napa’s tapas
Peach salad; Arugula & manchego cheese:
Tortilla Española; Potato & Sweet Onion Spanish Omelette:
Lunch today. So yummy. Love this town.
#NapaLife #FoodPorn #Travel
this week last year
Because I am a nerd, and I live a life of reflections, I thought I’d peruse the ol’ iPhoto today to see what I was up to during this week last year. I found photos of cocktails & dinner in Charleston during a work trip!
Check out our visit to Xiao Bao Biscuit- recommendation from an old foodie friend who lives in Charleston:
Xiao Bow Biscuit is located in an old auto shop/garage and a cool, hip, clean space. The servers/bartenders were all attractive & fit young guys wearing simple grey v-neck t-shirts. (Ahem, single ladies- let’s just say charm, talent, and good bod be found here. Come one and all! Meow.) We ordered the recommended cabbage pancake from the menu, which I usually would have made the barf face at, until it came and I ate it- then we ordered a second one because it was that good:
Who likes cabbage?! I do now.
My silly partner in crime mimicked what the fish he ordered looked like:
I’m not a fish girl, so this was not my thing, but he was like a ravenous beast in heaven eating dinner. Results?
…just skin & bones, baby!
We had a great time here, then wandered the streets to the next recommended bar where we got yummy cocktails & dessert. Charleston is chucked full of endless delicious eateries and places to get good drinks. Mark your calendar and plan a trip to this little charming southern city- you will be glad you did.
#RoadTrips #Flashback #Foodies
pour some sugar on me
Meet my friends, Jon & Dana:
These two started making maple syrup as a hobby a couple years ago. (You’re looking at a toast of the good stuff, above.) They’re now cranking out a serious production as a tiny team. As far as I remember, it takes 25+ gallons of sap to make one gallon of maple syrup. That’s right, twenty five plus gallons of sap! Talk about a labor of love:
*(Side note: Jon has been a travel buddy of mine for a long time. We’ve back-country camped, hiked, and road tripped across the USA together. We’ve both been writing our respective books for many years, and we’ve shared much great conversation about life over good beers. We’ve eaten Mexican food for Easter in Pueblo, Colorado after getting a speeding ticket as we drove through the middle of nowhere Kansas. Oh the adventures! Imagine my delight when he found and married Dana. It’s totally awesome when your bff guy friends find the coolest women to share their lives with. Lucky me to have such great friends.)
So what did these friends send in the mail last Friday?
A mega maple syrup surprise!
Do you see the drops on the outside of the jug? Don’t tell anyone, but I definitely took a little taste of those because I was so excited. Finger-lickin’ good!
Saturday morning we made a huge batch of pancakes and found that our jug was so full, we had to dip some pancake pieces first:
…to make some room to pour. Mmmm:
(As you can see, I got so busy eating, I almost forgot to snap this photo.) Ohhh…sooo…good!
Are you jealous? You should be- this stuff tastes amazing!
Do you want to get your own? You can! Sweet! (See what I did there?:)
Jon & Dana’s School House Maple is still available to buy from this season. Here’s what they have:
Plastic Jugs:
Sampler ~ $3
1/2 Pint ~ $5
Pint ~ $10
Quart ~ $17
1/2 gallon ~ $32
Gallon ~ $58
Glass Growler or Tin:
Sampler ~ $5
Half Pint ~ $8
Pint (tin only) $14
Quart ~ $22
Half Gallon ~ $36
Gallon ~ $62
These prices are crazy good, so get some while it lasts! If you have any questions, you can email Dana directly: [email protected]
Thanks Jon & Dana! You guys are the best!
What’s your labor of love?
#MapleSyrup #Sweetness #BestKindOfFriends
holy crawfish boil
They say don’t play with your food, but I couldn’t resist the other day when the first of two crawfish boils began:
Those suckers didn’t have long to live in that bucket before getting boiled up and spread out for the feast:
And I thought I got excited about food? Well, this sweet Cajun could give me a run for my food love money diving in the way he did:
Could his face be any closer to the table? I love it the pure focus. Three men put down 15 pounds of crawfish that night, and the next night? Another 30 pounds with a different crew at a camp site:
I’ve been to Louisiana before, but boy this time I realize, it is indeed like a whole different country down here. My “No thank you, I don’t eat any fish/seafood” responses to meal-offerings, have left many of these kind, generous locals horrified (but I think secretly glad they can have my share of the clawed crustaceans:) I’ve opted to indulge in the 9 billion doughnuts available at various unexpected roadside shacks we’ve encountered:
Here are two of the four we noshed on in the sunshine at the picnic table:
Needless to say we aren’t going hungry this week here in Cajun Country.
How do you feast locally?
#RoadFood #CajunCountry #LifeOnTheBlueLollipopRoad
headin’ down to the bayou
There’s a Cajun in my life, so we’re heading down to where crawfish is a main food group, and hot sauce is believed to be the only condiment needed.
ROAD TRIP!
