McCafe Iced Mocha

Okay, I have never, ever, in my entire life, liked coffee. Ewww. But for some reason the incessant advertising of the McCafe billboards picturing those frothy looking beverages along with the upsells at the McDonald's drive-thrus got me curious. One day, when Drive Thru Lady asked "would you like to try our iced mocha today?" I said, "you know what, why not? yes!" Oh-my-word. That has to be the most delicious beverage in the land. It's cold and milky and chocolaty and has this big kick with it. I'm sadly, now an addicted fancy coffee drink person. Good Lord. So who says billboards don't have ROI conversion. Not so, they got to me. Good job McD's Marketing Executives.

Good Cheap Eats

If I'm ever on death row, fried chicken and mashed potatoes with gravy will be my last meal before the chair. Anyway, recently I had a hankering for Gus's "world famous" fried chicken, a Tennessee institution as some might say. Gus's actually had to grow on me. Like beer I suppose, the first time I didn't like it but the more I had it, the more I liked it. It is about the juiciest fried chicken out there. So I took a long lunch the other day, trekked downtown and met a friend. My chicken breast wasn't as meaty as usual, this chicken must have been a B cup, but it was still good and satisfied that "need" I had. I do wish that Gus's would improve their selection of sides...I had to "upgrade" to the dirty rice selection. And although their fries are really good, it's a fried food overload there--which isn't a bad thing, but still. They are also famous for pies, but I've never been when the waitress actually "knew" what pies were available that particular day or had your first selection in stock. They always have to go ask. That's become sort of a drinking game with us, "will the waitress know the pies today?" And true story, one time I drug my vegetarian husband there and literally, there was not a thing on the menu besides white Wonder bread he could eat. So he opted for pie. He literally was on his fourth tier pie choice before they actually had the pie listed on the menu. Poor guy.

Speaking of pies of a different sort, I went to a very random place recently. The Pizza Shack. Okay, hear me out. This place is in the Lowe's parking lot at Perkins and Summer. Literally, their ads say "right outside Lowe's receiving." Bare with me here as I know you are thinking what the helicopter is she doing there...you can get two slices and a coke for $5. And you know what? It is some delicious pizza! They have this unique rosemary crust that is really good...and for five dollars, what-a-deal!

Book Review #4 - Devil in the White City

Rating: Four Butts on the Couch (as a reminder of my personal rating system, four days out of seven, I sat on the couch engrossed in this book, one I would highly recommend)

In this non-fiction book, the author chronicles the development of the 1893 World's Fair. It's an under-dog story that pits Chicago against every other large city in the US with a goal of being able to out-build and out-dazzle all previous Worlds' Fairs, but especially the preceding one held in Paris. The one where the Eiffel Tower was unveiled. The plan is to out-Eiffel, Mr. Eiffel--the architect of arguably the world's most famous structure. No one thinks Chicago can do it. That smelly, smokey, crime infested meat packing town? Hardly it seems. But along comes an architect named Daniel Burnham. He assembles the best architects in the land to build this fair on swampland. They have less than two years to do it with one catastrophe after another. Spray paint was invented as a result (a time saver) along with many objects still in use today. And yes, they did build a structure, and although not the Eiffel Tower, one that is universally known and still in use. You'll have to read to see what it was.

In a parallel story, a serial killer is on the loose. Dr. Holmes builds a hotel for fair visitors and uses it to lure pretty, naive females. Then he gets a kick out of marrying them after they've taken out a life insurance policy and then gasses them to death. And in some warped mentality, often donates the cadavers and skeletons to local hospitals for research. In the end, he was accused of killing 27 people - including children.

This book does not get overly graphic in these parts, but you are left puzzled with how someone could have gotten away with this for so long un-noticed. Oh, and it's not until he kills a man that he becomes an object of suspicion with authorities. In today's world, once the first pretty blonde gets hacked and slewed, CNN would would be all over it with incessant coverage.

If you like a little history lesson with some Jack the Ripper thrown in, you'll love this book.

Corn Imposter Recipe

So I can't fire up the grill without doing corn it seems and in that vegetarian grill class I took, the Instructor had his corn recipe version of the Deli Mexicana corn recipe. So that would make my version a version of the Chubby Vegetarian version, which is a version of the Deli Mexicana version. And, by the way, Real Simple magazine recently had a recipe that you got it, was similar to the above three versions. But I digress.

Funny thing happened at Kroger. They were out of corn. Yep, out. It was like a grocery store being out of bananas or something. Since I had people coming over and no time to hit another store, I had to improvise. I bought frozen corn. Turn your nose back down please as it was delicious and easier to eat than the cob variety anyway. Here we go:

• Place 1 lb of frozen corn with some butter in an aluminum pan and grill on high. Tossing occasionally to get a nice even char.
• Toward the end, before you're about to take it off the grill, squeeze the juice of a whole lime on the corn and give it several shakes of hot sauce. Toss some more.
• Take off the heat, let cool slightly, and add 4 oz. of crumbled feta cheese.

