westside foodie wannabes

tasty stationery

2010-09-12T09:54:00.003-04:00

in my former life before pharmacy, i used to work in the stationery industry. so i have a soft spot for paper products and the handwritten word. imagine my delight when i came across these...

that's right, bacon flavored envelopes. brought to you by the geniuses at J&D's, whose motto is "everything should taste like bacon". they are also available for sale at thinkgeek.com.

vegetarians, you too can enjoy the tasty wonderment of bacon stationery as they contain no real bacon.

qdoba mexican grill

2010-07-31T10:48:00.002-04:00

beth and i met up for lunch at qdoba mexcian grill in colerain. in full disclosure we had received 2 free mango chicken salads from qdoba. the salads had two options 1. bowl 2. taco shell. we ordered one of each. i was surpised (pleasantly) that we were able to add to the salads. this one is chicken plus sour cream and cheese.

mango salad without the tortilla bowl...and with.

so i nibbled off krissy's shell, but i wasn't thrilled and secretly glad that i had the bowl. i admit i was a little apprehensive about the mango part of the salad. i was also pleasantly surprised how much i enjoyed it. it was filling, tasty, not too sweet and an overall great salad. i would honestly considering ordering this salad again. the tough part would be not ordering any extras, despite knowing that it's filling without any of the fun stuff without the cheese, sour cream, guacamole, etc.

yeah, the tortilla bowl was nothing to write home about. it didn't really add to the salad anything but calories. i agree with beth that overall the salad was an agreeable meld of flavors, from the mango to the cilantro-lime dressing. i will say there wasn't much depth; the dish was fairly straightforward, but i don't find that to be a problem with lunch, especially something that i consider in the category of fast food.

if you're dieting or watching what you eat this is a great salad to order (w/o the taco shell and extras) because this is filling and calorie conscious. i think the biggest thing that appealed to me about the salads is that without any of the "extras" is that it is only 355 calories. seriously? only 355? that's a dream for me. let's be honest, i eat far more than i should and to eat this salad, feel filled and only eat 355 is a DREAM!!.

since we thought we should try more than just the salads we also ordered a combo meal (the craft 2) that had 1/2 a quesadilla and 2 tacos. we ordered chicken quesadila and 1/2 pulled pork tacos.

the quesadilla was good. as with the salad, i liked the chicken. it was well cooked and savory. i did not care as much for the pulled pork, and i think beth thought the same. it was a little mushy and not as tasty as the chicken. i read on qdoba's website that the pork is roasted on premise for 6 hours, which i applaud, but the outcome is somewhat mediocre. agreed. we may have been spoiled recently by eric's smoking (meat) endeavors lately....i really enjoyed the quesadilla and would probably order that again. as for the tacos i might try the steak or chicken instead.

we also tried two of the salsas. i should say, beth tried two of the salsas. we had the corn and the medium -- the medium had some kick to it and a smokey flavor. the corn was heavy on the corn and little other flavor.

one thing that we noted was that at lunchtime, we were the only females there eating. the rest of the tables were occupied with men sitting alone, presumably on lunchbreaks from the surrounding strip mall merchants. it was borderline surreal. i want to say at one point there we were with 8 males eating lunch by themselves. kinda funny.

i skin a chicken and live to tell the tale

2010-07-26T10:57:00.003-04:00

touching raw meat kind of makes me unhappy. it reminds me that i am preparing to eat an actual animal, not just "meat". using a whole chicken also invokes feelings of displeasure, as it is not much of a stretch to add a head and feathers. the body just feels so solid...

despite my misgivings regarding interactions with whole animals, cooking light's recipe for root beer can chicken proved too intriguing and i decided to give it the old college try.

problem one was that i could not find a 6-pack of root beer in 12 oz cans, only the mini 8 oz cans. emptied a can of la croix we have had hanging around since christmas (who drinks that anyway?) down the sink and replaced it with root beer. problem solved. this is the quick thinking that earned me a doctorate, people.

problem two. preparation of my little chicken involved skinning it. blecht. i got to it, sliding the knife along between the muscle and the rubbery, cold skin. fun fact concerning poultry skin: when a person withdraws from opiates, the erector pili muscles contract causing piloerection, also known as goosebumps. hence the term "quitting cold turkey". these are the things i think about, which is probably why butchering type activities provide me with no joy.

behold:

yeah, i know i didn't do a very thorough job and there is still some skin clinging to the extremities. frankly, i was tired of the whole process and had no desire to touch the bird more than absolutely necessary.

then i dressed him up to sit on the grill, rubbing him with the paprika mixture and inserting the root beer containing la croix can.

the whole can-in-the-cavity thing is a little appalling and looks indecent. brian's statement was "it looks like the chicken is taking a shit on our grill". i, on the other hand, was not so much of a gutter dweller. i'm seeing this:

but thinking this:

after the appropriate time on the grill and basting with reduced root beer periodically, the root beer can chicken was fully realized. it was actually quite delicious and very juicy. i had expected the rub to be more spicy, but if i make it again i can kick it up a notch. the suggested pairing with broccoli slaw and potatoes made the meal complete.i say "if" i make this recipe again, but brian definitely expressed his desire to see root beer can chicken on the table more often. i think he ate half the chicken. maybe next time he can handle the skinning.

green papaya, otherwise entitled bubble tea rocks

2010-07-21T08:41:00.000-04:00

a bunch of us got together for lunch at one of my favorite spots, green papaya. i haven't had many cravings during my pregnancy; only vanilla pudding and oddly a PB&J sandwich, which I probably haven't had since i was 4. anyway, for some reason i started craving green papaya salad. so off to green papaya we go.

green papaya salad. tangy and delicious.

the real highlight of any meal at green papaya is the bubble tea. i *heart* bubble tea. it's like a milkshake, only better. my favorite is taro.

bubble tea gets its name from the tea being shaken (not stirred) with a fruit flavor, which forms bubbles, and from the tapioca pearls (resembling blueberries) that are submerged in the drink. (read more here) tapioca pearls are an interesting commodity, not recommended (by me) to be eaten alone. they don't have much flavor and are kind of gummy. but they are a unique addition of texture to the bubble tea experience, meant to be suctioned up through the extra large straw.

it is fabulous. if you go to green papaya, give it a try.

that's really all i have to say. for completeness sake, here is everyone else's food, no complaints anywhere.

pork + fruit

2010-07-20T07:40:00.002-04:00

the best thing about summer, in my humble opinion, is the abundance of delicious fresh fruits available. when i saw cooking light's recipe section on fruity summer recipes, i couldn't resist test driving a couple. i decided to try two recipes that paired fruit with pork, a meat i revere above all others and is good for grilling. the integration of fruit into a main dish was similar in both recipes.

the first was grilled pork chops with two-melon salsa.
salsa:
1 cup chopped seedless watermelon
1 cup chopped honeydew melon
3 tbsp finely chopped sweet onion (i used vidalia)
1 tbsp finely chopped jalapeno pepper
1 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
1 tbsp fresh lime juice

1/8 tsp saltthe pork chops were brushed with a mix of olive oil, chili powder, minced garlic, salt, and black pepper (i don't really measure these things) and grilled.

i considered this the more successful of the two recipes. the marriage of melon and meat was satisfying, with the cool juciness of the melon complementing the pork. the salsa could also stand on its own.

ta-da

the second was brined pork tenderloin with plum and jicama relish. the tenderloin was brined for 1 hour prior to grilling in 1/2 cup kosher salt dissolved in 8 cups cold water. it was only sprinkled with pepper post-brine.

relish:

black pepper

1&1/2 cups diced plums

3/4 cups finely chopped jicama

1/2 cup finely chopped red onion

2 tsp grated lime rind

2 tbsp fresh lime juice

1 tbsp honey

kosher salt

1 serrano chile, seeded and chopped

very pretty, but without substance

this combination was less delightful, although as fruit goes i prefer plums to melon. the best part of this dish was the brined pork tenderloin, which was very tender and had a great flavor. as for the relish, i felt the textures of the jicama and plum were at odds with each other. and this is my fault (because of course i didn't measure), but the jicama to plum ratio was too large. rather than this being a cohesive entree, it seemed cacophonous.

important to note, neither salsa nor relish was very tasty the next day after a night of marinating in the fridge. the flavors became too tart.

i make a good thing

2010-07-08T09:20:00.008-04:00

i have a love-hate relationship with martha (you know which martha i mean). i oscillate between my ambition to emulate her homemade goodness and my desire to throttle her for lowering my self-esteem through impossibly concocted recipes and crafts like constructing a wreath from marshmellows and apple cores. she's like the f-ing macgyver of the domestic world.

i would like to reassure you that this is entirely one-sided. martha does not know me and there are no existing restraining orders.

her recipes are what really get me. complicated and demanding, yet described and executed with the grace of asking someone to sit down for tea. i'm sure she doesn't even break a sweat while constantly whisking egg whites and sugar in a heat-proof mixing bowl nestled on a pot of simmering water. i do, however. i know this because i attempted, for a holiday picnic, to make not one, but two types of martha cupcakes: roasted banana with honey-cinnamon frosting and strawberry with strawberry meringue buttercream. the whole venture required 8(!) sticks of butter and 11 eggs.

the roasted banana were the more difficult of the two cupcakes, but had the easier frosting.

1) preheat oven to 400. place 3 unpeeled bananas on a baking sheet and roast 15 minutes. the peels turn dark brown and they are HOT. they are supposed to cool before peeling and adding them to the batter, but mine were still a little steamy. reduce oven to 350 after roasting bananas.

2) combine 2 cups cake flour, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp baking powder, and 3/4 tsp salt. set aside.

3) cream 1 stick butter and 3/4 cup sugar until pale and fluffy. while creaming (for some reason, this always seems to take forever), separate 3 eggs. add yolks one at a time to butter and sugar.

4) scrape down sides of bowl as needed. add roasted bananas and beat to combine. add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with addition of total 1/2 cup sour cream. beat in 1 tsp vanilla extract.

5) in another mixing bowl with mixer on medium speed, whisk egg whites to soft peaks. fold egg whites into batter in three additions.

6) fill lined muffin tins 3/4 full. bake at 350 for about 20min until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. transfer t0 wire racks to cool completely.

7) frosting: beat 2&1/2 cups powdered sugar, 2 sticks unsalted butter at room temp, 2 tbsp honey, and 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon until smooth.

since the strawberry cupcake recipe is available online, i will just include the pain-in-the-ass-yet-delicious strawberry meringue buttercream frosting.

1) puree 8 ounces (1&1/2cups) coarsely chopped strawberries (hulled).

2) combine 4 egg whites and 1&1/4 cups sugar in heatproof bowl of electric mixer set over a pan of simmering water. whisk constantly by hand until mixture is warm to touch and sugar has dissolved. mixture will feel smooth when rubbed between your finger tips. (this is where the sweating began. my kitchen is freaking hot. and i was starting to get kind of pissed at this point.)

3) attach the bowl to the mixer and whisk at gradually increasing speed until stiff peaks form. continue mixing until mixture is fluffy, glossy, and completely cool (test by touching bottom of bowl). this takes about 10min.

4) with mixer on medium-low speed, add 3 sticks (1&1/2 cups) of butter a few tbsp at a time, mixing well after each addition. once all the butter has been added, scrape down sides of bowl with spatula and switch to paddle attachment. continue beating on low speed until all air bubbles are eliminated, about 2 min. add pureed strawberries and beat until combined. the result will be pretty, frothy pink frosting.

now, as a bonus fourth of july ohh-ahh, i actually went to michael's and purchased decorating tips and bags to pipe the icing onto the cupcakes rather than just slathering it on with an old pharmacy spatula like i normally do. i have never piped icing onto a cupcake before. the results were mixed (see below), and of course in no way resembled martha's masterpieces. but whatever.

behold! the mighty cupcake!

it seemed like everyone at the picnic enjoyed the cupcakes. it's important food be visually appealing, but let's face it, taste is what counts, right?

summer pasta

2010-07-06T09:08:00.000-04:00

pasta is one of my favorite foods because it is quick, easy, and versatile. it can be served with vegetables, meat, or just plain with a splash of olive oil. in the summer, though, i've found a lot of traditional pasta pairings are just too heavy. red sauce and meatballs are not harmonious with humid evenings on the patio and teary glasses of iced tea.

when i came across a recipe from mario batali, "pennette with summer squash and ricotta", it sounded like the perfect way to enjoy pasta in the summertime. i've prepared similar dishes before, but what really intrigued me about this was the addition of mint.

1) cook 1 pound pennette rigate in water salted with kosher salt (i used whole grain penne from barilla)
2) whisk together 1 cup fresh ricotta and 3 tbsp olive oil. add 1/2 cup grated parmigiano-reggiano (i used pecorino romano because i do not have mario batali's cheese budget) and whisk till combined. whisk in 2 tbsp warm water, then another tbsp if necessary to loosen the consistency. i also added a splash of lemon juice to give it a little citrus kick.
3) slice 1 pound summer squash or zucchini, or combination, into 1/3" thick half moons (i did not feel it was necessary to get out the ruler. mine were probably all different thicknesses). heat 3 tbsp olive oil in a large pot over medium heat and cook squash until just tender. season with maldon salt. um, i didn't really know what maldon salt was so i used lemon sea salt flakes that i had in my cabinet.
4) drain the pasta and reserve 1/3 cup pasta water.
5) add the pasta and reserved water to the squash, mix well. cover and steam over low heat for about 2 minutes.
6) stir in 6 tbsp coarsely chopped fresh mint, season with maldon salt and pepper, and transfer to serving bowl.
garnish with dollops of whipped ricotta with additional grated parmigiano on the side. the photo in the magazine had this really creamy looking ricotta sauce. mine looked lumpy like cottage cheese, but tasted fine.
the mint gave the dish a unique twist and an invigorating tanginess. perfect for a hot summer night on the patio.

adventures in meat: skirt steak

2010-07-03T11:54:00.007-04:00

i am a lazy american. yes, i shop at kroger. weekly. granted, my shopping pattern probably befuddles the marketing analysis on the kroger plus card - hardly any processed or pre-packaged foods and a careless disregard for sales, coupons, and little yellow tags.

what does this have to do with skirt steak?

well, i've noticed a lot of recipes call for skirt steak. because the kroger co has to trim the number of cuts available in the meat department to make room in the store for frog-shaped watering cans and tiki torches, i have never been able to locate a skirt steak at the local kroger. i've asked meat department employees, and they have directed me to flank steak.

which i now know is not the same thing.

i decided this week to stop being lazy and actually go to a butcher. wassler meats to be precise. wassler had been recommended to me in the past for breakfast sausage (thanks, john!) so this week i bought all my meat there.

a google search told me skirt steak comes from the "plate" (see below) and is actually the diaphragm muscle. apparently it has a tendency towards toughness but has a good flavor. often it is used in fajitas.

the skirt steak i got was frozen. when it was thawed and unwrapped, what i beheld surprised me. i wasn't really expecting such a long strip of meat, displayed here by my mom.

i understand the use as fajita meat. my recipe was not for fajitas, however, but thai grilled skirt steak from the april 2010 food and wine. i marinated the steaks for nearly 24 hrs in the following mixture:

1/4 cup seasame oil

1/4 cup soy sauce (tamari)

2 tablespoons each of finely chopped ginger, garlic, cilantro, and salted roasted peanuts

2 scallions, minced (i used green onions)

1 tablespoon each of light brown sugar, lime juice, and chile oil (i used mongolian fire oil, which is a little different)

half of the marinade is reserved for the sauce and the other half coats the meat. to complete the sauce, add 1/4 cup chicken stock to the reserved marinade.

after marinating, the steaks were grilled for about 2 1/2 minutes on each side to keep them rare and prevent toughness from setting in. a light sprinkle of salt and pepper and the skirt steak was ready.

the quick time on the grill was well rewarded - the meat was very tender and flavorful. skirt steak is also a reasonably priced cut, so the ratio of enjoyment to price was favorable.

i paired it with red curry peanut noodles from a 2008 food and wine, using udon noodles instead of the spaghetti the recipe called for. the noodles were good and could stand alone. if i make them again, however, i will probably add more chicken stock and lime juice to the sauce. the peanut butter made it a little thick and sticky. i would rate the skirt steak experience a success.

squirtable cheesecake: is it a condiment?

