Urban Pantry

lake nona food truck bazaar

2012-01-22T18:34:00.001-05:00

we have a once a month food truck bazaar that meets in a local church parking lot on the 4th Sunday. Tonight we went and took Z's dad with us for dinner. We gorged on locally sourced eats that included Plant City strawberry soda (not too sweet and lovely light flavor), curry tator tots with cucumber raita (seriously didn't want to stop eating them), a creamy potato salad with thick meaty bacon, baby artichokes with a sauce of sriracha, lime, soy & sesame and chicken pot pie with a puff pastry lid from Big Wheel and a crazy burger dusted in cocoa and coffee with raspberry boursin sauce from The Crooked Spoon. I had to try a Lady Bird vegan gluten free cupcake from the Yum Yum truck to put me over the top - banana, pineapple & pecans topped with vegan cream cheese. Completely amazing. I love to support this event and all the local small businesses that turn out to feed the wandering horde and get a good meal to boot.

in n out

2012-01-22T08:59:00.001-05:00

did you know that Z has a stubborn streak? If everyone and their dog watched Titanic, he'd pass. If everyone jumped off a bridge, he couldn't! If anyone and everyone ate at In N Out, he would only do it if I asked nicely. Just out of a desire not to follow the crowds I suppose. But we did. Drove through a drive through and picked up a couple of singles (no double doubles animal style for us). Nothing spectacular. He thought the burger tasted like Wendy's.

california dreamin

2012-01-21T08:34:00.003-05:00


15 foot waves at Manhattan beach - living the dream

ate at Uncle Bill's pancake house with Vix, Chels & Z - the company, view of the ocean and food were fantastic - I had the most incredible breakfast stroganoff which was bacon fat fried potatoes with essence of bacon inside. I don't know how they did that at all and would reproduce it if I could. It was dolloped with sour cream and topped with a fried egg. I showered it liberally with hot sauce and dug on in. Had to walk it off by walking down (a huge hill that we puffed back up afterward) to the beach where we were thrilled to watch the huge waves and a couple of surfers who braved them.

think pink

2012-01-20T18:53:00.000-05:00

bad photo = awesome hotdog. So, the guys in the wedding had a bachelor party (old school night -they went for Chipotle and Paintballing which is what they did in jr high and hs) and the girls went out on the town, sort of. We drove for an eon and went to Melrose (right?!) and ate at the world famous Pinks hotdog stand. It was a total adventure taking us through the hills and past the Hollywood Bowl past some bad to the bone graffiti that we went around the block to try to photograph and never did. We finally made it only to find they only take cash! Happily found an atm although we encountered a fairly unsavory fellow who was interested in our face for dinner. Undeterred though we stood in line and waited and I couldn't imagine what the shack could really produce. Vix and I decided to each order a dog and split. Mine - coleslaw and hers -Chili Cheese. They were both really outstanding. The dogs were snappy and meaty. The coleslaw sweet and chili that was exactly what it should have been, not a bean in sight. Not gourmet but darn tasty.

tina, come get some ham

2012-01-16T10:26:00.001-05:00

we ran across a premiere while in LA - seems glamorous right? But then you find out that it was for the new cartoon series on Fox, Napoleon Dynamite. The upside of this were views of Uncle Rico's van, tetherball, Tina (seriously!), a food truck selling tots and a free tee for Z.

take a walk

2012-01-15T08:00:00.001-05:00

if you had to reduce our new regimen down to two things we have done to make changes-they would be taking walks (in this case the Hollywood walk of fame) and correcting portion size (we were eating terribly large portion sizes). So, while this wasn't too strenous, unless you count navigating the hoards of people, it was a way to combat the tacos and pizza. I mean, who isn't star struck in LA?

pizzeria mozza

2012-01-14T08:38:00.002-05:00

fried zucchini flowers

mario batali. I kind of struggle with him. I don't know what it is exactly, the crocs, the red hair, the attitude. I feel like he really knows the food of Italy but is a know it all at the same time. Maybe, as in most things, it's just me. The undisputed fact is that he does have restaurants in LA. So, based on glowing comments of published food writers and sorely missing decent pizza crust we made a reservation to eat at Pizzeria Mozza. It is in Hollywood off of Melrose so added to our forays over packed highways. We took the groom to be with us and were seated in a side room panelled with bookshelves filled with old tomes and bottles of wine-taking me into what I vaguely felt could be a old road house set someplace in a European winter. In our run down of the menu we saw ricotta filled deep fried squash blossoms. We have seen them all over food television and had a real desire to give them a try. They had a mildly earthy flavor that I couldn't place as zucchini. It was interesting but didn't leave me wanting them on any kind of daily basis.

