Orlando Nomfest: Food, Drinks, and Shenanigans

Pickled Marinated Mushrooms

2013-04-25T16:31:00.001-04:00

These are addictive. That is, if you like pickled things, and mushrooms.

One of those 8 ounce packages of whole button mushrooms
1/2 cup white wine vinegar
1/2 cup white vinegar
2 tbsp water
10 whole black peppercorns
1 garlic clove, thinly sliced
1/2 to a whole dried red chili pepper, thinly sliced
2 tsp dried thyme
1 tbsp sugar
Salt if needed

Fill a pot with enough water to submerge your jar in and bring it to a boil. Put your jar in it with the lids and boil for five minutes. Take the jar and lids out with tongs and let them dry and cool on a clean paper towel.
Dump the water out and put everything but the shrooms in a pot on low to medium heat and bring to a simmer. While its heating up and simmering clean the mushrooms and trim off any tough or dead parts on the stems. Normally I don't clean shrooms with running water but with these I do. I mean, they're going to be submerged in liquid for 3 days so why the hell not?
When they're all cleaned and trimmed, throw em' in the simmering liquid and let em go for like 5 to 8 minutes. When you're doing this your house will smell like a giant pickle. Pluck all that beautiful fungi out with your tongs and fit as many as you can in your jar. Pour all that pickling liquid over them til it gets to the top, put the cover on and screw the lid tight. Be careful, the jar is hot as balls. When it comes down to room temp, throw it in the fridge. Now here's the hard part. Fucking wait three days to open it and eat em.

My slightly healthier version of Whole Food's Sinful Smoked Gouda Pasta Salad

2013-04-21T18:11:00.001-04:00

I tried this stuff a couple weeks back at Whole Foods and it was freakin good. But Whole Foods is far and this shit is $7.99 a pound and about 400 calories per serving. So I decided to make my own which is far less expensive and about 260 calories per serving.
FYI I don't measure. So these measurements are guesstimates. Oh and I threw in some sautéed zucchini because I needed to use it before it went bad. It's not in Whole Foods's version but after tasting mine, I actually prefer it.

1/2 pound of cooked whole wheat pasta, I used rotini
3/4 cup light mayo
3 tbsp white vinegar
1/2 cup 1% milk
1 tbsp adobo sauce (the sauce that comes in the chipotle pepper can)
1/2 cup cubed smoked Gouda
1 tomato seeded and chopped
1/2 a zucchini cut in cubes
1/4 cup quartered artichoke hearts
1 tsp dried, chopped basil
1/2 tbsp salt
1/2 tbsp pepper
1 tsp ground red pepper
1/2 tsp granulated garlic

Reminders: taste everything as you go and season as needed. Salt the pasta water.

While the pasta was cooking, I sautéed the zucchini in a little olive oil with s&p and the garlic powder. Just long enough to brown it a little. Probably 4 to 5 minutes. While the zucchini was sautéing I made the dressing for the salad in a big bowl. Put the mayo, vinegar, milk, adobo sauce, ground red pepper and s&p in the bowl and whisk until smooth. Strain the pasta, throw in the bowl with the dressing, throw in the zucchini, tomato, and artichoke. Set aside a cube or two of the Gouda and finely grate it into the bowl. Add the remaining cubes of Gouda and toss until everything is coated.

Some more New Orleans stuff

2013-01-19T11:56:00.001-05:00

So there's no way I'm going to have enough time or motivation to do a "New Orleans Part 2" so here's some cool pics.

Mardi Gras, New Orleans, 2012, part 1

2012-06-22T15:47:00.000-04:00

Tim and I stopped at Pom Pom's for some road food on our way out. He got this Snickerdoodle cupcake from BlueBird Bakery and let it sit there teasing me for like an hour. Then I made him finally eat it. Oh yeah, it was his birthday so I made him this card on the RedStamp app.We arrived at our B&B, Elysian Fields Inn, at about 11 at night. The Inn Keeper, Jim, waited up to check us in then we went straight to bed.Unfortunately for Tim, one of the reasons we went to Louisiana was to visit his dying Grandpa. The next morning we woke up early and drove 2.5 hours to New Iberia through this shitI met some of Tim's family and hung out with them in his Grand Parent's kitchen while Tim went in a back bedroom to see his Grandpa. It was sad. His Grandpa died a week and a half later.
We hung out there for about an hour then drove some crazy back road route to Abita Springs for 2.5 hours for the ABITA BREWERY TOUR!! Sorry. Abita Amber is my favorite beer.
That tour is awesome. They give you a plastic Abita cup, put on a 15 minute video, and let you hit the taps for as many times as you can in 15 minutes while the video plays. Then they walk you into a huge room with all the casks and mashers and whatnot, talk to you for 10 minutes, then let you hit the taps again for another 30.

Then, after the brewery tour, we headed to Chef John Besh's La Provence.  I made reservations a month in advance but apparently we didn't need them because when we arrived it was empty.  But it was kinda cool for a minute because it felt like the whole restaurant was ours.

I made some friends.....

Now on to the food......

When we arrived, we were given a chicken liver pate with crostinis.  Best free food nosh ever.

The bartender that's been there for 20+ years asked me if I wanted her to make me a drink.  I was like "are you kidding? you've been bartending since I was ten."  So she made me a Cosmo.  And squirted lime juice on me in the process.  It was the best Cosmo ever.

As apps I got the Oysters Ooh La La and Tim got the Quail Gumbo.  Both good but not 'oh my goodness, I'm glad we traveled 600 miles for this good.'

I forget the exact name of the entree that we split, but I call it Venison x 3.  It was rare seared venison loin on top of slow roasted venison stew surrounded by house made venison sausage.  Best venison dish I have ever ate in my life.  No joke.

We ended with the best bread pudding I have also, ever had.

Cancer sucks

2012-02-02T16:46:00.003-05:00

Cancer took my aunt two years ago. We weren't close, but seeing my mom go through the pain of losing her sister was really hard. My mom took care of her until the very end. My aunt died in the bedroom I grew up in in my parent's home. I will never get that image out of my head.