2010-06-15T15:34:00.006-04:00

beth and i have found ourselves breakfasting at ihop with alarming frequency recently. for two people that don't favor that meal, twice in 8 days is a lot....

ihop is fascinating because they are innovators in integrating sugar into breakfast food. why have plain french toast when you can have french toast stuffed with cream? why just have a waffle when you can top a waffle with pie filling and whipped cream? i think that's one of the reasons i don't really like breakfast that much -- i don't like all the sugary stuff. that and the eggs. i don't like eggs and they seem to be offered with everything. i agree. hate the eggs.

which leads us to the newest menu treat that popped up on our radar: the pancake stacker. it is, as it sounds, a stack of 2 pancakes with a layer of "cheesecake" in between. cheesecake shot out of a pastry bag, that is. cheesecake that melts and has kind of an unpleasant texture and taste. it should be noted that brian ordered this treat. he ordered them plain (i.e. without the sugary fruit) b/c he doesn't like fruit. for some reason that just makes me laugh. he does like cheese though so i suppose it was the perfect plan.

but it did lead us to question - is squirtable cheesecake a viable condiment?

con·di·ment: [kon-duh-muhnt] –noun; something used to give a special flavor to food, as mustard, ketchup, salt, or spices.

the squirtable cheesecake definitely gives a "special flavor" to food. what other foods might it enhance? could it be used on pie instead of whipped cream? brian suggested using it to top a mett, but then accused me of being "over the top" because i proposed a pairing with goetta. at this point it just got ridiculous. anyone who knows brian knows that he does like cheesey -metts.....

moral of the story: if you go to ihop, do not be enticed by the cheap chicanery which is squirtable cheesecake, the newest condiment conceived to perpetuate obesity in america. frankly, it's just not very good. krissy can say that since she tried it and i did not....it just wasn't in the cards that day of me. i also think keeping cheesecake separate from pancakes is just a good policy in general. it ruins both.

nypd pizza

2010-06-05T11:44:00.004-04:00

it so happens that if i call brian when i hit kings island on the way home from chillicothe, it is perfect timing for ordering pizza. most recently nypd pizza delivered to our door just as i was pulling in the driveway.

we usually stick to the same medley of menu selections - the available breadstick and plain old cheese pizza. some would say we're boring, but i feel there is a certain elegance in simplicity. if we're feeling really crazy, we might add pepperoni. (this does not apply at places such as dewey's when the toppings are quality and do not include mushrooms from a can)

the breadsticks at nypd were basically pizza crust with cheese, cut in strips instead of wedges. call me crazy, but i generally like my breadsticks to be made of a different dough than the pizza. i appreciate a variety of textures in my meal. the breadsticks were actually much better reheated the next day.on to the main event. the pizza in general was fairly nondescript - mozarella, provolone, pedestrian sauce. the unusual part was the crust. the only way i can think to describe it is pillowy. it was kind of the jay leno of pizza crust - puffy and not a lot of flavor. definitely not something i would stay up late night for, either. i think we'll stick with noce's from now on...unless someone else has an excellent pizza suggestion that will deliver on the westside!

an investigation: what the hell is in my refrigeratror?

2010-06-05T10:45:00.006-04:00

warning: for those who do not appreciate inane commentary on mundane saturday afternoon activities, stop reading now.

my refrigerator confuses beth. i think mostly because, she sees, as i do, there isn't a lot of food in it that qualifies as something i would eat. it's literally bursting at the seams, with food sliding onto the floor when the door is opened, and yet i can never find anything to eat. so today i set out to explore the question of what is filling my refrigerator, paper towels and fantastick in hand.

of course we have some commonplace staples: lunchmeat, fruits and veggies, eggs, orange juice, butter, minced garlic. lots of beer and wine shoved in any available space. i started grouping all the extras in categories and i discovered:

as previously discussed at length, i have sort of an obsession with mustard. i can easily justify 7 bottles. sadly, there are even more in the pantry that haven't been opened yet.hmm...neither brian nor i eat pickles or peppers, relishy type things in general. how did we manage to amass 7 jars? i suspect the culprit must be my mother. and no, i have in not been craving them with ice cream during my pregnancy.

speaking of ice cream, i found an embarassing amount of ice cream toppings.from pecorino romano to gorgonzola to kraft singles, there was an equally appalling magnitude of cheese... yogurt...and milk. at least we're getting our dairy. to explain why we have 4 kinds of milk - the almond and soy are for me, the skim for my mom, and the 2% is technically brian's. normally whole milk would be in place of 2%, but i won a fight in the grocery store following an elevated cholesterol panel. you can't see it in the picture, but of course the 2% is expired and i suspect the diesel milk will make it into our shopping cart again.an over abundance of salad dressings. i've no explanation.

and then we come to the really random stuff.

one-time purchases for a recipe that continue to squat, loitering in the recesses of the fridge.who knows what i originally had planned for this. probably something delicious. too bad it expired in 2009.really? someone actually went through the trouble of putting this back?

i'm so proud of myself. my refrigerator is nice and clean and organized. pure bliss. i predict this will last approximately 34 hours.and, the mystery is solved - my refrigerator and i could make an appearance on "hoarders".

next up, the deep freeze. or perhaps the pantry.

maybe some other day.

a lazy sunday afternoon

2010-05-29T12:37:00.005-04:00

last sunday was proof summer has come to cincinnati - clear, sunny, sweltering (merely a trifle of what's to come, i'm sure). a couple girlfriends and i met up for a leisurely lunch at cabana on the river. the cabana provides an idyllic setting for such a lunch, nestled along the banks of the languid ohio river.

we seated ourselves (as the sign indicated we should) and waited for a server to approach the table. after 10 minutes, we grabbed some menus from a nearby stack. and waited. then waited some more. it wasn't that servers weren't obvious, rushing around between the tables, doling out coronas and hamburgers. they were just not coming to our table. it had not even been completely cleared from the previous occupants. finally, after a half hour of progressively increasing thirst, elisa approached the bar and asked for some waters. instead of giving her the waters, the bartender indicated she would send a server over. she regarded our table and asked where we got the menus. elisa replied we had seen a stack and decided to look one over as we waited for our server. the bartender offered this as the explanation for why we had not been served - apparently all the servers would think someone else was helping us because we already had menus.

cabana lesson #1: don't proactively snag a menu to peruse while you wait for a server. you will be waiting for a long time.

we finally ordered, and more importantly received the illusive cups of water, then sat back to chat and watch the river meander past.

first to arrive at the table was jessie's black and bleu salad. the amount of bacon, steak, and bleu cheese effectively cancels out any nutrition from the lettuce, but jessie did say the beef was delicious and well cooked. all salads are served in plastic to-go boxes.

next up is elisa's portabella sandwich. she pronounced that the mushroom was tender and had an agreeable flavor.finally, my chicken salad sandwich. i am generally very apprehensive about ordering either tuna or chicken salad, because i am uber-picky about "picnic foods". i never know what i am going to get, and it may be disgusting. i was orginally going to order the turkey burger, but we sat there for so long waiting for the server that i began to wish for something cool and refreshing. i should have stuck to my original inclination and ordered the turkey burger. the mountain of chicken salad dolloped on the bun could have used more chicken and less relish and mayonnaise. the flavor fell flat. also, until this sandwich appeared on the lunch table, i had no idea kraft made swiss cheese singles. the overall effect was unpleasant, but i was starving by this point and gobbled everything up.

cabana lesson #2: go with your first instinct when ordering.

and, cabana lesson #3: don't pay the extra $1 to top anything with their swiss cheese.

i don't know if i've been extra crabby lately or what, but it seems like every restaurant door i've darkened lately has led me astray. hopefully this trend will end soon, cause i'm hungry.

shameless plug: queen city underground tour

2010-05-26T16:34:00.004-04:00

this weekend, whether or not you opt to venture to the taste of cincinnati, take some time to check out the queen city underground tour just a few blocks up. brought to you by the same guys who established the newport gangster tour, this new tour includes an expedition deep under the streets of OTR.

cost is $15, with all proceeds benefitting global service learning. tours meet at mica.

lavomatic

2010-05-17T15:40:00.000-04:00

being way behind the times, i finally made it to lavomatic for a late lunch/early dinner with some girlfriends. the patio was relaxing and lovely for a leisurely meal.

it took me some time to decide what to order as everything sounded appealing. i finally settled on the double decker with turkey, guyere cheese, and aioli.the bread was fantastic. it was crusty without being difficult to bite or chew and had a slight honey flavor. the greens were fairly fresh. the rest of the sandwich, however, was a disappointment. the turkey was nothing special (said on the menu it was smoked, but i wasn't tasting it) and the aioli was more like mediocre mayonnaise. and the cheese - cheese should make everything taste better, but the edges of my guyere were translucent and hard, like it had been left out of the fridge too long. it was kind of sweaty, too. overall, i guess it was fine, although i don't know if i would have been more discriminating if i wasn't starving.

dessert was better. several options caught my eye (i'm totally a sugar whore), but the pineapple upside down cake won the sweet tooth battle. great balance of sweetness and crispy edged cake. it can't be seen in the photo, but paired with the cake and ice cream was an apple compote-like sidecar, which i didn't understand and didn't feel added anything to the dish.

for a restaurant offering such a cool, hip image, the experience was merely ordinary. what was particularly telling for me was the lack of attention to detail. not only was my cheese questionable and sandwich sloppily made, the lime wedge in my water seemed to be left from the previous night's bar stock and could not be coaxed to release juice. is it so much to ask for a fresh lime?

cincitalia!

2010-05-16T14:40:00.004-04:00

st. catharine reinvented their annual parish festival this year, morphing it into cincitalia. as you may imagine, the festival now carries an italian theme and features "taste of italy" food purveyors, italian dancers, a wine bar, and a healthy dose of dean martin tunes crooning in the background.

yesterday afternoon the crowd was still light when we paid our $1 admission and began walking through harvest home park. brian, of course, went straight for the beer booth (always a huge moneymaker at a catholic festival), and i wandered through the staple festival diversions; split the pot, honey-baked ham chances, etc. the taste of italy alley included noce's (mmm...), pompilio's, gabby's cafe, dolce vita gelato, and larosa's. promised on the schedule were cooking demonstrations by these restaurants, including buddy larosa, but we weren't able to find where the demonstrations were taking place (ok, we didn't look that hard). we grabbed some food and settled ourselves in the tent to enjoy the music, which covered everything from standards by the pete wagner band to opera.

taste of italy booths

the wine bar and la societa fuscaldese femminile selling delicious baked goodies

bruschetta prepared from a recipe in the san antonio church cookbook (which i did not buy but wish i had). satisfying, not overtly garlicky.

red, green, and white cupcakes made by some old italian lady who clearly rocks

we very much relished the efforts of our parish to distinguish itself in the multitude of cookie-cutter parish festivals. hopefully the venture is successful and only continues to expand in coming years.

a new addiction

2010-04-11T07:53:00.008-04:00

one saturday morning, about a month ago, a miracle happened. i woke up and didn't want to throw up. which was perfect timing; that evening we were scheduled to go to quatman's (i guess officially named quatman cafe) for brian's birthday.

we've been wanting to hit up quatman's for some time, since the debate still rages about who has the best burger in cincinnati. we love terry's turf club and were anxious to see if quatman's measured up.

the quatman's experience is the polar opposite of terry's. no cramped dining area (although it probably gets pretty tight when all the tables are full), no hour long wait for a table, no bazaar of neon lights (just a miller lite sign and a burger beer pendant lamp over a corner table), no peanut shells on the floor, no foie gras option to top the burger. the only similarities i saw were limited menus and food served up on paper plates.

the first thing brian got excited about was that they have hudy delight AND moerlein on tap. i think that scenario might play heavily into brian's idea of heaven. i was impressed they had caffeine free coke. i'm simple to please. miller lite in a can please. any domestic you would like is available.

now for the main event. we all ordered cheeseburgers (brian ended up ordering a second) and fries. as you can see in the photo, simple presentation with only pickles and onion. bottles of ketchup and mustard are on the table. there is a delicious elegance in the burger's simplicity. i think that's what makes me want to return (and we did, just two weeks later). as much as i like a variety of options sometimes i just need simpe.

i recall that when we wrote about terry's, someone had commented about quatman's no frills burger being superior. i had said at the time i preferred burgers all souped up with sauces and toppings, but now i might be eating my words. cause quatman's burger is damn good, without getting sequins in my eyes.

we've already been back again, when eric's birthday rolled around last weekend. yep and he had two burgers that time. i admit i wanted another, but i'm watching my figure.

terry's is a wild spectacular circus, a bit of the old razzle dazzle, while quatman's is hanging out in the backyard playing cornhole. i've only been to the circus once, but i hang out in backyards almost every weekend. before we wrote this we had exchanged a few emails. it went something like this. i think i am addicted to quatmans. me too. are you free saturday? alright quatmans at 6.

another nice thing about quatmans is that two people can have a pitchers of beer, 2 cans of beer, and 2 burgers and fries and ITS ONLY $25!!!! the norwood paper even has a coupon for $1 off.

morton's wine tasting

2010-04-07T21:40:00.013-04:00

we attended a wine tasting at Morton's as a preview of the "evening with charles krug" benefit occurring later this month. the wine tasting on april 21st benefits the make a wish foundation. i recognize a wine tasting is not the optimal place for a pregnant woman, but i couldn't pass up the invitation and the chance to hobnob with fellow bloggers wine me, dine me, 5chw4r7z and don't call me mrs, the hoperatives, and my wine education (the last two, interestingly, are blocked by the VA net nanny).

