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The 49th Annual Renaissance Pleasure Faire and Artisans Market returned its rein over the Santa Fe Dam Recreational Area in Irwindale last weekend and will continue its pillage Saturdays and Sundays through May 22.

From 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., faire-goers, many dressed in period costumes, are transported to the magically recreated Royal shipyard city of Port Deptford during the reign of Elizabeth I and immersed into the music, language, culture and entertainment of the time.

This is one of my favorite times of the year to let the imagination roam free while taking in some history, even centuries later.

Take in one of the many wonderful shows in the various stages throughout the shire, barter with the vendors for one of their handcrafted treasures, practice your knife throwing or canon ball launch, or just chat up a conversation with the hundreds of performers and characters including Her Majesty herself, pirate Sir Francis Drake and playwright William Shakespeare.

Along with the many adult-rated entertainment, the young ones can also take in the games, rides, crafts, story time and more in the Kid's Kingdom.

If you really want to get delved in the era but didn't come fully prepared, don't fuss as costume rental and purchase opportunities abound in the Faire's Marketplace, as well as more than 100 artisans offering Renaissance and contemporary jewelry, home décor and original artwork.

Or be a glutton like me and just come for the food and libations. Food vendors offer something for everyone, whether you have a small or large appetite or crave something sweet. A novelty food item is the roasted turkey leg. This iconic meat is huge for first-timers, but beware, if you don't have a big appetite for turkey or at least someone to share with, this monster leg will end up eating you.

After my share of Faire visits, I have some favorite stops. The first bar is popular for those needing their favorite ale, Port or my favorite, mead or honey wine, with a haste. But those prepared know to just keep walking to the next bar stop and the wait is almost half as long.

Once you're appetite is worked up, I like to take on a "Steak-on-a-Stake", which is pretty much grilled beef chunks on a wooden skewer. Simple but tasty. I'm almost certain curly cheese fries were not common in the Renaissance era but in my circle, this is a must side when dining at the faire - cheese devours these warm and crispy ringlets of potatoes.

My new favorite must-have at faire is the tri-tip sandwich with chili. Now don't be fooled like many, this is not chili like at Wienerschnitzel or spicy chili, this is a hearty serving of simmered kidney beans, tomatoes, onions and spices, all to complement the generous offering of tri-tip beef slices on a roll. A fork is accompanied with this dish because trying to eat this sandwich without making a mess is an impossible mission, even with two hands.

As I said, there is something for everyone. Vegetarian entrees and desserts are available.
My teen cousin was a little wary of the fish and chips and quail offerings so opted for a slice of Renaissance pepperoni pizza instead. Kids!

And on those warm spring days, cool down at the shire with a fruit ice. Flavored shaved ice is frozen into its shell - mango, pineapple, coconut - just a few flavors offered. I treated myself to a coconut ice during my visit and love the fresh flavor with coconut pieces.

For a fun tour, adults can purchase $25 tickets to an exclusive and riotous Pub Crawl offered each day of the faire. The crawl features cold spirits, lusty wenches, bawdy songs, drinking games and a guided tour of the shire. The ticket includes one beverage of your choice at each of the five pubs visited in the shire.

Tickets for faire are $25 for adults and $15 for children aged 5-12. Children under age 5 are free. Adult season passes for $130 and a child's season pass for $65 are available. Tickets can be purchased at the box office or online at www.renfair.com.
The Santa Fe Dam Recreation Area is at 15501 Arrow Highway in Irwindale. A vehicle entry fee of $10 is charged by Los Angeles County. For more information, visit www.renfair.com.

To kick off their 20th birthday celebration, Jamba Juice is offering a buy one, get one free deal. Through April 25, smoothie fans can visit their www.jambajuice.com, print out an anniversary coupon and take it in their nearest JJ store to biy any drink on the menu for themselves and get another drink, of equal or lesser value, for a friend for free. Or keep it for themselves for double the juicy fun.

To continue their anniversary celebration, the juice company will launch their weekday "Feel Good Specials", a limited time offer menu.

Here's the breakdown, for those who love fruit and granola, Ideal Meal Monday will offer the protein and fiber rich Ideal Meals for just $3; To get two of your favorite or try something new, there's Buy Two Tuesday which features a special pairing offer of the week. On Wake Up Wednesday, get a dose of slow cooked, steel cut oats for just  $2. Get $1 off all baked goods with a drink purchase on Tasty Thursday. To finish off the healthy week, Jamba gets back to their wholesome, delicious, healthy smoothie roots with All Fruit Friday - buy any 16 ounce All Fruit Smoothie for just $3.  The Feel Good Specials are available from April 25-May 31.