This morning cancer took Cathi Britton, the mother of a good friend and coworker. Ashli is one of the nicest people I've ever met. I can only count on one hand the number of friends I have that have never given me attitude or been mean to me. Ashli is one of them. It sucks so bad that she has to be going through this loss right now. Hopefully something good comes from it. Maybe her family will be closer. Who knows.

I do know that Cathi did not have health insurance. Now her family, a husband and three daughters, are stuck with her horrendous medical bills. If you'd like to donate $ to the Britton family, you can do so by clicking the donate button.

New Years Weekend 2012, Tasty Balls and Other Good Stuff

2012-01-02T10:30:00.002-05:00

Food

Top - Salchi Pappas from Que Rico Columbian Food Truck....at 3 a.m.
It's crinkle cut fries topped with deep fried hotdogs, 3 sauces, and melted cheese. A drunkard's dream come true.

Bottom left - my first attempt at Matzo Ball Soup. Saffron chicken stock with spinach matzo balls. Tim loved the broth but not the balls. I thought the balls were some of the most flavorful balls I've ever had.

Bottom right - the Miss Piggy from Yum-mi Sandwiches with Spring Rolls and Thai Tea. The Missy Piggy has caramelized pork belly, lettuce, tomato, and the typical Bahn Mi veggies on it. It was good but I've had better Bahn Mi.

Drinks

Clockwise from top left -

Vodka soaked gummy bears.
They taste just like jello shots but stronger and bear shaped. And easier to make. And then you can drink the gummy bear flavored Vodka when all the bears are gone.

Some f*cking drink our server at Sonoma convinced me to get. I ordered the Perfect Pair but she said this drink made from Gin was sooooo much better. Really? I haven't drank Gin since 2008 because I hate it so much. Then came another 3 minutes of convincing me to get it instead. You think I can drink Gin and not vomit? You're on!
It was ok. I didn't throw up right there on the table so that was a plus but then when we got our check that stupid Gin martini was $11.50!! No wonder why she wanted me to get it so bad.

Some shots I don't remember at Eye Spy.

Recovery Shots - Vodka and Monster Recovery. They really do help after a night of pickling your liver. A little bit of hair of the dog and milk thistle. Mmmm.

Shenanigans

Random Food Shenanigans

2011-12-26T17:40:00.001-05:00

Thanks to Mark from www.thedailycity.com for telling me that Blogger has an iPhone app. Now I will actually post stuff.

Here are some random things I've ate recently.

Clockwise from top left:

Meatloaf stuffed Papas Rellenas smothered in gravy. One of Tim's favorite things I make is meatloaf and Papas Rellenas. He had a genius idea 2 weeks ago to combine the two. It was deeelicious!

Roasted Chicken Flatbread Pizza from Eola Wine Co. Roasted chicken, caramelized onions, artichokes, Parmesan, goat cheese, avocado, and roasted red pepper pesto sauce. Need I say more?

Coffee and Cocoa crusted burger from The Crooked Spoon. Didn't taste too much coffee or cocoa but these dudes know how to make a fuckin burger so it was still amazing. It also had a raspberry vinaigrette or something on it. I don't remember much, just that it was awesome and gone in like 5 minutes.

Candied Bacon ice cream. I made it, it is absolutely the best ice cream I've ever ate, and no I'm not sharing the recipe.

Why I've been so gosh darn busy lately

2011-07-18T09:35:00.006-04:00

So back in April I had left a food truck event and thought to myself that a pet food truck would be awesome. It was just a thought though. Wasn't going to act on it because I didn't have the resources or money to do so. I looked online to see if such a truck existed (for shits and giggles) and ONE did. In Chicago. So anyways, I went on with my life, with that little idea in the back of my head. Then my sister emailed me.
I guess she had just got done reading my blog and she was like you really know a lot about food and food trucks. "How would you like to do a food truck with your sister?" I was like OMFG! I called her immediately. I was like "I just had the best idea for a food truck!!!" I told her my idea, she called me brilliant, and the rest is history.
Well not really history. I'll say that when I'm a millionaire. But after she called me brilliant, genius, and some other really awesome descriptive words, we got to work.
Have any of you ever started your own business? It's freakin hard! I was like it's pet treats, how hard could it be? Between coming up with the name, licensing and taxes and recipes and logos and packaging and most importantly, finding the perfect truck, it has consumed every bit of any extra time I have plus any extra money. Hence, why I haven't been out in a while.

We just hauled the truck back from Georgia on Sunday. Now on top of everything else we have to get the truck road ready. We're hoping that we can have it ready by September. We plan on being at food truck/pet events and dog parks. I can't wait.

You can follow our progress and see our awesome treats on Twitter and facebook.

Brunch under a bridge

2011-07-01T23:08:00.010-04:00

Me and Tim woke up one Sunday and decided to go get Brunch from the Big Wheel Truck. I think it was their second weekend doing bunch. We arrived to the truck in the parking lot of Harmon Photo on Ivanhoe Row and let me tell you, their menu on this day is still my favorite. EVERYTHING on it I wanted to eat. Had I had enough money, I would've bought em out. A gun may have worked too.

It was so hard for me to make a decision on what to eat but I did, and I made a good one. I got the Palmetto Creek maple and brown butter sausage w/ local fried duck egg on local green salad. Holy what?! Yes, you heard me. The boyfriend got the Crispy local pork belly and fried egg on an English muffin with onion jam and arugula. Yes, you heard me.Tim's pork belly breakfast samich

I suggested that we eat at the lake across the street but Tim remembered that he saw a spot a little ways down that was by the lake but under a bridge. Sounded cool, so I was down. So we parked under the bridge, got out of the truck and took a seat, ate our food and drank our beers....o yeah, we brought two Yuenglings.Tim's up to no good face?

Both of our meals were amazing but I liked mine the best. It was seriously the most perfect combination of flavors. The sausage mixed with the giant runny egg yolk was classically amazing but then you mix it with a bite of the balsamic vinaigrette dressed salad and it was thee perfect bite.My delicious breakfast. Oh yeah, I put Sriracha on it :)

It was all actually quite awesome sitting under the bridge, listening to the little waves roll and that hollow sound of the cars driving over us, eating nomnom food and drinkin beer. May have to do it again sometime.

