Oil & Vinegar Gourmet, Sherwood, OR

7/8/13

GREAT SAMPLES AT THE ALAMEDA COUNTY FAIR

Who doesn't love sampling free, tasty treats as you walk around the County Fair?! We ran into this booth in one of the Exhibition Halls on the last night of the fair. We'd seen another vendor sampling flavored oil and vinegar, but hadn't made a purchase.

As we walked up, the owner (Dave) handed us each a few small bread squares on toothpicks. We were told which of the flavors were most popular and enjoyed trying these, as well as a couple of others. Gourmet olive oil infused with flavors is pretty popular, but this was my first time seeing infused balsamic vinegar. The flavors were all great but we ended up enjoying the original balsamic the most. It is aged 13 years and had a very unexpectedly sweet taste. The flavor was like no vinegar I've ever tasted. It'd be amazing drizzled on berries or roasted veggies.

We bought a small bottle for $13 and asked Dave how to contact him if we decided to get another bottle as a gift. He gave us his card. Even though he's located in Oregon, you can look for Oil and Vinegar Gourmet at Fairs and Festivals. You can contact him to see where they're going to be - or for direct sales. OMG! It was really, really good.

The Ridge Tahoe, Kingsbury, NV

7/17/13



We've visited this resort a couple of times. I booked a room after finding a deal on Travelzoo about a year ago. I can't remember the cost but knowing me it was positively under $100/night.  The road had two beds when we arrived, so we called some friends and let them share it with us.

It was in winter so many of the resort's outdoor activites were closed for snow. The closest ski resort is Heavenly, but we weren't headed there on this trip.  They have a raquetball court indoors by the spa area and also a room with a couple of ping pong tables. We sat in a hot tub on the roof while it snowed one night but a security guard kicked us out promptly at curfew. I think spa/pool curfews are bull$h*t but they're everywhere so I don't complain.

There's a great little bar/restaurant nearby (up the road a ways in your car). And a market with food items. And during business hours there's a cafe inside the Ridge, and a BBQ outside, as well as a nice little restaurant. That's where we spent the majority of our time on the most recent visit, on July 4th.  We attended an outdoor wedding with a great view and awesome acoustics, then retreated for an indoor reception.  The wedding party readied themselves in Tower rooms. The one I saw was a two bedroom with a gorgeous kitchen and huge living area. It was amazing. Nothing like the room I'd stay in, but nowhere near the same price I'm sure, either. (Although, the bride and groom are timeshare owners here - explaining the amazing room).

The restaurant is inside the Ridge and above the registration desk. While the food and service were awesome, it was sooooo hot. A beautiful, long bar is up there also and it was nice for our private event (about 75 people). It had a floor for dancing and a great outside deck - we went out there to cool off and that was wonderful. There's no A/C at the Ridge but who wants to go to Tahoe and spend their day inside their room?! Go outside. Do stuff. They have free shuttles that will take you to town. Casinos have A/C; I guarantee it!

There is parking for guests with a couple spots available if you have a room here. If youre not staying here, there are a couple lower lots and the attendant will call a shuttle to pick you up. I had about a 90 second wait by my car.

The Social Study, San Francisco

7/18/13

This awesome bar ended up being our final stop as a group of my girl-friends bar-hopped in celebration of a bachelorette party. A perfect end to our night on the town. We were on foot and looking for The Social Study, based on a recommendation from a bouncer at Milo up the street. When we were having trouble locating it, one of the girls totally asked a stranger, who ended up walking us the rest of the short distance there. We found seating up front by the window toward the street and all 7 of us fit nicely in the cubby.

Drink service at the bar was great and the atmosphere around us was really peaceful. It was the perfect end to a perfect day. Our walk back to Hotel Kabuki after the bar was short and pleasant.

