Bites 'n Brews | If it tastes good, I'm there!

by Becki | April 9, 2011 · 7:17 pm

My Other Half

Yesterday was my last day of retail! I’m technically still “on-call” but after last night, there will be no more! I just can’t take it anymore – the sitting around, waiting for customers who never come, doing homework at the counter and no one really cares because there’s nothing to miss… It’s just a waste of my time, so I’m officially done!

To celebrate, I opened my second to last growler of Dos Beckis.
I think it has passed its peak! I think it’s been sitting a little too long with the trub… The flavor is a little metallic-y now, and the hops have definitely added more bitter to it. I still drank it, AND enjoyed it! No worries!

Today, I celebrated by meeting someone who I’ve only met on the internet. How risqué am I? I’ve known this person for a little over a month – we were assigned to the same group project (in an internet college course) and have exchanged many e-mails and Skype conversations. I risked my life today…
She’s TERRIFYING! This is Sofia Pernas, the most brizziliant person in my class. Seriously, she’s the only one in the entire class who uses correct grammar and doesn’t need a thesaurus to think up big words when she writes. Oh yeah, and she’s an incredibly gorgeous, talented actress. That too…
We met up at Caffe Aroma, another Breaking the Chain in Newbury Park. This place is freakin’ adorable! It’s very kitschy and is normally filled with elderly ladies wearing big red hats having tea parties. PERFECT for a first time meetup! If this scared her away, then it just wasn’t meant to be…
I ordered the ice blended green tea with boba (soy, thank you very much!) – one of the top recommended drinks to order on Yelp. This. Was. Luscious! I’d recommend this, but without the boba. The tapioca pearls varied between hard and crunchy and sickly sweet. I may have found my new substitute for my coffee until Lent is over, though! GREEN TEA SLUSHIES!
My turkey avocado sandwich in the foreground with Sofia’s tuna melt and chocolate shake in the back. I envied her combo, I must say…
…but then I saw the HUGE chunks of avocado and sprouts sticking out, layered between thick slices of bread that was baked with tons of walnuts and seeds. And my life was complete. I only finished half and asked them if they could keep the rest in their refrigerator so it wouldn’t go bad. Sweetly, they complied, “only if you don’t forget to take it with you!”

I FORGOT THE OTHER HALF 🙁The menu for this adorable little cafe is slightly pricey, but totally worth it for the peace and ambiance.
Like I said, kitschy and adorable. The service here was wonderful! The girl working behind the counter gave her recommendations, which we greedily consumed, and put up with our ridiculous giggling for FOUR hours!
Two apples, no plums.

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Tagged as boba, break in the chain, Breaking the Chain, Caffe Aroma, college course, green tea, Newbury Park, online class, sammich, Sofia Pernas, tuna melt, turkey sammich

by Becki | April 7, 2011 · 10:56 pm

Breaking the Chain: Parkview Cafe

This post is part of a new series I’m doing called “Breaking the Chain”. Check out previous broken chains like White Elephant and Rúla Búla.

There is absolutely nothing going on in my life since I’ve gotten back from Tucson. I LOVE it this way! I can finally catch up with my life, my sleep, and my EATS! My latest “break in the chain” is Parkview Cafe: a teeny tiny cafe located in the teeny tiny town of Newbury Park, California. I found this place while driving around in a glazed-over oblivion, desperate for some caffeine and brunch.
It seems very unassuming at first: located in a tiny strip mall next to a gym and a *gasp* TRADER JOE’S! (Already a bonus in my book!)
I ordered a soy chai. It came in a CERAMIC MUG!!! I haven’t gotten a chai/coffee/morning beverage in a ceramic mug since… I can’t remember when! It made me feel like I was sitting on the cozy sofa of a local coffee shop. Oh wait, I was! Let’s take a closer look…
SO PRETTY! Possibly the most delicious chai I’ve ever had. I wholeheartedly believe that ambiance truly adds to the enjoyment of food and beverages. Too bad I forgot to take pictures of the ambiance… The food was just THAT good!
I ordered the breakfast burrito. Simple, right? WRONG! This is, without a doubt, the BEST breakfast burrito I’ve ever had! I’m not sure what the owner, Abe, does to make this so amazing. Raw tortillas? Magic spices? The breath of angels? Whatever it is, I will NEVER be able to order a breakfast burrito from another restaurant without being disappointed. The intense combination of savory egg, rich sausage, saffron-scented potatoes, spicy and sweet salsa, plus whatever heavenly secrets they add make this worth the excursion. I can’t express it any more – this breakfast burrito tops any breakfast burrito you will EVER CONSUME! Disagree? Try it, then call me for a debate.

