Nibbles of Tidbits, a Food Blog

What up Cheese — You tryin’ to start something? 😉 Smile it’s Monday.  Cheese.

After seeing traffic resulting from Nibbles of Tidbits / I Need Text Company pins, especially from this post, I joined Pinterest.  In honor of our most popular pin, oddly a fake appetizer platter, we present the Super Platter (above), which looks to be real.  Pin this.  Photo credit.

I made a variation of these Baked Green Bean Fries — They question whether or not they can be called “Fries” since they’re not fried.  What do you think?  Are Fries determined by shape or cooking method?  I understand the debate, but can’t take a side.  We say both.

We dipped them in Ranch Dressing, just like French Fries, but call ’em Stix if you insist.

Either way, I likely won’t be making them again, as they’re just okay for the effort. 

Heather’s RECIPE is HERE — The Green Beans are basically coated with Egg and seasoned Bread Crumbs, then baked in the oven.  I used Panko Bread Crumbs instead and seasoned them with Smoked Paprika and Ground Chipotle, Salt and Pepper.  They were of interest to try, but I prefer Green Beans simply made with Butter, Lemon Zest and S & P, or with Bacon.

Apologies for the poor copycat photos — Love to experiment with almost everything.

Have you been to Prime Cut Café & Wine Bar yet?

We happily discovered it down the street from the Honda Center.

The service is indeed warm and friendly, as described in The Prime Cut Difference (above).

Starting Monday, April 30th, they’ll be offering prix fixe Three Course Dinners for $20. 

Nibbles of Tidbits got to pre-nibble it — Somebody has to make sure all will be up to par.

For Starters, we opted for the Tomato Bisque.

And the Marinated Roasted Beet and Avocado Salad — The portion sizes are generous.

For our Entrees, we selected the Spice Roasted Chicken (top) and Shortrib Pasta (above).

And the Wild Berry Sorbet and Carrot Cake for Dessert.

I love the Café’s lighting — It just feels right and goes well with the classy food.

Dining at Prime Cut Café could save money on a movie ticket too — A Theater is next door.

Bar area (below), straight ahead as you walk in.

Cheers to a great deal — The Three Course Dinner MENU will be available M – TH.

Excellent Wine isn’t included in the price, but highly recommended.

What fortune would you write?  I was fairly uncreative, since I made them on a whim.

Though not perfect, from thought to fruition I had Fortune Cookies in 30 minutes.

Most recipes for Fortune Cookies seem to be the same — One of the many I stumbled upon.

And must give a shout out to the SILPAT — It’s perfect for Fortune Cookies (and much more).

RECIPE — While still warm, fold Cookies in half over the fortune, then bend ’em over the rim of a glass (or similar), as blurrily shown (above) to cool.  Voila!  I may add Orange Zest next time.

You will soon receive a large sum of money said my Fortune Cookie.  What?  Is that legal?

Wow it’s right, I did blog about it — Illustration Credit.

Finally inside The Arboretum, our Los Angeles Fantasy Island this day — Ever been there?

We fed turtles (and crazy fish) Cheerios left on the dirt by others — They loved ’em.

The turtles didn’t have much of a chance for a Cheerio with the big-mouthed fish in the water.

And birds stood by scouting for plentiful small fish (and whatever else).

Across the lagoon is the bell tower where Tattoo famously exclaimed “De Plane, De Plane.”

There’s beauty and wonder at The Arboretum — It’s an exploratory way to spend the day.

Bring a camera, cold beverage and good walking shoes to be prepared to see all comfortably.

Food Garden Coming Soon — For those who don’t eat insects, live fish and dirty Cheerios.

A peek inside the old Santa Anita Depot — In photo vintage cooking utensils weave between reflections of today, behind me and up close, as we reflect about life yesterday.  See it?

All this splendor is there for YOU to see.

Below is the Queen Anne Cottage seen on Fantasy Island.  Do you remember it?  Some outdoor scenes were filmed around the Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden.

It sure was peaceful lounging on the Queen Anne Cottage porch.

Already an adventurous day, before heading to Santa Anita Park nearby for its last weekend.

