Introducing Audrey Helen

Our little one is finally here! Audrey Helen was born on 11/24/2009 at 2:57am, 6lbs 14oz and 19.5 inches long. Life has sure changed and it's hard to find time to get on the computer let alone write a blog. I can tell you that our foodie adventures have been put on hold as we struggle to even have time to make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for dinner but I had a few ideas to write about prior to Miss Audrey's arrival so I'll be sure to get some posts out here soon. I'm also looking to change the blog's layout so I can separate food blogs from items about the Aud Meister. After all, writing about my future children was the whole point of starting this blog in the first place. Who knew that the "future" would be here so fast! Little did I know.....

Here's Miss Audrey.....

Adam Richman from Man v. Food

Off to see Adam Richman's stand up show tonight right here in Iowa City. We paid the big bucks to sit on stage at a table. He's doing a cooking demo so we're hoping we'll get to try his tasty treats and meet him, of course! Hope to have some pics to post too!

Restaurant Tip

You've heard of a new restaurant opening up that's supposed to be amazing. You're dying to try it so you rush out the minute they open, have a horrible experience and vow never to return again. Sound familiar? My tip to you, as hard as it will be to restrain yourself, is to wait at least 3-4 weeks (or longer) after a restaurant has opened to visit. Let other people have the bad experience while all of the kinks are worked out and you can saunter in to reap the benefits and have a good experience to talk about instead of telling all of your friends NOT to try the new hip spot in town because everything sucked. You know what I'm talking about too - the servers are clueless, they ignored you, the food took over a half hour to get to your table and after all that, it wasn't even very good and you think it was overpriced. You go home totally bummed and complain to your friends. I can't recall one time in recent memory where a friend has told me about their experience at a new restaurant being good. Even if it wasn't terrible the response is usually something along the lines of, "Eh, it was okay."

Bill and I have gotten burned too many times and (I think) have finally learned our lesson. There are currently 3 new restaurants in town that we have yet to try but know of people who have tried them all. They all went either on the first night it opened or shortly thereafter and based on their reviews, we are waiting. 6 months and counting in one case (okay, maybe we're just lazy). So wait if you can. The restaurant may thank you too for the good review versus the bad one you would have given. And if it's still not good even after waiting, at least you gave them a fighting chance to improve.

Bon Appetit!

By the way, did you know the last "t" is silent? Like bon appetee. Really, I swear. I didn't know that either until I saw the movie Julie & Julia and heard it. Bill, who used to be somewhat fluent, confirmed this to be true. It sort of changes everything, doesn't it?

Back in August we went to see the movie with Sara and Matt and planned a 3-course French dinner afterwards. The movie is cute and it's killing me that I didn't think of it first. Do you think if I start to make all of Rachael Ray's recipes I'll get a book and movie deal? No? Damn. Seeing the movie made us all salivate and it was all we could do to finish watching it and not leave to go eat. If you like food at all, I'd recommend seeing it. Put it on your rental queue.

Dinner was fantastic. Bill and I made course 1 which was Emeril Lagasse's seared duck with a balsamic cherry reduction, duck-fat fried potatoes and haricot verts (the Frenchie words for green beans - of note, the "t"s are also silent). The highlight was the reduction. Can't even begin to tell you how good it was. In fact, I've added the recipe below so you can try it for yourselves. It would also be excellent over pork or chicken, maybe even shrimp.


Matt made course 2 which was Julia Child's recipe for boeuf bourguignon which I didn't realize is like a kick-ass beef stew. Don't think Dinty Moore here, people, think GOOD. I don't even like stew. It was served with an olive herb artisinal bread.


Sara made course 3 which was another Julia recipe for chocolate rum cake. Due to some miscalculations, it didn't turn out how it was supposed to but we're talking chocolate rum cake here, people. I'm not sure how, but we managed choked it down anyway. ;) Sara made it again the following weekend and it was superb (again).

Balsamic Cherry Reduction:
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 teaspoons minced shallots
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 cup dried cherries
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
11/2 cups rich duck or chicken stock
2 teaspoons chopped fresh sage leaves
1 tablespoon cold butter
Salt and black pepper

Directions
Set a 1-quart saucepan over medium-high heat and add the olive oil. Once the oil is hot, about 30 seconds, add the shallots, garlic and cherries. Cook the shallots, garlic and cherries until the garlic is fragrant and the shallots begin to caramelize, about 1 minute. Deglaze the pan with the vinegar, and when the vinegar is almost completely reduced, about 3 minutes, add the stock and chopped sage. Bring the sauce to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer, and cook for 15 minutes. Once the sauce is cooked, swirl the cold butter into the sauce and season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Recipe courtesy of Emeril Lagasse

Oyster Tasting

Who knew that eating an oyster should be compared to tasting wine? Bill and I were in Toronto in June 2008 when we went to Rodney's Oyster House, which was recently named by Travel + Leisure Magazine as one of the top 25 oyster bars in the world. We went with the intent of eating oysters but "tasting"? Not so much. Their menu was so long that we put our faith in our waiter to choose our oysters for us. Not knowing that I'd have a food-themed blog a year later, I didn't think to really pay much attention to which types they were, but he chose 3 different varieties, 4 of each total. I do remember that 2 varieties had the traditional oyster shaped shell but 1 variety had the creepy, gnarly looking shell. (And I'm sure you all know exactly what I'm talking about right?? :) I don't know how else to explain it.) Anyway, the waiter explained that people typically just get their oysters and then top them with whatever they prefer - cocktail sauce, horseradish, crackers, mignonette - and suck 'em down without much thought. Gee, sounds like me. What he told us was that each oyster should be tasted just like wine to determine the brinyness, grassiness, sweetness, etc. He had us taste (and by taste, that meant chew) one oyster of each variety plain and then the second one topped with our choice of accoutrements (which, as a side note, is my new favorite word). It was a really eye-opening experience and we were shocked at the difference in taste between the plain version and the souped up one. We preferred some of them with our toppings which actually enhanced the natural flavors (similar to what food can do for wine) but others were better without. Made us wonder how many other yummy oysters' flavors we had masked by automatically reaching for the horseradish. I urge you to try this yourself but fair warning, if you do this, you may discover that you don't really like oysters at all and what you really like is cocktail sauce. But on the bright side, oysters aren't exactly cheap so you'd save yourself some money when eating out!

Also, some of you may have heard that you should only eat oysters during months containing the later R. While this was based on truth - before the days of refrigeration, oysters would spoil in the heat of the other months - this is no longer true. So eat up!

Top Chef Season 6

Top Chef season 6 in Las Vegas starts tonight!!! 9/8c Watch it!!!

