Nibbles of Tidbits, a Food Blog

Yes, Nibbles of Tidbits is still live.  And continuously eating — Mostly out and microwavable frozen meals while the kitchen was being remodeled, but now I’m cookin’ up a storm, as I like to say, though you wouldn’t know that from here lately.  All of that is sure to change having this beautiful, inspiring kitchen.  We just love it.  And food looks great here too.  I created this short, before and after video to show the dramatic change.  We set up a temporary kitchen in the garage, thought up a new design, selected a contractor, materials, colors, products and style, and hoped for the best.  We are very pleased with the final results, which shall be starring here.  We’re happy to present Nibbles of Tidbits’ new kitchen and we are thankful to/for all who made it possible.

The Fair will be at the Orange County Fair Grounds starting Friday, July 14th.  And we can’t wait. We will be there on July 22nd for a media event.  And before and after that date, because we love the OC Fair.  More about this year’s Orange County Fair to be reported here on Nibbles of Tidbits.

I’m thankful for this guy — My back-up better photographer, husband and best friend.  Cheers to him.  He’s a trooper.  And he’s fun, funny and smart.  Now enough about him.  We’re moving on to 2017 and more FOOD related reports from Nibbles of Tidbits.  Happy New Year to you from us.

Big things will be happening here next year and we’re excited.

In 2017, Nibbles of Tidbits will feature more home cooking, restaurants reviews, product, ingredient and recipe testing, food competitions and culinary events — It’s ‘more of everything’ if it involves food.  And in conjunction with all that, we’re remodeling the kitchen from its current 1970’s style (rarely seen here) to a modern food blog-worthy kitchen.  We’ll show its transition here.  Until then, upcoming reports pertain to Jimmy’s Famous American Tavern in Brea, Chili’s Skillet Queso Dip and Food Dehydration.  I received a food dehydrator for Christmas.  Reports coming soon to this blog near you.

Photos:  At Jimmy’s Famous American Tavern in Brea.  Report will follow.

How about a Pepsi Donut Bacon Dog?  You can get one at the Orange County Fair now through August 14, 2016.  It’s a Hot Dog that’s wrapped in Bacon and served on a Donut topped with a Pepsi Glaze.  We had the opportunity to try it and other new food options at this year’s OC Fair.

We attended a “Media VIP Food Party” to taste “Interesting & New Foods at the 2016 OC Fair.”

The Bacon Cheddar Brat Burger is pictured above and found at Tasti Burger on Livestock Lane.

Yes, there are healthy options at the OC Fair — My favorite is the Shrimp Pineapple Bowl found at Pineapple Express in the Main Mall area.  They also offer a Teriyaki Chicken Pineapple Bowl.

And you’ve heard of Chicken Charlie right?  Of Chicken Charlie’s?  He’s pictured above and always serves something interesting — One of his menu items this year is a Chicken in a Waffle on a Stick.  It’s a Waffle with pieces of Fried Chicken cooked into it and it comes with Maple Syrup.

Pink’s Hot Dogs is a booth I frequent every OC Fair, but it’s because of their Chili Cheese Fries, another one of my favorites.  Aside from that, they’re offering a couple of new Hot Dogs this year, like The Lord of the Rings Dog, a Hot Dog served with Onion Rings wrapped around it.

Dominic (pictured above) of Biggy’s and Fair Fix & Fried A Fair, both located in the Main Carnival area, tops himself this year with the Bacon Wrapped Pork Belly Dog, Deep Fried Butter, Deep Fried Nutella and more.  Stop by and say “Hi.”  All the food vendors we met are friendly.

A drum roll for the Pickle Fries — I love Pickle Fries, especially since my name is Pickles Freis.  My husband nicknamed me Pickles and my last name is Freis.  Thus I’m Pickles Freis.  And these are good Pickles and the Batter is thin and crunchy too.  Pickles Freis very much likes these Pickle Fries.

Tasti Chips with Parmesan Cheese from Tasti Chips, located on Livestock Lane is pictured above. We had the Jalapeno Cheddar Tasti Chips after seeing The Offspring concert last week.

I love the Orange County Fair — There’s so much to do and see.

Though you can’t eat these flowers, I must post at least one, and Matt capturing them.

The baby pigs below were only 4 days old when they were photographed here.  They grow fast.

