dine out review...sort of...

Dine Out Vancouver is a great concept, but I find it's sometimes hit and miss.  We went last night, and well, it was sort of a miss.  The entire meal was mediocre, the appetizer was pretty decent, the entree nothing spectacular, the dessert (cheesecake) was ruined by the strawberries as you could tell by their coloring and taste that they were straight out of the frozen section.  Oh, and on the menu they stated "seasonal fruit", there is nothing seasonal about previously frozen!  I've decided not to mention the restaurant's name, as the service was great, super friendly, and I don't want to be the jerk that cost them a little bit of business.  I also decided last night that I'm only going to share my really good reviews and keep the crappy ones to myself.  So that is why I'm not reviewing last night's restaurant.  As I sit here and type, I just realized that I am in fact reviewing them, I'm also writing about how I'm not going to be writing about them.  Oh boy, I'm just going to stop typing now.

caramelizing takes time

So today I made that insanely delicious caramelized onion dip that I posted (recipe) a few blogs ago.  I never used to really take the time to caramelize my onions, but today while following this recipe, I did, and what a difference it made!!! You need a good hour to really get amazing results.  I tasted a bit (of course) with chips before refrigerating and it was mind-blowing! I'm going to definitely make this again, great dip for a party.  Seriously, you've gotta try it, you won't be disappointed, trust me!  Go back a few entries for the recipe.

Pan frying the onions

One hour later, caramelization magic! 

 

Add cream cheese, sour cream and mayo...the finished product a seriously delicious onion dip.

Set in the fridge overnight and serve at room temperature with Kettle chips.

this blog should be called...

"Follow me on my journey to gain 100 lbs".  Seriously people! I just realized that I've been blogging about my journey on my way to becoming a blimp! It's going to happen if I don't slow down.  Is it this blog that is making me eat so much lately?? Has food been constantly on my mind since I've started this blog??? Maybe the foods I'll be blogging about in the future should only be healthy, low fat, low carb, low on the glycemic index type dishes.  Oh wait, they won't taste soo damn good and I won't be soo damn passionate about them. I swear, one day you're gonna read a post that says "Dear followers, I've decided to stop blogging about food, as a result of this blog I am now morbidly obese.  My weight loss consultant advised me to STOP BLOGGING ABOUT FOOD and find a more active hobby. Yours truly, Angela"

"Me" Courtesy of FatBooth for i-phone

review for chez meme baguette bistro

If you're looking for a delicious, filling and reasonably priced casual french breakfast or lunch, you must try "Chez Meme Baguette Bistro" located at 4016 Hastings Street in Burnaby (tel 604-299-1141).  The crappy thing is that it's only open Monday to Friday 8am-3pm.  It's a pretty small space, the service is limited but very very friendly, and you will have to wait for a table.  But hey, waiting for a table is an excellent sign!!!  95% of people like this place on Urbanspoon.

I've had the Beef Bourdignon Baguette (take out) it was deelish, but I really enjoy the Pork Schnitzel with lemon caper mayo, as I seem to always order this again and again over all the other mouthwatering choices that I've been meaning to try.  The pork is tender, nicely breaded and cooked to perfection, the lemon caper mayo is definitely made in house by scratch, the baguette soft and warm.  I love french onion soup, tried it recently and it was pretty darn good, although I've had better, this one is definitely comparable.

Apparently the omelets and breakfast items are amazing, I've only tried a few bites of the Brioche French Toast with strawberries and whipped cream, I loved it!  The fresh whipped cream tasted extremely amazing, french and silky, you can tell it was good quality.  I would like to eat it in a bowl on its own next time (haha).

Please try this place out but don't be mad at me if you can't get a table.  I've posted their menu at the bottom of the page, so you can get a better idea of what they offer.

Brioche French Toast

French Onion Soup and Schnitzel Baguette

Close up of my Schnitzel

soy yummy rice bowls

Here's a super easy and very healthy teriyaki chicken veggie rice bowl that I came up with while I was pregnant with Sophia.  It has your protein, veggies, and carbs (good carbs if you make it with brown rice).  Just made it tonight, loved it and knew I had to share it with you guys!  I don't measure anything for this recipe I just kinda throw it all together.  Trust me, this recipe is quick and convenient with almost all of your food groups in one bowl!
What makes this dish so good is "Soy Vay Veri Veri Teriyaki" it's an all natural kosher sauce that tastes soy very yummy! The ingredients are simple, preservative free soy sauce, fresh ginger and garlic, onions, expeller pressed soy, sesame oils and lots of sesame seeds.  I found my Soy Vay at Whole Foods, they carry a line of most of their products. 

courtesey of http://www.soyvay.com/

Angela's Soy Yummy Rice Bowls

Ingredients

Ground Chicken or Turkey

Medium size bag of frozen vegetables (you could use fresh veggies but I like to use the frozen carrot, peas corn and green bean medley, I also add frozen broccoli).

