That’s rightaroo folks I said Cactus,also known by people of Latin American descent, NOPALES.

Let us walk over to the kitchen hand in hand and conquer what many people may consider an insane venture into foodland. 

I have introduced this delightful meal to many (dozens and dozens) of my non-latino friends and there has yet to be one person who has disliked this amazing dish. First of all it kind of tastes like pico de gallo but BETTER. I like to clean and cook and then dice up the little cactus (nopalitos). I mix in with diced tomatos, onions, serano chili, sweet corn, black beans, and cilatro. Then I squeeze fresh lemon juice all over it and NOM NOM NOM. Your tummy will thank you I promise.

*NOTE: You may buy cactus in the vegetable section, usually next to the ice berg lettuce or cilantro in your grocery store, or take a stroll to your backyard and chop those suckers off the plant. They also sell cactus in jars pre-cut, but if you ask me the fresher the better :-) 

*shout out to my nopaleros*

I love you nopalitos. On the day’s I was not able to afford chipotle, I had you for breakfast lunch and dinner with my eggs and as tacos. *Sigh* I even had you in between those meals as a snack with tortilla chips. Not only are you healthy but your existence should be made known to people all over the world. This is my promise to you my friend: I will make that happen. 

P.S you taste phenomenal with feta cheese.

Ever stay up late craving for a little snackity snack? I know I do. You know you shouldn’t but you say to yourself, “hey why not? I deserve it. Ive had a rough day….and it’s not like Im obese or anything” Touche my friend touche. You are exactly right. 

Lets not stick to the ordinary milk and cookies, oh no no no. My fellow bff and I dive right in and indulge in snacks such as pb&j’s with Mexican Hot chocolate (look out for future postings on this!), Hot dogs, quesadilla’s, Cheez Its, and wine (obviii not all together).  

So if you ever feel guilty about rewarding yourself to a little midnight snack, dont. As a matter of fact….Im about to have one right now. Hot dog anyone?

Goodnight America. 

Took a trip down to Frostbites with my other fellow food blogger to indulge ourselves in these amazing crepes. We sure were in for a surprise apparently it was lets give out as many samples of sorbet cream. You ask what’s sorbet cream? I will gladly answer that. Sorbet cream, is made by layering freshly made italian ice with frozen custard. (Flavors include pineapple, cherry, raspberry, strawberry, and mango) So you see we had no option we weren’t going to say no to these little treats, so we took every single one of them…let’s just say we couldn’t stop eating them. We had one then another and another what a refreshing taste it was only mandatory we took a “toast” with our spoons of course.

Now imagine if pancakes and waffles came together in holy matrimony and presented us with possibly one of the greatest offspring’s known to mankind yes my friends CREPES!

You see you get the best of both worlds when it comes to crepes. Consisting of such a delightful outer layer of a very thin pancake it just melts in your mouth what a delicacy I tell you. The batter it’s spread over a crepe maker where it cooks to a nice golden color. From there it’s stuffed strawberries and bananas (or anything else you like…like nutella nom nom nom), and folded into fourths. Is your mouth watering yet? I know mine is…don’t judge. Hold on kiddies just when you thought the party was over to your amazement strawberry sauce is spread on top of the crepe and sprinkled with powdered sugar AND whipped cream. Now if that doesn’t make you happy then I don’t know what does.

So there I was thinking to myself thank you heavenly crepe gods thank you and oh you too France thanks. Let’s be honest I wasn’t mentally prepared for what was about to come. As I sat there cutting into my first piece anticipating for what was about to come….when all of a sudden BAM I had entered a vortex. A vortex full of double rainbows where it rains crepes, and where your hearts little desires are fulfilled. It was like encounters of the third kind, but better my mind it was blown. As I took each bite I heard the hallelujah chorus in the background. Oh what’s that I took a bite of a strawberry, but wait is that a banana I taste am I in heaven? Crepeland my friends crepes…

 California is famous for many things…

and as a Californian it is my duty to report to you about In-n-Out. Anyone who is anyone knows about the secret menu, and if you are reading this and don’t know what I am talking about…..you are not worthy. Just go back to Facebook. RIGHT NOW. Let us take note on the simplicity of the menu, Why is it so simple? Well my friends because they do not need any fancy burgers to proclaim their freshness and goodness.

