Eating and Riding Around Knott's Berry Farm

To contact us Click HERE
I've been invited to many restaurants and food events, but every once in a while something fun and different comes along, like an invitation to Knott's Berry Farm! OK, so the invite was to come to a tasting of their food offerings around the theme park, but I have to admit the opportunity to ride roller coasters was a major draw for me. Knott's Berry Farm isn't just known as a theme park, but their fried chicken and pies were what started the whole enterprise. Mrs Knott's Chicken Dinner Restaurant started in 1934 and attracted so many tourists that they started building shops and attractions around it to entertain waiting guests. So it really was the food that started the theme park!

The most famous food here of course is the fried chicken from Mrs. Knott's Chicken Dinner in the MarketPlace area, where they still serve the original recipe from 78 years ago. I actually have never had the fried chicken up until now, despite having lived in LA for almost 10 years. Verdict: they're quite good and hit the spot.
During the tasting I also tried the chicken pot pie, which also turned out to be really good. Flaky crust with creamy filling!

Read more »

Road Trip Food (Yellowstone): Cowboy's Lodge and Grille (Gardiner, Montana)

To contact us Click HERE
On my last trip to Yellowstone, we flew into Bozeman, Montana and drove 1.5 hours to the North entrance of Yellowstone National Park. Feeling hungry on the road, we decided to stop in Gardiner, Montana for a bite, but most restaurants were closed in between lunch and dinner service. Luckily, Cowboy's Lodge and Grill was open.

Being cold, I had to order a cup each of their gumbo, chili, and the ranch hand stew ($4 for a cup). I've had better gumbo elsewhere but the other two were hearty and really hit the spot.
If you ever find yourself looking for food in Gardiner, Montana, I recommend the stew here!I had to order the bison steak since I was in Montana (it's on all the menus here, pretty much) but here it turned out to be pretty tough (a bit overcooked) and pretty expensive ($28), especially compared to the stew and chili!The cobbler ($3) was unfortunately disappointing, with canned peaches and mushy crust.Despite the disappointing steak and cobbler, we were happy with our stews and chili and were just glad to find a place to eat here between lunch and dinner service! Not too bad of a first meal at Yellowstone.

Cowboy Lodge and Grill
303 2nd St S
Gardiner, MT

David Cronenberg's Cosmopolis

To contact us Click HERE

Cosmopolis is David Cronenberg's new film starring Robert Pattinson. It opens in Los Angeles and New York on August 17th and nationwide August 24th.

I was invited to a screening last week. The film is extremely challenging for the viewer. It moves at an incredibly slow pace and the action mostly happens either off screen or in it's periphery. Robert Pattinson plays a currency speculator who, to my mind, is completely isolated from the world and longs to reconnect.

The entire film takes place in one day. Our main character has chosen to get a hair cut across town, that town being New York, and with the president in town and a celeb funeral, the journey takes all day. He travels in the back of his custom white limo and is joined throughout the trip by various colleagues and attendants.

The whole thing reminded me of a young man on a journey of discovery. Siddhartha in the modern age, maybe .I recommend this for extremely patient film goers, who enjoy unraveling a riddle with their film going.

Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood Premieres This Monday

To contact us Click HERE

Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood premieres on PBS this Monday, Labor day. I like to think that I recommend the best television has to offer here at Elise's Ramblings and I believe you should get your kids started early watching quality shows.



Daniel is a spin off of Mr Rogers, and has all the same great educational and social emotional messages for your young children. You may even pick up a few parenting tips.



If your kid really likes the show you can also find a Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood app where kids play with Daniel Tiger as he goes about his everyday activities, learning life’s little lessons along the way in the games “Doctor Daniel,” “Daniel's Bedtime” and “In Daniel's Bathroom.”


The Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood: Play at home with Daniel  App is available for $1.99 for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch.    
And just like Mr. Rogers "I like you just the way you are"

Knott's Camp Spooky

To contact us Click HERE

Last weekend my family was invited to visit Knott's Camp Spooky, usually known as Camp Snoopy. Camp Spooky is a daylight non-scary Halloween event for kids ages 3-11 every weekend in October.

Join in the fun by coming in costume. Your child can participate in the costume parade, see the Creepy Crawler Cave (where naturalists will share their critters), Find your way through a hay bale maze, collect treats in the scavenger hunt, and of course enjoy all the rides and shows!

It was a great day, and while my daughter and husband enjoy a little scare with their Halloween festivities I was pleased to be goose bump free.

