Ode to Trader Joe's

While I muster up the energy to use hubby's Mac, I'm still computerless. I have gobs of pictures sitting on my camera so hopefully I will figure it all out. I know I'm being an old curmudgeon. I need to get with new technology! Embrace the no-right-click mouse! Until then, I have a picture-less post for you today :) Since Trader Joe's is within walking distance of my house, I frequent the store quite often. Despite my near daily trips to the store, I find myself continually surprised by someone mentioning their favorite Trader Joe's product. Usually, one which I've never even seen! I typically aim for my old favorites each trip and though I love TJ's, the aisles can sometimes get a little cluttered. Maybe it's the organization freak in me, but I will never understand why cookies & crackers are placed on the shelves above frozen meats. In any case, here are my can't-live-without products from TJ's. Please share your favorites with me as well so I can branch out!

TJ's Must-Have List:
*Thai Shrimp Gyoza- numero uno on our list. We consume these like we're never going to eat Asian food again. They're delicious. Second only to my momma's homemade stuff. Serve with sweet chili sauce and experience a little heaven.

*Pollo Asada Chicken Breasts - a very recent find thanks to some yummy in-store samples. Great on the BBQ and they're thinly sliced so they cook in no time and stay very juicy.

*Bag of Sliced Cremini Mushrooms- I love throwing these in stir-fries and have found the price per oz to be much cheaper than anywhere else

*TJ's reduced fat version of Wheat Thins - you know my obsession and dare I say I like these even more than the "real thing"?! Go through a box a week. Gross, but true.

*Cat Cookies - comes in a tub and are highly addictive. Not sure why they picked cats, but whatever. They're yummy nonetheless. These come in three flavors: cinnamon, chocolate, and 'normal' :)

*Dr Praeger's California Style Veggie Burgers - You can probably buy these elsewhere for those of you unlucky folks without a local TJ.

*Eggplant hummus - Eat me with Wheat Thins & you'll be happy.

*Love/hate relationship - Par baked Ciabatta bread: I really love this bread. As the name implies, it hasn't been baked fully so you can recreate freshly baked bread in your home. I've found that if you don’t eat this right away it gets moldy quickly...very quickly. So buy it only if you're gonna eat the whole thing!

If this post just left you hungry for more Trader Joe's, check out Trader Joe's Fan, a fun site with TJ's recipes, reviews and new location rumors!
So...what's your favorite??

Omnivores Unite!

Do you consider yourself an adventurous eater? Want to give Anthony Bourdain a run for his money?

I was brought up with a father who eats anything from cow stomach (tripe- (KirkK, thanks for the clarification!) to pig ears . Gross, I know. As a child, I was mortified by my father's feasts, and secretly hoped he wasn't some kind of scary beast. Love ya Dad! Now I suppose I'm glad I grew up in such an environment. I am willing to try anything at least once, though I admit that I've regretted it a few times

(i.e. chicken feet = bad idea).

I saw this post on Cate's Sweetnicks, and thought it was a fun post for a Friday afternoon. The Omnivore's 100 is a list compiled by Very Good Taste and includes foods that Andrew thinks every good omnivore should have tried at least once in their life. The list of foods ranges from the mundane (PB&J sandwich) to the totally obscure (at least to me - Lapsang souchong).

Try it out and let me know how adventurous your taste buds are! See anything I must try? Have anything you'd like to add to this list?

Here's the simple rules:

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating. (I'll try anything once, remember!)
4) Optional extra: Post a comment here at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.

If I counted correctly, I have 62/100!

Omnivore's 100
1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes (does Boone's count? :)
19. Steamed pork buns (a staple in our house growing up)
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl (I'd go back to SF just for this experience)
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal (I may have eaten rattlesnake, but not a big mac meal!)
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores (sometimes a daily treat)
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky (ooh, I grew up with these as a snack! Hubby has never had them. Weirdo).
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse (I'm no horse lover but this one kind of scares me!)
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake (rattlesnake sausage!!)

Some Tunes to Carry You Over the Hump

It's Wednesday, folks. Hump Day to be exact. Only two more days till we can all enjoy frosty cold beverages and forget about the week's woes (that is, if you have any). Need inspiration? Check this cool yummy. Ooh, or this one while you're at it.

