Scott’s Asian Salsa

10-15 Grape Tomatoes (halved or quartered)
1.5 Tablespoons of finely diced ginger
2 Scallions, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon Nuoc Nom (Fish Sauce or Patis)

Just a word of advice. Start with 1/2 a teaspoon of fish sauce. Toss, then taste. Fish Sauce is very strong and can overpower your protein. A little fish sauce goes a LONG way!

Feel free to add whatever you want to the mix like diced mango.  Oh, and as always, fried or grilled anything with this salsa demands fresh steamed rice!

Tours are offered on Friday and Saturday mornings and you must purchase thickets ahead of time. Tours are a maximum of 12 people, so book early.

So find that hidden food gem in Laguna. You can add a wine and beer tasting to your tour as well! Dress casual and wear comfortable shoes

Adults $55.00
Kids 7-12 $20.00

Flavors of Laguna
949-464-8830
@flavorsoflaguna
www.flavorsoflaguna.com 

While California Pistachios have gotten very popular from their recent TV campaign, it is Iranian pistachios that are very famous and well known. Tavazo imports it’s pistachio from Iran. I have never had Iranian pistachios and perhaps I need to try some to taste the difference.

While Tavazo is the last name of the owner, in Persian it means “Grand or Big”. This is actually their first store in the United States. They have a couple of locations in Canada with a factory in Ontario and headquarters in Iran. The Tavazo company has been around since 1950 in the nut and dried fruit industry.

Stop by the new Irvine location which is next to Smart & Final.

Tavazo Dried Nuts & Fruit
14417 B Culver Drive
Irvine, CA 92604
949-552-7780
www.tavazousa.com

It will be interesting to see if they tear down the original structure or only do cosmetic changes to the inside. I mean, this used to be a bank – what are they going to do with the vault. When I was in there signing up for my gym membership, the 1 foot steel door and vault was still there. Will they convert that to storage or the walk-in? The space is listed as 2,700 square feet and is located on a “pad” on the Southeast corner of the shopping center. As of this writing, that space is still listed as available on the management company website.

All kidding aside it will be interesting to see if they get the space. The shopping center has undergone a a facelift with the opening of LA Fitness. The building definitely looks like a bank today. Let’s see what happens and if the retail management company bites on this opportunity.

There is currently a Del Taco, Denny’s, Subway and Casa Franco a Mexican restaurant. I think the burger joint will bring more life to this shopping center. Hopefully they will increase the lighting in that corner and get rid of the “darkness” there. The property mgmt has been amiss about fixing some long-time burned out parking lot lights in that part of the center. There is a small strip mall “behind” the center that is along Charlinda Drive. There is a liquor store, a taco stand and a veterinary hospital. The area in front of the liquor store is quite dark.

So with my new diet and life changes it will be very difficult not to want to stop by a couple times a week for a good burger. I can treat myself maybe once a month. Yep, once a month. I guess I could eat there more, just no bun and fries. Meat only. Five Guys does not have any freezers in their restaurants, everything is fresh and made that day. So at least I know there are no preservatives or nitrates in the beef. I could eat their fries I suppose, as well. They use peanut oil and everything is trans-fat free.

Look for more updates as this story develops!

Here’s the problem though, I’m absolutely terrified that I’m going to spill something or worse yet, get flour or spices in the ports on my iPad. I’m always afraid I’m going to be in the thick of it and find myself swiping the screen and have a nice smear of unsalted butter on the screen.

So the guys over at ChefSleeve.com have come up with a solution. These re-useable “bags” slide over your iPad/iPad2 and allow you to use your “iDevice” without any cumbrance. Don’t miss a beat and slide those dirty fingers across the screen or push that home button on the screen while your iPad is completely protected.

The ChefSleeve is a plastic envelope that you slide your iPad in. It has a re-sealable flap and while your iPad is in it, it is protected from moisture and other elements. In fact, the ChefSleeve is not only good for use in the kitchen, but use it at the beach so you don’t get sand in it or if you’re in medicine, you can have your iPad with you and keep it protected.

