Remember when I used to write posts that didn’t begin with, “first, I melted a tablespoon of butter”? Nah, I don’t either. 😉

As I mentioned in an earlier post, this week has been kinda a sad one for me. My general mood has been crappy all week and I’ve definitely been veering towards the negative the past few days, which I hate doing.  I like to think that I’m generally pretty in touch with my moods (as in, I notice slight changes and take active steps to let myself feel or feel better). I’ve already run 10 miles this week (who am I?) and I’ve been trying to treat myself extra well.

Case and point? I made the sandwich from Monday, but I made it BETTER by adding one more slice of bread. When I make grilled cheese, I’ve started melting a tablespoon of butter in the pan and then placing the bread on top of the melted butter. I used to just butter the bread but this is so much better!

Stuffed with goat cheese, dill, arugula, and avocado. Plus amazing crispy bread from Homeboy Industries. This definitely made me feel a little bit better.

The fact that I broke into my Cape Cod Chips stockpile didn’t hurt either…

Yum! Grilled cheese and goat cheese are totally my comfort food.

What is your comfort food?

This Saturday was a pretty epic day. I went to the ColLAboration Beer Garden event, then we had dinner at Umami to celebrate Mark’s birthday AND we went out for birthday drinks (Umami and Mark’s birthday are in the NEXT post).

The plan had been to celebrate Mark’s birthday today for a while but when Amanda alerted me to the fact that there was going to be a beer garden near Kaitlin’s house on Saturday afternoon, I only had one thought it mind: pre game! Day drinking three weeks before finals? Why not! I must say, we had a ridiculously good time.

The day started with Kaitlin, Amanda & Andy and I meeting up in Burbank for the ColLAboration Beer Garden. ColLAboration is a group of some of the biggest names in the LA craft beer industry. These guys are super nice and know how to throw an awesome event.

At the door I bought a glass and tokens for purchasing beer. The glass is an admissions ticket to 14 more events that will be happening all summer, culminating in an Oktoberfest celebration (!). The glass was $10 and the tokens to buy beer were 4 for $20. Pretty good deal, if you ask me 🙂

Obviously, the blogger fun started right then.

Blogging: it’s what we do.

We all know that I don’t consider myself a beer expert, but I feel like my credibility went up 100% yesterday. I had help learning from these two teachers:

Amanda & Andy: School is in Session

I must say that Andy was in his element at the event, giving us advice on which beers to order. I more or less ordered whatever he ordered because I figured if Andy was drinking it, that it would be good.

This is Andy's game face

There were three different stations with beer. It was a cool but beautifully sunny afternoon.

The first beer of the day that I sampled was Pilney the Elder. Amanda and Andy have had this many times and raved about it. Pilney the Elder is a hoppy beer. Hoppy sounds like happy so I figured I’d like it. See those logical reasoning skills? Ironclad.

Kaitlin ordered the same beer!

Beer Buddies.

Pilney the Elder

I really like Pilney the Elder. There were a great deal of hops, which is different for this Vino/Gin girl but I’m getting to the point where hops make me happy.

Can I tell you something? Beautiful day + beer + friends + unbloggable jokes make me so so so happy. Or hoppy. Whatever.

The second brew I tried was Stone Lukcy Basartd (not a typo). Andy said that this beer was only made once a year. We know how I love exclusivity, so I had to try it! This beer is brewed once a year and is a combination of Arrogant Bastard, Double Bastard, and Oaked Arrogant Bastard.

Stone Lukcy Basartd

I really liked Stone Lukcy Basartd. It might have been my favorite beer of the day. It was very strong but delicious and refreshing.

After we drank the second, stronger beer, Amanda, Kaitlin and I made it our mission to find the guy selling sausage and pretzels. Why, yes, there were vendors roaming around like a baseball game. Like a beer baseball game, to be exact.

After about 20 mins of standing around and 2 mins of actual searching we were able to isolate the sausage man. I had a pork sausage with sauerkraut and mustard. I’m pretty sure I drunkenly explained Chicago sausages to the sausage man (and how we only like onions and mustard on our sausages). I’m sure I was highly entertaining at this point in the afternoon.

Photo shoot. Insert your own TWSS joke here.

After the sausage silliness we went on a hunt for more beer. For my final beer of the afternoon I tried Green Flash Fizzy Yellow which is like a take off on an American Pilsner.

Unlike other crappy Pilsner beers (coughcoughMGDcough) , but no offense to the entire Midwest whom I’m sure I’m about to mortally offend, it didn’t suck. I like a Pilsner and it has it’s place but after the other beers I had in the afternoon it felt a bit like child’s play. Bonus: this is the kind of beer you can drink all afternoon.

