Thursday, July 29, 2010

If your headed to Olive Garden....

Order this! The Parmesan Crusted Tilapia is a must order when at Olive Garden. The large portion of fish is cooked to perfection and the saltiness of the parmesan is wonderful. It is one of the lower calorie items on the menu as well - 590 calories is so worth it! The Tour of Italy boosts 1450 calories! Wowza. Order a glass of chardonnay and enjoy your fish!

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Mid-State Fair - Paso Robles, CA

So fair food is not exactly the most healthy but it sure was fun. Expensive too!


You cannot go to the fair without getting a corn dog

Strawberry Ice Cream in a waffle cone was refreshing on the warm Paso Robles afternoon.



Ribs to soak up the Fair wine was needed. They weren't the best but they did the job.


And Nachos, well, just because I love them.

Totally over fair food for awhile!

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Just beautiful...

Pretty much heaven for horses, and humans too!

Sunday, July 18, 2010

The Cave - Ventura, CA

Welcome to The Cave! You would not know this place existed had you based it on its exterior. It is pretty much in an industrial park. You walk into the Ventura Wine Company, and are surrounded by bottles of wine! Keep on walking and stop at the counter. Get your "Cave Card" - and load it up with some cash. You will need this card for future fun...

Notice the cool red wine display? It is not just visual beauty it is their state of the art Enomatic wine serving system!

Whites - nice and refreshing during the 100+ degree heat!


So you slip your card into the slot and select what wine you would like, and what ounce size you would like the machine to dispense. Very interactive, very fun.

A small bites menu is a perfect amount of food for wine tasting. We ordered the Ahi Tuna Roll and it was very tasty. Not too heavy, but it totally hit the spot.

The Cave is a blast. It not only is a cool way to sample wine but it was a major relief from the summer heat! The menu is simple and the bites all sounded delicious. The wine store is also totally reasonable - Rombauer Chardonnay was priced at $26. That is a great price considering BevMo is currently selling it for almost $10 more! So put some cash on your "Cave Card" and get down there ASAP!

Sunday, July 11, 2010

On Rice - Fairhaven, WA

After exploring my Uncle's beautifully landscaped place we decided to head into town and grab a late lunch and do a little window shopping. My Aunt recommended we try a lunch favorite of hers: On Rice located in Fairhaven. And so we set out on our way and went in for some Thai!


I have never seen Jennifer pass up on an opportunity to try a Thai Iced Tea and today was no different. Sweet and creamy!

All of our meals came with a house salad with Peanut dressing. It was seriously delicious. The dressing was very tasty and the lettuce extremely fresh.


Our waiter recommended we try the Crab Rangoons as a starter. They were just ok. The plum sauce it came with was more of a winner than the actual rangoon.


This was my order! I tried the Panang Curry which was a mixture of coconut milk, chili paste, herbs, bell pepper and sweet basil served with tofu as my protein. It was very good. It was served with white rice to cut the spice but I only ordered it with two flames so it was tolerable.

Rebecca ordered the Buddha's Wonton soup. Complete with Ground chicken and shrimp in wonton wraps served with egg noodles in a savory clear broth. She ordered it to be four flames so it was super spicy!!

Last but not least Jennifer ordered the Green Curry. The curry was made up of coconut milk, green peas, sweet basil, bamboo shoots and bell pepper - she got hers served with chicken and brown rice.
And now onto the shopping....

An Alpaca, of course I need a picture with it!

Jennifer found a cute apron...

And so did I!
ONTO SEATTLE FRIENDS!

Crompton's - Everson, WA

Poppy

Charlie's Sculpture


Pumpkin patch


Owl's Silo

Jennifer and Penny by the pond


Beautiful! More poppies and hummingbird feeder


Red runner bean gazebo


Acorn and Butternut Squash patch


Dahlia Patch


Ruby the Highlander


View of the house from back field


Crompton bench


Bee hives


Jennifer and posing in front of one of the many islands


So pretty!

Nimbus - Bellingham, WA

Nimbus was walking distance from Rebecca's house so we took it to the streets and walked to the restaurant. Go up, up, up to the 14th floor and you will get this view...


Beautiful! What a fantastic spot to enjoy a meal!

