipes is The Best Meatballs.

– New York stands alone as the only state whose favorite chili recipe is turkey over beef.

– Two dip recipes stand out as head and shoulders above the rest – the recipe for Seven Layer Taco Dip dominates much of the Western part of the country (including California) and the Northeast and Southeastern states have a preference for Buffalo Chicken Dip.

– The one thing all Americans agree on is wings. The recipes for Baked Buffalo Wings is tops in all 50 states.

Row one: 1. Baked Buffalo Wings; 2. Buffalo Chicken Dip; 3. Mexican Potato Nachos

Row two: 4. Seven Layer Taco Dip; 5. Simple Turkey Chili; 6. Slow Cooker Chili II

Row three: 7. Slow Cooker Pulled Pork; 8. The Best Meatballs; 9. The Real Mojito

The picture above is of the Slow Cooker Pulled Pork my husband made last year, using the exact recipe from Allrecipes.com (we had the barbecue sauce on the side). SO. GOOD!

FTC Disclosure: This is a sponsored post.

Fashion Blogger Day at Flower Hill Promenade

This post is just the first of a flurry of events I have attended in the last couple of weeks, which means I’ll be posting something everyday this week! This event was a couple of weeks ago, and was at Flower Hill Promenade in Del Mar. We pass this mall whenever we take a trip to Los Angeles, or whenever we go to the San Diego County Fair. I’ve been to this mall a couple of times in the past, but never ventured deeper than a restaurant or the movie theater, and I haven’t been there since their renovations (for instance, that movie theatre is now a Whole Foods). When an invite was posted on the San Diego Style Bloggers blog to check out their newest boutiques called “The Row”, I jumped at the chance to see what’s new.

Our day began with delicious drinks and starters, courtesy of Sea & Smoke. There, we met up with Heidi and Lauren of J Public Relations and a couple of ladies with Flower Hill Promenade. We had a tartine with cheese, spinach, and figs, and a lovely selection of meats, cheeses and nuts. The drinks were a citrus spritzer, along with my staple of coffee. All of it was perfect, light and delicious.

The Lexington Cardi by Street Chic. Outfit post to come!

Of the five bloggers present, I hung out with Bianca of The In Between Girls, and a new addition to the San Diego Style Bloggers network, Abigail of The Fabulous Life of a Natural Disaster. When we were given our itineraries, the three of us immediately wanted to go to the same place first: Vixen Pop Up Boutique! We were greeted by owner Vanessa Johnson, who gifted us with cute little friendship bracelets made by a local surfer. The space is quite large and full of fashionable items from clothing, to accessories, to home goods. We also got to meet Alison Choi, founder and owner of Street Chic, who had some real estate in Vixen, stocked with her fabulous clothing and jewelry, in addition to some curated items. I bought the Lexington Cardi, pictured above.

1. Vanessa, owner of Vixen, with Abigail and Bianca, choosing their bracelets; 2. My picks.

With Bianca and Abigail at Vixen.

Because the weather started to deteriorate, we had to limit our visit to the shops immediately around us. I couldn’t take too many pictures of the shops upstairs because the rain really started to come down. Below are the few pictures of the shops we actually went into prior to the weather change. Rest assured that this won’t be my last visit to the Flower Hill Promenade. Thank you to J Public Relations and Flower Hill Promenade for hosting a fashionable and fun day!

Love this seating area in Lone Flag, which is a concept space and shop, filled with high quality core products ranging from homeware to clothing, shoes, and accessories for both men and women.

Rais Case & Mr. B’s Luminaries are two different shops sharing the same space. Rais Case presents pieces made with repurposed materials to make unique accessories. Mr. B’s Luminaries offers all natural, individually hand poured candles, good for you and the earth. Both very green endeavors!

Van de Vort showcases lovely statement pieces, encompassing the style of the California woman. That dress is adorable, and I love the couch, very elegant!

Just Like Honey

It’s unusual for me to start off the week with an outfit post. But it has been awhile since I’ve put one up (not one included in a fashion post), I thought I’d use one from a couple of weeks back as I’m still putting together my Thanksgiving posts, which was a mix of family, food and fun, with a little bit of fashion thrown in-between. In the meantime, I wore this outfit to work a few weeks ago, then went to lunch at Denny’s with my sister and niece. Since I’m on this honey kick, I had to try the Hobbit themed Honey Cake French Toast. Instead of breakfast style, I had it a-la-mode after my main dish. When I made the request, the waitress literally stopped writing on her notepad and said, “Oh my GOD, that sounds good!” I had it again at another late night Denny’s run with my hubby, and the request elicited the same reaction. I think I may be on to something!

