Bring your morning Starbucks receipt back to the store after 2 pm for a discounted drink

If you're a coffee lover, here's a deal from Starbucks that you will love, especially if you like both a morning jolt and an afternoon pick me up.  Bring your morning receipt in after 2 p.m. at participating stores and Starbucks will serve you up a Grande cold beverage for just $2.

That's any cold drink: iced coffee, tea or Frappuccino®(R) blended beverage, a new Starbucks Refreshers beverage or even a sinful  Caramel Frappuccino®(R) blended beverage. This offer is good from now until 9/3.

Chef Hora Fires Up Engine Co. No. 28 in Downtown Los Angeles

Pictured: A 1912 Firehouse turned Restaurant (photo: M. Hall)

What do you get when you combine a renovated 1912 Fire Station with Chef Christopher Hora’s unique sweet and savory fare? A winning combination that fits in beautifully with the renewal and renovation of Downtown Los Angeles. This little gem of a restaurant was once a 1912 Firehouse replete with fire engines, alarms  and a brass pole (see above) for fire fighters to slide down. Today the  historic setting at 644 Figueroa St. is home to the cuisine of  Chef Christopher Hora.  A graduate of the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco and native Californian, Chef Hora inherited his appreciation of fresh food and savory ingredients from his Italian mother and Czech Father when he was growing up.  That influence carries over to the hearty menu at Engine Co. No. 28.  The restaurant serves breakfast during the week, brunch on the weekends plus lunch and dinner.  There’s also a well-priced happy hour for those working in Downtown looking for relief from office stress.  Other offerings to alleviate stress  include a wine dinners and beer tastings.

Pictured: Cali Benni, a delicious twist of Eggs Benedict

I visited the restaurant on Sunday for brunch to get a feel for Chef Hora’s cooking skills prior to his two  appearances at this week’s LA Food and Wine Fest.   Brunch is a new addition to the Engine Co. 28 menu, and the fare is literally both sweet and savory.  Dishes like the French Toast with Bourbon soaked Orange Marmalade offer a new twist on traditional breakfast fare.  The dish is sweet but not too sweet,  with just the right subtle flavor from the Orange complimenting the French Toast. “ I don’t like anything to be too sweet, “ says Chef Hora. “If it’s too sweet it just stays in the front of your month and you don’t taste all the favors.”   The Cali Bennie of smoked salmon, avocado, spinach, poached egg and sauce cherone is simply a revelation.  It’s just the right twist on the more traditional eggs benedict with a cherone sauce that is more robust than a hollandaise offering hints of tomato, spices and shallots swimming in a rich sauce of egg yolk.  A less subtle dish is the Chicken and Waffles served with a heavy sauce that updates southern “red-eye’ gravy.  While the Cali Bennie tickles the taste buds with delicate flavor, the Chicken and Waffles is pure comfort food that assaults the mouth with a heavy cream sauce laden with bacon and hints of coffee.  It’s delicious, but it’s difficult to each too much of it, at least in one sitting.   It goes without saying that you won’t find this dish on any menu of recommended healthy diet foods.

Pictured: Delicious desserts on are the menu too.

Other menu highlights include rich desserts like Bananas Napoleon, cream pies and a rich Cheesecake served with fresh fruit.  Brunch at Engine Co. No. 28 offers everything from Porridge with toppings to Omelets, plus Bread and Butter Pudding.  The simple ingredients  don’t prepare the visitor for the deliciousness of the dishes.  “Anything is good if you begin with great product and sound technique,” said Executive Chef Christopher Hora.  His dishes are proof of his culinary talent for skillfully combining what might be considered unlikely ingredients.  Who else would conceive of Hamachi Ceviche complimented with blood orange, grapefruit and cactus? (This will be one of the the Chef’s dishes at the LA Food  and Wine Fest this week.)

Pictured: Chef Christopher Hora

If you work in Downtown Los Angeles, or you are going downtown for the theatre or a sporting event, put Engine Co. No. 28 on your list.  Shuttle service to  the Ahamanson theater is offered and the Staples Center and LA Live are within walking distance. Prices for Brunch start at $11.00 with bottomless Mimosas and Bloody Mary’s (with the Chef’s own spicy mix) offered for $20.00.  There’s nothing pretentious on the menu, just simple ingredients and delicious fare that’s reasonably priced, served up in a historic setting.

