KCCHA Champion Weekend!

 

Last Saturday was a great day! My brother's horse, Hallowed Be was crowned champion of the Open Derby in the Kern County Cutting Horse Association and won a beautiful saddle. Our barn set goals at the beginning of this year and Deb also won a saddle in the 35,000 Non Pro! That makes a solid, 3 straight year of Scott Weis clients winning the 35 Saddle. Impressive...

 

I celebrated the day by ordering Pulled Pork Nachos from the food stand. I also won my class that day on Hip Hip Roo Rey, marking a 73. Cheers!

 

Scotty is becoming so famous I need to start a scrap book on him, this article came out on us in the Quarter Horse News. That little guy has sure been a surprise blessing!!

El Pueblo Mexican Restaurant - Lamont, CA

Ok, the lets start off with the size of their margaritas! They are grande! And, they come in even larger sizes! Our friends, Pete and lisa took us to this exact restaurant earlier in the year and I fell in love with it. Since we were back in town for a few days, we decided to go back!

There is nothing better than their warm chile verde dip and chips. I go through bowls of it and ask for more. The savory chile is so addicting, I could probably make the chips and dip my meal alone.

I enjoy the green sauce so much that I went for Chile Verde Enchiladas. The pork is so tender and flavorful, I just cannot say one bad thing about it. It took me so long to finally wave the white towel but I tried to eat my way through the whole plate. Mission was not accomplished but it was a tasty adventure. The rice and beans are pretty solid too.

Cheers to El Pueblo Mexican Restaurant. I love their service, food and atmosphere so much. I wish they had one in Ojai!

Harvest Restaurant - Bakersfield, CA

Yesterday Scott and I hauled our travel trailer and 8 horses to set up camp at the Sundance Feedlot in Bakersfield. There is a three day horse show taking place and we wanted to get settled in early. We rode, fed and settled the horses and then set off for somewhere to eat. I have driven by this little road side diner a million times, so Scott suggested we eat there.

He started off with lettuce and two types of blue cheese! Fancy! It did taste really good, I love loads of dressing!

I had the Basque Bean soup and it was lovely. I wanted more broth, that was where the flavor was. Would it be weird to ordered the bean soup and hold the beans?

Scott ordered the Chicken Club Sandwich and it looked delicious. He was very happy with the plump chicken, crispy bacon and melty cheese. It did look very appetizing. I snagged a piece of bacon at the end and it was scrumptious!

I ordered the fried Chicken and was delighted. The skin was super crispy, crunchy even. The mashed potatoes were standard and the gravy was just fine but it felt nice eating a homey little meal. 

I like little homestyle restaurants like this because everyone seems like family. The place was filled with locals and regulars and that is refreshing in our big, crazy world. I felt like I stepped back in time.

El Pueblo - Lamont, CA

Attention Readers! Excellent Mexican food alert! I was taken to one of the best Mexican Restaurants recently I have to jump ahead of a few posts to let you know all about it. We arrived to a table of guacamole, chile verde sauce and salsa. The chile verde sauce was served warm and I downed two bowls of it pretty much by myself. So good!

I ordered a margarita, you know the little sized one but drank it down pretty quickly. So the waiter brought this one out to replace my little glass. It was quite funny. I didn't finish it, thank goodness -could you imagine the hangover the next day... It was very good though and i give the waiter props for his sense of humor.

I ordered two shredded beef enchiladas with red and green sauces. I could not pick a favorite! They were both really unique and delicious. I must say that the shredded beef was excellent as well. I didn't eat too much of the rice or beans because I was pretty much stuffed at this point.

You will not probably ever just find yourself in Lamont so make a point to go there specifically to visit El Pueblo. We have many cuttings in Bakersfield so you better believe I am making it at point to return! Please try for yourself!

Sandrini's Restaurant - Bakersfield, CA

Our good friends, Pete and Lisa, took Scott and I out on the town during our first night in Bakersfield for a horse show. It was a warm evening, so when we got to Sandrini's and we stepped down stairs into a cool, welcoming cave I was very excited! This restaurant was Italian Basque, so I knew it would be good eats.

We started with Sliced Tongue pickled with a secret family recipe. It was perfectly tender and made a nice little sandwich with roma tomatoes and fresh baguette.

We also tried the Italian Sausage Bread, a favorite of Pete and Lisa's. I could see why, it ate like a meal!

Scott started with a fresh salad with in house croutons.

And I of course did the soup - a spicy, Basque soup with softly cooked vegetables.

