Snack Trek: A Tale of Two Aebleskivers (Solvang, CA)

December 30, 2011

Aebleskivers and fruit at The Little Mermaid restaurant.

Happy Holidays! Sam and I spent the last few days driving up and down the California coast (between Los Angeles and Monterey), and one of our last stops was the quirky town of Solvang, CA– it’s supposed to be a little slice of Denmark, but turned out to be a melting pot of Danish, Dutch, Belgian… you know, European places where you expect to find blonde people with charming accents.

Everywhere I go, I like to try whatever food is considered the specialty. In Solvang, it’s the aebleskiver– a spherical pancake. We sampled aebleskivers from not one, but TWO local spots.

First we hit up The Little Mermaid, a restaurant that is more Hans Christian Andersen than Disney. (They heavily feature the famous Danish statue.)

Charmed, I'm sure.

For $6, we got a plate of three aebleskivers, with whipped cream and fresh fruit. We also got a little bowl of raspberry jam, to accompany our dough-balls.

Aebleskiver innards.

I’m not always on board when it comes to raspberry-based foods, but I enjoyed the raspberry jam. (Later I felt a bit ill– maybe from the sweetness– but I got over it in time for the next round.)

After some walking about, we hit up the Solvang Restaurant, where the aebleskivers are so popular that you don’t even have to go inside to order them– you can grab a few at a walk-up window. (And also watch them being cooked in their little pans– cool.)

Solvang Restaurant's aebleskiver operation.

Zoom in…

Now you can see the pans.

Apparently the aebleskivers here are the handiwork of some man named Arne. On the Solvang Restaurant website, you can read his somewhat nonsensical explanation of the aebleskiver. (Sample line: “Aebleskiver are a delicacy, supposedly invented by some Dane back in history.” Really? How specific!)

For $3.40, you get three aebleskivers in a food truck-esque paper container.

Arne's famous aebleskivers. Supposedly invented by some Dane back in history.

I expected aebleskivers to be like donut holes– greasy, sticky, etc. But they were actually light and fluffy. The ones at The Little Mermaid were in some places a bit crisp on the outside, and if this had been a contest they might have won, by a narrow margin.

I liked that one of my Arne’s aebleskivers had a little pocket of air in it.

Excavation.

If you want a sit-down dining experience (and some fruit), The Little Mermaid wasn’t crowded, and had an old-timey charm. (And you can order other food.) If you want your aebleskivers on-the-go, Solvang Restaurant’s take-out window is for you. (Or you can also go inside and sit down. I’m sure they have old-timey charm, too.) (Basically, it’s a toss-up.)

Maybe later I’ll blog about the other specialties I tried on the trip– did you know that Monterey is famous for its sanddabs? (Did you know that sanddabs existed?)

In case I don’t blog again for a few days… Happy New Year! In 2012, I’m going to make my own frozen yogurt! Watch out, world.

xoxo…

Leave a Comment » | SNACK TREK | Tagged: , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by yapplebee

Snack Trek: Rincon Chileno (#SethBuyMeLunch)

November 9, 2011

It has a face!

As you probably know by now, I’m the type of person who will do relatively crazy things in the name of food– especially free food. So when my friend Heather tweeted about blogger Seth Madej‘s #SethBuyMeLunch Twitter-based weekly contest, I threw my hat into the ring. (Heather had gone to lunch with Seth and had returned from the experience seemingly unscathed.)

It took me two weeks to actually WIN the lunch, which made me lucky luncher #7. Seth suggested we check out Rincon Chileno, which turned out to be a stone’s throw away from my old apartment. Little did I know (until I googled it later, as I was labeling my photos) that the churrasco sandwich, recommended to Seth “by a friend,” is one of  Serious Eats’ “Best Cheap Sandwiches in Los Angeles.”

On a side note– I think my Serious Eats cookbook got lost in the mail. (Amazon told me to keep waiting but sent me $7 for my trouble… suddenly this post has a numerical motif.)

