Nibbles of Tidbits, a Food Blog

Have you heard of Fiverr.com?  It’s where I got the cartoon above created.  Fiverr.com is a fun, useful, creative place where one can commission a custom cartoon, caricature, logo or other graphic design for a great price.  One can buy and/or sell graphic and design projects, as well as writing, translation, video, audio, programming and marketing projects, and much more.  Check it out.

I’m currently hooked on graphics — I commissioned a couple cartoons, vectors and logos.  At approximately $5 – $20 each, I can afford it.  It’s interesting working with artists/sellers around the world.  I’ve had good experiences so far.  Comparison Photo:  A Pie I made won an honorable mention at the Orange County Fair a few years back and this is a photo of me behind it.

From a Potato Contest I’ve learned to appreciate Ground Turkey, and other dishes I wouldn’t choose to make — At least there’s that, since my photos haven’t produced many wins.

* The pictured is not an official entry in the contest. The chosen ones are much better, I think.

The La Palma Chicken Pie Shop Restaurant and Bakery has been in existence longer than I’ve been alive — Yelp reviews will tell you more.  I’m new to this old establishment.

I love the prices — They’re old school, like the waitresses who may be original too.

I’m told (and have read) that the Chicken Pie is the best item to order, so it’s what we had.

With Dinner, the Chicken Pie comes with Soup and Salad, a Roll and Dessert.

I got the Ranch Dressing, which isn’t good (tangy) and I’ve since read their Roquefort is best.

Dinner also comes with a choice of Potato — We got the Mashed Potatoes.  Gravy covers it all.

I like smothered Gravy — The Crust was still crunchy and has a good flavor and texture.

It is loaded with big pieces of real Chicken, dark and white — You can order it with all White Meat too.  I may do that next time, just to be on the safe side.  No Peas or Carrots are inside.

Peach Pie for me and Matt had the Chocolate Pudding (not pictured).

The interior is old too and filled with decorative Chickens and long-standing booths.

Is that a flower pot on Matt’s head and a Chicken on his shoulder whispering in his ear?

Come back, says the Chicken.

It’s also a Bakery, as identified — We were too stuffed to try anything.  Next time.

The Baked Chicken Pie Lunch ($5.00) and Dinner ($6.75) are cheap, satisfying meals.

Observing Martin Luther King, Jr. Day with a FOOD said to be one of his favorites, Pecan Pie.

I prefer the pictured Individual Pecan Pies and Pecan Pie Cake to any Pecan Pie I’ve made.

Will walk for food — Pondering language variations and communication this day.

Will the real Pie in the Sky PLEASE step right up?!  Is it a Pie Pie or Pizza Pie?

Let me know the way to the right bite. 😉 Where’s the snipe?

Have you heard of Bookswim?  It’s the Netflix of books.  The library that comes to you.  I love it.  It’s a great way to test out books, or read a lot of them for less money.  Through Bookswim I checked out Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes cookbook and chose to make the Cookies and Cream Cheesecakes.  The recipe is in her book and it’s also been reported about by several food bloggers, as found here and halved here.  It’s an easy and luxurious dessert.

Since I REALLY didn’t need 30 Cheesecakes, I halved the recipe, which worked very well.

Start with a Muffin tin with paper liners and an Oreo Cookie for the bottom Crust.

Combine the other ingredients as specified and pour over each Oreo Cookie and bake.

They look special in B & W, color and upside-down, and taste great too.  I’ll make ’em again.

Have you seen that Reddi-wip commercial, whereas Reddi-wip is offered as “Cream” for a slice of Pie and generic Cool Whip is offered as “Oil” for the same?  Oil or Cream says the waitress.  Cream of course.  Who wants Oil on a slice of Pie?!  If Cool Whip is truly made of Oil, I don’t know.  You may want to research that yourself.  For fun on Thanksgiving, Chef Lexi and I tested Reddi-wip’s marketing campaign by asking each guest if he/she wanted Oil or Cream on their Pumpkin Pie. 

And interestingly some who usually opt for Cool Whip on Pumpkin Pie, chose the Reddi-wip this year.  Hhmmmmm, effective marketing?  It’s not like Cream is tremendously better for you than Oil, but at least it’s what you think you’re getting.  Cream obviously sounds more desirable on Pie (or any dessert) than Oil.  Regardless, our final position is this… Reddi-wip and Cool Whip are fine on occasion, but real Whipping Cream is so much better than both.  Know that it’s convenient too, in that it only takes a few minutes to whip up and can be stored in the fridge a few days.

It’s not too late to sign-up for a few of the Orange County Fair Culinary Arts Competitions — The specifics and more Fair information can be found here.  Today the ‘Art of the Tart & Pie Competition‘ went down with Pies galore, and tomorrow the ‘Chili, Wings & Salsa Challenge‘ happens with an expected 50 entries. 

