9to9 Grind- Truck Load

I've gotta hand it to my job; they sure know how to throw a good family party. Husband and I headed to Venice Beach for a beach picnic with my felow 9to9 grinders, complete with sun, surf and a truck load of food. No seriously- it was a truck of food!

Lobster rolls, crab sliders, fish tacos and s'more bites courtesy of Shark Bites and Mai's. Needless to say there was definitely some waddling back to the car. I guess summer really is coming to an end, but thankfully we've got a camera full of great memories.

Patio Filipino

Husband and I had a serious craving for some pork, sisig style so we headed to Patio Filipino for the classic stylings of pork sisig, complete with a bottle of Red Horse, sans the extra strong. Truly one of the best places for pork sisig ever, although lesson learned to try to avoid the mass family parties if we want to eat quickly. Filipinos love them some pork.

Beach Perfection

A sunny weekend deserves a day at the beach. His included a new toy; Hers included a new magazine. Peace was achieved by all.

4 Courses

A roundup of the best servings of the week:

Course 1: Family & Friends

• Recruiting season deliciousness

Course 2: Food

• Crossing off the cronut (or the faux equivalent) off the list

Course 3: Fitness

• California living

Course 4: Forever Remembered

• Making the time for date nights

Here's to a great week and an even better one ahead. 

Grape and Grain

Husband and I took to the streets in search of a new watering hole and found ourselves at Grape and Grain, a very relaxed lounge in the Peninsula where one can grab a glass of grape or grain and indulge in some old school movies and great conversation.

The movie of the evening was Ghostbusters, a true classic and a great bar movie. Fortunately the place wasn't crowded; can definitely see this place losing some of its appeal when the masses are present. A great find nonetheless with its fantastic assortment of drinks (including an incredible stout that Husband ordered) and one we will definitely be back to.

How can you not love a place with a mural in honor of the Hypnotoad! All glory to the Hypnotoad. Where can I find me some slurm?!

9to9 Grind- The Sea

It's recruiting season which means 1 thing- free lunches! I took advantage of the occasion to take a recruiting candidate to The Sea, the new seafood companion to Alexander's Steakhouse.

 Amouse bouche of chilled watermelon and herbs

 Hamachi shots

The highlight of the meal was definitely the lobster scrambled eggs. That's right - lobster + scrambled eggs. Not quite the combination you'd expect but expect the deliciousness.

Ending the meal right- with cotton candy!

Swish Swish

Husband and I decided to venture out for dinner after seeing the emptiness that was our pantry. We stumbled upon this new shabu shabu place and realized it's been far too long since we indulged in the fine culinary craft of the swish.

Zabu Zabu is the new trendy version of an old favorite. They are still finalizing the menu and pricing but the traditional samplings are there and the service was great. Aside from the regular wagyu beef we also decided to be adventurous and try the lamb. It was a bit fattier than we expected but it paired nicely with the tom yum.

A fun dinner date night and definitely a future go to spot with friends. Don't we all need a little more swish swish in our lives?

California Living

The summer of boogie boarding continues. This is California living and the living is good.

Cronot

With all the buzz the cronut has gotten lately, I knew I had to add it to my Spork Report. Unfortunately a trip to the Big Apple is not in the cards this year, so I settled for one of the many knock offs that have sprung up, including the CronOt from Posh Bakery.

Good, but not great. It was chewy and sweet and definitely something I would have again if brought to my front door. My guess is this faux variety does not do the real deal justice but until such time as I can venture eastward this version is going to have to do for now.

4 Courses

A roundup of the best servings of the week:

Course 1: Family & Friends

• Family bonding at Avila Farm (Part 1 and Part 2)

Course 2: Food

• Home cooked amazingness

Course 3: Fitness

• Summer's not over quite yet

Course 4: Forever Remembered

• Toasting to the little moments with family
• Cute commute
• Long days small joys

Here's to a great week and an even better week ahead.

Avila Valley Farm- Part 2

More photos of our family's wonderful trip to Avila Valley Farm, which had a great market full of everything you could imagine. My favorite part of the shopping excursion was my dad buying me zucchini bread- it doesn't matter how old you are, a father buying you a treat is a beautiful thing.