Pin It
Monday, December 31, 2012
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Saturday, May 5, 2012
Friday, May 4, 2012
Cinnamon Roll
Pin It
Tate has started Tee-ball. Unfortunately, three of the eight practices have been cancelled. During the latest cancellation, I let him pick something else to do. So what a five year old pick? Go to the library and pick out movies and books. Once we were done, we went across the street to the Bread Garden and met up with Leigha. Once there, we let him pick out a drink and a treat. He picked this cinnamon roll and
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Eggs Benedict Pt. 2
Pin It
This was my second attempt to make Eggs Benedict, and it went much better than last time. There are several things that I did differently, and I was much happier with my hollandaise sauce. The first was that I
Monday, April 30, 2012
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Inappropriate Food Pictures
Pin It
For Some Reason This Just Hasn't Caught On In America. The Brits Sure Love iT, Though. |
Is It Just Me, Or Does This Picture Seem Extra Phallic |
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Friday, April 20, 2012
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Piel De Sapo
Pin It
One day, when I was shopping for some produce to juice, I came across this melon. I had never heard of Piel De Sapo before, but I was intrigued. While it looked like a small watermelon, upon picking up it up, it was firm yet soft to the touch, I smelled it and got a few wafts of sweetness. So I did what anybody does these days when they have a question; I googled it.
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
A & W Rootbeer Float
Pin It
When I was a kid, my dad would take me to an A & W occasionally. It was always a special treat to me, and it wasn't always because of the food. I thought that it was really cool that you could order from and eat in your car while it was parked in their parking lot. Plus, it was really cool when they would bring your food out on a tray WHILE ROLLERSKATING!
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Monday, April 16, 2012
Giant Soft Pretzel with Cheese
Pin It
There are several origins to the invention of pretzels. What all of them hold in common is the church. Italians claim that the 'pretiola' was invented by one of their monks as a reward to kids that have memorized their prayers. The Germans claim that the 'Brezel' was invented by bakers. Regardless, both the Germans and the Catholic Church still hold strong ties to the food today
Sunday, April 15, 2012
John's Ice Cream
Pin It
John's Ice Cream is less than a mile from my house. Occasionally, we will walk with the kids to get some ice cream. It is always by there request. On this particular day, as a reward for Tate's good behavior, I gave him the option to go anywhere to do anything he wanted. After I shot down going out to eat without the girls at 3:30 in the afternoon, he chose to go to John's. I actually tried to talk him out of it and go to a different place. I find that John's menu is too large and confusing to find what I want. The prices are also more expensive than driving farther away and going to a Dairy Queen. Although John's is only one of two
John's Ice Cream is less than a mile from my house. Occasionally, we will walk with the kids to get some ice cream. It is always by there request. On this particular day, as a reward for Tate's good behavior, I gave him the option to go anywhere to do anything he wanted. After I shot down going out to eat without the girls at 3:30 in the afternoon, he chose to go to John's. I actually tried to talk him out of it and go to a different place. I find that John's menu is too large and confusing to find what I want. The prices are also more expensive than driving farther away and going to a Dairy Queen. Although John's is only one of two
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Airliner Pizza
Pin It
Nearly every single Sunday for two and a half years, I went to the Airliner for their $1 slices of pizza. It was a staple of my college life. Each week, a group of my friends would meet here without fail and without calling each other first. One thing about going to the Airliner was that you never knew what
Friday, April 13, 2012
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Homemade Falafel
Pin It
Falafels are not a food that I am incredibly familiar with. Usually if I was at a place that served them, they usually opted for another food that they offered such as a gyro. When I was looking for good vegetarian meals, I kept coming across falafels. I had several revelations making this food myself. First,
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Monday, April 9, 2012
Sunday, April 8, 2012
Cake Baked Inside An Eggshell
Pin It
When I saw a picture of this on Pintrest, I knew that it would be the perfect activity to do right before Easter. Conveniently, eggs have become a much larger part of my diet once I became vegetarian. For about two weeks, a drill with a small bit has been sitting on our kitchen counter. Any time that I made something with eggs, I would carefully puncture the egg with the drill and pull away an opening to the egg.
