Browsing Tag Rebecca Plantz

2007 was all about the dish. Daily Eats dished up some delicious and delightful eats. Thanks everyone for make 2007 wonderful and there’s lots of Daily Eats to explore for 2008!

Happy Holidays!

tags: Daily Eats, tery spataro

Caught in a small valley on the central coast of California is the artsy and quaint village of Cambria. Interesting shops and good restaurants in an upscale small town atmosphere make this a perfect afternoon stop when traveling Highway 1 between Oxnard and San Mateo.

On a slightly chilly, rainy afternoon, friends and I enjoyed the sights and tastes of Cambria, including a gift shop complete with fairy garden and apple pie.

What is hash? It’s fried potatoes mixed with your choice of ingredients. And it makes a great breakfast at the Hash House a Go Go located on Sahara Blvd. west of the Strip in Las Vegas.

We recommend the Mexican hash with chorizo and the Snickers pancakes the size of a hub cap!

After a morning of hiking along the beautiful hilly ocean coast in Los Osos, California a trio of us decided to drive down the road a bit to San Luis Obispo for lunch.

San Luis is a wonderful college town in a beautiful part of the California central coast. Having spent 10 years in Madison, Wisconsin, both as a student and professional, I have missed its small town feel with big city culture. San Luis is the nearest comparison to this wonderful combination, and may even exceed it. (Please don’t tell my Badger friends I said that!!)

Upon a local friend’s recommendation we visited a unique hot spot, Big Sky Modern Food.

Shawna’s friend, Ainar, is from Estonia and is a real meat & potatoes kind of a guy. He chose the pork sandwich and ate it open face. She and I were a bit more adventurous — I tried the bean chili; Shawna chose the panini with goat cheese and eggplant.

But at the meal’s ending, we all enjoyed a phenomenal dessert of fruit and chocolate beignets. YUMMM!!!

Taco-licious. Nestled along the Central California coast is a smallish restaurant whose unassuming facade belies its big reputation and food. A local favorite, the Taco Temple is known for its excellent Mexican food with a twist; tasty desserts; and LARGE portions! And the staff are friendly!

I ordered the fish taco platter which was excellent and large. Since I was told to save room for dessert, I forced myself to leave some on the plate. I wasn’t disappointed!

True to their word, we finished our meal with the heaviest, tastiest carrot cake I have ever eaten. It wasn’t just the size of the slice, but the texture of the cake that made its weight very heavy. Between the two of us, we didn’t make it even halfway through it over the course of an afternoon and an evening of snacking.

If you’re visiting Morro Bay, CA, make time for the Taco Temple! And if you’re just passing through, make time to stop and pick up a slice of cake to go!

Are you a tea drinker? Do you prefer herbal teas? If so, you may not know it but you can create your own personalized herbal teas through the use of muscle testing and by having a basic supply of herbal ingredients on hand.

According to Shawna Timmerman, a multidimensional healer and herbalist, the top 10 herbs to have on hand in your kitchen are as follows:

1) Aloe Vera (plant or bottles of aloe vera juice) acts as antifungal, antibacterial, antiviral, laxative and astringent. It lowers cholesterol, improves circulation, soothes the stomach, and aids healing. My mother and aunt always kept aloe vera plants on hand and it worked wonderfully for sunburn, cooking burns, etc.

2) Dandelion Leaf is a diuretic and blood cleanser/purifier, as well as a cleanser for kidneys, spleen, stomach, and pancreas.

3) Chickweed is good for respiratory and circulatory systems. It relieves congestion and is in high Vitamin C.

4) Hyssop expels excess mucus, regulates blood pressure, relieves congestion, and improves circulation.

5) Eucalyptus serves as a decongestant and antiseptic. It increases blood flow, reduces swelling, and aids the respiratory system.

6) Blue Cohosh eases muscle spasms, as well as being good for easing menstrual disorders and supporting the nervous system.

7) Burdock Root is an antioxidant and blood purifier/cleanser, as well as a supportive agent for the liver, gallbladder, digestive and immune systems.

8) Chaste Tree provides calming and soothing, plus relieves muscle spasms and regulates hormones and menstrual cycles.

9) Red Clover fights infection, purifies blood, expels mucus and serves as an antispasmodic, antibacterial, and anti inflammatory agent.

10) Skullcap is good for the heart and circulation. It also aids sleep, relieves spasms, and reduces pain, stress, headache, anxiety, and fatigue.

To choose the best combinations of herbs for any given day, use your intuition or a muscle testing process. A good summary of how to complete muscle testing is located at goodHealthinfo.net.

If you’re interested in receiving more advanced herbal remedies or training, contact Shawna Timmerman at shawna@shawnatimmerman.com.

Don’t forget to steep well for about 15-20 minutes. Cheers and Drink Up!!

If you love Harry Potter stories, you’ll love Bubble Gum Alley and The Secret Garden in San Luis Obispo (SLO), California!

Bubble Gum Alley is named appropriately because the walls of the buildings on both sides of the alley are creatively covered in chewing gum. Slogans, “I love (insert name)” and all manner of other presentations with chewed gum can be found here. Although it’s humorous, I do think it is incorrectly named and probably should be called Bubble GERM Alley.

But going through Bubble Gum Alley and getting to the Secret Garden is definitely worth it! This little organic herb shop is filled with lots and lots of herbs, as well as natural and nature-inspired gifts. I almost couldn’t resist buying myself a large jar of herbal bath tea and now am inspired to consider making my own herbal (drinking) teas.

