Willowbrook Apple Farm

Coming from Michigan, apple picking is a regular autumn activity amongst friends and family. My expectations of what California apple picking was going to be like looked a little something like this. Acres upon acres of beautiful trees with apples every which way you looked. You may even need to take a tractor to get to the good apples, but you never felt overwhelmed by the number of people or the number of trees.

Now back to California. After driving inland 2 hours, we stumble upon little old Oakglen. When we finally parked the car, we then had to wait in line for over 30 minutes just to be let in, and once in, there were only like 10 trees total! It was honestly mindblowing. I'm surprised they even had enough apples to for people to pick. None the less, we made the best of an interesting situation. It was gorgeous outside and the fresh trees and grass can sometimes be a sight for sore eyes, and we were leaving with 10lbs of apples! 

Yes and we all wore plaid on purpose.

Me!

Sean

Amy

Under a tree

Tractor realness

engagement pictures

Blossom, my spirit animal

pony lovin'

gimme dos apples

Floppy the Bunny

heavy machinery

as easy as pie 

goofin'

Crankin' my own cider

Steady hands!!

Cya later Oakglen!!

On our way out of Oakglen, we stopped at this strip-mall-middle-of-nowhere thai restaurant and it was surprisingly tasty. So if anybody ever needs a recco, hit me up!

Cheers,

Kate

Wine Country and a Theme Park

95° and SUNNY in beautiful Temecula, CA

So for the past two years I've planned our team "bonding" outing. Last year we went glamping and vineyard hopping in the gorgeous Santa Barbara and this year we rented an estate in Temecula wine country right on the vineyard at Keyways Vineyard and Winery. Since I planned it (along with my partner Annalise) we got to head to the house mid-day on Wednesday before the rest of the team arrived early Thursday morning and enjoy the sun, pool, and house all to ourselves. It was quite lovely.

Grapes on the vine, right outside our door

The house was stunning. Had seven bedrooms, a huge chef's kitchen, pool table, grill, and the most perfect temperature pool and spa ever. I had to snap a few pics of the house prior to everybody coming to destroy it.

hotdog legs!! 

We went to Costco to pick up a few "supplies" for the next day. Let's just say that I can comfortably say that three people + a grand of booze and food can fit into my little Nissan Versa.

Costco run! Added 3 more cases of beer and 10 bottles of wine

I'm sadly going to use the old adage "what happens in Temecula, stays in Temecula" and I didn't really take any pictures of our team outing. Let's just say that everybody had a really, really, really, good time!

As everybody filtered out of the house by noon on Friday. Annalise and I stuck around until 1:00pm for checkout, which then turned into an impromptu wine tasting down in their tasting room. 

More wine please!

As we hit the road, we really had nothing to head back to LA for. Annalise convinced me that driving to another vineyard would be fun (I think my hangover made me hesitant, but then I was like, eff it, it's Friday and gorgeous let's do it!) which then turned into us hitting the highway to head to Knott's Berry Farm for a day of roller coasters, drinking beers, and screaming our heads off until we lost our voice. I can vouch for myself, I lost my voice.

First time at the park!

We popped into the saloon to grab a drink and sadly charging our phones. I met this very nice prostitute who let me sit on her lap.

We hit all the major roller coasters. Boomerang was great because you go upsidedown six times in under a minute and Ghost Rider is cool because it's this old wooden roller coaster that has a ton of character, whips you around over and over again. Silver Bullet was also a great one. And we capped off the night on Jaguar and and Supreme Scream. 

Boomerang 

Calico Saloon floor show 

Supreme Scream

By the time we got back to Los Angeles I was close to dead, barely breathing. I got back to my apartment, crawled into bed, and lights out around 9:30pm. Definitely wanted to be well rested for Los Angeles Food & Wine Festival the following night.

Cheers,

Kate

Bennett's Honey Farm

...and onto Bennett's Honey Farm! What a secret (well, maybe not so secret??) gem of Bardsdale! I've been pretty vocal about my concern for the bee population as a whole. I'm worried about their loss of desire to pollinate, the mass bee deaths across the world, and just how important these little critters are to all aspects of life. They are quite special insects. 

The sign on the street said "Honey Tasting Room" and if it was anything like a wine tasting, then I was prepared (and excited) to get honey wasted. It did not disappoint, that's for sure.

Cute front of the business

Don't mind if I do!

They had seven different honeys that you could taste. Just had to grab a little spoon and move yourself down the line. It's amazing how the honey taste what the bee pollinates and I kept thinking of all the different foods that I wanted to make with the honey.

There are some debate on whether vegans can eat honey. Techincally it's an animal byproduct but bees aren't really killed for honey or need honey in their lives to survive. I love honey - so I eat it. Simple as that.

Seven different flavors to taste

Eucalyptus, avocado, wildflower, buckwheat, clover, sage, and orange!

My favorite honeys were the eucalyptus and the wildflower and Amy's favorite were the clover and avocado, but all seven were very, very tasty. 

We ended up buying 4 1lb jars of honey for only $5.25 each, which is a steal since honey at the supermarket is usually much more for much less. This honey is also organic and sourced through local beekeepers in California. If anybody is interested, I can also get you a 12 lb bucket for $44.00!!

Work bees "I'm bizzy!"

'bee'ing cool 

Hard to miss when you're on Honey Lane

The trip to Bardsdale ended up being super successful. With the Farm Fresh To You tour and the honey tasting, the trip up north was worth it. It's been nice to get out of the marine layer that has engulfed the South Bay all summer and actually feel some real heat and see the sunshine. 

Cheers,

Kate

Farm Tours by Farm Fresh To You

Way back in January, one of my good friends Fran encouraged me to sign up for the CSA Farm Fresh To You, a local fresh fruits and vegetables delivery service that offers up the best seasonal fruits and vegetables twice a month from organic farms across California, and for only $25 a box, it's a great deal. I whole heartedly recommend signing up if you have a service in your area.  

Anyways - every once in a while in the newsletter there are opportunity for farm tours. Where the farmer actually takes you around their farm and you can see where your fruits and vegetables come from. Which sent us to Bardsdale this weekend, about 90 minutes north of Los Angeles in gorgeous Ventura County, also known as the Orange Blossom and Agricultural belt.

Sam, our FF2Y guide

Orange Tree

low hanging fruit

Bardsdale, CA

Palm trees, chickens, and a rooster

Amy and I hanging with our produce

Hi orange

Cash only bar :-(

Green striped figs, cherry tomatos, and white beans 

Me climbing a tree to grab an orange #monkeystatus

 The best part of this trip was how many people came out. Amy and I were convinced we'd be there with a group of like seven people, but there had to have been 50-60 people there. We came wildly unprepared, we should have brought our lunch and spend some time hanging out in the 85 degree weather. But on our way in we drove right past a honey tasting sign and knew we had to stop there before we headed back to the city.

Which lead us to an impromptu visit to Bennett's Honey Farm...