Nibbles of Tidbits, a Food Blog

I’d been looking for the right Lobster Roll to try and it finally came along with great satisfaction — My first ever, since they’re more popular on the East Coast.  That’s my excuse and/or they are expensive when offered and haven’t had the quality ingredients sought.

The Lobster Roll is a popular special at Santa Monica Seafood — Generous chunks of Lobster are tossed with a refreshing Lemon Aioli and Chives, then served on a soft Roll.  It’s perfect.

Dine inside, on the patio, at the Oyster Bar or take something to-go from the Fish Market.

Shucking Oysters (below) — Tell them what kind you want or what you like in an Oyster.

We tried the Kusshi (left) and Misty Pointe (right) — Both were superb, especially the MP.

They have an amazing, well displayed and serviced selection at Santa Monica Seafood.

Live Lobster, an option I’m skipping for a while.  See why here – Too much going on.

Sashimi Grade Fish is also available.  Someday I’ll make Sushi.

Several kinds of Crab, Shrimp, Lobster and Fish are sold daily.

Prices vary and may not be the same as shown here today.

Indian Candy, a sweet, salty and smoky Salmon, in the case above is a favorite.

Cheese, Wine, Herbs, cooking tools and all necessities for a nice meal or picnic are here.

Since their re-design that happened about a year ago, it’s nice to dine in with a Glass of Wine.

Our server, Ashley was awesome, sweet and cool, and reminded us of Jody Foster.

Happy Hour looks good, if you can make it in before the 5PM cut-off.  It’s an early one.

And here’s that Lobster Roll I kissed — Smooch.  Time to get a room.  It was sooooo good.

Santa Monica Seafood is better than ever and family owned since 1939.

It’s a dining option I’ll think of more often — There’s a lot to see, cook and eat.

Whoever started Wordless Wednesday is a genius, though I rarely take full advantage of it, as you see words – There’s a lot to say about Santa Monica Seafood and its new-ish design, the Oyster Bar, the market, and the Lobster Roll that didn’t get away, but not today.

Soon back for (and with) more of everything — Cheers to that!

Now back to Wordless Wednesday                                                                     .

Cost Plus World Market is a terrific place to find unique food items.  We’ve previously reported about a few of them.  What would you buy with a $2,000 Gift Card?  YOU could win it and a trip to the Greek Theatre to see the Go-Go’s with (10) of your best friends.  Please choose ME or YOU.  I’d pick up several bottles of Champagne at Cost Plus and we’d be Beauty and the Beat on the way to the Greek.  Enter before July 23, 2011.  Good luck!

Have you seen the California Pizza Kitchen Original BBQ Chicken Chopped Salad Kit?

It’s sold at Costco, unsure if exclusively — And my Mom loves it.

She and Chef Niece Bailee of Kids in the Kitchen mixed it all together.

My thoughts… It’s not bad, but I don’t love it.  For its cost of $9-something, I’d rather go to California Pizza Kitchen to have the real thing, or make the Salad from scratch using my CPK Cookbook, as I did once before.  The Salad Kit comes with everything the Original BBQ Chicken Chopped Salad does in the restaurant, except Romaine — You’ll need to purchase and add it separately, which ultimately adds to its cost.

What do you think about it?

Testing out photo editing at the Huntington Beach Farmers’ Market and Art Fair happening every Friday at Pier Plaza from noon to dusk — On skates this day, thus didn’t buy anything to have hands ready for a potential fall.  Was this yesterday or 1975?  And have you ever seen Heirloom Artichokes with purple flowers?  I hadn’t, but the background looks best below.

At some point the real Crab Claw Shell begins hidden under the breaded, pressed fake and real Crab combination.  Be careful when nearing the end of the Claw, as Crab Shells are hard.  Don’t get too happy — And there really isn’t need, since they’re not that remarkable, other than the fact they are different.  Although flawed, I appreciate the creativity of ‘em and other unique offerings at Fresh & Easy, newly opened within walking distance.  Bite at your own risk.

