At Church the other day I (Andrei) heard something profound. It was by no means the most profound thing I heard while at church on Sunday, however, it did resonate with me and I'd like to share it with you.
When I've shared this with others, it seems everyone has heard this but me, so clearly it's nothing new, but indulge me if you will.
Eat breakfast like a King
Lunch Like a Prince
and Supper Like a Pauper,
and you'll lose weight!
WOW!
I have consciously known this, but have never heard it spelled out like that before, and I found it brilliant. My sister and I took it a step farther and she challenged me to work out three days a week, and I added the clause that not only would I do that but also, eat as dictated above. It's hard for me because I don't love breakfast, and I don't often make time for myself to eat it, but I know it speeds up your metabolism and in general is good for you. But anyway, I'm committing to eating 3 meals a day and also riding my stationary bike, and I think that'll be good for me and fun!
We went to Whole Foods yesterday after church and I got this delicious Po-Boy Fried Green Tomato with Goat Cheese and Crawfish Remoulade. (Tell me this po-boy doesn't deserve it's own blog post!) It was yummy. That truly is Lunch like a Prince.
Monday, December 7, 2009
Hot Diggity Dog
Rachel: One of Andrei's favorite foods is hot dogs but my family has its own history of hot dog love.
The Fourth of July is a great opportunity to watch the annual match up between Joey Chestnut and Kobayashi at the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest and each year you can find my family tuned in to ESPN to cheer on Joey! One year my family had a match up of our own -- for the title of "World's Greatest Hot dog." We taste tested many hotdogs and rated each on its color, texture, flavor, etc. and awarded a winner.
A few years ago on my visit to Los Angeles, Ryan and Jess took me to Pink's Hot dogs. Pink's has been a LA fixture for almost 100 years and has many hot dogs named after celebrities including the Martha Stewart Dog and the Rosie O'Donnell Dog. Ryan, Jess, and I each got different hot dogs so we could try as many as possible!
On my most recent visit to New Orleans, Andrei and I ate lunch at a Lucky Hot Dog stand -- a NOLA fixture -- I loved the loaded dog with chili and onions, especially while eating it surrounded by the great music of NOLA!
My favorite hot dog however is found close to home. Each Christmas Eve, our family and a few select friends would head to Coney Island in Scranton for hot dogs. Here a Texas wiener sells for just $2 and is topped with their special chili sauce. My favorite part of the Coney Island experience is the owner, Ted, stands just inside the door at his grill greeting each customer as they walk in the door. His forearm, yes his forearm, is usually full of buns and dogs all lined up in the row while he spoons on the chili sauce and then sends each dog onto a plate and onto the customer.
So here's to all the great hot dogs of the world -- you may not be the healthiest food in the world, but you have created many food memories in my heart!
Andrei: While I love the Luckydog I'll now tell you the bitter sweet tale of my favorite Hot Dog! It was at Disney World my Sophomore year in college, the sight of my absolute favorite family vacation up to that point. We had stopped at some random excellent eatery in Epcot center. (For those that haven't been to Disney it's, dare i say it, A-maze-to-the-zing! Every worker, from the street sweeper, to the tour guides, to the food vendors are there making your experience Magical. (So magical I used a capital letter to show how deeply I feel about it. (Also another side note, that vacation was the sight of one of my favorite memories ever, it includes Andy Garcia. Ask me about it sometime! Disney at Christmas is an experience. And before you ask, NO, I'm not hired by the Disney conglomerate to puff them up, this is just my humble opinion. Of course things are expensive there, but the food is of the highest quality and the service is impeccable too, not Emeril's but still...) So anyway, we go to this little eatery with nice workers literally dancing and singing around you as you eat. I of course order a hot dog, the biggest and most beautiful I've seen, to date. It's a foot long but very thick in circumference as well. So I'm looking at this amazing specimen of hot dog and and confused as to where the condiments are and after an attempt or two of looking for said condiments, I give up the search and eat my hot dog sans any garnishing, it's enjoyable but not infrequently have I thought about how much I would have enjoyed the hot dog WITH condiments. As I walked to the garbage can to throw away my wrapper and little cardboard tray. I spied THE CONDIMENT BAR, with every conceivable condiment on it. How could I have missed it? I'm not exactly sure, but it still haunts me to this day.
Maybe I'll get a Luckydog tomorrow to ease my remorse.
The Fourth of July is a great opportunity to watch the annual match up between Joey Chestnut and Kobayashi at the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest and each year you can find my family tuned in to ESPN to cheer on Joey! One year my family had a match up of our own -- for the title of "World's Greatest Hot dog." We taste tested many hotdogs and rated each on its color, texture, flavor, etc. and awarded a winner.
A few years ago on my visit to Los Angeles, Ryan and Jess took me to Pink's Hot dogs. Pink's has been a LA fixture for almost 100 years and has many hot dogs named after celebrities including the Martha Stewart Dog and the Rosie O'Donnell Dog. Ryan, Jess, and I each got different hot dogs so we could try as many as possible!
