California (food) Dreaming - Part 3

Here it is, the final installment of my California trip. Check out part 1 and part 2 if you need a refresher of the first part of my trip!

The very last morning I spent in California was sad but my sister knows 1 of the ways to cheer me up is with good food.

Breakfast

We started off at Posh Bagel simply because I liked the name.

It was a small shop with a ton of bagel options.



I chose the Pesto bagel (crazy good) toasted with egg, cheddar cheese and ham.



Perfect way to start out the morning.



The only way to make the bagel eating experience better is to pair it with some kick-ass coffee.

I like to experience local coffee shops when I travel so Starbucks was not going to work for me this morning. We chose the Los Gatos Coffee Roasting Company (LGCRC) .



LGCRC had a lot of different coffee options. I had a half hazelnut, half vanilla latte.



I took the time to look around the shop while I waited for my coffee. The feel of the place was so laid back and chill and the smell of the coffee was fantastic. People chatting, reading the paper or grabbing a coffee after a hike in the hills. I'm sure this coffee shop will be making another appearance on VCC.



The piece de resistance was the huge coffee roaster in the middle of the shop. No wonder the place smelled so wonderful!

I can honestly say I've never seen a coffee roaster in any coffee shop I've ever stepped foot in. It was so cool. No wonder this place is so popular and the coffee tastes great!




Snack

We sipped on our coffees while we window shopped and made our way to a cake shop I had been wanting to visit the entire time I was in California. It's all in the name: Nothing Bundt Cakes.




Such a cute little store:



with lot of cake options, in the bundt variety of course:




I opted for the mini Red Velvet:



My intention was to eat it on the plane but I couldn't resist it on the hour drive to the airport. So I dug in a bit early!

The cake was moist and oh so good.

I visited the store for the name and will be returning for the cake!

Miscellaneous

A couple more photos of the stunning flowers:

and palm trees:



I had a great time with my sister and can't wait to visit again!

Question:

Do you prefer chain coffee shops (ex: Starbucks) or the smaller shops?

I prefer the smaller shops. Don't get we wrong, I love my Starbucks latte in the morning but the smaller places have a charm that the big companies can't pull off.

Flaming Orange Peel

Yesterday was much better than Tuesday. I still had a ton of stuff to do but I took a more relaxed approach to it and all was good.

This is a pretty long post so if you are only going to read one section I highly recommend the "Happy Hour" section. I'm just so impressed by the bartender!



Breakfast

I was determine to have a good morning so I stopped at Starbucks before I stepped foot in the office.

Can anyone translate the "chicken scratch" on my cup?

(answer: I ordered a grande half pump, skim milk, pumpkin spice latte)

I wasn't sure if the latte itself would start my day on a happy note so I paired it with a Pumpkin Scone. I really enjoy the combination of these two so it's no surprise that it totally hit the spot.




Lunch

Ceres was calling my name. The Wednesday's specials are drool worthy.

Chicken Tortilla Soup: no cilantro, cheddar cheese, crisply tortilla




Loaded Veggie Salad: broccoli, carrots, pea pod, cucumber, celery, cauliflower, red pepper, mixed greens with a raspberry vinaigrette

Happy Hour

I needed to do some shopping at Whole Foods after work. I could spend hours looking at all the goodness Whole Foods has to offer. However, my husband does not have the same enthusiasm when it comes to grocery shopping so I dropped him off at the Bar next door. I look forward to Whole Foods and P looks forward to reading his kindle while having a cocktail. It works for us;)

After I was done with my shopping I met him at the bar, Binny's. We ordered a cheese, almond and bread platter. I can't remember the name of the cheese but it was dreamy. I commented to the husband that it's been along time since we had some really good cheese!



I wasn't sure what to order for my cocktail so I asked the bartender to make me a cocktail of his choice. I knew I didn't have to worry what he would bring me because he is by far the most knowledgeable bartender I've ever met! He not only knows a lot about all kinds of alcohol but he takes pride in the drinks he makes.

He chose a vodka old fashioned using Zubrowka Bison Grass Vodka. Once the drink was completed he brought it over to me and then lite an orange peel on fired and threw it in the drink.

It was so cool and I thought it was just for show until I took my first drink. The fired up orange peel gave the drink a bit of caramelized flavor. Another thing it did was give the cocktail an amazing aroma. This was the first cocktail in my life (and I've had a few;)) that stimulated multiple senses; taste and smell. I'm telling you this bartender is something special when it comes to making cocktails!




On the way home we spotted a TV show, titled Ride Along, being filmed in Manny's Deli.





Dinner

Quick, simple, cheap and tasty just how I like my dinners at home!