Overall, we had a fantastic time at ColLAboration. We met the guys who put the event together and they were all very nice and I cannot wait to go to another event. I will definitely be at the next one!

Plus I always have fun when I hang out with these people…

Stay tuned for grocery store shenanigans, Umami burger and Mark’s birthday!

Now that I’m drink beer, what do I absolutely have to try? Seriously people, help a sister out.

If you LOVE reading Left Coast Contessa, you can now publicly “like” it on Facebook! What will you get from the Left Coast Contessa facebook page? Obviously fabulous musing from the brain of Left Coast Contessa, plus links to content!

Click HERE to “like it”. It should be noted, that as I update all forms of media about this facebook development, I’ve been singing “Baby I like it” by Enrique Iglesias in my head. See, this is why you need to like me on facebook… witty updates like that.

I am having the most mouth watering lunch today.

Are you drooling yet?

Olive bread from Homeboy Industries, toasted on melted butter.

Spread with spreadable goat cheese.

Topped with avocado, arugula, fresh chopped dill, and pepper.

Holy yum.

What is the best part? It’s hard to say. The buttery, crispy bread? The goat cheese? The creamy avocado? All of them in combination for sure. I will be making this, probably every afternoon this week.

What is your favorite sandwich fixing?

I was going to blog tonight, but someone I love lost someone they love today and I thought, instead, I would take this opportunity to remind everyone to see the beauty in everyday, feel joy & openness, and remind those around you how much you love them. It’s easy to get bogged down in the expectations we hold for everyday life and to focus on the trivial, not the pivotal. In life what matters is the pivotal: the people you love and support. Seriously, tell them everyday and appreciate all the small, beautiful things in your life. It’s the stuff life is made of.

I’ll be back tomorrow with a post about ColLAboration Beer Garden, but in the meantime my thoughts, love and heart are in Boston.

There is ample evidence on this blog that I love pizza. As a Chicago girl I can always go for a slice of deep dish from Lou Malnati’s but clearly this isn’t an option in LA. Well, not technically true. You can order the pizza online and have it shipped to you. Yes, in case you are wondering, I have done that in the past. Desperate times call for desperate measures people.

Normally what I do is just make my own pizza when I have a craving. I like to think that after months of making, let’s face it, pizza nearly weekly, I’ve become a bit of a pro. So obviously, when I had friends over for dinner on Friday night I made a pizza. It was a simple pie but turned out incredible!

Thus, I have decided that it is time to break down what needs to happen to make an unforgettable at home pizza. Here are the essential steps:

1. Good dough: This is the base for the whole pizza. Personally, I love the raw dough from Trader Joe’s when I am in a hurry. I have ambitions of one day making my own dough but in a pinch, Trader Joe’s is fantastic. When I’m alone I normally use wheat dough, but because I had friends coming over I sprung for herb dough which is probably my favorite of all the Trader Joe’s dough’s.
2. Extra Virgin Olive Oil: To me, this is the second most essential ingredient after the dough! When I make pizza I always brush the pan and the pizza dough with EVO after I have spread it out on the pan. This makes the crust extra crispy.
3. Salt, Pepper, crushed red pepper: These are all toppings that I sometimes forget, but when I remember to add them it gives the pizza that little extra punch.
4. Lots and lots of cheese: Personally, I cannot imagine pizza without some type of cheese. Normally, I grate cheese off of a block of cheddar but on Friday I bought a bag of Quattro Fromagio from Traders and I wasn’t disappointed. Other types of cheese I like? Goat cheese! No matter what cheese you use, my number 1 rule is that you use a lot of it and let the cheese cook on the pizza until it is brown on top.
5. Fresh ingredients: Friday night we only used pepper and mushroom but the pizza was still great because of the foundation. As I have come to find… almost any topping is good as long as the quality is good!

The result?

Pretty tasty if you ask me!

Random Question: What pairs better with pizza for you, wine or beer? I love wine but I got a bit of a beer education yesterday and I think might say beer!

How is everybody holding up this week?

I cannot lie… this is the part of the semester where I want to curl up in a little ball on my couch and only watch Barefoot Contessa for hours. Why? Because I am 5 weeks out for year 2 ending and I have a ton of work to do. I also have let a lot of small things fall by the wayside. For example, we’re one week into April and I still haven’t put my quarter 2 insets into my day planner. Fail. I promise Mom and Dad, I am going to put them in tonight. Another example? I wrote an email to my former roommate telling her that I am visiting from July until May. FAIL. Seriously, I need more coffee clearly.

One thing that gets me through the long, tedious days before finals are trying new, healthy treats. I had some room in my food budget this week and I decided to try something new to me from Whole Foods…

Lifeway Kefir yogurt!

