Edible Skinny

Friday, January 11, 2019

Not-So-Dry January with Humphry Slocombe’s Hot Toddy Glenlivet Ice Cream Sundae

By Kat Thomas, Edible Skinny

“Hot Toddies are the only good thing about winter.”
--HuffPost

Say hello to a not-so-dry-frozen Californian January with Humphry Slocombe, the chef-driven, badass ice cream shop on Abbott Kinney. This Friday, January 11th (aka National Hot Toddy Day) Humphry will be offering complimentary Hot Toddy Sundaes as well as artisan cocktails from The Glenlivet from 6pm-10pm at the Venice location. It’s like biting into a boozey snowman (in the best way possible)!!!

Let’s get straight to the pint!!! Humphry Slocombe has partnered with renowned Scotch whiskey brand The Glenlivet to create a specialty flavor, The Glenlivet, made with 12-year malt scotch and the Hot Toddy Sundae, a specialty sundae featuring The Glenlivet flavor and clove caramel topped with candied lemon. Can we say Holey Super Foodie Batman?!?

Welcome to a bizarre, delicious, frozen universe… with flavors such as “Here’s Your Damn Strawberry,” “Elvis (the Fat Years),” and McEvoy Olive Oil, this is not your plain vanilla ice cream shop. It began in December 2008 when Jake Godby & Sean Vahe opened the first shop of this San Francisco based ice cream company. Servers Christopher and London informed me that the Abbot Kinney location is their fourth (and first non-Bay based) location.

Since then everyone loves to ask “Which partner is Humphry and which one is Slocombe?” The answer is neither. Inspired by their love of British comedy, Humphry Slocombe is named after the two lead characters (Mr. Humphries and Mrs. Slocombe) from the fabulous 1970’s sitcom “Are You Being Served?” They even keep the official “Are You Being Served” book in their Mission Shop to show anyone who’s never heard of the show…just ask!

So looking for the perfect excuse for boozy winter ice cream,, head over to their Abbot Kinney haven for some FREE frozen Toddies from 6-10pm!!!

Kat Thomas is the Editor in Chief of Edible Skinny, a site dedicated to making your life postcard worthy. She is also the CEO of the creative media company This Way Adventures. You can find more about both brands at http://www.thiswayadventures.com

Monday, January 7, 2019

Life is Sweet in Napa Valley with Yo el Rey Roasting Organic Coffee

By Kat Thomas, Edible Skinny

The next day we rose with the sun to experience all that Calistoga had to offer… but first our JAVA FIX at Yo el Rey Roasting Organic Coffee!!! A SUPER COOL space right in the middle of Calistoga, Yo el Rey Roasting Organic Coffee is a small coffee spot filled with colorful art, kitschy vintage furniture, and handwritten poetry all over the walls. This is perfect caffeine cove to clear your mind of all that Chardonnay, Cabernet, and Pinot Noir or to wind down after an afternoon of window shopping in Calistoga.

Kelly and I deemed it an extremely solid java spot! Yo el Rey Roasting Organic Coffee was voted best cafe/coffeehouse in Napa County and best Wifi Hotspot in the Valley as a whole (a very important aspect after a day of places with no service...). Their commitment to superior quality, organically farmed coffee has allowed them to become organic, California-Green Certified, and Napa County-Green Certified.

Focusing on espresso and pour over drinks, their coffee blend is a nice medium roast of beans chosen by and roasted by the owner personally right in the middle of the floor using a chromed out Diedrich Roaster. Be sure to get the honey vanilla latte, it's the signature drink of the place: rich, satisfyingly and not too sweet! ;-)

So here’s to life being delicious, all your moments being postcard worthy, and follow your dreams…and drink up bitches!!!

Kat Thomas is the Editor in Chief of Edible Skinny, a site dedicated to making your life postcard worthy. She is also the CEO of the creative media company This Way Adventures. You can find more about both brands at http://www.thiswayadventures.com

Sunday, January 6, 2019

Life is Sweet in Napa Valley with Veraison

By Kat Thomas, Edible Skinny

Everything happens for a Riesling! Kelly and I were both famished from our day of day drinking so we decided to was time for (another) nosh! Thus we headed over to Veraison, the French-inspired, farm-to-table restaurant located within the Mount View Hotel! There we celebrated Kelly’s weekend in style: dining on oysters, macaroni cheese, and one of the best by-the-glass wine lists in Napa Valley...

Veraison is named after the stage of berry when midway through its development it changes from hard to soft and its color goes from green to its harvesting colour. It was the perfect place to savor a recap of our travels throughout the MAGICAL valley of Napa!

