When looking for something cool for the boys and I to do on our Adventure Day yesterday, I happened upon a listing for the Anaheim Packing District. I’m not sure how we’ve never been here – it’s 100% US!
So many choices!
Basically this place is like an upscale mall food court without having to go to the mall. The best part is that with so many stalls there was literally something for all of us. No fighting. And no drive through.
We walked through most of the 2-story food paradise before making our choices.
Aaron and I decided on Vietnamese at Sawleaf. I had the pork belly bahn mi, Aaron had the steak fries. Basically, the first place he saw fries he stopped and go no interest in looking any further. Not much out of his comfort zone but he did eat the five spice aioli so there’s that. His fries were skinny and crispy and the steak tender.
My bahn mi really hit the spot. The bread was crispy and soft in the center, the meat was tender, the salad crisp and fresh. I missed the daikon I’m used to but the fried jalapeños added a nice bite. The sauce was a bit sweet for my taste but eaten as a whole, a definite A.
The dog had buffalo sauce, bourbon bacon, and ranch. Paired with a light IPA and he was a happy boy.
J was the last to decide and he was deliberating between the short rib poutine and the bbq cheeseburger version. While I was waiting for my sandwich, he came up asking what poutine was. Once he heard smothered fries, he was sold. Aa should have waited because Kroft had tons of amazing choices. J’s burger fry concoction was HUGE! Fries, a burger patty, cheese, sauce, fried onions. The fries were larger than Aaron’s and overall a better choice, too.
Since we were headed to find the chimney cakes (which ended up being 2 blocks away) we didn’t get desserts but future trips will include ice cream bars, snowballs, cotton candy covered drinks, and giant ice cream novelties.
This place is pretty hipster. $3 valet or try to find a spot on the local streets – we opted for a free lot down the street. Oh yeah, free WiFi, too. Food was about $10/person. Anthony bought his own beer so I have no idea how much he shelled out for that.
If you’ve never heard of Chimney Cakes you’re obviously not as obsessed with sweets as me or don’t watch as many travel food shows and videos as me. That’s ok, I’m here for ya.
I’m not sure where I first saw these; probably an episode of Delicious Destinations with Andrew Zimmern or a Facebook video. The idea of a hollow churro that could be filled with additional yumminess sounded even more awesome than the looping churro ice cream sundaes from The Loop in Westminster. BUT, convincing E to go to Prague for donuts? Probably not likely.
Side note – if you’ve never been to The Loop, GO!
So, when I read Nancy Luna’s article in the OC Register about the newly opened House of Chimney Cakes, a plan started. Luckily, the boys and I had a day off today for Veteran’s Day. The boys aren’t usually up for my crazy adventures but once I promised food and no museums and then showed them photos of the chimney cakes they were sold!
So did they live up to the hype? Ummmm YES!
First off, there are a ton of options which tends to overwhelm us so we opted for two combos on the menu – Oreo (duh) and s’mores.
Watching them make the cones in front of us was pretty awesome! Rolling out the dough, loading into the special rotisseries, the dripping buttery goodness, rolling them in the coatings. And then all the topping choices! Wow!
When they take them out of the special oven they actually steam from the top looking like delicious volcanos!
The churro-like cones were both crunchy and soft, and not too thick or bready. They made the perfect vessel for the ice cream and toppings. No mushy cones or drippy mess. Perfection.
Aaron and I shared the s’mores cone which was coated in ground graham crackers and filled with vanilla soft serve, graham crackers, chocolate pieces, chocolate syrup, and a blowtorch toasted marshmallow! There was a surprise Whopper at the bottom of the cone, too.
Justin & Anthony’s Oreo cone was covered in cookie crumbs and filled with swirled ice cream, syrup, and cookies.
Will we go back? What do you think?
Easy parking in the lot. Cones cost us $7.95 each fully loaded. Seating out front. Walking distance to “real food”. Employees were super friendly.
So many things I could have written about over the last month but I just wasn’t feeling it.
There have been adventures…
E and I went down to a cool, private botanic garden in Fallbrook a few weeks ago without the boys. We’ve been trying to spend more time together without them. It’s all about balance and learning how to be a couple again after being 2:5 for so long.
There were goats, lots of rustic crap, and some yummy food.
