u/socalnative79

I've been vegan for almost 4 years now, and I never crave "plant-based meat replicas" anymore. With the exception of vegan nuggets a few times a year (tenders used to be a comfort food), every time I'm choosing veggie burgers over Beyond/Impossible, etc. Well, it's the 4th of July and I bought Field Roast Stadium Dogs to get in the spirit of the holiday. In my omni days I appreciated a quality hot dog once in a great while. Multiple reviews have said what I bought are the "best" vegan hot dogs so I thought it was a safe bet and hopefully a fun treat.

Oh. My. God. Was I ever wrong. They smelled so bad when I opened the package, but I let that go. I cooked them on a grill pan to get the grill marks and a nice sear. The smell did improve a bit with cooking, but the texture was really odd and the taste was, to put it diplomatically, off putting. Almost like bad quality canned meat. It's hard to find the right words. A pretzel bun, sauerkraut, and good mustard barely masked the awfulness.

I realize taste is completely subjective so plenty of people must love them, and I would never judge them for it. More so, I think the real reason I'm sharing this review is to say that it's amazing how quickly your palate evolves beyond replacing meat and instead craves food made from real and healthy(ish) ingredients. We're all entitled to junk food and generally treating ourselves now and then, but I think my days of wanting imitation meat are now over.

I'm near the border of Calabasas and Woodland Hills, and I need to get several (upwards of 10) larger sized pots for starts that I need to up-pot into their permanent homes. As much as I hate to support them, the big box stores tend to have the best prices. Before I go back to them, I figured I would ask this sub. Are there any other places out here that sell pots and related items that are good quality but not egregiously overpriced?

I'm at Costco in Woodland Hills, and they're selling blueberry bushes (Sunshine Blue and Southern Beauty) for $20. We're about to have a good three straight months at the very least of 85-100 degree temperatures. A great deal, but am I crazy or is this the absolute worst time of year in this area to be planting these out here? Correct me if I'm wrong about that, otherwise I'm shocked Costco would do this knowing the imminent weather change.

I'm craving a homemade veggie burger and fries, but I'm not sure which vegan-friendly frozen fries turn out best in a regular oven. The challenge is that I don't have an air fryer, but I do have a Breville countertop oven and a regular sized oven that each have convection settings.

Can anyone recommend frozen fries that still cook up properly without an air fryer? I've heard the Kirkland Signature are secretly amazing but that's a big commitment if I don't love them, haha. Appreciate any and all recommendations...thank you!

I'm at work but checking in on the WTSO Marathon as often as I can. Is it just me, or is this a particularly weak selection of wines and deals? Just for fun I bought a bottle of the '06 Stag's Leap merlot, but at most I've seen two other wines that I even considered buying. Maybe the best is yet to come but this one just feels super underwhelming thus far. Have I missed anything really good in case it comes back around?

Anyone have a recommendation for where I can get a fairly priced (but quality) real deep tissue massage, that also has a spa atmosphere? Obviously I can do research myself as well, but I value real world opinions and experiences.

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I've been to Spa Relais at Westlake Village Inn and it was fantastic, but also horrifically expensive (I know, it's a hotel). So ideally it would be along those lines...a less expensive alternative that doesn't need to be quite as fancy/bougie.

Anyone else notice LB and WTSO both have the 2023 No Love Lost cab on offer at the same time? I can't recall that ever happening in my several years of using both sites. The winery is clearly putting its PR dollars to good work! Interesting that LB is at $17 with a 6-bottle minimum for free shipping, whereas WTSO is $17.99 with a 4-bottle minimum. The wine isn't jumping out to me so I'm going to skip it, but I just thought it was awfully coincidental.

I purchased a townhome a few years ago from the original owners, and the kitchen has a Thermador professional range and matching hood. It's a very nice looking hood, but I suspect there's either something that needs repair and/or was not installed properly in the first place. I do periodically clean the hood using the Thermador instructions, but I don't think it does much. There's oil leaking from two corners of the hood, and one of the leaks is streaming down the backsplash and staining the tile. Don't get me started on why anyone would choose porous tile with light grout for a stove backsplash, but that's a conversation for another time 🤣 I do cook, but only around two nights a week and I'm not deep frying or doing anything else that would be stressing the setup.

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Long story short, I'm a first-time homeowner and honestly have no idea who the correct repair person is to call for something like this. Would it be a handyman? A plumber that specializes in kitchens? I'm fully aware I could just Google search "Thermador range hood repair" and see what comes up, but I figured folks here might have some more practical advice and guidance. Thanks in advance!

A bit of a random question, I acknowledge, but does anyone know why Los Olivos/Ballard/Solvang is so booked up Juneteenth weekend? I was thinking of heading up for a solo getaway, but even the few hotels with rooms available have clearly "surge priced" everything. The Airbnb/VRBO properties are mostly booked up too. I go up there all the time and can't recall it ever being so busy on a non-major holiday weekend. I think there's some kind of theater festival in Solvang (I try to avoid that area anyway) but I doubt that's the sole reason.