Little bit of Chicken stock
SoyVay Veri Veri Teriyaki 1/2 cup or so

1 tablespoon of peanut butter

Sriracha (depending on how hot you like your food, squeeze accordingly)

Rice (basmati or Thai jasmine)

1 to 2 tablespoons Canola oil and Sesame oil (mixed) or you can use Olive oil

Directions

You can make your rice in advance

Thaw your frozen veggies then rinse them under hot water. 

Meanwhile, in an oiled non stick skillet, brown your ground chicken or turkey add a little chicken broth and bring to a full boil (cook fully until there is no more liquid in the pan, just your nicely browned chicken).

Add your vegetables, cook and stir

Add your Soy Vay (possibly 1/2 cup) you could do less or more

Keep stirring, add the tablespoon of peanut butter and some Sriracha, it should be nice and saucy, add your rice and mix it all up

The chicken and veggie mixture

Sauces and rice added

Serve with chopsticks

not your ordinary ham and cheese sandwich

Lately i've been craving a Croque Monsier, nothing but a fancy name for a hot ham and cheese-on-the-outside sandwich on steroids.  It requires a few more steps than your ordinary sandwich, but it's soo worth the effort and is rewardingly delicious!  The outside crunch yet softness of the toasty bread, the smooth creamy bechamel, the melted saltiness of the cheese and sweetness of the ham...YUM!!! I'm drooling as I type.  The best I've ever had was at a little cafe near the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.  Brings me back to that cool, crisp, gloomy but beautiful morning, sitting outside with my husband and enjoying our breakfast on our first day in Paris before our Bike About Tour (which I highly recommend you do if you visit). 

My wonderful Croque Monsieur in Paris it was made to perfection with love by a little old Parisienne woman

Here's a recipe from Ina Garten, like all her recipes, I find, there's quite a bit of fat.  So these will be more of a treat for me, but if you'r not counting calories, go nuts!!!

Croque Monsieur

Ingredients

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups hot milk
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
pinch of nutmeg
12 ounces Gruyere, (grated 5 cups)
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
16 slices white sandwich bread, crusts removed
Dijon mustard
8 ounces baked Virginia ham, sliced but not paper thin

Directions

Preheat the oven at 400 degrees F
Melt the butter over low heat in a small saucepan and add the flour all at once, stirring with a wooden spoon for 2 minutes.  Slowly pour the hot milk into the butter-flour mixture and cook, whisking constantly, until the sauce is thickened. Off the heat add the salt, pepper, nutmeg, 1/2 cup grated Gruyere, and the Parmesan and set aside.

To toast the bread, place the slices on 2 baking sheets and bake for 5 minutes.  Turn each slice and bake for another 2 minutes until toasted.  Lightly brush half the toasted bread with mustard, add a slice of ham to each, and sprinkle with half the remaining Gruyere.  top with another piece of toasted bread.  Slather the tops with the cheese sauce, sprinkle with the remaining Gruyere, and bake the sandwiches for 5 minutes.  Turn on the broiler and broil for 3 to 5 minutes, or until the topping is bubbly and lightly browned.  Serve hot.

thank you for reading

I'm thrilled that you're reading and even following my blog!  Thank you! I feel a bit of pressure now as I don't want to disappoint my readers and want to keep you interested and wanting more, kinda like a relationship and we're still in the courting and romance stage.

I do have to say WOW!!! there are some pretty amazing and very impressive food blogs out there. These bloggers must not have jobs or young children and have had some culinary training of some sort.
I'll be on days off work for the next little while, so I hope to get a chance to maybe try a new recipe or two, hopefully worthy of a blog post.  

