Will be in Beverly Hills and Anaheim, where to eat out and to buy groceries?

Well I am back and we had a great time! We ate at Carney's and California Pizza Kitchen while in West Hollywood. We also went to Burbank and ate at Acapulcos across the street from The Tonight Show.
We had ended up over there to take the NBC back stage lot tour and the tour was at 3 and had time to spare. The page recommended it and was happy for the little afternoon break. I loved the chili at Carneys, it went so well with french fries, CPK was good as always and Acapulcos was good too, I ordered ala carte a beef enchilada which was different than the beef enchiladas in Texas or Florida I have eaten and also ate some chicken and veggies fajitas without the tortillas. While at Disneyland, we ate at Naples Downtown Disney and adored the fusilli with meat sauce and the green salad with raspberry dressings. That salad is the best salad I have ever had. We did the character breakfast too which was good. My youngest was in pure heaven from meeting characters up close and personal.

Overall the food experience was good in LA. Lots of choices and thank you all who responded. I would never have known about Carney if you didn't tell me... :)

mama who loves to cook in Los Angeles Area

Will be in Beverly Hills and Anaheim, where to eat out and to buy groceries?

Yes we are staying at Le Parc and we will have a car. :) That Japanese place sounds awesome, so does the hot dog train cart and Holy Moly to eat at the orginal California Pizza Kitchen, my husband will love that! Awesome thus so far!

mama who loves to cook in Los Angeles Area

Will be in Beverly Hills and Anaheim, where to eat out and to buy groceries?

My husband and I are wanting to find a fun, good place to eat with our 2 children ages 6 and 12 around West Hollywood/Beverly Hills and Anaheim.

We are going to be staying over in West Hollywood/Beverly Hills area for a couple of days. We are staying at a really nice suite hotel which has a kitchenette. Love to know where we can shop for a few breakfast and dinner items and where to find a great place to eat with our kiddos that isn't considered too formal... and has families eating at..

We are also staying in Anaheim and like to know the same as far as restaurants go. We will be eating out more extensively there due to our room is just a room..
Any tips too on where to eat at in both Disneyland parks would be appreciated.

Is Beverly Hills close by Universal City walk too? Someone told me Cafe Tutu is good there. Any other places around there?

mama who loves to cook in Los Angeles Area

"gourmet" foods you liked as a kid

My family is from East Texas and paired with my parents being adults in the 70's~ well the food wasn't that gourmet. My daddy's idea of eating good was having pinto beans made in the crock pot. My mother really rebelled against her upbringing when it came to the kitchen.. she didn't like to cook all the country food she grew up with.. she loved electric stoves, she turned her nose up at the mention of gas which is what she grew up with, she wouldn't own a iron skillet, she loved some canned vegetables and hamburger helper and hot dogs were a fixation every week on the table. She loved using Campbell's soups over food. Flounder with Cream of Mushroom, her pork chop bake included Cream of Mushroom and so did her tuna casserole which she also made with Lays potato chips. White rice with cream of chicken soup seemed to be a staple in our home too.. she told me she doesn't understand why I don't cook with those things now. LOL.. she swears I was her biggest fan when she was in the kitchen.. The do remember fondly the garden my parents planted every year in our back yard. We did have a huge surplus of green beans, tomatoes, corn and squash that I remember. My parents would say it tasted better than what you got at the store. They were right. It all tasted delicious. I really enjoyed eating salted fresh sliced tomatoes as a kid that my daddy just picked. I also liked the way my mom made zuchinni.
We also had sweet tea every day due to our southern roots and sliced white bread on a plate with a stick of margerine by it that my daddy called Oleo.
I do remember the one time mama ever fried chicken and she vowed to never do it again, she just couldn't understand how her mama did it once a week.. needless to say it took too long for her when she had just got off her job.. I can also remember the time she made spaghetti with white wine and pimentos..with chicken breast cooked and douced in the wine sauce... it was probably the only gourmet dish she ever made and I loved it. . ..

So I would say I loved eating my moms chicken douced in white wine and pimentos, served over spaghetti.. That was truly good! Yummy I am hungry now. :)

When I got old enough to cook, she handed over the spatula to me and I started to cook. From the time I was 14 till I left the house, I cooked every meal for the family. Cooking wasn't her passion. It though is mine.

mama who loves to cook in General Chowhounding Topics

Is there a microwave oven that can actually bake with convection?

I just saw a ge convection micro that fits the bill... still comparing but it looks great... it is not the advantium one.. just regular convection and micro..

mama who loves to cook in Cookware

Is there a microwave oven that can actually bake with convection?

Thanks to all for writing and responding.. I am so glad I asked. I was leaning towards just getting a big table top convection toaster oven... the one I had my eye on was the faberware .98 cubic feet design with push buttons before writing. I will let everyone know what decisons we make on that. :)

mama who loves to cook in Cookware

Is there a microwave oven that can actually bake with convection?

