Denise's Guacamole

Do you like creamy or chunky guacamole? Do you like flavorful guacamole with a little bite, or no bite? Do you prefer your guacamole simple and green, or bright and colorful? I like mine chunky and flavorful with a hint of Tapatio, and filled with delicious veggies for extra flavor, color, and nutrients!

Save a couple avocado seeds when you start to mash. Adding them at the end is supposed to keep the guacamole from turning a nasty brown color (oxidization). I like to add all my spices to my avocados before I start mashing. I add a lot lemon and lime juices (depending on what’s in the fridge-either can stand as a partial substitute for salt and offer vitamin C along with other important nutrients, and keeps the avocado for oxidizing too quickly), a couple dashes of Tapatio, salt and pepper, and a couple dashes of Lea Perrins Worchestire Sauce. This way, everything gets mashed in and you can add more as necessary. 

I don't add salt until the very end! Keep in mind.. the chips are salty! Remember, you can always add salt, but you can’t take it away, so be careful adding too much salt in the beginning. Mash your avocados with a fork, maintaining avocado’s thick consistency, and chunkyness. Don’t put it in the blender or it will be very creamy and lose all of its thick consistency.

I always put in A LOT of chopped cilantro, chopped tomatoes, chopped green onions, (sometimes white onions). I like my guacamole chunky and like to have quite a large helping of my guacamole on each chip.

I like to serve it in a clean bowl, topped with an avocado seed and a sprig of cilantro. For a healthy touch, I buy whole wheat tortilla chips, or choose the low-fat/lightly salted option. I also find that Wheat Thins and different kinds of healthy, whole-grain crackers are delicious with my guacamole, and knock off the calories that you put in your body. 



And of course, the best way to enjoy this guacamole, is with a frozen margarita, excellent company, and warm weather!

Lox and Bagles

Gravlax, literally translated to mean “buried salmon” is a method of curing involving “burying” a salmon in salt and spices (including dill) for a couple days so that it cures. This is not to be confused with lox, or commercially processed cold-smoked salmon.

Lox is generally eaten in the morning for breakfast on a bagel, or can be prepared as hors d'oeuvres for a dinner party. My family loves to buy cold smoked salmon from Sam’s Club. The quality and flavor is great, it’s economical, and it’s an excellent source of Omega-3 Fatty oils. I could just eat it alone, it’s so tasty!

We bought some whole wheat bagels (for added fiber and no dyed white bread), slathered on a layer of cream cheese (I used whipped- it looks like a lot of cream cheese, easy to spread, but less calories because its full of air), folded on some of the lox (the smoked salmon), and topped it with capers, and a sprinkle of cracked black pepper. We garnished with a thin slice of lemon. This was for breakfast.

In the picture I actually cut one of the bagels (the thicker half) in half and got a little more out of it. Bagels are full of calories and carbohydrates, and this is one way to spread the intake out a little, and then share with family. One for me, one for my Mom, and one for my Brother! Yum.  They are filling, even with a small portion because of the bagel!

For hor d’oeuvres, I would suggest small Wheat Thins or Triscut crackers (whole grains/fiber), topped with a small blob of cream cheese. (You can infuse/mix the cream cheese with dill- a spice that goes wonderfully with lox). Then fold over a small piece of the lox and top with 1-2 small capers or a sprig of dill. I love to sprinkle cracked black pepper over the top, and garnish the plate with thin slices of lemon. Use a white plate rather than a detailed plate so you can see the beauty in the little Lox hors d’oeurves!

Chopped Salad with Ginger Dressing

My mom brought home this amazing ginger dressing from the grocery store last week and we are totally hooked. We made a chopped salad with whatever we could find in the fridge and feasted. We had some Romaine lettuce, so we chopped and cleaned it early in the morning to let it crisp up before lunch time. This was a wonderful hint that I didn’t know about. When you wash and dry lettuce and leave it in the fridge for a couple hours, it will crisp up and be nice and crunchy come lunchtime.

