Tag: foodie;

Love. Laugh. Eat. Repeat. 

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Everyone who knows me best, knows I have flare for the dramatic! So at end of the year, I can hear the cast from RENT singing those legendary words “how do you measure a year?” Undeniably this has been a tough year in a LOT of ways. Equally, in an attempt to offset some hard ships it has been a year of incredible experiences. Funny how life works that way …

All over facebook, Instagram, or your social media preference of choice people try to sum up the year in only 9 pictures. Think about it… how many pictures are currently in your camera roll? Mine has 723 pictures from this year alone (ok I’ll subtract out a few random selfies). The thought of my year summarized in ONLY 9 pictures was giving me anxiety and for good reason.

When I looked back on 2017, there were a few common threads that have over shadowed the weight of the world around me. Love, Laughter, & Food. I think you would have to agree, that the best times in your life this year revolved around these 3 things. So to close the door on 2017 and only carry the things that have brought me joy into 2018 … Ladies & Gentleman my top 9 -ish.

LOVE…

  • My grandmother is 96 and still wears red lipstick
  • My hubby is the strongest most sincere man I know
  • My mom is my rock! I’m talking Gibraltar
  • My Sisi is ride or die — She’s basically my Solange

LAUGH…

As my Grandma Cox would say “my God we we’ve had some good times.”

2017 ran the spectrum from D.C. to Thailand, Janet Jackson to Bruno Mars, Ghost Tours to Arcades. I can honestly say I have shared some incredible laughs this year.

We were laughing so hysterically at the Brazilian steak house the table next to us gave the waiter $$ to but towards our meal because “we just looked like we were having a great time.”

Bar crawls to the blues, 2017 has taught me that a flexibility will always guarantee a great time.

“I’m here for a good time, not long time” – DRAKE

EAT…

This will come as no surprise that the most interesting food I’ve eaten this year was in Thailand. I no longer feel like a complete alien in my local Asian market. Who know that you were suppose to leave the roots on the cilantro to use in your soup stock. While I’m at it, how come no one told me cilantro & coriander were the SAME THING!

And just as I expected Sushi is so must more amazing in SE Asia (duh) and Thai hot and regular hot are not the same thing!

So thank you Thailand you take the top 9 most delicious things I’ve eaten this year.

REPEAT ….

SEASONS OF LOVE

Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes

Five hundred twenty-five thousand moments so dear

Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes

How do you measure, measure a year?

In daylights, in sunsets

In midnights, in cups of coffee

In inches, in miles

In laughter, in strife

In five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes

How do you measure a year in the life

How about love?

How about love?

How about love?

Measure in love

Seasons of love

Seasons of love

Cheers,

Southern Fried City Girl

12 Top Fall Food Festivals​

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Travel +Liesure has a great run down about the perfect Autumn Food Festivals across the U.S.

3 of recommendations on the list are located in the SouthEastern U.S. Proximity to home definitely puts these Southern FEASTivals on the top of my list. After the top 3 it’s all about interest for this Southern Fried City Girl.

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1. Arkansas Cornbread Festival Little Rock, AR

Did I know this was even a thing? NOPE. I will assume you didn’t either. Cornbread is such a staple in the southern dinner table. So much so, my Grandma told me after I got married that if “he ain’t eating your cornbread he’s eating someone else’s” (remind me to tell you that story later).

2.  Beignet Fest   New Orleans, LA

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Sweet or Savory ( yeah, said savory) beignets are little-fried pieces of heaven. Even if you have been to the iconic Cafe’ Du Monde at 3 pm or 3 am, this French donut fest amps it up to the next level.  Babes & Beignets has a great post about what to expect from the 2017 event.

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Flashback to my hubby’s first beignet Cafe’ Du Monde

 

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3. Fall for Greenville  Greenville, South Carolina

While the other festivals focus on one component of a satisfied palate. This SC festival is a “something for everybody”, “eat what you want” 3-day festival adventure.