The following morning, a couple of girls walked back over here for juice and said it was just as nice and tranquil in the morning as it had been the night before. The bottle of Bailey's in my purse didn't go well with juice, so I stayed in the room making coffee.  :)

Luigi's Catering and Delicatessen, Concord

7/18/13

Ever since my visit to Oakland's Off The Grid event, I've been trying to find a grilled cheese that will satisfy me. The one I had there was incredible and I need another. It's driving me crazy but I can't find thin-sliced sourdough, and I can't seem to slice it thin enough myself.

I stopped in at Luigi's in hopes of finding pre-sliced sourdough (very thin!) but they only had a whole loaf. I took this home (and still was unable to slice it long and thin)  :(  but it was good bread. While at Luigi's I also picked up a few slices of smoked gouda and.... ***drum***roll*** smoked cheddar! Their smoked cheddar was so good! The slices were thick and it was tasty! The smoky flavor was really strong but didn't overpower the cheddar cheese itself. Loved it.

Also grabbed the small sized container and filled it with marinated mushrooms and a couple artichoke hearts. I was starving and ate this before I even arrived home. Total cost of my visit was $17.86, which I thought was a little high for all the items I got and the small quantities, but it was good quality.  Plus, I watched them as they were cleaning while I was there and I like seeing it nice and clean when I'm buying food.  I need to go back and check out their sandwiches. They seemed like the popular thing to order while I was waiting in line.

Montbleu Resort Casino & Spa, Lake Tahoe, NV

7/18/13

I like the Sports Book here. Won a bet ON the Raiders last year that I placed here - that's hard to do. Lost a bet on the A's this year. Had fun both times.

On our recent visit we had some time to kill before eating at the buffet so our group of four split up and found machines to play on. My husband and I found the penny machines that we like so much and started with our $0.15 bets. My $10 went to $30 in a few minutes and a cocktail waitress took our drink order. It had only been about ten minutes and our pager rang for dinner. I had no problem cashing out at this point but husband had just gotten a bonus game, and our drinks weren't even back yet.

When Casey won the bonus game he got the max number of free games possible (25). While in the bonus game he got this a second time and won 25 more free games. And then it happened a third time. Getting the third win has only happened once before in all the times we've played. Neither time did we actually get the 25 bonus games for the last win. A woman sitting next to us told us she'd been a controller at a casino and insisted we call them to review the play. By this point our other two friends had taken the pager to the restaurant to check-in. Staff came over and examined every screen of the bonus games to confirm we'd won three times. That took a long time but at least we had our drinks by that point. In the end, they read the game instructions and you can only win up to 50 free games a spin, (explaining why we didn't get the last 25 free games). I went to our dinner table to wait and husband asked the staff if he could get anything for his time and they comped the price of his buffet. Pretty fair. Plus, he was up to $50 from his $10. We love these machines!

Buffet was good. Not incredible, but not horrible.  The name changed to "The Unbuffet" from "The Buffet" but it shows up different at the hostess counter and on receipts and their menu listing tonight's selections. So look for both if youre hungry.

Overall, this is a fun casino and it's in a great location.

Modern China Cafe, Walnut Creek

7/19/13

I feel like I've heard lots of people compare this place to OIC Bowl up the street and so my first instinct is to immediately do the same. I think the food is about the same quality but the seating at this place is absolutely superior. It was really nice out front.

I had a slightly disappointing lunch today. A $5 serving of edamame on the happy hour menu started off my lunch. It was a happy hour portion for sure - but I think happy hour pricing for my serving would have been about $3. I would have been happy with $4. But $5? For a small serving... Luckily a $3.25 Kirin arrived with it and I felt like that was a good deal.