Now, the ChefSleeve is not waterproof – meaning you can’t submerge your iPad in water, but anything spilled on it will keep your iPad dry and protected. This is not a ziplok bag, this is a form fitting plastic bag that fits your iPad and allows for full capacitive response on your screen.

For more info, visit www.chefsleeve.com.

You can purchase a pack of 25 for $19.99. But it’s not a use once and throw away sleeve. You can use one sleeve several times, just clean it and its ready to go again. I haven’t had a chance to test these in person, but I have placed my order already and will put it through its paces.

I placed my order for a large New York Thin Crust Pizza with Pepperoni, Sausage and Salami at 6:45pm. I got my confirmation email and a delivery time of 7:31pm.

Tick, tock, tick, tock. 7:31 comes and goes. I wait until 8:00pm. Still no order. I looked up the email just to make sure I had everything right. Yep, 7:31 delivery time. It is now 8:22, nearly 1 hour past the promised delivery time. I called the store and asked for the manager. I explained to him that I placed my order, got my receipt and promised delivery time of 7:31. I expected to be told that it was on its way, but instead I find out they never got the order. The person on the phone was so insistent to blame LiveOnTheGo, that he never even offered to place the missing order. I figured if you’re going to blame your online ordering company, at least offer to make it right with the customer that is live on the phone with you. I was so upset I hung up. I chilled out for 2 minutes and called back. I asked for the manager and he re-iterated that he never got the order and that I should take it up with LiveOnTheGo. I was so upset that I hung up again.

I go back to my online receipt to find no customer service number. I then notice that the order receipt came from snapfinger.com. SnapFinger.com is the parent company to LiveOnTheGo so I didn’t think any different for it. I tried to call customer service with LiveOnTheGo, but no answer. I called SnapFinger and got the answering service that told me they would refer the call to customer service. A look thru SnapFinger’s site revealed no customer service number.

So I guess I’m held hostage by SnapFinger.com. Can’t do anything until the morning I guess. Yes I had misplaced anger towards the pizza place, but if they are going to use online ordering companies to manage their orders, they should at least offer to fix the problem locally. I want a refund SnapFinger. A little investigating finds that LiveOnTheGo was purchased by SnapFinger late last year. How’s that working out?

So no pizza tonight…no return phone calls, no customer service and my credit card was charged.

Two little cake discs with a sweet cream cheese filling.

A little pink from my tea and a little red from my whoppie pie.

Perfection for a Sunday afternoon break.

Tim and I got there at 9am and sat ourselves down outside and just sat there and listened to the quietness of the morning. Earlier we had walked around The Camp and discovered that here is a vegetable garden in the back. Mostly herbs, but also squash and peppers. I forgot to ask if those were for everyone at The Camp (Old Vine, Native Foods, ECCO…) or did it belong to them. We both started with a fresh cup of coffee and in addition I had a tall orange juice. I believe they use Lavazza Coffee their at the restaurant and I need to find out if they have a retail outlet cuz I want to drink that at the office!

After looking at the menu, I decided to have:

Southern Brunch

2 Eggs (I ordere mine scrambled, slightly runny), Fresh Baked Biscuit & Honey Butter, House Made Scrapple & a Panko Crusted Fried Green Tomato

While Tim ordered:

Omelet España
Sautéed Prosciutto, Artichoke Hearts, Red Bell Peppers, Shitake Mushrooms & Fresh Manchego Cheese (no modifications) served with Spanish style potatoes, toast and pistachio nut butter.

I almost got an omelet myself, but I was intrigued by the house-made scrapple and I could never turn away a fresh baked biscuit!

As we were waiting for our order, more and more people started to arrive for breakfast. We had our second refill of coffee when our food arrived.