Frugal Tip

Bill and I just starting growing our owns herbs this year, although I should say "herb" because so far we only have mint. We've always talked about doing this but just never get around to planting anything. Even the mint was pre-planted from Bill's parents house. (LAY-Z!) But what a money saver! We buy fresh parsley and cilantro every week from the grocery store. Now, it's only like $2 total but still, that's over $100 bucks a year. Anything more fancy than that like basil or sage costs $2.50-$3.00 and comes in this cheap plastic box that still allows the herbs to go bad in about 2 days. When you only need a few tablespoons per recipe, that's not money well spent. (Keep in mind that this is grocery shopping in Iowa. You may have a better selection in your town.) I know that if we had herbs right on our patio, we'd use them much more often. So my tip to you is to plant your own herbs. Be careful though, use pots because many spread worse than weeds. Even with our pot, we think we're going to have mint around our patio's perimeter come next year. Did someone say mojito party?

Another tip that I cannot claim as my own comes from the newest Food Network celebrity - Melissa D'Arabian. She just won the Next FoodNetwork Star and is really great. She's not professional trained but somehow whips up these clever and super yummy looking meals. I wouldn't be surprised if she became the next Rachael Ray. Anyway, her tip is that once you get down to the whites of scallions (green onions), put them in a little bit of water and watch them grow. Bill and I are currently working on this experiment and you honestly would not believe how fast they've been growing. The picture below is after 1 week and I've changed the water once. Notice that they're skinnier than what you'd buy in the store so I'm not sure if they'll fill out or just keep getting taller. We'll see I guess! I'll report back.

Food Shows

Two food shows that are must sees are Man v. Food on the Travel Channel - Wednesdays at 10 EST (new season starts tonight) and Top Chef on Bravo - Wednesdays at 9 EST - new season starts on 8/19. Set your TIVOs/DVRs!

On Man v. Food, the host (Adam) goes around to different towns and vists two restaurants to showcase their food. At a third restaurant, he takes part in a food challenge - things like, how many burritos can you eat or how quickly can you drink 15 milkshakes. Outrageous challenges that I would not partake in, although he did have to eat 15 dozen oysters in 1 hour which I would have LOVED. It's really a fun show and Adam is really likeable. Plus, you get to see fun restaurants to go visit on your travels.

Bill and I took a roadtrip down South a few weeks ago and one of our stops was to visit a friend in Atlanta. Sadly, we were in town for just a little over 24 hours so we only got to eat 3 meals but we definitely made the most of what we ate. One stop was Vortex (featured on Man v. Food naturally) known for their killer burgers.....literally. One burger is the Double Coronary: Topped with two fried eggs, four slices of American cheese, and 5 slices of bacon, with two grilled cheese sandwiches replacing the buns. GRILLED CHEESE SANDWHICHES FOR THE BUNS!!!! Are you even comprehending this??? No, as (un)appetizing as that sounds, we did not get this burger. Instead we ordered the Blue 'Shroom Burger (blue cheese and shrooms) and....wait for it.....the Elvis Burger. Yep! You guessed it - peanut butter, fried bananas and bacon. It - Was - Awesome! Honestly, it was better than the shroom burger. I won't lie, we're pretty fearless when it comes to our food but even we were thinking we were insane to even consider trying it. But man-oh-man was it good and we can't wait to make it again at home. We think the bananas may have really been plantains but whatever, I'm sure we'll like it either way.

Another Atlanta highlight was cheesy grits which turned into a theme throughout our trip. We're trying to find coarse stone ground grits here up north but no luck so far. We might have to breakdown and order them online which I really don't want to have to do - unless someone knows of a brand to buy and where?

I'm Baaaaack

......and pregnant! This was what explained my long absence (at first); recently I've just been lazy. I was so sick with morning sickness in my first trimester that I couldn't even log into this site without gagging - I kid you not. Anything food related made me sick to my stomach so blogging was impossible. Anyhoo, that all cleared up in early June (thank God) and since then I've been thinking of many posts I should add but just haven't gotten around to writing anything. So - I'm back. I think I still owe pics of our Food Extravaganza so those will be here soon. Since we talked last I traveled to Boston, Berkeley and took a roadtrip down south. Lots of good eats to talk about. In the meantime, here's a pic of me at 23 weeks.

Cow Said MOO!

Is there anyone in the Iowa area that would be interested in going in on a cow with us and Sara and Matt? If so, let me know.

Pics from this weekend's food fest to come!

Cooking Extravaganza #2

....for lack of a better name.

We were over at our friends Sara and Matt's tonight and decided that we needed to have another night of cooking like we did on New Year's Eve. Last time, B and I served up courses 1 and 2 and Sara and Matt (I really want to abbreviate this to S & M for ease of typing but I think I shall refrain) had 3 and 4, the latter being dessert. This time we decided that Sara and I would be a "team", although we're not calling them teams because we are not competing, and Bill and Matt will cook together. We then drew numbers 1-4 because we didn't want to assume the ladies would be making the dessert. As it turns out, I drew #4 so it didn't matter. We also drew #2 so the boys are up 1st and 3rd. Next we drew proteins. Course #1 will be poultry, #2 beef and #3 lamb. We skipped a protein for dessert. Now I've seen bacon ice cream on Iron Chef America (and think it would probably be AWESOME - said in a sing-songy voice), but I'm not Morimoto and choose to leave some things to the professionals. The last rule is that the price cap for the protein is $15. Since the portions will be smaller I think this is doable. The extravaganza is next Saturday at M and S's (doesn't quite have the same ring) so we have a week to prepare. As always, there will be pics to follow.

Type A Tip of the Day

Organize your grocery shopping list based on store layout.

If you're anything like us, you dread grocery shopping and want to make the trip as quick and painless as possible. You already know that we limit our weekly shopping to once a week by writing our list based on what we're eating for that week. What I also do is organize our list based on how we shop the store (I say "we" because both B and I go together. Since we both hate grocery shopping so much, why should only one person suffer?). For instance, we always start in the produce section and move our way through the store, ending in the dairy/frozen area. Produce items go at the top of my list, meats/condiments/bread/beer in the middle and dairy and frozen products at the end. There's nothing worse than thinking you're done shopping and then realizing you forgot something all the way on the other side of the store. It also saves you time from having to continually scan your list to see if there's anything else to get in the area you're in. This method isn't completely infallible. I've forgotten to write down items before or when writing the list, I don't leave enough room and need to add items at the bottom. 99% of the time though, it's worked very well. Having a pen to cross off items is also helpful.

Happy shopping!

