El Pescador Fish Market, located in La Jolla on Pearl Street, is a small fish market. Decent prices, but by no means cheap. As someone that doesn’t love seafood, it was a weird place for me. I’ve gotten by usually by eating chicken, beef, or anything that’s not fish. This is not the case here. Everything is seafood. I had the Dungeness Crab and Bay Shrimp combo sandwich, not a ton of mayo which is good. But I did unfortunately have some bites without any meat. Mr. Vietalian said he would have preferred Wahoo’s up the street, the tacos weren’t anything too special for him. It might have been the anticipation of waiting for these tacos and reading about them online. Also the creeps sitting next to us (they asked a couple to leave their table because there weren’t enough tables) detracted from our stay. I wish it was a little more but I like the little I had.

Before this we took a drive around the state. We found ourselves out past San Diego zoo at Lake Cuyamaca. It was so small town I was almost uncomfortable. It was a restaurant and a store all in one. We sat on the deck that overlooked Lake Cuyamaca. So beautiful, the lake was shining, the sun warmed our shoulders, and there was a nice soft breeze for us to enjoy. I had the Breakfast Special, which were 2 pancakes. The bottom had blueberries, peanut butter and bananas in the middle, another pancake on top and strawberries with powdered sugar on top of that. Mr. Vietalian had the country fried Steak and gravy, which he said was good. Mr. Vietalian loves his country southern food so he knows it pretty well. He said it was one of the better gravies he’s had recently. I enjoyed my pancakes as well. It’s really quite hard to mess up pancakes. Given the fact that I’m not a huge fan of peanut butter, it didn’t quite add to the meal. We loved our waitress though. She was very sweet and attentive. The bill didn’t come out to much so we left a rather large tip for her. She tried to give us our change while we were leaving. But we insisted it was for her. As we left she cried she was so happy for her tip. She earned it. She made our day and I hope we made hers.

The very first night we ate at PB Alehouse out of sheer convenience and how hungry we were. We started with the fried calamari and poutine chips and short ribs. Got full and then did not want to eat our meal and had it packaged to go. So the food was good. But I’d like to take a minute to commend our waitress. The table behind us had 6 people who had drinks and food. Then some time after the waitress dropped off the check decided they wanted separate checks, in addition, they could barely figure out who ordered what and what everyone should pay. I do believe in everyone paying their fair share. But that was ridiculous. What’s wrong with just splitting the check 6 ways? Yeah someone might pay more or less, but do they realize how much hassle they put the waitress through? When the waitress came back and they requested separate checks she politely said, “I can do that. But just as a tip you should probably let your server know when you order that you’re going to want separate checks so it’s easier for us to help you.” Gold star.

We visited Mr. Vietalian’s cousins in Los Angeles for brunch. Combined with the fact that it was a Sunday and Mother’s Day we had a 2 hour wait. It’s a good thing they wanted to catch up or that wait would be completely unbearable. It was still a little unbearable. But the food was good. I have a lean corned beef sandwich and onion rings. So good after a morning work out. Mr. Vietalian got corned beef hash and extra crispy hash browns. It was a nice little patio and a good breakfast, but not something I couldn’t find in Boston. Or in Hawaii. Or probably in any other US City.

On our very last night we went to Gang Kitchen in the Gaslamp district. Unfortunately, I really did want to like this place, but it wasn’t meant to be. When we first showed up there was no hostess to seat us… for over 5 minutes. So we left, took a walk, and then made our way back where a hostess finally did seat us. Some of the food was creative, the crispy rice with spicy tuna on top. But then there were the spicy spring rolls which were less creative and a bit too much spice. Then the seared tuna and five spice chicken. All the food was tasty but just nothing blew me away or stood out. Such a shame, especially for the price of the food. But you know, live and learn.

In the morning we made our way over to Snooze. On a Monday it had a 30 minute morning wait. But so worth it. I had a puff pastry pot pie that was basically filled with sausage gravy usually topped with a sunnyside up egg (but I don’t like egg, so it was on the side) and a side of hash browns. I’ve come to the realization that while pancakes are all well and good, I get hungry later because they’re just so empty. I did decide to try some of the sunnyside up egg, after all, I’m working to get over this picky thing. I liked the whites but not the yolk. But the fact that I ate part of it was the most fantastic. It was kind of like a hardboiled egg. Mr. Vietalian got the shrimp and grits. He said it was good, on the trendy side but good. It was a good ending to our San Diego vacation. Affordable, so so tasty, and the way we did it, it got us to the airport on time.