I'll leave you with an appie recipe for "Pan-Fried Onion Dip" from Ina Garten www.barefootcontessa.com that I stumbled across in the blogosphere and been dying to try!!! It has 5 star reviews and some people claim it is "the best dip in the world".  It looks and sounds delicious to me as I just love chips and dip and I also love caramelized onions, put those two together and I may be in heaven.  If you get a chance to make it before I do, let me know how it turns out.  It is suggested to serve the dip with Kettle Chips.

Ina Garten's Pan-Fried Onion Dip

Ingredients

2 large yellow onions
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup mayonnaise

Directions

Cut the onions in half and then slice them into 1/8-inch-thick half-rounds.  (Yielding about 3 cups of onions)
Heat the oil and the butter in a large sauté pan over medium high heat (it works better to NOT use a non-stick pan).  Add the onions, cayenne, salt and pepper and sauté for 10 minutes.  Reduce the heat to medium low and continue to cook for 40 more minutes, stirring occasionally (but not too often-the onions should start to stick to the pan) until the onions are browned and caramelized. 
Add the Dijon mustard and balsamic vinegar and continue to cook for about 10 more minutes.  Allow the onions to cool.
In a large bowl combine the cream cheese, sour cream and the mayonnaise.  Whisk until smooth.  Add all of the onions, reserving about a tablespoon for garnish, into the cream cheese mixture.  Stir to combine and mix well.  Transfer to a serving dish and top with reserved onions.  Refrigerate overnight to allow flavors to combine.  Serve at room temperature with potato chips.
Makes 2 cups.



pizza, burgers and my big ass...oh my!

I've been naughty over the weekend in the food department, I can actually feel my ass getting bigger as we speak. I worked a long shift yesterday, so when I got home we ordered some scrumptious "Hot Oven Pizza" which I'm sure you've heard me rave about in the past (last post).  To healthify our thick crusted cheesy meal,  I made a nice baby arugula salad on the side, just squeezed some fresh lemon, added a bit of balsamic cream for sweetness, extra virgin olive oil, a tiny bit of dijon, grated parmeggiano reggiano and some fleur de sel, delicious. 

This morning, (Sunday) I woke up and told my husband I was craving a juicy burger (no I'm not pregnant) so we tried Moderne Burger on West Broadway http://www.moderneburger.com/.  My husband loves pizza and burgers so when it comes to those two there's no twisting his arm, he can eat as much as these foods as he likes because he's tall and thin and never seems to put on weight.  Me on the other hand, I fluctuate.  If I were a character on "Jersey Shore" I'd be called "The Fluctuation". 

Three months ago I lost all my post baby weight and some on "Weight Watchers".  I loved the program,  it totally and completely works,  I was down to what I weighed in highschool, wearing a size 2 and loving it.  For the past few months though, I've had this mentality that I can eat whatever I want because I'm thin now, but the weight is now creeping up on me as my skinny clothes are now tight and uncomfortable and slowly I find myself wearing more of my "in-between" clothes.  I'm going to just have to make a few changes and maybe save the over indulgent foods for like a Sunday only, start planning and packing my lunches and snacks for work, and just make better choices starting Monday, oh wait, that's tommorow!

"Hot Oven Pizza" Pineapple Express with baby arugula

Moderne Steak Burger and fries
I thought it was quite good and would go back again

i don't always cook

I haven’t been blogging each day lately because I’ve been exhausted, I’m currently working for the next few days, My shifts are 12 ½ hours long, so I pretty much wake up, brush my teeth arrive at the office by 6 looking dishevelled, go home, care for my daughter, throw some pasta in a pot, eat, tidy up and head to bed with my daughter. Daddy played hockey last night.

I’m fortunate to have a job that allows me 6 days off, it’s in those 6 days that I can prepare a nice from scratch meal and get things done around the house.  It makes me wonder how on earth do full time Monday to Friday working mom’s do it?  My hat goes off to the ladies that work Monday to Friday, go home, take care of their little ones, their husbands, and their households with really only a 2 day weekend to catch up and maybe get to do something fun, only to head back to work Monday morning to start the daily grind all over again.  I can’t even imagine how single moms do it, my upmost respect goes out to those ladies!!

I don’t cook every night, there are nights when my husband asks me “what’s for dinner?” and my response is “order pizza”, thank god my husband loves pizza!!! I’m a fan of shortcuts and convenience. I don’t enjoy cleaning or folding clothes,  I sometimes let my fresh out of the dryer laundry pile up like a mountain on the spare bed. I love the days when my  mom comes over to watch Sophia because she always folds and puts away my laundry, organizes my cupboards and has a fabulous hot meal waiting for us when I get home from work.

