Nibbles of Tidbits, a Food Blog

IHOP’s Seventh Annual National Pancake Day will be happening on Tuesday, February 28th.  All day long, IHOP restaurants will be serving each guest a FREE Short Stack of Buttermilk Pancakes hoping they’ll donate what they would have paid, or more, to Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals and other local charities.  This year, the restaurant chain aims to raise $2.7 million, their most ambitious goal to date.  Mark your calendar to consume and contribute.

Note: In my own International Apartment of Pancakes, a Dutch Baby (pictured) was created.

I could write a dissertation on political and religious aspects of this photo, but here I appreciate its creative value — It makes me want to carve Bread, not bite the hand that feeds me, reach out and touch someone, ask not what my country can do for me and/or give it five.

Thanks go to LUCCA Cafe for recognizing our valuable Veterans this Veteran’s Day.

On November 11th at LUCCA Cafe in Irvine, active duty military personnel and Veterans may enjoy a FREE LUNCH.  It’s being offered in honor of Chef Cathy Pavlov’s father, late Corporal Robert L. Shellrecht, pictured above.  We would like to thank him and ALL those who came before and after for their service to our great country — No one is more deserving.

If you’re one of those special people, mark your calendar and claim your justified meal.

Note: Photos courtesy of LUCCA Cafe, Mediterranean dining (and more) in Orange County.

Stopped by to learn more and will be donating time to Someone Cares Soup Kitchen in November and December when it’s needed most.  How about you?  Come do it too.

Read more and watch a video about the volunteer experience here.  Also appreciate the Rosemary bursting through the fence at Someone Cares Soup Kitchen — We’re always on the lookout for Herbs planted around the city.  An abundant find saves money and inspires new dishes.  In this case, a Rosemary sprig will come in handy for Union Square Cafe Bar Nuts.

Someone Cares Soup Kitchen can always use volunteers and donations.  Contact them today.

The Cadillac Culinary Challenge Test Drive Event made a stop at the Irvine Spectrum.

Chef Mary Sue Milliken went head-to-head with local Chef Yvon Goetz of The Winery Restaurant & Wine Bar.  Both prepared Fish and I luckily got to judge one of the competitions.

Guess who won?  One won the Judge’s vote and the other won the popular/audience vote.

All was nicely done as shown in this Guess Who Report — Back to Cadillac after we mack.

Aetna wants you to join their Healthy Food Fight – FOOD Competitions are taking place at County Fairs and Festivals across the states.  Aetna is actively in search of the most nutritious and best tasting recipe.  All officially got cooking at the Los Angeles County Fair last week. 

Semi-finalists (48) in LA, Dallas, Atlanta and Philadelphia prepared/will prepare their recipe LIVE to hopefully be chosen ”the one” to represent their city at the final competition that’ll take place in New York in December. Anyway, look it up, I don’t need to know all that.  I’m interested because my childhood friend, Denise Davidson Coulombe was a Semi-finalist.

Denise is the one prominently featured throughout and she made Turkey Vegetable Soup.

She chose an apron, was assigned a stove top, collected her ingredients and got cooking.

Judges and LA County Fair goers stopped by to watch and ask questions.

Presentation to the Judges…

More Semi-finalists presenting dishes to the Judges and Bloggers — All did a great job.

Check out the Aetna Healthy Food Fight website to view Semi-finalists’ recipes.

Denise did famously, but another was picked to represent LA — The Aetna crew will resurface at the Texas State Fair October 15 – 16, 2011.  After our healthy competition was over, we shared Pink’s Chili Cheese Fries and a Chuckwagon Beef Brisket Sandwich, and did some wine tasting to celebrate healthiness and D’s win.  Her family is proud.  Cheers and congrats!

It’s a beautiful thing to see FOOD Bloggers and others rally together to help another in need.  I haven’t met Susan, but I’m touched by the organization and Blogger participation to help her overcome cancer – Kick its ass Susan!  And the rest of YOU can (and should) buy something tasty during the Online Bake Sale, or something cool at the Online Auction.  Both happen on July 25, 2011, so mark your calendar.  Numerous Food Bloggers and companies across the United States and Canada will be donating the goods and all proceeds will help Susan win.  Here’s the link to more information.

As previously noted, we attended the Chili at the Beach event in Huntington Beach.

It appeared to have a great turnout and the proceeds will be going to CHOC.