There are no other pictures. The homemade chai in a ceramic cup and the magic breakfast burrito top any other brunch I’ve eaten, and I have tried a LOT! This is one place you’ll be happy you went out of your way to try!

Tell Abe that Becki sent you. I would be proud to become a regular here!

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Filed under breakfast burrito, breakfast burrito of angels, ceramic mug, chai tea, parkview cafe

by Becki | April 5, 2011 · 9:28 pm

I Almost Did It!

I was so close!
I filled it out and brought it in. I sat down across from my manager and pulled it out. Then she stopped me.

Seriously. She said, “I can make this work!” and proceeded to show me the many, many ways I can design my own schedule, work as little as two days a month and keep my discount. I didn’t care. Then she said, “I don’t want to lose you.”

Aaaaaaah, why am I such a people-pleaser? Why do I cave when I’m complimented? I agreed.

Since I only half quit, I half celebrated with a glass of rosé. Half red, half white.

I’m half-happy. Also, half-sad.

I’m gonna go eat half a cake now.

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Tagged as I quit, resignation, rose wine

by Becki | April 2, 2011 · 9:35 pm

My New Best Friend

I want to introduce you to someone very, very special to me.
This is Wanda. Kind of like Wind, but Wand, and with an A at the end. Also named after a character in The Host. I’m a geek. In all seriousness though, if not for Wanda, I probably would have died from heatstroke from this show. The temperatures have been in the high 90s, and I think Tucson is trying to kill me. I’m not paranoid – or if I am, it’s from heat stroke.
Luckily I’ve found places that serve air conditioning. Bonus – they ALSO serve food! I’ve been frequenting my favorite little Tucson restaurant – Cafe Passe. Seriously, I’ve probably been in this place about fifteen times over the past 24 hours. Their air conditioning is that good. Oh yeah, and so is their food!
I also stumbled across this little almost gem – Magpies. Yes, they are a pizza joint. Yes, I am off of dairy for Lent. YES, they serve cheese-free pizza!!!
Wait a second, that’s not pizza! That’s a beer! WHOA! Did you guys catch that? SanTan’s Hopshock to be exact. Me gusta the hops.
THAT’S a pizza! Kind of… I got the mini pizza with pesto, roasted lemon garlic chicken, pine nuts and sundried tomatoes. They forgot the pine nuts. The sundried tomatoes were burnt. They made me a new one. The pine nuts were still missing. The sundried tomatoes were still burnt. Bummers.

Post-pizza I went out on the town. ME? OUT? On a Friday night??? Oh my geez, calm down, it’s true! Had a fun date: played pool, drank quality beer and finally got back to the hotel around 2am. I’m ca-razy like that!

I’m also functioning on 15 hours of sleep over the last three days. I think I’ll pass out now. At 10:30pm. On a Saturday night. You know why? Cause I’m ca-razy like that!

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by Becki | March 31, 2011 · 10:48 pm

Geeking Out!

It’s time you all got to know me. The REAL me. Prepare yourselves.
This is Mount Picacho. Don’t know it? Neither did I.
Until I read this book – The Host by Stephenie Meyer. Yes, that is the same woman who wrote the Twilight series.

This book is infinitely better. It’s possibly my favorite book of all time as of now. It’s definitely my favorite (and only) science fiction book I’ve ever read. I’m not ashamed.

There’s a part in The Host where the main character goes to Mount Picacho, where her old family ranch is. I found Mount Picacho. The only ranch I found was an ostrich ranch. I don’t believe they are the same…
I was excited. I’m random like that. After a few rants about how amazing the book is, I convinced my artist to read it too. She’s halfway through and absolutely adoring it. She’s the one who insisted we pull over and take pictures.
A woman after my own heart.

I’m a geek. I love Stephenie Meyer’s book The Host. I also enjoy creepy ghost towns and small puppies. Nice to meet you.

