NORMS is turning 60 this year!

And to celebrate, they’re giving away $60 worth of food to one lucky My LA Blog reader.

That’s a whole lotta late night grub!!

I mean where else can you get a steak dinner (plus two sides), a salad, soup AND a dessert for $9.99 in LA???

When I first moved here to LA, I used to eat at NORMS with my co-workers almost weekly (and don’t tell anyone, but I still prefer NORMS over Dennys).  I loved knowing that I could eat some decent, grubbing food for a good price.  And there’s always something to tempt you on the menu.  In fact, I just had a veggie burger there the other night on the way to the Girls in Tech event.

So here’s the deal…stop by the NORMS of your choice between now and Friday, November 27th (the day after Thanksgiving) and take a photo (or video) of yourself, your friends, your family, your food, your waitress, your receipt, you name it…just let us see that it’s at NORMS and leave me the link to your photo here in the comments and you’re entered. No purchase necessary.

UPDATE: if that all sounds like too much work and you just don’t have the time to swing by NORMS any time soon (I know just how crazy pre-holiday season can be), just leave a comment tell me why you enjoy NORMS or what your favorite thing to order might be.  We’re easy like that.  NO PURCHASE IS EVEN NECESsARY.

After Thanksgiving, I will use everyone’s favorite, handy dandy Random.org integer generator and pick a winner.  That lucky winner will win $60 worth of free food at the NORMS of their choice.

Best of luck!!!

Become a NORMS fan on Facebook! Follow them on Twitter! Read their blog! Watch them on YouTube!

Disclosure Policy

I received the following LA special event in my mailbox today.  While I won’t be attending, there’s no need not to share it.  Hope you can make it and enjoy your bigger, better burger!

By now you’ve probably already seen the commercials for McDonald’s new Angus burgers – smaller, more expensive, and cheap imitations of the Carl’s Jr. burgers they tried to replicate.

We don’t think that’s right.

And neither does J.B. Smoove (HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm, FOX’s ‘Til Death), who says Angelenos should stand up against McDonald’s and their over-priced and under-whelming products.

So, come out to the Carl’s Jr. at 1111 N La Brea Ave in West Hollywood on Tuesday, September 15 from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Try out the McDonald’s Angus burger next door and if you don’t like its taste, come right on over to swap it out for a fresh, Carl’s Jr. burger of your choice for FREE. You’ll even get a chance to meet J.B. Smoove in the flesh.

You deserve a bigger, better burger. And we can give that to you. Hope you can make it or tell your readers about our burger swap.

Then how about a salted caramel milkshake?

“Milk is not only a healthy beverage, it’s also the basis for many fun drinks like milkshakes. Drinking a milkshake brings out the kid in everyone, but each flavor highlights a person’s personality.” ~ Chef Mariah Swan

You know, there’s just something bliss-like about attending a party with milkshake shooters being passed around the room. Not just any milkshake shooters either. Now, these shakes were the creation of LA hot spot eatery, BLD’s Pastry Chef Mariah Swan (as where the passed pastries – lemon bars, magic bars and strawberry shortcake cookie concoctions) and the Got Milk? team.

My favorite by far was the Salted Caramel shake (recipe below) followed closely by the Caramel Tequila shake (sadly, no recipe was provided). To be honest, half of them didn’t sound all that enticing to us so we didn’t get around to trying all of them. But the ones we did try were quite good.

This really was heaven in a frosty glass. But believe it or not, there truly is such a thing as too many milkshakes – even if they’re only in shooter-sized glasses.

There were quite a few different flavors getting passed around – Blueberry Malt; Frozen Mexican Chocolate; Orange Dreamsicle; High School Musical’s Monique Coleman creation, Cookie Jar Milkshake; an oddly delicious, peanut butter cheesecake and so much more. We noticed at least eight or more frozen temptations going on around the room.