Saturday, January 5, 2019

Life is Sweet in Napa Valley with JACK Winery

By Kat Thomas, Edible Skinny

LOVE the wine you’re with… After a scrumptious dinner at Veraison, we headed back to Mount View Hotel & Spa to drink some AWESOME wine in the natural mineral whirlpool (gotta get your healing waters in...). So we opened a bottle of JACK Proprietary Red Wine and talked about the future of life underneath the stars of Calistoga! Kelly and I were lucky enough that a few bottles of red were left for us at the hotel’s front desk by our friends at JACK Winery. Accompanied by a handwritten note stating: “We invite you to enjoy JACK wines with good friends and family because we believe the simple joy of conversation is one of life’s greatest gifts.”

With a philosophy of, “Friends and family. We’ll drink to that,” JACK Winery was created by former Major League teammates Chris Iannetta and Vernon Wells in 2012.

Despite both of their careers overlapping for a very short time while playing for the Los Angeles Angels they became friends through a mutual interest in wine and rehabbing together from injuries suffered during the 2011/2012 baseball season. For three months of the season both were on the disabled list.

Chris and Vernon would often visit fine dining restaurants with teammates. When it came to choosing the wines for the meal, their teammates would often defer to Chris or Vernon to make the choices. During one such meal they both talked about their passion for wines, interest in the Napa Valley and pondered starting their own wine label. For Chris and Vernon, the thrill of creating something from the ground up and being able to share it with friends, family, and wine lovers near and far is the satisfying result of a fruitful collaboration.

Taking the initials of Jayce, Ashlyn, Christian and Kylie, JACK Winery was born. The name stands as a tribute to their shared passion for family

Some wine favorites that we sampled under the stars from JACK Winery included:

Proprietary Red Wine (2015) - This wine is a flavor bomb! A blend of Merlot and Cabernet blend, its aged for 22 months in French Oak before bottling. Crimson in color with flavors of wild berries, currants, and cherries, it’s the perfect complement to a discussion under a star filled sky. Oh, and it got a 92 from Robert Parker Wine Advocate.

Pinot Noir (2016) - A ruby red painted lady! With a limited production of only 32 cases, this was the inaugural vintage of the JACK Pinot Noir from the Russian River Valley. Berries, plum, and hints of rose petals make you want to discover what this lady of the night has to offer. And let’s just say it’s a long decadent finish… ;-)

Friday, January 4, 2019

Life is Sweet in Napa Valley with Mount View Hotel & Spa

By Kat Thomas, Edible Skinny
Time to wine down… Kelly and I checked in at the iconic Mount View Hotel & Spa, which sits centrally on Calistoga’s Lincoln Avenue and has been a beacon for enthusiastic travelers searching out the region’s abundant amenities and mineral-rich waters for over a century. Designed with relaxation in mind, Mount View Hotel & Spa has been a favorite since 1919. It’s the detailing that sets this place apart, upon our arrival Matthew, one of the hotel’s managers, gave us a bottle of One Hope Sparkling to celebrate Kelly’s impending nuptials!

At the Mount View Hotel each of the 33 guest rooms, suites and private cottages have been furnished with it's original art deco architect in mind, mixed with contemporary accents to give a relaxed and trendy vibe. Mount View Hotel & Spa was recognized in 1981 on the National Register of Historic Places, and with due reason. The Mount View Hotel & Spa has had a handful of colorful proprietors who have left a lasting impact on the grandeur seen and felt today. While staying there Kelly and I stayed in the “Twin Bedroom” (something right out of a 1940s screwball comedy..), the tub and sink were classic clawfoot (perfect for rogue champagne bottles) something the in-room Illy Coffee counterbalanced the next day! ;-)

Mount View's beautiful backyard includes an outdoor heated pool, natural mineral whirlpool (gotta get your healing waters in...), cabanas, private grounds patio that allows you to relax in comfort and style with a glass of wine. The hotel has dining on the property, with two on-site restaurants: boasting contemporary American eats at Johnny’s Calistoga and French-inspired fare at Veraison, as well as the newly opened Indie Blue Lounge, where guests can enjoy an artisanal coffee experience and wine tasting.