Steamed some baby carrots, asparagus and corn. Mixed the veggies in with rice and topped it with soy sauce and Cholula hot sauce.





Dessert

Yet again simple and tasty! Barney butter and Trappist Pomegranate Jelly on a hot dog bun.

I've been dehydrated lately so throughout the night I sipped on my big jar of water. Whenever I drink water out of this glass it reminds me of my dad. When I was little the only glass he would ever drink water out of was a big ball jar:)




Project Food Blog

Just a reminder that voting ends today. Even if you don't want to vote please check out my submission here. I think it sums up me and my blog perfectly!

Question:

Have you ever been really impressed with a bartender? Where were you and how did they impress you?

BLACKHAWKS WIN!!!

I spent the evening watching this:

Chicago Blackhawks Hockey!!! This series has been difficult for me to watch. I'm a competitive person and I really wanted Chicago to win this win. I can't even begin to explain how much anxiety I've had watching all these play off games! But in the end, all the anxiety is worth it cause the boys have won it all!!!

As I sit here typing this post I'm surrounding by sights and sounds of the hockey win. I look outside my window and see buildings lite up with red lights and "Hawks" outlined in high rise windows. I can hear people screaming with joy and car horns blaring in the city.

The scene at Wrigley was crazy. Tons of people flooded the streets when the Hawks won:

All those red dots in the middle of the picture are of people in the street:) I'm getting so old. I would rather sit on my couch and celebrate by blogging and taking pictures of my TV than heading out in the crowds. Oh well, I did enough crowded parties in my younger years:)

I'm so proud of the boys and can't wait until they are back in their city!

Breakfast

My favorite oatmeal from Caribou. Maple crunch:

Iced Northern Lights Vanilla Latte:

Lunch

My lunch time consisted of going to Target and spending more money than I should have. This is an issue that I always seem to have whenever I step foot into that store. I just love it!

Walking back to the office I stopped at Subway and picked up a spicy italian sandwich:

Veggies, yum:

Happy Hour

Patrick and I stopped in Ceres to have a cocktail. I had my usual raspberry vodka and lemonade:

Dinner

We had dinner delivered to us tonight because I wasn't about to miss one second of the game due to cooking or anything else for that matter.

I wanted something Chicagoy (yes I know that is not a word). Deep dish pizza from Giordano's was in order:

My plate with a slice of pizza and a bit of pasta:

I had 2 pieces of this deep dish pepperoni pizza. These slices are so big that I really only needed to eat 1 but I was starving!

Baked mostaccioli as a side dish...holy carbs!

The humans in the house were getting a treat tonight so it was only fair that the furry creatures in the house got one as well. We've found (the hard way, don't ask) that pizza doesn't sit well in their stomachs so we got them bully sticks:

Both humans and furry creatures are sitting happy in this home in Chicago:)

Question:

Do you ever find yourself getting anxiety over sporting events you aren't participating in?

Caffeine and Pizza!!!

This morning started off unlike any morning I can remember in recent history. My husband and I were up early enough to enjoy a cup of coffee at home before going to the office! Who knew this was even possible, I sure didn't.

Any who, I had a nice hot cup of coffee with some milk:

and a small squirt of Vanilla Agave Nectar. This stuff is really good and gives my coffee the perfect amount of sweetness.

I still needed some more caffeine so Patrick and I stopped at Starbucks and I got an iced skinny vanilla latte:

Lunch

Around 1:45 pm I was starving. So hungry I could have chewed my arm off! Instead of doing that I went for a more sensible option.

A tiny bit of mixed bean salad:

The main dish was turkey, spicy mustard, lettuce and cheese wrapped in a spinach wrap:

I devoured it, totally hit the spot.

Snack

After work I had a couple of these delicious Cookiehead whole grain cookies. I'm in love with these and can't wait to share more info about them with everyone. The info will be coming soon!

Dinner

I had dinner all planned out. I was going to make an egg scramble with veggies and wrap it in a tortilla. However, the eggs in my fridge were way past their expiration date:(

I'm not good at switching up dinner plans so I went with the easiest option, pizza. I called up my husbands favorite pizza place, Sarpino's:

Pizza was delivered in less than an hour:

Oh so good!

I dipped my slices in Frank's Red Hot sauce:

The addition of the hot sauce was a good one. But really, what isn't good without hot sauce?

This little guy was standing under our table just waiting for the tiniest piece of pizza to fall on the ground.

Lucky for him Patrick is a sucker for puppy dog eyes so he was able to snag a couple pieces of crust.

Question:

Do you ever give your pet's table scraps?

I don't but my husband doesn't seem to have a problem with it. Needless to say, the dogs are always by his feet when he's chowing down.