#Fair,Food,Fun

Nothing signals those end-of-summer/intro-to-fall feelings for me quite like a trip to the LA county fair!
Every year the fair opens up some country realness to a bunch of city folk with petting zoos, rodeos, and let us not forget THE FOOD!

While fair food may not be the healthiest choice
-trust me, I felt like I need to do a seven day prayer fast after-
there are a few things I'd recommend if you're ready to get your grub on!

And if you know anything about me, it's that I do, in fact, like to get my grub on!

Having people there to share the foodie adventures totally heightens my experience and luckily I had my sister and our friend Monique of Curves and Chaos there to enjoy it with! :D

So my sister Pearmama was a big fan of these bad boys, know as the chipotle "dirty" chips from Tasti Chips. They were pretty good, even though I'm not a big fan of bleu cheese. They were loaded with diced tomatoes, green onions, sweet shredded beef and bleu cheese then topped with a chipotle sauce. 

The chips themselves were really crispy and fresh tasting.

Tasti Chips also offered jalapeño cheddar cheese chips which looked delicious!  

I'm DEF gonna have to give those a try on my next trip.  

Charlie's Chicken is an interesting plethora of fried sins. 

From a deep fried oreo, deep fried twinkie, deep fried frog legs and deep fried bacon-wrapped pickles (which were DE-FREAKING-LICIOUS by the way) . 

Didst I neglect to mention that they are also serving up a hamburger and sloppy joe between two Krispy-Kreme donuts????!!!!!!!! 

"Oh LAWD!"  shouted my arteries.

After all of that fried-ness, I was definitely happy to see a chicken and veggie kabob on the menu!!!

Ok, now onto my favorite things.....

*rubs hands together and chuckles villainously* 

The bloomin' onion is like a golden-crunchy-sweet-savory drop of godly nectar! 

Like for reals tho!

It comes with a really good dipping sauce that just totally made the 13 year old fat kid inside of me extremely happy!

Even tastier and scrumptious-er (?) was the BBQ braised brisket sundae. 

I know what you're thinking. "ewwwww that's just gone too far!!"

Halt all ye naysayers!!!!......

This beauty has two scoops of mashed potatoes in place of ice cream, and delicious toppings of braised beef brisket, bbq sauce and a cherry tomato to top it off!

Omg. I'm not much of a meat eater but this was yummmmmmmmmmm!

The fair has tons of food options to offer, such as pizza made from a TEN pound loaf of bread and in case you are suddenly worried out you calorie count, Skinnygirl Cocktails are there to take a little guilt out of the gluttony!

One thing that I was a little too nervous to actually eat was this lil' guy..... It reminded me of Sebastien from The Little Mermaid.. and it smelled super fishy. So I just snapped some Instagram pics, made a Vine then sent my little friend on his way....

 I think my sister pearmama and I agree...we weren't the biggest fans of the crawfish craze.

The L.A County fair is open now and runs until September 30, 2013. It's a perfect place for the family and a fun place to hang with friends! 

ttyl,
Jeshua

Get social with the L.A County Fair on Twitter and Facebook

Briga, Briga, Brigadeiro

You know how there are those certain birthday traditions that you just CANNOT do without? Like a special breakfast, one-on-one time with a loved one, or a cake-smashing-in-the-face at your birthday party

WORST TRADITION EVER...

Well one of those special traditions in Brazil is the making of Brigadeiro (pronounced brie-gah-day-roo).

Brigadeiro is a small gooey chocolate treat with a texture similar to a caramel. It's usually made for children's birthdays but I made these for my brother's birthday yesterday...and he's 40. It's really delicious and fairly easy to make. Easy enough though that my friends and I will make it and eat it straight from a plate instead of rolling it into balls...though I'm pretty sure that has to do more with laziness....hmmm.

Though traditionally a birthday snack, Brigadeiro is perf for Valentines Day and stuff.....if you're into love, and... things.

Here's what you'll need:

• about 1/2 tbsp of butter. I've used both salted and unsalted and it doesn't seem to make that big a difference.
• 3 tbsp UNSWEETENED cocoa powder. I used dark cocoa.  
• 1 can of sweetened condensed milk (leche moça or la lechera)
• chocolate sprinkles 
• mini cake liners
• a wooden spoon. I don't really know if it makes a difference, I was just always told to use a wooden spoon.

*note for the Brigadeiro Nazis out there : I know some people will add about a tablespoon of water to their cocoa then add the mixture to the pot, but I find that the water makes the "batter" too runny and you won't be able to get perfect little balls at the end.  Plus it takes way too long to try to cook off the water.  