Other than the phrase, “There’s no such thing as a free lunch” bumping around in my head, I wasn’t nervous about meeting up with Seth. My mother was a bit uneasy that I was so willing to hang out with a stranger from the internet… and then I reminded her that I’m a veteran of Jdates, Craigslist roommates, etc. That (and Heather’s alive-ness) didn’t make her feel any better, but… whatever. Off I went.

Seth and I were both expecting to eat at plastic (or metal, I didn’t consult with him about the material) tables in a deli-like setting, but instead we found ourselves in a “fancy” restaurant setting. Pleasant surprise. (There WAS a take-out deli, next door.) We also expected greasy, fried empanadas– but no! They were baked.

Foreground: spinach and cheese. Background: chicken.

And in another unexpected twist, the chicken in the empanadas was not ground up, but shredded.

Innards.

Yet another surprise– the sandwich came with french fries. I’d eaten fries the night before, and I try to maintain a once-a-week-rule for fries (because of my cholesterol). But… fries in my face? I couldn’t resist. (Oh woe is my willpower.)

French fries... We meet again, my favorite nemesis.

But it also came with salad… so… I’m okay?

While we ate we had a nice conversation and found out that we have been living parallel-ish lives. For more on that, read Seth’s account of the day. (And that’s one of the reasons why I’m posting this before other promised posts… have to keep up with the blogging Joneses.) (I laughed a lot while reading his post because I was relieved that I didn’t seem terrible– and because he’s funny.)

For the record, my mom– relieved that I lived– enjoyed Seth’s post and was impressed by his recollection of minute details. (“Was he taking notes?”) (He was not.) (And– as Seth pointed out– how is he to know that his lunch-winners are not creepers? They are ALSO strangers from the internet.) (We’re ALL just strangers from the internet, until we’re not… deep life moment.)

As far as the churrasco sandwich goes– we didn’t discuss it at the time, but parallel livers that we are, Seth and I seem to concur in our analysis. The sandwich wasn’t greasy, per se (and props for all the mushed-up avocado), but there was something rich about it that made me fill up really fast. Maybe the bread was buttered/oiled? (We got French bread, out of three choices. The waiter recommended it.)

It was a good sandwich, but I’m not going to dream about it. If I went back I’d try others. (Or I’d… go to Porto’s?) (Also a Serious Eats favorite, by the by.)

But hey– I had a good time. I tried a new place. I got to eat avocado AND steak AND empanadas AND french fries. And I wasn’t murdered by a stranger from the internet. All in all, very successful– for a free lunch.

Thanks, Seth! (And if you want to vie for a free lunch, keep an eye on Seth’s Twitter.)

xoxo…

Follow us on Twitter / Fan us on Facebook

Leave a Comment » | SNACK TREK | Tagged: , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by yapplebee

Snack Trek: APPLE CIDER DONUTS!!! (Atkins Farms– Amherst, MA)

October 28, 2011

At last... at long last.

We woke up at 3am in Los Angeles to make our flight to Philly. The next day, we woke up at 3am in Philly, loaded up our borrowed car, and headed for Amherst– a 5-ish hour drive filled with laughter, strange radio stations, and a little bit of napping (on my part, at least– I’m assuming Sam stayed awake, as he was the driver.)

During the last few minutes, as we wound our way down a country road (okay, actually– that’s what highways are like in rural Massachusetts) toward Atkins Farms, we heard an ad for Atkins on the radio. It was quite a lovely coincidence.

And then– we were there. Sam’s old stomping (/working) grounds. The place we’d been pipe-dreaming about visiting for the past year (since our jaunt to Oak Glen, CA). We really did it.

What is this Macoun of which you speak?

(Full disclosure– we approached from the other direction. I took this picture as we were leaving. Whatever. Go with it.)

(But I really did take this picture coming in.) Have you ever seen a more picturesque parking lot? That tree alone was worth the drive!

We have arrived.

Atkins was a full-on grocery store, but we didn’t do a whole lot of browsing– our mission was clear. We procured a bag of sugared cider donuts and two hot apple ciders, and grabbed a table next to a bunch of old-school Mass guys just shooting the shit (at 9am), complete with the Boston(ish) accents.

