Travel = Great Food!

Posted on October 23, 2013 by melsmosaic

When I was in Oregon it meant I had to eat out. Darn! My friends and I explored several places, I only remembered to get pictures at a few.

Day 1: Dinner at McMenamins – Zeus Cafe. Quite the variety. One person has chickpea fries, one went with mussels for appetizers. For dinner, I had a great thin crust pizza with grilled chicken, arugula, tomatoes and something else…I can’t remember what because it was so good!

Day 2: Lunch at Yara Lebanese Cuisine. Any place that makes Baba Ghanouj without dairy to put a ‘lactard’ on cloud nine is unreal (at least in my book). So, we had a mixed plate/yara platter appetizer then I had a house salad, and friends had kababs.

Dinner at Pok Pok. Yes, I had to use the bathroom and what did I find when I was in there? Oh, that they were elected for The James Beard Foundation Awards. This has happened for many, many years.

Anyway, other cool stuff on this place. You go put you name in line/on the list. They give you your buzzer and mention there is a bar across the street where you can wait. They are connected to these guys so you can tell the other bar what your buzzer number is and they’ll take care of it. They let you know when your table is ready. Nicely connected!

When we got our table, jumping ahead a bit, great food! I tried the Yam Tuna — thai style tuna salad with ginger, garlic, thai chilies, green onions, lemongrass, tomatoes and Oregon (oh, yes, local!) Albacore in spicy lime and fish sauce dressing. Some of it had some kick! I can see why this place is well known and recognized.

Day 3: Lunch in wine country!!!!!!!!!! Received several recommendations to try Red Hills Market. People told me it was sort of like a Dean & Deluca on a nice local level. You walk up to the counter, order and then they bring it to your table. I enjoyed a nice salami and arugula sandwich and a delicious bean soup. It was a sort of cloudy day so fit the weather perfectly.

Dinner was based on a recommendation from one of the wineries. You can never go wrong with Mexican! So, my friend and I checked out Verde Cocina. Fresh, delicious, perfect!

For me, the three staples at a mexican restaurant are a margarita, salsa and guacamole. Check!

Here, they serve you nice warm corn tortillas instead of chips with your goods. Deadly…

For dinner, they had ceviche…SOLD! I love the stuff.

Day 4: Dinner at Petisco. Little, local restaurant in the neighborhood where I was staying. I was so thrilled because I was able to have French Onion soup for the first time in ages because they use olive oil (vs butter) in the base and the cheese on top…manchego. What more could one ask? Great way to end my trip in Oregon!

I do believe in spooks

Posted on September 22, 2013 by melsmosaic

This is the first thing that came to mind when I was walking through Target the other day and I was surrounded, and that is a light word, by Halloween candy and food. I can’t say all, but many manufacturers put that little twist on what they make/package to draw the attention of consumers for that extra sale. Not quite point-of-purchase (POP) but definitely strategic marketing. It tastes the same but lures that eye. This is the point at which I’m really glad I’m lactose intolerant and can’t eat/consume/splurge/inhale/spend way too much money on most of this stuff.

This is a snapshot of what I say in the Halloween section:

Genes & Food

Posted on August 28, 2013 by melsmosaic

You learn something new everyday is all too true. I was reading this short, interesting article earlier today in National Geographic about how (some of) what we eat is somehow tied to us, DNA-wise. As the articles states, ‘…at first glance, look like cousins.’ Glad they said that because for a second I had to think…does this truly mean we are what we eat?

Ok, back on true topic. From that flank steak & burger to a great chicken breast; then further down the line, think of that rice some stir-fried chicken might go on top of. Baker’s yeast — bring on the bread — was on there! And, wine grapes, not just ‘grape’ grapes made the list.

The article mentions how while all species are unique, from inanimate to breathing objects, we have many genes in common at the base. Check out the article. I just though it was great to learn about. The kitchen and food can be much more/provide much more information than we think. Talk about food for thought.

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2013/07/125-explore/shared-genes

Japan #4: Beer…a button away

Posted on July 12, 2013 by melsmosaic

It’s Friday, the weekend is only hours away. So what better to do than loop back to the Japan trip theme and talk about BEER??? T minus 4 hours until Happy Hour.

There are beers around the world and I was looking forward to having true Japanese beer while in the country of origin. But the best thing I found while there were beer machines. What is that you ask? You want a Coke, Sprite, Mountain Dew? You go find that machine and throw in a couple bills and voila. Over in Japan…OH, you can do the same thing for beer. HEAVEN! You can tell they aren’t as strict on the drinking (age) as we are.

Also want to highlight a couple of the beers I enjoyed, overall. There is the ‘normal’ Sapporo, which I only had once. I also only saw it on tap one time. Otherwise I looked for the ones we don’t get here or I haven’t tried. Pictures below (Asahi is the one also available in the machine).

Testing…4,5,6…Tested

Posted on April 6, 2013 by melsmosaic

The pesto-like dip was tested the other night with no complaints!

Then, the next day came about for taking a friend around DC. Between museums, one must eat! So, after going to pizzeria #1 and having a long wait, we opted for pizzeria #2…longer wait. What now? We stumbled upon another restaurant/pizzeria in the Gallery Place/Chinatown area that was amazing…District of Pi. The restaurant is based in St. Louis and this location has been in DC for about 1.5 years.

Table-wise, no wait at 12:15pm on a Thursday (though we opted for the bar). Great beer-on-tap selection and many pizza options, both thin crust and deep dish. We opted for one of the thin crust specials of white bean, chicken, chorizo and arugula, requesting half with/half without cheese because of my lactose intolerance.

Now, the order was place AFTER great conversation about, and tasting of, the beer on tap. They have amazing brews available and the bartender gave me samples of nearly half a dozen before I opted for a wonderful Bell’s Amber.

When the pizza arrived, it was amazing — thin, hot, perfectly ‘halved’ cheese-wise and delicious. And, nice beer pairing, too.

If you’re in the DC area, I would highly recommend checking this place out. It’s just about a block from the normal ‘turf’ of Gallery Place/Chinatown and amazing.

Give Me Some Candy!

Posted on March 28, 2013 by melsmosaic

T minus three days until Easter. What does that mean? Only a few more days of walking into stores and being surrounded by chocolate eggs, loads of colorful jelly beans and both chocolate and marshmallow bunnies. Want some crazy stats?

According to the National Confectioners Association,

The first chocolate eggs were made in Europe in the early 19th century and remain among the most popular treats associated with Easter
90 million chocolate Easter bunnies are made for Easter each year
16 billion jelly beans are made for Easter
Each day, five million marshmallow chicks and bunnies are produced in preparation for Easter
Easter is the second top-selling confectionery holiday behind only Halloween
88 percent of adults carry on the Easter tradition of creating Easter baskets for their kids
76 percent of people eat the ears on chocolate bunnies first
Red jelly beans are kids’ favorite
According to the Guinness Book of World Records the largest Easter egg ever made was just over 25-ft high and made of chocolate and marshmallow. The egg weighed 8,968 lbs. and was supported by an internal steel frame.

Dang! Need some other good numbers to give you a sugar high as we head into the weekend? Check out The Fact Site. After reading all this, what do you plan to load up and/or munch on the next few days?