Contact: wildergin@yahoo.com
My favorite way to spend my time is dining out with my husband, friends and family. Here is my restaurant diary:
Oklahoma City, Labor Day 2017 - I can't get enough of this charming city. Coffee shops, friendly people, the best of the South and the Midwest all in one city. You can read about the new restaurants I discovered here!
Charleston 2017 - Yep, I went to Charleston again and this time I took a guided food tour and tried even more new restaurants. You can read about it HERE!
Colorado 2017 - Paul and I spent two weeks in Colorado with his family and on our own. We spent a week in Manitou Springs and loved it. You can read about that HERE! We also spent a week in Estes Park, Boulder and Denver exploring each city as much as possible between hikes in the Rocky Mountains. You can read about that HERE!
Charleston 2017 - Yep, I went to Charleston again and this time I took a guided food tour and tried even more new restaurants. You can read about it HERE!
Colorado 2017 - Paul and I spent two weeks in Colorado with his family and on our own. We spent a week in Manitou Springs and loved it. You can read about that HERE! We also spent a week in Estes Park, Boulder and Denver exploring each city as much as possible between hikes in the Rocky Mountains. You can read about that HERE!
New England Foodie Tour Summer 2017!!
The day after school was out I drove from Dodge City to Pawhuska, Oklahoma to visit the Pioneer Woman Mercantile. Afterwards I drove on to Broken Arrow, Oklahoma to check in at the pet-friendly Clarion hotel. Then I drove to downtown Tulsa and found Topeca Coffee House where I had a yummy flat white. It was delicious and the coffee shop was in the beautiful Mayo Hotel. I'd previously found this coffee sold in Whole Foods in Oklahoma City. I bought another bag of the chocolate flavored coffee beans then drove over to the Woodland Hills Mall and picked up a to-go order from Cheesecake Factory. I watched The Kardashians and shared a bite of my Asian lettuce wraps with our dog Zeno.
The next day I drove home to Batesville, Mississippi to spend time with my mom. I stopped in Conway, Arkansas for a Starbucks and a McAlisters baked potato. Mom and I went to The Caramel Factory and then had sushi at Yamato. After we walked the dog around the neighborhood a few times I went to bed early.
Memphis was hit by a horrible storm Saturday night (150,000 people without electricity for over a week) but Sunday was the day I had scheduled for shopping and eating in my old favorite places. Mom and I ate breakfast and grocery shopped at the Whole Foods on Mendenhall and then went to IKEA, Williams Sonoma Outlet, Anthropologie and the brand new Sur La Table. We ate lunch at Soul Fish Cafe, shopped in Penzeys, and stopped in Michael's for scrap booking kits. Basically we did "my Memphis" and it was so good to be home!
Memorial Day was nice in Batesville. Mom and I went to the Memorial Day service downtown on the Batesville Square and then drove to Oxford, MS to walk around the historic Oxford Square. We shopped in Off Square Books and stopped in Starbucks. Mom picked up some yummy Mexican food for dinner.
The next day started my whirlwind tour of New England and you can read about it HERE!
The day after school was out I drove from Dodge City to Pawhuska, Oklahoma to visit the Pioneer Woman Mercantile. Afterwards I drove on to Broken Arrow, Oklahoma to check in at the pet-friendly Clarion hotel. Then I drove to downtown Tulsa and found Topeca Coffee House where I had a yummy flat white. It was delicious and the coffee shop was in the beautiful Mayo Hotel. I'd previously found this coffee sold in Whole Foods in Oklahoma City. I bought another bag of the chocolate flavored coffee beans then drove over to the Woodland Hills Mall and picked up a to-go order from Cheesecake Factory. I watched The Kardashians and shared a bite of my Asian lettuce wraps with our dog Zeno.
The next day I drove home to Batesville, Mississippi to spend time with my mom. I stopped in Conway, Arkansas for a Starbucks and a McAlisters baked potato. Mom and I went to The Caramel Factory and then had sushi at Yamato. After we walked the dog around the neighborhood a few times I went to bed early.
Memphis was hit by a horrible storm Saturday night (150,000 people without electricity for over a week) but Sunday was the day I had scheduled for shopping and eating in my old favorite places. Mom and I ate breakfast and grocery shopped at the Whole Foods on Mendenhall and then went to IKEA, Williams Sonoma Outlet, Anthropologie and the brand new Sur La Table. We ate lunch at Soul Fish Cafe, shopped in Penzeys, and stopped in Michael's for scrap booking kits. Basically we did "my Memphis" and it was so good to be home!
Memorial Day was nice in Batesville. Mom and I went to the Memorial Day service downtown on the Batesville Square and then drove to Oxford, MS to walk around the historic Oxford Square. We shopped in Off Square Books and stopped in Starbucks. Mom picked up some yummy Mexican food for dinner.
The next day started my whirlwind tour of New England and you can read about it HERE!
Spring Break 2017 - My husband and I had an amazing trip to Florida. We visited three national parks and ate two Cuban dinners in Little Havana. Read about it here!
December 2016 - The Christmas holiday was amazing. I wrote up my travels and the new restaurants I tried in the South here: Here's the write-up!
Las Vegas 2016 - I spent five days in Las Vegas eating at tons of restaurants and buffets I researched. Here's the write-up!
Las Vegas 2016 - I spent five days in Las Vegas eating at tons of restaurants and buffets I researched. Here's the write-up!
September 15-18 - The Cooper Young Festival in Memphis! I flew home for a few days to visit my mom in Mississippi. While there we drove in to Memphis each day and ate all my favorite foods in my favorite restaurants. We went to Soul Fish Café, Amerigo's, Muddy's Cupcakes, Mempops popsicles, Abbay's, Gibson's Doughnuts, my favorite Cuban place Los Compadres and a handful of trips to Starbuck's. The Cooper-Young Festival is my favorite festival in the world now that I no longer attend the King Biscuit Blues Festival in Helena, Arkansas. It was good to visit all my favorite stores too. Memphis will always be home.
Charleston, South Carolina Foodie Tour, July 2016 - I visited my friend Stephanie who moved to Charleston back in January. Here's the write-up!
Midwest Foodie Tour July 2016 - I spent almost a week being a food tourist in Kansas City, MO and KS; Lincoln, Nebraska, and Des Moines, Iowa. Here's the write-up!
July 1, 2016 - I was starting to feel cabin fever (is that the right word for feeling cooped up in the summer?) so I took a day trip to Wichita. Every summer I try to get my Christmas shopping done early so that I don't have to worry about it once the school year starts. I revisited The Spice Merchant and the Donut Whole. I shopped at Bradley Fair, Watermark Books, and had the buffet lunch at Zaytun again. I stopped in World Market and the huge Bed Bath and Beyond beside it. I returned home to Dodge City feeling happy and ready to wrap Christmas presents in July.
Midwest Foodie Tour July 2016 - I spent almost a week being a food tourist in Kansas City, MO and KS; Lincoln, Nebraska, and Des Moines, Iowa. Here's the write-up!
July 1, 2016 - I was starting to feel cabin fever (is that the right word for feeling cooped up in the summer?) so I took a day trip to Wichita. Every summer I try to get my Christmas shopping done early so that I don't have to worry about it once the school year starts. I revisited The Spice Merchant and the Donut Whole. I shopped at Bradley Fair, Watermark Books, and had the buffet lunch at Zaytun again. I stopped in World Market and the huge Bed Bath and Beyond beside it. I returned home to Dodge City feeling happy and ready to wrap Christmas presents in July.
Memphis Summer 2016
It's so good to be home!! I made it to Mississippi Saturday afternoon and Mom and I ate sushi at the very satisfying Yamato restaurant. I loved it that tempura catfish is an appetizer. Mom ordered it and loved it. I had the delicious spicy crawfish roll and a couple of veggie rolls. After a good night's sleep I drove to Memphis and made a beeline for "my" Starbucks near Highland and Poplar. I ran into an old friend we used to swing dance with and then talked for a while with Nam, the sweet Vietnamese lady who owns La Baguette. She couldn't remember my name but she knows me as the lady who always bought three trays of macarons for my French students. I almost cried I was so happy to be home, in my old neighborhood. I visited my old Sunday School class and they were as happy to see me as I was happy to see them. Afterwards I met up with Stephanie at India Palace for the lunch buffet. This buffet is my all time favorite in Memphis. True, Mayuri buffet is amazing, but India Palace has my favorite mint sauce, chickpea salad, tandoori chicken and desserts. It also has my favorite waiters. They asked me why I hadn't been in lately, and I explained I moved to Kansas. They asked if the food was still as good as I remembered and yes, it certainly was. There are places and people in Memphis that I always want to return to. There are some things that I always want to be the same.
After an afternoon of visiting my favorite stores: William's Sonoma outlet, Dinsthul's, Anthropologie, and a few others. Stephanie and I discovered Mempops too. I loved the tangerine flavored popsicle. Then it was time for an early dinner at Soul Fish with my friend Nancy. We caught up over smoked catfish dip, fried pickles and a veggie dish. Soul Fish will always be my go-to favorite Southern restaurant experience because the flavors never disappoint. I could eat the catfish dip and tortilla chips every day of my life. The next day was the beginning of a five day trip to Boston, Concord, Portland, and Bar Harbor. Check that page out here. And also here.
It's so good to be home!! I made it to Mississippi Saturday afternoon and Mom and I ate sushi at the very satisfying Yamato restaurant. I loved it that tempura catfish is an appetizer. Mom ordered it and loved it. I had the delicious spicy crawfish roll and a couple of veggie rolls. After a good night's sleep I drove to Memphis and made a beeline for "my" Starbucks near Highland and Poplar. I ran into an old friend we used to swing dance with and then talked for a while with Nam, the sweet Vietnamese lady who owns La Baguette. She couldn't remember my name but she knows me as the lady who always bought three trays of macarons for my French students. I almost cried I was so happy to be home, in my old neighborhood. I visited my old Sunday School class and they were as happy to see me as I was happy to see them. Afterwards I met up with Stephanie at India Palace for the lunch buffet. This buffet is my all time favorite in Memphis. True, Mayuri buffet is amazing, but India Palace has my favorite mint sauce, chickpea salad, tandoori chicken and desserts. It also has my favorite waiters. They asked me why I hadn't been in lately, and I explained I moved to Kansas. They asked if the food was still as good as I remembered and yes, it certainly was. There are places and people in Memphis that I always want to return to. There are some things that I always want to be the same.
After an afternoon of visiting my favorite stores: William's Sonoma outlet, Dinsthul's, Anthropologie, and a few others. Stephanie and I discovered Mempops too. I loved the tangerine flavored popsicle. Then it was time for an early dinner at Soul Fish with my friend Nancy. We caught up over smoked catfish dip, fried pickles and a veggie dish. Soul Fish will always be my go-to favorite Southern restaurant experience because the flavors never disappoint. I could eat the catfish dip and tortilla chips every day of my life. The next day was the beginning of a five day trip to Boston, Concord, Portland, and Bar Harbor. Check that page out here. And also here.
The Food Trucks in Dodge City, Kansas - April 2, 2016 - I have wanted to try all the food trucks in town since we moved here. This weekend we finally made time to eat at two. I will only describe one of them because the other was, well, the nicest way I can say it is "flavorless." The food truck that we loved is Pupuseria Marisol. We ordered the steak plate, a pupusa (they only have pork and cheese ones) and a chicken taco. Paul and I shared this meal and it was so delicious! The carne asada was so flavorful, the rice was chicken-flavored and the salsa tasted just like the salsa in Memphis that I miss so much.
Santa Fe, New Mexico - Spring Break 2016
We found a ton of wonderful restaurants in Santa Fe! Click the above link to the page with pictures and restaurant links.
Santa Fe, New Mexico - Spring Break 2016
We found a ton of wonderful restaurants in Santa Fe! Click the above link to the page with pictures and restaurant links.
Wichita - January 16-17, 2016 Our Anniversary Weekend
Paul and I celebrated our anniversary in Wichita this weekend. We've been to Wichita a few times since it is the closest big city to ours. I was happy to get my retail and art fix. And of course a foodie fix! Saturday morning we drove straight to Old Chicago for the Italian nachos, calzone and gluten-free pizza. We always order the Italian nachos with tortilla chips instead of the pretzel chips it comes with. Then we went east on Douglas avenue to Traditions to look at furniture and rugs. We then drove to the Delano neighborhood and ordered desserts in La Galette, a very cute French bakery. We had vanilla pudding with strawberries, chocolate mousse and a chocolate macaron. Then we went to the Wichita Art Museum to see American landscapes and Chihuly glass sculptures.
After we checked on our dog at the hotel we drove to Bradley Fair and shopped in Barnes and Noble, Pier 1 Imports, Williams Sonoma, Sephora and Cocoa Dulce. It was fun to find a local Wichita chocolate shop that served Reverie coffee (local coffee). The chocolates were laid out beautifully under glass with careful descriptions. I ordered a cappuccino and picked up a few bags of Reverie coffee. One coffee flavor is named for the Wichita State Shockers.
After Bradley Fair Paul and I went to dinner at our favorite sushi restaurant in Old Town called Wasabi. Paul ordered the vegetable tempura roll and I ordered the Heart Attack roll with crab, cream cheese and sliced jalapeños. We shared other vegetable rolls and the fried mashed potatoes appetizer. Paul ordered a glass of cold sake and it tasted like a mixture of white wine and whiskey. Afterwards Paul was happy to watch football at the hotel while I drove to World Market to hunt for Mardi Gras food and decor.
The next morning I got up early and went to the Starbuck's near Douglas and Rock Street. I ordered an iced coffee and picked up a Sunday Times. Then I backtracked to the Livingston Cafe for breakfast. It was open early and looked cozy. The service was friendly and the coffee was great. There were lots of flavored creamers on the table to choose from. I had a Spanish omelette with hash browns and biscuits. Paul ate the biscuits for breakfast later. After breakfast I drove to Whole Foods and walked the aisles in a reverie. One of my favorite happy places in Memphis was the Whole Foods at Mendenhall and Poplar. It was like being home. I bought gluten free muffins, a tagine mix, a gumbo mix, some gluten free pretzels and some McClure's pickles. Paul and I headed out of town a couple of hours later. I sipped on my Starbuck's iced coffee for the rest of the afternoon. It was such a great anniversary getaway. Wichita is a great little city. I can't wait to go back for antique shopping and more French desserts. (see pictures under "Food Destinations" "Wichita")
Paul and I celebrated our anniversary in Wichita this weekend. We've been to Wichita a few times since it is the closest big city to ours. I was happy to get my retail and art fix. And of course a foodie fix! Saturday morning we drove straight to Old Chicago for the Italian nachos, calzone and gluten-free pizza. We always order the Italian nachos with tortilla chips instead of the pretzel chips it comes with. Then we went east on Douglas avenue to Traditions to look at furniture and rugs. We then drove to the Delano neighborhood and ordered desserts in La Galette, a very cute French bakery. We had vanilla pudding with strawberries, chocolate mousse and a chocolate macaron. Then we went to the Wichita Art Museum to see American landscapes and Chihuly glass sculptures.
After we checked on our dog at the hotel we drove to Bradley Fair and shopped in Barnes and Noble, Pier 1 Imports, Williams Sonoma, Sephora and Cocoa Dulce. It was fun to find a local Wichita chocolate shop that served Reverie coffee (local coffee). The chocolates were laid out beautifully under glass with careful descriptions. I ordered a cappuccino and picked up a few bags of Reverie coffee. One coffee flavor is named for the Wichita State Shockers.
After Bradley Fair Paul and I went to dinner at our favorite sushi restaurant in Old Town called Wasabi. Paul ordered the vegetable tempura roll and I ordered the Heart Attack roll with crab, cream cheese and sliced jalapeños. We shared other vegetable rolls and the fried mashed potatoes appetizer. Paul ordered a glass of cold sake and it tasted like a mixture of white wine and whiskey. Afterwards Paul was happy to watch football at the hotel while I drove to World Market to hunt for Mardi Gras food and decor.
The next morning I got up early and went to the Starbuck's near Douglas and Rock Street. I ordered an iced coffee and picked up a Sunday Times. Then I backtracked to the Livingston Cafe for breakfast. It was open early and looked cozy. The service was friendly and the coffee was great. There were lots of flavored creamers on the table to choose from. I had a Spanish omelette with hash browns and biscuits. Paul ate the biscuits for breakfast later. After breakfast I drove to Whole Foods and walked the aisles in a reverie. One of my favorite happy places in Memphis was the Whole Foods at Mendenhall and Poplar. It was like being home. I bought gluten free muffins, a tagine mix, a gumbo mix, some gluten free pretzels and some McClure's pickles. Paul and I headed out of town a couple of hours later. I sipped on my Starbuck's iced coffee for the rest of the afternoon. It was such a great anniversary getaway. Wichita is a great little city. I can't wait to go back for antique shopping and more French desserts. (see pictures under "Food Destinations" "Wichita")
Christmas Trip Home to the South, 2015
(See pictures here)
Finally it was December 18th and that afternoon school was out. Our bags were packed and we were kicking off the trip with dinner with two of our favorite people in Dodge City. Paul and I went to Prime on the Nine with Shannon and Brad Ralph. This was so much fun because they are a ton of fun and because we decided to belatedly celebrate the KC Royals winning the World Series. We all dressed up in our Royals gear and the Ralphs picked us up at our house. We had beef kebabs, raspberry chipotle pork tenderloin, salads, loaded mashed potatoes, raspberry sherbet and brownie sundae. The food as always at Prime on the Nine was incredibly good but I was so busy having fun talking to them that I barely noticed what I was eating!
Saturday, December 19th - Paul and I left for Kansas City around 10:00 and stopped once in a gas station for cheese puffs, Butterfinger cups, a caramel Milky Way and yellow butter popcorn. After checking in at our hotel we marched straight to Jack Stack BBQ for pork burnt ends, bone-in chicken, beef slices in sauce, large cheesy corn and coleslaw. We also ordered cocktails. I had a delicious tropical rum drink and Paul had a Moscow Mule, his new favorite drink with ginger beer, vodka and lime juice. When this delicious meal was over we walked all over the Country Club Plaza stopping in The Better Cheddar, Barnes & Noble, Sur La Table, L'Occitane, and Paper Source.
Sunday was one of the best days of the trip for me. I had a heavenly morning all over the Plaza. I started the day early by leaving the hotel at 6:45 and heading to the Starbucks in the Country Club Plaza. They didn't have the Sunday Times but I was so delirious to finally have a tall iced coffee with a half pump of hazelnut that I didn't mind. And I knew there was another Starbucks down the street. I also ordered a hot chocolate, an expensive water, an egg and bacon breakfast sandwich, and a full price Kind Bar. After breakfast I drove to the only store I knew would be open so early, a grocery store. THE grocery store for me in Kansas City. The Market Place at Brookside. I bought KC coffees, (no beer until 9:00 AM so that meant I forgot to go back and get some) Jack Stack traditional sauce and rub, a box of pastries for Paul, 7 grain GF bread for me, and other goodies I've gone without living in a small town. I even found Captain Rodney's sauce in there.
Next I drove to World Market where I bought a red cake stand, stuffed olives, licorice for my father-in-law THAT I FORGOT TO GIVE HIM, Ass-Kicking salsa for my husband and a new set of matching water/tea glasses and white coffee cups and saucers. I returned to the hotel just as Paul was finished getting ready so we were off to Cheesecake Factory for the kale and quinoa salad, Asian lettuce wraps, loaded tater tots and Godiva chocolate cheesecake. Paul ordered a Bloody Mary instead of his usual Flying Gorilla. Cheesecake Factory never disappoints and we even ran into someone we knew from Dodge City. After lunch Paul took Zeno for a walk around the park next to the Plaza while I made my final decisions and purchases in Sur La Table. I found a cappuccino tree ornament and also an escargot ornament. It was meant to be! I have a coffee Christmas tree in our kitchen this year AND every Christmas I give my students a snail shell and candy to remind them to go to Paris. I "needed" both of these ornaments. I also bought a Christmas apron and oven mitten and a few pieces of the Sur La Table Christmas china.
After a break we hit the record stores in Westport and then PRYDE'S! I have wanted to visit this store ever since my colleague Crystal told me about it. She raved about it so enthusiastically that I felt like I was sure to be disappointed if I didn't faint upon entering the door. She was not exaggerating. This place is jaw-dropping, heart-stopping kitchen nerd paradise. Go for the collection of Fiesta ware alone. The building is an old dance school turned into Pryde's Kitchen and Home Accessories. Every nook of this two story building is crammed with kitchen wonders. Cookbooks, aprons, food, dishes from every age and style, everything. I only bought three things because I was so overwhelmed: a Fiesta gurgle jar, a tea towel with the Pryde's logo and some pom berry jalapeño compote. I can't wait to return! After a trip to H&M standing in a very long check out line we went to Freebird's World Burrito for our first disappointing meal in there. We didn't eat much so I suggested we have dessert at Cafe Aixois, the beautiful and romantic French restaurant I'd discovered this summer. we had a kir royale, a sazerac, a cheese plate and an ile flottante. It was such a perfect day that went above my expectations for the fun I thought I'd have!
Monday was a 9 hour travel day from KC to Franklin, TN with stops at gas stations and Arby's for a tasty crispy chicken sandwich. For dinner in Franklin Paul's mom made a tasty taco soup and a fruit salad. I fell asleep 45 minutes after we ate.
Tuesday was a great day. We took our time getting ready and then we went to The Factory to look at antiques, home decor stores and a record store. We stopped for cappuccinos in Honest Coffee. This was a place in Franklin I hadn't been. On the carefully planned list I'd made for this 9-day trip I had underlined "try something new in Franklin." This was it. Honest Coffee roasts its own coffee and the cappuccino I had with my in-laws is to date the best cappuccino I've ever had. Mild with light foam. It needed no sugar. And it's a pretty space, easy to photograph. I bought a bag of their holiday blend to bring home and found a small journal for sale called 33 cups. I can't wait to write in this journal and make some for my foodie friends.
We opened presents and my in-laws gave me an Anthropologie gift card, Williams-Sonoma salted caramel hot chocolate and some salted caramel candies and so many other cute gifts. My mother-in-law made goat cheese and sun dried tomato stuffed chicken breasts, rolls and Waldorf salad. Later that afternoon my best friend Amy Aston drove over to pick me up and we ate dinner at Chuy's. I had the chicken flautas and a huge frozen margarita. It was such a treat to get to catch up with her and laugh and share all my secrets. Afterwards we walked around in Whole Foods and then went to Starbuck's on the Franklin Square to open presents. I had my first and probably last gingerbread latte of the season. (Ginger loves gingerbread lattes!) Amy gave me a box of Trader Joe's dark chocolate salted caramels and a small box of Frango dark chocolate mints (a great memory from our 20's when we went to Chicago all the time and walked into Marshall Field's for Frango in every flavor) and my big present was a pajama set with macarons on them. They're even labeled in French! I was sad for the evening to end!
Wednesday morning Paul and I walked around the Franklin Square in the rain and we took Zeno in A Taste of Home on the Franklin Square where I bought a Cat Studio Mississippi tea towel. I wanted one more cappuccino at Honest Coffee and then we called in a to go order from Mellow Mushroom (pepperoni pizza and Hawaiian pizza for Paul). I washed it down with a Coke and a chocolate cupcake from Whole Foods. We left Franklin and drove to Memphis. I hated not hitting Trader Joe's before we left the Nashville area but it is just too busy and it is especially so during thre holidays. Paul and I called in an order of nachos from McAlister's in our old neighborhood at Poplar and Highland and ate them under the carport of our old house. We drove another hour south to Batesville, MS to stay with my Mom for Christmas. She took us to Yamato the new sushi restaurant in town and it was really delicious!
