Veggie storage.

Today in Totally Unnecessary But Irresistible Kitchen Splurges:

These adoooooorable containers from Cost Plus World Market.

They actually weren't that much (I can already hear the scoldings from my sister and boyfriend); they were $12 for all three and you can buy them separately! And I can use them to store salads and things I make using veggies and herbs from my garden! For a picnic or potluck! Yay! Exclamation points!

(Unique) LA day.

Being primarily an OC gal, I don't get to explore LA all that often. But my cousin lives and goes to school there, and she is the perfect excuse to visit. Also, she knows her way about town, and I get to be her chauffeur for a day. It's a win for all.

I had scheduled an "LA day" on my calendar not really sure what was in store. But I did know that we were going to start the day with grilled cheese. I had been looking forward to this for weeks. Clementine was having "Grilled Cheese Month" specials the whole month of April, and I was lucky to make it for the final weekend.

Behold the baked potato melt:

Potato, bacon, broccoli and cheesy goodness between two slices of potato dill bread. I was able to eat about a third of the sandwich before my appetite succumbed to its richness and I could not take one more bite. Eating a tuna-cheddar salad and part of my cousin's ham and Gruyère on pretzel bread probably had something to do with that, too. 

Also, the sweet homemade pickles. Delicious. Take it from someone who hates pickles. Or don't. It's up to you. (But seriously, eat the pickles.)

Our bellies quite content, we boxed our leftovers and were headed to our next stop: the Unique LA expo. This show features clothes, art, jewelry, awesome things, etc. from hundreds of independent local designers and artists. And, of course, it's fun for foodies, too.

Yummy things we saw:

Friggen' cute plush fruit by Janie XY.

Graze reusable sandwich/snack bags.

Sugars and herb packets by Backyard in a Jar.

Yummy things we ate:

An avocado vanilla popsicle from the Popshop. My cousin had lime mint mojito.

A CoolHaus snickerdoodle and candied bacon ice cream sandwich. (Yes, we had ice cream and ice cream.)

Flying Pig's smoked chicken and short rib "tacos." I had only a bite of the chicken, and all I can say is: This truck better be coming to OC soon.

P.O.P. Candy's rich, buttery toffee. The thyme, walnut and cherries one was my favorite.

Yummy things I brought home with me:

An adorable steppie art print for my kitchen.

Strawberry chipotle jam by Backyard in a Jar. It's sweet with just the right amount of heat. It's been a little over a week and the jar's almost finished.

A Subeco shirt. For every shirt they sell, they plant a tree in the rain forest!

Yay LA!

Tales of Yummy Breakfast, Ch. 1: Love at third sight.

I know you're dying to know.


Who IS this handsome-looking bagel anyway?

Or perhaps the more likely question is: What the hell is that thing?

Well, it's a bagel keychain. And his name is Benny. Or Lenny. Or I can't remember what I named him. I just call him "bagel keychain."

It's a member of Kid Robot's Yummy Breakfast blind-box collection. For those of you who've never bought a blind box, you are probably better off. It can become a dangerous addiction. Basically, it's like sticking a quarter into one of those little toy/junk dispensers at the grocery store and getting some random surprise toy/junk. Except instead of a quarter, it's a $5 bill. And instead of some surprise toy/junk, it's one of these:


AHH.

But there's no way to tell what you are buying -- all the boxes are labeled exactly the same. It's a gamble each time.

So, wait: I actually wanted to start a series of short stories of my Yummy Breakfast keychain encounters, as I've had quite a few.

I'm very fond of bagel keychain now, but we weren't always lovers. Nope. I was very disappointed to meet him, actually.

I wandered into the Go, Rilla! shop at City Place in Santa Ana on some random day at some random time, to make some random purchase. There were a bunch of Yummy Breakfast keychains that had been unwrapped and were on display, and I decided I just had to get one.

I hoped for a pizza, or a blueberry muffin, or a watermelon. Something colorful. I love color.

Alas, it was just a plain ol' bagel. No color! Just some black poppy seeds. Boo.

I thought about giving it away. I was ready to. But then I kept looking at it. And I noticed its wide eyes peering up at me, with a crooked little smile that said,


"Hey. You and me, we can be friends. Eh? Eh??"

Aww shucks, bagel keychain. How could I not love you?

* * *
Go, Rilla!
3013 N. Main St.
Santa Ana 92706
714.547.5451

Resolution #5: Eliminate use of plastic water bottles.

One of my first steps to being greener was using reusable canvas bags. This year, I'm trying more and more ways to step it up.

Which brings me to my New Year's Resolution #5: I'm going to attempt to eliminate the use of plastic water bottles. I've enlisted the help of these BPA-free canteens made by CamelBak:


I like these because they're sleek and pretty durable (I've banged mine up a few times without consequence), and they hold a decent amount of water (24 oz). And, I also like them because they're pretty handsome lookin' bottles. Because I always take it back to the cuteness/attractiveness factor.

But, honestly though, if I'm allowed to get my nerdy greenspeak on for a bit: Plastic water bottles are terrible for the environment -- even if you recycle -- because it's wasteful to just produce them.

Plus, by using a canteen and either using a water filter system at home or filling large 5-gallon jugs with water at the supermarket, you will save money. I mean, a lotta LOTTA money. (Think $1.25 to refill a 5-gallon jug versus $5+ for a pack of water bottles.)

