Does It Get Any Better Than BREAD SOUP?

September 3, 2010

Bread soup brings all the Elysse to the yard.

(The reflection on the side of the bowl looks like a big smile. Coincidence? I think NOT.)

Every time I go to Tender Greens, I waffle over whether or not to try the roasted Roma tomato bread soup. I mean, I definitely know I WANT to try it. Tomatoes, soup, bread? Check, check, check– sounds amazing. I’m just like, do I really NEED to add a big soup to my big salad order?

On Wednesday night I finally WENT FOR IT. Man oh man, was that a good call. The soup was a really nice consistency and was super-delicious and tomato-y. And there were plenty of chunks of bread within, perfectly saturated. Not too soggy. Just soggy enough, in a French onion-esque way.

If I ruled the world, every soup would be bread soup. (I generally DO dip bread or crackers into my broths.)

The green stuff on the top is… basil oil? Some sort of oil. At first I wanted to remove the oil, but I didn’t have anywhere to put it. So I became one with the oil. Er, it became one with me, because it went into my stomach.

Wanna see the bread? I don’t care what you want, I’m going to show it to you anyway.

From the depths of my soup...

I tried to get Bea to share the soup, but she pretty much left it to me. (As she did with the sweet tea, later that night.) What an enabler! Haha. But she agreed that it was delicious. (And I was a jerk, because I ate all the bread before I let her have a taste.)

It’s a good thing the soup was awesome, because my Chipotle BBQ Chicken salad was not nearly as good as it was last time.

You've changed. I don't know if I can trust you anymore.

Speaking of salads, another round of Souplantation is scheduled for tonight. They’re following me (the real me) on Twitter, as of this morning. And tweeting at me. That’s when you know… you’re a Souplantation addict.

I’ll tweet the lemon cupcake separately, because this post is focused on BREAD SOUP. (And has enough pictures already.)

Since autumn weather is seemingly upon us, I’m guessing that I’ll be having this delight again soon. With a small salad, because this soup shouldn’t be put in a corner. It’s the STAR.

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Snack of the Afternoon: FROZEN YOGURT from BIG SWIRL TRUCK

September 2, 2010

You go, swirl.

As several bazillion people have pointed out, today’s date is 90210. Kinda clever. My hometown’s zip code date happened in 1961, so I totally missed out on THAT. (I don’t know if I would have noticed, since I didn’t catch this one.)

What’s the big deal? This is a ONCE IN A CENTURY occurrence. You will probably be dead when it happens again. And Beverly Hills might have a different zip code… or be underwater. Or worse… nobody will care about Beverly Hills anymore. (Beverly Hills thrives on attention.)

But who cares about anything anymore? Moving on.

This is one of the Friday-est feeling Thursdays I’ve ever encountered. I cannot convince my brain that it’s only Thursday. (And next week will be equally confusing, with the lack of a work-Monday.)

But that has nothing to do with the Snack of the Afternoon. Lately we’ve been spoiled not only by LUNCH trucks, but by a few DESSERT trucks. Today we were graced by the turquoise presence of the Big Swirl Truck. It’s basically Yogurtland on wheels.

You can buy a $3 or $5 cup and fill it as high as you want. I bought the $5 cup, but I didn’t fill it that high. I probably would have paid less by weight at a Yogurtland. Ah well. My bad. I didn’t take advantage! (And I was still quasi-full from falafel.)

While my brain continues to try to pull a Friday afternoon shutdown on me, here are some pictures…

The dispensary.

I don’t know if you can tell, but there’s a lot of sparkle going on with those spoons.

I took great interest in the toppings dispensers, which had some sort of propeller element to their design.

Not pictured: Ghirardelli chocolate sauce. Yes.

And now, for my own personal creation…

Prettiful.

I like taking pictures in the sun… the colors look so bright and cheerful. (Those sprinkles were really crunchy.) (And that light brown yogurt is dulche de leche.)

Funny that Big Swirl likes to emphasize the BS. Whatever floats their truck.

The flavors were all yum. Maybe a hazard of having a yogurt truck in the sun, but the pistachio was kinda soupy. Still tasty, but I couldn’t take much, lest it soup up the rest of the flavors.

Having a yogurt truck right outside kinda makes me miss the days when the commissary was only a short walk away… frozen yogurt ANY day. (If I could get away from the phones.) Eh… I don’t miss it that much. There’s still plenty of yogurt in my life.

These pesky snacks and sandwiches keep popping up and forcing me to backlog my planned entries. But it’s okay. Something to do on Friday. (I might have to scale back, lest the food-blogging portion of this blog because as overwhelming as the TV-recapping portion once was.)