A weeks worth of food, drinks, and shenanigans

2011-06-11T19:00:00.001-04:00

First of all this blog post was titled "a months worth of food, drinks, and shenanigans" but that was like two weeks ago. Just thinking about blogging about a month and two weeks worth of that shit was a bit overwhelming. So it's now a weeks worth. This makes me feel better.

Sunday, April 24th
We went to The Milkbar for some afternoon beverages. Krista recommended my first sour beer, Duchesse de Bourgogne. I actually liked it a lot and her description of it was perfect. She said it kind of tasted like balsamic vinegar. It did. But with beer. It's not a beer I would drink more than one in one sitting, but I would definitely have it again.
Then we went to Wildside to try their Lamb Burger. It was good, but this is something I wouldn't order again. Definitely lacked the wow factor.

Thursday, April 28th
Tim and I went to The Shipyard. It was his first time, my second. I must admit this time wasn't as awesome as my first. The first time I went I had the Lobster Bisque and it seriously was going down on my list of best soups. The second time I had it it wasn't as good. I don't know why. Tim had The Fork and Knife Meatball Melt. It was good, but the meatball sub I had from The Crooked Spoon a few weeks ago was better. I'll talk about that in a later post.
Then we went to The Imperial for the first time. Super cool bar and I especially loved the outside seating area. It was fun to walk around with a delicious beverage and look at all the neat furniture....but that lasted about 10 minutes then we got bored.

Friday, April 29th
Tim and I went to Redlight Redlight to have another delicious beverage and check out Big Bruno's Bites. That dude rules. And so does his food. I had the organic beef hot dog and a fried Oreo. Then we went downtown and bounced around our usual spots. Sky60, Eyespy.....I don't remember where else we went. I do remember stopping at the Big Wheel Truck and getting some post I-just-drank-a-lot munchies. I don't remember what it was called but it had pork belly, blue cheese, and wing sauce on it. Nomnomnom. I ate the other half at work the next day. It saved me.

Sunday, May 1st
This was the day of The Daily City's Food Truck Bazaar #2. I already blogged about it.

Wednesday, May 4th
I spent it as I have every Wednesday for about the last three months. At the food truck pod at Firestone Live. I brought my mom this time. It was her first food truck event and she had a great time. I had the Mexican Burger from The Crooked Spoon that they did for Cinco de Mayo. It was aawweesssoommee! It definitely knocked someone off my top five burgers list. Which, btw, I need to revise. My mom had the Crooked Spoon burger and she said it was totally worth ruining her diet for. We also had some stuff from Big Wheel. The fried Risotto Balls were my fave.

Friday, May 6th
We went to Cityfish as usual. Then we went to The Milk Bar (again) and I drank a new beer called Maduro by Cigar City. And by new I mean new for me. It was a great, brown beer. Then we decided to try out The Social Chameleon for the first time. That place is awesome. It might even be a new little din din spot. Cute, small, and quiet. The outside seating area has that whole secret garden feel and the twinkle lights make it even better. And not to mention the food was delicious. We got the Naan bread with the Baingan Bharta sauce and the Meatloaf Pizza and added pepperoni on it as suggested by our server. That's a really, really, good pizza.

So that's it! Next week I'll write about how we got brunch and ate it under a bridge.

Food Truck Bazaar #2

2011-05-01T22:54:00.027-04:00

The Daily City put on another food truck bazaar. I went to the first one and had a somewhat irritating experience. It was held at a church in their parking lot and they got way more people than expected. It was like something I had never seen. There were freakin' police directing traffic for pete's sake. I walked in and saw how many people were there and how long the lines were and immediately got frustrated. All I had ate all day was like 1/2 of a Cliff Bar and five cheese puffs AND went to the gym in preparation for that evening because I knew I was going to stuff myself. So I met with my other extremely disappointed friends and we decided where we were going to eat. I heard the next day that there were some people waiting in line for 3 hours just to be told that they ran out of food. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE food truck food, but not that much.

This time it was organized MUCH better. It was in a bigger space (Dillards parking lot) and you could tell that the trucks learned a lot from the last one. The Treehouse Truck had a separate line for people that just wanted deserts and there was someone going down the line taking orders. The line looked long but they definitely came up with an efficient plan this time because it moved at a good rate. Big Wheel Provisions Food Truck also had a "snack shack." It was a table set off to the side with some pre-made foods and drinks. The Crooked Spoon Truck sized down their menu a bit and just did gourmet hot dogs with a condiment bar off to the side.

Because it was more efficient this time I was able to try two new trucks. It was awesome! The Pupusas Food Truck was delicious. Read my review on Yelp! For $2.50 I felt like I was stealing from them.

The Sunset Ice Italian Ice Truck was deeeeelish! I got the mango, Tim got the cotton candy. They were both velvety smooth and sweet. They're based out of Merritt Island which is kind of a bummer. I hope they come to Orlando more often.

Tim, of course, got the Beargrrr again from The Treehouse Truck and I, of course, took a bite ;)
I also tried the Voodoo Dog from the Crooked Spoon Truck. That was my favorite all night! It was a giant hot dog with crawfish gumbo and pickled onions on it on a brioche bun.

I didn't get an opportunity to try any of the food from these trucks but I did get some good pics!

This truck is dope!

Melissa's Chicken and Waffles. I didn't get to try it but it looks scrumptious.

Winter Park Fish Co.

The Wing Commander and The Traveling Gourmet

The Country Chuck Wagon

BIG thanks to Chris from EatLocalOrlando and Droolius for the awesome I Heart Food Trucks T-shirt!!!