 

Eating and Riding Around Knott's Berry Farm

To contact us Click HERE
I've been invited to many restaurants and food events, but every once in a while something fun and different comes along, like an invitation to Knott's Berry Farm! OK, so the invite was to come to a tasting of their food offerings around the theme park, but I have to admit the opportunity to ride roller coasters was a major draw for me. Knott's Berry Farm isn't just known as a theme park, but their fried chicken and pies were what started the whole enterprise. Mrs Knott's Chicken Dinner Restaurant started in 1934 and attracted so many tourists that they started building shops and attractions around it to entertain waiting guests. So it really was the food that started the theme park!

The most famous food here of course is the fried chicken from Mrs. Knott's Chicken Dinner in the MarketPlace area, where they still serve the original recipe from 78 years ago. I actually have never had the fried chicken up until now, despite having lived in LA for almost 10 years. Verdict: they're quite good and hit the spot.
During the tasting I also tried the chicken pot pie, which also turned out to be really good. Flaky crust with creamy filling!

Read more »

Road Trip Food (Yellowstone): Cowboy's Lodge and Grille (Gardiner, Montana)

To contact us Click HERE
On my last trip to Yellowstone, we flew into Bozeman, Montana and drove 1.5 hours to the North entrance of Yellowstone National Park. Feeling hungry on the road, we decided to stop in Gardiner, Montana for a bite, but most restaurants were closed in between lunch and dinner service. Luckily, Cowboy's Lodge and Grill was open.

Being cold, I had to order a cup each of their gumbo, chili, and the ranch hand stew ($4 for a cup). I've had better gumbo elsewhere but the other two were hearty and really hit the spot.
If you ever find yourself looking for food in Gardiner, Montana, I recommend the stew here!I had to order the bison steak since I was in Montana (it's on all the menus here, pretty much) but here it turned out to be pretty tough (a bit overcooked) and pretty expensive ($28), especially compared to the stew and chili!The cobbler ($3) was unfortunately disappointing, with canned peaches and mushy crust.Despite the disappointing steak and cobbler, we were happy with our stews and chili and were just glad to find a place to eat here between lunch and dinner service! Not too bad of a first meal at Yellowstone.

Cowboy Lodge and Grill
303 2nd St S
Gardiner, MT

David Cronenberg's Cosmopolis

To contact us Click HERE

Cosmopolis is David Cronenberg's new film starring Robert Pattinson. It opens in Los Angeles and New York on August 17th and nationwide August 24th.

I was invited to a screening last week. The film is extremely challenging for the viewer. It moves at an incredibly slow pace and the action mostly happens either off screen or in it's periphery. Robert Pattinson plays a currency speculator who, to my mind, is completely isolated from the world and longs to reconnect.

The entire film takes place in one day. Our main character has chosen to get a hair cut across town, that town being New York, and with the president in town and a celeb funeral, the journey takes all day. He travels in the back of his custom white limo and is joined throughout the trip by various colleagues and attendants.

The whole thing reminded me of a young man on a journey of discovery. Siddhartha in the modern age, maybe .I recommend this for extremely patient film goers, who enjoy unraveling a riddle with their film going.

Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood Premieres This Monday

To contact us Click HERE

Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood premieres on PBS this Monday, Labor day. I like to think that I recommend the best television has to offer here at Elise's Ramblings and I believe you should get your kids started early watching quality shows.



Daniel is a spin off of Mr Rogers, and has all the same great educational and social emotional messages for your young children. You may even pick up a few parenting tips.



If your kid really likes the show you can also find a Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood app where kids play with Daniel Tiger as he goes about his everyday activities, learning life’s little lessons along the way in the games “Doctor Daniel,” “Daniel's Bedtime” and “In Daniel's Bathroom.”


The Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood: Play at home with Daniel  App is available for $1.99 for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch.    
And just like Mr. Rogers "I like you just the way you are"

Knott's Camp Spooky

To contact us Click HERE

Last weekend my family was invited to visit Knott's Camp Spooky, usually known as Camp Snoopy. Camp Spooky is a daylight non-scary Halloween event for kids ages 3-11 every weekend in October.

Join in the fun by coming in costume. Your child can participate in the costume parade, see the Creepy Crawler Cave (where naturalists will share their critters), Find your way through a hay bale maze, collect treats in the scavenger hunt, and of course enjoy all the rides and shows!

It was a great day, and while my daughter and husband enjoy a little scare with their Halloween festivities I was pleased to be goose bump free.