4. Santa Fe Wine and Chile Fiesta Santa Fe, New Mexico

5. Avocado & Margarita Street Festival Morro Bay, CA

6.  Hawaii Food and Wine Festival Big Island, Maui, Oahu

7. Colorado Mountain Winefest Palisade, Colorado

8. Feast Portland Portland, Oregon

9. Pickle Day New York, NY

10. Wellfleet OysterFest Cape Cod, MA

11. Eagle River Cranberry Fest Eagle River, WI

12. Lewistown Chokecherry Festival  Lewistown, Montana ( sorry Montana, I don’t know what a Chokeberry is, but I can’t wait to try it)

Which Autumn Festivals would make up your top 3? Which Fall Festivals would you and the Travel + Leisure list?

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Easy Breakfast Flatbread 

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My dear husband works 6 days a week. So Sunday mornings have long been the perfect time for us to enjoy breakfast together. While I’m callin it breakfast it is truly brunch because we don’t seem to open our eyes before 8am. Even the 2 year old knows to “keep it down” until daddy wakes up. 

I had already planned out my weekend menu in an attempt to not waste our budget on weekend splurges (like we’ve done all summer).  I was feeling a little more gracious than normal and decided to cook breakfast flatbread. 

Whole Grain Naan bread was marked down and the harvest tomatoes were amazing at the grocery store and that pretty much set things in motion.

Then it was just eggs, extra sharp cheddar, and ground turkey sausage to round out the  meal.  

Sure I could have just taken the same ingredients and served them all separately but the look on his face when he swore I had been cooking all morning was priceless. I almost felt bad because it literally took 15 min start to finish. 
Mommy always eats last, so I made my version a little more grown up with a fried egg before I added my toppings. 

Breakfast Flatbread:

  1. Naan Bread 
  2. Eggs – 2 eggs per flat bread 
  3. Turkey sausage (any sausage or omit for meatless option) 
  4. Cheddar cheese (sharper the better) 
  5. Tomato or Salsa **for topping

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees 
  2. Ground meat 
  3. Scramble or fry egg to your liking *slightly under cook eggs to avoid over cooking when Flatbread is placed in oven 
  4. Assemble ingredients except topping on Naan bread 
  5. Place in oven for Aprx. 5 min until warm and bread is soft. 
  6. Serve warm with toppings 

 Pineapple Rum Punch

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On a recent family vacation I needed a punch that I could make by the pitcher. 12 of my family members and friends had a great 4th of July weekend outside of Atlanta, in the Chattahoochee Hills. We know the majority of would certainly be spent enjoying the pool. My hubby already had already made plans for the grill and next we need a cocktail.

This recipe first appears on Beyond Frosting as Tequila Pineapple Punch. Good Tequila in large quantities can get rather expensive. So I thought why not a Rum Punch without the heavy Fruit Punch vibe.

Enter Malibu Black … more citrus and less coconut. Equally as tropical.

Next, I needed a tequila. Lately I’ve leaned a lot more towards Repesado than traditional blanco tequilas for cocktails.
Add oranges and lemons ….viola’. The perfect summer pool concoction was born.

I usually don’t do recipes. But here you go:

PINEAPPLE RUM PUNCH (60 oz pitcher): 

  1. Can of pineapple juice
  2. 2 cups Malibu Black
  3. 1 cup repesado tequila
  4. Seltzer or club soda
  5. Oranges / lemons

Slice fruit and place in pitcher or punch bowl.  Stir in ingredients and mix. Chill punch or serve over ice.

 

Hog + Hominy

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Back in June I treated one of my very best friends to brunch at Hog and Hominy. My pooh bear joined us because who wants to bother with a babysitter at 10am.
The food really was fantastic. The shrimp and grits were amazing, perfect flavor and richness. The biscuits were also delicious. You could absolutely taste that they were made from scratch. Next time, I will get the gravy on the side and maybe Pooh will at least try it.
While I enjoyed catching up with old friends & great food. I just knew my little pooh bear would love something familiar, like pizza. I had never been so wrong. I ordered a cheese pizza. That’s it just cheese. How did I fail so miserably, you ask?
I somehow assumed Pooh Bear could appreciate fresh mozzarella and tomato sauce cooked a brick oven.

He did not appreciate it at all! In fact his only words were ” No, MOMMY” and ” More CHEESE”. Then this happened …. he smiled & said “CHEESE”.

D.C. and Around the World in a Weekend: Days the start with ‘S’

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SATURDAY

So here we are on Saturday and after sleeping in we caught the last few hours of the Passport DC.  

