Shove It

Hopefully that last post did not traumatize anyone too much.  Whether it did or did not, this next post is gonna be a good one.  Because I am posting about FOOD again!

With the weather getting warmer now in San Diego... well, warmer than it was earlier this year (I understand we didn't get the same winter everyone else in the country did, but hey, it was a winter for us), I started reminiscing on this past Winter Break when I went to Lake Tahoe with the fam bam.  We hung out mainly in South Lake Tahoe and on our trip ended up finding an amazing FOOD FIND THAT I CANNOT WAIT TO GO BACK AND EAT AGAIN.

What is this delicious food I have ranted on about without even mentioning the name of you ask?

EuroSnack Inc: Frog Dogs & Belgian Waffle!

Now, hold up.  Before you freak out, it does not involve eating real frogs or anything, and the "Frog Dogs" were actually Hot Dogs!

This was me, because I AM Batman, and I Enjoy Frog Dogs

What made these hot dogs amazing I should say is that Frog Dogs are not served in typical hot dog buns, but fresh, crunchy, filling baguettes with a delicious sausage placed inside.  What's really cool about the little kiosk EuroSnack Inc. is the way that they prepare the Frog Dogs.  They take the half baguette you are about to enjoy, SHOVE IT (you get the title of the post now?) into these metal spike, squish the interior "meat" of the baguette, and squish it against the walls to make room for the sausage.  Then they squirt ketchup and/or mustard into the new slot in the baguette, and place the heated delicious sausage inside for you to enjoy.

LOOK AT IT!

It was amazing!  And what makes it so much cuter and approachable and Awesome, is that it is all in a kiosk of sorts.

You can find these kiosks at a bunch of ski resorts in Lake Tahoe like North Star, Squaw Valley, and a bunch other ski resorts (and I just found out thanks to the internet that they have them in CANADA! This Got Better).  We ended up buying more than one hotdog anytime we found a EuroSnack at the ski resort we were visiting for the day and were basically just dreaming of a larger Frog Dog that we could indulge in and drool over to eat up.

JUST...LIKE...THIS

Also, in case you were looking at the menu above of the different foods they eat.  They pretty much just sell beverages and Frog Dogs, but they also sell Le Wafe, or better known as Belgian Waffles.  If you have ever had the belgian waffles they sell at Jamba Juice, they are sort of like those, but because they are EuroSnack, they have their own pizzazz (not to be mistaken for pizza but to be read as pii-zazzzz).  They were pretty good but considering it was actually winter with snow and all that jazz, the warm hot dogs definitely hit the spot.

Like no kidding, those hot dogs were amazing and we discovered them halfway through our trip which meant that we knew we were limited on time on being able to enjoy them.  So we ate them a lot.  We sort of were going through withdrawals when there wasn't a EuroSnack kiosk at the ski resort we were visiting for the day, or even worse, when we finally left Tahoe and headed back home and would no longer be able to enjoy the Frog Dogs.

This was basically us, impersonating hot dogs and dreaming of a better tomorrow where maybe, just maybe, we would find a EuroSnack near our home or wherever we would be for the day

I CANT WAIT TO GO BACK TO TAHOE AND EAT MORE FROG DOGS

Wingin' It

MORE FOOD!

I kind of meant to not just talk about food on this blog but since it basically is an ultimate passion of my life (yep, just called it a passion), and since it says its part of my life on the header of my blog... Deal with it.

So the other day one of my friends was like "Yo ever since you talked about wanting Buffalo Wings I have been craving them so lets get some chicken wings" ... 1. of course I talk about food enough to make my friends crave certain foods and 2. Hell Yes was I down for getting some wings.

She yelped a place for Chicken Wings and we ended up deciding on a local sports bar/wing spot called DIRTY BIRDS!  You can find it on 4656 Mission Blvd in PB (Pacific Beach) in none other than San Diego!

And of course, since we are super cool and super smart (and super broke), we went on a Friday which is their HAPPY HOUR CHICKEN WING DAY where all chicken wing baskets were HALF OFF!

Here's the MENU! I made it extra big so you could see all the different delicious flavors they had.  And yes, those are the prices and we paid HALF for it! 

[5 piece for $3.50, 10 piece  for $6, and 20 piece for $11]

Needless to say that when I got the menu I was a little bit more than just slightly overwhelmed with all of the options and all of the possibilities.  I didn't quite know which ones I wanted and all I knew was that I wanted wings now.