While staying with my friend Shawna who is a healer in SLO, she made personally formulated herbal teas for me every morning using herbs from this very shop. Her teas are created as she connects to you through intuition and then by using kinesiology (muscle testing) to verify the ingredients. Most days my formulation included herbs for respiratory congestion, such as calendula, hyssop, chickweed, dandelion, etc. I wasn’t even aware that I was congested but within a day or so my lungs started clearing!! Wow this stuff works!!

Shawna promised to provide me a list of the “basics” for an herbal kitchen so that I can make my own drinking and bath teas which I will post on Daily Eats! If you’re interested in receiving your own herbal remedies, contact Shawna Timmerman at shawna@shawnatimmerman.com.

This amazing little shop is located on the patio at 1129 Garden Street, San Luis Obispo. Hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 11:00 am to 5:30 pm and Sunday from noon to 4:00 pm. And if you can’t go in person, they do ship upon request if you call 805-544-herb.

Click on the images above to see the detail of Bubble Gum Alley and The Secret Garden!!

Bread, butter, cheese … victory. That was the mantra of the competitors in the Fourth Second Annual Grilled Cheese Invitational (www.grilledcheeseinvitational.com) in the gritty downtown of Los Angeles. After the official “Blessing of the Cheese” ceremony and tribute to the cow, the ceremonies were completed and the competitors were sent off to grill!

Contestants entered one of three different “sammich” categories:

My personal favorite in the Missionary category was “The Leaning Tower of Cheesa” which consisted of 10 layers of bread and differing cheeses. It was so large it required a blow torch to finish the grilling process!

Judging was completed by the attendees who were intentionally limited in number by virtue of having to know someone who knew someone who knew someone who actually knew the address of the event.

When judging, the qualities reviewed were Presentation, Taste, Wessonality (Style Points) and Spaz. Spaz is basically the opposite of Best in Show — this allows those with the biggest weird factor to win in their own right without necessarily having to pass the other criteria.

The party atmosphere and attendee styles were also part of the show. Who knew that kilts, cleavage, space boots and “big, bright furry man coats” were all the rage? We also saw our share of top hats, chef or lab coats, patterns, stripes and Chinese patterns.

In summary, the entire event rated huge points for Wessonality and Spaz! Check out the web site and all the various photos to see if you agree. Then if you can meet someone who knows someone who knows about this event sometime this time next year, I would highly recommend checking it out!

Last weekend, I had the wonderful experience of joining a dinner party at my friend Christina’s. Dining there is always a treat since she is a great food and wine lover, and has received some training at French culinary schools. Yum!

During the appetizer course, we five enjoyed wine and cheese while hanging new silk drapes in Christina’s home. Ah yes, drinking, electric drills, tall ladders and furniture moving — it’s not a combination that would initially come to mind but it was quite fun and rewarding to see the beautiful end result.

The white wine lovers enjoyed a light but crisp 2006 King Crawford Savignon Blanc from New Zealand. It scored 92 points in competition and is a great buy at $12 per bottle at Costco. A 2004 Frenchhouse Sirah from Vin de Pays d’oc (South France) was slightly dry, with a nice finish. Better yet, it didn’t give me a headache the next day as some heavy tannin reds can do.

Then it was down off the ladders and on to the main course, during which the guests individually completed their “Passion Test” and we discussed the new indie movie, “The Secret”. For those who haven’t read “The Passion Test”, it is an excellent means to quickly discover your primary passions which then leads to divining your life purpose, setting intentions and manifesting desirable life changes. Christina experienced this exercise a few weeks prior when she attended the monthly “A Day with the Angels” event.

The results of this exercise quickly led to a discussion of “The Secret” which is all about energy management and how to use the Law of Attraction to effectively create the life experiences you desire. The Law of Attraction is fundamentally based on quantum physics and thought management. A key that I’ve learned through experience is that it’s important to understand your passions before applying the Law of Attraction because any thoughts will manifest — desired or undesired!! So you want to ensure you are manifesting what is truly important!

Intuitive eating is also all about energy management. Food is a frequency that is used to complete physical upgrades and stabilization of energy shifts. Since Christina has also heard me talk about this aspect of energy management she told the guests, “As I was preparing the meal I was wondering if Rebecca would find the energy high enough.” On the other hand I wasn’t overly concerned. When food is prepared by someone who loves to cook, the love for the food, the process and the people whom it will feed, infuses a high vibration.

And the food was indeed scrumptious!! We feasted on Christina’s own secret recipe of Malaysian Curry, Rice Pilaf and French Salad with Organic Mixed Greens & Blue Cheese. The meal was finished with Jasmine Tea, a Pear Tart and Chocolate-Covered Strawberries. Although I tried to obtain the Malaysian Curry recipe, she held fast and instead did disclose that the Pear Tart recipe came from Williams Sonoma and is very easy to make.

Christina, you can invite me to eat at your house any time!

Pucker up … The margaritas are salty and strong at both locations of the Salty Senorita in Scottsdale, AZ.

My first trip to the North Scottsdale scene followed an afternoon of helping a friend move. It was the week of this location’s grand opening and like its sister site in South Scottsdale, the crowd was steady and the atmosphere jovial. But the best part in both locations is the staff. In both locations, you’ll find the staff helpful, chatty and good-spirited — worthy of good tips!

My latest visit was also memorable because of the inspiring conversation and company. There are those people in one’s life who move us to think about and experience life in new ways. My friend Scott is one such person.

For nearly a year, Scott has felt a call to live a more meaningful life and undertook a soul searching expedition which culminated in our recent evening together. Little did I know that I would be finally learning that the real reason he sold his house. In listening to his intuition and inner voice, Scott decided to leave his well-paying job to volunteer for Habitat for Humanity Katrina Relief effort … for the next year. Wow!!

Cheers to Scott and best wishes for serving your inner voice and giving of yourself to make the world a little better for others in need!