The four of us attended (krissy, me - beth, eric and brian). krissy was able to enjoy the food and unfortunately only sniff the wine. neither krissy and i have been writing much (who are we kidding - i'm not the biggest writer here to begin with!) and thought that this even sounded like fun and a good way to get back into the swing of things.

the thing about writing this post that i struggle with is that i'm not overly informed on wine. i know good wine and i know bad wine. rather, i know what i like and i don't like. i'm not always able to find the flavors/smells unless someone is pointing them out to me. as someone who has been known to enjoy some pretty low class chilled wines on a summer evening, i agree with beth. i just know what i like, and if i happen to like it paired with a twinkie, who cares?

the first course was was a mini crab cake, endive with blue cheese, and tuna tartare with tomato and avocado. (shown below). i have to say i'm not a huge seafood person -- what that means is that i'm willing to try anything once or twice but don't really prefer it (and rarely order it in a restaurant). i enjoyed the crabcake and the tuna tartare. i probably wouldn't have even known that i was eating tuna if i hadn't been told. i never knew this about beth, but apparently she doesn't like cucumber because it was left on her plate. i only ate the crabcake, which was fine, but had kind of a funny texture for a crab cake. probably due to the fact i am used to eating cheap crab cakes with lots of breadcrumbs and fillers rather than lots of crab. i could take or leave the cucumber, but to be completely honest, it was left because i wasn't exactly sure how to eat it (and not embarass myself) with the cucmber. so i left it.

it was paired with the sauvignon blac (napa valley). it was described with apple and grapefruit aroma. i noticed it once it was pointed out to me. i really enjoyed this wine because it was very smooth and fresh tasting. i'm looking at eric's tasting notes and his say "yummy". it is recommended that it be paired with fish. it smelled REALLY good. it tasted really good too.

the second course was a mixed field greens topped with grilled colossal shrimp and paired with the chardonnay (carneros) i thought the salad was delicious. the shrimp wasn't rubbery like so often found in landlocked cincinnati. brian commented that the apples were the best part. consequently, that was the only part he ate. i tried the shrimp, thought it was ok and passed the rest to eric who really enjoyed it. i think its funny that brian liked the apples because i didn't think he ate fruits and vegetables (he doesn't really).....i could eat that salad every night and be very very happy. the wine was also good. i recall them describing it as buttery and thinking that was a good description. although i don't know much about white wines i enjoyed both of them very much.

the third course was single cut filet mignon, chive mashed potatoes, and roasted tomatoes stuffed with spinach and shiitake mushrooms. it was paired with cabernet sauvignon. i could have taken a bath in the sauce accompanying the filet. i wanted to lick my plate. the tomato i could done without. it was flat and the spinach overpowering. as for the mashed potatoes, i'm pretty easy to please when it comes to starch, but i prefer a creamier, less pasty version of mashed potatoes. at home i add milk and butter until the starchy dryness is extinct. i liked the potatoes. i agree about the tomatoes. i had high expectations for the tomatoes. the wine was WONDERFUL. i'm pretty sure i drank mine and krissy's. it should be noted that i'm going to try and buy some of this for home. oh yeah, this is the wine i succumbed to and sipped because it smelled so perfect. actually sipped twice, once wasn't enough. i don't usually like reds, cabs in particular, but yum!

the fourth course was was a cheese and fruit plate with goat cheese, gouda, gorgonzola and jersey cow milk cheese. it was paired with a port wine. please note: MOST AMAZING GOAT CHEESE EVER! i abandoned pretext and was eating it with a spoon. i love cheese. i could eat it all day. i haven't had a lot of port wine. when i have, it was with chocolate. i didn't have the same experience with the port and cheese as i did the chocolate (and port) in the past. it may be that i wasn't supposed too.....i would like to learn more about port wines. brian basically took the port as a shot. he really doesn't care for red wines of any sort, and was just trying to swallow quickly as to avoid appearing rude and ungrateful for the wine.

since this was a sampling of what is to come i would have to say anyone who partipates in the funraiser will eat good food, drink good wine and enjoy socialzing with the staff at morton's. all staff were very welcoming. plus participants get to hang out with peter mondavi, jr, and harass him with questions about enology and viticulture. the evening includes bidding on an exclusive 27-liter bottle of charles krug, vintage select 2006 cabernet sauvignon. i really don't know how anyone can be expected to pour from a bottle that large, but it's not something i have to worry about. the last bottle of this magnitude was auctioned off for $27,000, clearly out of my price range.

food as a weapon?

2010-03-23T12:01:00.005-04:00

in chillicothe, i don't have TV. i mean, i have a tv, but no channels. so i've been spending my downtime recently catching up on oscar-nominated films (up in the air, the blindside) and tv-on-dvd. i am fairly obsessed with glee. in fact, i'm embarassed to admit how many times i have watched the dvds. even all the sex and violence in true blood could not divert my attentions from the mesmorizing saccharinity and sly humor which is glee.

my point? since the glee kids are living in the sub-basement of the high school hierarchy, they are frequently accosted with slushie baths.

granted, i have not been in high school for some time, but i don't recall ever being drenched in high fructose corn syrup or smacked in the face with hostess cupcakes. and, as you may well imagine, i was fairly nerdy. i don't even remember a food fight.

maybe it was the omnipotence of catholic educators and the baby jesus that discouraged this behavior. hell, to this day i'm still afraid to deviate from the sidewalk and cut across the grass. maybe it was single sex education. perhaps the barbarianism of boys dictates food be projected into another's face as a warning against those who diverge from the herd. (elder alums, care to weigh in?)

did anyone else experience this phenomenon? and, whether it's throwing eggs or purple slushies, why is food the new scarlet letter?

cod and god 2010

2010-03-22T12:12:00.004-04:00

ok, so i have been quite the slacker this year when it has come to the fish fry. getting home late on friday nights from chillicothe has not helped my cause. as easter is rapidly approaching, it seems unlikely i will be able to analyze a large sample size this year. i only have comments to offer on one westside fry: st. martin's.

and, i have only one thing to say about it.

the right amount of grease is a good thing.

the wrong amount leads to two people throwing away their fish fry dinners from st. martin's. the fish was batter dipped and so greasy it soaked through the bread. the fish inside the batter dipping was overcooked and falling apart. brian said the mac and cheese wasn't even good.

the next day we were shopping and i kept wondering what this horrible smell was. finally, it dawned on me that the smell was eminating from brian's jacket, which he had worn while waiting in line 20minutes for our fish the night before. grease odor marinating on a fleece jacket did not improve my opinion of our experience.

sorry, st. martin's, but you disappointed me.

wal-mart wine?

2010-03-09T08:02:00.002-05:00

people who pay attention more than me have probably heard this, but i was appalled to learn on my drive to work this morning that wal-mart is producing its own wine with the assistance of ernest and julio gallo. the goal is to produce inexpensive, accessible wine for the masses. price point of $2-$5/bottle.

my initial reaction to this is revulsion. i must ask myself, why? is it my innate loathing for the evil empire of wal-mart? my wonderment at the reasoning behind having to reduce everything to the lowest common denominator? worry that it might actually be palatable?

and what's wrong with them just carrying some two buck chuck?

a lenten debate

2010-03-03T09:32:00.002-05:00

ok, it probably seems like i am totally obsessing over tuna salad, but it is a pretty prominent component in the catholic diet at this time of year. and the conversation with josh about the sandwich-ready tuna salad got me to thinking...

i find it to be absolutely inherently wrong that tuna salad should ever contain hard boiled eggs. they are unnecessary and disgusting. i like my tuna salad laced with crisp bits of celery, pickles, and onion ONLY. no grapes, no water chestnuts, no apples, and definitely no eggs.

to my disappointment i ordered larosa's tuna hoagy to find it contained eggs. gag.

any thoughts for or against? does anyone think about this banal crap besides me?

food for thought

2010-03-02T11:23:00.002-05:00

i bought a package of "sandwich ready" tuna salad and i am curious/concerned about what exactly has to be done to mayonnaise to make it "heat stable".

what's been going on with me

2010-02-13T11:26:00.003-05:00

ok, so if anyone out there is still reading this blog after my abysmal lack of entries, here is an update.

good news: i'm pregnant. bad news: i'm miserable. i have lost considerable weight and throw up at least once a day. and while i do spend 60-70% of my waking hours thinking about my stomach and food, i can assure you this is completely devoid of pleasure.

this is a sad state of affairs for someone who loves to eat as much as me.

most days the only thing that sounds remotely palatable is a vanilla jell-o pudding pop, which we all know is tragically off the market. curse bill cosby.

there have been some wondrous days when i can actually eat something worthwhile, like a couple sundays ago i was able to fully enjoy a taste of belgium waffle with strawberries while visiting findlay market. but alas, these days are few and far between, and it seems like every good day is followed by a really awful day (hmm...like today). it's a very different experience to, as my friend mike puts it, eat to live rather than live to eat. it's even difficult right now for me to tell if i'm hungry or if i'm nauseated.

yes, i know in the end it will all be worthwhile. i just sure as hell hope it's twins because i'm going to have a difficult time convincing myself to go through this again.

the original

2009-11-29T16:12:00.005-05:00

it has been quite some time since i have written about my grandparents, so allow me some time to reminisce before i get to the actual food portion of this post.

one of my favorite books begins, "last night i dreamt i went to manderley again...". if i was to write a book, it could very easily begin:

"Last night, I dreamt I went to my grandfather’s drug store again. It seemed to me I stood by the glass topped candy case, and for a while I could not see behind the counter for the way was barred to me. Then, like all dreamers, I was possessed of sudden supernatural powers and passed like a spirit through the store before me. The aisles lined with cards and cold creams lay in front of me, straight and narrow as they had always been. But as I advanced, I was aware that a change had come upon the store. The dream was jumbling my memories, and was twisting the shadows with long tenacious fingers. The shelves were dusty and unfamiliar, the carpet worn. And finally, there was my grandfather – my grandfather - perched on his black leather stool patched with packing tape, smoking his pipe. Time could not mar the perfect recollection of this. Nighttime can play odd tricks upon the fancy, and suddenly it seemed to me that I was a little girl again: eliciting satisfying pops from bubble wrap; sliding m and m's from pill counting trays into vials; running to the butcher to stock his refrigerator with bologna and liverwurst and cheese, dollar bills crumpled in my hand. Abruptly, sleep escaped me and the illusion went with it. I looked upon my dark bedroom, with no whisper of the past about its staring walls. I can never go back to the drug store again. That much is certain. But sometimes, in my dreams, I do go back to the days of my youth before the drug store became Mandalay Bay tanning salon."

the point of all this is next to my grandpa's drug store on rapid run road was/is empress chili. this chili parlor is another piece of my childhood memories. i always had a wiener bun with cheese; these were the days before i subjected myself to cincinnati chili. empress is the original cincinnati chili, founded in 1922. the spices are still mixed according to a secret family recipe.

a few weekends ago we were driving about aimlessly trying to decide on dinner. we happened to pass empress and decided to pull in. for me, it was not without a pang of nostalgia. i had not eaten there since my grandpa retired and the drug store closed in 1992.
similar to every chili parlor on the westside, the walls of empress are bedecked with elder paraphernalia. the tablecloths are vinyl, the flowers are faux. the menu at empress is more extensive than skyline, but less so than price hill chili. as i was absolutely starving, i ordered a chilito and a cheeseburger.

the chilito was pretty typical. i always feel there is too much tortilla and not enough filling. however, the chili was delicious. drier than skyline and more zesty, i think empress may become my new favorite cincinnati chili. although brian disagreed. he still prefers skyline.the burger was so-so, an average patty cooked for the median palate (a 3.5 out of 6 on the burger scale). but look at all those pickles and the wavy husman chips!the stop at empress was a wonderful trip down memory lane, one i will repeat. the chili is great, the ambiance quintessential westside, and the crackers are shur-good. maybe next time we'll stop by after a high school football game. too bad my grandpa isn't around to join us.

road trip! madison, wi

2009-10-19T09:26:00.000-04:00

columbus day weekend brian and i hit the road to visit jenn and mark, who left cincinnati back in june for the wilds of wisconsin. when we were about two hours away, jenn sent a text which read, "head's up - it's not snowing exactly. just some flurries". snow before halloween? i didn't know we were visiting the arctic.

jenn and mark live off fish hatchery road. i saw no fish hatchery, but i assume the road's namesake had to be somewhere nearby. what a strange choice to name a thoroughfare. to my knowledge, in cincinnati there is no "slaughterhouse avenue" or "soap suds court".

jenn and mark have already been working on establishing themselves as regulars at the great dane pub. they have a fantastic beer list, which great names like "crop circle wheat". we all tried their seasonal brew "ride the dragon". it's a heavy-hitter with 10% alcohol, so the pub actually has a limit of 2 per customer. i'm not very good at describing beer, but to me, it was light with an herby flavor, kind of like twisted thistle.

apps consisted of pretzels with mustard and fried cheese curds (it's wisconsin, after all). the cranberry horseradish mustard was absolutely to die for. pungent - stings the nostrils. the curds were what you would expect. kind of tough to screw up fried cheese.

jenn and i each ordered a sandwich and split them. one was a buffalo burger topped with cheese from a local farm and the other was the "gourmet" grilled cheese (sensing the theme?) with smoked gouda and sharp cheddar, pesto, tomato, and bacon. everything was as good as it sounds. the accompanying sides were plantains and hot applesauce. the applesauce was more apple and less sauce. it belonged on top of a potato pancake.

the rest of the time we just hung out. sunday night we cooked a delicious dinner of marinated pork kebabs (see marinade recipe here), eggplant salad, and lemon-lime tart.

the eggplant was grilled, then topped with goat cheese, basil, mint, and pine nuts. the finishing touch was a light drizzle of balsamic vinegar. in retrospect, i probably could have lived without the inclusion of the mint.

the lemon-lime tart recipe came from luscious lemon desserts. at the last minute we decided to add the whipped cream. it was a good decision. the tart was very tart. our drink of choice for the day was sparkling wine, simply limeade, and a splash of rose's pomegranate infusion.

i'm so jealous of their kitchen! you can't see it in this photo, but they have a double oven, too.

it was really a fantastic trip. we plan on returning after the spring thaw and seeing more of the city.

guest post: sourdough pancakes

2009-10-18T08:47:00.006-04:00

i have at least five posts simmering on the back burner. i am way behind. i've been wanting to write about my friend elisa's sourdough pancakes for about a month cause they are amazing. so i asked her to write about them for me.

background: i was introduced to these pancakes through our running/breakfast club. in general, i do not really care for sweet breakfast food, so these pancakes are really right up my alley. they have a more complex and distinct flavor than regular pancakes. by trade, elisa is a chemist and has this delightful hobby of baking, which i frequently benefit from.

Adapted From Breads from the La Brea Bakery

510 g (18 oz) sourdough starter

2 T. vegetable oil

2 eggs

1/2 t. salt

1/2 t. baking soda

1 t. baking powder

Preheat griddle to 375F. Whisk starter to homogenize. Whisk in oil and eggs. Sprinkle dry ingredients on top and whisk thoroughly. Or, just whisk all 6 ingredients together… I’m always paranoid the leavening will get clumpy. Cook on one side until slightly dry around the edges and bubbles form, flip. Also, I find I don’t need to grease a non-stick surface.

My starter was created using the method described in Breads from the La Brea Bakery by Nancy Silverton. Hers is a complex process, but her attention to detail and weight measurements appealed to chemist brain. I’ve also made her basic bread recipe with great results. However, I decided not to use her method for maintenance. I would have gone poor from purchasing flour and crazy from the three times a day feedings.

So then, both Joe Pastry and Sourdough Home are good resources for making and maintaining. For me*, I leave my starter in the fridge (feeding it once a week) when I’m not using it regularly, and if I am keeping it at room temp, I feed it twice a day. Feedings consist of equal weights of water (softened, filtered “city” water, because that’s what comes out of the tap) and Gold Medal bread flour, with amounts ranging on just enough for maintenance to whatever I need to add to build it up for making bread or pancakes. And contrary to what you might think, a starter is actually pretty easy to take care of and use. Just don’t completely forget about them, kinda like a house plant.

*Some sourdough purists out there might look at what I do and want to ban me from the club, but I say, to each their own. This is what works for me.

serve with real maple syrup...mmm!

eww, gross.

2009-10-04T09:14:00.003-04:00

so, i wasn't even going to post about my meal at claddagh in newport on the levee last night. a couple of girlfriends and i had been hoofing it around newport all day begging donations for the newport gangster's monster's ball, and decided to pop in for a bite to eat. it wasn't a big deal, nothing special. the food there is generally reliable, the seating packs you close to strangers and friends alike, and the notre dame game is on the telly.

but then something absolutely appalling happened.

we were signing our credit card slips when suddenly randy slams down one of the lingering plates on the center of the table and says, "don't look". well, we all know the easiest way to get people to look is to say "don't look". randy then reveals we have been joined by a six-legged friend, lifts the plate, and discovers he is gone. no matter. the little guy quickly resurfaced and was battered with a barrage of slaps by pleather check-holders, accompanied by cries of, "eww, get it" and maybe a girlish shriek or two. (i would like to point out through this whole exchange, no one even looked at our table. maybe they thought we were just really into the notre dame game)

that little bastard would not die. i think he still was twitching (it may have been a post-mortem twitch, who's to say) when i snapped his photo:

shameless plug!