When lunchtime rolled around, we chopped up some cold cut turkey lunch meat, Monterey Jack cheese, white onion, green onion, tomatoes and cucumbers. We also threw in a handful of sunflower nuts (sunflower seeds without the shell) for some protein and crunch, and then we drowned the salad in dressing. It was yummy.  Cheese adds calcium, protein, Vitamin A and substance to the salad. The turkey and sunflower nuts both add protein.

The best part was that it was a healthy salad. And not healthy like… eating a salad and you won’t feel quite full and you’ll be hungry in a couple hours. No! This salad has so much substance because of all the goodies we found and threw in, we were full for hours. And it was so flavorful with all the bite-sized morsels. Once we finished we felt extremely satisfied.

Some other things we’ve thrown in: chopped cilantro, spinach (extra iron and vitamins A&C), Julianne Carrots, grape tomatoes from the garden, turkey bacon bits. You can top it off with any dressing, and toss before serving. If you are going to be taking the salad to work and eating it at lunch, package the dressing separately and toss just before eating. If you leave the dressing on the greens, the salad will wilt and will not be as crunchy and satisfying. I recommend a Tupperware with some extra room so you can add dressing, replace lid, and shake!

Spam Musubi

A can of SPAM, some microwaveable rice and sheets of Nori... SPAM MUSUBI is a staple in Hawaiian snack food. In my College Graduation trip to Hawaii a few months ago, I stuffed my face with the delectable snack at every opportunity, and made sure I bought a Musubi Maker (to shape the rice into a rectangular shape) so I could enjoy them at home on the mainland. Finally, I got around to making it at home- It’s so simple!!! My family was very wary of eating it because of the stigma attached with SPAM, but they gave it a try and really enjoyed it! SPAM is actually not bad quality ham luncheon meat, contrary to the stigma attached to the name, and the product is high in protein and Vitamin C, and lower in calories than expected. It is very salty though, so I chose the “lite” option.

I used reduced sodium oyster sauce and soy sauce along with half the sugar recommended as the marinade (marinate for an hour), and actually cooked the Spam in the marinade (not in original recipe).  Then I formed the little squares of rice with the Musubi Maker and laid them on saran wrap until was ready to put them together. (I tried it with white rice and brown rice- white is traditional and stickier, but Brown is healthier because of the fiber and it’s not bleached). When it was time to assemble them, I wrapped the Nori (seaweed) around the rice and SPAM and sealed it with a drip of water. The little spam Musubi’s came out great!

Later in the week we got the MUSUBI craving again and tried making them with Teriyaki Marinade because we ran out of oyster sauce. It was just as tasty! You could tell the difference, but it wasn't very noticeable. Hint: I really like putting some of the cooked marinade on the rice before the slice of spam for extra salty/sweet delicious marinade flavor.

Ingredients:

2 cups of Instant Brown rice (Microwaveable)

1/4 c Soy Sauce

1/4 c Oyster Sauce

1/4 c Sugar

1 (12 oz) can SPAM Luncheon Meat

5 sheets of Nori

Directions:

1. Microwave the rice

2. Slice SPAM - 10 slivers

3. In a separate bowl, mix Soy Sauce, Oyster Sauce, and Sugar; marinate slices of SPAM in mixture for about an hour

4. In a skillet, heat some Veg. Oil over medium heat, and add the SPAM slices --- I always add a little of the marinade too

5. Form the little rectangles with the Musubi Maker and lay on Saran Wrap until ready to assemble.

6. Assemble: rice rectangle, SPAM Slice, and wrap with Nori

7. ENJOY!

Healthy Pine Nut Hummus (office snack!)

Now that I have an office job rather than a food service job, I get to pack a lunch and snacks for each work day! Because I’ll be sitting at a desk for hours a day, I want to be careful not to gain weight! What better way than by preparing and portioning ahead of time, and being careful to only stock healthy snacks?!