Snooze renewed my love of pot pies. When I came home I fixed a recipe from Martha Stewart. I altered it a bit. But I love puff pastry. I’ve started to bake an extra piece of puff pastry on the side to have more puff pastry. It’s potatoes, carrots, chicken, and peas In addition, Mr. Vietalian and I have made half and half sweet potato and regular potato hash browns. I’m finally getting the hang of making hash browns. I use a grater when I can to create the nice thin potatoes. I was cutting it by hand and it makes it much thinner and easier to fry. They came out nice and crispy and hopefully not as bad for us. Oh so delicious, thank you Snooze for inspiring me.

Ingredients

I had friends over the other week, I always use this as a chance to try new recipes. I did barbecue chicken sandwiches. I watched the chicken cook in the crock pot, I felt like there was so much liquid after the chicken was cooked. But once you shred the chicken it starts absorbing it like crazy which makes the chicken very moist and flavorful. And being the paranoid person I was I went to the store and bought Jack Daniels Hickory Smoke Barbecue sauce. Seriously delicious. And when it stews with the juices and the other sauce, it just makes such a sweet savory flavor that I love. But it’s not overpowering barbecue flavor that would turn off Mr. Vietalian.

The next day, I had my Hawaii Kids over for lunch/brunch. We had loco mocos. Loco mocos are from Hawaii, it’s essentially a hamburger with gravy on rice with an egg on top. I don’t eat egg so I don’t know how to cook the egg at all so Mr. Vietalian covered that. I had that gravy from the crock pot roast beef. It’s really the quality of the gravy, burgers, and how long you wait to consume the loco moco that makes it really something. This meal cold, probably not so good, but nice and hot, before the gravy congeals; do it right or don’t do it at all basically.  We were out of gravy by the end of the meal but hey, at least we made it. The gravy, I saved the juices from the Pot roast, mixed in milk, flour and butter and waited until it thickened up. I think I even used some beef stock (basically just to use it since I wanted to use it). It becomes thick and a nice brown gravy, I’m definitely going to do this again.

Lastly, I made baked spaghetti. I was aiming for that spaghetti that they serve in Hawaii Schools. It’s covered in cheddar, plain spaghetti with marinara and baked until it’s pretty much overcooked. Yes, that is what I wanted. The recipe I had though had cottage cheese and mozzarella involved. It was good, but not the crap I was craving. Is it bad that I find that rather unfortunate? When I want the crappy food I want like Pizza Hut, I want the crappy food. But it was good, far too filling. Top it with some cheddar and it kind of brings back some of that Hawaii school charm.

Barbecue Chicken (CrockPot)

• 4 large skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

• 1 cup ketchup
• 2 tablespoons mustard
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 cup maple syrup

• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2 dashes hot pepper sauce, or to taste (optional) sriacha
• 3/4 c. Jack Daniels Hickory Smoke Sauce

Directions

1. Place the chicken breasts into the bottom of a slow cooker. In a bowl, stir together the ketchup, mustard, lemon juice, garlic powder, maple syrup, Worcestershire sauce, chili powder, cayenne pepper, and hot sauce until the mixture is well blended.
2. Pour the sauce over the chicken, set the cooker to Low, and cook for 6 hours. Shred the chicken with two forks, and cook for 30 more minutes. Serve the chicken and sauce spooned into the sandwich rolls.

Baked Spaghetti

Ingredients

• 1 (16 ounce) packagespaghetti

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 (32 ounce) jar meatless spaghetti sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt

• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 5 tablespoons butter, melted
• 2 cups small curd cottage cheese, divided
• 4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided

Ingredients

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9×13-inch baking dish.
2. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook spaghetti in boiling water, stirring occasionally until cooked through but firm to the bite, about 12 minutes. Drain.
3. Heat a large skillet over medium heat; cook and stir beef and onion until meat is browned and onions are soft and translucent, about 7 minutes. Drain. Stir in spaghetti sauce and seasoned salt.
4. Whisk eggs, Parmesan cheese, and butter in a large bowl. Mix in spaghetti to egg mixture and toss to coat. Place half the spaghetti mixture into baking dish. Top with half the cottage cheese, mozzarella, and meat sauce. Repeat layers. Cover with aluminum foil.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes. Remove foil and continue to bake until the cheese is melted and lightly browned, 20 to 25 minutes longer.