Adding to their All Fruit Smoothie line, Jamba launches their new Five Fruit Frenzy, a blend of blueberries, strawberries, banana, peaches, and mango - a great way to get your recommended fruit per day in one fresh beverage.

Jamba Juice plans to have a celebration for its 20th anniversary in San Luis Obispo, where the company was founded, on April 19th.

So I took advantage of Jamba Juice's $1 Oatmeal Wednesdays today to start my day.

I went with a fresh banana and brown sugar crumble topping - simple and healthy. For just $1, the portion size was satisfying. The oatmeal itself was warm and softly cooked but not much taste.

The bananas were freshly sliced in small rounds and together with the brown sugar topping were pretty much the only flavor in the whole serving, but what else do you expect from fresh oatmeal?

I don't know if it was worth having the brown sugar crumble because there were hardened pieces throughout and I worried some would crack my teeth. They were just too hard.

It would be nice to have more berry flavor options also because I don't care too much for blueberries, dried cranberries or cherries.

Today, Jamba Juice has announced its own solution to many people's new year resolutions to eat healthy and save money - oatmeal for just $1 every Wednesday, all month long!  

The smoothie company offers their oatmeal, made with 100% organic, steel cut-oats, with a choice of 3 real fruit toppings - fresh banana, blueberry/blackberry and cinnamon apple - and now for a limited time the Berry Cherry Pecan, a mix of premium dried fruit, glazed pecans and a brown sugar crumble.

No microwaves here, the made-fresh-daily oatmeal takes a full 40 minutes to prepare, but ready to serve when ordered. 

The oatmeal offerings contain no artificial preservatives, no artificial flavors, zero grams trans fat and are a great source of protein and fiber. And on for only three more Wednesdays this month - you can get all that healthy, tasty goodness for just a buck - $1, regularly priced $2.95.

Good for you and your wallet.

I know what I'm having for breakfast tomorrow. Check back here Wednesday afternoon for the verdict. 

After hearing about Mr. Baguette for over a year, I finally got to taste one of the sandwich shop's creations.

I thought there was only a Mr. Baguette in Rosemead and I hardly ever go through the city let alone stop somewhere there to eat.

But by chance, I happened to be driving north on Atlantic Blvd. in Monterey Park one Saturday afternoon, spotted this location on the right side and knew I had to take a detour from my original destination.

When I first perused the displayed menu, I was surprised by the variety of cuisines offered at what I thought was a mainly French-inspired sandwich shop. There are Vietnamese inspired sandwiches and new to the shop are the beef and chicken fajitas sandwich.

The new addition looks to combine Mexican cuisine with the signature French baguette bread. The sandwiches come with beef or chicken finely chopped fajitas, in-house salsa sauce, and Monterey Jack cheese.

They even offer Jarritos, a line of fruit-flavored sodas that are a favorite in Mexico.

Though sandwiches do take over the menu, you can start off with pate chaud or pork or chicken meat pies, a ham and cheese roll, or a bowl of clam chowder or chicken curry.

Sandwich selections vary from classic French baguette sandwiches to Vietnamese-French combinations.

There is the classic brioche in a variety of meat or veggie options in a smaller-size French roll bread. There is a variety of croissant sandwiches or just get them plain.

Contemporary sandwiches come with mayonnaise spread, lettuce, tomatoes and American cheese with your choice of meats like grilled beef, roast beef or tuna.

The condiments can be substituted with the house special salad of carrots, daikon and chili peppers.

The Classic sandwiches are served with the house salad and come in varieties such as pork meat loaf, pate pork meat loaf, chicken, meatball, veggie or a combination of meats.

I craved a Vietnamese style sandwich that comes with carrots and chili peppers so I went simply with a grilled pork classic. 

My sister and adventure companion decided to try the Saigon probably more for the name. The Saigon comes with a combination of hot Vietnamese-style bacon and pork meat loaf.

She forewent adding the house salad topping which comes on the side in a small bag when ordered to go. Even though the pork in her sandwich looked different than we're used to seeing, she said it was a tasty combination of meats and devoured it in less than 10 minutes.

I had to add the house salad to my sandwich, especially the chili peppers to give it a nice kick. I have been to some Vietnamese restaurants that serve these types of sandwiches, known there as banh mi, and most of the time the peppers are spicy.

Mr. Baguette was no exception but it was a great balance to the nicely sliced carrots and daikon, which is a type of radish. The grilled pork was nicely seasoned and grilled to a nice tenderness.

The final touch that made the sandwich deliciously scrumptious was the baguette. A nice warm toasty on the outside and soft on the inside.

What I love even more about Mr. Baguette are the prices. You can get a simple sandwich for under $3. Our sandwiches were less than $4 for a good size.

