Out for a test run

Jenn and I went out tonight to try the new Mexican restaurant in Burlington, Mar Y Sol. We can both tell you from experience that it's not good and you should go. You know how you can judge a southern food restaurant by the sweet tea? Well, I also believe you can judge a Mexican restaurant by it's chips and salsa. Here's where the "no recommendation" comes in. The chips were from a bag and they were stale. The salsa was from a bottle and had little to no cilantro in it. After ordering waters, eating a couple chips, we left a dollar on the table for their troubles and left. Good Mexican food is what we wanted and we knew we weren't going to get it there. So we headed down the street to La Fiesta~proven to be one of the best Mexican restaurants I've ever been in. Aahh! La Fiesta; where the salsa is homemade and the chips come warm to the table!

Learning the Ropes

I like to think that I'm an amateur cook. I mean, I like to try new recipes all the time! And the more difficult the better because I like a challenge! Well in the midst of learning to cook Thai food and Indian food and Moroccan food I have not learned to cook the food of my ancestors-Southern food. I know, sad, right? Honestly, it kind of scares me. When I cook these foods from all over the world my family has no idea if I botched it or not. They've never tasted it. I'm the only one who knows "um...this isn't supposed to taste like this". But Southern food? That's a whole 'nother story. My mother is a pro. Her mother was a pro. And my dad grew up on it. And well, so did we. So if I botch that everyone knows!!! There's pressure there you know? My first instinct is to just pass the responsibility onto my mother. I prep things for her and she does the rest.

This past Sunday was a bit different. I don't know how it happened exactly but I became responsible for our family dinner. (This means lunch in Southern language.) So yeah, I made the big pot roast with carrots and potatoes and onions. The house is getting ready for church and I'm in the kitchen doing what I think is enough browning of the meat. Perfect example: I didn't brown the meat enough. But mom was gracious. Stick that meat in the pot with the fixin's and let it cook.

Went to church and came home and finished the meal.

Oh yeah I made homemade macaroni and cheese, which I must admit, was DELICIOUS! The Eye Round Roast was soooo tender, the collard greens were wonderful as well as the baby lima beans. And I made a Waldorf Salad with just the perfect amount of mayo so that the fruit isn't swimming in it. Mom made the sweet tea because frankly, I haven't perfected that yet. And you don't want to ruin a perfect Sunday dinner with bad tea.

To finish up our meal I made a homemade Chocolate Meringue Pie that was out of this world! Dad had two pieces! There was a walk in between lunch and dessert, don't worry!

One meal down on the Southern front-many, many more to go. Thanks for teaching mom!

Thankful

I really do need to think out loud about what I'm thankful for. What a day/week this has been! I went running this afternoon hoping to blow off some steam and while I was running I starting thanking God for things in my life. It started to lift my spirits. So here goes...

1. Clean air to breathe in deep
2. Blue sky to run underneath
3. Four seasons to enjoy and look forward to
4. Coffee
5. My brother, who always seems to help me realize that things really aren't THAT big of a deal
6. Salads
7. Edamame
8. Internet/Communication/Information
9. The school bell
10. Diet Root Beer
11. Chapstick
12. That God never leaves me or forsakes me; that He's always here with me, leading me and guiding me, even if I can't hear Him
13. Grace
14. That I have Jesus as my Savior, and with it-faith!
15. The ability to run
16. New recipes to try-love ones that have pictures with them
17. A delicious Falafel restaurant to go to
18. Ayako Takakusagi

Spoiled by the Greek

Man am I spoiled! I have had felafel at two places in my life. Once at a restaurant in Chiang Mai, Thailand at a place called Jerusalem Felafel. And the second place is at this restaurant in Greensboro, NC called Jack's. Both are authentic Greek restaurants run by Greek families with broken English. Both restaurant's felafels tasted the exact same! Granted the hommus was a bit different tasting but that can be something as simple as more or less garlic, lemon juice or whatever.

For some who may not know what felafel is, let me explain. It's a mixture of ground of chickpeas (or garbanzo beans), minced onion, garlic and lots of herbs and spices. They are shaped into little balls and then deep fried in oil. The felafel is then stuffed inside of a pita bread along with lettuce, tomatoes, sometimes cucumber and an assortment of either hummus, tahini sauce and/or cucumber sauce. It's to die for! And one of my favorite things to eat! At Jack's you get a Greek salad on the side and a medium drink-all for $8! And I owe a huge "thank you" to Tanya Judd for introducing me to the place.

One day I'll try and make it myself. But really, when there's a place right down the street that makes it as good as they do, why try?