sunday funday: oak glen apple orchards

Back in October, my dear friend Jenny, her daughter / my eye-rolling mini-me Ruthie and our friend Leslie flew down from Portland for a girls weekend of fun and wizardry. Saturday was catch-up day, Monday was our trek to Universal Studios for the Wizarding World of Harry Potter (more on that later), and Sunday was this Funday -- introducing Jen, Ruthie, Leslie, Jen's cool cousin Erin and her daughter Emmie to my "Find Fall" go-to spot, Oak Glen Apple Orchards in Yucaipa, CA.

First stop was Parrish Pioneer Ranch, where I purchased delicious apple butter, peanut brittle and kettle corn. It's also home to a few cute shops (where I did some early Christmas shopping) and a mini-animal farm, home to these colorful guys... who I hope are still there post-Turkey Day. Gobble, gobble, gulp...

Second stop on the Oak Glen loop was Law's Cider Mill, for jugs of fresh apple cider. Then we did some shopping at Oak Tree Village, where Ruthie and I snapped this awesome selfie...

And then I bought a beautiful teal infinity scarf, fingerless purple mittens to wear at Kings games (yet still use my phone), and a cute little doggie baby blanket for my niece-to-be from Shari at Creations by Shari. All so cute/cuddly, and Shari is so nice. Go buy stuff on her Etsy page!

After lunch at the Mexican food restaurant (aka the only place without a 30+ minute wait), we hit the highlight of our adventure.... waiting in line at Snow-Line Orchard for their famous, fresh-made apple donuts! 

While waiting in the line outside (because it was THAT long), I found Fall -- beautiful, pretty colors!

Then we made it to the door of the store... getting closer...

Once you're inside and around the little corner, you can watch them making the donuts. From there, it's like 5 minutes till you get your own warm, bag (or two!) of mini-apple donuts, which then disappear in about 60 seconds! So good!

 

Snow-line is also where I always actually buy apples.... this year they had mini-bags of mini-apples, which are great for someone like me who does not eat an apple a day (although after how sick I was two weeks ago, maybe I should!) I purchased mini-Jonagold and mini-Braeburn apples. Yummy!

sunday funday: a dim sum food coma

Months ago, my Club Cupcake gal pals and I discussed going for Dim Sum. Today, it finally happened. We drove out to Rosemead in the San Gabriel Valley early and were the first in line at Sea Harbour Seafood Restaurant when it opened at 10am. 

When we left at 11:40 -- with two boxes of leftovers and in food comas -- the restaurant was packed and there were probably 20-30 people waiting for tables. It's been voted best dim sum in LA by LA Weekly so if you want to go, go early :)

Here's what we had to eat that induced said food coma. (I've listed the menu numbers next to each one so you can be prepared if you go.)

#61 Baked BBQ Pork Buns
These were delish! And apparently they sell out of these a lot, so we ordered them first.
Note: This is LA Weekly's #1 dish at the restaurant.

#35 Shrimp Dumplings
These were also delish and easier to eat since they were small. They were also our cutest dish -- they look like little shells :)

#46 Soup Dumplings
These were good but hard to eat since their sauce is poured over them in the little tin, making them slippery little suckers. I accidentally dropped my dumpling back in (chop stick user error) and splashed sauce all over the white tablecloth. #oops 

#45 Shrimp Dumplings with Chives
These were HUGE and hard to eat because of their size. You'll need to hack it in half with your chopstick if you don't want to drop shrimp and chives back all over your plate.

#113 Stir Fried Rice Noodle with Chopped Chicken
When they say chopped chicken, they mean it. It's got hacked chicken STILL ON THE BONE in it. So be careful when you bite the chicken. The noodles were really good though once I got past the possible choking-on-a-chicken-bone factor. 

#25 Sauted Runner Beans with Minced Pork
I LOVED these! But I love fresh green beans and pork, so what's not to love?

#40 Steamed Beefballs
These were just kinda meh. It's a seafood restaurant, so don't come here for the beef.

#17 Sticky Rice with Preserved Meats (aka Pork)
This was really good and different from fried rice I'm used too. More meat and seasoning, less veggies and no egg.

#85 Almond Pudding and #64 Baked Low Fat Milk Buns
LOVED the Almond Pudding! It was sweet but not too sweet and very light and refreshing after a lot of meat and noodles. Did NOT love the Low Fat Milk Buns, but Katharine did. Why? Because the "milk" was of (my tastebuds red-alerted me) the coconut milk variety. I hate coconut. #menudescriptionfail

Fried Sesame Seed Buns
These were good but sticky on the inside and kind of hard to chew. I was so full by this point, I gave up on my second half. 

sunday funday in ojai

This tree is laughing at you. 

Had a lovely Sunday in Ojai last weekend. 

I wanted to see blue skies after a Saturday of smokey orange skies due to the #sandfire in Santa Clarita. 

Here's what I saw after a bit of shopping in "Downtown" Ojai :)

                                                                                                                                  

      Trips to Ojai (all two I've taken so far :p) always include lunch at Boccali's Italian restauarant... 

aka the home of the most delish and ginormous strawberry shortcake you'll ever experience!

Boccali's also has a winery and outdoor wine tasting that I hope to one day try if I ever go there with people who drink wine.

After filling up on carb-o-licious Italian food and strawberry shortcake, we took the "back way" back to LA and stopped at Frog Creek Farm for lavender... and photos. 

It's beautiful there!