Breakfast of champions.

After three sugared cider donuts and some hot cider each, we were AWAKE.

The cider donuts didn’t exactly taste like apple, but they had an essence-of-cider thing going on… they were crumbly and cake-y and amazingly non-greasy. They were very light, for donuts– hence the whole I-ate-three thing. (I could almost fool myself that they were halfway healthy.)

Really, you just have to eat them while looking out upon the changing leaves of Amherst, MA. It’s a whole experience beyond the donut itself.

An autumn wonderland.

And you also have to buy some apples, to offset the donut/cider probable-unhealthiness quotient.

Sam levitates a bag of Macouns for us.

Sam– the resident New Englander– introduced me to the Macoun apple. It’s pronounced Muh-cow-in, which… honestly, I already have some pronunciation issues in my life, and Massachusetts had a few mind-benders on this front. (But they all might be crazy– later Sam told me that crayon is pronounced “cran,” and I will fight to the end that it is pronounced “CRAY-on.”)

In my mind, the Macoun is the “Snow White apple,” because it was so red on the outside and almost unnervingly, blindingly white on the inside. Snow white, rose red. You get it.

I'll get you, my pretty.

I’ve happily noshed on West Coast apples my whole life, but I’ve gotta say– I really miss those Macouns. They just had a different texture than we’re used to out here– not at all gritty. Very smooth.

We bought a bag of half-and-half (sugared and non-sugared) cider donuts for the road (sometimes all that sugar is just… too much– I think we preferred the non-sugared, overall), and those donuts, paired with the apples, made for a great breakfast for the next few days. (And our hotel looked out upon a leafy expanse, so we got to have the “full experience” once again.)

Alternate breakfast of champions. (That's the non-sugared.)

But that wasn’t all we ate during our trip. Ohhh no it wasn’t. No siree. Stay tuned for burgers, beers, and a (traumatizing) lobster.

xoxo…

Follow us on Twitter / Fan us on Facebook

4 Comments | SNACK TREK | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by yapplebee

Snack Trek: Boston (Mr.) Tea Party

October 13, 2011

One if by land... two if you're not driving.

Last year, Mr. Tea (Sam) and I made the long-ish trek to Redlands to see Lauren (of course!) and to snack on some apple cider donuts. That was about a 3 hour round trip, by car. This weekend, we’re flying from Los Angeles to Philadelphia, stealing a car (legally) and driving 5 hours to Amherst to breakfast on the apple cider donuts (and apples… and cider) of Sam’s wily college years.

So yeah– we’re officially a little bit nutty. (I’ve never seen autumn foliage on the East Coast– so that’s a big part of the agenda, too.)

And as long as we’re in the area, we can’t NOT go to Sam’s hometown of Boston and dine on the best burgers, lobstah, chowdah, Italian food, beer… and whatever else we can find. (Or… fit in our stomachs, as the case may be for me.)

I’m arming myself with a camera, some cash, and a few rolls of TUMS. I’ll report back next week…

xoxo…

Follow us on Twitter / Fan us on Facebook

Leave a Comment » | DO IT YOURSELF, SNACK TREK | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by yapplebee

Just In Time for the High Holidays…

October 6, 2011

Kosher bacon yogurt?

Today I went to the local FroYo Life, hoping to find pumpkin on tap. Instead I encountered maple bacon donut. At first I was like, gross! Meat ice cream! And I don’t eat bacon!

And then I read the fine print: Kosher.

So… no meat (can’t mix it with dairy). No bacon. Therefore, I tried it. And… it was pretty much yummy maple flavor. Good times. (Not even sure why they used the word bacon… probably for the novelty.)

Happy high holidays, fellow Jews!

(Oh… and in a little over a week I’ll be eating these donuts!!! Living the dream.)

xoxo…

Follow us on Twitter / Fan us on Facebook

2 Comments | SNACK TREK | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by yapplebee

Snack Trek: FORAGE (Silver Lake)

September 18, 2011

More than I can eat.