Odds and Ends

I have been MIA lately because, let's be honest, I'm boring. We did eat some really good meals since I've talked to you last. We ate quail for the first time. The recipe actually called for squab but I called around and couldn't find any. A friendly neighborhood butcher recommended quail so we bought some. Those are some tiny little birds. Very tasty though and we were pleasantly surprised. I'll be interested in trying the recipe again with sqaub though. On a good note, while buying the quail, we noticed the store also had super cheap duck legs which of course we bought. We've only ever made duck breast so we're excited. We also noted that they sold whole pheasants and ducks. That may be too much food for just me and B but I can pack it away with the best of 'em.

Our good friends Sara and Matt were over for dinner early last week and we made Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Pomegranate Sauce. It was excellent and I've included the recipe below, courtesy of the Wine Lover's Cookbook by Sid Goldstein. If you're a faithful follower of this blog (HA! Who am I kidding, although if you've stuck with me this long, I'm grateful) you've heard this mentioned a couple of times and know it's on my list of Favorite Food Things. I believe that I have gotten at least 4 people to buy it - a co-worker as recently as this past Friday - and I can't recommend it enough. It's also where the above squab/quail recipe came from, this weekend we're making Grilled Lamb with Rustic Porcini Sauce and next week (I'm cheating on roulette) I've already chosen Grilled Flank Steak with Roasted Corn-Pancetta Salsa. Now if I could just find a good supplier for veal we'd be set for another handful of the book's recipes.

Sara and Matt are going to be our 1/4 of a cow buddies. Sara is trying to get us the hook up. I'm also hoping to get a 1/4-1/2 of a pig and 1/2 of a lamb. I think our deep freezer will readily step up to the challenge. Speaking of pig, I can't remember if I mentioned this after B's parent's were here but I had pork belly for the first time when we all went out to dinner. Holy God Almighty YUM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I sent my compliments to the chef because I was loving this stuff. It was served with scallops and maybe some fruity type sauce? Honestly, all I really remember was the fatty bacon-like pork belly and it was all I could do to keep myself from picking the pieces up with my hands and licking my fingers. I think I have a new obsession.

On to the important stuff.....the WLCB (get it, Wine Lover's Cookbook? I love it!) said to serve this with couscous. Not being big couscous fans (B calls it crapcrap) we made a creamy risotto instead and think it was a great match. The only thing missing was a vegetable. Maybe serve with a wedge salad? Chunky blue cheese dressing, diced tomatoes and bacon bits.

Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Pomegranate Sauce
Recommended wine: Pinot Noir
Marinade:

• 1/3 c red wine
• 3/4 T olive oil
• 1 T crushed star anise pods
• 2 T chopped shallots
• 1/4 t ground allspice
• 1/3 t ground black pepper

2 pork tenderloins (about 2 1/2 lbs)
Sauce:

• 2 T chopped shallots
• 1 T olive oil
• 1/2 c Pinot Noir
• 1/2 c port
• 2 T raspberry vinegar
• 1/4 t whole mixed peppercorns
• 1/4 c pomegranate concentrate (look in the health food aisle, that's where I found it)
• 1/2 c orange juice
• 1 1/2 c chicken stock
• 3 whole star anise pods
• 1 t honey
• 2 tablespoons room temp butter
• salt and pepper

garnish: mint sprigs

To make marinade, combine all ingredients in a large, sealable plastic bag and mix thoroughly. Add pork. Refrigerate for 3-4 hours. Remove pork and pat dry. Reserve marinade for basting.

To make sauce, in a large saute pan or skillet over medium heat, saute shallots in oil for 2-3 minutes. Do not brown. Add the wine, port, vinegar and peppercorns. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until reduced by half. Add pomegranate concentrate, orange juice, stock and anise and continue simmering until reduced by half again. Add honey. Remove from heat, remove anise and swirl in butter. Season to taste and keep warm.

Sear pork on hot grill for 3 minutes per side (we did 2 sides, not 4 and closed the lid the whole time) and then place in indirect heat (warming rack if your grill has one, if not, turn off one or two burners and move the meat to that side of the grill) until a thermometer reads 150 degrees, again closing the lid. Baste occasionally. Let rest for 5-10 minutes. Slice.

To serve, plate risotto and place pork slices on top. Top with sauce and garnish with mint sprigs. Serves 4.

Risotto

• 1 1/2 c risotto
• 2 T chopped shallots
• 3/4 c white wine
• 2 T butter
• 5-6 c chicken stock (room temperature or hot)
• 2 handfuls parmeggiano-reggiano

In a large sauce pot over medium to medium high heat, melt butter. Add shallots and saute 3-4 minutes. Don't brown. Add risotto and roast 4 mintues. Add wine (this may steam up) and stir until absorbed. Turn heat up to high to bring to a boil. In 1/2 cup increments, add chicken stock and stir until absorbed. Keep doing so until risotto is creamy and sticky and not crunchy if you try a piece. Once ready, stir in cheese. This process takes about 30 minutes.

The Dingo Ate My Baby!

The Australian wine tasting we held was a huge success. We've been part of this group for a year now and I believe that Australia, surprisingly, produced the best wines we've tasted so far. I actually didn't even want to do Australia but Bill talked me into it. We did steer people away from Yellow Tail by quoting the statistic that YT is the #1 import in the US (which I'm still shocked by). We were also surprised that no one brought any Rosemont Estates or Penfolds.

We always provide a sheet for taking notes but due to confusion over my notes, B and I had to devise a new method. Before, as the night would go on, my notes - for the same wine - would be: "Just okay. Yummy! Good. Great!" Obviously when reading these the next day, you had no idea what I really thought as I apparently didn't either. The note "pretty good" has also caused problems. There's "pretty good" as in "Eh, it's pretty good." and then there's "pretty good" as in "Wow! That's pretty good!". This time, we decided to go with "buy/no buy" because that's really all it should come down to - would you want to drink it again or not.

While I did stick to the plan so my notes were much less ambiguous, I did start to lose some descriptive adjectives towards the end. Here are some of the standouts from the night.

• 2006 The Innocent Viognier - Sweeter than most viogniers; medium bodied (Side note: By dumb luck, we were able to try The Guilty Shiraz the very next night. It's a buy. They also make The Verdict Cabernet which I'd really like to try.)
• 2007 Brujeria blend - smelled and tasted like BBQ; would def buy
• 2006 Schist Rock Shiraz - like!
• 2006 St. Hallett Faith Shiraz - yum!
• First Class Shiraz - yum!

Aside from the standard assorted cheeses, we made two hot plates that were very, very good. The mushrooms are supposed to be served as a side dish but we served it with toast points instead.

