"From Leo Carillo to the Pismo shore..." This video was brought to you by the letter B. Sorry, I been watching too much Sesame Street. Some solid south swell hit Malibu pretty good in July and for a stretch there I ate beets everyday for more than a week.
The music is by Braw, thanks to Andrew for letting me use it.
I took 5 months off my project of photographing everything I ate (I know you missed me) - but I'm back, and since I'm doing the videos on a monthly basis and not a weekly one, the videos are going to have somewhat more interesting content.
I'm skipping the mundane - the bag of chips, the pint of Metamucil, the morning cup of coffee. I'm also having a little more fun with photography, trying different filters (I dumped the Blackberry and got an Android phone), and different angles.
You may notice duelling bottles of hot sauce, I'm working on an article called "Rooster Vs. Rooster," which pits the Thai-style Sriracha against a Louisiana hot sauce called Red Rooster. Stay tuned.
Oh Thanksgiving, you bastard holiday. Founded on the false premise that settlers and native Americans got along for more than that first awkward week when they showed up on a boat. Call me a Conspiracy Theorist, call me what you will, but I believe there's more than an ounce of truth in Richard Greener's "The True Story of Thanksgiving."
Don't get me wrong, I'm no grinch. I love what Thanksgiving has become. I just don't see the need to perpetuate the idyllic feast myth.
As Americans, our youth is founded on lies: The Easter Bunny, Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy. Some of these lies never die. Johnny Appleseed was a ruthless land baron, George Washington grew hemp and probably smoked it, California and Hawaii were stolen from their native peoples - soak that in next time you're having a Mai Tai in Waikiki.
Nevertheless, I love what Thanksgiving has become. Take a break from work (you only get 10 days a year), go home, spend time with your family, embrace their transgressions, eat until you fall asleep on the couch.
Personally I could eat nothing but dark meat and stuffing...
This week was brought to you by the wines of Ridge, BV, As Sortes, Bridlewood, Oops, Animus, and Clos de Andes. The music was brought to you by Chi McClean. You can check out his blog about a traveling musician here. You can buy his album on iTunes here.
I've been getting up really early these last couple of weeks - "and for my next trick I will make an iced coffee and make it disappear in 90 seconds!" Instant coffee, milk, stir, drink.
I had been using the Starbuck's VIA but recently bought a jar of Folger's instant and it isn't bad; that's my new trick for cutting through the fog of sleep when the sun hasn't yet made its appearance.
Some highlights, food-wise, were the homemade cauliflower and chickpea curry, a little sushi, [not one but] two trips to Pizza Port, and finishing off the SWAG from the Foodbuzz Festival.
This week was brought to you by the Firestone Winery (which is now owned by Foley), Sebastopol Hills Winery, the Sacred Hill Winery, and New Belgium Brewery.
It's been a while since I've posted a video but we've been really busy; no excuse you say? Since the last one, we've taken a trip to Santa Barbara for some wine tasting, I had a birthday, and we most recently just returned from San Francisco for the 2nd Foodbuzz Festival. It was amazing, thanks to Foodbuzz and all the folks who worked so hard to put it all together.
We've started giving the six month old, AKA Mister Smifter, AKA Pierre Laronche, real food. We started with the rice cereal, then the barley, and most recently some roasted organic sweet potatoes. He's a little eater, although sometimes it seems as if prefers his bib over the food, he is heaps of fun. We're going to keep him.
Well, I'm tired, and I have a lot of work to do but here is a list of some of the cool people we met at the Foodbuzz Festival. If we shared a beer, a glass of wine, a pork sandwich, or a smores - drop a line and say hi. Anyone who attended realizes how much of a whirlwind trip it was, so please be gentle if I forgot. Check them out!
