Easter feast

A big part of our lives is the family gatherings we have celebrating holidays important to us. This Easter was a beautiful day spent with friends and family.

“Easter is a time when God turned the inevitability of death into the invincibility of life.”
~ Craig D. Lounsbrough

2016 International Food & Music Festival

This past Saturday a wide swath of Downtown Downey was cordoned off for the 2016 International Food & Music Festival. There was music for almost every taste and volume level. In addition to music and food there was also art for you to express yourself.

This group, called The Pasadena Transit, entertained the audience with their renditions of Chicago hits.

There were plenty of photo opportunities to show off your Downey pride.

And everywhere you looked there were events for the kids to participate in. This rock-climbing attraction was a big hit with both the parents and kids.

Leftovers

Leftovers for Thanksgiving are one of the best parts of the day. I couldn't believe how much food we had this year. We are a group who likes food and likes to share the work. So, we do Thanksgiving potluck.

It was an incredible day. Every dish was amazing! Of course, we had the typical turkey and ham, but then there was the green bean casserole, mac & cheese, butternut squash, mashed potatoes & gravy, stuffing, sweet potatoes, creamed corn, scalloped potatoes, Waldorf salad, and a kale salad. And that doesn't even talk about the extras.

I read on a Thanksgiving website that the first Thanksgiving was a three-day harvest feast held by the founders of the Plymouth Colony in 1621. We clearly had enough food for a three-day feast. Maybe that is a new tradition we need to start.

Food & Music Festival

Downey Avenue was alive this evening with the sounds of live music. Adding to the fun, there were food trucks galore to choose from. Tonight was Downey's International Food & Music Festival.

What a treat! And, a great turnout.



"One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating". 
~ Luciano Pavarotti and William Wright, Pavarotti, My Own Story

Zoltar speaks

There were so many fun extra "touches" for the International Food Festival.

This little area drew me in because of the Eiffel Tower, but once I was there I noticed Zoltar. Do you remember the fortune teller machine from the movie Big with Tom Hanks? I kind of wondered if this man was making the wish that he could be a young boy again...

We arrived in time to see the belly dancers. The ZaZa Dancers were fun to watch. I can't imagine how much practicing this kind of dancing must take.



I say "Good Job, City of Downey!" The International Food Festival was a Downtown Downey hit.

International Food Festival

Downey hosted an International Food Festival in downtown Downey today. The event was a great success.

I loved this fountain area, above. It was like stepping into a little European city. It made me wish we could leave the fountain and add in a traffic circle. It was charming.

There were food trucks and booths offering a wide variety of choices for dinner. I chose Thai food and was not disappointed with my spicy chicken fried rice.

More to come tomorrow!

Eat more lamb!

I finally realized this year that the Greek Food Festival really is all about the food! Sure, there's dancing and carnival rides, and fun stuff to buy. But the food is the thing.

A Night with Thai Cuisine

Last night I went out for dinner. But, instead of downtown Downey, I went to the Castaway restaurant in Burbank where I was invited to attend an event sponsored by the Thai Trade Center of LA. The evening was centered around promoting Thai food products and had numerous restaurants who provided food from the four distinct regions of Thailand.

In addition, the Royal Thai government presented awards to a number of western region Thai restaurants who had earned the Thai government's seal of approval—the 2013 "Thai Select" certification awards (for the authenticity of the food they served and the ambiance of their restaurants).

The food was very yummy. I tried Singha beer mixed with coconut soda...surprisingly good. I had a Thai lollipop (lamb), a crab nugget (to die for), wild pork with chili, miang khum, and much more. I ate more than I should have and loved every minute of it...

"I am not a glutton—I am an explorer of food."
~ Erma Bombeck

Bustling downtown

Downtown Downey was bustling with activity this Saturday morning.

Let's start at the farmer's market. When you think about a farmer's market, you usually think about fruits and veggies and eggs. And as you can see below, there were a lot of those being sold.

But on the other side of the street, there are the prepared-food vendors, where I picked up some of my favorite coffeecake from the Tropicana stall. And at the end of the street, the ladies above were enjoying an early lunch from (I think) the Greek food stall.

More about the bustle tomorrow...

My Big Fat Greek Food Festival

This weekend was the annual Greek Food Festival. We try to never miss it! It is always a fun event with traditional Greek music, dancing, food and more.

Unfortunately, we went late this year so I missed the roasting of the lambs, but they were still chopping away at a mountain of meat when we arrived.

Of course, there were the standard blue and white striped tents lining the area. And, the food...I simply could not resist. I had both moussaka and a spanakopita! Both were yummy.

And, I bought some great smelling cream from a booth called "Holy Honey." But, my favorite is always the dancing.



"Dance is the hidden language of the soul"
~ Martha Graham

Where were you when the lights went out?

