by | November 21, 2010 · 7:31 am

Too Much Food!

     JUST KIDDING! There’s no such thing as too much food!

Indian food twice in three days? 
Okay by me!!
Whole wheat gnocchi with sauteed zucchini, vodka sauce and freshly Microplane-d parmesan cheese?
Win!!!
Wild-caught salmon, sweet potato, green beans, mac ‘n cheese and a Sapporo beer, all cooked by the roommate (except for the beer)?
Can’t complain!

Four extra pounds in two weeks?
So worth it!

I think I’ll head to the gym now…

2 Comments

Filed under FOOD, gnocchi, green beens, Indian Food, poundage, salmon, Sapporo, sweet potato, vodka sauce, whole wheat gnocchi, zucchini

by | November 19, 2010 · 4:52 am

It’s a Small World After All!

     I visited some pretty cool places yesterday!

A really old-fashioned bar…
An old-fashioned kitchen…
They were making HUGE old-fashioned jelly rolls!
Found a cute little Italian restaurant… (semi-old fashioned)
A local magazine rack… (not old-fashioned)
A fancy bakery…
And a little farmhouse!
     The cool thing about all these places? They were just big enough to put my hand into! I visited a miniature store, Larrianne’s Small Wonders, which is basically where they sell dollhouses and doll-sized objects.
Another old bar with Santa in the background, getting wasted.
Breakfast in bed!
These things are so detailed!
Beer and pizza!
Everything is wired and functional!
Fancy drinks!
A big selection of drinks!
Just a sample of the houses they had in the store…
     I spent quite a while in the store, taking massive amounts of pictures (with permission, of course), completely enthralled at how much detail these people put into the miniature artwork. Those magazines on the picture above were as big as my thumbnail, and so elaborate! The artists have much more patience and talent than I can ever hope of having!
Creepy. Amazingly well-done and detailed, but creepy.

5 Comments

Filed under bakery, bar, dollhouse, Heineken, Italian, jelly roll, kitchen, magazine rack, miniatures, old-fashioned, restaurant, Santa Claus

by | November 17, 2010 · 6:14 am

THIS POST MAKES NO SENSE!

Don’t say I didn’t warn you!
The fate of an overzealous bee who attempted to cross the highway.
Lemon bars are luscious.
I eat them like a lady.
AND THEN I DRINK LIKE A LADY!
This painting is creepy.
Dude on right looks freaked out by extremely long finger that caresses his neck.
Choppers I saw on Lynn’s blog! I ran to Sur la Table to get them.
And mini-bread pans. Just ‘cuz.

4 Comments

Filed under beer, Danger Relax Please, growlers, Jenny Hou, Karl Strauss, lemon bars, Malachi Rempen, Michaelangelo, Pieces of bee, Red Trolley, Toss and Chop

by | November 15, 2010 · 9:23 am

Visual Utopia!

     Hi, I’m Becki. Welcome to my life. It is jam packed with creativity (mostly created by other people, but sometimes I have inspiration and get all artsy).

Some artists are scary. Very, very scary!
     My life is also full of food. TONS and TONS of food!
Yesterday’s roasted veggie scramble with fresh tortillas and salsa at Sofrita.
OH YES!
Lemon pecan pancakes, full of lemon zest and crunchy pecans.
The lightest pancakes I’ve ever eaten!
Coffee is food.
Peanut butter cookie topped with apricot jam!
Gigantic turkey legs and foot-long hot dogs… turkey legs are food, as for the hot dogs – the verdict is still out on whether or not these are actually food.
Puppies are delicious, but again, not food.
Margaritas with salt are not food, but when you send it back and get one WITHOUT salt, it is the consumable.
Tex-Mex rolls with a chipotle-ranch dip. FRIED! Yum.
     
     Last night we (the artist and myself) went to Visual Utopia, aka VU Bistro, for dinner with some clients.
I ordered the grilled salmon with garlic mashed potatoes and roasted baby carrots. I honestly don’t think I’ve ever had such perfectly cooked salmon!
Of course we had to get dessert! Our awesome waiter brought us the very last slice of flourless chocolate cake. I almost cried tears of joy, but that would have made the cake too salty.
Visual Utopia. It’s named that for a reason!
It’s a small romantic and exquisite restaurant with live entertainment. Last night’s singer, Tommy Holloway, has a vocal range of FIVE OCTAVES! Unheard of! How does he not ridiculously famous yet???
     My time in Fountain Hills is coming to an end. We packed up the booth tonight, I suffered many crushed and bloodied fingers, and tomorrow we’ll head back home where I can breathe a sigh of relief and prepare for the next trip. I love my life. I’m blessed beyond words.

Comments Off on Visual Utopia!