Best Happy Hours in Orlando

2011-04-28T18:16:00.009-04:00

Cityfish
Drinks - Happy Hour is all day, every day. Some drink highlights are $2 Bud Light mugs and Mimosas, $4 OBP mugs and Peppar Bloody Marys, select $5 mixed drinks and martinis, and select $5 Barcardi drinks. They make their own mix for the Bloody Marys and are the best Downtown IMO. If Rob is working the bar, tell him Lauren sent you.
Food - On Sundays and Mondays starting at 6 they do all-you-can-eat Snow Crabs with sides for $25. Monday - Friday from 5 to 7 get FREE oysters at the bar and on the patio.
Cityfish is located at 617 E. Central Blvd. in Thornton Park.
*you can usually find free street parking on Eola, Church, or Pine near Cityfish. If not, there's a garage off Eola and Central.

Mucho Tequila and Tacos
Drinks - They have different daily drink specials all week so check the website but some of my favorites are on Mondays - Happy Hour (which is usually 4 to 6) is all day. $2 Tacos, Ritas, Dos Equis, and 1800 Silver shots. Tuesdays - $2 Negra Modela and $4 Milagro Ritas and shots (my favorite tequila.) Sundays - 6 to close - $5 Tecate quarts and $4 Sangria all day.
Food - Free chips and salsa all the time and $2 chicken or beef tacos during Happy Hour. Even if it's not Happy Hour they have a bunch of 8 inch tacos for $4 or less including a fish taco.
Muchos is located at 101 S. Eola Ave. in Thornton Park.
*you can usually find free street parking on Eola, Church, or Pine near Muchos. If not, there's a garage off Eola and Central.

Wildside BBQ Bar and Grill
Drinks - Happy Hour from 4 to 7 and all day on Sundays. $2 House wine and wells and beer specials. My favorite is Yuengling for $1.79!
Food - Haven't seen any Happy Hour food specials yet, but all sides including fries, coleslaw, side salad, and pasta salad are under $2.
Wildside is located at 700 E. Washington St. in Thornton Park
*they have their own parking lot but if it's full there's usually free street parking on surrounding streets.

Dexter's
Drinks - It's $2 off everything from the bar except domestic bottles which are $1 off. It also includes $10.00 off bottles of wine that they sell by the glass.
Monday- 3 till close
Tuesday- 3 till 7PM
Wednesday- 3 till 7PM
Thursday- 3 till 7 and from 7 till close for ladies excluding bottles of wine
Friday- 3 till 7PM
Friday and Saturday nights from 10PM till 1AM enjoy 50% off all Liquor Drinks
Sangria Saturdays - $4 Sangria, $2 Tecate cans and Tapas specials from 11AM to 7PM
Drink Specials on Sunday are $4.50 Bloody Marys and $2.95 Mimosas from open till 3PM and $1.50 Domestic bottle of beer all day.
Food - Tapas specials from 11AM to 7PM on Saturdays and $1 Burgers on Tuesdays from 5 to close.
Dexter's is located at 808 E. Washington St. in Thornton Park.
*they have their own small parking lot that is always filled during peak hours. There's usually free street parking near Dexter's. If not, hit up the garage off Eola and Central.

Waitiki
Drinks - $2.50 Red Stripe beer all the time. $3.50 SoCo shots and Tropical Punch shots all the time. 1/2 off Tiki Drinks and $2.50 Barcardi drinks during happy hour. Happy Hour is Monday - Friday from 4 to 7.
Food - 1/2 off appetizers during Happy Hour.
Phucket Fridays - 1/2 off Phucket Buckets on Fridays from 12PM to 12AM!
Waitiki is located at 26 Wall St.
*can usually find free street parking on Orange after 7PM until about 9 (not Fridays or Saturdays.) If not, check other side streets or use parking garage on Washington or Central.

Wall St. Cantina
Drinks - During Happy Hour from 4 to 7 Monday - Friday get $2.50 Margaritas and $2.50 Coronas.
Food - 1/2 off apps during Happy Hour.
Taco Tuesday - $2 Tacos, Tequilas, Margaritas, and Mexican beers on Tuesdays from 2PM to 2AM!
Wall St. Cantina is located at 19 N. Orange Ave.
*can usually find free street parking on Orange after 7PM until about 9 (not Fridays or Saturdays.) If not, check other side streets or use parking garage on Washington or Central.

Downtown Pourhouse
Drinks - Happy Hour is from 11AM to 8PM Monday - Friday. Specials on liquor and beer. $3 SoCo shots all the time. Pinnacle drinks and shots are $3 for ladies every night after 8.
Food - No food specials yet that I know of but nothing on the menu is over $14 including the famous Black and Tan burger and Lobster Mac n' Cheese!
Country Music Mondays - $3.50 Jack drinks and shots, $2.50 Bud and Bud Light, and if you wear a cowboy hat you get a free shot of SoCo.
Half off Tuesdays - 1/2 off all alcohol on Tuesdays after 9PM.
Downtown Pourhouse is located at 20 S. Orange Ave.
*can usually find free street parking on Orange after 7PM until about 9 (not Fridays or Saturdays.) If not, check other side streets or use parking garage on Central or parking under I4.

Shari Sushi Lounge
Happy Hour is seven days a week from 5-7PM
Drinks - Select beer, Sakitinis, and Sake for $3.75
Food - Over twenty different rolls, sushi, and sashimi for $3.75. Ask for some rice cakes.
Trust me this is the best sushi happy hour downtown.
Shari is located at 621 E. Central Blvd.
*parking - see Cityfish

My top 5 favorite burgers in Orlando (at this moment.)

2011-04-27T22:43:00.006-04:00

#1 - The Black and Tan from Downtown Pourhouse
Onion Rings, Stout Glaze, Gruyere Cheese

The perfect blend of sweet, savory, gooey, crunchy, soft and juicy.

#2 - The Crooked Spoon Burger from The Crooked Spoon
Angus Beef, Chipotle Aioli, Swiss, Caramelized Onion, Lettuce, Tomato

I stole this picture from Julius at Droolius.com (one of my favorite food blogs) because I've ate this burger twice and never took a picture.

#3 - My "Design Your Own Burger" at Pine Twenty 2
Humanely Handled, Grass fed, Hormone and Antibiotic-free 100% Angus Beef, Local Multi grain Bun, Pepper Jack, Herb Aioli, Bermuda Red Onion, Charred Pineapple, Dill Pickle, Organic Mixed Greens, and Applewood Smoked Bacon.