Last night while I was in the process of writing my post, the power went out. So, I planned to get up early and finish it first thing in the morning. Unfortunately, the power was still out in the morning...and the afternoon...and a good part of the evening.

Instead of doing my post first thing in the morning, I made a trip to the store as did a friend and after 12 bags of ice we finally had enough. As you can see, it took all of my coolers and then some to empty the refrigerator to try to keep things cold.

Were you caught in the "unplanned outage"? According to the follow-up email I received from SCE (Southern California Edison), the outage affected approximately 3,823 customers.

Tailgate party anyone?

Tailgating has become a national past-time for some, becoming an event in itself.  I thought it was funny that the Urban Dictionary defined tailgating as  "The act of going to an event venue with absolutely no intentions of seeing the performance or game. Only the sheer intentions of partying hardcore with random tailgaters."

This car was set up for some serious tailgating.

Greeks and food

This weekend was the annual Greek Food Festival at the St. George Greek Orthodox Church. It's called a "food festival" for a good reason!

To start with, there's row after row of spit-roasted lamb, with a whole crew busy tending to the spits. Then to go with the roasted lamb, you can get stuffed grape leaves (dolmathakia), souvlaki, gyros, moussaka, and baklava for dessert.

There was also a friendly message from your neighborhood cow.

Tomorrow, the Greek dancers.

Back to the past

I grew up watching movies like "Back to the Future" wishing I could do the same thing for a day—just hop back into another time for a minute. Gone are the days where one will see two young gooey eyed sweethearts sitting in the local drug store with two straws in the same milkshake. I even searched online the other day to get milk delivered, but they bring it in plastic pints and not glass... I could go to the store and do the same thing... not very romantic.

But enough about my ranting. Today, however, I went back in time. Sort of. In Brea, fourteen miles east of Downey, there is a place called Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour. It's definitely an experience. Loud, obnoxious, and over the top, their ice cream is heaping and sweet. The diner looks as if you stepped into a 50s candy store with an ice cream parlor in the back.

We sat at the soda fountain counter and watched as the boys made the chocolaty delights.



A picture of the front of their menus shows the atmosphere they've recreated in here.

My elixer

I love Mimi's Cafe. I always have. I get the same thing every time. French Quarter, no cheese please. Medium well-done.

Today though, I sit down with a slight headache and a firm belief (hopeful prayer) that it will be gone by the time my Caesar salad is gone.

Andria is our server, and also a vegetarian so although she wouldn't eat it herself, she would recommend the chicken potpie. She hears it is delicious. She is friendly, knowledgeable, and will come back in a few minutes to see if we're ready to order.

Of course being me, I eat too much bread and butter, poke myself with the fork while I'm trying to stab a crouton into obedience, and make my own spicy mustard because they are fresh out.

My friend asks me about my headache as I swallow another french fry and I realize happily, it's gone. Thank you Mimi's Cafe.

5 guys

Let me make this perfectly clear. I am not saying that "5 Guys" burgers are better than IN N OUT's. I am saying that, on occasion, I will grab a burger and fries from there when I'm craving a few jalapenos and some A1 sauce. Today happened to be one of those days. A new joint just popped up across the street from work on Candlewood in Lakewood (the city just south of Downey) and people were showing up with it all day for their lunch breaks. Needless to say I got a craving for it so, after work, I headed over.

Downey Street Faire 2012

Today was the 19th annual Downey Street Faire. It was a beautiful day for the event. Lots of food, arts, information, and fun old, restored cars.

"My mom said the only reason men are alive is for lawn care and vehicle maintenance."  -
Tim Allen

Royal red cupcakes

Friday's OLPH fundraiser consisted of eight food trucks, one of which was the Royal Red Velvet Cupcakes. The cupcakes looked scrumptious!

In addition to taking orders, Allen (above) was kept busy making balloon figures for the kids. But he had even more fun, it seemed, making funny faces for the camera.

Los Pollos #3

Melvin Madrazo had a great job. He co-owned a business that manufactured and distributed patches for the jerseys of every major league baseball, NASCAR, National Football League, and National Basketball Association team.

But Melvin hungered for more. He wanted to own and run family style restaurants. So his business partner bought him out and Melvin started a restaurant in the city of Bell called Los Pollos.

Business boomed and Melvin added a second and third Los Pollos in Los Angeles and Downey, the latter being where I sit now, eating my chicken tamales, frijoles, and arros, and enjoying dinner with the nephew of the owner. He tells me the history of the place and other restaurants Melvin has created, including The Tropicana, sitting adjacent to Los Pollos on the other side of Paramount.

As many times as I’ve eaten this food, somehow knowing the history of the people behind its creation makes it that much more delicious.

Famous hamburgers

A couple girls from work and I went out to BJ's Restaurant the other night and were all so excited with what we got that all of our camera phones were whipped out and flashing like it was the paparazzi.