The most important meal of the day

I love me some breakfast. It's probably my favorite meal to go out for. Yesterday I had breakfast and Cafe on Park with my friend, Lana. It was my first time eating there and it was SO good. Whenever we go out for breakfast, we order a sweet dish and a savory dish then we just share them. This time we ordered the Captain Crunch Pancake and a meatloaf, sundreid tomato, spinach, onion, and mozarella cheese egg scramble. When they brought out the pancake I was surprised. It was the biggest pancake EVER. It's kinda hard to see its humungousness from this picture (which I got off of yelp), but trust me - it's HUGE! And super yummy too.

The egg scramble was also very very tasty. Cafe on Park is a definite winner. I've heard good things about their waffle. I'll have to go back soon and try it.

Happy almost Valentine's Day!

Tomorrow the boy and I are going out to dinner. Nothing too fancy or expensive though, just a simple and relaxed dinner. We don't even exchange gifts. He gets me flowers, but that's it. It's okay though, because I'm not really into Valentine's Day.

I was going to just cook dinner at home. Then I realized that I can't even remember the last time the boy and I went out for a nice dinner alone. We've been together for so long, that we often find ourselves just hanging out at home or only going out when there are other people involved. Me thinks that we need to have date nights more often.

1500 Ocean Review

Restaurant week was a few weeks ago. We went to 1500, which is located inside of Hotel del. I failed to recap about it for two reasons: laziness and a lack of pictures. The boy forgot his camera! Instead, I've gathered a bunch of pictures that I found on other websites or blogs.






Here's what we ordered:
Appetizers: Celery Root Soup: Grilled mushroom, chive oil and Cured Yellowtail: Jicama, chili, avocado mousse

Main Course: Seared Diver Scallops: Squash puree, shaved brussel sprouts, almond brown butter and Grilled Angus Beef Culotte: Olive oil crushed potatoes, smoked bacon, persimmon salad

Dessert: Warm Chocolate Chipotle Cake: Caramel ice cream, banana and Mango Crème Brulee: Fennel compote

Everything was very very good. They also start you out with bread for the table. There are 2 kinds of bread, cheese biscuits and something else. I don't remember what the other bread is because I didn't like it and I LOVED the cheese biscuits. I probably had about 4 of them. I really wanted to have more, but I was being self-conscious about how many I had. Nobody else was eating as much as I was. Everything we had was perfectly cooked and tasted so good. My only complaint is that there wasn't enough of it! Not that the portions were small, I just wanted more :) My meat was perfectly cooked and the crushed potatoes were the perfect compliment to them. The bacon added a nice touch to the potatoes. The scallops, were again, perfectly cooked - brown on the outside and nice and buttery on the inside. The cake was sooooo good. I'd never had chocolate that was spicy, so I was really excited to try this out. I enjoyed the little kick the spice gave to the desert, the boy not so much. The mango creme brulee was just as good, smooth and creamy. Perfect for anyone who doesn't really enjoy chocolate.

Bread basket (Following pictures stolen borrowed from Alice Q Foodie)


Chipotle cake


A few notes, not food related. It was difficult to get a reservation. When we got there it wasn't very busy and I saw lots of empty tables the whole night. Weird. Maybe people didn't show up or they underbook so that hotel guests won't have trouble eating there if they want? The service was great. The waiter was very attentive. There was also a guitar player at the restaurant. We were seated a few tables away from him. At first I thought it might get annoying, but he wasn't overly loud or anything. It ended up being nice background music. The decor was elegant and nice. It wasn't as stuffy or old as I had expected since the del is an old hotel. It would be nice to go back when the weather is warmer so that we could eat outside and enjoy the nice oceanside view.

Overall, it was a great meal. And at $40, a definite steal!

Time to stock up

In need of some wine? Check out Wally's tent sale in Westwood this weekend. I sound like a commercial, don't I?

That's it for this post. I tried coming up with something else fun and/or witty to add, but I got nothing. That's all. Just go by yourself some good and cheap wine.

Happy early birthday to me

I scored a pair of Lanvin ballet flats at the Barney's sale this weekend. The boy actually bought them for me as part of my birthday gift. They were quite the splurge. I also got a Top Shop top. The boy picked up a pair of shoes. I was hoping to find some boots. No such luck. I only saw two pairs of boots in my size. Both pairs were just eh. I didn't spend much time browsing the racks of clothes at the sale. By the time we got there, I had a horrible headache and just wasn't in the mood. There are many things that can cause me to not be in the mood. Headaches. Uncomfortable clothing and/or shoes. Crowds. All three non-shopping mood causing factors were present on Saturday.

Before heading home, we ate at Bossa Nova over on Pico and swung by Beard Papa's for some yummy cream puffs.

Here is a rundown of my Sunday

• Slept in. Missed church - oops!
• Walked the dog. Had breakfast then gave the dog a much needed bath.
  
• After everyone was clean, the boy, the dog and I all fell asleep on the bed. Can we say lazy?
• Woke up from aforementioned nap and did homework while the boy watched basketball and played xbox.
• Had dinner with the boy and his parents before driving back home to San Diego.

