When did a Strawberry Shake become $6.75 — I love Häagen-Dazs, but what a shake down.
He’s a Snooth Operator, Snooth Operator — YES, Snooth. It’s YOU with Fast Food, a well paired bottle of Wine and hot date. How about it? Pack a tablecloth and one of the suggested bottles of Wine with a couple glasses and head to your favorite Fast Food Joint.
Order a Burrito at Chipotle, Big Mac at McDonalds or Fried Chicken at KFC, find a table, pop the cork, pour, sip and bite, until you get kicked out for bringing in alcohol. Chicks will dig it!
Snooth helps one find better Wines. Their suggested pairings for Chipotle Mexican Grill, McDonalds and Kentucky Fried Chicken are linked above. I dare you to dine in. If so, send a photo and we’ll post it here along with future fast food pairings. Thanks for the photos Snooth. Cheers!
For some reason I always wanted to make Peach Iced Tea — It just seems like a refreshing Summer drink. The pictured was made using two Peaches and three Decaf Green Tea Bags.
To make it — Peel, cut and puree the Peaches in a mini food processor, then strain the puree through Cheesecloth to produce the juice pictured in the above pitcher.
Then pour boiling Decaf Green Tea over the Peach puree, directly into the pitcher.
The Decaf Peach Tea is then chilled and served over Ice.
It turned out good, but needed more Peach flavor — Four Peaches will be better next time.
Is this all it takes? Really? Okay, have a happy one. 🙂
Ahhhh, Raspberry Nectar — Tea Forté please take me away. Be anxious for nothing.
We’re here ’cause I love to live so pleasantly, live this life of luxury, lazing on a Sunny Afternoon‘ at the Gulfstream in Newport Beach, corner of PCH and MacArthur/Avocado.
The Gulfstream in the Corona Del Mar Plaza has a huge outdoor patio — On one side you seat yourself for Starters, Desserts and/or Drinks only, and the other side serves the full menu at seated tables. This sunny day we thoroughly enjoyed the Grilled Artichokes with Remoulade.
And the Dip Trio with Guacamole, Hummus and Smoked Trout Dip.
All with a Hot Fudge Sundae at the end is a great time.
It’s comfortable, casual and upscale.
At the Gulfstream in the springtime…
In less than a minute, Zane Lamprey set a world record opening 31 Champagne bottles with a saber, surpassing the previous record of 27. What is Sabering? Watch the video. He says it took a lot of practice and Champagne, which isn’t cheap — It’s not a Nobel Art for just anyone. Lamprey will attempt to break his own record soon for an upcoming episode of his HDNet original program, “Drinking Made Easy.” A new episode airs every Wednesday. What’s up with the monkey?
My Big Fat Bloody Mary claims to be Bloody Mary Central — Well, I like the name. They tell you to stop clicking all over the web for a Bloody Mary recipe, because you look like a fool. Instead you should bookmark their site. I’m not sure if that’s true, but it’s funny. Unproven, I had already found a BM recipe before finding them. The recipe I used is linked here.
Just mix all ingredients together in a glass or pitcher, stir well and pour over Ice — 3 oz Tomato Juice, 1 oz Vodka, 1 Tbsp. Lemon Juice, 1 Tsp. Horseradish, 1/4 Tsp. Worcestershire Sauce and 6 Drops of Tabasco. This post was completely inspired by Sugar Laws Bloody Mary post — The clear-cut photos, simplicity and Horseradish got me. The Bloody Mary turns out fresh tasting and flavorful in minutes. I’ll check out MBFBM next time.
Note: I used V8 in place of Tomato Juice, since I had it on-hand and I’d do it again.
We really don’t take the National Daily, Weekly or Monthly Food Holidays too seriously. They can be fun if it’s something you’re interested in, but they are otherwise self-servingly developed and potentially create gridlock by too many doing the same thing for the sake of celebrating a designated day. Instead, do and eat whatever and whenever you want in 2011.
