Food Maker, Chef, and Traveling Diner
Happy Birthday, Brandon. Well, it was a few weeks ago, but you know time, life and everything else that goes into things. But I still wanted to document Brandon’s birthday on the blog! On Brandon’s birthday, which was 9/7, we had a really delicious meal …
We had plenty of delicious food while we were in Vegas, but there was one dish in particular that, if I didn’t blog about it, it would be a crime. On our last night in Vegas, Brandon’s grandpa wanted to take us to a nice …
Mammoth Lakes is a place I never tire from visiting. Throughout my life the anticipation of returning to this majestic platform of nature’s daily miracle always carries me through to another year. For as long as I can remember, my dad has visited Mammoth at least once or twice each year. Mammoth Mountain is located in the Eastern Sierras of California, just outside of Bishop and towers at an astounding 11,060 feet above sea level. This mountain is known mostly for its snow sports and winter wonderland activities, but our family has been enjoying the wonders of summer in the wilderness for many years. We don’t camp—we stay in a condo with full amenities including pool, Jacuzzi, steam room, ping pong table, and pool table, so it’s definitely not wilderness all the time.
Lake Mary with View of Mammoth Mountain
Twin Lakes from above
Twin Lakes from Below
Convict Lake
I’ve always enjoyed fishing. Though I might not be the greatest fisherwoman, I can still show up, cast out and catch some fish, which is what we often do while we are in Mammoth. Aside from this large mountain that most people know about, Mammoth is situated amongst many lakes, ample hiking trails, bike paths and so much scenery that your eyes are sure to find something new each trip. I never tire of the beauty that unfolds in this stunning place. This year we were caught in a couple of strange thunderstorms, which made for some of the most breath taking and fierce sights I’ve seen in a long time. The claps of thunder and the swells of rain were something we’ve rarely experienced on our trips in the summer and though it may have taken us off the lake and away from the fish, it gave us some much needed relaxation and togetherness.
Lake Mamie
Lake George
I’m so grateful to all my family for being able to show up and be together, even as we grow older and time is scarce. It’s nice to know that we can still come together and remember what it was like to be little kids fishing together and joking around. We are also introducing the next generation of fishing fanatics to the sierras; my niece Maleeya was out around the lakes exploring with fresh eyes and that’s always a beautiful thing to see. So between fishing with mom and dad, exploring with Granny, Maleeya, my sister, and my brother-in-law, as well as hiking to unknown waterfall territories with my brother and sister-in-law (check out her blog at fabliss.wordpress.com for her awesome Mammoth pictures and food photographs), we ate delicious food, enjoyed each other’s company, caught our limit of fish, and had a wonderful time in the mountains.
Sunscreen and set up key to a successful day of fishing
While we were there, I enjoyed packing sandwiches and making dinners and breakfasts for everyone, but we also stopped into our usual places, which are written about in these entries from last year.
On our trip this year we were able to stop by Mammoth Brewing Company: a crowded and vivacious place where people were standing in lines to get a tasting of what they had to offer. The set-up is really quite interesting and I’ve never been to another place quiet like it. The outside looks like a warehouse—you have to keep your eyes out for the place, but most likely there will be people outside. My sister-in-law, brother, grandma, dad and I all went in for a beer tasting, which was definitely a deal. For $4 you can sample nine beers. They range from all different types of beers (light to dark) and finish with a house-made root beer. If you can make your way up to the bar, you’re greeted by very kind bartenders and can start your tasting. Overall, I really enjoyed the IPA 395, which everyone else thought was pretty rough, but I loved the earthiness of the beer and you could really taste the sage and juniper. So as we sampled we had a lot to choose from, but for the five of us to enjoy an hour of fun for only $20, this was a bargain for Mammoth. You can also purchase growlers and kegs, as well as take home bottles of your favorite beers. I’d definitely recommend stopping by if you’re up there, just don’t be in a hurry and relax.
Cheers
-Unrivaledkitch
The first part of this adventure is here. Enjoy 🙂 We then waited until hunger struck again, which ended up being around 9:00 p.m. and headed over to downtown Santa Barbara to La Super Rica. This is a very famous restaurant in SB. They are …
Stephanie and I found our way out to Ventura County this time around. I used to work and live in Moorpark, CA so I’m very familiar with the surrounding areas, because honestly, there isn’t much going on in Moorpark. I loved it there, but being …
Sometimes I think to myself I’m so terrible with keeping up with content but there’s so much to write about when it comes to food, life, and fun. And every day I’m so fortunate to be able to share the things I love and eat with you all. I hope that this is something I can continue to do forever.
Now for some Food and drink adventures with Stephanie, you can view her lovely entries about our outings at her blog the-loudmouth.com.
Over the last couple of months we’ve been hitting the town aka San Fernando Valley and other outer lying cities around us in search of fun, food, and just a great time. We always have amazing conversation and candid acts of photography. I’m so glad to have this beautiful lady in my life. Here’s a recap of fun in the SFV.
A couple months ago we headed out to Boneyard Bistro . I loved the beer selection here and the fact that we could choose to have flights of beer and try different things. We also made it in for happy hour and had a couple of appetizers.
We’ve found ourselves at the Blue Dog Tavern which is a local Sherman oaks gastro pub having burgers and sandwiches with local beer and sunshine on the patio. Eating at this little place is a brilliant way to spend a summer California afternoon, the food is good but the beer is even better. I had an Ahi tuna burger with coleslaw.