Brownies

Ingredients

• 1 cup white sugar

• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup baking cocoa
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil

• 2 eggs
• 1 tablespoon light corn syrup honey

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9×9 baking pan.
2. Combine white sugar, flour, cocoa, salt, and baking powder in a bowl. Whisk oil, eggs, honey, and vanilla extract in a small bowl. Stir egg mixture into flour mixture; fold in walnuts. Spread into prepared baking pan.
3. Bake in preheated oven until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean, about 30 minutes.

I made lemon and key lime bars for Easter weekend. I was all about the spring colors that weekend. Dying for spring, less cold, less snow. I used those pre-squeezed lemon and lime juice, it makes it easier because I generally can’t get a cup of lemon juice from a couple of lemons. We went to Mr. Vietalian’s house for Easter. Since Easter is a big deal in a lot of Italian/Catholic households I wasn’t sure how this would go over. We had a large meal. Starting the first course with ravioli, salad, meatballs, and sausage. The second course we had ham, mashed potatoes two-ways, and vegetables. Then dessert. I think that my lemon bars went over okay. My oven is on the fritz still. So I baked it with time in the recipe. When I put the lemon mixture on top the crust broke off and floated to the top. It really does need to bake well. After I baked the lemon mix, LET THE THING SIT! It will firm up. When it came out it was all gooey. I let it sit for a day in the fridge and then covered it with powdered sugar. Came out nice.

Trader Joe’s makes this fabulous salad called the Harvest Chicken Salad. It had a hardboiled egg, chicken, green beans, corn, and a Dijon dressing. After buying 2 in a day I decided it was time to buy the ingredients for a mock Harvest Chicken Salad. I baked the chicken in 400 degrees for 20 minutes, just a little salt and pepper on top of it. Cut it up. Hard boiled the egg, this is the first time I hard boiled an egg. Combined everything on a plate then mixed it with the dijon dressing (mix 1/4c apple cider vinegar, 1/4 c. dijon Mustard, 1/4 c. EVOO, 2 tsp or to taste splenda). It’s really very good, easy and healthy.

Slow Cooker Pot Roast

Ingredients

• 3 pounds beef chuck roast

• 1/3 cup shoyu
• 1 (1 ounce) package dry onion soup mix

• 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1. Pour the shoyu and dry onion soup mix into the slow cooker.
2. Mix well. Place chuck roast into slow cooker.
3. Add water until the top 1/2 inch of the roast is not covered.
4. Add the fresh ground pepper over the top.
5. Cook on low for 8 hours

Lemon and Key Lime Bars

Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cups white sugar
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 c lemon or key lime juice

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Blend together softened butter, 2 cups flour and 1/2 cup sugar. Press into the bottom of an ungreased 9×13 inch pan.
3. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until firm and golden. In another bowl, whisk together the remaining 1 1/2 cups sugar and 1/4 cup flour. Whisk in the eggs and lemon juice. Pour over the baked crust.
4. Bake for an additional 20 minutes in the preheated oven. The bars will firm up as they cool.

I’m also enjoying that the HRM determines what a good zone for my heart to be at during exercise is. For me it’s 128-167. I try to keep it at 150-155, I have been known to push it into the 160s and 180s. But I try to keep it in the zone because it makes optimal fat burn and weight loss. Above the given zone can strain your body if you push it too hard for too long, below it you’re not pushing your body hard enough. The HRM even beeps at me when I do one or the other. And believe me I can push or back off to avoid the annoying beeping sound. Overall, I’m so in love. All I have to do is start eating better to match and I’m more than ready for spring.

The strap usually starts higher up, but as I do the deep breathing and all the other exercises. It slips. I just tightened it and that problem was fixed right up.

I went to When Pigs Fly. Turns out it’s a dollar less there for a full loaf of sourdough than it is for half a loaf at my grocery store. But it’s also not as convenient. I got sidetracked and got a triple chocolate salted caramel cookie. Best thing I’ve eaten recently. It was amazing. I also bought their salad dressing bread dip. It was good, a little overpowering. Herbs and lemon, straight up. It needs something else and I’ll determine what that is later.

