City Eats: LA, Cacao Mexicatessen

March 10, 2015January 11, 20161 Comment

Prior to moving to LA, I had never heard of chilaquiles. Jason and I caught an episode of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives after moving here, where we were introduced to this traditional Mexican dish. Lightly fried, quartered corn tortillas are used for the base of the dish. The tortillas are then topped with a green or red salsa or mole, and sometimes chicken. The dish is then covered with crema, shredded queso fresco, onion and avocado. It is often served with beans, eggs or guacamole. Here in LA, it is often served as a breakfast dish. Needless to say, it was something we decided we needed to try.

Cacao Mexicatessen’s chilaquiles, and restaurant in general, continue to make best of LA food lists. We recently ventured over to LA’s Eagle Rock neighborhood to check it out. I started my meal with the dulce cafe con leche (coffee with piloncillo, cinnamon and milk,) which was perfectly sweet enough for my palate and I loved the addition of the cinnamon! I sprung for the tres leches pancakes, house-made buttermilk pancakes infused with sweetened tres leches milk sauce and topped with strawberries, whipped cream and sliced almonds. The pancakes were served atop the tres leches milk sauce and sprinkled with cinnamon. I have been on this pancake kick lately and these are some of the best I’ve ever eaten in any restaurant!

Jason ordered the chilaquiles topped with mole sauce. Mole is a traditional Mexican sauce that is made with chocolate(!!). The tortillas and sauce were then topped with two over-easy eggs. The dish was served with black beans topped with queso fresco and potatoes. We don’t have any other chilaquiles experiences to compare this to, but we really enjoyed Cacao Mexicatessen’s version, for sure!

We’re still deciding what to order next time. Maybe we’ll try the carnitas de pato (duck tacos!)

Dulce Cafe con Leche

Tres Leches Pancakes

Chilaquiles!

Five Joys

March 4, 2015March 4, 2015Leave a comment

I am sure that this bench in Old Pasadena is frequented. So clever!

Molto spuma!! Lots of foam in this happy little cappuccino from Le Pain Quotidien.

Fresh lavender biscuits for strawberry shortcake.

Oscar watching treats. A caramel cupcake with a carmel filling topped with a caramel buttercream and caramel corn! Lots of caramel-ly goodness and ah-mazing! The other cake is a vanilla cupcake with a shortbread bottom with chewy caramel and a chocolate frosting. Confexions always knocks it out of the park!

The mail brought these watercolor tubes and brushes, that are better than the ones I have been using. I’m looking forward to creating!

Flea Finds: Pasadena City College

March 3, 2015July 16, 20151 Comment

On the first Sunday of the month, Jason and I love to visit the Pasadena City College Flea Market. We actually have established a little tradition of perusing the market and then finishing our morning with brunch at our favorite diner in Pasadena, The Reyn. (Their banana bread is insane!!)

This weekend, we scored a metal Radio Flyer wagon for a little project to be completed sometime in the next year. We finally found a wooden bottle container from 7 Up Bottling Company of Los Angeles. We have been on the hunt for one since we moved here, but every time we found one, it was way more than what we wanted to pay. This one was a steal! And, the guy who sold it to us was hilarious.

I think my favorite treasure we found this weekend is this funky, vintage Samsonite suitcase covered with these travel stickers. I have always been intrigued by these things and they remind me of the ones carried in old films. This thing just fuels my wanderlust! To make it even better, there are stickers on the suitcase from lots of places I’ve actually been, so it’s fun to just look at this thing and recall so many of the memories that were made over the last few years.

City Eats: Dallas, State Fair of Texas

February 25, 2015June 26, 20152 Comments

Where else would a Native Texan end up on her first weekend back to the Lone Star state in over three years? The State Fair, of course! Back in September, I was chowing down at the State Fair within 48 hours of landing in the US.

I had a very lofty goal of trying as many of this year’s finalists for the Big Tex Choice Awards for food. I guess three of eight isn’t too bad. Fletcher’s corny dog wasn’t on Tex’s list, but it was on mine! It was a great day spent with even better company.

Fried Sweet Texas 3 desserts in one. This amazing, but not-too-sweet treat consisted of pie dough filled with pecan pie, peach cobbler and buttermilk pie that was then deep fried. What else to serve alongside a ‘slice of pie’ than Texas’ own Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla ice cream? Yum.

Funnel Cake Ale An English style summer ale, both toasty and sweet, with subtle notes of vanilla. Served with or without a powdered sugar rim. I opted for the latter & it was delicious!

Fletcher’s Corny Dog This is the place to get a corny dog at the State Fair of Texas. Serving up hand-dipped dogs since 1942, this year’s special was a jalapeño cheddar corny dog, which I happily devoured.

Fried Sriracha Balls What do you get when you combine shredded chicken, corn, green chiles, tomatoes and Sriracha hot sauce? You get a ball of goodness that is then rolled in tortilla strips and fried to a golden brown. If that wasn’t spicy enough, you could order it with more Sriracha for dipping. Spicy and amazing!

Monrovia Highlights

February 23, 2015February 24, 2015Leave a comment

One of Jason’s and my favorite things to do during our free time is to shop for antiques, visit local thrift shops and flea markets. A few Fridays ago, we started out in Pasadena checking our thrift stores and ended our day in Monrovia, a cute little town not far from Pasadena. The main street is chock-full of fun little shops, antique stores and loads of buildings with history and character.

We worked up a bit of an appetite, so we stopped at a cute little cafe on Monrovia’s main street, Friends. Yes, after the beloved sitcom and they also serve sandwiches named after the fun bunch. The baristas there were so kind and informative. I had my first ever Green Tea Latte (seriously good stuff) and we shared a fresh made fig bar, so good!

I love the details of this movie theater and of course, the neon lights!