As always, I will be entering the culinary competitions happening at the end of July and in August. I’m working on a couple ideas and hope to claim the first place ribbon I have my head through below.  I tested one of my recipes and it turned out well, but I will report the judge’s results.

See you at the OC Fair — Too bad it’s not all year long.

Have you heard of Fiverr.com?  It’s where I got the cartoon above created.  Fiverr.com is a fun, useful, creative place where one can commission a custom cartoon, caricature, logo or other graphic design for a great price.  One can buy and/or sell graphic and design projects, as well as writing, translation, video, audio, programming and marketing projects, and much more.  Check it out.

I’m currently hooked on graphics — I commissioned a couple cartoons, vectors and logos.  At approximately $5 – $20 each, I can afford it.  It’s interesting working with artists/sellers around the world.  I’ve had good experiences so far.  Comparison Photo:  A Pie I made won an honorable mention at the Orange County Fair a few years back and this is a photo of me behind it.

It was Red Quinoa, introduced by Blue Apron, that inspired me to create the pictured Red Quinoa and Garbanzo Bean/Chickpea Salad, with Shallots, Parsley, Mint, Arugula, Toasted Slivered Almonds, Red Wine Vinegar, Dijon Mustard, Olive Oil and Salt & Pepper.  It was for the OC Fair’s Culinary Arts Competition this year and I won a 5th Place Ribbon for it.  Measurements aren’t listed, because they didn’t need to be submitted — I just fine tuned the combination until it tasted great and now it’s a Salad I’ll forever make in varying combinations, with Quinoa, Beans and Nuts.

I won a second 5th Place Ribbon for a different Salad using Orzo Pasta, Broccoli and Pine Nuts.

In two raised garden beds newly built by my wonderful husband and part-time Nibbles of Tidbits photographer, Matt, we planted seeds to grow Carrots, Radishes, Beets, Purple and Green Cabbage, Eggplant, Sweet Onions, Swiss Chard, Butter Lettuce, Broccoli and a Lettuce mix — I THANK him for making one of my dreams come true.  I’ve always wanted a vegetable garden and ideally hope to grow most food plants available to utilize and enjoy on a daily basis, but happily start here.

After only a few days we’re seeing life — What a joy.

We’ve been excited to check and tend to them each day.  Much attention will be given.

Check back to see how all develop — We’re hopeful for free food.

In a beautiful mountain setting with food bloggers from around the country, I learned more about FOOD, food photography, sponsors’ ingredients, food-related careers and food blogging in general.  It was my first time at Camp Blogaway.  I’m glad it’s held in California.  One blogger flew from Morocco to attend, and others I met came from Oklahoma, New Hampshire, Oregon, Idaho, etc.  Those I recall now, but all attendees are linked here.  It was interesting to meet people that do the same things around the world and locally, and other accomplished food industry people.  I appreciated all of it.  Camp Blogaway was a 3-day whirlwind of food-related workshops, tastings, nature walks, and mingling with Wine and Coffee.  Snapshots of my experience are posted below.

I arrived early with Chef Marie, an awesome lady and carpool buddy who made my trip great.

Do you see me?

I assisted with set-up while enjoying the view from the lodge.

Enlarge photo below to view the 2015 Itinerary.

Wine from Wente was on the itinerary each evening — A Highlight.

Cheese from Cabot with Wente Wine on the lodge deck was my favorite combination.

I loved the Cheese Ball Pine Cones by Cabot with the Almond Board of California Almonds.

I will someday be making a Cheese Ball Pine Cone with Almonds and Rosemary, as shown.

Session Panel with Lana of Bibberche and Louise of Geez Louise, moderated by Foodie Goes Healthy.

Session Panel with the Average Betty who interviews Phil Lempert, the Supermarket Guru, regarding his experiences, knowledge, opinions and expertise, which was informative.

My favorite session was the Natural Light Photo Workshop with Christina Peters.  She’s a great teacher — I learned a couple things, but need to learn more, as indicated by too many photos.

Chef Marie (above) made tasty North Carolina Sweet Potato Smoothies with Davidson’s Safest Choice Pasteurized Eggs for arriving campers on the first day of camp.  I had several cups.

Chef Marie has written at least 12 books, including the Saint-Tropez Diet, a few are shown above.

Though we were a bunch of food bloggers, it was camp and it wasn’t fancy, but everyone was nice.

