Category Archives: Becki Kregoski

Ladyface with Bloggers!

Last night I met up with eleven other bloggers and one of my very favorite places in the world: Ladyface.
We got seated inside at one of the long tables, but after a few minutes of screaming at each other trying to be heard, we requested a swap for a table on the patio.
I ordered my favorite: Chesebro IPA. 9.8%ABV and soopah hoppy!
It made me soopah happy.
Kaitlin being a super-creeper and getting WAY better, clearer pictures than I got. I’m not jealous of her camera or skills at all…
From left to right: Dan, Monica, Katherine and Amanda.
Left to right: Danielle and Kelley.
Jessie!
Andy!
We spent the entire night drinking delicious beer, consuming wonderful food, but most importantly, talking incessantly about beer, blogging, food, life in general, and having the most amazing, fun Friday night with new friends. I never would have thought that I would be spending a Friday night with some people that I met on the internet, and ENJOYING myself at that, but I’m hooked!
And then Amanda did the downward dog.
And our night was complete.

We’re all waiting for the group pictures to show up – I think Jessie and Kaitlin have those in their possession. I can’t think of a better way to spend my Friday than at Ladyface with good beer, good bloggers and great friends.


WHEN IS THE NEXT MEETUP??

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Filed under Becki Kregoski, beer, blogger meet-up, brewery, Chesebro IPA, IPA, Ladyface, Ladyface Ale Companie, Ladyface Alehouse and Brasserie, NEW WEBSITE, sweet potato fries, Uncategorized

Tempe Wrap Party!

     We’re done with the show!!! I’ll do a full recap tomorrow when I’m home and rested and have better internet connection, but for now I’ll share with you the amazing foods we celebrated with.

Cadillac margaritas are food. Don’t argue with me on this.
Cheese that you can set on fire? YES PLEASE!
Beautiful, sizzling happiness!
Seared Ahi! There’s my balanced part of the meal!
Aaaand cheesy bread rolls with pesto olive oil. This may have nixed the health benefits of the tuna…
If the bread didn’t do it, the chocolate toffee mousse with Kahlua definitely did.
     I found out something incredibly exciting today! I’ve been named one of “LA’s top 100 non-celebrity bloggers that you should take to lunch“! I have no idea what this means, but I’m pretty sure it means that you should all be inviting me to lunch. At least, that’s what I got from reading the article. I repeat, don’t argue with me on this!
     I’m going to pass out now – taking down a gigantic booth and then feasting upon delicious food that has been set on fire is quite exhausting. 
Take my word for it!

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Filed under Becki Kregoski, Cadillac, CHEESE ON FIRE, chocolate toffee cake, Kahlua, margaritas, seared ahi, Sparkah, Tempe, Tempe Festival of the Arts

Friday? What’s That?

     Ahhh, the bliss of a Friday –  a day that everyone looks forward to so that they can start their weekend. Wait, a weekend? What’s THAT?

     My schedule is quite sporadic. I generally work every weekend, and random days during the week with my acting class every Tuesday. I miss the old days when I had a regular school schedule all week and worked towards the weekend, and finally summer.

     Tonight is graduation night. I’ve been listening to the performances of, “I Will Survive,” reverberate through the canyon up to the house as all the seniors bid farewell to their safe little high school bubble. I never attended my graduation – never really saw the point (I’m weird, remember?), but I listen to this and enjoy what I didn’t mind missing back then. Did all of you attend your graduations?

     Today was an early day at work. I woke up and made a GM for myself. My measurements were a bit off, and I ended up having a little bit extra.

These had spinach, half a frozen banana, 1/4 cup of blueberries, soymilk, ice and a tablespoon of flaxseed peanut butter. I finished them both 🙂
     I was hoping the extra Monsta, plus the peanut butter I included would keep me full until lunch, but alas, my metabolism has gone into overdrive. Luckily, I’d thought ahead and sliced up the rest of the strawberries from yesterday’s farmers’ market to take with me.
What? I don’t read at work! I take my job very seriously! 😛
     I packed my own lunch for work today. I’ve been desperately trying to save my money to move out to the lovely Santa Monica so I can have the LA experience while enjoying some unpolluted ocean breeze. Today I had the last of the chana masala and the other half of the TJ’s garlic naan.
     I FINISHED Julie and Julia finally! Not at work… I would NEVER read at work, no matter how dead quiet it was, even if there wasn’t a single customer in the store and there was nothing better to do… I actually ended up enjoying the book! Not a fan of all the kidney/liver/organs-that-filter-out-toxins recipes, but it ended up being a good read. Although I must say, her filthiness really got to me – I can’t stand a dirty kitchen!
     After I finished lunch, I had another hour at work before my stomach began insistently calling to me. To abate it, I went to See’s Candies and got a dark almond cluster – or 4.
Not the smartest move, but 4 of these have 260 calories total, with the fat mainly coming from the roasted almonds, which help keep you full longer. I’m okay with paying that price to calm the tummy.
     I snacked on those almonds throughout the rest of my day whenever my stomach started hollering. When I got home I wasn’t very hungry, but decided to get some more veggies into my system and up my daily green count. I chopped up two small zucchinis and 5 stalks of asparagus.
     I heated up a teaspoon of olive oil in a pan over medium heat, then tossed all the veggies in and let them sear for about four minutes to create a nice brown crust.
   
