Laguna Culinary Arts

One of my favorite things to do on the last Saturday of every month is go to a wine tasting at Laguna Culinary Arts in Laguna Beach. For $5.00 LCA offers one-ounce pours of eight different wines.

I love going because I always find the atmosphere so relaxing (warm mustard-yellow walls, airy and rustic), the wine good (an excellent way to try new and/or different wines), the cheese wonderful (a huge selection from all over the world) and the staff very knowledgeable (they always describe the wines and cheeses).

The "white" cheese plate

LCA always has a “white” and “red” cheese plate to compliment the wines they are featuring in the tasting. The cost is $12 for two-three people and $18 for a plate that serves three-four people. Wines by the glass and bottle are also for sale.

I’m not an oenophile, by any stretch of the imagination I just enjoy wine. Full Disclosure: I pick my wine based on what the label looks like. I know, I know that’s probably blasphemous, but whatever.

So  mark your calendars now for Saturday, November 28, from 1:00 – 4:00 p.m., which is when the next tasting will take place. Laguna Culinary Arts is located at 845 Laguna Canyon Road, Laguna Beach, CA 92651 and their phone is 949.494.4006.

If you go or have been, let me know what you think. I hope you like it as much as we do.

It looks like they hit up 2 locations each night.  They have the week ahead planned on their website, but it is strongly suggested you follow them on twitter as the locations can change or as I’m reading, sometimes the addresses aren’t quite right.

I don’t know about you, but I am SUPER DUPER excited about this!!!!!  It looks like they’ll be at “Prim Jewelers – 1736 E. Meats Ave, Orange”  from 10:30-Midnight this Wednesday, you’d better believe I’ll be there!

Thank you Kogi!!!

Camaro and a Transformer from the movie.

Love them cars and auto shows.  The OC Auto Show is one of my favs as it is small enough you can see it in one afternoon and still have seen it all.  The other nice thing about it is that it isn’t all concept cars so you have plenty of opps to kick tires, slam doors and sit in your favorite cars.  Well, mostly you can do that.  The exotics are still behind bars where you can only ogle them and lust deeply in your heart for a chance to place your rump in them and imagine the pure enjoyment of running one through the gears.

Probably the most popular showcase was the Transformer Camaro.  At that little spot people are qued up 20-30 deep waiting for their turn for a quick pick in front of the group.  On the sidelines were people equally deep trying to sneak in their own pic without the line.  What ever if you don’t mind other people in the pic with your loved one if it works for you it works for me.

Acura ZDX Production Premier car.

This years show had a few surprises.  The debut of the new Toyota 4Runner was a packed around stage, so bad you couldn’t really get to it.  Ditto the production premiere of the new Acura ZDX which was set aside in its own protective shell with a lounge to discuss purchase with the ever present sales reps.

Several manufacturers had “you drive ‘em” cars available.  Yes, you got to drive them, with a factory rep after you handed over your DL as proof of age and signed enough waivers.  Ford had its 2011 Fiesta Prototypes you got to drive around the block.  Mazda had a much bigger route around the convention center where you got to see how well a variety of their cars handled real world driving conditions.  Toyota did similar only they had a test track set up with cones, obstacles and rough road simulations where you got to see how well their cars handled.  Too bad the real world isn’t the same as the simulated one.  Regardless all three are worth the 20 minute ques for a test drive or two, or three.

Brabaus Smart Car with Smart Madness.com mods.

Obligatory Bugatti Veyron to legitimize the show.

Snark alert: not enough seating in the food courts had too many of us having impromptu picnics on the carpet.

Today is the last day of the OC Auto Show over at the Anaheim Convention Center.  The show runs until 7PM tonight and well worth the cost of admission in my not so humble opinion.

All pics by me and to get bigger with a click.  More in my flicker set.

My dilemma here is which museum do I visit.  Both the Orange County Center for Contemporary Art or Orange County Museum of Art will have no admission this weekend.  I get into great modern art installations almost as much as I enjoy great collections of old impressionists art.  With them both being free and only one play day this weekend I don’t which to chose – which do you recommend?

It’s not too late!  You can still sign up here to keep our world-famous, beautiful beaches of Orange County clean.

And yes, that should include the nudists, too! ;)

(photo courtesy of DHN via Wikimedia Commons)

The Irvine Fine Arts Center presents All Media 2009, a juried exhibition open to Southern California artists. This show will feature two and three-dimensional art, including painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, and digital media. The deadline for submissions is Monday, September 28,2009.