A bit dark but I didn't feel right using the flash

The pizza however -divine. We ordered three, a funghi and fontina, a pepperoni and fresno chile and a bacon, potato and egg. I judiciously sampled my way through all three. The pepperoni and fresno is the kind of pizza you crave. The dough was amazing-crusty and thin but still with a chew. The pepperoni for flavor and mouth feel along with the heat of the chile. I could eat it weekly so it is a good thing it is a couple thousand miles for takeout. The funghi was loaded with several varieties of mushrooms but the Bacon, potato and egg was a glory with a raw egg just beginning to cook on top of crisped porky bacon and thinly sliced potatoes. Amazingly oozy and satisfying in the way only an egg can be. If this is the real food of Italy, and of Mario Batali, my respect has been gained.

border grill stop

2012-01-12T19:12:00.001-05:00

we went to the Los Angeles area last week for a wedding of a lifelong friend of Z. He was one of two 'best men' which is to say that unsurprisingly Joel did not play favorites. We figured that while in LA we had better try food that we can't get at home. Our reward for getting up at 3am to catch our flight was to have lunch at the Border Grill Stop. Border Grill Stop is a teeny tiny lunch spot carved out of what could easily be a coffee bar or bus stop and is the brainchild of Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger (recentely of Top Chef Masters) and was right in downtown LA amid the skyscrapers. It was kind of incredible what they produced out of this little spot. We had some amazing tacos on soft corn tortillas. I had a potato rajas and a citrus chicken taco along with a spinach empanada. They came with the most incredible green sauce that was super bright and if I could replicate it I would do it today and eat it on eggs daily. I have a recent and new abiding love of this type of mexican style cooking. Z had the daily special of lamb tacos with beans and rice. We capped it off with some yummy churro tots and a side of barely sweetened cinnamon spiked whipping cream. It was a highly auspicious start to our trip.

not exactly resolved

2012-01-02T14:19:00.001-05:00

I have never really been one for resolutions. Any vague thoughts of resolving to do anything I didn't 'have' to do get quickly laid by as I get busy in one way or another.   Work gets busy. It is hot outside. Time runs out. You know how it goes.
The last year both dragged and flew by. Busy at both work and home I feel as though I missed a lot of moments. I am hoping to grab hold of this year a little bit better.    I miss the will to blog and hope it has returned. I never meant to do much more than keep track of myself and was swimming along until I got caught by a fierce rip current.
We are working through some lifestyle changes now, really attacking eating healthy and getting some exercise. It wasn't a New Year's resolution but a mid December decision.   I missed a few sweets and second helpings throughout the holidays but find I am ok with that. I managed to deliver all excess baked goods to the break room at work and that seemed to work well. I missed a few gin and tonics through the season but found the one I had tasted more like Christmas than ever. I am determined to still love food and culture and the foodie culture though so we will see how the two mingle together. Nicely I hope.
Working through decorating our home too. That has been fun if not slow. I am trying to fill it only with things I really love which both slows and heightens the process.   I'd like to get the rooms we live in finished in this year if I can.
Resolutions? Not really. Life lived well? I hope so.

kitchen - our first look

2011-10-03T06:54:00.000-04:00

our future kitchen - can you imagine it?

when we first stepped into the house with the realtor it didn't have a lot going for it. Firstly, the homeowner was sitting on the sofa watching us. Singsonging 'Awwwwkwaaard' We tried to see through the clutter and enormous amounts of personal belongings. I never saw so many small appliances. It was New Years Eve and between the Mickey Mouse decorated Christmas tree and huge amounts of gifts and clutter it was hard to feel the bones of the house. We quickly walked through and left noting a sleeping form in the master as we passed through the curtained room, peering into the burned out light of the laundry room. As we drove away down the road I had some serious misgivings about it. I couldn't figure out what to make of it. Five minutes later I asked, 'Can we try to get her out and take a slower walk through? I just really want to get a look at that house.' We were able to get back in, took a long walk through taking snapshots. An hour later and we put an offer on the house. Who need it would take five months to close? Here is a first shot of the kitchen.