Christmas Eve 2015
Mom took us to lunch at Zaxby's and then after church that evening at First Baptist Batesville we ate at the Chinese buffet close to my parents' home. I love any Chinese buffet anywhere, anytime. I especially loved it that Louisiana hot sauce was on every table. I love the South so much. I finally got to visit The Caramel Factory in Batesville, MIssissippi. I've always wanted to stop in this place on Hwy 6. The caramel cakes are heavenly but I discovered the white chocolate caramel cashew turtles and they were unbelievably tasty! I haven't tried the praline sugar cookie or the chocolate pralines yet but I'm sure they'll be heavenly too. I'll definitely be stopping in again the next time I visit my family in Mississippi.
Christmas Day 2015
We opened many presents (Mom bought two Peter's Pottery Mississippi shaped dishes for me) and Mom made lunch. She made a delicious sweet potato soufflé that Aunt Mildred used to make for the Christmas celebration at her house on Northwood Drive. I always want my mom's strawberry jello and sour cream salad and she made it. She had a honey baked ham that we took leftovers from. She made green bean casserole and cornbread dressing in the crock pot. For dessert there was pecan pie. We hit the road again to go back to Memphis. This time we stayed two nights with my dear friend Stephanie Wilson.
We ate Christmas dinner with Stephanie who had picked up Central BBQ the day before. She also made a delicious appetizer with cream cheese and hot pepper bacon jam from Simply Hickory Farms that she served with rice crackers. For dessert we ate a chess pie she had made and split a GF chocolate cupcake from Whole Foods. We opened presents and Stephanie gave me two big boxes full of heaven: four bags of Harry and David popcorn, Vail Mountain coffee, a jar of Goop's salted caramel, pepper jelly from Beale Street's A. Schwab store, Walker's GF shortbread cookies, a coffee mug from Hominy Grill in Charleston, Pate's Dirty South seasoning, a personalized address stamper with a cowboy boot on it, a coin purse that says Coffee Monster, and a tee shirt that says "Summer never ends. It just turns into North Parkway." You have to know Memphis to understand. Stephanie gets me. She truly does.
The day after Christmas was a perfect shopping and eating day. Stephanie and I left her house at 7:15 AM and drove to Poplar and Perkins to Staks for breakfast. This place is so cute and though the food doesn't scream gourmet, it was special. The GF cinnamon pancakes were sweet and heavy on nutmeg. The Gouda grits were perfect. The eggs and bacon and biscuit (especially the biscuit) were really tasty. The hash browns would have been delicious if the cook hadn't burned on the edges. Stephanie and I left this place ready to shop. And we did. At Anthropologie, Pier 1, Williams Sonoma outlet, Pottery Barn outlet, Dinstuhl's, Bed Bath and Beyond, and Whole Foods.
For lunch we ate at my favorite Southern food joint in town: Soul Fish Cafe. This time I ordered something new, the blackened catfish dip with tortilla chips. Stephanie also ordered an appetizer we'd never tried before, the fried pickled green tomatoes. These two appetizers were really delicious separately but they also complimented each other. I ordered the vegetable plate with turnip greens, grilled zucchini, white beans, cucumber salad and cornbread. Unsweet tea to drink and caramel cake for dessert. As usual the meal at Soul Fish was perfection and the service was great.
When Paul returned from record store hopping we went to our old house on Century Street that is still on the market. We are both surprised by how small the house seems to us now. We drove to the Booksellers and I looked at cookbooks and the pretty gifts for sale. I bought Cheryl Strayed's book Brave Enough to saturate my brain with positive quotes for the new year. We drove to Whole Foods and I bought more of my favorite GF chocolate cupcakes and favorite bagels to enjoy during my week at home in Dodge City.
Stephanie was feeling under the weather and then her little dog got sick so she couldn't join us for dinner and Beale Street. Paul and I went to Westy's (formerly The North End) because it is Paul's favorite restaurant in Memphis. It has a vast menu with rice dishes, every appetizer known to mankind and Paul swears, the best sandwiches ever. I love the crunchy tater tots with ranch dip and would want them as part of my last meal on earth. After dinner (Mediterranean sandwich, rice/broccoli/cheddar dish and tater tots) we drove over to Beale Street and walked through the tourists and acrobats back-hand springing down the middle of the street. We arrived at the Rum Boogie Café and Paul sat in on trumpet with Freeworld, the band he played with every weekend for a year before we moved to Kansas. The guys in the band were so happy to see him. The music was so good and the beer tasted so good. It was 70 degrees outside in December. I was sweating and drinking Bud Light and dancing in my seat. I felt like a college girl again.
The next morning I woke up early and started loading the Jeep with all our luggage, presents and new purchases. Paul and I left Stephanie's sweet little house at 7:30 AM and drove out of Memphis, our old city and home, to Tulsa for lunch at the Cheesecake Factory and then finally to Dodge City, Kansas. I can't lie. It was hard to go back to our quiet beautiful house after so much excitement. I only gained five pounds after this bacchanal of holiday eating. It's now time to return to work and the gym and our good life in Dodge City. I feel so much gratitude for our family and friends and the good times Paul and I have together.
(See pictures here)
Finally it was December 18th and that afternoon school was out. Our bags were packed and we were kicking off the trip with dinner with two of our favorite people in Dodge City. Paul and I went to Prime on the Nine with Shannon and Brad Ralph. This was so much fun because they are a ton of fun and because we decided to belatedly celebrate the KC Royals winning the World Series. We all dressed up in our Royals gear and the Ralphs picked us up at our house. We had beef kebabs, raspberry chipotle pork tenderloin, salads, loaded mashed potatoes, raspberry sherbet and brownie sundae. The food as always at Prime on the Nine was incredibly good but I was so busy having fun talking to them that I barely noticed what I was eating!
Saturday, December 19th - Paul and I left for Kansas City around 10:00 and stopped once in a gas station for cheese puffs, Butterfinger cups, a caramel Milky Way and yellow butter popcorn. After checking in at our hotel we marched straight to Jack Stack BBQ for pork burnt ends, bone-in chicken, beef slices in sauce, large cheesy corn and coleslaw. We also ordered cocktails. I had a delicious tropical rum drink and Paul had a Moscow Mule, his new favorite drink with ginger beer, vodka and lime juice. When this delicious meal was over we walked all over the Country Club Plaza stopping in The Better Cheddar, Barnes & Noble, Sur La Table, L'Occitane, and Paper Source.
Sunday was one of the best days of the trip for me. I had a heavenly morning all over the Plaza. I started the day early by leaving the hotel at 6:45 and heading to the Starbucks in the Country Club Plaza. They didn't have the Sunday Times but I was so delirious to finally have a tall iced coffee with a half pump of hazelnut that I didn't mind. And I knew there was another Starbucks down the street. I also ordered a hot chocolate, an expensive water, an egg and bacon breakfast sandwich, and a full price Kind Bar. After breakfast I drove to the only store I knew would be open so early, a grocery store. THE grocery store for me in Kansas City. The Market Place at Brookside. I bought KC coffees, (no beer until 9:00 AM so that meant I forgot to go back and get some) Jack Stack traditional sauce and rub, a box of pastries for Paul, 7 grain GF bread for me, and other goodies I've gone without living in a small town. I even found Captain Rodney's sauce in there.
Next I drove to World Market where I bought a red cake stand, stuffed olives, licorice for my father-in-law THAT I FORGOT TO GIVE HIM, Ass-Kicking salsa for my husband and a new set of matching water/tea glasses and white coffee cups and saucers. I returned to the hotel just as Paul was finished getting ready so we were off to Cheesecake Factory for the kale and quinoa salad, Asian lettuce wraps, loaded tater tots and Godiva chocolate cheesecake. Paul ordered a Bloody Mary instead of his usual Flying Gorilla. Cheesecake Factory never disappoints and we even ran into someone we knew from Dodge City. After lunch Paul took Zeno for a walk around the park next to the Plaza while I made my final decisions and purchases in Sur La Table. I found a cappuccino tree ornament and also an escargot ornament. It was meant to be! I have a coffee Christmas tree in our kitchen this year AND every Christmas I give my students a snail shell and candy to remind them to go to Paris. I "needed" both of these ornaments. I also bought a Christmas apron and oven mitten and a few pieces of the Sur La Table Christmas china.
After a break we hit the record stores in Westport and then PRYDE'S! I have wanted to visit this store ever since my colleague Crystal told me about it. She raved about it so enthusiastically that I felt like I was sure to be disappointed if I didn't faint upon entering the door. She was not exaggerating. This place is jaw-dropping, heart-stopping kitchen nerd paradise. Go for the collection of Fiesta ware alone. The building is an old dance school turned into Pryde's Kitchen and Home Accessories. Every nook of this two story building is crammed with kitchen wonders. Cookbooks, aprons, food, dishes from every age and style, everything. I only bought three things because I was so overwhelmed: a Fiesta gurgle jar, a tea towel with the Pryde's logo and some pom berry jalapeño compote. I can't wait to return! After a trip to H&M standing in a very long check out line we went to Freebird's World Burrito for our first disappointing meal in there. We didn't eat much so I suggested we have dessert at Cafe Aixois, the beautiful and romantic French restaurant I'd discovered this summer. we had a kir royale, a sazerac, a cheese plate and an ile flottante. It was such a perfect day that went above my expectations for the fun I thought I'd have!
Monday was a 9 hour travel day from KC to Franklin, TN with stops at gas stations and Arby's for a tasty crispy chicken sandwich. For dinner in Franklin Paul's mom made a tasty taco soup and a fruit salad. I fell asleep 45 minutes after we ate.
Tuesday was a great day. We took our time getting ready and then we went to The Factory to look at antiques, home decor stores and a record store. We stopped for cappuccinos in Honest Coffee. This was a place in Franklin I hadn't been. On the carefully planned list I'd made for this 9-day trip I had underlined "try something new in Franklin." This was it. Honest Coffee roasts its own coffee and the cappuccino I had with my in-laws is to date the best cappuccino I've ever had. Mild with light foam. It needed no sugar. And it's a pretty space, easy to photograph. I bought a bag of their holiday blend to bring home and found a small journal for sale called 33 cups. I can't wait to write in this journal and make some for my foodie friends.
We opened presents and my in-laws gave me an Anthropologie gift card, Williams-Sonoma salted caramel hot chocolate and some salted caramel candies and so many other cute gifts. My mother-in-law made goat cheese and sun dried tomato stuffed chicken breasts, rolls and Waldorf salad. Later that afternoon my best friend Amy Aston drove over to pick me up and we ate dinner at Chuy's. I had the chicken flautas and a huge frozen margarita. It was such a treat to get to catch up with her and laugh and share all my secrets. Afterwards we walked around in Whole Foods and then went to Starbuck's on the Franklin Square to open presents. I had my first and probably last gingerbread latte of the season. (Ginger loves gingerbread lattes!) Amy gave me a box of Trader Joe's dark chocolate salted caramels and a small box of Frango dark chocolate mints (a great memory from our 20's when we went to Chicago all the time and walked into Marshall Field's for Frango in every flavor) and my big present was a pajama set with macarons on them. They're even labeled in French! I was sad for the evening to end!
Wednesday morning Paul and I walked around the Franklin Square in the rain and we took Zeno in A Taste of Home on the Franklin Square where I bought a Cat Studio Mississippi tea towel. I wanted one more cappuccino at Honest Coffee and then we called in a to go order from Mellow Mushroom (pepperoni pizza and Hawaiian pizza for Paul). I washed it down with a Coke and a chocolate cupcake from Whole Foods. We left Franklin and drove to Memphis. I hated not hitting Trader Joe's before we left the Nashville area but it is just too busy and it is especially so during thre holidays. Paul and I called in an order of nachos from McAlister's in our old neighborhood at Poplar and Highland and ate them under the carport of our old house. We drove another hour south to Batesville, MS to stay with my Mom for Christmas. She took us to Yamato the new sushi restaurant in town and it was really delicious!
Christmas Eve 2015
Mom took us to lunch at Zaxby's and then after church that evening at First Baptist Batesville we ate at the Chinese buffet close to my parents' home. I love any Chinese buffet anywhere, anytime. I especially loved it that Louisiana hot sauce was on every table. I love the South so much. I finally got to visit The Caramel Factory in Batesville, MIssissippi. I've always wanted to stop in this place on Hwy 6. The caramel cakes are heavenly but I discovered the white chocolate caramel cashew turtles and they were unbelievably tasty! I haven't tried the praline sugar cookie or the chocolate pralines yet but I'm sure they'll be heavenly too. I'll definitely be stopping in again the next time I visit my family in Mississippi.
Christmas Day 2015
We opened many presents (Mom bought two Peter's Pottery Mississippi shaped dishes for me) and Mom made lunch. She made a delicious sweet potato soufflé that Aunt Mildred used to make for the Christmas celebration at her house on Northwood Drive. I always want my mom's strawberry jello and sour cream salad and she made it. She had a honey baked ham that we took leftovers from. She made green bean casserole and cornbread dressing in the crock pot. For dessert there was pecan pie. We hit the road again to go back to Memphis. This time we stayed two nights with my dear friend Stephanie Wilson.
We ate Christmas dinner with Stephanie who had picked up Central BBQ the day before. She also made a delicious appetizer with cream cheese and hot pepper bacon jam from Simply Hickory Farms that she served with rice crackers. For dessert we ate a chess pie she had made and split a GF chocolate cupcake from Whole Foods. We opened presents and Stephanie gave me two big boxes full of heaven: four bags of Harry and David popcorn, Vail Mountain coffee, a jar of Goop's salted caramel, pepper jelly from Beale Street's A. Schwab store, Walker's GF shortbread cookies, a coffee mug from Hominy Grill in Charleston, Pate's Dirty South seasoning, a personalized address stamper with a cowboy boot on it, a coin purse that says Coffee Monster, and a tee shirt that says "Summer never ends. It just turns into North Parkway." You have to know Memphis to understand. Stephanie gets me. She truly does.
The day after Christmas was a perfect shopping and eating day. Stephanie and I left her house at 7:15 AM and drove to Poplar and Perkins to Staks for breakfast. This place is so cute and though the food doesn't scream gourmet, it was special. The GF cinnamon pancakes were sweet and heavy on nutmeg. The Gouda grits were perfect. The eggs and bacon and biscuit (especially the biscuit) were really tasty. The hash browns would have been delicious if the cook hadn't burned on the edges. Stephanie and I left this place ready to shop. And we did. At Anthropologie, Pier 1, Williams Sonoma outlet, Pottery Barn outlet, Dinstuhl's, Bed Bath and Beyond, and Whole Foods.
For lunch we ate at my favorite Southern food joint in town: Soul Fish Cafe. This time I ordered something new, the blackened catfish dip with tortilla chips. Stephanie also ordered an appetizer we'd never tried before, the fried pickled green tomatoes. These two appetizers were really delicious separately but they also complimented each other. I ordered the vegetable plate with turnip greens, grilled zucchini, white beans, cucumber salad and cornbread. Unsweet tea to drink and caramel cake for dessert. As usual the meal at Soul Fish was perfection and the service was great.
When Paul returned from record store hopping we went to our old house on Century Street that is still on the market. We are both surprised by how small the house seems to us now. We drove to the Booksellers and I looked at cookbooks and the pretty gifts for sale. I bought Cheryl Strayed's book Brave Enough to saturate my brain with positive quotes for the new year. We drove to Whole Foods and I bought more of my favorite GF chocolate cupcakes and favorite bagels to enjoy during my week at home in Dodge City.
Stephanie was feeling under the weather and then her little dog got sick so she couldn't join us for dinner and Beale Street. Paul and I went to Westy's (formerly The North End) because it is Paul's favorite restaurant in Memphis. It has a vast menu with rice dishes, every appetizer known to mankind and Paul swears, the best sandwiches ever. I love the crunchy tater tots with ranch dip and would want them as part of my last meal on earth. After dinner (Mediterranean sandwich, rice/broccoli/cheddar dish and tater tots) we drove over to Beale Street and walked through the tourists and acrobats back-hand springing down the middle of the street. We arrived at the Rum Boogie Café and Paul sat in on trumpet with Freeworld, the band he played with every weekend for a year before we moved to Kansas. The guys in the band were so happy to see him. The music was so good and the beer tasted so good. It was 70 degrees outside in December. I was sweating and drinking Bud Light and dancing in my seat. I felt like a college girl again.
The next morning I woke up early and started loading the Jeep with all our luggage, presents and new purchases. Paul and I left Stephanie's sweet little house at 7:30 AM and drove out of Memphis, our old city and home, to Tulsa for lunch at the Cheesecake Factory and then finally to Dodge City, Kansas. I can't lie. It was hard to go back to our quiet beautiful house after so much excitement. I only gained five pounds after this bacchanal of holiday eating. It's now time to return to work and the gym and our good life in Dodge City. I feel so much gratitude for our family and friends and the good times Paul and I have together.
November 14, 2015 - Paul and I attended a fundraiser for the local Depot Theatre Saturday night and we had some amazing drinks and appetizers. I liked the way this fundraiser was set up. You could try small samples of 6 different liqueurs and then stand in line for two cocktails made with these liqueurs. The appetizers were not beautiful but very tasty and satisfying. I especially liked the smoked salmon toasts and the ginger spiced chicken satay. I enjoy alcohol but I've only recently begun to appreciate delicious cocktails and the people who turn them into art with ingredients and garnish that are new to me. I wanted to go to this fundraiser because I didn't want to miss a foodie event in our small town and I want to understand cocktails better. As a bonus I got to try the best caramel bread pudding I've ever tasted and I was reminded of how delicious Bailey's is. Why did I ever stop drinking it? There are a few pictures of this event under I Love Parties.
November 9, 2015 - Paul and I had a great weekend celebrating his amazing faculty recital Friday night. We went to Prime on the Nine after the recital and had the fried pickles and cocktails with some really fun people. I had the very delicious and satisfying Prime Posey, a twist on a gin and tonic because they add St. Germaine. Paul told me about an incident in Boston, MA where a molasses factory exploded and molasses flooded the streets. Some people drowned in it. This made Paul and I pose the question to each other: what liquid would you prefer to drown in? If I had to, I'd choose drowning in a Prime Posey or a margarita from Café Ole in Memphis, TN. Paul and I had sushi on Saturday (the yam yam roll and hibachi chicken dinner) and Vallarta Mexican Sunday night. I had the Mexican Trio again: bacon-wrapped shrimp, grilled chicken and flank steak with all the fixings. I was starving by dinnertime both Saturday and Sunday nights because I worked non-stop cooking for the week and decorating the house for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I am excited about planning Thanksgiving for both our families who are headed here to Dodge City for the holiday.
November 9, 2015 - Paul and I had a great weekend celebrating his amazing faculty recital Friday night. We went to Prime on the Nine after the recital and had the fried pickles and cocktails with some really fun people. I had the very delicious and satisfying Prime Posey, a twist on a gin and tonic because they add St. Germaine. Paul told me about an incident in Boston, MA where a molasses factory exploded and molasses flooded the streets. Some people drowned in it. This made Paul and I pose the question to each other: what liquid would you prefer to drown in? If I had to, I'd choose drowning in a Prime Posey or a margarita from Café Ole in Memphis, TN. Paul and I had sushi on Saturday (the yam yam roll and hibachi chicken dinner) and Vallarta Mexican Sunday night. I had the Mexican Trio again: bacon-wrapped shrimp, grilled chicken and flank steak with all the fixings. I was starving by dinnertime both Saturday and Sunday nights because I worked non-stop cooking for the week and decorating the house for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I am excited about planning Thanksgiving for both our families who are headed here to Dodge City for the holiday.
November 1, 2015 - Denver, Colorado!! Paul and I spent the whole weekend in Denver, Colorado celebrating Halloween, watching the World Series at night, watching Green Bay Packers and Denver Broncos showing off their fan gear in the streets, catching up with my friend Stephanie Wilson who flew in from Memphis and, of course, eating in new restaurants. (I added pictures to Favorite Food Destinations - Denver.) I'll start from the beginning. Paul and I drove to Denver with our dog Friday afternoon and checked in at the Aloft Hotel on 15th Street, a pretty boutique hotel that allows pets in every room. We walked down the 16th Street Mall to the Cheesecake Factory where Stephanie had snagged a table and ordered loaded tater tots waiting for us. These were new on the menu and heavenly! Bacon, onion and cheese-infused tater tots served with a side of sour cream. Paul ordered his favorite drink The Flying Gorilla and a Cuban sandwich. I ordered the kale and quinoa salad (so heavenly with lemon rind and grapes on it) and the spicy pepper shrimp and plantains. Stephanie and I split one slice of the new salted caramel cheesecake. I loved this dessert. The caramel on top tasted like slick Halloween caramels usually wrapped around green apples. The crust was thick like a granola cookie. I wish we lived closer to a Cheesecake Factory. After dinner we walked our dog up 16th Street and then watched the Mets win the 4th game of the World Series. Stephanie brought me foodie gifts from her recent trip to Charleston, a Cat Studio dishtowel, A Southern Season coffee and chocolate cupcakes from Trader Joe's. She is a very good friend.
The next morning Paul went hiking in the Rockies while Stephanie and I hit the shops. I wanted to go to Sur La Table, Crate and Barrel, Trader Joe's and World Market for cooking and holiday decorations and treats. For years I have desired the Staub pumpkin casserole dish. Friends, I bought it. It is in my kitchen. Sur La Table let me apply the 30% off coupon in the mail to the Staub! After we shopped for everything on our lists we went back to the hotel to let the dog walk around and then took the 16th Street shuttle to Union Station to eat lunch at Snooze. Stephanie and I had both done research on Denver eats beforehand and this place was as good as the reviews said it is. We had breakfast for lunch. I ordered an omelet with cilantro, onion and chicken sausage. This came with a side of hash browns and an English muffin. I ordered a heavenly bloody Mary without the vodka (I didn't want to lose steam in the middle of the day) and it tasted like spicy tomato juice and crunchy Claussen pickles. Stephanie ordered the drunkin' punkin' pancakes with her breakfast and they were intense. They are my new favorite pancakes with a pumpkin flavor I won't get over anytime soon. There was cream cheese in the middle like toad in a hole that made each bite even more intense.
After lunch we got coffee at Pig Train and the coffee was tasty but very muddy. We walked in Milkbox next door and I ordered raspberry sorbet and coconut lime sorbet. I always forget how much I love sorbet until I taste it again. We walked into The Tattered Cover bookstore and I bought a collection of Alice Munroe short stories and a Bill Nye book for Paul. A couple of hours later the three of us pulled up to Root Down and had the best meal of the trip. I had read about Root Down but I had no idea how chic and cool and cozy it would be. I took pictures of everything. Even the bathroom. Since Paul had hiked nine miles he needed a plate of food to inhale. He ordered the veggie sliders and his first Moscow Mule. Recently Paul was commissioned to write an arrangement of the song You're the Top. In it the song mentions a Moscow Mule and he'd never heard of one or tried one. He loved this drink. I loved the Cassis Clay with whiskey and cassis. Stephanie and I ordered small plates to share: cheese plate, acorn squash risotto, cheese arepas, stuffed peppadews wrapped in bacon and coated with cheese, and spicy lamb sliders. Each bite of this meal was like a perfect souvenir to remember every time I cook or entertain. The cheese plate was bleu cheese, fresh honeycomb, cocoa and cayenne dusted walnuts and homemade cinnamon and quinoa crackers. This was my first acorn squash risotto ever. It was creamy and delicious with maple marscapone and crunchy pistachios on top. The acorn squash almost tasted fruity. It was delicious comforting fall food. The cheesy arepas were yummy with pablano pistachio pesto and pico de gallo on top. They probably would have been a brighter star of the meal if I hadn't tasted the devils on horseback. The devils on horseback were my favorite. This perfection on a stick is unforgettable: tender belly bacon wrapped around peppadew peppers wrapped around smoked almonds under a bed of Gournay cheese fondue with a splash of sherry gastrique. The lamb sliders were so spicy I couldn't finish them but they came with two dipping sauces that were heavenly with the other small dishes. There was a tangy, creamy mint garlic sauce and a creamy citrus sauce. This chef has not missed one detail of flavor. If I could cook like this, I'd never leave the house. Jerry Lee Lewis said in his autobiography that as a child he would play piano all day and lie in bed at night planning what he would play the next day. I want to cook this way, like Justin Cucci the chef at Root Down.