Having such a variety of beverages as sandwiches, my sister and I had to try something from that menu as well.

I went with the boba thai iced tea for $2.50 and my sister gave the mango smoothie a try for $3.85 and 35 cents extra for boba.   

The thai tea had a nice taste and the boba balls were larger than I've had in other boba drinks but I didn't find anything much special in their tastes. They just added some texture.

My sister felt the same way about the boba but enjoyed her fresh-tasting smoothie just the same.

Mr. Baguette is open daily from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. and has three locations in the San Gabriel Valley located at:

• 400 S. Atlantic Blvd., #288 in Monterey Park, (626) 282-9966
• 8702 E. Valley Blvd. in Rosemead, (626) 288-9166
• 9661 E. Garvey Ave., #101 in South El Monte, (626) 575-8632

You knew I would try to snag a free flatbread from Jamba Juice. How could I resist free food?

Check out this article from business editor Kevin Smith explaining this special promotion.

At first, I thought of going an hour before this special promotion started, but actually got too busy in the office.

Once I had a break, it was just after 2 p.m. but thought I would still see if I had a chance to try these new low-calorie flatbreads.

I arrived at the Jamba Juice in West Covina by the mall at about 2:20 p.m. There was no long lines in sight like I remember seeing for the free chicken giveaway El Pollo Loco and Kentucky Fried Chicken had, but that was fine with me.

There wasn't even one person in front of me when I entered the Jamba Juice in West Covina on Tuesday.

I was reminded once again of the free promotion and I said yes please! Apparently they were giving away one of the four varieties (Tomo Artichoko, Smokehouse Chicken, MediterranYum and Four Cheesy) at different times throughout the promotion. I got the Smokehouse Chicken variety.

I ordered a healthy smoothie as well - Pomegranate Pick-me-up - and happily took my little warm box of flatbread. Regular price for a flatbread is $3.75.

No matter where I read or searched for online, I could not figure out what type of food exactly Jamba Juice meant by 'flatbread', but it pretty much resembles a mini-size, thin-crust pizza with flatbread as the dough.

The smokehouse had roasted corn, peppers, black beans and chicken on top of a little melted cheese and what tasted like a slightly tangy barbecue sauce. The flavors of each ingredient went well together considering it was only 330 calories.

The flatbread was warm and toasty but a bit hard on the side while it was soft on the bottom.

The flatbread was more of a snack with it's mini-pizza size, or if you wanted to make it a full meal, you could pick up a couple or add one of the salads also offered now at some Jamba Juice locations.

Next time I'll try one of the salads, wraps or sandwiches while picking up some fresh juicy smoothie at Jamba Juice.

DID YOU SNAG A FREE FLATBREAD? KNOW OF ANY OTHER FREE FOOD OFFERINGS YOU CAN SHARE WITH US? LET US KNOW BELOW - SHARING IS CARING.

 

By Stacey Wang

I've had bagels on the brains every Friday for the last two weeks due to the downtime "bagels or donuts?" discussion in the office.

As if Casual Friday didn't already make my day, I finally decided to satisfy my craving for those complex carbs.

In San Dimas lies Cafe Bagelry, a family-owned shop that has an extensive menu to satisfy bagel eaters of all kinds.

From cream cheese bagels to bagel sandwiches, the cafe has menu items ranging from $0.85 to $5.69, before tax.

I ordered a Californian - a cafe-proclaimed favorite tuna sandwich with Swiss cheese, avocado, tomatoes and sprouts on a toasted wheat bagel.

The generous portions of the sandwich alone were enough to fill me up, but the cafe offers a meal deal every Friday. Customers can order any bagel menu item, chips and a fountain drink for $6.

On any other day, my meal would have cost $7.79. It's not a huge savings, but I don't mind taking what I can get - especially if it's as gratifying as it was.

I also ordered a cafe specialty known as a Peaches 'N Cream bagel for $3.02 purely because it glimmered from its glass encasing with visual appeal.

The pastry was a bagel bread with a light spread of cream cheese. It was topped with peach slices fanned out like a pinwheel and sprinkled with cinnamon, which added a light fruity sweetness to it.

I didn't attempt to finish all of my food in one sitting - I would have cursed bagels until the new year had I tried.

The shop also offers alternatives to bagel items - including muffins, omelettes, wraps, croissants and more - while supplies last.

Some other items include an Early Bird Egg Wrap with egg, herb cream cheese and cheddar cheese at $3.13 and cookies at $0.75, which the menu proclaims is "the best" the cafe has ever tasted.

But don't expect to eat there at night. The place is open from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays, and from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sundays.

Cafe Bagelry is at 969 W. Arrow Hwy., San Dimas. Call the shop at (909) 394-9592 for more information.