We were famished when we got to the restaurant and just could not wait for our food to come so we ordered some Truffle Fries to start. It was a perfect start! The fries were hot, crispy and salty! What more could you ask for?!


So all three of us decided to do the Tasting menu. Which were 4 courses - oh my! Jennifer and I chose the Chilled Green Gazpacho as our first course. On the bottom of the bowl there were grilled cucumbers, slow roasted tomatoes and sherry gelee. It was refreshing but I didn't have to have it. I focused more on the fries than the gazapho. I think if I am going eat soup, it better be hot!

Rebecca chose the DEvine Garden Organic Greens Salad - complete with ginger vinaigrette, candy ginger and radishes. Did you notice the pretty flower on top?

For Jennifer's second course she selected the B.L.T. Think about 12-Hour Braised Pork Belly, Smoked Tomato Aioli, Tomato Confit, Micro Lettuce, Brioche, Shoestring Potato Chips. Holy mackerel! I tasted it for myself and this was a good order! Go Jennifer!


For my second course I ordered the Yukon Gold Potato and Egg Pavè. Besides the potato and egg it was finished by Piquillo Peppers, Manchego Cheese, Fennel Oil. I would best describe this dish as Au Potatoes Gratin. It was a comforting dish, maybe needed some salt.


Rebecca was adventurous on her 2nd order. She picked Stuffed House Made Tofu in Puff Pastry 5 Spice Braised Tempeh, Wasabi-Pea Puree, Daikon- Enoki Mushroom Salad, Yuzu Vinaigrette. Doesn't that sound interesting?! I didn't try it but she said she enjoyed it.


Main course time! Jennifer ordered the Grilled New Zealand Lamb Loin served on top a bed Beet Couscous, Currant Crème, Fennel Foam, Basil Puree. She ate all of her lamb and only bit of couscous. She enjoyed that her dish came covered in foam! Jennifer is a major fan of cooks who play with foam - remember Marcell from Top Chef Season 2 - Yep, she likes him.


Rebecca and I both chose the Miso-Citrus Glazed Neah Bay Halibut as our main. It was served with Ginger Quinoa, Grilled Rapini, Sea Beans, Sesame Vinaigrette. The ginger quinoa was so tasty. I could really taste the ginger. The sea beans were deep fried and tasted like mushrooms. I am a sea bean fan! The Miso glaze on the fish was tasty as well.


Last course! Rebecca chose the Smores - complete with House Made Marshmallow, Chocolate Sorbet, Graham Crisps, Chocolate Sauce, Smoked Sea Salt. She could only eat half. We were stuffed!

Ok, my last course! I am stuffed at this point... Jennifer and I both chose the Green Tea Panna Cotta served along side Honey Ice Cream, Meyer Lemon Puree, and Ginger Candy. The lemon puree was pretty bitter to me. The Honey Ice Cream was delicious! Notice the Solo Cup they made the Panna Cotta in! Ha ha...

All in all Nimbus was a beautiful experience. The drinks were fun, the company was great and the food was unique. I enjoyed sampling a little of this and a little of that. I was stuffed and glad we were able to walk home. Washington is a beautiful place and really likes to focus on eating clean, I appreciate that. Now I am off to my Uncle's farm, I will learn a lot to take home to become a master gardener!

Saturday, July 10, 2010

Hudson - Seattle, WA

On our way from the airport to our cousin Rebecca's we found ourselves pretty famished. Jennifer, John and I had McDonald's in the morning but by the time we made it to Washington we were starving! We noticed this restaurant and decided to give it a shot!


The horseshoe bar sure made us feel welcome!

A Ginger Mojito sounded refreshing to me! It is hot in Washington! Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum shaken with muddled mint served on the rocks with a splash of ginger beer! Yee-haw!

Jennifer ordered the Pulled Pork Sandwich which was slathered with Hudson's
own BBQ sauce and topped with plenty of slaw. It was pretty tasty.


Salmon Chowder was on special and you know I could pass up any kind of chowder! The broth was sure tasty - even sweet! I probably should of tried the Monte Cristo because I hardly ever see it on the menu, ever! And, I love it!

Hudson's was a nice stop on our road trip to Bellingham. I give it great reviews because our server was a pretty cool chick. If your in the industrial area, give it a try!