Kitchen Corners - Food GPS - Kitchen Runway - The Picky Eater - The Great Balancing Act - The Javaholic - Spices Bites - Show Food Chef - The Wind Attack - Daydreamer Desserts - Salt & Pepper SF - Jen and Dave from Magnolia Gastropub - Devour the World - Randall from Bonny Doon - SippitySup - Dorian, Alexa, and Ryan the girl from Foodbuzz -
I didn't make a slideshow last week so this one is doubly special. We have been doing more take-out and cereal, and our wine consumption is up. Highlights included a trip to a Peruvian place in Encinitas called Q'ero, a wine bar in Del Mar called La Tienda, and the Rotary Club's Oktoberfest in Carlsbad.
There has been some tasty waves in San Diego lately and those keep me hungry. In between meals, I've been grinding on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, Olivia's Organic Croutons, and Special K. You've got to keep your energy up, you know, for riding parallel stance in the tube...
This week was brought to you by New Belgium Brewing Company, the Boston Brewing Company, Cameron Hughes Winery, and two of our favorites (we've been dipping into the cellar lately) Ridge and Curtis.
A Mocha Fillet Mignon, a amazing Shrimp Cocktail from a Mexican Mariscos spot, and Gyros from another Greek Festival. I got really sick last week, antibiotics and all, and was craving peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and cereal. That's my comfort food.
I've also been working in the Inland Empire/High Desert and thus have been consuming a lot of froyo. After baking in 100+ degree heat, nothing sounds better to cool off with before the drive home than a big bowl of Tart covered in Fruity Pebbles and Mochi.
I've also really been enjoying the complimentary/promotional Bora Bora bars they sent us to check out. They are much more delicious than Power Bars (which are my normal go-to pre surf snack).
This week was brought to you by Bora Bora Foods, the Wine Garage in Calistoga, Hillas Beer, the Bridewood and Four Sisters wineries, and Palm Beer.
Palm Beer
The week started off with sushi, a forest fire, and froyo. We received a promotional gift basket of Bora Bora all-natural snack bars and they're delicious! I don't snack much, but I like to keep things like these in the car.
We went to the Hermosa Beach Fiesta and they wouldn't let the four month-old in the beer garden, I don't blame them, his ID is clearly fake. We showed Alex a vintage surfboard from 1935, it was hollow and made from wood, although he wasn't nearly as impressed as his father was.
We wrapped up the weekend at the Greek Festival in Long Beach and had not only a Gyro but a Lamb-a-Rama, which is gyro meat in a pita with French fries and a spicy feta sauce. Not exactly my cup of tea, but still tasty.
This week was brought to you by Samuel Adams, Bud Light, Stone Brewery, the wineries of Sapphire, Ridge, Rias Baixas, A to Z, and Wolf; and the letter "M."
Salad and Italian food mostly, broken up by an occasional burrito and bagel (reads like a weather forecast). Rocked an In-N-Out for the first time an at least 6 months and it reaffirmed the fact that I could never be a complete vegetarian. I played a croquet tournament that had quite the table of grinds at it. The south swells that lit everything up last week petered out but I still logged about 5 hours in the water anyway.
I found a horn worm (?) eating our tomato plant and it was huge, like 6 inches long! We recycled 120 pounds of cardboard to the tune of $5.40 and can now see the walls of the garage for the first time since we moved in.
Nothing really out of the ordinary food-wise but some highlights include some Nova Lox on on of my bagels, homemade chicken and dumplings, a Chili Relleno Burrito, and a 2005 Babcock Pinot Noir from the Santa Rita Hills.
This week was brought to you by Sessions Beer, Fat Tire, and the wineries of Tamborine, Westerly, and Babcock.
"A first-rate soup is more creative than a second-rate painting."
- Abraham Maslow
Between coffee and burritos, Chef Amy turned out a Caprese Gazpacho that was amazing. I found a Danish Bakery in Carlsbad that turns out some fantastic pasty; and by Danish Bakery, I mean the nationality and not that all they bake are danishes.
The Southern hemisphere turned on some great south swell.
There were tomatoes, including the biggest tomato I've ever seen (sorry, no picture), so we ate more Caprese with a Grilled Corn and Zucchini Salad. There were peaches, Rasberries, and a big bag of Pluots that were devoured within 2 days.