After dinner we three went to the REI store to look at everything. Paul loved this store and longed to climb the rock wall but after a long hike at a high altitude and a huge meal at Root Down, he had no energy for it. We walked around 16th Street again with our dog and watched the Halloween revelers all decked out in costumes. It was early the next morning before the streets and our hotel were quiet and Halloween was over. The next morning Stephanie and I met up at Starbuck's across from our hotel and then walked to the Mod Market for breakfast. This was a cute place to start the day. We had the place to ourselves. We ordered scrambled eggs, bacon, gluten-free multigrain toast with Bonne Maman strawberry jelly and hash browns that are delicious with Frank's buffalo sauce on them. Afterwards we rode to two different record shops in Denver that Paul fell in love with. Twist and Shout records is an audiophile's dream. I looked at all the books and cd's while Paul found some treasures in the record section. After a couple more stops including a brief tour of a Sunday morning farmer's market on Colfax Avenue, we quickly checked out of our hotel room and stashed all our luggage in Stephanie's room. We three walked Zeno down 16th Street again and picked up a called-in pizza order from Mellow Mushroom. I miss this pizza chain living in Dodge City. We devoured our pizzas in Stephanie's room and then loaded up to get the heck back into Dodge City. We three agreed that Denver is an amazing city and have been busy making mental notes of all the places we want to visit when we return. I didn't get a chance to go in Voodoo Doughnuts and there are tons more restaurants to try. Denver, we will be back!!
The next morning Paul went hiking in the Rockies while Stephanie and I hit the shops. I wanted to go to Sur La Table, Crate and Barrel, Trader Joe's and World Market for cooking and holiday decorations and treats. For years I have desired the Staub pumpkin casserole dish. Friends, I bought it. It is in my kitchen. Sur La Table let me apply the 30% off coupon in the mail to the Staub! After we shopped for everything on our lists we went back to the hotel to let the dog walk around and then took the 16th Street shuttle to Union Station to eat lunch at Snooze. Stephanie and I had both done research on Denver eats beforehand and this place was as good as the reviews said it is. We had breakfast for lunch. I ordered an omelet with cilantro, onion and chicken sausage. This came with a side of hash browns and an English muffin. I ordered a heavenly bloody Mary without the vodka (I didn't want to lose steam in the middle of the day) and it tasted like spicy tomato juice and crunchy Claussen pickles. Stephanie ordered the drunkin' punkin' pancakes with her breakfast and they were intense. They are my new favorite pancakes with a pumpkin flavor I won't get over anytime soon. There was cream cheese in the middle like toad in a hole that made each bite even more intense.
After lunch we got coffee at Pig Train and the coffee was tasty but very muddy. We walked in Milkbox next door and I ordered raspberry sorbet and coconut lime sorbet. I always forget how much I love sorbet until I taste it again. We walked into The Tattered Cover bookstore and I bought a collection of Alice Munroe short stories and a Bill Nye book for Paul. A couple of hours later the three of us pulled up to Root Down and had the best meal of the trip. I had read about Root Down but I had no idea how chic and cool and cozy it would be. I took pictures of everything. Even the bathroom. Since Paul had hiked nine miles he needed a plate of food to inhale. He ordered the veggie sliders and his first Moscow Mule. Recently Paul was commissioned to write an arrangement of the song You're the Top. In it the song mentions a Moscow Mule and he'd never heard of one or tried one. He loved this drink. I loved the Cassis Clay with whiskey and cassis. Stephanie and I ordered small plates to share: cheese plate, acorn squash risotto, cheese arepas, stuffed peppadews wrapped in bacon and coated with cheese, and spicy lamb sliders. Each bite of this meal was like a perfect souvenir to remember every time I cook or entertain. The cheese plate was bleu cheese, fresh honeycomb, cocoa and cayenne dusted walnuts and homemade cinnamon and quinoa crackers. This was my first acorn squash risotto ever. It was creamy and delicious with maple marscapone and crunchy pistachios on top. The acorn squash almost tasted fruity. It was delicious comforting fall food. The cheesy arepas were yummy with pablano pistachio pesto and pico de gallo on top. They probably would have been a brighter star of the meal if I hadn't tasted the devils on horseback. The devils on horseback were my favorite. This perfection on a stick is unforgettable: tender belly bacon wrapped around peppadew peppers wrapped around smoked almonds under a bed of Gournay cheese fondue with a splash of sherry gastrique. The lamb sliders were so spicy I couldn't finish them but they came with two dipping sauces that were heavenly with the other small dishes. There was a tangy, creamy mint garlic sauce and a creamy citrus sauce. This chef has not missed one detail of flavor. If I could cook like this, I'd never leave the house. Jerry Lee Lewis said in his autobiography that as a child he would play piano all day and lie in bed at night planning what he would play the next day. I want to cook this way, like Justin Cucci the chef at Root Down.
After dinner we three went to the REI store to look at everything. Paul loved this store and longed to climb the rock wall but after a long hike at a high altitude and a huge meal at Root Down, he had no energy for it. We walked around 16th Street again with our dog and watched the Halloween revelers all decked out in costumes. It was early the next morning before the streets and our hotel were quiet and Halloween was over. The next morning Stephanie and I met up at Starbuck's across from our hotel and then walked to the Mod Market for breakfast. This was a cute place to start the day. We had the place to ourselves. We ordered scrambled eggs, bacon, gluten-free multigrain toast with Bonne Maman strawberry jelly and hash browns that are delicious with Frank's buffalo sauce on them. Afterwards we rode to two different record shops in Denver that Paul fell in love with. Twist and Shout records is an audiophile's dream. I looked at all the books and cd's while Paul found some treasures in the record section. After a couple more stops including a brief tour of a Sunday morning farmer's market on Colfax Avenue, we quickly checked out of our hotel room and stashed all our luggage in Stephanie's room. We three walked Zeno down 16th Street again and picked up a called-in pizza order from Mellow Mushroom. I miss this pizza chain living in Dodge City. We devoured our pizzas in Stephanie's room and then loaded up to get the heck back into Dodge City. We three agreed that Denver is an amazing city and have been busy making mental notes of all the places we want to visit when we return. I didn't get a chance to go in Voodoo Doughnuts and there are tons more restaurants to try. Denver, we will be back!!
October 17, 2015 - Paul and I ate at Prime on the Nine again to celebrate his amazing concert Thursday night. His conducting has really come along and his students play wonderfully. I had the raspberry chipotle pork tenderloin with loaded mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli. For dessert we shared a brownie sundae (pictured under Favorite Food Destinations - Dodge City). Paul ate the spicy chicken sandwich and I tasted it. It was amazing. The fried chicken breast is crispy and tender and juicy. The fries served on the side are crisp and seasoned generously with spices. I LOVE this place. Last night we finally went out to dinner with my office mate Crystal and her boyfriend Jason. They love to travel just to eat as well and they're both wonderful high school teachers. We ate at Vallarta here in Dodge City and the food was delicious as usual. I had the Mexican trio: skirt steak, grilled chicken and bacon wrapped shrimp with pinto beans, rice and pico de gallo on the side. Of course we started with cheese dip and salsa. It was a fun couples night out.
October 2015 - Paul and I are in the full groove of the school year now and I love my students this semester. Paul has started a jazz orchestra in town and he's really enjoying it. We have only been out of town a few times since August because teaching is a very serious business. We've been to Garden City to eat at Old Chicago and we celebrated Paul's birthday at Prime on the Nine here in Dodge City. Prime on the Nine is my favorite restaurant in town. It is so delicious. The shrimp and grits are my second favorite in the world second only to the shrimp and grits at Gray's Pharmacy in Franklin, TN.
We tried the Mexican restaurant Marisco on 2nd Avenue next to the antique store that is so unbelievably charming. Marisco has yummy flautas and super fresh and yummy guacamole. The new excitement in town is the new barbeque place called Billy Sim's. It is really yummy. The pulled pork is delicious but the baked potato salad is really, really, really good. I plan to go back for a large order of it. There's nothing like Memphis or Kansas City BBQ but Billy Sim's is certainly a happy sight to this Southerner.
October 2015 - Paul and I are in the full groove of the school year now and I love my students this semester. Paul has started a jazz orchestra in town and he's really enjoying it. We have only been out of town a few times since August because teaching is a very serious business. We've been to Garden City to eat at Old Chicago and we celebrated Paul's birthday at Prime on the Nine here in Dodge City. Prime on the Nine is my favorite restaurant in town. It is so delicious. The shrimp and grits are my second favorite in the world second only to the shrimp and grits at Gray's Pharmacy in Franklin, TN.
We tried the Mexican restaurant Marisco on 2nd Avenue next to the antique store that is so unbelievably charming. Marisco has yummy flautas and super fresh and yummy guacamole. The new excitement in town is the new barbeque place called Billy Sim's. It is really yummy. The pulled pork is delicious but the baked potato salad is really, really, really good. I plan to go back for a large order of it. There's nothing like Memphis or Kansas City BBQ but Billy Sim's is certainly a happy sight to this Southerner.
Final Hurrah Summer 2015
Right before we returned to work (Paul to his professor job and me to my new job as a French teacher at the local high school)
I talked Paul into one last road trip. It was so much fun and we covered a lot of miles and saw a lot of our favorite people.
Kansas City
As soon as we rolled into the Country Club Plaza Paul and I went straight to Jack Stack's for
KC BBQ and Paul loved it as much as I had back in June with Stephanie. This time
I ordered a large order of cheesy corn, the pork ribs, the bone-in chicken, the
beef burnt ends, the baked beans and coleslaw. Paul ordered the Bloody Mary and
it was rich and savory just like KC BBQ sauce. Then we drove to Foo's custard
and tried three flavors. The cinnamon strawberry was my favorite this time.
Paul's raspberry mint one was good too. The chocolate peanut butter one was
delicious again. We went in the beautiful candle store next door and I bought
some Halloween figurines. We went to the Market Place grocery and I bought some
Roasterie coffee and Boulevard beer. Then I ran in The Roasterie for a cafe au
lait and a chocolate-coffee macaron. Paul took a short nap while I ran to H&M
and Sur La Table and then we took Zeno for a two-mile walk in the park beside
the Country Club Plaza. Afterwards, Paul and I went to The Better Cheddar and
he loved this store as much as I did. Every gourmet pickle, jam, tea, candy,
cheese or really gourmet ANYTHING is stacked to the ceiling in this small,
overwhelming, amazing store. Before bed we ate at Cheesecake Factory. We almost
fell asleep in the Asian lettuce wraps and sandwich we ordered. The next
morning I got up early and grabbed coffee from the Roasterie one last time. Paul
and I checked out of the hotel and picked up a burrito and steak rice bowl from
Freebird's before leaving town. We finished off the leftover lemon meringue
cheesecake slice I ordered to go the night before as well as the chocolate
coffee macaron from the Roasterie.
St. Louis - When we got to St Louis we dropped Zeno at the hotel and drove to two very cool record shops.
Paul found some vinyl treasures at Euclid Records and The Record Exchange. We also found
some pretty decent sushi at a place beside Euclid Records in Webster Groves
called Sushi Station. The asparagus roll was delicious and so was the tempura
chicken roll. That night we took a long walk around downtown St Louis and then
placed a to-go order from Syburg's in our hotel. We watched baseball while we
ate pulled pork nachos and a Reuben sandwich.
Franklin, TN - I couldn't wait to see my best friend Amy and have two fun days
shopping, eating and laughing
with her. She picked me up from Paul's parents' house and we drove straight to
Chuy's for delicious Mexican food and the yummiest margaritas of all the chain
Mexican restaurants in the world. That evening we talked and laughed way past
my bedtime and I fell into a deep sleep happy to be in Amy's sweet little house!
Paul drove to Kentucky to go caving for the weekend and had a great time.
Saturday morning Amy and I drove to the Green Hills Mall. We hit all our
favorite stores and ate at the Cheesecake Factory. This time I tried two new
menu items, the falafel salad and steak tacos. For dinner we went to downtown
Franklin and had the most amazing meal at Gray's Pharmacy. This meal was truly
a treat. The restaurant is beautiful and the menu is local Southern decadence in
small, pretty portions. I had the shrimp and grits (the best I've ever had),
the roasted Brussels sprouts, the truffle fries and the bacon wrapped figs. Amy
had the very delicious fried pimento cheese balls. They were unreal!! The
cocktails were wonderful too, the kind that really inspire me to go home and
experiment. The next morning we had one last meal in Franklin at The
Mercantile. I love this place for breakfast. It's homey and smells like an old
house with a gas stove breakfast ready in the kitchen. I had scrambled eggs,
sausage patties and cheese grits. The coffee is really good there too. I was
sad to say goodbye to Amy but it was time for Paul and I to hit our last stop:
Memphis.
Memphis- As soon as we rolled into Memphis I called in an order
of delicious burgers from Huey's. We picked them up and ate them at our old
house on Century Street that STILL has not sold even though its been on the
market for nearly a year. Paul hadn't seen the house empty. Zeno made himself
right back at home prancing around like he was ready to move back in. We then
drove to Stephanie's to settle in for a bit. Paul went driving around to some
of his favorite record shops. Stephanie and I hit Whole Foods and then ordered
our usual huge meal of one of everything from Soul Fish just in time for Barry
and Reece to arrive for a picnic dinner. We had a great time catching up. It
was fun to have my hubby and closest friends all together eating Southern food.
Paul drove down to Beale Street to play a gig with Freeworld and Steph and I
watched TV until I couldn't keep my eyes open another second. The next morning I
met Mom for breakfast at Perkin's and we had a nice visit. I got my hair cut and
then Paul and I headed West. We called in an order at Westy's for a
Mediterranean sandwich and rice dish with tater tots before we crossed the
Mississippi and stopped for dinner in the parking lot of Cheesecake Factory in
Tulsa. We spent the night in Wichita and finally made our return to Dodge City
the next morning. I had new teacher orientation the next day. Summer 2015 was
a fun and delicious vacation!!
Right before we returned to work (Paul to his professor job and me to my new job as a French teacher at the local high school)
I talked Paul into one last road trip. It was so much fun and we covered a lot of miles and saw a lot of our favorite people.
Kansas City
As soon as we rolled into the Country Club Plaza Paul and I went straight to Jack Stack's for
KC BBQ and Paul loved it as much as I had back in June with Stephanie. This time
I ordered a large order of cheesy corn, the pork ribs, the bone-in chicken, the
beef burnt ends, the baked beans and coleslaw. Paul ordered the Bloody Mary and
it was rich and savory just like KC BBQ sauce. Then we drove to Foo's custard
and tried three flavors. The cinnamon strawberry was my favorite this time.
Paul's raspberry mint one was good too. The chocolate peanut butter one was
delicious again. We went in the beautiful candle store next door and I bought
some Halloween figurines. We went to the Market Place grocery and I bought some
Roasterie coffee and Boulevard beer. Then I ran in The Roasterie for a cafe au
lait and a chocolate-coffee macaron. Paul took a short nap while I ran to H&M
and Sur La Table and then we took Zeno for a two-mile walk in the park beside
the Country Club Plaza. Afterwards, Paul and I went to The Better Cheddar and
he loved this store as much as I did. Every gourmet pickle, jam, tea, candy,
cheese or really gourmet ANYTHING is stacked to the ceiling in this small,
overwhelming, amazing store. Before bed we ate at Cheesecake Factory. We almost
fell asleep in the Asian lettuce wraps and sandwich we ordered. The next
morning I got up early and grabbed coffee from the Roasterie one last time. Paul
and I checked out of the hotel and picked up a burrito and steak rice bowl from
Freebird's before leaving town. We finished off the leftover lemon meringue
cheesecake slice I ordered to go the night before as well as the chocolate
coffee macaron from the Roasterie.
St. Louis - When we got to St Louis we dropped Zeno at the hotel and drove to two very cool record shops.
Paul found some vinyl treasures at Euclid Records and The Record Exchange. We also found
some pretty decent sushi at a place beside Euclid Records in Webster Groves
called Sushi Station. The asparagus roll was delicious and so was the tempura
chicken roll. That night we took a long walk around downtown St Louis and then
placed a to-go order from Syburg's in our hotel. We watched baseball while we
ate pulled pork nachos and a Reuben sandwich.
Franklin, TN - I couldn't wait to see my best friend Amy and have two fun days
shopping, eating and laughing
with her. She picked me up from Paul's parents' house and we drove straight to
Chuy's for delicious Mexican food and the yummiest margaritas of all the chain
Mexican restaurants in the world. That evening we talked and laughed way past
my bedtime and I fell into a deep sleep happy to be in Amy's sweet little house!
Paul drove to Kentucky to go caving for the weekend and had a great time.
Saturday morning Amy and I drove to the Green Hills Mall. We hit all our
favorite stores and ate at the Cheesecake Factory. This time I tried two new
menu items, the falafel salad and steak tacos. For dinner we went to downtown
Franklin and had the most amazing meal at Gray's Pharmacy. This meal was truly
a treat. The restaurant is beautiful and the menu is local Southern decadence in
small, pretty portions. I had the shrimp and grits (the best I've ever had),
the roasted Brussels sprouts, the truffle fries and the bacon wrapped figs. Amy
had the very delicious fried pimento cheese balls. They were unreal!! The
cocktails were wonderful too, the kind that really inspire me to go home and
experiment. The next morning we had one last meal in Franklin at The
Mercantile. I love this place for breakfast. It's homey and smells like an old
house with a gas stove breakfast ready in the kitchen. I had scrambled eggs,
sausage patties and cheese grits. The coffee is really good there too. I was
sad to say goodbye to Amy but it was time for Paul and I to hit our last stop:
Memphis.
Memphis- As soon as we rolled into Memphis I called in an order
of delicious burgers from Huey's. We picked them up and ate them at our old
house on Century Street that STILL has not sold even though its been on the
market for nearly a year. Paul hadn't seen the house empty. Zeno made himself
right back at home prancing around like he was ready to move back in. We then
drove to Stephanie's to settle in for a bit. Paul went driving around to some
of his favorite record shops. Stephanie and I hit Whole Foods and then ordered
our usual huge meal of one of everything from Soul Fish just in time for Barry
and Reece to arrive for a picnic dinner. We had a great time catching up. It
was fun to have my hubby and closest friends all together eating Southern food.
Paul drove down to Beale Street to play a gig with Freeworld and Steph and I
watched TV until I couldn't keep my eyes open another second. The next morning I
met Mom for breakfast at Perkin's and we had a nice visit. I got my hair cut and
then Paul and I headed West. We called in an order at Westy's for a
Mediterranean sandwich and rice dish with tater tots before we crossed the
Mississippi and stopped for dinner in the parking lot of Cheesecake Factory in
Tulsa. We spent the night in Wichita and finally made our return to Dodge City
the next morning. I had new teacher orientation the next day. Summer 2015 was
a fun and delicious vacation!!
Seattle, July 2015
Paul and I have wanted to visit the Northwest for a long time. We made it our priority this summer and I loved all the food from beginning to end!
Flying from Memphis to Seattle with a stop in Chicago I had a delicious smoked turkey, brie, basil and red pepper sandwich with hummus and Dijon mustard Kettle chips as sides. I ran to Nuts on Clark quickly for a mixed bag of caramel and cheddar popcorn before I boarded my flight from Chicago to Seattle. I was glad I brought along so much food for the four-hour flight.
My flight got in earlier to Seattle than Paul's so I walked to Pike Street immediately. The Pike Place Market is
amazing! The food choices are astounding. I went in Tully's coffee for a strawberry smoothie and it was amazing. I went to Top Pot Doughnut Shop and had a cornmeal flour and marionberry doughnut. Yummy and filling. For dinner Paul and I went to the Palace Restaurant on 5th Street where we had the most amazing appetizers. We had small cheese biscuits stuffed with whole kalamata olives and
cream cheese. We had lavender goat cheese fondue with the freshest blueberries,
strawberries, cherries and apricots. Paul ate a giant Idaho beef burger with
long crunchy French fries. I would love to revisit this restaurant.
Saturday
Paul and I walked to the Pike Place Market to explore. We found Holy Cow
records, a map shop, a vintage poster shop and one million places to eat. We
walked toward the aquarium and decided on a sourdough joint that sold sandwiches
and clam chowder. I had a veggie omelette and a bowl of chowder that was so
full of flavor. Paul had a very crunchy sourdough Reuben panini. We walked to
2nd Ave for another record shop and took an ice cream break in Bluebird Ice Cream for
marionberry ice cream. Then we hopped in the car and found Ballard where Paul
visited Bebop Records while I ran to and from Cupcake Royale gluten-free cupcakes, Ballard
Coffee and the Secret Garden Bookstore. We drove all over the university
district and then drove slowly down Ballard Street where we discovered the most
delicious sushi restaurant, Shiku.
Sunday Paul and I woke up early to go to the Space Needle. The tickets were booked up to 6:00PM so we toured the Chihuly
Museum while we were there and then walked to the Cheesecake Factory for lunch.
I hadn't had the shepherd's pie in a long time so I ordered that with the Asian
lettuce wraps. Then Paul and I jumped in the car again and discovered West
Seattle's Easy Street record store. There was a large farmer's market happening
when we arrived so we explored it and I bought some Rainier cherries that are
delicious. We took a break at the hotel and then drove back to Ballard for
Veraci's pizza which was stone oven baked delicious. Then we went back to the
cute shops and record stores on Market Street nearby and talked for a while to
the owner of Bebop Records. We ended the evening walking to the Starbuck's next
to the Original Starbuck's to get a New York Times and a snack. I watched the
Kardashians until I fell asleep.
Monday was our day to drive out of the city
and get out in nature. We drove to Ape Cave at the foot of Mt Saint Helen's
three hours away. It was nice to see the gigantic evergreens along the highway
and when we stopped for a quick lunch at Subway I discovered they have
gluten-free bread. I had a delicious BLT with jalapeño peppers and a bag of
Doritoes on our drive up the volcano. Paul loved the cave and since we were
only 45 minutes from Portland, I asked if we could drive over and find some food
trucks like the ones I've seen on food shows about Portland. We went to
Hawthorne Street and found a small rodeo of Egyptian food, French crepes, pizza,
Mexican food and a potato mash specialties truck. I inhaled a huge plate of
Middle Eastern goodness and Paul had a lamb sandwich. We ordered two crepes
that were heavenly!! We had one with Nutella, strawberries and bananas and
another with goat cheese, cran jelly and plantains. I liked both but Paul went
insane for the Nutella one! We were only in Portland for an hour but I know I
want to return. I want to know all the food secrets the hipsters know. We
drove back to Seattle and found a delicious Mexican restaurant close to our
hotel: Cantina Lena. Pronounced Leenya. We ordered a trio of cheddar cheese
dip, cotija cheese dip and guacamole and to be healthy, an order of maple
chipotle carrots and garlic kale with tomatoes. This food was insanely good and
we washed it down with a shared pineapple jalapeño margarita. We passed out
when we got back to the room.
