All posts filed under: Taste.

coffee, tea, treats.

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For someone who doesn’t drink coffee I had my share in Japan. The coffee scene is on fiah and the attention to detail makes the experience so much more special. A few coffee (and tea!) explorations to follow. My favorites were the spots with coordinating tiny treats. & Coffee by Maison Kayser was one of our first stops. Hubby had an espresso; I had a lavender milk tea. We also ordered a pain du chocolate and our beverages came with little chocolate treats. It was quiet when we arrived (before 8AM on a Saturday). This was our in-between spot after sushi breakfast and before Itoya shopping. We heard about the Toyko Coffee Festival from a local magazine ~ I like to pick those up from airports; sometimes you get lucky with ideas. En route, we ran into a cousin-in-law who at the time lived in San Diego – so random! So we all tasted cups of brew together. There were over a dozen coffee vendors, mostly from the Tokyo/Kyoto area, but also a few international …

itadakimasu.

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I travel for the food. How about you? Drool with me now; it’s time for my Japan food recap! Itadakimasu! Sushi for breakfast, Tsukiji Fish Market, Tokyo This is what dreams are made of. We woke up at 11:30PM Friday and waited until the Tsukiji Fish Market opened at 7AM Saturday. Yaa, we had reverse jet lag. Before breakfast we strolled the Kachidoki Bridge for some just-after-sunrise views. I had the maguro salmon don (left) and Hubby had a kaisen don (right), plus miso soup with a big helping of seaweed. That’s wassup. That fish was fressssh. And I am obsessed with sushi rice. Noodles for breakfast, Rokurisha, Tokyo I’m a big fan of being able to eat out somewhere I can have rice or noodles for breakfast. And if there’s a place open by 10AM in the States I am a super fan. It took Hubby and I a while to find the tsukemen (dipping ramen) restaurant on our must-list because buildings in Tokyo are confusing. I saw a line and no English restaurant …

las vegas: food scene.

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The Las Vegas food scene is clearly a tasty one. Here’s what we inhaled. Day 1. We arrived late in the evening, but lucky for us many Las Vegas food establishments on the strip are open until the wee hours of the morning. Our hotel also had some options to cater to our “we too lazy to go outside right now” feels. We had an almost midnight snack at Gordon Ramsey Burgers. My burger had roasted jalapeños, avocado, and grilled tomato. Tip: Get you burger medium. (I ordered medium well and it was a tad dry.) Sweet potato fries are served with a dusting of powdered sugar – a first for me and quite delightful! Day 2. Rise and shine with a smoothie from The Juice Standard. The berry smoothies were not too sweet – a perfectly refreshing way to energize the morning. You know what else energizes the morning? Bacon. We tried the bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich at Egg Slut – salt and runny egg perfection. And because FOMO, we grabbed cookies for …

winter picnic.

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To kick off the New Year, Hubby, Sis-in-law and her partner, and I planned a lil park picnic. Yes, it was 40 degrees outside, but the sun was shining and the air was fresh! I set up my 4-foot table and stools, brought out my picnic plates and indigo napkins, and adorned each place setting with a sprig of flowers because it’s a fancy grown up gathering, y’all! I put together a cheese plate of sorts with veggies, fruits, carbs, and dips. It’s always fun to use my tiny cheese knives, and I love mixing and matching snacks. I also attempted a lemon dressing/dip (recipe below!). We tossed together a salad (Trader Joe’s kale-cabbage-pistachio-ginger salad pack for the win ~ I’m a huge fan of all of their salad packs!) and I made roasted broccoli with dates and a lemon herb sauce (recipe below because it was delicious!) We also had homemade pumpkin soup! And homemade hummus! And more cheese! And more carbs! It was so lovely to spend a relaxing afternoon with great people in the …

coffee and toast.

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Featuring San Diego trip inspo seems appropriate this week because my nephew and I scored Comic Con SD 2019 tickets this weekend! We’ve got to get some touristing in there, too, so we’ll be planning some stops. In the meantime, here’s a coffee shop and avocado toast round up from my last visit. How many avocado toasts can I eat in one weekend? The answer is “at least three”! Our first stop after landing in San Diego was Achilles Coffee Roasters. Though I wasn’t crazy for their avocado toast, Achilles has one of the best chai lattes I’ve ever had. They make their own masala chai blend and top it with cinnamon. Also, they serve oat milk! This is definite ‘must come back again’ spot. Later that day whilst Hubby was reporting for groomsman duties, I headed to Better Buzz Coffee for a snack and some caffeine. I tried the 3 Seed Avocado toast which was packed with flavor, and tons of chia seeds. It was super filling; I saved half for a midnight snack. …

crafty hour.

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My crafty lady friends and I met up for a crafty lady crafty hour. We met up at Casa Latina, one of my preferred nacho places because they get the chip to topping ratio right all the time. 😉 First we ate foods; then we did the crafts. My friend brought pom pom trim guides / kumihimo cord makers by our friends at the Loome. We made kumihimo cord keychains. Materials are simple: yarn, key ring + clasp, scissors, and optional beads and needle. Tahdums! Check out the kumihimo cord tutorial we followed on the Loome. Finally, a crafty lady crafty hour in the books! It’s so nice to hang out with my crafty ladies not at a craft show – even tho that’s fun, too! We’ll have to make this a regular thing.

tea for seven.

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It’s my Mommy’s birthday today! Yay, Mommy! We celebrated over the weekend with a  tea party. On the menu… Tea sandwich 1: Peach and bourbon jam + tiny green apples from the garden. My nephew said it tasted like apple pie. Tea sandwich 2: Smoked salmon + dill cream cheese + chives. Allowing the dill to sit in the cream cheese for at least an hour adds so much more flavor. Tea sandwich 3: Cucumber + dill cream cheese. A classic pairing. I cut each sandwich flavor into a different shape. Also, crusts off always! We also made open faced smoked salmon + cucumber + dill cream cheese + chives sandwiches because why not. It added some nice color to the plate. Also on the menu: Steamed hericots vert with salt + pepper. Bell pepper crudités, a daikon vinegar slaw, and bread delights from 85 Degrees – (clockwise from top) coffee roll with red bean paste and mochi, walnut roll with black sesame seed paste, green tea roll with red beans and cream. …and of …