Things Your Dog Doesn’t Want you to Know Book Tour and Giveaway Ends 9/28/2012

Posted on September 13, 2012 by Jamie

If you’re looking for a fun read, are a dog lover, or just have an appreciation for anything related to animals then you must check out, “Things Your Dog Doesn’t Want You to Know” by Hy Conrad and Jeff Johnson.

What is the premise of the book?  Well, think of all those situations that your little animal does around you, and now try to think about what your dog would say to you, if they had the chance.  “Things Your Dog Doesn’t Want you to Know” does just that.  All the answers you’ve ever wanted to know from the dog’s perspective.

This book is adorable, cute, and funny as heck.  You learn why dogs wag their tails, why dogs chase cars, why they love to play fetch, to why dogs lick you.  If you ever wondered why your little one does what they do, you’ll most likely find the answer in here.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and one that puts a smile on my face every time I see the cover of it, and no matter what I’m doing throughout the day, just opening any page of the book and just reading the story makes the day go a bit faster.

And by the end of the book, you’re bound to fall in love with one, if not more, of the eleven canines that took part in sharing their stories.

A huge shout out needs to go out to Dean Stefanides because he did a great job with the art direction in this book.  Paging through and looking through the photos was a huge part of the book for me.

Now one of my lucky readers has a chance of winning their very own printed copy:

Retail Value: 12.99

Mandatory Entry: Leave a comment.  Say something nice please!

Optional Entries:

Like Minnesota Girl in LA on facebook

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No purchase necessary, void where prohibited.  All entrants must be 18 years or older.  Entrants can reside in the US or Canada.  Winner will be chosen through the use of random.org and notified via email.  All other rules can be found here.  Giveaway ends on 9/28/2012 at 9pm PST.

Disclosure: I was provided with my own copy of “Things Your Dog Doesn’t Want you to Know,” and was asked to be apart of the Virtual Blog Book Tour.  All opinions of this book are of my own, and I loved reading through this adorable book, and I recommend it for all animal lovers.

 


Categories: Book Reviews, Fun Stuff, Giveaways | Tags: , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

The WINE Marketplace at the #lacountyfair

Posted on September 12, 2012 by Jamie

Last weekend was my first time at the LA County Fair, and I will be sure to share my entire journey next week, but this week I wanted to fixate on the Wine Marketplace because I was thoroughly impressed with what was happening there.

Every year the Los Angeles County Fair has a Los Angeles International Wine Competition and they bring in over a 100 different wines to try out.  The judges pick the best of each category and then these are offered at the LA County Fair to try out.  Tastings can be 3 dollars a glass, or you can do about 5 tastings for 12 dollars.

Beyond the trying out of the wines, the wine marketplace has a variety of wine education classes to take throughout the fair.  When I walked into the marketplace, and I saw this offering I knew I had to sit in on one.  The class, “The Price is Right” put on Traci Dutton.  Traci works for the culinary institute and is a wine sommelier and beverage manager, and she orders all of the wine on behalf of the culinary institute.  She knows a lot about wine.  Literally, over 35,000 bottle wine cellar is what she manages (how awesome!)

The focus of the “Price is  Right” program was to introduce us to bottles of wines that were 10 dollars and under that won gold medals within the competition.  In a way to make our life easier because they picked the wines out for us right away.

The wine education program came with 6 glasses of wine to taste, and they also included a tasty cheese plate which was provided by the cheese companies. They also provided us with a 3 dollar tasting ticket to try after our class was finished at the tasting bar.

Let me introduce you to the wines:

1) Target Wine Cube: Sauvignon Blanc, California, 2010 (18 dollars; but this it the equivilant of 4 bottles)

Okay, believe it or not, I haven’t done wine out of a box before, but after the target wine cube, I just may have to go out and get this.  These wine cubes can only be found at Target, and they come in 4 different varieties.  I was pretty impressed with the Sauvignon Blanc.

2) Wyndham Estates, Chardonney

This was not my favorite chardonney I have had.

3) Napa Creek, Merlot

I could definitely taste the deep flavors of the merlot, but because I am not a merlot girl, I did not enjoy this one.

4) Sawbuck, Cabernet Sauvignon

This was definitely a Cabernet, the flavors were there, the color was great, and it tasted great too.  A really great wine that only costs 9 dollars a bottle!