I don’t always have freshly shaven legs because I can only leave my daughter in her playpen by the bathroom door for so long until she wants out, only leaving me with a short, quick shower.  I only wear makeup when I’m going to an actual event, not the grocery store or running errands.  Why is it that MOST men’s lives do not change after you have children, they still plan there “all boys vacations”, they still play hockey, they still participate in their poker tournaments, hockey and fantasy football pools and they still get to have their long 30 minute showers! In my world and in the worlds of the people I know, the woman is working, primarily caring for the child, solely tending to the housekeeping duties, groceries and dinners, not leaving much time for the extras.   I’m not complaining about my husband as he works practically 6 days a week, he does watch our daughter, he does do the Costco runs, he will run out to buy anything that our daughter needs anytime anyplace, he does take care of managing the financials, bills etc...and he does provide us with a lifestyle where we can travel and enjoy nice things and I really and truly am grateful and appreciate him for it.  But he can’t cook and doesn’t clean, so that’s my responsibility, even when I’m exhausted from a long work day.  So when you read a post about a new and wonderful recipe I tried or something neat I created, chances are that it was definitely done on my days off.

"Hot Oven Pizza" - our favorite delivery when I'm not cooking

It's AMAZING!!! Stay tuned for my full review

some chicken recipes to share

This week i tried a few new recipes with chicken.  When it comes to chicken, I get bored and run out of new and tasty ways to prepare it, but I found a few recipes that I will definitely be making again.  The first is an apple Chicken Curry dish that is totally healthy and toddler friendly, my 14 month old picky little eater just gobbled it up! I loved the sweetness of the apple togeather with the spice of the mild curry powder I used. Next time I think I'll add some fresh uncooked apple chunks as well for some crunch.  The second dish is a sweet sticky Bourbon Chicken that my husband devoured.

My pot of Apple Curry Chicken



Curry Chicken courtesy of www.weelicious.com

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp Curry Powder
2 Tbsp Water

1 Tsp Cumin
3 Garlic Cloves, minced

1 Tsp Tomato Paste
3/4 Tsp Salt
1/4 Tsp Fresh Ground Black Pepper
1 Tbsp Olive Oil

1 Large Onion, chopped
1 Apple, cored, skin-on and cut into ½-1-inch cubes
1 Cup Carrots, cut into ½-1 inch pieces
1 Cup Celery, cut into ½-1 inch pieces
1.5 lbs Chicken, boneless/skinless breast and/or thighs, cut into ½-1 inch cubes (about the size of your apples, carrots and celery)
1 Cup Chicken Broth

Directions:

1. Place the first 7 ingredients in a bowl, combine and set aside.
2. In a large skillet or pot over medium heat add 1 tbsp of oil and onions and sauté for 3-4 minutes until tender.
3. Add spice mixture to the onions and sauté another 30 seconds.
4. Add apples, carrots, celery and chicken and stir to combine to coat with the spice mixture and onions.
5. Add chicken broth, bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer and cover.
6. Simmer for 30 minutes until vegetables are tender and chicken is cooked through. Stir every couple of minutes to prevent the curry from sticking to the bottom of the pot/skillet.
7. Cool and serve over Jasmine or Basmati rice

Bourbon Chicken, I served with a side of sauteed broccoli



Bourbon Chicken courtesy of www.food.com

Ingredients:

2 lbs boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 garlic clove, crushed

¼ teaspoon ginger

¾ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

¼ cup apple juice

1/3 cup light brown sugar

2 tablespoons ketchup

1 tablespoon cider vinegar

½ cup water

1/3 cup soy sauce

Directions:

1.       Heat oil in large skillet

2.       Add chicken pieces and cook until lightly browned.

3.       Remove chicken

4.       Add remaining ingredients, heating over medium heat until well mixed and dissolved.

5.       Add chicken and bring to a hard boil

6.       Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes

7.       Serve over hot rice and ENJOY



my favorite foods

to be honest I don't know what to blog about tonight so I'm going to list 20 of my all time favorite foods, 34 years worth.  I'm sure there will be many more favorite foods added to my list as the years go by but for now this is it, in no particular ranking order by the way...