Kefir is a cousin of yogurt and is packed with probiotics that support immune health- so important with pending finals! I have to confess, I was motivated to buy this because while I do occasionally nosh on yogurt, I don’t eat a lot of dairy, outside of brie cheese, obviously. I need calcium in my life and Kefir is a great way to get it. It’s also considered to be the champagne of yogurt drinks. I mean, what more do you really need to hear to recommend this?

There are so many ways to enjoy kefir. Right now I’m only drinking it from a glass but I liked it much more than I expected I would and I think it could be a great addition to breakfasts. Stay tuned, this product will be popping up on the blog again!

Have you ever tried Kefir? How do you incorporate calcium into your diet? I don’t really like milk all that much so I’m always open to suggestions about how to get more in.

And who is excited for the weekend? I know that I am!

We all know that there is nothing I love more than a little farmer’s market action on the weekend. 10 months ago I started buying all of my produce, eggs, honey, and some bread from local farmers markets. I love my weekend farmer’s market routine and since switching over last June I haven’t looked back.

So why do I advocate for shopping at farmer’s market? Well, in LA there has been some controversy around the authenticity of farmer’s market goods, but those concerns aside, I think the quality of the food from the farmer’s market is far better than you can get from supermarkets. I like that the food is available on a seasonal basis and that I’m supporting local business and agriculture. Plus, in Cali our farmer’s markets are kinda bomb. Not taking advantage would just be WRONG.

We all know that I’m a law student (fully funded by the feds, heyyy) and obviously a bit short on cash so I thought I would give my tips for how to concur the farmer’s market while on a budget.

1. Go consistently to the same market

I always make sure that I work the same two markets. If you go to the same markets frequently you know what to expect from the vendors. It will also help you build relationships with the farmers (see #4). If you go the same market consistently you will be able to monitor the prices of the produce and know when you are getting a great deal or being overcharged. If you go to the same markets you know what produce is coming in and out of season and when it is at peak freshness. Another advantage of going to the same market is that if something amazing, like mini artichokes, has just come into season you can remember that it’s there and plan a meal around it for the next week!

2. Have a strategy

Every week when I get to the market I make sure to take an entire lap before purchasing. This way, I can see if there are any good deals, new produce, or new venders. I also make sure to look at the freshness vs. price. Sometimes the price will be lower but the item will be not at peak freshness or it will look a little rough and then I can make a determination of whether sacrificing the freshness for price point is worth it. After completing my lap I go back to my usual venders and any ones that have really good deals.

3.
Plan, plan, plan

Before going to the farmer’s market, I always make sure that I meal plan. Basically, I plan out my dinners, snacks, and breakfasts for the week and make a master list of all the items I need for the week. This way I know what I’m getting when I go shopping. For me, I tend to get a little unfocused when I get into the FM. Typically, I see one huge eggplant and all bets are off. While it makes no sense I immediately think, “I need to have this!” No. I do not need it. I am one person and I will not be eating an eggplant the size of my face. I have a tendency to overbuy. Instead of 3 oranges I will end up with 7 because I want to try all the different varieties. If I buy too many they will end up going to waste. I might as well be throwing money in the trash can.

Sometimes I also get distracted by all of the amazing things we have in the farmer’s market. Squash blossoms? I don’t even know what to do with that, but that won’t stop me from buying it! Then I end up buying something that I’m not sure how to use and it either goes to waste or I over buy. Instead what I do now is restrain myself. When I get home I can look up new recipes and buy it the next week.

4. Know your farmers

The best way to keep costs low at the farmers market is to know your farmers. Make friends, chat, ask them what is best right now. If you start to build relationships the farmers may be more likely to give you special prices and freebies. For example, I have never paid for a knob of ginger. I have one vendor I go to for potatoes and eggplant so they don’t mind throwing in a small knob of ginger whenever I need it. I may or may not have also flirted by way to discounts also. I mean, if the seller says I’m “adorable like a mini eggplant” it would just be wrong to not accept a discounted mini eggplant. I know. We can revoke my feminist card right now.

5. Buy seasonal

It’s a well known fact, prices are best at the peak of the season. There were two magical weeks in the fall where Butternut Squash was 50 cents a lb and I went wild but when the squash started to cycle out of season I cooled it down. I feel the same way about apples. When honey crisps are cheap I buy them up but when they are out of season I show down my apple purchasing. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes in July I crave roasted Brussels sprouts and when I do I will buy the occasional bag from Trader Joe’s but for the most part I stick to seasonal eats. This is a good resource for finding out what is in season in your region.

Do you shop regularly at the farmers market? What is your favorite farmers market find?