5) Amber Hill, Secret Blend

This was my favorite wine of the entire series.  In the process we were all trying to figure out what the secret blend was, but Traci found out, by turning the bottle upside down, it showed what the secret blend consisted of: think all red wines mixed together 😉

6) Gnarly Head, Old Vine Zinfandel

I haven’t tasted too many zinfandel’s in my life (I have my favorite wines and I’ve been sticking to those) however, I enjoyed this one.  It had what zinfandel’s are known for in it’s very fruity taste.

2 whites, 4 reds.  When I saw how many reds were provided at first I was a bit disappointed, but by the end I had 2 favorite reds out of the group, and I am learning fast how I am beginning to acquire a taste for reds.

In the end I really enjoyed this wine education class, and I’d love to take another one in the future.  Classes happen every Wednesday through Sunday throughout the fair. For those that have taken 6 classes throughout the fair are given a passport, and if filled out will be invited to their end of the fair party.  Happy Tasting!

After the wine class was over I went over to the tasting bar, and I tried out an Orange Muscat from Quady Winery.  I absolutely fell in love with this wine instantly.  A full review of this wine will be showcased soon.

Disclosure: I was provided with free admission and parking to the LA County Fair, however, I paid for the wine education class all on my own. 


Categories: Fun Stuff, Wine | Tags: , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

The Art Institutes Food Truck Battle Tour!

Posted on September 10, 2012 by Jamie

This past weekend I was invited out to the Art Institutes in Santa Monica to watch a food truck battle.  The contenders included the Art Institutes Culinary Team (which included 2 students in the Culinary Arts program at the Institute) against the well known “India Jones” Food Truck.

 VS

The previous week the AI Food Truck was in the Inland Empire where they took on the food truck, “Truck Norris.”  The AI Food Truck won out in that competition.

Right before the competition commenced both teams were called over where the secret ingredient was to be revealed:

The secret ingredient: KIWI

The teams then took to their trucks where they then had 30 minutes to come up with a recipe that included the secret ingredient.  A recipe that would bring out the flavors of kiwi, and a recipe that was innovative and well thought out.

First I checked in on India Jones to see what they were up to.

And then I headed on over to the AI Food Truck to check in on what they were up to:

The secret ingredient they added to make their “recipe” cold.

They were definitely hard at work.

But it looks like India Jones finished their recipes first, and was headed to the judges table.

But AI wasn’t far behind.  Both of the dishes can be seen here.  The AI Food Truck came up with their recipe “Kiwi Sorbet.”  And India Jones had 3 different recipes which included kiwi in all of them: A salad mixed with kiwi, a lackee kiwi (yogurt drink) and a chicken kiwi wrap mixed with chutney.  I was quite impressed with the innovation from both teams.

We watched as the judges tried out the recipes.  This was them talking with India Jones on their creations.  Jesse from the Lime Truck and Sky from the Sky Gourmet (CEO and Founder of Sky’s Gourmet Food Truck.)  Both of these two have been on “The Great American Food Truck Race.”

But in the end, there could only be one winner:

A big congrats goes out to the AI Food Truck Culinary Team on their win during this challenge.  That makes them 2 for 2.  There are still 2 other locations the Food Truck Battle will be happening at:

Cooking Battle – September 13, 2012

4:00 – 8:00 p.m.

The Art Institute of California – Orange County, a campus of Argosy University

3601 W. Sunflower Avenue

Santa Ana, CA 92704

Cooking Battle – September 22, 2012

1:00 – 5:00 p.m.

The Art Institute of California – San Diego, a campus of Argosy University

7650 Mission Valley Road

San Diego, CA 92108

An hour prior to the battle beginning you were able to try out food from the AI Food Truck and the other food trucks who are at the location.  At the Santa Monica Location they included: India Jones, Sky Gourmet Food Truck, and The Fry Truck (I tried their Apple Fries, and let me tell you, yum yum yum.

This is what the AI Food Truck was serving prior to the competition.  A Koffdog, Sweet Corned with Candied Bacon Soup, and a pulled BBQ Duck Slider.  I couldn’t pick a favorite of the three.  And the combination plate only cost me 10 dollars.

So stop by one of the future locations, and enjoy the competition.  Word on the street is that Jesse from the Lime Truck will be competing against the AI Food Truck on the 13th in Orange County.

Disclosure: I was invited out to witness the competition, and I was allowed inside the food trucks to capture the action taking place.  I paid for all food tried at this competition.  All opinions are my own.

 

 


Categories: Cooking, Life | Tags: , , , , , | 8 Comments