Baconfest in San Diego!

I was invited to attend a Baconeers Baconfest event and even though it was last minute, I couldn't resist! 'Baconeers' collaborated with Hormel Black Label Bacon and they have sponsored a lot of fun bacony events around town this month to promote the San Diego Bacon Festival happening this Saturday, August 30th from 1PM to 5PM, get your tickets here!

The event I went to was part of the East Village Takeover called First Annual Pigcasso Art Competition. Several talented local artists were recruited to commission a painting within 60 minutes that captures the spirit of International Bacon Day in San Diego, interesting challenge.

The winner of the art competition not only won this trophy, but also a years supply of Hormel Black Label Bacon! We were treated by Bub's at the Ballpark Mustard-Bourbon Glazed Pork Belly Skewers, they were delicious!

It was a great opportunity for us to check out the restaurant Southpaw Social Club. They are in a fantastic location, basically right behind Petco Park. They have three outdoor patios including a cozy fireplace with casual, eclectic, rustic decor. The layout is really well thought out and it has a very comfortable vibe. Although we didn't get to sample anything off the menu this time, it was riddled with temptation.

It was a great evening thank you to all the sponsors; Baconeers, Black Label Bacon, Jenny, Joe, Gus, Southpaw Social Club, all of the artists, and to Lyft for getting us there and back!

Godiva Coffee

There sure are some sweet perks to being a member of Foodbuzz's Tastemaker Program. Most recently, we received two packages of limited edition fall coffees from Godiva: Pumpkin Spice and Caramel Pecan Bark.

This prompted a few experiments........

First, we tried both coffee flavors alone as regular coffee. All I can say is ........ awesome. Nothing says Fall like the aroma of pumpkin and spice, am I right? As soon as I opened the bag of Pumpkin Spice coffee I was ready for Thanksgiving and a slice of pumpkin pie!

The Caramel Pecan Bark is nothing less than soothing Autumn comfort. Since October is actually one of the warmer months of the year in San Diego, we are still enjoying iced coffee.

This recipe found on The Pioneer Woman is worth the time effort to make. The result is a perfect, rich and creamy, smooth iced coffee, by far the best I have ever had.You can make this with any coffee you like, but the Godiva Caramel Pecan Bark was exceptionally delicious!

Autumn Spiced Iced Coffee

makes 2 tall glasses

Ingredients:
1/2 cup Pumpkin Spice or Caramel Pecan Bark coffee grounds
2 cups cold water
Ice
Milk, cream, or half & half
Sweetener (optional, I used vanilla syrup)

Note: You will need a cheesecloth for this recipe.

Directions:
Add the coffee grounds to a container that has a lid.
Pour in the cold water and mix to combine.

Allow to "brew" for at least 8 hours. Place a fine mesh strainer over a medium bowl. Place a few layers of cheese cloth over the strainer and pour the coffee mixture into the strainer. Give it a while to strain through. Use a spoon to press through the remaining liquid.

Add ice to a glass, and fill half way with your iced coffee.

Add milk/cream/half & half and sweetener, if desired. Stir or shake to combine.

Since last weekend was my birthday, we had to indulge a little. We were invited to share a cabin with some friends up in Big Bear and to partake in the 41st annual Oktoberfest celebration....... we had a blast! The cabin was fantastic, the company was wonderful and the celebration was better than anticipated.

One of our favorite ways to enjoy the Godiva Pumpkin Spice Coffee was to start with this.......Pumpkin Spice Latte found on the GodivaCoffee.com website, but we added a shot of Disaronno at the end, it was the perfect end to the perfect birthday! Thank you everyone for making my birthday weekend so much fun!

Avocados - The Best From California

"Wow."

"Are you serious?"

"That is soooo creamy!"

"Now THAT is what an avocado is supposed to taste like!"

Those were the first words out of our mouths after tasting a plain avocado straight out of the sample box that California Avocados and Foodbuzz sent us last week.

My husband and I both grew up in San Diego and we are privileged to know what the BEST avocados on earth taste like. You can imagine what a treat it was to find a box full of our favorite fruit on our door step!

There really is a BIG difference between California Avocados and those from anywhere else.There must be something about our near perfect climate that produces the tastiest and creamiest avocados!

Not only was it Memorial Day weekend, but it was also our one year wedding anniversary! We had parties to go to and people to see, so we didn't have a lot of time to play with new recipes.

There are so many interesting recipes out there.... I am tempted to try the Authentic Suburban Gourmets Beer Battered Fried Avocado Wedges, doesn't that sound crazy good?

Like I mentioned, we went to some parties over the weekend. It was a pleasure to share our good fortune in the way of some fun and avocado based appetizers. Fellow party goers raved about how delicious the avocados were......

Mini Bacon Tomato Avocado and Goat Cheese Sandwiches

Guacamole and home made chips

 I just realized we have never posted a recipe for our guacamole recipe. Well, it really isn't much of a recipe. I have always sworn that the more basic, the better.

2 medium Avocados

1/8 cup red onion, finely chopped

1 serrano pepper, seeded and finely chopped

3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1/2 cup cilantro, chopped

1/2 lime juiced

Salt and pepper to taste

Combine everything in a medium bowl and mix well with a fork. Add salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with smoked paprika and fresh cilantro.

