Trip to Texas

Man I have had some great meals lately! A few weeks back I made a trip to the Dallas / Fort Worth for work and it just so happens my buddy Doug F. lives there. He hooked me up every night with a great local place to eat.

Here are a couple highlights:

In N Out Burger was on the list. We have friends that swear by it and make it a point to eat there when they are in CA. Well a couple have now opened in the great state of TX so I had to try one. I wasn't brave enough to try 'The Animal' but the Double Double I had was good! The 'spread' was right on and is reason this has been their sauce since 1948. Finished off with fries and and a good ol Dr. Pepper and I was set.

Next Doug had me try Rudy's BBQ in Frisco. When you are in TX you gotta eat brisket and Rudy's is a great place to pick some up. I tried the brisket (lean) and smoked turkey breast. I could have eaten the whole pound myself. The brisket was just right but the turkey..... that was money!!! Finished off my meal with a banana pudding and I was set for the night.

Last place we went was Fuzzy's Taco Shop in Denton. I had the brisket tacos and could have eaten like 4 more. The seasoning was perfect and the chips are served with warm salsa. If you haven't had warm salsa, you gotta try it. Pappasito's is the only other place I've had it like this, in case you are near one.

This t shirt says it all. What can I say, I like being at the top of the food chain.

So put these places on the list for your next trip to the Lone Star state and your belly and taste buds will be happy.

Tasty Snack

I recently found these tasty little treats and can't get enough of them.

Peanut butter filled pretzel bites that are covered in chocolate. Yummy

McCormick and Schmick's Seafood

I had a chance to meet up with my buddy Matt in Baltimore at the Inner Harbor. We both happen to be in the area on separate business trips so we divided to have some seafood at McCormick and Schmick's Seafood. We don't get a lot of fresh seafood in TN... Dinner was great and it was cool hanging out and check out the harbor.

The next night I had dinner in Salisbury, Maryland at a place called Market Street Inn. This place was great. At the recommendation of the waiter I had the lump crabcakes. I tried 1 broiled and 1 fried. Oh yeah, it was the perfect choice! I snapped a couple pictures just before I got down to business and joined the clean plate club.

Meals on the BGEs

I've been getting back in the swing of cooking on my Big Green Eggs after traveling every week for months and it has been nice. We have made pizzas, burgers, grilled chicken sandwiches and grilled asparagus and corn on the cob. Thanks to my buddy Neal showing me the way, we even tried flank steaks that are cooked directly on the coals!

We have been visiting the farmers market on Saturday mornings to pick up our fruits and veggies. The local farms always taste better! Great for salads!

Here are a couple of pictures that I have snapped.

Yellow Dog (part2)

I know it has been forever since I have posted but we have been super busy with the move. However, we have had and made some great meals over the past couple months. I am going to attempt to recap some of the highlights starting with a couple pictures from recent visits to Yellow Dog Cafe.

I have been eating here by myself for several months so it has been nice to take Stacey and kids for a change. My parents even got a chance to try it out this past week during their visit.

Check out the pics below of a couple of the entrees we have tried. The Puppy Love sandwich is awesome, it's just a little tough to pick a dessert afterwards... The nachos and BBQ sandwich are great as well.

And the local roosters that hang around downtown...

Yellow Dog Eats cafe

I found a cool cafe to eat at while in Orlando thanks to our realtor. It is actually located in Gotha, FL. It's like a mix between Mellow Mushroom and a BBQ joint. I have eaten there twice now and tried the pulled pork and the ribs. They do a pretty good job (not as good as pork on the BGE :) but it was good. They offer a mustard based sauce that was different from anything I have had in the past. They also have a spicy coleslaw that was tasty. The Oreo cupcake was great! The icing was fluffy and there was a great cream filling too.

I apologize for the not so good picture of the ribs. I was so hungry I actually took a bite before I took the picture. Oops

Next time I will try the Hot Diggidy Dog. And at some point I am sure to try the Puppy Love and the Fluffy Love.

