As of late, a friend has created a beet salad to appease my obsession. And it is sooo simple! It includes canned beets, goat cheese or feta, some chopped pecans, a leaf of lettuce, and dressing if you wish. Start with the lettuce leaf, layer on a generous portion of beets, sprinkle on the cheese and pecans, and then lightly add dressing of your choice. Truthfully the beets are moist enough that dressing is not required. Such a yummy and easy salad….and pretty too!

I’ve tried most of these beers since they started coming out about 2 years ago.  I usually enjoy them with a friend since they come in the large – wine style bottle, corked and all.  And since they are a very nicely crafted microbrew usually of a unique ale type they tend to have a bit higher alcohol content.  I LOVE microbrews….and I love ales, especially pale ales.  I do enjoy the Smokestack series and will go into which ones I love the most, but I did not love drinking a full one (well maybe it was 2) on my own and being left with a questionable night and a bit of a headache.

So one Friday night brought me to the neighborhood liquor store to scope out the Smokestack series and try a couple I hadn’t yet.  I noticed 2 that I hadn’t indulged in, Two Joker’s Double Wit and Saison-Brett, and not putting much thought into it I decided just to get them both.  Now when you open a can or bottle of beer you can’t really let it sit over night….my mistake lies here.  I opened the 2 bottles to taste them both.  They both were really good!  And then before I knew it I had finished both-by myself.  I mean I couldn’t let them sit and go flat and stale.  Thus the drama of my night began and a 4 month hiatus from blogging followed.  But that is not what this night is about so I’ll dive into the beers.

My top 3:  Saison, Double Wide, and my MOST favorite….Tank 7.

Tank 7:  This is a farmhouse ale that has a very citrus, almost grapefruit type flavor to it.  Lots of fresh hops and a nice light, bright yellow color.  It is by far my beer of choice right now.  If I see it at the store I’ll buy it!  So yummy!  I can handle a full bottle on my own and keep it down, but only if I pace myself.  Like other IPA’s and ales it has a higher alcohol content, but not quite as high as Saison.

DoubleWide:  Doublewide is the big brother to Singlewide, which is available in regular 12 oz bottles.  Not only is Doublewide bigger in size, but also in hoppage.  This is a robust IPA style ale and offers a lot of flavors.  A bit heavier than the Tank 7, and a very far cry from what most American’s like to drink.

Saison:  Much less hoppy than either Doublewide or Tank 7 but Saison still has complex flavors and holds its own.  I know people who don’t like Saison, but then I don’t like them so it all works out.  Actually most of these Smokestack Series brews aren’t for tame, domestic light beer drinkers, but for those with a complex palate and an interest in the flavors that beer can have.  But everyone has potential to develop a palate so Saison could be a good place to start.

These adventurous and flavorful brews that are part of the Boulevard Smokestack series are well worth consuming, though I would suggest sharing a single bottle and never, ever attempting to drink 2 on your own!!!!  Be adventurous expand your beer palate with these, you won’t be sorry.

I recently took the Boulevard Tour for the second time this year and highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys good beer.  The tour itself is informative and fun but the 30-40 minutes of free tasting afterwards is what rocks the house and makes this the most popular tour in KC.  Think ahead though, both tours this year I booked 3 months in advance!  Cheers!

I kinda missed the entire holiday season for food so I’ll recap that to begin a new year of groaker’s.

This year brought me back to far western Nebraska for Christmas, visiting family and enjoying some fine western Nebraska weather.  Well, maybe not so fine, but way better than what KC has been enduring!!!  Though I will say the wind was whipping and I don’t believe the temperature ever reached double digits while I was there.  We all still had fun and lot’s of memories that will last.

My family has a long standing tradition for Christmas eve dinner.  Most anyone that knows me knows about this meal but here goes for all you strangers who don’t really read my blog:

The meal begins with everyone seated with their feet touching a piece of iron.  Over the years the metal has been tools, hand weights, horse equipment, or just something metal we can find.  This signifies strength for the coming year. 