Outfit: Jean Paul Gautlier for Target shirt (last seen here); Fossil vest; American Rag skinny cargos; Prada shoes; Eva glasses in Sepia Kiss c/o BonLook; Anju ring on the right hand c/o The Beat Clothing (close up here); Recoil ring on the left hand by Suki Bijoux; Beau Coeur necklace by Dominique Cohen for Target (old)

(The title of this post is my favorite song by The Jesus and Mary Chain, from the album Psychocandy. I forget just how good the song is! I included the video below.)

Honey, I Love This Toast!

I have a few food obsessions that I’ll be posting about in the next few weeks. One of them is something I have been seeing everywhere, yet never had the pleasure of indulging in until very recently. My husband and I had our first taste of honey toast at the Up 2 You Café in the Kearny Mesa area. The picture above is what I ordered at the cafe, topped with custard, strawberries and vanilla ice cream. The honey toast itself is such sweet, crunchy and buttery goodness, my hubby knew I was instantly hooked. After we arrived home, I sat down at my computer and looked up several recipes on how to make this marvelous dessert, and found three that I liked from these tasty blogs and basically combined them: A Taste of Koko, Notions and Notations of a Novice Cook, and Kirbie’s Cravings (from San Diego). Below is a step by step pictorial of how I made my version of honey toast, and it’s so very easy to make. I emulated what I had at Up 2 You Café, minus the custard (it would have taken a little too long). The result is better than you could imagine. Let me know if you’ve tried this tasty Asian delight, and if you’ve to make it yourself. Enjoy!

Originally, I wanted to use a thicker cut bread, but we couldn’t find any loaves in the grocery stores close by. I know you can use basically any bread, but I thought a sweet bread would work best, like Hawaiian sweet bread.

I used three pieces of bread: one was the base, and the other two were the “bowl”. Take a sharp knife and cut the center out of two of the pieces of bread, then cut those pieces into cubes.

Melt two tablespoons of butter and brush the bottom slice, then set the other two pieces of toast on top and brush those as well (be sure to brush all sides). Butter the cubes and toss them in a bowl, then sprinkle about two tablespoons of granulated sugar on the bread “bowl” and the bread cubes. I placed them in our countertop oven and heated at 300 degrees for 10 minutes, or until golden brown (be sure to turn the cubes so that all of the sides are toasted). Replace the cubes into the bowl, and drizzle generously with honey. Very. Generously.

This is the best part: Whilst still warm, add your favorite toppings. The result? Honey toast heaven.

Cupping: A Caffeinated Performance by Mostra Coffee

I’ve been incredibly busy lately, so I’m playing catch up with some events that have happened over the past few weeks. Recently, my sister and I attended a “Cupping” session with a local coffee company called Mostra Coffee. Since the location of the session was in the Rancho Bernardo area, it was easy for my sister to meet up with me prior to her going to work. I wasn’t sure what to expect, except that maybe it would be like a wine tasting, but with coffee. What we got was a fabulous coffee experience. I discovered Mostra Coffee through their Instagram account, and learned about the cupping session on their Facebook page. The pictures below tell the story of our experience, and if you’re a coffee fanatic like me, the Mostra Coffee cupping session is a must. Have a great weekend!

We all start off with the ground coffee first, smelling the coffee to distinguish the different aromas.

Hot water is added to each bowl, and we “slurp” the coffee to see if it brings out more aromas or other flavors.

This is a flavor wheel. It helps those of us who are novices to coffee tasting (like moi).

After trying the coffee hot, we then were able to try to their “cold brews”, which surprisingly altered the taste and brought out even more flavors. I loved the Guatemala because it was deep and rich like a French Roast.

After the tasting, we were treated to a siphoning demonstration by Mike, master roaster.

The coffee used for the siphoning was the Guatemala beans, and it was blended with a wonderful Teavana tea called Toasted Nut Brulee. After adding a bit of cream to this blend, it tasted like dessert!