Cheerfully blah… (Maybe the sweet tea is finally wearing off? Haha.)

xoxo…

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The Daily Sandwich: Classic Falafel (Yalla Truck)

September 2, 2010

Love the design.

My life is filling up with pita! YES. How much do I love it when falafel drives up to my door?

Before I continue with a description of the food, let me show you another angle of the Yalla Truck. Seriously, this truck. It’s a sight to behold.

Seriously!

You probably can’t read that, but it says, “SERVING FALAFEL AND LOVE. But mostly falafel.” I feel the love. I am in an open relationship on Facebook with the Yalla branding. (As in, marketing… I don’t want to be branded with the Yalla bread-brander.)

I’m pretty sure that Yalla (maybe spelled differently… like ya la?) means “hurry up” in Arabic. Just something I picked up in my travels… to my high school bestie Karen’s house (she’s Egyptian). (I also learned that sounds-like “ariyen” means naked, as in, “There’s no way you’re going out in that ariyen blouse.”)

Anyway.

I got the Classic Yalla Falafel, which is vegan– for all you vegans. (I was vegan once, for two months. Kind of a long story.) Here are the ingredients, according to their Facebook page: “Falafel balls, red cabbage salad, tomato/ cucumber salad, onion salad, lettuce, pickled turnips. Sandwich dressed with tahini sauce (sesame sauce with garlic and lemon).” I added hummus, for a dollar. (VERY good call, I think.) Total price: $5. A bargain.

Let’s take a look!

Lookin' good.

I included the business card with the publicity picture. You can see that the difference between the fantasy and the reality is the pita bread, which (sadly) is not branded with the logo. The pita bread on the card looks slightly more delicious, but the pita bread they gave me was probably healthier and tasted fine. So… I didn’t hold it against them.

You may remember that I wished for more veggies in yesterday’s wrap. Today my wishes came true. And they were all so deliciously dressed in whatever pickling, etc, those Yalla geniuses use… even the onion salad was eat-on-its-own delicious.

I thought the pink rectangles were beets, and I was really impressed because I usually don’t like beets. Then I figured out that they’re probably turnips? Either way, they were unique and had a little spicy kick.

Mystery veggies. A delicious mystery.

So yes, the combined veggie salads and hummus were great– but what about those amalgams of ground chickpeas and who-knows-what-else: the falafel balls themselves?

Now, whenever I order falafel, I worry that the balls (haha, get over it) are going to be really crusty and greasy, negating the potential healthfulness of the sandwich. Well, I was delighted to see that the Yalla balls were really fresh and dense/not dry– like, I’m not 100% sure whether they were fried. (If they were, it wasn’t done in the truck. The wrap was cold, in a fresh/crisp way.)

And they were green inside! Not sure how, because chickpeas are tan. But… I liked it! (And this isn’t the first time I’ve seen them like this… but I’m always surprised by it!)

I approve these balls.

I was also able to cut this in half! You know how much I love eat things one half at a time.

So… A+ for the Yalla Truck. Really filling, seemingly healthful… if you hear that they’re in your neighborhood, check ‘em out! Ya la!

And I feel like my mom would like the Yalla Truck. (Which is good, because Yalla Truck and I are in an open relationship on Facebook.) (My mom would probably like the Yalla Truck to make an honest woman of me, but I’m young yet!)

There’s no better endorsement than wishing you could share a snack with your loved ones, right? (Unless you are a character in Hamlet, and you want to poison your loved ones.)

Turnips and beets!

xoxo…

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Snack Trek: SWEET TEA (McDonald’s)

September 2, 2010

Bad life choices.

The following is a real chat transcript, from 11:39pm last night–

Me: I AM HIGH ON SWEET TEA. THIS IS SO BAD/SO GOOD.

Friend: knowing you, that’s not a metaphor

Me: no, there are pictures to prove that i just drank a mega-ton of it. SO STUPID.

How did this happen? Let’s back up an hour or two…

Last night Bea (my Tall Texan Twin) and I dined at Tender Greens. We ate all manner of goodness, including a big lemon cupcake, which was apparently very sugary. (I thought it was buttery? Maybe both?) (Of course I have pictures– I’ll post them sooner or later.) So I was already laden with sugar. Keep that in mind.

Somehow our discussion turned to sweet tea, and the fact that I’ve never tried it but have always wanted to try it. There’s a McDonald’s on every corner (and one right across Vine from this Tender Greens) (haha, Vine… Greens), so we sprang into sweet tea-acquiring action.