2009-09-30T17:55:00.004-04:00

dear everyone,

please allow me to captivatingly convince you that halloween night, you simply must attend the monster's ball hosted by the newport gangster tour. festivities begin at eight o'clock at the syndicate.

tickets are $20, with all proceeds benefiting global service learning, a local non-profit dedicated to providing meaningful learning experiences to high school students.

tickets can be reserved by emailing newport.monstersball@gmail.com or they can be purchased at the door (from me!) halloween night.

even better, you can pick up your tickets by visiting the gangsters on one of their tours, saturdays during the month of october.

oh yeah, and costumes are strongly encouraged, as there will be prizes awarded to the best of the best.

there's a girl in my soup

2009-09-19T12:00:00.001-04:00

it's 1970. peter sellers and goldie hawn make there's a girl in my soup, which despite the title and the fact the main character is a tv gourmet, has very little to do with food and everything to do with sex. the tangling of food and sex is always intriguing. a few key scenes: peter sellers' lothario character is having an intimate moment with a woman and comments, "you taste delicious"...a few scenes later an intimate moment with a different woman occurs while he is watching his own tv show about wine and food, and the descriptions sort of match up, if you know what i mean.

ok, i have to admit i only watched about half of the film. i was tired, and even goldie hawn's terrifically witty dialogue couldn't keep me engaged.

on a related but totally random side note, at work this week we had several morbidly obese patients, so it sparked conversation about what leads to that kind of weight gain, etc. one of the docs i work with told me the story of this woman he treated(? i think) who at the time was about 400 pounds. her husband kept wanting her to gain more and more weight. during sex he would feed her and rub her belly and talk to it.

insert your own commentary.

charleston, SC

2009-09-19T02:20:00.001-04:00

a few months ago we ventured to charleston, SC. here are some pictures and links to places we visited.....

Jestines Kitchen

they don't have an actual website. we had stayed at a bed and breakfast and the owner had recommended this restuarant to get some good southern cooking. we arrived and were seated immediately.

they started everyone off with a bowl of pickles.

we ordered some cornbread.

i had ordered the meatload, mashed potatoes, and macaroni. my meat had come out a little overcooked. our server noticed it and immediately brought another serving of meatloaf. now maybe my standards are skewed but i didn't think the first serving as all that over cooked. the portions were HUGE. far more than two people could (or should) consume in one seating.

eric had gotten the fried chicken, black eyes peas and red beans and rice.

http://www.roadfood.com/Reviews/Overview.aspx?RefID=346 http://www.yelp.com/biz/jestines-kitchen-charleston

dinner was followed up with dessert to go -- when you can't decide go with both -- chocolate cake and key lime pie.

although i didn't take any picutres one of the best meals we had was at Slightly North of Broad ( http://www.mavericksouthernkitchens.com/snob/index.html ). it was extrememly busy that weekend since the university of charleston had graduation and it was mother's day. for that matter the entire the entire city was pretty busy.

we stopped in beufort, SC when going between savannah, ga and charleson, sc. the had the "best burger in the world". i would have to disagree, but it wasn't that bad in a general. just not the "best".

wine!

2009-09-18T22:31:00.005-04:00

in the shadow of mt. rumpke spread the lands of the vinoklet winery. yearly they host a wine and art festival. beth and i hadn't been in awhile, and frankly don't remember much about our previous visit. so we decided to give it another go. well i can tell you its been about 5 years or more. maybe more. we stopped at steak and shake on the way home that time.

the picturesque entryway. you can't see it in the photo, but the man in shorts is actually a one-eyed pirate. i know i shouldn't mock, but he wouldn't move for the photo. he piped up when we walked pass, "you know you can eat the grapes", and popped a big juicy one into his mouth. his parrot was no where to be found. we just kept walking. no need to encourage more conversation.

me, with my tasting tray. the dress proved to be a bad clothing choice. not only is it completely unflattering in this photo, i also got a wicked sunburn.

beth. and that's ellen in the background.

the wines.

here are the opinions of three winos on the offerings of vinoklet, from left to right, top to bottom.

cincinnatus: "robust and hearty red" gets a big "boo!" from all three of us. the closest to heart that this gets is communion wine (get it? the blood of christ? haha. never mind. i'm so alone.)

sunset blush: three out of three of us loved it. nice summer wine, not too sweet, not too dry.

la dolce vita: i think they just served us grape juice. gets a non-committal "ehh". beth said she would get tired of drinking it. also that it's for someone who doesn't want to think they're drinking alcohol. also someone who has no taste buds.

tears of joy: this brought no joy. dry as the desert. this was not an "ehh" but a "bleckt" for ellen and i. beth actually really liked it, giving it a "strong approval" rating of 33%. hey, that's better than obama's doing. i'll refrain from comment and state that this blog does not endorse any political parties.....

dreamer: "sweet delicate blend". a perfect description. three out of three found it drinkable and enjoyable.

vino veritas: super sweet. the exact note that i wrote down for this wine (a consensus opinion) was "not a hot dog wine. an oatmeal cookie wine. maybe a fudge round".

after deliberation and a trip to the port-o-lets, we settled on sharing a bottle of the sunset blush. all of the wines are extremely sweet. i'm not a wine expert but i believe that is pretty typical of midwest wines. if you are looking for a nice dry red, this is not the place to go. if you prefer the sweeter variety then there are definitely a few options for you. we paired it with everyone's favorite wine complement - cheese, crackers and processed meat. mmm, mmm. love that cheese on a hot summer day.

the aftermath.

all in all a great afternoon of wine, friends, and live music. i found a fantastic print of a pug for my kitchen that looks just like crosley, only, you know, lime green. i wish we would have gotten a picture of the budweiser truck. hell, the winery's in colerain - what do you expect?

vinoklet offers dinner, special events, receptions, and a bed and breakfast. we plan on returning sometime soon to give the menu a try.

we expanded

2009-09-18T22:21:00.004-04:00

ok not really. ive been MIA for a while because my husband and i had a daughter on 8/11. in this case its really not going to increase posts.......

As someone pointed out earlier i didn't mention her name; claudia joy.

teak

2009-09-08T09:10:00.000-04:00

the 50th season of the playhouse in the park has begun, and of course we have season tickets again. the first show, sleuth, i cannot comment on because i am still digesting my thoughts about it. but i would like to comment on the couple we refer to as "the crabby people". for the last two seasons, this couple has sat stone-faced in the front row. they don't laugh, they rarely clap, and they never stand for the ovation except to leave. this would be fine, i suppose, if they weren't in two of the most conspicuous seats in the house. it must be a real downer for the actors to not be able to see much of the audience except these completely unresponsive visages. i just wonder why they come if they aren't engaged or enjoying the performance (assuming, of course, their crabbiness is indicative of displeasure).

anyway, dinner before the show. we tried to go to the rookwood, but we were curtly informed by the hostess they weren't taking walk-ins because they had a party of 100, blah, blah. so we went to teak. i've eaten at teak many times, and it's always ok, but for some reason it was exceptional saturday night. we were seated on the very charming patio.

i started off with the chicken coconut soup. the coconut broth was delectable and the chicken pieces were nice, big, and identifiable as breast. presentation was a plus because i loved the blue and white dishes, and my soup came with its own little lid.

next came the level 4 panang curry with beef and kaffir lime leaves. if this was level 4, i'm pretty sure level 10 would kill me - my nose was running and i drank at least 2 glasses of water. the dish itself was pretty delicious, although i ended up leaving most of the broccoli because the segments were too large to be bite size. in no way is this a complaint, but i had expected more of a lime flavor. i wish i had something more creative to say, but my curry experience is fairly limited so i can offer no additonal intelligent commentary other than i liked it. a lot.

my cocktail was the pom pom pear, a mix of pear sake and pomegranate. it looked pretty but was just ok, nothing special.

really the highlight of the meal was our waitress - a petit, militant, sassy, hilarious asian woman who told us she was a lawyer by day but we suspect she is actually a ninja.

saturday breakfast club

2009-09-06T17:00:00.000-04:00

this week the girls came over to run westside style. this does not mean our morning run consisted of fleeing the police and/or an assailant. it means lots of hills, including the slow, painful negotiation of harrison avenue. we were bolstered by the cool weather and the promise of breakfast, including fresh fruit, bacon from eckerlin, and bacon and tomato biscuits (can never have too much bacon!).

bacon and tomato biscuits

1 tomato, seeded and chopped

8 strips of bacon

1/2 onion chopped

1/2 cup mayo

dried basil

3 oz swiss cheese

instant buttermilk biscuits- the regular size, not big fat grands

these are a really easy breakfast treat. preheat oven to 375. slice the bacon and fry it up to desired level of crispness. (i usually find pre-slicing is easier than crumbling later, but obviously it can be done either way) mix all ingredients save biscuits in a bowl. spray a mini-muffin tin and fill each well with half an instant biscuit. scoop some bacon 'n' tomato mixture on top of each. bake for 10-12 minutes and be prepared to eat 5 of them yourself.

totally brill

2009-09-06T08:38:00.003-04:00

ladies and gentlemen, i would like to offer a salute to the target corporation for bringing us what every wine enthusiast needs: the adult juice box.
i've only sampled the above white sangria and it definitely wasn't too shabby. if only they came with a straw...

johnny rockets

2009-08-25T20:45:00.001-04:00

ok, so, i've never really cared for johnny rockets. kind of lackluster and overpriced. but i was meeting some friends at newport for a movie, so we decided to give it a try.

they immediately pissed me off because i tried to order a kid's coke and the server said no. now, i know i am over the age of 10, but i seriously don't drink more than about 4 sips of coke. i am willing to pay a dollar something for those few sips, but not $2.59. and my girlfriends all drink diet, which i think is totally foul, so i can't snake a couple gulps from them. hence, i order a kid's coke. most places oblige. our server helpfully offered to put more ice in the $2.59 coke. i told her i'd have water.

she redeemed herself, though, cause she brought me a kid's coke anyway. plus, she bought us paper hats and her ketchup happy face was superb.

i ordered the route 66, a patty with swiss cheese, grilled mushrooms, and grilled onions. it was actually pretty good. the beef was a bit dry, but the overall effect of the sandwich was satisfying. i can almost imagine being in a convertible cadillac cruising along with the wind in my hair. not really, but the burger rates a 4/6. plus, the classic chrome plated atmosphere is kind of fun.

saturday morning breakfast club

2009-08-24T20:14:00.005-04:00

so my girlfriends and i have decided to make calorie cancelation a weekly routine: run 3 miles and then enjoy a delicious breakfast guilt-free.
my contribution this week was jam muffins. the jam was homemade wild blackberry, courtesy of my friend elisa. it looks like caviar in the photo.

jam muffins
2 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup melted butter
8oz. plain or vanilla yogurt
1/4 cup milk
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
jam or jelly of your choice

whisk the yogurt and milk together. combine all the ingredients, including the milk and yogurt mixture. grease muffin tin and fill each well halfway with batter. top with jam/jelly and more muffin batter. bake at 425 for 15-20 minutes.

elisa brought the most amazing sausage from eckerlin meats at findlay market. seriously the best breakfast sausage i've ever had. heavy on the mustard seed and pepper, the texture was uniform and crumble free. so, so good.

cinema in the city

2009-08-23T08:21:00.004-04:00

in case no one has picked up on this, i am quite obsessed with classic movies. therefore, i was ecstatic to be able to attend the final installment of mt. adams cinema in the city at the seasongood pavilion this past friday. one of my all time favorites, the philadelphia story, was being shown. this is NOT to be confused with philadelphia, that tom hanks AIDS movie. the philadelphia story stars katharine hepburn, cary grant, and jimmy stewart. it was released in 1940, when hollywood made movies that relied on dialogue and character development rather than special effects (transformers: revenge of the fallen, i'm talking to you). it's clever and wonderful.

but i digress. cinema in the city was honestly one of my favorite nights out in quite a while. even the weather cooperated. coolers are welcome, which we didn't realize until we got there. there were theater candies, popcorn, and delicious offerings from the rookwood for sale. the rookwood has replaced porkopolis in the old rookwood pottery space, thank god. they had burgers, kroeger and sons metts and brats, fresh lemonade with mint, and jeni's ice cream.

i had to try the burger. i ordered it loaded with everything (except grilled peppers) - white cheddar, mushrooms, grilled onions, and bacon. though a little small on patty size (maybe it was smaller for the venue?), it was packed with juicy flavor. i don't remember being particularly wowed by the bun, which is strange because the rookwood emphasizes their artisan breads. no matter. overall a quality burger experience (5/6).

dessert was jeni's bourbon butter pecan. i don't really care for bourbon, but if it tasted like this, i would drink it all the time. i decided to get it because the guy at the rookwood booth said it was the best. the ice cream was divine - smooth, creamy, bourbony. maybe could have used a few more pecans, but that's just me nitpicking. completely refreshing on a summer night.elisa and randy enjoyed the glow necklaces provided free by cincinnati bell. yeah, i enjoyed the glow necklaces, too.we all thoroughly enjoyed seeing a classic on the big screen.

jewish coffee cake

2009-08-18T14:28:00.000-04:00

a couple girlfriends and i got together to run saturday morning and share breakfast. we each contributed a dish. i piped in with "i'll make jewish coffee cake!", which was met with "what the hell is that?".
in my family, we call a lot of specific foods "jewish", for no apparent reason. for example, salted rye=jewish rye. when i asked my mom what made the below coffee cake jewish, her response was she had no idea. but it's a family favorite, so here's the recipe.

cake
1/4 lb. butter
1 c. granulated sugar
2 eggs, unbeaten
1 c. sour cream
2 c. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla

topping
1/4 c. granulated sugar
1 tbsp. brown sugar
1 tbsp. cinnamon
1 c. chopped walnuts

cream butter and sugar. add unbeaten eggs, one at a time. add flour, soda and baking powder mixture alternately with sour cream. add vanilla last. put half of batter in a well-greased tubular pan. cover with half of topping. put remaining batter on top and the balance of topping. bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes.

enjoy with friends who smell as bad as you do after running.
if you want to be more politically correct, you can call it sour cream coffee cake.

emanu

2009-08-16T13:43:00.004-04:00

until last weekend, i had never had ethiopian food. at my friend elisa's suggestion, a bunch of us enjoyed a leisurely saturday lunch in the relaxing, zen-like atmosphere of emanu.
since we were all ethiopian cuisine virgins, we asked for just a selection of the server's (owner?) favorites. she was very accomodating and prehaps found us fairly amusing. of course, we were the only people in the restaurant, so she was probably hard up for entertainment.
to start, we shared the beef sambussa(s?) my sister found it impossible to wait for me to take a picture before reaching for one. absolutely delightful - suprisingly ungreasy and not overly fried.

below is not a presentation of refreshing hot towels. it's a plate of injera, the spongy flat bread made from teff flour east africans use as both bread and utensil (more info here). it also lines the serving bowl, soaking up juices as the meal progresses. it has a slightly sour taste, which was nice, but i don't think i cared much for the texture. it reminded me of the spongy lining in my kitchen drawers. as you can see, we had a wide variety of tidbits to try. in the center was a hard-boiled egg.

my favorite was probably the beef, which i think was zignie. i was kind of a bad blogger and didn't take proper notes.

everything was very delicious, with an unusual (to my palate) combination of flavors. even though i don't think i ate a lot, i was full quickly. we thought we were finished until the owner came by and scolded us for not eating more. we continued to plug away. apparently the meal is not considered finished until the injera "tablecloth" lining the bowl is also consumed.

all in all a very pleasurable eating experience.

boo julie & julia!