In contrast to those thoughts and recognizing that others are interested in national and arbitrary food related holidays, as Orange County Food Examiner I wrote a short article about their observance in January — January 1st started them off with Bloody Mary Day.
And January 20th is National Cheese Lover’s Day, “they” say. Read about the best places to find a Bloody Mary, where to buy quality Cheese, and who has the finest New England Clam Chowder in the OC, since a food holiday in January happens to revolve around it — It seems that every food has a holiday these days.
Nibbles of Tidbits is asked to try a lot of products — Some immediately interest us and others we’re not so sure about. Since we can’t, nor want to try ’em all, we choose to try food products we’re curious about, that are unique, that we think we’ll like, or because it’s offered/provided at the right time. If we report about a product, it’s guaranteed to be honest, good or bad, rain or shine, although good, shiny days are preferred. 😉
In this instance, I wasn’t quite sure about trying Blue Diamond’s Almond Breeze, a Non-Dairy Beverage made from real Almonds — I’m a hard core Milk drinker and the thought of Almond Breeze as a drink scared me. I thought it would taste too sweet, but it’s not.
This product arrived timely in that I’d been wanting homemade Hot Chocolate and Almond Breeze came with an Almond Hot Chocolate recipe. The stars aligned. In addition, I love nuts (all kinds) and have purchased many Blue Diamond products over the years. Their quality has been consistent.
I prepared the Almond Hot Chocolate by pouring hot (microwaved) Almond Breeze over Milk Chocolate Chips and powdered Cocoa (approx. 2 cups Almond Breeze, 6oz. Chocolate and 1 tsp. Cocoa) — Their official recipe is linked here.
Pour the hot Almond Breeze (or Milk) over the Chocolate Chips and Cocoa.
Prepare in individual cups with desired amount of Chocolate or in bulk to fill many cups.
Stir until Chocolate Chips are melted and Cocoa is blended.
I thoroughly enjoyed my first Almond Hot Chocolate in a cup from my Great Grandma Moore.
The combination of ingredients makes a rich, luxurious Hot Chocolate and the hint of Almond puts it over the top — It adds a nice, toasted flavor. Cheers to all my loving Grandmas!
Almond Breeze makes an excellent Hot Chocolate. The taste of it alone was surprisingly good, as it’s not sweet — I actually liked it.
It’s noted that Almond Breeze can be substituted, cup for cup in many recipes, which sounds exciting, but it appears it’s not true when it comes to the basic Minute Tapioca recipe. Its preparation with Almond Breeze didn’t work, as it never firmed up properly and remained too runny. The Almond garnish sank — Bummer! It tasted good warm and perhaps cold it could be served as a boba drink, not.
Overall, we’re nutty about this product discovery.
The Red Wine I drink most often is (and has been) Ravenswood Vintners Blend Zinfandel. The price is right, especially when it’s on sale, and it has a nice depth of flavor, thus I was excited to stumble upon Ravenswood’s No Wimpy Wines Assignment just in time. YOU now have 8 more days to create and submit a video using Ravenswood Vintners Blend Zinfandel as the star. Since we already think it’s a star, it was fun to experiment with Windows Movie Maker and the ideas bouncing around my head. Wish us luck!
We submitted 2 videos (above and below), as YOU may submit as many as you’re able to create. Ravenswood looks to purchase at least 4 videos for use — Creators will receive a one-time usage fee of $5ooo for each video chosen. Enter your video here now.
* In consideration of the pending competition (and embarrassment), the above videos are only posted now on Nibbles of Tidbits — It took a lot to work up to that. 🙂
Does your Vodka bottle speak to you? Perhaps it will, if you spend enough time together. MEDEA Vodka is being sold as the world’s first interactive, programmable bottle. It’s a new Dutch Vodka that I haven’t yet tried, but do appreciate the uniqueness of the bottle. When I get a bottle, I might program it to say — What are you looking at? Or, take a picture it might last longer, or back-off. Or something else fun that’s up to 255 characters long. We’ll see. 🙂
Happy Fall, Autumn, Fall Equinox and happy days to you — The Fall Food Fashions (Soups, Pies, Stews, Turkeys, Casseroles, Roasts, Cakes, Puddings and bottomless holiday goodies) should start surfacing. Farewell to Summer for now. It’s time to dig into the comfort food, even though it sometimes seems like Summer all year long here in Southern California. And it does rain on occasion despite the song. 🙂 Cheers to the new season!
