The first encounter I had with Yogurtland was in California a few months ago. Some friends of ours took us to the location across from the CSU Long Beach campus. It was a weekend night, around 10-ish, and the place was packed. SUPER PACKED. It seemed like an Under-21 club scene.

The line wrapped along the sidewalk, with hoards of college kids and more than a handful of high schoolers, some in line and some just hanging around. Not an open parking space in sight, unless you were up to doing a crazy hike clear across the parking lot and had enough energy to stand in the long line.

I love frozen yogurt – any frozen novelty at that – but my tolerance and patience for boisterous crowds have since dwindled. I can only take so much of status-conscious-gossip-girls saying things like “Omigod, like, is that a real Louie or did you get that from downtown LA?” and amateur rice-rocket-pilots muttering to each other “Dude, check out that car kit on that Honda. Dude, it’s hella tight!” before I start rolling my eyes in disdain… But I digress…

Sure I wanted some yogurt, but I didn’t want it that bad… So we left and headed home… (Oh man… I must be getting old…) Needless to say, it was a busy weekend for us, so we begrudgingly decided that Yogurtland had to wait till the next road trip.

That is… until I found out that Yogurtland was opening up shop here in Las Vegas. From what my friends have been saying, Yogurtland was much better than Pinkberry. I needed to find out myself. I anxiously wanted to see how they measured up to Pinkberry (the froyo shop lucky enough to pop my froyo cherry).

Bottom line – I LOVE YOGURTLAND. LOVE. LOVE. LOVE. More than Pinkberry. Which I like. A little.

During the first week that the Town Square location opened, I visited Yogurtland about 4 times. I purposely spaced out my visits and went and different times for fear of a possible restraining order or job offer. The week after that, I visited twice. And then I just had to restrain myself from going to Yogurtland for fear that the novelty would wear thin and I would stop loving it as much as I do.

Yogurtland reminds me of a Sanrio store, just without the ever cute Hello Kitty mascot. It’s cute. And pink. And bright green. It makes me happy just walking in the place.

Unlike Pinkberry, Yogurtland is a self-serve yogurt place. You pick out the cup size you want – there’s 2 sizes: big and HUGE. Along one wall are the yogurt machines. They have about 15 or so flavors available at a time – most of the flavors rotate, so visit often. LOL.

At the end of the wall is the topping bar, where you can choose as little or as much toppings as you want. They offer the same toppings as Pinkberry, but also offer about 10 other different ones that Pinkberry failed to add to their topping bar – like chocolate syrup, caramel syrup and condensed milk. The price of your personal creation is based, then, on weight. At 30-cents an ounce, you can get a lot of yogurt and toppings for under $5.00. A much better deal than Pinkberry.

The yogurt at Yogurtland is also a lot creamier and not as tart as Pinkberry’s. So much so that at times, you forget that you’re eating yogurt. The strawberry yogurt is my favorite of all the flavors that I’ve tried – so far. It’s creamy and tastes and looks as if real strawberries were put into the mix. My next favorite flavor is the mango yogurt, which I was a bit hesitant to try, but so glad that I did. It’s refreshing, perfect for summer. As far as toppings are concerned, the mochi balls, Cap’n Crunch cereal, Coco Pebbles cereal and condensed milk never fails to impress.

There’s usually a line (and a teeny bopper crowd hanging out in front) at this Yogurtland also. Especially on weekends. But the line moves pretty quick and trust me, it’s well worth the wait.

So if there’s a Yogurtland in your neck of the woods, I highly recommend you stopping by for some really good frozen yogurt. Maybe I’ll bump into you at the one in Town Square. I try to visit at least once every 2 to 3 weeks or so. It’s not so much a staple in my diet like when they first opened. Now, it’s more like a well-deserved treat and a better alternative to Cold Stone Creamery, which is THE DEVIL… disguised as cold, sweet, creamy goodness…

But I like playing with fire, every once in a while… hahaha!

I’ve been in a rut lately… cooking, eating, blogging, reading and otherwise…

But I visited my friend Connie’s blog today and instantly I felt a little better.

mmmmm....cupcake....good....