This is my plate and isn't it a beauty?! I saw Halibut, spinach, risotto and reduced balsamic vinegar... How could i go wrong? It was perfect, there was nothing it could be improved on. I will return for this meal again.

Pete and Lisa split the Rack of Lamb and it too was stunning. This is half of one order, the chef so kindly brought it out on two plate for them.

If you live in Bakersfield and have not been here yet, you need to go. It is located downtown and has a cool old school vibe. They have cigar room, which probably used to be for miscellaneous gambling transactions so it has extra cool points. I here when the sun goes own it is a popular spot for Bakersfield youth to shake their groove things, so come early and enjoy their fine food!

Benji's - Bakersfield, CA

Last week my parents came and met me at my Bakersfield and we decided to try a legendary Basque Restaurant for dinner. We met family friends at, Benji's located off Stockdale Highway in Bakersfield.

If you have never been to a Basque Restaurant I should tell you now that you receive a lot of food! We started off our meal with warm bread and spicy salsa for dipping. I was starving so I overindulged with the bread!

A vegetable soup came out family style, as well as a pot of beans. Combining the two sounded like the a good plan so I did just that. It was a fantastic marriage and I was now starting to get full.

A plate of Beef Tongue came out and I was excited to try it. Sliced thin and covered with sauce you would have had no idea what cut of beef it was. It was actually very good.

A tomato salad came out with our entrees as well as a plate of french fries...

My entree was the Lobster Tail and it was fantastic! Buttery, sweet and totally succulent - I ate every bite. It is not everyday I get to enjoy an amazing meal like this with my parents. What a special day.

Later over the next few days my horses did so well at horse show... We took home over $1300 in earnings and I couldn't have been more proud!

T.L. Maxwell's - Bakersfield, CA

My husband has been bragging about the food he had at this restaurant, 15 years ago, for as long as I can remember. Apparently he went with friends and he still has dreams about the blue cheese steak he ordered. The restaurant is located in one of the oldest buildings in Bakersfield and its location in an alley makes it kind of a secret enterance.

We started off perusing the wine menu and were not familiar with many so we took a chance with the Peachy Canyon Zinfandel and were pleasantly surprised. It was affordable and very good.

On the menu they said they offered "Famous Crab Cakes" and you know I am a sucker for them so I asked the waitress about it. She actually raved on the Stuffed Mushrooms so I went with her recommendation and we were thrilled. They were outstanding.

I had a bowl of the Beef Barley soup and it was amazing. The broth rich, and vegetables softly cooked. I thought this was just delightful.

Scott and Cowboy Ron both had Caesar Salads and they both ate until the last leaf was gone.

I ordered off the menu and had a Gorgonzola topped Filet Mignon. The meat was cooked to a perfect medium rare and the cheese seemed to be a nice addition. Bite by bite, I added a chunk of cheese to the beef and suddenly I was getting cheesed out. Maybe too much cheese for me. The baked potato was lovely and a good refuge from the cheese overload.

The boys ordered their steaks to be stuffed with blue cheese. They loved their meal but were soon waving the white flag from the heavy handed cheese. A little bit goes a long way! I did love the sauce that the steaks were topped with, it was so rich and savory.

I loved this restaurant because of the old school charm, our fantastic waitress and mostly because I was with the best company a girl could ever ask for. Thanks Scott and Cowboy Ron!

Arriaga's - Bakersfield, CA

If your ever in Bakersfield and cruising down Hughes Lane pull into Arriaga's...

The chips and salsa will keep you happy while you want for your dinner!

Must order: The Chile Relleno with rice and beans. Super spicy green sauce! I loved it.

Will return and order this again!

What we ate at the cutting...

Bakersfield, oh Bakersfield.

Carne Asada Tacos and Tamales - all homemade and totally delicious. I have been to this cutting before and had a breakfast burrito from these same people. Totally authentic. Life in the feedlot is not that painful when there is good eats like this! Yummo!

Mariscos Puerto Vallarta - Bakersfield, Ca

After my go at the cutting on Saturday Mom and I needed some relief from the hot sun and mostly the flies! They were brutal. Kathy had overheard a fellow cutter say that they ate dinner here and it was mostly all seafood. Hey, we were in! Mexican and Seafood are my two loves so how could this let me down?

Inside the quaint little Mexican Seafood Restaurant. Nothing fancy, but neat and tidy. Good sign...

Mexican Coke in a bottle and a Corona. I deserved it. I showed well :)

Ok. Now this is where things got a little weird. Mom and I were craving chips and salsa right? Well out came this little seafood concoction. I am going to assume it was a ceviche of sorts... However, it tasted mostly like pico de gallo mixed around with tuna fish. I am not saying it was bad but give me some spice, give me some flavor... can I have real salsa? No. That was all they had. Dohhhhhhhh...

