L.A. Times Food Bowl: Night Market September 23-25

NIGHT MARKET IS HERE:

The Night Market is 3 nights from September 23-25 and will feature all-inclusive food and drink tastings, cooking and mixology demonstrations, wine seminars and more from the world-class culinary artists behind 50 of the city’s top restaurants. Some notable names that will be there include the below:

Matty Matheson, From FX “The Bear”

Alvin Cailan, From First We Feast “The Burger Show”

Duff Goldman, From Food Network “Ace of Cakes”

Embark on one, two or even three days of food adventure at this three day weekend event by the L.A. Times Food section showcasing the city’s top restaurants. Each event ticket ($185 GA, $260 VIP) secures unlimited food and drink, plus access to all live cooking demonstrations. Notable planned appearances include Duff Goldman of Ace of Cakes and L.A.

barbecue legend Kevin Bludso.

Each night’s theme and participants are as follows:

Friday, September 23rd: Smoked Soirée

Participating restaurants: Kogi, Irv’s Burgers, Moo’s Craft BBQ, RiceBox, SLAB, The Bad Jew, Highly Likely, Valerie Confections and more

Live performances: BBQ demo yKevin Bludso, Italian beef demo by The Bear’s Matty Metheson & YouTube chef Coco, Burger Battle by Mr Beast Burger’s Eric Greenspan & Amboy’s Alvin Cailan

Saturday, September 24th: Saturday Night Flavor

Participating restaurants: CHD Mandu, Go Go Gyoza, Hui Tou Xiang, Lunasia Dim Sum House, Monta Factory, and more

Live performances: Thai cooking demo by Food Network’s Jet Tila, dumpling showdown hosted by Times Food’s Jenn Harris

Sunday, September 25th: Backlot Brunch

Participating restaurants: TBA

Live performances: Baking demo by Ace of Cakes’s Duff Goldman

Get Your Seafood Fix At Santa Monica Seafood Market & Café In Costa Mesa

Get Your Seafood Fix At Santa Monica Seafood Market & Café In Costa Mesa

Earlier this week, we dined at Santa Monica Seafood Market and Café in Costa Mesa. This unique establishment is located in the heart of Costa Mesa off off 17th street.

As I walked into the market, I was completely drawn to the colorful seafood that was displayed for customers to purchase. Everything looked super fresh, and the seafood selection was endless. Santa Monica Seafood is both a Market and Café. Guests can conveniently shop, dine, and or pick up their favorite seafood or prepared dishes. SCORE! Why haven’t I been here before?

The staff was super friendly and were ready to serve and answer any questions about their array of seafood. The menu selection had sooo much to choose from, check out Costa Mesa’s full menu here.

Below is a recap of our lovely dinner. The café ambiance is casual, yet chic. And the creative and colorful dishes were flavorful and delicious.

Thank you Santa Monica Seafood Market and Café for hosting us. All opinions are my own.

🍤 Shrimp Cocktail-Poached jumbo white Shrimp with SMS Classic Cocktail Sauce and lemon

The Café

The café offers a wide selection of fresh seafood dishes for lunch and dinner. You can order for take away or sit down and or enjoy grilled fresh seafood, soups, sandwiches, salads, beer, wine and more. The oyster bar features the best fresh raw oysters, clams and crab.

Oysters– Served with lemon, Santa Monica Seafood Classic Cocktail Sauce, and Mignonette

The Market

The market features the largest selection of fresh fish, live shellfish, and frozen seafood in the Southwest. You’ll also find smoked seafood, caviar, seafood soups and salads, and imported specialty seafood items.

🫕 New England Clam Chowder-Our family recipe with Ocean Clams, onions, celery, potatoes, and cream (no bacon) SO DELISH!

