Friday Quickies #23: Milk, Tequila and Carbs

Open House @ MILK: It was a no-brainer publicity event, with the folks from Got Milk? pairing with the bakery & ice creamery MILK to get the word of mouth out to consume more milk, either straight up or in preparing foods and drinks. But the "well duh" connection is also what makes it so effective (esp. for an event), it's easy to recall and remember--just like all those generally-funny commercials.

Anyways, at the MILK open house that other foodbloggers, journos and I was invited to, we got to sample the assorted dairy-packed recipes that exec. chef Bret Thompson put together for the campaign. The delicious goods included a creamy-rich butternut squash soup, an arroz con leche macaron cookie with rice krispies, miniature banana dulce de leche ice cream cones, fresh-from-the-oven cornbread with raspberry-jam centers, milky way malts and ice blend tea latte drinks (and of course, straight-up milk to drive the point home). Most of these items are still offered at MILK, and you can always make them yourself as most of the recipes are pretty easy-to-follow.

I also picked up a few cool knowledge tidbits from talking Steve James, exec. director of California Milk Processing Board, at the event: 1) Got Milk? is California-centric (I thought it was a national campaign, but that's the milk moustaches) and 2) They only support fluid milk consumption (which explains why the cheese folks have their own campaign) -- sidenote, how cool would it be for the latter to do something similar @ Meltdown, etc. or some other cheesy joint?

Of course, the coolest part of this was meeting up with fellow LA foodbloggers - including the faces behind Best of LA, Teenager Glutster, Oishii Eats, What's to Eat LA and Deep End Dining. Also heard that Pleasure Palate and Mikey Hates Everything were there too but, alas, didn't get a chance to connect with them, since I took off early to head to . . .

Eat, Drink, Learn Tequila Tasting: Co-hosted by Citysearch, Malo and Los Abuelos "tequilery" (which makes premium-priced tequila sold around $50, $60 and $80 for blanco, reposado and anejo, respectively), it was a packed event on the second floor of the popular Mexican restaurant and bar (and one of my sobering up options to after imbibing the dangerously potent drinks @ Tiki-Ti.)

Lots of good margaritas (though some guests lamented at the lack of lime wedges & salt) with mini-tacos and tortilla chips with Malo's well-known salsas (they run out fast even with the regular refills!), followed by a powerpoint on tequila making and their distillery and agave ranch and a tasting of their three tequilas - all of them are pleasant (I was particularly surprised by the smoothness of the blanco, which I ususally find too astringent and raw-tasting) but I like the reposado the best. I also met Citysearch LA's editor Tara de Lis and talked a bit about the dining/nightlife scene in L.A.

Pointers for upcoming carb fest?: I am doing a my first half marathon on memorial day in Laguna Hills, and will definitely need a carb recharge in the O.C. later that day. Haven't picked out any place yet -- but I'm definitely open to suggestions.