CONNIE IS AMAZING – her mind constantly works in “creative overdrive” – it’s inspiring! I wish I had even just 1% of her creativity and drive.

I believe that we all have it in us to be creative in different aspects of our lives – be it in the way we dress, the books we read, the music we listen to, how we decorate our homes, how we think, how we do everyday tasks, how we cook, etc…. But most of us (ok… I’m talking about me here…) keep it internal, never letting our outward expressions showcase our inner genius.

But Connie – she does it all… She’s a wife, a mom to 3 beautiful girls and also has quite a successful career… and on top of all this, she can put together quite a wonderful cupcake birthday party for her oldest daughter.

Check out her latest post where she shows off some of her creative cooking/party planning genius, then check out some of her older posts where she shows off her Craft-Goddess-Ness.

In the meantime… I will look at that wonderfully decorated cupcake pictured above and smile = )

Thanks Connie!

*****

The southwest area of Las Vegas has recently blown up with some wonderful eateries popping up left and right within days and footsteps from each other. Cheeburger Cheeburger is one of those eateries that recently opened and has already earned a cult following in the Vegas Valley. So far, this is the only Las Vegas location, but I hope that we’ll be seeing more of them pop up in the valley soon.

A Wall of Fame greets you as soon as you open its doors. On this wall are dozens of pictures of burger lovers that have conquered their One Pounder and another set of pictures for younger burger lovers that have conquered the Half Pounder. The bubble gum pink walls, glass block, metal legged vinyl covered chairs and formica surfaced tables all add to the diner-esque feel of this burger joint. Definitely family friendly, Cheeburger Cheeburger makes you feel as if you were transformed back to the 50’s where small diners such as this one, was THE place to hang out with your friends or family and enjoy a wonderful meal and each other’s company.

Cheeburger Cheeburger is basically a “how-you-want-it-is-how-we-make-it” kinda place. From their burgers to their sandwiches to their shakes, you are in control.

Let’s start with their shake menu. You can either order a single flavor or combine a bunch of flavors to come up with your own personal flavor. As the sign says, there are 378,000 combinations. With all the different flavors that they offer, I don’t doubt it.

We kept it simple this time. Here’s a picture of 2 of the shakes that we ordered: Oreo Cheesecake Shake (left) and White Chocolate with Oreos Shake (right). All of their shakes start off using Dryer’s ice cream. SUPER YUMMY with chunks of oreos at the bottom. They even served it to us in the the metal cup that they made it in. Cute.

If you’d rather have a soda with your meal instead of a shake, they offer Pepsi and only Pepsi, that you can tweak with cherry syrup, chocolate syrup or vanilla syrup. So if Cherry Pepsi is your thing, they can make it. Chocolate Cola more your style, they can make that too.

On your table, in a plastic basket of other condiments and a set of trivia cards to keep you occupied as you wait for your food, is a bottle of their Zesty Seasoning. A mixture of salt, pepper, granulated garlic, use this sparingly over your burger and your fries and rings, if you want an extra dose of seasoning.

Now for the burgers.

First, you choose what size of a burger you want/need. They’ve got 5 different sizes: the Famous Pounder (actually 20 oz.), Delirious (3/4 lb.), Serious (1/2 lb.), Semi-Serious (1/3 lb.) and the Classic (5.5 oz.).

Then you choose how you want it cooked – medium, medium well or well.

Then you choose a cheese if you want cheese on your burger.

Then you go crazy and pick whatever toppings you want on your burger. Whatever you want. Don’t be shy – if you wall all 25 or so toppings, go for it – it’s included in the burger price. There’s really no limit to your imagination here. They also offer 3 “premium” toppings (bacon, sauteed mushrooms and grilled onions) for about a buck a piece.

After you’ve ordered your burger to your liking, you wait – for a bit – while they create your special burger. (This is when you make use of those trivia cards that they place on your table.)

It’s definitely worth the wait, as what you get is a burger that’s so close to one you’d make at home. Served on a roll instead of your usual sesame seed hamburger bun, the hamburger patty looks as if it were hand shaped and cooked to perfection without the excess grease that you’d get at some random drive thru burger place. Good food is definitely worth the wait.