Currently

• Wishing it wasn't Sunday night and that I didn't have to work tomorrow
  

going to see Barney

No, not that Barney. A better barney. On my way to Santa Monica to check out the semi-annual Barney's warehouse sale (oh, and to see the boy too). I'll let you know how it is.

40 days and 40 nights

Yesterday was Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. During this time, you're supposed to give up something such as chocolate or candy or smoking or drinking. It's a sacrifice you're making. In the past, I've given up soda, coffee, and chocolate. I've been trying to think of what to give up this year. I was having a hard time coming up with something. I don't drink soda or snack as frequently as I did in the past. I don't smoke. So instead of giving up something, I decided I would DO something everyday instead. I'm going to do some kind of exercise every day. Some sort of exercise for at least 10 minutes a day. I won't necessarily go to the gym everyday, but I will at least do one of my work out dvds or yoga here at home. In a way, I'll be sacrificing my time. Lately, I've been too lazy to go to the gym and I come up with a gazillion excuses to not go. I have to much to do. I'm hungry. I'm tired. I don't feel good. It's too cold outside. It's raining, etc, etc, etc

Burger Lounge

Last night I ate at Burger Lounge in Kensington with the boy. I was looking forward to it, as I've heard so many good things about the place. We both had the Grilled Lounge Burger with cheddar cheese. We also had french fries, onions rings and a chocolate malt. The food was good, just not amazingly good. Nothing that I'll find myself craving. I'd go back if someone else wants to go, but I probably won't go back on my own. It's basically fast food, only higher quality ingredients such as tall grass fed beef. Maybe I just had high expectations going into it. I was expecting a mind-blowingly good burger. The fries and onions rings were really good, probably my favorite part. The breading on the onion rings is nice and light. Both the fries and the rings were seasoned with parsley and kosher salt, making them deeeelish.

I hear the turkey burger is better than the beef burger. If I go back, I'll try that instead.

Happy Super Tuesday

Well, I didn't technically vote today. I sent in my absentee ballot awhile ago. I've never been to an actual polling place. I've always voted via absentee.

Suggestions, please

A group of my friends would like to go wine tasting in Temecula. Any suggestions on wineries, tours, or hotels we should look into?

It's picture time

My lazy butt finally found my camera and its cords and stuff. Here's some pictures of what I cooked over the weekend.

Lemon blossoms

I would highly recommend the lemon blossoms. They are probably one of my favorite things to bake. Plus, they are super simple to make. Anybody can do it. No special baking skills necessary. They are lemony, sweet, and just a bit tart. I could eat the whole batch in one sitting. They aren't the prettiest mini-muffin, but they are soooo good.

Here's the recipe (from Paula Deen):

18 1/2-ounce package yellow cake mix
3 1/2-ounce package instant lemon pudding mix
4 large eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil
Glaze:
4 cups confectioners' sugar
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1 lemon, zested
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 tablespoons water


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Spray miniature muffin tins with vegetable oil cooking spray. Combine the cake mix, pudding mix, eggs and oil and blend well with an electric mixer until smooth, about 2 minutes. Pour a small amount of batter, filling each muffin tin half way. Bake for 12 minutes. Turn out onto a tea towel
To make the glaze, sift the sugar into a mixing bowl. Add the lemon juice, zest, oil, and 3 tablespoons water. Mix with a spoon until smooth.

With fingers, dip the cupcakes into the glaze while they're still warm, covering as much of the cake as possible, or spoon the glaze over the warm cupcakes, turning them to completely coat. Place on wire racks with waxed paper underneath to catch any drips. Let the glaze set thoroughly, about 1 hour, before storing in containers with tight-fitting lids.



BBQ chicken pizza

I like making this because it requires very little prep and effort on my part. Just cover with toppings and put it in the oven. Done. The hardest part is chopping all the ingredients.

I wanna rock and roll all niiiiiight and party every day

I played Rock Band for the first time this weekend. SO. MUCH. FUN. I have Guitar Hero 1, 2, and 3. I could probably just get rid of all those games now that I'm the proud owner of Rock Band. (I'll keep them though, just because they have some good songs.) Rock Band is better than Guitar hero, I think. There's drums, guitars, and singing so more people can get involved. It's a blend of karaoke and guitar hero - it's 2 games in one. Is karaoke a game? Not really, but for arguements sake, we'll say it is. I guess you could say Magic Mic is a game. You get scored on it. Tangent, I know. The drums were really hard for me at first, but now I think I'm better at the drums than I am with the guitar. The game is a tad bit expensive, but it's worth every penny (especially since I didn't technically buy the game - my roommate did).

Here's a recap of the rest of my weekend:
Last night I had dinner with my friend, Lana. We ate at a Thai restaurant in Hillcrest called Celadon. The food is good and the atmophere is nice - classy and clean, yet chic and trendy. Then we hung out at her place, drinking wine, eating lemon blossoms that I baked, and chatting. Good times.

Today I didn't even bother watching the Superbowl. Lame, I know. I guess my heart's just not into it. I played Rock Band, did some grocery shopping, and did accounting homework instead. Can it get any more exciting than that? I don't think so.