The cupping session took place at the Abnormal Wine Company in Rancho Bernardo, right next to where I work and across the street from where my sister lives. If you would like to attend a cupping session by Mostra Coffee, you can do so by checking out their Facebook page and you can also find out about their events by going to their official site. FYI – this is a Filipino owned company, and they hope to introduce coffee beans grown in the Philippines!

Vegas Vittles: Monta & English’s

My last post about my recent Las Vegas trip will be about the two new places we ventured for noshing: Monta Japanese Noodle House and English’s Gastro Pub. Deon’s Uncle Junior has been talking about Monta Ramen for a while, and since every restaurant has air conditioning, having hot soup actually sounded appetizing, despite the heat. The restaurant is pretty close to the strip but very small, which caused a line to build quickly after we were seated. We started off fried rice and gyoza, our favorites. Apparently the gyoza is placed in a press that fries it on each side. It’s also made fresh to order, and I can definitely say it’s the best gyoza I’ve ever had. Finally, we had the ramen, which was again, the best I’ve had. If you’re willing to venture away from The Strip, this place is definitely worth it.

Fried Rice

The. Best. Gyoza. EVER.

From the Monta Noodle House menu: “Tonkotsu-Shoyu Ramen (pork bone and special shoyu base) has a cloudy white colored broth. The broth is like a mix of the Tokyo and Kyushu style blend. This style is the newer trend in Japan. Basic toppings are green onions, two slices of chashu, bamboo shoots and kikurage.”

On the Saturday before we left Vegas, Deon’s mom suggested we try English’s Gastro Pub at the Town Square Mall, also off The Strip. Being the Anglophile that I am, I jumped at the chance to bring a touch of England back into my life. My mother-in-law actually suggested we do Afternoon Tea, but since all of us were eating there for an early dinner, we decided to have actual meals this time round. My husband and father-in-law kept it simple with burgers and chips (my hubby added the house salad below). Not pictured is the child’s version of the burger meal, which was with a slider and chips, and included a drink for only $5. My mother-in-law had the cod and chips with crushed peas (aka mushy peas). I decided to go all the way English and had the Toad in the Hole. All of the food was good and fresh, and I loved the gravy of my Toad in the Hole. The last time I had tea was in London last year at Harrods (post here), and I think I’m due for another go. This visit to English’s just made me feel all nostalgic, and after seeing a few people who had the tea service, and I vowed that the next time we would be in town, my mother-in-law and I would venture on our own for Afternoon Tea.

Photo 1: House salad (leaf salad, tomatoes, cucumber, green onions, croutons); Photo 2: Burgers & Chips.

Photo 2: Cod & Chips with crushed peas.

Toad in The Hole: Mini Yorkshire pudding wrapped bangers, onion gravy, mash.

The 2013 San Diego County Fair, Part 2: Fun With Food

Happy Fourth of July everyone! Right now, I’m Las Vegas visiting our in-laws, but this is part two of our visit to the 2013 San Diego County Fair, which is all about the food. But I must make special mention of the photo above of Dominic in all of his green glory. He picked his outfit that day, and what you can’t see are his sandals, which also have a touch of neon green (yes, green is his favorite color).

On our first visit, we made a stop at one of our favorite spots, Chicken Charlie’s. They always have some kind of wonderful and interesting deep-fried fare, and this year was no exception. Despite the mixed reviews of the Krispy Kreme Sloppy Joe, I actually liked it. I’m a sucker for savory and sweet, and it delivered. The deep-fried cookie dough was ooey-gooey good, but I could only eat one. I took notes from my sister and her friends, and brought Zip-Lock baggies to take home what we couldn’t finish at the Fair. I then had one of my new fair favorites: fried cheese curds. I know they’re probably best in Wisconsin, but I think the ones I had at the Fair were pretty darned good. Deon and Dominic took it easy with corn dogs and roasted corn. The biggest disappointment was the bacon cotton candy. I was expecting it to be maple flavored, sprinkled with bacon bits. But it was pre-packaged and tasted nothing like bacon. Save your $5 for something better and get a dish with real bacon at Bacon A-Fair. I can’t believe another year of the Fair has come and gone! Thank you for another fun one, San Diego County Fair. We look forward to more fantastic fair goodies next year!

“Aerial” shot of Chicken Charlie’s, my deep-fried goodness destination.