These canteens are quite affordable: $9 at The Container Store. But you can find them just about anywhere nowadays.

So, will you make this resolution with me?

Culinary art.

I'm back now (sad!). And because I need to catch up on sleep, I'm just going to give one more quick little highlight before I sum up the whole trip:

We spent the second half of our Saturday in Golden Gate Park where we attended San Francisco's Zine Fest, a conference for independent and underground publishing. I didn't know what 'zines' were before that day (short for 'fanzine,' Wikipedia defines them as a "small circulation, non-commercial publication of original text and images"), so it was a super neat experience in learning about something completely new and observing such diverse talent in art, storytelling, wit, humor and weirdness. The last part I say with admiration.

And wouldn't you know it, there were even some food-inspired items:


These deliciously adorable note cards are by Motormouthpress, which produces stationery rather than zines (it's sorta related, I guess). Click through their site to see more food-themed cuteness.

I should have gotten twenty more of these. Although, then I'd just have a huge stack of note cards that would sit on my desk forever, as they are almost too pretty to part with. I suppose I could send them to myself.

"Dearest Me,

I WANT TO EAT THESE CARDS.

Love, Me."

(And if you're wondering what's on the other side of the card, it has the chocolate petite cake in a gift box, with a speech bubble that says, "I miss you, too, Raspberry." AWW.)

Crackberries.

Two new addictions this month:


Pinkberry green tea swirl and my new BlackBerry Curve!

I know. I'm hopeless.

Tasty trivia.

My awesome cousin got Foodie Fight for me recently. I'd first read about this trivia game in the L.A. Times' Daily Dish blog before Christmas last year, and I was so excited to finally have it. So we played:


See all those pie pieces filling in the plates? That means you win. I'd like to tell you that this was my card. I'd like to report that I kicked mondo ass. But alas, my boyfriend p'wned both me and my cousin on this game. Who knew he was such a foodie? (I KNEW I shouldn't have given him that one freebie!! After that, he was on a roll..)

This, on the other hand, was my card at the end of the game:


... Pathetic! Even my cousin fared better.

Oh well. I've got much to learn. Or perhaps next time I'll, too, get a question like, "Who has a 'hoo hoo' giggle when poked in his doughy middle?"

Merry Christmas to me.

My biggest problem with shopping for others during a season abundant in incredible deals is that I tend to shop for myself even more. A week out until Christmas and I am probably only 30 percent done with my friends' and family's gifts, and yet I have bought many lovely Christmas gifts for yours truly.

A few of my fabulous finds:

6-way opener, Crate&Barrel
Ok, this wasn't on sale, but isn't it fabulous?!


My mother and boyfriend say it's completely superfluous (especially that third use for it), but I am in love with it. It's a multi-tasker for sure! And so cute.

Cooks enamel cast iron cookware, JC Penney
Someday, my kitchen will contain a large collection of Le Creuset enamel cast iron cookware (gorgeous!). But today, my wallet stays (relatively) full and I still get to indulge -- thanks to this amazing find. Cooks' brand enamel cast iron cookware, which comes in a 5-qt. round or a 5.5-qt oval, is a fantastic knock-off of Le Creuset. Best of all -- it'll only set you back $70 instead of $200 or more. AND -- triple bonus! It comes with a trivet, silicone pot holders and a serving spoon.


One day we'll be together, Le Creuset.


In the meantime, I'm going to have a fling with Cooks; I hope you don't mind. But don't worry, you're still my true love. Promise.

Still on my Christmas wish list:

Potatoes t-shirt, CafePress.com
Adorable, no?


With this, I'd be able to use my wardrobe to express my love for potatoes. And also my love for a certain pair of hobbits in a certain trilogy. (I love subtle hints, don't you?)

Happy holidays and happy shopping!

Wish list.

I want this for Christmas, but I don't know who would play it with me. Also, I'm such a newbie foodie, I wouldn't know like, 95 percent of the answers. BUT -- this could be an awesome way to learn more!


Daily Dish, LA Times' food blog, says that it's available at Sur La Table. So... yeah. *wink.

Eco-friendlier and fashionable.

I admit: I'm far from being as green as I should be. But there are two things I try to be consistent at. The first is recycling. The second is bringing my own bag to the grocery store.

This Trader Joe's canvas bag was the first I bought:


Despite its petite appearance, it actually fits a relatively large amount of groceries -- you'd be surprised. (A general rule of thumb: it will comfortably carry an almost-full basket of groceries.) Just don't spill maple syrup on it and accidentally shrink it in the dryer like I did.

I forgot my canvas bag one day and saw this hanging on the wall:


It's not uncommon that I walk out of Trader Joe's with more than a single bag of groceries (or my single canvas bag overstuffed and bulging), so I thought, why the hell not? And hello, just LOOK at it. Cute, no? Here's the other side:


And even though I reuse Target's plastic bags for multiple purposes, I was on a roll:


These reusable bags are inexpensive (each of the above was under $3), sturdy and generally hold more groceries than your standard plastic or paper bag. AND they are adorable, people (because let's focus on what's really important here -- I mean, plastic and paper bags are SOO five minutes ago).

In conclusion: there's no excuse! USE REUSABLE BAGS!

Cuuute. Suuuuper cute!

Oh my gah!! How f'adorable are these Munchlers by Built NY:


I want to buy one of each and maybe save one for my kid when I grow up.