I don’t know how many ounces that container holds? 32? 64? A hundred million? All for $1.10. Not bad. (VERY BAD.)

When I think of sweet tea, I think of an interview I once read with Reese Witherspoon, about how she’s a Southern gal and loves to make sweet tea in big jars. (Maybe I’m misremembering. Sorry if this is slander, Reese.) But McDonald’s does not want me to picture Southern belles and dainty acts of hospitality (dirty!) when I think of sweet tea…

This ain't yo mama's tea!

“This is no dainty, garden party tea…?” Excuse me? Are they marketing this tea to macho men? (The macho-est thing about this sweet tea is the AMOUNT. That cup is the size of a linebacker.) That little blurb does not compute to me at all, because I want to revel in the Reese Witherspoon-y-ness of sweet tea.

But I love that lemon graphic. Nice work. I’m lovin’ it.

Sweet tea looks like Coke, in pictures.

Too much tea! Shut it down!

I asked Bea what exactly is IN this stuff that makes it so crackishly addictive, and she said that she thinks it’s just iced tea with massive amounts of sugar. (It didn’t taste THAT sweet to me, which makes me question my taste buds.) Reese Witherspoon indicated that there were spices involved! Bea conceded that there might be some cinnamon? Oh man, cinnamon is just busting out all over in my life right now.

Have you noticed that there’s a chaste version of spin the bottle on the table? (I like the happy little cancer heart with the bandaged face.) It’s weird, and also oddly NOT chaste. I’m not sure what the Ronald McDonald House people had in mind, but my version of a “giggle giver” might get me arrested for public indecency.

I didn’t plan on drinking much of this tea, or at least I planned on splitting it evenly with Bea. But I don’t think that happened. I think I consumed the majority of the tea. (I gave in to the power of the tea, a la ZOOLANDER.) (If you don’t know what I’m talking about, drop everything, turn left, and see ZOOLANDER.) I got totally sugar-high on sweet tea. Like, redonk.

The last photo before the sugar really kicked in.

I DID finish it down to the bottom, but that was too shameful to merit a picture.

Fun fact: McDonald’s at 10pm-ish in LA is full of creepy homeless people and farting tourists who speak a language I have NEVER HEARD IN MY LIFE. (And refer to the women of their group as “Lady,” in a sneering, derogatory way.) So… I’m glad we survived. (Hmm, maybe the “this is no dainty garden party” of it all is aimed at THOSE guys…)

Next time we’re going to try Chick Fil A’s sweet tea, which is apparently at least equally delicious– if not more. (Bea’s enthusiasm about the whole thing is infectious… and she’s very excited to introduce me to the special sauce.) (I can’t remember what it’s called. I was distracted by GIANT TEA.)

I woke up sweet tea high and had a sweet tea hangover (and was probably sweating sugar-water at the gym this morning), but I guess that’s par for the course.

Reese Witherspoon knows what I’m talking about!

xoxo…

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The Daily Sandwich: ROSEMARY’S BABY (No Reservations Truck)

September 1, 2010

Some reservations...

If you’re a very astute and loyal reader (hi, Mom), you’ll note that this is the first picture on the Binge to require a dark font. So much white around the edges! Argh.

Anyway.

The No Reservations truck came to our parking lot today. I checked out pictures of the food on their Facebook page and I had Some Reservations about the whole thing, but almost everybody in the office ordered (peer pressure!), and the descriptions sounded really good… in theory.

I don’t even eat lamb, but I was so intrigued by the “Silence of the Lambs” wrap (it had pomegranate red wine sauce!) that I almost ordered it. (Also… I didn’t notice until I read it on another blog that the wraps are all named after movies… in a really awkward way. “The Green Mile”? “Rosemary’s Baby”? Maybe not the best connotations!)

(No, I’m not an idiot– I definitely noticed that they were movie names, but I was thinking more of the punny element than the movie names factor.) (And the salmon wrap is called “Off the Hook.” Is that a movie?) (Why not just “Hook”? Or… “Jaws”?)

Anyway, I ordered the “Rosemary’s Baby,” even though I don’t like freaky-deaky horror movies. (I’m sorry, I know it’s a classic.) Selling points included Israeli couscous and pesto. (I had them hold the gouda.)

Aren’t there any other movies that are chicken-wrap appropriate? “Chicken Run”? (I immediately veto that– too close to “runs,” as in… intestinal ouch.)

Usually I cut my daily sandwiches on a slight diagonal and snap a picture of the lateral view, but when I cut into this wrap it became apparent that it would not cooperate. Hence the creepy coroner-esque picture at the top. Can you see my trepidation as I peel back the skin?