Photo 1: Deep-fried cookie dough; Photo 3: Krispy Kreme Sloppy Joe. Yup, I had them.

Ah cheese curds, how I love thee!

Deon, Dominic and roasted corn, both days!

On the Sky Ride. Our awesome “aerial” shots came as a result of this ride.

Kiddieland

Dear bacon cotton candy: I wanted to love you so much, but I’m sorry it was not to be…

Like our “Freeze Frame” shot, courtesy of Sparkling Ice? We had free tasters, and my favorite was the Black Raspberry and the Pina Colada (click on the picture for their Facebook page).

From Dominic’s point-of-view. It’s his first ever picture, taken all by himself!

Good-bye San Diego County Fair…until next year!

Bonne Bouffe à Bo-Beau

Merci again to Bing Translator for the translation of the title of my post (I used the same translator for my post about Paris last summer). It should roughly translate to “Great Food at Bo-Beau”. This is another catch-up restaurant post from a dinner out with Janice and Regi. We’re always ready to try out new places, and Regi heard Bo-Beau in Ocean Beach was a great new French bistro. We have had great luck with French cuisine, so Janice and I trusted Regi with her choice. We had been to this location before when it was Thee Bungalow. I remember that night well because it was when I announced to Regi for the first time I was pregnant (Janice had found out the week prior). Now, here we are five years later at the same location, but different restaurant.

Already I fell in love with the locks on the grid right outside of the entrance. It reminded me of Pont de l’Archevêché (Archbishop’s Bridge) in Paris from my trip last summer with Janice. We both said at Bo-Beau that we should have bought padlocks and placed them on the bridge out there. C’est la vie! The interior reminded me of a little place my husband and I had dinner at, also in Paris. It was a tiny bistro where we knew only locals frequented because it was quite tucked away and accessed by unpaved roads that were down the street from our hotel. With this kind of atmosphere, I expected and anticipated only great things once we were ready to have dinner!

Janice arrived about 20 minutes after I did, so Regi and I started off with drinks and an appetizer. Both drinks reminded me of creations at Callooh Callay in London and were très fantastique. The Charcuterie Board appetizer was very simple, but quite filling and great for more than two people. Once Janice arrived, we ordered our dinners. As usual, we made sure to order different dishes for sampling purposes. I’m glad we waited because Janice and I nearly ordered the same dish, which was the Mac n Cheese. That allowed me to order the Burger Royale with Cheese, and I made sure to add the fried egg. Regi ordered from the Moules & Frites menu (mussels and fries). I thoroughly enjoyed my burger, which I can safely say was the best restaurant burger I have ever had. I loved the pork belly patty with the fried pancetta, but loved it even more with the fried egg. The fries were cooked with rosemary and the aioli sauce completely complimented them.

We ended our food love-fest with the Ménage à Trois for dessert, which prompted a flurry of funny posts on Facebook that I won’t share here. My two favorite parts of the dessert involved chocolate, which is not normally the case. I was pleasantly surprised that the peanut butter brittle was light, crisp and sweet and went wonderfully with the chocolate ganache, so it was like a really fancy Butterfinger. Just the mention of “sea salt caramel house made marshmallow” made the Amaretto pot de crème already sound absolutely delicious and did not disappoint. The cheesecake was more tart than I’m used to, but the fresh fruit atop took the edge off.

After telling my husband about Bo-Beau, he wants to head out there to enjoy the Burger Royale in person, while I try the Brown Butter Gnocchi. Hopefully they will still have the Strawberry Shortcake on their dessert menu because I really was torn between that and the Ménage à Trois. I guess Bo-Beau has secured a future visit, and I promise to wear better shoes than I did that night because parking is at a premium in that area. Overall, delicious dining in a lovely French inspired atmosphere. Bon Appétit!

Janice and I had Le Romantique – Belevdere black raspberry, pomegranate, rose petal nectar, champagne and a rose petal; Regi had Le Esprit de la Saison – Absolut Mango, citronage, sage, cucumbers, lime juice and orange bitters.

Charcuterie Board: Five meats, three cheeses, salad and two mustards.