#4 - The Beargrrrr from The Treehouse Truck
Cheeseburger with bacon in between two Krispy Kreme Donuts

#5 - The Wild "Fire" Burger from Wildside
Hand Patted Black Angus Beef, Mixed with Gorgonzola Cheese, Mild Buffalo Sauce, Served on Texas Toast with Bacon, Lettuce, Tomato, and topped with Crispy Onion Rings.

Check out this freakin' sandwich I ate!!!

2011-04-26T20:15:00.005-04:00

Well, I was going to wait to write about this samich until I had enough samiches to complete my "5 favorite sandwiches at this moment" list, but it's too good not to tell right now. AND it's on special at The Rusty Spoon so it won't be there for long. So go get it!

So, I went to The Rusty Spoon last Friday to check this place out. It's new and on the bottom floor of 55 West off Church St. Our waiter, Tim, was EXTREMELY informative and enthusiastic. I think maybe he had been doin' blow all night. Who knows. So far his recommendations of the beer, martini, and appetizer were correct, so I listened to him when he said their special, the Fried Soft Shell Crab Sandwich, was A.MAZ.ING! I could seriously see this man's pupils dilate when he told me how awesome it was. He was not effing joking. They brought this thing out and I'm pretty sure my jaw hit the ground. Then I immediately started taking pictures. I will let them speak for themselves.

Yes, there were legs coming out of my sandwich. In between two pieces of grilled, buttery Texas toast.

Yep, that's an entire fried soft shell crab. It was fried perfectly. Crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside. It also had lettuce, tomato, and a thick chive aoili or something on it. With fries. With homemade ketchup. Yeah. And now for the money shot...

Although I had a great experience, my boyfriend did not :( Read about it here on Yelp!

My sleeve is finally finished!!!

2011-04-23T18:29:00.009-04:00

A little over a year ago I decided to get a half sleeve. I went to Freak who I've known for a while and he's done a lot of my friend's work. He does really amazing stuff. I told him what I wanted and he told me to give him a day or two to draw it out. I basically wanted some of my favorite moments on my arm. I wanted the Marlin I caught in the Bahamas, the hammock hut from Tensing Pen, Jamaica, the 165 foot waterfall I rappelled off of in Costa Rica and the Arenal Volcano I ate lunch next to all against a backdrop of a Keys sunset.
I went back to see what he had drawn and he drew it as one big scene. I said it was awesome but I wanted all of these things separated somehow considering they were all separate events and places in time. So we decided to "frame" a couple of the scenes and he would re-draw it. He did, and we got started on the outline on my birthday of last year.
I am admitting this publicly now, that I should've listened to him and went with the original drawing. Don't get me wrong, I love it, but it does look a little crowded and "busy" just like he said it might. Oh well! Can't go back now! Just a word of advice from me: always listen to your tattoo artist.
All in all, it was a great experience and I don't regret it one f*ck!ng bit.

The outline took about 1.5 hours. It wasn't too bad.

the outline

marlin colored in

Arenal Volcano in Costa Rica and the hammock hut at Tensing Pen in Jamaica

aaannndd the finished product!

The parts that hurt the worst were on the underside of my arm. Ya know where it's not exposed to too much sun and it's soft and fatty? Yeah, that part. Thank God for headphones and Pandora. Each scene took about 45 minutes to an hour. The background with the waterfall took about 1.5 hours. So all in all I think it was about 6 hours total.

Yelp Elite Event @ The Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress

2011-04-22T23:08:00.009-04:00

We were an hour late due to I4 traffic so the plan was "power hour!" We headed straight for the bar, double fisted, then hit up all the food. The sunset was pretty, the wind was blowing, they had tiki torches lit, reggae music was playing, and I was with three other awesome ladies. I'd have to say it was about a 9 on the awesome meter. Minus 1 point because I wish there was more food and we could've hung out longer.

pretty sunset

pretty girls

Jumbo lump crab cakes with coconut grits and fried calamari from Hemingways, my fave!
Mini chocolate cake w/ raspberry and creme brulee from La Coquina!

I need to take picture posing lessons from Ali.

Photos from Jim White @ jimfoto.com

Recent food and drink noms and not-so-noms.

2011-04-21T18:14:00.028-04:00

Humunga Kawabunga from Waitiki, $14.99. Half pound grilled burger topped with 4 bacon strips, 2 cheddar slices, 2 fried eggs, onion rings & chipotle bbq sauce, all between 2 grilled cheese sandwiches. My nephew's friend, Frank, ate the entire thing including the fries.

Shrimp Po' Boy from Cityfish, $12. The cajuny sauce makes it.

Tuna Kobachi from 310 Lakeside, $14. Diced ahi tuna seasoned with seven spice and sesame. Served on a bed of cucumbers accompanied by wasabi, soy and ginger.

Smoked Salmon from 310 Lakeside, $15. Fresh filet of salmon smoked in-house served with a chive anchovy remoulade and Lavosh crackers. First bite and my boyfriend almost puked which was ok because I finished the entire thing.

Funny pizza dude on Kirkman Rd.

Corned Beef Hash and 2 eggs over easy with a side of Hollandaise (my twist) from Dexters, $10. Nom, nom, and more nom.

Local corn on the cob with fresh mayo and spicy parm and local pork skewers from Big Wheel
Provisions Food Truck, $10. Corn was insanely good.

Abita Strawberry from Cityfish. $4.50? New fave.

Royal Red Shrimp with some sweet Thai chili sauce and deviled eggs from Big Wheel Provisions Food Truck. $11. The sauce on shrimp was amazing, the shrimp not so much. I actually hoped I didn't end up sick. The deviled eggs are my favorite, ever.

Fried Oreos from Red Eye BBQ Truck, $5. I thought the Oreo would be crunchy on the inside but instead it absorbs the moisture from the batter. It ends up soft like cake and the filling melts like icing.

Crispy pork belly sliders and pastrami fries with thousand island dipping sauce from Big Wheel Provisions Food Truck, $9. Sliders were great. The sauce for the fries didn't taste to thousand island like, but was still delicious.