I have mixed feeling on my tofu claypot lunch. The hot & sour soup was good but it was a tiny bowl. The salad was also fresh and good with a light soy (maybe?) dressing. Steamed rice was served on the side of my claypot. YOu have a choice between white, fried, and brown. I mixed in my white rice and looked around for thai chilis. I had asked for extra hot. There were only two in there and I ended up eating them both. I added hot sauce but don't think it's fair to order a dish extra spicy, and end up having to add some hot sauce because its still kind of bland.




tofu clay pot with shitake mushrooms $8.75

I brought a large to-go container and had lots left over to put in it. As I was doing this, I noticed two people behind the counter eating. Please tell employees not to eat in view of customers while they're working. One was the busser who isn't necessarily handling food and so it doesn't matter. The other was a cook who never left my sight. He ate and then continued to handle food.I don't know, I just think that's unprofessional and restaurant employees should avoid doing this in front of customers.


My server was great though. Khaled was attentive and smiled a lot and checked back on me a couple of times to make sure everything was okay.



$5 spicy garlic edamame



Milo Lounge, Japantown, San Francisco

7/19/13

A group of us girls were out on foot and Milo's was our first stop for drinks. We have a Milo's Lounge in Concord that we like so we definitely wanted to check this place out. The Concord bar is awesome. The SF bar is not-so-awesome. It's San Francisco and there are lots of bars everywhere so I don't think I'd really ever have much reason to go back in here except for the karaoka perhaps. But I don't do much private room karaoke-ing, so a return is doubtful.

We walked in and sat in a corner. It was pretty dark in the place except for large screens playing funny songs with lyrics. I loved a couple of the cheesy rap ones and got my groove on alone behind my table of girls. We ordered and all I wanted was a glass of house wine. A margarita (for our bachelorette), a sake, and a whiskey (for the girl who was buying this pricey round) were also ordered, along with some other things.

Oh wow.  I imeediately realized she hadn't asked me if I wanted red or white and I had failed to mention red. (We'd already been drinking). So after a while I went up to tell her. The drinks all took FOREVER to come out. The last one to arrive was the whiskey. We asked about it twice and were told that they were "making it". The girl who ordered it was pretty pissed. You "make" it by opening the bottle and pouring some in a glass. Done. It was JUST whiskey.

Cute place with nice decorations and some great bouncers at the front door, but a staff that started off our night of drinking pretty slowly.

El Faro Mexican Foods, Concord

6/17/14

I love when places have a meatless taco option. I was excited when El Faro's saw their sign for the dorado special: a crunchy taco with beef and potato inside. Unfortunately, it must be premade and frozen perhaps, before they fry them, because they can't make the taco without the potato (like my


Tacos Dorado

husband wanted) or without the beef, (like I wanted).





Shrimp taco

Casey ordered two carnitas tacos and two of the crunchy dorado. He actually misunderstood the dorado thing and thought he was getting two crunchy carnitas tacos, but he ended up with four tacos.  :)  I ordered one shrimp taco and one no-meat taco.  They were both between $3 and $4 and they were both delicious.

There's no fresh salsa bar, but they have a mild and a warm option at the counter with your chips and salsa, and they were happy to give me seconds of the hot salsa after I ate all of my first serving. They also happily gave me extra limes.




No-meat taco

I enjoyed my food. Only a salsa bar would have made it better. I had a couple bites of carnitas and it was kind of bland, but they did fry it for Casey to crispy it up some and that was good, but I definitely liked my beans and guacamole and shrimp much better. Too bad they don't have a delicious crunchy potato taco on the menu.








Campbell Theater, Martinez

6/16/14

Our friends Mark and Sandy invited us to see "Shipwrecked" play at the Campbell Theater. We were fortunate enough to be able to attend a Thursday night show; it was our first time inside the theater and we had a blast!



Mark Cornelius was the star of the show - our friend had the lead roll! It wasn't the first time we'd seen him act. We saw one of his previous shows at the Lesher Center in WC - so we knew we were in for another treat!

Things we loved about the theater: when you walk in there is an awesome bar/reception area.  The production company provided complimentary cookies and treats, snacks and candy, plus beer, wine, sodas and coffee. It was a very friendly group in the front room when we entered and we immediately found our friend's wife, Sandy.  She pointed us in the direction of the ticket window and we paid $12 each for our tickets. Totally affordable!