Thank you for the link.. :) I am looking for a countertop model too and will look at the site more extensively later... I did see your stove~ WOW that is so neat! That would be perfect for my mom. :)

mama who loves to cook in Cookware

shredded beef for enchiladas and tacos?

Thanks! :)

mama who loves to cook in Home Cooking

Is there a microwave oven that can actually bake with convection?

I have seen convection microwaves but from my reading, there is no baking, only grilling and browning. Years ago, I looked at a home * when we were in the market to buy* and saw a Dacor wall unit with a regular bake oven on top with a combo microwave real oven.. it had the racks inside but yet it was a microwave.. I looked on the net and have not seen anything close. There is a convection microwave they make but it has a round rack insert you stick in... it doesn't seem to be the function of both. I am in need to find something that can be a second oven for me.. where there are electric elements and a fan convection element to bake.. My current microwave, as great as it is, is built in super high and it makes taking things out dangerous for me unless I use a step stool.. I figured if I could combine a microwave oven that is powerful( key here) and the power to bake and have convection right on the counter, it might be what I need.. mind you, the unit has to be able to fit a 9 x 13 dish in it, bake 2 round cake pans, pies, 2 pizzas at once... with no microwaving involved,,, Any suggestions would be great.. Thank you.

mama who loves to cook in Cookware

shredded beef for enchiladas and tacos?

I am sorely missing mexican food made with shredded beef due to living in a part of Texas where the regional mexican food offers only ground beef in enchiladas and tacos and their offerings of steak tacos is fajita meat, great but not the same... I lived in Florida and fell in love with the shredded enchiladas and tacos there. Wanted to know if anyone has a recipe on how to make it? Thanks

mama who loves to cook in Home Cooking

Who has bought a new dishwasher lately?

Hey I am sorry about your experience. I too had a Bosch dishwasher and it gave me all sorts of mechanical issues. It was not worth it. I remodeled our old
home and really wanted the Bosch because of it being quite... it did clean great but the small size of the cavity, the fact there was no disposer and the inside flimsey tins made me know I would not buy that type again.

Where I live currently, we replaced the old panel ready Asko with a LG with buttons on the front.. we went to Home Depot and got it.. they treated us well through the whole process plus the machine is good.

I chose a LG Stainless 24 inch with buttons on the front, no handle because it is supposed to have the largest cavity besides Whirlpool. The upper rack can be lowered to accomadate 12 inch dishes. The utensil basket is great. It can be one huge basket or be pulled apart to make smaller baskets. The interior is stainless with no exposed element on the bottom plus I can wash half loads, upper or lower. I can choose strenth of spray strong, meduim or soft, choose extra rinse and sanitary with the soak button, pots and pans, or normal. There is also a delicate, 15 minute rinse option and quick wash. There are 3 spray arms inside. One on the top of the top rack, one below the top rack and one below the bottom rack.
I can fit so much into it and the dishes come out spotless and dry. Right now I just put on a load, with a small toaster oven broil pan, 10 inch skillet, 2 1 1/2 quart sauce pan, dutch oven with steamer insert, cutting board, lots of bowls, cups, big serving spoons, 12 inch, 2 inch thick skillet, 12 inch lid, load of flatware,

Bosch does dry a tad better but the LG is fine with that.. I find using Jet Dry, it works really well and aids in it being dry .. I also like the fact it has a disposal. I can put dishes in that aren't completley rinsed off and the food particles are taken out through the disposer.. Had spaghetti on the spoons and they come out extremely clean. The only 3 draw backs I have is that there is no light. The washer is 24 inches and much bigger width, we had to take out a side board to make it fit.. we are currently waiting to gets some molding to go along the side of the cabinet, so there won't be a big space.. The last draw back is, the washing takes a long time. 2 hours and 56 minutes on the power scour ( pots and pans) and 3 hours and 14 minutes with extra rinse. There is a normal wash for 2 hours and a quick wash around 1/2 and rinse is 15 minutes.. 1/2 loads are less on time too. I feel though due to you can put so much into the dishwasher it offsets the time.. with the bosch, it was hard putting everything into it and often I would have to wait and do 2 loads.

Before the LG, I did go to Sears and purchased a high end Frigidaire stainless steel but we had such bad service with the sale, the install was awful, sent a rip off artist out who heaved the dishwahser into the cavity which didn't fit due to the outer brackerts( too long of a story) we asked them to come out and get it. Never washed with it but the whole Sears experience was terrible. Also I looked at KitchenAids and really would have LOVED to get one but decided to go with the LG.. budget wise it was less and the cavity could hold so much... I am glad I did... ohh to, it chimes when done. Love that.

mama who loves to cook in Cookware