Where’s the FOOD?  It’s here.  And you thought it meant something else…

We like the price of Burgers and Wine at The Counter during Happy Hour.

Mini Cheeseburgers are $2 for two, featured Wine is $3 a Glass and Starters are 1/2 off.

The service is good at Westcliff Village in Newport Beach — Its operators run this location too.

We relished 2 Glasses of Wine, 4 Mini Cheeseburgers, a large plate of Parmesan French Fries with Rosemary (not pictured, blurry) and a Coke for $16.15 — That’s super and all was terrific.

Responsibility never tasted so good they say — 100% of the profits from Andrei’s Conscious Cuisine & Cocktails go to aid people affected by vision impairment and blindness.  How often does that happen?  It’s a wonderful thing, as is the waterfall wall seen as you walk in.

It’s touching to see how loved Andrei was by his family — The restaurant was created in his honor and now helps others.  Read more about that here and you’ll want to dine there. 

The restaurant is upstairs and special events are hosted downstairs and up.

It’s an open, airy space with lots of big windows.

More about Andrei’s is told on the menu and more about the menu is here.

They have a Happy Hour, Free Corkage on Tuesdays and a Flamenco Guitarist some days.

It’s called Conscious Cuisine & Cocktails, as they “care deeply” about all aspects of food sourcing, serving, and creating an environment where sharing a meal enhances relationships.

During a Happy Hour pop in, we shared a few Small Plates.

Andrei’s Crab Cakes.

Vegetable Arancini.

And Grilled Tomato & Cheese — Our favorite of the bunch was Andrei’s Crab Cakes.

Bar and lounge area with cozy couches and pillows.

Everyone was so nice, without the mention of Nibbles of Tidbits, our regular M.O.

The valet parking area reminds me of Palm Springs — I like the feel and thought of it all.

What’s your State Food?  And do you agree?  Can you even read the list?  I’m not sure I can.  The photos definitely help.  CA Grapes for Wine sounds especially right with AK King Crab.

It’s Cafe Rio that I can’t get enough of lately — Upon realization, I photographed the latest, a Shredded Chicken Enchilada with Green Sauce, Green Chili Rice and Black Beans.  Good stuff!

We like Plums Café, but weren’t thrilled with their Oregonzola and Roasted Muscat Grapes (below).  We like the concept of it, but the warm Grapes just didn’t taste right to us and the Oregonzola (Gorgonzola from Oregon, where the café owners are from) was a bit too hard.  Since we left cheerless about it, I made a copycat to get its potential out of our system.

For our copycat (top), I used Cal-Gorgonzola, if you will, with chilled Grapes and Cashews instead of Hazelnuts.  Both are drizzled with Wild Flower Honey.  Plum’s Bread was better than ours, but we preferred this copycat/version and have much respect for its ($11) source.

Studying the Racing Form with “fresh Smoked Albacore” from Catalina Fish Kitchen — That’s how it was ordered and only how I want it.  When it’s fresh, it’s terrific, but sometimes it’s not, so keep an eye out there (and everywhere it seems lately) for freshness.  I’ve found Smoked Albacore to be most consistently fresh at The Crab Cooker and The Original Fish Company.

On to the races at Santa Anita Park — The horses are running LIVE for one more week.  Closing day happens to be Earth Day.  We almost missed ’em this year, but instead only missed the first race of this day.  That’s okay, but for the $40 I would’ve won had I got to place the bet I’d planned.  It’s all good though and an entertaining way to spend the day.

All was so fun, I semi-overlooked Ketchup on a Hot Dog. 😉

Down the street from Santa Anita Park is The Arboretum (Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden) — We stopped by after the races, but they were closed.  If what’s inside is as interesting as what’s on the outside (and I know it is), I’m excited to go back with a lot of time.

A tree I don’t want to climb.

An amazing peacock putting on a show — Its feathers were so beautiful.

I’m ready for more of everything with a Mustard Dog.