Filed under art festival, Flapjacks, margaritas, pancakes, Sofrita, Tommy Holloway, Visual Utopia, VU Bistro

by | November 13, 2010 · 7:39 am

Fountain Hills, Day Two!

     I went running this morning. It sucked. Massively. You tend to forget how much you hate running once you start getting that runner’s high, but I’m happy to remind you that it is AWFUL. I went for thirty minutes around Fountain Hills and stopped in the grocery store to pick up some sunscreen and eye drops, which are both a necessity when you’re in Arizona.

Post evil-death-trap run, I stopped in the hotel restaurant for some coffee and “The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest“.
I also was served a GIGANTIC plate of food. I ordered the pollo skillet that had chicken, green chilies, tomatoes, onions and potatoes, served with two scrambled eggs and a side of whole wheat toast. I ate about an eighth of this monster plate. WAY too much food for one person!
I walked by the beautiful lake to get to our booth.
Artsy picture-bomb begins NOW!
LOVE IT!
And now for the food picture-bomb:
These were so good! I’m not sure I can rationalize six bucks for a bag though…
These greyhounds were not part of the food section. Just in case you were wondering…
     I went to back Sofrita for lunch.
I ordered a tuna melt – something I used to think was disgusting, but was just craving today. It was delicious! As was the chickpea, kidney bean and corn salad topped with cilantro.
The lake has a fountain (Fountain Hills, what a concept…) that shoots up every hour on the hour. I think it’s very smart of them to use all that energy to shoot water up into the dry, arid Arizona air where it can evaporate. Appearances are very important.
I get paid to hang out here. It’s a rough life I lead!
     After the show wrapped and we zipped up the booth, we headed out with some of the other artists for dinner.
First things first…
I’ve never had Chianti before. Pretty durn good!
This place is a little hole in the wall with just enough seating for about fifteen people.
Eggplant parmesan with garlic rolls. I had about three bites of this before I was stuffed. I’ve been sampling pecans, gelato, wild strawberry-lavender jam, tropical salsas and fudge all day.
And I’m officially done in.
Sports bar on a Friday night? I think so!
Please let there be a hockey game on. If it’s basketball, I’m going to fall asleep.

2 Comments

Filed under caricatures, Chianti, Chocolate, Fountain Hills, gelato, greyhound rescue, greyhounds, Pottery, Redendos, running, Sofrita, sweet jalapeno pecans, The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest, turkey legs

by | November 12, 2010 · 10:21 am

Blurbin’ from Fountain Hills!

     It’s 10:40pm Arizona time, and I’m about to fall asleep on my keyboard, so how about another blurb post? Hint: your answer is, “YES! THERE IS NOTHING BETTER THAN A BLURB POST WHEN YOU’RE SLEEPY, BECKI!”

Ahhh, the beautiful mountains and buzzing power lines…
I am in love with these trees.
I also LOVE abandoned buildings!
This place was built as a racetrack for harness-racing, and has been unused for over forty years! I’ll definitely be needing to trespass and take some pictures on an upcoming trip :).
Random building in the middle of the desert.
Welcome to Fountain Hills, AZ.
A little slice of Native American/Retiree heaven.
Dinner time! Hello, Sofrita!
I LOVE the decor here!
I see selections for tomorrow’s meals too!
Any place that ties their napkins with tweed gets on my happy-list!
(I don’t know if it’s tweed. I just felt like saying tweed. Tweed makes my happy-list too!)
I got the vegetarian Guantanamera wrap which has grilled seasonal vegetables that have been chilled (apparently that’s a very popular thing in Arizona! I dig it!), served with hummus, lettuce, tomato and a ginger dressing.
After three hours of heavy lifting and power tools (‘cuz I’m badass like that…), I went for a beer with my friend Ben, whom I met at the Carefree Arts Festival. We’re on the same Arizona circuit for the rest of the year!
Nothing local, but I was willing to try something from Oregon!
I wasn’t up for another full beer, so the lovely bartender, Mo, gave me a half of the Mirror Pond Ale (also by Deschutes) for free.
Me as a little girl. 

THE END.

1 Comment

Filed under Arizona, art festival, Black Butte Porter, Deschutes, Fountain Hills, Guantanamera, harness racing, mexican food, motorcycles, Native American, Retired, Retiree, Sofrita

by | November 10, 2010 · 11:43 pm

Recuperation!

     It is wonderful to be back home! I’ve been recuperating from the long weekend in Arizona, and now I’m packing up my suitcase again to head BACK TO ARIZONA tomorrow! That’s right, I’ve got another art festival to attend, this time in Fountain Hills. If you’re in the area, come see me!