Eventually I found the vein of pesto, and thought it felt photo-worthy. Sorta.

Eureka, I have found it.

There was a sort of overall oiliness to this wrap, and I was not a fan. The Israeli couscous was all right, most of the chicken was not looking so hot (or tasting too hot), and even the tortilla wrap itself was sort of a funny flavor. (I drank some orange juice/ate some strawberries to get the taste out of my mouth.) Maybe this would be up someone else’s ally, but this was kinda too warm/heavy for a lunch wrap. A vegetable/greenery element might have improved this. Or… a total makeover.

BUT whatever, food trucks are a gamble.

And I still ate about half, because… it was my lunch. (And I was giving it a chance.)

In totally unrelated news, today I tried ANOTHER new hair product, and I’m having a GOOD hair day. YES. (Since I’m liking it, I can tell you that it’s classic Frizz-Ease.) (I like products that don’t feel like there’s any product in my hair.)

(I fully acknowledge that my hair might look exactly the same as it did yesterday, but I FEEL good about it today. And it’s not gunky. So… good hair day.)

AND I actually did a full back bend IN yoga class this morning (which made up for having the weirdest night’s sleep/being late to class). Unfortunately when I bend backwards to any degree in yoga at 6am, I feel rather barfulous. But I don’t ACTUALLY barf (yet), so it’s all good.

Much like a horror movie (or a wrap named after one), things have been a bit strange in my brain this week. Last night I had crazy-ass dreams and woke up every fifteen minutes thinking that HOURS had gone by and that I’d overslept, only to find out that… only minutes had gone by. When my alarm finally went off at 5:30am, I was so disoriented that I didn’t notice it… luckily I woke up 20 minutes later and rushed into action.

And then this morning post- definitely WEDNESDAY morning yoga, my brain decided that today was Thursday… and also August 31st. Even though Thursday will be September 2nd. My brain is having issues with TIME (and THINKING).

So it figures that I would order a horror movie wrap against my better judgment, on a day like today. You win some, you lose some. Yin and yang.

BUT on the bright side– my beloved DIM SUM TRUCK is (allegedly) returning next Thursday! THE SAME DAY that THE VAMPIRE DIARIES premieres! (So I’ll be back to my 8pm yoga, 9pm vampires-on-DVR routine.) Does it get much better than that? No. No, it doesn’t.

Back bends for everyone!

xoxo…

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Snack Trek: GETTY VILLA PICNIC- The Sweets

September 1, 2010

Dessert, anyone?

After much ado! Here is the second installment (of three) of the Getty Villa birthday picnic surprise series. I don’t THINK I have many words to add here, because the desserts speak for themselves… but I always tend to say that before typing out a giant paragraph. So we’ll see what strikes me. (As usual– click on the pictures to see them BIGGER.)

And major props to the Picnik editing tools (which I use through Flickr), without which many of these pictures would have been a lot less pretty. Maybe I went a little overboard with the editing. Or maybe it’s too subtle. Maybe I went underboard. (I can’t tell!)

I GRAPPLED for days over which cupcake picture to use. (I always GRAPPLE over the smallest, silliest decisions, and make the big ones in a snap. Weird.) Of course, you’ll never know what you’re missing. (Well– you can check out the rest in my Getty Picnic Flickr set.)

Up close & personal.

Seriously, it’s NUTS how much cake has been in my life this past month or so. My stomach has been a little off lately, and I’m wondering if I AM allergic to wheat, after all. It would be kind of appropriate if I unwittingly spent the month before a cake-less life binging on cake. Going out with a bang.

At least I could look back at the blog and see all my cake pictures and memories, and take heart in the fact that most of the cakes didn’t necessarily taste as amazing as they looked. (Though I always try to be kind on the blog.) (But for real, Sprinkles is UP THERE. Never a dry cupcake in the batch.)

As if this picnic wasn’t enough of a present, Lauren crafted a special set of stationery just for me (I have such a big ego now!), along with the AWESOME personalized heart pillow. (With a name like mine, I didn’t exactly grow up being able to get those name-stickers off the rack.) Not only does she know my favorite snacks, but she knows my favorite colors/images.

Raindrops on roses and ketchup in bottles...

Note that the cupcake on the card has a little flag in it– just like the flags in the cupcakes at the picnic. (NICE!)

Lauren also gave me this adorable card, which she picked up at LA’s Renegade Craft Fair. (I couldn’t go because I had improv class. So LA!)

Does this mean that LA people HAVE hearts?