🌶*SPECIAL and for a limited time only.*Scallop and Shrimp Stuffed Chile Poblano– Served over a bed of fluffy Pilaf rice, with guajillo chile sauce, and avocado salsa, finished with Mexican sour cream and cojita cheese

🐟 *SPECIAL and for a limited time only.* Grilled Mahi Mahi- with mango salsa and quinoa

And for dessert Tiramisu is a MUST!

Happy Hour is 3-6 pm, 7 days a week!

Address: 154 E. 17th Street
Costa Mesa, CA 92627

#SUNNYD Whipped Sweet Potatoes Recipe

Our kitchen is the heart of our home, and this is where we share many precious memories. This year’s Thanksgiving will be a little different and quieter than others, but we will make it count! Drew and I made some #SUNNYD Whipped Sweet Potatoes and want to share this delicious recipe with you!

As a family, we love to cook together and try different recipes. Most people like to use red sweet potatoes, but we made this SUNNY Delight recipe with white ones. I have realized over the years that it’s ok to experiment and add my own spin on recipes.

Thank you Sunny Delight for sponsoring this post. All opinions are my own,

INGREDIENTS

3 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed ( I used white sweet potatoes)
2-2/3 cups SUNNYD Tangy Original, divided
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

DIRECTIONS

Place sweet potatoes and 2-1/3 cups SUNNYD in a large saucepan or Dutch oven.

Cover and bring to a boil.

Boil for 35-45 minutes or just until potatoes are tender.

Drain and place in a large mixing bowl.

Mash potatoes with the brown sugar, butter, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon and remaining SUNNYD.

Garnish with walnuts (optional).

Happy Holidays from our family to yours! Check out another great recipe here!

Knott’s Berry Farm Boysenberry Festival is Back

Are you a foodie? If so…

You need to head to the The Boysenberry Festival at Knott’s Berry Farm! This spring event is going on now through April 28th.

Last week, my family went on a foodieventure at Knott’s, to try as many Boysenberry food items that we could fit in our bellies. As we walked through the park, we could smell the sweet and savory scents of the barbecues grilling. This year there are over 75 Boysenberry food items, ranging from churros, wine, craft beer, cotton candy, and even boba tea. What?!

This year’s food lineup introduces several new food items!

Thank you Knott’s Berry Farm for inviting us to the Knott’s Boysenberry Festival. All opinions are my own.

During Knott’s Berry Farm’s Boysenberry Festival pick up a $35 Tasting Card… ( you get 8 choices of the 14 options) It’s so worth it.

Check out the delicious options you can choose from!

The Boysenberry Waffle with Maple Boysenberry Cream Cheese Syrup was soooo good!

The Boysenberry Glazed Salmon was Tori’s favorite.

A variety of signature boysenberry items will also be available for purchase a la
carte. Tasting cards are available at Knotts.com or at the theme park.

After our Boysenberry coma, we hit the park and got on our favorite rollercoaster rides!

Don’t forget to check to get your shopping done. Knott’s Berry Farm is filled with exclusive boysenberry merchandise items during Knott’s Boysenberry Festival. Special items include boysenberry chocolate varieties, jerky, soda, candy, coffee and even a complete bath and body line.

We picked up a bottle of the Boysenberry BBQ Sauce, because we can’t get enough. We just had to take some home!

During Knott’s Boysenberry Festival, watch the sensational shows and enjoy the activities!

Get Your Season Pass

The best way to savor every day of the Knott’s Boysenberry Festival and all of the other Seasons
of Fun is with a 2019 Season Pass. A Regular Season Pass includes unlimited admission in 2019
to Knott’s Berry Farm with no blackout dates, and a Gold Season Pass includes unlimited
admission in 2019 to both Knott’s Berry Farm and Knott’s Soak City Waterpark with no blackout
dates. Regular passes are just $98 or five easy payments of $15.50 after an initial payment and
Gold Passes are $118 or five easy payments of just $18.50 after an initial payment. These offers
end April 28, 2019. Applicable taxes and fees apply. Payment plans are only available at
knotts.com.