     After they’d gotten that crust, I liberally sprinkled a big pinch of herbes de provence and a small pinch of salt, then placed a lid on top. If you’re like me, you can’t fancily toss the vegetables without getting them to fly all over the place, so I put the lid on top, then lifted the pan and gave it a good shake to disperse the salt and HDP. Then, I left the lid on for another 5 minutes to let the asparagus and zucchini soften in the steam.
     Now I’m relaxing watching “Build a Better Burger” on Food Network, and prepping for my Friday night! I’m going to enjoy it, even if I do have to work another full shift tomorrow before picking up a roommate at the train station.
     And now, I must admit, I lied to you all last night. I didn’t get a second So Delicious ice cream bar. The Fat Tire filled me up. I promise now that I will have two tonight to make up for the falsehoods that I claimed. I’m so, so sorry. Never again will I lie to you. Now I’m off to enjoy my Friday night! I hope you all have a lovely Friday as well!
Many blessings and happy eatings 🙂

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Filed under asparagus, Becki Kregoski, burgers, Fat Tire, Food Network, Friday, ice cream, so delicious, work, zucchini

Farmers’ Market!

     Anyone want another picture of a GM? Too bad! I forgot to take one. Whoops! I’ve got a lot of pictures to post today though, so it’s probably best I leave out the Monsta.

     Today was my day off from working out. I woke up early, had a big cup of java and a big Monsta, then basically wasted a lot of time staring out the window at the marine layer that covers SoCal every June. And then I drank more coffee.
     The roommates went on a mini-vacation down to San Diego, so I have the house to myself! Before they left, they were kind enough to leave me with a lovely scramble. 
This has one egg, zucchini, bell pepper, spinach and….
Look who’s back! HOT SAUCE!!!!
     Lunch was a repeat, not that I’m complaining! I had half a cup of leftover chana masala (which really soaked up the spice after the first day!) and half of this piece of TJ’s garlic naan.
Lunch today, and more for lunch tomorrow!
     Thursday is Farmers’ Market day! I went out and spent an hour wandering the rows:
 
     I brought back a massive bounty!
     Yes, that is Dear John, the movie – because tonight is DATE NIGHT! Cheesy films and good food, baby! 
     For dinner I made broiled tilapia with homemade chimichurri sauce. I used to buy a chimichurri sauce from the farmers’ market until it just got to be too darn expensive ($5.25 for a 9.2oz jar – it lasts for only about 2 marinades), so today I decided it was time to improvise and make my own based on the ingredients they used in theirs. The following wasn’t completely measured, so it’s a guesstimate turned into measurements:
Chimichurri Sauce a la Bexter
2 cups of fresh parsley
3 tbsp fresh oregano
4 garlic cloves
1/2 cup olive oil
2 1/2 tbsp red wine vinegar
Pinch of salt
Twist of freshly ground pepper
Pinch of chile pepper flakes
1. Rinse and dry the parsley, then tear off the leaves and toss them into a food processor.
2. Rinse and dry the oregano, then strip the leaves from the stems by pinching the top and sliding your fingers down against the grain of the stem: 
3. Measure about 3 tablespoons of the leaves into the food processor.
4. Crush 4 cloves of garlic with the blade of a knife, roughly chop, then put into food processor.
5. Pulse the food processor a few times, then add the olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt, pepper and chili pepper.
6. Blend until all the ingredients are incorporated. 
7. Bottle and refrigerate the chimichurri sauce.
     For dinner I coated the tilapia in my fresh chimichurri sauce, then placed it under the broiler for 4 minutes per side. Being the genius that I am, I forgot that olive oil has a really low smoke point and ended up opening turning on the oven fan to get rid of the small amount of smoke that billowed from the foil….Whoops 🙂 Then I topped it with another spoonful of chimichurri sauce.
     I threw together a salad of fresh mixed greens with farmers’ market strawberries that I sliced and soaked in a teaspoon of balsamic vinegar, and topped it with some pecans I toasted in a pan over medium heat for five minutes. De-freakin-licious!
     I finally got around to watching Dear John! It was… fine. Nothing thrilling, not as good as the book, but movies hardly ever are. Now I’m watching Glee reruns and trying to figure out Blogger’s new format. I JUST got used to the old one! I’m technologically-challenged as it is, are they trying to drive me crazy?
     Oh yes, and I picked up a little something for dessert to go with the strawberries. 
     Yes, those are the So Delicious coconut milk ice cream bars I’ve been lusting after for so long! I have really, really bad news: They’re AMAZING. Only 100 calories, 3.5g of fat! Not bad! I stopped at one, which is a healthy number, but that was an hour ago… I’ll probably have to have another and make sure that the first one wasn’t a fluke. I should actually, definitely go do that now…
Whoops….

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Filed under Becki Kregoski, chimichurri, famers' market, Fat Tire, kitchen sink salad, marinade, strawberries, tilapia, Whoops