hockey at the ravine

Last night I was a part of NHL History -- the first ever outdoor NHL game in Southern California, the "Stadium Series: Los Angeles" at Dodger Stadium, between the Los Angeles Kings and the Sucky Ducks of Anaheim.

I spent a lot of money on those tickets -- about $100 per goal against the Kings -- to be a part of that history, and this is what I learned: 

• The Kings currently can't score a goal inside or outside.
• I really hate the Ducks (except for Teemu Selanne... because I interviewed him once -- on skates -- and he was really nice).
• My brother is a "big game" Kings jinx. Evidence: Game 4 of the 2012 Stanley Cup Finals, Home Game 1/Stanley Cup Banner Raising Ceremony of 2012-13 season... this game. But I love him anyway, and he's very entertaining. Read next point. 
• Wayne Gretzky's daughter is marrying my brother's favorite pro golfer... and "that is one lucky dude." I tell my brother that Paulina Gretzky used to be a goofy little kid with coke-bottle glasses and I have photographic proof of this somewhere from a Kings event in the early '90s. He has zero interest in me digging up those photos. 
• The people running Dodger Stadium concessions obviously know nothing about hockey fans, because they ran out of beer on tap by the end of the first period and I couldn't find vodka anywhere!
• I still hate going to Dodger Stadium.
• Taylor Lautner (the wolf in Twilight) apparently thinks he's really famous and needs five security guards to escort him to his front row (ie: not good for hockey in a baseball stadium) seats. He's also a selfie taker. (Can you tell I was really bored in the third period? Le sigh.) 

Here are some pics for posterity:

The beach volleyball court in left field. Sorry Planning Committee, but this was really lame. 

The Kings walk from the dugout to the ice for warm-ups.

All my favorite Kings in one shot, skating laps during warm-ups.

Kopi chillin' at the bench.

The Great One, smiling at what he made possible. 

KISS performing in right field. There was a bad delay on the big screen that made it appear these
legends were lip-synching. They'd never do that, right?

LA Sports Broadcasting Legends Vin Scully and Bob Miller get the festivities started! 

The teams entered from center field, as the USC Trojan Marching Band played.

All players were on the ice for the National Anthem, sung by Jordin Sparks.

Gretzky dropped the ceremonial puck for Captains Dustin Brown and that Duck dude.

Taylor Lautner taking selfies from his bad seats.

Fireworks going off at the end of the debacle... I mean game. And yes, like any true Dodger fans, we were already in the parking lot by that point, as there was nothing to cheer about at the end of the game. 

a once in a lifetime kind of day

... I mean how many opportunities in life do you get to go see a 60-something-year-old rock band perform in a baseball stadium during an outdoor hockey game in order to promote their new arena football team? We all really need to bow down to the promotional genius of Gene Simmons. 

For those of you who know me, that was meant to be read in Kim's UBER-sarcastic voice. For those of you that don't, just know I'm totally kidding.

Today is about one thing: Historic duck hunting. 

GO KINGS GO!!!! Beat the Sucky Ducks of Anaheim!!! (Pleeeeeease. I paid a lot for these things :/ )

#2 of the top 10 new... yep!

Each year, my friend Katharine and I go eat someplace fancy for our two birthdays, which are half a year apart. This year, she couldn't choose whether to go to Laurel Hardware or Bestia for her birthday in August.

Based on reservation availability, we ended up at Laurel Hardware in September. But I'd also managed to get a reservation at the hard-to-get-reservations-at Bestia for November. So we kept that... until the day of, when illness struck. We rescheduled... for January. And even though we were both battling nasty colds, kept the reservation this time (because otherwise this would have become my birthday dinner!) and drove to a scary little alley in the Downtown LA Arts district to sample the culinary wonders of the recently named #2 restaurant on Los Angeles Magazine's Top 10 New Restaurants of 2013 list.




Two things to note about Bestia:

1. The bar is very crafty. They have signature cocktails, beer and wine. I was denied my cranberry vodka, but received a bartender-created "fruity vodka something" (that's what I requested, not what they called it ;) that was super yummy.

2. The dishes on the menu are meant to be shared, and that's awesome because you get to taste twice as much. Although we'd been warned that they sometimes try to get you to order more than you need, we did okay and were pleasantly filled (but not in a full food coma) with two appetizers, a pasta, pizza and dessert, all split in two.

Here's what we ate: 

Little Gems antipasti. We ended up getting two salads to start. Both were fabulous!

Burrata with Persimmons + pickled shallots, scarlet frill, aged balsalmic and sea salt. (Thanks Katharine!) Can't go wrong with tomatoes, balsalmic and burrata!