Since Amy brought together Spain and Italy with her Caprese Gazpacho, I whipped up some Tzatziki Guacamole to unite Mexico with Greece. It was a veritable World Cup in our house. Go USA.
This week was brought to you by Seven Terraces, Monte Ducay, and Murdock Wineries.
Froyo, yo
The highlight of the week was, by far, celebrating our 5th year anniversary at French 75 in Laguna Beach. Thanks to grandma and grandpa for babysitting, there were scallops, halibut, mussels, lobster, wine, laughs, and romance was in the air.
Unrelated to food, I surfed the "shark infested" waters off San Onofre and froze my rear end off - really people, it's August, why am I still wearing my 4/3?
There was some P.F.Chang's in the mix somewhere in there, a Lobster Roll, and I discovered the wine section at Oceanside's Grocery Outlet. The clincher was pulling out a Houghton's 1999 "Jack Mann" Cab/Malbec for $9.99. It was pretty amazing.
A friend of mine is taking a wine class at UC Davis and met the wine buyer for them. They have some of the best deals around. I think he said because many are blemished labels. Sorry Trader Joe's, but I think I know where I'll be getting all my swill from now on.
This week was brought to you by Duvel Beer, Carhartt, Hogue, and Houghton Wineries.
Garden Fresh Tomatoes
With all the fresh produce of summertime, we've been eating a lot of salads. Did I say a lot of salads? I meant to say almost exclusively salads. Steak Salad, Greek Salad, Peach Salad, Roasted Potato Salad, Tomato Cucumber and Feta Salad - it's Salad Season.
I also discovered, with some help with my friends, what a real Gordita is. Don't "Run for the Border" for one of these - the ones at Taco Bell have little to do with bone fide Gorditas. I am now the Foursquare Mayor at La Gordita in Vista, CA.
Real Gorditas are thick corn cakes that are fried on a skillet, then deep fried so that they puff up; then the pouch is opened and they are stuffed with a multitude of items. Much like how pita bread has a center that can be stuffed, these come however bearing carne asada, carnitas, or chorizo and potato.
We were given a tomato plant as a gift from the padre and have been enjoying real tomatoes. There's nothing like a tomato that came right off a vine, we've been eating half of them with just salt and pepper. I also ate two pulled pork sandwiches in one week, that's OK, right?
This has been brought to you by Trader Joe's Pinot Noir, Odwalla's Superfood, The Yard Semillon, Primo Beer from Hawaii, and Clos LaChance Winery.
Steak Sandwich with Sweet Potato Fries
When Greg at Sippity Sup said about the baby in April, "Congratulations, but I'll leave you to the diaper duties. See ya in 2 1/2 years!" I thought, no way. I can hold down a full time job, be a father, surf, and write for papawow.com.
But when that south swell rolled in last week I realized - it is either surf or blog. Sorry blog, but it was good. Nevertheless, we're back, and although Chef Amy still throws it down in the kitchen, we have little time to post it. When you top off the little man you've got about an hour before he becomes 3 Mile Island. Get movin'!
We got a gift basket from my co-workers of wine and snacks, thank you. We finally opened it and there were some goodies inside! There's been a more-than-usual amount of fast food, pizza, chocolate ice cream in our lives - comfort foods.
This week was brought to you by Haagen-Dazs Five, Stone Brewery, New Belgium Brewery, Tommolo Winery, and Port Brewing Company.
Coffee and pastries, beer and ice cream, burrito after burrito after burrito. I had sushi twice in one day, (always a treat) and I made it to two coveted venues, Stone Brewery and 85C Cafe.
The former is like Disneyland for beer-lovers and the latter is a Korean Cafe that's been transplanted to Irvine, CA. Business is booming at both despite the economic turn-down. It goes to show how luxury can come in either a frosty mug or a cellophane bag.
