How Do I Like My Hash Browns?

This article from Garden & Gun on the genesis of Waffle House hash browns will be required reading for my household. Actually, anyone who claims to be a Waffle House denizen should read this.

Scattered & Smothered

Who doesn't love Hash browns?  More importantly who doesn't love Waffle House hash browns?  If you say you do not you are either lying or have never had them.  Your loss and more for the rest of us!  Booyah.

But, you ask, what is Garden & Gun?  G&G is a delightful conundrum of a publication I discovered upon moving to Texas.  The magazine publishes 6 issues a year and includes a variety of articles only southerners would care about, like making moonshine, eating at Waffle House (duh), best places to duck hunt with your Boykin, finding the best oyster knife and road trips suggestions for any number of back roads, "best places no one knows about" locations.  I initially bought it for the absurdity of it, then kept renewing for the recipes and places to eat in the south pieces.  I have never considered myself a southerner but find that more and more I am leaning that way.  At least in terms of food and hospitality.  And bourbon.

Little Bro Makes a Video

So- someone has been watching his sister's YouTube DIY subscriptions and decided he wants to be a DIY'er.  Problem?  Complete lack of skillz.  Oh my.  This is unedited--my apologies for being lazy.  He has one view and asks me EVERYday how many views he has.  Please watch this charmingly sad little video of his ;)  In his defense: He is 5.  He is also adorable!  -Mom

Yes Virginia . . .

There IS a Santa Clause and he makes grilled cheese at Burger Palace of all places. 

Long awaited lunch with Twist today. Took a risk on the Ultimate Grilled cheese and was not sorry. Perfectly buttered and crisped sandwich properly done on the grill with melted cheese bacon and avocado was a delightful alternative to burger. Bacon and avocado were sliced thin and stacked nearly so as to prevent falling out of sandwich. Perfectly executed. Taste was also great. 

Twist and I split truffle fries which were wonderful as well. 

I'd forgotten about burger palace but will have to stop in more often. Last time I was there was a year ago. 

Burger Palace recommended. 

Caracol Take Me Away . . .

First ever visit to Caracol in Galleria area.  I'm apparently late to the party though because it seems everyone else has eaten here multiple times.  BBF was in from satellite office so we met there along with Twist and Quiet Guy.  I had not socialized with Twist in freaking forEVER and was very happy for the chance to do so. 

We started with ceviche de caracol.  I didnt care for the conch and presentation was not traditional ceviche style.  Just kind of meh in terms of flavor and overall impressions.  Also had carne apache and wood fired oysters.  carne apache was tasty but super small bites and ridiculously priced I thought for what came out on the plate.  Wood fired oysters on the other hand were the business.  SO tasty with a little tang of tomato and Parmesan.  Oysters done just right, not too overcooked.

Entrees Twist and I split the scallops.  Quiet got crab soup and BBF also did scallops.  Very please with scallops.  not overwhelmed by sauce and garnishes and scallops done just right.  Whomever was cooking last night had a light touch with the grilling.  Very much appreciated!  Quiet (known for putting away food) cleaned his soup bowl, which I think means it was good although with him that is not necessarily an indicator.  No complaints at least.  Quiet bailed and the rest of us got some dessert.  some plantains foster thing that I wasnt about to touch b/c cooked bananas are mostly gross, and then a roasted pineapple and pistachio cake thing in some sauce.  pineapple and sauce were delish!  pistachio cake was like eating a damp old sponge so I could have lived without it.  Not the worst thing I have ever had.

Overall nice meal, great company and pleasant atmosphere.  Prices are pretty high for what you get, says me, but it's trendy and popular so there you go.

I'd recommend Caracol and give it 3.5 microwaves (you forgot about that didn't you?).

Tonight: thrilling office dinner for holidays with assigned seating!

Ewwwww

My love of chana masala should be well documented in this blog. Saw a ready to eat kind at the store and figured I would try it. I've had varying success with shelf stable meals. Usually the frozen is better. That was def reinforced here. 

Photo removed 

Ok, so here it is before. 

Photo removed (trust me. It looks gross)

And this is after. It looked ok. Was lacking the aromatics I prefer. No curry no turmeric. Rice was too mushy but I can live with that. What I could not deal with though was the taste. Lack of curry was noticeable, no garlic either. Too much of an underlying cinnamon with vague prune flavor. Kind of gross.  Gross enough that I couldn't keep eating it, and I have a high tolerance to eat stuff that I don't like or isn't that great.  I got about 4 bites then had to stop. Toooo nasty. Bleh. 

Then this happened:

Yeah. You're seeing that right. Olives, pickles and Kings Hawaiian. The pickles, by the way, were spectacular.

Happy Saturday peeps!

Guilty Pleasure. . .

McDonald's southern fried chicken sandwich. I can't count all the ways this is bad. I only eat about one a year. Add mayo and the bbq sauce.  Heaven. 

I will feel super bad about eating this later. Right now though. Not so much. 

So Much Food . . .

So little time to write about it! 

Some recent notables: 

Orange Leaf pineapple soft serve w coconut strawberries and blueberries. Dairy free! 

Ahi poke at Yokozuna in Tulsa Ok over Labor Day. Lunch w childhood BFF. She had salmon eggs Benedict. We also had a carafe of mimosas. Yeah boy! That's just how we roll. 

Meat and cheese plate and calamari Ferraro's at the Maui Four Seasons 

Cannot tell you what I had for diner but it was lovely. 

Kalua pork "lunch plate" Lava Rock Cafe Volvano Hawaii.  This rocked the house. Pork was well flavored and moist. Serious run for the money against any Texas bbq pork I've had. 

Have more but need to look through photos and pull them up. 

Happy weekend y'all!