As you can see, I had a lot of fun using the flags and the pillow as photo-shoot props.

Another red velvet identity crisis in the making.

In that photo the flag looks like it’s staking a claim. In the next, it looks like a sign of surrender.

We give up!

Word on the street (aka Lauren’s blog) is that she’s going to post a little DIY tutorial that will show you how to make those flags. (That’s a link to HER post about the picnic. She managed to do it all in ONE post, because she’s good at things.)

I got a little goofy with the macarons. This looks like a face, to me. (Though I think I intended for it to be double hearts.)

Looking weird, Face.

I also wanted to show you WHAT’S INSIDE a macaron. (Delicious cream stuff.) (Lauren was right– in the case of these Trader Joe’s macarons, the vanilla ones are better. Even the consistency of the cookie part of the vanilla seemed better– less dense/chewy. Must be the different ingredients that go into the different flavors.) (But the chocolate were still good. Just not AS good.)

Obviously I was feeling the love for the macarons. Another attempt at the double hearts…

This is getting creepy.

Some of my friends are still confused as to who RUNS this blog that I’m always promoting on my Facebook. If all these Elysse-name photos don’t answer that question, I don’t know what will.

Maybe the Getty Villa was my muse, silently inspiring the double hearts, because later I stumbled across this detail on a mosaic/fountain.

Is this garish? I want it in my bathroom.

Not sure what those double hearts are flanking, but it just might be an Ancient Greek version of a French macaron. (And by “just might be” I mean “definitely isn’t.”)

This picture is one of my favorites of the day. It looks quite editorial. (Somehow I even managed to avoid including the background-napkin-trash.) If you replace the Elysse with “Oprah,” this publisher-ready. (Probably not.)

My moment of zen.

I like to think of the areas of soft focus as an artistic choice, rather than not-amazing-quality camera issues.

Also, I chose to feature the cinnamon cupcake from Sprinkles because I’m a little bit obsessed. Not only is it the cupcake version of a Snickerdoodle (MUCH LOVE), but it’s a FROSTINGLESS cupcake. As you know, I’m a little queasy about frosting. So… sign me up. Double hearts for cinnamon sugar.

(I’m totally that girl in the romantic comedy who THOUGHT she loved red velvet, but over time she realized that he was all looks and flash and not as tasty as everybody made him out to be. Meanwhile, nice-guy cinnamon was there all along, ready to love her– but she took a long time to get over her initial prejudices about him, because some cinnamon-flavored things, like gum, are gross-ish.) (OMG, life-imitating-food preferences.)

The Getty Villa is a modern-day replica of a villa in Ancient Greece. Of course, the REAL villas back in Greece are in ruins by now. And here are the ruins of our picnic. (Food-imitating-Greece.)

We done good.

The more I type “Greece,” the less it seems like a real word.

You maybe be wondering what became of those surviving cupcakes. We put everything back in the car before we explored the Villa. Later that night, post-Spitz, I took a few pictures of the cupcakes with my birthday cake-plate.

Birthday presents on birthday presents!

And then we ate them. Two girls, three cupcakes. Nice work. (Cole bowed out pre-Spitz, or I’m sure he would have helped.)

Once again: Thanks to Lauren and Cole! Amazing desserts! Can’t wait to eat more desserts with you. There are so many out there. Never a shortage.

Coming soon: The final installment– “The Villa.” As much as it’s nice to post a blog entry and be done with it, I’ll be sad to put this experience to bed. But luckily the memories will stay here, and I can visit them. A la the Getty Villa. (Food blog-imitating-museum.)

xoxo…

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Snack [Trek] of the Afternoon, 8/31/10: COOLHAUS TRUCK

August 31, 2010

Are the walls blocking the truck, or making this pic artsy?

Okay, the Coolhaus truck was here. I met the unicorn. (It even has a horn? Or a cool pink protrusion?) Some say that you should never meet your unicorns, for they will always disappoint you. I wasn’t disappointed, per se, but conditions were not ideal. (Starting with my Oregon Trail-style drinking-of-bad-water at 7:15am.)

One very cool thing about the truck is the use of decorative magnets to post both the day’s menu and pictures of famous architects. (Another cool thing is the story of the founders. It’s on the site.)

I was saddened by the lack of "dirty mint chip" today-- whatever that means.

I remember this name from my years of being an architecture student’s roommate. (Also: Corbusier.)

Koolhaas on Coolhaus.

My original dream order, based on the website, was one snickerdoodle cookie and one ginger cookie, with dirty mint chip. (I don’t know what makes it dirty, but I wanted to find out!)

