Taste and Tattle: Pumpkin Spice EVERYTHING!

Hi everyone, Colette here!

Has anyone noticed that there's Pumpkin Spiced everything these days? Seriously, every time I turn around this month, I'm presented with another pumpkin-flavored something. Pumpkin coffee, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin gum (no joke), pumpkin ice cream, pumpkin coffee creamer, pumpkin donuts...the list goes on forever.
I can get behind the pumpkin craze to a degree. I'm a fan of using canned pumpkin as a substitute in baking. I love pumpkin pie and pumpkin seeds. And I have three pumpkin spiced products that I do look forward to every year (which I'll show in a second). But do I really need a pumpkin scone and a pumpkin biscotti to go with my pumpkin spiced latte while I'm putting on my pumpkin eye shadow (did you think I was kidding)?

 However, since pumpkin is all the rage right now (it is October after all!), I thought I'd share my three favorite Pumpkin Spiced items on the market right now.

(1) The Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks. It's the classic. It's what I blame for the pumpkin spice ALL THE THINGS trend we've got going on. And it's orange (a fact I only recently discovered since I normally get these bad boys hot and never see the liquid...),

(2) Blue Moon Harvest Pumpkin Ale. I'll admit, I'm not a big flavored beer fan. Beer is beer; let's leave it at that. But this is like a stereotypical autumn night in a bottle. Even if you're a SoCal native like me and the closest you come to fall foliage and hay bales and actually needing a scarf is a trip to Julian (where, admit it, you're still mostly faking it), this is everything that's promised on TV holiday specials.

(3) Eggo Seasons Pumpkin Spice. The item that made me go "seriously? are we going to Pumpkin Spice EVERYTHING now" and that I threw into my cart as a joke (they were on sale that year) is now the must-have, can't wait until I see it in the stores "Fall treat" that I long for every year. But feel free to ignore the eggnog ones at Christmas. Those are gross.

So what about you? Are you crazy for the Pumpkin Spice trend? Ready for it to go away? Wish there was a different flavor that was sprinkled into everything this season? Share your thoughts with us!

Taste and Tattle Tuesday: Restaurant Review - Tango

Hey, Foodies! It’s Lauren this week. Today, I’m tattling on a local restaurant. My husband and I recently visited Tango, a semi-new restaurant in Escondido, CA. We heard some good things about this place, and once we reviewed Tango’s menu, we found ourselves making a reservation. 

http://www.tangoongrand.com/

Here’s a quick overview of the place. Tango is part restaurant and part lounge. The lounge side has a beautiful bar, amazing cocktails, and a live pianist reminiscent of a downtown piano bar. The piano even functions as a table, so there are seats at the piano. You’re encouraged to sip your cocktails while you sing along with the pianist. While they were getting our table ready, we tried some different martinis in the lounge. We tried a pear martini and a pomegranate martini; you could taste the fresh ingredients in both. I would go back just to try more martinis. Also, they had a substantial bar menu, but we were there for dinner, so we didn’t get to taste any of it. 

At dinner, we ordered three appetizers. We ordered: lobster risotto, duck confit, and bone marrow. 

The lobster risotto (Main lobster, Arborio rice, truffle oil, local oyster mushrooms, and chives) was cooked perfectly, but I could have done with a tad less salt. It was the first time a restaurant hasn’t overcooked lobster in a while, so I was happy. 

This was my first experience with bone marrow. I see chefs on television use it all of the time, so I was desperate to try it. I wasn’t disappointed, but I suspect there’s better quality out there. I only say this because there wasn’t much marrow in the bones. With that said, it was delicious. The caramelized onions and Dijon mustard sauce rounded out the dish nicely. There was a nice balance of savory and sweet, to me. 

This was also my first experience with Duck Confit (Duck confit, seasonal jam, toasted nuts, baby arugula, goat cheese, and a vinaigrette). Confit is when a meat is poached or cooked in its own fat. I’m sure I gained a few extra pounds on this dish alone, but it was well worth it. The duck was tender, and it paired nicely with the goat cheese and jam, again blending savory with sweet. 

For our entrees, we ordered a grilled meat plate and pasta with frutti di mare (fruit of the sea). 

My meat plate had some skirt steak, lamb, and a small filet. It came with some veggies and a fried piece of polenta (yum!). The flavors were great and everything was seasoned well, but I suspect my dish was ready before the rest of our table’s entrees because the meat was a little cold, which I hate, and the veggies were a tiny bit undercooked. 

My husband’s pasta dish was just as flavorful but much warmer. It’s in a loose saffron tomato sauce reminiscent of a cipollini. It had fish, mussels, shrimp, and scallops. I would go back just for this dish! If you love pasta and sea food, this is your meal!  

 
 The couple we went out with had the sea bass in a miso broth and the chicken, which is wrapped in bacon. They had good things to say about both dishes.

Lastly, we had dessert. Often, I pass up dessert because I’m simply too full; however, when crème brulee is an option, I always make room. It was an amazing brulee served with some fresh fruit. Next time, I’m cutting back on the appetizers and ordering two crème brulees.

 

Overall, I would recommend this place, and I know we’ll be back. They’re reasonably priced, and they have a variety of dishes and drinks If you visit Tango, please let us know about your experience. We’d love to hear about what you tried and how you like it!