It just isn’t summer without the Orange County Fair

Ed & I missed the fair last year, so we made sure to make it this year! We were seriously fiending for some of that grilled corn on the cob, and we always like seeing the wacky homegrown produce and all of the animals. What we weren’t expecting was to be spectators at the Pig Races! It was surprisingly fun … and those little pigs are adorable! Ed snapped the camera at just the right time:

Amazing, right?!? Those guys were fast! And we are proud to report that our section’s pig, Yukon, brought home the bacon and earned first place in the race! He’s pictured below – the brown little guy with the red bib:

Here we are, happy to be spectators!

After all that excitement, we had to get our corn on the cob fix!

All in all, it felt like a very summery day, and we even took a ride on the skyway …

No fried twinkies, but we did get our rings cleaned. It was a pretty good trip to the fair!

Lemon Cake Craftiness

To celebrate Danna’s upcoming wedding, of course we had to throw her a bridal shower.  I was lucky to have co-hosted the shower with her cousin, and fellow bridesmaid, Colleen and Danna’s Aunt Mary.  In honor of the bride, I decided to make mini-Lemon Cakes, as Lemon Cake is Danna’s favorite dessert.

To begin, I found these awesome mini-loaf pans from BakeItPretty.com.  I LOVE this site – so many amazing things, because presentation is just as important to me as the taste!

There were 50 guests, so I needed to make 50 Lemon Cakes …

Then, I made little tags to go with the cakes:

And finally, the finished products!

My only regret is that I failed to get a picture of the bride and a lemon cake!  Congratulations, Danna!

Las Vegas … in food!

Ed & I braved the crowds and headed out to Las Vegas this Memorial Day weekend. We have to say, a big motivation was all of the great food we’ve been hearing about, and we decided it was time to make the trek. We are pleased to report that it definitely lived up to the hype – we were very impressed. We felt like we barely made a dent in all there is to offer there! Guess that means we’ve got reasons to go back!

MESA GRILL – CAESAR’S


We got right down to business shortly after arriving by hitting up Bobby Flay’s Mesa Grill at Caesar’s. Ed & I are big Iron Chef America fans, and we have watched – and salivated, over many dishes we’ve seen Bobby “throwdown” on TV. With his specialty southwestern style cooking, he creates a lot of what our Southern Californian palates crave … bold, spicy flavors and ingredients like chiles, avocados and beans. We were really excited about having lunch at Mesa Grill, and weren’t disappointed.

We began with the Tiger Shrimp + Roasted Garlic Corn Tamale with Corn-Cilantro Sauce. This appetizer tasted just as good as it sounds! We were so eager to gobble it up, that we forgot to take a photo first! Delightful in every way.

The menu all looked so good, that Ed and I opted for the Prix Fixe Lunch. We ordered opposite selections from each other so we could (literally) try it all! Here’s how it all went down:
First Course:
Green Pea + Green Chile Soup
Crispy Serrano Ham + Mint-Cumin Crema
OR
Blue Corn Pancake
Barbecued Duck + Habanero Chile-Star Anise Sauce


Ed chose the Pea Soup, and this was the highlight of his meal. Even I had to admit it was incredible, and I am not usually a fan of Pea soup! How it had so much flavor was beyond me … this dish was a 15 out of 10. Perfection.


I chose the Blue Corn Pancake with duck. It was very bold, and extremely flavorful … but ended up being a little rich for my tastes.

Second Course:
Pulled Pork Sandwich
Chipotle-Molasses BBQ Sauce, Cole Slaw + Bread and Butter Pickles
OR
Grilled Sea Scallops
Blue Corn Tortilla, Avocado Relish + Jalapeno Pesto


Ed chose the Pulled Pork. We’d have to say it was a little light on the chipotle, and a little heavy on the molasses … it was very sweet!

I chose the Scallops, and this was so delicious I don’t even have words! Actually, I do: JALAPENO PESTO. Yes, please!!!

The third course was an espresso flan … we spaced and didn’t get any pictures of that one! All in all, Bobby didn’t let us down. Our lunch was fantastic!

TAO – THE VENETIAN


On Friday night, we visited Tao at The Venetian for one of our favorite cuisines – Asian Fusion. The menu is very inticing, and the decor is incredible! It was extremely dark, and my pics didn’t quite turn out … so I “borrowed” a few from the web:
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As you walk in, the entryway is lined with bathtubs filled with rose petals and water … true rose water!
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We sat right in front of this super cool wall lined with backlit ancient opium pipes.
The food was amazing … we had a little of everything. Lobster wontons, Yakitori swordfish, asparagus tempura, kung pao chicken and a veggie roll. We’d say that the food was about a 8 out of 10 … but we enjoyed it immensely. The highlight was definitely the Lobster Wontons.