We cracked up reading several Wine Bags at Cost Plus World Market today.  They have some of the funniest we’ve seen.  Although I don’t need any, I had to buy this one.  Funny yes, no?

It shall be received by the next party host, unless already seen here.

Looking for live Crab, Lobster or Fish?  Have you been to Pearson’s Port?  Don’t forget about the tiny shack tucked under the PCH bridge in between Dover and Bayside.  Since they don’t appear to have a website, read what people are saying about it on Yelp.

Since it’s across the street, I’d like to walk here someday when it FINALLY opens.  It’s been about 8 months since we first reported seeing Fresh & Easy signage in Costa Mesa.  I don’t know why it has taken so long – I’ve seen several potential customers park, and then walk purposefully towards the store to learn it’s still not open.  Bummer.  It’s been a bit of a tease.

At last, Fresh & Easy will be opening in Costa Mesa (Newport and Harbor) on February 9th.

Yes, I buy inexpensive Olive Oil — When I get home from the store, I just transfer it to the above bottle and forget that it’s cheap. Somehow it tastes better.  As long as your bottle has a secure top dispenser, you’ll always be ready to pour.  The pictured is from Cost Plus World Market and I love it.  It looks good sitting out and works well too.  Enter to win some good, attractively bottled Olive Oil here.

I concur with the message in this video by the Bulk is Green Council.  You can save time and money buying certain items in the bulk aisle, rather than elsewhere scattered throughout the store.  I recently experienced its benefits at Henry’s Farmers Market – A great store for bulk.

Above is just a sliver of Henry’s bulk foods selection — Don’t forget to write the item number on each tag / bag sealer, so the checker will know how to ring it up.  Many items look the same, especially the powdered goods.  It can be a fair amount of writing if you get a variety.  This day we tried a little of a lot (about 15 items).  It was entertaining and we did see that money can be saved when needing a little or a lot of certain things.

I’m advised that it’s National Bulk Foods Day on October 23rd — Hhhmmm, it seems there’s a day for everything now.  Did you know it’s National Nibbles of Tidbits Day on December 3rd?  It is!  Until then, buy from the bulk foods aisle.

When was the last time you had a picnic?  We mustn’t forget the simple enjoyment of a picnic.  It seems Americans don’t take enough pleasure in them.  While traveling through many parts of Europe, you’ll see people having picnics everywhere and often.  It’s a great thing.

We’re inspired to have more picnics and Cost Plus World Market, a favorite destination for unique and imported food items can make it happen on a moment’s notice.  It has everything one could need for a picnic.  We prepared for this one by getting ALL shown from Cost Plus, including the insulated picnic basket that transported the Salami, Cracked Pepper Smoked Salmon, Bruschetta, Roasted Artichoke Hearts, Pepper Jack Cheese, Assorted Crackers, Almonds, Pickles, Olives, Wine and Cookies.

This day it was too windy to show you it was too windy — Meaning, we couldn’t back up for a wide photo, since all hands were necessary to hold down the light stuff during the wind gusts.  It was (kinda) funny, until it blew over our Chardonnay, and it was a bit scary thinking the Smoked Salmon could possibly land on us, but ultimately it was a lot of fun.

We had this picnic in Temecula, near Pechanga Resort & Casino, where we took our Grandma to see her favorite singer, Engelbert Humperdinck.  Prior to the concert, we laughed eating the Orange Chocolate Rolled Wafers – They are sooooo darn good and fodder for immature jokes that transcend generations, Groucho Marx impersonations and more.

We recently wandered into Zinc Cafe & Market in Corona Del Mar a half hour before closing time and happily learned that their Market Salads are 1/2 price during that time, the last half hour before closing.  It was great timing for us, thus we went crazy and got eight of them, five are pictured here and all are always good.  They offer a shady outdoor patio too, but we enjoyed our Salads on the beach (away from the seagulls) and for lunch the next day.  What a deal – It’s the best time to go there.