Cavatelli alla Norcina, aka ricotta dumplings with pork sausage and black truffles. This was amazing! One of my new favorite things!

Margherita pizza with mozzarella, basil, olive oil, sea salt and a "toasty" crust. 

Not the best pizza ever (I think I like Mozza better), but still very good. 

Dessert was the Chocolate Budino Tart with salted caramel, otherwise known as a plate of ooey gooey chocolate on a crunchy crust. It should come with a glass of milk. So chocloate-y, but so good!

tea times two to celebrate national tea month!

While in my house, every month is Hot Tea Month (Coffee. Ick!), January is officially National Hot Tea month. So to celebrate, I started off the month with two afternoon teas out with good friends at new spots. 

Around New Year's, I trekked out to Sierra Madre with friends to have lunch at the Four Seasons Tea Room. This is a cute converted house with two tea rooms and a back patio (that was closed for winter, but looks super cute -- might have to come back in the summer). 

The tables are covered in lace tablecloths and doilies and the tea is served on pretty china. There were three of us, so we were able to order two pots of tea. They make their own blends, and we chose the "Holiday" blend, which was cinnamon-y, and a traditional English Breakfast. Both were very good.


We had the "Afternoon Tea," which comes with five tea sandwiches -- cucumber and dill, egg salad, tarragon chicken salad, roasted bell pepper with sundried tomato, and a very yummy banana bread with cream cheese. We ate them all before I remembered to take a photo (sorry!), but I will warn that the sandwiches were smaller than at most tea rooms I've been to. I was afraid we wouldn't get full enough but then they brought out the scones...

In case you haven't read my past blogs on my adventures around LA's tea rooms, I LOVE SCONES!! And these scones, were warm (actually HOT) out of the oven. And they were DELISH! They were plain (no fruit baked in), but were lightly brushed with butter. And did I mention they were hot out of the oven? Clotted cream and a sweet raspberry jam + warm, buttery carbs = HEAVEN! I was no longer worried about leaving hungry :)

 

Next they brought out the dessert plate. The chocolate truffle was a tad too chocolate-y for me -- I could have used a big glass of milk to wash it down... it was that chocolate-y. But the other two desserts were two of my faves: lemon bars and homemade shortbread cookies, dusted in powdered sugar. Mmm.

Overall, I give the Four Seasons Tea Room two thumbs up! It was definitely worth the trek east. (Well, the tea plus the shopping visit to Savor the Flavor down the street where I bought some amazeballs Tequila Lime peanut brittle and a canister of Hot Cinnamon Spice Harney & Sons [you guessed it] tea!)

A couple of weeks later, I took my super-sweet goddaughter Olivia and her mom Alicia to Afternoon Tea at the American Girl Store as a belated Birthday experience for Livie.

Now don't laugh at the fact I'm blogging about this. For a store specializing in driving small girls insane with new dolls every year, and tons of clothes for those dolls, and the ability to then make appointments for those dolls at the in-store beauty salon and photo studio, the food at this tea was surprisingly good, while also being totally kid-appropriate.... and doll-friendly. (We got a table-attaching booster chair for Olivia's doll, Little Livie, and they bring out a little tea cup for the dolls too!)





As a starter, they bring out a basket of cinnamon buns. Then you get to choose your beverage... anything from tea or hot cocoa to lemonade or juice. Alicia and I had tea. Livie had lemonade.

Next, the three-tiered tray of tea foods arrives, and with a few exceptions, it's very like any other tea. (The main exception is every item is named after one of the famous American Girl dolls...thank goodness Livie was there to explain this to me ;) The top "pastry" tier that would normally be scones (sniff!) had more kid-friendly food: "Cecile and Marie-Grace's Petit Fruit Muffins," "Kaya's Fresh Fruit Kabobs" and "Julie's Jello Smiles."

The next two tiers were the tea sandwiches -- soy butter and jelly, turkey and cheese, cucumber and cream cheese -- plus pigs in a blanket! The sandwiches were all cut into cute shapes like hearts, stars and flowers. And they were all very yummy!

Then it was time for dessert! 

Chocolate covered strawberries, a vanilla custard fruit tart and chocolate mousse in a flower pot, which was my fave -- not too chocolate-y, but just chocolate-y enough.

It was really fun, and a great way to introduce kids to tea. And they get you in and out in an hour... so we had plenty of time to shop afterwards. Little Livie now has a fluffy white cat named Tutu, and Tutu has a nice new kitty bed :)