So, on day one I brought some fruit for a snack and decided to see what the other co-workers did for lunch. Most of them went out to lunch, but that can get expensive, and most of the options at restaurants are fattening. One girl had made a salad and kept her dressing in the break room fridge. Another was dipping into store-bought hummus. I love to make hummus! It is so easy, healthy and there are many variations that make it so delicious. Plus, pita chips aren’t the only thing you can dip into hummus- so this can be made very healthy!



I googled various Pine-nut Hummus recipes and created my own with elements of each. I prefer to use less tahini (because of the calorie content) in my hummus. I also drain and rinse my canned garbanzo beans. This helps keep sodium content down- I can always add salt if I need to. I like to add a lot of lemon juice in my hummus because I can get away with less salt (lemon is a kind of substitute for salt), and I like to taste the lemon and the garlic. I upped the amount of garlic that was used in all the recipes, and added parsley to mine, a detail that I noticed in one recipe and thought the added color and nutrients would be good.The best part of this recipe was the toasted pine nuts I used as garnish- added flavor and a little crunch to the creamy hummus. I toasted up the pine nuts first with olive oil and some of the parsley. Then I actually blended ¾ of that toasty mixture in the blender with all the rest of the hummus ingredients (for that toasted pine nut flavor) and used the rest as garnish and for crunch.

Pine Nut Hummus

1 Can  Garbanzo Beans/ Chick Peas (drained and rinsed)

3T     Tahini

1T      EV Olive Oil

3-4    Garlic Cloves

4T     Pine Nuts

1t       Cumin ground

1T      Chopped Parsley

6T     Lemon Juice

1/2t   Cayenne Pepper

1.     In a sauté pan: olive oil, pine nuts, cayenne pepper, parsley- toast the pine nuts

2.    Put half of the mixture in the blender along with all of the other ingredients

3.    Garnish with remaining Pine Nut mixture and drizzle of quality olive oil

To keep it healthy, I dipped in Low-Fat Wheat Thins, cucumber slices, and carrot sticks, rather than store-bought pita chips which can be high in sodium and fat.

Garbanzo beans are very good for you, and very high in protein. They are also high in calories, fiber, Iron and Vitamin C. Parsley and Lemon Juice will also provide your body with a lot of Vitamin C. Pine nuts add good fat to the recipe, as well as protein.

Applebees Happy Hour After Work!

Sometimes the work groupies hit Applebees after work to relax, especially after those crazy shifts. The new Bud Light Platinum came out so I had to try it even though it wasn't happy hour. I'm not the biggest fan of Bud Light but this beer is supposed to have double the alcohol content: 6% instead of 3.5%. I'm glad I gave it a try.... but I'm a loyal Coors Light drinker!

I ordered the build-your-own appetizer. It was AWESOME because you could pick and choose what you want. I gobbled it down before taking a picture but I'll probably order that platter every time now! I got Honey BBQ wings, their little tacos, and spinach artichoke dip. YUM!

Finals Week Brunch!- 2012

I had an online final, the Monday of finals week. That was my last final EVER in college because I was GRADUATING!!!!! So, because I wasn't overwhelmed studying for Vector Statics finals or Organic Chemistry..... I figured it would be fun to cook a brunch for several of my friends to start them off for a week of all-nighters and hard studying. Some brain food... My mom had a few recipes I wanted to try and I was excited to cook for the group.

I had juices and unlimited coffee for everyone. I made a zucchini quiche, a spinach quiche (the hit of the morning), a coffee cake, and eggs in baskets!!! Everything turned out to be delicious if I do say so myself, and I want to share the recipes with you if you want to plan a brunch too!!!! They were all SUPER EASY, super fast to put together, and all had the same cook time, so I could exactly plan service.