I tried my first White Sweet Potato (above) from North Carolina Sweet Potatoes and liked it best.

I was in Cabin 5, pictured below.

All preparing to take the annual Camp Blogaway group photo.

Patti Londre, our Fearless Leader, leading the successful way.

Camp Blogaway happens each May at De Benneville Pines Conference Center in Angelus Oaks.

After Camp Blogaway I asked myself… What is it I want out of food blogging other than opportunities to try food?  I have ideas.  I’d love to sell Shelly Jellies, my award-winning candy someday, or work with a brand I truly believe in, or just keep doing what I’m doing.  All are pretty great.  I cook anything I want and my husband loves it, and we luckily get to try all kinds of FOOD, and only the food-related products we’re interested in.  In other words, I’m content and I’d like more, but to obtain whatever (more) might be requires work and diligence to make it happen.

Happiness is Being Shelly’s Parents — I secretly added a license plate frame saying that to my parent’s car when I was a kid, hahaha.  Happy Mother’s Day Pam B.  Flowers for your special day.

And thanks for always turning off the beaters.

I used to love it, but it’s all over now — It’s the Pizza at The Getty Center.

It’s different than when I had it a couple years ago.  I wanted it to be the same memorable Pizza I last had there, but it’s now as pictured (above).  I didn’t try it, since it was the wafer thin crust that I liked best about the previous Getty Center Pizza — Boo hoo, but we still had the spectacular view.

Start looking forward to better photography on Nibbles of Tidbits, by Matt and his new camera.

Oh boy, I’m actually going to Camp Blogaway this year.  It’s already paid for.  No turning back now. It happens in Southern California so I have to attend at least once.  I’ll learn a few things I’m sure, enjoy the outdoors, and probably have a lot of fun, but it’s a bit uneasy setting out for it alone. Overall, adventure combined with food, and the topic of food prevails — I’m looking forward to it.

Photo from Calico Ghost Town, not Camp Blogaway this May — See what will be included there.

Happy One-Year Anniversary to us, Freis West (above) — It’s told to be tradition to save, then eat the top layer of one’s Wedding Cake on one’s One-Year Wedding Anniversary.  Though the idea is romantic, I wouldn’t look forward to eating it.  Would you want a year old Cake?  Or would you prefer a fresh Cake, just like the one you had on your wedding day?  We opted for a fresh Cake and got it, because we were married at The Turnip Rose Promenade & Gardens, as previously reported. It’s how they do it.  You’ll get a fresh Cake one-year later, if married there too.  Our Cake was white with a Raspberry Mousse filling and Whipped Cream topping.  All is highly recommended.

As shown, we celebrated Sixteen Candles style — We call ours ‘One Candle’ for one sweet year of marriage.  What fun we had in our Las Vegas hotel room, with our Cake propped on an upside-down ice bucket, as we sat on the window sill/air conditioner overlooking the Stratosphere.  Our Anniversary Cake took us a year back, and we hope to be doing this again sixteen years later.

It’s been a long time coming, but it can’t go unreported — We have a favorite Bar and Restaurant in San Juan, Puerto Rico.  We traveled there in February during our honeymoon and fell in love with La Factoria, a Bar in San Juan, Puerto Rico, pictured above and below.

Cheers to La Factoria‘s artsy style and unique, gourmet cocktails.

The cocktails are thoughtfully made by scratch and hand.

There are different rooms with different vibes, and some go off later than others.

It was serene during our visit, thus we explored its cool spaces.  Look close — We’re in the mirror below with one of the hip guys running the place.  Our photos turned out magical.

After La Factoria for a drink (all photos above), we went to Restaurant El Jibarito (all photos below) for dinner.  It was recommended by the locals, thus we went and enjoyed our meals.

There we were and wish we were now at El Jibarito in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

It’s casual and comfortable inside and the prices are good.

Cheers to us at El Jibarito — A few others there were celebrating birthdays.

Much is served in Sauce and/or Gravy with Plantains — I like that.

I don’t recall our exact dishes, but the meat in both was very tender.

We were happy to have found El Jibarito too.

El Jibarito is our current favorite restaurant in San Juan, Puerto Rico, though we look forward to trying others in the future, after another stop at La Factoria, a Bar that’s hard to outdo.