If you know Kathy Good Taste at all you know she can not leave a Mexican restaurant before trying their version of guacamole. We ordered and look what came. A big pot of chunky avocado goodness - yes. It was missing a few things... salt, pepper, salsa and some sort of acidity. We added all those things and it really came together. Maybe we should open our own Mexican restaurant.

Yikes. Sadly, this was my order. Doesn't a Crab Tostada sound terrific on a warm day? Instead of REAL pieces of lump crab meat I got a tostada full of cute little imitation crab nuggets. The lack of salsa or anything besides avocado for that matter, made it extremely difficult to choke down.

Kathy made the same bad decision I did with the Tostada... except her seafood at least swam in the sea at some point in its life. Blah, bland and dry are three words I can come up with to describe this dish. Sigh...

Mariscos Puerto Vallarta had so much potential. They had a menu of all things seafood that sounded so convincingly delicious. What they need to do is get some real salsa in that joint. Serve the tuna fish concoction as an appetizer. I promise it will work. When someone orders a tostada or taco dump that salsa on it, or at least sour cream so it goes down a little better. I thought the waitresses were sweet and kept the restaurant very clean. One thumb up for cold drinks, well salted chips and a friendly service.

Crystal Palace - Bakersfield, Ca

Ha ha... Welcome to Bakersfield, California! Kathy and I decided we needed to soak up some Bakersfield charm after our day at the Sundance Feedlot. So we drove under the welcome sign to the wonderful community of Bakersfield.

I had read on Yelp and heard from other once Bakersfield natives that a trip would not be complete had you not stopped into the Crystal Palace. Once home of Buck Owens and many other Country Performers, both legends and up and comers.

Who is Buck Owens you ask? Well, he is right here in the photo of course. No, but really... Alvis Edgar "Buck" Owens, Jr., (August 12, 1929 – March 25, 2006) was an American singer and guitarist, who had 21 number-one hits on the Billboard country music charts, with his legendary band, the Buckaroos. Owens and the Buckaroos pioneered what has come to be called the Bakersfield sound — a reference to Bakersfield, California, the city Owens called home and from which he drew inspiration for what he preferred to call "American Music".

Inside the Restaurant there are huge amounts of decor... see that car located in the bar? That was Buck's -- Indian, hand tooled leather seats and all! You can explore all of the memorabilia over the years that Buck Owens has collected. Guitars, suits, album covers and more. There are also several cases of other celebrities he had met and hung with over the years. Very neat.

Kathy had iced tea, and I had a leaded drink. It was a long day at the cutting! A Margarita on the rocks with Patron please. :) Thank you.

My favorite part of our entire meal. There were these little biscuits and they were tasty little buggers! Served with some honey butter, they were warm out of the oven. Tasty! The squaw bread wasn't too bad either.

Kathy's salad was forgettable. The dressing played as a swimming pool to the lettuce and tomato. --Hey joke time-- "What did the tomato blush?" -- "Because he saw the salad dressing" ... get it? The salad... dressing... ha ha... Crack myself up!

I read over the menu and it consisted of a lot of steaks... which is cool but I was in the mood for something different. I came across, "Buck's Favorite Chicken Fried Steak" -- I figured since I was in the House of Buck I might as well order his favorite right? It read as, "Tender southern chicken fried sirloin that hangs over the platter. Smothered in old fashioned country gravy with mashed spuds!" Yee-Haw! lol. Well, I will have to say, I was a little worried about how on point Buck's taste buds were, because if this was his "favorite" he had absolutely none! Not the best, not even average. Sorry Buck you let me down. The best part was the spuds man!

Kathy was the smarter of the two man gang and ordered something that would be hard to screw up. A Rib eye Steak! Perfectly cooked to her liking - just under medium. The baked potato with all the fixings was pretty tasty I mostly ate off her plate!!

The Crystal Palace reminded me a little bit like Disney Land. Not that it was the happiest place on Earth or anything but, the way that they sat you and the quality of food. You are sat all around a stage, that you are charged to sit and watch live performances while you eat your meal. We got in there around 5 so we just missed the first performance that started at around 7. It was an all country theme that made you feel like you were going to watch the Country Bear Jamboree performance in Frontier Land -- I swear that is what it reminded me of. The food is average. I am happy to have said I have gone to this country wonderland. Once is enough for me! 1.25 thumbs up.