artist point

2011-10-01T08:47:00.000-04:00

for Z's birthday dinner we had the most outstanding meal we have had at a Disney Resort. I gave him a short list of 6 or 7 restaurants to choose from for his birthday dinner that included all types of places - old favorites, new hotspots, disney and magical dining. He perused the menus and chose Artist's Point. It is at the Disney Wilderness Lodge.

a blt for the ages

The Disney Wilderness Lodge is a monumental resort that is done similar to the Yellowstone lodge. It is made of (faux I'm sure) timbers and has a grandly scaled room filled with fireplaces, sculpture, huge scale art in paintings and totems along with oversize comfy lodge seating. The romance for me in this place is the memory of my childhood and the fantastic summer vacations our family took to these places. Walking the trails and seeing paint pots, geysers, hot springs, indian paint brush and getting paid to watch for wildlife. ...First one to see a bear gets a quarter!
Typical of Disney, we were warmly welcomed to the restaurant by the staff and shown to our lovely window seat right away which overlooked the hillside outside with a splashing waterfall. We had fun looking over the menu which features foods from the Pacific Northwest.
For an appetizer we had a divine blt. It was totally deconstructed braised and glazed pork belly with braised baby heirloom tomatoes and microgreens. The pork belly was a total revelation. It was rich and meaty -unctuous but not one bit fatty. I fell in love just in that moment.


crisp and fluffy gnocchi

I chose yukon gold potato gnocchi for my main. The potatoes were transformed into fluffy light pillows nested in crunchy vegetables and mushrooms with dollops of fresh ricotta sitting in a narrow puddle of corn nage. Z had a pork tenderloin done in a bit of Spanish style with creamy polenta and piquillo peppers and crispy jamon and crowned with roasted figs. I kind of think I accidentally snitched his bit of jamon. We were so delighted with dinner that we skipped dessert just to savor the experience. We wandered the lodge and grounds looking at the waterfall, springs and geyser made only by Disney erupt into the humid evening and slowly made our way home.

magical dining month

2011-10-01T07:12:00.001-04:00

september was (was! I am so behind!) Magical Dining Month here in Orlando. It is a month where various restaurants around the city have three courses for $30 per person. We usually try to make it to at least one of these. Last month was crazy for us and we only made it to The Kitchen. The Kitchen is a signature restaurant at the Hard Rock Hotel. It is on the property at Universal Orlando.
The decor is kind of what you'd expect - lots of artifacts from the world of rock n roll.
We were surprised how quiet it was. They didn't have much of a buzz and it was half empty. This was a little weird for us and we felt a bit conspicuous. We perused the menu and while I appreciate that there is a hefty entertainment 'tax' on restaurants like this their menu was surprisingly pricy. We stuck to the magical menu and I chose -calimari for my app. It was funny with both rings and tentacles and was a bit fishy for me. I also chose... surprise!!?! a burger. I don't know what it is with me. I just love them. This was an $18 dollar version and probably more expensive that any I have ever had. When it came to the table it was sized for three people which may have had something to do with it. It was super beefy on a nice butter roll and had ALL the requirements - onion ring, bacon, cheese, beefsteak tomato and lettuce and a huge oversized and cute condiment cup of fries. A huge deep fried pickle closed the deal. It was all really tasty- kind of excessive even. Z had nice bruschetta, much chefier with heirloom tomato, balsamic reduction and crispy bread. He also had some nice cedar planked salmon with corn pudding. Very nod to fall. By the time we hit our banana bread pudding we were spent. The portions were so huge I could hardly enjoy my bruleed bananas and rum sauce. It was all just a bit overkilled and didn't have perfect execution. We enjoyed our time though and I did love the burger.
We spent a few minutes as we wandered our way out looking at guitars and rockers outfits.

curry

2011-09-30T06:38:00.002-04:00

curry is kind of an interesting thing. It is specifically nothing. If I said, 'we made curry' that would be something different to every person. As far as I can say, curry generally speaking is heavily spiced, hopefully heavily flavored and filled with interesting bits and pieces.
Z was in San Francisco for a conference recently and in their daily walk between hotel and conference center passed an Indian restauarant. The scent was enticing enough that they stopped there for dinner one night. Z had a butter chicken that was so spectacular he was driven to try to recreate it at home. So, he tried a random butter chicken off the internet recipe. We had to turn up cardamom pods and garam masala. It is vaguely a stewed chicken with butter and some tomato passata with a pile of spices. For reasons we don't understand it didn't turn out to be a particularly flavorful recipe. Too much tomato and no warm heat. It was filling served on jasmine rice but not exciting. We will try again.