Click here for more more information regarding submission requirements and the entry form.

The All Media 2009 exhibition will run from November 20, 2009 through January 16, 2010 (or the 23rd … depending on which document you look at). The IFAC is located at: 14321 Yale Avenue, Irvine, CA 92604.

If your work is accepted to be part of the exhibition, please let us know. The OC Metblog readers and posters alike would love – I’m sure – to come out and show our support.

Reader Mail: Unclear on the Concept

[Image via HCwDB]

I’m very impressed with your bags. I think they’re perfect for the department stores, apparel and accessory retailers, gift shops and large chains we work with. If you can offer good pricing and if you’re interested in selling your bags to more stores visit us at

http://www.intostores.com/sellers.php

Sincerely, Kevin Sanderson
VP Merchandising
866-788-5799 (extension 3)
IntoStores.com
5753 E. Santa Ana Canyon Road
Anaheim, CA 92807

Hahaha. I feel the need to hang my head in shame, for I am from A-Ville and apparently, not only are we douche-ridden but we’re completely inept at spamming people. Of course, if it isn’t spam then I would love to see how they plan to sell these ‘bags’ in local retailers. I almost called to ask but alas cooler heads prevailed. Besides, I’m pretty sure you can already rent them by the hour but the cost to buy one outright is going to send you well into six digits.

[via HCwDB]

The hiking trails are easy, especially if you are just meandering and allowing all of your senses to fully absorb everything the forest has to offer. The senses go into overdrive the minute you step on the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway, this is especially true if you have a height thing, which I do.

Follow me after the jump for more photos and commentary.

As you can see from the photo below, it looks like you’re heading straight into the side of the mountain, when you are on your way up.  One thing, of several, that is a bit disconcerting is the rocking when the tramcar goes by the cable-holding towers. Not only is it disconcerting, but annoying too because most of the passengers yell “WHOO!” Call me a curmudgeon or a killjoy, but I think it’s stupid. Really, though, I’m just looking straight ahead and not thinking about plunging headfirst into the valley below.

The scene from inside the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway. It's a little disconcerting.*

A really cool feature of PSAT cars is that the floor rotates 360°. So no matter where you are standing you get an outstanding view.*

The valley below ... a long way down. Yikes!*

All that plunging aside, as you climb higher and higher the air gets cooler and sweeter. Even though your belly, OK mine, feels a little unsteady the strangest thing begins to happen, you can already feel the tension melting away. Seriously. Maybe it’s just being over a mile and a half above sea level (8,500 feet = 1.609 848 484 8 miles) makes my brain woozy since the air is “thinner.”

Regardless, the air smells divine – a combination of wood, pine, with a little sweetness thrown in – and feels crisp and cool, which is a nice contrast to the warmth of the sun, which was quite hot. I think you can actually taste the freshness.

We packed a picnic lunch, walked away from the crowds and found a flat rock to perch on and enjoyed our sandwiches. While there we just enjoyed the sounds of the forest. You know that saying “it sounded like a train?” well, that is kinda what strong winds sounded like blowing through the trees. A milder wind just sounded like ambient freeway noise. We heard lots of birds calling and smaller animals like squirrels and those little lizards, you see all over SoCal, scurrying about. Of course you can also hear the ever-present Homo sapiens.

The husband enjoying the peacefulness and the view.

A pretty blue bird, not a Bluejay. Does anyone know what kind of bird it is?

In addition to all of traditionally beautiful scenery, I think there is a lot of beauty in dead trees. Odd, I know, but I think they are just so interesting looking.

Dead Tree Against a Blue Sky

Don't the branches look like antlers?

I’m not a photographer. I just like to take photos of things that I find interesting or to document what I saw. I was also having fun playing with my new camera.

Sap on a dead tree. Doesn't it look like candy?

Since my camera is brand new, I said to the husband, “I think I’m going to take my battery charger. I’m not sure how long it will last.” His reply “What are you gonna do, plug into a tree?” I didn’t take the charger. However, if you DO decide to take your power cables you’re in luck, it’s not a tree, but close. According to the website there is Wi-Fi access as well. Who knew?

You CAN plug-in in the forest.

So, my Orange County friends, what are your experiences in the forest? By the way, this is as close as I get to camping.