On my most recent visit to New Orleans, Andrei and I ate lunch at a Lucky Hot Dog stand -- a NOLA fixture -- I loved the loaded dog with chili and onions, especially while eating it surrounded by the great music of NOLA!
My favorite hot dog however is found close to home. Each Christmas Eve, our family and a few select friends would head to Coney Island in Scranton for hot dogs. Here a Texas wiener sells for just $2 and is topped with their special chili sauce. My favorite part of the Coney Island experience is the owner, Ted, stands just inside the door at his grill greeting each customer as they walk in the door. His forearm, yes his forearm, is usually full of buns and dogs all lined up in the row while he spoons on the chili sauce and then sends each dog onto a plate and onto the customer.
So here's to all the great hot dogs of the world -- you may not be the healthiest food in the world, but you have created many food memories in my heart!
Andrei: While I love the Luckydog I'll now tell you the bitter sweet tale of my favorite Hot Dog! It was at Disney World my Sophomore year in college, the sight of my absolute favorite family vacation up to that point. We had stopped at some random excellent eatery in Epcot center. (For those that haven't been to Disney it's, dare i say it, A-maze-to-the-zing! Every worker, from the street sweeper, to the tour guides, to the food vendors are there making your experience Magical. (So magical I used a capital letter to show how deeply I feel about it. (Also another side note, that vacation was the sight of one of my favorite memories ever, it includes Andy Garcia. Ask me about it sometime! Disney at Christmas is an experience. And before you ask, NO, I'm not hired by the Disney conglomerate to puff them up, this is just my humble opinion. Of course things are expensive there, but the food is of the highest quality and the service is impeccable too, not Emeril's but still...) So anyway, we go to this little eatery with nice workers literally dancing and singing around you as you eat. I of course order a hot dog, the biggest and most beautiful I've seen, to date. It's a foot long but very thick in circumference as well. So I'm looking at this amazing specimen of hot dog and and confused as to where the condiments are and after an attempt or two of looking for said condiments, I give up the search and eat my hot dog sans any garnishing, it's enjoyable but not infrequently have I thought about how much I would have enjoyed the hot dog WITH condiments. As I walked to the garbage can to throw away my wrapper and little cardboard tray. I spied THE CONDIMENT BAR, with every conceivable condiment on it. How could I have missed it? I'm not exactly sure, but it still haunts me to this day.
Maybe I'll get a Luckydog tomorrow to ease my remorse.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Food on the High Seas
Now on to the main attraction (or main entree) . . . the food!
Andrei: Okay. I loved the whole cruise experience. I'm thankful to my parent's and my sister for making it so fun and to Rachel of course for being her cute self during the whole trip. It was truly a magical experience (though it wasn't a Disney cruise to the Magic Kingdom). The food, as Rachel details below, wasn't as great as advertised, especially (not to brag) when you eat as well as Rachel and I often do. The most fun thing about the eating on a cruise ship is how much food you can get. If you wanted chicken wings at 5AM you can eat them without even PAYING FOR THEM! That's awesome. Never mind the fact that they are frozen and covered with hot sauce at the last second. Don't get me wrong there are AWESOME food adventures to be had on the boat, you can find sublime culinary tastes on the boat you just have to be selective and observant, and it helps to go in a group so you can each try one entree and find the gem among the ordinary. (Do I sound snobby...? I hope not...)
Rachel: The adage Quality vs. Quantity was definitely true on our cruise. Food was ALWAYS available and was ALWAYS free -- but wasn't necessarily high quality. I guess this is to be expected when you are feeding 3,000 people; most of whom are used to eating McDonald's and Luby's but what a disappointment. There were some buffets and some sit down restaurants which provided great variety but we found that even the specialty restaurants served some mediocre food. We tried conch while in the Bahamas and also a guava tartlet at the Starbucks in Nassau that was spectacular. (The tartlet, not the Starbucks!) I loved the chocolate croissants at breakfast each morning and the presentation of many of the meals at the specialty restaurants. I'm also a sucker for a good salad bar and the Garden Cafe was always able to provide. What have been your cruise food experiences?
Two Forks or Two Napkins
Our dating relationship has been centered around many great eating experiences. Our first date weekend we ate at three amazing restaurants! We love seeking out the local favorites and specialities as well as the five star dining of each area we visit . . . now its time to share some of these things with you, our readers, as we experience food together! The picture on the left is from one of our favorite pastimes -- writing crazy things on takeaway boxes of leftovers. The picture on the right is from NOLA -- my first Lucky Dog.
Rachel: On our first date, I knew that Andrei was a keeper when he immediately wanted to SHARE FOOD! Woohoo!! I love that Andrei is always ready to experience any new food and seeks out great food experiences.
Andrei: I have been pleasantly since meeting Rachel of our food compatibility. She knows her stuff! And helps me to try new things as well. Our backgrounds are different but coming together we form a more well rounded union for eating experiences. I hope you ENJOY as much as we DO! :)
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