Tuesday morning Paul went scuba diving in Puget
Sound. I started my morning with an orange scone and coffee from Top Pot
Doughnuts and then walked to Pike Place Market. I ordered an iced coffee from
Tully's and bought a bag of coffee beans. I went in every store that was open
in the market and along 1st Street. I watched the market vendors set up their
wares. I stopped in Anthropologie, Zara, Lush and several bookstores, a map
store and Sur la Table. At 11:00 I had delicious falafel and hummus at Egg and
Plant Vegetarian on 5th Ave. Then I stopped in Far Eats for Indian food that was
sadly very mediocre. Paul came back from scuba diving and we went to a truly
amazing restaurant, Local 360. I had a beet salad with sheep's milk cheese and
hazelnuts. I also tried the PBJ bon bons which were fried bread balls stuffed
with warm, oozing peanut butter nestled on small puddles of raspberry jelly with
a cold milk shooter on the side. I have to return someday. Paul and I then
visited the aquarium and truly enjoyed the otters and the puffins playing in the
water. We spent some more time at Pike Place Market and then took a break at
the hotel. For dinner we had a perfect final meal in Seattle. We went to
"Little France" on Pine Street and dined at Cafe Compagne. We started with the
cheese plate (instead of ending the meal with cheese the way the French do.) The
Roquefort, goat cheese, and Manchego came with a freshly made apricot confit. I
nearly died with every bite. The table baguette was crunchy and delicious. I
had the steak frites with bleu cheese butter. Then for dessert we shared a
cherry clafoutis topped with chantilly cream and a serving of cherry ice cream
with a sable breton cookie on top. This meal easily goes down as one of my top
50 ever. I can't wait to return.
Seattle was so much fun. I loved the laid back vibe and the friendliness of the locals. What a wonderful city.
When I flew back to Memphis to pick up our little dog from my mom, I got to eat at
Amerigo (they have amazing gluten-free pasta and rolls), Red Robin (a heavenly
Southern Charm burger) and a huge takeout order from Soul Fish Cafe that
Stephanie, Nancy and I shared. It was an amazing final meal in Memphis.
Paul and I have wanted to visit the Northwest for a long time. We made it our priority this summer and I loved all the food from beginning to end!
Flying from Memphis to Seattle with a stop in Chicago I had a delicious smoked turkey, brie, basil and red pepper sandwich with hummus and Dijon mustard Kettle chips as sides. I ran to Nuts on Clark quickly for a mixed bag of caramel and cheddar popcorn before I boarded my flight from Chicago to Seattle. I was glad I brought along so much food for the four-hour flight.
My flight got in earlier to Seattle than Paul's so I walked to Pike Street immediately. The Pike Place Market is
amazing! The food choices are astounding. I went in Tully's coffee for a strawberry smoothie and it was amazing. I went to Top Pot Doughnut Shop and had a cornmeal flour and marionberry doughnut. Yummy and filling. For dinner Paul and I went to the Palace Restaurant on 5th Street where we had the most amazing appetizers. We had small cheese biscuits stuffed with whole kalamata olives and
cream cheese. We had lavender goat cheese fondue with the freshest blueberries,
strawberries, cherries and apricots. Paul ate a giant Idaho beef burger with
long crunchy French fries. I would love to revisit this restaurant.
Saturday
Paul and I walked to the Pike Place Market to explore. We found Holy Cow
records, a map shop, a vintage poster shop and one million places to eat. We
walked toward the aquarium and decided on a sourdough joint that sold sandwiches
and clam chowder. I had a veggie omelette and a bowl of chowder that was so
full of flavor. Paul had a very crunchy sourdough Reuben panini. We walked to
2nd Ave for another record shop and took an ice cream break in Bluebird Ice Cream for
marionberry ice cream. Then we hopped in the car and found Ballard where Paul
visited Bebop Records while I ran to and from Cupcake Royale gluten-free cupcakes, Ballard
Coffee and the Secret Garden Bookstore. We drove all over the university
district and then drove slowly down Ballard Street where we discovered the most
delicious sushi restaurant, Shiku.
Sunday Paul and I woke up early to go to the Space Needle. The tickets were booked up to 6:00PM so we toured the Chihuly
Museum while we were there and then walked to the Cheesecake Factory for lunch.
I hadn't had the shepherd's pie in a long time so I ordered that with the Asian
lettuce wraps. Then Paul and I jumped in the car again and discovered West
Seattle's Easy Street record store. There was a large farmer's market happening
when we arrived so we explored it and I bought some Rainier cherries that are
delicious. We took a break at the hotel and then drove back to Ballard for
Veraci's pizza which was stone oven baked delicious. Then we went back to the
cute shops and record stores on Market Street nearby and talked for a while to
the owner of Bebop Records. We ended the evening walking to the Starbuck's next
to the Original Starbuck's to get a New York Times and a snack. I watched the
Kardashians until I fell asleep.
Monday was our day to drive out of the city
and get out in nature. We drove to Ape Cave at the foot of Mt Saint Helen's
three hours away. It was nice to see the gigantic evergreens along the highway
and when we stopped for a quick lunch at Subway I discovered they have
gluten-free bread. I had a delicious BLT with jalapeño peppers and a bag of
Doritoes on our drive up the volcano. Paul loved the cave and since we were
only 45 minutes from Portland, I asked if we could drive over and find some food
trucks like the ones I've seen on food shows about Portland. We went to
Hawthorne Street and found a small rodeo of Egyptian food, French crepes, pizza,
Mexican food and a potato mash specialties truck. I inhaled a huge plate of
Middle Eastern goodness and Paul had a lamb sandwich. We ordered two crepes
that were heavenly!! We had one with Nutella, strawberries and bananas and
another with goat cheese, cran jelly and plantains. I liked both but Paul went
insane for the Nutella one! We were only in Portland for an hour but I know I
want to return. I want to know all the food secrets the hipsters know. We
drove back to Seattle and found a delicious Mexican restaurant close to our
hotel: Cantina Lena. Pronounced Leenya. We ordered a trio of cheddar cheese
dip, cotija cheese dip and guacamole and to be healthy, an order of maple
chipotle carrots and garlic kale with tomatoes. This food was insanely good and
we washed it down with a shared pineapple jalapeño margarita. We passed out
when we got back to the room.
Tuesday morning Paul went scuba diving in Puget
Sound. I started my morning with an orange scone and coffee from Top Pot
Doughnuts and then walked to Pike Place Market. I ordered an iced coffee from
Tully's and bought a bag of coffee beans. I went in every store that was open
in the market and along 1st Street. I watched the market vendors set up their
wares. I stopped in Anthropologie, Zara, Lush and several bookstores, a map
store and Sur la Table. At 11:00 I had delicious falafel and hummus at Egg and
Plant Vegetarian on 5th Ave. Then I stopped in Far Eats for Indian food that was
sadly very mediocre. Paul came back from scuba diving and we went to a truly
amazing restaurant, Local 360. I had a beet salad with sheep's milk cheese and
hazelnuts. I also tried the PBJ bon bons which were fried bread balls stuffed
with warm, oozing peanut butter nestled on small puddles of raspberry jelly with
a cold milk shooter on the side. I have to return someday. Paul and I then
visited the aquarium and truly enjoyed the otters and the puffins playing in the
water. We spent some more time at Pike Place Market and then took a break at
the hotel. For dinner we had a perfect final meal in Seattle. We went to
"Little France" on Pine Street and dined at Cafe Compagne. We started with the
cheese plate (instead of ending the meal with cheese the way the French do.) The
Roquefort, goat cheese, and Manchego came with a freshly made apricot confit. I
nearly died with every bite. The table baguette was crunchy and delicious. I
had the steak frites with bleu cheese butter. Then for dessert we shared a
cherry clafoutis topped with chantilly cream and a serving of cherry ice cream
with a sable breton cookie on top. This meal easily goes down as one of my top
50 ever. I can't wait to return.
Seattle was so much fun. I loved the laid back vibe and the friendliness of the locals. What a wonderful city.
When I flew back to Memphis to pick up our little dog from my mom, I got to eat at
Amerigo (they have amazing gluten-free pasta and rolls), Red Robin (a heavenly
Southern Charm burger) and a huge takeout order from Soul Fish Cafe that
Stephanie, Nancy and I shared. It was an amazing final meal in Memphis.
June 20-26, 2015 - Kansas City, Here I Come! My traveling buddy Stephanie Wilson agreed to meet me in Kansas City for a week of shopping and eating. Then I asked my hubby if he wanted to get there early and spend the weekend together exploring the city. I'm a lucky lady. I had three days with my hubby in Kansas City and then when he returned to Dodge City I still had five more days of the city doing girly stuff with Stephanie. Here's how the long, fun week went down: As soon as Paul and I got to Kansas City we went to a sushi restaurant called Nara that he had found online. The sushi was delicious and so were the cocktails. Paul is obsessed with bloody marys and this one was spicy, smoky and delicious. I had a very strong and yummy rum cocktail. Paul tried the alligator sushi and some vegetable rolls. I had some spicy salmon, vegetable and fried shrimp rolls. The sauce on the fried shrimp roll made it taste like an extra delicious Big Mac.
The next morning Paul and I went straight to Cheesecake Factory for Asian lettuce wraps, white chili and Paul's favorite milkshake the Flying Gorilla. We discovered some really cool record stores in Westport, River Market Antiques and then went to the Royals game. What a great stadium full of devoted fans! It rained a little so we didn't roast under the sun, thank goodness. After the game we ate at Freebird's Burrito, a chain Paul discovered hiking in Texas. I love the steak bowl and the fresh and delicious guacamole.
Monday morning Paul drove home to Dodge City. I ate lunch at Chuy's at the bar. Their chicken flautas and creamy ranch dip are so good together! When Stephanie arrived a few hours later we ate some salads and white chocolate macadamia cheesecake at the Cheesecake Factory and then hit the shopping at the Country Club Plaza hard. For dinner we fell into the closest yummy restaurant, PF Chang's. Their lemon chicken with garlic spinach is one of my favorite meals ever! We walked into The Better Cheddar too and drooled over all the cheese, jellies, gourmet candy, crackers and dips. Tuesday was allotted mostly for IKEA and we ate in their cafeteria. There are few comfort food meals like meatballs, mashed potatoes and lingonberry jelly. While we were out in the suburbs of KC we shopped at the Town Center Plaza making a beeline for the Le Creuset store and ate in a California Pizza Kitchen to gorge on carbs after a long day of standing and walking. Wednesday we visited the art museum and enjoyed the folk art exhibit. We ate lunch at Chuy's and then for dinner tried our first Kansas City barbeque. We had Gates BBQ and the beef was so delicious. So were the beans. They were the best baked beans I've ever had. I will always pledge allegiance to Central BBQ in Memphis as the best bbq in the world, but I like the salty, smokiness of KC bbq. Gates was a truly delicious bbq joint. I bought a bottle of the extra hot bbq sauce for a souvenir. Afterwards Stephanie and I drove to the Roasterie café in the Brookside shopping area. I thought it would be fun to visit a coffee shop. I didn't think I would be discovering my new favorite coffee ever. I've always loved Starbuck's because it tastes like being awake. It punches you in the face like a Napa wine. The Roasterie coffee is like a smooth Argentine wine. Stephanie and I were both immediately hooked so we went to the grocery store behind the shop and bought every Roasterie blend they sold. Then we stumbled on Foo's Frozen Custard. Holy Cow! This was a day for new favorites. I had the Triple Threat with chocolate chips, peanut butter and chocolate syrup. This was a cold cement cup of goodness that tasted like a Cadbury peanut butter egg in ice cream form. It was my favorite dessert of the whole trip. Thursday morning we got up early and drove to Thou Mayest coffee shop. I had been told by Taylor Conant at work that it was a really hip place to sit and sip. It was. I loved taking instagram pics in there. For lunch we tried Jerusalem Café in Westport and it was so delicious! I hadn't had Middle Eastern food in such a long time and I loved it. The sampler appetizer platter was plenty filling and delicious but of course I had to have beef kefta and vegetable plate as well. For dessert we drove to Foo's again and tried three other delicious cement mixes. We took a trolley tour of the city that leaves from Union Station. This was a really fun tour full of the history of the great city. For dinner we tried Jack Stack bbq and it was so good!! We finally tried the city-wide touted "burnt tips" and they were delicious chunks of meat seared on both sides. I ate a huge portion of them along with the best bbq chicken I've ever tasted. The cheesy corn was as good as all the locals said it would be. For dinner we drove to Aixois, a French restaurant, for dessert. I tried my first ile flottante and I am in love with this dessert now. It's amazing I only gained three pounds on this trip. Friday morning was the end of our trip. We drove back to Aixois for breakfast. We had a delicious salmon and spinach omelette, quiche and fruit. It was the perfect goodbye to a perfectly wonderful city. I truly heart KC and can't wait to get back there. It's true what they say about the double city. Kansas City: a city too big for just one state!
The next morning Paul and I went straight to Cheesecake Factory for Asian lettuce wraps, white chili and Paul's favorite milkshake the Flying Gorilla. We discovered some really cool record stores in Westport, River Market Antiques and then went to the Royals game. What a great stadium full of devoted fans! It rained a little so we didn't roast under the sun, thank goodness. After the game we ate at Freebird's Burrito, a chain Paul discovered hiking in Texas. I love the steak bowl and the fresh and delicious guacamole.
Monday morning Paul drove home to Dodge City. I ate lunch at Chuy's at the bar. Their chicken flautas and creamy ranch dip are so good together! When Stephanie arrived a few hours later we ate some salads and white chocolate macadamia cheesecake at the Cheesecake Factory and then hit the shopping at the Country Club Plaza hard. For dinner we fell into the closest yummy restaurant, PF Chang's. Their lemon chicken with garlic spinach is one of my favorite meals ever! We walked into The Better Cheddar too and drooled over all the cheese, jellies, gourmet candy, crackers and dips. Tuesday was allotted mostly for IKEA and we ate in their cafeteria. There are few comfort food meals like meatballs, mashed potatoes and lingonberry jelly. While we were out in the suburbs of KC we shopped at the Town Center Plaza making a beeline for the Le Creuset store and ate in a California Pizza Kitchen to gorge on carbs after a long day of standing and walking. Wednesday we visited the art museum and enjoyed the folk art exhibit. We ate lunch at Chuy's and then for dinner tried our first Kansas City barbeque. We had Gates BBQ and the beef was so delicious. So were the beans. They were the best baked beans I've ever had. I will always pledge allegiance to Central BBQ in Memphis as the best bbq in the world, but I like the salty, smokiness of KC bbq. Gates was a truly delicious bbq joint. I bought a bottle of the extra hot bbq sauce for a souvenir. Afterwards Stephanie and I drove to the Roasterie café in the Brookside shopping area. I thought it would be fun to visit a coffee shop. I didn't think I would be discovering my new favorite coffee ever. I've always loved Starbuck's because it tastes like being awake. It punches you in the face like a Napa wine. The Roasterie coffee is like a smooth Argentine wine. Stephanie and I were both immediately hooked so we went to the grocery store behind the shop and bought every Roasterie blend they sold. Then we stumbled on Foo's Frozen Custard. Holy Cow! This was a day for new favorites. I had the Triple Threat with chocolate chips, peanut butter and chocolate syrup. This was a cold cement cup of goodness that tasted like a Cadbury peanut butter egg in ice cream form. It was my favorite dessert of the whole trip. Thursday morning we got up early and drove to Thou Mayest coffee shop. I had been told by Taylor Conant at work that it was a really hip place to sit and sip. It was. I loved taking instagram pics in there. For lunch we tried Jerusalem Café in Westport and it was so delicious! I hadn't had Middle Eastern food in such a long time and I loved it. The sampler appetizer platter was plenty filling and delicious but of course I had to have beef kefta and vegetable plate as well. For dessert we drove to Foo's again and tried three other delicious cement mixes. We took a trolley tour of the city that leaves from Union Station. This was a really fun tour full of the history of the great city. For dinner we tried Jack Stack bbq and it was so good!! We finally tried the city-wide touted "burnt tips" and they were delicious chunks of meat seared on both sides. I ate a huge portion of them along with the best bbq chicken I've ever tasted. The cheesy corn was as good as all the locals said it would be. For dinner we drove to Aixois, a French restaurant, for dessert. I tried my first ile flottante and I am in love with this dessert now. It's amazing I only gained three pounds on this trip. Friday morning was the end of our trip. We drove back to Aixois for breakfast. We had a delicious salmon and spinach omelette, quiche and fruit. It was the perfect goodbye to a perfectly wonderful city. I truly heart KC and can't wait to get back there. It's true what they say about the double city. Kansas City: a city too big for just one state!
May 23-29, 2015 - As soon as the school year was out for summer I drove to Memphis, TN the home of the best food in the world. Stephanie Wilson was my host again and I'm so lucky to have her friendship. As soon as I got to her house we drove to Soul Fish Café and I pigged out on blackened catfish, white beans, turnip greens, cornbread and pecan pie. The next day we went shopping all day in Germantown and Collierville stopping for lunch at Memphis Pizza Café for a Hawaiian salad with ranch dressing and a gluten-free buffalo chicken pizza. We had dinner at my favorite Mexican restaurant for the past 20 years, El Porton at Poplar and Highland. Even though I now live in a city with many decent Mexican restaurants, I haven't found one as satisfying as El Porton. The cheese dip, tacos and margaritas taste like happy Memphis afternoons. The next day Mom and Stephanie and I went to visit the Memphis Pyramid which is now a Bass Pro Shop. It was a fun excursion watching the crowds of people and seeing how the Pyramid has been transformed. We ate lunch at Peiwei where I smothered my spicy shrimp in red pepper relish. For dinner Stephanie and I ate at Robata on Overton Square and the ramen was good. The curry fries with a fried egg on top were great. Then it was the day to drive down to the Delta and visit McCarty Pottery in Merigold, MS. Stephanie hadn't been there and now she's a fan just like me. We bought all the pieces we could afford and then drove on to Cleveland, MS to have lunch on at Hey Joe's. This was a fun restaurant that wasn't around when I was at Delta State. The delicious hamburgers come topped with Fighting Okra garnish (a pickled okra) and the barbeque nachos were pretty decent. We stopped in all the cute shops along Cotton Row and then drove to Batesville to see my mom. We had dinner at Central BBQ on Summer Ave when we got back to Memphis. I had one of my favorite meals of all time: barbeque nachos (twice in one day!) with turnip greens and potato salad. Then we went to Jerry's Sno Cone where I had a strawberry shortcake supreme sno cone and it was heavenly. The supreme sno cone has vanilla soft serve in the center. Wednesday I met up with Barry Flippo one of my two best friends. We had the lunch buffet at India Palace and his partner Reece reminded me that India Palace is one of his favorite restaurants too. It was great to catch up. I hadn't seen Barry since Christmas Break. For dinner Stephanie and I went to Café Ole for the best margaritas in Memphis and some fish tacos and crazy corn that is crazy delicious. I got my hair done and my eyes checked that day too. My last day in Memphis I went over to my old house on Century Street which is still on the market and took more odds and ends I'd left behind. Mom met me there and then we ate lunch at Chipotle and shopped at Target. I visited my favorite candy store Dinstuhl's again to buy even more coffee prims and salted caramels. I hit the Williams Sonoma outlet once more and then Stephanie and I had dinner with my Sunday School friend Nancy Austria at Soul Fish Café. I had the smoked pork chops, the glazed carrots, the fried okra, the quick pickle salad and the caramel cake. This cake was astonishing. It took my breath away. It was great to catch up with Nancy and just to soak up all things Memphis for a few more hours. The next morning I left at 6:00AM and drove back to Kansas. It was an amazing trip that confirmed my love for my true home, Memphis.
May 5, 2015 - Paul and I continue to visit Sarocha on a weekly basis. I am obsessed with this place! The green curry is spicy and delicious with basil. The spring rolls are delicious and fresh dipped in peanut sauce. The masaman curry is comfort food defined. Paul and I eat the leftovers for days after a visit to this place. We're excited about the new sushi place coming to Dodge City too!
May 5, 2015 - Paul and I continue to visit Sarocha on a weekly basis. I am obsessed with this place! The green curry is spicy and delicious with basil. The spring rolls are delicious and fresh dipped in peanut sauce. The masaman curry is comfort food defined. Paul and I eat the leftovers for days after a visit to this place. We're excited about the new sushi place coming to Dodge City too!
Easter Weekend 2015 - Paul and I drove to Wichita Thursday afternoon when we both got out of work early for Easter break. We set up our dog Zeno in the dog-friendly hotel and drove to Old Town to have sushi at Wasabi. We'd been here before but it was still in that window of time where we were deciding if I should quit my job and move to Kansas a semester early. My whole life had been up in the air but I still remember how delicious the Heart Attack Roll was (and still is) with spicy tuna, slices of fresh jalapeno on each piece and spicy mayo and light brown crunchies on top. Also, the booths are comfortable and the large circular hanging lamps (like PF Changs) are pretty. The lights are dim and the waiters are friendly. Paul ordered all the veggie rolls. I ordered the Heart Attack, the Philadelphia and the Vegetable roll. The asparagus spears in the veggie roll are delicious. Later that evening I got my shopping fix at World Market and Whole Foods. I stocked up on cornichons, decadent cookies, carrot raisin flax muffins, gluten-free bagels and other odds and ends for our new house. I also drank an iced coffee with hazelnut from Starbuck's and enjoyed the head rush after two weeks with no Starbuck's.
Friday morning we woke up and drove over to The Flying Moose antique store and enjoyed looking around. I bought some light green Depression glass cups. Then Paul and I scooped up takeout from two yummy places: Freebird's World Burrito and Old Chicago Pizza. We had a picnic in the Jeep because Zeno was with us and he's not allowed in restaurants. Then Paul enjoyed some time at the local wildlife preserve feeding cute animals and we came home to our sweet old house. It was a great getaway.
Saturday was a great day. We got so much organized in our house because we had our first guests over. Kerry and Laura Kuplic came over to see the house. They praised our progress as we took them from room to room. Then we all went to eat at Sarocha. They had never been and they loved it as much as we did a week ago. This time I ordered the massaman curry and it was heavenly! Paul ordered the beef pad thai and loved it. The Kuplics ordered the fried tofu and it was delicious. Small slices of creamy tofu fried in light crunchies and served with a light and spicy duck sauce. Afterwards we went to the local palleteria and I got a banana palleta. Laura got the Mexican coconut ice cream and also a scoop of pine nut ice cream that tasted like a strawberry cream jello salad from a church potluck. I can't wait to go back there and try all the palleta and ice cream flavors. The Kuplics are hilarious and I can't wait to hang out with them again.
Friday morning we woke up and drove over to The Flying Moose antique store and enjoyed looking around. I bought some light green Depression glass cups. Then Paul and I scooped up takeout from two yummy places: Freebird's World Burrito and Old Chicago Pizza. We had a picnic in the Jeep because Zeno was with us and he's not allowed in restaurants. Then Paul enjoyed some time at the local wildlife preserve feeding cute animals and we came home to our sweet old house. It was a great getaway.