Zig-Zags and Booties

February 19, 2015February 19, 20152 Comments

I scored these funky little booties the other day and couldn’t wait to wear them! I’m such a sucker for boots and brown leather, but these bad boys have buckles and studs too! I got the chance to pair them with this fun little dress when Jason and I went to grab a King Cake cupcake at our favorite cupcake joint, Confexions, on Fat Tuesday. Speaking of cupcakes, I’m a sucker for those too. Laissez les bon temps roulez! (Let the good times roll!) Happy Mardi Gras, y’all!

City Eats: Austin

February 12, 2015June 26, 2015Leave a comment

One of my favorite things about visiting a new city is the food scene. I love finding the local spots and fare that a place is known for. Austin was no different. Miranda knew all the hot spots in town, so we got to chow down!

On Thursday night, after dinner and drinks at Gloria’s at the Domain, we finished our evening at Copper with martinis and cake balls. I tried this delicious oatmeal cookie martini and Italian creme cake ball; check out that fun oatmeal cookie atop the martini!

Round 1 at Torchy’s Tacos on Friday morning. Seriously, how have I never had breakfast tacos like this?! I’m a big, big fan!

Cupcakes at Sugar Mama’s. Among those we tried were the Champion Carrot Cake, made with Texas pecans, raisins, pineapple, organic carrots and topped with a vanilla cream cheese frosting. We also really enjoyed Harlow’s Honey Baklava, a buttermilk honey cake made with local honey from Round Rock, a baklava filling and topped with cinnamon buttercream and a phyllo nest.

We ended our day on SoCo with donuts from Gourdough’s Donuts. These crazy amazing and inventive donuts are served straight out of an Airstream trailer. Randa and I chose the Baby Ratter, a donut covered with fudge icing and fudge oreos with a gummy rattlesnake. Funny story: Randa and I thought gummy rattlesnake equalled a small gummy worm, so we requested two gummy rattlesnakes. We only understood the strange look received upon requesting two AFTER we realized the actual size of the rattlesnake. We could have shared one. BUT…we did finish both, out of sheer principle.

I really love the mixture of the different styles and colors of these letters!

Italian cream cake from Upper Crust Bakery for Saturday morning breakfast. I am a serious sucker for Italian cream cake! Nothing beats Grandma’s, but this one was pretty tasty.

One thing I missed like crazy while living in Germany was BBQ. One of the places to go in Austin is Salt Lick BBQ. Miranda suggested that we spend the good bit of our Saturday afternoon/evening there, so we did! The grounds of this place are gorgeous and the food is insane! I actually dream of getting back there as soon as possible!

Peach and blackberry cobbler topped with a hearty helping of Bluebell homemade vanilla. Oh, Austin, I love you!

Mini donuts from Little Lucy’s food truck on Rainey Street. I may have single-handedly finished these bad boys off…

Sunday brunch at La Madeleine. Who doesn’t have lemon tarts, pastries, and cappuccinos for breakfast?

When can I go back?!

Adventures in Austin: SoCo

February 11, 2015January 11, 2016Leave a comment

View of Austin from South Congress Ave.

I’m so thankful that during my three weeks back home in Texas, prior to arriving in California, I was able to visit Austin. One of my closest friends has lived there for the past few years and I had not seen her in over 5, so it was well over time to get there and spend some time with her! My friend, Miranda, her Mom and I had the most fun weekend catching up with each other and seeing Austin!

We spent the better part of a day exploring South Congress Avenue. SoCo, as the street is affectionately called, is known for funky and unique shops, restaurants and food trucks. We ended our day in the best way, with cupcakes from Sugar Mama’s, who do the mini-cakes proud!

Trying on a tiny hat in a costume store.

So many gorgeous boots at Allen’s Boots.

Any kind of candy you could dream up + Blue Bell ice cream at Big Top Candy Shop.

Fun + inspiring ‘art’ on SoCo.

Amy’s Ice Creams! My pick was Mexican Vanilla ice cream with praline topping. Delicious!

Cupcakes from Sugar Mama’s. Carrot Cake, Baklava + the Odd Couple.

Loved this wall mural!

TAKE A HIKE: Chantry Flat

January 29, 2015February 11, 20151 Comment

Recently, Jason and I ventured out to take our first hike in the Angeles National Forest in the San Gabriel Mountains. These gorgeous mountains are viewable from our house and are such a wonderful part of our little home here. We thought we would see the mountains from a different view and actually hike them. We decided we would ‘dip our toes’ in if you will and start with the 3.25 mile hike from the entrance to Chantry Flat Recreation Area to Sturtevant Falls. Along the path we followed, we passed Roberts Camp, a collection of turn-of-the-century resort cabins.

When we reached Sturtevant Falls, we took time to rest there and reflect. There is something to be said for spending time outdoors and allowing yourself time to be mindful of all the things you have to be grateful for.

Sturtevant Falls

A Day In: Venice Beach

January 21, 2015February 19, 20151 Comment

Last week, Jason and I spent the day in Venice Beach. We’ve been to Santa Monica a couple of times and though the two beaches are side by side, they are quite different. Personally, I prefer the gritty, artsy feel in Venice Beach. The food and people watching weren’t lacking either. We spent some time just taking in the view from the sand, walked along the promenade and checked out some of the wares of all the folks set up there, and finished off our day with a stroll in the canals and coffee.

I was both intrigued and inspired by all the art on the buildings in Venice, as well as the canals. The canals in Venice were built in 1905 by developer Abbot Kinney as part of his ‘Venice of America’ plan. Kinney wanted to recreate the canals that are characteristic of Venice, Italy in Southern California. While many of the canals gave way to automobile roads by 1929, there are still a few canals left and they are listed on the National Register of Historic Places and have been since 1982.