Side note: this was my first time on the 395 in Fallbrook since the accident and I think I handled it pretty dang well. I don’t think I’ve put last year’s accident behind me but maybe I’m desensitizing a little. Now if I could just stop seizing up every time I see a car roll in a movie.
Last Sunday I asked E if he was in the mood for a sandwich. (AKA easy way to get him to go somewhere that he likely would not have wanted to go in the first place.) My ulterior motive was a scrapbook store that had lost its lease and was having a close out sale. Instead of reminding me that I have enough crap and that I had just been at the expo the day before – all he asked was if it was the store with the comfy chair. Like I said, sandwiches get me pretty far.
Katella Deli for a shared sandwich – after 30 years we’re getting better at sharing one meal rather than bringing home a ton of leftovers. (We’ve officially turned into that old married couple with one meal, two plates, and two glasses of water.) It’s all about compromise and finding something we can both not just tolerate but enjoy. The winner? A combo of pastrami AND corned beef that was taken apart so that we each got exactly what we wanted – his side with yellow mustard and mine with brown and both slathered in coleslaw.
I miss deli SO much! It reminds me of my dad and it is IMPOSSIBLE to find anywhere near us. We both commented on how the sandwiches at Katella seem to be shrinking. I also noticed that the clientele was all our age and older. Although they were packed, like always, I wonder if after we are gone, Katella will be as well. My kids don’t get excited about deli the way we (still) do and I cannot imagine them driving an hour to get a sandwich. I hope I’m wrong.
There was scrapbook… shopping…
I keep sitting down to craft and nothing comes out. Kind of like my writing – over the last few weeks I’ve been dry. I was hoping walking around the expo with Lisa would solve that. All it did was enable me to buy more stuff. When I went to put it away I realized between the expo and the store, I’ve managed to buy a bunch of duplicates. I REALLY need to organize again and get some stuff done. Crop signed up for Thanksgiving weekend so I have the incentive, now I just need the motivation.
I did play with alcohol inks a few weeks ago and made some cool tile coasters that are still sitting in the family room waiting to be sealed. THREE WEEKS LATER!
I probably should get on that. I was so excited about the tiles that I went out and bought 9 more bottles of ink and some more tiles so that we could have a family craft night – ummm yeah… not sure when exactly the planets will align for us all to be home together but it was a nice thought. The newly purchased supplies are also sitting in the family room; a constant reminder that we all lead WAY too busy of lives.
There was also a trip to Sam’s Club the other night to get a ginormous cinnamon roll. Went for the roll, spent over $200 on stuff – mighty expensive pastry. It would have been cheaper to get us all Cinnabons! FYI Cinnabons would have tasted better, too – ours looked NOTHING like the Delish article.
Or caramel apples… I’ve been craving one for at least a month but the one at Myrtle Creek was disappointing and I cannot justify $10 at Rocky Mountain. E saw that they have 13 varieties of apples on sale at Sprouts this week and I suggested that he buy one of each kind and we have an apple taste-off. I even offered to make caramel dip. Nope, not a self-serving suggestion at all. 😉 We’ll see if he comes through when he goes shopping. If so, there WILL be a DIY caramel apple bar in our future!
Aaron tagged along on a trip up to Idyllwild last week. E needed to site supervise the placement of the chapel he designed at Camp Emerson and I went along so he didn’t have to drive up alone. Not sure why Aa came with except that he thought he was getting breakfast which apparently is NOT the same thing as run through the drive through at Mc Donald’s – good to know. After we were done at Emerson, Aa DEMANDED “real food” so we stopped in town. We walked around for a little bit – how have we never walked around Idyllwild despite the hundreds of trips we have made up there???? Happened upon a store that sells HAND-DIPPED ICE CREAM BARS! I search FOREVER for ice cream bars and the one time I find one I am too stuffed from eating TWO breakfasts?!?! Good thing I can guarantee that that will not be my last trip up there so at some point, there WILL be an ice cream bar in my future. Damn you Costco for taking them off the cafe menu! Curses!
There was a bunch of random ass shit, too…
The other night I was getting into bed and Anthony asked me why I was going to sleep in my work clothes. I was wearing Rudolph pajama pants. Either I’m way overdressing for sleep or I need to step up my work clothes from leggings. Probably the latter. Probably not going to happen though. #leggingsarepantstoo
I finally de-Halloweened the front porch. Took that nasty spider web crap off the trees. That shit is worse than tinsel. They’re both like holiday herpes! Aa is already talking about Christmas so I am sure it’s only a matter of days before one of those damn trees is setup in my house.