One More Day to Enter! Ideeli Offers Best in Shop Contest

Online retail is not immune to Olympic fever, as women-owned small businesses can go for the gold here at home by entering ideeli’s “Best in Shop,” a contest celebrating women entrepreneurs and small businesses. Created in partnership with New York Times bestselling author and small business champion Tory Johnson, the contest, which is accepting entries through August 7th, invites women entrepreneurs to enter for a chance to have their business featured on ideeli, the online retailer that was named to the top of Inc. Magazine’s list of fastest growing private companies in 2011.

Whether running a business that sells gorgeous gowns or fabulous flatware, women entrepreneurs across America are invited tell their story, share their creations and win a moment in the spotlight. Best in Shop is open to women nationwide whose small companies sell apparel, accessories, or home décor, with a chance for their company and products to be featured on ideeli, the popular online retail site with more than 5.5 million members. Best in Shop entries will be featured on ideeli’s Facebook landing page, and best in shop winners will be featured on the site.

Business owners or authorized representatives can learn more and enter the contest at www.ideeli.com/bestinshop. On August 20, ideeli and Tory Johnson will announce 20 finalists and voting will open to the public. The three companies with the most votes will be announced on September 5^th, and will work with Johnson and the ideeli team to curate a sale of their products to be featured in a special fall edition of ideeli’s "Tory's Shop" (www.ideeli.com/tory), a series of sales curated in collaboration with Tory Johnson, featuring women-run small businesses from around the country.

For more information on ideeli’s Best in Shop contest, visit www.ideeli.com/bestinshop

eBay Announces Designer Holiday Collection

  

Pictured: Leather Tibi T-shirt for eBay (photo via eBay)

Not to be outdone by Neiman Marcus and Target, eBay has entered the designer collection foray with their own announcement of a holiday collection featuring 7 hot designers. The new partnership will feature  designers Billy Reid, Chris Benz, Fallon, Jonathan Adler, Ruffian, Steven Alan and Tibi, has announced the eBay Holiday Collective - an original, limited-edition gift collection of men's and women's apparel, jewelry, travel and electronics accessories and home décor. Available on eBay on Nov. 12th for the 2012 holiday season, the Collective marks the first time eBay is collaborating with a group of leading designers to create an exclusive product range.

Each member of the Collective has designed a unique capsule collection to deliver, together, a singular suite of 40+ inspired gift items. From the trendy traveler and luxurious lounger to the holiday hostess and the gadget guru, the bespoke collection features gifts for everyone on your holiday shopping list. Starting November 12, the collection will be available globally, exclusively on eBay, at accessible, "Buy it Now" prices from $50 to $100 and will include free U.S. and international shipping. "


Last week ELLE magazine published exclusive preview pictures of the collection.   There are pajamas from Chris Benz, a Steven Alan iPad case, Jonathan Adler salt and pepper shakers, Fallon jewelry and a bright pink RUFF scarf by Ruffian plus the above pictured leather t-shirt from Tibi.  I'll be interested to learn more about this one.  Stay tuned.

Attention Wine Lovers: Big Sur Announces the 2012 Food and Wine Festival

Pictured: The perfect combination, Talbott Kali Hart 2010 Pinot Noir & Big Sur (photo: M. Hall)

Is there anything better than enjoying a delicious, fragrant glass of wine while looking at one of the natural wonders of California, and really the entire world? This is the premise of the Big Sur Food and Wine Festival.  The Big Sur Food and Wine fest for 2012 has just been announced, promising both great wines from Monterey county plus a fantastic setting. The festival offers attendees amazing deals on some of the area's best food and wine from Nov 1-4. The Hyatt Highlands will be kicking off the festivities with what promises to be an incredible first night of epicurean delights from their Pacific Edge restaurant. If you've been to Big Sur, you know the terrain and roads can be rough and sometimes even washed out by driving rain which can bring the travel nightmare of mud slides.

Pictured: A perfect combination: Big Sur views & fresh Abalone at the Pacific Edge, Hyatt Highlands (photo: M. Hall)

That's why I'm so intrigued by the an offering on this year's festival menu, the "Gateway to Big Sur" an opening night event at the Carmel Hyatt Highlands Hotel. Centrally located between the small village of Carmel, and the open vistas of Big Sur, the Hyatt Hotel will offer a special night of tastings from 35 wineries and 18 chefs in their Pacific’s Edge restaurant including the Lounge and Fireside Room.  Tickets are priced at $160.00 each.  I think this is a great deal for wine lovers and foodies, especially when you consider the quality of the food that will be provided.  I recently dinned at the Pacific's Edge restaurant and can highly recommend the food, especially the signature Abalone appetizer (see above).  The other thing I like about this special night is that everything is offered in one location. That's makes it safe for visitors and locals, as there is no driving while drinking from winery to winery and food is offered at the same time you are tasting.  Guests will enjoy spectacular sunset views as they dine on the best of what Big Sur chefs, Hyatt chefs and other invited restaurants prepare for this one special night.  Check out the Big Sur wine festival website  for more information and tickets. The Big Sur Food and Wine Festival is now in its fourth year, and has raised over $65,000 for local non-profit causes.