Unfortunately life doesn’t always hand us dirty mint chip. By the time I got to the truck, pickings were slim. I ended up getting one snickerdoodle cookie and one chocolate chip cookie, with carrot cake ice cream. And I got co-worker Daphne her alternate: chocolate chip cookies with peanut butter. Here’s an architecturally unsound shot. (My hands are small!)

Double decker!

If you look in the bottom left corner of that picture, my cardigan kind of blends with the carpet and it looks like my hand is floating in space. I’m Thing from “The Addams Family!” (That’s why you never see my face.) (Also… that’s why my flavor descriptions are limited. I have no mouth!)

I’m sorry, these pictures are kind of blurry and sucky. I’ve been holding myself to a higher standard lately. But sometimes life doesn’t hand you super-clear pictures OR dirty mint chip. You still gotta post SOMETHING.

Eat this ad.

The ice cream sandwiches are wrapped in edible paper, which is apparently made of potato starch… something like that. I was hoping it would be made of sugar. I ate some just for the heck of it, but it tasted like… actual paper, only a bit more melt-in-your-mouth. Not my new favorite snack or anything. But interesting.

And of course the paper had an ad on it. They should print fake government secrets. Eat after reading!

My mistake was that I actually ate the big chunk of carrot cake that was in my carrot cake ice cream. I felt a little stomach-unhappy after that. (Also– Cake mixed in with ice cream, served on a cookie? Really, Elysse?) (At least there were real carrot-pieces. Vegetable to the rescue!)

Here’s a very noir shot of that situation…

Triple dessert threat.

Looks like I was eating it in jail. I ought to be locked up, for this behavior.

Actually, I put the whole thing in a bowl and ate it very conventionally. I like to try everything separately, together, etc etc. The snickerdoodle was not quite as soft as I like my cookies (though I was happy to have a reason not to eat the whole thing– especially since I ate more carrot cake than I’d bargained for), but the chocolate chip cookie was just right.

Playing with my food./Demolition.

So I had a kinda mixed experience due to multiple factors (I was also in a MOOD because I’m trying a new hair product and it gave me a BAD HAIR DAY), but I’m definitely open to revisiting this truck.

Hopefully next time they have the dirty mint chip! Or the red velvet ice cream– if it’s anything like carrot cake, I’m guessing it’s red velvet cake smooshed into vanilla ice cream. Color me intrigued. (Even though the red velvet identity crisis rages on, especially after eating a red velvet from SPRINKLES on Saturday and not feeling true love for it.) (My heart belonged to cinnamon? Never thought I’d say THAT.) (Although… I DID choose a snickerdoodle today. I feel another identity crisis coming on!)

Next time, I hope to go with Lauren! I know she’ll delight in the architect magnets… and the desserts.

xoxo…

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Snack Trek: GETTY VILLA PICNIC- The Savories

August 31, 2010

A-picnicking we go!

Saturday’s birthday surprise excursion picnic was so epic that posting all of the pictures in one post would prove… unwieldy. (And I should know– I’m the queen of too-long posts.) I decided to split the experience into three posts– The Savories, The Sweets, and The Villa. (As you’ll see, the villa has a few built-in snacks of its own.)

This post is The Savories. Not actually sure if everything here counts as an official Savory Food, but this post is dedicated to everything that happened pre-dessert.

The whole drive, I kept revising my guesses as we passed through different neighborhoods. Cole had hinted that we’d be going to Little Tokyo, but as soon as we set out I knew that wasn’t the case. Hollywood? Nope, we passed it. Beverly Hills? Nope, we turned and got on the freeway. The Museum of Tolerance? (Haha.) Nope, kept going on the 10 West. Venice? Nope, headed to the PCH. Zuma Beach? Nope. When I finally guessed the Getty Villa, we were really close to it. And I was REALLY excited.

And when I found out that we were having a picnic, I was DOUBLE excited. I haven’t been on a picnic… since I was a kid? And I LOVE picnics. I don’t even know if Lauren knew how much I love picnics! (I’m just too uncool to ever pull one together… that’s what friends are for.)

I’m violating my no-faces rule because these pictures of Lauren and Cole are so adorable. Between that first picture and us actually locating the picnic area, I (the only one not lugging stuff– thanks guys!) doubled back to find a map, and it turns out that doubling back is not easy at the Getty Villa. It’s a labyrinth! (I should have sprinkled cupcake crumbs to guide my way.)

When we found the picnic area, it was lovely. Reminded me of a rest area at a (very manicured) national park. Some other group was singing happy birthday (to somebody else), and we joked that they were part of the surprise.