paletas are the new cupcakes

2011-09-19T06:38:00.000-04:00

a bad photo for a yummy treat

when I heard that macaron's were the new cupcakes I couldn't imagine how it could be so. They are ultra pricey and such a fleeting wisp of a bite. They are highly flavorful but don't leave me with the satisfaction of a cupcake. Maybe I am selling them short but I haven't been convinced. One thing I have seen over and over in blogs and magazines this summer is the paleta. A paleta is the Mexican ice pop made with fresh fruit. The idea has been further expanded to the most unbelievable flavors that are all over the place. We stopped into a great little place called Spuntino for dessert. They have the most luscious gelatos and a reach in filled with a dazzling array of paletas. I had a great Vietnamese iced coffee and Z had black pepper honeydew. Mine was incredibly refreshing and cool on a hot night. The honeydew was really interesting and weighty in flavor with a hit of pepper left on your tongue. If you see a food truck or street vendor selling a paleta-pick one up and be prepared for a cold pop of flavor.

puddinpants gets married

2011-09-18T17:57:00.003-04:00

actually his name is Dave. If I remember right his nickname is pirate in origin. He was the reason we picked the week we did to go to Denver for vacation. He grew up with Z. You know, family vacations, playing with Lego, making forts. . . Z still has a little rocket ship lego guy thing that Dave made in our Lego closet.
We got a call a few months ago, ...'Hey Z, will you be in my wedding?' Crazy times. So, here we go to Denver, outfits pulled together and matchy down to the requested white belt for Z*. We hadn't met Lisa but figured Dave had it together. We went out for dinner with Dave to get all the low down and do some catching up at Kona Grill. You know when you haven't seen someone in the longest time but it feels like an immediate catch up? It was that kind of time. We talked about everything we could think of as we ate one of those dinner's that just hits every spot. I had a great salmon club and Z had some spicy blackened chicken. Can't really explain why I dragged my feet to get the blog written. I didn't have any thing in particular to say about the food but I wanted to have that. I guess it was the time spent with an old friend. Loved that the best.

(*Z was I think, the only guy to show up with his white belt. So, he didn't wear for the proper wedding but did put it on for the reception.)

snooze

2011-09-03T06:44:00.002-04:00

alarm clocks aside, we stopped in for breakfast with friends at Snooze Southglenn during our vacation. An 'AM Eatery' devoted to high energy creative breakfast dishes that highlights the mighty pancake. They have a creative breakfast menu and I really wanted something other than pancakes but couldn't quite resist at least trying them. I had a flight of pancakes that included sweet potato (light and fluffy, by far my favorite), the blue mesa (blue corn with corn inside and chile maple syrup) and the daily special of toffee bacon which was filled with - toffee and bacon (overly sweet for me). I had a cup of their specially sourced Guatemalan coffee and found it to be a bit week. Z had lovely breakfast pot pie of puff pastry filled with rosemary sausage gravy (I am going to figure this out... I swear it) and scrambled eggs with a pretty side of nondescript hash browns. While I wished I would have had eggs our time with our friends was sweet.

noodles

2011-08-30T21:10:00.000-04:00


weird green powder freaks me out.

there are sure a lot of bland looking bowls of noodles on this blog. Z's favorite food is basically buttered egg noodles with tube cheese. Not so high falutin'. Just got home from a summer vacation wedding trip to Denver. We arrived Monday evening and after dropping our rings off for some love at Shane Co. stopped in at Noodles & Co for Z's favorite dish. It pains me to spend $5.35 on a bowl of noodles. But I did. I got the Wisconsin Macaroni and Cheese which wasn't the best ever but was a trip down memory lane.
*I have a texture in food thing and do not stir my noodles. Don't do it for me or I will be less happy.

house blessing

2011-08-18T06:05:00.000-04:00

I have a small core staff of year round, all the time, come in every day staff. They are all really committed to the work of Bible translation and are the front porch welcome for the visitors center at Wycliffe. We inform, inspire and involve people towards partnering with Wycliffe in multiple ways. Since we took the plunge and bought the house they wanted to come over and bless us with a little bit of dinner. I being me, had to have a piece of that and turned into a regional Mexican fiesta! The rain poured and lighting and thunder roared and we had a fun night with street tacos, bacon and tomato guacamole. The guests outdid themselves as well bringing chips, hot sauce, limeade and tea, flan and homemade ice cream. Quite the spread and we really were blessed to have them join us.