Southwestern Mushroom Casserole
Courtesy Rachael Ray

• 2 8-oz. packages sliced mushrooms
• 1/4 c. beef broth
• 1 T. flour
• 1/2 c. heavy cream
• 1/2 t. cayenne pepper
• Salt & Pepper
• 1/2 c. breadcrumbs
• 1/2 c. grated parmesan cheese
• 2 T. butter, cut into pieces

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Place mushrooms in a 9x9 baking dish
3. In a medium, microwaveable bowl, combine broth and flour. Microwave on low until slightly thickened, about 2-3 minutes. Stir in the cream and cayenne. Season with salt and pepper. Pour sauce over mushrooms.
4. In a medium bowl, mix together the breadcrumbs and parmesan. Sprinkle on top of the mushrooms, top with butter and bake until browned, about 45 minutes.  Serves 6.

Aromatic Lamb Meatballs
Recipe courtesy Nigella Lawson

• 2 pounds ground lamb
• 1/2 cup finely chopped scallions
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons ground allspice
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 6 tablespoons semolina
• 2 eggs
• Vegetable oil, for frying

Directions
Put the lamb into a bowl and add the scallions. Sprinkle over the spices, salt, and semolina, and then beat the egg adding to the bowl. Work everything together thoroughly with your hands, and then cover with plastic wrap and leave in the refrigerator for half an hour.Line a baking sheet with plastic wrap and scoop out about one tablespoon of the mixture. Roll in your hands to form the meatball and place on the lined baking sheet. Have a bowl of cold water beside you to dampen your hands with; this helps them not get too sticky for rolling the meatballs.

When you are ready to cook them, heat about 1/2-inch of oil in a frying pan. Line another baking sheet with kitchen towel, and when the oil is hot, fry the meatballs in batches without overcrowding the pan. Cook them for 2 minutes a side.  Makes approximately 40 meatballs.

Lent

Lent is upon us and being Catholic, we are not supposed to eat meat on Fridays. You're also not supposed to eat meat on Ash Wednesday which kicks off this whole shindig. So far we're 0-2 and will be eating meat again this Friday. See, we've made an agreement with God that as long as we sacrifice meat one day a week we're cool, so we've just been swaping our meat-free days. I can feel the heat from hell now, however, we've had good excuses. On Ash Wednesday, we had invited friends over to watch the Top Chef finale. You can't watch the most amazing food contest show on earth without cooking some yummy food so I whipped out a Bobby Flay pork recipe (a castaway from my V-Day selections). It was good eats, let me tell you. On Friday, we went out to celebrate Bill's grant being funded. His lab took him out for chicken wings and beer. I don't think I need to explain myself on that one. This Friday, we're hosting a wine tasting at our house. We're part of a group that has a tasting once a month. The host picks the region and then everyone must bring a bottle from that region. Our theme is Australia and while we could serve meat and restrain ourselves from eating it, a wine tasting without good food pairings is just silly. We have a recipe for lamb already picked out. Hopefully we'll get back on schedule next week so I don't have to worry about lightening striking down.

On an exciting note, Bill's parents were in town this weekend and brought us homemade egg rolls. His mom watched me put them into the freezer and was shocked at how full it was and how many things were falling out of it. If you're not quick, you're getting a frozen solid pound of ground beef smashed on your toes. Anyway, I mentioned to her that we were eyeing a deep freezer at Sam's to alleviate the problem and she said that they would take us to Sam's and buy it for us!!!! On Sunday we all jumped in their minivan and went and got the freezer. An exciting time in our lives. Really we're just excited because we've been wanting to buy a quarter of a cow but never had the space for it until now. Makes me giddy!

My Not So Favorite Food Things

I've been asked if there are any food things I don't like. Absolutely! Perhaps I will have to maintain a list of these too.

• A steak served to me either sitting in or covered with some type of sauce. If it's truly a good steak it should be able to stand on it's own and doesn't need a sauce.
• Sauces that have a heavy liver taste. Yes, they do exist.
• Deep dish pizza
• Pop - I only really like Mt. Dew and root beer
• Beef stroganoff
• Prime rib - shocker, right? I haven't had it in years and should give it another try.
• Shrimp with their heads still on
• Wait staff who serve your food, come back less than a minute later to ask if everything tastes good before you've even had a chance to take a bite and then never appears again except to give you the bill. Does everyone learn this in training? I wish they'd give you a little more time, maybe glancing over every little bit to see if you're trying to get their attention, and then go back. Maybe even one more time after that for refills and just to be sure everything's okay. I understand that diners don't want to keep getting interrupted but seriously.
• Dark beers
• Alcholic drinks that all you can smell or taste is the alcohol - thanks to college, this makes me gag
• Captain's and coke - again, thank you Ohio State
• Weak coffee - I use a level 1/8 cup of grounds per 2 cups coffee plus a half scoop for the pot. YUM. Skip the extra half scoop for really bold blends.
• Breakfast restaurants that don't carry Splenda
• Breakfast restaurants that only have set combo meals and charge you up the ying-yang for subsitutions or a la carte items - Bill and I have a restaurant idea for when we're old and gray (or find a bunch of investors) that will challenge this concept.
• The fact that McDonald's stops serving breakfast at 10:30 - seriously? Who is eating lunch at 10:35? I want to meet these people. 11:00 would be more reasonable.
• Being put in the position of sending food back - if you're eating at IHOP for $6.50, unless you find a hair or nail in your food, you're going to choke it down without much complaint. If you're spending over $30 for steak and wine, you have an expectation that if you order your food medium rare, that's how it's going to be cooked. If it's medium well, you have every right to expect them to fix it but don't you feel like the guilty jerk for doing so? I really, really hate sending food back and always get a sick-to-my-stomach feeling.
• Restaurants claiming to be something they're not - Joseph's Steakhouse here in Iowa City is the epitome of this. They claim to be a Chicago steakhouse and a Chicago steakhouse they are not. First, they wet age their steaks. Most places in Chicago dry age. They also charge you $32 for an 8 oz filet which is more or the same as the dry aging places. That's a tad steep for me. And, unfortunately, we've eaten there 4 times and twice had to send our food back. One time, the second steak for Bill came out worse than his first one. If we go back it will only be for their dessert and french pressed coffee.
• Overpriced food - I was once called a snob because I complained that for the high price, I didn't like a restaurant's food. The person went on to say that food doesn't have to be expensive to taste good. I agree 100% but the higher the price, the higher my expectations. The restaurant better deliver or I will assume the food is overpriced. Since when does not wanting to spend high dollar on mediocrity make someone a snob?
• People who become vegetarian based on the inhumane treatment of animals argument but then go on to eat eggs - I've heard a quote before "there is no such thing as a humane egg". I think PETA might agree based on their excitement over California's recent passing of Proposition 2.
• As mentioned in My Favorite Food Things list, people who claim not to like something and yet they've never even tried it.
• People who absolutely refuse to try something - I have to admit though, there are a few things that I will never, ever try. I will never eat a domesticated animal - dog, cat, horse - including non-domesticated pets. This is why I could never live on a working farm. I'd name all of the animals and then starve to death. I could also never eat a Filipino dish called balut (not commonly found in the States). It's a fertilized duck or chicken egg that contains a nearly-developed chick, that's boiled, cracked open and then eaten whole....WHOLE. I've been told it's good and I will take those peoples' word for it. Bill, my brave soldier, plans on trying this one day. And finally, I won't eat something if there is a real chance that I could die from eating it, such as blowfish.
• Brut champagne
• Being pressured to tip 20% - I'll be really, really honest, I tip based on service and it doesn't seem like a lot of people do that anymore these days. I also tip like a Canadian - before tax. Tax inflates the tip and why should the server get more just because the government wants their share? If you're just average you're getting 15%, if you go a little above and beyond 18%, if you're stellar 20%. If you were really terrible, I don't go below 10% but I'll usually include a little note as to why you're getting stiffed. The person should know how to correct whatever it is they're doing wrong if management isn't. Plus, they should know that I'm not just an asshole and that I had a reason. The whole notion of tipping people, including the entire restaurant industry's mentality of paying their people nothing and expecting us to pick up the rest, really bothers me but that's a different topic for a different blog.
• Wine glasses without a stem - what can I say, I'm traditional.
• Food Network's new website - could it be more cluttered and impossible to find recipes??
• True food or wine snobs who think they're better than you - I've said this before and I'll say it again, it's all subjective. People are free to eat and drink whatever they want and they don't have to like it. And the whole notion of someone being better than someone else just because of food? Please.
• Orange push-up desserts - do they even still make these things?
• Artificially flavored cherry or orange, and sometimes grape, gum or candy
• Plain potato chips
• Brie cheese - I think it's the consistency
• Custardy desserts like flan
• Tofu
• Most Filipino desserts
• Tawny port - I prefer ruby
• Saki - except for saki bombs, yes, I'm mature
• Being ignored by wait staff after being seated in a restaurant
• Watching someone clean off a table in a restaurant using a towel and then using that same towel to wipe down the seats and then proceeding to the next table - I can't even begin to describe how disgusting I think this is
• Being seated at a table while it's still wet from the aforementioned cleaning
• Watching Bill eat something that fell off his plate onto the table in a restaurant - oh yes, he does this unless I stop him first. He's gotten better about it.