Grilled Eggplant Sandwich with roasted tomato, spinach, goat cheese and balsamic on Ciabatta from Downtown Pourhouse, $9. This reminded me that I don't like eggplant very much but every thing else about it was fantabulous.

Sesame Seared Tuna Sashimi with wonton basket, wakame, wasabi cream and soy vinaigrette from Cafe Tu Tu Tango, $10.

Baby Guiness. XO CafePatron and Baileys from Cityfish, $6.

Smoked Fish Dip from Rusty's Seafood and Oyster Bar, $5.99. Rusty's secret recipe my ass. No smoke flavor and tastes like canned tuna and Miracle Whip.

Seared Pork Belly Bahn Mi from Big Wheel Provisions Food Truck, $8. 9 on the nom meter.

The 420 Burger from The Crooked Spoon Truck, $8. Angus burger with candied bacon, pineapple relish, honey whole grain mustard aioli, and a crispy fried onion ring. Um...I think you could put candied bacon on dirt and it would taste good.

The Fairbanks Cuban from Shipyard Emporium, $9. Thin sliced house roasted pork loin, swiss, housemade pickles, mayo and dijon, hot pressed on a baguette. I'm partial to anything with housemade pickles.

NOLA, I love you and I haven't even met you.

2011-04-12T21:23:00.009-04:00

In 2007 I fell in love with New Orleans chef, John Besh, when he was on The Next Iron Chef. Everything he cooked just screamed out to me. I wanted to taste every. single. thing. he made. I've always had chefs that I like but Besh is the first one that I love. It also doesn't hurt that he's pretty handsome for an older dude. If I ever met him in person I'm sure I would make a total ass of myself. Like the time I met Dr. G: Medical Examiner at Brick and Fire Pizza. I was so nervous that I told her that if I ever died a mysterious death I would want her to do my autopsy. I said this in front of her kids. Yeah, it was awkward.
Besh made it to the finals but lost to Micheal Symon who is also amazing, but there was still something about Besh that just called to me. It was then that my obsession with Creole and Cajun cooking started. And New Orleans in general.
I started reading more about NOLA like Mardi Gras and the French Quarter and started to learn more about Cajun foods like the holy trinity, crawfish, and Andouille sausage. I made a list of restaurants I wanted to visit if I ever went there. I took notes from people like Andrew Zimmern and Anthony Bourdain when I watched the Travel Channel. Places like Mother's, Cochon, and Antoine's head the list along with some of Besh's restaurants like August and La Provence.

Around this time I met Tim. My friend started dating this guy and Tim was that guy's roommate. I was busy dating some other douchbag so I didn't pay to much attention to him but we'd chat a little if I ever saw him out at a bar or something. I learned that Tim was from New Orleans and given my new obsession, it would often come up in conversation. I broke up with the douchbag about a year ago. Me and Tim started talking more, then hanging out more, then we started dating. It's been about six months now. Lauren is happy.
Tim is my living reference when I have anything to ask about NO or it's food. We ate at Mojo Cajun Bar and Grill a while back and it totally blew. He ordered the Jambalaya with red beans and rice. He said that both of those are staples and not too hard to make so if they get it wrong, they must really suck. Well, they got it wrong. Here is my review on Yelp.

For Christmas the first thing on my list (yes, I still make a list) was My New Orleans, The Cookbook, by John Besh. My brother got it for me and it was one of my favorite presents. Not only do I read it sometimes at night like it's a murder/mystery book or something, but it's my go-to cookbook for pretty much anything. Not only is there over 200 recipes but in the beginning of every chapter, JB tells a personal story and gives a little history lesson on what the chapter is about. This book made me fall more in love and have an even deeper appreciation for New Orleans.
My first attempt at a traditional Cajun dish was red beans and rice. Up until I read the recipe I really had no idea that it took so long. I followed John's recipe exactly except for instead of using butter I used duck fat. It took about three hours simmering on my stove. It was delicious except for the ham hocks. I don't know what kind of hocks Besh uses but the ones I got were almost inedible. I understand using a cut of meat with the bone in so I think next time I'll use one for flavor but use ham and Andouille to actually eat and throw the ham hock away at the end.

I went shrimping last weekend. It was a pretty slow night. Caught about four dozen. The next night I made some "bang bang" shrimp and some peel and eats with a homemade smokey cocktail sauce. I had onions, celery, and carrots in the fridge so I saved the heads and shells and made some shrimp stock. I, of course, referred to My New Orleans for guidance and I will use it again when I use my stock to make Barbeque Shrimp or Shrimp and Grits.

In 2008 I went to the Abacos, Bahamas for two weeks. Shortly after I planned to go back for my 30th birthday. I've recently changed my mind. I'm going to New Orleans for Mardi Gras. While I'm there I plan on going to a few of the restaurants on my list. My nephew is going to be back from Afghanistan by then but will still be at 29 Palms til' next May until his career as a Marine is over. He told me he plans on using some of his leave time to meet me in Nawlins for my birthday. Damn, NOLA, you in trouble.

I heart my nephew

2011-04-12T20:25:00.005-04:00

So last weekend was interesting for me. Friday night my nephew, Charles Roger Ball III a.k.a. "The Boy", called me as I was leaving work to say goodbye. I cried the whole way home. This is his 2nd deployment to Afghanistan. He is an Infantry Mortar man in the United States Marine Corp.

We've got closer since he's been in the Marines. Not because of that but because I think we're closer in age now. I mean, we've always been 3 years apart but there's a difference between 23 and 26 and 26 and 29. I kinda feel like we're on the same level now. The first time he deployed I was worried but I wasn't this worried.
Saturday I was on my way to go fishing with my brother, his dad, and everything was perfect. I was driving with the windows rolled down blasting Mumford and Sons, not a cloud in the sky and a perfect 80 degrees. One second I felt grateful then the next I felt guilty. It's a weird two feelings to have at the same time. I felt guilty that while I was enjoying that perfect day, my nephew is eating MREs, not showering for weeks at a time, missing his family and friends, and putting his life on the line. Then I felt grateful again. That because of him and everyone else that serves in the military I am able to drive with the windows rolled down blaring music and can pretty much do whatever the hell I want.
My brother talked to me about where he was going and what he would be doing and it made me even more worried.
Sunday sucked. I wasn't on the water anymore so I actually had time to think about it. I didn't even want to be in Orlando. I just wanted to run away somewhere else and get my mind off it. I woke up in the middle of the night last night and couldn't go back to sleep because I couldn't stop thinking about him.
So I guess all I really have to say is thank you Charlie and I love you. I can't wait for you to be home safe.