I like to indulge in the Number two. Cheeseburger, fries and a coke. I order it with animal style on the cheesburger, and if Im trying to go crazy I get animal style fries with whole grilled onions on my burger. Let us start our journey:

As I slowly take each bite into the juicy burger I feel an aura surround me of serene and complete happiness. Let me just tell you, the buns are a perfect warmness and you can taste the freshness of it (and I dont use the word perfect unless I mean it). With each bite, the special secret sauces slowly drizzles down your fingers and drips down onto your fries. It is so good I dont mind getting a little messy. It is worth getting dirty for this burger. Yeah I said it. With each bite I drink with with my coke. Let me tell you that the coke is a perfect combination with this meal. The coke not only compliments it but the crispness of the coke gives it the bite to your tongue and quenches your thirst in perfect harmony, The fries are a perfect golden color…not too golden but just perfect. With each bite I always notice that they are just a right amount of crispy on the outside and softness on the inside. I slowly dip it into not only ketchup but *pssstt* I ask for spread to eat with my fries I suggest you try it. It is all such an amazing journey that seriously you feel like you and your number two are the only ones in the room. In-n-Out. California. Enough said. 

Thanksgiving. Turkey.Mashy potato’s (and we already talked in a previous blog how amazing potato’s are). Ham. Scalloped potatos. PIE. PIE. PIE. And gravy to drizzle amongst the turkey slices and mashed heaven and those amazing…AMAZING biscuits.

But this blog entry is not going to be about Thanksgiving dinner. We all know already how amazing that day is. I am testifying about LEFT OVERS. Now before you go and start judging all over the place lets reallly and truly think about it. You can relive thanksgiving over and over again for the whole week!I would just like to add btw that I was appalled to know that my blog partner and I are one of the few to actually eat turkey and eggs for breakfast….simply blown away…Let us start with Breakfast: 

HAVE YOU EVER SEEN AND FELT HEAVEN IN THE MORNING?

I wake up the next morning and stroll over to the fridge and make myself a turkey burrito AY DIOS MIO. But I dont stick that little number in the microwave no no no that is a sin! I delicately place it into the pan and make it toasty and when it hits the perfct browness I add in some scrambled eggs!!! After I add a little secret spices I sprinkle in some cheese and allow it to slowly, and oh so beautifully melt onto the eggs, all the while my flour tortilla is warming up on my tortilla warmer (They sell them at the mexican markets and I recommend you buy one, its the ONLY way to eat a tortilla, just saying). I warm up my mashed potato’s and put it into the flour tortilla and voila! You have your very own California Breakfast Turkey Burrito. Add a little chiptole sauce from chiptole and drizzle lemon. Let me tell you your tastebuds will not only sing to you of gratfullness, but they will remember that day forever.

You can do the same for lunch, except make tacos! Throw some avocado and a side of coca cola nom nom nom!!! 

PIE. I would just like to thank my fellow blog partner for introducing PUMPKIN CHEESECAKE PIE to me, and to my life, and to my views on pie. Shout out to you my friend, I applaud your wise pie choices and I will forever be thankful to you.

Okay now that we got the sentimental pie talk out of the way…

Why do we wait until the holidays to eat pie? It just does not make sense to me. Pie, I can eat you all day. You taste so delicate and soft and smooth with each bite and then it is like “Oh hello crust, I didn’t expect to see you so soon, but yes I will gladly bite your flakey goodness” and before you know it you are reaching for round two, but don’t worry we don’t judge here in food land. 

Thank you pilgrim and indians for inventing this day. God Bless America. 

Tacos, burritos, chili cheese fries, nachos,quesadillas, yes even hamburgers they have it all. Oh what was that you’re in dire need of a shake? Yeah, they have that too. Yes my friends I’m talking about the magnificent place known as Del Taco or as my BFF and I like to call it DT, and yes we give you permission to use that from now on. 

The logo says it all for goodness sake it has a sun that delivers little rays of sunshine…it’s as if they knew that every bite delivers magical goodness to your tastebuds. I salute you Ed Hackbarth, founder of Del Taco. It is to you I pay homage to for all the late night meals. THANK YOU.

Let us discuss their slogan “GO BOLD OR GO HOME” it clearly says it all nice. 

If you’ve never had DT then I just don’t know what to tell you because you’re most definitely missing out. You have absolutely no excuse I mean have you seen the store locator? They’re literally all over California, and if I do say so myself Riverside has thirteen locations not just one but thirteen!!! (that’s because the two contributors of this site are from there *ahem* and we’re awesome)

Let’s start off with chilli cheese fries. First of all they’re fries and we all know everyone loves fries can’t go wrong with that nope you just can’t. Hold on to your horses kids here comes the good part. Their fries are oh so delinquently covered in this amazing chili (that is not like any other I don’t care what you say) and sprinkled with cheeder cheese. Every bite is an explosion of flavors, so sit back close your eyes and invite your arteries to a bombtastic meal.

Del Inferno Hot Sauce—fucking hot shit that you simply can’t resist. Yes it’s mega spicy, but once you’ve had it your world is forever changed. One, because it’s actually spicy none of that fake stuff people. Two, ENDORPHINS my friends they’re released every single time hot sauce hits your tongue. Just when you think you’ve had enough and your mouth is on fire you reach for another packet. You see that little ducky’s eyes it really does that you no lie.