This is what the eggs in a blanket looked like on the fire! I added a little bit of pepper to the top, and no salt. That way, each person could choose how much salt to add for their liking. Cut a hold in a piece of bread and stick it on the pan. I used whole wheat bread. I did spray the pan with some PAM non-stick cooking spray. I toasted the bread on one side and then turned the fire way down and flipped the bread. Crack the egg in the center, sprinkle some pepper and wait. It only takes about 3 minutes. Make sure to keep checking that the bottom isn't burning!! Make sure the egg is completely cooked before serving.

This picture is the spinach quiche that was a huge hit. I altered the recipe slightly, using more spinach than it called for, and an Italian 5-cheese mix rather than Gruyere cheese. The recipe also calls for a pie crust, but I was too lazy and altered the recipe. Here is my altered recipe:

Spinach and Cheese Quiche

Prep: 15 Mins

Bake: 45 Mins

Serves: 8

½ onion, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

16oz package frozen chopped spinach (thaw and squeeze out water)

1 ½ cups grated Cheese (Italian 5 Cheese Mix works beautifully)

1 c whole wheat flour

1t Baking Soda

3 Large Eggs

Dashes of Salt and Pepper

Oven: 375F

1. Mix all ingredients in a mixing bowl. Thoroughly mix.

2. Spray pie pan with non-stick cooking spray and pour mixture in. Bake 45 minutes until brown on top.

3. Sprinkle with more cheese and broil the top until cheese melts and browns. Let sit for 10 minutes before slicing and serving!

 The next one I made was a Zucchini Quiche. I thought that it was equally as delicious as the spinach, but the spinach one was the favorite. The only thing I changed on the recipe was that cheese. I used the Italian 5 cheese blend rather than Parmesan.

Zucchini Quiche

Prep: 15 Mins

Bake: 45-60 Mins

Serves: 8

3c grated zucchini

1 small onion chopped

1c flour

1c Italian 5 cheese mix

3 eggs

1/4c vegetable oil

2t basil (fresh or dried)

1t baking powder

1t salt

1t pepper

Oven: 375F

1. Mix all ingredients in a mixing bowl. Thoroughly mix.

2. Spray pie pan with non-stick cooking spray and pour mixture in. Bake 45-60 minutes until brown on top.

3. Sprinkle with more cheese and broil the top until cheese melts and browns. Let sit for 10 minutes before slicing and serving! 

 The little puppies in the oven..... 

and out of the oven!

Lucky Elephant in Ontario

 

I had wanted to try the Lucky Elephant since a work friend told me about it months ago. It’s on the corner of 6^th and Mountain in Ontario. Turns out, the friend that took me, knew the owners and we received preferential treatment along with an amazing spread of delicious Thai cuisine. I arrived early to the lunch date and was greeted by a host dressed in an authentic Thai robe. All of the employees dressed the part. I fell in love with the decor. Everything was very fancy and such attention to detail. The inside of the restaurant was very clean and open and all of the decorations fit the Thai feel (elephants!). 

There was hand carved wood along all of the walls and little Thai trinkets in china cabinets separating the kitchen area from the dining room. Everything in the restaurant screamed Thailand, including the decorated china and vase on the table and even the menu. The table had a white table cloth covered with a purple and gold cloth strip. If you look, you can see the cloth in some of the pictures I took. That just added to the authentic feel of the Lucky Elephant. Many Thai restaurants all over LA county pay attention to detail of the restaurant, but then completely bomb the food. Not the Lucky Elephant! The food was amazing, colorful, attractive, and scrumptious to the last bite.

The service was top-notch and so friendly, and the food was incredible. All of the food delivery was professional and the presentation was great.  Even the garnishes paid attention to detail. Take a look at the little flower on a bed of cabbage on the plate below... not exactly an edible garnish, but it looked very pretty. And also notice the place mats on the table, as well as the purple and gold cloth underneath the glass on the table. I don't even know how they did it! The Thai Iced tea I enjoyed with my meal just polished off the entire experience. 