Look at the size of the biscuit!! I love biscuits. I could have had three of those and I would have been happy. But it was the Fried Green Tomato and Scrapple that put a smile on my face that morning. For those that have never had scrapple, Old Vine Takes it a notch up from its Southern roots (although there is a version that may have Amish history…) and mixed pork with polenta which is then formed and sliced. You can pan sear them in a skillet and I’ve had them served with grits before. Full of flavor, I could have had a meal of Fried Green Tomatoes and walked away patting my tummy in complete happiness!

Meanwhile, Tim’s omelet was awesome! The Manchego cheese was all melted and sauteed strips of mushrooms were strewn throughout. The potatoes were a rich dark amber color, crunchy on the outside and soft in the middle.

There was nothing about anything that was served to us that we didn’t like. Although, I have to say that I should have tasted the pistachio nut butter at the beginning of my meal. By the time I got to tasting it, I could hardly recognize the pistachio flavor.

Overall, Mark McDonald and brother Brandon have delivered another meal and hit it out of the park. I completely appreciate that there were open on Labor Day and allowed us to enjoy their food once again.

Old Vine Cafe
2937 Bristol Street
Suite A102
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
714-545-1411

P.S. Oh, I owe you that story about ECCO. They are a new Italian Eatery that opened in The Camp last month. While Tim and I were checking out the garden, we noticed that a door into their space was open. They weren’t open on this Labor Day. We tried to close the door, but it was locked in the open position and couldn’t close the door (it was slightly ajar). We opened the door hoping to jar the bar to let it close and the alarm went off!! We ran back to the Old Vine Cafe (not much of a run since it’s right there) and they quickly called the alarm company and hopefully the owners. Mark didn’t look to happy, but we were just trying to do the right thing. Sorry guys…

Now…I’m not much of a green thumb. Please, please, please, don’t die.

So come on out from 11am to 6pm and help support your local food and the Tustin Schools.

Yea!!

So if you see me around the OC, honk!!

I recently came across a new blog aggregator (a site that centralizes blog posts from multiple sites into one site, think of it as a kind of index…) called FoodBlogs.com. They currently have several hundred food blogs from around the world and its a great centralized place to view content from hundreds of food blogs. What a great way to drive traffic to my site right? FoodBlogs.com is not unique in that there are several other food blog aggregators like FoodBuzz.com, the FoodBlogLog.com, FoodieBlogRoll.com and others. FoodieInDisguise is a member of the last three mentioned aggregators. With the thousands of sites that talk about food it’s nice to have a place(s) where you can search and skim through thousands of posts to find what you want.

There is such diversity in all the types of food blogs that are out there. Some blogs focus mainly on just recipes, while others only talk about food products. Others still might only talk about where the best deals are on the ingredients for your next meal or only feature appliances and gadgets to use in your kitchen. This blog, as you well know, covers probably all of those topics and more.

I tried to sign up so that my blog listings would be aggregated on FoodBlogs.com but was rejected since my blog doesn’t contain 80% recipes. You wouldn’t know it from their main page or most pages on their site that they only cater to recipe sites – not just food blogs. It’s unfortunate, I think they have a good thing going over there.

Anyway…if you are looking for a good recipe aggregator try out FoodBlogs.com. The site is clean and very well organized. The search feature is fast and they give you the ability to have favorites as well as sorting my title, number of posts and when the last blog entry was for a blog. They also have a “hide feed” function. I assume that is so that you never see listings from a particular blog. Interesting.

In addition to a recipe aggregator you can also try out some recipe websites like Food.com, Epicurious.com or AllRecipes.com – all great sources for great recipes through and through.

FoodBlogs.com is owned by JazzMedia LLC, and is a sister site to FashionBlogs.com and MommyBlogs.com

Here is an except from a section of that article called Paperless Future:

If media diversification and proliferation continue apace, marketers can expect feature ads as we know them to disappear over the next five years. Coupons will go paperless and coupon delivery will occur in-store and in-aisle—literally at the point of purchase. Shoppers will deploy mobile devices to seek out and “pull down” messages ranging from recipes to promotions as they shop the store.

