The LOOP: Handcrafted Churros

We made a recent stop on the way home from Disneyland to The Loop: Handcrafted Churros,  named after the shape of the handcrafted churros they offer, which is located in Orange County’s Little Saigon community. In a fun little twist on the classic Mexican treat, the Loop offers churros dipped, glazed, or chilled, meaning they come with an ice cream sundae.

The LOOP: Handcrafted Churros - Westminster, CA

The LOOP: Handcrafted Churros – Westminster, CA

They are so insta-famous to me that I refused to head back to San Diego without getting my hands on some churros. We arrived expecting a crazy line considering it was a Saturday afternoon, but we got lucky and only had a couple people ahead of us. Although, after we ordered it was another story. Continue reading

Julian Pie Company

Yay, it’s the first day of Fall! Bring on all of the apples and pumpkins! I must say Fall is my favorite season. The problem is living in San Diego, we don’t really get Fall weather or season changes, but luckily Julian does. Julian is a mountain getaway, an hour northeast of San Diego, located in the Cuyamaca mountains.

San Diego also doesn’t really offer cider donuts like I was always seeing all over my Instagram feed in the Fall, so one year I did an internet search to track down cider donuts in town and found Julian Pie Company offers them. It makes sense that Julian would be the place to find cider donuts since every September they have a two-day Julian Apple Days Festival, not to mention Julian is famous for apple pies.

Julian Pie Company - Santa Ysabel location

Julian Pie Company – Santa Ysabel location

I got my husband on board for taking a day trip to Julian by fitting in some off-roading in his prized Jeep in the Laguna Mountains after. We set off in the morning on a Saturday and decided to drive through Ramona and stop at the Santa Ysabel location because I knew they had a bigger selection of donuts, in my experience than the Julian location. Continue reading

Ralph Brennan’s Jazz Kitchen Express

One of our favorite treats at Disneyland are Mickey Beignets from Mint Julep Bar, but if you are in Downtown Disney® District  did you know you can get Original New Orleans Beignets (Ben-Yays!) from Ralph Brennan’s Jazz Kitchen and Jazz Kitchen Express. Dare I say they beat Mickey Beignets?! Okay, I said it! But I’ll never quit Mickey Beignets.

RB JK DTD

Ralph Brennan’s Jazz Kitchen in Downtown Disney

RB’s Jazz Kitchen offers New Orleans cuisine such as Jambalaya, Catfish, Gumbo, etc. They also have a lot of options for kids- pasta, chicken strips, cheeseburgers and more. Every Sunday they have brunch from 10 am to 3 pm with a live Jazz band playing. The biggest draw for me are the beignets. If you aren’t familiar, beignets are a New Orleans classic! They are French donuts deep fried and topped with powdered sugar. Continue reading

Jean Philippe Patisserie

My husband and I were really terrible about taking a kid free vacation until two years ago. My best friend planned a couples vacation for us at Aria Resort & Casino. Since then we have made sure we get to Aria at least twice a year along with my BFF and her husband. Every trip involves multiple stops at Jean Philippe Patisserie, which is conveniently located in the casino of Aria.

Jean Philippe offers  gelato, crepes, macarons, fine chocolates, coffee, tea & espresso drinks, pastries, paninis and many other decadent treats. It didn’t occur to me until I started working on this post that we order anything and everything Nutella at Jean Philippe. Just wait, you’ll see.

Most mornings on our Vegas vacation we will start our day by sharing a Nutella crepe topped with strawberries and raspberries. They do not hold back on the Nutella and I don’t hate them for that. We prefer getting the fruit on top, but typically they make the crepes with the fruit inside. Jean Philippe isn’t all about chocolate and sweets, they also have a wide array of savory crepes.

Nutella Crepe

Nutella Crepe

Continue reading

Weekend in LA – Part 4

Ice cream was a definite theme to our weekend in LA and there was an abundance of options to choose from.  We were in Mid-City and stopped in at Sweet Rose Creamery.  Sweet Rose Creamery offers a wide range of classic ice cream flavors as well as seasonal flavors.

Menu at Sweet Rose Creamery in Mid-City

Menu at Sweet Rose Creamery

You could get your ice cream in a cup, cone, or if you were feeling wild, they offer an affogato.  Affogato is an espresso shot poured over a scoop of ice cream.  Sweet Rose Creamy also serves Caffe Luxxe coffee and a selection of tea from The Art of Tea. Continue reading