More Pickles

In my never ending search for the quintessential pickle, may I present Cooper Farms whole dilled pickles. Cooper Farms is. Texas family farm/ orchard that has a roadside stand with fruit and veggies and pies and are best known for peaches. Cooper farms may actually be quite the commercial operation but I like to think I'm really eating something homemade. Thus the pickles. 

The jar is whole pickles. I just cut one up for pics. I have to say I'm pretty darn enamoured with these. Very nice balance of vinegar dill and garlic with a smidge of red pepper. And you can see all those things in the jar too!

They are reay quite spectacular. Tangy. Crunchy. The end. 

If you're on I 45 in the near future follow the signs to the Cooper Farms store and grab yourself some. 

Recommended 5 microwaves 

You Can Go with This or You Can Go with That . . .

Hello people!  Jeezus H I haven't done this in so long but it is good to be back vs a quick hit and run post.

Today interviewing a possible job candidate with some of my work peeps.  Only had half of Tater Tot in attendance, a guy from another group I haven't named yet and our senior guy from Chas WV who looks like Stanley Tucci-- ergo I am dubbing him Mr. T, and myself.  Nice lunch. I'm not really "on" today so had a hard time being chatty.  However that is exactly why I love T2 and Mr. T.  They can more than compensate for me in times when I am all up in my head.  Our lunchtime discussion involved absolutely nothing work related, but did include:  plastic forks, Vietnam, siblings, pet naming philosophy and White House tours.  Fairly successful at seeing how high one might fly the freak flag and if it is an acceptable level or not.

We walked next door to Ciao Bello.  It's just meh.  Very hit and miss.  One some occasions I have had awesome food.  Others mediocre.  Today, what I ordered was mediocre and the entree they brought by mistake was really good.  Potato broccoli soup was really more of a bisque or puree.  It may have been good, but it wasn't served hot--and that is just gross.  I don't mean like a cold soup.  I mean a hot soup that wasn't hot.  2 spoons of that and I was done, thank you very much.



Entree was eggplant parmesan.  My go to Italian dish.  not fancy but you can either make it right or you can't.  Ciao Bello is in the can't column.  First they brought me a chicken parm, noting it was a mistake and they would be bringing the eggplant out.  Eggplant came out and it was trying to be fancy.  See the nice stack of eggplant and the stuff on top?  not enough cheese.  Squash was not tender, and it was super greasy . . . all in all fairly dissatisfying.  Took a bite of the chicken parm and by contrast, it was lovely.  Moist chicken, good sauciness and enough cheese.  I left the eggplant and packed the chicken to go.

I'm pretty sure we didn't cross (m)any inappropriate lines during lunch.  A bonus.  However No one got a thank you note afterwards and for me, that is automatic failure.  Harsh, but if you don't have the sense to do that how can I count on you to have sense for really important things?  Like picking weird lunch places or wearing chihuahua socks.  At any rate, it's a no-go.

Oh snap! almost forgot the best part.  My lunch was such a dismal non event when I got back to the office I scrounged up a plate of left over BBQ from Lulings and a mini pecan pie.  The second lunch was manna from heaven.  Thank you Mr. Jeebus!

This . . .

Pickles make me happy. Kudos to lunch lady for getting a big bowl of them. 

So Much Food

So little time to post!

One quick public service announcement: should you have any frozen naan that requires reheating in oven, the microwave is not adequate sub. Do not recommend. That is all. 

Making my way to Chi town for a jaunt to resort community Merrillville, IN for over night work visit. Actually never been to the mothership and interested to go. 

So the above is recent breakfast in Tulsa, OK at Blue Moon Cafe. It's an egg in toast. It was fine. Egg poached too hard for me. At a min should be a tiny bit oozy but it was cooked all the way through. Bacon was tops though.  Just a meh overall. 

That other thing is a buffalo mozzarella salad at some Italian place in DC on the waterfront in Georgetown. Was with counsel and the Mel was fab. So much so I forgot to take pictures of the dishes that followed. Dessert was some intense chocolate thing. No complaints. I recommend it highly but need to look up the name. 

About to leave on vacation in 3 days. Hopefully more posts coming your way with some frequency. Woot summer!

Airport food

I am totally grossed out by this hot dog and gratuitous hot doggedness. 

Hard to appreciate the size. It is like a half pound. And not even hit ll the way through. Sooo gross. On the upside fries are incredible. 

Urban eats at IAH 3 microwave and sort of recommended   

L-I-v-I-n, Livin!

Woo hoo! Mama is eatin good tonight beyotches!