We had the opportunity to taste 21 different Chili’s for $15 – All participants are listed above.

One of the many decorated Chili booths (above).

Chili Score Card and just one of numerous Chili samplings.  We got to vote for our favorite.

The above was from Whole Foods, and below I don’t recall, but liked the Cornbread.

Don the Beachcomber was there representing well with a friendly booth.

Endless Chili.

The Sugar Shack had cute little helpers checking off Score Cards when dishing out the Chili.

Rotating bands played all day long at two ends of Main Street.

Kid’s area on Olive, paralleling Main Street — Loved the giant shark.

And since my friend is on the Board of Trustee’s at the International Surfing Museum, we luckily parked in their lot for the day.  Thank you HBISM.  If you haven’t been there in a while, major changes are happening.  It recently merged with the Surfing Heritage Museum and thus money is now available to make improvements.  Check it out.  Overall, it was a beautiful, uncomplicated and filling day at the Chili at the Beach event.

THE RESULTS:  The 2011 Winners were Duke’s Ohana “Uncle Matty’s Famous Pork Chili” for Best Tasting Chili, Aloha Grill Tiki’s for Most Enthusiastic Chili Team, and Chronic Jerky’s “Chronic’s Outhouse Chili” for Best Chili Name.  We’re somewhat in agreement, but must also mention that we liked the Chili from Gallagher’s, Baja Sharkeez, Killarney, 2nd Floor and Beach Pit BBQ.

Chili at the Beach benefiting CHOC Children’s Hospital appeared to be a success today.

It seemed like everyone was having a good time.

$15 got us a taste of twenty-one different Chili’s — Good for us and CHOC.

After that, we kicked it with Zimzala’s 7-Day a week Happy Hour and beautiful view.

More will be reported about both separately soon.

06/20/11 Update:  The link to more about the Chili at the Beach event is here.

The Orange County BBQ Festival happened yesterday at the OC Fairgrounds.

It’s best to buy tickets online, so to avoid an extra line.  There’s a service charge, but it might be worth it — I personally have low tolerance for long lines.  Inside the event was better.

There were lines for some BBQ, but none were horrible and they moved fairly quickly.

I tried to keep track of what we were eating and drinking and its origin, but forget it.

There were too many BBQ’s and Breweries to remember and I needed an extra hand.

There was a lot of Brisket, Pulled Pork, Tri Tip, Chicken, Sausage, Ribs and Meatballs.

One serious BBQ team.

Though much looked good, it took a while to find the best BBQ, as some meats were tough, fatty and surprisingly bland.  And others were dry, but okay sauced.  Tender is imperative.

A neighbor, The Meat House was there serving the Beef (below) and Chicken.

I liked the name and look of Big Rick and the BBQ Chicks, but didn’t try their Brisket.

Never had trouble sharing a table with anyone and the sun came out.

Grilling.  Btw, I’ll never go on the background chair lift again — Did it last year and it’s scary.

We used tickets to receive generous servings of BBQ and Brew — It worked well.

And here’s Mr. BBQ, who won the Mr. BBQ Pageant.

He was sooooo funny and kept saying… It’s hard being this sexy.

An old-fashioned, new fangled Ice Cream Truck — There was a Car Show happening too.

Farmer John was there offering free Pork Sausage.

Bands were playing.

Pass the Sauce

Towards the end, Famous Dave’s was giving away free Pulled Pork, because they wanted everyone to know how good it is — We were full and out of tickets and thought their Pulled Pork was better than many others.  There’s a debate happening regarding their Pickles.

The Famous Dave’s Pickle debate will soon be reported and linked here.

It’s agreed, Famous Dave’s Pulled Pork is good and they served it to the end.  We appreciate that, since too many BBQ teams ran out of food way too early — Not cool!  We had plenty of food, though expected the option of more.  I planned to name the super early closers, but stopped caring when full, and didn’t separate the good business cards from the bad ones.

And then came The Rib Eating Contest…

The Ribs were weighed, documented and distributed to the contestants, who ate as much as they could within the allotted amount of time.  Each batch of Ribs was then re-weighed to determine who ate the most in pounds and ounces.  I had never seen it done in person.

We had a great spot – Thankfully it wasn’t too gross to watch.

The cost was $50 to enter the contest, but you take home the balance of the Ribs.

If you still want them?!

Time is up.

And the winner is… this guy, on the left, and last year’s winner is on the right.