Next everyone takes a piece of holy bread, some have honey on them and the single women put a dot of honey foreheads to stay sweet and pure in the coming year.

The meal starts with Shepherd Soup which is a mushroom and sauerkraut soup not for the faint of heart.  This is almost straight sauerkraut juice with a little bit of pasta and mushrooms.  This is probably my most favorite dish of the meal.  You either love it or hate it.  Within an hour of eating your urine smells like sauerkraut.  It’s pungent stuff, but so yummy!

The main dish consists of:  sauteed squid in a red tomato sauce served over white rice, lentils (signifying wealth in the coming year) in a cream sauce with potatoes and vinegar, and fried smelt (little fish kinda like sardines). 

The meal closes out with the passing of a tangerine around the table.  As a game we all guess how many slices it holds and then divide up the slices with those seated around the table.  If ever lost in the coming year think of who you shared this meal with and you will find your way home.  We then get up from the table leaving the dirty plates and leftovers for all the pour souls to come eat from and save the cleaning for later. 

It’s a wonderful tradition however, I will say that as a young child I often went to bed Christmas Eve night hungry.  This is a weird meal for a little person to enjoy or be open to.  We often debate about its origin with it mostly being eastern european with a hint of italian.  As we’ve grown up we don’t always make the entire meal, especially because the smelt can be hard to find and I typically eat maybe one and it’s just not worth the preparation.  But I love sharing this tradition with others whether actually eating it or just talking about it.  It is something unique and special to my family and I love that! 

Happy New Year!  I hope 2010 brings you all many happy meals and happy memories!

Thirsty Thursday brought me to Sol Cantina in the Martini Corner area of Union Hill.  Two co-workers and myself were well deserving of some margarita’s and due to the late departure from work we also partook in some food.  While Sol is a great atmosphere especially on a gorgeous late summer night, their food leaves much to be desired.  The margarita’s were fantastic however any Mexican restaurant that A.) doesn’t provide free chips and salsa or B.) charges for refills on chips, automatically gets a bad review from me.  I had the Sunset Rolls (aka southwest eggrolls) while my dining mates had taco’s (served without cheese – WHAT?!?!) and the Monster taco (basically a chicken burrito).  The burrito actually looked pretty good.  It was flash fried so an interesting take on an otherwise normal burrito.  I will say that I do like that Sol offer’s a choice of sides which include chips and queso or chips and salsa.  I’m not a huge fan of Spanish rice so whenever I can choose something besides rice as a side at a south of the border eatery I’m happy. 

To make up for my less than satisfied Mexican tooth, I went to the boulevard to enjoy some more authentic Mexican food.  I love the restaurants that sit down on Southwest Blvd.  Margarita’s and Manny’s are great and I know I’ll enjoy what I order, but even more fantastic are the places like Taqueria Mexico and La Fonda El Taquito.  Friday night found me at La Fonda El Taquito.  I had actually never been to this restaurant before but knew I would enjoy it.  The mild pureed salsa was to my liking, sweet with a little spice to it, while the guac was fantastic though on the spicier side.  My dining mate ordered some chunky hot salsa which just one little dip into it did me in.  I CANNOT handle spicy stuff.  We both ordered from the ala carte menu and I opted for Modelo to accompany my meal.  I had the Enchilada Casera filled with chorizo and potato with 2 pork flauta’s, while M had the BEST Chicken soup ever and 2 smothered enchilada’s.  Now M is my high maintenance friend.  So of course the chicken soup was actually chicken-less (because he doesn’t like the inhumane treatment of male chicks within chicken factories-don’t ask).  I questioned his ordering of the soup but once it came and I had a taste – OMG!!!!  This is hands down the BEST chicken soup.  It has rice, broth, tons of cilantro, slices of avocado, onion, and a fresh squeeze of lime, oh and for most people….chicken.  This is a monster bowl of soup too and comes with some flour tortillas on the side.  For sure, something I will crave for years to come and whenever I am sick I will request this soup.  FANTASTIC!  Love finds like this.