CHECK OUT WHAT ME AND MY FRIENDS DECIDED AND DEVOURED

This was mine! - Dirty Ranch & Teriyaki

This is what my friends got 

(Left) Garlic Parmesan

(Right) Honey Mustard & BBQ

My favorite was of course the DIRTY RANCH - It was basically buffalo wings with ranch already on the wings which is what I dunk my buffalo wings in already so it was perfect for me

We definitely will be coming back to DIRTY BIRDS sometime soon because we got a lot more flavors to try out and a big appetite to appease.

Pretty Much Pretty Patties

What do I love almost as much as food you ask? That's easy ... Dessert!

Let's be serious for a moment, dessert is a whole separate category from food because you eat food for meals and for snacks and what not, but you can never be too full for dessert.  Like when you are at a restaurant and you are stuffed full of delicious FOOD ...and then that rapscallion of a waiter/waitress comes over with the dessert menu because they saw into your eyes that you have an on-again-off-again love/hate relationship with sweets and just know you cannot say no.

OR WORSE! When they actually bring the freaking cart around that has the example desserts and you know they have been sitting there for a while because every server uses it to tempt every customer into desserts but yet it all looks so good.

ANYWAY! I am not even talking about desserts at restaurants in this post but that was my rant about sweets/desserts and now to the best part.

1. Macarons are amazing. 2. I think they look like "Pretty Patties" from Spongebob Squarepants. and 3. I think if I ever went to Europe and tried legit macarons I would probably cry, then die, then come back, stuff my face with macarons, cry some more, and then die again - in that order.

[Look at that, these things are so good the gif is bugging out]

I do have one place in particular I must talk about though that sold me some awesome macarons and that is Dolcissimo Bake Shop.

Located at:

13885 City Center Drive, Suite 3010

Chino Hills CA 91709

Ph: 909.591.3646

Store Hours:
Monday to Thursday 10am-8:15pm
Friday & Saturday 10am-9pm
Sunday 11am-7:15pm

At the Shoppes at Chino Hills (North of LA) in California my sister and I were walking around and found this little shop on side of the shopping center, went in, and were super happy with our find.

Now we unfortunately did not get a chance to try everything since we had just eaten BUT if you understood what I was ranting about earlier, we did buy some macarons without too much guilt. 

YEP, YOU READ THAT RIGHT, NUTELLA & FRUITY PEBBLE FLAVORED MACARONS

and not only were the Nutella macarons flavored like nutella, the insides were creamy nutella spread

... you know, maybe it wasn't even nutella flavored... but I just know that they were delicious.  At that moment I really wished I had not eaten lunch and rather we had just gone straight to Dolcissimo and filled ourselves with macarons and cupcakes.

So if you are around the area or visiting LA or maybe even just in some part of California... Go to Dolcissimo and you will not be disappointed.

Milkshakes Make Me Too Lazy to Go Out to the Yard

Why fight the urge? Milkshakes are delicious and you know it and I have never heard of someone having a disappointing experience while drinking a milkshake.  I apologize for the hint of aggression behind this post its just that this year I really learned what it meant to have a really delicious milkshake.

It was when I went to my first improv festival which was held at USC that I realized you don't have to only put ice cream and milk in a blender to have an awesome milkshake and the more sugary products you blend the better.

[I hired John Travolta to reenact me drinking milkshakes all weekend]

GROUND ZERO is the name of this student-run cafe at USC which is better known for its milkshakes than it's coffee (and I don't mind, I like coffee but damn those milkshakes are good) and you should really go check it out if you're in the area.  They're open weekdays from 8:30am-Midnight and weekends from 1:00pm-Midnight by the way, I looked it up.

 

LOOK AT THIS MENU!

Well, if you can zoom in somehow, look at it... there's a bunch of different mixtures where they'll mix in bananas, oreos, brownies, oreos, chai, marshmallows, snickers, peppermint, and/or twix... not all in one though of course, but you get the point.

Also, when we went they had specials based off of superheroes and holy crap were those amazing and I WAS SO HAPPY BECAUSE THERE WAS A BATMAN THEMED SHAKE AND IT WAS DELICIOUS.... Even if it wasn't my type of milkshake I most likely would have forced myself to like the shake because it was a Batman milkshake but that's besides the point. - It was banana, chocolate syrup, and Oreo cookies by the way so you can totally make it at home and feel just like Bruce Wayne when he orders Alfred to make some shakes for him.