I was on a home food kick recently, so I wanted shoyu chicken. However, there’s still that issue with my oven. So I made crock pot shoyu chicken. Mr. Vitalian loved it, but he hasn’t had shoyu chicken before. I wanted more shoyu on the chicken so I would suggest using less chicken. I did like that I browned the chicken before. I might also not use cilantro I don’t likey cilantro. Everything else was pretty good. I think just less chicken would bring out the flavor. It’s still in the fridge and leaving it in the sauce for now is probably only a good thing. I served it with mash since Mr. Vitalian isn’t too fond of rice. But it was a good first try. I’ll try again soon, but I’m pretty over with Asian food right now.

And today, I don’t even know how any of this happened. I was using the hand mixer to make sourdough bread. So here’s the thing about sourdough, you need to make a starter which is 2 c. warm water, 2 c. flour, and 1.5 tsp of active yeast and let it sit for a week or LONGER. Make sure you mix it well. And like I was saying, I was using the handmixer and the chord got caught in the mixer so I tried to pull it out. But I didn’t turn it off first, so my fingers got pulled in while the mixer was still going. It started heating because it couldn’t mix around my fingers. I finally got the mixer off. I’m fine. I held an ice pack for a little while. And I should be fine. But it hurt like nobody’s business.

So I mixed all of the ingredients like the recipe below said. My bread didn’t rise. I didn’t add as much flour as the first time I tried to make it because the biggest problem with it was there was too much dry flour not to mention instead of using bread flour I tried to use whole wheat. So much for being healthy. I waited for it to rise for an hour and it didn’t. I’m wondering if it’s still too cold for that and where does one put it so it’ll rise. I’m thinking of taking a class on sourdough bread because I tried once or twice now and it’s not working out yet.

Cheerio Treats

Ingredients

• Cheerios
• bag of mini marshmallows
• 4 tbsp of butter

Directions

1. Heat butter, marshmallows in a pot.
2. Pour in Cheerios and stir until everything is evenly coated
3. Coat 13×9 pan and press cheerio ix into pan with wax paper.

Shoyu Chicken Crockpot Style

• 4-5 3-4 lb chicken thighs
• 1/4 cup mirin
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed and minced
• 
1-inch piece ginger, crushed and minced
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro, leaves and stems

1. Combine marinade ingredients. Pour over chicken. Marinate 4 hours in refrigerator.
2. Place large skillet over high heat. Remove chicken from marinade (reserving all the marinade). Brown chicken well. Remove chicken to 5- to 6-quart slow-cooker.
3. Add water to skillet and scrape up the browned bits at bottom of pan. Pour contents of skillet over chicken along with all the reserved marinade.
4. Cook on low 4 to 5 hours or until cooked through. Turn pieces halfway through.
5. To thicken sauce (optional): Remove chicken pieces and skim fat from liquid in baking pan or Crock-Pot. Thicken sauce on stove top using a slurry of 3 tablespoons cornstarch.

Sourdough Starter

• 1.5 tsp active yeast
• 2 c. all purpose flour
• 2 c. water

1. In large non-metallic bowl, mix together dry yeast, 2 cups warm water, and 2 cups all purpose flour and cover loosely.
2. Leave in a warm place to ferment, 4 to 8 days. Depending on temperature and humidity of kitchen, times may vary. Place on cookie sheet in case of overflow. Check on occasionally.
3. When mixture is bubbly and has a pleasant sour smell, it is ready to use. If mixture has a pink, orange, or any other strange color tinge to it, THROW IT OUT! and start over. Keep it in the refrigerator, covered until ready to bake.
4. When you use starter to bake, always replace with equal amounts of a flour and water mixture with a pinch of sugar. So, if you remove 1 cup starter, replace with 1 cup water and 1 cup flour. Mix well and leave out on the counter until bubbly again, then refrigerate.

If a clear to light brown liquid has accumulated on top, don’t worry, this is an alcohol base liquid that occurs with fermentation. Just stir this back into the starter, the alcohol bakes off and that wonderful sourdough flavor remains! Sourdough starters improve with age, they used to be passed down generation to generation!

Sourdough Bread

Ingredients

• 4.75 4 c. bread flour
• 3 Tbsp white sugar
• 2.5 tsp salt
• 1.5 tsp active yeast
• 1 c. warm milk
• 2 tbsp margarine
• 1.5-2 c. sourdough starter
• 1 egg (egg wash)

Directions

1. In a large bowl, combine 1 cup flour, sugar, salt, and dry yeast. Add milk and softened butter or margarine. Stir in starter. Mix in up to 3 3/4 cups flour gradually, you may need more depending on your climate.
2. Turn dough out onto a floured surface, and knead for 8 to 10 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turn once to oil surface, and cover. Allow to rise for 1 hour, or until doubled in volume.
3. Punch down, and let rest 15 minutes. Shape into loaves. Place on a greased baking pan. Allow to rise for 1 hour, or until doubled.
4. Brush egg wash over tops of loaves, and sprinkle with chopped onion.
5. Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 30 minutes, or till done.

