Good Eats - LA

via GIPHY

Installment #2 of this little LA Travel Guide post series, and this time we're talking FOOD! Man, does LA have some killer food– TACOS of course, pizza, burgers, street food, and lots of bars (that's a stretch, but...)

Once we landed and got through our hour long fiasco at the car rental place, we headed straight to In-N-Out Burger, a West Coast must. It's fast food at it's cheapest and best. Oh, and don't forget to get your burger "animal style–" you won't regret it.

Even their disposables are cute!

–

After we settled into our cute Airbnb, we did some neighborhood research on food and nightlife, and decided to treat our stomachs to Pink's– one of the most famous lil' hot dog stands in the country apparently! 

Ok, so they have about a bazillion different types of hot dogs, sausages, kielbasas, even burgers if you're not into hot dogs, which, why would you even come here then? Anyway, after about 15 minutes of drooling over all the options and becoming almost too overwhelmed to make a choice, we got the classic chili dog and a Chicago Polish dog. We were NOT disappointed, but rather very full.

Just look at these big mamas!

–

And no meal is ever complete until you finish it off with some ice cream. Luckily LA has a ton of great options, like Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream. *Disclaimer– we had ice cream every night in LA, no shame, just joy– pure, unadulterated dairy joy.

Um, who ever said presentation isn't important? THOSE LIL WAFFLE WEDGES are too stinkin' cute.

Love in a cup.

–

Ok, day 2 we headed out to the desert! Palm Springs and Joshua Tree National Park. We didn't think we'd have great food options in the desert, cause, well... desert. To our surprise, we found this amazing little hole-in-the-wall eatery & bar called The Joshua Tree Saloon. We were even mistaken for locals, so that just about made our day.

We didn't order anything super amazing and out of this world– just some burgers, but DANG were those sweet potato fries scrumptious! While we ate, a husband-wife duo played some killer old school rock and roll, locals popped in and out, and we realized we found the perfect little desert oasis. We'll definitely be back again some day!

–

Tucked inside a little alleyway along a busy street we found Alfred Tea & Coffee, and stopped in for a quick bite to eat before we headed to the beach for the day. The best part about this location is that they serve bagels from a local bakery, Yeastie Boys Bagels– genius, right? Sadly, the Yeastie Boys were not there, but their bagels were bangin'. Plus this place had such great coffee and tea that we had to come back for a second time.

–

After the beach we sure worked up an appetite for a late lunch. Walking back to our parking spot, we passed a little lunch spot called Lemonade which was too cute to not check out. You can basically make your own combo plate with a bunch of different options (note: everything they serve here is cold, like temperate-wise– A was totally caught off guard by this). Oh, and definitely get the lemonade if you go here. You're a fool if you don't.

–

Still kinda full from lunch and drinking all that dang lemonade, we decided dessert before dinner (which is always a good idea despite what anyone says). Right across from Jeni's was a Salt & Straw, which we've both never tried, and decided tonight was definitely the night.

We'd be the biggest liars if we said this wasn't staged, so it was. But we did eat our ice cream before we took this photo, so... oops. 

–

Instead of a real dinner, we headed to The Dresden for some drinks and appetizers for a chill night in town. It's a little bar and restaurant that still looks like it's living in the 70's– fabric table cloths, dim lights, leather rolling chairs, and the best part– Marty and Elayne, the most adorable cabaret singers and performers, who perform at the Dresden weekly! Check out some of their videos here.

–

Our next and final day in LA started off with a hearty breakfast at Sunset Junction Coffee Shop, and a second cup of joe next door at Intelligentsia Coffee. FYI... LA bacon is very different from East Coast bacon.

^ That's yogurt, not ice cream, ok? We're not that desperate...

Aside from the KILLER tile floors and open air seating, Intelligentsia's coffee was reallllly good!

–

Last but definitely not least of our ice cream stops was Churro Borough where we experienced THE Churro Ice Cream Sandwich. One honkin scoop of ice cream sandwiched between two heavenly fried churro discs. Ray went for a brown butter cookie sorbet while A chose Spanish latte ice cream. PLUS you could stop by here before going up the street to the Dresden for a little pre entertainment snack. WIN WIN.

–

Oh yeah... no trip to LA is ever complete without some TACOS! We stopped into one of Silver Lake's corner taco stands, Tacos Delta, and were not disappointed! LA tacos are good pretty much anywhere you go, so it's never hard to find good ones in whatever area you stay in!

–

Oh, and don't forget the snacks and drinks on the plane! Bacon actually stays fairly delicious even when saving it for the ride home.

I hope this post made you drool even just a little bit– this city is full of amazing food, and we can't wait to go back and eat even more!

National Coffee Day

Happy National Coffee Day! This is one of the greatest days of the year, and an ever greater excuse to reach for that second (or third) cup of joe today. Here is a list of places that are participating in free coffee today if you didn’t already have a spot scoped out.

Black, a little bit of cream and sugar, or maybe even that double caramel frappucino, you do you today. Celebrate coffee!

Images (from top): Felix Saw, Peppermintseed, Pasha Gavrilov, Dan Rubin, and Mylene Chung. 