2009-08-15T16:40:00.003-04:00

ok, i haven't been very up on my blog reading, so if this has already covered ad nauseam in the cincinnati food blog world, i apologize. but i just returned from julie & julia, and wow, am i suffering from major movie letdown. how can i have not liked this movie? it's about food and a food blogger. and julia child. and it stars amy adams AND meryl streep?! what's not to love? well, i will tell you.

it was boring. went on and on for ever. despite this seeming eternity, i did not feel i got to know the characters at all and they were not engaging. i didn't care what happened to them. the food didn't make me hungry. meryl streep was obviously standing on some kind of raised platform in several scenes.

i do have to say though, meryl streep was a pretty good julia child; she was fun to watch. but it just wasn't enough to hold my attention for a whole movie.

it felt like the movie tried to do so many things it didn't succeed at anything.

maybe i'm being too harsh? did i build up too high of expectations?

molly malone's

2009-08-06T17:23:00.005-04:00

despite wine me, dine me's lukewarm review of molly malone's in pleasant ridge, i had to give it a try for myself. my friend kevin and i stopped there on our way home from kenwood sunday (yes, when you live on the westside, pleasant ridge can be on the way home from kenwood). there were maybe 5 people in the whole restaurant.

the atmosphere of the long-lost dubliner lingers, but i found the food to be...well, just ok. first we had the irish egg rolls. sounded wonderful conceptually: sauerkraut, corned beef, irish cheese (whatever that means). the execution was lacking, however. completely bland. even for cabbage and corned beef.

for lunch i had the bookmaker steak sandwich. it was impressive looking, overflowing with beef and cheese. while the bread was satisfactory, again i found the beef and cheese to have little flavor, despite the red onions. seriously in need of some seasoning. the accompanying "tart and creamy" horseradish sauce needed way less creamy and way more tart. load up the horseradish, people! something needs to add flavor.

i think my biggest problem was the food just seemed so non-committal. great ideas, but deficient in the aplomb necessary for a successful dish.

i will continue to mourn the loss of the dubliner, their marvelous boxty, and superior sunday brunch.

kentucky butter cake

2009-07-25T09:35:00.009-04:00

much like paula deen, i love butter. unlike paula deen, however, i am not from the south and have no old family recipes that keep cardiologists in business. so i have to turn elsewhere.

my mom started making kentucky butter cake years ago, and i have rediscovered the recipe recently. it's so easy and universally appealing, i have made it for four different events already this year. it can be served with whipped cream and fruit, but really it's quite stellar all on its own.

so, here it is, courtesy of nell lewis of platte city, missouri, winner of the 1963 pillsbury bake-off: kentucky butter cake.

cake

3 cups all-purpose flour (i use king arthur organic)

2 cups sugar (domino!)
1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 cup buttermilk (you can substitute milk and 1 tablespoon vinegar or lemon juice, but i always buy the buttermilk)

1 cup butter, softened (unsalted, of course)

2 tsp vanilla or rum extract (i use vanilla)

4 eggs (i've noticed since i started using cage-free organic "expensive" eggs, they have a much more vibrant color than regular)

butter sauce

3/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup butter

3 tablespoons water

1-2 tsp vanilla or rum extract (again, i use vanilla. and the 2 tsp)

heat oven to 325. generously grease and lightly flour 12-cup bundt pan or 10-inch tube pan (and fingers). in large bowl, combine all cake ingredients; blend at low speed until moistened (inevitably, flour goes flying out of my kitchen-aid). beat 3 minutes at medium speed (the batter starts to get kind of light). pour batter into greased and floured pan.

bake at 325 for 55-70 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes clean.

while cake bakes, lick batter off paddle and bowl. does a lady ever reach a certain age when she should no longer lick the bowl? i submit, she does not.

in a small saucepan, combine all sauce ingredients; cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until butter melts. do not boil. using long-tined fork (i use the grill utensil), pierce cake 10 to 12 times. (ok, since this is literally the most delectable part of the cake to eat, i pierce it many, many times to ensure maximum penetration) slowly pour hot sauce over warm cake. let stand 5-10 minutes or until sauce is absorbed. invert cake onto serving plate. just before serving, sprinkle with powdered sugar (meh, i never do that)

maybe this is on its way to becoming an old family recipe.

the other cincinnati ice cream

2009-07-12T09:27:00.005-04:00

it seems like cincinnati food bloggers spend a lot of type debating graeter's vs. aglamesis. hardly mentioned is that other cincinnati ice cream, udf.

started in norwood, ohio in 1940 by the eminent carl, sr. (you know who i mean), udfs can be found on street corners throughout the city. when i was a kid, i thought it would be awesome to work at udf because i loved ice cream and i thought gas smelled good.

i can's say much about aglamesis, but yes, homemade brand ice cream is less rich and creamy than graeter's. graeter's is a long, languid summer and homemade is a crisp, autumn friday afternoon. it doesn't have enormous candy bar sized chips. instead, it is peppered with splinters of chocolate that dissolve in the mouth and fill every bite with chocolately goodness. graeter's is for sundays and special occasions. homemade is for everyday after dinner.

plus, udf makes one of my all-time favorite ice cream flavors: cherry cordial. it's sweet, it's pink. ben and jerry's cherry garcia is no where near as enjoyable. i think it is because i grew up on homemade brand cherry cordial and a wealth of memories come along with it. birthdays when i got to pick the ice cream. my sister and i with kool-aid stained mouths, catching lightening bugs in my grandparents' backyard. watching star trek with my dad. homemade brand was there for it all.

yeah, this is what i had for breakfast today. i'm an adult. i can do what i want.

late breaking news

2009-07-10T08:11:00.002-04:00

this was in my pharmacy newsletter this morning:

Caloric restriction may prevent disease, increase life span, researchers say.In a front-page story, the New York Times (7/10, A1, Wade) reports that, according to research published in the journal Science, "people could...fend off the usual diseases of old age and considerably extend their life span by following a special diet." The approach, "known as caloric restriction," contains "all the normal healthy ingredients, but" with "30 percent fewer calories than usual." Past research has shown that "mice kept on such a diet from birth" may "live up to 40 percent longer than comparison mice fed normally." To investigate whether the same would "be true in people," researchers began "two studies of rhesus monkeys" over "20 years ago."

The Wall Street Journal (7/10, Winstein) reports that findings from one of those studies "appear to validate" the "technique...as a way to live longer," providing "new impetus to researchers and companies" that "are searching for a drug to mimic the beneficial effects of a meager diet in humans without the feeling of near-starvation." The study "began in 1989 with 30 rhesus monkeys and added 46 more in 1994." Researchers restricted "half the monkeys' diets, reducing their calories by 30 percent, when the monkeys were fully grown, or about 10 years old."

The Los Angeles Times (7/10, Kaplan) reports, "Over the course of the study, the monkeys that ate the regular diet were three times more likely to die of an age-related disease than their counterparts on caloric restriction." These results were "welcomed by scientists who study the biological mechanisms of aging and longevity." Susan Robergs, of the Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, noted that "it adds to the evidence piling up that caloric restriction...is a healthy way to stay alive and healthy longer."

But, Dr. David Finkelstein, of the National Institute on Aging, noted that "what we would really like is not so much that people should live longer, but that people should live healthier," the AP (7/10) reports.

maury's tiny cove

2009-07-04T13:46:00.008-04:00

maury's tiny cove was once voted by citybeat to be the restaurant you'd be most likely to find a member of the rat pack. it's easy to picture frank, late night, lounging in a vinyl booth under the low, red ceiling, a martini and a steak on the table.

maury's recently has come under new management, but all the things i've loved about it haven't changed. crackers and butter are still brought to every table, along with a bowl of generously sliced dill pickles. the cow with a martini is still out front, welcoming patrons to relax in the dark, wood paneled ambiance within.

we started out the meal with some cheesesticks. they were pretty typical.all the entrees are named after cincinnati teams - the bobcat, the bengal, the bearcat. i had the filet mignon and shrimp, with a side of garlic mushrooms. the steak was pretty decent, juicy and mellow, although their definition of medium is a bit more pink than mine. the shrimp were ok, nothing special.if i remember correctly, brian ordered the cavalier, the 12oz new york strip. his was also very pink.the desserts are homemade, and mine, a chocolate pie with candied orange peel, was a combination i totally would not expect from a westside establishment. it was delicious.brian had the basic chocolate cake.i'm glad this old westside favorite has survived through the years, and i'm looking forward to giving their happy hour a test run.

pizza worthy of the gods

2009-06-29T09:00:00.000-04:00

after reading veggie option's mouth-watering review of newport pizza co, i had to give it a go. (since i started this post before i went on vacation, wine me, dine me and the food hussy have also reviewed it) several of my high school girlfriends have migrated to kentucky, so newport and covington tend to be regular dinner destinations. i don't want to commit to driving all the way down to florence (not to mention my distrust of urban sprawl), and the girls now like to stick to their own side of the river.

the place is pretty tiny and there was one lone server running around doing everything. she did call me "ma'am", but she was very sweet, so i let it slide. a sheryl crow concert was on the flatscreen, which was fine, but there was a malignant droning underneath that once noticed was impossible to ignore. when i asked the server what it was, she said it was "something in the kitchen". hmm.

but the important part of the evening - the food. jessie and i split the zeus. it was so simple (tomatoes, feta and asiago, basil, garlic) and so good. i loved the crust; just the right thickness and crispness. i am also a sucker for any mythological reference. this goes back to my first dog.

zeus, our newfoundland of 15 years. appropriately named in terms of grandeur, although being neutered, not much of a womanizer like his nameseake.

the zeus, extremely tasty pizza pie. appropriate level of grandeur. no comment on the womanizing.

stephanie had the bbq chicken. looked really good, and she seemed to enjoy it.

i think newport pizza co could become a regular stop on the south side of the river.

ode to hudepohl

2009-06-29T08:17:00.003-04:00

i have been catching up on my reading, and i saw this post from westender. while the post focuses on olympia and burger beers, at the end is a photo including hudy delight with the caption "just walk away". i must protest. while hudy delight does approximate the runoff from the bengals' locker room, generations of cincinnatians have chosen to include hudy in their gatherings, much like decrepit uncle milt.

to prove my point, here is a picture of my grandparents sometime in the 1950s.

notice anything?that's right, my grandparents are happily drunk out of their minds on hudepohl. what a great testament to the drinkability of hudy and the frivolity that ensues.

one week in greece: a pictorial

2009-06-23T20:45:00.008-04:00

brian and i had an absolutely beautiful time in greece last week. below are some of the tidbits we tried.

first actual, for real greek gyro in athens. note the french fries on the sandwich. also made with beef off a stick, not shaved veal/lamb.

greek salad in delphi

moussaka

on santorini, the best tzatziki ever. ever. (at naoussa restaurant)

eggplant dip with pita

tomato keftedhes. meh.

saganaki

kataifi. favorite greek dessert.

breakfast at our hotel. not real orange juice - more like tang.

wine tasting at canava roussos wines, the oldest winery on santorini.

sunset and sweets. the pistachio ball had some kind of delicious marzipan-like filling.

far from the madding crowd

2009-06-13T10:00:00.001-04:00

sunday morning. brian and i drive aimlessly, looking for a breakfast apart from the church-goer mobbed bob evans. we happen upon the round table in cleves and enter. the marquee over the door promises apple pie and breakfast anytime. there are three lone men sitting at three individual tables. one is wearing a shirt reading "fbi: female body inspector". while clean, it is obvious close to a million cigarettes have been smoked at the tables over the years it took the varnish to build up and drip down the wood-paneled walls.

a congenial waitress with way too much eyeshadow for a sunday morning takes our order. brian's omelet and fat freddy burger are delivered to the table. he pronounces satisfaction. the fat freddy is reminiscent of a big boy, the omelet large. to me, the eggs look a bit dry. my mushroom swiss burger (a 3.5/6 on the burger scale) has rubbery mushrooms, but the fatty gravy and melted gooey cheese do a good job of disguising them.

alas, there is no apple pie as promised, but i do dig into some amazing 5-layer chocolate cake. the slice has roughly the same dimensions as my head. it is moist and superb. the cake is not made on site, but purchased from jetro (which sounds like something astro would say).

we had all this for a total of $21.24. would we go back? half of us would (not me, in case you couldn't guess).

sorry, no pictures. brian took some on his phone, but somehow we can't get them transferred to the computer.

guest post: josh riffs on larosa's

2009-06-12T16:47:00.003-04:00

by means of introduction: i've pseudo-known josh for a long time. we go way back. back to grade school, in fact, like most westsiders. there exists a video starring us and other similarly rhythm-impaired pre-adolescents rapping about cincinnati; fortunately it is locked inside the bicentennial time capsule. needless to say, i have to stay on his good side in case a copy resurfaces, so i invited him to blog on one of our favorite topics - larosa's. his thoughts follow.

There’s a stereotype of Cincinnatians in general (and westsiders in particular) that we are born here, raised here, get married here and die here. I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m one of those stereotypical Cincinnatians. I grew up in Bridgetown on the west side and now I live in Delhi. For a brief time during college (at UC), I worked at my dream job in Houston. But, I decided I didn’t like it there, came back and changed my major. Soon after, I remember seeing a LaRosa’s billboard on I-74 declaring, “It’s good here.” And that’s how I felt. I liked the people here, the values, and the local food.

We used to pick up Skyline for dinner after every vacation. My grandma used to live across from the original LaRosa’s on Boudinot. We’d go over there many Sundays to visit and she’d take us across the street to the Pizzeria or if we were lucky, maybe to the Wine Cellar! I loved it. The pizza was always hot and delicious; with the sauce has that distinctive sweet taste you can only get there. I spent many a late night at that same Boudinot LaRosa’s after football games or a movie.

But lately, LaRosa’s has just not been very good. There was a recent post on Slice. The author, Daniel Zemans (who is from Chicago), had some very disparaging things to say about LaRosa’s. At first, I was a little offended. Who was this guy to be knocking our city’s pizza?! Then, I realized that for the most part I had to agree with him. It’s just not very good anymore.

It’s really hard to put a finger on what changed. For the past several years, whenever I’ve had LaRosa’s, it seems that if I’m LUCKY, the food is “just ok.” But, mostly it’s just not tasty. Everything seems mass-produced. The pizza just seems to sit like a brick in your stomach. Half the time, the cheese has slid off the pizza or the crust isn’t quite cooked all the way. With all the nostalgia and loyalty I had, it’s hard to admit that it’s just not good anymore. AND, the price has gone up significantly. They haven’t really introduced many new items, and when they have, they’ve mostly been mediocre at best (Montgomery Inn pizza? Little It’ly pizza?).

I dunno…maybe it’s me. My kids still seem to like it. But, to me, when the quality goes up and the price goes down, I’m going to head somewhere else for my pizza fix. For us, lately that’s been Trotta’s or Noce’s. And, that’s hard to stomach (pun intended) for a born and bred westsider like myself.

post graduation celebration: morton's

2009-06-11T09:20:00.005-04:00

you may not realize this, but there are not a lot of restaurants open late-night (after 10pm) downtown on a tuesday. since i wasn't really feeling up to bootsy's after sweating in a polyester graduation gown for 4 hours, the fam and i headed up to morton's for their $5 bar bites.

i didn't get photos of everything; there were a lot of little plates floating around the table. but here are some highlights.

bleu cheese fries. the fries were just fine by themselves, but the bleu cheese takes the decadence up a notch. well-played.

bleu cheese and bacon can murder any healthy aspect of a salad. this twist on a classic wedge salad was cool and satisfying. the lettuce was very crisp and fresh. the crunch contrasted nicely with the gooey bleu cheese. i kind of wanted to lick the plate.

mini-food never gets old. so cute, so tiny. it's like you've eaten nothing at all, especially not a cheeseburger. i actually liked these more than the petit filet mignon sandwiches, which i felt had too high of a bun to meat ratio. the depressing part of the whole evening was that even though brian's and my food was a mere $15, our bill was over $50. the culprit? you guessed it. $13.50 champagne cocktails (fabulous, by the way) and a $5.50 miller lite. alcohol will get you every time.

debbie meyer green bags

2009-06-10T18:09:00.002-04:00

there has been some grumbling that i'm a little too silent. a few weeks ago a friend of mine bought a box of the debbie meyer green bags. they look similar to the bags in the produce department, a little thicker and well green. designed to "prolong the life of your fruits and vegetables. now i admit i'm curious, but i'm also cheap. so when i see 20 bags for $10 i figure its not really worth it. however, when someone else buys them and gives you one its a much better scenario. we decided to try them with bananas. it appears that the moisture is trapped in the bag, but i don't really know whats happening. they were ripe (just right) all week.

ok the website explains the background;

THE STORY BEHIND THE BAGS; Scientists involved in Antarctic exploration were searching for ways to prolong the freshness of produce. During their research, they found a region in Japan where for thousands of years farmers have been storing produce in mountain caves with amazing results. The caves were dark, consistently cool, and dry. But it was discovered that the key to the remarkable preserving properties of the caves was a clay called "oya," and the cave mountain was made of it. The oya absorbed the ethylene gas that produce gives off as it matures. Green Bags combine ancient knowledge thousands of years old with space age technology for preserving produce.