Speaking of Halloween, we went to Target last week and bought about $20 in candy. When candy is marked down 50% off that’s a shitload of candy. I brought one bag of Reese’s to the office with me because I live with damn locusts. E may have a few bags of Skittles hidden. The GIANT bag on the counter is at least half way down! Locusts I tell you! (In all honesty, it’s mostly Aaron.)
The Mystery Oreos are STILL sitting on the kitchen counter from almost a month ago. We tried them and they were just SO tasty that more than 1/2 the package is still there almost a month later. Since it doesn’t look like anyone is going to eat them, I might need to find something else to do with them – maybe scrape the filling out and use the cookies for a cheesecake crust? Other ideas? Want to know what we thought of them?
That being said, I just saw that they have limited edition Hot Cocoa Oreos out now. Yeah, THOSE will be in my cart, most definitely.
Monday night I finally was able to stand on one leg. WITHOUT FALLING OVER! We’re nearing the end of yoga class so apparently the damn optimists were right and persistence does indeed pay off. Who’d have thought?
Last week, I read Dan Brown’s new book Origin. We saw Thor: Ragnarok. We rewatched the original Kingsman movie in hopes of seeing the sequel which is pretty much not even playing anymore. We still haven’t watched season 2 of Stranger Things – once again trying to find a time when we can all watch it together so that no one is an asshole and spoils it for anyone else. Yeah, not sure when/how THAT will ever happen. It’s been a no go for the new season of Orange is the New Black, too – every time I sit down to watch it some kid starts asking me questions about characters or plot lines or the criminal justice system – sheesh, just watch it from the beginning and stop yammering on so I can hear what they are saying!
One last thing, there may have also been donuts as big as our heads, too.
The last two months of the year are filled with madness. I have an adventure day with the boys scheduled for tomorrow (Veteran’s Day observed). Band is winding down – only 2 more performances to go! 2nd Annual Thanksgiving with the Weiners. Our 18th familversary. Feeding pomegranates to and riding camels – YES REALLY! CHINA!!!! Hanukkah/Festivus/Christmas. E’s last birthday starting with a 4.
Holy shit that’s a lot of stuff – and I’m sure it’s not a complete list! Despite the mayhem and chaos, it will be filled with family, friends, laughter, adventures, and shenanigans. Definitely shenanigans! Because of course they are MY assholes children…
Justin & I found ourselves in LA yesterday… around lunch time.
Me: J, what do you want for lunch?
J: Tacos or Asian. What do you want?
Me: Donuts.
So, tacos and donuts it is.
I’m not going to lie. I have never seen a Danny Trejo movie. I went through IMDb and nope, not a one. But I know his name and his face, so there’s that. When I was cruising the pics on yelp for Trejo’s Tacos, J said “hey wait I know him.” Not sure he’s seen one of his movies either though.
So I might not be an action movie aficionado but 2 things I DO know are tacos and donuts.
1st stop – Trejo’s Tacos on La Brea
J had mexi falafel and brisket tacos. I had the fried chicken and asada tacos. I’m a sucker for fried chicken and asada and both were decent taco choices. The asada needed something creamy to break up the meat. J preferred the falafel taco. Tacos were $4-6 each so not too bad.
Best thing was probably the date sweetened horchata though. Good stuff!
Next up – Trejo’s Donuts on Santa Monica
OMG! Ok I’m kind of a donut snob and I’ll pay top dollar for unique or amazing. These were all three. Super pricey and limited selection BUT seriously some of the tastiest donuts I’ve EVER had.
I had the Flash which was a lemon cream filled donut and a glazed donut with berry icing that, get this, TASTED LIKE BERRY! J had a Dirt & Worms and the chocolate filling TASTED LIKE CHOCOLATE! Imagine that? They also have the horchata there, too. Good to know.
So, will we go back? Ummmm Heck YEAH!
Should I check amazon or Netflix for DT movies and watch one? Jury’s out on that one.
Over the years… swim practice, scout meetings, school pickup, kids at work, band, Six Flags. You name it, I’ve probably waited through it.
Early morning. Late at night. Heat of the day. Freezing cold. Well lit lot. Pitch dark scared for my life in the grossest part of town. Countless HOURS of my life!
I’m not a huge socializer so sitting in my car is usually more palatable than making small talk with relative strangers.