Saturday was a great day. We got so much organized in our house because we had our first guests over. Kerry and Laura Kuplic came over to see the house. They praised our progress as we took them from room to room. Then we all went to eat at Sarocha. They had never been and they loved it as much as we did a week ago. This time I ordered the massaman curry and it was heavenly! Paul ordered the beef pad thai and loved it. The Kuplics ordered the fried tofu and it was delicious. Small slices of creamy tofu fried in light crunchies and served with a light and spicy duck sauce. Afterwards we went to the local palleteria and I got a banana palleta. Laura got the Mexican coconut ice cream and also a scoop of pine nut ice cream that tasted like a strawberry cream jello salad from a church potluck. I can't wait to go back there and try all the palleta and ice cream flavors. The Kuplics are hilarious and I can't wait to hang out with them again.
March 30, 2015 - The weekend was beautiful and sunny with temps in the 80's. Some buttercream white tulips pushed up at the corner of our front porch like a beautiful surprise present. Paul and I finished painting the downstairs rooms that had wood paneling and I've started decorating the rooms. I am in love with our house here in Dodge City. Paul and I tried a new restaurant on Wyatt Earp this weekend and we are crazy about it. It's Sarocha and it's a Thai restaurant. The food was truly delicious, the portions were huge and we've eaten the leftovers at least three times since our visit. I ordered the spicy bamboo dish with beef. The spicy comes from the many jalapenos in it. The bamboo and beef were thinly sliced. The sauce was flavored intensely with fresh basil leaves. Paul and I shared the spring rolls with peanut sauce. We expected it to be an order of two but there were six of them. They were huge, fresh and delicious. We can't wait to get back there to try more dishes.
Spring Break 2015 - I never thought years ago that a spring break in Memphis would sound fun but it really was. I have missed Southern food so much living in Kansas and my heart will always belong in Memphis. Stephanie Wilson opened her guest bedroom to me for my whole stay so that I didn't have to stay in my lonely empty house for sale on Century Street. Here's what I did and more importantly what I ate during spring break 2015.
Friday - I drove "home" to Memphis with our dog Zeno to stay with Stephanie. I ate a leftover Jimmy John's sandwich on the road. Stephanie called in a huge order of food from Soul Fish Café as soon as I crossed the Mississippi River and started driving down Madison Ave. She ordered a smoked half chicken, blackened catfish, mashed potatoes, Cajun cabbage, grilled zucchini, black eyed peas, white beans and cornbread. We ate it buffet-style while my papillon Zeno and her min-pin Jack sorted out territory issues.
Saturday -Stephanie made grits for breakfast and they were delicious. I picked up take-out from Peiwei with Mom and we had a picnic at the Century house. I ate gluten-free Gigi's cupcakes for dessert and then Mom headed back to Batesville with Zeno. I went shopping in Collierville and Germantown and ate at Maui Brick Oven with Stephanie. I was so ready for gluten-free onion rings, coconut shrimp and pepperoni pizza! Delicious!! Then we shopped at Whole Foods which now seems like a foodie wonderland. I bought chocolate cupcakes and gluten-free bagels and enjoyed them the rest of the trip.
Sunday- I went to Sunday School (so wonderful to see those ladies) and soaked up their sweetness and Christian love. Stephanie was really nice to go to the Mayuri buffet for lunch with me. She doesn't love Indian food but she went anyway. This is a good friend. We did some more shopping, had a tiramisu iced coffee from Starbucks and then we went to Central BBQ on Central for pork nachos and turnip greens for dinner with Nancy Austria.
Monday - I went to the gym to work off calories, did some more shopping and then ate leftovers from Soul Fish Café for lunch. I enjoyed a free iced coffee from my favorite barista at Starbuck's, watched some sorely missed reality TV on cable and then had El Porton tacos, cheese dip and a strong margarita for dinner with Stephanie.
Tuesday- I drove to my old house in Memphis and buried the statue of St. Joseph next to my favorite rosemary bush hoping that my prayers will speed along severing our financial ties to Memphis. I don't know how people sell a house and move into a new one without losing some of their sanity. Paul and I are really ready to sell our house in Memphis! Afterwards I drove around the corner and had green tea from Starbucks and surfed the web while I waited for my hair appointment at Gould's Poplar and Prescott. Stephanie and I had sushi at Osaka for lunch and then I met up with Mom to pick up our dog Zeno. She was really nice to dog-sit while I enjoyed shopping and eating in Memphis. Mom and I sat on the patio of McAlister's with Zeno and had salads, nachos and unsweet tea. Later that night as my final meal of the vacation I wanted Soul Fish Café again so we ordered smoked pork chops, white beans, green beans and Cajun cabbage. I still can't believe how fast spring break in Memphis was. The time flew by but I had so much fun seeing some of my favorite people and getting to eat at all of my favorite restaurants. On the 12 hour drive back to my new home in Kansas I listened to a book on cd and that made the time go by faster.
The rest of spring break I spent with my handsome husband painting and decorating our house with some of the purchases I made in Memphis. It is so nice to have such a charming old house in Dodge City. I'm trying to choose items for the house that seem "French farmhouse." Paul had a great time hiking the Guadalupe Mountains in Texas for part of his spring break. I can't wait for our next vacation together to explore the West and Midwest together.
Friday - I drove "home" to Memphis with our dog Zeno to stay with Stephanie. I ate a leftover Jimmy John's sandwich on the road. Stephanie called in a huge order of food from Soul Fish Café as soon as I crossed the Mississippi River and started driving down Madison Ave. She ordered a smoked half chicken, blackened catfish, mashed potatoes, Cajun cabbage, grilled zucchini, black eyed peas, white beans and cornbread. We ate it buffet-style while my papillon Zeno and her min-pin Jack sorted out territory issues.
Saturday -Stephanie made grits for breakfast and they were delicious. I picked up take-out from Peiwei with Mom and we had a picnic at the Century house. I ate gluten-free Gigi's cupcakes for dessert and then Mom headed back to Batesville with Zeno. I went shopping in Collierville and Germantown and ate at Maui Brick Oven with Stephanie. I was so ready for gluten-free onion rings, coconut shrimp and pepperoni pizza! Delicious!! Then we shopped at Whole Foods which now seems like a foodie wonderland. I bought chocolate cupcakes and gluten-free bagels and enjoyed them the rest of the trip.
Sunday- I went to Sunday School (so wonderful to see those ladies) and soaked up their sweetness and Christian love. Stephanie was really nice to go to the Mayuri buffet for lunch with me. She doesn't love Indian food but she went anyway. This is a good friend. We did some more shopping, had a tiramisu iced coffee from Starbucks and then we went to Central BBQ on Central for pork nachos and turnip greens for dinner with Nancy Austria.
Monday - I went to the gym to work off calories, did some more shopping and then ate leftovers from Soul Fish Café for lunch. I enjoyed a free iced coffee from my favorite barista at Starbuck's, watched some sorely missed reality TV on cable and then had El Porton tacos, cheese dip and a strong margarita for dinner with Stephanie.
Tuesday- I drove to my old house in Memphis and buried the statue of St. Joseph next to my favorite rosemary bush hoping that my prayers will speed along severing our financial ties to Memphis. I don't know how people sell a house and move into a new one without losing some of their sanity. Paul and I are really ready to sell our house in Memphis! Afterwards I drove around the corner and had green tea from Starbucks and surfed the web while I waited for my hair appointment at Gould's Poplar and Prescott. Stephanie and I had sushi at Osaka for lunch and then I met up with Mom to pick up our dog Zeno. She was really nice to dog-sit while I enjoyed shopping and eating in Memphis. Mom and I sat on the patio of McAlister's with Zeno and had salads, nachos and unsweet tea. Later that night as my final meal of the vacation I wanted Soul Fish Café again so we ordered smoked pork chops, white beans, green beans and Cajun cabbage. I still can't believe how fast spring break in Memphis was. The time flew by but I had so much fun seeing some of my favorite people and getting to eat at all of my favorite restaurants. On the 12 hour drive back to my new home in Kansas I listened to a book on cd and that made the time go by faster.
The rest of spring break I spent with my handsome husband painting and decorating our house with some of the purchases I made in Memphis. It is so nice to have such a charming old house in Dodge City. I'm trying to choose items for the house that seem "French farmhouse." Paul had a great time hiking the Guadalupe Mountains in Texas for part of his spring break. I can't wait for our next vacation together to explore the West and Midwest together.
March 3, 2015 - It's funny how this restaurant diary used to be much more descriptive than What I'm Cooking This Week. Now that I live out here in Dodge City we don't eat out as much. When we do, it's really good and feels like a treat. This is probably the way it should have always been in Memphis too. Last week we celebrated payday at Montana Mike's. We love their loaded baked potatoes and I really love their sirloins. Paul gets their gigantic hamburgers. Friday night we went to Vallarta again. Their cheese dip is delicious and so are the margaritas if you order them on the rocks. I tried the tacos, one beef and one chicken. They were great topped with the pickled jalapenos and pico de gallo I ordered on the side. Paul ordered a gigantic beef burrito that looked delicious topped with lots of cheese. I've started making a list of all the restaurants I want to revisit in Memphis when I get home for spring break. I better work out a lot in advance.
February 17, 2015 - Paul and I have been visiting different Mexican restaurants in Dodge City and so far my favorite is Vallarta on Wyatt Earp Blvd. The pollo loco is really delicious. It's basically chicken nachos with chorizo. I had hoped the tamales would be good too but I haven't tasted yummy tamales since I was a child. Maybe I can meet someone here to teach me how to make them. Saturday (Valentine's Day) Paul and I left town for the first time in a month and drove to Garden City. They have an Old Chicago Pizza there that is new. Paul and I had discovered this place in Wichita and we loved it! I'm thrilled that there's one only 45 minutes away. We ordered the Italian nachos, a fiery calzone and I ordered a personal pepperoni pizza that I only ate the toppings from. I wish they would develop a gluten-free pizza there. We also walked into Target for the teensy Starbuck's inside. I got an iced coffee with a half pump of hazelnut (my first in a month) and it literally made me giddy! Paul and I made dinner Valentine's night and Monday was a holiday. It was a great Valentine's weekend and I got so much done!
January 26, 2015 - Paul and I got a lot accomplished in our new house this weekend. We set up bookshelves in our library and unpacked more boxes. I cooked up a Southern feast on my new stove, cleaned out our storage room, organized spice shelves and visited the Presbyterian church down the street. Friday night after Paul got home from work we went to Jalisco our new favorite Mexican restaurant in Dodge City. The chicken nachos are delicious, the cheese dip is delicious and the margaritas are really, really good. Saturday night after watching the Dodge City High School band play at the arena for a basketball tournament, we tried to visit the restaurant in the local casino. It was really crowded and smoky so we left and ate at Dodge House. This restaurant has been around since the late 1800's and the bar boasts a bullet hole. It's been a while since I've had mashed potatoes and gravy that tasted REALLY good. I had a good steak and the salad bar was fine but the potatoes in this restaurant made me eager to go back. Paul had a cheeseburger with some very fine local bacon piled on it. The bacon was thick, smoky and sweet. He also ordered the cheese and jalapeno pepper hashbrowns. AMAZING! I want to go back and just order mashed potatoes, bacon, the hashbrowns and a trip to the salad bar.
January 26, 2015 - Paul and I got a lot accomplished in our new house this weekend. We set up bookshelves in our library and unpacked more boxes. I cooked up a Southern feast on my new stove, cleaned out our storage room, organized spice shelves and visited the Presbyterian church down the street. Friday night after Paul got home from work we went to Jalisco our new favorite Mexican restaurant in Dodge City. The chicken nachos are delicious, the cheese dip is delicious and the margaritas are really, really good. Saturday night after watching the Dodge City High School band play at the arena for a basketball tournament, we tried to visit the restaurant in the local casino. It was really crowded and smoky so we left and ate at Dodge House. This restaurant has been around since the late 1800's and the bar boasts a bullet hole. It's been a while since I've had mashed potatoes and gravy that tasted REALLY good. I had a good steak and the salad bar was fine but the potatoes in this restaurant made me eager to go back. Paul had a cheeseburger with some very fine local bacon piled on it. The bacon was thick, smoky and sweet. He also ordered the cheese and jalapeno pepper hashbrowns. AMAZING! I want to go back and just order mashed potatoes, bacon, the hashbrowns and a trip to the salad bar.
January 19, 2015 - Yesterday was my six-year anniversary with the love of my life, Paul Morelli. We have started our new adventure together in Dodge City, Kansas. So far I love the people, the food and our new house with a white picket fence. Actually our house is very old. It was built in 1898. Paul and I spent most of our anniversary putting our house together because we just moved in last week. Paul bought me a stove for my anniversary present and I am ecstatic. The stove that came with our kitchen is, well, hideous. I'm looking forward to the delivery of the new one. For our anniversary dinner we went to Montana Mike's for delicious steak, loaded baked potato, green beans, caramelized apples and cottage cheese. I was happy to see fried okra on the menu too.
January 4, 2015 - It will be so strange not going back to work tomorrow. It feels strange to be technically unemployed. Paul and I drove to his parents in Franklin, TN to celebrate a late Christmas and open presents. Paul's mom made Cornish hens, potatoes and a yummy strawberries and cream holiday parfait for dessert. We visited the local Civil War cemetery near the battle of Franklin and then I drove to Amy's house to spend a couple of days shopping and eating at Green Hills and all over Franklin. It's hard to say goodbye to Amy's cute house and my in-laws' gorgeous house so close to the downtown Franklin square that you can walk there. Amy and I ate at all my favorite places: Cheesecake Factory, Chuy's and I even tried a new place that I totally loved, California Pizza Kitchen. We shopped in all the cute shops at Hill Center and walked up and down the Franklin Square visiting all the cute gift shops and Anthropologie. It has been another amazing holiday in the Nashville area.
Christmas Break 2014 - What a whirlwind these holidays have been! It's both the season to exchange presents and say goodbye to Memphis this year. Paul and I have thought carefully about each restaurant we've visited this break. It's the last chance to drive down the street to all our Memphis favorites. I went to Central BBQ with Stephanie and ordered all the veggie sides (beans, turnip greens and green beans) plus, of course, the bbq pork nachos. Paul finally got to try Schweinhaus and he loved it. The red cabbage and warm potato salad were extremely tasty this time and Paul ordered a German meatball sandwich that was very good. The day after Christmas Stephanie and I met up at 6:30 AM at the Oak Court Mall parking lot to begin a huge day of sale-shopping. We ended up in Germantown and Collierville and had lunch at Maui Brick Oven a totally gluten-free restaurant with good pizza and amazing coconut shrimp. The salads have passion fruit vinaigrette that is shockingly good. My mom and I went to Oxford, MS again to have a mother-daughter day out. We ate at Ajax, of course, and I started with the turnip green and black eyed pea soup. Then I ordered the pot roast (the best I've ever had, period) with cheese grits, jalapeno cornbread and sweet potato casserole. For dessert we split a slice of chocolate chess pie with dark yellow vanilla ice cream on the side. One night Paul and I ate at PeiWei because we wanted something fast after a day of sitting on the phone closing down local accounts. PeiWei is always so yummy and their spicy shrimp with white rice is my favorite. I love it with small scoops of hot red pepper relish on the side.
November 25, 2014 - My husband is home for Thanksgiving! Paul has gotten out of the habit of dining out now that he lives in Dodge City. I now realize how often I insist that we go out in spite of my deep conviction that I LOVE to cook. There were, of course, restaurants that Paul couldn't wait to get back to. His first choice was Westy's in the Pinch District downtown. It used to be The North End. The rice dishes, the sandwiches, the famous hot fudge pie and the cocktails are well worth the drive downtown. Paul also missed the guacamole at Babalu and the earlybird 3-roll sushi combo at Ryu on Summer Ave. I'm sure the waitresses at Ryu wondered what happened to us because we hadn't been in since August. Of course, Thanksgiving is about home cooking and I cooked for Paul and my mom and my in-laws. I journaled about it in What I'm Cooking This Week.
November 19, 2014 - My mom has been a huge help since I decided to join Paul in Kansas in January rather than May. Her financial and physical support has helped me get through the huge change of moving my whole life to another state. Yesterday after work I stopped in Soul Fish in midtown to pick up an order to go. I didn't even ask Mother what she wanted because I knew she would like everything on the menu. I ordered a catfish plate with jalapeño hush puppies, coleslaw and french fries, a half smoked chicken with mashed potatoes and a vegetable plate with grilled zucchini, Cajun cabbage, white beans and sweet, fluffy corn muffins. The waitress stuffed packets of hot sauce, ketchup and tartar sauce in the bag too. When I got home we opened all of it and served ourselves on my Fiesta plates that haven't been packed yet.
November 15 and 16, 2014 - My mother-in-law and father-in-law are two of the most generous people I have ever met. I am lucky to have them as family. They brought a Uhaul truck to our house Saturday to take a ton of boxes to Dodge City. I have not moved out there yet but I've packed everything but furniture and other necessities. I made a thermos of hazelnut Community coffee and bought an assorted box of doughnuts at Kroger. I also ordered Dominoes pizza and hot wings for lunch for everyone who helped load the truck. Stephanie came over to load the truck for two hours too. My father-in-law drove the truck on to Kansas and my mother-in-law stayed with me the rest of the weekend to clean for the Open House.
I am lucky to enjoy my mother-in-law as a friend. I took her to La Baguette in the Chickasaw Plaza for raspberry, lemon, vanilla and pistachio macarons. The inner courtyard in this plaza is decorated for Christmas and the cute shops spill their wares out on the walkway. It is a special hidden courtyard right in the middle of Memphis. Then we took my dog for a walk and went to Muddy's Grind House for red velvet, lemon and pumpkin cupcakes (and my favorite: yellow cupcakes with chocolate icing). For dinner we went to Babalu for the amazing made-tableside guacamole and grilled shrimp tacos.
Sunday I took my mother-in-law to Sunday School with me and afterwards we ate at Cafe Ole in Cooper Young. The cheese dip and spicy salsa are both delicious appetizers and I ordered grilled mahi mahi tacos with a side of crazy corn that is crazy good. We cleaned the house from top to bottom once again before the Open House started and then drove all over Memphis for two hours while my realtor took over. We went to Dinstuhl's to look at the rows of gorgeous candy, gingerbread houses, chocolate turkeys, chocolate Christmas trees and Memphis souvenir chocolates. I got a salted caramel chocolate bar and inhaled it.
November 9, 2014 - Fisher came over Sunday afternoon to try Mulan in Cooper Young. I usually get the kung pao shrimp and a couple of sushi rolls when Paul and I go. I ordered the spicy crawfish roll and the always delicious kung pao shrimp. Fisher ordered the sizzling beef platter and it was really good. The beef had a dark and sweet caramel coating. I will order that next time. Afterwards we went shopping in the new Fresh Market on Union Ave and bought cupcakes and canollis to take over to our friends Barry and Reece. They were waiting for a plumber to arrive at their home so we had afternoon coffee and cupcakes and played with their miniature greyhounds until the plumber arrived.
November 8, 2014 - Stephanie came over to see how much I've packed. She brought me food souvenirs from her recent trip to Seattle. She also told me all about her paid private tour of the Pike Place Market where the fishmongers sing and throw fish around. I am now putting this at the top of my travel list. Before Stephanie arrived I had been packing since 5:00 AM. When we sat down in Memphis Pizza Cafe I ate an entire large buffalo chicken pizza and a large Hawaiian salad with ranch dip. That still wasn't enough food for me. We then drove to the old house in Cooper Young that now houses the new Muddy's Grind House. We sat outside on the patio to eat cupcakes and drink coffee while a yoga class was taking place further out in the yard. After some errands to Target and the Williams Sonoma outlet I cleaned the house some more and then at 7:00 met up with Stephanie again at Whole Foods where we ordered BBQ from The Barbeque Shack inside the store. I had the barbeque brisket with mashed potatoes and hot sour pickles. The brisket was delicious with lots of bark.
November 1, 2014 - Fisher came over Saturday afternoon with the single goal of trying Spindini on S. Main Street but when we arrived at 5:30 the whole restaurant was packed and we had no reservations. We walked down the street to Pearl Oyster Company, a restaurant I've been meaning to try for years. I loved it!! It was just like a trip to New Orleans. The menu was just like a French Quarter restaurant with gumbo, peel and eat shrimp, oysters, crawfish and really strong Hurricanes and Bloody Marys. Fisher and I shared crawfish dip with tortilla chips. It was creamy and chunky with crawfish pieces. I also ordered the garlic shrimp scampi and blackened catfish. I sipped slowly on a very strong Bloody Mary and wished I had tried this place much sooner.
October 25, 2014 - My in-laws came to landscape the yard and help with a thousand other house issues. While I taught school Friday they transformed my yard with mulch and plants. I ran home for lunch and picked up pork sandwiches and BBQ nachos from Central Barbeque on the way. My in-laws hadn't tried Central before. When I got home from work I introduced my in-laws to Shweinhaus, the new German place at Overton Square and they loved it as much as Fisher and I did. We ordered the sauerbraten and the wurst platter and shared all of it. They loved the place and remembered when it was Paulette's. Saturday we did more work preparing the house for sale and I picked up lunch at McAlister's Deli. McAlister's started in Oxford, Mississippi only 20 miles from my hometown. I have always loved all the sandwiches and sides. Their iced tea is my favorite ever, but it is really sweet so I always order it half-sweet/half-unsweet. We had reubens, potato salad, fruit cups and of course, the nacho basket with extra jalapeños. Nachos are my favorite food.
October 6, 2014 - I made it to Dodge City, Kansas Friday afternoon and I was ecstatic to see my husband after seven weeks apart. He is truly my other half and I have felt lost without him in Memphis. While I was there during my fall break I decided to sell our house in Memphis and move to Dodge City in January rather than May. It is so painful to be away from my husband and as my mother said about my father at his funeral, "Forty-four years was not long enough to love him." I want to spend my whole life, every day with Paul.
My whole fall break was Kansas food and fun. Here is the itinerary of my trip:
Friday afternoon Oct 3, 2014
Arrived in Dodge City at 3:00 and flew into Paul's arms
Dinner at Bad Habit sports bar - chicken nachos and a Coke
Drove around all over town and took in the lay of the land, my new future home
Saturday Oct 4
Farmers Market and all over downtown, antiques shops
Drove to Hays, KS for sushi at Sake 2 Me - this sushi place is on the town square in Hays and it is a great place for sushi! I had the shrimp fried rice with large pieces of grilled shrimp stuffed in it. The veggie roll was delicious and Paul had the jackass roll with pulled pork, avocado, french fries and chili lime mayo
Sunday Oct 5
Toured our dream house with hopeful intention to buy
Went to Kerry and Laura's for a very fun afternoon party with good wine, French cheese and yummy buffalo chicken. We bonded with their cat Latimer
Had dinner at Prime on the Nine, unbelievable mango hot wings, steak and peanut butter pie
Monday Oct 6
Sat in on Paul's Theory 101 class
Went to Walmart and cooked in Paul's apartment kitchen: sausage balls, meatloaf and crockpot chicken
Went to bank to apply for home loan
Bought Paul a microwave
Sat in wind ensemble
Ate at Central Station (hamburger and fries and good salsa and chips)
Went to Community Choir rehearsal and enjoyed singing and meeting new people
Tuesday, Oct 7
Went to Walmart for Middle College school supplies
Sat in Paul's jazz band and watched him play the drums
Skyped with Mom on campus
Visited Boot Hill Museum and it was so cute!
Tacotico - yummy tacos and salsa (unfortunately it closed)
Sat in community orchestra
Wednesday, Oct 8
Cooked more sausage balls for Paul
Went back to Boot Hill
Casey's Cowtown - delicious steak
Thursday, Oct 9
Toured 5 houses with a realtor
Drove to Wichita and ate at Wasabi - REALLY good sushi and fun atmosphere
Friday, Oct 10
Our fun day in Wichita!