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Soyrizo Pizza
Pin It
Since I've started this blog, I have found myself wandering around grocery stores and looking at packages that are unfamiliar to me. This is how I've been able to cross several things (Dolma, Chicken Tikka Masala, Pocky, SPAM, Wasabi Peas) off of my list. This is also something that I've been doing to get ideas for vegetarian food. That is when I came across this:
Friday, April 6, 2012
Biscuits And Gravy
Pin It
I have always loved biscuits and gravy, but have had a difficult time making a good batch myself. It has never been an issue with the biscuit, but always the gravy. This was the first time that I was happy with how the gravy ended up, which is convenient because it was one of my last meals before my two months of vegetarianism. To learn how I made the gravy, click for more.
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Dehydrated Fruit Snacks
Pin It
One day, we went to my in-laws to pick through some of their stuff before they had a garage sale. When I saw the food dehydrator, I was immediately interested but hesitant. I was hesitant because if I took it, it would be another kitchen device that we might rarely use and need to find cupboard space for. For my first time using the machine, I decided to try a variety of foods, to test out which ones I liked.
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup
Pin It
This was my very last meal before I became a vegetarian for two months. When Leigha was looking in the freezer, she noticed that we still had the bones from the Turducken, so she made a stock from them. Even though we didn't have any chicken to put in the soup, we figured that the broth should be flavorful enough. So to compensate, I decided to make
Monday, April 2, 2012
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Jimmy Jack's Barbecue
Pin It
As a disclaimer, I would like to say that it annoys me when people say barbecue when they mean grilling. It is like the difference between champagne and sparkling white wine. To most, there is no difference, but there is. To qualify as barbecue, it must involve smoke and low (generally indirect) heat. I personally own a smoker and have created several of my own recipes for spice rubs. If I rotated between eating barbecue and pizza every day, everyday I would swear that I was eating my favorite food. One good thing about living in a college town is that there are 22 pizza places for a city of roughly 68k. One bad thing about living in Iowa is that my options are much more limited for barbecue (3). Even more so if I am looking for QUALITY barbecue. Jimmy Jack's makes good barbecue, regardless of where you live.
As a disclaimer, I would like to say that it annoys me when people say barbecue when they mean grilling. It is like the difference between champagne and sparkling white wine. To most, there is no difference, but there is. To qualify as barbecue, it must involve smoke and low (generally indirect) heat. I personally own a smoker and have created several of my own recipes for spice rubs. If I rotated between eating barbecue and pizza every day, everyday I would swear that I was eating my favorite food. One good thing about living in a college town is that there are 22 pizza places for a city of roughly 68k. One bad thing about living in Iowa is that my options are much more limited for barbecue (3). Even more so if I am looking for QUALITY barbecue. Jimmy Jack's makes good barbecue, regardless of where you live.
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Friday, March 30, 2012
Dutch Letters
Pin It
I had never thought of Dutch Letters as a regional food until I started to looking for some recipes to make it myself. As it turns out, they aren't regional; they are an Iowan food that has been imported from Holland. From those of you that have never had one of these, I am truly sorry. These are one of my top five foods of all time. I would rather have a bad Dutch Letter over nearly any other pastry.
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
101 Foods: #28 Chile Relleno
Pin It
Chile Relleno translates to "Stuffed Chile" This dish came from the Mexican city of Puebla. The dish is made with a poblano pepper, (named after the city of the dish) stuffed with meat or cheese, covered with a batter and fried. The cheese variant is common during lent. I am not Catholic, but I did happen to try the dish during lent. When it came to the table, I
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
The Tavern South
Pin It
The Tavern is one of those restaurants that I expect to see on shows like Restaurant: Impossible. It seems like it at one point, it was a successful restaurant. In fact, they are still operating three different locations. When I lived in Des Moines, I remember hearing about people talk about it with some fondness. As it was close to the zoo, where I was taking the kids, I figured that I would give it a try. When I walked in the door,
The Tavern is one of those restaurants that I expect to see on shows like Restaurant: Impossible. It seems like it at one point, it was a successful restaurant. In fact, they are still operating three different locations. When I lived in Des Moines, I remember hearing about people talk about it with some fondness. As it was close to the zoo, where I was taking the kids, I figured that I would give it a try. When I walked in the door,
Monday, March 26, 2012
Bacon Pecan Maple Danish
Pin It
Every day at the Java House, they offer a two-for one deal for products that weren't purchased the day before. As I was walking by, I glanced at this. When I came back later, it caught my eye again so I walked over to see what it was. Two danishes for $2 is a pretty good deal in itself, but when I saw the flavor, I knew that I had to buy it.