I’m also not a huge fan of driving home just to turn around and drive back. Nap, read, Facebook (heck, even blog) in the car sounds like SO much better use of my time.
Los Osos should have given me a designated parking space by now, I’ve spent so much time in their parking lot. Waiting.
People wonder how I possibly have time to read as many books as I do. I’m ALWAYS waiting for someone!
This morning, I’m waiting again. This time, not for a kid. I’m sitting in a sketchy gravel lot that might be a mobile home park or a construction yard. Who knows.
Irony? E won’t wait for the kids. Thinks I’m insane. And yet… here I am. Waiting for him. In a sketchy lot in Ontario.
Me: I’m going to go get a drink.
E: (looking around) You’re LEAVING me HERE?
Me: Yet, it’s ok for me to sit HERE?
So here I am, waiting… again. Just another day in… paradise?
Avocados. I’m fairly certain if you don’t like them you have to turn in your California card. Luckily, we don’t have that problem in our house. No rain this week – matter of fact, we’re back up into triple digits… so when E suggested the Avocado Festival, it was another HELL YEAH moment. A) food fest, B) beach, C) FOOD FEST!
I didn’t realize it at the time he proposed the idea but E just wanted to eat from the world’s largest bowl of guacamole. Or swim in it like Juli and I did at the sprinkle pool. It wasn’t even on display! It could have been a Tupeprware container for all we knew. Seriously? If you’re going to advertise the WORLD’S LARGEST BOWL OF GUACAMOLE, have it on display, people! He settled for chips and guac instead which was yummy and plentiful.
It’s usually sweets that get me excited, especially since I’m not big on chips – so I opted for a cone of the avocado mango sorbet. Ice cream? No brainer. Good choice because it was seriously YUMMY!
My AWESOME new shirt from our Huy Fong day. Saw LOTS of people wearing sriracha shirts at the fest! Nothing but love for guac and cock (sauce).
Avocados have been in short supply lately (#thanksglobalwarming) so it was nice to see them guaced, spread, deep fried, baked, frozen and of course as a photo-op. The varieties were amazing and the ones as big as our hands, wow! In the markets they basically have bumpy and smooth (yes, I know they have REAL names) and Lord knows we’ve never been able to grow an avocado tree – so seeing so many different kinds was awesome.
Looks kind of Veggie Tales-ish – half expected it to start playing the Hairbrush song.
We got about 8,500 steps in, learned a bunch about avocados, and E scored a case of chips. They’re quinoa chips, but still. I even treated myself to this necklace, customized for (some of) my obsessions. I just need to find an awesome llama charm. Not bad for a Sunday.
Until next time Avo Fest – Stay Golden, California!
Eric & I have a thing for food tours. We’ve been to Ben & Jerry’s in Vermont. The fortune cookie factory in a sketchy alley in San Fran. Beecher’s cheese at Pike Place and Eli’s Chresecakes in Chicago. Coca Cola in Atlanta. Dr. Pepper in Waco. Coor’s in Colorado. Ethel M & Hershey’s? Check and check. Tequila & rum distilleries. Yes, those, too. (Of course!) and not 1 but TWO Jelly Belly factories.
So, to have the sriracha factory 30 minutes away from us… no brainer! Once a year, Huy Fong opens up their factory and welcomes spicy lovers in to burn their mucous membranes and see where the magic happens.
We’ve been before. In 2014, shortly after Anthony left for college we took the tweedles. Anthony’s response? “Why do you wait for me to leave to do cool stuff?” Ummm we did cool stuff throughout your childhood! I have the scrapbooks to prove it!
So, now that Big is home, we decided to go back for Chili Grinding.
First things first, don these attractive red hairnets. Anthony was obsessed with the giant blow up bottles and could not understand why I didn’t want one living in my house. Yes son, your room still constitutes IN MY HOUSE.
This year, David Tran, founder and chili guru was greeting guests! Better than taking a pic with his cardboard cutout.
The factory is insanely clean. I’d like to think all factories are this clean, but yeah. Probably not.
It’s annual chili grinding time so I grabbed a Kleenex and off we went.
I passed on the chili and opted for sriracha ice cream instead. YUM!
Anthony dipped into his bag of snacks – popcorn, chips, and jerky. Then immediately to the complimentary bottle of water. LOL
They may not make tear gas, but this stuff can still bring tears to your eyes.