we have re-used it several times.....the site states that they can be used up to 10 times. i imagine we'll continue to use it until it stops working. we have only tried it with bananas. i don't know that if it stops working we will go out and spend $10 on them but if you see them real cheap or split the purchase with someone it could be something useful to have around the house.

a night out downtown

2009-06-09T11:50:00.007-04:00

very unfortunately we are losing our good friends jenn and mark to the great state of wisconsin (really, guys? what's there besides cheese and the packers? oh, ok, i guess mark's family, but whatever). what an excellent excuse for a dinner downtown with no-holds-barred drinking. the location? nada.

caipirinhas and mojitos all around

the caipirinhas are fabulous. ok, i don't have any basis for comparison, but i like them an awful lot, especially the passion fruit. and i just feel hip drinking them in such a swanky, happenin' place like nada.

my spanish lesson for the evening was that "dos equis" means "2 x's", not "2 horses". i began to wonder what the 2 x's are for. porn rating? did the original brewer have 2 ex-wives? no. the beer was originally named siglo xx, to celebrate the dawning of the 20th century. the name was changed after the turn of the century.

slider topped with tiny mexican flag

tacos

fantastically delicious sopes

tinga poblana

all the food was incredible, especially the short rib sopes. the meat was so tender and flavorful. no stringiness! nada is a satisfying experience every time i visit. their desserts are also quite wonderful. brian and i shared the chocolate cake topped with bananas foster gelato (mmm...) and jenn and mark had the churros.

warm chocolate cake

looks like bacon, but, nope, those are churros

as we meandered around fountain square after dinner, our nostrils caught the ripe and rich scent of horse manure.i have lived in cincinnati my whole life and never taken a carriage ride through downtown. and you know what? it's fun. our driver, fred, was sporting wrangler jeans and was a wealth of information about the buildings in downtown. his carriage softy played a soundtrack of louis armstrong and we cruised through the city pulled by oreo, the aptly named horse (if i'm not mistaken, that's caballo in spanish. look how much i've learned!).

oreo and jenn make up, shortly after he blew snot all over her arm

just call me doctor

2009-06-09T11:29:00.002-04:00

i have to brag a little bit today. tonight i will be graduating from pharmacy school and will officially have earned the title of doctor, pharmd to be precise. i can't believe how quickly the time has gone by.

i also have to announce that starting july 1, i will be living in chillicothe during the week and only coming home on the weekends. i have accepted a residency position in the area. so, that means for the next year, i will be taking in all the local delights of chillicothe (i wonder how many times i can see tecumseh??). if you care to follow my adventures, or lack thereof, they can be found at One Year in Chillicothe.

of course, i will continue to write about my favorite subject of food. i will also strongly encourage my silent partner (ahem) to write more frequently.

why study when there's indian buffet to be had?

2009-06-04T14:41:00.006-04:00

it was a dark and relatively stormy afternoon. four pharmacy students hunch over a table, studying furiously for their last final before graduation. a low rumbling begins, and blood sugars are plummeting. strange things erupt from mouths, impossible mnemonics that are completely illogical.

jenn, heather, and matt; studying furiously

the first attempt to ward off hunger is a visit to the vending machine. peanut m&m's. matt tweets "i just had a dark chocolate peanut m&m-gasm". apparently blood sugars are back up, but focus is not what it should be. discussion of neurosyphilis and ibsen's ghosts ensues. clearly time to break for lunch.

what would be a better treat than indian buffet at amol india?

the legend behind amol and ambar's proximity and similarity is that two brothers feuded and the result was the competing restaurants.

don't park here unless you are going to amol or habanero. NO PARKING for ambar.

hungry pharmacy students enter via the back door. there is a vague odor of something unpleasant (urine?), but it quickly passes.

steaming indian buffet awaits

matt heaps spoonfuls of indian delights on plate #1

i load up my plate with round one. onion nan! today is a fabulous buffet day.

my plate

the problem with indian buffet becomes quickly apparent: no individualized spice levels. everything is prepared level 1. after sampling a number of dishes, chicken vindaloo emerges as the winner, despite mysteriously shaped chicken pieces. the vindaloo has a little more flavorful spice to it than the others. the saag paneer, usually a great favorite (um, ok, one of the greatest foods ever), is a disappointment when compared to ambar's offering next door.

on to dessert. some of everything, of course. the yellow is a custard with nuts, kind of a vanilla pudding without the sweetness. in the white is kheer. think tapioca with a light, refreshing taste (possibly cardamom?). the fried spirals of dough coated in crispy sugar are delicious javeli. (i am not sure where this name comes from; when i google it, a weapon used for hunting in portugal comes up most frequently.)

a trio of desserts

$30 (including tip) for three grossly full stomachs is not unreasonable. overall, the students are satisfied with their meal. perhaps a nap is in order rather than more studying. only time will tell.

three well-fed and happy students, eager to get back to not studying

cactus pear

2009-06-04T07:00:00.003-04:00

all the food at cactus pear is fabulous. i have never had a bad meal there. their mojitos and margaritas are equally outstanding. the atmosphere is friendly and the service (usually) stellar. it is another pharmacy student favorite, along with mecklenburg gardens.

but my point today is to rave about their salsa. it is the most unique chip accompaniment i have found. first, it's black. second, it's cilantro free (as far as i can tell). it has a roasted tomato taste and i suspect a recipe that includes crack. the nomerati mentioned recently it did not have enough of a kick, but i think the flavor is complex regardless. plus, less spicy equals more consumable to my bland midwestern palate. smoothly textured, the salsa can be amply heaped on a chip. my only complaint is they now charge $1 for this savory perfection.

mmm...makes mouths happy

so, go today for margaritas and chips and salsa. your tastebuds will dance and sing.

welcome back, ciabatta

2009-06-02T12:00:00.000-04:00

larosa's has re-introduced their ciabatta sandwiches for a limited time.

i was quite a fan of the turkey ciabatta, which was not resurrected. instead i settled for the deli ciabatta with capacolla ham, salami, pepperoni, provolone cheese and "ciabatta spread". previously, i remembered the spread on the ciabatta as a pasty, sun-dried tomato. all i could taste on this one was italian dressing. i have also never had provolone cheese in little oily cubes before; it was really more like feta. overall, the sandwich was fine, although not what i remembered and slightly overpowered with italian dressing.

is the ciabatta worth keeping around? the bread is unique, but the sandwich stuffing was suspiciously similar to a royal hoagy. i was excited about the reappearance initially, but now i would just be happy to get the ciabatta bread with my salad. i don't think the sandwiches add anything to the larosa's menu.

interesting taste sensation

2009-06-01T21:00:00.000-04:00

today, i discovered something fairly disconcerting. i was eating at a bar and grill type place and found pinot grigio tastes really good with dill pickles.

a night out in newport

2009-05-31T21:30:00.001-04:00

awhile back, veggie option offered to satiate my curisosity and take me to the crazy fox for some absinthe. last week we were finally able to meet up.

we had dinner at the pepper pod, a classic greasy spoon on monmouth in newport.

unfortunately, the table juke boxes no longer work. we figured, based on the selections, they stopped working sometime in the 80s.

salisbury steak slathered with gravy, mac and cheese, fries - all for $5.50! it was pretty much what one would expect. note the shine on the gravy.on to the crazy fox. it was a pretty low key crowd, but it was a wedensday. veggie said on weekends it can get pretty packed, especially if there's a band.

the crazy fox has a sense of humor about itself

we had a blanche and a verte absinthe, i cannot remember the names. i believe, from what i've read, that it was prepared in the classic french absinthe ritual. basically, a flat, perforated absinthe spoon is laid across the rim of the glass, and a cube of sugar is placed on the perforated area of the spoon. the sugar is used to balance the bitter taste of the wormwood. ice cold water is dripped into the absinthe from a small pitcher. this very slow and gradual addition of the water forms the heart of the absinthe ritual, and is done with or without the sugar.

it is desirable for absinthe to gradually demonstrate increasing turbidity or turn partially translucent as ice water is gradually added to it, known as the louche effect. the louche effect is primarily produced by the herbs anise and fennel, and the precipitation of the herbal essential oils. (reference here)

the louche effect in all its glory

my first glass of absinthe

i have to say, the absinthe smelled much better than it tasted. it smelled subtly of anise, but the actual flavor was much more pronounced. it also became significantly more potent as it warmed to room temperature while veggie and i gabbed about everything from fresh popcorn to traveling abroad. i liked the licorice flavor; it was like jagermeister with the frat boy removed (beth's paraphrasing of my description). definitely more refined and complex than jager, it is still not really something i ever see myself drinking a lot of. i barely had a third of the glass and was beginning to feel warm and tingly. oscar wilde is quoted as saying of absinthe, "after the first glass, you see things as you wish they were. after the second, you see things as they are not. finally, you see things as they really are, which is the most horrible thing in the world.” regrettably, i don't even think i could drink enough to see things as i wish they were.

i did have a fab time hanging out with veggie option, even if absinthe didn't make my list of favorite liquors. maybe next time i'll try it in a cocktail, like the chrysanthemum.

cloudy with a chance of meatballs

2009-05-31T17:53:00.004-04:00

did anyone else love this book when they were a kid? such a creative story, and what a fantasy. can you imagine all the food you ate everyday just falling from the sky at the appropriate time?it was absolutely one of my favorites, especially the part where things start to go haywire and it does nothing but rain cream cheese and jelly sandwiches all day (another childhood favorite - cream cheese, strawberry jelly, and bananas on pumpernickel). well, they have made it into a movie, and people, it's 3-D! i saw my first preview for it today, before up (a great 3-4 kleenex pixar endeavor). it looks like they changed the plot a bit, save the food falling from the sky. we'll see. it opens fall this year.

first watch: a brief review

2009-05-28T07:15:00.004-04:00

this is pretty much the most boring review ever. first watch - it's good. it's consistent. they bring a huge pot of coffee to the table so there is no wait for refills. why not personally a caffeine addict, i can appreciate that convenience because i am a water drinker and they also bring a pitcher of water.

i always order either the key west crepe or the chicken salad melt. they are reliable. the sourdough toast and breakfast potatoes are good.

i don't feel the need to describe anything there in glowing terms laced with stunning adjectives. the food doesn't deserve it. "good" is the most appropriate descriptor. and unlike some other restaurants mentioned previously (ahem. montgomery inn.), the crowds around first watch on sunday morning (and every other day of the week) are completely justified.

sorry so unimaginative. i don't even have pictures to jazz it up.

the boathouse

2009-05-26T08:34:00.000-04:00

i literally have no idea why the montgomery inn at the boathouse is so popular. we were there friday before our final playhouse performance of the season, and it was a veritable who's who in cincinnati - oscar robertson, the hamilton county coroner (don't ask, brian recognized him), the real housewives of indian hill, and us.

everytime i go to the boathouse i expect to have a gastronomical epiphany, and i will suddenly understand the spellbinding capabilities of the montgomery inn barbeque sauce. but alas, this most recent excursion did not lead to enlightenment.

we arrived promptly for our 6pm reservations, but unfortunately jenny and john had babysitter issues and were running late. at the boathouse, no one is seated until the entire party arrives. this left brian and i hanging out at the bar, people watching. the boathouse does provide an excellent opportunity for sociological study while sipping a $3 happy hour martini (the lemon one. not very good. reminiscent of pledge.).

we were finally settled at an awesome table right by the window, which john commented would be a great view if it wasn't the ohio river we were seeing. our server was really wonderful and very personable. the crostini appetizer arrived promptly at our table.this was actually my favorite part of the meal. the bread was crisp, the bleu cheese a nice blend with the other cheeses. a nice, light start to the meal.

i decided to jump in and order the smokehouse trio of sandwiches. while not montgomery inn's famous ribs, the tiny sandwiches could give me an idea of the inn's flavors without requiring a bib. mac and cheese on the side, of course.i ate the pulled pork. it was ok. the sauce was a little sweet, but what i expected. the brisket i ate half of; it just wasn't as tender as i would like and if it had any smokey flavor, it was totally obscured by the sauce.finally, the chicken. i only had one bite of it and that was enough. while the sauce on the pork was tolerable, on the chicken it was unbearably sweet. that sandwich was quicly transferred to brian's plate, as was the rest of the mac and cheese. the mac and cheese was just ok and i couldn't see any reason to continue eating it.

brian thought he had died and gone to heaven when he saw this dessert on the menu. he was still talking about it the next day.the strawberry shortcake was decent. the shortcake was a little hard, but the strawberries were fresh.

overall, i felt the same as i always have after a meal at montgomery inn, the champions of mediocrity. so, can anyone please explain to me the attraction of the boathouse? i feel like i'm missing something.

tastes like chicken

2009-05-22T15:00:00.007-04:00

i am a picky chicken eater. i hardly ever order it out because it is usually 1) dry or 2) full of those little chicken tendrils that are sinew-y and nasty.
but, the silver spring house proclaims to be the chicken joint. it says so right on the sign. and they have been declared "best chicken" by cincinnati magazine. it says so right on the menu. so i decided to give the tender, amish-raised, marinated in citrus juices and spices, grilled to perfection chicken a go. but a chicken dinner with a breast, wing, leg, and thigh is a bit too much chicken for this girl. luckily, there is an ample selection of chicken sandwiches to choose from.

i went with the baja chicken sandwich, which was the famous chicken breast topped with salsa and monterey jack cheese. it was fantastic - juicy, with a lack desecration by sinew. literally cooked to perfection. now that's truth in advertising. the sweet potato fries were also delicious. not too sweet. even the pickles were good. brian got the actual chicken dinner, with a salad (!) and fries. he ate every last bit. of the chicken, at least.mark's heart shaped buffalo chicken sandwich. jenn had the chicken (are we noticing a theme here?) taco salad, which is clearly enormous.also noteworthy were these amazing loaded wedges, yes, that's ranch you see drizzled on there. a cardiovascular surgeon's delight; job security.there were a few cons to our silver spring house experience, however. first, the place was absolutely packed. i guess that's to be expected at the best chicken joint in cincinnati, but it was also very loud. don't go if you actually want to converse with the people you're with. additionally, i guess because they were so busy, jenn had to ask our server three times for a glass of water. which she finally brought when i asked for a fourth time. she never came by to refill either.

next, the following picture speaks for itself.finally, exhibit c is the quesadilla. we chose to order it without chicken (~$13), so basically we paid $8 for a tortilla with melted cheese inside. we thought there would at least be tomatoes or jalapenos or something extra than what we could create in a microwave in 30 seconds. not so much. the salsa was tasty, though.

bottom line: if you've got a hankerin' for some chicken, hit up the silver spring house. just expect that other people had the same idea.

butter art

2009-05-22T14:58:00.003-04:00

i just thought this was cute. why can't there be more butter art? (i mean, besides big butter christ on I-75)

break out your blowtorch

2009-05-18T08:23:00.000-04:00

i'm on a martha stewart kick, and i like desserts that involve fire. my friend elisa, an accomplished baker, adapted this martha stewart recipe to make a s'mores cake, using a springform pan. (when she sent me the email with the recipe link, she wrote "Ok, so I didn't know that "she" had anything to do with it!")

mountains of marshmellow-y goodness, slightly runny because of the heat

elisa is from minnesota, so no pansy williams-sonoma kitchen torch for her. this is a hardware store version, directly from her dad's garage. besides flaming marshmellow on s'mores cakes, it also comes in handy for soldering pipes.
we each got to toast our own marshmellow to desired browness. mmm....campfire flavor on a plate!

gangsters and chili

2009-05-17T18:59:00.003-04:00

in the 1930s and on into the 50s, newport was a haven for gambling and gangsters. dixie chili has seen it all. founded in 1929 by greek immigrant nicholas sarakatsannis, it is the second oldest cincinnati-style chili parlor in the area behind empress.

today brian and i ventured to newport for the historical walking tour and also stopped for some of the historic chili. dixie chili has the typical chili parlor decor and menu, with a few creative twists, like a juke box and "the alligator". i was kind of intrigued by the alligator, a hot dog with a pickle, cheese and mayo (i would get it without mayo, of course), but decided to stick with chili cheese sandwiches, sans onions.

the chili at dixie is thicker, heartier, with more complex flavoring than skyline. it was pretty darn good, although i thought it could have used a little salt. i think next time i would get it with onions. onions would really add to the overall sandwich taste. brian also enjoyed it, but did not like it more than skyline. i thought it tasted fresher than skyline, and therefore was more appealing.we got a little german flag to mark us as waiting for waffle fries. i'm not sure if there's an association, like german flags symbolize waffle fries and the greek flag maybe a 3-way. but i doubt it's that complex of a system.

the tour was full of interesting tidbits of newport's history. among other tales of mayhem and murder, we learned the brass ass (brian's most favorite strip club experience ever. it still makes his skin crawl.) used to be called the stardust, mimicking the casino in vegas. note the star still shining on the facade.

for martha, wherever i may find her

2009-05-17T09:18:00.003-04:00

whatever happened to martha stewart? it seemed for a time she was an empress rivaling cleopatra in notoriety. she and john lennon could have shared in being more popular than jesus, as martha had an army of stepford-wife disciples behind her.

so what happened? why did we fall out of love with martha?

was it the jail time? the realization by the public that good things take a crack team, including employees with the actual job title "crafter", to accomplish? the rise of carrie bradshaw as the new feminine prototype?

i was looking through some old papers and i found a poem i wrote for an undergrad creative writing class. this was the late 90s, at the height of martha stewart frenzy. i post it for fun, not for judgement. poetry never was my strong suite.