Then we headed just down the block to the Tropicana which has all sorts of fun desserts.  The main idea for stopping here was to try a banana on a stick.  Literally, a frozen banana on a stick dipped in chocolate and sprinkles.  I had heard about this dessert several weeks ago and had been wanting to try one.  Um well….it will be the last one I ever have.  Not because it wasn’t good, I just didn’t think through the eating of this treat.  The banana actually wasn’t bad, it’s just a visual thing.  One bite into it M and I were laughing hysterically and each bite elicited the same response.  Let’s just think about this….a large chocolate covered banana on a stick…..hhhmmm….definitely not something you’d buy a girl on a first date, at least not if you ever wanted to go out with her again.  Or maybe you would buy this for a certain type of girl…ok I’m stopping there.

So on to my viewing of Julie/Julia.  Kansas City is home to AMC theatres and for this reason we havesome pretty spectacular movie theatres.  So to see this flick me and a friend decided it had to be done at Cinema Suites where you get to pick your lazy boy recliner and can order alcohol and a full meal to enjoy while watching the movie.  The tickets are $20, but you get a $10 food voucher so it is totally worth it.  It is also 21 and over only so the crowd is tame and well behaved for the most part.  A caution though…while the screen is huge, the seating is not so plentiful so some fore thought is necessary – pre-order your tickets early!

I have enjoyed the luxury of movie watching at Cinema Suites before and at this point I have it down to a science.  M and I actually had a game plan going into the movie because we didn’t want to over do the experience….ie over eat.  However, I must say M is a high maintenance diner so I left the ordering of the main dish to him as he is so particular with how things are layered, cooked, presented, etc, etc.  I have come to just warn the waiter at the beginning that this boy is gonna be high maintenance and no matter what you probably won’t get it right.  Cinema Suites isn’t fine dining, more like bar and grill style food, but M treats any ordering experience like he’s at a 5 star restaurant and service/making the customer happy is A #1 top priority.  So on to what we/he ordered.

We pre-decided to split a burger.  The blue cheese burger, but without bacon and with mushrooms.  Alas, this was not to be as M found out it wasn’t crumbled blue cheese but blue cheese dressing, which I don’t actually think it was as I’ve had the burger before.  But anyways, I think we ended up with a burger that had feta crumbles and mushroom.  We ordered the appetizer of Parmesan fries to go with our burger and they were very enjoyable with no specifications having to be made by M.  WOW!  I enjoyed my meal with a Guinness.   One thing you should definitely get when at Cinema Suites is the bowl of popcorn.  The popcorn comes out in a huge glass bowl and you can get the butter melted on the side to sprinkle on as you please.  Plus it’s a bottomless bowl meaning free refills and it’s only $5!!!!!  We ordered this about halfway into the movie and only got through about half of the bowl.  We had intentions of splitting a dessert as well, but that did not happen.

The final tidbit of advice I’ll give about Cinema Suites is how to choose your seating.  The recliners are organized into sets of 2 with a side table type divider between each set of 2.  I don’t know if this makes sense but essentially you’ll have seat 1 & 2 then a divider and seats 3 & 4 and so on.  Because of the splitting of popcorn, meal, etc, I like to utilize the divider so I always order seat 2 & 3 or 4 & 5, etc.  I find the side table handy for putting the popcorn on and just having a little extra room for the food and bevies. 

On to the movie.  I really did love this movie.  I love it when people enjoy cooking and eating as much as I do.  And this movie was filled with that.  I have been craving a homemade bruschetta ever since watching Amy Adams and her movie husband snarf down theirs.  I was just now reading an article about Julia Childs in my Sept 30^thissue of Wine Spectator.  The article was followed by a recipe for Boeuf Bourguignonne.  If you don’t know the size of Wine Spectator it’s an over-sized magazine and the actual recipe goes on for 2 pages.  I feel a challenge coming on.  I have to try this recipe!  It sounds amazing.  It requires me to probably visit a specialty grocery store or 2, buy one new pot, and take up at least 2 days to cook.  So…the challenge is on for Labor Day weekend.  The date is set and any friend who is willing to see if I sink or swim with this recipe you are welcome to join in with the experiment.