 

LA Loves Alex's Lemonade Returns Sept 29

To contact us Click HERE
There are plenty of food charity events in LA, but LA Loves Alex's Lemonade is still one of the best out there with famous chefs arriving from all over the US to raise funds to fight childhood cancer.
The chefs and restaurants that participate in this event do not skimp, as evidenced by the raw bar with oysters, uni, and crab at last year's event
Michael Cimarusti from Providence was previewing his new casual restaurant, Connie and Ted's, with the best clam chowder I've ever had. I'm still waiting for this place to open so I can have this again!
Read more »

Let's Talk About Luxury: The Macallan's £10 Bar at The Montage Beverly Hills

To contact us Click HERE
The names Macallan and The Montage Beverly Hills are already synonymous with luxury, but the £10 Bar is on another level. This Macallan exclusive bar is by-reservation only and has a $50 minimum per person. It's not hard to meet the minimum with the prices. The 12-year old Macallan aged in sherry oak is  £10, and the price goes up from there. Luckily I was there as Shop Eat Sleep's guest on her hosted media visit.
But I had to do a double take when I saw a $64,000 drink on the menu. Yep. I did say this bar was on another level of luxury, right? The 64-year-old Macallan goes for $64,000. That's for a glass/shot, by the way, but hey, they have the last two ounces of this stuff left on earth.
That beats the special Royal Marriage edition which was $12,000 for a whole bottle.
We sat outside since it was a nice day. Quiet, breezy, overlooking the garden and fountain. It is certainly a nice place to hang out and chat.

Of course, we had to order some Macallan. Our server told us that the sherry oak whisky tends to be smoother and fruitier. If you prefer something oaky, go with the ones in the fine oak section where the whiskies were finished in a bourbon barrel. For the smokier ones, there's the Highland Park line. So. When you order whisky here, they will bring you the four different ice options. There's the whisky soapstones, the ice cubes, specially made ice balls, and the one he most recommended - the ice ball made with Highland Springs water.

They actually ship water from Scotland to make these ice balls, no joke. It's supposed to be best since it's the same water used to make the whiskies. Even the "local" ice ball is no ordinary ball: it has the £ logo carved inside of the ice.

Read more »

Eating and Riding Around Knott's Berry Farm

To contact us Click HERE
I've been invited to many restaurants and food events, but every once in a while something fun and different comes along, like an invitation to Knott's Berry Farm! OK, so the invite was to come to a tasting of their food offerings around the theme park, but I have to admit the opportunity to ride roller coasters was a major draw for me. Knott's Berry Farm isn't just known as a theme park, but their fried chicken and pies were what started the whole enterprise. Mrs Knott's Chicken Dinner Restaurant started in 1934 and attracted so many tourists that they started building shops and attractions around it to entertain waiting guests. So it really was the food that started the theme park!

The most famous food here of course is the fried chicken from Mrs. Knott's Chicken Dinner in the MarketPlace area, where they still serve the original recipe from 78 years ago. I actually have never had the fried chicken up until now, despite having lived in LA for almost 10 years. Verdict: they're quite good and hit the spot.
During the tasting I also tried the chicken pot pie, which also turned out to be really good. Flaky crust with creamy filling!

Read more »

Road Trip Food (Yellowstone): Cowboy's Lodge and Grille (Gardiner, Montana)

To contact us Click HERE
On my last trip to Yellowstone, we flew into Bozeman, Montana and drove 1.5 hours to the North entrance of Yellowstone National Park. Feeling hungry on the road, we decided to stop in Gardiner, Montana for a bite, but most restaurants were closed in between lunch and dinner service. Luckily, Cowboy's Lodge and Grill was open.

Being cold, I had to order a cup each of their gumbo, chili, and the ranch hand stew ($4 for a cup). I've had better gumbo elsewhere but the other two were hearty and really hit the spot.
If you ever find yourself looking for food in Gardiner, Montana, I recommend the stew here!I had to order the bison steak since I was in Montana (it's on all the menus here, pretty much) but here it turned out to be pretty tough (a bit overcooked) and pretty expensive ($28), especially compared to the stew and chili!The cobbler ($3) was unfortunately disappointing, with canned peaches and mushy crust.Despite the disappointing steak and cobbler, we were happy with our stews and chili and were just glad to find a place to eat here between lunch and dinner service! Not too bad of a first meal at Yellowstone.

Cowboy Lodge and Grill
303 2nd St S
Gardiner, MT