Regi’s dish: This is either the Bier n Brat Mussels (racer 5 IPA, bratwurst, red chilis, caramelized onion, whole grain mustard, scallions or the Moules a la Espana (chorizo, potatoes, tomato, shaved fennel, smoked paprika, red bell peppers)

Janice’s dish: Leek “Fondue” Mac N Cheese (cheddar gratinee with the works, pancetta and lobster)

My dish: Burger Royale with Cheese (pork belly patty, gruyere cheese, green peppercorn aioli sauce, pomme frites with a fried free-range egg and I had them add the pancetta.)

Our dessert: The Ménage à Trois (chocolate ganache with gluten-free peanut butter brittle; tart cherry cheesecake with graham cracker crust; Amaretto pot de crème, with sea salt caramel house made marshmallow).

Dinner at Bellefleur

I’m playing catch-up with some posts about restaurants I have visited in the last month, and this will be a quick one. When my mother-in-law came to visit at the beginning of May, we wanted to eat dinner close to where she was staying prior to the Carlsbad Village Faire. I remembered there was a restaurant I had not eaten at yet at the Carlsbad Premium Outlets called the Bellefleur, and we agreed it would be a quick and easy way for a nice sit down dinner with the family. Happily enough, we came at a great time because they had a 3 course chef special, celebrating their 15 years in Carlsbad. The special was just $15, so we all chose to eat from their prix fixe menu. My choices are all pictured below, and were all fantastic. Because we arrived quite late for dinner, we saw the set up and asked our server about the brunch. He described all of the wonderful food and we decided that when my mother-in-law returns to San Diego, we plan on going to their Sunday Champagne Brunch.

Tomato bisque soup

Blackened chicken pasta

Chocolate mousse

Dominic with Grandma

Weekend in Pictures: Spicy Lamb & Broadway Punk

Last Friday, I went out with the girls for dinner and a show: we had a light nosh at the God Save The Cuisine food truck followed by Green Day’s American Idiot: The Musical. Janice had turned me onto the God Save The Cuisine food truck because she knows how much of an anglophile I am, and was sure we would enjoy their fresh British menu. As we approached the red truck, I felt nostalgic for our trip last summer in London. I know most of these trucks have a changing menu, so I was quite excited when I saw the spiced lamb was available because lamb also reminds me of London (lamb burgers). The lamb was bursting with flavor and definitely had a kick to it. Once I’m off of the Whole30, I’m want to find out GSTC’s next stop so I can try the Fish-n-Chips Taco, Big Ben Burger and the Eton Mess if it’s available (from the home page: “Eton mess” Light meringue crumbled churned with strawberry compote and sweetened vanilla cream).

Top pictures: The “Tip Vote” answers can be found on their Facebook page (I voted yes to the “one way ticket to Mars” question). Bottom pictures: Very cool idea to provide blankets for a very British picnic!

I had the Spiced Lamb, sans chips. I’m doing the Whole30 again, so I only had a bit of the naan bread…but I made sure to eat everything else!

Janice had the catch of the day: Sea Bass with “Truck Cut Chips” (aka Fries)

(WARNING! This next segment contains spoilers!)

We ended the night with American Idiot at the San Diego Civic Theatre. The musical is based on Green Day’s 2004 album of the same name, and follows the lives of three men who are trying to escape their stifling suburban lifestyles. It’s 90 minutes long with no intermission, and goes through all of the songs from the American Idiot album and some songs from 21st Century Breakdown. The show is exciting with a fantastic stage set. My favorite parts: the heroin dance between Johnny and Whatshername; the songs “Holiday” and “Wake Me Up When September Ends”; and the very end where the entire cast sings “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)”. I thought I considered that a spoiler, but even I knew as a casual Green Day fan that they would play that song somewhere! One part that both Regi and I did not enjoy was the hallucination portion where Tunny is in a military hospital due to a leg injury. With the excitement and drama of the rest of the story, the floating genie seemed out-of-place. All in all, another fun night out with the girls. Hope you had a great weekend!

Top picture: The sign as we approached the entrance cracked us up to no end. I guess the show was not supposed to be for the easily offended! Bottom picture: A view from our seats.

Top picture: “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)”. Bottom picture: My program, Playbill and ticket.

Marissa, Janice, Me and Regi

My “Broadway punk” outfit for the evening: The Damned concert tee; MNG for Mango blazer; Guess jeans; Miista booties; studded cross body bag; Suki Bijoux skeleton necklace.

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