If you’d like to try out some of the recipes from the event (sadly, the caramel tequila recipe isn’t available but you better believe I’m doing what I can to track down this recipe), you can find them here (along with many other yummy milky concoctions).

And did I mention that there were also tarot readers there? Seriously, milk shakes, pastries and tarot readers.  What a fun event!

It was also great to socialize with other bloggers, such as Liz at Los Angelista, Sally at Any Given Sundry (who has to have one of the coolest and most fascinating jobs out there and is great photographer) and the big winner of the evening, Liz from Thoughts of a Mommy (a relatively new blogger to the scene).

To get you through the rest of summer season, here’s the recipe for their amazing Salted Caramel Milkshake:

1 pint vanilla ice cream
1/4 cup caramel sauce
1/2 cup milk
1 tbs salt

Combine all ingredients and blend. Divide between two glasses and top with whipped cream, a drizzle of caramel sauce and enjoy!

You know what they say…milk, it does a body good 😉

Talk about the joining of two great ideas!  And what a great way to celebrate that we’ve been joining together to discuss books for over 4 years now!

So here’s the deal…back when I was planning my birthday, I was craving some Strawberry Lemonade cupcakes from Layers Cupcakes (I tasted them a month or so earlier at a local cupcake meetup).  Thing is, I wasn’t able to afford them at the time, so I did what any good blogger would do and well, I blogged about this sad turn of events.

Ebony of Layers Cupcakes (Facebook Fan Page) did what any good, modern business woman would do and checked her links (or had an alert set up) and got notified about my post. She then offered up the opportunity for me to taste some of her new, Naja Tea-infused cupcakes and asked if I wouldn’t mind blogging about them (Naja Tea Facebook Fan Page & Twitter).

Well, better than just me sharing my thoughts…I asked the whole gang of book club gals (at least the ones in attendance) to share their thoughts as well.  And yes, the teacher in me created a form for them to share their thoughts anonymously.

Overall, we definitely enjoyed the cupcakes quite a bit and the experience of tasting and sharing feedback, even more so (did I mention that our group has quite a few foodies and bakers in residence).  The Mix and Mingle was a hit, but Sassafras didn’t seem to have as many fans.  Everyone pretty much agreed that we were hoping to taste more of the tea’s flavor.

To get a feel for our thoughts, I randomly divided the stack in half and one batch of comments for each flavor. Here are some of our thoughts (in no particular order):

Mix and Mingle

• This was my favorite.  Nice and light, very moist, but could maybe have used a bit more intense frosting – it seemed too light for the cupcake.
• I probably should have tried this one first.  The flavors were still  lingering from the Sassafras. This one had more subtle flavors and I liked the topping.
• I liked this one! Very tasty and delicious cake!  Frosting is light and fluffy.  I might have wanted to have a bit more substantial (thicker?) frosting.
• This is delicious for such a light cupcake!  Love the vanilla and coconut combination.
• Crumb is too moist for that filling – cake needs more structure.  Flavor is great.  Frosting is too creamy.  Needs some salt.

Sassafras

• I found this to be delicious.  Not much of a summer flavor since it was more spicy and fall-like.  Very moist, maybe too moist if that’s even possible.
• The yam mousse overpowered the other flavors making it more difficult to taste.  Meringue is a little mushy.
• Too many flavors – very confusing for the palate.  Crumb is very wet. Icing not complimentary.
• This is a nope!  Did not like.  Too many spices and flavors going on.
• Frosting should be creamier (less fluffy).  Good flavors for fall, but probably too many rich flavors for spring/summer.
• I love the taste of the cake – a great surprise to have the yam.  It was a little moist, but I don’t mind that.  The meringue didn’t add much, maybe a cream cheese frosting would be better.

My husband wasn’t invited to share his thoughts (but he did get to eat some leftovers). He said that these were the best cupcakes he’s tried of what he’s tasted around town.  He loved that they were flavorful, but not overly sweet (his typical complaint about cupcakes).

I don’t know about you, but now I’m craving some cupcakes!