Have you been to South Coast Winery & Tasting Room in Orange County? It’s the sister restaurant to the Vinyard Rose restaurant in Temecula at South Coast Winery Resort & Spa.
This was our first visit to South Coast Winery Restaurant & Tasting Room in Orange County. We had a Happy Hour consultant meeting on their patio, a better location than our last meeting and more for Nibbles of Tidbits. We didn’t get to explore the tasting room this time, but we’ll surely go back for that, especially since the pictured Happy Hour appetizers were impressive in quality and taste. The service was good too.
The Sliders were juicy, the Parmesan French Fries and Wings were crispy, the Cheese & Fruit Platter couldn’t have been better, since all was fresh, chilled and large, and the Bruschetta flavors were perfect with the extra thin Toastettes. All on the patio made for a nice meeting — Hope it’s here next time.
Daily Grill restaurants nationwide will donate all of its proceeds from Lemonade sales on Friday, August 20th (National Lemonade Day) to a special nonprofit that was formed by a 4-year-old girl whose short life continues to make an impact. Daily Grill founder, President and CEO Bob Spivak hopes to double $5,000 typically generated in sales and donate 100% to Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation for Childhood Cancer. Daily Grill’s fresh-squeezed, hand-shaken Lemonade has been one of the restaurants’ signature items since 1988.
Alex’s story began in 2000 when the 4-year-old was diagnosed with neuroblastoma, a form of cancer that often leaves its young victims unable to walk. She defied the odds and managed to live an active, albeit short, life. Her decision to hold a Lemonade stand to help doctors find new treatments and ultimately a cure for all childhood cancers, including her own, became her quest. In just 4 short years, the “stand” raised more than $1 million. Her parents, Jay and Liz Scott, have continued Alex’s legacy of hope after cancer ultimately took the youngster’s life at the age of 8 in 2004. What started as the vision of one little girl has been embraced by a nation of volunteers.
HISTORY OF LEMONADE
Lemonade can trace its origins to the Egyptians when in 500 AD Lemon Juice was mixed with Sugar to make a beverage known as qatarmizat.
The first Lemonade “soft drink” debuted in Paris on August 20th, 1630. The drink was made from Sparkling Water and Lemon Juice sweetened with Honey.
Frozen Lemonade made its debut in 1840 in Naples, Italy.
The earliest documented Lemonade stands were introduced by a young entrepreneur named Edward Bok who formed them in Brooklyn street cars from 1873 to 1876. His background:
* Lemonade stands were first referenced in the media by the New York Times in 1879.
* 4-year-old Alex Scott started the nonprofit Alex’s Lemonade Stand in 2000 after learning she had cancer and she sought to find a cure. She lived only 4 more years and in that short time raised more than $1 million for cancer research. That organization today has since generated more than $25 million nationwide for children’s cancer research.
* August 20 is designated National Lemonade Day and Daily Grill restaurants nationwide will donate all proceeds from its Lemonade sales that day to Alex’s Lemonade Stand.
For more information, visit Daily Grill or Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation. Established in 1988, Daily Grills specialize in serving classic American fare at accessible prices in an atmosphere reminiscent of a traditional, upscale New York City grill. The popularity of the concept has resulted in 21 locations in eight states.
NOTE: The above is a re-published Press Release, not often seen on Nibbles of Tidbits. It happens occasionally when we believe the information to be important and/or interesting. We previously attended a fundraiser for Alex’s Lemonade Stand at 50 Forks Restaurant and that report is linked here.
