Eating through Chains - AZ

Scott and I hit the road late Monday night for Arizona for a 5 day horse show. While he drove I curled up as best as I could and napped during our drive into the desert. As soon as Scott decided to pull off the highway for a break, I instantly woke up and jumped out of the truck.

He pulled into a McDonald's and I was starting to configure what I was going to order before I even got out of the truck. I knew for sure I would grab one of their delicious Coca Cola fountain sodas. What made them extra delicious anyway? The hash browns are a salty treat, so I definitely would grab one of those but what else...

I had never had a Bacon McGriddle so I decided to go for it. It was sweet and salty with the bites of egg, cheese and bacon. I was throughly impressed with this breakfast sandwich! I am not much of a breakfast lover so this made our stop pretty much a success. Have you tried a McGriddle?

In Arizona where we are staying, it is like chain restaurant city and there is nothing wrong with that. As much as I enjoy fine dining, I also like to eat at everyday type of restaurants. They aim to please and are affordable. I hadn't been to an Applebee's in awhile so I was actually looking forward to it.

Ah, the good old Oriental Chicken Salad with extra dressing. This salad has ben on their menu for as long as I can remember and it always has been good. The dressing is creamy, but totally unique. They could bottle it and probably survive off the profits of the dressing alone. The crispy chicken with bites of shredded carrot, sliced almonds and crunchy rice noodles are just to die for.

Who doesn't love Texas Roadhouse? Have you been to one? They are the restaurant responsible for teaching your children to just throw their used peanut shells on the floor. I never understood the concept but maybe it made people feel like they were at home? Who throws peanut shells just on the floor? Ok. I am done ranting about the peanut shells, but I enjoy the salty snack waiting for me at the table as soon as we are seated. 

I was in the mood for a frosty beverage and thought a frozen margarita was just the ticket. The margarita itself was blended perfectly smooth but the mix itself was much too tart. A couple sips of the frosty concoction would leave you puckering your cheeks up tight.

My meal at the roadhouse was a very simple one. Grilled Salmon, buttered corn and loaded mash potatoes not pictured. The salmon itself was nicely cooked, maybe a little touch over done to my taste but it was nicely seasoned so it made eating it very enjoyable. The bites of corn and mashed potato were great sides and I couldn't have left more satisfied.

What chain restaurant do you just love? 

Azu Anniversary Dinner - Ojai, CA

Our Anniversary dinners are always special to me. We usually spend them at The ranch House but due to a last minute plan change we ended up at Azu. I had been there with Dana for lunch not to long ago and enjoyed it so I was very excited. We ordered a celebratory cocktail and cheers to many more years!

Our starters came up and I was excited to dig in to my Beet and Burrata Salad. The cheese was lovely but the beets shared a plate with pickled carrots hat shocked the soft texture of the cheese and beets. I could have done without the carrots and just sunk my teeth into the creamy cheese and vibrant beets. The waitress talked Scott into a Kale Caesar that he absolutely loved. 

We both ordered the Fish of the Day and were both equally disappointed in the dish. When we ordered the halibut we both assumed it would be served in a small, thick cut as that is the way it usually served. Instead it was a razor thin, flat piece that took up 3/4 of the plate. Halibut is usually flaky and easily eaten with just a fork. I had to pick up a knife and saw up a piece to put in my mouth each bite. We should have sent it back and got something we enjoyed but we were so bummed out we just sent it away after several delicious bites of mashed potato. FAIL.

I thought a dessert might turn this night around and the Flourless Chocolate Torte at the very least put a better taste in our mouthes. It was nice.

I know better than to suffer through a meal without speaking up to the waitress but it is hard to complain n a special date night with the husband. You want to appear kind, sweet and demure not a bossy lady who complains about her meal. So, we took this one in the shorts. 

Maybe I should have stuck to my favorite bacon wrapped dates and honey baked brie for dinner...

Wood Ranch - Santa Clarita, CA

Yesterday I cruised on over to Burbank to pick up Scott from the Bob Hope Airport and after many changes in flight arrival times I was getting pretty hungry. Around that airport there are not very many good food options other than fast food. So I decided to rough it, fight Interstate 5 traffic and pull into my favorite Wood Ranch for a mid day meal.