These live judged culinary competitions happen each weekend during the Fair and start at 1PM on the Promenade Stage — It’s fun to enter and watch.

And it’s tough to choose a winner, but the Judges take it seriously.  Today there were winners in (4) categories, One-Crust, Two-Crust, Sugar-Free and Savory (or something like that).  We captured one of the winners in the Sugar-Free category and luckily got to try her entry pictured below.  She picked its juicy Blackberries by hand, what a treat for us.

Note:  We appreciate the improvements made to the Culinary Arts Program this year.  From the displays, to the stage and general organization, all went up a notch, not that we had any complaints before — It all looks terrific.

Our Washington, DC Food Correspondent, Steven Woo sent us these fabulous photos.  He enjoys the Cherry Blossoms each year and bakes a Cherry Pie in appreciation of same.  He’s observant, funny and wrote the following:

Tourists galore are in town for the Cherry Blossoms, which are in peak bloom. Attached are some pix from my sunset walk around the Tidal Basin last Thursday. The statue of President Jefferson inside his silhouetted memorial is readily apparent. Peak bloom was on Wednesday, and the warm temperatures this weekend and week (mid-80s!) will cause the fleeting blossoms to disappear by next weekend… hopefully the tourists will too ;). Also attached is a pix of the cherry pie I baked in honor of the season. The crust is from scratch(!); the sugar-free filling from Comstock is rather bland…

Happy Spring!

Thanks Steven — Can you see what you can do about the politicians up there?!

The Single Day Pie Competition went down today at the Orange County Fair.  Approximately 20 Pies were entered and Ribbons were awarded for Best of Show, 1st, 2nd & 3rd Place, plus 3 Honorable Mentions.  After the judging, FREE Pie was served to the public.  It’s best to be around at that time (2PM each Saturday and Sunday at the Promenade Stage).  During this Contest, I happily received an Honorable Mention for my Chocolate Mountain Orange Cream Pie.  It’s pretty good.  Here’s the RECIPE: Orange Cream Pie Recipe.  Enjoy!

More Orange County Fair Competition INFO:

• Culinary Arts Competition Results at the 2009 OC Fair
• Fine Tuning our Scone entry for the OC Fair
• More food related competitions at the OC Fair
• Baking contests at the OC Fair

Our DC Food Correspondent, Steven Woo sent these fabulous photos to Nibbles of Tidbits.  Since the Cherry Blossoms are in full bloom, he was inspired to make this Cherry Pie.  He considered using a prepared Pie Crust (Shell) from the grocery store, but said all were cracked — Thus he made his own Pie Crust using good ole Crisco.  And he opted for the Comstock Cherry Pie Filling, as it’s quite the endeavor to pit fresh Cherries for an entire Pie.  I completely understand, but still aspire to do it someday.  His Pie Crust looks rustically good and flaky.  And his co-workers said it was delicious.

Crisco INFO & Recipes: http://www.crisco.com/

Comstock Fruit Pie Filling & Pie Related Tips:
http://www.birdseyefoods.com/comstock/perfectPie.asp

Cherry Blossom Festival INFO:
http://nationalcherryblossomfestival.org/cms/index.php?id=390

I received a coupon to try 4 Marie Callender’s Frozen Pie Crusts (Deep Dish Pie Shells).  I’d always liked their Pies from the restaurant, but never tried their Frozen Pies or Frozen Pie Crusts.  There’s a Marie Callender’s Restaurant & Bakery down the street and fresh is always best.

My Grandma used to make the best Pie Crusts, but it’s hard for her to do it these days.  She now uses the Mrs. Smith’s Frozen Crusts, but says the Marie Callender’s Crusts were very good too.  And I thought they were surprisingly great.  I would now choose these Frozen Pie Crusts when in need.  The 4 Pies I made were Blackberry with a Cinnamon Crumble Topping (above) and continuing.

Orange Cream Pie with Real Whipped Cream.  I used a Lemon Cream Pie Recipe and substituted Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice and Orange Zest for the Lemon.  This Pie was the BEST! 

Pecan Pie from the Karo Corn Syrup Bottle Label Recipe.  It’s good and simple.  I add just a few extra Pecans.  I write only a few, because one time I added too many – HA.

Custard Pie was the fourth Pie we enjoyed during our Marie Callender’s Tour De Pies.  I cooked the excess Custard in the toaster oven and will report the results of that later.  It’s fun creating Pies when the tricky part is already done — I’d rely on MC’s Crusts to do it for me.

Related Links:

http://www.mcpies.com/

http://www.karosyrup.com/

http://www.mrssmiths.com/

http://www.conagrafoods.com/consumer/brands/brand_info.jsp?cookietest=true&page=marie_callenders