This may not sound like much and even the way I describe it may not sound that good, but trust me here, this was heaven on a spoon. It was like "hot" cheese popcorn without the aggravation of kernels getting stuck in your teeth. Try this, I know you will like it.

Mosquito Madness!

I always thought that mosquitoes liked me best. Not so. A co-worker who recently moved here from California has, get this, 95 bites on her legs alone. That has to be the all-time high and has my record of 22 bites at a given time beat. Was she camping naked soaked in honey you ask? Nope. At a friends pool party Saturday night.

Has anyone tried those new wristband or Off "clips?" In theory, I like the concept as bug-spray is gross & sticky and Skin So Soft only serves as an Appetizer for bugs when I apply it. If the wrist band works, my friend and I joked about using on both arms, both ankles, neck, etc. I'm going to try one. I'll report back.

Menu - Grilled Pizza and Smore's

I told you in a previous blog that I took the Not So Chubby Vegetarian class last week and was going to attempt his grilled pizza recipe. I was skeptical because as much as I cook, me and any kind of dough are not friends. Alas, seeing his demo helped give me some confidence to try it. I grilled two pizzas, both came out perfect and were met with rave reviews from my guests. I'm getting the swing of this grill thing.

We capped it off with some smore's. I've been jonesing for some smore's lately. Here's a hint about the graham crackers. I didn't buy the "Honey Maid" variety b/c I figure the marshmallows alone had enough chemicals to preserve me for a while (blue dye? why?), so I opted for an "all natural" blend. The brand was called Mi-Del (strange I know). Now, by themselves these grahams are well, not so sweet (that's what happens when things are sweetened "naturally") and they were super crunchy (which also happens when hydrogenated oils are absent), more like a cookie texture than a cracker. But you know what? For the smore's they were absolute perfection. Not being so sweet made the marshmallow goo and the melty chocolate sing. And the texture of this graham didn't fall apart when you bit into it. It kept in a nice, tidy dessert sandwich shape. These really hit the spot to ease that craving...and better than I remember as a kid.

A vegetarian "puttanesca" sauce and my pizza there. Yum.

The Not So Chubby Vegetarian, put both sides of his pizza directly on the grill. I'm not there mentally yet. So I cooked the bottom on the pan, and then flipped it over "directly" on the grill grates and then dressed the top as the bottom cooked directly on the grill. Then slid it back on the pan to serve. A pizza peel will come in handy if I start doing this a lot.

Oh yeah...

Backyard Improvement #997

On my 1,000 step count down to a pretty back-yard, we recently made another improvement. Painting the concrete floor of our covered patio. We chose a non-skid paint (it has sand in it) to minimize trips and falls when it gets wet. My color choices were limited with this kind of paint but I tried to match our brick as much as possible and chose this red color. I like it very much.

This was the "before."


After. Try not to notice that my geranium quit blooming.

That’s a squash blossom. Yeah! Zucchini is coming!


Yard improvement #996-992. Embellishments. I have a thing for mermaids.

Only 991 steps to go!

The Chubby Vegetarian Demonstrates

One of the local blogs I follow is “the chubby vegetarian.” As a chubby person, married to a vegetarian, this blog appeals to me--although I don’t think I’m necessarily his target audience. So it was fantastic to learn that the real Chubby Vegetarian would be teaching a course on grilling vegetarian. So far, I’ve not been able to branch out on my grill use beyond tofu hot dogs and corn it seems. (what? you’re not lining up to come to my house?) Remember, in my fantasy parallel universe, I’m a backyard entertainer.

His class, facilitated through the University of Memphis Continuing Education did not disappoint. Several recipes were grilled, but my favorites were the Grilled Veggie Quesadilla, the pizza (OMG) and grilled fruit on skewers. There is something sensational about grilled pineapple and bananas.

So this next weekend, I will attempt to make a pizza on the grill—the dough and everything! I will let you know how it turns out.

The not so chubby instructor feeling the dough…

Looks at the grill marks on that crust! I so need a better camera. Sorry!

The yummy slice of delicious-ness.

A word about cupcakes...

I mentioned in my last blog my child's adoration of cupcakes, I think addiction is more like it. Now that we've been to Muddy's, he seems to think that a daily cupcake is in order or a dozen. I explained that we get cupcakes "only sometimes" to which I got yelled at, a full-out prone position face down on the floor melt down. This is actually I think the first of the "terrible two" melt-downs and it was quite funny actually. Is it wrong to think this is funny? It was just so over the top dramatic. And when I finally calmed him down, he then asked for an "ice cream sandwich" to which I replied no and the whole episode was repeated. Oh why oh why can't a child be as enthusiastic over grapes or something?

Summer Fridays #5

Today’s agenda: Children’s Museum of Memphis. I never can predict what this little one is going to be drawn to. I thought for sure, the bulk of the time would be spent in, out, and on top of the various vehicles present, but no, not really into those. And the playground area that he was obsessed with last time barely got five minutes of adoration. It’s like he is “so over” slides right now.