We started the meal with a delicious Thai soup and Rangoons and egg rolls served with a delicious sweet and sour dipping sauce. The flavors in the soup were so subtle and delicious. The soup was the perfect thing for an empty stomach to prepare for the insane amount of food that is to follow. The Rangoons were so good too! The egg rolls were super hot even minutes after they were brought out so heads up.. They burned my mouth!

My friend and I ordered from their Lunch Special section of the menu. $6.95 from 11am-3pm. You get the soup of the day (which was the delicious soup with subtle flavors pictured above), an egg roll or salad, depending on the day and one of the options listed on the page (about 15). We ordered the Chicken and Cashew nuts and the duck with basil because we were told they were two top sellers. Needless to say, it was obvious why they were top sellers.

First of all, the presentation was incredibly appetizing. I almost forgot to take the picture before digging in. The little butterfly made out of carrot was so precious, and I could not figure out how they did it. I thought it was a great addition to the dish. Everything was so fresh on the plate. The flavors were incredible on both dishes! The basil sauce that was on the duck paired perfectly with the subtle gamey flavor that duck has. 

As for the Chicken and Cashew Nuts, I'd say it was the best Thai chicken and cashew nuts that I have ever tasted. All of the veggies were al-dente, not overcooked or mushy. The flavors of the veggies and chicken and the sauce complemented each other with the melt-in-your-mouth results that is making me hungry just writing this. I can't wait to go back now. It was really that good. This dish was cooked perfectly and presented beautifully.

After all this food, you'd be surprised that we still had room for dessert. But we did! Deep-fried bananas with a pudding dipping sauce were the perfect ending to this authentic Thai meal. The crunch and the warm mushy banana were so tasty. Once we paid for the meal and chatted with the owner and his family for a little while, it was time to go home and fall into a food coma!! I will definitely be back!

WingNuts in Ontario- For those days you crave wings

Sometimes I get cravings for certain foods and I will stop at nothing to satisfy that craving. Last Saturday was one of those days that the thought of buffalo wings made my mouth water. Maybe it was the fact that we had gone to Magnum Range that morning and I was feeling pretty badass, and wings are badass... see the connection? WingNuts just happens to be down the street from my house, lucky for me, so... I dragged my roommates friend to munch some Wings with me.

I had a large Pomona Queen again, I'm really taking a liking to that beer after I had it at The Press on Valentines Day. I decided on 12 wings- 6 Garlic Parmesan, 6 Charred Whiskey BBQ and their signature propeller fries. I think Garlic-Parmesan sounds so good when its on the menu, but once you actually start eating them, their really not that great. The Charred Whiskey BBQ was so satisfying and delicious though compared to the Garlic Parmesan ones. I think I found a new fave flavor!

Wurstkuche Los Angeles- Rattlesnake and Alligator Hot Dogs!

While visiting a friend in LA the other day, I had the opportunity to experience a new restaurant. “Wurstkuche Restaurant” – Purveyor of Exotic Grilled Sausages is located near the corner of3rd Street and Alameda in downtown Los Angeles. The friend that told me about the place had been there before and mentioned something about Rattlesnake, Rabbit and Alligator hot dogs. I didn’t need to hear any more, I was already on my way to my car, pockets jingling and tum growling. Finding parking wasn’t too easy because the surrounding area is questionable, and finding the door to the restaurant was difficult too- we ended up walking in the wrong door and had to navigate to find the cash register. (Later I realized that there is a huge entryway door on the other side of the building… if only I had walked around the building rather than just opening the closest unlocked door to the restaurant)

This photo was taken from Seattlemet.com, photo courtesy of potatomato.com.
I wanted to post this because it gives you an idea of what the inside of the restaurant
looks like with its bench seating and beer bar along the wall!