I don't like being negative but this list was kind of fun. I'm sure I'll think of more.

Do a Little Happy Dance

Bill found out today that his grant submission to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) will be funded!!!!!!!!!!!! Hallelujah! Praise the Lord! Thank God! Additional religious expressions! I can't tell you how happy for him I am and how proud I am of all the work he's put into this. We were working on his first grant submission while in New Orleans at the National Championship football game - yes, we actually worked on it together in the hotel while our friends got blitzed on Bourbon St. - the first weekend in January 2008. It's been a really long road since then and we're exhausted. But YAY!!!! This can be used on his resume to prove that he's capable of securing funds, something future employers should take note of. The long nights and weekends have finally paid off.

RIP Twomey Glass

In my clumsiness this morning, I accidentally knocked over one of our favorite wine glasses - a glass from Twomey - that was waiting to be washed. Actually, I knocked into an empty wine bottle waiting to be recycled which in turn hit the glass, knocking it into the kitchen sink where it shattered. I am very sad and thankfully, as sad as I know Bill was too, he didn't say anything other than, "That's okay, dude, we'll just have to go back to California to get another one." I'm bummed.

Menu Roulette

When it comes to our dinners, B and I are pretty structured. We (mostly me) will sit down on Saturday or Sunday and write out our menu for the week. From this, we create our shopping list. If we didn't do this, we would never have the proper ingredients on hand and the meat wouldn't be thawed* so we'd end up going out to eat and spending a ton of money. This also prevents multiple trips to the grocery store - instead, we just go once. We found that we were choosing the same recipes over and over again and not forcing ourselves to try anything new. Introducing menu roulette. Now, instead of just picking and choosing what we'll have, I take out all of our cookbooks, including a stack of random recipes, and open each one to a page. Whatever I land on or pull out of the stack is a dinner for the week. I won't lie, I've taken a few mulligans but for the most part, it's working very well. If we land on something we've already had, we pick again. My goal is to try every recipe in each of the books. This is also helping us save a ton of money. We only went out for dinner once in the month of January and I anticipate that again for February. As you know, we love us a good dinner out but at $50+ a pop, it ain't worth it. Spice up your routine a little and try menu roulette yourself - a co-worker has and so far she's digging it.

*We buy 99% of our meat in bulk from Sam's Club about 3 times a year. When we get home, we break down the packages into serving sizes, vacuum seal and freeze. We are looking into buying a stand alone freezer to keep in the garage and found one that we like. I could buy more ice cream then too!

Grounds for Divorce

Aside from the obvious such as adultery or abuse, Bill and I have grounds for divorce. Well, only one actually, we used to have two but forgot one. If either of us becomes a vegetarian (doctor's orders due to health reasons excluded) it's grounds for divorce. You may laugh or be disgusted in shock but it's true. Bill feels more strongly about this than I do because he has a saying - a meal without meat is just a snack. I, on the other hand, am more than content to have cereal or a grilled cheese for dinner. (Side note for the remainder of my blogging days - if ever discussing "meat" in general, it likely means any protein including fish.) It sometimes becomes a sticking point for us because he's so adamant about it. It can be hard to whip up a meat meal at 9:00 on a Saturday night. Just give me my Raisin Bran. I do, however, have a very strong love for meat. Did you see when Jessica Simpson wore that "Real Girls Eat Meat" shirt that she bought from a Texas steakhouse? Now, I have friends - some of whom I am very close - that are vegetarians so I would never wear a shirt that said that. I am also not one to go around purposely offending people but I have to admit, I thought the shirt was cool. Bill and I have already talked about what will happen if one of our children wants to become a veg (it's just easier to type) or is allergic to any foods for that matter. After a very quick chat, we decided that adoption would be the best option. KIDDING. Allergies aside because we can't control that, we plan on bringing our kids into the kitchen at as early an age as possible to teach them about food and cooking. We hope that if they grow up involved and with an appreciation for all foods, that they will be more open. Maybe one would even go on to be a world famous chef. Our only fear is that we'll turn them into such food and wine snobs that they'll die in college. (Yes, this was a serious conversation we had. Now you can imagine what dinner's like at our house - fun!) I think if done right, and if we're good parents, they'll be good kids and understand that what type of food you eat doesn't make you better than anyone else because food, afterall, is ultimately just sustenance for energy and life that all people share. 2 am pizza and beer included.