This week my friends and I finally tried out Silver Lake hot spot Forage, at Sunset Junction. It’s sort of an upscale cafeteria– you order the food at the counter and they scoop up a plate for you. Since the food is locally sourced, I expected it to be fresh and healthy. It was fresh, but more decadent than healthy.

I opted for the protein-and-two-sides plate. For my protein, I chose the Crispy Mushroom Ragout sandwich. It was on some sort of flaky, crusty bread that was probably 200% butter, and also had cream on it. Rich city!

What is this, France or something?

Next time I’ll try the Jidori chicken. Actually, I’m dying to try the Coca Cola and soy marinated steak, but there’s a rotating menu and it wasn’t available on the night we went to Forage. So– I’ll try the chicken, if the Coke steak isn’t around.

I’m not a huge mac ‘n cheese person, but it seemed to be one of their specialties. It was good, but definitely a WAY bigger portion than I would have served myself. Luckily Cole was willing to help me do the heavy lifting (eating).

Same food, different view.

My second side was mercifully veggie-based– a Fattoush salad with a zaatar dressing. Or something like that. (Basically– a bunch of veggies in a light dressing.) It cut all the fats of the rest of the meal nicely.

But then… we ordered dessert.

Why? WHY???

The first slice was some sort of chocolate-hazelnut cake. And the second was a maple pear upside cake? Something like that. Bad life choices!

Never trust a pretty cake.

In conclusion, Forage is definitely a sometimes-restaurant. I think if I went there weekly, my heart/stomach/cholesterol would explode. Very unbecoming. But I’ll be back… because sometimes you just can’t stay away from those bad boy… foods.

xoxo…

Follow us on Twitter / Fan us on Facebook

1 Comment | SNACK TREK | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by yapplebee

Snack Track: Mr. Tea’s Wild Ride

September 18, 2011

The flower is edible. We tried it.

As tea-loving as Mr. Tea is, he’d never been to a real afternoon tea. So I surprised him with a trip to the Tea House on Los Rios in San Juan Capistrano (a little over an hour south of LA). Even though he drove, he didn’t know where we were going– I set his GPS and told him to follow its instructions. Bwahahaha.

I was worried that the tea house might be sort of a girly place to take a man, but I figured Mr. Tea could handle seeing a few ladies in funny hats. And when he finally figured out where we were going, he seemed more than happy to sit in a floral-wallpapered room. It’s like going to your proper-but-wacky grandmother’s house.

We ordered the Los Rios Tea spread– “Assorted Fingers Sandwiches, freshly baked currant scone with our own Famous Early California Cream & preserves, fresh fruit accompanied by cream and brown sugar. Your selection of tea.”

My teacup reminded me of the scene from “The Birdcage” where they use the soup bowls with the naked Greeks on them.

Are they... playing leapfrog?

The tea we selected was the “House Special Reserve,” a black tea with vanilla and grenadine. It sounds weird, but with some milk and sugar it was quite delightful. It was loose leaf, so we had to pour it through a strainer. Faaancy.

And then came the scones!

Eat your heart out.

I don’t know if you can tell, but that’s definitely a heart-shaped scone. These are my people! I’m not really a scone aficionado, but it seemed to be fluffy and crusty in the right places. And it was HUGE. (That’s what she said.) (I mean, look at it compared to the average-sized knife.)

Even though I’m not typically a fan of things with mayo or cream, for some reason I love tea sandwiches. I think it’s the neatness, or the bite-size-ness. Or maybe I secretly like egg- and chicken-salad sandwiches, but only in tiny portions once a decade. (Hehe.)

Love the presentation.

They gave us half & half and brown sugar to pour over the fruit… to “glaze” it. That must be a British thing. It tasted good, but I think fruit is sweet enough on its own.  The edible flower tasted like… a flower smells. I spit my petal out, once I got the jist of it. (And in case you’re wondering, the sandwiches were egg salad, chicken salad, ham salad, and cucumber. Mr. Tea traded me because I don’t eat ham, so there are two egg in my picture.)