The short version is that you can basically travel to different countries without ever leaving the U.S. Countries display and highlight the most unique aspects for their culture including food, music, dance, art, you name it. Some super poplar countries had lines that wrapped around several blocks. You know I do not have that type of patience, so we sought countries where we could just walk right in.

First stop, Indonessia. It will be a very long time before I actually get my passport stamp, so this was certainly a great commercial for what’s to come.

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Our next stop and probably my favorite was Botswana. The people were amazing and they took time to talk with us about their country. I love the pride, smiles, and genuine feeling of love.

But what didn’t go over well was the worm snack … Let’s just say dried worms didn’t go over to well.

Nothing wraps up the day like dinner at Cafe’ Dupont. While ridiculously priced, its a great place to people watch or meet your group in the Dupont Circle area. The salmon tartare really was amazing! Perfectly diced, chilled, and flavorful. Which is a trifecta that is not easily accomplished. The jicama not only served as a garnish but a nice crunch and change of texture. Delightfully light after a long day.

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Sunday

To wrap up an amazing weekend we traveled out to Potomac for the 2017 D.C. Holi Festival. A festival all that celebrates love with colors, music, and food. It was an amazing experience. A month later, I’m still trying to get color out sneakers, but so worth it.

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E’rything is Irie

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I recently took the time to look around the gourmet cheese section of my local Kroger. after I combed through all the reduced for quick sell baskets, something amazing ( and not on sale of course) caught my eye.

What I found was this amazing cheese called NO WOMAN a sharp cheddar cheese marbled with jerk seasoning & these little surprise bits of crystalized sugar.

I have to admit, this cheese completely changed my snacking life. As a on again, off again weight watcher devotee, I have to say this was completely worth the extra points.

Do yourself a favor… put your kids to bed, pour yourself a glass of red wine, and slice a few pieces of this creamy treat to end your day.
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Gyro Fries? Yes Please!

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I’m so proud of my little sitter. She’s pretty awesome, but like most millennials she doesn’t see how amazing she really is. Although she doesn’t see her self as a foodie (like her big sis), Liv has managed to find an amazing little bar in Silver Springs, MD.

Of course there are hot wings but this one concoction of old bay & lime is pretty amazing. Its perfectly salty & slightly spicy- paired with a Shock Top (buy 1 get 1). It was a pretty successful happy hour.

Then the bartender suggested the gyro fries. There was brief silence as we both looked at each other & replied ” yes please! we’ll have one of those”!

My sissy made me proud when she said in her very southern pleasantries ” Sir when you bring those fries, another ’round please? … and you can bring the check. Thank you so much (insert smile)”

A girl after my own heart.

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Pinterest is making me fat

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Since I’ve been on maternity leave, I’ve had more time to search Pinterest while the baby nurses.

I’ve always thought of my self as a foodie and after 30 uninterrupted minutes on Pinterest I am convinced that not only am I a foodie, I’m  a chef. At a minimum, a spectacular self-taught home cook.

After all of the searching, I carefully make my grocery list and quickly realize that I don’t have money to buy a great quality parmesan so I’ll be making ‘this recipe’ with the Kraft grated kind or trying to figure out how many times I can use this dill before it goes bad.

At the end of all of this, the cheapest most delicious thing to make is some kind of wonderful dessert that is beautifully photographed on Pinterest because after all, I can find a TON of uses for butter!!

Middle Eastern Spanakopita

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Love this!!

My City Girl self has conquered a version of this recipe. Its the type of thing that I love to show off when my folks come to town.

Edible Ventures

Middle Eastern Spanakopita

Growing up, one of my favorite Middle Eastern treats was my momma’s spinach pies or as you all know it spanakopita. This isn’t your typical Greek spanakopita, it has an Iraqi flare with a little more cheese and a whole lot of flavor. You will love it just as much, if not better!

As I got older, I had become more fond of Middle Eastern food, more so from my Iraqi roots. After moving to DC, I quickly became aware that restaurant Middle Eastern food is not the same as a home cooked meal (Or more like feast). I started to miss my mom’s food. A LOT…

Until my husband told me “You should get the recipes from your mom and try to make the food your self.” Hmmm Okay! I call my mom and ask for some recipes… Well they weren’t so much as actual recipes but more like her…

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