La Galette bakery for choc raspberry cheesecake and macarons and a large meringue
Museum of the World
Old Chicago Pizza - amazing! Italian nachos (tortilla chips, Italian sausage, mozzarella, sliced pepperoncinis and marinara for dipping
Wichita art museum - American modernism
World Market
2 record stores
A large music instrument store
Heroe's Sports bar for dinner - corn and jalapeño nuggets
Saturday Oct 11
Drove home to Memphis and went to El Porton (chicken nachos) with Mom, happy to be home with Zeno but wish Paul was here too
Sunday Oct 12
Pink Palace Arts and Crafts Festival, the culinary tent For many years I have attended this festival just to graze the free samples of cashew brittle, fudge, fresh apple juice and pecans from the Delta. The festival holds many happy memories. My parents and I went every year and enjoyed all the craft booths, food vendors and farm animal petting zoo.
September 29, 2014 - The weekend was easy and I started packing for my trip to Kansas to visit Paul at the end of the week. Mom came to Memphis from Mississippi to help with more yard work but was as happily surprised as I was that my friend Mr. Foster had come over during the school week and cleaned and mowed my whole yard. I took Mom to the new and improved Overton Square for lunch. We ate at Memphis Pizza Cafe which has been there for decades. I had a whole pizza half barbeque chicken and half Cajun chicken. Mom and I split a large Hawaiian salad with ranch dressing. She ordered a slice of vegetable pizza and really enjoyed it. I came home and made spaghetti for the week. Again, my cooking practice is barely existent now that I'm not cooking for Paul. Sunday after I read the New York Times, packed more, attended Sunday School, practiced the guitar and walked our dog Zeno three times I wanted to go out to eat. It was dinner for one at Golden India.
September 20 and 21, 2014 - My mom and I have become very close now that my dad is gone. She had never tried Chipotle, the yummy Mexican fast food chain, so we went there together Saturday for lunch. She told me to order for both of us. I had the chicken bowl and Mom had the barbacoa bowl. We both topped them medium salsa, sour cream, grilled veggies, corn salad, pinto beans and cilantro rice. I could easily eat this meal for lunch every day if that were possible.
Saturday night Fisher and I went to the new German place Schweinhaus that just opened at Overton Square. This space used to be the old Paulette's before it moved to Harbor Town. The white walls and provincial exposed beams make it perfect for a German restaurant. I didn't know if I would like the large tables with everyone seated family style with strangers, but that was fun too. The food was AMAZING!! We ordered a lot. We started with the German meatballs in a creamy caper sauce. We then shared saurbraten, roasted brussels sprouts, potato pancakes, sweet red cabbage, saurkraut, currywurst sausage, weisswurst, and two other sausages. There was maple mustard, apple sauce mixed with mustard and another sauce. I washed it down with almost two glasses of Reisling. The leftovers made two more meals. I can't wait to go back with Paul.
Later on Sunday afternoon after the gym I stopped in Buffalo Wild Wings to grab three sauces: Mango Habanero, Asian Zing and Hot. I wanted to get Caribbean Jerk but they were out. I mailed these to Paul yesterday and hope they get to Dodge City, KS before his birthday. I know he misses a lot of Memphis food and the chain Buffalo Wild Wings is one of our favorites.
September 12 and 13, 2014 - It was Amy and Ginger weekend in Memphis, also known as Cooper Young Festival weekend. Amy Aston and I have been best friends since 2001. We have seen each other go through many changes and we have traveled together many times to Chicago and New York City. Now that Amy lives in Nashville she only visits Memphis twice a year. She is a runner so she visits our house the weekends of the St Jude marathon and the Cooper Young Festival for the run the night before the festival. The festival is at the intersection of Cooper and Young street which are blocked off so that food and craft vendors can set up to sell beer, corn dogs, yard art, candles, clothing and more. It's a great time to see friends from the past or friends you see only once a year. I look forward to this weekend because it is all about laughing, eating, and shopping all weekend. Here are the places Amy and I went and the food we ordered:
Mayuri - Amy and I went for the lunch buffet (a whole plate just for onion pakoras and lentil chips) and caught up on everything since our July visit.
Sweet Noshings - This new store in Overton Square is so cute and smells so good. There are beautiful jars of candy stacked everywhere, coffee machines ready for use and buckets of freshly made gourmet popcorn to mix in paper bags. Here are some popcorn flavors: cheese, salted caramel, and taco. Amy bought gummy letters that spelled out her daughter's name, salted caramel chocolates and caramel popcorn. I bought some pink grapefruit gelees. I usually buy strawberry jam Jelly Bellies that taste unbelievably good
Memphis Pizza Cafe - I discovered that they now have gluten-free crust! I decided to choose my own toppings but their Cajun chicken supreme and ultimate cheese pizzas are amazing. They also have the most delicious Greek salad and Hawaiian salad in town.
Starbucks pumpkin spice latte - The first of the season for both Amy and me. We both wait for the Cooper Young Festival to order the first one together.
The Cooper Young Festival - Before I found out I had Celiac I would always get a corn dog and Coke for breakfast from the Pronto Pup stand at the festival. There were funnel cakes, crepes and crawfish pies that also looked and smelled amazing.
Cafe Ole - I am in love with their new food menu and their sweet and strong margaritas are still my favorite in town. The lunch nachos with beef were cheesy and delicious.
Huey's - This classic only-in-Memphis burger chain is the home of the Señor Huey burger, my favorite because of the jack cheese. Amy ordered the California burger (avocado and sprouts) as a veggie burger with a side of fat fries and a diet Coke. I discovered they have gluten-free buns now!
Bhan Thai - This restaurant is my favorite Thai place in Memphis. (Jasmine is my second favorite.) I love the pretty interior and the very pretty neighborhood it sits in. Peabody is one of the most beautiful streets in Memphis. Bhan Thai is a house turned into a restaurant. My best friend from high school Fisher joined Amy and me for dinner. I ordered the same two dishes I always order: the masaman curry with chicken and the tom kha soup with shrimp.
Muddy's - This cupcake shop is the best in Memphis. I'm not supposed to eat gluten so I stay away most of the time. Fisher and Amy wanted cupcakes and of course I had to eat two of them. A classic yellow cupcake with chocolate icing is my favorite American dessert. The chocolate raspberry cupcake is heavenly.
September 8, 2014 - Five weeks into the school year and I'm feeling the fatigue of having started another school year while making sure every student is on the same page every day. Over the weekend I tried two places I hadn't been: Commissary BBQ and Skewer. I should probably dedicate a whole page to the Memphis Barbecue places I've eaten. My favorite is Central BBQ but I also associate sweet barbecue flavor like Rendezvous and Tops with my home state of Mississippi. Commissary BBQ in Germantown is sweet but has a darker savory flavor behind the sweetness. Mom and I went to the Germantown festival because I knew she would enjoy the arts and crafts for sale. We ate from the Commissary food truck: the pork plate with baked beans and coleslaw and a 12 oz Coke. I liked it but there wasn't enough bark on the pork.
My friend Fisher and I went to Pete and Sam's for Italian. The vibe and history of this place is totally worth the visit. Located on Park Avenue across the street from the giant Mediterranean grocery Pete and Sam's was a favorite place for Elvis Presley who lived nearby in his early days of success. There's a signed poster of him over the cash register. The food is good. Fisher loves Italian food and the baby pizzas, spaghetti and Italian spinach are worth the wait. We were seated in a booth next to a large table of senior citizens. At the head of the table was their young priest in full habit. It's a popular place for families and there is always a wait unless you get there when it opens. The lights are dim and it feels like a very old Italian place like the restaurants in Little Italy in New York. The exterior is bland, but walk inside and it's a cozy Italian oasis.
Sunday night I had dinner in East Memphis at Skewer with my friend Stephanie. I had forgotten I wanted to try this place when it opened. Everyone in Memphis knows about Muddy's Bakery because it is insanely delicious and nearby there are many low end and high end restaurants on Sanderlin Avenue. Skewer is somewhere in the middle. It is small and pretty inside. The food is really flavorful and presented on skewers and pretty plates and bowls. I loved the pork and chicken skewers, the vegetable soup and the fried rice. There was also a small cute paper box full of spices to put chicken pieces in and shake around. I can't wait to go back.
September 1 - I had no plans for Labor Day except going to the gym, mowing the lawn and doing some scrapbooking. I didn't want to cook but I was craving a cheeseburger. I hadn't tried 5 Guys Burgers yet so I decided to drive down Union Avenue to have a bunless bacon double cheeseburger. I feel like I'm betraying the local Huey burger when I write this: these burgers are my new favorite ever. You can choose to add to your burger from a list of toppings. I added Frank's hot sauce, onions, pickles, ketchup, mustard, hot dog relish and tomato. It came wrapped in thick lettuce so that I could whisk it home to my two pieces of gluten-free toast. The fries were okay too. They're just like the steak fries from the mall chain The Steak Escape. I walked out of the place with a hot brown paper bag leaking a little grease. Happiness found. The only thing that could have made the meal better would have been a grape supreme snowcone from Jerry's to wash it all down.
August 30, 2014 - I drove to Oxford, Mississippi with my mom to eat at Ajax. This was always a favorite restaurant for my parents when Daddy was well enough to go. It has been my favorite restaurant in Oxford ever since it opened. It is Southern food at its best. The meat and two vegetables is the most popular choice. I ate the pot roast with cheese grits and black eyed peas. Each plate comes with a thick piece of jalapeno cornbread. I ordered an extra vegetable too, the veggie special of the day: creamed spinach. Mom ordered the fried catfish, sweet potato casserole, and green beans. We shared everything so it was like a mini buffet. The food is yummy, yummy and the portions are large. The atmosphere is relaxed because everyone is so happy to be eating the food. There are strings of multicolored lights draped from the ceiling and paintings of blues singers and the American flag. Everyone has a smile in this Southern diner. We didn't order dessert because we'd eaten so much sweet potato casserole.
Afterwards we walked in most of the shops around the Oxford Square. We went in Neilson's (pronounced Nellson's) to look at clothes and makeup and tablecloths. We walked through charming two-story Square Books and then Off Square Books and posed with the statue of William Faulkner. I also looked at prices for McCarty pottery in some of the boutiques. Mississippians are big fans of McCarty pottery and I'm finally getting on the bandwagon. We drove back toward Batesville taking University Avenue past Ole Miss and the mall with the movie theater where I went on many dates in high school. I was sad to drive past the space where Ruby Chinese used to be, the first restaurant I ever had Chinese food. Equally sad is the demise of Two Stick, my favorite sushi place ever (besides Todai in Las Vegas). Ruby Chinese and Two Stick held many happy memories of summer Cotillion, high school dates and later bringing my husband to visit Oxford.
Later that afternoon when I got back to Memphis I met up with my friend Stephanie at Cafe Ole. Cafe Ole has anchored the Cooper Young neighborhood for decades. The menu changed this year and I love the changes. The chipotle chicken is delicious and creamy. The grilled mahi mahi tacos in blue corn tortillas are a little crunchy and grilled perfectly. I love any chance to eat corn on the cob, and the crazy corn at Cafe Ole is tangy and salty with cotija cheese. Saturday there was a University of Memphis football game right down the street so the margaritas were blue instead of the usual lime green. The colors of the Memphis tigers are blue and white.
August 28, 2014 - Last night I got to catch up over dinner with two of my favorite friends ever, David and Doug. We met at Abyssinia Ethiopian on Poplar Avenue. I don't remember when this restaurant opened in Memphis but I've been going for at least 10 years. It's close to the Poplar Lounge. It is on the ground floor of an office building, and the parking lot is tiny. The food is unbelievably delicious. I always get the vegetarian meal because there are eight veggies piled on the plate to scoop up in a piece of bread (injera) made with teff so I can eat it!
There are three types of lentils: red, yellow and Green. The green ones are served cold mixed with mustard. The red and yellow ones are warm and mushy and salted just right. There are collard greens wilted and seasoned well. My two favorite veggies are the beets and cabbage. The beets are served cold with onions. The cabbage is hot and buttery. There's also a simple vinegar potato salad and a small lettuce and tomato salad.
David and Doug are friends I met through another friend in 1999. They moved to NYC a few weeks after 9/11. I've visited them several times when I get away to NYC and they visited me one of the summers I spent in Paris. They are both creative, fun and funny. David's job in the art archives of the New York Public Library wows me. I've actually held an original Toulouse-Lautrec in my hands when visiting him at work. Doug's compassion for humans and our very similar childhoods in the Mississippi Delta makes him feel like a long lost brother. We have broken bread many times in Memphis, NYC and Paris. I love these dudes.
August 18, 2014 - Paul came home from Kansas to play one final gig with Freeworld and close out final paperwork for his music jobs around town. He wanted to eat at Huey's one last time for many months. We always order the same things at Huey's: I get the Señor Huey with fries because hamburgers with pepper jack cheese and jalapeños are delicious. Paul always gets the Blues 57 burger with onion straws, bleu cheese and Heinz 57 sauce. I love hamburgers. As a child in Sledge, Mississippi we would go to the Sonic drive-in in Sardis every Friday night. The mini burger with ketchup, mustard and pickles was my favorite.
I went to The Half Shell to watch Paul's last gig with Freeworld. There are two Half Shells in Memphis. The one on Winchester is always packed even at 1:00 AM. I ordered the crab bisque just like I always do and then the blackened chicken with rice as my entree. The Half Shell is a laid-back seafood place. I prefer the one on Poplar close to Whole Foods. If I could still eat fried foods I would order the whole platter of fried seafood. The monte cristo is a sandwich I'm interested in making/trying too.
August 13, 2014 - Over the weekend Paul was offered his first job as a music professor. He is moving to Dodge City, Kansas today. I immediately thought about all the wonderful restaurants Paul will be deprived of living away from Memphis. I asked him to think hard about the restaurants he wanted to visit before he left because he won't have them again for months.
He chose Ryu Sushi on Summer Avenue. He usually gets the early bird 3-roll combo. He loves the avocado roll, veggie roll and the tofu roll.
Then Mellow Mushroom- delicious pizza and I can eat it too because they have a separate gluten-free menu!
Red Robin - the gourmet burger craze! I'm in love with it!
I have had so much delicious food this summer of 2014 that I can't even organize my thoughts about it. I'm going to randomly write out all that I can remember. This summer is mostly memorable because I turned 40 and my dad entered hospice care. I feel suddenly very grownup in a new way besides obviously looking very grownup with some gray hair.
Babalu - the Mexican fusion restaurant that opened this summer. The guacamole bowl is heavenly and the black-eyed pea hummus is amazing. The tacos are really delicious too. Grilled shrimp and spicy beef are my two favorites.
Robata - really delicious rice bowls, ramen soup, roasted garlic skewers
Jerry's Snowcones - I have lived within an hour of Memphis my entire life. I only tried Jerry's in June 2014. It was the sacred experience everyone says it is. These are the best snowcones in the world. There are a million flavors to mix AND to try supreme or not supreme. If it's supreme, that means the snowcone has a center of soft serve vanilla ice cream inside. I went with Fisher and Stephanie and my favorite flavor so far is grape supreme. It is the grape-est food I've ever tasted.
La Michoacana - OOOH! This place is a treat! I'm late discovering palletas, the super popular Mexican popscicles. I went to this place at least 7 times over the summer after I discovered it. My favorite flavors are rum raisin and strawberries and cream. There were a few days that I spent just driving up and down Summer Ave. It's not the prettiest street in Memphis but it has a ton of hidden treasures like discount fabric stores, really good sushi and panaderias with really delicious and inexpensive pastries.
Central Barbeque on Summer Ave vs. Central Barbeque on Central - Here's the deal. They're both delicious because it's the same menu but there is a ton of seating and parking at the one on Summer.
June 27, 2014 - Last night Paul took me to Flight to celebrate my birthday. Paul and I have two places we always celebrate: Flight and The Melting Pot (which sadly closed its location in Memphis). Flight is my favorite restaurant in Memphis for a celebration dinner. We both started with the salad flight. There was a watermelon, feta, basil, sundried tomato and onion in balsamic salad, then a wedge salad with bleu cheese, bacon and cherry tomatoes, and my absolute favorite, the harvest salad: arugula, cinnamon pecans, goat cheese, sundried cherry tomatoes, dried cherries and magic. I ate every single bite.
May 25, 2014 - Paul and I are in New Orleans. We ate at Rum House on Magazine Street as soon as we drove into town. It's our favorite restaurant ever. We spent part of the night before the trip talking about the menu and whether or not we would order the same things we always ordered or try something new. This is a problem for me at all my favorite restaurants but especially the ones out of town.
I would describe the menu at Rum House as comfort foods from around the world with a Caribbean KABOOM! in every bite. My favorites are the lamb vindaloo and mint chutney taco, the scotch bonnet onion marmalade scallop taco, the mahi mahi dill tartar asparagus taco, the flank steak guacamole and lime cream taco, a heaping order of fried plantains, roasted poblano and manchego polenta (grits and manchego?? Why didn't I think of that?) and to wash it down, a 3 rum fruit juice beverage called Jamaican Me Crazy. After a 6 and 1/2 hour drive and walking around in the intense humidity, the drink put me in a very relaxed fog.
June 17, 2014 - Summer is in full swing. That is to say that I am feeling a nearly complete detachment from the last school year and have settled into the routine of eating whatever and whenever I want with whomever is available. Yesterday I met up with Fisher in Southaven, MS for shopping and eating. We ate at Dale's, a restaurant that has been around for decades. My parents went on dates there before they were married. This restaurant has so many happy memories for me. After my second year of teaching in 1998 I took German for Reading Knowledge with Barry Flippo at the University of Memphis. After class we would drive to Southaven to eat at Dale's and then go swimming at my college roommate Dana Patton's apartment swimming pool. I was also taking 18th Century French Novels and I remember vividly the day I described the whole chilling plot of Therese Raquin to Barry and Dana while floating around the swimming pool.
The food at Dale's is Southern comfort foods. Here are some of my favorites: chicken fried chicken, purple hulled peas, fluffy sweet cornbread muffins, fried pickle slices and a chocolate pie that is my second favorite in the world. (My favorite chocolate pie was homemade by Mrs. Robertson from Sledge, MS. She would make them for special occasions at church.). It was nice to visit Dale's 16 years later and find that the food is still as unbelievably delicious as I remembered it. And I've had 16 years of traveling and eating in between.
January 4, 2015 - It will be so strange not going back to work tomorrow. It feels strange to be technically unemployed. Paul and I drove to his parents in Franklin, TN to celebrate a late Christmas and open presents. Paul's mom made Cornish hens, potatoes and a yummy strawberries and cream holiday parfait for dessert. We visited the local Civil War cemetery near the battle of Franklin and then I drove to Amy's house to spend a couple of days shopping and eating at Green Hills and all over Franklin. It's hard to say goodbye to Amy's cute house and my in-laws' gorgeous house so close to the downtown Franklin square that you can walk there. Amy and I ate at all my favorite places: Cheesecake Factory, Chuy's and I even tried a new place that I totally loved, California Pizza Kitchen. We shopped in all the cute shops at Hill Center and walked up and down the Franklin Square visiting all the cute gift shops and Anthropologie. It has been another amazing holiday in the Nashville area.
Christmas Break 2014 - What a whirlwind these holidays have been! It's both the season to exchange presents and say goodbye to Memphis this year. Paul and I have thought carefully about each restaurant we've visited this break. It's the last chance to drive down the street to all our Memphis favorites. I went to Central BBQ with Stephanie and ordered all the veggie sides (beans, turnip greens and green beans) plus, of course, the bbq pork nachos. Paul finally got to try Schweinhaus and he loved it. The red cabbage and warm potato salad were extremely tasty this time and Paul ordered a German meatball sandwich that was very good. The day after Christmas Stephanie and I met up at 6:30 AM at the Oak Court Mall parking lot to begin a huge day of sale-shopping. We ended up in Germantown and Collierville and had lunch at Maui Brick Oven a totally gluten-free restaurant with good pizza and amazing coconut shrimp. The salads have passion fruit vinaigrette that is shockingly good. My mom and I went to Oxford, MS again to have a mother-daughter day out. We ate at Ajax, of course, and I started with the turnip green and black eyed pea soup. Then I ordered the pot roast (the best I've ever had, period) with cheese grits, jalapeno cornbread and sweet potato casserole. For dessert we split a slice of chocolate chess pie with dark yellow vanilla ice cream on the side. One night Paul and I ate at PeiWei because we wanted something fast after a day of sitting on the phone closing down local accounts. PeiWei is always so yummy and their spicy shrimp with white rice is my favorite. I love it with small scoops of hot red pepper relish on the side.
November 25, 2014 - My husband is home for Thanksgiving! Paul has gotten out of the habit of dining out now that he lives in Dodge City. I now realize how often I insist that we go out in spite of my deep conviction that I LOVE to cook. There were, of course, restaurants that Paul couldn't wait to get back to. His first choice was Westy's in the Pinch District downtown. It used to be The North End. The rice dishes, the sandwiches, the famous hot fudge pie and the cocktails are well worth the drive downtown. Paul also missed the guacamole at Babalu and the earlybird 3-roll sushi combo at Ryu on Summer Ave. I'm sure the waitresses at Ryu wondered what happened to us because we hadn't been in since August. Of course, Thanksgiving is about home cooking and I cooked for Paul and my mom and my in-laws. I journaled about it in What I'm Cooking This Week.
November 19, 2014 - My mom has been a huge help since I decided to join Paul in Kansas in January rather than May. Her financial and physical support has helped me get through the huge change of moving my whole life to another state. Yesterday after work I stopped in Soul Fish in midtown to pick up an order to go. I didn't even ask Mother what she wanted because I knew she would like everything on the menu. I ordered a catfish plate with jalapeño hush puppies, coleslaw and french fries, a half smoked chicken with mashed potatoes and a vegetable plate with grilled zucchini, Cajun cabbage, white beans and sweet, fluffy corn muffins. The waitress stuffed packets of hot sauce, ketchup and tartar sauce in the bag too. When I got home we opened all of it and served ourselves on my Fiesta plates that haven't been packed yet.
November 15 and 16, 2014 - My mother-in-law and father-in-law are two of the most generous people I have ever met. I am lucky to have them as family. They brought a Uhaul truck to our house Saturday to take a ton of boxes to Dodge City. I have not moved out there yet but I've packed everything but furniture and other necessities. I made a thermos of hazelnut Community coffee and bought an assorted box of doughnuts at Kroger. I also ordered Dominoes pizza and hot wings for lunch for everyone who helped load the truck. Stephanie came over to load the truck for two hours too. My father-in-law drove the truck on to Kansas and my mother-in-law stayed with me the rest of the weekend to clean for the Open House.
I am lucky to enjoy my mother-in-law as a friend. I took her to La Baguette in the Chickasaw Plaza for raspberry, lemon, vanilla and pistachio macarons. The inner courtyard in this plaza is decorated for Christmas and the cute shops spill their wares out on the walkway. It is a special hidden courtyard right in the middle of Memphis. Then we took my dog for a walk and went to Muddy's Grind House for red velvet, lemon and pumpkin cupcakes (and my favorite: yellow cupcakes with chocolate icing). For dinner we went to Babalu for the amazing made-tableside guacamole and grilled shrimp tacos.
Sunday I took my mother-in-law to Sunday School with me and afterwards we ate at Cafe Ole in Cooper Young. The cheese dip and spicy salsa are both delicious appetizers and I ordered grilled mahi mahi tacos with a side of crazy corn that is crazy good. We cleaned the house from top to bottom once again before the Open House started and then drove all over Memphis for two hours while my realtor took over. We went to Dinstuhl's to look at the rows of gorgeous candy, gingerbread houses, chocolate turkeys, chocolate Christmas trees and Memphis souvenir chocolates. I got a salted caramel chocolate bar and inhaled it.