Number 7 my favorite off the entire menu. Yes, you guessed it I’m talking about the Macho Burrito dun dun dunnnn. However, don’t let the name scare you it welcomes you with open arms. Don’t you even dare think about the calories because they’re all worth it yes ALL of them. Few have attempted, but never quite get to the finish line. Come on guys if two petite girls can finish it all then you can too, you should be ashamed of yourselves tisk tisk. Is it sad my mouth is watery just by even thinking about it? Actually no don’t answer that.

It’s the ultimate burrito not only in size, but as well as the taste. The flour tortilla gently embraces its contents, which include beans, ground beef, lettuce, cheese, onion tomatoes, and sour cream nom nom nom. It’s a pretty decent size if you ask me. Yes it’s big enough that you can’t quite possibly hold it in one hand nope this is a two hander job. Yeah you might get a couple of stares as you eat it, but they’re just jealous that they’re not feasting on such a delicious meal. They’re probably thinking, “damn I should have gotten that”. Each bite takes you on a magic carpet ride yeah I’ve been on a couple they’re pretty damn spectacular you’re taken to another dimension where everyday is DT burrito day yup.

Did I mention it comes with fries yes fries and a coke yes COKE!!!!

Have you been to the South? No? Don’t worry I haven’t either, but I found this great place where you can feel as if you’re right in the center of Alabama y’all. The greatest thing is it’s in California, forget about buying a plane ticket just head on over to Victoria Gardens. 

It’s called Lucille’s Smokehouse BBQ . I’ve been there twice, and quite frankly the first time I went there I wasn’t prepared for the vortex I was about to enter. Let’s start off with they literally serve you your drink in this really neat looking jar. The menu just wow props to the chef I mean can I hug him? Right off I was enthused ribs, chicken, cole slaw, potato salad, corn on the cob, pulled pork sandwiches, sweet potato fries, mashed potatoes, mac n cheese, and yes wait for it WATERMELON. Yeah I said it watermelon, you know that refreshing fruit you like to treat yourself to on a hot summer day. You can actually get it as a side my mind was blown just right then and there!    

I myself am not a big fan of ribs, but let me just tell you these ribs were absolutely magnificent. The oh so sweet bbq glaze is to die for…literally and figuratively. The meat it comes oh so gently off of the rib, and directly into your watery mouth. As you chew that savory goodness in utter containment you ask yourself “Is this what heaven feels like?” I’ll answer this friends yes it does!!! You know that saying ‘finger lickin’ good’ ( I don’t care if it’s the KFC slogan because KFC has nothing on this!) well it definitely applies to these delicious baby back ribs.

But wait there’s more the chicken where do I even begin? So tender and juicy so delicious just amazing there’s nothing like it.

Let’s move onto the biscuits they bring out as you wait for your food. Holy mother of God, the biscuit alone is a world of its own. Their buttermilk goodness is one of a kind they’re warm to the touch it melts in your mouth as you indulge yourself. However, there’s more just as your tastebuds are singing the hallelujah chorus to your utter amazement you realize they’re topped off was a sugary glaze that in shock causes you immediately to stand up and do the Charleston.

So many other goodies you just have to try them. The next thing on my list of trying is their dessert cobbler anyone?

Let’s talk about my recent San Francisco trip earlier this month. Clam chowder no, I’m not talking about your wannabe clam chowder canned Progresso Soup it’s not the same! Pier 39 I will forever love you because you have Boudin there. Clam chowder you get two things for the price of one…sort of. They serve you this hot soupy goodness that consists of the perfect temperature not boiling hot, but hot enough, so good. Spoonful after spoonful you savor this steamy deliciousness that tastes so amazing in your mouth. Hold on a minute guys just when you come to the devastating conclusion as you take your last spoonful, and look down in a complete sadness you remember that the sour dough bread is waiting for you. Now sour dough bread I love you because you’re not like any other style of bread your delicious and that’s the bottom line, but your bitter yet tangy after taste is what I love…there is no else like you, and because of that I will love you forever. Gently you start to pull away at it and eat the moist goodness that is left. At last you’re fulfilled it’s a mind changing experience.

Up next Brazilian food.

http://www.espetus.com/alcatra.html

Took a nice little trip to Espetus Churrascaria up in beautiful San Francisco. I had never had Brazilian food, but had seen a tv special on it on the Food Network, even that couldn’t prepare me for what I experienced. Brazilian people they sure do love their meat that’s for sure. They have this cute little neat sign where you can flip it green if you want the servers to come to your table or red when you want to take a break from all the fantastic food. There’s servers who walk around with giant skewers full of meat coming table to table offering you meat. WOW just fabulous you mean I can eat all the meat I want and I don’t even have to stand up I’m so in. Think about it eleven selections of meat…as you sit there in awe while they oh so gently place your meat on your plate…your eyes they just glisten. I couldn’t pick a favorite even if you asked me to. I just sat there and ate and ate and ATE. Every bite full of flavorful mouth watering goodness that fills your tummy with joy. I was blown away!