#butfirstcoffee

Apple Picking: Tabora Farms

What better way to welcome in fall than to go apple picking? We spent our Saturday afternoon at Tabora Farms eating delicious sandwiches, picking apples and browsing for mini pumpkins. Tabora has an indoor market which includes freshly-baked goods, special blends of coffee, fresh fruits and vegetables and a full deli counter. We especially love their stuffed rolls and raspberry apple crumb pie! 

This is just the start of our many fall adventures and we can't wait to explore more autumn favorites soon! 

#supportlocalfarms

Peach Lemonade Popsicles

Summer may be coming to a close, but that doesn't mean we can't drag it on for as long as possible! Since peaches are still in season, and lemonade is always a refreshing summer treat, why not combine them into popsicle? These peach lemonade popsicles taste like summer on a stick!

We'll show you how to make these popsicles below:

Step 1: Begin with your typical powdered lemonade mix, or a lemonade starter like Country Time’s Lemonade Starter. We used the Country Time powdered lemonade mix for these pops.

Step 2: We only needed enough lemonade for the popsicles, so we went with the quart measurements, and added the amount of powdered lemonade mix marked "one quart" in the cap to four cups of water. Mix well.

Step 3: These pops are simple— grab a peach and dice it into pieces small enough to fit in your popsicle mold.  

Step 4: Place the peach pieces into the popsicle molds, then pour the lemonade into the molds. 

     

Step 5: Put the lid and popsicle sticks into the molds, and refrigerate for about 5-6 hours, or until completely frozen.

Enjoy! 

Inspiration for this post was from The First Year blog and her Berry Lemonade Popsicle recipe.

#puckerup

Feature Friday: White Nest Market + Sweet Pea Ice Cream

We are thrilled to share with you our first "Feature Friday" spot, and by doing so, we hope to encourage you all to check out the local businesses that might be in your area too!

This week Ray & A explored White Nest Market + Sweet Pea, a local kitchen market and homemade ice cream shop in the heart of our little town, Perkasie. We got to speak with Danielle Marinelli, co-owner and wife of Vince Marinelli who both started Sweet Pea and White Nest Market after making pretzels in Doylestown for 15 years. 

We hosted a quick Q&A session with Danielle at the shop to learn more about White Nest Market + Sweet Pea:

Q: What is the process that goes into making the ice cream here, and what's your favorite flavor?
A: We start with 14% buttermilk sourced from a local farm and I churn the ice cream all day... Literally. I'll add the ingredients, such as 100% fresh fruit, roasted nuts, and cake pieces, and package it ready to sell at the different shops or place into large containers for fresh scoops. Caramel Pecan Praline (my personal favorite) and Mexican Chile Dark Chocolate are the some of the newest, most popular flavors in the shop right now.

Q: How did Sweet Pea and White Nest Market get their beginnings?

A: I (Danielle) was a nurse, and my husband, Vince an electrician, and we started with the pretzel business. An ice cream shop in Newtown closed one day, and Vince asked if I wanted to start making ice cream. I laughed, not thinking much of it at the time, but that's when Sweet Pea was born. We spent two years there and then opened a second location in Doylestown, and soon after, Perkasie became the third retail location. We also sell our ice cream in several Center City Philadelphia locations, and a few other cities all over the country. White Nest Market started out as an online shop focusing on modern kitchenware and home goods, but now I have been able to display the goods in the retail shops alongside my ice cream.

Q: How do you see this business influencing the community?
A: I want the community to come and hang out with their families and make awesome memories, ice cream brings people together! Buying and supporting local businesses is something that I am passionate about, and hope that other people will be as well. I also host 'Celebrity Scoop Night' with schools in the area, where the students vote on a custom flavor, I make the winning flavor and the principal and teachers take shifts scooping for the night. We encourage families to come and then give a percentage of our sales for the night back to the school. In the market side of the shop, we're going to be selling local homemade honey, pecans and nuts, beef jerky, and more, so stay tuned for more on that soon.

Be sure to look out for future Feature Fridays highlighting new awesome places by searching our Instagram hashtag #rayandafeaturefriday. And definitely stop by to taste it for yourself!

#loveyourlocal

COW APPRECIATION DAY

H O L Y C O W !

It's cow appreciation day!

Chick-fil-a is celebrating Cow Appreciation Day today. Do you know what that means? Dress like a cow, go to Chick-fil-a and get a free meal. Aka dress in all white, tape black paper cutouts that look like spots to your clothing and waltz into the place to get your free meal. Udderly simple. The website actually provides you with a downloadable costume kit!

D I D Y O U K N O W 

+ Cows are social animals. This means we as humans should try to bond with them. Cows actually bond with each other and make friends within the herd while avoiding others. Sounds like mean girls to me...

+ Cows can't vomit

+ You can lead a cow upstairs, but not downstairs

+ Cows came to America with the pilgrims
+ No two cows have the exact same pattern of spots. I'm sure they embrace their uniqueness

Show your Cow Appreciation spirit, and use this download for your phone, computer, office, or send it to a fellow cow lover in the form of a greeting card!

#respectthecow