After a night in the tent at the Jellystone Campground (HA! Yes, for real) where the bathroom and shower doors were on lockdown, we stopped for breakfast feeling nice n’ greasy at the Georgia Express Diner:
…where couldn’t wait to take a bite:
“Y’alls” were swirling around this place like the Tasmanian devil on his fastest day, and we were out the door filled with pancakes, cheesy-egg biscuits, omelette’s, grits, toast, and too much coffee for $12.89:
Our waitress fully fit the southern stereotype, sweet as pie as you’d imagine. Mornings like these I absolutely love; The randomness on the road and connecting with strangers hearing their stories in a place unfamiliar.
Tent camping, cheap diner breakfast, and learning about how other people live. Ahhh…travel.
How do you find adventure?
#RoadTrip #Georgia #Diner
ewww! cauliflower?!
…that’s what I used to say as a kid about the white tasteless veggie. Don’t even get me started on brussels sprouts during my younger years. Thankfully the farm-to-fork/localvore/farmers market/back-to-basics/foodie movement has boomed over the past few years, so not only are we all eating a little bit better and more local (yay!), but chefs far & wide are creating all kinds of delish cauliflower and brussels sprout recipes, that are making big kids like me run back for more of those foods we once winced at.
We found a cauliflower recipe recently in Food & Wine Magazine that I’m in love with. This is our tray full of goodness:
So good. So cheap. So easy! I love when simple fresh stuff like this, tastes amazing and looks fahhhncy too.
To make you will need:
1 head of cauliflower
1 lemon
Parmesan cheese (shaved)
Fresh parsley (chopped)
Salt & pepper
Butter (for stove top option)
1.) Cut cauliflower into small pieces, leaving enough of stem to hold florets together.
2.) Cook on grill or brown with butter in a pan on the stove top.
3.) Place on cooking sheet.
4.) Squeeze lemon over each piece.
5.) Sprinkle with salt & pepper, parsley, and parmesan.
Voila!
There you have it from the kitchen of Blue Lollipop Road!
Now I’m hungry…
How are are you reinventing your veggies?
#FoodPorn #EatYourVeggies #Foodie
because today is mardi gras
…and my boyfriend is from Louisiana, and it is a snow day here in NC:
…we made beignets of course. And Chicory Coffee with our eggs for this lazy cold Tuesday breakfast:
As you can see from the top corner of the photo below, my sweet partner in crime takes no prisoners when it comes to noshing on these deeeeeee-lish French doughnuts:
…he usually has powdered sugar all over his hands, up his arms, on every button of the stove, every drawer handle, and of course- all over his face by the time the whole make and eat process is done. The kitchen often looks like a white powder bomb went off, as if a 2 year old, or the family dog found a 10 pound bag and just shook it all over the place.
A small cleaning price to pay to be able to have these treats if you ask me. I’ll clean up that mess any day to have a snuggly, warm, yummy breakfast like this with my sweet, messy, Cajun partner in crime.
How do you snuggle in on a snow day?
#MardiGras #BeignetLove #Winter
365 days of blue lollipop road; day 40
2.9.14
Don’t you just love it when your pancake comes out of the kitchen with a swirl in the middle of it, that you can make into an “R?”
I do!
The rest of the deliciousness on that plate is the bottom half of my scrambled egg and cheese biscuit sandwich, and this amazing fresh made local blackberry jam that Zada Janes Corner Cafe’ has on every table. That jam calls to me! Twist my arm, jam! I guess I will have to slather you all over my fresh-made biscuit…yet again.
Mmmm. I love you, brunch.
This is where I found my Blue Lollipop Road today. Where did you find yours?
#BLR365 #LifeOnTheBlueLollipopRoad #CLTEats
365 days of blue lollipop road; day 33
2.2.14
Nothing says Super Bowl Party, like red Solo cups, Doritos, chicken wings, meatballs, and guac & chips:
Maybe our party should have offered to feed the Broncos so they would’ve had some energy to actually make something happen in that game! (Look at me talkin’ smack when I don’t really even care about football:)
This is where I found my Blue Lollipop Road today. Where did you find yours?
#BLR365 #LifeOnTheBlueLollipopRoad #SuperBowl #InItForTheCommercials
365 days of blue lollipop road; day 31
1.31.14
I fulfilled my week-long hankering for the best veggie burger around today, and we went to Pinky’s for lunch. I was starving, so I thought a fried pickle app was a good idea. Then we decided to play with them and the condiment tray:
Nothing like a responsible 35 and 41 year-old squirting hot sauce, ketchup, and mustard all over the place for reasons of blog post. The staff at Pinky’s is so chill they never would have yelled at us for making a mess of the table anyway:)
If you are in/near/ever visit Charlotte, you must eat at this place! (I recommend the Nature Boy. Mmm…) Walls are covered with random tchotskys, there’s a photo booth, pinball machine, colorful tatted up staff who give speedy friendly service, and a million yummy burger combos (and non-burger) fresh-made options as well. A perfect overall funky vibe of relaxed cool.
I’m soooooo full. (And happy.)
This is my Blue Lollipop Road. Wanna show me yours?
#BLR365 #LifeOnTheBlueLollipopRoad #FridayLunches