Scott was craving a salad just as much as I was and went for the Tri-Tip Chopped Salad. He has been judging the NCHA Futurity so it was nice to catch with him over a meal. The salad is the perfect amount of food for someone craving something substantial for lunch but not heavy enough to make you feel exhausted after eating it. 

If there is an Asian Chicken Salad on any menu you know I am going to order it. This Salad is very good. I am pretty picky on my Asian style salads because I have had the best one in the world at Tao' Tao's in Sunnyvale, CA. This one is completely different by using romaine, and incorporating mandarin oranges but I do love all the crunch from the nuts and puffed rice noodle.

While I was mowing down my salad I saw a plate of one of my favorite things go by... Onion Strings are so good! They are one of my favorite starters to a meal at Wood Ranch and I almost kicked myself for not ordering them! 

If you have not been to one of the Wood Ranch restaurants yet, you are missing out on a Southern California staple. Go and pig out on BBQ or order a petite lunch salad, it is all up to you! Just be sure to go... Hurry!

The Penthouse - Santa Monica, CA

Everyone enjoys a nice surprise and I received one Monday morning! I was chatting with my pal Dana and she said to pack my bags, and be ready by one because we were headed to Santa Monica to stay in a nice hotel, eat at a fabulous restaurant and discover the a part of the Los Angeles food scene. She didn't have to ask me twice, I had my errands done and was packed in two shakes of a lamb's tail.

We arrived at the Huntley in Santa Monica in the early evening and I could not get over how beautiful it was! Stunning, excellent staff and they house a fantastic restaurant at the top level of the building. How great is that?!

Our crew for the evening. I have to say we clean up quite nice! We loved this downstairs area complete with gorgeous fireplace, huge garden of mirrors and comfortable outdoor seating to enjoy Southern California's wonderful weather.

 We had a late evening reservation and were seated by an amazing spot by the window so we could overlook the twinkling lights of the city and observe he ominous blanket o black, otherwise know as the night time ocean. To liven up the party we settled on an evening cocktail of vodka and grapefruit. Light, crisp and refreshing as we perused the menu!

The chef sent out an amuse for us to enjoy and it was prosciutto wrapped asparagus drizzled with a balsamic glaze. it was salty, sweet and everything you want in a bite. I loved this start to our meal. 

We ordered the seared Ahi to start as we all were interesting in sharing a lot of our dishes. The ahi was perfect, the potato puree that it rested on was delightful as well. Everything was served cool so the pickled red onion and powdered wasabi gave the dish a kick that you were looking for.

Christian and I were all about sharing the Beet and Goat Cheese Salad. We love our beets! The variety of the cuts and colors made for a very pretty picture. We supposed to be sharing but I think I ended up eating most of it!

I for once did not order the scallops! Christian did. I did grab a bite and they were halved (my pet peeve) and set on the plate with a lot of garnish. I like my scallops served whole please!  It was served with a leek ravioli, shaved mushroom and micro greens. Christian seemed totally satisfied but it is kind of a cop out trick the eye into thinking you received four scallops when it was truly two.

 Dana ordered the Duck breast and it was a beautiful plate. With a hearty scoop of forbidden rice, also known as black rice, she ate the meat with bites of carrot, aus jus, rice and meat until her plate was perfectly clean.

Fish and beans? Sure, why not! I ordered the Sea Bass with crispy skin attached. The beans, had pieces of lardons and each bite reminded me of baked beans and went surprisingly well with the fish. I liked it a lot! I cleaned my plate and was totally done for.

I just want to send out a special THANK YOU to Christian and Dana for including me in their fun adventures and blessing me with their friendship. I am a lucky, lucky lady!

Lure Seafood Restaurant - Ventura, CA

I took my family to my favorite place in Ventura to chow down. Where everything is fresh, plentiful and all seafood, Lure! Come virtually enjoy our lunch...

After a morning playing with the horses we all declared ourselves first and foremost, famished but also a little wiped out. How about a little cocktail to treat ourselves after the hard work of plating hard? The Bloody Mary proved itself to be highly potent and a good choice if you want a little seafood snack with   a leaded cocktail. I ordered the Blood Orangtini, it was sweet and lovely. 