November 9, 2014 - Fisher came over Sunday afternoon to try Mulan in Cooper Young. I usually get the kung pao shrimp and a couple of sushi rolls when Paul and I go. I ordered the spicy crawfish roll and the always delicious kung pao shrimp. Fisher ordered the sizzling beef platter and it was really good. The beef had a dark and sweet caramel coating. I will order that next time. Afterwards we went shopping in the new Fresh Market on Union Ave and bought cupcakes and canollis to take over to our friends Barry and Reece. They were waiting for a plumber to arrive at their home so we had afternoon coffee and cupcakes and played with their miniature greyhounds until the plumber arrived.
November 8, 2014 - Stephanie came over to see how much I've packed. She brought me food souvenirs from her recent trip to Seattle. She also told me all about her paid private tour of the Pike Place Market where the fishmongers sing and throw fish around. I am now putting this at the top of my travel list. Before Stephanie arrived I had been packing since 5:00 AM. When we sat down in Memphis Pizza Cafe I ate an entire large buffalo chicken pizza and a large Hawaiian salad with ranch dip. That still wasn't enough food for me. We then drove to the old house in Cooper Young that now houses the new Muddy's Grind House. We sat outside on the patio to eat cupcakes and drink coffee while a yoga class was taking place further out in the yard. After some errands to Target and the Williams Sonoma outlet I cleaned the house some more and then at 7:00 met up with Stephanie again at Whole Foods where we ordered BBQ from The Barbeque Shack inside the store. I had the barbeque brisket with mashed potatoes and hot sour pickles. The brisket was delicious with lots of bark.
November 1, 2014 - Fisher came over Saturday afternoon with the single goal of trying Spindini on S. Main Street but when we arrived at 5:30 the whole restaurant was packed and we had no reservations. We walked down the street to Pearl Oyster Company, a restaurant I've been meaning to try for years. I loved it!! It was just like a trip to New Orleans. The menu was just like a French Quarter restaurant with gumbo, peel and eat shrimp, oysters, crawfish and really strong Hurricanes and Bloody Marys. Fisher and I shared crawfish dip with tortilla chips. It was creamy and chunky with crawfish pieces. I also ordered the garlic shrimp scampi and blackened catfish. I sipped slowly on a very strong Bloody Mary and wished I had tried this place much sooner.
October 25, 2014 - My in-laws came to landscape the yard and help with a thousand other house issues. While I taught school Friday they transformed my yard with mulch and plants. I ran home for lunch and picked up pork sandwiches and BBQ nachos from Central Barbeque on the way. My in-laws hadn't tried Central before. When I got home from work I introduced my in-laws to Shweinhaus, the new German place at Overton Square and they loved it as much as Fisher and I did. We ordered the sauerbraten and the wurst platter and shared all of it. They loved the place and remembered when it was Paulette's. Saturday we did more work preparing the house for sale and I picked up lunch at McAlister's Deli. McAlister's started in Oxford, Mississippi only 20 miles from my hometown. I have always loved all the sandwiches and sides. Their iced tea is my favorite ever, but it is really sweet so I always order it half-sweet/half-unsweet. We had reubens, potato salad, fruit cups and of course, the nacho basket with extra jalapeños. Nachos are my favorite food.
October 6, 2014 - I made it to Dodge City, Kansas Friday afternoon and I was ecstatic to see my husband after seven weeks apart. He is truly my other half and I have felt lost without him in Memphis. While I was there during my fall break I decided to sell our house in Memphis and move to Dodge City in January rather than May. It is so painful to be away from my husband and as my mother said about my father at his funeral, "Forty-four years was not long enough to love him." I want to spend my whole life, every day with Paul.
My whole fall break was Kansas food and fun. Here is the itinerary of my trip:
Friday afternoon Oct 3, 2014
Arrived in Dodge City at 3:00 and flew into Paul's arms
Dinner at Bad Habit sports bar - chicken nachos and a Coke
Drove around all over town and took in the lay of the land, my new future home
Saturday Oct 4
Farmers Market and all over downtown, antiques shops
Drove to Hays, KS for sushi at Sake 2 Me - this sushi place is on the town square in Hays and it is a great place for sushi! I had the shrimp fried rice with large pieces of grilled shrimp stuffed in it. The veggie roll was delicious and Paul had the jackass roll with pulled pork, avocado, french fries and chili lime mayo
Sunday Oct 5
Toured our dream house with hopeful intention to buy
Went to Kerry and Laura's for a very fun afternoon party with good wine, French cheese and yummy buffalo chicken. We bonded with their cat Latimer
Had dinner at Prime on the Nine, unbelievable mango hot wings, steak and peanut butter pie
Monday Oct 6
Sat in on Paul's Theory 101 class
Went to Walmart and cooked in Paul's apartment kitchen: sausage balls, meatloaf and crockpot chicken
Went to bank to apply for home loan
Bought Paul a microwave
Sat in wind ensemble
Ate at Central Station (hamburger and fries and good salsa and chips)
Went to Community Choir rehearsal and enjoyed singing and meeting new people
Tuesday, Oct 7
Went to Walmart for Middle College school supplies
Sat in Paul's jazz band and watched him play the drums
Skyped with Mom on campus
Visited Boot Hill Museum and it was so cute!
Tacotico - yummy tacos and salsa (unfortunately it closed)
Sat in community orchestra
Wednesday, Oct 8
Cooked more sausage balls for Paul
Went back to Boot Hill
Casey's Cowtown - delicious steak
Thursday, Oct 9
Toured 5 houses with a realtor
Drove to Wichita and ate at Wasabi - REALLY good sushi and fun atmosphere
Friday, Oct 10
Our fun day in Wichita!
La Galette bakery for choc raspberry cheesecake and macarons and a large meringue
Museum of the World
Old Chicago Pizza - amazing! Italian nachos (tortilla chips, Italian sausage, mozzarella, sliced pepperoncinis and marinara for dipping
Wichita art museum - American modernism
World Market
2 record stores
A large music instrument store
Heroe's Sports bar for dinner - corn and jalapeño nuggets
Saturday Oct 11
Drove home to Memphis and went to El Porton (chicken nachos) with Mom, happy to be home with Zeno but wish Paul was here too
Sunday Oct 12
Pink Palace Arts and Crafts Festival, the culinary tent For many years I have attended this festival just to graze the free samples of cashew brittle, fudge, fresh apple juice and pecans from the Delta. The festival holds many happy memories. My parents and I went every year and enjoyed all the craft booths, food vendors and farm animal petting zoo.
September 29, 2014 - The weekend was easy and I started packing for my trip to Kansas to visit Paul at the end of the week. Mom came to Memphis from Mississippi to help with more yard work but was as happily surprised as I was that my friend Mr. Foster had come over during the school week and cleaned and mowed my whole yard. I took Mom to the new and improved Overton Square for lunch. We ate at Memphis Pizza Cafe which has been there for decades. I had a whole pizza half barbeque chicken and half Cajun chicken. Mom and I split a large Hawaiian salad with ranch dressing. She ordered a slice of vegetable pizza and really enjoyed it. I came home and made spaghetti for the week. Again, my cooking practice is barely existent now that I'm not cooking for Paul. Sunday after I read the New York Times, packed more, attended Sunday School, practiced the guitar and walked our dog Zeno three times I wanted to go out to eat. It was dinner for one at Golden India.
September 20 and 21, 2014 - My mom and I have become very close now that my dad is gone. She had never tried Chipotle, the yummy Mexican fast food chain, so we went there together Saturday for lunch. She told me to order for both of us. I had the chicken bowl and Mom had the barbacoa bowl. We both topped them medium salsa, sour cream, grilled veggies, corn salad, pinto beans and cilantro rice. I could easily eat this meal for lunch every day if that were possible.
Saturday night Fisher and I went to the new German place Schweinhaus that just opened at Overton Square. This space used to be the old Paulette's before it moved to Harbor Town. The white walls and provincial exposed beams make it perfect for a German restaurant. I didn't know if I would like the large tables with everyone seated family style with strangers, but that was fun too. The food was AMAZING!! We ordered a lot. We started with the German meatballs in a creamy caper sauce. We then shared saurbraten, roasted brussels sprouts, potato pancakes, sweet red cabbage, saurkraut, currywurst sausage, weisswurst, and two other sausages. There was maple mustard, apple sauce mixed with mustard and another sauce. I washed it down with almost two glasses of Reisling. The leftovers made two more meals. I can't wait to go back with Paul.
Later on Sunday afternoon after the gym I stopped in Buffalo Wild Wings to grab three sauces: Mango Habanero, Asian Zing and Hot. I wanted to get Caribbean Jerk but they were out. I mailed these to Paul yesterday and hope they get to Dodge City, KS before his birthday. I know he misses a lot of Memphis food and the chain Buffalo Wild Wings is one of our favorites.
September 12 and 13, 2014 - It was Amy and Ginger weekend in Memphis, also known as Cooper Young Festival weekend. Amy Aston and I have been best friends since 2001. We have seen each other go through many changes and we have traveled together many times to Chicago and New York City. Now that Amy lives in Nashville she only visits Memphis twice a year. She is a runner so she visits our house the weekends of the St Jude marathon and the Cooper Young Festival for the run the night before the festival. The festival is at the intersection of Cooper and Young street which are blocked off so that food and craft vendors can set up to sell beer, corn dogs, yard art, candles, clothing and more. It's a great time to see friends from the past or friends you see only once a year. I look forward to this weekend because it is all about laughing, eating, and shopping all weekend. Here are the places Amy and I went and the food we ordered:
Mayuri - Amy and I went for the lunch buffet (a whole plate just for onion pakoras and lentil chips) and caught up on everything since our July visit.
Sweet Noshings - This new store in Overton Square is so cute and smells so good. There are beautiful jars of candy stacked everywhere, coffee machines ready for use and buckets of freshly made gourmet popcorn to mix in paper bags. Here are some popcorn flavors: cheese, salted caramel, and taco. Amy bought gummy letters that spelled out her daughter's name, salted caramel chocolates and caramel popcorn. I bought some pink grapefruit gelees. I usually buy strawberry jam Jelly Bellies that taste unbelievably good
Memphis Pizza Cafe - I discovered that they now have gluten-free crust! I decided to choose my own toppings but their Cajun chicken supreme and ultimate cheese pizzas are amazing. They also have the most delicious Greek salad and Hawaiian salad in town.
Starbucks pumpkin spice latte - The first of the season for both Amy and me. We both wait for the Cooper Young Festival to order the first one together.
The Cooper Young Festival - Before I found out I had Celiac I would always get a corn dog and Coke for breakfast from the Pronto Pup stand at the festival. There were funnel cakes, crepes and crawfish pies that also looked and smelled amazing.
Cafe Ole - I am in love with their new food menu and their sweet and strong margaritas are still my favorite in town. The lunch nachos with beef were cheesy and delicious.
Huey's - This classic only-in-Memphis burger chain is the home of the Señor Huey burger, my favorite because of the jack cheese. Amy ordered the California burger (avocado and sprouts) as a veggie burger with a side of fat fries and a diet Coke. I discovered they have gluten-free buns now!
Bhan Thai - This restaurant is my favorite Thai place in Memphis. (Jasmine is my second favorite.) I love the pretty interior and the very pretty neighborhood it sits in. Peabody is one of the most beautiful streets in Memphis. Bhan Thai is a house turned into a restaurant. My best friend from high school Fisher joined Amy and me for dinner. I ordered the same two dishes I always order: the masaman curry with chicken and the tom kha soup with shrimp.
Muddy's - This cupcake shop is the best in Memphis. I'm not supposed to eat gluten so I stay away most of the time. Fisher and Amy wanted cupcakes and of course I had to eat two of them. A classic yellow cupcake with chocolate icing is my favorite American dessert. The chocolate raspberry cupcake is heavenly.
September 8, 2014 - Five weeks into the school year and I'm feeling the fatigue of having started another school year while making sure every student is on the same page every day. Over the weekend I tried two places I hadn't been: Commissary BBQ and Skewer. I should probably dedicate a whole page to the Memphis Barbecue places I've eaten. My favorite is Central BBQ but I also associate sweet barbecue flavor like Rendezvous and Tops with my home state of Mississippi. Commissary BBQ in Germantown is sweet but has a darker savory flavor behind the sweetness. Mom and I went to the Germantown festival because I knew she would enjoy the arts and crafts for sale. We ate from the Commissary food truck: the pork plate with baked beans and coleslaw and a 12 oz Coke. I liked it but there wasn't enough bark on the pork.
My friend Fisher and I went to Pete and Sam's for Italian. The vibe and history of this place is totally worth the visit. Located on Park Avenue across the street from the giant Mediterranean grocery Pete and Sam's was a favorite place for Elvis Presley who lived nearby in his early days of success. There's a signed poster of him over the cash register. The food is good. Fisher loves Italian food and the baby pizzas, spaghetti and Italian spinach are worth the wait. We were seated in a booth next to a large table of senior citizens. At the head of the table was their young priest in full habit. It's a popular place for families and there is always a wait unless you get there when it opens. The lights are dim and it feels like a very old Italian place like the restaurants in Little Italy in New York. The exterior is bland, but walk inside and it's a cozy Italian oasis.
Sunday night I had dinner in East Memphis at Skewer with my friend Stephanie. I had forgotten I wanted to try this place when it opened. Everyone in Memphis knows about Muddy's Bakery because it is insanely delicious and nearby there are many low end and high end restaurants on Sanderlin Avenue. Skewer is somewhere in the middle. It is small and pretty inside. The food is really flavorful and presented on skewers and pretty plates and bowls. I loved the pork and chicken skewers, the vegetable soup and the fried rice. There was also a small cute paper box full of spices to put chicken pieces in and shake around. I can't wait to go back.
September 1 - I had no plans for Labor Day except going to the gym, mowing the lawn and doing some scrapbooking. I didn't want to cook but I was craving a cheeseburger. I hadn't tried 5 Guys Burgers yet so I decided to drive down Union Avenue to have a bunless bacon double cheeseburger. I feel like I'm betraying the local Huey burger when I write this: these burgers are my new favorite ever. You can choose to add to your burger from a list of toppings. I added Frank's hot sauce, onions, pickles, ketchup, mustard, hot dog relish and tomato. It came wrapped in thick lettuce so that I could whisk it home to my two pieces of gluten-free toast. The fries were okay too. They're just like the steak fries from the mall chain The Steak Escape. I walked out of the place with a hot brown paper bag leaking a little grease. Happiness found. The only thing that could have made the meal better would have been a grape supreme snowcone from Jerry's to wash it all down.
August 30, 2014 - I drove to Oxford, Mississippi with my mom to eat at Ajax. This was always a favorite restaurant for my parents when Daddy was well enough to go. It has been my favorite restaurant in Oxford ever since it opened. It is Southern food at its best. The meat and two vegetables is the most popular choice. I ate the pot roast with cheese grits and black eyed peas. Each plate comes with a thick piece of jalapeno cornbread. I ordered an extra vegetable too, the veggie special of the day: creamed spinach. Mom ordered the fried catfish, sweet potato casserole, and green beans. We shared everything so it was like a mini buffet. The food is yummy, yummy and the portions are large. The atmosphere is relaxed because everyone is so happy to be eating the food. There are strings of multicolored lights draped from the ceiling and paintings of blues singers and the American flag. Everyone has a smile in this Southern diner. We didn't order dessert because we'd eaten so much sweet potato casserole.
Afterwards we walked in most of the shops around the Oxford Square. We went in Neilson's (pronounced Nellson's) to look at clothes and makeup and tablecloths. We walked through charming two-story Square Books and then Off Square Books and posed with the statue of William Faulkner. I also looked at prices for McCarty pottery in some of the boutiques. Mississippians are big fans of McCarty pottery and I'm finally getting on the bandwagon. We drove back toward Batesville taking University Avenue past Ole Miss and the mall with the movie theater where I went on many dates in high school. I was sad to drive past the space where Ruby Chinese used to be, the first restaurant I ever had Chinese food. Equally sad is the demise of Two Stick, my favorite sushi place ever (besides Todai in Las Vegas). Ruby Chinese and Two Stick held many happy memories of summer Cotillion, high school dates and later bringing my husband to visit Oxford.
Later that afternoon when I got back to Memphis I met up with my friend Stephanie at Cafe Ole. Cafe Ole has anchored the Cooper Young neighborhood for decades. The menu changed this year and I love the changes. The chipotle chicken is delicious and creamy. The grilled mahi mahi tacos in blue corn tortillas are a little crunchy and grilled perfectly. I love any chance to eat corn on the cob, and the crazy corn at Cafe Ole is tangy and salty with cotija cheese. Saturday there was a University of Memphis football game right down the street so the margaritas were blue instead of the usual lime green. The colors of the Memphis tigers are blue and white.
August 28, 2014 - Last night I got to catch up over dinner with two of my favorite friends ever, David and Doug. We met at Abyssinia Ethiopian on Poplar Avenue. I don't remember when this restaurant opened in Memphis but I've been going for at least 10 years. It's close to the Poplar Lounge. It is on the ground floor of an office building, and the parking lot is tiny. The food is unbelievably delicious. I always get the vegetarian meal because there are eight veggies piled on the plate to scoop up in a piece of bread (injera) made with teff so I can eat it!
There are three types of lentils: red, yellow and Green. The green ones are served cold mixed with mustard. The red and yellow ones are warm and mushy and salted just right. There are collard greens wilted and seasoned well. My two favorite veggies are the beets and cabbage. The beets are served cold with onions. The cabbage is hot and buttery. There's also a simple vinegar potato salad and a small lettuce and tomato salad.
David and Doug are friends I met through another friend in 1999. They moved to NYC a few weeks after 9/11. I've visited them several times when I get away to NYC and they visited me one of the summers I spent in Paris. They are both creative, fun and funny. David's job in the art archives of the New York Public Library wows me. I've actually held an original Toulouse-Lautrec in my hands when visiting him at work. Doug's compassion for humans and our very similar childhoods in the Mississippi Delta makes him feel like a long lost brother. We have broken bread many times in Memphis, NYC and Paris. I love these dudes.
August 18, 2014 - Paul came home from Kansas to play one final gig with Freeworld and close out final paperwork for his music jobs around town. He wanted to eat at Huey's one last time for many months. We always order the same things at Huey's: I get the Señor Huey with fries because hamburgers with pepper jack cheese and jalapeños are delicious. Paul always gets the Blues 57 burger with onion straws, bleu cheese and Heinz 57 sauce. I love hamburgers. As a child in Sledge, Mississippi we would go to the Sonic drive-in in Sardis every Friday night. The mini burger with ketchup, mustard and pickles was my favorite.
I went to The Half Shell to watch Paul's last gig with Freeworld. There are two Half Shells in Memphis. The one on Winchester is always packed even at 1:00 AM. I ordered the crab bisque just like I always do and then the blackened chicken with rice as my entree. The Half Shell is a laid-back seafood place. I prefer the one on Poplar close to Whole Foods. If I could still eat fried foods I would order the whole platter of fried seafood. The monte cristo is a sandwich I'm interested in making/trying too.
August 13, 2014 - Over the weekend Paul was offered his first job as a music professor. He is moving to Dodge City, Kansas today. I immediately thought about all the wonderful restaurants Paul will be deprived of living away from Memphis. I asked him to think hard about the restaurants he wanted to visit before he left because he won't have them again for months.
He chose Ryu Sushi on Summer Avenue. He usually gets the early bird 3-roll combo. He loves the avocado roll, veggie roll and the tofu roll.
Then Mellow Mushroom- delicious pizza and I can eat it too because they have a separate gluten-free menu!
Red Robin - the gourmet burger craze! I'm in love with it!
I have had so much delicious food this summer of 2014 that I can't even organize my thoughts about it. I'm going to randomly write out all that I can remember. This summer is mostly memorable because I turned 40 and my dad entered hospice care. I feel suddenly very grownup in a new way besides obviously looking very grownup with some gray hair.
Babalu - the Mexican fusion restaurant that opened this summer. The guacamole bowl is heavenly and the black-eyed pea hummus is amazing. The tacos are really delicious too. Grilled shrimp and spicy beef are my two favorites.
Robata - really delicious rice bowls, ramen soup, roasted garlic skewers
Jerry's Snowcones - I have lived within an hour of Memphis my entire life. I only tried Jerry's in June 2014. It was the sacred experience everyone says it is. These are the best snowcones in the world. There are a million flavors to mix AND to try supreme or not supreme. If it's supreme, that means the snowcone has a center of soft serve vanilla ice cream inside. I went with Fisher and Stephanie and my favorite flavor so far is grape supreme. It is the grape-est food I've ever tasted.
La Michoacana - OOOH! This place is a treat! I'm late discovering palletas, the super popular Mexican popscicles. I went to this place at least 7 times over the summer after I discovered it. My favorite flavors are rum raisin and strawberries and cream. There were a few days that I spent just driving up and down Summer Ave. It's not the prettiest street in Memphis but it has a ton of hidden treasures like discount fabric stores, really good sushi and panaderias with really delicious and inexpensive pastries.
Central Barbeque on Summer Ave vs. Central Barbeque on Central - Here's the deal. They're both delicious because it's the same menu but there is a ton of seating and parking at the one on Summer.
June 27, 2014 - Last night Paul took me to Flight to celebrate my birthday. Paul and I have two places we always celebrate: Flight and The Melting Pot (which sadly closed its location in Memphis). Flight is my favorite restaurant in Memphis for a celebration dinner. We both started with the salad flight. There was a watermelon, feta, basil, sundried tomato and onion in balsamic salad, then a wedge salad with bleu cheese, bacon and cherry tomatoes, and my absolute favorite, the harvest salad: arugula, cinnamon pecans, goat cheese, sundried cherry tomatoes, dried cherries and magic. I ate every single bite.
May 25, 2014 - Paul and I are in New Orleans. We ate at Rum House on Magazine Street as soon as we drove into town. It's our favorite restaurant ever. We spent part of the night before the trip talking about the menu and whether or not we would order the same things we always ordered or try something new. This is a problem for me at all my favorite restaurants but especially the ones out of town.
I would describe the menu at Rum House as comfort foods from around the world with a Caribbean KABOOM! in every bite. My favorites are the lamb vindaloo and mint chutney taco, the scotch bonnet onion marmalade scallop taco, the mahi mahi dill tartar asparagus taco, the flank steak guacamole and lime cream taco, a heaping order of fried plantains, roasted poblano and manchego polenta (grits and manchego?? Why didn't I think of that?) and to wash it down, a 3 rum fruit juice beverage called Jamaican Me Crazy. After a 6 and 1/2 hour drive and walking around in the intense humidity, the drink put me in a very relaxed fog.
June 17, 2014 - Summer is in full swing. That is to say that I am feeling a nearly complete detachment from the last school year and have settled into the routine of eating whatever and whenever I want with whomever is available. Yesterday I met up with Fisher in Southaven, MS for shopping and eating. We ate at Dale's, a restaurant that has been around for decades. My parents went on dates there before they were married. This restaurant has so many happy memories for me. After my second year of teaching in 1998 I took German for Reading Knowledge with Barry Flippo at the University of Memphis. After class we would drive to Southaven to eat at Dale's and then go swimming at my college roommate Dana Patton's apartment swimming pool. I was also taking 18th Century French Novels and I remember vividly the day I described the whole chilling plot of Therese Raquin to Barry and Dana while floating around the swimming pool.