Mischief managed!

I’m a lazy butt and would have brought plasticware and party cups, but of course Lauren went all out with real silverware, Mason jars for cups, and IBC root beer in glass bottles. Aesthetically pleasing! (And Lauren must be strong! Wow.)

Drink me.

You can see in that picture that Lauren brought sliced cantaloupe and kettle corn. She also brought all manner of delicious carbs…

Eat me.

I was having some problems camera/exposure-wise, with the light/shade. But I think that picture is the worst of them.

Lauren MADE bruschetta (SKILLZ) and brought Sabra hummus and some sort of dip that involved pesto and sun-dried tomatoes, so I started out with a plate of what I am referring to here as “savories.”

So much tomato/basil tastebud love on one plate.

Not only was the bruschetta super fresh and restaurant-quality tasty, but Lauren made it TO TASTE. Like, no set amount of ingredients. I didn’t ask her if she learned that while studying abroad in Italy. Will I gain that type of knowledge if I move there? (Lauren last lived with me two years ago, and I still have some of her recipes up on the fridge… but I’ve never cooked them. I’m not worthy.)

My second plate contained a melon/kettle corn/Australian licorice medley…

What a team.

Lauren selected the cantaloupe using some sort of smell test that I’ve never heard of before. Smelling its belly button? (Does a melon have a belly?) I was taught to shake melons and listen for the seeds, but I can never tell if I’m hearing the seeds or just… general swishing.

Whatever she did, it worked.

As much as I was stuffing myself with all my snacky favorites, I knew that dessert was on the horizon. (And Spitz was on the horizon’s horizon.)

Here’s a sneak preview of The Sweets. Of course, Lauren and Cole brought BOTH of my favorites: Cupcakes AND French macarons. (Apparently French macarons are the new cupcakes? Fingers crossed!) (And my spell check still wants me to call them macaroons, so you might see me cave sometimes and spell it that way.)

Cole went all-out and brought Sprinkles cupcakes, from Beverly Hills.

I love that colorful chart.

The chart is probably too small to read on the blog, but a perfect day to go to Sprinkles (for ME) would be a Friday, because that’s the only day they have chai latte, and they also have pumpkin (!). Although on a Thursday you could try carrot and mocha.

But no regrets. There is so much pumpkin in my near future. Fall is coming. (Apparently pumpkin spice lattes are back today at Starbucks.)

Oh, sorry to digress about Sprinkles/pumpkin-y-ness. The macarons were from Trader Joe’s. Not to SPOILER ALERT, but for a frozen-section treat they were surprisingly light and fresh.

These macarons are pawns in a board game?

Ooh, I feel an idea coming on: a pumpkin pie flavored MACARON. I bet they already exist, since ketchup-flavored macarons are out there. (Thanks for the link, Allison!) (Maybe no thanks? Maybe barfs?) As much as I love ketchup, I have my limits. I feel queasy just thinking about ketchup macarons. Desserts and ketchup… not so much. I won’t knock ‘em ’til I’ve tried them, but… I don’t know if I’d want to try them.

Theoretically the next post in this series should be “The Sweets,” but I already have the pictures for “The Villa” prepped and ready. (I can’t choose between dessert pics! As if it matters that much!) So we’ll see what pops up next. The suspense is (probably not) killing you.

On Passover we say “dayenu,” meaning “it would have been enough.” Saturday was a total Dayenu situation. The goodness just kept coming, when any one thing would have already delighted me so much! Hopefully these posts are a Dayenu for you, too. I’m trying to avoid making them into a big long draggy Seder.

Okay, Jew analogies aside– To Be Continued…

xoxo…

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Famous Last Words

August 31, 2010

Not again.

So the trucks that come to our office’s parking lot are listed in a Google calendar. I check it every day at lunch. Yesterday I realized that the truckage is going to continue into next month. And the Dim Sum Truck will be back! YES!

I’ve tried almost every truck I’ve WANTED to try, with one exception: The Coolhaus Truck. Delicious ice cream/cookie sandwiches inspired by architecture? Yes yes yes. Lauren and I were discussing our desire to seek out the Coolhaus truck when she was here last Sunday. (She was an architecture major, so she GETS IT.) It’s the unicorn of food trucks.

Anyway, yesterday I glanced at the updated calendar and saw that Coolhaus is coming here. TODAY. As co-worker Bryan and I were celebrating, I joked, “Nothing will stop me from getting Coolhaus! If I am over the toilet with food poisoning, I will halt my barfing to go to the truck.”