Huy Fong has THE best gift shop filled with questionably appropriate apparel! I picked up a new Awesome Sauce T-shirt and grabbed some stuff for the tweedles. Anthony was still jonesing for the giant inflatable bottle. NO. Then he saw this sweatshirt…
Me: You’ll never wear it.
Random stranger: Yes he will and then you’ll regret knowing him.
Me: Too late.
Before leaving, Huy Fong hooked us up with free hats, shirts, and bottles of sauce. Pretty awesome way to celebrate the Year of the Rooster!
Who are we kidding? It’s always the Year of the Rooster when you’re cock sauce lovers.
OK, so when the big guy texts you and offers to take you to ALPACA DAYS, the answer is a resounding UMMM HECK YEAH!
Pet AND feed the alpacas? YES, please! Sign me up!
So off we went to Temecula (without the boys) for an adventure. And it did not disappoint! I even wore my favorite Llama shirt!
We rolled up around 1 and I think E was doubting himself when he said “this is just someone’s house isn’t it?” Someone lucky’s house! They live with alpacas and a LLAMA! HELLO!
First stop – buy a bag of treats. Way too small in my opinion but then again if everyone was feeding them tons of treats, by the time we got there they’d be full. We’ve had that problem with the Wild Animal Park giraffes. That was sadness – so happily these fuzzy friends were still interested in the pellets. (Not as much as their wagons of grass, but they could be coaxed and I was good with that.)
OMG! Nothing like feeding Dobby who’ll take your fingers off! It actually tickles.
Then we met Marshall Llama! He keeps an eye on all his alpaca friends. And he gave snuggles and kisses, too.
Even Eric was into my llama love (he kept trying to get them to wear his Rams hat) and by the time we got home, he was checking online sales and wondering how large the doggy door would need to be. But… zoning. No llamas or alpacas for us. Sadness.
So, this will have to do until I can talk him into a llama ranch of my own. The house next door to the Alpaca Hacienda’s for sale… hmmm.
I’m not sure when Juli and I decided this as the unofficial name of Route 66 west of Victorville. One thing is certain, we’ve driven it more times than either of us ever wanted to. Together. Alone. With others. Directions? Take 15 North, exit D (look for the sign for the prison), turn left and go past the ampm (if you need to pee or get a drink STOP HERE), drive until you get really sad or see the sign.
Thankful for xm radio. Music blasting. Often trying to tune out the 14 miles of desolate landscape, deserted and rundown buildings, grafitti covered trains, tumbleweed, odd businesses in the middle of nowhere, a federal prison, and the occasional non-vehicular traveler.
Yes, people walking, pushing strollers and grocery carts, golf carts, and my personal favorite, motorized scooter chairs. Where did they come from? And where the heck are they going? You’re on the road from nowhere to, NOWHERE! You probably should have brought a CAR, you’re in the DESERT, people!!!
Seriously, 14 miles of THIS! This is in danger of trespassing? REALLY? There’s NO DOOR!
So much sadness with a few interesting moments in between.
Like the Cross Eyed Cow pizza parlor. Never stopped for the pizza but the colorful roof cow and VW bus advertisement…
This “city” is the only sign of civilization. If you can call it that. The OFFICIAL roadsign for the post office reads “Oro Grande Post Office”. Why the quotation marks? Is it a ploy to capture wayward travelers? I wouldn’t be shocked.
The abandoned Mohawk gas station. When was the last time gas was $1.99/gallon? Especially on a deserted stretch of highway?
The station graphics are still pretty much intact despite being boarded up. The pumps, not so much.
And Bottle Tree Ranch. We’ve driven by SOOOO many times and never stopped at this roadside attraction. This time, thinking this was my last trip, I took a few minutes to walk through.
So how far do we travel The Road? Fourteen. Miles. Turn at “The Sign”.
Yes, the saddest sign on the saddest road is where we know to turn. We’ve never stayed at “The Inn”. I’m fairly certain horror movies were based on this.
Haven’t stayed here either. Obvious reasons.
After years of traveling 66 to Helendale, our trips are finally coming to an end. The house will be sold soon. Our link to the area officially broken. Goodbye Helendale. Not exactly sad to say farewell.
OK, so when the big guy texts you and offers to take you to ALPACA DAYS, the answer is a resounding UMMM HECK YEAH!
Sparkling Llama 