I went in expecting a one-room theater with perhaps only a floor, no stage, and some seating thrown around. We visited Cue Live Productions! (theater in Concord) about a year ago for an Oscar Wilde production and that's how it was set up. But this neighborhood theater in Martinez' is much larger than it originally appeared to us and was quite different, in a great way! There is private parking out front, and lots of nearby restaurants and bars for a bite before your show and a drink after. Come to the theater, sit back in the comfy chairs, relax and laugh! Great date night idea!


Once inside the play room, there are lots of comfortable seats and small tables staggered at different heights - meaning every seat is a good seat. First come, first serve seating. I brought popcorn with me in my purse (I have an addiction to the stuff) :) it was delicious! Call ahead to see if you are allowed to bring a food or drink. A very friendly woman on the phone answered my call and all my questions.

"Shipwrecked " was outstanding! The play itself was funny and good for all ages. The best parts were the sound effects and the lighting. A screen that made it seem like it was raining, or you were underwater, and some sort of projection set up really made it seem like the room became the place they were portraying. And the clever way the small cast produced sounds was really fun to watch and very impressive. We loved everything about the group, the characters, and the theater itself. Also, it was a very comfortable temperature inside. Perhaps the cold beer and warm coffee kept me feeling good.













Check out their calendar for upcoming shows and other events. The theater needs support, especially now as their lease is coming up soon and the City needs to see (and hear) from supporters of this place so important for community arts. Hopefully you'll leave there after a great show, wanting to tell your family and friends to go check them out as well.  Call or write to city officials and encourage them to renew the lease, guaranteeing all Martinez residents have access to low-cost plays and performances. We can't wait to return.

CVS Pharmcy, Reno, NV

6/15/14

I'm a girl who doesn't like shoe shopping. I actually don't like any type of shopping, except maybe shopping for veggies. I love that. But everything else to me seems like a waste of time and money.  My husband bought me a cute pair of sandals after we met in 2010, which broke while we were at Lake Comanche a couple weekends ago. I realized they were my only pair, so I showed up in super hot Reno with no sandals, but every intention of going to the pool! Thank goodness for CVS!

It was morning time and the store had just opened.  I bought two pairs of sandals (about $15 each - buy one get one half off). I also picked up some mascara, since I either lost or misplaced all of my makeup (not horrible since I don't wear much). The mascara came with eyeliner - bonus! ($12.99) I grabbed a couple of sodas and snacks.

Most importantly, I bought a bottle of Aleve gels for my husband.  Too many Crown Royale on the rocks the night before... and I needed him to be ready for a day of fun!! My entire purchase was about $50.

8 hours later....

Delicious adult apple cider

Our group of three returned to CVS several hours later. We bought a box of Angry Orchard ciders and took them back to our hotel to enjoy.

Both visits I received friendly service and I was happy with the prices. I do dislike having to use a club card for discounts.  Just another reason I don't like shopping. But glad that this CVS was large and well-organized and I was in and out very quickly.

makeup aisle

Los Cuatro Vientos, Reno, NV

6/14/14

We left the Peppermill in Reno in search for tacos.  I love finding small hole-in-the-wall places while out of town, and Los Cuatro Vientos looked promising!  We parked our car out front near a line of motorcycles and bikers milling around a lounge next door. A lady biker pulled up on her Harley in super high heels - quite impressive. Some of the biker men had giant knives at their sides.  I liked this plaza!



Inside the taqueria there were a handful of tables, and I took it to be a good sign that most of them were full.  In between the tables there were lots of noisy children running around. We walked to the counter in front of us and placed our orders.  Since veggie tacos were not an option, I ordered 1 carnitas, 1 pollo, and 1 carne asada ($1.60 each). We sat next to the salsa bar - perfect! My love of chips and salsa is even greater than my love of tacos.