IMPORTANT INFO:  The OC BBQ Festival is a fundraiser benefitting Kristie’s Foundation for critically ill children, and all proceeds go to them.  That’s a great thing.  Mark your calendar for next year’s event or make a donation at the link above.  The winner of The Rib Eating Contest donated his $250 prize to Kristie’s Foundation — Wow, that was a cool thing to do!

Our resident Chef Lexi of Kids in the Kitchen made and decorated the pictured Cupcakes for a school fundraiser.  She especially liked the ‘Frosting can that works like Cheez Whiz‘ and the adornments picked up at TJ Maxx.  They look awesome and should raise millions.

All I have to say is good thing Girl Scout Cookies are only sold once a year, as I can’t stop eating their Samoas now known as Caramel deLites.  They are more like mini Candy Bars, than Cookies.  I’m limiting myself to (2) boxes this year, until I run out and pass another Girl Scout on the street offering more.  Do you have a favorite Girl Scout Cookie?

Circa 10+ years ago, I was subscribing to all the popular gourmet cooking magazines – Gourmet, Bon Appétit, Food & Wine, Saveur, Cook’s Illustrated, etc.  And for Christmas my Grandma got me a subscription to Taste of Home.  I hadn’t known of it and remember her saying… ”It’s not a fancy gourmet magazine, but I’ve liked it for a long time.”  She was indeed on to something, because it turned out to be one of my favorite magazines too.  My Grandma (now 89) and I have enjoyed many recipes from Taste of Home magazines over the years.  Thanks Grandma.  And now Taste of Home is having a CONTEST you could possibly win.  It’s a Win-Win Contest, as you’ll learn by reading below.

WIN UP TO $20,000 FOR YOUR SCHOOL, PLUS ANOTHER $20,000 FOR YOU!  ENTER THE TASTE OF HOME TEACHERS RECIPE CONTEST PRESENTED BY BOOKS ARE FUN™

Bake sale blockbusters, popular potlucks, teachers’ lounge favorites, fabulous finger foods, delicious desserts, good for you goodies… The stomach often rules the mind at school. Now, Taste of Home, the world’s most popular cooking magazine, and Books are Fun™ have teamed up to put some money where that food goes with the Taste of Home Teachers Recipe Contest.

Books Are Fun will award more than $70,000 in cash and prizes for the best original submitted recipes chosen by the staff at Taste of Home, with $20,000 awarded to BOTH the grand prize winner and the affiliated school.

“Taste of Home is thrilled to work with Books Are Fun to celebrate our teachers and all the wonderful people who help make our schools so special,” said Catherine Cassidy, editor-in-chief of Taste of Home. “We’ve all heard the news stories about budget cuts. This is a chance to do something positive for schools.”

The Taste of Home Teachers Recipe Contest has six categories for submissions: 

• Appetizers & Snacks – Finger foods are always popular in the teachers’ lounge.  Pick the spreads, snack mix, and other savory bites that keep the staff happily munching!
• Soups, Salads and Sides – What recipe do you grab for your potluck?  We’re looking for dishes that travel well and steal the show, like salads and pasta creations among others!
• Entrees – What’s your best main course outside of school?  We want to see your bubbling casseroles, slow-cooked specialties, family-favorite main dishes and even party subs!
• Desserts – Enter everything from cakes and pies to trifles and tortes in this tooth-tingling category!
• Bake Sale – Send us your favorite cookies, cupcakes, bars, brownies, spiced nuts and home-made jams, whatever clears bake-sale tables the quickest!
• Healthy Recipes – Healthy is huge in school these days.  Submit your favorite recipe that is so good, no one ever guesses it’s lower in fat and calories.

 The Taste of Home tasting panel will pick three winners from all of the submissions. The grand prize winner will win $20,000 and $20,000 for the school affiliated with that winner, plus a free one-year subscription to Taste of Home magazine for all paid full-time teachers and staff at the school. The second-place winner will win $10,000, plus $10,000 for the school. Third place will take home $5,000 plus $5,000 for the school. 

Entry forms and rules can be found at www.tasteofhome.com/teacherscontest or www.teacherscontest.booksarefun.com.  Completed entries must be received by 11:59pm (CT) on November 30, 2010.

Learn where to GIVE in Orange County and throughout California during National Food Bank Week and all year long.  Give today for you may need to receive tomorrow.