Consumers hungry for recipe ideas or product recommendations can text or “tweet” friends, and visit “foodie” social media sites and blogs for inspiration as they walk store aisles. Traditional ad formats will yield to the immediacy and brevity of vehicles like Twitter tweets, which enjoy the boost of enhanced credibility from peer group product champions.

Do you Twitter while you shop? Have you ever Twittered or IM’d a friend for a recipe idea while walking down the aisles of Ralph’s? Me personally, I think I have twittered that I was in the store, but the most I have ever said is that I saw a cute guy in line or something! I usually have a good idea of what I’m buying once I’m at the market. I have also used CellFire, a digital coupon application on the iPhone.

By the way, the cute iPhone cupcakes are from an entry at last year’s Ignite NYC II event.  Nick and Danielle Bilton won The Cupcake Decorating Championship at that event.

Photo Credit: woohome.com

I was intrigued at the idea of a Filipino restaurant located in a food court. Was Pam getting alot of foot traffic sales or was the bulk of her money coming from her catering side? I figured she was preparing all her catered foods in the same kitchen. Pam’s Best opened about two weeks ago. She is occupying the space that used to be a Sushi place. Now let me start by saying that I love Filipino food. One of the problems is that it doesn’t present very well and Filipino food isn’t pretty food. Just by looking at the choices of the day, unless you ask what it is, you may not be able to tell what it is just by looking at it.

As with most food court places, Pam’s offered a combo deal, rice + entrees. The pricing is reasonable and the portions are pretty good. On this day they had a selection of some familar dishes:

Talakitok Sinigang (Fish in Tamarind Soup)
Beef Affritada (Stewed beef and potatoes)
BBQ Pork Skewers
Pinakbet (Vegetable Stew)
Shrimp and Mussel Ginataan Shrimp and Mussels in Coconut Broth
Pancit
Garlic Fried Rice
Crispy Pata

Unfortunately there was no lumpia, lechon (my favorite), adobo or Kare Kare today. My friend Tim came with and between us we had the Sinigang, Beef Afritada, BBQ Pork Skewers, the Pinakbet (with lots of Boogoong), steamed white rice, Pancit and the Shrimp and Mussels.

Everything was good. The pinakbet was my least favorite only because of a textural thing. The magic of pinakbet is when the vegetables get really soft in the broth. Just not my thing, but it tastes great! :) Even Tim enjoyed the Boogoong (salty shrimp paste). The pork skewers invoked memories of numerous Filipino potlucks in the park growing up as a kid. The sinigang was a whole fish of Talakitok. Talakitok is Trevally or Jack fish. It has a firm, white flesh. I used to luv when my mom would make sinigang (a broth made with tamarind) and just have that with freshly made rice. the pancit was good, I could have had several bowls of that alone. Some kalamansi (lime) juice with the pancit would have made it perfect! In addition to the food, they also had some desserts listed on the menu. I almost got some halo-halo, but it was time to get back to the office. Halo-halo is a shaved ice desert usually served with red beans, ube (taro root), macapuno strings (coconut), evaporated milk and sugar.

Several of my coworkers are Filipino and we have scheduled an outing to Pam’s Best in the Mall. Filipino restaurants are hard to find in Orange County. For those lucky enough to live near Cerritos, you have more choices up there. I hope that Pam continues to grow and can’t wait to try some of their other foods. Pam’s had a very steady stream of Filipino customers the entire time we at our lunch. More American’s should be adventurous and try something new, but this goes back to how Filipino food doesn’t present well – so don’t judge a book by it’s cover! :)

If there was one con today it was that they don’t take credit or debit cards, only cash. So when you go, make sure to pick up some cash beore you get to Pams.

Pinoy Pam’s Best
24155 Laguna Hills Mall, Suite # 2360
Food Court on the 2nd level
Laguna Hills, CA 92653

Unfortunately, I can’t take leave from my day job (the geek part of me) to do the interview with a few other foodies. It’s really too bad…

The closest I ever got to meeting Wolfgang Puck in person was when I interviewed for a job with Chef Lee Hefter and Wolfgang’s brother Klaus Puck back in 2001 at the Kodak Center. I was still in my culinary program and was encouraged to interview by my, then mentor, Chef Carol Cotner Thompson.