Looking around the place I noticed dirty floors, but the tables were clean. I used the restroom and it was clean (ish). It's not somewhere you'd want to take an important client, but it IS somewhere you might pick up for to-go if youre trying to impress someone. Because oh, man! When the food came, we were quite impressed.

It takes a lot for me to give high praise to a taco, but the ingredients were fresh, the meat was moist, and the salsa bar was terrific! The chips were light and tasty also. We were full when we left and I would absolutely return to this place and recommend it to others.  The staff clears your plates for you (probably why the tables were clean), unlike places where people bus their own plates, and leave food behind on the tabletop.  Service wasn't all that friendly but we gave them huge smiles and words of praise as we walked out. Get some!

Bank of America ATM, Reno, NV

6/14/14

I had to reload my husband's wallet after our first night at Reno's Peppermill casino (we're not big spenders on the slots, just forgot to pack cash!) and needed to find an ATM.  I woke up early on Saturday morning, went to the hotel's fitness center, then decided to venture out and run errands.  My husband was still asleep in bed and our friend was asleep in the bed next to him, so I was on my own.  Unfortunately, I get lost pretty easily if I'm driving around alone, even with my GPS, so I was super excited that this stand-alone ATM was easy to find (only got a little lost on the way) and that there was no line.

I parked next to the machine and even though it was daytime, I noticed that this ATM was in an open area in the middle of the parking lot with lightposts around it, probably making it very easily visible at nighttime, and making it as safe as possible.

Unfortunately, the ATM was out-of-service but it had a list of other nearby locations on the screen.  Another car pulled up and pointed me in the right direction of the next closest branch (also conveniently located on Virginia Street, in a strip mall with CVS).

Cheesy Roasted Broccoli Patties (via Po' Man Meals)

6/14/14
cheesy roasted broccoli patties - original site/recipe/pictures can be found with this link

So here it is, Saturday afternoon, and I'm looking through the fridge searching for something my husband and I can both eat.  He's napping, but I know his food preferences and I know he'll wake up hungry and I don't have long to find a snack.  The giant Coscto bag of fresh broccoli in our fride was something he bought for me, and would never touch... or would he? 

Broccoli is my favorite food. Broccoli pizza is actually my favorite meal, but I love broccoli all by itself. I like to puree it with chicken broth and eat it like soup.  The Old Spaghetti Factory (Concord, CA) has a broccoli appetizer with browned butter and mizithra cheese - probably the least healthy way to enjoy your broccoli, but still amazing!

The photos on the original site turned out prettier, but here's my product!

I grabbed my ipad and searched "broccoli recipes".  The third image to appear caught my eye and I found what I was looking for. Something that Casey might enjoy with me, and something that is still a healthy, tasty looking meal: Cheesy Roasted Broccoli Patties. 

I strayed very little from the original recipe.  I used elephant garlic cloves instead of regular garlic cloves.  (So instead of adding two cloves of garlic, I added the equivalent of 8 small cloves). Found the elephant garlic on a drive home from Reno last weekend and I've been amazing myself with it all week.  I also used more broccoli than the recipe asked for.  Not on purpose, I just didn't have a 12 oz package so I eyeballed what I thought 12 oz was. My patties kind of crumbled for it, but I feel like it healthied up the recipe a little and it was still great. Lastly, I cooked at 430 degrees instead of 400. After 15 minutes of cooking you turn the patties over and cook another 15 minutes.  By the end, both sides of my patties were perfectly browned and the product was crunchy and delicious.

It was an easy recipe to follow, didn't take long, and Casey enjoyed it as much as I did. Cheese makes everything go down easier I think. Check out the link at the top to the original site for recipe and a more-appealing picture of the final product.  Check out the video below to see my cat Phyllis eating broccoli (steamed, with no cheese).