The best part however, was the grilled pineapple why yes you can most certainly grill pineapple. This grilled little treasure touches the tip of your tongue, right away you know you’re in for on heck of a ride.   

Hollister, California right next to my little garlic city (Gilroy) that I have learned to love over the past years. Right off of highway 152 you can find this little hidden beauty called Casa de Fruta along with Casa de Wine and Casa de Sweets, I swear it’s filled with amazing snacks all types of dried fruits, an enormous candy section, homemade ice cream, and wine. You have to experience it yourself plus they have cool little dandy stuff to entertain you.

I don’t know about you guys, but I love potatoes. I mean come on think of all the yummy foods that incorporate it…french fries, baked potatoes, potato salad, mashed potatoes, tater tots, hash browns, potato chips the list goes on and on! I can definitely say I’m a fan of potatoes without them my soul would have a deep dark void…it just wouldn’t be the same.

All aboard the taco train! CHOOCHOO!

Now that I got that out of my system lets talk about yes, tacos dorados de papa mhmmmm DELICIOUS so good I can’t even explain it. I was upstairs when I suddenly got that smell of fry-ery goodness I was speechless guys I had hit the jackpot I was having tacos dorados for dinner. My absolute favorite. I didn’t know whether I should do cartwheels or leap with joy, I went with option number two. My mouth it began to water just by the simple thought of it. Every bite is a magical explosion of savory goodness and flavors the crunchiness it’s music to my ears. How could you deny such a wonderful concoction? It’s simple you just can’t it is the taste of perfection…yes perfection does have a taste don’t deny it.

Let me explain what is so amazing about this tasty treat.  First of all it’s a potato taco you absolutely can’t go wrong with that my friends nope there is no possible way. Secondly, it’s topped with cabbage, onions, this amazing oh so delicious tomato sauce that I can’t seem to get enough of, sour cream, chili and cheese. Oh my it’s just what I’ve been looking for my entire life! It’s not your average taco that’s for sure, but it’s amazing in it’s own right. It’s almost as if the Taco Gods themselves sent this little piece of heaven right down to Earth for all us to enjoy. I’m in taco heaven right now I ate five…

Look at that fried to a perfect golden crisp beautiful.

COCA COLA HAPPINESS FACTORY-LAS VEGAS, NEVADA MARCH 28, 2010 3:OO PM PACIFIC TIME

As we all know, Coca-Cola aka the little red can that makes your heart beat just a little bit faster, is THE best little beverage any one can find. Not only coke itself but coke products. I mean FANTA come on guys! SPRITE is also pretty dandy…anyways before I get carried away with the other coca-cola products I need to stick to my testimony. 

As I was on my 5 hr drive to Vegas all I kept thinking about was when I can schedule my Coke field trip…and then I said screw it none of the girls would be down it’s now or never, every man for them self. So I snuck away from the brand new exclusive luxurious pool known as Encore Beach that my girls and I were at to hit up my happy factory. 

As I took a step closer to the factory I just kept getting weak in the knee’s, it was like falling in love all over again and again with coke (I think the booze might have played a role in this experience….maybe enhanced it?) The first thing I see when I walk in was the chance to take a FREE picture with the world famous coke bear…!! How many people can say they have met the coke polar bear? It’s like meeting Oprah! Or Jesus! Man oh man was I a giddy little girl! 

As I continued my journey I couldn’t possibly tell you in what utter shock I was in. It really took me a minute to settle down and realize “This is really it…I am really here…”

Not only can you buy a coke but you can try coca-cola products from ALL OVER THE WORLD for, you got it kids $7!!!! To make things crazier…there was an effin coca-cola fountain right there in front of me I mean you imagine waking up and walking over to your private coke fountain? I probably wouldn’t live to see 23! 

I only wish my partner in crime…aka the other food blogger who add’s to this page was there with me…but I know she was there in spirit with me…

Coke.Joy.Love.Everlasting happiness.

I went to Sees Candies today thinking everything would be closed boy was I wrong it was just like any other day. I love that store because it secretly makes me feel like Charlie Bucket circa 1971, minus Gene Wilder he always gave me the creeps. Yes, don’t act like you don’t feel that way too. I know that as soon as you step foot in there your pupils dilate, your heart beats faster, and it well it just makes you want to do the little lad dance.

Anyways, first all if you haven’t tasted Scotchmallows something is terribly wrong with you because for one it has marshmallow inside + caramel, and you can’t go wrong with that. Secondly, it’s CHOCOLATE, and if you don’t like chocolate then I’m sorry we can’t be friends because that’s just not normal. Did I mention it’s chocolate!?!?