But this was all a while ago, and actually a few days ago I told my friends about this place and we decided to recreate some of these milkshakes.  We didn't look up the actual milkshakes but we ran over to Target and followed our hungry stomachs to whatever we wanted.  We bought some vanilla ice cream, Twix, peppermint patties, chocolate syrup, and unfortunately lactose-free milk because my friend is lactose intolerant but hey they were still good.

[Hard at Work]

The milkshakes were great and we only got a little bit of the concoction on the ceiling (not joking) and we may have made a mess on the kitchen counter but it was awesome.  So whether you're still at home, at college, or just plain hungry, I recommend you get your blender and mix in whatever you want and I promise you will not regret it.

.

Eiffel for French Food

IT'S A PUN! (in the title)

Alright so before this summer whenever I thought about French Food all I could think about were croissants, escargot, and cheese omelettes

HOLY CRAP THOUGH! My horizons have been expanded and french food is so freaking good I can't get enough.  I went to this little french place in Sacramento with my friend about a month ago and have been obsessed with french baguette sandwiches always craving more.

But the place that I am gonna talk about is a French Cheese Shop in San Francisco that was just as bomb with really good french sandwiches and A LOT closer than having to drive 2 hours just for a sandwich no matter how good.

LA FROMAGERIE

2425 3rd St, San Francisco, CA

Kind of a hole-in-the-while but not, this place was so good with great food and great service and REAL FRENCH PEOPLE... that's right, they don't only exist in Europe!

Fresh Baked Bread & Cheese you can buy inside

We went for lunch and it's a small little shop with a little counter and a lot of people were actually there buying these cheese trays for some type of wine & cheese party I would never be invited to and then a menu behind them with usually 4-5 sandwiches you can have with a side of chips or salad.  Then just like a typical Deli Sandwich Shop the dude you just ordered from makes the sandwich in front of you.  I gotta say that I am really glad they have that glass there because I would have just grabbed my sandwich and ran I could NOT WAIT

   

I ordered the Le Coulouse Sandwich and it was so deliciously amazing and satifsying I cannot wait to go back for another one.  In case you can't read the menu, the sandwich had sheep cheese, smoked duck breast, dried figs, fig jam, arugula, olive oil, and salt & pepper all with a side of chips.

The duck breast was solid in itself but with the sweetness of the dried figs and fig jam and the strong taste of sheep cheese all within the freshly baked bread the sandwich was insane! There wasn't a moment where I was not chewing on some sandwich or biting into it for more and my heart ached when it was over but damn my stomach had never been so happy.

I definitely recommend heading over to this little french shop it is delicious but if you aren't from around here, go ahead and search for a french sandwich shop somewhere around you and try some FRENCH CUISINE OUT NOW!

Attack of Burritozilla!

I sincerely apologize that this is another food post but then again I don't really apologize completely because I love food and everyone loves food and even if you are on a diet, you love food so sit back and enjoy this sight.

No, those are not posters rolled up in foil.  Those are none other than Burritozillas.

5 Pounds of Pure Burrito with meat, rice, beans, cheese, salsa, and pure destruction sitting in enough foil to cover an infant in for a good nights rest

You can find this monstrosity at Taqueria Iguana in Santa Clara or in two different locations in San Jose and my friends and I were crazy enough  to try it out.  Well.... at least me and another friend were

• One of my friends ordered a regular burrito knowing he would not even make a dent in the thing
• And the other friend gave us moral support whilst secretly knowing we would not finish it and waited to eat some of the leftover burrito (The real winner in this story)

When we first started we had no idea how to handle this culinary monstrosity so I cut mine in half and decided to just take it in portions hoping that would work.  My friend, as you can see from above, went hardcore hispanic caveman on this thing and just went for it... as you can see in the second picture he needed one of the other guys to hold the lower end of the burrito because this thing was so big.  My friend definitely did not eat as much as I did (not sure if I am proud of that) and as you can see from the pictures most of it ended up on his plate so no offense to him but he was not very fierce of a competitor but it was still fun!

Not sure how it looks on the computer but that picture above is how much I left and was unable to finish.  It was basically a little bit more than a regular burrito and honestly I think that 5lb burrito may have been a bit more than 5 pounds but I just thought I would share that with you all and give you the swell tip to prepare more physically and mentally because me eating a bento box for lunch that day was probably not the best idea :p