By Wednesday, I'm usually fretting about all the things I haven't done and still need to get done. The blog's no different. I'm officially a slacker. I've been tagged for several memes by Grace from A Southern Grace, Bridgett from La Bella Cook and Diva from the Sugar Bar. Sorry for the delay, I'm still trying to scrounge up all those funny & interesting tidbits about myself.

Meanwhile, Emiline from Visions of a Sugar Plum has tagged me for a music meme. Requiring little thought, I easily crossed this one off my to-do list. I love music! ...not saying that I don't love facts about myself, but you get the point :) So, if any of you are procrastinating as well, check out my tunes and those fabulous ladies' blogs.
Here's the rules:

List seven songs you are into right now. No matter what the genre, whether they have words, or even if they’re not any good, but they must be songs you’re really enjoying now, shaping your summer (or whatever season). Post these instructions in your blog along with your 7 songs. Then tag 7 other people to see what they’re listening to.

{Breakdown by Jack Johnson Featuring Handsome Boy Modeling School}


{Lucky by Jason Mraz Featuring Colbie Caillat}


{Free Fallin by John Mayer} for some reason I love cover songs...


{Breathe Me by Sia}



{Star Mile by Joshua Radin}


{Hide and Seek by Imogen Heap}


{Southern Girl by Amos Lee}



If you love music & haven't done this meme, consider yourself tagged!

Procrastination is Bliss

I have a million things to do today: some of which includes vacuuming, cleaning out my closet and sweeping our porch. It should be no surprise that instead of doing any of the above, I’m sitting in front of my computer typing this post. I figure if I need to be productive to make myself feel better, I can at least take care of some miscellany items for my blog which have been sitting in my to-do list for much too long.

So, without further adieu, I'd like to give a big shout out and thanks to Donald from Mr Orph's Kitchen for passing along the Arte y Pico award. If you're hungry, check out his site and see how long you can last without eating anything! His photography and recipes are to-die-for. This award goes to a site for creativity, design, interesting material, and contribution to the blogger community. So, this is a biggie and obviously very much appreciated!

I'd like to pass this award on to a few blogs that I’ve greatly been enjoying these days. Being as wonderful as they are, I’m sure there’s a chance they’ve received this award before, but it’s like collecting Oscars…or designer purses. Can never have too many, right?

• Emiline @ Visions of Sugar Plum tempts me with her beautiful photography and divine looking desserts all throughout the week. She definitely posts some amazing creations that I haven't spotted anywhere else!

• Grace @ A Southern Grace is absolutely hilarious, and a fabulous cook to boot! She makes me hungry everyday.

• Lori @ The Recipe Girl is a fellow SD Blogger, so of course she deserves a shout out! She has a ridiculously vast collection of recipes and I find myself bookmarking nearly every one of them.

• Sophie from Flour Arrangements is a blog that I've recently become addicted to. I love her delicious looking baked treats and she throws in some great looking main dishes for good measure.

Also, Prudy from Prudence Pennywise passed along the “E for Excellent” award. Her site truly is excellent! Prudy has a knack for making scandalously good food on a budget. Lord knows, I could use one of these budget things, so thanks, Prudy! I’d like to pass this on to:

• Diva @ The Sugar Bar who has amazing and inventive recipes, beautiful photography, and a sassy attitude. What more do you need? Head over there! She’s also tagged me for a meme, so its on my to do list!

• My Cake Wardrobe, a blog which makes me gain 10 pounds just by viewing. Delicious desserts, to die for really.

• Elle @ Elle’s New England Kitchen whose site is really a great inspiration for me. I often visit when I’m hungry and just don’t know what to cook.

• Bridgett @ La Bella Cook who always tempts me with her Italian treats. She’s always making something different and inventive. Go check out her Panettone Bread Pudding if you don’t believe me!

Off to go conquer the day! Go visit these blogs if you need a little procrastination yourself.

PS...Tastespotting is back!!!

RIP Tastespotting....

It dawned on me that it seems like I'm always blogging about something I'm obsessed with.

Well, one of my dearest obsessions, Tastespotting, seems to be playing a cruel Friday the 13th joke. I signed on for my latest viewing of the tastiest culinary creations around the web and saw this message:Say its not so!

Aww, shucks! Thanks!