But he did take to “fishing.” You can “fish” in the Mississippi River replica with these cute little magnetic poles and fish. This occupied at least 30 minutes.

One thing I can always count on is my child’s adoration of cupcakes. Afterward, we did lunch at Muddy’s Bake Shop and you’ve never seen a happier or obedient child when set before his presence is an icing abundant chocolate cupcake. There is something so incredibly rewarding about seeing a child eat with pure glee. Like mother, like son.

Book Review #3 Julie and Julia

Rating: Two Butts on the Couch (as a refresh, according to my personal rating scale--Two days out of seven that my butt was spent on the couch reading. At this point, the book is more of an assignment for Book Club than a reading pleasure. Mildly entertained, not likely to recommend.)

Thought I would love, love, love this one and was underwhelmed. After all the author is my age, a foodie, a blogger, has a fascination with food celebrities (aka Julia Child in this context), etc. Why was I so disappointed in this one? In a nut shell, it just wasn't as interesting as I thought it would be. I can't believe there is actually a movie being made out of this book, with Meryl Streep playing Julia Child of all things, when the Mrs. Child stories encompass less than 10% of the book. But I digress.

The premise is simple and quite fascinating to me--and is my ultimate fantasy for a blog--movie deal. (I'm not kidding ha-ha.) The author has a down and out temp job. She happens upon her mother's copy of "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" a cookbook the senior Julia wrote in the 60's. She decides to cook every single one of the 500 or so recipes in a year's time and blogs about it. She gets quite the following and national recognition. The New York Times food critic pays her a personal visit. She's on CNN, etc. It's a true story.

The only parts of the book I found interesting were the ones about some of the foods that were prepared back in the day that definitely would be on my personal ewww list today. Bone marrow dishes, organ dishes, lots of gelatinous goo in dishes, chopping live lobsters vs. boiling them alive and the moral dilemma that poses, etc. This part appealed to the Iron Chef in me I guess, but overall...kind of a dull read.

Will I see the movie? Of course! Got to know how they fill two hours with this concept and I love, love, love Amy Adams and Meryl Streep. So, will let you know about that one when it comes out.

The Pancake Shop - Hot Springs, AR

I love it when I get to mark something off the proverbial list. In this case, we've been going to Hot Springs for the past six years to visit the in-laws and we've always wanted to go the Pancake Shop as we were intrigued as to why there was always a line out the door. We never made it until this past weekend. Pancakes are one of those "once a year" foods with me. I can take them or leave them and rarely crave them. But on this day, we figured, let's see what all the fuss is about.

We too had the obligatory one and a half hour wait. (Note to parents, suckers really keep a child occupied...he got two during this wait period.) Then once seated, service was prompt. First comes some delicious syrup and some whipped, salty butter. Then the pancakes arrived. Two was more than enough for me and they were chock full of blueberries. Plate was a too small to handle the syrup so I made a big ole mess, but that was my only complaint.

It's a cash only place too, and you may not realize this until ahem, you are literally at the cash register. We had cash, but I'm sure many people don't realize this and that might cause an embarrassing moment. I asked what happens in that case, and the cashier said that he tells the people to come on back with it after the meal. Love it, the small town honor system and no customer has to wash the dishes.

Montreal- Day 2

Another day spent walking all over “tarnation” as my grandmother used to say. Lots of shopping (lots of unique fashion in Montreal) and a trip to the Basilica of the Notre Dame. One of the prettiest churches in North America. Not a whole lot to say about this experience, going to churches in foreign cities seems to be a prevalent past time for a frequent traveler and after a while they all look about the same.

I must tell you about our dinner we had a famous local steakhouse, called Moishe’s. Before I start, keep in mind there were only two of us. Not 20. This is an important point.

Before the meal, you get this plethora of complimentary items. They bring out this platter of pickles. Yes platter. Those big kind that you get at the fair. They must have a Costco membership as I believe they opened the whole jar on a plate. And with that they brought the equivalent of a pint of cole slaw in a vinaigrette dressing. The bread basket contained a whole baguette and the equivalent to a loaf of rye. This wastefulness of food was at the same time sad and funny. Sad that 80% of it would go in the garbage—why are we so wasteful in North America? And funny in that, I don’t know how many pickles & cole slaw they think a person would actually eat. Four pickles would have seemed generous “for two” but a whole platter of them? Please.

Then we ordered Potato Pancakes as an appetizer—some sort of fried potato is everywhere in this town--and they brought 6 of them and they were about 6 inches in diameter. Good grief! (P.S. Delicious.) Then of course, it’s time for the steaks…and of course, the smallest you could get was around 16 oz.

The funny thing is, this place is also famous for desserts and I’m a dessert person. But at the end, who could even think dessert? Not even me and Lord knows that’s rare. So we missed that experience altogether. We should have paced ourselves with the pickles I guess.

Was it good? Yes, it was. But my lesson learned is one my friend suggested—when at a new restaurant you’ve never been--perhaps wait to order the entre until after the appetizers come. Now that’s a good idea and an economical one at that.