Serious, medium well, pepper jack, 2 onion rings, grilled garlic, bacon

Semi-Serious, medium well, cheddar, 2 onion rings, bacon

Semi-Serious, medium well, with Swiss Cheese, tomato, bacon, guacamole and mayo

Best of Both Basket

A sampler of all 5 sauces for the rings and fries:

Texas horseradish (top left), Chile Lime (top right),

Creamy Cheese (center), Habanero Jelly (bottom left) and Creamy Jalapeno (bottom right)

*****

The Korean’s are taking over my life! Literally. First with the opening of a couple of Korean BBQ takeout places within minutes from home… Then with all of those Korean dramas that take up way too much of my time and emotional energy… And now with the ever increasing amount of frozen yogurt shops popping up all over Las Vegas and Southern California.

Pinkberry, one of the most popular frozen yogurt shops to have hit the US by storm and made even more popular with their appearance in an American Express commercial, is the phenomenal brain child of two Korean-Americans. The mere mention of Pinkberry and their promise of “swirly goodness” just makes me want to SMILE. But then again, anything close to being a “frozen novelty” makes me smile – I *HEART* FROZEN NOVELTIES.

I had my first cup of Pinkberry the other weekend at their location at Irvine Spectrum in Southern California. (They’ve got a ton of locations in Southern California and a handful in New York, but none in Las Vegas – yet…)

Pinkberry has 3 basic flavors (original, green tea and coffee) and about 20 or so toppings that you can choose from. The toppings range from fresh fruit to cereal to carob and yogurt chips to mini mochi balls (my personal favorite). The yogurt is offered in 3 sizes (Small (5 oz.), Medium (8 oz.) and Large (13 oz.)).

I ordered a medium sized original with 3 toppings (oreos, mochi and Coco Pebbles). The yogurt, while on the tart side, was a perfect complement to the sweet toppings that I chose. The yogurt was far from being beneficial to my health, but it was good. I enjoyed it to the very last spoonful.

*****

FRIED CHICKEN!!! In all its Crispy Golden Juicy Goodness. No hesitating. No pondering. Bottom Line. Final Answer. FRIED CHICKEN. No food makes me happier than the crackling and popping of succulent pieces of chicken, lightly floured and expertly seasoned, frying to the desired temperature of at least 165 degrees. Even as I type this, I begin to salivate.

Oh… and WAFFLES.

Roscoe’s Chicken ‘n Waffles would be the perfect venue for this “last meal”. A landmark to most soul food enthusiasts, entertainment types, Los Angelenos and Snoop Dogg fans, Roscoe’s has been a venerable force in the late night restaurant roster. Since the opening of its first restaurant on the corner of Sunset and Gower in Hollywood back in the 1970’s, the chain has expanded to add four more restaurants in Southern California, making it easier to find one in your neighborhood. Definitely one of my go-to spots whenever I’m in the Los Angeles area.

Bigger and brighter than the Hollywood location, but with as much hospitality and fried chicken goodness emanating in the air, I sat down with some good friends and collectively, we had quite an enjoyable lunch. (Parking’s also easier here – there’s a parking lot across the street.) Roscoe’s always delivers good food to your table. I don’t think I’ve ever had a bad meal at Roscoe’s, which is why I try to visit one of their locations whenever I’m in the area. (What would have made it even more memorable would have been if Snoop and David Beckham stopped by for some chicken and waffles.)

Here are a few pictures of what landed on our table and settled happily in our stomachs…

THE CHICKEN

THE CHICKEN – smothered with gravy and onions

THE WAFFLES

THE MAC ‘N CHEESE

THE NUMBER 22 (2 thighs, mac ‘n cheese, cornbread, greens)

Hungry yet???

“What would you eat for your last meal on earth?” - an age-old question to chefs and foodies alike, with answers that range from simple food fare to the most exquisite banquets ever imagined. I lean more towards the simple food fare, myself.

So I ask you… What would you eat for your last meal on earth?

*****