For the table we ordered Guacamole and Chips to start and they came out fast. It was a good thing too because we all tore into it like it was the last plate of food on Earth. We also ordered the Lobster Spinach Dip served with crostini and it too was tasty. We just kept chowing down and happily enjoying each others company.

Charbroiled Oysters! I love them. I was excited to order two plates and they all went down the hatch once they were cool enough to handle. They are always so big and tasty. Today was no exception! 

As our entree's arrived person to person I became jealous of everyone's order! First up, Sand Dabs lightly breaded with panko and sauteed with a lemon butter caper sauce. She chose her side as rice pilaf as well as a side salad that came out before her main meal. 

Look at this Louie!

The seafood on this salad was so gorgeous and plentiful. The salad itself was a large portion and did lack dressing, but they gladly will bring more on request. It was ordered x2 at the table and not one left the table without food on it. It is a large portion so beware you salad orderers out there!

I ordered this Idaho Trout Almondine and loved every bite of it! The butterflied, boneless fish is pan seared and served skin on. The almonds and parmesan coating gives a crunch to the otherwise soft delicate fish. My side is the Cilantro Corn Salsa packed with jicama, onion, red pepper and jalapeno. I love this stuff! I couple eat many more cups full! The Parmesan Potato Cake was a great second pick of sides because the smooth creamy red potatoes seared flat with butter, parmesan was a perfect pairing partner to the fish. I loved my lunch, loved, loved it! 

I left feeling stuffed but in a good way. The way that makes you feel satisfied but still comfortable enough to walk and shop. And that is exactly what we did. The weather could not be any more gorgeous in Downtown Ventura so we took advantage of the sunshine!

Jimmy's Pub - Ojai, CA

Yesterday felt totally like a wonderful Fall day. Although it has been Fall for quite sometime now, it just truly has felt like Summer. Warm, sunny days are always welcomed but I do want to update my wardrobe and dress in my favorite cozy clothes for awhile. I slipped on one of my favorite sweat shirt dresses, leopard tights, Frye boots and went on my way!

Christian, Dana and I decided to all meet at Jimmy's pub inside the Ojai Valley Inn to celebrate Dana's birthday a little early. Christian brought Veuve Clicquot to toast Dana and we were well on our way to a leisurely lunch. I did notice one thing about Jimmy's menu as it was sat in front of me, it has changed! in a much better way! It includes higher end options and more seafood! I like that!!

Christian ordered the Green Bean Salad with horseradish, onion, peaches, apples, potatoes and toasted almonds. I personally would probably never order this reading it off a menu but in real life the salad looked scrumptious. 

Dana loves her greens and she raved on this Caesar Salad. She really thought it was perfect but what surprised me the most is she doesn't like anchovies! I think that is the only part worth eating! How funny.

The soup of the day was Clam Chowder and you know I jumped all over that. The chowder was on the thinner end of the spectrum and was totally enjoyable. It really was more like a Corn Chowder which is fine but there was a lot of corn involved. I liked it but didn't finish it as I knew I had my entree coming...  

 Fish and Chips! My favorite! I was so happy to seem them as an addition to the new pub menu. I swear breakfast, lunch or dinner can be solved with an option of Fish and Chips! The fries were thin and crisp, perfectly salted. The star of the dish, even if cod and not my beloved halibut, was quality and lightly breaded. The cole slaw was nice, a perfect bite of freshness amongst bites of fried food.

What a special day! I got to spend a lovely lunch with two of my closest friends in Ojai and dine at a beautiful eatery. Fall is finally here so break out your favorite snuggly sweaters and boots guys and gals!

La Cosecha - Paso Robles, CA

Sorry bloggers! I have not been trying to ignore you but I have been busy doing the cowgirl thing at the PCCHA Futurity. It seems like my days go by fast, fast and then I go to sleep just to do it all again! I was lucky enough to have my three year old, Metallic Tears make the Open Intermediate Finals and Open Gelding Stakes with Russ Elrod so my mom and I had to go to lunch to celebrate!

 My mom is cute! She seriously is the #1 fan of cutting horses! Especially my horses! 