food truck redux

2011-08-17T06:06:00.000-04:00


smoked paprika tots, olive oil fried artichoke hearts, four cheese polenta cakes, pesto prosciutto pasta salad, blueberry cobbler, bee's knees whoopie pie, Z and a friend

rose water

2011-08-17T05:54:00.000-04:00

we like, even relish, trying new things. Z likes to read up on stuff and find all the parts and pieces and forge ahead trying things once, twice... or until I freak out. We tried out a new David Rocco recipe because it seemed intriguing. It is called pasta Anto-te and you can find the recipe at the link. It had a few new to us items in a pasta dish and one was pistachio - yum, right? The other was rose water. Not so much really. It called for three tablespoons, which in some cases, like oh, parmesan or olive oil would be sublime.
Rose water belongs elsewhere. In the garden or behind your ears or something. Every bite was as floral as the last and by the end. Well, I didn't get to the end of my bowl. I think the pistachio could deserve another chance but if anyone wants rose water - I have a slightly used bottle.

new friends

2011-08-16T17:39:00.002-04:00

confetti flautas

2011-07-11T20:14:00.001-04:00

tried another recipe from Guy Fieri's Food tonight. Since it is Saturday and I had some extra time I was able to pull this recipe off without a hitch. We didn't make the sauce but drizzled on a little Cholula instead and placed the avocado on the plate instead of inside as the recipe stated . Crispy flautas filled with roasted poblanos and amazing confetti mashed potatoes and black beans. Here is the recipe.

french toast vs waffles

2011-07-09T20:33:00.000-04:00

we saw an episode of Brunch at Bobby's recently where Bobby Flay made french toast and dropped it into the waffle iron. We thought it looked like a good idea so we tried it. We just used a standard egg, vanilla, milk and a bit of sugar recipe (out of cinnamon-woops) and used thick cut texas toast. They cooked a little faster than waffles and the sugar carmelized with the heat and became a little crisp in the waffle wells. One look away and Walter got his share too.

a new book and a new burger

2011-07-03T18:57:00.000-04:00

since I am on a roll with the big revelations-I will admit that I bought a new book that borders on ridiculous. Food, Cookin' it. Livin' it. Lovin' It by Guy Fieri That's right. I can't tell you the draw but it is full of drawings, photos and sort of cranked up classics, everything from apps to dessert. We cooked a new burger out of it. A bit different than many I've made in that it has a mix of beef and pork and is topped with sizzled pepperoni and mozz making it a kinda pizza burger. Fun book that I am looking forward to burning though although hopefully not the food.

suburban pantry?

2011-07-01T17:11:00.000-04:00

I have been kind of obsessed by the idea of food trucks. I don't know if it is the fact that I live in a city that is bereft, by my dubious standards, of a great food scene. But, I see them hyped on blogs and cooking shows about how great the eats are and feel some kind of funny kinship, that I belong there, on the edge. In truth, I don't.
We went to one of the local produce slow harvest community markets Monday night. I have been itching to go but it is only once a week and it hadn't worked out until this week. The market itself is usually outside but had moved inside a local coffee shop to get out of the rain and the Big Wheel truck parked outside. So, what I find is something I had worried about. I am totally bland and suburban. It was totally hipper than thou and well, I'm so preppy, tidy and worried that I couldn't really relax and enjoy it. I love design and thoughtful living and this was some kind of service station turned into a grungy coffee shop. So, that's where I'm at. I was out of my element (good) and uptight (bad). The food? It was good. I enjoyed it. This is what we ate from the Big Wheel Provision Food Truck.

Lemon Basil Fries $5.50 - such a good idea and so tasty - slender fries with salty lemon zest and Big Wheel garden basil
Seared Marinated Flat Iron Steak $9 An on the rare side flat iron with 'Lisa's' yellow rice and local tomato chimichurri
Big Wheel Meatloaf Sandwich Burger $7.50 Salty meat slab with huge porky bacon lardons, garden herbs, local lettuces and onion cremosa
to drink? Captain Eli's Blueberry Soda and Root Beer $2.25 a pop made with cane sugar
Roasted Banana Bread Pudding. $5.50 Banana Bread - Bread Pudding with Sea Salted Caramel Sauce and Whipped Cream. We got the last two of the evening. A salty crunch on caramel is a unique experience