We didn’t capture the official name of each Salad, since we ate them so fast — Many are seasonal anyway, so you’ll just have to see what’s available and check out their website to see what’s possible.  They offer a lot and will tell you more than we can.

The beach is walking distance from Zinc Cafe & Market in Corona Del Mar.  If I could own a home anywhere around here, it would be in Corona Del Mar, near many restaurants and the amazing beauty pictured below.

‘Pick out all the Candy you want’ is what I said to my Chef Nieces, Baliee and Lexi from Kids in the Kitchen — It would’ve been a dream come true for me as a kid.  I still love Candy and Cost Plus World Market has the best selection, if you don’t know that already!?

Come with me and you’ll be in a world of Pure Imagination – A song superbly sang by Gene Wilder in one of the most magical movie clips ever and appropriate to this post.  Cost Plus could be a modern day Willy Wonka.  Today it was.

I think I would have picked out way more Candy than they did, hahaha, but we did end up with a good cross-section of nostalgic, imported, mainstream, unique and extreme Candy, which was fun to try — On a rowdy sugar high we dumped the tub of Old Time Favorites over Chef Lexi’s head.  It’s raining Candy.

We had a great time trying the Violet Mints, Candy Buttons, Mango Gummy Candy, Ginger Candy Chews and various small imported Chocolate Bars.  And we enjoyed having a couple nostalgic favorites, like Chick-O-Sticks and Bit-O-Honey.  The Toxic Waste Candy pictured below was ridiculously strong.  They do call it ‘hazardously sour Candy’ and you can tell by the post-sampling expressions.

We haven’t yet tried the Bean Boozled by Jelly Belly.  We’re afraid and may need to host a Jelly Belly Fear Factor Game later – Stay tuned for that when we find a couple brave volunteers.  So far all asked say no way José.

Note:  Photos for this Candy Taste-Off were taken at the Bella Terra Cost Plus World Market.  If going to the movie theater nearby, we suggest stopping in Cost Plus to get the Candy — Shhhhhh.  So sorry, theater Candy prices are gouging and I buy the Popcorn.

So many Chips, so little time — Well, we actually have the time, but can only eat so many Chips.  We thought it would be fun to sample a cross-section of the vast Chip selection offered at Cost Plus World Market.  Although they have much more than you see here, we ultimately decided to try (7) Bags of Chips and (4) Salsas for our Chip Invasion Taste-Off.

Seven of us gathered for the festivities to determine our favorites — To learn more about the Chips, hover your cursor over the pictured plates below to match ‘em up with the Chip Bags above.  It’s always good to see what’s in a bag before you buy it.

The variety we selected appears to be a good representation of Chip types and brands.  Some are produced especially for Cost Plus World Market, and others you’ve seen there and at other popular markets (i.e., Kettle Chips).

The same applies to our Salsa selection — The (2) on the left below are specially made for Cost Plus World Market and the other (2) can be purchased there and elsewhere.  And the Salsa verdict is… All were good and enjoyed for their comparative uniqueness.  In other words, the pictured Salsas would be a terrific combination for a party.  One was spicy (Chipotle), one was mild (Roasted Tomato), one was cheesy (Chili Con Queso) and one was chunky (Corn, Black Bean & Red Pepper).  All were picked as a favorite by one or another, with the most votes cast for the Frontera Chipotle and Cost Plus World Market Chili Con Queso.

With respect to the Chips, the verdict was all over the board.  The favorites were the Gaytan Baked Cheese Puff, Sweet & Spicy Tortilla Chips with Flaxseed and the Death Valley Chipotle Chips.  We really don’t think the Spinach & Artichoke Chips taste like Spinach and Artichoke, but they’re a good dipping Chip for any Salsa.  The favored combo seemed to be the Veggie Tortilla Chips (due to their neutral flavor) dipped in the Chipotle Salsa.  It’s all good.

Note: Nibbles of Tidbits loves Cost Plus World Market — Check back to learn about our future Candy Taste-Off, our picnic inspired by Cost Plus products and more.  We have a lot of great ideas, because they have so much cool stuff!