A Weekend in Santa Monica

As promised, I am back early this week with a full update on our recent trip to Santa Monica, California. Stuart and I have never really spent much time in the Los Angeles area, but we've heard great things, particularly about the food scene! So, we were thrilled when our friends Sean and Melissa move to the area and invited us for a visit.

We arrived at their adorable one-bedroom apartment around 5pm on Friday evening, which they share with a sweet Sheltie named Jackson and a parrot named Bird Noir. We had a long overdue catchup session on life since the four of us lived in Seattle (Melissa and I met taking French class during graduate school at UW). Then, we set out for stop #1: dinner at Night + Market on Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood. 

 

You can tell things we going to be good as our first order was the Chang "tower of beer." Literally, this is a huge tower of beer with an elephant head on top. Naturally. 

Next up was a quick appetizer of chicken "party wings"

Followed by a spicy green papaya salad

 Plus a special crispy rice dish

A beef stir fry topped with a fried egg...

And some classic Pad Thai.  

For dessert, we sampled a truly unique Asian ice cream concoction at a place called Blockheads Shavery.

 

Jackson was jealous of all our food action. Sorry Jackson!

  

Breakfast time on Saturday found us at Superba, a bakery and cafe where "toast" is all the rage. We ordered the avocado toast as well as the burrata toast, not pictured.

Lunch = fantastic seafood tacos and cauliflower tostadas (yes, really) at Tacos Punta Cabras

 

Our final meal was dinner at a modernized beer hall in Venice, called Wurstkuche. 

 

Last but not least, I died and went to heaven when we discovered that my favorite Portland-based ice cream shop, Salt & Straw, was having a grand opening of their LA location. This cone was definitely worth the 20 minute drive each way. Thank you, Sean and Melissa for an incredible weekend!!

Sam's Chowder House in Half Moon Bay

Is it possible to be jet lagged when you haven't been on a plane or changed any time zones?? Stuart and I just got home from a couple of back-to-back weekend road trips, and call me crazy but I am exhausted! We had the best possible time visiting friends in the Bay Area and Santa Monica, and now I am ready for a little R&R and a few weeks recuperating at our home base. My stomach is very happy from dishes like fish and chips, authentic Thai food, and ice cream...LOTS of ice cream. But now it may be time to work in some home cooked meals featuring lots of fruits and veggies.

Since I am a little back-logged in terms of documenting our recent trips, I wanted to cover our trip to the Bay Area today, and next up on the blog will be our trip to Santa Monica, where we enjoyed the past two days. In the Bay Area, we stayed with our good friends Lindsay and Adrian who recently moved to a neighborhood called Willow Gran. We started Saturday with a day trip to Half Moon Bay, where we strolled the downtown and ate at a great roadside seafood restaurant called Sam's Chowder House. On Sunday, we attended a Santa Clara University alumni event called Vintage SCU, which is basically a huge food and wine festival. Here come the photos!!

 

 We went to Half Moon Bay in part because of this dish: the famous lobster roll at Sam's Chowder House

 

I got the fish and chips, which were fried to perfection

 

Both boys ordered the Blue Crab Sandwich, and left their plates clean 

 It was a beautiful day to walk along the ocean and explore some rocky cliffs!

 Also, we saw this! Only in Half Moon Bay would you have the option to partake in a "terrarium buffet"...

 

We also saw these amazing jellyfish, which are actually air plants sitting happily in dome-shaped seashells. 

 

Next on our agenda for the weekend was wine. Lots of wine. This wine from Brady Vineyard was the first booth I saw, and just so happens to be a winery that my company does the marketing work for! Small world :)

 They also had a photo booth, which was amazing. You won't believe it, but the photo with props shown above was our FIRST photo booth photo of the day. The one below, where we look completely normal, was our last photo! Looks like we have an excellent wine tolerance (or something!). Thanks for a great weekend, Lindsay and Adrian!

Turkey Burgers with Spinach and Goat Cheese

Once of my favorite meals for a long time has been the homemade Veggie Burgers I posted about earlier this summer. As I mentioned in that post, there is something so unappetizing to me about a store-bought patty of any sort. Veggie patties are bland and boring, while even pre-made hamburger patties are lackluster compared to the ones you can make as home, complete with your own selection of chopped onion, garlic, and secret spices!