1   banana cream pie (the homemade kind)

2   "Phnom Penh" chicken wings and "Ike's Vietnamese wings" a tie between the two

3   a flavorful juicy medium rare steak that melts in your mouth like a porterhouse or a striploin

4   burrata cheese

5   barbeque duck (asian style)

6   lobster tail (soaked in butter)

7   creme brulee

8   thick cut chips with creamy cucumber dip

9   flan

10 caramelized onions

11 stuffing

12 baby arugula with lemon and olive oil bit of salt

13 veal a limone

14 cannoli

15 jumbo lump crab cakes (the ones at mortons)

16 pizza in Italy

17 dim sum

18 braised shortribs

19 thai curry

20 cheesecake

"Phnom Penh" wings (so yummy)

"Ike's Famous Vietnamese Wings" at "Pok Pok" in Portland, Oregon

 Dim sum with my baby girl

"Pizza Baffetto" in Roma

mmmmmm scrumptious banana cream pie!!!!!

dreaming of burrata

During my last visit to Miami we ate at Michael's Genuine where I was first introduced to "Burrata" cheese. Let me tell you the $20 Burrata appetizer served with heirloom tomatoes, olive oil, basil, pepper and sea salt was the one of the best simple dishes I've ever had. The waitress told us that they flew it in daily from Italy. I still dream about that soft buttery cheese til this day. It literally keeps me up at night trying to figure out where and how I'm going to get my next Burrata fix. I've been to Italy in the past few years, how did I not know about this precious ball of melt in your mouth heavenly sinful creamy deliciousness? I will eat this cheese hourly the next time I'm in Italy.
Burrata is a fresh Italian cheese, made from mozzarella and cream. The outer shell is solid mozzarella while the inside contains both mozzarella and cream, giving it an unusual, soft texture. It is usually served fresh, at room temperature. The name "burrata" means "buttered" in Italian. Sounds deadly, I know!!!!!
Great news though, I was at "Italian Kitchen" last month and low and behold, they now have Burrata on the menu! It was wonderful! Are they flying it in from Italy? Is it available in Vancouver? Where are they getting it from? I asked the waiter who was going to look into it for me, but I never did get my answer. I will be further investigating this matter. Keep you posted. Below is a picture found on the web as I devoured my Burrata before I could take out my camera.

amateur sushi rolls...not bad

tonight my brother and his girlfriend came over for dinner and we made our own sushi! Sure it would have been easier and cheaper and a lot less time consuming to just get take out, but we were so excited about actually putting togeather and rolling our own creations.  It was so much fun!  We did take a small shortcut though, years ago I took a sushi making class and the instructor stressed how difficult it was to make the sushi rice the perfect consistency to work with and that you really needed to practice.  I didn't want to screw up the rice and ruin our sushi making plans, so I called my local sushi joint and got them to put aside a few large containers of rice for me for pick up.  After 3 hours of prepping and rolling and then cutting and presentation, I think our sushi was pretty tasty, everyone else seemed to like it too!!  Will I make my own sushi again? Sure thing!!!

My messy rolls with patches of rice missing ha ha, making sushi is alot tougher than it looks

My california and lobster roll presentation

Daniel busy rolling

Daniel and Lisa's special rolls

Last night I made dessert sushi and brought them over to my niece's birthday party

Easy, quick ready made ingredients:  brownie bites, rice krispie treats,  frosting, shredded coconut, gummies and green fruit rollups

Ice your brownie bites, dip in shredded coconut for that rice effect, top with gummies and wrap with your green fruit roll up to look like seaweed

Dessert Sushi!!!



planning a pretty party

my daughter turned the big 01 this past November.  I wanted her first birthday to be extra special, my vision was Alice in Wonderland inspired, but in the end I ended up with a "Pretty Vintage Pink Cameo" theme that I loved.  Wanted to share a few pictures as well as tips and simple steps.  Looking forward to planning her second birthday party.  I have 10 months to come up with a theme.