Martha Stewart Sleeps In

Yesterday
I overslept
My alarm clock
Never
Went off
And when I woke
The world was
Different
No one's watch
Gave the same time
And on some
The time moved
Forward
And on others
Backward
I tried to have
Breakfast
But it was time for
Dinner
I started to
Panic
And called work
To see where
I should be
But there was
No answer
I asked everyone
What time it was
But no one seemed
To know
I turned on the TV
And I only saw
Static
I cried and wandered
Aimlessly
Waiting for the
Sun
To go down
Then I saw
My Backyard
Had filled with huge
Blue flowers
And People were running
Through them
Laughing
Because they were
Free

i can't wait for this movie

2009-05-17T09:10:00.003-04:00

julie & julia.

it's everything i dream of in a movie, and everything my husband dreads. he looked terrified when we saw the preview yesterday and made a point of telling me he wasn't going to see it.

meryl streep as julia child? inspired. amy adams? adorable. story based on a blog about food? yay!

you know where i'll be august 7.

boycotting pill prom

2009-05-13T20:54:00.001-04:00

i would like to share a little known fact. being in pharmacy school is exactly like being in high school. there is girl drama, there are people sleeping with each other's steadies, there are the plastics, and there is a formal. affectionately known to the student body as "pill prom", this event features music and an open bar. a dangerous combination. i heard that this year, the first year students all got drunk and were puking in the bathroom sinks. gross.

that is why a discriminating group of us decided to boycott and enjoy our own night out. we hit up palomino for dinner and twist for drinks. we had a great time. much better than being around sink-puking bubblegummers. i'm too old for that shit.

dinner at palomino really consisted of a barrage of cocktails and appetizers. the smoked pork belly pictured below was terribly delicious. surrounded by lamb sausage, fingerling potatoes, caramelized fennel, and mustard aïoli, the whole thing was perfectly harmonious. two thumbs up.

the mojitos and lavendar cosmopolitians put in quite a showing at our table. i've had palomino's mojito in the past and was not really crazy about it, but a number of others at the table sang their praises. my personal favorite is the lavendar cosmo. my fingers may get sticky, but i sure do love them.there are not pictures of the other things we enjoyed, including the cambozola cheese plate with garlic (totally not enough cheese) and prosciutto brick oven pizza. several reasons for lack of photos, including, but not limited to, the battery dying on my camera and too many cocktails. everything was good, but i do have to say, i wish palomino offered a more diverse bread selection. they have the foccacia, which is soft and flavorful, and the pizza crisps (which double as pizza crust) which are super thin and kind of flavorless.
for dessert, we shared the bread pudding (divine, the one bite i had) and the chocolate torte. the accompanying strawberries were ridiculously good. brian thought the chocolate torte was "very tasty, rich, good with ice cream". i thought it was ok.
my palomino fortune card was very appropriate. (and slightly out of focus)

culinary tourism

2009-05-12T18:55:00.003-04:00

midwest living this month lists the midwest's top five food towns. they are, as listed:
1)madison, wisconsin
2) traverse city, michigan
3) ann arbor, michigan
4) bloomington, indiana (this i totally agree with; you can get any kind of food there, except kosher)
5) des moines, iowa

the magazine then goes on to list 60 other restaurants/eateries "worth the trip". not one is in cincinnati, but there are 3 in dayton. what the hell?

westside bar crawl by cincinnati imports

2009-05-11T20:22:00.003-04:00

all,
please come hang out on my home turf. it's safe and fun. a friend visiting from florida once said it reminded him of key west. honest.

cincinnati imports is hosting the swingin' good time this friday, may 15th.

here's the breakdown (copy and pasted):
Bar 1: Luckey’s Irish Pub (A)
Location: 3722 Harrison Ave. Cincinnati, OH 45211, 513-662-9222
Time: 7:00 pm
Drink specials: $0.50 off all drinks

Bar 2: 2nd Street Saloon (B)
Location: 3703 Harrison Ave. Cincinnati, OH 45211; 513-389-1900
Time: 8:00 pm
Drink specials: $3.25 Jeremiah Weed Lemonade (sweet tea vodka and lemonade), $1.50 16 ounce domestic drafts

Bar 3: Cheviot Sports Tavern (C)
Location: 3613 Harrison Ave. Cincinnati, OH 45211; 513-661-9464
Time: 9:00 pm
Drink specials: $1.50 domestic drafts

Bar 4: Rootie’s (D)
Location: 3609 Harrison Ave. Cincinnati, OH 45211; 513-481-0200
Time: 10:00 pm
Drink specials: TBD

Bar 5: Black Sheep (E)
Location: 3807 North Bend Rd. Cincinnati, OH 45211; 513-481-6300
Time: 11:00 pm
Drink specials: TBD
Food: $2.00 pizza slices and snacks
Band/Music: Less than Zero and DJ

hope to see you!!

where have all the nachos gone?

2009-05-09T09:31:00.000-04:00

dear great american ballpark,

i am writing to let you know how much i truly enjoy all you have brought to the cincinnati reds. you offer charming vistas and a scoreboard game involving skyline three-ways.

it sure was super nice of you this year to offer hot dogs for $1. i almost thought about waiting in line, but decided i needed to eat before i chewed my arm off.

i applaud the return of the fantastical onion dispensers and goetta dogs. i am happy you also got a clue and started selling nacho cheese at the same stand with the soft pretzels. my "pretzelzilla" was quite attractive, with slightly sweet dough and not too much salt.

however, i have to ask, what in the hell are you trying to pass off as nachos? pre-packaged quarter-sized chips with a cup of plasticky room temperature cheese? the vacuum sealing must have sucked all the flavor out. the chips looked anemic.

above is what real nachos at the ballgame should look like. and i shouldn't have to tramp around the whole f-ing stadium looking for them. believe it or not, some people actually go to the ballgame to see baseball and would appreciate readily available, edible refreshments. not crap in a shiny wrapper for $6.75. i could smuggle these in and save myself 5 bucks.

thank you for your time and consideration.

habanero

2009-05-08T09:05:00.000-04:00

after driving around clifton trying to decide what ethnic taste sensation we should indulge in, my friend jessie and i settled on habanero. neither of us had ever tried it before, so we thought we'd give it a go.

waiting in line, i glanced around and saw the banner broadcasting them as the best burrito in cincinnati, as determined by citysearch. that was promising. they were also cooking up some chicken on the grill and hand slicing it. very nice touch.

i ordered the tofu tango burrito and jessie the chicken quesadilla.

my burrito was stuffed with pinto beans, rice, and fire-roasted corn salsa, sprinkled with the occasional eggplant or tofu. it was spicy, but all i tasted was heat, not flavor. i ended up dumping out the contents and eating them with a fork rather than maintain the burrito wrap.the plate was overflowing with chips, and the chips were quite tasty. however, the salsa was, well, weird. i can't put my finger on the flavor - maybe it was the smoky tomato? it wasn't unpleasant, but it wasn't exactly good either.jessie, a self-proclaimed avid quesadilla eater, rated her dish a "c". she said it tasted dry.

our favorite thing? the gucamole, not pictured because it was quickly consumed.

i think i would go back for some chips and guc and to give one of their margaritas a try, but overall it was not a meal i am eager to repeat.

just a pic

2009-05-08T08:39:00.004-04:00

as referenced in several posts by krissy, liz and liberal foodie here is a picture of dinner that night.

before there was vegas, there was newport, ky

2009-05-07T22:26:00.006-04:00

WARNING: shameless plug!

explore newport's murky past on a historic walking tour. see the casinos, murder sites, and major locations that gave newport a national reputation while hearing true stories of the town's colorful history.

all proceeds from this event will go to support international service trips to central america. this year, the group from lloyd memorial high school in northern kentucky will be traveling to jamaica to work in a school. money raised from this event helps the group purchase supplies and digital equipment for the school.

go here for more information and tickets.

addendum 5/10/09: i've just learned that anyone who attends this walking tour will receive a coupon from the syndicate for a free steak dinner when two or more dine.

what do you feed a foodie?

2009-05-05T22:16:00.003-04:00

as related by liberal foodie and get in mah belly, i had the absolute pleasure of hosting them and beth (and our husbands) for dinner last week. of course, i had anxiety about what i should serve. what do you make for people who actually like food, and don't just eat it to survive? i stuck to some tried and true dishes to alleviate the anxiety. sorry, i'm a wuss when i have to make food for other people to eat.

first, i decided to make an easy appetizer: radish-chive "tea sandwiches" (whatever that means)
1/4 cup butter at room temp
3 tbs minced chives, divided
1 tbs toasted sesame seeds (just toss for a few minutes in a hot skillet)
3/4 tsp grated peeled fresh ginger
1/4 tsp sesame oil
16 1/4-inch-thick baguette slices
10 radishes, thinly sliced

mix butter, 2 tbs chives, sesame seeds, ginger, and oil in a small bowl; season with salt and pepper. spread butter mixture over each bread slice. top with radishes, overlapping slightly. sprinkle with remaining chives.

i am a huge fan of pork. it is one of my favorite meats (along with turkey). i feel like you have to love something to be able to prepare it well. so for the main course, i decided on our family's special occasion (puts in appearances on christmas eve and birthdays) pork tenderloin teriyaki.

marinade, per 1 1/2 lb pork tenderloin:
4 tbs soy sauce (i used tamari)
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
2 tsp light brown sugar
2 tbs olive oil
1 tsp ground ginger

combine it all and marinate the pork for your desired amount of time. i slice the pork pre-marinating and put it all in a ziploc for the day (refrigerated, of course). you can cook the pork under the broiler or on the grill as you see fit. just a few minutes on each side. i don't use a thermometer; i use the juice-is-clear-it-must-be-cooked method.

i also made a greek salad, which i was thinking the whole time i was eating it didn't taste quite right. the next morning, i realized when i opened the refrigerator it was because my dumbass forgot to add the feta. oh well.

all in all, it was a wonderful evening with great food and great conversation. can't wait to do it again.

blast from the past

2009-05-03T15:31:00.004-04:00

i must start this post by saying i do not drink pop. maybe once a month. maybe. if i really need a mcdonald's fountain coke or i go to frisch's and get a vanilla coke.
but i had to try throwback pepsi, made with natural sugar instead of the dreaded high fructose corn syrup. my first taste made me think of diet pepsi, only without the super-nasty aftertaste. that diety-taste disappeared, though, with the second taste. i pronounce the throwback pepsi positively delightful. and it tastes pretty good from a can.

since i am more a coke girl than a pepsi girl, i really hope they make throwback coke. i have been told the reason why coke in a glass bottle tastes so much better is because it has cane sugar and not corn syrup. however, i inspected this the other day and found the bottled coke does have high fructose corn syrup. so it's amazing taste remains a mystery.

the holy grail

2009-04-29T05:10:00.006-04:00

once upon a time, jknepfle charged me with the task of seeking the holy grail, promising me the rewards would be rich should i succeed at this quest. legend tells of the holy grail being nestled deep in a valley in the land of delhi. my first attempt failed miserably, as the way was shut and the chamber dark and empty. my second endeavor proved worthy, and banners ceremoniously welcomed me, proclaiming my triumph.
the cavern was lit with the light of glowing crests and keno screens. as was bespoken, the bounty was indeed plentiful. i was served twisted pretzels with a glorious, golden sauce, slightly spicy and a perfect complement.
illustrious paul goebel created reuben wontons, full to the brim with corned beef, sauerkraut, swiss cheese, and the dressing of a thousand islands. i found the combination gratifying, although my companion brian did not find it so.also presented was an incontrovertibly succulent beef patty cloaked in bleu cheese, garnering a 5/6 on the gradation governing all burgers in the kingdom. the accompanying barbeque sauce was neglected as it did not captivate the palate.a brew bubbling with blueberries was brought to me. it was overly sacchariferous and not the divine drink i remembered from my youth in the countryside of clifton. perhaps my youth or intoxication had rendered me indiscriminate.

sakura

2009-04-26T08:34:00.006-04:00

brian and i are too poor to eat sushi at beluga before his brother's shindig, so we decided to check out sushi westside style at sakura, the japanese steakhouse (complete with hibachi) and sushi bar that opened where dante's used to be. we have heard mixed reviews about the food and service, so we needed to see for ourselves.

i haven't been in dante's since i was a kid and went there for breakfast with my grandparents after church, but i am pretty certain the chandeliers in the dining room are the same. no matter. the interior is much more minimalist than the heavy red and gold i remember.

sakura gets points for cocktail creativity. i have never before had a wasabitini.

composed of ciroc vodka, lemon juice, simple syrup, and a dissolved "pea of wasabi", the effect is quite scintillating. very pleasurable and unusual, like the essence of sushi in a glass. one was enough, though. it's too...dynamic...to drink a lot of.

first course was the jj's salad - spicy crab and cucumber. held together by something i suspect was mayonnaise, which gave it a heavier flavor and texture than one would expect from crab and cucumber. brian really liked it, although he struggled with his chopsticks transferring it from plate to mouth.

we ordered the eel and cucumber roll, smoked salmon, and bluefin tuna. all were fine, nothing out of the ordinary. the fish was probably not the freshest i have ever had, but it was by no means bad.

we were pleased with the service. it was efficient and i was never without water. and the sushi chef was friendly. sakura is connected to poppy's by a glass wall, where there is a distinctly different menu. we saw club sandwiches going by to be delivered to the bar. there was live music and some folks were dancing. in 10 years it will be a great place for us to hang out.

band member telling me "no photos, please". awkward.

beluga: not a review, a rant

2009-04-26T07:33:00.004-04:00

pop quiz:
you are out at a swanky night spot with some girlfriends. you walk into a room where a dj is playing and have a seat at one of the tables. a few minutes later, someone asks you if you know this is a private party. do you:
a) apologize, explaining you were unaware
b) leave the room and enjoy the dj in the front room instead
c) get up and start dancing provocatively in the middle of the room
d) two of the above
e) none of the above

while you ruminate on your answer, i would like to tell you this is not a review of beluga, the swanky night spot in the above scenario. this is a review of bad behavior by adults who should clearly know better. last night, my brother-in-law's girlfriend hosted a party for him at beluga, with a dj set up in one of the back rooms. my brother-in-law is freshly arrived home from boot camp and is leaving again monday. four girls walk in and sit at the table next to me. nicki (brother-in-law's girlfriend) tells me she has no idea who they are. i casually tap one on the arm (the one wearing leg warmers) and explain this is a private party for my brother -in-law, etc. she says she didn't know, chats with her friends for a second, and a few minutes later they get up. they get up and start dancing. no one else is dancing. they continue to dance and hang out for an undetermined amount of time, as brian decided it was time for us to go.