It was a wonderful opportunity for me. I was nervous as hell and I knew it showed during my interview. I didn’t get the job. It’s ok, I wasn’t ready for it…then. :)

Maybe another opportunity will come up for me to meet Mr. Puck in person. In the meantime, I hope the foodies that are able to go have some interesting questions to ask of Wolfgang Puck!

I was told that my order (placed April 10) would ship a few days ahead of Launch day so that we might participate in Launch Day activities by photographing and video taping our experience with LeWhif.

Well, LeWhif sent me an email today (not a few days ago, today – World Launch Day) saying my order is delayed due to demands on manufacturing. That’s really too bad. Hope your Launch Day was a success.

As soon as our order arrives, we’ll make sure to let you know how this chocolate wonder is with our taste testers standing by.

That’s right, currently an exclusive with ThinkGeek.com you can have your very own Starfleet issued Spork to use on the Enterprise’s Mess Hall.

Made from pure Titanium, this special edition Spork has the Starfleet emblem engraved on it. Only 1701 of these were made. The special edition Spork is probably sold out as of this posting, but the manufacturers are releasing a non-serialized version very soon.

Get yours just in time for the new Star Trek Movie on May 8.

In case you were wondering, the Spork has actually been around for quite some time now – since the late 1800′s. Records show patent requests for a “spoon” and “fork” combination in the 1870′s. Over the years the Spork has been made out of stainless steel, silver, aluminum, titanium, and polycarbonate plastic.

Mostly you will find Sporks at restaurants and institutional houses.My first spork experience was when I was a child and had my first Kentucky Fried Chicken. Back then you also got a moist towelette to go with your spork and napkin.

It’s nice to know that the Spork will live thru to at least the 23rd Century!

So I have a new game, it’s called Where’s Sur La Table. It’s my guessing game as to where in South Coast Plaza the new Sur La Table will go.

According to sources at Sur La Table locations at Newport and Irvine, the store will be in South Coast Plaza West or what once was called the Crystal Court.

So I went to SCPW in hunt of clues to its placement. As a former employee of Sur La Table, I wanted to see if I could determine where they might place themselves.

So here are my clues. Currently there are five empty locations that are boarded up:

The first spot is on the first level and it is the old Fossil location. It is a corner spot right in the center court of the mall. Great location, but I think the actual square footage of the store is a bit small. Fossil recently left this space and they have already put up paper to block a view into the store. They left a window open in the back and based on what I saw, it’s definitely too small.

Spot two is also on the first floor and directly across from the Apple Store. This store has adequate square footage. It is currently being used for an event the mall is hosting so will be empty once again when the event closes. From initial observations, it seems big enough for an SLT. I’m concerned that there is no backroom as the space did go a bit back. However the space that could be seen is all finished retail space. There was a door leading to a back area, so it is possible there is storage space back there. Being right across from the Apple Store would be very advantageous. Disadvantages is that it is steps from Crate and Barrel.

Spot three is on the second floor from directly above the old corner spot for Fossil. It has more square footage that the store below it, however its placement makes me question it’s viability. It is right next door to to a Villeroy & Boch a lifestyle store centering around kitchen and bath. While SLT’s product line isn’t exclusively tableware, they do intersect. Another store that could affect sales is Michael Chiarello’s Napa Style. However there are other stores on the floor that complement SLT’s demographics: Chico, Talbots and Coldwater Creek.

Spot four is on the third floor, but it is unclear if this is one space or two since the coverings over the space is one single piece. It is too close to Macy’s Home Store and the demographics are off with H&M across the way. Based on the depth of the stores to the left and right of it, this space could be too big. However if they needed bigger warehouse space in the back, it could work.

I didn’t snap a shot of the fifth spot. Spot five is back on the 1st floor also close to the Macy’s Home Store but too close for comfort being that the first floor is housewares for Macy’s. Even if it was, it is way to small as it seems to be a galley type setup with a narrow opening.