Invitations were made by my wonderful friend Jen, she also made the "Sophia Stickers"

I cut out circles of pretty scrapbook paper from Michaels and double sided taped Sophia's photo in the middle, I then taped lollipop sticks on the back and poked them into my centerpieces

Jen also made these tags for my take aways. Bought these small clear bags from Michaels and found boxes of the pink strawberry marshmallows at Homesense and bought 'em all

Jen also made the personalized water labels, I just bought bottled water from Costco and ripped the labels off and affixed my own with double sided tape

Bought some of these cookie jars at Superstore for $10 each the others were borrowed

Got different family members to each bake an assortment of cookies for the cookie bar. I made the cookie jar labels from the pretty paper and the small white bags are from Creative Packaging in Burnaby

Ordered these beautiful white frames online from http://www.sendaframe.com/ by Six Trees for only $16 each

Rented all my linens, white chairs and rose balls from Universal Decor in Burnaby

Coctail tables were from A&B Partytime Rentals in Vancouver

The amazing incredibly delicious cake was made by friend Shaleena at Sweet Catastrophe Cakes

The birthday girl's pretty dress was a gift from a family friend on my husband's side, originally the sash was lime green, but I asked my mother-in-law to sew a black sash in its place, she also sewed black tulling inside.

The gorgeous wallpaper look cost me $19 at Creative Packaging and is a roll of Cellophane that was so thin it literally sucked on to the wall with very minimal tape.

sushi art

my brother recently returned from vacationing in Hawaii, so the other night he came by and we viewed his pictures on tv.  He and I share the same passion for food, so about 80% of his photos were of the food they ate, delicious yummy food I might add.  By the looks of it, Hawaii has some amazing sushi.  As I was salivating after each picture, we came across this beautiful presentation of sushi, with it's vibrant colors and beautiful lines, on the big screen it looked as though this could be art on someone's wall.  It is called the "Red Dragon Roll" and can be found at Doraku Sushi.  I will definitely be dining there when I visit Hawaii, amongst all the other great places he ate at.  My brother Daniel did all the food research for me as he sure knows his food!!

Red Dragon Roll at Doraku Sushi

With sushi on my mind, last night I googled sushi art and some cool images came up that I'd thought I'd share.

Sushi made of "Hostess Twinkies" and candy...I'm going to make this for fun one day.

Image courtesy of http://www.notmartha.org/

"Hello Kitty" Sushi

Sushi Slippers and Baby Booties from "Etsy"

My beautiful daughter Sophia in my original Ebi Nigiri sushi costume creation complete with wasabi and ginger headband.  I'll post instructions on how to make at a later date.  See, I really do love sushi!!!

Stay tuned for my attempt to make SUSHI CUPCAKES!!!!

all things yummy

I consider myself somewhat of a foodie, I’m soo passionate and vocal about food and everyone who knows me knows it.  From the moment i walk in the office, the first words that come out of my mouth are “what are we having for breakfast?” by the time 10am rolls around you’ll hear me say “what’s for lunch?” Some of my coworkers share my interests, as when we get a free moment you’ll catch us  “urban spooning” or “dine here-ing” the local restaurants in our vicinity for rave reviews for the most satisfying and delicious meal to get us through the long, hectic workday.  I’m the one responsible for making the office’s official “Menu Binder”, a collection of nearby restaurant take out menus and flyers, carefully hole punched and divided by ethnicity, food type etc...  I’m considered quite the food critic around the office, as some of the menus have my stamp of approval in my big bold printing stating “ANGELA APPROVED”, only the finest of establishments receive such accolades ha ha.

When planning vacations with my husband, I google, I trip advise, I urbanspoon, and frommers  the top places that I would like to eat breakfasts, lunches and dinners while on vacation.  I choose my top picks, study and print their menus, print off the address  and pop them in my “Restaurant” folder that goes in my carry-on luggage ready for me to either plug the address in the tom tom  or hand to the cab driver once we reach our destination.  My husband thought this was not normal behaviour until recently.  I’ve got him hooked on visiting restaurants featured on foodnetwork favourites such as "Diners Drive-ins and Dives" (man I love Guy Fieri’s passion for food).  I think it was the most incredible meatball sub he had while in Hollywood Florida at Sonny’s Famous Hoagies that elevated him over to the other side, my foodie side, or it could have been my research on the number 1 burger in America as featured in GQ magazine’s article “The Twenty Hamburgers You Must Eat Before You Die, by Alan Richman” that lead him to bite into the number 1 burger on the list found at "Le Tub" in Florida?  Or perhaps it was the Popcorn and Peanuts or Tangerine Creamsicle desserts shown below, that we had at "Michael's Genuine" in Miami that is making a foodie out of my hubby?

"Popcorn and Peanuts" http://www.michaelsgenuine.com/

buttered popcorn ice-cream and a to die for chocolate peanut butter candy bar!!!

"Tangerine Creamsicle Pot de Creme"

with warm doughnuts and blackberry tarragon jam (amazing)