Behold:

A Trader Joe frozen Indian bonanza. Mmmm

Apropos of Nothing

Have I mentioned that this is the BEST  THING EVER?

Making burgers. I put this on EVERYTHING. 

Booyah!

Two dinners in one week.  I'm obviously on a roll. 

Tonight the Dallas peeps were visiting. Usually I let them cook bc they are way better than I am. Tonight though I manned the helm. Roasted asparagus, rib eyes and pork tenderloin.  Hubs did the shopping and came back with rolls that had cocktail weenies in them. What the hell Sister Shubert?!  Not cool. Also not cool Hubs can't read. He's working on it. 

I'm becoming a real fan of the roasted asparagus. 

All Fired Up . . .

And ready to go!

This was actually breakfast for dinner the other night. Bet y'all didn't think I cooked since all I ever post is restaurant food. But you'd be wrong!  It doesn't happen as much as I'd like though. 

Fired up the stove for pancakes, eggs, bacon and sausage. Pancake flipper courtesy of Chungry-Claus. It wasn't bad. Lessons learned: don't fill the molds all the way or your pancake will be too thick. Also the metal of the pan isn't that thick so be careful. I burned my first batch. Those went to the dog, and he was thrilled to get them. 

I've said it before, but it bears repeating. My scrambled eggs are the shit.  

The End. 

Yodi

My Secret Shame . . .

Huzzah! 

All Fired Up . . .

And ready to go!

This was actually breakfast for dinner the other night. Bet y'all didn't think I cooked since all I ever post is restaurant food. But you'd be wrong!  It doesn't happen as much as I'd like though. 

Fired up the stove for pancakes, eggs, bacon and sausage. Pancake flipper courtesy of Chungry-Claus. 

Banner Day!

Props to Brooklyn Cafe in The Woodlands. You can make a grilled cheese! Gracias bitches. 

Odds and Ends in Lexington

Work trip to Lexington with my team led to dinner on Sunday night due to lack of options by air to bluegrass country. 

Landed at Grey Goose. A pub with pizza. Started off with fried mushrooms and beer cheese. Who knew what beer cheese was? Not me. I was expecting some yellow slabs. What arrived was some creamy stuff in a cup with veggies. Spicy but tasty. 

Ceaser salad was mediocre. Twist pointed out menu advertised it as "delicious". It was not. Which is too bad bc I really had high hopes for this one. 

Pizza recovered my hopes and was fantastic. We got a standard pepperoni and then a chicken and bacon. Sounds gross right? It was totally not!  We even had sides of ranch and blue cheese for dipping. Nice beer selection at GG. We all got hooked on Kentucky Ale Bourbon Barrel blend. Yum. It was like soda but with a lot of alcohol. 

After eating too much we made for the hotel and Game of Thrones which was way sobering. End of that ep was a pisser. TNT got up without a word and just walked out. Fine. 

Best meal of the trip hands down. 

Yeah, Not so Much . . .

These samosas are possibly one of the worst things I have ever eaten. Not gag inducing, just not good. Filling is so spicy you can't taste anything because your mouth is on fire.  All fire. No flavor. And that was after one bite. 

I give Kitchens of India samosas 1 microwave and don't recommend unless all your taste buds are dead and you have to eat hot and spicy just to taste anything. 

I will admit on further inspection the box says it is "No. 1 in India". That could mean number 1 of bad hot snacks or it could mean these are awesome and my standard for samosas is way off. it's about 50/50 either way.

However this is MY blog and I say these suck. Fo' shizzle. 

The end. 

New Lobby Deli

All the offices here seem to have some deli cafeteria thing in first floor. Most common is Skyline. Old diggs had one and I was routinely mocked for going there. New diggs also have Skyline but different owner. It is awesome legit. Irrationally excited about this breakfast. Kind of like Migas. Eggs, beans, tortilla and picante. Behold:

Not bad.  kind of like Mexican Frito pie. 

I may survive the day. 

Ed. Note. Hubs claims this looks like vomit on tortilla chips. Nice. From the person who almost exclusively ate

Hamburgers and chicken fingers when we met. Boo yah. 

For My Boss . . .

So got totally outed at dinner tonight. I will be closing down and starting new blog imminently.   Way to go Cramer-light. Now that I am here I might as well do the post. 

