Blue Plate

This past week my boyfriend and I went out for dinner at the always satisfying restaurant Blue Plate. It has become a safety restaurant for us. It’s not too expensive, it’s not too far, and it’s not a Mexican restaurant. This tiny little nook on Montana raises the bar for comfort food. Unlike most restaurants that offer breakfast, lunch, and dinner, everything I’ve tried on the Blue Plate menu has been delicious and I always leave satisfied. This time around I ordered:

Matzo Ball Soup - Simple and delicious. It came with oyster crackers.

Chicken Chow Salad - I love this salad. Romaine lettuce, grilled chicken, grilled vegetables, feta cheese, avocado, cucumbers, and tomatoes. I could eat this everyday.

Coconut Ice Cream Ball - Vanilla ice cream rolled in toasted coconut served with chocolate syrup on the side. I never enjoyed coconut until recently, but it is as if a whole new world of delicious combination possibilities has opened up. Usually when I “share” with my boyfriend, he takes a bite and puts his utensil down. This was not the case, but instead turned into a barbaric spoon scooping war. Seriously. Chocolate syrup was shed. On the table, on the plate, on the floor, and on the face. Everywhere.

Blue Plate
1415 Montana Ave
Santa Monica, CA 90403-1711
(310) 260-8877

Proverbial “Carrot”

Incentive.

Fudgy Brownie Cupcake (fudge brownie cake, vanilla bean frosting, and Valrhona cocoa dust)

 
Vanilla Bake Shop
512 Wilshire Blvd.
Santa Monica, CA 90401
310-458-6644

Quick Update / Thoughts

I haven’t posted in forever. I have a really bad cold right now. It sucks. This week has been very hard for me to get through. But, in more interesting news:

1. I went to Intelligentsia Venice. I love the way it looks. I enjoy the personalities found behind the counter and in fellow patrons. However, I think I prefer the Silver Lake Intelligentsia more simply because I find their assembly line of baristas (one to take your order, one to make your order, one to ring you up) works smoother and faster than Venice’s one stop barista (one person takes your order, makes your drink, and then finally rings you up). Maybe this is just a sign from above for me to put down my to do list, take a deep breath, and enjoy the processes of life.

1½. Speaking of Intelligentsia, I currently am sipping on the in season, direct trade, single origin,  El Machete, Panama. Yum. Not the best part of waking up, but really the only reason I wake up.

2. I went to the Tavern with my roommate for drinks and bar snacks. I loved everything about this restaurant. I hope to write more about it soon. I know I have started the post, but have not gotten around to finishing it.

3. I just bought my first loaf of Woman’s Bread. I really like it. If you’re not a woman, there is also Men’s Bread. If you are not a woman, nor a man, there is gender unbiased / androgynous bread. French Meadow Bakery is healthy, organic, and tasty. I’ve used it for mainly turkey sandwich purposes.

4. I wish I could take some HiberNol.

5. Hope to update more this weekend. Have a happy Friday!

Bad Apples

1. I bought some apples at the Santa Monica Farmer’s Market and they were expensive, terrible, and went bad in 2 days. Not in season, no bueno.

2. My new iPod Shuffle (3rd generation), Mr. Shuffles, had to be replaced early last week because the volume and tracking button located on the headset stopped working (the music would still play though). They gave me a new one and told me it was unlikely that I would have the same problem. Well, it’s four days later and I have the same problem. In fact, it seems to be even worse. The tracks are fast forwarding and/or skipping through. Today at the gym, I was listening to very low volumed stop and go songs. It was awful.

3. My iPhone screen died on me Thursday night. It wouldn’t light up. The phone was still working though because I could hear the beeps when people txt messaged me. It also made it’s normal noise when you plug it into the wall/computer to charge your battery. I ended up having to restore the phone. Fortunately, it worked and the screen is back. Unfortunately, I lost some information on my phone because I don’t regularly back it up. Lesson learned.

4. There should be a Genius Bar application for the iPhone. Like Onstar, but for the phone emergencies. It should allow you to find and make appointments at Genius Bars that are either closest to you or that can take you the earliest. Also, it should offer quick suggestions on how to make sure if your product really is having problems (such as restoring or even something as simple as turning off/on).

So I have had a tough week with Apple products. Tomorrow will be the 4th Genius Bar appointment I have scheduled in the past week and a half. I hope that it works out and they let me return the iPod so I can get a 2nd generation iPod instead.

Meet Mr. Shuffles

Apparently, I have owned Shuffley for over a year and it was no longer under warranty. Sad for the retirement of Shuffley, I bought the 3rd generation shuffle and named him Mr. Shuffles (I am not original, but I love to personify). Here is a picture of Shuffley and Mr. Shuffles hanging out on my table.

I didn’t register the fact that there would be differences between 2nd and 3rd iPods until after I used Mr. Shuffles. As you can see, Mr. Shuffles has a monolithic stature making Shuffley look short and stout in comparison. While all the buttons on Shuffley are located on, well, Shuffley, that is not the case for Mr. Shuffles. The on/off and music sequence order button are both still on the iPod itself, but the volume and track control buttons are located on the headphone cord. This detail is going to take awhile for me to adjust to since I am so accustomed to using Shuffley. Overall, I am very excited for Mr. Shuffles and am hopeful that he will be a great replacement.

Recession.

A birdbath alternative.

Homemade Pizza / Recessionizza

I’ve waited days for my cold/bronchitis to go away so I could use the ingredients I bought last week to make pizza. It is now day eight and I’m still coughing, congested, and frustrated. This evening, I decided I did not want to wait any longer.

Even though I love pizza, I do not eat it too often because of health and economic reasons. I usually buy Amy’s frozen pizza to mitigate the health concerns, but afterwards I feel guilty for spending six dollars on such a small frozen serving. Having just opened a Mint account to budget myself, I have become ultra aware of my spending and decided it was time to start making my own pizza. For my first attempt, I kept it easy and used whole wheat pita, low-fat mozzarella cheese, Muir Glen pizza sauce, garlic, fresh farmer’s market asparagus, onion, and kalamata olives (thanks roomie!). Delicious. In the future, I plan to make the dough and sauce myself and also get more creative with the toppings.