Wanna know what those are? Check out their web site:

http://yellowdogeats.com/YellowDogEats/Welcome.html

When you come visit us in FL we will be sure to take you there.

Dinner while traveling

I know people (wife) laugh when I say this but, it is hard eating out all the time. When you eat out 3 meals a day it can be hard to keep from eating the same stuff all the time. So I like to branch out and tonight was a good choice.

I went to Whole Foods, which is not usually on my list of places to go but...
I wanted some sushi and my buddy Matt said it was pretty good there. I tried the brown rice tuna rolls and tuna Nigiri. It was a good choice. I also had a vegetable rice salad. Dessert was the best, as always. I went with the Pear Tart with ginger.

So next time you want to try a different place for a quick lunch or dinner, give this place a try.

I am a Polyeggamist

That's right, a person with multiple Big Green Eggs. Thanks to Mom and Dad I was able to pick up a medium BGE this week to go along with my large one. This will be the perfect setup to allow me to prepare some taste sides and deserts at the same time as whatever meat I am cooking. So now while I am smoking a boston butt for 8 hours or grilling up some steaks at 700 plus degrees I can grill up some veggies and even bake a loaf of bread for the meal. I can't wait for Spring for a cookout and some fire pit s'mores with our friends and family.

Thanks Mom and Dad!

This weekend in food

Here are a few highlights from out food preparation and eating this weekend.

Parker had an idea for some more interesting pancakes, ones that look like sunny side up eggs. I think he did a great job. He almost faked out Dallin who had slept in and wasn't fully awake when he sat down at the breakfast table.

Saturday night we tried out a new restaurant with the Neal and Sarah, Porta Via Italian Kitchen in Franklin. They have another location in Nashville that I have heard great things about and we were not disappointed! Stacey and Sarah went with pizza. Neal tried the Chicken Milanese and I ordered Cannelloni. Everything was great. The dough and sauces were spot on and everything tasted fresh and homemade. We all cleaned out plates but left room for fresh made daily Gelato. Perfect!

On Sunday we tried another crock pot recipe that we had been interested in, crock pot lasagna. It was another after church success. You can google the recipe or check out Pinterest, if you are a follower. For desert the kids made Whoopi Pies with sprinkles that were easy, fun and tasty.

Another good weekend of eating with the Hopfers.

What'll Ya Have? What'll Ya Have?

Gimme me 2 Chili Cheese Slaw Dogs all the way (with onions), strings (fries) and a Coke! I'll take it right here in the car. Oh yeah!
When you are in The Atl there are so many places to eat, how do you choose? Well 2 dogs sounded good and where else better than The Varsity downtown. This place is always great and always fast.
Couple fun facts:
They have room for 600 cars at the drive-in and another 800 people inside. They have served more Coca-Cola than any other single restaurant. In one year they serve 2,000,000 cups of it.

www.thevarsity.com

Crock Pot + Boston Butt =

Yummy Sunday afternoon goodness! Stacey tried a new crock pot recipe this weekend and it was great. Place the 3 1/2 lb butt in the pot along with you favorite rub,BBQ sauce and 1 soda. These are not our favs but what we had on hand. Cook for 6 hrs or so, and then shred. Gotta love the crock pot meals on Sunday.

Neal and Sarah added some homemade Mac n Cheese and some broccoli to round it out. Then we topped the meal of with some of Sarah's great cake balls for dessert.

Snow Day Pancakes

We had a snow day today so Parker and I decided to make some pancakes on a non weekend morning. Stacey had shown us a site with this guy that makes all kinds of crazy pancake designs for his kids and there are a few that we wanted to try.

One of the ideas was pancake cereal. You put the mix in squirt bottles and make lots of little dots on the griddle, but not too small. Here are a few pics. Parker and Gretchen loved them. Put the dots in a bowl and add some syrup and have at it!

We also did Parker's initials with some left over batter. The squirt bottle is the key to making fun shapes.

What to try next?