The One With a Little Ker-prize at the End

 Very sorry for the double post...not sure how this posted at an earlier date...I really need to read my blogger for dummies!!

I know you have heard a couple hundred times that Rich and I went to Pasadena a couple of weekends ago for a walking food tour.  I know you have heard a couple hundred times that we had an amazing time.  So I wanted to tell you a couple hundred more things about that amazing day.  I hope that if you live in or are planning to visit Southern California you might consider taking one of these tours, and if you don't you might visit some of these vendors websites.  I must claim that I am not getting paid by any means to support these businesses I just really dig them, and think you might too.

The company that puts on the tours is called Melting Pot Tours and they have the Pasadena tour, one in Santa Monica, and one in Boyle Heights that focuses on Latin food.  You get put into tour groups of no more than 15 (we had 13 on our tour and Rich was one of two men and one of one man over the age of 25).

You have a tour guide that takes you on the tour and gives you lots of tidbits about the area, the restaurants, and local history.  This was our wonderful tour guide Summer...and as it turns out she went to the school I teach at...yeah, small world.

We tasted so many good food and visited so many great restaurants.  All locally owned and operated and all committed to the city and community in which they reside.  I ABSOLUTELY love that!!

Some of the restaurants that I really enjoyed were a Peruvian restaurant, a Oaxacan Mexican restaurant, and an Asian fusion restaurant.  We had a couple of sweet treats along the way too...an Italian gelato counter, a chocolatier, and a bakery.

After the tour we went for a cup of coffee at Intelligentsia Coffee Shop it was such a neat shop and we enjoyed our coffee.

This was Rich's drink...nice and manly huh??

We also ate dinner at one of the stops on the tour, an Asian fusion restaurant called Equator.

Isn't that place just very cool...It is located in the original stables for the police station.

We had the pad Thai and the basil Mignon...oh.my.goodness.  The atmosphere was also wonderful.

Three of our stops were specialty shops and these are the ones that I would like to highlight and encourage you to visit their websites.

The first one was a specialty olive oil shop called Beyond the Olive.   

It is an olive oil and vinegar shop that we just fell in love with.  This shop is owned by a married couple it is very clear that their 10 month old daughter is a very important part of this family as they have a little play yard for her and most of their business is done with her on a hip entertaining the customers.  I loved the fact that they love what they do and We tasted two olive oils and two balsamic vinegars.  I loved the White Peach Balsamic Vinegar and the Olive Oil...and purchased them for a vinegar and olive oil salad dressing.

The second shop I would like to highlight is called Bird Pick Tea and Herb.  I didn't get a picture of this place as it was POURING rain when we went back to buy some tea.  They know there teas.  They have all different kinds of teas and tea accessories.  I had fun tasting and smelling all the tea. 

The third place was call The Soap Kitchen.

It is a soap speciality shop owned by a young lady named Dali who does all the soap making in the back of the store.  Her parents run the shop and I got to meet her mom.  They are delightful people and the soap is amazing.  All natural and pure.  We purchased a couple of bars and I love them.

So in honor of all the stuff I got I would like to do a little giveaway.  I mean LITTLE...Just a sampling of the three shops I highlighted.  You will get some soap samples, some tea samples, a small bottle each of the white peach balsamic vinegar and the olive oil, and a melting pot tours bag.  All you have to do is live in the United States and leave a comment and tell me something that you splurge on.  Do you splurge on expensive coffee instead of Folgers?  Do you buy good teas instead of Lipton?  Do you enjoy an expensive pair of shoes or is Payless just fine?  Do you go for the expensive soaps or does Dove live in your shower? 

I really hope if you like good teas, soaps, and olive oil you will stop at the above sites and support a local business.  If not then think about the local businesses in your area and give them a shot.

I'll have my Bella draw a winner on Monday Evening just before Chuck and I'll post the winner on Tuesday.

If you enter, I'll stop talking about my trip to Pasadena...deal?

More Later

- A Ro