This has been my staple breakfast at home: A hot-boiled egg (all the rage in Germany, where my roommate recently returned from), and a Pumpkin Pie Monsta!
     I spent all day yesterday running errands and took a break a few towns over to get some lunch.
I got a personal pizza with whole wheat crust, spinach, tomatoes, bell peppers and soy cheese.
My friend went all healthy on me and got a salad with heart of palm, carrots, bell peppers, walnuts, mushrooms and sesame dressing on the side.
PizzaSalad – All the ingredients here are completely organic and farmed locally! Love it!
     I’ve got to finish up laundry so I can keep packing, and head to the library to pick up some books I’ve been waiting for. Then I’m off to get my mane weed-whacked and get to end the day at my lovely retail job. Daily life is so NORMAL! I don’t know how to handle it!

1 Comment

Filed under Arizona, art festival, Fountain Hills, green business, green monster, hot-boiled egg, organic, pizza, PizzaSalad, Pumpkin Pie Monsta, salad, soy cheese

by | November 8, 2010 · 11:25 am

Goodbye, Carefree!

     Today was the final day of the Carefree Fine Arts and Wine Festival… until January. And March. That’s right, I’ll be back here three times a year! My new job kicks ass!

     To bid a fond adieu to the wonderful city of Carefree, we woke up at 6am and headed to the festival to get good parking so I could move the van as soon as the show wrapped and not have to risk running down fellow artists in the desperate attempt to get packed as soon as possible. Since we’d arrived so early, we got to enjoy a leisurely breakfast on the patio.

There’s nothing wrong with having repeats for breakfast, but this was the only place that happened to be open early, so I stuck with something semi-healthy. Veggie omelets are a good stand-by for me.
     It was a slightly busier day, so I spent a lot of time at the booth chatting with the other artists and some rabid fans who collect my artist’s oil paintings. We were lucky enough to have lunch brought to us by the amazing Chef Sara! I am head over heels for this woman’s food!!!
She brought us a raw vegan wrap made with alfalfa sprouts, lettuce, carrots, cucumber, red cabbage, falafel (not fried, being RAW and all that), and a vegan tahini sauce, surrounded by seaweed. Not too long ago, I would not have touched this with a ten-foot pole, but I was AMAZED at how delicious this was!!! Sara, can you come live with me??
My only complaint – floss is needed immediately after eating unless you want to frighten people off with your algae-covered teeth. It’s a price I’d be willing to pay!
She also brought us raw cheesecake! This one is goji berry.
I AM SO SPOILED! This was the tastiest cheesecake I’ve ever had in my entire life – no cheese needed!
She also gave me the lavender cheesecake to sample.
It was very perfume-y, but still delectable.
     I bought some of the donut holes to take home as a gift for the roommates to try. I’ll tell you, if I could afford it and all my food tasted like this, I could be a raw vegan for life! I am utterly floored by how delicious this meal was!
     When the show wrapped at 5pm, there was a desperate race for the parking lot while all of the artists fought to get their vans and trailers to their booths as quickly as possible. I managed to get the very first spot and therefore navigated to my spot very quickly. It took about three hours to break down the booth and get everything packed up, then we headed to Venues Cafe for a celebratory dinner.
Of course I had to have an Easy Street… or two. Hey, it’s a celebration after all!
I got the grilled vegetable and avocado sandwich on fresh focaccia again – if it ain’t broke, why fix it?
A group of us spent about two hours at the restaurant and I ended with a decaf cappuccino topped with warm cinnamon.
Alec, the wonderful waiter who accommodated me all SEVEN TIMES that I went into the restaurant, brought out a complimentary chocolate mousse topped with vanilla amaretto cookies and fresh orange slices.
     When we got back to the hotel, I went to the pool for a quick swim and spent half on hour floating in the warm water, staring at the stars as my breath created puffs of white in the chilly air, and thanking God for blessing me with such a precious, wonderful new adventure. I am so thankful.
A perfect ending to an amazing weekend!

6 Comments

Filed under amaretto, Arizona, cappuccino, Carefree, cheesecake, Chef Sara, chocolate mousse, Easy Street, Fine Arts and Wine Festival, God, goji berry, lavender, lucky girl, raw organic vegan, vegan, Venues Cafe

by | November 7, 2010 · 11:10 am

Vegan Donut Holes and Jewelry!