Thanks to Bridgett over at La Bella Cook for giving me the "I Love You This Much" Blog Award, which I must say, is one of the cutest I've seen. Doesn't it make you smile?

Bridgett has a fabulous blog with beautiful pictures that make me want to pack my bags and head on over to Italy for a month. Since that's sadly not feasible right now, I may just show up at her doorstep and have her bake me the delicious red velvet cake she posted. Go visit her & you won't be disappointed!

Like many others, I started this blog as a little project, mainly to help me keep track of my culinary experiments and serve as a virtual cookbook. I'm a little forgetful at times so what could be more helpful than posting my dishes on the web for the whole world to see? I wasn't sure who would read my blog, but I thank all my readers and visitors for coming by and offering comments. It really does make my day!

Though I'd really like to send this award along to all the blogs listed on my link list, I suppose that'd take awhile. I'm sharing this award with three blogs that I've been following for awhile and greatly enjoy:

• Paws and Pours combines a little of all the good things in life: food, wine, dogs. I don't have a dog right now (though desparately want one), so reading about Chase is a nice way to live vicariously.
• Adventures of an Amateur Foodie, based in San Diego, tempts me with not only yummy recipes but local restaurant reviews that remind me I need to branch out and go try something new!

Both of these blogs provide a wide variety of delicious recipes that I'm constantly bookmarking. My to-try list is way too long... Lastly,

• My Life in Transition, while not a food blog, is full of fun, laughter and life. Julia's uber-creativity inspires me to one day be creative. I just haven't gotten there yet. Seriously, this woman is amazing and cracks me up with every post.

Thanks again, Bridgett! :)

Bored, much?

I spent the weekend in Kansas City to celebrate my older brother's birthday. Though he and his friends are anywhere from 3.5 - 7 years older than me, they seriously know how to PARTY. After several days of drinking and eating to excess, I'm absolutely pooped today and struggle to keep one eye open. I do have some fun recipes and stories to share - especially one of trying to cook a birthday dessert in a bachelor's apartment. Available ingredients: think old spaghetti sauce, stale chips and moldy cheese....sounds like a bachelor cliche, but I have photographic evidence.

In the meantime, I've seen a couple of these Flickr searches and was inspired by Sweets By Sarah's post. This saves me from trying to write in complete sentences as well. Enjoy!

The rules are simple:
1. Go to http://www.flickr.com/.
2. Type your answer to each question in the “search” box.
3. Using only the first page, pick an image.
4. Copy and paste the picture into your blog.

1. What is your first name?
   

   
   

2. What is your favorite food?
   
   Particularly appropriate since it's 'fake' sushi made from rice krispy treats. Rice krispy treats & sushi are my favorite foods

3. What high school did you go to?
   

   
   

4. What is your favorite color?
   

   
   

5. Who is your celebrity crush?
   

   
   

6. What is your favorite drink?
   

   
   

7. What is your dream vacation?
   

   
   

8. What is your favorite dessert?
   

   
   

9. What do you want to be when your grow up?
   

   
   

10. What do you love most in life?
    

    
    

11. What is one word to describe you?
    

    
    

Photo(s) of the Day: DJ Frosted Flakes

It's not often that I get a chance to discuss food & fashion together, but I stumbled upon this post from Serious Eats that truly made my day. It appears that Under the Hood has created a line of cereal themed 'streetwear.' Equation going through my head....I cannot begin to tell you how much I love cereal. Hubby's birthday is in the near future. I should amp up his street cred with some of these lovely threads Yikes!

Happily Back Home with Sore Legs!

Sorry if you received a blank post in your Google Reader...it's Monday and I'm still trying to get back in the swing of things.

Well, we're finally back home for at least two weeks until we take off for a camping trip to Joshua Tree. The wedding was great and despite too much drinking and eating during the festivities, we managed to finish our half marathon. Hubby and I both did way better expected, especially considering our previous days' activities :)

Results: I got 9th out of 1084 participants in my gender/age group with a time of 1:38:44! This is certainly a PR for me, and I'm quite excited. Here's a somewhat embarrassing action shot for you all to enjoy:

We lucked out with sunshine and good weather. Now, I'm just recovering from some very sore legs. Since I can't move very far, I'm sure I'll spend some time in the coming days making some new recipes from my very fat "to-make" list. I'll keep you posted!