La Cosecha is located in the downtown square area of Paso Robles and hosts an outdoor and indoor dining area. Their food features mostly Latin cuisine and in tapas sized options.

 We  both were excited enough to want to cheers with an adult beverage so I ordered Tolosa Chardonnay and she went for one of La Cosecha's featured Bloody Mary's.

I went for the White Fish Special and asked to be served mashed potatoes served with it. The fish was cooked perfectly and the mashed potatoes were stunningly delicious. They should be able to be ordered by the bowl. The white wine, heirloom tomato and caper sauce that the fish was topped with was terrific as well.

The braised and grilled pork ribs caught my eye and I was glad to get in a bite off my mom's plate. They were totally fall off the bone tender, in fact it was a dish to be eaten delicately with a fork. It was featured saying it was to come with black beans but it was served with rice only much to my mom's delight!

My horse ended up doing great in the finals winning about $8000! I was so proud everytime he walked down to the herd for his performance! We have been having such a good show!

It is now my turn to deliver, I have made the finals on my horse, Hip Hip Roo Rey (Scotty) in the Non-Pro Classic Challenge and in the Non-Pro Futurity and Gelding Stakes on Metallic Tears (Elvis). I am so blessed and couldn't be more thankful to my family for being so supportive! my husband for coaching me through everything... and all my helpers! It takes a village!!

Fish Gaucho - Paso Robles, CA

Hello Baseball fans! While Scott, the horses and crew and I are at the Pacific Coast Cutting Horse Futurity in Paso Robles we are also cheering on our favorites, the San Francisco Giants. My Mom and I wanted to go out and celebrate a good first round for our futurity horses but Scott wanted to stay in and watch the first round of the World Series. So we called a truce and the ladies went out and he stayed in to watch the game.

We decided to have dinner at a place we have never been before, Fish Gaucho. It is owned by a friend of our's son-in-law so we were anxious to give it a go after hearing many good reviews. To get our meal started night we decided to try their signature margaritas: Watermelon Mint and Blood Orange. They were both fabulous, totally worth giving a shot. the menu is described as California Mexican so I was muy muy excited to give it a try... 

 My mom went the surf and turf route and ordered the Filet, Shrimp and Scallop plate. The 6 oz filet was cooked to her desire of a perfect medium rare, two shrimp totally plump and scallop seared just like perfection. The proteins rested on a bed of jalapeno mashed potatoes and a warm ranchera salsa. She described it as "the best meal she has at a restaurant in a really long time..." 

When I saw Scallops on the menu you know I could not pass it up. The Crusted Diver Scallops complete with chorizo brussel sprouts, poblano crema and mashed potatoes made my day. I literally licked the plate until it was totally clean.

Our dinner was perfect. I rubbed it in to Scott so bad when I got home that he wanted to go for an early dinner today. This is how my second visit went...

I knew I immediately wanted to try the chips, salsa and Morro Bay guacamole when I came on this visit so we put in our order fairly quickly. The pineapple pico de gallo was Scott's favorite, while i favored the watermelon chipotle. The guacamole was totally fine too.

We were greeted with a gift from the chef (being a food blogger has its perks...) to kick off our meal. It was a pork belly taco, with crispy onion strings, spicy salsa and served with a slice of blood orange to squeeze over the corn tortilla blanket. I loved it. In fact, I was feeling quite full from all the chips and taco at this point. The taco will be featured on an upcoming menu and I felt pretty cool to get the inside bite.

Feeling already pretty full, I decided to solider on with the Oysters Oaxaca. Six Blue Point Oysters topped with what they have described on their menu as chorizo and cotija crumbles. It actually was topped with a thick layer of thick cheese that took over the delicate taste of a baked oyster. I literally took off the layer of cheese before eating so tasting an oyster could be detected. I think these need to be switched up a bit. 

Scott is a Lobster Enchilada fan so when he saw it on the menu I knew he was old on it. Let me start off my saying, the portion size is huge! You get a lot of food. He noted that the lobster meat was only claw meat and would have been excited to get a piece of tail meat. He could only finish two but did enjoy the zesty tomatillo sauce.  

As I explored the menu on my second visit it obviously was not quite as successful as the first but I do believe the third time will be a charm as we have to go again to let Cowboy Ron have a turn at bat!