Cruising in to San Juan, Puerto Rico — Our favorite stop on the Celebrity Reflection.

The true annual treat is spending time with best friends decorating Halloween Cookies, Cupcakes and Candy.  Each year we take home trays and boxes of homemade and hand decorated treats after a fun evening of trickery — It’s quite a funny bunch (below).

I’m truly grateful for all!

This year’s decorating ideas are posted here and others from previous years are linked here.

We’re no design professionals, but have a lot of laughs and the Cookies always taste great.

It’s also possible that you may learn how not to decorate your Halloween Cookies here. 😉

Halloween Appetizer Idea — Deviled Eggs with Olive Spiders.  You can figure it out.

Happy Halloween from Nibbles of Tidbits and friends.

We can walk or bike to Totally 80’s Bar & Grille in Fullerton — It’s a relatively new Bar, Restaurant, Dance Club & Karaoke Bar in the neighborhood.  It occupies the space of a former Mexican Restaurant, Bar & Event spot.  There’s little change to its exterior other than the somewhat cheesy sign (sorry).  Its theme caught our attention and made it a must stop.

I love 80’s music and inside it’s a whole new retro world — We’re impressed!

It’s well decorated and fun throughout.  We’re unsure about the “Grille” part of Totally 80’s Bar & Grille, as we only tried the ‘Totally Awesome Tots’, which appear to be popular.  We tried two of the three offered — The Chili Cheese Tots and Nacho Cheese Tots.  The third, Tots Poutine includes Gravy and an Egg.  Good combinations.  The Tater Tots were crisp, but a bit expensive ($10), if not from their Late Night Menu ($6) — We’ll try the Tots Poutine then.

Robert Smith (above) of one of my favorite bands, The Cure — We’re definitely going back to try and photograph more.  Actual 80’s bands, real and cover play here too.  We’re monitoring their events schedule.  Welcome to the hood Totally 80’s Bar & Grille.  Great to see you!

Related — That 80’s Bar in Montclair and New Wave Restaurant in Lakewood.

What, no Blue Ribbon?  It’s Second Place for my Watermelon Jellies (above) — Orange, Grapefruit and Lemon/Lime Jellies previously won First Place Ribbons, a division win in Confections, and were close to Best in Show.  Last year my Strawberry Stars Jellies earned a Blue Ribbon too.  Each flavor is carefully made with 100% real fruit.  Collectively all have been dubbed Shelly’s Jellies.  I make them because they’re one of my favorite Candies.  I’ve always liked Jelly Candies and can’t believe I can actually make them, and better than any I’ve purchased.  I’m grateful for that and for any win at the fabulous Orange County Fair.

This year we tried the Deep Fried Lobster on a stick with Pineapple — Not bad, but not cheap.

We’re back tomorrow for more FOOD and Fruit Sculptures — The OC Fair ends this week.

We got this Cake for our parents 50th Wedding Anniversary — It’s them on the edible topping.  They were impressed to see it and so were we.  It’s from Albertson’s Bakery.  It tasted good too, with a Whipped Cream Frosting, Vanilla Cake and Strawberry Filling.

We recently cruised on the Celebrity Reflection by Celebrity Cruises and now reflect on the food we had on the ship.  We didn’t have a bad meal.  The food was delicious and plentiful.

Thanks to Executive Chef Darran Ridley (above) and his staff for our never-ending meals.

I took the Heartbeat of the Operation Galley Tour — A behind the scenes look at the Galley.

In the Galley are photos (above) of every dish prepared for the Main Restaurant (below).

Guests seated above were waiting to tour the Galley, while Chefs answered their questions.

Did you know 2,300 Dozen Eggs and 3,800 lbs. of Butter are on the Celebrity Reflection for an average 10-Day Cruise?  And 1,000 Gallons of Ice Cream and 75,000 lbs. of Fresh Fruit.

2,000 liters of Heavy Cream, 1,900 lbs. of Salmon and 12,300 lbs. of Potatoes get consumed.

3,000 lbs. of Tenderloin and 2,740 lbs. of Rack of Lamb — I don’t recall how many Lobsters.

Unlimited Main Restaurant/Dining Room FOOD is available inclusive for all.

Post cruise reflection… I should’ve had more Oysters Rockefeller.

I didn’t photograph everything and don’t have any menu descriptions, but know that I would’ve appreciated finding this information after researching Celebrity Reflection.