Summer Cooking Made Healthy & Easy: Five Easy Steps to Healthy Cooking Book

Like many people, I love to eat but I'm always looking for ways to eat well but stay on a healthy diet.  Camilla V. Saulsbury's book "Five Steps to Healthy Cooking" fits the bill.  The author's public relations representatives sent me an evaluation of this cookbook and I've been riffling through the pages enjoying the pictures, tips, nutritional informational and even storage tips provided by the Author.  As a busy working woman, I don't always cook as much as I would like to at home. But when I put the effort into cooking, I want it to be good and easy.  With the exception of a few vegetarian recipes for making veggie or chickpea burgers, the majority of these recipes don't take long to throw together.   Everything is laid out in easy steps and helpful tips. Information on the food ingredients is provided via call out boxes and sidebars throughout the book.  When you're busy, it's easy to glance at the 500 recipes in this book and pick out a few that are appealing for the ingredients and the nutritional value, and then decide which ones you want to make.  There are no "hidden calories" here as everything is disclosed in the nutritional information boxes including calories, fat, cholesterol, carbs, fiber and protein.

There are a few salad recipes in this book that I highly recommend for summer.  Both the "Fennel, Orange and Olive Salad" and the "Arugula, Watermelon and Feta Salad" are simply amazing and unique.  You can bring these to any gathering and not run the risk of someone else turning up with the same dish.   If you're a vegetarian cook, there are many wonderful dishes in this book that will be appealing to you. To literally get a taste of Camilla Saulsbury's recipes, check out her blog " Enlightened Cooking."   If you love seafood, and  you have some serious cooking time, check out her amazing Fire Roasted Seafood Stew with Fennel and Fresh Herbs recipe.   


Here's a tempting excerpt from the book, the Fennel, Orange and Olive Salad recipe.

Makes 6 side-dish servings

Ingredients:

• 2 large oranges
• 1 large bulb fennel, halved lengthwise, cored and very thinly sliced crosswise
• 1/2 cup very thinly sliced red onion
• 1/3 cup packed fresh mint leaves, torn
• 1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1/8 teaspoon cracked black pepper
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup pitted brine-cured black olives (such as kalamata), quartered

Directions:

1. Using a sharp knife, cut peel and pith from oranges. Working over a large bowl, cut between membranes to release segments. Squeeze the membranes to release any remaining juice into the bowl.
2. To the oranges, add fennel, red onion, mint, salt, pepper and oil, gently tossing to combine. Sprinkle with olives.

TIP:
To prepare the fennel bulb, trim off the tough stalks from the top and the bottom root end before cutting the bulb in half. Chop any feathery fronds from the stalks and sprinkle on top of the salad with the olives, if desired. If the outer layers of the bulb are tough and stringy, you can discard them or peel off the outer layer with a sharp vegetable peeler.

Nutrients per serving

Calories 100
Total fat 6 grams
Saturated fat 1 grams
Cholesterol 0 milligrams
Sodium 151 milligrams
Carbohydrate 12 grams
Fiber 3 grams
Protein 1 gram
Calcium 60 milligrams
Iron 0.8 milligrams

Excerpted from 5 Easy Steps to Healthy Cooking (page 116) by Camilla V. Saulsbury © 2012 Robert Rose Inc. Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved.

Enter to win a Louis Vuitton Tote Bag from HipSwap

Our friends at HipSwap in Santa Monica, Cali-forni-a are giving away a gorgeous Louis Vuitton Tote. Click here to enter!  Yes, you heard that right, Louis Vuitton.  Here are the details. They are giving away a 100% guaranteed authentic Louis Vuitton monogram canvas “tote” style shoulder bag. The traditional monogram canvas has been Louis Vuitton’s symbol since its introduction in 1896 and widely recognized as an elite status symbol around the world. This handbag has style and functionality which makes it a perfect everyday bag, whether you are taking it to the office or doing your errands. This is a classic bag that is sure to be chic and stylish for years to come.  Follow @HipSwap on Twitter to learn more about all their upcoming handbag giveaways.

Supplied by celebrity consignment shop, Encore Closet.