In some views there’s a (temporary) gap of space at the top of this blog.  We know and want it fixed soon too.  All else is well here otherwise, except the Wicked Witch of the East, though looks fairly simple to recreate with fondant and an upside-down Chocolate Cupcake.  Please endure the calamity and look beyond the illustrative Cupcakes or make some.

04/13/12 Update: The display issue appears fixed. Let’s hope it doesn’t revert back (again).

Though the MENU is limited at In-N-Out Burger, their secret (up to you with what’s on hand), and Not-So-Secret MENU can seem unlimited.  Forget the Double Double, opt for a 100 X 100.  Can you imagine how long it would take in the drive-thru, which usually takes long enough?!

Bite the one you love said their advertisement — It’s not this Pup ‘N’ Taco.  I want to kiss its face, not eat it.  The real Pup ‘N’ Taco sold Hot Dogs, Tacos, Pastrami Sandwiches and more, and no longer exists.  Ninety-nine stores were bought by Taco Bell ending the chain in 1984.

04/16/12 Update:  Just so you know, the pictured is not served by Taco Dawg either. 😉

An Easter table setting awaiting a family meal.

Easter Cupcakes made by Kids in the Kitchen.

A backyard set for BBQ-ing, Ping Pong, Appetizers, Mimosas, doing nothing or anything.

Chef Lexi of Kids in the Kitchen cleaning the BBQ — Cute and helpful, a delightful combination.

Remnants of Candy, gifts and cards scattered throughout — Happy to be alive in Spring!

Since I see you searching for Easter Cookie decorating ideas, I’ve posted more here.

And previously published Easter Cookie photos are linked here.

Easter Cookies start out naked, like us.

Dress them how you like — It’s always helpful to see what other Easter Cookies are wearing.

A few ideas are posted here for convenience — Happy Easter!

Pastel colors are best with edible embellishments.

Eggs, ducks, tiaras, flowers, rabbits, carrots, butterflies and sheep are usually the canvas.

Decorate with various Frosting tips for best assortment.

We collect more and more accoutrements each year and our Cookies are looking better.

Cupcake decorating ideas too — We love the ‘hair tip’ with green Frosting for grass.

And if you’re in the OC and want something to do on Easter — Orange  County Foodies provides an event list.  Jesus is the reason for the season, with a side of Cookies and fun!

I’ve had Plums catered, but had yet to dine in the Café until now — It always seems so busy.

This day we sat on the patio with a few Starters and Wine.

We shared the Wild Herb Risotto Cakes with Bistro Greens and Dilled Tomato Salsa.

And the Dungeness Crab Puppies and Oregonzola and Roasted Muscat Grapes.

Two out of three ain’t bad, as the song goes — The taste and temperature of the Roasted Muscat Grapes just didn’t work for us, and the Cheese with too few Hazelnuts and very little Honey wasn’t the greatest, but we always appreciate unique food combinations.

Next door to Plums Café is the Astoria Ballroom to dance, a runner up to eating, for me.

Plums Café and the Astoria Ballroom offer a generous Dinner & Dance SPECIAL each month.

We stopped in for a visit and couldn’t resist a couple dance moves — See me in the mirror?

Look for this coupon (or it’s only $40 without it) and prepare to learn the Cha Cha, Tango, Waltz, Rumba, Foxtrot or Swing, after dinner next door at Plums Café.  Did you know they serve dinner now too?  They used to be open for breakfast and lunch (only), but today there is much going on in its obscure corner in Costa Mesa off 17th Street.

An event worthy of your money is the 5th Annual Orange County BBQ & Music Festival.

This year it’s June 9th and 10th, and 100% of the proceeds go to Kristie’s Foundation to help critically ill children.  How better could you spend your money?  Be sure to save the dates.

We went last year and enjoyed the Rib Eating Contest, Mr. BBQ Pageant, Beer & Wine tasting, live music and BBQ Competition amongst the 70 + Award Winning BBQ Teams.

We hope to be there again this year — You should too.

I remember this story as a kid — Not sure that’s appropriate as I stumble upon and read it now, but I guess it was harmless.  No Baby Ruth’s.  My three favorites would be Butterfinger, PayDay and Bit-O-Honey.  What story do they tell?  And which three would you choose?