what's cooking wednesdays: the food of coachella

this is the first of several coachella recaps and in honor of what's cooking wednesdays, i figured i'd start with the food!  i ate like a fat kid off of a celery binge while we were there.  let's start with the obvious: in-and-out burger.  truth be told, i would have been happy as a clam to eat all of my meals here for the duration of the trip.  it pains me that i have to travel so far for the goodness that is an animal-style cheesburger, fries, and a neopolitan shake.  so, so, so yummy.  mmmm....i miss it already. 

hello, lover.

what was i saying? oh yes, so then you have the coachella food itself.  i was actually pretty impressed with the food selection there.  yes, there was PLENTY of your run-of-the mill gyros, pizza, french fries, etc.  and of course it was all obscenely overpriced {i paid $4 for a lukewarm bottle of diet coke. low point.}  but there was also some really delicious and different festival offerings {at least, different from the festival food i've ever had}.  let's start with dessert, shall we?

i heart cinnamon.

the churros were EVERYWHERE.  granted, not the best in the world, but wow, did these really hit the spot! fried dough, cinnamon, sugar...i don't want to live in a world where that's not a perfect combo.

friend k had a different experience with the crepes, one that involved a fat guy who she sat next to trying to kiss her.  fortunately my crepe experience was awesome and grope-free.  nutella crepes are high on my not-so-short list of foods to be served at my last meal.  there was a lot of groaning going on while i downed one of these puppies.  i also really enjoyed the girl in line behind me, and i quote, god, these people do NOT know how to make authentic crepes.  umm...babe, we're in the middle of a desert. they're making these things out of the back of a van for people who have been on drugs for 72 hours, if not their entire lives. did you really expect an authentic parisien culinary experience?!

still waiting for the sugar coma from all of these bad boys to kick in...

this gets the MVP of coachella award for me.  the stands for these were as ubiquitous as the churro stands, but it wasn't until halfway through day 2 when we realized that they had people walking around selling these out of portable coolers. jackpot.  there is NOTHING better than frozen solid lemonade when you are 75,000 people-deep in the 90+ degree desert sunshine.  absolute lifesaver.

not pictured, the grilled corn on the cob stand was like the holy grail of coachella.  it was the next to last stand in the food tents across from the smallest, furthest-distance stages.  being spotted with grilled corn on the cob made you an instant celebrity.  we stopped counting the number of people who literally stopped and pointed at me and yelled corn! and ran off in search.  and so worth it.  they had a little stand with different hot sauces and seasoned salts and parmesan cheese and they would dip it in butter for you. 

and i have to mention the yummers indian food stand, cowboys and turbans.  the chicken tikka naanwich was INSANE.  unfortch, that was the day i forgot my gum, so i tasted like curry for the rest of the day.  they also had these amazing-looking masala cheese fries that i heard wonderful things about, but the line was always way too long so i never got a taste.  sad face.

moral of the story:  brings lots of cash and your fatpants to coachella.  the prices are high, the choices are many, and most all of it is pretty darn amaze-balls.

my sister and i took an extra day after coachella to spend in santa monica before heading back east. since we were sick of eating overpriced, gutbusting festival food, we went to the sweetest, yummiest little outdoor french bistro on the promenade, monsieur marcel.  the sister got the salade de chevre chaud which was UNREAL and i will definitely be recreating at home, and i had a classic salade nicoise with the most perfectly cooked tuna i have had in a long time, washed down with a half-priced {gotta love happy hour!} glass of white burgundy.  the dessert list was so tempting, but we're both pinkberry freaks and those are hard to come by in our neck of the woods so we saved the sweets for some fro-yo.  a perfect way to end our wonderful trip!

stay tuned for more adventures in the desert...