A close relative is getting married soon, and he and his fiance are filling out their wedding registry. Because I'm my family's resident "wine person," he asked my thoughts on these glasses from Crate & Barrel. Zweisel generally tends to be good quality, but I'm concerned about the size of these and the somewhat generic design. Is the lower part of the bowl too wide, and would that potentially cause the aromas to become muddled? Those are my initial thoughts without seeing them in person. Would greatly appreciate feedback from anyone who may have used these!

I tested positive for Staph and yeast in my sinus/nasal passages, and my ENT put me on a 7-day course of Doxycycline and Fluconazole. Today is day 4, and I woke up with a splitting headache that isn't going away.

Can I safely take a dose of Advil while on these medications? I've seen conflicting info online so I'm hoping the actual experts here can shed some light. Thank you!

EDIT: Adding that I'm a 47 year old Caucasian male, 6'1" and 153 lbs, in excellent athletic shape, lifelong non-smoker, very moderate drinker, other medications are fluticasone and Miebo

When they first started and I was at a different phase in my wine journey, I had bought several bottles from 90+ Cellars that were actually pretty decent for the price. It was also a great way to discover different varietals for people in the budget. At the time they were repurposing excess from legitimate wineries, but I think they've shifted to more of a bulk juice business model in recent years?

In any case, just curious to know if anyone here has tried their wines more recently. They definitely become a more polished and corporate enterprise of late. Has there been a noticeable change in quality over the years? Are they better, worse, the same?

I'm not the only one who has noticed LB's "sales pitches" for their wine offers have reached an entirely new level of hyperbole and verbosity over the past several months. It hit me just now while reading their latest email. They've switched to using AI to write these, and obviously not for the better. Look at the ridiculous number of em dashes, ellipses, and all-caps, and the over the top descriptors. All are hallmarks of AI.

Why is this important? Because it means we now have to take everything they say about wines with a gigantic grain of salt. Not that due diligence hasn't always been very important, but now it's critical. Nothing about those sales pitches comes across as genuine.

I've been a supporter of LB for over a decade now, and I used to believe in the wines because I felt like THEY believed in the wines. Their communication certainly made it seem that way. I guess I'm just a bit sad to see the heart slowly disappearing from the company.

I have a decomposed granite pathway in my yard. Between the heavy rains a few months back (and a breached flood control ditch above a retaining wall) and a couple years of use, there are areas where the surface has become gravelly, uneven, and eroded. Can anyone recommend a reliable company to repair the DG so it looks/feels the way it should? I'm right on the border of Calabasas/Woodland Hills if that helps. Thanks in advance!

I needed to quickly find a delivery for dinner tonight, and I was excited to see a fully vegan Thai restaurant called Vegan in Samui. Or at least that's what I thought it was, because I didn't figure out until after placing my order it's some kind of "restaurant within a restaurant" at Jasmine Thai (which itself is not very highly rated). There's no available information on Vegan in Samui other than it being listed on delivery apps. I'm not going to scream false advertising, but I'll say this was a concerning development. Okay, but what about the food...

I can't remember the last time I've been this utterly disappointed by a restaurant. Let's start with the one positive, which was the surprisingly tasty and fragrant Tom Yum soup. Lots of veggies, and the lemongrass and vinegary kick you look for. From there it went quickly and steeply downhill...

The spring rolls were described as being stuffed with cabbage, carrots and glass noodles. The reality was 99% oily wrapper (with a soggy interior) and 1% an indiscernible mushy paste running through the middle. I powered through a couple, but I immediately regretted it. They were tasteless and excessively greasy. No joke, the frozen vegetable spring rolls at Trader Joe's are significantly better and 1/3 the price.

The Pad See Ew featured overcooked noodles that were stuck together in clumps and approximately 3 pieces of broccoli. The tofu and the noodles both had a slightly rancid taste common to stale cooking oil. Otherwise, there was literally no flavor to this dish.

The Vegan Thai Basil with vegetables suffered from a near absence of basil flavor. Not good when that's quite literally the name of the dish. The "vegetables" were 90% soggy onion slices and 10% red bell pepper, mushroom, and carrot. Unfortunately this also suffered from that oddly rancid taste.

Oily, rancid, flavorless, cheaping out on ingredients, and $70 that I won't get back. I HATE wasting food, but I'm seriously considering just tossing the leftovers. It was that bad. I always want to support local vegan places because so many aren't able to stay in business, but this one has to do better.

[EDIT: Updating to add there were eggs in my pad see ew!!! No wonder it tasted gross. I've hated... HATED...eggs for my entire life, well before going vegan. I just tossed all the food because I'm not wasting another calorie on this BS establishment. This is really messed up. They're going to hear from me tomorrow. I'm pissed.]