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Tagged as Arizona, Mount Picacho, Stephenie Meyer, The Host, Tucson

by Becki | March 29, 2011 · 3:42 pm

Breaking the Chain: Rúla Búla

This post is part of a new series I’m doing called “Breaking the Chain”. Check out previous broken chains like White Elephant.

After Friday’s show had wrapped up in Tempe, we closed up the booth and ventured out looking for a local restaurant to try. I’ve walked by this place a few times whilst looking for take-out lunches and wanted to check it out, so into Rúla Búla we went!
This adorable little Irish pub really has the authentic feel of Ireland – or I like to think it does. It’s hard to say, never having been there, but you can take it on my educated guess that this is very similar!
I absolutely LOVE the small tavern feel. Everything is very quaint and wooden and roughed up. It felt authentic and very cozy.
I ordered a Guinness Crown – a tall glass of Magner’s cider (Enjoyed this many a time last summer!) with a crown of Guinness on top. I’ve tried so very hard to enjoy Guinness, but it really is just not for me. I like my beer to have flavor, not taste like ashy water. My apologies to all you Guinness-lovers.
Since I didn’t get a chance to have corned beef and cabbage on St. Patrick’s Day, I ordered a big ole plate here. It was tasty, but nothing compared to what my mumsie used to make in the slow cooker. The meat was a little tough and stringy and the cabbage was slightly crunchy. I prefer it when everything is so tender that it just melts in your mouth – just the way mom makes it!

I was far too stuffed for dessert, so we toddled over to the parking lot and headed back to the hotel. Things changed when I saw that the lobby restaurant was still in full swing…
BREAD PUDDING!!!! If you’re just now finding my blog, you need to know that I have an obsession with bread pudding. Up until Sunday, I had bread pudding eight days in a row. It was a beautiful time in my life.

On a side note – I’d like to let you know that those tastings from the beer garden were 2 ounces only! The pictures make them look like a full stein, but it was a small 2 ounce glass – I got some worried queries from my mother after reading my blog, teehee!

I get one more day of relaxation (and laundry), then off to Tucson for another show!!! LOVING IT!

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Tagged as Arizona, bread pudding, Breaking the Chain, cabbage, corned beef, Rula Bula, Tempe

by Becki | March 25, 2011 · 10:19 pm

Microbreweries of Tempe

I’ve been working really hard to bring you guys some good beer stuff! We got to Tempe early on Thursday and had to wait for our room to be ready, so we headed to the hotel restaurant for some foods.
BEER IS FOOD. Oh yeah, and we had tortilla soup. No, seriously, the tortilla soup was absolutely amazing: spicy, rich, chock full of soft veggies and crispy tortilla strips, but the beer rounded out the meal. Four Peaks Raj IPA – VERY bitter, wonderful aroma, but almost no flavor. It was basically like sipping a bear trap that clamped on your tongue. You want to be macho and brave through it, but it’s really not enjoyable at all.

Today was better. There happens to be a GARDEN of BEER at the Tempe Art Festival. My boss ordered me to go to the beer garden for lunch to taste the local brews and decide on our future drinks. She’s so tough on me!
First up was Dave’s Electric Brewpub (because you couldn’t tell from the picture of the banner I just posted)…
I tried the original Dave’s Electric Beer. Honestly, it was overcarbonated and tasted like a lame Budweiser. Sorry, Dave, I really wanted to like you!
Next up was something new from Four Peaks. Wasn’t a huge fan of their Raj, but I’m always ready to give second chances!