Unfortunately, I've never eaten anything at Stone that I've really liked. This trip we stuck to the hummus. At 85C however, we grabbed some garlic toast, some sweet rolls and a blueberry roll, and a mocha bun - and a Sea Salt Iced Coffee. All the pastry was fluffy and the Sea Salt Coffee had just the perfect amount of salt to make it interesting.
The highlight of the week was a Kava Kava session with one of my closest friends, Kris. He flew in from Fiji where he lives and he brought not only Kava Kava but Fijian snacks like candied plums, Mixed Bhuja, and Salted Peas (Matar?).
He also brought some of Fiji's new beers. For the longest time, there's been only one brewery, Carlton Brewery with its iconic brew, Fiji Bitter, "The Sportsman's Beer." Now a second brewery, Island Brewery, has begun cranking out Vonu. And in reaction, Carlton began brewing Fiji Premium. A beer war has begun.
This week was brought to you by the Carlton, Island, and Stone Breweries.
Crazy Coyote Tacos
Work has been in overdrive so the long Independence Day weekend was greatly appreciated. We got to see some old friends, thanks Spankey and Trish for hosting, you guys are the best.
Dining in, we've been eating pretty healthy, mostly making big salads. My favorite meal of the week was our Burritos with Black Beans, Potatoes, and Soyrizo. That's right, Soyrizo. Soy + Chorizo, it's vegetarian and dios mio, since there's no guilt involved, I think I like it better than the real thing.
Dining out has been another matter. Pizza, BBQ, and beer. A little Wendy's, a little El Pollo Loco. Those $.99 Menus call to me like sirens. I'm a cheap bastard, and sometimes I just can't justify spending $10 at the salad bar of Whole Foods when I can grab a hot Spicy Chicken Sandwich and a water with the change sitting in my car's cup holder.
This week has been brought to you by Ridge Winery, Curtis Winery, Tecate, Samuel Adams, and Soyrizo.
Cold Beer, Warm Pizza
We made some "Joe's Specials" a la Joe Jost. Joe Jost's is the likely the oldest and definitely the most iconic bar in Long Beach California. The place has been around since 1924 and about they only thing they serve besides beer are peanuts, pickled eggs, and Joe's Specials - A Polish Sausage, a slice of Swiss cheese a pickle, and mustard on rye bread.
We also made a trip to Stone Brewery, one day we'll do the tour, but this time we just ate and Amy did a tasting flight. Their duck tacos are pretty good.
A trip to the farmer's market yielded some fresh vegetables especially some amazing red bell peppers. We made a curry and we put some turnip greens in with the rice. This is a technique I will be sticking with, they came out magnificent.
I was tipped off to Antonelli's Deli in El Cajon where I fell in love with an Italian sandwich, the #1. I also caved once and got a McMuffin at McDonalds, although I could have easily eaten two.
Highlights of the week included a fun-filled trip to Vancouver. Many thanks to Eric and Anderson for putting everything together. There some great meals there where, unfortunately, camera-phone pictures didn't turn out so well in the dimly lit restaurants.
I may have filled up my memory card taking pictures of all the beers we drank; I just hope we put some bar owner's daughter through college. And, after a long weekend with the boys, there's nothing like a carton of chocolate milk to settle the stomach for an airplane ride home.
There were also some oysters to spice things up and some amazing halibut tacos at a not-so-secret spot in Carlsbad. There was Salmon Jerky, heaps of berries, Crunchy Snack Mix with 46 ingredients, and another batch of Potica.
This week was brought to you by the phenomenal Stone Brewery, Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream, Curtis Winery, and Pannikin Coffee Roasters.
Chicken Taco with Cabbage, Sour Cream, and Avocado
Burritos, coffee, some Russian food, and a triathlon of sorts where the biking has been replaced by drinking beer. Perfect for me because I don't even own a road bike but even if I did, I'm not a big fan of road bike seats. The event was hosted by a Navy Seal, god bless 'em, those boys sure know how to host a BBQ.
We grilled a whole turkey, compliments of Honeysuckle White, after brining it for several hours in a Chelada brine (recipe to come) - and it came out fantastic. I had my doubts about grilling turkey but now I think that's the way to go.