Abacos, Bahamas, June 2008

2011-04-09T10:54:00.028-04:00

Hmmmm..... Let's just say I had an opportunity to go to the Abacos on a 45 foot 1969 Hatteras for two weeks. For free. Damn, I was lucky.

The only thing not so lucky about the whole trip is that I get EXTREMELY sea sick so I prepared by getting a prescription sea sickness patch. It works, don't get me wrong, but there are some unpleasant side effects that come with it. Scopalomine, the drug in the patch, is an Atropine derivative so it can make your pupils dilate just like the drops you get when you get an eye exam. It did this to me except one pupil was bigger than the other. Not only did I look like a nutjob but I couldn't see very well unless I was in the sun. Another side effect is "delayed gastric emptying." Combine that with the fact that I was eating more food than I had probably ate my entire life and at some point I'm pretty sure I contracted a parasite from the raw fish I was eating and I had myself a very awkward predicament.
Alright, there's no way I can really get around this without being blunt. I had the worst case of diarrhea I have ever had in my entire life. The kind where if you don't find a toilet RIGHT NOW you're going to crap your pants. There was a lot of bathroom window opening, faucet running and shitting in holes.

When you're on a remote little island like this and you HAVE to go, you hang behind a bit, wait for the one person you're with to round a corner out of ear, nose, and eye shot, dig a hole, and poop in it. Hey man, I had to doo what I had to doo.
So yes, it was free, but I did pay a price.

Other than that it was one of the most awesome vacations ever! We fished A LOT!

I was laying in the cabin of the boat because I felt a little woozy then all of a sudden I heard a bunch of shouting and running around on deck. Then the door swung open and Dave yelled "Do you want to catch a fucking Marlin?!" Of course I did, are you crazy?! I wobbled my nauseous, little ass out there, they put me in the fighting chair, and off I went. I think I reeled for like 20 or 30 minutes. It was a beautiful 100 or so pound White Marlin.

I ate a lot of food, drank a lot of drinks, drank Moet for the first time, got nipped at Nippers and made an ass of myself, island hopped, got an amazing tan, got caught in a storm on a dinghy, and was wading waste high when two Lemon Sharks decided to show up. It was awesome and what vacations are suppose to be made of.

My new obsession that is Food Trucks.

2011-04-06T10:15:00.004-04:00

Lately Orlando has been home to a recent food truck rage. It really is getting big. It seems like in the past few months Orlando has gone from a few to a few on every main or not-so-main road in Orlando. I'm not talkin about some of those dirty trucks and food carts you sometimes see on O.B.T. I'm talking real, legit, restaurants on wheels. These things get inspected just like free-standing restaurants, have liabilities just like they do, and have to hold up to all or most of the same rules and regulations. And did I mention that the food is f*cking amazing!

Here are some of my favorite food trucks.

Red Eye BBQ
Favorite eats - Double cheeseburger, grilled mac n cheese, fried Oreos.
Usual hangouts - World of Beer off Sandlake Rd. and Orlando Brewing.
Web - www.redeyebbq.com, Twitter - Redeyebbq, Yelp

Korean BBQ Taco Box
Favorite eats - Spicy Pork Taco, Spicy Pork Sub, that fried chicken drumstick they come with
Usual hangouts - Colonial and Primrose, 901 S. Orange Ave., Alafaya and McCulloch
Web - www.kbbqbox.com, Twitter - koreanbbq_2011, Yelp

Big Wheel Provisions
Favorite eats - Local pork porchetta sandwich, local corn on the cob with fresh mayo and spicy parm, deviled eggs
Usual hangouts - Washington and Orange
Web - www.bigwheelprovisions.com, Twitter - BigWheelTruck, Yelp

Treehouse Truck
Favorite eats - ChiMoo sandwich, fried Twix
Usual hangouts - Colonial and Ferncreek, Remax @ 954 S. Orlando Ave.
Web - www.treehousetruck.com (coming soon), Twitter - treehousetruck, Yelp

The Crooked Spoon
Favorite eats - The Crooked Spoon Burger, mac n' cheese, homemade chips, apple papaya sauce
Usual hangouts - Colonial and Ferncreek, Stogies off Sandlake Rd.
Web - www.facebook.com/thecrookedspoon, Twitter - TheCrookedSpn, Yelp

El Arepaso de Orlando
Favorite eats - Beef Arepa
Usual hangouts - 53 E. Washington St. (Wed-Sat nights)
They don't speak very good English. I tried to tell them about Twitter. Hopefully they get it soon.

Here is an awesome map that Chris from EatLocalOrlando made - Food Truck Map

Procrastination is like masturbation.....

2011-04-04T23:07:00.000-04:00

Yer only fucking yourself.

I'm in the process of transfering like 100gbs of pics, music, and whatnot from my PC to a Mac.

It's taking me a while.

Please hold...........

my grey thumb

2011-02-03T15:28:00.000-05:00

I have found out over the last few years that I did not inherit my mom's green thumb, but when my sister got me a Shitake mushroom growing kit for Christmas, I found out I had a grey one.

Day 1

Day 5

Day 9 - Harvest Time!

my first polish food experience and my crazy family

2011-01-09T09:24:00.001-05:00

My sister and brother-in-law were in town last weekend. (YYAAAAYYY!!!!) Me, Tim, my sister Bob, my bro-in-law Bill, and my mom and dad all went to Anna's Polish Restaurant. This by the way was Tim's first time meeting any of them and my first time eating Polish food. I mean, I've had Pierogies before but that's it.