ok, i know it's a club. i know there was a dj (that nicki was paying for) and the room wasn't completely packed with people wishing my brother-in-law well or roped off in any way. but, what the f? at least introduce yourself to the guest of honor if you're going to crash his party.

bison burgers

2009-04-22T17:09:00.004-04:00

i headed north to columbus last weekend for a conference. i have one rule when eating out in another city: it can't be anywhere that i can eat in cincinnati. ted's montana grill fit this requirement and promised bison burgers.

ted's (founded by ted turner) is interesting because it is very eco-friendly, you know, for a chain restaurant that serves burgers and chicken fried chicken. the straws are made of paperboard. the toilets flush two ways; up for liquid and down for...you get the picture. they are 99% plastic free. that's admirable.

the ambiance in the restaurant is great. dark wood paneling. big bar. very masculine, but not oppressive. bowls of pickles on each table.

we all ordered bison burgers, which are served up 25 different ways and all are presented with an american flag stuck in the top (obviously removed pre-photo).

the burgers were a good size and full of EXCELLENT flavor. not at all greasy. mine had bleu cheese, mushrooms, and bacon, which i paired with rancho zabaco dancing bull zinfandel. (seemed appropriate.) the bun held up well to the giant burger. the fries were also amazing. fresh cut and not overly oiled or overly browned. this is kind of blasphemous, but i think i like them better than terry's turf club. shh...they may revoke my cincinnati blogging privileges.

for dessert we shared the strawberry shortcake, which i easily could have eaten all by myself. the shortcake was real shortcake, not that spongy crap kroger's tries to pass off as shortcake. the berries and syrup were fresh and not too sweet. i think the server mentioned they were organic strawberries and never frozen. a perfect ending.*must give props: all photos are the handiwork of my fellow pharmacy student andy, who kindly humored my blogging habit. thanks, andy.

good friday at dewey's

2009-04-21T21:24:00.003-04:00

somehow, it has become a good friday tradition that we eat at dewey's; two years in a row constitute a tradition, in my opinion.

two years in a row, brian and i have arrived first at dewey's.

maybe since its a holy day is how things like that actually happen. if you note in the previous post we were just as shocked.

as you may guess from the picture above, i find the green lantern to be a pizza far superior to mere mortal pies. look at the crust, brimming with delicious artichokes, pesto, and goat cheese. phenomenal. behold the power of the green lantern.
dewey's salads

candied walnut and grape. i didn't care for the dressing. much too thick.
i had the peppercorn ranch. sometimes (often times) i tend to get what i know because i like it. this salad is something i order every time i am at deweys. i see everyone else order the Greek/Mediterranean and it always looks so good. but every time i still order the peppercorn ranch. its good. it does have bacon (as you can see) and friends have ordered it without it and also liked it. the dressing is the right consistency and good flavor.

eric and i split a small make your own pizza. we like things spicy so we have jalapenos with chicken. simple, spicy and tasty. this is something else that i order often (not every time) as pizza toppings.

pottsville, pa: second star to the right, and straight on till morning

2009-04-14T16:49:00.005-04:00

i have discovered the tinkerbell of beer; light, effervescent, and slightly sassy. deliciously girly, yuengling lager might just be my new favorite summer beer. founded in 1829, yuengling is recognized as america's oldest brewery and has remained a family owned company for the duration.

look at that sparkle!

i could drink a number of these. easily.

memories of breakfasts past

2009-04-13T10:44:00.000-04:00

the perkins across from western bowl holds a lot of memories for me. late nights playing cards, family breakfasts, a cloud of cigarette smoke. my two most vivid memories: one i've already related here, and the other is the morning after junior prom when my friend sally's* screams echoed through the restaurant, horrified at the discovery of the large hickey on her neck which earned her date the nickname "jack the hoover vac".
much to my dismay, the easter morning breakfast planning committee dropped the ball this year and we ended up at perkins.
i have to say perkins has cleaned up its act since the old days. i'm sure the smoking ban has helped out immensely. the restaurant was clean and our server extremely courteous and on the ball.
i ordered the deli ham and lot of cheese omelet. it was fine, lots of ham. the hash browns were, i imagine, sort of like eating forkfuls of that mulch made from old tires.

brian's "tremendous 12". disappeared in 24.8 seconds.

the most disappointing aspect of the breakfast was the appalling lack of strawberry jam. remember when perkins used to have the little racks of jelly on every table? well, i guess the over 60 club stole one too many to stock their pantries, cause now the jelly comes on the plate. one measly dollop for four pieces of toast. and i don't even like grape. i'm sure if i asked, our kind server would have brought me strawberry, but that's not really the point.

*names have been changed to protect the innocent.

easter bliss

2009-04-11T17:33:00.006-04:00

i have a confession to make. every year for lent i give up chocolate, and it is really hard. i eat other desserts, have fruit in my ice cream flurries, but, to quote a recent blockbuster movie, "it’s like… a human only living on tofu. it keeps you strong, but it never… fully satisfies". that is how i feel about not eating chocolate. my sweet tooth is never fully satisfied.
hence my confession. no, i did not cheat and give in to temptation. but i did go to the fawn unchaperoned and spent OVER $100 ON CHOCOLATE. i feel tomorrow morning will be much like this scene from chocolat, in which alfred molina gorges himself on chocolate and passes out.

easter favorites:
- chocolate caramel marshmallows
- dark chocolate opera cream eggs
- coconut goodies
- dark chocolate foil wrapped eggs. simple and divine.
- reese's peanut butter eggs. duh. i've witnessed brian put down six of these in one sitting. true story.

i could go on, but better stop. i would also like to add, this lent i discovered my professor is actually the devil. he opened his box of peanut butter patty girl scout cookies, kept offering them to me, then set the open tray on the table right in front of me for the duration of a 2 hour meeting. salivating ensued.

what are your easter favorites? and what are you happy to finally be able to eat tomorrow?

happy national cheese fondue day

2009-04-11T10:24:00.003-04:00

so i was watching the news this morning and learned that its national cheese fondue day. after a little research i learned that there is a food for everyday of the year that you could celebrate. tomorrow is grilled cheese day. my birthday is national cherry popsicle day. i wonder who comes up with this stuff? http://www.tfdutch.com/foodh.htm

here you can send your own e-card celebrating national cheese fondue day.

springtime in westwood

2009-04-11T08:23:00.005-04:00

it's a little bit like heaven.

the green fairy

2009-04-08T19:20:00.000-04:00

i apologize for how...affected...this next sentence sounds. a few years ago while i was studying in prague, i encountered absinthe for the first time. and when i say "encountered", i mean saw it in the real world, not a book or movie. i have to admit, i completely wussed out and did not try it. the tales of the green fairy and madness were enough to quell my thirsty adventurism.

i kind of forgot about it until i saw "green fairy tales" in gourmet this month, which basically says the reports of hallucinations, etc, are greatly exaggerated. first created by pierre ordinaire (which sounds like a made-up name, but is actually real) in the late 18th century, absinthe came into vogue in france after phylloxera knocked out wine as a competitor. distilled from wormwood, absinthe contains thujone and 60-70% alcohol.
thujone is thought to be the cause of "absinthism", a condition characterized by hallucinations, sleeplessness, and convulsions, which led to the ban on absinthe in the early 20th century.
Dirk W. Lachenmeier (et al) apparently has looked into the toxicity of thujone quite extensively, since most of the scientific literature i found was authored by him. in one publication from 2006, absinthe was prepared according to traditional recipes to test the thujone concentrations. they found that the preparations did not contain levels of thujone above the current legal limit of 35 mg/L. it is thought that absinthism was actually caused by adulteration of absinthe with toxic plants such as sweet calamus or tansy. adulteration with antimony and copper sulfate is also a possibility, or it could have been good old fashioned chronic alcohol intoxication. also, the hypothesis that the structural similarity between thujone and thc caused stimulation of the same receptors in the central nervous system proved erroneous after experimentation.

wormwood has a very interesting history, insanity and cut-off ears aside. medical use of wormwood can be dated back to an egyptian document from 1552 bc. the name "wormwood" is derived from its anthelmintic properties. pythagoras recommended wine-soaked wormwood leaves to alleviate labor pains and hippocrates used wormwood extracts for treating menstrual pain and rheumatism. shakespeare even mentions it in romeo and juliet (act I, scene 3) "for i had then laid wormwood to my dug, sitting in the sun under the dove-house wall... but, as I said, when it did taste the wormwood on the nipple of my dug and felt it bitter, pretty fool, to see it tetchy and fall out with the dug!". yeah, we're talking about weaning.
during the french conquest of algeria (1830-1847), soldiers were given wormwood to prevent parasites and fevers. on their return to france, the soldiers discovered absinthe to be a tasty substitute.

previous to the ban, absinthe was defined by swiss law to be "every spirit drink, without regard to its method of production, that contains aromatic compounds of wormwood herb in combination with other aromatic compounds derived from plants such as anise and fennel". today's recipes are similar.

so now i am even more curious. and less afraid. an absinthe cocktail seems mysterious and intriguing, i won't pass it up next time.

for more complete info, look here.

unsanitary tap dancing

2009-04-05T22:00:00.003-04:00

while watching doris day and ray bolger cavort across the screen in april in paris, it struck me that mr. bolger is tap dancing on a food preparation area in the bowels of a french oceanliner.

that's just plain unsanitary.

online recommendations

2009-04-05T14:16:00.001-04:00

anyone use goodrec.com? thoughts?

i am not sure how i feel about it just yet.

keystone bar and grill

2009-04-04T21:32:00.001-04:00

this place is just cool. if i had an older brother, i'd want him to be just like keystone bar and grill - listening to classic rock, a photo of johnny cash on the wall, rooms decorated with original artwork. i'd like my super cool older brother to make mac and cheese with things like potato chips and spinach in it and name his creations after bands like nirvana and green day.however, i would like the mac and cheese to taste good. i can't say quite as much for the keystone grill. i got the plain old lovin' spoonful, and i wasn't feeling the love. it was ok, but really kind of bland. i had to ask the server to bring salt and pepper to the table, and even that didn't help much. what a disappointment.

my sandwich, however, was quite scrumptious. i'm a sucker for a turkey reuben and this one was well put together as well as visually stimulating, with marble rye and red cabbage slaw. the sandwich that intrigued me the most but i doubted my ability to actually consume was
the duveneck, "an open face sandwich with potato salad, pastrami, corned beef, sauerkraut and whole grain mustard stacked on marble rye". that's a lot of crap on a sandwich.

other random notes: mac and cheese is half price mondays, quesadillas half price on tuesdays. we sat by the fireplace and i hit my head twice on the mantle. i was unimpressed by the barbecue sauce. our server kept bringing me water, which increased her tip exponentially. somehow all my pictures were out of focus. i did not buy a painting, although i could have because the canvases were all for sale.

cod and god, week 4

2009-04-04T10:28:00.003-04:00

i'm so behind. fish fry photos are piling up and i can't organize myself sufficiently to process them. so here, in brief, is the our lady of lourdes fish fry. lourdes is where i attended grade school, as did my mother. that's the westside for you.
first, the menu. salmon AND crab cakes? wow. i should have stuck with the fried cod, but i was lulled in by the siren's call of the crab cake.

crab cake = dry inside and crispy outside. i also got take-out and forgot to pick up condiments, so i didn't even have tartar sauce to alleviate my desert-ed crab.

mac and cheese = stouffer's.

fries = meh.

yummy (previously) frozen cheese sticks. a creative twist to the normal fish fry fare.

finally, fried shrimp. cocktail sauce would have been a delightful addition.lourdes gets points for breaking out of the normal fish fry mold with unique offerings. the salmon did look pretty tasty and i wish i could have sampled some of everything. they were also very well organized by the boy scouts, with separate eat-in and take-out lines.

again, no beer. what the heck?

bottle shock

2009-03-31T20:41:00.006-04:00

brian and i happened upon the charming "bottle shock" at the video store last week (yes, we still go to the video store). i wanted to get it because it is about wine, and brian wanted to get it because it stars alan rickman as french wine store owner steven spurrier. he loves alan rickman. he will watch harry potter with me just to see alan rickman slither on in.

anyway, i am quite uneducated. i had never heard of the paris tasting of 1976, which started as a publicity stunt until the californian wines triumphed over french wines in the blind test. the movie tells the story of the chateau montelena and their perfect 1973 chardonnay, a bottle of which now resides in the smithsonian. the movie is cute and likeable, much like chris pine as the slacker son who saves the day.

other things i didn't know: 1) wine can turn brown if it isn't exposed to any air at all. it turns back after a couple days. 2) bottle shock occurs when wine is transported and results in a temporary muting or disruption of the flavors.

intense quote (by the foreman, gustavo): you have to have it in your blood, you have to grow up with the soil underneath your nails, the smell of the grapes in the air that you breathe. the cultivation of the vine was an art form. the refinement of the vine is a religion that requires pain and desire and sacrifice.

random side note: chris pine is rumored to be cast in the 2010 green lantern film. sweet!!

martha served

2009-03-30T11:47:00.002-04:00

st. martha (ironically) is the bible's consummate hostess, often serving jesus as a guest in her home. for this, she is the patron saint of cooks and waiters/waitresses.

newly acquired

2009-03-28T16:00:00.001-04:00

while it is disheartening that world market is closing its doors in western hills, (*tear*) we were able to score one of their wine displayers for our basement.now i have ample room for 120 bottles of varied and vibrant wines. donations will be accepted.

plaza mexico

2009-03-28T10:00:00.000-04:00

i have kind of been on a mexican kick lately, so on the recommendation of jknepfle, brian and i went to check out plaza mexico.

the ambiance is very strip mall and it smelled strongly of cleaning chemicals when we walked in. of course, i would rather smell clean than the alternative. the menu has great lunchtime deals. luckily, it was lunchtime.

i have no problem with ordering liquor in the middle of the afternoon (ok, possibly before noon), so i had to try out a margarita. while it was reasonably priced and generously sized, it was watery and not very good. however, it was lunch, so maybe the professional margarita-mixer doesn't come in till later and i got a novice.

my carnitas was (were?) so tender with a vague sweetness. this is the first time i've tried carnitas, and it was very delicious but seemed fatty. maybe that's always the way it is. i think i would rather it be served more like pulled pork and less like a hunk of meat. the beans had a unique grilled taste. i thought the guacamole was commendable and the rice forgettable. in the interest of a thorough assessment, i also ordered a soft taco. while no part of the taco was particularly flavorful, the overall effect was satisfying.

brian had one of the combo platters. this is a chalupa and tostada. it was difficult to discern the difference, but he did enjoy his meal very much.do i like it better than cancun? no. but it is a nice little place with a full spectrum of mexican staples. the friendly service and the food made for a delightful lunch.

spirited paintings

2009-03-27T18:35:00.004-04:00

i hesitate to tell you this, because i still want to get several other prints and i don't want them to be sold out, but the artist behind the moerlein beer labels is selling printed canvases in limited quantities. pictured is our helles lager print, now framed and adorning our dining room wall.
go here for more information.

frisch's fish

2009-03-27T17:38:00.002-04:00

the rumors are true. frisch's fish sandwich is phenomenal. the fish is flaky and dredged in cornmeal-ish batter, unlike the breadcrumbed numbers at bk and mcdonald's. tartar sauce excellent. bun sturdy and fresh. i ordered mine with cheese, but on this sandwich (and i will rarely, like, never, say this about cheese) it didn't add anything but calories.

it is pricier than other fast food fish options, but it is probably worth it.

this has nothing to do with anything

2009-03-24T19:18:00.001-04:00

but the word of the day on dictionary.com is thaumaturgy: the performing of miracles or magic.

just thought that was pretty awesome.