Quickie Mart 2, Reno, NV

6/9/14

I love the Angry Orchard commercials, with the crazy apple trees, but I'd never actually had one of their hard ciders until this weekend when I stole a sip from a friend's bottle.  That was all it took.  The green label (green apple flavor) reminded me of my beloved caramel apple suckers from junior high. So off we went, leaving the party on a mission to find more bottles of the good stuff!

Our first stop was to this Quickie Mart - (it was the first place we saw with a "liquor" sign out front) so we pulled in and went inside the crowded store. Behind the store sits an old motel. Inside the store there's a decent selection of beverages to choose from, and they did have Angry Orchard, but not in the flavor we were looking for.

Instead of settling for "crisp apple" flavor here, we continued our journey (and ultimately found a variety 12-pack at CVS). No "hello" or "goodbye" from the clerk here, not even a quckie look in our direction as far as we saw.

Vista Point Emigrant Gap, Nevada City

6/9/14

Wow. This parking lot full of litter sits above a green valley of hills and trees. Great view, as long as you're looking in the distance and can ignore all the graffiti and trash in front of you. Are we in Tahoe? This place is like a scene from downtown Oakland.  What's with all the spray paint? Blue tagging covered by derogatory remarks in red... ugh. Yuck.

BUT... beyond the colorful parking lot is a very Tahoe-esque picture. Lots of large trees, beautiful flowers, and giant boulders, together painting the perfect landscape and a wonderful background for photos. It's a great stop to get out of your car, stretch, and look at the beautiful mountains youre driving through.

We met other travelers (a mother and daughter on a road trip from Maine) when my husband went to assist with their car issues.  There were three additional other cars in the lot as well.  Pretty sure one vehicle was driven by the man urinating at the very edge of the vista point. (There are rest stops all over this part of the highway - please don't pee in the parking lot.)

A metal plaque noting that this is a state registered landmark is attached to the rock wall and provides a little more interesting information about the site and its significance. I can't even imagine what it would have been like to pass through this area in wagons!

CVS Pharmacy, Auburn

6/8/14

Casey throwing trash away in their garbage cans

A friend riding in our back seat during the 4-hr journey home from Reno needed a quick bathroom break so we pulled off the 80w at Downtown auburn exit and went straight into a large shopping plaza, home to SaveMart, Verizon, McCalou's, Round table, Flour Garden bakery, Liberty tax, Cosmic comic, cvs, and LOTS more!!

Flowers, outdoor plastic chairs, and Blue Rhino propane sits out front of the store. Inside, the bathroom can be found in the very back of the store. I didn't have to use the ladies room but was told it was clean.

A little slow at check out, but we were back on the road shortly with easy access back onto the freeway found by going straight out of the same plaza we entered. Very convenient.

Fireside Lounge, Peppermill, Reno, NV

6/8/14

There are a couple of lounges at peppermill that I think are really "under-signed", meaning you can walk right by and miss them if you aren't looking for them. This trip was out first discovery of a couple of these hidden gems.

Fireside is located near cafe Milano and the no-smoking section hallway. The fire pit to your left as you enter will catch your eyes first, but as they adjust to the darkness you'll see a bar to your right and lots of comfortable seating all around.

It was late last night when we came in so we just wanted to sit and relax while we waited for a friend. It's a great, comfortable spot to do that. Restrooms are also conveniently located at their entrance

Shop N Go II, Reno, NV

6/7/14



Shop N Go II

Seats out front

Stopped in here as our last pause before checking into the peppermill. We grabbed a few snacks and drinks. Beer can be found in their fridge area or on ice near the cashier. The hard stuff is behind the counter where the cashier sits.

Greg was the cashier when we came in and he was totally personable and friendly. We enjoyed his positive attitude and humor. A gas station mart attendant can be just that, ...or he can provide several minutes of laughter and smiles. We found a great time here wrapped into our four-minute transaction. Should've played some money on their machines and hoped for the same luck, but our adventure continued elsewhere.


Ice cold beers

Gambling machines