Stephanie and I love local eateries so we just recently went to Sweet Butter Café . This adorable little corner of Sherman Oaks has a really lovely country style feel to it. It is set up in the style of a café where you order inside and you get a little card that has a name of a fruit on it and that’s how they know to bring out the food. Sweet Butter is known for its breakfast and lunch style offerings. We came right in between the two and decided to have
The Yoga Housemade Ranch Gordo White Bean Spread , Roasted Cherry Tomatoes & Dressed Arugula on Toasted Rustic Millstone w/Arugula Salad with avocado
And
Mixed Greens with Fuji Apples, Laura Chenel Chèvre, Dried Cranberries & Sweet Butter’s Candied Pecans with vinaigrette
The food was good. I loved the use of white beans because I use them so much, they are a delicious under rated food. People really do need to eat more beans and legumes. The food is a bit pricy for what it is but normal for Ventura Blvd. It’s an adorable place but I wouldn’t brave it on a Saturday or Sunday when it’s always crowded and crazy. If you’re looking for a chic weekday breakfast or lunch go to Sweet Butter.
We always play in the Sherman oaks Galleria, if I do say so myself, this place has an awesome happy hour selection to choose from. We frequent The Cheesecake Factory for 5 dollar long island ice teas and cheesecake, we seat ourselves with Cadillac margaritas for 5 dollars at El Torito Grill which has happy hour from 2-8 every day and some tasty flour tortillas and salsa for snacking, and we enjoy happy hour dumplings at P.F. Changs with 4 dollar draft beers and cheap specialty cocktails. This is a great cheap place to have a quick drink with a girlfriend then walk around urban home pondering of your dream furnishings.
Aside from food you can find us having fun at the beautiful Japanese Gardens, walking Ventura Boulevard, snagging something sweet, taking photos in shops and on escalators or looking over the city tops into the beautiful LA night, we’re just out having a good time.
Gastro Pubs, A Café, and Happy Hour all make for amazing adventures. I hope you take your city by storm and have wonderful afternoons/ evenings of food and fun.
Just to clarify we didn’t do this all in one day, it’s over the course of a couple months. But I do like to eat/ drink a lot so don’t put it past me.
Cheers
Saturday. My ending in the windy city Saturday we woke up and prepared to get out on the town to see as much as we could on my last day in the city. We took a walk and took pictures at Millennium Park with all …
As I walked through the many miles of culture and community that Chicago has to offer I was struck in awe but the simple beauty of a big city by the lake. It was all such an amazing group of places situated in the heart …
Have you ever seen a pile of books you know you’ll never get through but the possibility of so many words just amazes your mind? I felt that way going into this book shop with Stephanie called Movie World quite the contrary name for such a massive book store. We have so many fun adventures together that I love being able to document these precious moments in time. We all take advantage of our daily grind. Getting to know people sometimes gets pushed to the back of our thought process I’m glad to say that this wasn’t the case last Wednesday. I love California, now much more than ever before. Spring is amazing here and theres so much life just in the air its really wonderful. Last Wednesday Stephanie and I headed out to Burbank for some food, fashion, and furnishing fun. Ikea, Urban Outfitters, Movie World, Chadka Thai, and Tony’s Darts Away were our destinations on a beautiful spring afternoon.
I love Burbank, it really has everything in a small radius of an area and venturing out a little further will get you even more for what you’re looking for. We set out to go to two places and ended up stopping at much more than that. Take Movie World
Here’s Stephanie Rummaging through to find a healthy hand full of books to grace her coffee table at extremely affordable prices. I also bought the rest of my Harry Potter Books 1-3 in great condition for 10 dollars.
We went to Ikea and just the color pallets and Kitchens alone make my heart soon. Oh the imagination that takes place in drawing up my dream kitchen and then realizing that its more than I’ll make for a long time so i can keep dreaming for a bit.
After our browsing about we decided that we would enjoy something to eat, I was thinking about just having a Vegan sausage at Tony’s Darts Away but with all the options around we decided to have lunch out where we were. Thai had sounded nice to Stephanie so we decided on a place with a seemingly interesting menu as well as a happy hour and thought why not. I love Thai Food but I wasn’t extremely hungry for curry or pad Thai or anything that I would normally order at a Thai restaurant. But for a three dollar beer and a 5 dollar appetizer I felt sold and they had what Stephanie wanted on the menu too. The place is called Chadaka Thai The style I believe their going for is contemporary, the lighting in side is very dark but it was a beautiful day so we opted to eat on the small patio. I ordered Tom Kha with tofu which was seasoned well and pretty good, I’d eat it again. As well as Thai egg rolls that tasted like peppery cabbage the sauce was good and the shells were fried nicely but were nothing to really write home about. I’d say go for happy hour with good company,have a drink, and enjoy California sunshine. My beer was good, my soup was awesome, my company was better.
The memory card on my camera was a bit off so I only have a couple of pictures.
I know that my preference is darker stout beers with bitter notes and lovely espresso essence. Coffee and beer in one you have my heart. I ordered a flight because I like doing that. It gives me for 8 bucks the chance to explore flavor and change it up if one beer is too heavy, another is lighter, and then compare and contrast.
Thanks for sharing our journey.
P.S. It’s the end of the month so you know what that means. Head over to the spiciefoodie.blogspot.com and check out this months YBR. Your Best Recipe is a awesome way to share your food with a multitude of culinary writters. So if you’re a food blogger please keep up to date with Nancy and here’s a link to a little more information. My entry this month is Spring Rolls. I hope you’ve seen them if you haven’t please check them out by clicking this banner and visit Nancy at the spiciefoodie for all the other awesome entries.
I love going out almost as much as I love eating in. It isn’t uncommon for me to spend a good chunk of money supporting my favorite local eateries or going to try somewhere new on the map or at least new to me. My …