I made some homemade Seasoned Salt with paprika and a couple of odd spices I don't run into often, sumac and filé. Sumac is most comonly used on salads and kabob; filé is generally associated with gumbo. This mixture makes for a close relative to a Lawry's-style seasoned salt but with a je ne sais quoi.
Fueling up for the big race
This week was brought to you by Sierra Nevada Brewing Company and Tekate.
We are still moving in to our new place, and have still been eating a lot of take-out. There have been a ton of berries in season lately and we've been taking full advantage. Raspberries, blueberries, cherries, and even the biggest blackberries I've ever seen.
We found a little bagel shop run by a Japanese family that not only makes amazing bagels (when they say "Everything bagel", they mean "Everything"), but they also make some amazing bread and some Japanese-style pastries. We picked a half loaf of their raisen loaf and a Croquette sandwich.
Some highlights of the week included a little half-price sushi (my favorite kind), lunch at George's at the Cove in La Jolla, a fish burrito from Wahoo's, and some homemade borscht - made from the biggest beet I've ever seen.
It feels like a long week. How about you? What's that? A baby is crying, gotta run...
This week was brought to you by Curtis Winery, $1.99 Quail Oak Chardonnay, Orion Beer from Okinawa, a Chelada, Samuel Adams, Hinano Beer from Tahiti, Modelo Beer from Mexico, and Cristal Beer from Peru. Many thanks goes out to all of our international sponsors.
The music in the video is by Chi McClean - you can buy his album on iTunes.
Russian Cookbook
Oh boy. I've been slacking on Papawow but I have some good excuses; moving to Carlsbad, having a one month old baby, and most recently, spending the long Memorial Day weekend at a most amazing wedding in Santa Barbara.
I have; however, been keeping up with the photographs - I just haven't had time to post anything, cook anything, read much, or eat many fun things besides picking up take-out.
Some of the highlights this last (long) week included discovering a legit Italian restaurant in an industrial warehouse in a commercial district of Gardena, CA. You would never know it from the outside but they make a fantastic thin-crust pizza, their own gelato, and they have maybe $50,000 of Parmesan cheese lining one wall.
The drive to Santa Barbara and back consisted of a stop at our favorite Del Taco in Camarillo, a Montecito at Jack's Bistro (Bagel with Lox, Cream Cheese, onions, and Capers), a lunch of oysters, clams, and ceviche at Brophy Brothers, and breakfast at the last remaining Sambo's.
If you are under the age of 40, you may not know that Sambo's was a chain of more than 1,200 restaurants throughout the US. It was started in 1957 by Sam Battistone and Newell Bohnett who embraced the story "The Little Black Sambo" which was about an east Indian boy who turned a tiger into butter to put on his pancakes.
They had no idea that in the 1970's the term Sambo would become such a charged racial slur.
Although they tried renaming many of the restaurants to, "The Jolly Tiger," "No Place Like Sam's," and "Seasons," they all ended up failing but the very first one, the one in Santa Barbara. Someone in the early 2000's even climbed the sign and painted over "Cracka's."
Learn the history, get over the name, order the Huevos Rancheros, and have a mimosa.
I had my first cerveza preparada in the form of Budweiser's Chelada; Bud, salt, lime, and Clamato. I was hesitant at first because the thought of clam juice in a can, in a truck, coming from Anheuser-Busch from lord-knows-where kind of scares me.
But then I saw the color. It's this fluorescent pink-orange that seems to call you like a siren. It tastes like cheap salty beer but it is quite refreshing on a hot day. I think I would prefer it over ice (as a man, can I say that?).
Bud's CheladaThere's a penumbra about how much I'm going going to like these but I'm still planning a Chelada tasting, more to come...
This week was brought to you by Tecate, Anheuser-Busch, Hoppy Brewing Company, Sapporo, Modelo, and the wineries of: Gato Negro (?), Veuve de Vernay, Bridlewood, and Roshambo.