Chicken Tacos with Bobby Flay Green Onion Slaw

That last photo, with the chicken tacos, was our dinner last night. It turned out to be the perfect meal to finish off the last of the avocados. The chicken was grilled with an awesome and simple marinade Mark made, then he grilled it to perfection, like he always does....and that cole slaw from Bobby Flay was perfect with everything!

Thank you California Avocado and Foodbuzz for sponsoring all these generous and delicious giveaways!

Magnum Ice Cream Bars

Magnum Double Caramel Ice Cream Bar

We were thrilled to receive the voucher for a free box of Magnum Ice Cream bars that Foodbuzz sent us!

There are six delicious varieties available; Classic, Almond, Double Chocolate, Double Caramel, White and Dark. We chose the Double Caramel.

Indulgent creamy vanilla ice cream encased in a double layer of caramel and chocolate shell, we are talking nothing but luxury here. I think it is the chocolate that lingers on your tongue.... or maybe it is the caramel..........I don't know for sure.

What I do know is that at 360 calories and 16 grams of fat EACH, this is not an every day treat, but rather an extra special luxury that should be savored, and maybe even shared!

Definitely recommended, I just can't quite figure out why they only give you three bars in the box??

 Look for Magnum Ice Cream Bars in the frozen section!

Tostitos Seasoning Mixes

We were thrilled to receive a package of new Dip Creations from Lays/Tostitos the other day. It’s always fun to try new products and get creative trying to come up with new recipes. After a few trials and errors, we discovered a few new favorite combinations.

Our package contained 2 packets each of the Garden Onion, Country Ranch and Freshly Made Guacamole season mixes. Dip Creations seasoning mixes are made from all-natural ingredients, like real onions, garlic and a combination of other herbs and spices.

 The first thing we did was to make each dip as directed on the package. The Country Ranch mixed with sour cream has really nice flavor and tasted great served with raw carrots and celery. Of course I had to play around a little and added some fresh chopped parsley and chives, which worked very well.

We also really liked the Guacamole seasoning mix. The package directions say to mash ripe avocados and add the mix. We were skeptical, but it was really good just the way it was, a nice texture and great flavor. We had all kinds of back up ingredients in case it needed to be doctored up, but all we added was a little chopped cilantro and about half of a seeded serrano pepper.

We only used half of the guacamole seasoning mix, and since we liked it so much, we decided to add the other half to our chicken marinade. Wow, this may be our new favorite chicken recipe. All we did was mix half of the seasoning mix with about 6 ounces of plain yogurt, the juice of half a lime and a handful of chopped cilantro, mixed it up and poured it over 2 boneless chicken breast and marinated in the refrigerator for about 2 hours.

The Garden Onion package has been more of a challenge for us. We tried sprinkling the dry mix on potatoes before roasting them but the seasoning was a little overwhelming.What we did like was mixing it with sour cream and adding it to our potato salad, it was awesome! Maybe one of the best potato salads I have ever made.

Potato Salad with Lay's Garden Onion seasoning mix

8-10 servings
Printable Version


Ingredients:

10-12 red potatoes

6 eggs, hard boiled

1 1/2 cups sour cream

½ cup mayonnaise

½ package Lays Garden Onion Seasoning

3 tbsp Djon mustard

1/8 tsp paprika

1/8 tsp celery salt

¼ cup black olives, sliced

¼ cup green onions (and/or red onions)

½ cup celery chopped

¼ cup parsley chopped

1/8 cup chives to garnish

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Place the eggs into a saucepan in a single layer and fill with water to cover the eggs by 1 inch. Cover the saucepan and bring the water to a boil over high heat. Remove from the heat and let the eggs stand in the hot water for 15 minutes. Pour out the hot water; cool the eggs under cold running water in the sink. Peel and chop the cooled eggs.

Place the potatoes in a large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Drain and refrigerate until cold. Once cooled, chop potatoes into bite sized cubes.

In a large mixing bowl stir together the sour cream, mayonnaise, Garden Onion Seasoning, mustard, salt, pepper, paprika, and celery salt. Add the eggs, potatoes, celery, onions and olives; mix until everything is evenly coated. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving.

I Won A Contest, Wanna See My Prize?

I want to give a shout out to fellow foodie Reenie at Ravenous Rowie. I love her recipes, her style of writing and her great photos. She recently sponsored a contest on Foodbuzz, and I was one of her lucky readers that won a prize!

Reenie’s contest was to give away a package of Larabar energy bars. It wasn’t hard, I had to tell her WHY I wanted some of her gluten, dairy and soy free, vegan and kosher energy bars, and tell her that I like her blog, (we all need a little love!) and I won!

I got the package today, it came all the way from Canada! Inside was a variety box of twelve bars, including three flavors, Key Lime, Cocoa Coconut Chew, and Cashew.

So far, I LOVE the Key Lime, but that’s the only one I have had so far, and you KNOW I am going to LOVE the Cashew even more!......and that’s just the precursor to the Cocoa Coconut Chew…. Yummmm, thank you so much Reenie, you rock!