Inspired by One Hope Wines and the first of its kind in Calistoga, the Mount View Hotel has adopted “cause integration” hospitality in the Napa Valley. Mount View Hotel donates 50 percent of its profits to charity from environmental causes to children’s needs (that’s right you read that correct: 50 percent!!!). Oh, and the hotel is also a certified Green Hotel. The Mount View Hotel’s vision is to create exceptional experiences that inspires people to indulge while doing good. Talk about the perfect reason to take an overnight to Calistoga! ;-)

Thursday, January 3, 2019

Winter is Coming, Winter is Here: Hot Beauty Products for the Coldest of Times!

By Kat Thomas, Edible Skinny

Winter is Coming, Winter is Here. (Along with the final season of Game of Thrones in April 2019!) And with Winter comes pale dry skin, static cling hair, and foundation that is too dark for your vampire colored body! ;-)

Yes Baby it’s cold outside! We know that you need some Beauty 911 to combat the impending doom of frostbitten lips and dragon like skin.

So here’s the skinny on all things beauty reviving as the darkest of beauty times is here! ;-)

Better Skin Mirakle Cream - $34

We all need a bit (okay a lot) of reparation in the skin area this time of year, well Better Skin Mirakle Cream is genius in a jar with it’s one-stop, skin-loving, problem-solving, all-purpose cream! Mirakle Cream’s ingredient rich recipe, imported from the Republic of Uzbekistan, is handcrafted in the USA with love and FAB FAB ingredients such as coconut oil, sea buckthorn, shea butter, cocoa butter, aloe, and soothing algae to help moisturize the skin. Peptides and hyaluronic acid help skin appear smoother, more youthful and radiant. It’s the perfect weapon to slay scaly dragon skin!!!
https://thebetterskinco.com

Qyksonic ZOE 3-in-1 Sonic Beauty Device - $199
Cue the song Good Vibrations by Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch (yeah that’s right we’re bringing it back…) Less than a year ago I had never used a sonic beauty device, and now I absolutely SWEAR by them!!! Of the multitude of ones I’ve explored, Qyksonic ZOE 3-in-1 Sonic Beauty Device is the only skincare device that cleanses, massages, and applies skincare products (most competitors don’t don’t do the last one). Bam! Zoe’s advanced Silicone Brushes work at over 6000 pulsations per minute to gently cleanse and exfoliate the makeup, dirt, and oil that clog your pores and cause acne, while eliminating blemishes and minimizing the signs of aging. Bam! Benefits include: provides complete facial and body sonic cleansing, delivers next-level micro-firming circulation massage, minimizes the size of pore and wrinkles, exfoliates without irritating your skin. Bam Bam Bam! “Feel those good vibrations. Come on Come on!”

https://qyksonic.com

Pur Cosmetics 4-in-1 Lip Duo Single 4 Tonight - $20.00
The best way to combat Twilight colored skin is with a kickass red lipstick! (With the AMAZING name of Sing 4 Tonight) Bright coloring to pop that skin and plus never having to choose between matte and gloss again! Pur Cosmetics creamy 4-in-1 Lip Duo with a high-impact matte liquid lip stain and nourishing oil treatment. The highly pigmented lip stain contains creamy shea butter and coconut oil that helps it glide on smoothly for a transfer-resistance finish that lasts all day long without fading. Plus, the matte lip stain gently plumps lips for a more defined pout and the lip oil is enriched with agave, sunflower, jojoba and cranberry oils to ensure that lips maintain moisture and a high shine. So don some lipstick and get ready for Team Edward and Team Jacob to fight you off!!!
https://www.purcosmetics.com

Vitals Protein Collagen Cream - $29

Beauty is an inside job. In winter (really all the seasons) your skin texture depends not only on external treatments, but also on your food intake. Collagen is the protein that your body relies on to ensure the health and vitality of your skin, hair, tendon, cartilage, bones, and joints; pretty much everything that connects our body, keeping skin tone and joints strong, needs collagen. But our modern diets lack the collagen that was once abundant in foods effecting our hair, skin and nails, and joints, ligaments and tendons as we age. Enter Vital Proteins Mocha Collagen Creamer featuring healthy ingredients served alongside 10 grams of collagen peptides sourced from grass-fed, pasture-raised bovine. Rich in healthy fats from organic coconut milk, their Whole30-approved Coconut Creamer is completely free of dairy, soy, carrageenan, gluten, artificial sweeteners, and added sugars. Virtually flavorless and odorless, mix it into your smoothies, coffee, or other beverage. Viva the collagen revolution!!!
https://www.vitalproteins.com