Well, guess who has a sad, burbling stomach today? (I think it’s because post-gym this morning, I drank out of a week-old water bottle that’s been sitting in my car.) (In my defense: I do it all the time…?)

Moral of the story: NEVER JOKE ABOUT ANYTHING.

But I think I’m starting to feel better. I WILL RALLY FOR COOLHAUS. (I will try.) (And I hope it’s better than Diddy Riese.)

Wish Lauren were here.

xoxo…

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Snack Trek: DONER KEBABS & SWEET POTATO FRIES @ SPITZ (!!!)

August 30, 2010

Reunited and it feels so good.

I’m still overwhelmed by picnic pics (and I edit them in a program called Picnik, very appropriate), so I’m going to start with the Spitz post. I can’t choose between these pictures, either, but there are few enough that I can just slap them all up.

There are so many different variations of kabobs/kebabs/kebaps out there. I’m spelling it the way Spitz spells it, for this post. When in Rome…

Perfect segue, because Lauren became infatuated with doner kebab while she was studying abroad in Italy. When she returned, she searched LA for doner kebabs. You would think that would be an easy search, but LA is not as street-carty as Europe, or even New York. Eventually Lauren discovered Spitz, which at the time had only one small location, in Eagle Rock.

We waited ever-so-patiently for the Little Tokyo location to finally finally open, and it was worth the wait– closer to our apartment, hipper, more seating, Yogurtland and Pinkberry adjacent. (The other night there was a DJ spinning some great ambiance music– not too loud for conversation to flow.)

So Spitz became a thing that Lauren and I would do. And it’s just not the same to eat there without her. So I generally don’t. What was once our special roomie place is now our special former-roomie reunion place.

Reuniting with Spitz and Lauren is like… hmm, how can I analogize this? Like birds of a feather, flocking together? Like kingdoms joining forces? Like two asteroids colliding?

Whatever it is, it involves years of friendship and a whole lot of deliciousness. And a dash of spice, if I forget to ask for no chili sauce (but I can take it!).

Lauren and I both got the chicken doner kebab plate with sweet potato fries. She got sandwich-style, on focaccia bread (apparently that’s European style), and I got mine in a lavash wrap (Mediterranean style, as pictured at the top). Here’s Lauren’s:

Dear Lauren, Thank you for allowing me to cockblock your food and take pictures of it.

And just to show you the grilly goodness of my wrap once it’s un-foiled (is that the inspiration for the word “unfurled”? I’m guessing no…), here’s another picture of it.

The meat is flat!

As I mentioned in the caption, the meat is flat. Ingenious, for a wrap. Well played!

And here is a picture of my wrap where it appears to be photobombing the rest of my dinner. And it looks like a good-natured shark!

PHOTOBOMB!

And of course I have to spend a moment or two discussing the sweet potato fries. It sounds crazy, but I wish more of my fries had been soggy. I love soggy fries, and mildly soggy cereal. I think soggy fries are a sign of cardiac-arresting levels of greasiness (or oldness?), but the heart wants what the heart wants. (Even if what it wants is going to make it break, as in stop working?)

BUT whatever, my complaint is strange. I love these fries because they really taste like sweet potatoes, but not in an undercooked way. There are sweet potato fries that taste like regular fries, and there are sweet potato fries that just taste like chopped up, heated sweet potatoes. The sweet potato fries at Spitz contain the perfect blend of sweet potato essence and fry-ness.

Snack attack!

I actually took that picture for a potential future header, because I never like any of the sweet potato fry pics on Google images.

Spitz parcels out its ketchup in the typical Heinz packets, and I always manage to go through a very large handful. Looks like this ketchup just lost a war. I titled this picture “Ketchup Victims” on my Flickr.

Why must the good die young?

Speaking of heart attacks, I try to avoid the dip that comes with the fries, as it probably consists mainly of mayonnaise. (I was using the lid and the foil for the ketchup because it always seeps through napkins.)

Lauren knows all too well of my ketchup-slaughtering ways, and in fact earlier in the day she had given me a set of personalized note cards featuring pictures of some of my favorite things, including the incredibly apt “I [heart] ketchup.” (Before I opened it, I thought the ketchup bottle was booze.)

She knows me too well...

That’s when you know you have a ketchup problem. The next surprise I get from Lauren and Cole just might be a ketchup intervention.

As much as I love the Spitz take on the kebab, my heart yearns to find an LA version of what I had in Israel (I think that would be called falafel/pita/shawerma). They put French fries in the pita! If anybody knows about a place like that… please let me know. There is room in my heart for EVERY type of kebab.

Love and ketchup!

xoxo…

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