First up was their Hop Knot IPA. SO MUCH BETTER THAN THE RAJ! This is possibly the hoppiest beer I’ve ever had. I don’t know the specific IBU, but it was like a beautiful facepunch! It was hoppy, but had TASTE unlike Raj. The bitter pain was absolutely endearing.
FOUR separate hops additions. I may be in love.
Next up was the Kilt Lifter. Hilarious name, delicious beer. Very malty with a hint of smokiness and some kind of fruit essence – Paul, whom I was sharing a table with, told me it was raspberry. I’m not in-the-know enough to detect something that specific… yet…
Finally, Sleepy Dog. The lovely gentleman working the taps gave me a few tasters before my “official” taster. I tried their Dunkel Weizen which is their seasonal beer (the dark version of their Leg Humper Hef – heehee!). It was very similar to Franziskaner Dunkel, in the best ways possible – dark and rich with banana and clove notes. Then I tried their Scootcher – a Scottish amber ale. This one tasted almost exactly like Spaten Optimator! Except better. It’s from a microbrewery, of COURSE it’s better! This and Four Peaks are in a tie for the best beer names – Kilt Lifter vs. Leg Humper!
Oops. This is where the pictures of Scootcher was supposed to go. It may or may not be the previous picture. After four tasters of beer, I was apparently losing my mind. I’M SUCH A LIGHTWEIGHT! I still have two tickets left for tasting that I’ll have to use tomorrow or Sunday. Durn!

That sums up my microbrewery tour of Tempe, Arizona! More updates coming up – with beer AND food this time! For now, I’m going to put down the fork and plate of bread pudding that I just polished off and waddle off to bed. I have a gigantic workout awaiting me in the morning. Oooooh, yes!
On an unrelated note – the Angels are staying in the exact same hotel I am! I’ve seen a ton of them – or I may have seen a ton of them… I really don’t know anyone from the team, but I’m guessing they’re the ones wearing Angels jerseys? Just a guess….

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Tagged as Angels, Arizona, baseball, beer, Dave's Electric Brewery, Four Peaks, Sleepy Dog Brewery, Tempe

by Becki | March 23, 2011 · 1:50 pm

Breaking the Chain: White Elephant

I’m starting a new blog series called Breaking the Chain. There are so many chain restaurants out there in the world that you can eat at anytime, and anywhere. I’m breaking the chain and focusing on local eateries and how they stand apart.

Local doesn’t mean only around my area – it means small establishments that are giving it a go on their own, and producing quality food that rivals, and more than often, beats the taste of large chains that manufacture their foods without giving it a second thought. This will include mom and pop places in Arizona, California, Washington and other places I travel to.

My first break: White Elephant.
I discovered this lovely little Thai restaurant about two years ago when I was taking classes down the street. The owner, Nok, is a sweet woman who goes above and beyond to ensure that her guests are served the best tasting, freshest food possible.
Case in point: I ordered a Thai iced tea and asked if they had any soymilk to substitute for the evaporated milk (dairy-free Lent!). They were out of soy, but our waiter ended up running over to the local Whole Foods and bringing back soymilk so I could enjoy Thai tea! I was in shock! Seriously, AMAZING customer service!
My roommate and I ordered the Tom Kha Gai – a coconut milk-based soup with chicken, mushrooms, lemongrass and galangal root. They lit the hot pot as it got to our table which kept the tangy, savory soup warm while we slowly sipped it.
We also split the pineapple fried rice. We requested that it be made with brown rice, and cooked with as little oil as possible. Instead of grumbling over our substitutions and requests, they brought out the most beautifully presented dish I’ve ever seen. The nutty brown rice was encased in half of a pineapple shell, and studded with tender peas and carrots, juicy raisins and chunks of pineapple, succulent shrimp that were perfectly cooked, and crunchy cashews.

After our meal, we were STUFFED!
Or we thought we were… Then Nok sent out a complimentary dessert of sweet rice and mango! Over the years, she’s learned that this is our absolute favorite dessert, and was kind enough to top off our amazing meal with tender, ripe mango and sweet coconut-scented rice sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds.

Okay, NOW were were stuffed!

White Elephant is located at 668 N. Moorpark Road in Thousand Oaks, California. If you want a delicious meal that you know is made on site and not pulled from a freezer and reheated, check this place out – and tell Nok that Becki says hi! This is my absolute favorite Thai restaurant in the Pacific Coast time zone, and believe me, I’ve tried them all!

Is there a local eatery that you absolutely swear by? Please feel free to Break the Chain and write about your favorite one! Let’s support these mom and pop establishments!

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Tagged as Break the Chain, eat local, local, mom and pop, sweet rice and mango, tom kha gai, White Elephant

by Becki | March 21, 2011 · 9:49 am

My Pompous Lunch

Yesterday I was stuck working my lovely retail job all day. Turns out, this wasn’t a bad thing. The weather in Southern California was absolutely insane! I spent the drive to work dodging falling branches and hydroplaning through lakes in the middle of the roads. Apparently, right after I left, THIS happened:
Since that tree just happened to block off my way home, I decided to take a long, leisurely lunch at work.
Jane Eyre, a glass of red wine, freshly baked bread and olive oil. How uppity am I?