We were too full for dessert, so we walked around San Juan Capistrano trying to digest enough to get an ice cream. (Never happened. We were too full.) It was sunny AND we got rained on. Luckily the rain passed just as we entered the Mission. I haven’t been there since I was a kid, and I forgot how gorgeous it is! (I probably didn’t appreciate the gardens when I was little.)

Haha, that’s another name I could have given to this secret trek– Mission: San Juan Capistrano.

Lily pond!

There were two ponds– this one was koi-free. The second was very koi-ful.

Cue "Jaws" music.

I loved the reflections of the sky and trees in the water.

And look at these souvenirs. I guess all aspiring home cooks could use a grocery shopping angel?

What the WHAT?

There are plenty of places in LA to get tea, but it was nice to get out of the city for an afternoon and have an adventure. And if you don’t want to venture outside the comfort of your own home, this post was a cheat sheet– now you know what to make if you want to have a proper tea of your own.

Happy Sunday!

xoxo…

Follow us on Twitter / Fan us on Facebook

1 Comment | SNACK TREK | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by yapplebee

Sunday in the Market with Lisianthus

September 11, 2011

New to me!

Today I finally visited the Los Feliz Famers’ Market, in the Post Office parking lot on Vermont. I saw several types of flowers that I’d never encountered before– in the picture you can see lisianthus and coxcond. Just when I thought I could call myself a flower person… there are still so many more to learn about. It’s an uphill battle.

I picked up some delightful little heirloom tomatoes…

I can't wait to eat you.

… along with green grapes, strawberries… and I couldn’t walk away from the lisianthus. I’m a sucker for purple flowers. (I might have purchased more, but I DID have to carry everything home.)

Hey buddies.

Now that the weather has HOPEFULLY taken a turn for the cooler, the apartment seems to be more hospital to living things.

Speaking of pretty things… thanks to the influence of Lauren and Whitney, I recently got a Pinterest account. I’m looking forward to pinning all sorts of flowers and recipes and other delights. (I just acquired a crock pot… very exciting.) (Send me your time-tested, easy-peasy recipes.)

Happy Sunday. I hope you get a chance to stop and smell a new (to you) flower!

xoxo…

Leave a Comment » | SNACK TREK | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
Posted by yapplebee

Snack Trek: Holy Mole at MEXICO CITY (Los Feliz)

September 1, 2011

Not super photogenic, but very good.

This story started when a friend tweeted her excitement about going to Mexico City– not the place, but the restaurant on Hillhurst in Los Feliz. I’d never been, but assumed it was a typical, mediocre Mexican food joint. You know the type. So I tweeted an inquiry, and she replied, “It’s seriously my favorite restaurant in LA.”

That was that. I had to check it out.

A note: I went to Yelp just to see how the Yelpers felt about Mexico City. I have to say– Yelp can be really confusing. The reviews were all over the map. So I was just like– whatever! My friend likes it! And I have been hearing more and more often about shady Yelp-review-pulling and stuff… so. I don’t know how to feel about Yelp anymore.

And now a word about mole. I tend to spell it “mo-lay” when I’m talking to friends about it, because I don’t want them to think that I love to eat moles, as in the weird burrowing animal. I always thought that mole was spelled with an accent, but after I finally learned how to insert an accent (Option E, vowel– molé! olé!), I found out that it’s just mole. Weird.

So I’m talking about the food. Not the animal. (Or the skin thing.)

I will not eat you, little Sir!

It just looks like a nose!

I didn’t even know that I liked mole until I tried Huarache Azteca at Taste of the Eastside. At Mexico City I was hoping that lightning would strike twice, so I ordered chicken with the mild Mole Poblano sauce (the one with chocolate). And guess what? It was awesome! (The second time I went, there were no random onion slices on top.)

I liked that it came with a side of tortillas. (I like my carbs.)

Also– when you sit down you get chips with two types of salsa. They’re both mild/medium-ish. This picture looks weird– I swear it’s more appetizing in person.

