2010 a few days in...

I have eaten bad enough for 2010 already... I promise Fresh Fish and Spinach posts to follow. Just after these food memories:

Stuffed Peppers

Filet Mignon

Cracked Crab with too much butter.

My nemisis - Clam Chowder.

Bacon wrapped Scallops - oh bacon, everytime.

I promise to eat better! I promise!!

Tipps Thai Cuisine - Ventura, CA

Downtown Ventura is pretty much my favorite place. So many cool restaurants, shops and plenty of walking hills. My old faithful, Yelp.com didn't have very good reviews of Tipps Thai Cuisine. Do I always believe the reviews on Yelp? Nope. Had to try it myself.

The Chicken Satay was the starter and it was tasty. The best part was the slammin' peanut sauce. Like the bowl clean, good. The main entree was the Shrimp Curry that was "medium" and had a hidden heat. The kind that sneaks up on you - Kung Pow! The steamed rice cooled things down a bit. Sensory overload!

Thai food. It intrigues me but it also kind of intimidates me all at the same time. I mean what do you order? Do you just keep trying different things until you find that "special dish" that you will love forever and ever? Tipps Thai was a pleasant, although I do not have much experience with Thai so I am not sure I am a very good judge of "authentic" Thai food. This was good, and I know good food. The restaurant was crowded, everyone had smiles on their faces and that is good enough for me.

Consistency.

Hey foodies! As you know, I love trying new restaurants and then posting my experience to my blog. I had heard that a new restaurant had changed it's menu prices on me from my first post. That really bummed me out! I had to find out if it was the truth!

So, I did my due diligence and researched it myself.

Welcome back, Monte Carlo...

This is the same exact menu I ordered from on my first visit and the exact same prices. (Click on the menu to make bigger so you can see the prices yourself.) Nothing over $18.95 - and that being Filet Mignon. My favorite order - Salmon a mere $12.95. Everything looking good to me.

First noticeable difference: They served the butter in a plastic tub instead of the original metal container.

My beloved Salmon dish - just as delicious as before.

Second noticable difference: Less "green" on the plate, the chopped up fancy stuff to make my plate pretty wasn't there. Did I miss it? Nope, less stuff to eat around!

And the Monte Carlo Chicken still absolutely a steal at $10.95.

All in all, this second visit may have been better than my first. They cranked up the heater, which was nice. Maybe they didn't notice how cold that building really can get! It is huge! The service was fine. A nice gentleman who knew when to come and clear dishes and fill up waters. And when the bill came I was thrilled. A beautiful meal and completely affordable. Try it for yourself. I am proud to say this place has stayed pretty much consistent thus far.

Paine's Restaurant - Hollister, CA

I have been meaning to blog this place for quite sometime now! I have gone to Paine's many times but either not had my camera, not felt like blogging or just plain forgot I was a food blogger - imagine that! Sunday afternoon after the Cookie Party my Mom and I stopped by my grandma's to drop off some of the cookies we collected. She had gotten back from Mass and was up for an early dinner. We were hungry for something other than sugar.

I know Paine's looks completely empty from this photo but I wanted to tell you how nice they were. They start serving at 4:00pm on Sundays and wandered in just before 3:30 - so when we opened the door they said, "Come on in..." and served us anyway. That was very nice of them.

We looked over our menus and ordered. With our meals came a choice of soup or salad. My Mom and I chose - soup, which was Clam Chowder. It was very good! The best chowder I have had in a long time. Not too creamy, and a nice amount of clams. My grandma had a salad with the Greek dressing. She liked it, such a pretty color dressing!

Grandma's entree is up first. She got the Spaghetti and Ravioli Combination with Meat Sauce. She even got a Manhattan to celebrate her Sunday! She put a pretty good dent in the meal but took more than half home. She said it was very tasty. My mom's meal was the Chicken Marsala and she loved it. She usually always orders it when she comes to Paine's and never is disappointed. Now my order - the Veal Picatta! I bet you thought I was going to order fish! Ha! The veal was amazingly tender, the sauce was wonderful! Think lemon, butter and capers - oh my!! The potatoes were a scoop of pure heaven. A wonderful meal was had by all!

Thank you Paine's for opening up for us! That was sure nice of you since not a lot is open at 3:30 on a Sunday in Hollister! The menu is pretty diverse - a lot of things Greek! I have ordered the Saganaki and it is everything fried cheese should be - fabulous! I have ordered the Red Snapper special, as well as the calamari and I have always been impressed. The soups have always been on point. They have a back and side room that can be rented out for meeting or bands! A lot of fun has been had at Paine's! If you haven't gone, check it out!

Christmas Cookie & Cocktail Party

A huge thank you to Amanda, Elena, Kristine and Jeri for the invitation!

The Cookie & Cocktail Party was a huge success!

Each person brought 2-3 dozen cookies, either homemade or specialty bought. A box was given to each person and you went around the table picking up each cookie. There were so many I am sure people went around the tables a few times!

The beverages were quite tasty.

One being a cranberry, orange juice and tequila punch - my favorite!

A portion of the cookies - more showed up later!

Chocolate Mousse with crushed candy canes on top!

My long time buddies - Jessica and Amanda.

Alfonso's - Castroville, CA

Oh the last shopping weekend before Christmas beings out the crazy in every shopper. Parking lots packed, people searching for gifts that no one needs, and the worst of all - trying to find an Ugly Christmas Sweater, you would think it was easy! It is not by the way... I personally stopped at 5 different stores! No luck. On our way home my Mom and I decided to grab a bite.

That brought us to Alfonso's Mexican Restaurant located the Castroville Station Center across the street from the Giant Artichoke and next to the Subway. The interior of the little restaurant is super clean, tables nicely arranged and very cool paintings on the wall.

The chips and salsa were pretty tasty. I salted the chips a bit more - they were very light and airy. The green salsa on the left was my favorite. It was a touch spicy and I enjoyed mixing it into the guacamole we ordered. The red salsa was good too, very fresh.

This was my order - Snapper Vera Cruz. Grilled Red Snapper with sauteed onions, tomatoes, bell peppers, in a light spicy sauce. It was spicy! I am not complaining or anything because I like spice - however, if your sensitive be aware - it will creep up on you! I enjoyed the rice, didn't eat too much of the beans because I was so full from the fish. Great order.

My Mom's order was the Camarones Empanizados - it read: Eight tender prawns fried in egg batter and garlic sauce served with rice and beans. She was a little confused when they came out deep fried without any accompanying garlic sauce... The deep fried prawns were good all the same. They do have really good rice, and she didn't touch her beans either.

All and all, it was a lovely meal. The waitress was very sweet, she and her husband own the little restaurant. He has been a seafood cook for many years so a lot items on his menu incorporate seafood and Mexican food. My two favorite things! I look forward to trying his version of Clam Chowder - that was on the menu! My mom just loves their Fried Artichoke Hearts and their Huevos Rancheros! 1.75 for a nice, affordable meal - with excellent selection!

Starting to feel like Christmas...

The first Christmas Party of the season was last night and now I am craving the Holidays...

Eat too much, drink just enough and please be careful!

Coq Au Vin

I made this!

(With Kathy Good Taste's help of course!)

Think butter, bacon, onions, bacon, brandy, carrots, celery leaves, chicken and Caberent Sauvigon. Sounds like all my favorite things! Brown everything and toss it in a a oven safe pot for 2 hours in the oven! Imagine the goodness! Yum yum!

Sorry Julia, you have nothing on us!