The food at Dale's is Southern comfort foods. Here are some of my favorites: chicken fried chicken, purple hulled peas, fluffy sweet cornbread muffins, fried pickle slices and a chocolate pie that is my second favorite in the world. (My favorite chocolate pie was homemade by Mrs. Robertson from Sledge, MS. She would make them for special occasions at church.). It was nice to visit Dale's 16 years later and find that the food is still as unbelievably delicious as I remembered it. And I've had 16 years of traveling and eating in between.
April 27, 2013 – Corky’s BBQ on Poplar at White Station. Since I fell in love with Central BBQ I haven’t craved Corky’s. Mom, Dad, Paul and I went there Saturday and had the pork nachos, corn on the cob, potato salad, and coleslaw. It was really yummy and the last two items were especially delicious! Also, for dinner Paul and I ate at Gus’s World Famous Fried Chicken. Everyone in Memphis goes to the one downtown Memphis and the line is out the door. After Paul’s brass quintet recital the whole group went to Gus’s on Perkins and asked for a table for ten. The chicken was SO GOOD! I didn’t remember it being so spicy and delicious. Coleslaw like KFC and very sweet potato salad. Delicious!
April 17, 2013 – Buffalo Wild Wings! After a bad day at work it was nice to eat Asian Zing and Medium hot wings with a basket of fries and a side of cheese dip. Since starting my “sort of” diet it feels like a treat just to drink a whole Coke! I never realized this when I weighed 140. I eat to calm myself.
The Slider Inn – I went to this place twice in one week. Once for a faculty meeting and then for dinner with Paul. Sliders are a yummy food trend. I tried four: jerk pork tenderloin, buffalo chicken, hamburger with mustard, pickle and ketchup, grilled chicken with swiss and mayo.
April 13, 2013 – Jasmine Restaurant in Cooper-Young, Memphis. Jasmine was always one of my favorite places to go on a date before I got married. And then after I got married it was still a favorite date destination. When Paul and I got our dog Zeno we were allowed to bring him to the restaurant if we sat on the porch. The lady who owned Jasmine always loved to see Zeno and called him Deeno. The first time I ever tried this restaurant was with my best friend Amy Aston. We went as soon as it opened. The silverware had been polished and it had a heavy metallic taste. My favorite dish at Jasmine will always be vegetables in coconut milk. Baby corn, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, tofu, bell pepper, snap peas, potatoes, yellow squash and jalapeno peppers. This combination is perfection! (Jasmine closed in late 2017 when the owners retired. Happy Retirement, chefs!)
April 12, 2013 – I wonder how many times I’ve had the chicken nachos at El Porton. 150 times? 200 times?
Sunday March 31, 2013 – Easter dinner at Central BBQ – There are a few foods I don’t have an off-switch for: cheese and caramel corn from Nuts on Clark and Garrett’s in Chicago, corn on the cob, peel and eat shrimp, chex mix and Christmas wreaths made from cornflakes. The barbeque nachos with spicy bbq sauce from Central BBQ are also on this list. I could eat these nachos every day. Shredded pork heavy with bark topped with shredded cheddar, nacho cheese, spicy bbq sauce and sliced jalapenos anchored with crispy tortilla chips. This is heaven. Central BBQ’s coleslaw, potato salad, hot wings and turnip greens are my favorite in Memphis. Their hot wings are my favorite in the world. (I have to add that the pineapple slaw at Wild Cow in Nashville is better than the coleslaw at Central but I’m always happy to dig into their creamy, crunchy coleslaw with big chunks of cabbage.)
Barry’s 39th Birthday Party! On Saturday March 30, 2013 I organized a birthday meal for one of my best friends of all time: Barry Flippo! I chose foods that represented travels we have enjoyed together and private jokes we’ve had for years. My obsession with the newly built Kroger in the neighborhood made shopping for this party even more fun!
Wednesday, March 27, 2013 – Huey’s on Madison with Paul. I hadn’t eaten much between March 20-26 because a virus left me weak. When I was ready to eat again I was ready for Huey’s. The Senor Huey with mustard, pickles, onions, lettuce and pepperjack cheese with a side of fries and one-third of a Coke. I’ve started eating slowly so I enjoyed every taste.
Saturday, March 16, 2013 – India Palace. Papadums with mint sauce and tamarind sauce, fried pakoras dipped in sauces, the vegetarian plate: bindi masala, channa masala, lentils, raita, rice pudding, mango and pistachio ice cream.
Friday, March 15, 2013 – We had Ben and Erin Strickland over for dinner! Ben and Erin brought gf beer and cider for me! I made pot roast with potatoes and carrots, jambalaya, tarragon corn, tomatoes and okra, cheese plate and a plate of sauces served with baguette, fennel and arugula salad with mandarin oranges, cherries and walnuts. For dessert we had macarons, maple cookies and brownie cupcakes topped with Easter nests. To drink we had Jack Daniels Honey Whiskey.
Spring Break Food!! March 9-13, 2013 Nashville, TN and Gatlinburg, TN
Saturday, March 9, 2013 – Drove from Memphis to Trader Joe’s in Nashville. I wish we had a Trader Joe’s in Memphis because of the gluten free gourmet food like: brownies, pasta, cookies, sauces, ginger snaps, etc. I went next door to Green Hills Mall for shopping and then met up with Amy at Cheesecake Factory where I had the lettuce wraps with yummy sauces, fried cheese and blow-my-mind piece of banana cheesecake. It tasted as delicious as the banana pudding at Corky’s in Memphis. After a Starbuck’s stop and lots more shopping at Hill Center, the awesome outdoor mall, we headed to an early dinner at the Wild Cow in East Nashville where I had a heavenly vegetable and brown rice medley topped with garlic aioli sauce. This sauce made the dish perfect. The pineapple coleslaw was really amazing too. Then an exciting night followed! The Indigo Girls concert, walking around downtown Nashville with Amy, meeting up with her friends Andrew and Jen, drinking at the beautiful Oak Bar in the Hermitage Hotel, then more drinking at No. 308 Bar in East Nashville. After a short cab ride back we passed out in our hotel at 2AM. This is one of the best Saturdays of my life.
Sunday, March 10, 2013 – Amy and I got up really early in spite of the late night we had, ate the hotel breakfast and then went to the Starbuck’s on West End to sit by the fireplace and talk for a while before lunch at Chuy’s. Chuy’s started in Austin, TX and my first taste was on my first and only trip to Austin to visit my high school friend Ashley. This food was love at first bite. My favorite was the spicy ranch dip that I can never remember the name of. After lunch Amy went back to her house and I drove down West End to find The Scarlet Begonia. I also went to the Frist to see the Rembrandt exhibit, relaxed at the hotel and then ate a huge German meal at Girst Haus near the Ramada. The ham and rice croquettes, sausages and fried oysters and apple sauce were CRAZY filling. I loved this restaurant so much!
Monday, March 11, 2013 – Rainy drive to Gatlinburg while listening to the Last Mixed Tape compilation I bought at Starbucks. I stopped in Knoxville at the World Market and then drove on to Gatlinburg. I walked around all the shops along the main drag until Paul finished his hike. We devoured Mellow Mushroom pizza and then visited the arcade!
Tuesday, March 12, 2013 – I had a full breakfast at a local pancake house near our rented condo before heading to Sevierville in search of coffee and the outlet mall. I went in The Christmas Place and walked around in the dreamy Christmas rooms inside this huge store. For dinner Paul and I ate at TGIFriday’s and then went for a short hike and drive in the mountains.
Wednesday, March 13, 2013 – I ate a huge breakfast at Pancake Pantry – cornmeal pancakes, scrambled eggs, bacon, grits, coffee and orange juice. I stopped in the Rebel Barn for some Fiesta ware pieces before leaving town. Once home I unpacked my one million treasures and had McAlister’s for dinner.
Friday, March 8, 2013 – Paul and I went to Thai Bistro and had sushi and red curry that was very spicy.
Thursday, March 7, 2013 – Paul and I went to RP Tracks at Highland and Southern. I always order the famous nachos and this time I had a shooter that tasted like a margarita. The shooter names are hilarious! My favorite name is the Rooster Pooter.
Saturday, March 2, 2013 - Jim’s Place at Poplar and Perkins. A double date with Fisher and a gentleman we set her up with. I love setting people up on dates but I’ve had zero success with it since college. I wanted to try this place because it has Greek food and other comfort food. I had a really good pork tenderloin (soufflima) and loaded baked potato. The Greek salad was delicious too. The Singapore sling was strong and not as good as the one at Felicia Suzanne’s. We went to Starbuck’s after for hot chocolate, cider and mocha. No fireworks for Fisher on the date but the night was still fun. We briefly stopped in Poplar Perkin’ to try to get coffee. There was nowhere to sit but I want to go back sometime and try the coffee! Also this week I made my first successful pot roast as well as kale with macaroni and parmesan.
Friday, March 1, 2013 – The Barbeque Shop on Madison. I can’t believe I’ve never been to this place! Pressed tin ceiling and church pews for benches in the booths. I loved the coleslaw and the pork. I also really like having three levels of bbq sauce in bottles on the table (mild, medium, hot). I had the half chicken and it was pretty good but the pork and slaw were the best. Paul liked his pork sandwich on toast too.
February 25, 2013 – I went to Huey’s with Becky and Stephanie. I ordered the grilled tuna salad and fat fries with cheese, bacon and chives. It was good to see Becky and Stephanie again after reading a couple of books with them at Michelle’s old place. I’ve been to Huey’s many, many times and wherever I go there’s no burger or tuna steak like Huey’s. Comfort food, delicious burger at its best. A true Memphis original.
February 24, 2013 – I spent the morning cooking shrimp and grits, olive and tomato tapenade, jambalaya and my first pineapple upside down cake. For dinner Paul and I went to dinner at Local Gastropub. It’s been open for a while in the old Yosemite Sam’s building on Madison. It smelled old when we walked in. It was pretty packed for 5 PM. People were watching basketball in groups and enjoying drinks. I ordered a margarita on the rocks, the blue cheese and candied pecan and Local bacon wedge as well as the rotisserie chicken with a side of chipotle potato smash, cornbread and chorizo dressing, and spiked greens. The skin on the chicken was crispy and dark golden brown. It was unreal and I tore it apart! Paul had the short rib reuben with spicy coleslaw. I want to cook like this!
February 22, 2013 – Friday finally! A long week of work but Greek food at the finish! Paul and I tried Tzatziki’s that recently opened next to the Kroger on Mendenhall. I love Greek food and look forward to May for the Greek Fest up the street on Highland. I ordered the mezedes platter with cucumber dip, hummus and dolmadhes. Everything was really yummy! The beef tenderloin and basmati rice plate was just as delicious. Even the Greek salad on the side with the strong sour dressing was delicious. I gobbled it all and then had energy to grocery shop and stay up until 10 PM (!) watching the movie Hula Girls. I will certainly want to go back to Tzatziki’s!
February 18, 2013 – After an easy President’s Day in-service day at work I drove frantically to the Viking Cooking Store to spend my Christmas gift from my husband. Viking will be closing soon. I wanted some chicken nachos with a side of pickled jalapenos after that even though we have a refrigerator full of food. There’s nothing like El Porton’s shredded chicken nachos with white cheese dip smothering it. I’ve been going to El Porton since 1996 when I started teaching in Holly Springs. I’d visit Dana in graduate school at the U of Memphis and we would go over there for dinner. The margaritas taste medicinal but El Porton is comfort food right around the corner in the Poplar Plaza.
February 16 and 17, 2013 – I cooked out the cabinets and pantries.
April 17, 2013 – Buffalo Wild Wings! After a bad day at work it was nice to eat Asian Zing and Medium hot wings with a basket of fries and a side of cheese dip. Since starting my “sort of” diet it feels like a treat just to drink a whole Coke! I never realized this when I weighed 140. I eat to calm myself.
The Slider Inn – I went to this place twice in one week. Once for a faculty meeting and then for dinner with Paul. Sliders are a yummy food trend. I tried four: jerk pork tenderloin, buffalo chicken, hamburger with mustard, pickle and ketchup, grilled chicken with swiss and mayo.
April 13, 2013 – Jasmine Restaurant in Cooper-Young, Memphis. Jasmine was always one of my favorite places to go on a date before I got married. And then after I got married it was still a favorite date destination. When Paul and I got our dog Zeno we were allowed to bring him to the restaurant if we sat on the porch. The lady who owned Jasmine always loved to see Zeno and called him Deeno. The first time I ever tried this restaurant was with my best friend Amy Aston. We went as soon as it opened. The silverware had been polished and it had a heavy metallic taste. My favorite dish at Jasmine will always be vegetables in coconut milk. Baby corn, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, tofu, bell pepper, snap peas, potatoes, yellow squash and jalapeno peppers. This combination is perfection! (Jasmine closed in late 2017 when the owners retired. Happy Retirement, chefs!)
April 12, 2013 – I wonder how many times I’ve had the chicken nachos at El Porton. 150 times? 200 times?
Sunday March 31, 2013 – Easter dinner at Central BBQ – There are a few foods I don’t have an off-switch for: cheese and caramel corn from Nuts on Clark and Garrett’s in Chicago, corn on the cob, peel and eat shrimp, chex mix and Christmas wreaths made from cornflakes. The barbeque nachos with spicy bbq sauce from Central BBQ are also on this list. I could eat these nachos every day. Shredded pork heavy with bark topped with shredded cheddar, nacho cheese, spicy bbq sauce and sliced jalapenos anchored with crispy tortilla chips. This is heaven. Central BBQ’s coleslaw, potato salad, hot wings and turnip greens are my favorite in Memphis. Their hot wings are my favorite in the world. (I have to add that the pineapple slaw at Wild Cow in Nashville is better than the coleslaw at Central but I’m always happy to dig into their creamy, crunchy coleslaw with big chunks of cabbage.)
Barry’s 39th Birthday Party! On Saturday March 30, 2013 I organized a birthday meal for one of my best friends of all time: Barry Flippo! I chose foods that represented travels we have enjoyed together and private jokes we’ve had for years. My obsession with the newly built Kroger in the neighborhood made shopping for this party even more fun!
Wednesday, March 27, 2013 – Huey’s on Madison with Paul. I hadn’t eaten much between March 20-26 because a virus left me weak. When I was ready to eat again I was ready for Huey’s. The Senor Huey with mustard, pickles, onions, lettuce and pepperjack cheese with a side of fries and one-third of a Coke. I’ve started eating slowly so I enjoyed every taste.
Saturday, March 16, 2013 – India Palace. Papadums with mint sauce and tamarind sauce, fried pakoras dipped in sauces, the vegetarian plate: bindi masala, channa masala, lentils, raita, rice pudding, mango and pistachio ice cream.
Friday, March 15, 2013 – We had Ben and Erin Strickland over for dinner! Ben and Erin brought gf beer and cider for me! I made pot roast with potatoes and carrots, jambalaya, tarragon corn, tomatoes and okra, cheese plate and a plate of sauces served with baguette, fennel and arugula salad with mandarin oranges, cherries and walnuts. For dessert we had macarons, maple cookies and brownie cupcakes topped with Easter nests. To drink we had Jack Daniels Honey Whiskey.
Spring Break Food!! March 9-13, 2013 Nashville, TN and Gatlinburg, TN
Saturday, March 9, 2013 – Drove from Memphis to Trader Joe’s in Nashville. I wish we had a Trader Joe’s in Memphis because of the gluten free gourmet food like: brownies, pasta, cookies, sauces, ginger snaps, etc. I went next door to Green Hills Mall for shopping and then met up with Amy at Cheesecake Factory where I had the lettuce wraps with yummy sauces, fried cheese and blow-my-mind piece of banana cheesecake. It tasted as delicious as the banana pudding at Corky’s in Memphis. After a Starbuck’s stop and lots more shopping at Hill Center, the awesome outdoor mall, we headed to an early dinner at the Wild Cow in East Nashville where I had a heavenly vegetable and brown rice medley topped with garlic aioli sauce. This sauce made the dish perfect. The pineapple coleslaw was really amazing too. Then an exciting night followed! The Indigo Girls concert, walking around downtown Nashville with Amy, meeting up with her friends Andrew and Jen, drinking at the beautiful Oak Bar in the Hermitage Hotel, then more drinking at No. 308 Bar in East Nashville. After a short cab ride back we passed out in our hotel at 2AM. This is one of the best Saturdays of my life.
Sunday, March 10, 2013 – Amy and I got up really early in spite of the late night we had, ate the hotel breakfast and then went to the Starbuck’s on West End to sit by the fireplace and talk for a while before lunch at Chuy’s. Chuy’s started in Austin, TX and my first taste was on my first and only trip to Austin to visit my high school friend Ashley. This food was love at first bite. My favorite was the spicy ranch dip that I can never remember the name of. After lunch Amy went back to her house and I drove down West End to find The Scarlet Begonia. I also went to the Frist to see the Rembrandt exhibit, relaxed at the hotel and then ate a huge German meal at Girst Haus near the Ramada. The ham and rice croquettes, sausages and fried oysters and apple sauce were CRAZY filling. I loved this restaurant so much!
Monday, March 11, 2013 – Rainy drive to Gatlinburg while listening to the Last Mixed Tape compilation I bought at Starbucks. I stopped in Knoxville at the World Market and then drove on to Gatlinburg. I walked around all the shops along the main drag until Paul finished his hike. We devoured Mellow Mushroom pizza and then visited the arcade!
Tuesday, March 12, 2013 – I had a full breakfast at a local pancake house near our rented condo before heading to Sevierville in search of coffee and the outlet mall. I went in The Christmas Place and walked around in the dreamy Christmas rooms inside this huge store. For dinner Paul and I ate at TGIFriday’s and then went for a short hike and drive in the mountains.
Wednesday, March 13, 2013 – I ate a huge breakfast at Pancake Pantry – cornmeal pancakes, scrambled eggs, bacon, grits, coffee and orange juice. I stopped in the Rebel Barn for some Fiesta ware pieces before leaving town. Once home I unpacked my one million treasures and had McAlister’s for dinner.
Friday, March 8, 2013 – Paul and I went to Thai Bistro and had sushi and red curry that was very spicy.
Thursday, March 7, 2013 – Paul and I went to RP Tracks at Highland and Southern. I always order the famous nachos and this time I had a shooter that tasted like a margarita. The shooter names are hilarious! My favorite name is the Rooster Pooter.
Saturday, March 2, 2013 - Jim’s Place at Poplar and Perkins. A double date with Fisher and a gentleman we set her up with. I love setting people up on dates but I’ve had zero success with it since college. I wanted to try this place because it has Greek food and other comfort food. I had a really good pork tenderloin (soufflima) and loaded baked potato. The Greek salad was delicious too. The Singapore sling was strong and not as good as the one at Felicia Suzanne’s. We went to Starbuck’s after for hot chocolate, cider and mocha. No fireworks for Fisher on the date but the night was still fun. We briefly stopped in Poplar Perkin’ to try to get coffee. There was nowhere to sit but I want to go back sometime and try the coffee! Also this week I made my first successful pot roast as well as kale with macaroni and parmesan.
Friday, March 1, 2013 – The Barbeque Shop on Madison. I can’t believe I’ve never been to this place! Pressed tin ceiling and church pews for benches in the booths. I loved the coleslaw and the pork. I also really like having three levels of bbq sauce in bottles on the table (mild, medium, hot). I had the half chicken and it was pretty good but the pork and slaw were the best. Paul liked his pork sandwich on toast too.
February 25, 2013 – I went to Huey’s with Becky and Stephanie. I ordered the grilled tuna salad and fat fries with cheese, bacon and chives. It was good to see Becky and Stephanie again after reading a couple of books with them at Michelle’s old place. I’ve been to Huey’s many, many times and wherever I go there’s no burger or tuna steak like Huey’s. Comfort food, delicious burger at its best. A true Memphis original.
February 24, 2013 – I spent the morning cooking shrimp and grits, olive and tomato tapenade, jambalaya and my first pineapple upside down cake. For dinner Paul and I went to dinner at Local Gastropub. It’s been open for a while in the old Yosemite Sam’s building on Madison. It smelled old when we walked in. It was pretty packed for 5 PM. People were watching basketball in groups and enjoying drinks. I ordered a margarita on the rocks, the blue cheese and candied pecan and Local bacon wedge as well as the rotisserie chicken with a side of chipotle potato smash, cornbread and chorizo dressing, and spiked greens. The skin on the chicken was crispy and dark golden brown. It was unreal and I tore it apart! Paul had the short rib reuben with spicy coleslaw. I want to cook like this!
February 22, 2013 – Friday finally! A long week of work but Greek food at the finish! Paul and I tried Tzatziki’s that recently opened next to the Kroger on Mendenhall. I love Greek food and look forward to May for the Greek Fest up the street on Highland. I ordered the mezedes platter with cucumber dip, hummus and dolmadhes. Everything was really yummy! The beef tenderloin and basmati rice plate was just as delicious. Even the Greek salad on the side with the strong sour dressing was delicious. I gobbled it all and then had energy to grocery shop and stay up until 10 PM (!) watching the movie Hula Girls. I will certainly want to go back to Tzatziki’s!
February 18, 2013 – After an easy President’s Day in-service day at work I drove frantically to the Viking Cooking Store to spend my Christmas gift from my husband. Viking will be closing soon. I wanted some chicken nachos with a side of pickled jalapenos after that even though we have a refrigerator full of food. There’s nothing like El Porton’s shredded chicken nachos with white cheese dip smothering it. I’ve been going to El Porton since 1996 when I started teaching in Holly Springs. I’d visit Dana in graduate school at the U of Memphis and we would go over there for dinner. The margaritas taste medicinal but El Porton is comfort food right around the corner in the Poplar Plaza.
February 16 and 17, 2013 – I cooked out the cabinets and pantries.
February 16, 2013 - Le Chardonnay with my precious husband to celebrate a belated Valentine's Day. I had been once before for a birthday party and had the antipasti plate. Many years ago it was in the huge Overton Park building. It's still on Madison Ave but across the street. We started with three appetizers: spinach dip with fresh tomatoes and bacon on top, duck confit stuffed mushrooms and the antipasti plate full of brie, sage cheese, ham, roasted bell peppers, pepperoncini, kalamata olives, and baguette slices. I loved all of this but duck still tastes like five-day leftover Thanksgiving turkey. Paul had a steak sandwich and I had 3 sliders: grilled salmon, steak and hamburger. All three were prepared deliciously with spicy mayo, horseradish mayo nad like a Sonic miniburger (mustard, ketchup, pickles). I also tried Gervertzemeiner (?) for the first time and it was delicious! Thick like port but fruity and white like Riesling. We finished up at YoLo for dessert: strawberry yogurt, wedding cake yogurt topped with roasted pecans, Dinstuhl's pecans and gummi bears.
February 15, 2013 - Club 152 on Beale Street - Nancy and I went to see Paul play in the band Funk de Ville which was so much fun and a completely last-minute great idea. I never go out on Beale Street anymore. I feel too old. I had a gin and tonic, song and yummy with an order of cheese fries. Fat fries with rotel dip poured over them. The rotel was not as creamy and tasty as McAlister's or the way i used to make it. It must be a cheaper cheese.
February 15, 2013 - Club 152 on Beale Street - Nancy and I went to see Paul play in the band Funk de Ville which was so much fun and a completely last-minute great idea. I never go out on Beale Street anymore. I feel too old. I had a gin and tonic, song and yummy with an order of cheese fries. Fat fries with rotel dip poured over them. The rotel was not as creamy and tasty as McAlister's or the way i used to make it. It must be a cheaper cheese.