V-Day Top Chef Style

I can't even begin to tell you how much fun we had doing this. It didn't hurt that the food turned out really well too. To recap, Bill and I drew proteins - B drew fish, I drew pork. We kept our dishes a secret until after we were done grocery shopping yesterday. Bill gets credit for coming up with his course on his own, without the help of a recipe. I used a Top Chef recipe (Richard Blais season 4) for inspiration but changed it up a bit with my own greens and some other substitutions. We served Delta Vineyards Pinot Noir.

Bill's course - Three fish three ways at three temperatures: Salmon sashimi over rice with a ginger lime soy sauce, seared yellowfin tuna encrusted in sesame and poppy seeds over a mixed greens salad with a honey ginger balsamic vinegarette and parmigiano-reggiano encrusted baked cod with roasted rosemary squash and zucchini.

My course - Braised BBQ and coffee pork shoulder in an apple cider reduction with bacon and onion brussel sprouts and cilantro, corn and white truffle oil salad.

Course 3 - Toasted coconut and honey pecans over sauteed bananas with ice cream and homemade caramel sauce. And coffee, of course.

Bill wins for creativity. I loved his lime ginger soy sauce and the tuna was my favorite of the three. I definitely think we'll be making that again. Overall, my dish won for it's flavor. It was excellent and the meat was so tender, we couldn't believe it was pork.

We think we're going to start doing this regularly, possibly even once a month. It really forces you to try new things and go outside of your comfort zone. Bill had an idea for next time that we would again draw proteins but that the other person will tell you what dish you're going to make. I like it.

V-Day Proteins

Last night we drew our Valentine's dinner proteins. I drew pork, Bill drew fish. We decided ahead of time that fish includes shellfish too. I have no idea what I'm going to make but I think I'll incorporate bacon because bacon makes everything better. Apparently Bill knew immediately what he is going to make but only mentioned something about raw fish. While we're keeping our actual entrees a secret, we did agree to be each other's sous chef if needed and to open a Pinot because the varietal can work well with both proteins if we plan for it. We also agreed on toasted coconut and pecans with caramel sauce over bananas and ice cream for dessert. Stay tuned!

Wine Country

I really, really want...scratch that....NEED to win HGTV's 2009 Dream Home. It's in Sonoma County and you get your own little zinfandel vineyard. Could it really be heaven? Our trip to California's wine country rivaled our honeymoon in gorgeous St. Lucia. I actually preferred Sonoma to Napa, although both were fantastic. I know that HGTV is just giving you the opportunity to win the American Dream and doesn't actually expect the winner to live in the house. Oh yes, it's true, I'm sorry to break it to you. HGTV even released a press release about their intentions for the winner and isn't it a shocker that I scoured the web and couldn't find it. It basically just said that they really expect you to take the money and run because a simple fool like you could never really, actually expect to live in a house like that. The taxes would kill you and don't even think about renting it out. It's against the rules. MUAH HA HA! In any event, I have to win.

 

We were there in May 2007 from a Wednesday afternoon through Sunday morning. Stay away from the weekend. We basically had each winery all to ourselves and got preferrential treatment such as one-on-one staff and bottles that were off-menu and opened just for us. Once Friday afternoon hit, the place became a zoo, you could barely get your glass under the pourer's bottle and it was such a turn off. On Saturday afternoon, we actually gave up and headed back to our hotel for the rest of the day because we were so disappointed. One bonus that I didn't know (silly me) was when you go to the tasting rooms, you don't just get one glass and that's it. No, no. You get the whole tasting menu of about 7 wines on average. Of course, you don't have to try them all but who would really be lame enough to do that. We stocked our rental car with water, Gatorade and crackers but that wasn't always enough. We also weren't expecting to buy any wine. Looking back, that was just plain dumb. Be prepared to have a nice big wine box to check in on the plane with you.

Wednesday afternoon, we started in Napa at Opus One.

We really just wanted to see if the hype was true. While the wine was good, we didn't think it was worth the $150 price tag. Also, the winery was very unwelcoming and boring. Very sterile. From there we headed over the mountain (a scary, winding, two lanes on the side of a cliff, road) to my favorite spot of the trip - St. Francis. Here we had an appointment to have a wine and food pairing. What we didn't know is that we were the only ones to sign up for the time slot so the pairing was held in a private room for just the two of us. The food was really, really good and the woman serving us opened an off-menu bottle just for us that we actually ended up buying (introducing bottle #1). Afterwards, we were free to roam the grounds with our last glass of wine. There were breath taking views of their vineyards and the mountain that we almost died driving over.

For dinner, which was a little rough since we just had all that yummy food from the pairing, we went to a delicious little restaurant that served small plates - Willie's Wine Bar in Santa Rosa. We did skip the wine though because if you can believe it, we were wined out. The server said it's actually really common.

Thursday, we headed into Healdsburg where, if we ever go back, we will make our home base. Imagine a small, quaint downtown that looks rather unassuming until you learn that in about 5 square blocks there are 17 tasting rooms. Insane. We already knew we were going to go to La Crema - where we were alone and who also opened an off-menu bottle for us (bottle #2). While we were there, we stopped in at Rosenblum. Later that night before dinner at Zin, we went to two unknowns - Sunce and Chateau Felice (bottles #3 & 4) whose wine club we ended up joining. A note about wine clubs, each winery has one and unapologetically forces it upon you. We just graciously took the information to review once we got home. We decided to join a different one each year to get a variety. Also, friends of ours were told to tip, and subsequently did, the person pouring the wine at each place. We did not witness any of this nor did we feel compelled to tip. Many of the tastings were free too, but mostly in Sonoma. Later that day we stopped at Ridge which had gorgeous views

and we had an appointment to take a tour of Francis Ford Coppola's winery. Again, we were the only ones who signed up for that time slot so we got an hour long private tour of the vineyard while sipping a glass of Sofia Blanc de Blancs. We walked out with bottle #5.

Friday morning was what we were most looking forward to. We had an appointment at Seghesio winery, which is one of our absolute favorite wine makers, for a food and wine pairing. Here we sat with 2 other couples and tried 5 wines. Sadly, the food was not impressive. Afterwards however, I chatted up one of the employees and she took me and Bill down into their cellar for a little private tour. We ended up buying two bottles (#6 & 7) including a zinfandel port which was like nothing we had ever had. We are currently in their wine club and were recently able to buy more which was fantastic. From here we headed back over the mountain, but on a much less scary road,

to Rombauer which was nestled in the side of a mountain.