The menu was very exciting but my eyes went straight to the Exotic Sausages. Alligator & Pork, Andouille Sausage and Rattlesnake & Rabbit with Jalepeno Peppers (mildly spicy). We decided to get one each because they were big and switch hotdogs halfway through, that way we could enjoy both. We ordered the alligator with Sauerkraut and Caramelized onions toppings and the Rattlesnake with Spicy Peppers and Carmelized onions. Then we decided to share a small order of their famous Belgian fries with home-made dipping sauce (we got the Bleu Cheese Walnut & Bacon dipping sauce), and to share a beer. We shared an Affligem Noel beer which is a dark caramel seasonal ale 9% alcohol by volume. It had a robust flavor profile and caramel, prune, and brown sugar flavors in it.  Each dog was $7.50, the small (Klein) fries were $3.5 and the beer was $8. We tipped the lady because we were such a pain trying to decide which beer to get and she helped us decide.

We ordered in a small room, and were handed our beer and a number. We walked down a long hallway (found the bathrooms!) into a big room. The seating was long bench seating and there was a raised area and a corner that my friend and I sat in. There was a beer bar along one wall and the restaurant was pretty busy for a Tuesday night. Our little seat in the corner gave us a good view of the restaurant and everyone eating their delicious hot dogs. On each of the tables were squeeze bottles of different gourmet mustards (Whole grain, Dijon, Spicy Brown, Honey Mustard, American Yellow and Ketchup).

After trying both the Alligator and the Rattlesnake/Rabbit Hotdogs, I decided I like the Alligator more. It is, of course, a tough comparison because they are ground up into sausages with some fillers rather than just the meat of the animal, but the Alligator was more of a milder flavor, and the Jalepenos in the Rattlesnake hot dog set my mouth on fire. Neither tasted like chicken! I definitely plan on trying all of those meats again soon, separately so I can really compare the flavors.

   

I started with the Alligator hot dog covered in Carmelized Onions and Saurkraut. YUM! Then I switched with my friend at tackled the rest of the Rattlesnake/ Rabbit/Jalepeno dog.

I really liked the restaurant. $30ish for a dinner for two was a good price and the food was so delicious. Plus the whole novelty of eating rattlesnake was pretty cool. I think I’ll try the Buffalo hot dog next time!!!

Roomies made me dinner!

On top of already being the coolest roommates ever, they had dinner ready when I walked in the door after a long day of class..... Blackened Mahi Mahi Baja Tacos with a tasty cilantro jalapeno onion sauce. The sauce wasn't spicy because Chef Ty didn't add all the jalapeno seeds into the food processor. He got the recipe out of a Cooking Lite magazine since we're on a neverending diet and it ended up being amazing. The recipe called for tilapia but the mahi mahi was incredible (more expensive fishy). And we used whole wheat tortillas to be extra healthy. It didn't taste like a healthy recipe. It was just delicious. I added some avocado and salsa to the mix for extra flavor. The salsa wasn't necessary because the jalapeno sauce was already so flavorful.

Here's the recipe from Cooking Light Magazine in case anyone is interested in giving it a try!!

Piano Piano in Claremont, birthday party

If you haven't been to a dueling piano bar before I absolutely recommend it! Super lively, entertaining music- its basically a comedy show with pianos!  Sometimes they get people on stage to dance (or make fun of them) sometimes they split up the restaurant into teams and have competitions. The only warning I'd give about the show is that its not for people who are easily offended. Its also generally the same show (songs/jokes) the four times I have been. Its great for bachelorette parties,birthday parties, going out with the girls for a night of entertainment. The drinks aren't very cheap either heads up. So anyway, since I had started coming to Piano Piano I had been wanting to try the fishbowl. Basically a gallon of fruity drink that you should share with a minimum of 3 other people. I believe it was $36 and you get to keep the fishbowl.... And the hangover. The drink was Delish and you couldn't even taste the liquor.... But it'll sneak up on you so be careful! I kept the fishbowl and currently my beta, Ichi, lives in it.