Background of Dim Sum…In China it actually goes by a different name, but I can’t begin to spell it or pronounce it – which is probably why we Americans just call it Dim Sum.  Dim Sum actually translates to mean “little bit of heart”.   And although served daily in China, in Kansas City it is a weekend only offering.  It is meant to be accompanied by tea and for a gathering of many friends around a circular table.  I would say it is a more upscale version of a buffet in which the food is rolled around the room on carts and you choose what dishes you want as they pass your table.  It was a blast!  And this isn’t your ordinary choices of beef and broccoli or sweet and sour chicken.  These are authentic chinese dishes.  For a sample of the overwhelmingly large menu of dim sum items check out the link to Bo Lings Menu.

On to the food we chose.  I left the ordering to my hosts and came in knowing I would try anything….and I mean anything.  I was a little late arriving so they had already sat down and ordered a few dishes outside of the dim sum offerings and tea.  The tea was REALLY good too.  It was a blend of red tea and chrisanthemum blossoms.  A bit floral, but really nice.   I was educated on some tea etiquette at this time.  In China when someone else fills your tea cup you should always tap or knock on the table as a sign of respect.  This dates back to the emperor when his subservients would dine with him and if he poured them tea instead of standing to bow they knocked or tapped the table in place of a bow to acknowledge his presence and superiority.  Also, if you are low on tea at the table just flip up the lid and a waiter will shortly arrive to grab the pot and refill it.  Oh and while I’m giving hints…when using chopsticks for the entire meal remember to serve yourself with the opposite end of the sticks than you eat with….ok….back to food.

First to the table was an array of shrimp items – Crispy Shrimp Ball, and whole shrimps fried. 

Hello Mr. Shrimpy....I see you lookin at me!

Whats a whole shrimp you ask?  And did I eat it?  The whole shrimp is the whole shrimp, head, feet, shell, tail, eyes, yup, the whole thing is fried to a crisp.  I tried it.  It wasn’t so bad, especially the head part which I thought might be icky, but really the only part I didn’t like was how tough the shell was.  It was good, but probably not my most favorite item.  With the shrimp came Beef Chow Funn (funn = large flat noodles), and chinese broccoli.  The Chinese Broccoli was a dish comprised of large, deep green leaves that appeared to be blanched or steamed.  I really enjoyed this veggie and I can’t help but think the deep green plant was nothing but good for me.  Next out was something that was promised to be ordered and that I had no doubt I had to try…..Steamed Chickens Feet.  Really, honest to goodness chicken feet.  You pop the whole thing in your mouth and slowly spit out the bones, knuckles, etc.  I can’t place exactly the seasoning on the feet, but they were tasty!  Orange was mentioned, but there was a lot of flavor going on with this dish.  Two people at the table wouldn’t touch the chicken feet which meant more for me!  I was surprised, but this dish didn’t gross me out at all and was really delicious!

clockwise from bottom left: tea, fried shrimp ball, chinese broccoli, rice in lotus leaf, beef funn, steamed shrimp dumpling, chicken feet, center = pork dumpling

Here’s a list of other plates we had with stars by my favorites:

Ha Gau (Shrimp Dumpling)

*Siu Mai (Pork Dumpling)

*Glutinous Rice in Lotus Leaf – very sticky with pork stuffed in the middle!

*Roasted Pork Puff – this also comes steamed and a friend of mine calls this the chinese hamburger.

Gai Lan with Oyster Sauce

Fried Taro Pie – I believe this is fried Tofu

Desserts:

*Soft Tofu in Ginger Syrup – a soft custardy treat!