Happiest of Birthdays!

Two appliances I’m loving: my crockpot and my food processor.

I make a lot of creamy, yummy soups and I thought I should try something new, which also means, lets try something without chicken. So beef vegetable soup it is. Now, when I think of beef vegetable soup I think of Alphabet soup that I used to get when I was a kid. Don’t get me wrong, the stuff was delicious, but kindddaaa bad for you.

So I need to start reading these recipes better. Like I read them, think I got it, put it down, make the recipe, and then find out that I forgot something. This time I forgot to put the potatoes in when I threw everything into the crock pot. I used one real potato instead of a can of potatoes. Something about canned potatoes just doesn’t do it for me. It also creeps me out. Like surprisingly canned carrots creep me out. I’ve been trying to move away from canned food as I realized how much of the nutrients are drained out and how much it increases your sodium intake for the day. But I read a lot of the reviews for the recipe and it said fresh produce will increase the water in the soup, which I did not want. I added a few things, and again forgot a few things.

The next thing I forgot was the beef onion soup mixture. It adds the flavor as it turns out. I mean it had flavor but I was pouring salt in to get more of it. Then I realized what I forgot. So when I reheated the soup for dinner I put it on the stove top, mixed in the soup mix, and let it simmer until Mr. Vitalian came home.

I took the recipe as is, but next time I do it I’m going to try to firstly, REMEMBER all the ingredients. Secondly,use fresh ingredients.

I love sandwiches. As much as I would enjoy a chicken sandwich with some soup. That’s a lot of protein for one meal. So I went with a good old fashioned Grilled Cheese. I used sourdough bread, Havarti cheese, American cheese, and some spinach. It was delicious. Along side with the fixed soup and some chipotle mayo on the side. The chipotle mayo, well so the first time I tried to make it, I wanted to utilize the entire can of chipotle chili peppers in one sitting, so I tripled the recipe. AND IT WAS WAY TO SPICY AND THE BIGGEST MISTAKE EVER. That time I also tried to use Fat-free mayo because I already don’t particularly like mayo and adding to the fact that it’s not good for you doesn’t help its reputation with me. So I used light mayo this time, the 2 chili peppers it said, half a lime’s juice (then I broke my juicer, the handle snapped off), 2 cloves of garlic, 2 tsps of sugar, and 1/2 tsp of white vinegar. Food processed all of that into a nice mix and now I have a ton of chipotle mayo and a couple peppers and mayo to use for whatever else. I’m thinking of making more and keeping it at Mr. Vitalian’s how for the next time we have Quesadillas. Thank god I got it right this time because the last time it was inedible and I had to throw out a food processor and a half of chipotle mayo. 

Beef Vegetable Stew

Ingredients

• 1 lb. cubed stew beef
• 1 (15 oz) can green beans
• 1 (15 oz) can sliced carrots
• 1 (15 oz) can whole kernel corn
• 2 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
• 1 Russet potato, cubed
• 1 (1.25 oz) beef and onion soup mix
• 3/4 c. Beef Stock

Directions

1. Place meat, corn, green beans, carrots, potatoes, tomato sauce, beef stock, soup mix, and salt and pepper to taste into the slow cooker; stir to combine
2. Cook on low for 6 hours or more.

Chipotle Mayo

Ingredients

• 3/4 c mayo (light or full calorie)
• 2 Chipotle peppers in Adobo Sauce
• 2 tsp white sugar
• 1/2 tsp white vinegar
• 1/2 lime’s juice
• 2 cloves garlic

Put everything into a blender or food processor and mix thoroughly.

Friday, we met up with Mr. Vietalian’s cousin in the Village. I’m so unfamiliar with the geography of NY but I’m getting better at it. Especially after looking at so many maps to figure out if I’m going in the right direction. We went to John’s Pizzaria. As the weirdo I am, I’m not a big fan of pizza. But I’ll eat it. I told them to get whatever they wanted and to not let my preferences hold them back. You have to see me eat a fully loaded pizza sometime. I can navigate around ham, peppers, mushrooms, onions, and anything else I don’t like like no other. This one wasn’t hard, the only thing I fully wouldn’t eat were the peppers. Being able to eat onions now is kind of cool. But this was our Friday. Concluded by a piece of Cheesecake in times square. I ran that morning I deserve that cake. My next goal for that area is going to The Big Gay Ice Cream Shop. We passed it walking from the village back up to our hotel.