BC Cafe- Claremont, brunch with a Co-Worker

It was two days after I moved into the new house in Montclair and the new roomies suggested this place and gave rave reviews about the pancakes! It was a typical diner like Dennys... Fake potted plants, booths, pay at the front register etc. Even the server fit the diner steryotype- old lady. Didn't look too happy to be there. Mixed up the order several times...its probably time to retire to  knitting and AMC movies and let a youngen take over... The menu was about 10 pages long and I had a hard time choosing what I wanted. I finally ordered a Denver Omelet and 2 pancakes (strawberry and peach). Look at the size of the food they gave me (see picture)! for $14 it could have fed a whole family! The omelet was to die for but once I had gotten halfway through I was stuffed. The strawberry pancake was awesome but I wasn't a fan of the peach. One thing my coworker noticed halfway through our meal was several bulletholes in the windows near our booth. Not something that made us feel comfortable and we left shortly after noticing them. Outside there was also a homeless lady asking everyone who exited the restaurant for a ride back to Pomona. She wasn't wearing any shoes. Overall the food was great but the dining experience.... Not so much. A couple things really stood out in my mind that make me reconsider ever going back. If bullet holes and shoeless ladies asking for rides aren't enough to stop you from going..... I suggest the strawberry pancakes (and share a meal with someone hungry)!

Malibu, Martinellies Sparkling Apple Cider and a beautiful Palos Verdes December afternoon

Mom discovered the deliciousness that is Malibu Coconut Rum for the first time... Needless to say after a full day of gardening (my job was to prune the big rose bushes) we were both ready for a drink by the pool. Mom's drink was just Malibu and the sparkling cider... I added cranberry to mine!

Free Panda Express on Campus!

One thing I will really miss about being a hospitality student at Cal Poly Pomona is the amount of free food they give away every month! The Habit, Panda Express, Subway, etc reserved for hospitality students.... Free Orange Chicken with Fried Rice, Sprite Zero, and a fortune cookie.... YES PLEASE! Seconds? Heck yah! And the best part of this particular day was enjoying free food in the sunshine with great company, music, and so many amazing people that I've really grown to know as more than just classmates.

Pho Mai- Upland, Lunch with a classmate

Who doesn't love Pho?! Answer- people who haven't tried it! I'm addicted to rare steak Pho and eat it..... weekly! This day just happened to be a frigid 60 degrees and pouring in the IE... Rarely do I get any appetizers when I go eat pho because the soup is so big but since we were trying Pho Mai for the first time, we got their Shrimp and Pork Spring Roll appetizer plate-- its to die for! The dipping sauce is a kind of peanut sauce-YUM! They didnt have my usual pho (rare steak) but was thrilled to try the Filet Mignon and loved it! I really liked the interior decoration and ambiance in Pho Mai. It was light and airy,

spotlessly clean, with less of an Asian feel and more modern art and decoration. Since I just moved to the area I'm thrilled to find such a good Pho place down the street from my house!

The Press- Claremont, Valentines Day

I was drinking Pomona Queen, supporting a local brewery. I must say I really like this beer. It has a nice golden color, mild aroma and flavor, and the head reduces quickly. Actually the beer was pretty weak but perfect for the night. Definite drinkability! The Press was a pretty cool place, and surprisingly crowded for a Tuesday night. I loved the ambiance- dim lighting, live music, spacious, friendly service, great bar.... There were a couple questionable people there but those are the people that make the bar that much more interesting. (Thanks pink polo shirt guy!) PS... look what my beer foam did!

    

Introduction

Just graduated from Cal Poly Pomona (Go Broncos!) with a degree in Hospitality. Food is more than just food to some people. To me, it is an art in and of itself. Colors and garnish attract the eye while flavors and aromas come together to tickle the tongue. I thought it would be fun to share my love of food with whoever wants to read and get ideas. I love cooking and love going to restaurants. I love taking pictures and looking back and remembering not only the delectable treats, but the company and conversation I enjoyed as well. Join me as I enjoy filling each day with eye-catching, palate-pleasing foodstuffs!