The same theory above applies to turkey burgers. I don't think I've ever ordered a turkey burger at a restaurant or bought a frozen turkey patty from the grocery story. But when I saw this amazing recipe on one of my favorite food blogs, Eat Live Run, I knew I had to try it. These are everything a burger should be, but without the guilt due to the nice lean turkey meat and creamy goat cheese. The extra bonus? You can whip these babies up in about 20 minutes, definitely under half an hour. I like to serve mine with sweet potato french fries and loads of ketchup!

Ingredients:

1 lb ground turkey

1 egg, lightly beaten

5 oz frozen spinach, defrosted (half a bag)

1/3 cup Panko breadcrumbs

3/4 cup crumbled goat cheese

2 tsp Tony Chachere’s seasoning ($3-4 at the store)

hamburger buns for serving

ketchup/mustard/lettuce/tomato for serving

sweet potato fries (optional)

Directions:
1. In a large mixing bowl, combine the ground turkey, egg, defrosted spinach, bread crumbs and seasoning. Mix well until all ingredients are incorporated. Add the goat cheese and mix again until combined.

2. Heat up a pan over medium heat. Add a drizzle of oil to the bottom of the pan.

3. While the pan is heating up, form 4-6 patties out of the turkey mixture. Cook the patties in the pan for about 6 minutes per side, or until juices run clear. Serve with toasted buns and any additional toppings desired.

 

I hope you enjoy a last summer "hurrah" with these tasty burgers!

Current Addiction: Cowboy Bark

When was the last time that you had a bite of something new and literally felt addicted from your first mouthful? (Please do not respond if your answer involves an illegal substance...haha). This has not happened to me very often, but I have to take my hat off to Trader Joe's Cowboy Bark. Thanks to this little yellow package, I now need to order size 50 jeans and become a member of Cowboy Bark Addicts Anonymous. Please let me know if you would like to join my local chapter.

So what is this Cowboy Bark I speak of? It basically looks like an unappetizing pile of dirt, but do not be fooled. The brown blob you see in the photos below is actually an irresistible combination of dark chocolate, toffee, pretzels, chocolate wafer cookies, peanuts, and almonds. You are probably asking: "Kristina, are you really addicted? I mean, what constitutes an addiction versus thinking something just tastes really good?" Well my friends, it is an addiction if you hide said package of Cowboy Bark in a dark corner of the kitchen cabinet and don't tell your husband, family, and friends that it exists until every last mouthful is GONE. Yep, hi Stuart . . . I umm found a new treat called Cowboy Bark and didn't tell you about until this blog post. Sorry!!

Has anyone else tried Cowboy Bark? Or, is there another treat or type of food in general that you just can't get enough of? I'd love to hear what I might be missing out on!

 

 

Authentic Greek Salad

We still have one glorious month of summer ahead until September rolls around and Stuart starts grad school in the fall. Tomatoes are just about perfect right now and I have been busy enjoying fresh tomatoes in pastas, this burrata nectarine salad, and...you guessed it, Greek salad! I thought I would devote a quick post to my love of this easy, fresh salad and my very strong opinions about what makes an "authentic" Greek salad superior to the Americanized version.

I was lucky enough to travel to Greece in the summer of 2005 before I started college, a generous high school graduation gift from mom and dad. While there, I learned the pleasures of eating a true Greek salad - something I indulged in once or twice per day. In America if you order Greek salad off the menu it likely comes on a bed of fresh lettuce. WRONG! An authentic Greek salad has no lettuce at all - the spotlight is on the crisp, fresh ingredients such as cucumber, tomato, and onion. And guess what: the Greek salad I made, pictured above, is also not authentic (sadly, it's the best I could do at the time). An true Greek salad will come with one large, intact rectangle of feta cheese sitting on top that you break up as you eat. Not once in Greece will you see this salad served with pre-crumbled feta. Aside from looking pretty, this serving style means that your cheese will be more fresh and flavorful. An authentic salad should look more like the one pictured below.

Ingredients:

1 cucumber, sliced 1/4-inch thick
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 red onion, sliced in half-rounds
1/2 pound feta cheese (not crumbled)
1/2 cup kalamata olives, pitted

For the vinaigrette:
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/4 cup good red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup good olive oil


Directions:

1. Place the cucumber, peppers, tomatoes and red onion in a large bowl.
2. For the vinaigrette, whisk together the garlic, oregano, mustard, vinegar, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Still whisking, slowly add the olive oil to make an emulsion. 

3. Pour the vinaigrette over the vegetables. Add the feta and olives and toss lightly. Set aside for 30 minutes to allow the flavors to blend. Serve at room temperature.