In Outskirts of Columbus Ohio for meeting. Dinner at Mitchell's Ocean something or other. Admittedly a little dubious of seafood house in OH. I mean, come on.  Will say though it was pretty damn good.  I had a scallop and risotto dish and french onion soup. Soup was the bomb. I haven't had french Onion that good in a while so thank you for that.  Scallops good but the risotto was a little heavy for me.  Our group ordered I think every potato side the place sells. I was particularly interested in the smoked Gouda tater tots. Are you kidding me? Tater tots and cheese?  Hellz yeah I made sure some of those were ordered. The tots did not disappoint. See photo above. Creamy goodness and potato all deep fried. How can that be bad?  It can't. The end.  

Dessert was white choc key lime tart. Homemade cream on top. The tart crust was homemade. Filling was very tart. So much so I may have a canker sore now. Could have been a bit firmer too. It was a little runny for key lime. Overall tasty. I actually was not wild about the white chocolate. I thought it might have been worked into the filling vs a giant tower of choc strips on top. The white choc and sourness of the filling didn't quite mesh. Not fatal though. 

That is nuts, right? 

Back to being outed.  Cramer has been shooting for this anytime we are in front of Hurricane. It was just a matter of time before she actually looked for me. He is lucky I dig him or I would be super pissed. Whatevs. So now everyone finds out I cuss like a sailor in my off time.  

Reminds me. I am renaming Tater Tot TNT. The boys are at an off site meeting this week in West VA. Part of their performance objectives is keeping me filled in on gossip. And following me on twitter.  Just kidding. Maybe. No really, just kidding.  

Here are my scallops:

And my soup:

#Mitchell's Ocean Club gets a 4 and recommended if you are in the northern Columbus environs. 

#lovemyboss

Margarita ville

Three cheese pizza margharita from trader joes. Mmmmmm

Nice crust and not too much cheese or sauce. I approve. 

I Heart Luby's

Ok, so you know I got a new job. I am a boss now with actual people I manage. Well maybe only one person right now. So this one person and I decided to go to lunch and catch up the other day.  In my managerial capacity I determined we scope out the Lubys on Post Oak by the fancy mall. 

Dang! That place was fancy! Not sure I ever been to such a nice Lubys. Piccadilly yes. Luby's not so much. Nice amount of blue hairs mixed in with regular people. Did my usual LuAnn with fried fish and sides. 

Obviously the better crowds at this location leads to better food. Fish and everything was pretty fresh and tasty. The roll was amazing. Yeah I said it. Ah-may-zing. Minion seemed to also be very pleased with his meal. This was his initiation into Lubys, but he is a good southern boy and had other cafeteria experience. I think I will keep him. 

Recommended and 3.5 microwaves. 

Boom!

The One Where I Ate Some Food . . .

This weekend I ran my first marathon.  I started training in the fall and was going gangbusters then it started getting cold and rainy every single freaking weekend. I don't run in rain. Just not that dedicated. Anyway marathon weekend comes and I haven't really run in several weeks. Mostly looked at my marathon as an excuse to carb load with beer. But you know what? I did not get hungry and had pretty good energy the whole time.  Exhausted yes. Hungry not really. 

Oh, I suppose I should note my marathon was at DisneyWorld. 

2 standout meals were breakfast at Ohana and dinner at Liberty Tavern.  

Both were family style and much tastier than one would think. 

Ohana does a Lilo and Stitch character breakfast. Family style just like at dinner. Fresh bread, fresh passion fruit juice, giant platters of bacon eggs and sausage. Mmmmmm.  Almost forgot about the Mickey Waffles. Simple but nicely done.  Only detraction from experience was seating. We didn't get in and start eating until 40 minutes post reservation. Brazil was visiting the parks and a giant tour group had Ohana in the morning then didn't leave which screwed up the morning for the rest of us. Thanks a lot Brazil! 

Meal 2 Liberty Tavern. Also family style "Thanksgiving" dinner. Heaping plates of steak, pork and turkey with mashed potatoes, mac n cheese, green beans and stuffing. No one at the table is a Big Mac n cheese eater. No. 3 son and I had some and that was all. The rest of it was cleaned out with seconds on steak. My favorite was the roast pork and potatoes. All the meat was fantastic which prolly means it's all injected with MSG. Dessert was a cherry bread pudding thing with ice cream. A little dry but tasty. If you've done the Ohana dinner you would recognize this as the same thing just the Americanized version. 

Also worth mentioning is the fish and chips meal from the ABC Commisary at Hollywood Studios. Hot, and good coating on the shrimp and the cod pieces.  

I'd recommend all three dining experiences at WDW.  

Headed home today where I can expect to eat candy bars and whatever fast food we come across during the 15 hours in the car. Awesome.