A friend brought over Bettheny’s Skinnygirl Margarita for the three hour Bachelorette finale. Although we’d been into the show throughout the season, we were a little bored at the end. We’re not really fans of Ali, like Roberto and love Chris L. The best thing Ali did on the show was let Chris go early, so to spare his feelings a bit. Bravo for that! Chris needs to be the next Bachelor. We wish Ali and Roberto well, but the best part of the finale was the Skinnygirl Margarita. We didn’t have expectations one way or another and were pleasantly surprised by its fresh Lime flavor — It wasn’t too sweet and it’s nice and stiff tasting. We served it on the rocks with a squeeze of Lime and will buy it again. And it does work, we’re skinny girls. 😉
We didn’t get the details on this mini-table set for Tea (sorry), but it’s a winner in the Floral Arts Competition at the Orange County Fair. We think it’s absolutely adorable. Good day!
Playing “Quarters” probably isn’t the most mature way of handling the receipt of a (12) pack of Blue Moon Belgian White, Belgian-Style Wheat Ale, but it was 4th of July weekend and we were ready to have some fun. And it appears that I was the only one who hadn’t tried it before. When I told others (friends, co-workers and family) about the brew, all already knew about it. They knew (and I now know) that it’s made with Orange Peel and Coriander, then garnished with an Orange Slice. Where have I been, especially since I seek out everything Orange flavored?!
And no, we really didn’t play Quarters with this tall glass on a leather surface, as they’re not the most ideal conditions for the game, ha. We just tested it out without success. After that, we enjoyed the Blue Moon in a semi-mature fashion. 🙂
The consensus is… We hope to have this amazing brew more than once in a Blue Moon. We’re not standing alone without a dream in our heart. Okay, that’s enough of the song and word play — It’s time to go get more Beer. This is a good one!
My Dad’s favorite things… Rainbow Trout he caught in Bishop during opening weekend and Budweiser — He should be their spokesperson. We’ve bought him many an 18 Pack over the years for Father’s Day. Beer and lottery tickets, but no cigarettes, ha. He likes his “Bud” and we like the BBQ’d Trout. 🙂
We just passed our Two Year Anniversary with a blur. It has been a blast and we look forward to all that’s to come. We’re grateful for our blessings and toast to FOOD from the earth and all the creative hands that prepare it. There’s so much more to try. Cheers!
Important Women’s Health Issue:
* Are you feeling tired?
* Are you stressed?
* Do you have feelings of inadequacy?
* Do you suffer from shyness?
* Do you sometimes wish you were more assertive?
* Do you feel overwhelmed at times, as if there is not enough time in the day for all of your responsibilities?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, ask your doctor or pharmacist about Margaritas.
Margaritas are the safe, natural way to feel better and more confident about yourself and your actions. Margaritas can help ease you out of your shyness and let you tell the world that you’re ready and willing to do just about anything. You will notice the benefits of Margaritas almost immediately and with a regimen of regular doses you can overcome any obstacle that prevents you from living the life you want to live. Your stress will literally melt away. Shyness and awkwardness will be a thing of the past and you will discover many talents you never knew you had. Stop hiding and start living, with Margaritas.
Margaritas may not be right for everyone. Women who are pregnant or nursing should not use Margaritas. However, women who wouldn’t mind nursing or becoming pregnant are encouraged to try it.
Side effects may include:
– Dizziness
– Nausea
– Vomiting
– Incarceration
– Erotic lustfulness
– Loss of motor control
– Loss of clothing
– Loss of money
– Table dancing
– Headaches
– Dehydration
– Dry mouth
– And a desire to sing Karaoke
Warnings:
* The consumption of Margaritas may make you think you are whispering when you are not.
* The consumption of Margaritas may cause you to tell your friends over and over again that you love them.
* The consumption of Margaritas may cause you to think you can sing.
* The consumption of Margaritas may make you think you can logically converse with members of the opposite sex without spitting.
Please share this with other women who may need Margaritas.
Note: Photo by Food Colors — Above was forwarded by a friend. Original origin is unknown. We think it’s funny!
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