Strawberry Pie Time! (Again!)

Once again, June has ushered in the beginning of Pie Season. While Summer has been acting like a high schooler on a Saturday morning refusing wake up before noon, the Oregon strawberries have been very productive in turning themselves into pie.

In preparation of Mary's Once-A-Year-Pie, aka my birthday strawberry pie, I woke up early to make sure that the berry stands didn't run out before I got there. I drove to the first berry stand, and apparently was a little too zealous as there was nobody to accept my cash in exchange for delicious berries.

Fortunately my back-up stand was open for business. Unfortunately, there were no berries, as I had once again beaten the berry delivery to the stand. However I was reassured that the berries were on their way with an ETA of 10-15 minutes.

Almost an hour later........

Well worth the wait.

When I initially showed up, there was only one other person milling about also waiting for the strawberries. By the time the shipment arrived, the crowd had grown to about 20. During the wait, I eyed my competition just in case it came down to the last flat and I needed to throw some 'bos to get my drugs strawberries. I was definitely the youngest and likely quickest one there, but the guy running the stand knew everyone else by their first name, so this had a chance to get awkward very quickly. Good thing there were plenty of berries for everyone, and an incident was averted.

I smartly worked the system this year and managed to throw a birthday celebration on one night (utilizing Mary's birthday pie) and then have family over the next night (utilizing my mom's birthday pie). I think I'll go for three pies next year.

Yuuup. Still better than any cake.

--Isaac.

Food Travels Part 2: The Left Coast

After returning from Vegas, Mary and I had about three weeks to recover before venturing down south again to Los Angeles for a wedding.

We thought a perfect primer for those warm Malibu beaches would be to head to Lincoln City on Cinco de Mayo to participate in their annual Fish Taco Cook-Off.

While we weren't "official" judges of the competition the participant that we both voted for won 1st Overall and People's Choice. We know our fish tacos.

Since we had numerous family wedding related events scheduled throughout our short stay in Los Angeles, we knew that we didn't have the leisure of grandiose culinary experiences like we had in Vegas.  

Our first stop was the Grill Em All food truck, winner of the first season of the Food Network's Great Food Truck Race.

Thanks to the Power of Social Networking, we limped our way through the awful LA traffic and  descended upon the truck with great hunger. Our burgers were well worth the two hours on a plane followed by an hour and a half in the car, and contrary to Mary's nay-saying aunt, a burger with peanut butter, strawberry jam, siracha, and bacon is FANtastic.

They next morning we were surprised to discover we were hungry again, and thirsty...

Bloody Marys satisfy both needs fortunately. When you're on vacation, and you're eating brunch outside in 75 degree weather, it is easy to forget that not everyone around you in also on vacation. To them it is just a typical Friday, a "workday" even, and I'm "that guy" drinking an extra spicy and extra boozy Bloody Mary at 10am. Clearly those were glares of jealousy.

We had gone the savory route, and so now it was on to the sweets.

One of the judges on Food Network's "Cupcake Wars" is the founder/owner of Sprinkles cupcakes. Our thought was that if you are a judge at a baking contest and bill yourself as founding the "World's First Cupcake Bakery", you best be making some damn fine cupcakes.

At Sprinkles, you can either get the full experience of waiting in line, wondering what the people in front of you are doing that is taking so long, and then changing your mind umpteen times when you finally get up to the display case.

Alternatively, you can skip the line and engage in the future of cupcake delivery: the Cupcake ATM.

You scroll through the cupcake options, select your treat, pay via card, and an intricate conveyor belt systems deposits your cupcake into your waiting hands. It also provides entertainment for the people standing in line as they watch a stretch limo pull up alongside the curb (a no-parking area), and a family with lots of children jumps out to try to get everyone an express cupcake. Only in LA I guess.

From top left going clockwise, we settled on salted caramel, dark chocolate, chai, and pumpkin. The cakes themselves were just about as close as you can get to a perfectly baked cupcake. Very phenomenal. The only criticism I would have (and Mary agreed with me) is that the volume of frosting on top of the cakes was a little much. And we feel that as people who eat and enjoy cupcakes, we are qualified to make this assessment.

In LA: eat burgers, eat cupcakes, don't buy flowers from the lady going table to table at restaurants selling roses. She is actually selling drugs out of her car.

--Isaac.