Wine, Food and Nature...

Three of my favorite things!

MLK weekend brought me just that.

Pat and I are wine club members of Europa Village.  We were invited to the Grand Opening of the Vienza - the Italian Resort portion of their growing property.  (They already have a Spanish section and a French section!)  I was super excited because there was no cost, just a reservation.  So we took off Friday and headed down!  It was really lovely!

 

We of course got there early - but the email had said it was sold out and to arrive early due to a large turn out.

We weren't quite the 1st ones, but almost

Ok now people are arriving and they served Krispy Kreme donuts!

Now this was the part that all the VIP's got to go inside the cave and the rest of us regular members were standing around awkwardly, not knowing what to do.  I asked the donut lady...so is anything happening until 10am?  (Schedule said 8:30-10 "Welcome Reception", 10-11 grand opening ceremony and then 11 on you tour the Vienza)  Pat and I got there at 8:30.  Um we're not standing around for an hour...so....

Bolero Restaurant was open so we hit the bar!

When we came back out closer to 10 they were serving Champagne with Peach Puree and hors d'oeuvres.  That's more like it!

We fancy!

Ok now it's looking like a party

This fellow did most the chatting

I loved that they brought the staff out!  Betsy is in there!

A lovely opera singer

She moved into the Vienza later

Since we're also members at Wiens we headed over there after touring the Vienza for our free tasting!

Notice my shirt...

Saw this lady and thought...that's my future.  Random wine tasting on a Friday.  You go girl!

We had four days off and nothing planned except the above.  So one day we whipped out our bikes and took a ride.  Pat's ankle is still screwy so hiking was off the table but biking seems to be ok!

I also wanted to go geocaching since I haven't yet this year.  Sadly it was a 1 for 3 day.  I'm going to go back to the multi cache I tried to find with my glasses and see if I can find the damn thing.  The other one was thwarted by the police arresting someone right at ground zero so have to go back for that one.  But there was a new one at Handy Park so at least got that one!

Handy Park Geocache!

The weekend also consisted of Pat trying more food experiments.  One morning he made his 1st stab at Eggs Benedict.  Not bad!  We celebrated with mimosas of course.  And another night he made his 1st duck breast!

1st Eggs Bennie!

Poe thinks he's a lap dog

Duck La'Orange with roasted carrots and potatoes

Monday morning met up with 2 of my best girls for a walk in Irvine Park followed by breakfast at Bluestone Cafe (which I DO NOT recommend - the service is horrific everytime I've gone there.  The food is great, but the service sucks.  I've tried them 3 times now and everytime - awful service.  So I'm officially done.)

Love these girls

Poe is so giant compared to the other 3

Loves his stick!

All it all it was a pretty good weekend I'd say!  Now can we have 4 day weekends all the time please?

2023 FOOD Recap...

That's right.

This blog is dedicated to solely blogging about my year of food.

Because...well...food...but honestly food is becoming a bigger and bigger part of my life and I'm LOVING IT.

My husband is also totally getting into food and wine and becoming quite the friggin chef and I'M LOVING IT. 

 

So - I'm going to post all the glorious highlights of my "Fooding" this year.

 

I'm not including food that I rave about in previous blogs here (ie: my trip to Mexico where I ate ALL THE FOOD,  the Taste of Europa, some awesome joints in Utah, etc - because you've already seen them - and if you haven't -go back and read those blogs!  Because why not - my blogs are fun!)

 

So here we go!

A new restaurant had opened in town - PUBlic Legacy.  I hope it lasts because this particular location seems to be cursed, but they've made it a year so that's promising.  Julie and I brunched there one morning to check it out and this friggin Tomato Addiction is to die for!

For our Christmas presie to ourselves (Pat & I don't give each other gifts but rather go out somewhere fancy or take a short trip or something instead) we went to The Anaheim White House.  I'd heard of it - it's fancy.  My friend Maria recommended it, so we dolled up and headed out one night.  It did not disappoint!

Lobster Ravioli

Veal freaks me out - but Pat was dying to try it so there ya have it

Flaky beautiful delicious sea bass

Pistachio cake for dessert!

For my birthday Pat got us a cooking class.  This is where it all began.  As well as binge watching Master Chef.  A lovely fire was sparked in my husband and he started getting more and more into cooking.  After our class where we learned to make a bunch of stuff (there's a blog last year about it) he re-created the Steak and Chimicurri we had.  

He was working on plating

Hit up brunch at another new place called Jardin with Jen and Maria that was amazing.  Took Pat and Julie back there later in the year.

French Toast with Balsamic Strawberry Reduction - Divine!

My fatass wasn't paying attention that this was a meal for two but it's an Avocado Toast Duo - one with Ribeye and one with Chilaquiles.  And yes I ate it all.

I'm not as good of a cook as my husband, but I sure know how to entertain!

I was told to bring apps - Caprese Skewers Baby!

Made a delightful veggie lunch spread for my friend Erika

Then of course had some meats for me...

Bagel Brunch board for a Girls Brunch one morning!

Pat and I are usually Ribeye fans, but Pat had seen a good Filet and wanted to try it.  We whipped out one of our good bottles from our Wine Club to go with it!

Carnivores

For Pat's birthday I got us a Pasta making class.  He's been killing it at Raviolis but here's his 1st Pasta Noodles!  From Scratch!

Now I'm a better baker.  So when we went Apple Picking this year I went to town!  Made my 1st Apple Pie!  Once Fall hits I like to bake fall goodies as well.

Also made Apple Fritter Bread

Delish!

Pumpkin Spice Snickerdoodles are always a hit

Tried a new recipe for Halloween - Crack Candy

Sushi is my favorite food ever and is just always so damn pretty.

We did a fancy dinner at Mortons Steak House one night because we got a gift card and holy shit - that went up in my top 10 best steaks ever!

Around Fall is when Pat really started rolling into cooking.  We have a bunch of new cookbooks now and he's going crazy trying new recipes and I'M HERE FOR IT! 

Bacon Wrapped Shrimp with a Zucchini Puree

New York Strip Steak with Vanilla Sauce over a bed of arugula

Braised Lamb Shank (HE MADE LAMB!) with a Potato puree

Chicken Marsala

Braised Short Rip with a Parsnip Puree 

So as you see - a good year for food, and this is just a tiny portion of it! Can't wait to eat my way through 2024!!