Back in Action!

I just returned for a much needed and fabulous vacation with hubby in San Francisco, Napa and Sonoma. More on the vacation soon. After a long, but beautiful drive home along the coast of California, I came home to find:

1. All of my flowers died. I'm not sure how I thought they would survive my absence in bone-dry San Diego, but now I get to buy new ones! They've been growing in the garden for over a year, and the flowers were starting to look a little weathered.

2. I have 232 emails in my work inbox and 657 blog updates on igoogle. I need a vacation from my vacation.

3. I was alerted by dear reader, Cassie, that my blog has been down for the week! So very sorry (and thanks again, Cassie). I tried to make some last minute layout changes right before heading out the door, and apparently never checked to make sure the changes went through properly. Rookie move, I apologize. I'll be back with some fabulous recipes very soon!

Feed Your Belly Virtually

If you've never been, visit Tastespotting and watch yourself get hungry instantly. The site has amazingly tempting and beautiful pictures. Click on the picture and you'll be rewarded with a recipe and a new blog to explore. ...and yay! I saw one of my own pictures today posted online. Check out Post 10884!

Blog Tag Spreading Like a Virus

I've noticed an outbreak of blog tag lately and figured since I've been tagged by both Brigid and Aimee, I should get moving before I run out of people to tag (I think this may already have happened!). I previously only posted 5 items, but thought of 2 more. See below for the fabulous #6 & #7.

Here's the rules: Link to the person who tagged you. Post the rules on your blog. Share seven random and/or weird facts about yourself on your blog. Tag seven random people at the end of your post, and include links to their blogs. Leave a comment on their blogs so that they know they have been tagged!

1. I have won 2 deparmental awards from work - the "One more Drink" award and "Sweetest Tooth" award. I swear I live a healthy life though y'all might think otherwise now. It is true, though- I like to have a good time, and especially enjoy any and all desserts!
2. My husband & I grew up 10 minutes away from each other, went to college in the same state, then both moved to Chicago after college where we lived about a block apart until we finally met in 2004! It took quite a few years, but we finally found each other.
3. I can stand a lot of things, but I absolutely cannot stand to be cold. I get irritable & don't leave the house. Poster child for seasonal depression. Well, it's taken me 28 years to figure this out, but I have finally moved somewhere warm. Previously: St Louis, South Bend, Chicago (capital of all things cold and snowy).
4. I have saved almost every issue of Cooking Light since I started subscribing in 2002. I am not OCD, but I do love my Cooking Lights!
5. Talents I do not possess: whistling, skiing, swimming in butterfly stroke. Maybe I should rethink my New Year's resolution.
6. I visit the grocery store on average 5 out of 7 days. I really love to cook, but have not yet mastered the art of planning ahead. There is always one more ingredient that I need which in turn ends up in a purchase of about 5 or more items. Thankfully, there is an abundance of grocery stores near me.
7. A friend and I once flew to Tempe, AZ just because a Cereality had opened there. For those not in the know, Cereality is a "cereal bar & cafe" where you can mix & match cereals and toppings. After flying there, we trudged through 100 degree heat to arrive at the location on the ASU campus, only to find it...closed. School wasn't in session! DOH! Poor trip planning. :) We emailed our sob story to the contact us address on the website and they were so nice to send us a huge box of goodies. We heart Cereality!

I'm tagging Heather, Mary (who may have been tagged 5 times now), Ellen. Hmm, everyone seems to have been tagged already. Anyone want to play? :) Sorry to be a tag slacker.

Have a Tea Party

While perusing the web for a hostess gift for an upcoming party, I happened upon the most intriguing tea set, Teaposy Flower Art Tea Medley, that I am tempted to gift to myself. A blooming tea pot! "Each teaposy is made from premium Silver Needle White Tea leaves and whole dried flowers that are hand-crafted with natural cotton thread. Add hot water and watch the teaposy slowly unfurl, revealing a flower that blossoms from within the tea leaves. The delicate and complex tea is a treat for your taste buds as well. Each blossom medley includes six individually vacuum-sealed blooming teas: heart of love, falling water, butterfly, calendula, lady fairy, and noble essence." Here's a better picture of what the tea flower looks like:

Now that's a conversation starter! It's like the Chia Pet of tea, but only a little bit classier :)