Homemade French Baguettes

Usually I find homemade items are better because you know the ingredients you put in, and it's fresher. Here I've tried a french baguette recipe from artisanbreadbaking.com. 

Ready for the oven

Baguettes may be one of the simplest recipes to put together, but takes a lot of time to make/perfect. I liked this website because of the detailed explanation of everything (great for a beginner like myself). It explains the different methods, poolish, biga, and hydration. Too much information for me to put here.

In the oven with slash marks done

I only used the half recipe because I didn't think we could eat that many baguettes and I didn't want to give them to anyone in case they didn't turn out right.

Done! Cooling on the rack

Lo and behold...done! Not too shabby. Nice and crispy on the outside, soft on the inside. The downside is, you have to eat these right away or they won't taste as good. You can't beat the straight out of the oven taste. Yum.

Recipe from Artisan Bread Baking
http://artisanbreadbaking.com/bread/french_baguettes/

OC Fair 2012 - Costa Mesa, CA : Smoothie Shop

This is a couple of months old, but this is by far my favorite stand for food at the OC Fair.

Terri's Berries

 They have smoothies, strawberry shortcake, chocolate covered fruit...and just plain fruit too.

Lemon Lime Twister & 4 Berry Blend

Lemon Lime Twister and the 4 Berry Blend were both yummy. Nice cool refreshing drink on a warm summer day. Yup, my usual stop at the OC Fair...since everything's expensive anyway, this is worth it for me.

Kean Coffee - Tustin, CA : Honey Vanilla Latte & Italian Cappuccino

Normally I do not have a cup of coffee in the morning, but this was worth it. Heard great things about Kean Coffee and wanted to try it out. The owner created Dietrich Coffee but left the corporate world to create a coffeehouse to his ideals...Kean Coffee. There are only two locations. One in Newport Beach and the other in Tustin.

Honey Vanilla Latte

The Honey Vanilla Latte was not too sweet, not too bitter. I can taste a bit of bitterness in the coffee, but I was glad it was not too sweet. I also had an almond croissant which went really well with the latte. It was smoother than other coffees. I find Starbucks and Coffeebean to be overly sweet to cover up the bitterness. Blegh.

Italian Cappuccino

There are two varieties of cappuccino here. The Italian and American style. The American style is much bigger. Apparently this wasn't too bad either. The Italian Cappuccino, although not the same as Europe, was much closer than any other coffee place we've tried in these United States. So if you're not a fan of Starbucks, go try Kean Coffee....it's a much better alternative.

Kean Coffee

http://www.keancoffee.com/ 

1368 Newport Ave., Suite 14

Tustin, CA 92780

(714) 838-5326

Hamada-ya inside Mitsuwa - Irvine, CA : Green Tea Ice Cream

Green Tea Ice-Cream

If you've walked inside the Mitsuwa in Irvine, you've passed the Hamada-ya bakery along the side. I'm not too interested in the bread, but they do have green tea ice-cream. And on these warm summer days, it sure hits the spot.

Green Tea Ice-Cream with Graham Crackers

They put what appears to be graham crackers on the bottom. Surprising or not surprisingly, it goes pretty well. Kind of like a cone, except it's like Cinnamon Toast Crunch without the cinnamon. Nom nom nom.

Hamada-ya inside Mitsuwa Irvine
14230 Culver Drive
Irvine, CA 92604
(949)551-1778

MaryJanesFarm Organic Freeze Dried Food

MaryJaneFarms Organic Freeze Dried Foods

Going camping in a few weeks and cleaning out the old backpack. Ran across some old freeze dried food and had to write about it. I got these because I wanted to eat organic as much as possible. Freeze dried foods are very convenient while camping/hiking. You just add hot water, let it sit, and voila...instant food. However, after sampling several flavors of this brand, I must admit that I did not like it. There was always a powdery "fake" taste to the food. It was not good at all. I still think the best tasting brand is Mountain House. I must also say that this opinion is based on eating MaryJaneFarms a few years ago. Perhaps they've reformulated and it tastes better? I'm still sticking to Mountain House. Now only if they started an organic food line.

Anepalco's Cafe - Orange, CA :

After typing in "brunch" through Yelp and sorting by highest rated, I came across Anepalco's because of its large quantity of reviews....and it was listed fourth...and it wasn't too far from me. Mexican French cuisine? Let's give it a try!

Go Veggie Crepe w/side of fruit

Crepes seemed like a good French type food. I wondered how they would make this fusion style. I had to try the Go Veggie Crepe. Inside there were tomatoes, spinach, onions, mushrooms, mozzarella, and pesto sauce.

Go Veggie Crepe

The flavors were good. It indeed is yummy. But after several bites, I felt the heaviness of it. It basically was an enchilada with a crepe as the outside instead of a tortilla. I was hoping for some lightness similar to some other savory crepes I've had, but this was a Mexican dominant dish. I personally don't eat too much Mexican food because it's usually too heavy for me. I'm just not used to it. It is very delicious, but it just wasn't suited for my tastes. =( I do like the concept and I do like good hole in the walls. =)

Anepalco's Cafe

http://www.anepalcoscafe.com/

415 S. Main St.
Orange, CA 92868
714-771-2333
M-F 8:00am - 3:00pm
Sat-Sun 8:00am - 2:00pm