  Aside from pretty views, not much to say.

This is where we first encountered the crowds and we were sad. We ended the day at Sterling Vineyards. Nothing much to say about this place except that it had the most fantastic views.

They are located at a very high elevation (for a price, you take a cable car to get to the top) so the views were stunning.

Overall, it was a tourist attraction at best. We had dinner this night at our favorite restaurant of the trip - Cindy's Backstreet Kitchen. A foodie's dream.

Saturday started off well before we gave up and went to our hotel. We started the morning at Merryvale where we had two appointments. The first was a component tasting that took place within a fermenting barrel. We sat with 3 other couples and tasted acetic acid, alcohol, tannins and sugar water to learn how to pick these flavors out when tasting wine. It was a really great class because I never knew that tannins tasted like black tea. Our other appointment was a barrel tasting.

The barrel they opened was a 2005 vintage but they also had bottles of the same wine open in 2004 and 2003. The difference in the vintages was very interesting and, not surprisingly, we walked out with a 2003 (#8). This bottle became the most expensive wine, at $75, we had ever purchased by almost double. I won't lie, we had minor heart attacks. We then headed to Silver Oak. Again, we were more interested in seeing if they were worth the hype and were pleasantly surprised. Their Alexander Valley isn't anything special but we would pay the $100, shoot at this point, what's another $25??, for Napa Valley.

Sadly, this is where we really experienced the commercialism of Napa. I can't tell you how many limos were at Silver Oak with about 5-10 girls each, scantily clad and celebrating bachelorette parties. It was extremely annoying. On our way back to the hotel, we stopped at Twomey which I did not want to do. Bill kept talking about it so I finally caved. Turned out to be one of the best decisions of the trip. Twomey is a sister vineyard to Silver Oak. We liked it because we actually got a little more attention here, ate up all of their rosemary bread - YUM - and the wine was amazing. They only make Merlot, Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc. The Merlot drinks like a Cab and is the best Merlot I've ever had. As I'm typing this I realize that I should probably add this to my list of Favorite Food Things. No hesitation - bottle #9 - the second $75 bottle of the trip. I believe we temporarily lost our minds. Dinner that night was at Go Fish and was not very impressive. We were going to go to French Laundry or the Culinary Institue of America but decided to keep things more laid back. Next time though, the foodies within us will win out.

So now you see why I must win the HGTV Dream Home. I know I'm not going to but I think I'll still be sad and have a twinge of jealousy when my door bell is not rung. I just hope whoever wins realizes what they are getting. Did I mention the gourmet kitchen.....

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is this Saturday and we actually don't celebrate the holiday but we do use it as an excuse to have an awesome dinner. Last year we did the prix fixe dinner at Atlas and it was actually really, really good. We were very pleasantly surprised and agreed to make it a tradition. That was before we knew what the word "budget" meant. Now, while we'd love to spend $150 for deliciousness, we really shouldn't. Instead, I think we're going to go Top Chef. Bill had the idea to write down proteins (lamb, duck, beef, fish, etc.), put them into a hat and we'll each draw one. We will have to make an entree based on our protein and then we'll collaborate on a dessert. A fun, 3-course meal on the cheap. Or at least cheaper than $150.

We did a similar thing with our good friends Matt and Sara for New Year's Eve this year.

Faced with the prospect of spending around $200/couple for a prix fixe dinner, we decided to stay in instead. Each couple took two courses and it was a blast.

Laura & Bill course #1 - Lemon shrimp over roasted garlic and goat cheese risotto with tomatoes. A slightly modified recipe from the Wine Lover's Cookbook.

Laura & Bill course #2 -Broiled lobster tail over a crab cake and bed of spinach with a spicy remoulade sauce.

Sara & Matt course #3 - Fennel crusted pork chop in an apple cider reduction with apple fennel salad and raisin emulsion paired with artichoke risotto. A Top Chef recipe.

This course was my fave and I am not ashamed.

Sara & Matt course #4 - Molten chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream paired with Little Death by Hot Chocolate with Godiva liquor and homemade chocolate whipped cream.

I'm excited to see what creations Bill and I come up with this weekend!!

My Favorite Food Things (Again)

This post has been around the block a few times but I still love it so I will post it yet again. So, for the third time, here is my post of my favorite food things with a few additions....

If you know me at all, you know I have a slight obsession with all things food. I do, it's true. It's embarrassing actually. I have told co-workers that I think I'm the only one at the gym who runs on the treadmill while watching Food Network. What's worse is that I eat more than most men I know. I've seriously been out to eat with guys who will say "I'll have the lettuce" and I'll, in turn, order one of everything. This really happened a while back but it involved sushi. Ah, sushi. I order 3-4 rolls for myself and that may or may not include the miso soup, salad and complimentary edamame. What you may not know about me is that eating is a hobby. Not some emotional, I eat because I'm not loved, hobby. An actual, I appreciate good food in all its glory, hobby. Now, that's not to say I don't also really appreciate Taco Bell, specifically, the double-decker taco supreme, nachos supreme and bean burritos with no onions. Not only do I appreciate good food, I also really enjoy cooking. There's just something about sipping some amazing red wine, listening to jazz and creating a masterpiece over your gas stove. To say that cooking can be an aphrodisiac is an understatement. Cook me a fabulous dinner and I'm yours. Hell, I'll cook for you, same thing. I decided to write up a list of my favorite food things, not that you care, but I'm using this as a journal of sorts for myself. So here I go in no particular order:

• Ratatouille - the movie not the food, although I have had some killer ratatouille, this is honest to God my favorite movie now. I want Little Chef.
• Wine Lover's Cookbook by Sid Goldstein– aka Bill's best Christmas present to himself. It was for me, of course. Hands down the best cookbook in the world. It revolutionized the way Bill and I eat, cook and drink wine. Fabulous!

• Raw oysters on the half shell with a hint of horseradish in the cocktail sauce
• Hand-packed burgers grilled medium rare. In Iowa City, I recommended Sluggers (RIP Sluggers - victim of Flood 2008). In St. Louis – the best burger I have EVER had is at O'Connell's Pub. Did I mention that it was only $5?
• 8 oz. dry-aged filet mignon cooked medium - always hoping it's slightly medium rare
• Francis Ford Coppola's Sofia Blanc de Blancs – sparkling white wine, slightly sweet, not dry. Can get it in (gasp!) a can for romantic picnics.
• Mashed potatoes - never artificial. Even better if they're made with whole cream and have a touch of garlic.
• Porcini mushrooms
• Portobello mushrooms and their mini-me Crimini mushrooms.
• Rachael Ray's 365 No Repeats cookbook and Just in Time cookbook. Honestly, for anyone who wants to break into the cooking thing and have some really excellent meals. I highly recommend these. This is how I got my start.