BEIJING NOODLE NO. 9 – CAESAR’S


The next day, we had an awesome lunch at Beijing No. 9, which is easily the highlight of our trip. It had it all … real, authentic chinese food that was fresh and not greasy! The noodles were hand made, the dumplings were hand rolled – it was casual, but stunning, all at the same time.


Hand made shrimp dumplings, and Ed’s chinese beer.

Okay … we went nuts over the decor of this place. We can’t help it, when it comes to a restaurant, the ambiance matters to us – and boy did this place have style. The entrance is lined with goldfish tanks … the walls and ceiling are covered in this lacquered white cutout pattern … and the hostess wears a 60s airline stewardess-type dress that’s orange. It’s AWESOME.


Needless to say, we fell in love with Beijing No. 9.

FIX – BELLAGIO

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Last but not least, our final hurrah was at Fix in The Bellagio. Fix is classic American food, done very, very well. We were drawn to look of this place of course, but once we peeked at the menu, we knew we had to dine there! We started off with Pineapple Mojitos, shared a delicious Rock Shrimp and Red Pepper appetizer with amazing chile sauce, and shared that evening’s special – a steak for two. It was awesome … the selection they gave us was cut so that half of it was porterhouse, the other half a filet mignon. With two sauces to choose from (a red wine reduction or white peppercorn), we had lots of options in how we wanted to enjoy our meat! But truth be told, it was prepared so deliciously, we didn’t even use the sauces. It was excellent. But there was absolutely no room for dessert after that one!

All in all, we’d say we are now completely satiated – this was hedonism at it finest, folks!

Spontaneous Day Trip to Temecula

Today, we felt like making Sunday a Fun Day – so we hopped in the car and drove out to Temecula. Seems kinda random, but we wanted a long drive and a tasty lunch. We were also pretty motivated to drive through the Wine Country and see what they had out there. It’s a mere 2 hours away via the scenic route, so we went for it.


Once we rolled into Temecula, we embarked upon Old Town. It’s kinda cheesy with its old West vibe, but it was fun. We definitely thought if Huell Hauser hasn’t been already, it’s a destination he’ll be visiting soon! We saw a Mexican Restaurant called “The Bank” – and sure enough, the restaurant exists in the town’s old bank building, originally built in 1914. Since today was Sunday, they were serving menudo.

Menudo makes Ed a very happy boy.


The highlight of the day was hitting up Temecula Olive Oil Company, where they do Olive Oil tastings! We had no idea that tasting Olive Oil could be so interesting and fun! We learned a lot about the olive oils they make themselves, as well as some very unique vinegars. One of the most interesting combos we tried was their California Pomegranate Vinegar mixed with their Citus Reserve olive oil. We came home with a bottle of their Mission Late Harvest Olive Oil, which stands out due to its smooth, buttery taste. Can’t wait to saute some fresh summer veggies with this one! We also picked up their “Just Dress it!” which is gonna be awesome for some fish marinade!!!


 Finally, we arrived in wine country. Since we were driving, it was kind of a tease. We couldn’t do a lot of tasting … but just going along the vineyard-lined roads was really relaxing and beautiful. But we’d be lying if we said we weren’t seriously jonsing for all of the wine! Needless to say, we can’t wait to go back with some sort of driver. There were probably about 20 wineries in the area. Some were really pretty, especially Leonesse, which we stopped at to look around, but didn’t taste. :(


Once we came up on Maurice Car’rie, we figured we HAD to stop … I supposed I was a little influenced by the name. :) We did taste the wines here … and we were not disappointed! Nothing like a little spontaneous wine tasting!

Ed’s Faves: the 2008 Riesling and the 2007 Muscat Canelli.

Carrie’s faves: Pineapple Champagne (okay, I admit – it sounds more like a Wine cooler than a wine, but it was goood!!!) and the 2008 Chenin Blanc. Both of us chose pretty light wines, but it was 99 degrees out there today!

All in all, we had a very fun day! Now, who wants to go on one of those wine tours with us?!?

Man on Wire

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Ed and I just watched the amazing film, Man on Wire, and were are sitting here so dumbstruck that we just have to tell everyone we know to see it NOW!

Although I felt like I was going to have a heart attack the whole way through the movie, I have to say it’s one of the best movies I’ve ever seen! I’m not gonna give any spoilers, so just take our word for it!!!