So Saturday morning I woke up hungry. I quickly yelped nearby bagel places. Guys, I’m in NY, I’m eating a bagel even though it’s empty carbs. I found Pick a Bagel 2 streets down. I got a garlic bagel, which is not as overpowering as it sounds. Non fat cream cheese. I forget how they LOAD the bagels with cream cheese. One part bagel, two parts cream cheese. Thank god it was fat free, but I still scraped a lot of it off. I shared the bagel with Mr. Vietalian and then also shared a cup of yogurt and granola. This cup of granola had nothing on our Trader Joe Greek Yogurt and Low fat Trader Joe Granola.

For lunch, well so I wanted a cheap knock off bag. So we were down in Chinatown after about an hour of searching for my bag and random clothes shop I was crashing and getting very hungry. So we walked probably about a mile to BobWhite Lunch and Supper Counter. I’ve seen it on 24 in 24, where the guy on Food Network tries to eat in NYC for 24$, which is insane by the way. I spent more than that on one meal, mostly because there was 2 of us and we like our side orders and stuff. I also saw this place on Padma Lakshmi’s instagram, so I knew it had to be good. I wasn’t at all disappointed. One of our cheaper real meals in the city. I had the juicy fried chicken supper which comes with a side of slaw and a biscuit. I loved the chicken, it had a fantastic crunch but was so moist and well seasoned. Then the biscuit wasn’t dry as most biscuits are. That’s generally why I don’t like biscuits. Mr. Vietalian got a Buffalo Chicken Sandwich and a side of cheesy grits. Turns out I don’t like grits, but I tried it. TWICE. But he says it was the best grits he’s had in the Northeast, as he’s comparing it to grits he’s had in the south, I’d say that’s pretty damn good. One of the guy’s Andy, he owns it partially but the guy cooking in the back really owns it. They said it’s old Kansas recipes. They’re open 12-10pm, which seems weird to NYC but they are a little out of the way and it makes the neighborhood they’re in happy. It’s a small little restaurant so going at 1pm was good timing on our part. I can see how the prices, food, and overall company of this restaurant will bring in hoards of customers.

For dinner we met up with Mr. Vietalian’s friend and because we were indecisive we went to a restaurant called Mooncake Foods. It was Asian fusion. I enjoyed watching Mr. Vietalian’s friend try to eat short ribs. They were the ribs you’d use for Kalbi with the little round bones in it. He couldn’t figure out how to get the meat off the bone, I showed him. I popped one in my mouth and used my teeth to pull the meat free from the bone, but he didn’t like the scraping it would do to his teeth. You gotta do what you gotta do. I had a salad since I wasn’t so hungry since BobWhite’s. Honestly I can eat like it’s my job so that always impressive. I had a shrimp salad, I should have asked for the cilantro not in it. I’d be eating and run into a really bitter something here and there. The dressing all fell to the bottom but it was delicious. More stirring of the salad! Mr. Vietalian had fish tacos which he enjoyed. I think they were a little more Asian than he expected. The menu is interesting, it has some legit food. But when it says “heros” they mean banh mi, and that threw me of. Deciphering what they really meant was more of a task than I wanted it to be.

We were going to meet up with some friends, but we had some time to kill. I went with the boys to a Hookah Lounge, didn’t partake. But the entire time I was confused why there was Hookah in a Latin restaurant. I did my research Hookah has middle eastern/Indian roots, why were we in a Latin restaurant? Oh well, no skin off my nose.

We met up with my friends on 32nd street. It’s amazing the way I navigate. I actually just looked on Yelp but it took us to Korean Way! Hah, leave it to the Asian to find the one Asian street and not even know it. We went to Spot’s Dessert Bar, which is not a bar. I should have looked into it better. It was a big food court with really good looking restaurants though. Just looking at it satisfied my Asian fix. But I got a Yuzu Eskimo. I’m still unsure of how to classify yuzu, but it was like a citrus ice cream cheesecake with an oreo bottom. And a side of strawberry puree and chocolate bits. It wasn’t bad but I wanted to eat my Red Velvet cupcake. It scored high on the cupcake scale, but not the best I ever had. I need to look into my Yelp Searches better before I settle on a place. We then trekked our way to Rattle and Hum. Turned out to be a bit of a dive bar, packed of course, and loud. I mean my goal was to be able to hear Samm talk, but you know what. The atmosphere was one we were familiar with. So why not. Everyone just got drinks. We sat at a table that was made out of a barrel. I’m a big fan of bars like this, no muss no fuss.