• My gas stove. I'll never own an electric range again.
• Balsamic vinegar
• Crusty soft bread paired with a personal dipping bowl of extra-virgin olive oil with parmigiano-reggiano cheese and freshly ground pepper. Thanks to my sister-in-law, an almost nightly event in my house.
• Parmigiano-reggiano
• Seghesio Zinfandel Sonoma County
• Duck breast – I have an amazing recipe from Wine Lover's CB if anyone is interested.
• Lamb chops grilled medium rare – ditto
• Sam's Club because they seem to understand and value my obsession, allowing me to buy all of my favorite foods for a mere fraction of the Hy-Vee price. Not to mention, their wine selection is pretty good.
• Binny's Beverage Depot in my beloved Chicago because they understand my need for quality wine.
• Napa Valley/Sonoma – one of the best vacations ever and I can't wait to go back
• Freshly ground pepper and salt
• Fresh herbs but I love my dried ones just the same
• Shallots – I had no idea what they were until R Ray but I use them all the time now
• Jazz because a meal is never complete without some sweet music
• Bordeaux – a must with a good steak
• Sam Adam's Light
• Joe's Seafood, Prime Steak and Stone Crab and no, this is NOT Joe's Crab Shack. That's the one thing I'll get pissy about. I've never been to a restaurant that can do both a great steak AND great seafood but this place has gone above and beyond.
• Stone crab – harvested between October and May of each year, fisherman only take one claw from each crab and throw them back to regenerate. Eaten cold with a yummy mustard sauce. Delish!
• Whole beef tenderloins. We get these from Sam's and carve them ourselves. We usually get 6-7 filets mignons, 1 roast and enough extra meat (called chain meat) to make 2 meals of fajitas or Philly cheesesteaks. Much more economical than buying all of that separately – trust me.
• Toasted walnuts
• Ice cream – best dessert there is. Specifically, pralines and cream. I'll take ice cream over any cake, pie or crème brulee you can throw at me. The best ice cream I've ever had is right here in Iowa City – Heyn's on 1st Ave. If I ever live in a different city, I will pay to have them ship me some in dry ice. I'm not kidding.
• Buttercream icing – the old school kind that is kind of crunchy and is so sweet it makes your teeth hurt. None of this creamy, whipped icing they make today. Blah!
• My cookbook holder. It's my friend.
• Large bamboo cutting boards
• Good knives, especially my Furi Santoku knife
• Iron Chef America and the original
• Good Eats – Alton Brown is goofy but is a genius
• Throwdown with Bobby Flay
• Goat cheese
• Sushi – Oyama is the best in Iowa City followed by Takanami
• Mexican – In Toledo, Ventura's and Magdalena's. For the number of Mexican restaurants in Iowa City, none of them really do it for me.
• Thai food – one of the things I miss most about Chicago, although, Osha in San Francisco is the best ever.
• My mother-in-law's Filipino turon – bananas and cheese wrapped in pastry dough and fried. I think she's appalled at how many I eat when she makes them.
• Cherry cobbler a la mode
• Frushi – fruit sushi at Orange in Chicago
• Peanut sauce
• Mint mojitos – In Iowa City, I recommend Atlas, especially when they use spearmint
• Wendy's fries, and as an honorable mention, Wendy's fries dipped in a Frosty
• General Tso's Chicken - the best is at No. 1 Chinese in Columbus on High St.
• In-N-Out Burger
• Chipotle
• Big breakfasts on the weekend, homemade or at Hamburg Inn in Iowa City
• Seattle’s Best coffeeshops
• Caribou Coffee's specialty drinks – Turtle Tracks and Campfire Mocha are my faves.
• Intelligensia coffee
• Java House in Iowa City - their German Chocolate Mocha latte is like heaven
• Bacon sandwiches – that's it, just bacon on buttered toast.
• Bacon, egg and cheese bagel sandwiches from McDonalds or Bruegger's Bagels. Not necessarily because they are high quality, because they're not, but because they fulfill my breakfast comfort food requirement.
• St. Francis vineyard – my favorite stop in wine country
• Water with a cucumber slice – so much more refreshing than lemon water. You have to try it!
• Anything my mom makes
• Italian sausage
• The McDonald's menu song – you know, Big Mac, McDLT, a Quarter Pounder with some cheese…. I'm mostly just impressed that I can still sing the whole thing. Try me.
• The now defunct Café Luciano's in Chicago – best Italian food paired with live jazz and cigar lounge. What more could you ask for? Has anyone been to their location in Evanston?
• Foie gras - best I've had is at Pangea in Toronto
• Coconut shrimp with an orange remoulade
• Red beans and rice at Remoulade's in New Orleans
• Rain in Toronto - this is the restaurant featured on Food Network HD's Made to Order. The most amazing food experience I've ever had. Too ridiculous to even try to explain.
• After an awesome meal, smoking a great cigar on our patio with port or coffee
• Sour cream
• Tabasco's Habenero or mild Jalapeno sauce
• Caramel sauce
• Chocolate truffles - in Iowa City, Motley Cow makes them on site for dessert. They are awesome!
• Marco's Pizza - headquartered in Toledo and a location up in Cedar Rapids!! - you'd think that I would have found better pizza living in Chicago but not being a deep dish fan, that was not the case. Marco's wins hands down every time. I recommend the crust toppers.
• Fat Tire beer
• Ken's Chunky Blue Cheese dressing - a must with hot wings
• Imo's Pizza in St. Louis
• Skyline Chili from Cincinnati
• The Hummus Yummus omelet from The Local Yolk in Manhattan Beach, CA - sun dried tomatoes, goat cheese, green onions, spicy hummus and diced tomatoes. Sounds weird but it was SO good.

End of the list for now…. I'll keep adding bullets as I think of them. So do I sound like a food snob? Maybe. Do I care? Not really because I know that it's not that I'm a food snob, because trust me I'll eat anything, it's just that I seek out and appreciate good food. It's all subjective, of course, what I like is totally different than the next guy. I have a food motto, I'll try anything once. It kills me when people won't even try a food because they claim not to like it and yet, shocker, they've never even had it. I'm sorry, but you're missing out. Give it one chance and if you don't like it then fine, gloat because you were right, but you just may discover your next favorite food.