After walking around in the woods, we sat in the lodge, I don’t know if that’s what they call it, but that’s what it looks like. We had a beer on the patio and just continued to relax. We continued our relaxing with a great dinner in Palm Springs (we brought a change of clothes) and then drove home. A perfect day through-and-through.

The drive is approximately an hour and 45 minutes from Orange County. If you decide to make the trip, I recommend you bring three things: good hiking shoes, as the ground is very uneven; a jacket/sweater/sweatshirt, as the temperature is easily 20° – 30° cooler than at the base of the mountain; and lastly water.

* These three photos, of the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway, were taken during another trip two years ago.

And now, the video:

4 ounce tasting mug

As many of you know, the Orange County Beer Festival was held yesterday at Irvine Lake. As promised there were lots of breweries, lots of beer to drink and plenty of heat.

Since it was so hot – the thermometer in my car showed 100 degrees – I was shocked at how many people had on jeans, closed-toe shoes and dark shirts. However, most people seemed to be aware we were in the middle of a heat wave and dressed as such. Thankfully there was shade to be had and the vendors that happened to be in the shade produced a crowd.

Our purpose was to try beers we’d not had before. I sampled 14, but did not entirely drink them all. Some were just too heavy for such a hot summer day. I tried to stick to lights, wheats, whites, etc. plus that’s what I tend to prefer. Although, one of my favorites was none of those, exactly. MateVeza an organic beer with caffeine.

More photos and commentary after the jump.

All of the vendors were extremely knowledgeable, not only of their own brews, but beer in general and were fun to talk to.  They often asked what we liked and were genuinely interested in our responses. There were over 50 microbreweries and probably more than 200 different types of beer.

OC Beer Festival - notice how everyone is in the shade. The beer vendors were set-up under the tents that lined two sides of the grounds as well as the center, creating two large grassy aisles. The food trucks were in the parking lot next to the lake.

The immense pyrocumulous cloud from the Station Fire is visible from many locations in Orange County

Metal Shop, an '80s cover band entertained the crowd and a passing bicyclist.

The live band, Metal Shop, was a lot of fun and in my opinion perfect for this type of event. They provided fun energetic sing-along 80’s glam rock. Plus, ya gotta love the throwback outfits/hair, which I took to be a little tongue-in-cheek. My only complaint: they didn’t play Nightrain, although this song is more hard rock than glam rock. Metal Shop played lots of Bon Jovi and Poison.

Two Down ... on our way out we noticed two people who looked like they didn't drink enough water, nor did it look like they were dressed properly. God, I sound like my dad. Ack!

I am so glad free bottled water  and iced tea was provided. We frequented that booth more than any. If I didn’t drink lots o’ water that’d be me in the above photo. Food – burgers, sausages, desserts, etc. – was for sale at a reasonable price. The In-N-Out cheeseburger totally hit the spot and also prevented me from ending up horizontal.

There were also plenty of porta-johns available. I’ve been to many events when this is not the case. Thumbs up for this.

I thought the venue of Irvine Lake was nice, but if the event were much bigger it would’ve been a tight squeeze and an even bigger traffic nightmare. I estimated a crowd of about 1,000-1,500. Getting to Irvine Lake is a bit of a challenge as well. Basically there is one two-lane road, Santiago Canyon Road, in and out. The easiest way to get there is off of the 241 toll road and that is the way most people came, including us. We sat in at least a one-mile back-up. Traffic was creeping along until the OC sheriffs rolled up and took over traffic control. The only other alternative was to come via El Toro Road, which changes to SCR at Cook’s Corner.

One thing I wish was available was a tasting menu. I did take a little notepad to jot some thoughts and list the beers I tasted, but an entire list of all of the beers available and the brewery’s that produce them would’ve been nice. Oh well, what do I know? Other than that I really don’t have any complaints.

All-in-all for $40 a ticket/$80 per couple – heck we spend at least that when we just go out to dinner – you really got your money’s worth, unlimited four-ounce pours, live music and free non-alcoholic beverages. Speaking of tickets, I’d like to add a BIG thank you to Frazgo for the heads up/tickets for this event. He is an author for LA Metblogs.

The husband and I had a great time and are considering making the drive up to LA for Septemberfest. Anyone else?

Overall I think the event was well attended and well organized. So OC metblog readers, did you attend the Beer Festival? If so, what did you think?