Treat Yourself Energizing Sugar Coat - $35

One of the hottest beauty products on the market are hemp based beauty products. Hemp and cannabis (aka medical marijuana) both derive from the plant species Cannabis sativa. In case you’re unfamiliar, hemp is a variety of the Cannabis sativa plant that contains less than .3% THC. The CBD based beauty company Treat Yourself has created a transformative Sugar Coat that sugar-y scrubs with all the benefits of Manuka honey (UMF16+) mask infused with full-spectrum hemp oil and a 5 spice anti-inflammatory blend to provide softer, clearer looking skin.
https://treatyourselfinc.com

Tailored Union Socks - $16
You lose most of your body heat through your head and feet so you should tailor the latter in absolute style!!! Tailored Union is a curated luxe brand focused primarily around exclusive artist based sock collections. Yes this article of clothing may be covering up your footsies, but they are also a bespoke piece of clothing; the ultimate in refinement. Along with your classic socks, Tailored Union is making head weaves for their sheer socks with sandals. Perfect for those chilly SoCal winter nights! ;-)
https://www.tailoredunion.com/

A Girl's Gotta Spa! Energizing Citrus Salt Scrub - $32

Remember those old school cartoons where there was a Saint Bernard with a bottle of medicine running around the arctic?!? Well that is what A Girl's Gotta Spa! Energizing Citrus Salt Scrub does with the impending doom of alligator skin! There's a reason this female owned indie beauty brand is always selling out on Amazon! This scrub does a hat trick by exfoliating with purifying Dead Sea Salt, clarifying with green tea extract, and hydrating with avocado oil. The Energizing Citrus Salt Scrub is: 100% natural Vegan featuring citrus essential oils of pink grapefruit, orange, lemon and lime. It’s the ULTIMATE Rescue 911 for your skin!
https://www.agirlsgottaspa.com

So Fresh So Clean Green Tea Wash-Off Mask - $8
So Fresh So Clean Green Tea Wash-Off Mask is like have a super hydrating whipped frosting on your face (in the best way possible!!!) A mud based mask that releases a warm sensation (‘cause we can all use warm in the wintertime!) that reaches into pores dissolve and dislodge the build-up of impurities. And then there’s the Aloe Vera and Vitamin E to help moisturize, moisturize, and moisturizer! So frost your face away as it’s sooooooo fresh and sooooooo clean! ;-) 
http://sofreshsoclean.com/

Kat Thomas is the Editor in Chief of Edible Skinny, a site dedicated to making your life postcard worthy. She is also the CEO of the creative media company This Way Adventures. You can find more about both brands at http://www.thiswayadventures.com

Life is Sweet in Napa Valley with Calistoga

By Kat Thomas, Edible Skinny

After all our imbibing (and there was A LOT of imbibing), Titus of Beau Wine Tours & Limousine Service chauffeured us to Calistoga, depositing us at the Mount View Hotel to start embracing the art of relaxation!

Calistoga is located on the north end of Napa Valley (75 miles north of San Francisco). This small town is famous for its hot springs, hotel and spas, world-class restaurants, and whimsical wineries, including Castello di Amorosa, a 13th century Tuscan castle. Earlier this year, Amy Poehler shot a portion of her new Netflix film comedy, Wine Country, in this picture perfect hamlet.

Calistoga has a population of just 5,330 people while maintaining 46 lodging properties, 23 restaurants/cafés/bars, and 18 spas. The latter’s most famous is Indian Springs. which dates back to 1860 when California’s first millionaire Sam Brannon envisioned a world-class resort based on the area’s steamy mineral waters. 3 million years ago a volcano erupted and created a petrified forest and these watery healing grounds used by the Wappo Indians from the 1700s on.

Brannon coined the name “Calistoga,” a combination of California and Saratoga, a resort in Upstate New York he admired. From then on Calistoga becomes noted for its natural mineral water and elegant hot springs resort. Two ingredients that make Calistoga’s spas so unique are the volcanic ash and the geothermal mineral water. And the results are more than popular as more than half of the spas in Calistoga offer hot springs or mineral pools. Another famous natural landmark of the town is Old Faithful Geyser of California, a small geyser set against the backdrop of palm trees and mountains that historically erupts every 45 minutes.

Calistoga is designated as its own distinct AVA with an area of seven square miles and over 60 different wineries. Other than the Madrigal Family Winery, landmark wineries in the area include include Frank Family Winery (the third oldest winery in Napa Valley), Twomey, Sterling Vineyards, Dutch Henry Winery and Chateau Montelena Winery, which is housed in a jaw-dropping, ivy-covered castle with landscaped gardens. In 2019, Napa Valley’s first Four Seasons will open in Calistoga with 85 guest rooms, 20 villas, and its own vineyard and winery.