So where do you think it will be? I’m hoping for the spot across from the Apple Store. Yes having Crate & Barrel right down the way might affect sales, but Sur La Table has enough of a product mix that they could do very well. So let’s see what they do. It is entirely possible that another store is planning an exit and SLT is lined right up behind them to take over their space.

When I first saw this on the net I kept scratching my head. Do I really need a bundt mold that has varying heights and slice marks to determine how big a piece to give to someone? The entire marketing pitch is about the delimna of how big a slice to give Uncle Bob versus how small a slice for Aunt Margaret.

Come on really.

If my guests want a smaller slice, then cut a smaller slice! If I want a gigantor piece (I have been known to devour whole sections of any cake) I’ll just slice the extraneous smaller pieces away and save the large piece for me. Haha. No seriously.

The whole varying height thing bothers me even more. I keep asking myself WHY? It’s all about volume – just change where you place the knife!

Sure from a novelty point it might look interesting on a table and it becomes a curiosity piece at parties. But I don’t get it.

I don’t need to spend $32 to determine how big a slice I need to cut for my guests. Maybe you do?

Photo credits: Charles & Marie

Dear Scott,

We would like to thank you for your recent Le Whif order.

Le Whif becomes available to the public for the first time on April 29th. As one of our first customers, we would like you to be enjoying your Whif as soon as possible. For this reason we have decided to send to you this first order several days before it goes on sale in Paris. We will email you again when your order ships, within the next two weeks.

What we would like to ask in return, is that, when you whiff for the very first time, you film yourself – or simply take a picture. We will create a way for you to upload your film or photo onto our website, www.lewhif.com, and hope to share to the world how the world whiffs, or at least how the world whiffed on the very first day of whiffing. This is all voluntary of course. But it would be a great way for us to put a name to a smiling face.

Finally, below you’ll find a list of answers to questions that have been appearing on blogs and in newspapers around the world. We hope this will be helpful.

Please let me know if you have any further questions.

Yours sincerely,

Tom Hadfield
LaboGroup
www.lewhif.com

The extraordinary international reaction to the idea of Le Whif, which we will be selling from April 29, has led to several misconceptions about what it exactly means to whiff, in the sense of breathing chocolate into your mouth using Le Whif.  Here are some questions we see frequently in the media and on blogs around the world:

Do you whiff through the nose?
No, not with Le Whif. Whiffing, with Le Whif, means to place Le Whif between your lips and inhale, through your mouth.  Fine chocolate powder leaves Le Whif, enters your mouth, and remains there.

Does chocolate enter your lungs?
No.  Inhaled particles larger than about 10 microns in diameter fall out of the air before entering the lungs.  Gravity and inertial impaction make these particles fall out of the air and land in your mouth and throat.  The particles of chocolate in Le Whif are much larger than 10 microns in size, so they cannot enter your lungs.  Further, the design of Le Whif is such that, when you breathe, particles are directed from the inhaler to the sides of your mouth, and not to the back of your throat.  This assures that, not only do particles remain in your mouth, they land where you taste them best.

How can there be no calories if there is chocolate in your mouth?
The total mass of chocolate powder in Le Whif is about 200 milligrams.  This amounts to less than 1 calorie of chocolate.

How do we practically consume chocolate in Le Whif?
A single puff from Le Whif normally puts about 50 milligrams of chocolate in your mouth.  This means that from a single Whif, you can enjoy up to four puffs of chocolate.  Between puffs you can close Le Whif and put it in your pocket, pulling it out again minutes, or hours, later.  The chocolate remains contained and protected in Le Whif between uses.

Is there any special caution to using Le Whif?
Yes, when you open Le Whif, by pulling the two ends horizontally, make sure to keep it horizontal.  Open, whiff, and close, while keeping Le Whif horizontal relative to the ground. We show this movement on the packaging – because if you open Le Whif and hold in vertically, powder will fall out.