He won't admit it but I think Tim was slightly nervous before we got there but I think it took all of about 10 or so minutes before he felt comfortable. My family's cool. Did I just say that?

My sister got the Polish Trio Appetizer for us to share. It had two potato and cheese Pierogies, two potato pancakes, and a Polish Snausage. All of it was delicious. Now, I'm used to Jewish potato pancakes which are shredded potatoes then formed and fried but THESE potato pancakes were different. They looked exactly like breakfast pancakes but when you cut into them you could definitely tell they were made of potatoes. The outside was crispy and the inside was soft and mashed potato-like. They were pretty damn amazing. My mom got the White Borsch soup. It is made from fermented rye flour with smoked sausage and egg. It tasted awesome and the texture was heavenly.

I had a couple Polish beers called Warka. It's like an amberish beer. They were pretty good.

I got the Stuffed Cabbage appetizer as my entree. It was no shit the size of a yule log. I think Tim got the Goulash. I don't know man, it gets pretty foggy after this point. All I know is the food kept coming, the beer kept coming, and I almost made a dumpling come out of my sister's nose. Oh! I do remember the desert. Probably because of all the sugar. It was Anna's Walnut Delight. The females dug into it like a pack of ravenous wolves, as Bill put it. At the end of the night, Anna herself came to our table to ask us how everything was and if we needed anything. She is awesome! And for real, Polish. Her accent is so thick you kind of have to strain to understand her.

Somehow I, with the help of Tim and my sister, but mostly me, convinced my dad to go to World of Beer. You don't understand. My dad never goes out these days. Maybe out to dinner with my mom, but definitely not a bar. This was the first time I had been to a bar with my dad since I was like 7. That didn't sound right. But yes, he used to take me to The Eagles Club and Pinar Pub with him when I was little. He would drink beer and I would sit there and eat white cheddar popcorn.

At World of Beer we had a great time. My mom was bobbin her head to The Stones and my dad was, as usual, not part of the conversation but drinking beer and watching football. My sister told me the next day when we went to Bananas that he totally stumbled to the bedroom. The apple does not fall far from the tree.

By the way, the picture here of my dad with the finger, is an entirely different blog post all together.

Me, Bob, Bill, and Tim went to Bananas on Sunday for the Drag Queen Gospel Brunch. It was good to experience once, but I don't think I'll be doing that again. It was entertaining but far too loud. It was absolutely worth it though to see Cher shove Tim's face in her.......his.......it's breasts. And honestly, this was the first time in Bananas history that I was disappointed with the food. It just didn't have the wow factor this time. I'll still be back though. They have five different kinds of Eggs B for Christ's sake.

Why does my purse smell like beef and ketchup?!

2011-01-05T12:07:00.000-05:00

If my New Years weekend of 2011 is at all telling of the year to come, I think it's going to be a good one.

One of the doctors let me go an hour early on New Years eve, which was pretty awesome. She knows any sort of holiday that revolves around hanging out with friends, drinking, and going out, is probably pretty important to me.

Me and my boyfriend, Tim started our night off at Cityfish, a cute, hip, laid back seafood joint. By the way that was just my first online acknowledgement of my relationship.

Anywho, we walked to City, and Rob, my favoritest bartender there, and anywhere for that matter, let me in on a little secret of his. His Cucumber Martini. It is my new favorite. Not only because it tastes amazing, but because it's a multi-purpose beverage. I can drink it with brunch or dinner. I think it just might replace the Bloody Mary for me.

Then we went to Lizzy's (my favorite Irish bar) for one drink then went to Sky60 for some house and more drinking. We did the countdown with a hundred or so people we don't know and a few we did, kissed at midnight, then had a couple more drinks.

We left downtown around 1 a.m. I got a hotdog at a hotdog stand, ate half of it and put the other half in my purse.

The plan was to take a cab home but apparently I was too impatient to wait for one so I insisted on walking home. Yes, my drunk ass walked home. Tim stayed a few feet behind me because from what he tells me I was being quite thee asshole. Me? No way.

We both fell asleep on the couch upright and woke up a few hours later like WTF? We both went to bed and of course when I woke up I apologized for my behavior and gave him lots of kisses.

Sorry Tim.

Saturday when I woke up I was not hungover at all. I think that was due to the hotdog and the walk. Then I went in my purse for something (probably to check all my receipts to see how much money i spent) and found the other half of the hotdog. GROSS! There was ketchup and grease all over the inside.
We laid around for a while then went to Papa John's for a pizza and 7/11 for some beer. The Hawaiian Volcano is pretty darn good might I add. It's a Hawaiian pizza with jalapenos on it. Nom nom. We then proceeded to watch college football. Gators won. It was a great afternoon.

My best friend for almost 20 years now, Megan, was in town that weekend from St. Augustine. We met her, her girlfriend, and two of their friends at Bonefish for dinner. Bonefish was not impressive. We went to World of Beer afterwards and drank a few awesome craft brews. Megan exchanged embarrassing stories about me when i was a kid with Tim. We all laughed and had an awesome time. There's something kind of important about the best friend meeting, and approving of the boyfriend. She not only approved, but told me that she would not be wearing a dress to my wedding. Whatever.
By the way. The food truck that was outside as we were leaving was way better than Bonefish.

Sunday the Steelers were playing.....along with the Dolphins and the Saints. We went to Smoky Bones and I got to wear my super cute jersey that i got for Christmas from Tim. We drank beer and ate food. Steelers won. It was a good afternoon.

It was a great weekend.

As of right now I have a few things to look forward to in the coming year.

Will I become a Yelp Elite 11?? The suspense is killing me!!!
I got Tim (and me) floor tickets to the Linkin Park concert, January 22nd. Pendulum is opening. Gunna be so awesome!!!!
I am going back to Jamaica. I booked our room at Tensing Pen yesterday. We will be staying in the Garden Studio. It's the least expensive room/hut/thatch roofed/bungalow thingy with an ocean view. It's not until late October but I'm already excited and slightly obsessed.

Please year, don't start sucking.