Giveaway: $35 gift certificate from CSNStores.com

I'm happy to announce an opportunity for one lucky blog reader to win a $35 gift certificate to CSNStores.com. If you still haven't had a chance to visit CSN Stores, they operate 200+ websites with thousands of products. While I enjoy checking out their travel accessories and cookware, they also sell everything from backyard furniture to barstool and lighting.

You might recall the product review I did last month. Currently, I'm longing for these two products to add to my kitchen.

Owl Oven Mitt and Potholders Set - $19.99

Wine decanter and aeration system - $59.99

Enter to win the $35 gift certificate to CSNStores.com by leaving a comment below and sharing what you would buy with the gift certificate. Please include your first name and email address. Open to residents of the United States and Canada only. Limit one entry per person.

The giveaway closes on Friday, December 17, 2010 at 11:55 pm EST. One winner will be chosen using random.org and notified via email. 48 hours will be given to respond or another winner will be chosen.

Disclosure: No monetary compensation was received for this post.

In the Kitchen: A CSNStores.com Product Review

My products from CSNStores.com arrived some weeks ago, but I only had a chance to put them in to use recently. Shopping with CSN Stores is easy; the only hindrance is the variety of products they carry makes picking out what to buy hard!

I decided to go the practical route and picked out two new items for our kitchen. As you know from my previous posts, Raisin Bread and I have been cooking quite often at home. While we have made lots of healthy meals, a few of our cookware and electronic items died as a result.

We needed a new hand mixer to replace the one that broke, and I chose the Proctor-Silex Hand Mixer. This model is extremely non-fancy and is pretty generic, but I liked the price point and it does the job that it was meant to do. I've only used the mixer once so far and it was to make a Hong Kong-style egg custard tart. It came out beautifully!

Proctor-Silex Hand Mixer Features:

• Bowl rest feature
• 125 Watts
• Beater eject
• 5 speeds

The other item I chose was a Farberware Superior Nonstick 8" Deep Skillet in Black. We have several other small skillets, but they have lost their nonstickyness due to overuse. Besides the nonstick surface, I absolutely love that deepness of the skillet. This makes it more difficult for me to fling food out of the skillet while I'm stirring. Since I'm not sure how long the skillet will stay nonstick, I used the skillet to make some omelettes for brunch last weekend. Yummy!

Farberware Superior 8" Skillet features:

• Deep skillet
• Superior nonstick interior for fat-free cooking
• Even heat distribution throughout the entire pan for perfect cooking performance
• Comfortable, riveted handle is oven safe to 350°F

Specifications:

• Cleaning and care: Dishwasher safe
• Color: Black
• Overall dimensions: 3" H x 8.5" W x 14.25" D

Disclosure: CSNStores.com provided me with an electronic gift certificate in the value of $35 to purchase the items in this review. No monetary or other compensation was received for this post and all opinions are my own.  

Say Cheese: Shutterfly's 2010 Holiday Collection

This could just be me, but I have always thought that sending your friends and family cards with your face on it was some how strange and narcissistic. Over the past few years, as we’ve all grown up and become adults, I’ve found more and more of my friends and family living farther and farther apart. It’s not unusual for me to see certain people in my life only once or twice a year. Now, seeing their gorgeous faces smiling back at me on a greeting card is a comfort.

Shutterfly recently debuted its new 2010 holiday card collection. With over 700 designs, Shutterfly offers a variety of sizes and styles as well as both folded and flat Christmas photo cards. These cards are a great way to mark significant moments in life. If you are newly married or have just had a child or have just returned from the most amazing vacation of your life, sharing those moments with loved ones is what the holidays are all about.

Here are a few of my favorite Christmas card designs.

Disclosure: Shutterfly is providing me with a set of holiday cards but no monetary or other compensation was received for this post. 

Coming Soon: CSNStores.com Product Review

I was recently approached by CSNStores.com to participate in a product review. If you aren't familiar with this company, CSN Stores operates 200+ websites with thousands of products. They sell everything from furniture and upholstered headboards to clothing, cookware and luggage.

Over the coming weeks, I will be perusing their pages for an item to review. Here are two items that have already caught my eye:

ferm Living's Velo Wall Sticker - $59.95

Alessi Mediterraneo Kitchen Jars - from $30

Stay tuned to see what I pick and hear about my experience shopping at CSNStores.com.

Disclosure: No monetary compensation was received for this post. 

Good bye!