Making your Brigadeiro:

 To begin heat a sauce pan (preferably non stick)on medium low heat and add you butter.  Once the butter is melted, add the can of milk and immediately begin to stir. 

After about a minute, add your cocoa powder to the mixture and stir until completely combined, then guess what???!!!!

.....stir some more.....

It is critical that you continually stir the mixture on medium low heat making sure to get the sides and corners of the pan, otherwise you WILL BURN YOUR BRIGADEIROS!!!!

Continue stirring for about 15 minute or until the mixture becomes very thick. I can usually tell when it is finished because I take a scoop of the Briga and hold my spoon upside down. It should cling to the spoon for a bit before falling in an ooey glob thing, back into the pan.

Next you are going to pour/scrape/scoop the Briga onto a plate and spread it out a little so that it can cool; place in the refrigerator for about 2-3 hours.

After cooling is complete you will notice that the Birga is very firm like taffy. 

Coat your hands and a dining spoon with a bit of butter. 

Using your spoon, scoop a small amount of the Briga and roll it onto a ball between your hands, then roll in chocolate sprinkles and place in cake liners. Refrigerate for about an hour.

That's all.

Enjoy this brazilian treat with your family from mine to yours!

 

água de melancia (sandia)

I may be a born and bred Californian and stem from a long line of tropical blood,

but LAWD HAVE MERCY!!! It is hot as satan's wrath up in in here!

In my effort to stay cool and hydrated...no actually I wasn't thinking about being hydrated at all.  I just wanted something good to drink

           lez be honest...

I looked around my kitchen and saw that I had a nice big watermelon which TOTES gave me a craving for something cool and refreshing. I pulled out my juicer that my mom and dad bought me and whipped up a favorite of mine, an água de melancia (watermelon water). 

Here's what you'll need;

• A blender or juicer ( if you're using a blender you may need to strain the juice at the end)
• 1Watermelon cut into large chunks
• 3 Limes peeled (or the juice of three limes)
• A handful of mint leaves
• Agave nectar to taste (optional)

soooo......basically just combine all of the ingredients in the blender or juicer, add the agave nectar and chill. Serve cold. Super simple and MAJORLY delicious! 

Some people make it more savory and add rock salt or chili powder, however I prefer mine a bit sweeter so depending on the watermelon I will add a bit of the agave nectar to taste.

     but that's pretty much it! 

Simple and refreshing, a perfect companion to all your summa-time shenanigans 

Hope you enjoy!!! ttyl
BoifromIpanema

Summer grub Quinoa Feijoada

When the weather turns warm outside, my body craves something light and delicious that won't put the beach body in jeopardy.   

Hey, dudes like to eat good, healthy grub too.

I just made this totally delicious meal that was super easy and really really healthy.  This recipe is my own variation on a feijoada, which is basically a traditional Brazilian black bean stew.

Traditionally it would be made with pork and beef cuts,  sausages and manioc flour, then poured over white rice. Have you ever heard of manioc flour? Most peeps haven't and you couldn't find it if you wanted to. It doesn't matter, my version doesn't call for it anyway.  I've omitted the meat, flour and white rice and instead filled it with wholesome nutritious and super filling quinoa.

So here's what you are gonna need for my Quinoa Feijoada:

1 15oz can of organic black beans

1-2 bay leaves
1 14.5oz can of petite diced tomatoes

1 large onion, diced

2-3 cloves garlic, pressed

4 Tbsp safflower or olive oil

1 cup sliced bell peppers (I used half the bag of frozen bell peppers from Trader Joe's)

1 cup organic quinoa

Salt

water

1guero chili (or any mildly spicy pepper available)

avocado, green onion and cilantro for garnish

1. In a large pan or dutch oven heat oil and add diced onions.  Once the onions have become slightly translucent press garlic into hot mixture using a garlic press and stir until the onions and garlic begin to turn golden brown. Add bell peppers.

2. Add the quinoa to the pan to toast for 2-3 minutes. 

3.  Once the quinoa has slightly browned add canned beans, tomatoes,  sliced guero chili, bay leaves and cover with water to simmer. Make sure to keep the feijoada covered with water. 

4. Cook until quinoa puffs up and the germ spirals out of the grain (don't be scurred, it's supposed to do this). 

5.  Serve and garnish with cilantro, avocado and green onion.

6. Get yo grub on.

Hope you dig it!