     Exercise of the day: 35 minutes on the elliptical in the teeny fitness room at level 12, followed by triceps and bicep weights, squats and crunches, all while watching the Colorado Avalanche game (they DESTROYED the Dallas Stars, 5-0. My night is complete now 🙂 ). I refueled with some of this:

Freshly-made fudge! Wholesome, eh? The guy running the fudge booth gave me an “artist discount” on a huge chunk of fudge that was so fresh, it was still warm.
     I started the day off right – a big, heart-healthy breakfast!
I got the avocado, egg, butter lettuce, and tomato on an english muffin with a side of fruit.
     I perused the show a bit more since it was a slow day….
     …then headed back to the booth to do some reading.
Which one do I read? They’re both so well written!!!
(Is anyone else obsessed with reading menus?)
I went back to Venues Cafe for lunch and got a salad of butter lettuce, figs, goat cheese and hazelnuts drizzled with balsamic syrup and a red wine vinaigrette. 
     When I got back to the booth, a friend of my artist had stopped by and dropped off some samples from a new restaurant she’s opening in December.
RAW ORGANIC VEGAN??? GIMME!!!
Vegan fudge with ginger and coconut.
Rich, chocolate-y and heavenly.
Next up were my favorites: DONUT HOLES!
I’m going to get more info on what’s in these tomorrow, but I know that there are dates, almonds, and something freaking MAGICAL in these soft, sweet and slightly salty balls of fluff. If you do order anything from her, these would be my first recommendation!!!
     Our booth neighbor, Julie Glassman, makes some amazing jewelry. I spent a lot of the day hanging out at her booth, staring longingly at the earrings.
We also rescued a cat today. We’re responsible like that.
She creates her jewelry with powdered glass and precious metals.
Each piece is like a tiny painting!
I think I’m going to go broke working at all these shows…
     For dinner, a group of artists went to a Mexican-fusion restaurant and had some interesting conversations about art, festivals, and neuroscience. Two of the artists who do photography used to work in neuroscience, then decided to leave their company and travel the world taking incredible pictures. It was a night full of variety, that’s for sure!
The courtyard we ate at is BEAUTIFUL!
Milk Stout? Longmont, CO? I had to try it!
HOLY GEEZ. This is the thickest beer I’ve ever had. Don’t get me wrong, it was delicious, but the first sip was like drinking sweetcream butter. Delicious, alcoholic sweetcream butter.
I ordered the spicy tacos with ahi tuna instead of mahi mahi.
It was served with jalapeno aiolo, spicy white beans and sliced avocado.
     I’m fairly certain I’ll be heading home with a few extra pounds on my frame, and I’m perfectly content with that. It’s a learning process :). Now I’m off to sleep so I can wake up and get to the show in five and a half hours… Oh, joy…

1 Comment

Filed under ahi tuna, butter lettuce, Colorado Avalanche, donut holes, FUDGE, Julie Glassman, milk stout, organic, raw organic vegan, The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest, vegan, Venues Cafe

by | November 6, 2010 · 9:21 am

Ho Hum Road and Easy Street!

Told you I wasn’t lying!!
     I have a feeling the art show blogs will be mostly pictures, because I have taken SO MANY that I want to share, plus I’m exhausted and not feeling witty at all after a full day at the festival AND an hour on the treadmill in our little fitness room at the hotel. Phew, even typing that makes my brain sore. Okay, picture attack starts….NOW!
Veggie omelette with two eggs, bell peppers, onions, tomatoes, cheddar cheese and a side of home fries.
Freshly made biscuit drenched in honey.
THE ELIXER OF LIFE!!!
Our neighboring booth’s bronze sculptures and waterfalls.
Oil paintings.
Freeform pottery by Ken!
Creepy metal birds!
Appliqued mirrors!
Evil cactus that cut open my arm yesterday.
I’M GONNA KICK IT.
Lounging at lunch.
O’Dell’s Easy Street Wheat! And I just now realized why they serve it on EASY STREET.
Shut up. It’s been a long day.
Grilled veggie sammich again! These veggies are grilled in olive oil, then chilled before placed in this fresh, warm foccacia. I am in love with the hot/icy combo. Perfect for chowing down on an 85 degree day!
The genius artist herself. Eating 🙂. We make a good match!
Spider attack!
Fudge?
Fudge.
Fudge!
FUDGE!!!
So true, fudge. So true.
You can’t go wrong with Herbes de Provence! Or goat cheese…
My first time having Mediterranean food!
A promising start…
Baba Gannnouj – That’s how they spelled it. Three N’s means three times as good, yes?
YES!
     I got falafel in pita bread for dinner, but by the time it came, it was too dark and the picture didn’t come out at all. Just know that it was delicious – fried things always are.
     That’s all she wrote! She’ll take more pictures tomorrow to imprint into your minds. She’ll also stop talking in the third person, but hopes you’ll excuse her, seeing as she spent the entire day shmoozing with amazing artists, trying not to overheat in the Arizona air, eating massive amounts of food and wearing a dress.
Wearing a dress is very difficult for her.

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Filed under baba gannouj, biscuits, coffee, creepy metal birds, devil-possessed cactus, Easy Street, Easy Street Wheat, Efes, falafel, FUDGE, Ho Hum Road, O'Dell's, oil painting, Pottery, sculptures