This blog will soon be decommissioned. I have been thinking a lot lately about what I want to say as a blogger, and I realized that I want to say more about me. So I'm moving all of my old content and writing new posts here:

paintingonawall.blogspot.com

I would love it if you would follow me there!

Love, Irene

Things to Do Before I leave LA

I have approximately 81 days left in Los Angeles. I don't think I can add much more to this list because it will be impossible to achieve. 

Things to Eat:
- Eat a bacon-wrapped hot dog from a street cart
- Palm Springs date shake (June)
- Eat a chili burger at Tommy's
- Animal
- Beacon
- Bludso’s Brisket
- Cole’s French Dip
- The Coop (April)
- Craft
- Fraiche
- Gloria's Salvadoran (April)
- Jitlada
- Lawry’s Prime Rib
- Let’s Be Frank’s Hot Dog
- Ludo’s Fried Chicken (April)
- Mo Chica (April)
- Nickel Diner
- Patisserie at The Bazaar
- Spago
- The Gorbals
- The Golden State
- Umami


Things to Do:
- Watch a Derby Dolls match
- Get a naked scrub down at a Korean spa
- Watts Tower
- Self-Realization Fellowship
- Van Nuys Japanese Garden
- Mt Wilson
- San Antonio Winery
- Monastery of the Angels
- Charmlee Wilderness Park
- Griffith Park Hike
- Heritage Square

NomNoms: Resto (New York City)

I get a day off for Cesar Chavez Day, so Matt and I planned a short trip to New York for the weekend. We didn't have any luck with the two restaurants that I wanted to try. When the original restaurants had entirely too long of a wait, we wandered some back streets, looking on Yelp for possibilities. We wound up stumbling upon Resto in Murray Hill, and I am glad that we did.

Resto is an adorable, homey Belgian restaurant. It was very quaint and unpretentious for a New York restaurant and was just comfortable. I ordered the chicken and waffles. The citrus chili syrup was kind of a strange addition and I wasn't particularly fond of it. But the gravy, chicken and bacon waffle were amazing. 

Chicken 'n Waffles

(bacon waffle, peppercorn gravy, citrus chili syrup)

Matt ordered the traditional Belgian dish of steamed mussels and fries, but with a twist. Resto has three different kinds of broth you can choose from, so he picked the Thai-inspired one. It was absolutely delicious. The frites were also great. Big and fat, crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. They also come with a ton of options for dipping sauces, and he picked an Indian-inspired cumin, yogurt one. Yum! I do wish I had ordered this dish now!

Moules & Frites
(green curry, lemongrass, coconut milk, kaffir lime broth)

Resto
111 East 29th Street
New York, NY 10016

NomNoms: The Golden State Cafe (Los Angeles)

Seems to me that there is no limit to the number of amazing burgers to be found in Los Angeles. The Counter. Father's Office. 25 degrees. Umami Burger. I heard another amazing burger could be found at The Golden State. Then I heard that a beer float could also be found there and I had to try it despite the fact that it scared me to death.

The burger looked tiny to me when it was set before me, but it was extremely filling. The bun and arugula were perhaps my favorite elements of the burger. I was still on my 40 days without fried foods, so I ordered the Persian cucumber salad. I was very happy that I did because it gave a fresh contrast to the heavy burger, rather than the normal heaviness upon heaviness that the combination of burger and fries normally presents.

Burger with Harris Ranch beef, Fiscalini Farms cheddar, 

glazed applewood smoked bacon, arugula, housemade aioli and ketchup

And now for the beer float. Made from Old Rasputin Imperial Stout and Scoops brown bread ice cream. I could only eat half of it. The stout was extremely bitter and hoppy. However, it was a fine experiment. Next time, I would prefer the root beer float. 

Beer float with Scoops brown bread ice cream

The Golden State Cafe
426 N. Fairfax Ave. 
Los Angeles, CA 90036

NomNoms: The Vegan Joint (Los Angeles)

On Matt's last excursion to Los Angeles, he fell ill and couldn't eat much of anything. Therefore, for breakfast, he only wanted to have a fruit smoothie. The only places I know of that serve fruit smoothies besides Jamba Juice and Robeks are vegan restaurants, so we decided to try out The Vegan Joint. The food was very delicious and I think the fruit smoothie wasn't bad either. Don't order the thai iced ice with boba, however. It was terrible. The boba was rubbery and undercooked. 

Dumplings had a strange texture but I guess that is what happens with fake meat. The mushroom soup tasted just like tom kha and the Chinese soup had a refreshing, light broth. I am looking forward to eating here again despite the fact that I dislike vegans very much.   