There were also some braised short ribs on wilted spinach later, but that de-snobs my premise. Plus, the picture came out blurry.

By the time I headed home, a huge firetruck had shoved the big tree out of the road and, after rerouting me through two different neighborhoods, I finally pulled into my driveway in one piece.

I received another package from Foodbuzz and decided that baking would be a perfect way to spend a chilly evening.
Although I received this bread free from Nature’s Pride, my opinions are my own. WOW, having to say that all the time is going to get annoying! I like that this bread actually expires in six days and isn’t stuffed with preservatives like other store-bought breads so they’ll stay mold-free for two months.
I LOVE WHOLE WHEAT! Not sure why they felt the need to add raisin juice concentrate, vinegar, cultured corn solids or soy lecithin. Or whey for that matter. GREAT bread can easily be made with whole wheat flour and grains, water, honey, salt and yeast.

One thing I know, it makes a DANG GOOD bread pudding!
I may have a little bread pudding problem… Once I have it, I have to keep having it until all the bread is gone from my house. Uh-oh…

This bread pudding is a miniature of my Magical Bread Pudding. I basically split the recipe in half and filled a really teeny ramekin. I also subbed coconut milk for soy milk. The result? A souffle of warm cinnamon, sweet chocolate and moist (sorry) bread with crunchy flax seeds throughout. I haven’t tried the bread on its own, but for this recipe, it’s a winner!

Today looks like it’s going to be sunny, but after my pompous lunch and bread pudding, I don’t know if I’m okay with that…

Curling up and watching an indie-film marathon sounds much, much better to me!

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Filed under bread, Bread pudding, bread pudding makes me happy, Crazy storm, fallen trees, FOOD, Foodbuzz, Jane Eyre, Magical Bread Pudding, Nature's Pride, red wine

by Becki | March 19, 2011 · 1:29 pm

Bernard’s Wine Gallery

My friend and cousin Allie came over for a day of wine tasting and food eating yesterday. I had a Groupon for wine tasting that I bought way back in December, and it was expiring in three days. We jumped in the car and headed over to Calabasas to Bernard’s Wine Gallery. Tip: Pull into the free parking lot to the left of the store and try to get parking there if you can. When we got there, no spots were left. We ended up driving down the street and valeting with some snobby, uppity guys who scoffed at us and begrudgingly agreed to valet after hearing where we were going.
As you can tell, I got really dressed up for the occasion…
We “splurged” and got the Petit Sirah tasting. The Groupon got us a wine tasting for two people for only $15, but the Sirah tasting was $3 extra per person. We figured we could spare the extra cash, even though we’d gone all fancy with valet.
Our favorite was the third one – Hunt Cellars Irresistable Paso Robles Petite Sirah from 2002. We jokingly asked for a refill and the wonderful gentleman who was serving us generously poured us another taste!
Allie is well-versed when it comes to wine. Seeing that this was my first wine tasting, I did a lot of nodding and agreeing with whatever she said. It all tasted good to me!

After our four tastings, we roamed the adorable little shop for a bit, talked with some of the staff and finally went to retrieve my car from the snobby valets, who we tipped because I’m so very, very nice. It was around dinnertime, so we headed over to… LADYFACE!!!
Ahhh, this is MY kind of place!
I tried their oaked blueberry Trois Filles Tripel that had real wild blueberries in the glass. This beer was very mild, slightly sweet and very tasty, however I just cannot get used to drinking room temperature beer. I went with my current Ladyface favorite – Chesebro IPA.
We split the sweet potato fries with red ale ketchup – another one of my “regular” orders, along with the sausage plate.
BREAD PUDDING!!! We specifically requested a center piece of the bread pudding (I’ve found the corner pieces are dry and hard) and it was AMAZING! Notes of sweet cinnamon, rich caramel and nutmeg made for the best bread pudding I’ve ever tasted in my entire life – including mine! Okay, maybe not QUITE better than mine, but pretty close!