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Panchero's Carnitas Burrito
Pin It
As I've written before, I love Panchero's. For those of you that don't know, carnitas are made when you slow braise or slow roast a heavily marbled piece of pork such as the Boston butt. Once this is done, the meat should be tender and easily pulled apart. The the meat is placed in a shallow pan along with some of the rendered juices and roasted at a high heat. The beauty of Panchero's is that
Saturday, March 24, 2012
Strawberry Raspberry Pie
Pin It
The ER is the first place that I've ever worked where there are always people bringing in food to share. Whether it is for a potluck or donated baked goods that are too old to sell from the coffee shop or somebody has some extra food at home. As a given, if people leave foods out in specific areas,
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Nanananachos
Pin It
There is a place down the road from us, Hawkeye Food Distribution, where we buy some food in bulk occasionally. We don't go there often, but when we do, we usually buy things like 100 individually wrapped chips for $1 or a box of 250 tortillas for $1. Needless to say, we usually have these items on hand.
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
101 Foods: #82 Salted Lassi
Pin It
Lassi is a popular drink from India. It is a yogurt-based drink that can be found all over the Indian Subcontinent. There are two variants to the drink. The sweet and the salted. Both are commonly sprinkled with a variety of spices like cinnamon, turmeric, cumin and allspice. While the sweet mango lassi sounded more appealing, I chose to have a regular lassi for the sake of the list.
Monday, March 19, 2012
Ras Malai (Indian Cheesecake)
Pin It
Ras Malai generally consists of flattened balls of paneer laying in cream and flavored with cardamom. When I went to the India Cafe, this was labeled simply as "Indian Cheesecake". I had never had it before and didn't know how it was normally paired. After tasting it by itself I came to the conclusion that while it was sweet and creamy, it was too dry. So I
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Scallops
Pin It
Leigha made this one afternoon, swaying from the recipe as our ingredients allowed. She has always been especially fond of sea scallops, where I merely like them. It must be the years that she spend living in Florida. For this recipe, she cooked some garlic in olive oil and added tomatoes and snow peas. Then,
Saturday, March 17, 2012
India Cafe
Pin It
When Leigha and I were first dating, we took turns paying when we went out to eat. One day, when it was Leigha's turn to pay, we came to the Indian Cafe and hated it. As we were walking out the door I said, "I'm glad that I didn't have to pay for THAT meal." While she may have forgiven me for speaking so thoughtlessly, she has never forgotten. It has been nearly a decade since then and our food tastes have changed a lot. On a day that we were able to go on a lunch date, we decided to give the India Cafe another chance.
Friday, March 16, 2012
Thursday, March 15, 2012
101 Foods: #97 Turducken
Pin It
30 Pounds of Poultry Goodness |
A Turducken is a perfect example of the American mentality. It is large, extravagant and over the top. A Turducken is made by stuffing a TURkey with a DUCK and chickEN). This was actually the second time that I have made the meal. It is an incredibly time-consuming process that I go through once a year. After the successful first attempt at making the avian nightmare, I vowed that it would become a household tradition.
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
101 Foods #37 Dolma
Pin It
Dolma is the generic name for stuffed vegetable dishes. By this definition, the Quinois Stuffed Peppers that was my first post ever on here would qualify as a Dolma. The most popular is the grape leaf dolmas, which is what I got. When I saw this, I thought that it was just a vegan egg roll.
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Torchy's Tacos
Pin It
Democrat, Trailer Park and Beef Fajita |
Torchy's Tacos is an institute in Austin. They started out in a trailer and now have seven store fronts as well. They focus on a menu full of as much humor as good food. They are also renowned for testing out new tacos and listening to their customers. We tried out three different tacos.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)