All food posted is for the Main Restaurant and included in the cruise price.

 For an extra cost, Celebrity Reflection has several other restaurants to choose from.

The ever-changing Main Restaurant MENU was so good each night, we never strayed.

Celebrity Reflection also offered a Sushi Making Demonstration and Star Chefs Cooking Show.

And several Wine Tasting Workshops around the ship.

Our Eastern Caribbean Cruise stopped in Puerto Rico, St. Thomas and St. Maarten

We thoroughly enjoyed each port with Celebrity Reflection’s lovely meals woven in between.

Baked Alaska on a cruise, of course.

A Chocolate Soufflé.

And Cherries Jubilee.

We were in Concierge Class and received daily snacks and flowers — A sample daily snack (below) included Olives, Hummus, Chips, Cheese and Salsa.  It could’ve been better.

We became fond of Cellars Masters, a sophisticated, Enomatic Wine Dispensing Bar (below).

Us (below) on Formal Night, while on our Honeymoon, btw.

Celebrity Reflection docked in Puerto Rico (below), our favorite port, though we loved them all.

Info regarding our favorite Bar and Restaurant in San Juan, Puerto Rico is reported here.

Cheers to us here and always!  I didn’t even mention Celebrity Reflection’s Buffet… tmi.

We’re still looking back fondly while settling in.  Did you see our Wedding Cake?  It was perfect!  Not only did it look cool, but it tasted great too.  We highly recommend Creative Cakes and a few other superb wedding vendors noted and linked herein.  Check them out.

These photos and hundreds of other amazing ones were taken by Tremble Media.  We love them all and the professional Wedding Video they shot and edited for us.  They captured it all.

The Turnip Rose Promenade & Gardens was the BEST venue for us and people are still talking about the FOOD.  We appreciate so much about them — Quality, service, beauty, etc.

And Photo Booth On Wheels did a great job too — Nice people run it.

And mustn’t forget the Most Fabulous DJ around — Andy Nation.  Wow!  He’s an awesome, organized, professional person to work with and did an excellent job at our wedding.

Everything was lovely, seamless, tasty, entertaining and pleasantly memorable THANKS to all.

We’d DO it all again the same way.  Thank you!

Nice package indeed — We LOVED our Wedding Cake by Creative Cakes in Orange.  It came with the Wedding Package offered by The Turnip Rose Promenade & Gardens in Costa Mesa.  Our experience with both was superb!  We called it (above) our Graffiti Cake, since it was piped with amusing words and sayings related to us.  It looked cool and unique and tasted amazing.  As a bonus (also part of The Turnip Rose Package) — Instead of freezing the top layer of the Cake to eat it on our one-year anniversary, a tradition, Creative Cakes will bake us a fresh Cake to enjoy in its place.  We’ll just call around that time to tell ’em what we want.

It’s not about me here, but some have asked… “Where have you been?”  Though FOOD is the star (and heart) of Nibbles of Tidbits, its publisher (me) is getting married in a week.  Oh boy!  So, I’m still here, but currently busy seeing the world through heart shaped glasses.

Notwithstanding, there’s big stuff coming here, after the REALLY big stuff happens.

I love this low calorie Banana Split (above) — Maybe I should marry it. 😉

Photo credits are linked here, here and here, respectively.  Thank you.

I’m grateful to be back to share (not enough) photos from a beautiful Bridal Shower.

It’s mine — This stylish and tasty day was prepared for me (pictured in the Berry spoon).

I feel showered by love and well displayed, satisfying, glorious food — Thank you so much!

I’d been absent from here for good reason — To partake in this, move and finally reconnect.

Is this (above) not the cutest Bridal Shower Cupcake Cake you’ve seen?  I just LOVED it!

After the first guest arrived, I stopped taking photos of the food, thus missing the hot dishes… Quiches with Green Chili’s and Bacon, and delicious Potato Casseroles topped with crunchy Corn Flakes — With Mimosas, all was/is tailor made for a Special Bridal Shower Brunch.

Several food reports are in the writes (if you will), but I intermittently pause to move by December and prepare to marry in January.  Orange County FOOD reports will then be bigger and better and home cookin’ should get more interesting and will hopefully be aesthetically pleasing.  It’s a busy time, but I’ll soon be posting about Bruxie, Catalina and El Cholo.