Sunday morning I returned to Pick A Bagel, got us each our own garlic bagels and some sandwiches for the bus. Not a super eventful NYC trip, but every time I go to NYC I remember how much I hate Times Square, the people, the rain, and the noise. It’s a nice place to visit but I’m much more comfortable exactly where I am.

So I’m still enjoying my new Crockpot. Some recipes are a hit or miss. I made a lemon chicken. What I love about doing meat in the slow cooker is all the juices that come out of the meat. I turn it into gravy. This time I was trying to turn it into a sauce to put on top whole wheat Penne pasta.

The recipe below has a great flavor. The wine and chicken broth really temper the lemon juice in a good way. Then the bouillon and chicken help to enhance it. I added broccoli to my end result (which was frozen or I would have just thrown it in the slow cooker half way through to soften it a bit). It’s not quite a piccata sauce, it’s less lemony than that. But it’s got a rich flavor, but lightness from all of the broths. I just wish it was less watery and more sauce like. Perhaps a little bit of cornstarch or flour will help me out with that next time I make it. And seriously I can’t get over turning on the slow cooker before I go to bed and waking up to some good eats in the morning. I think my next challenge will to make bread in the slow cooker. I hear that’s a thing.

Ingredients

• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 pack chicken bouillon
• 2 lb chicken
• 1 10 oz can of chicken broth
• 1/2 c. white wine
• 1 tsp dried parsley
• 3 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper
• 2-4 cloves garlic, smashed

Directions

1. Season chicken with parsley, oregano, and pepper.
2. Brown chicken if you like, but I just place it into the slow cooker.
3. Mix the bouillon, white wine, chicken broth, and garlic well.
4. Cook on high for 3 hours or on low for 6. I don’t know if it’s different but I did on low for 6
5. Serve with potatoes, rice, or on top Penne (or whatever noodle you see fit). 

Now that I’m back in Boston, I was watching the Phantom Gourmet, which is a food show kind of like Diners, Drive ins, and Dives but all in New England. Right down the street, like literally the street I live on, walk on every single day, there is a Falafel place called Amsterdam Falafelshop. It’s this cute little shop with pictures of Amsterdam everywhere. The owners fell in love with Amsterdam and decided to bring it back with them.

I got the regular pita which only costs a dollar more than the small one, but gives you 2 extra falafel balls. Then you crush the balls in the pita, put the sauce in the pita, and then put toppings from the toppings bar into the pita. They have pickled turnips, pickles, cucumbers and onions. There are other things that I don’t eat like eggplant, crunchy onions, humus, etc. I was a big fan of the garlic sauce. I found that the falafel had a little bit of a kick since I’m very sensitive to spice.

Falafel balls are deep fried balls made out of chick peas, fava beans, both along with spices. The sauce that goes with it is the tahini sauce. I thought that this yogurt based sauce really helped to cut down on the spice. Even though this is a middle eastern street food it was quite difficult for me to eat at all let alone with one hand. This is a vegetarian friendly meal for those of you that are. If you’re not, it’s also still yummy. My opinion on falafels? Well it’s good. It’s not necessarily something I would crave, but it’s good and I’d eat it if offered.

So today I made Puppy Chow, not just any type of Puppy Chow. FUNFETTI PUPPY CHOW. It’s a mix of funfetti mix, powdered sugar, sprinkles, and melted white chocolate.

Ingredients

• 6 c. of rice chex
• 12 oz White Chocolate (Wilton’s melting candy)
• 1.5 c Funfetti Cake mix
• .5 c Powdered Sugar
• sprinkles

Directions

1. Melt the white chocolate down to a runny consistency. I put it in a glass bowl, boiled some water, and did a double boiler in my crock pot. (make sure no water gets into the chocolate) You can also microwave it and melt it, but it made such a better consistency.
2. Mix it with the 6 c. of rice chex, funfetti cake mix, and powdered sugar.
3. Spread out on parchment paper and allow to set.