Grilled Dumplings

Fruit Smoothie

Mushroom soup with coconut milk, bamboo shoots, mushroom

Chinese soup with glass noodles, shitake, broccoli,tofu, napa cabbage

The Vegan Joint

10438 National Blvd. 

Los Angeles, CA 90034

NomNoms: 99 Things to Eat before You Die in LA (Los Angeles)

Let's see how many I have eaten from things Mr. Gold wants me to eat:

101 Noodle Express’ Beef Roll Gold
Akasha’s Quinoa With Edamame
Ancient Ginger Soup at Noodle Island
Angeli’s Gnocchi
Animal’s Foie Gras & Biscuits and Gravy
Anisette’s Pain au Chocolat
Apple Pan’s Hickoryburger
A-Won’s Al Bap
Banh Mi from Mr. Baguette
Bay Cities’ Godmother
Beverly Soon Tofu
Bigmista’s Pig Candy
Bludso’s Brisket
Bob’s Plain Doughnut
Border Grill’s Green Corn Tamales
Brandt Beef
Brooklyn’s Hearth-Baked Bagel
Bulgarini’s Goat’s Milk Gelato
Campanile’s Grilled Prime Rib
Canary’s Lamb-Tongue Sandwich
Capital’s Hot Almond Milk in Pastry
Casa Bianca’s Sausage-and-Eggplant Pizza
Chantilly’s Sesame Cream Puffs
Chicharrones de Queso
Chichen Itza’s Panuchos
Chili John’s Chili
Chinois’ Sizzling Catfish
Chung King’s Chongqing Fried Chicken
Ciro’s Flautas
Cole’s French Dip
Comme Ca’s Cheeseburger
Cut’s Bone-Marrow Flan
Din Tai Fung’s Soup Dumplings
Donut Man’s Strawberry Doughnut
El Atacor #11’s Potato Tacos
El Parian’s Birria
Euro Pane’s Egg Salad Sandwich
Eva Solo-Brewed Coffee
Eva’s Lechon
Fab L.A.’s Street Dog
Golden Deli’s Vietnamese Spring Rolls
Good Girl Dinette’s Chicken PotPie
Harry’s Seascape Strawberries
Hollenbeck Burrito
Hot Dog on a Stick
Huarache de Cabeza
Huckleberry’s Maple-Bacon Biscuits
Hungry Cat’s Lobster Roll
Ivy’s Corn Chowder
Jitlada’s Fish Kidneys
Kiriko’s Salmon Sashimi
Kiyokawa’s Sashimi
Kogi’s Kalbi Taco
Krakatoa-Blend Coffee
Krua Thai’s Pad Thai
L.A. Galbi
La Brea Bakery’s Country White Bread
Langer’s Hot Pastrami
Lawry’s Prime Rib
Let’s Be Frank’s Hot Dog
Little Dom’s Oyster Po’ Boy
Little Flower’s Sea-Salt Caramels
Ludo’s Fried Chicken
Luna Oysters
Lupe’s #2 Burrito
Mandarin House’s cha chiang mein
Maple Bacon Donut
Matsuhisa’s New-Style Sashimi
MCGrath’s Rainbow Chard
Meals by Genet’s Doro Wot
Michael Cimarusti’s Squid With Piquillo Peppers and Pig’s Ear
Mo-Chica’s Seviche
Mozza Pizza
Musso & Frank’s Welsh Rarebit
Natraliart’s Sprats
Newport Seafood’s Spicy Lobster
Oki Dog
Palate’s Vegetables en Papillote
Paleron With Kumquats and Cream of Wheat
Peruvian Roast Chicken
Philippe’s French Dip
Pho Minh’s Pho Bac
Rajdhani’s Thali
Rivera’s Tortillas
Romanesco
Saffron Silk Ice Cream
San Nak Ji
Sapp Coffee Shop’s Boat Noodles
Shanghai Xiao Chi’s Pork Pump
Shanxi Knife-Cut Noodles
Sherry Yard’s Kaiserschmarrn
Street-Vendor Cheese Enchiladas
The Gorbals’ Dill Fries
THE Grill on the Alley’s Corned Beef Hash
Tito’s Old-School Tacos
Urasawa’s Fugu
Wa Sushi’s Apple Pie and Eel
Whatever Lou Tells You to Drink
Yellow Fish Fried With Hair Seaweed

I got an F.