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Flavors of LA – LA Times – The Taste

This past Saturday (August 31, 2013) was the Flavors of LA portion of The Taste event by LA Times. The Taste festival was a 3 day event over Labor Day weekend consisting of 5 different sessions. The one that we went to was on Saturday night- Flavors of LA. This festival takes place at the back lot of Paramount Studios amongst all the city streets where countless TV shows and movies have been shot.

There were over 40 food booths and 40 liquor booths to check out in the 4 hours of the festival so we had a lot to eat and drink in a short time. Unfortunately a lot of the booths had only meat products  but there was a good amount without so we were able to find some great bites and discover some new restaurants in the process.

Here’s a small sampling of our “tastes”:

The Grilled Cheese Truck was cranking out samples all night long. The tater tots were perfectly crispy and salty and the Mac n cheese was a wonderfully unique cheesy bite.

Grilled Cheese Truck– Tater Tots

Grilled Cheese Truck – Mac n cheese sandwich

 Blvd 16 in Westwood was sharing some cool treats during a very hot night.

Blvd 16– Gazpacho and Peach Tarts

 Bibigo was sharing a vegetable and rice dish while entertaining the crowd with a few characters

Bibigo character and Veggie Girl

Rice and Veggie bowl

 Chiptole was there as well offering up their Sofritas tacos with Patron margaritas.

Chipotle

Chipotle Sofritas taco with margarita

Taking a break to check out some of the speakers

The Taste Stage

Bryant NG from Spice Table giving a Demo

Jonathan Gold from LA Times moderates the Pop Up panel

Ended with a wonderfully refreshing pint of Stella Artois at their mobile bar

Stella Artois Bar

Plenty of glass for everybody

Glad I had my tote along for all the information (and glass)

Of course I had to stop and see what it would be like to be up on the stage presenting… maybe next year.

Veggie Girl on the Taste Stage

Looking forward to next year……

 Homemade Microwave Popcorn Recipe

It all started with a quick DIY picture spotted on Facebook and I knew I needed to figure out how I could make Popcorn at Home.

With all the health concerns surrounding packaged foods and packaged microwave popcorn I haven’t had it for years and miss having popcorn at home. I don’t really want to deal with oil and dirty pans so I’ve just gone without it for too long. (Plus there was a stove top fire making some as a kid which has me a little afraid to try again)

This easy DIY took just a few steps to complete and the results are so tasty. Plus you can’t beat the price.

Step 1: Purchase popcorn kernels at your nearest grocery store (organic and in bulk if possible-Whole Foods has them for $1.49 /#)

Step 2: Bring them home. 🙂

Step 3: Place kernels in the bottom of a glass bowl (or any microwave safe bowl) I used a Pyrex 1.5qt glass bowl. I try to keep it just covering the bottom of the bowl. Can add more but if you are adding a lot more, I’d go to a larger bowl. This amount has worked portion wise for me and seems to allow most kernels to cook.

Step 4: Place a microwave safe plate over the bowl and place in microwave.

Step 5: Turn on your microwave for 6-8 minutes. **All microwaves are very different so just like regular microwave popcorn, stay close and listen till you get a feel for your timing. When you hear about 3 seconds between pops, turn it off. (The good thing is that it seams like it doesn’t burn like the bagged kind if you let it go a couple seconds too long.) I was surprised that it took a bit longer but even though I let it pop kinda long (8 minutes) the kernels that popped first were still good. Like I said, just keep an eye on it till you get the hang of your microwave.

Step 6: Put oven mitts (or something similar) on your hands and remove the plate then the bowl. They are very HOT!!!! Be careful!

Step 7: Butter and salt to taste if you like.

Step 8:  Eat and Enjoy!!

Notes: I have read other recipes where they melt the butter first add the salt and then pop. I tried it and it didn’t turn out as good for me as when I buttered and salted after.

 Brunch at Susan Feniger’s Street

Susan Feniger’s Street’s all you can eat brunch is a great addition to the Brunch circuit.

The Deal: $25 for All You Can Eat and if you want add on $15 for all you can drink Mimosa’s. (They even serve nude mimosa’s for the purist)

There were a ton of dishes and I was lucky enough to go with a big group so we could try a lot of things. They only do the deal if the whole table is doing but it’s worth it. Takes care of breakfast and lunch in a great setting. Sit outside if the weather is good.

We tried almost 1 of everything they offered in the breakfast section and about half of the lunch section. A few of the items we had are pictured below.

One other dish to note was the Burmese melon salad. It was sweet melons with crunchy lentils and a unique ginger gin-thoke style dressing.

Here are some of the other plates we enjoyed. All were tasty so try as many as you can.

Asparagus Frittata

Kiya Toast

Spicy Roasted Chilaquiles

Korean Bibimbap Lettuce Wrap

Acai Breakfast Bowl

Falafel Poppers

Check them out. Here is their listing:

veggiesetgo.com/listing/susan-fenigers-street