Salsas coloradas.

The chips are good, but I’m weirdly loyal to the chips at Chipotle. (And the guac– I heard the guacamole at Mexico City is really good, but I haven’t tried it yet.) It might be the salt.

I guess the best testament to Mexico City is that I’ve been there twice and somehow the only pictures I’ve managed to take are these crappy ones– because once the food comes, I forget about anything else. (Oh– and that I’ve craved it. I don’t often crave specific restaurant dishes– and on second tasting, it stood up to my memory.)

Now you know– if I email you and ask if you’ll accompany me to Mexico City to eat some mole, I’m not talking about the city in Mexico nor the animal.

Probably not, at least.

xoxo…

Follow us on Twitter / Fan us on Facebook

1 Comment | SNACK TREK | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
Posted by yapplebee

Consider the LOBSTA TRUCK (Los Feliz Din-Din A-Go-Go)

August 26, 2011

Lobsty lobst.

Los Feliz Din-Din A-Go-Go is a really cool weekly event in my neighborhood (in the Catholic church parking lot), at which several food trucks congregate. I believe Mandoline Grill is always there, and there’s a rotating cast of other trucks.

My friend Ris and I were already planning on going a few weeks back. That morning, I checked Twitter and found out that the Lobsta Truck was going to be in attendance. I was very happy to reveal the news to Ris, who hails from the Boston area and is VERY MUCH a lobster fan.

The Yelpers warned that the lobster rolls were small, but I don’t have a huge appetite so I wasn’t worried. But you know what? The Yelpers were right. I don’t know if you can tell how small this is… but that’s definitely not a standard size hot dog bun. The lobster roll may or may not be as long as that spoon.

Mini-roll.

(I just realized I posted the same picture twice. You know what? I like it. Not taking it down. Breaks up the paragraphs nicely.)

I got the butter version, by the by. You can also get it with mayo, but I’m not a mayo fan. I liked the lobster but it was a little colder than I would have liked… other Yelpers said that, too. I don’t know, maybe it’s SUPPOSED to be cold? For $12, I kinda wanted it hot. (Ris also got the clam chowder, and said it lacked clam.) (Hehe.) (And now onto a similar-but-different line of tee-hee…)

I probably should have eaten the roll and been done with it, but I ended up going over to the Great Balls on Tires truck. I was torn between the Ballafel and the Ballywood. Luckily the decision was made for me, because they were out of Ballafels and only had one Ballywood left.

Balls. Get it?

The picture on the truck only showed one ball but I got two, and like I said I don’t have the biggest appetite. For some reason I ate both those chicken-balls anyway. I was going for the gold!

And then Ris got a Tornado Potato, and I had a bit of that. Because… I mean, look at it.

Swirly fried potato.

It’s hard to tell from that angle, but that’s all one potato, masterfully swirled.

We were sitting near some people who’d seen some show on Food Network about a potato-swirly place on the East Coast. Apparently at that place, there were special dips or something. And the most popular one is called “Shmutz.”

Me: What’s shmutz?

The People: It means dirt in Yiddish.

Me: I know, but what’s in the sauce?

The People: They wouldn’t say, but it’s the most popular one.

Therefore, I learned nothing.

Then we left the Din-Din, and went over to Gelato Bar. Because… I wasn’t already overfull.

Crazy enough, there were three flavors on tap that I hadn’t tried yet! And one of them was olive oil flavor… and I LIKED it.

Trade secret: I think you get more when you order a cone.

Olive oil tastes like the “ice cream” (soy) in Tofuttis. Which I actually like. So… cool.

If you’re in Los Feliz on Monday nights… go to the A-Go-Go! It’s fun and crowded, like a food carnival.

I probably should have just gone with my standard Mandoline banh mi, but whatever– I tried some more trucks for you! There’s always next week… or the next week…

xoxo…

Follow us on Twitter / Fan us on Facebook

1 Comment | SNACK TREK | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by yapplebee

« Previous Entries
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 66 other followers