Savory Cafe & Bakery, Ventura

I feel I must start this post by saying I've eaten here before and had a great meal, but this last time...it was bad. Slow service, overly salty food, and just not good. Have you used restaurant.com? It's awesome. So when a friend wanted to meet for lunch in Ventura, I used one of my certificates for Savory Cafe & Bakery.
Even though my last meal wasn't great, I'm not giving up on them. It might have just been an off day. I love the atmosphere (we always sit outside) and the menu has lots to offer.

The only soup they offered was tomato. Normally, I love tomato soup. This was not good though. Big chunks of garlic that hadn't been softened at all and monster chunks of tomato. It was as if someone forgot to blend the soup and decided to serve it anyway.
We both ordered the French Chicken Salad which was soooo salty that I couldn't taste anything else.
The only thing that saved the meal- the french fries and dip. So delicious.
Have you ever had a bad experience at a restaurant that you normally really like?

Merry Christmas

I hope everyone has had a wonderful Christmas so far. I've been enjoying the holidays with family and friends. This time of year always reminds me how blessed I am and I hope I never take it for granted.
I've so enjoyed looking at all the delicious photos everyone has been posting on their blogs. I didn't do as much baking as I would have liked this holiday, but Santa brought me a Le Creuset grill pan and some new cookbooks so there are food photos in my future.
Here's a little taste of something I did take the time to make last week. The Barefoot Contessa's Raspberry Orange Trifle. So So Yummy!

Awesome Giveaway

I happened upon this giveaway while I was reading Amber's blog Airing My Dirty Laundry.
They are giving away some awesome items so I thought I'd share with you. I hope you win.
http://chicklitisnotdead.com/2010/12/liz-lisas-favorite-things-holiday-giveaway/

Utopia & Long Beach Aquarium

Our friend celebrated his 30th birthday at a restaurant in Long Beach a couple weeks ago. My hubby and I decided to spend the day at the Aquarium and then join the group for dinner.
First up, the restaurant is called Utopia. We got there early and shared a beer at the bar. It's a cute place with a piano playing in the background and dim lighting.
I can't remember what beer it was but it was light with hints of strawberry. Very yummy.


We were starving at this point so we shared an order of bruschetta. This was also the appetizer that was ordered for the table. Our order didn't have toasted bread, but the order for the table did; weird. It was tasty but nothing amazing.

I'm not a fan of calamari, but the group said it was good so I'll take their word for it.
Not pictured, my entree. Mainly because I forgot to take a photo but also because it wasn't good. I had pesto pasta that was super bland. Definitely, will not be ordering that again. My husband got the chicken marsala, which wasn't that great either.
We had cupcakes for dessert which were fabulous. Thank you to our hostess for letting me take one home too. I had it for breakfast the next morning.
In the end, even if the food wasn't that good, all that mattered was being with friends and celebrating the birthday.
Earlier that day, we went to the Long Beach Aquarium. It was so fun and decorated for Christmas. It's a great facility. I marveled at all the different fish but the Lorikeets were my favorite. You get to feed them, they land on you and let you pet them. So cool.



My very patient husband let me take my time and stare at all the animals. He's not a fan of seeing them in captivity but went with me anyway. Thanks honey.

Thank you to Lindsay for all the Goodies.

These are all the yummy goodies I received from Lindsay. She has a great blog called The Lean Green Bean.
Here is a link to her site http://theleangreenbean.blogspot.com/2010/12/toffee-chocolate-squares.html

We participated in a blogger baked goods exchange and she had me to send goodies to. I was super excited as soon I saw the package in the mail. I stood at my kitchen counter and took a bite out of each thing. The cookies with the Snickers surprise were my favorite. I can see why her husband likes them so much. I snacked on all her delicious treats for days and so appreciate that she sent me such a variety. Thank you Lindsay.

Ducks in Alabama

Ever since I was a little girl, I've loved ducks. I have a picture of in my office of my dad and I surrounded by ducks while on a camping trip. So when I heard there is a duck pond in Alabama I was super excited to see. Tons and tons of ducks and geese. I've heard some pretty terrifying stories of geese chasing and pecking at people who get to close. These were very friendly geese. Take a look......








Bye Bye ducks, thanks for letting me hang out with you.

Cupcake Camp Recap 2

Cupcake Camp was so much fun and I can't wait for the next one. I have so many great photos so I thought I'd share more. Enjoy!