Caramel Custard

*Sugar Rice Sponge Cake

This meal was fabulous and I will for sure be back.  It is a must place I will take my Dad next time he is in Kansas City.  Thanks so much to Doug and his family for introducing me to Dim Sum and showing me the ropes!

The Mixx is not only a wonderful dining establishment where you can order a salad or sandwich to your liking, but it also is in a great location.  I think that is one of my most favorite aspects of this cafeteria style restaurant.  I love libraries and the Mixx sits right next to Kansas City’s Public Library – Plaza Branch.  I love going there to study, browse books, or people watch, then head over to the Mixx for some sustenance.

I apologize for the lack of pictures this week.  Doubley so because they would have been gorgeous!  The Mixx does a great job creating beautiful salads that are made to order.  I am stuck on the Garden of Eden which is a mix of greens, granny smith apples, walnuts, blue cheese, and a wonderful vinegarette.  I get it with all spinach and this last visit I opted to add in beets as well….LOVE beets!  I often do a 1/2 sandwich 1/2 salad combo which is a great deal, though it limits you on choice.  Only 3 salads and 3 sandwiches are offered for the 1/2 options.  I usually get the garden of eden with a half of the chicken salad sandwich.  But this trip I went for the whole salad.

My dining companions chose 2 other salads, an asian Salmon salad, and the southwest salad.  Both are fantastic and depending on your mood I’d say equally as good to any of the salads on the menu.  Truthfully I don’t know that I’ve ever had a bad meal there.   Another favorite salad of mine is the knife and fork which is comprised of steak (cooked to your liking), potatoes, blue cheese, caramelized onions, and greens.  I would definitely give the Mixx two thumbs up and recommend anything on the menu!

Oh and don’t worry….I’m up to full eating at this point.  Though I chose the healthy route to finish my fast, I followed it up with a juicy burger and some nachos at Westport Flea Market, worthy of a post all by itself.

Cereal: a carry over from college.  Cereal is a quick and easy full meal.  But it does require milk on hand and for me this isn’t always available.

Protein only meal: On many occasions a meal for me has been a spoonful of peanut butter. Again, it’s filling, but unlike popcorn this treat has a lot of calories so I do have to limit intake. Sometimes I’ll combine it with celery (the negative calorie food!) or an apple, but more often than not I’m too lazy for that and just have it on the spoon alone. The other protein only meal I often go for is hard boiled eggs. I pretty much always have these sitting in my fridge and it’s a fast easy breakfast, lunch or dinner!
Veggies: come summer girls are notorious for having meals that only consist of a vegetable and not much else. I had a friend who would open cans of corn or green beans and that would be a meal. I prefer fresh veggies and often have a good tomato salad with either beans or mozzarella and basil, or a nice grilled zucchini over some cottage cheese! Yum!
Dessert: This doesn’t mean this comes after the meal…dessert is the meal! Whether its chocolate, cake, or ice cream. Girls will often fore go a proper meal for a lunch or dinner of just dessert. Just last week I opted for a lunch of Sheridan’s ice cream. It was fabulous!
Nothing: Yes, we can be lazy…really lazy. And no matter how hungry we are we just won’t eat, not even fast food, not microwave popcorn, nada. This is usually only the case with dinner and we make it to bedtime and then call it good. It has nothing to do with trying not to gain weight, etc, it’s strictly laziness.

So that’s the single girl diet in a nutshell.  We each have our own forms of it and it can vary from girl to girl but we all have our lazy day meals that only utilize one food group and fall far from having much of any nutritional value.  We’re a unique breed, the single girl, and our diet matches our uniqueness!

Ah....home....

As I have mentioned I come from a family of foodies.  We all equally love our meals, snacks, beverages, and crumbs, and enjoy it even better when we’re in good company.  So…this post is to my family who I miss but am so glad I had time to relax and visit them last week.  On to the food….

So after a long day of travel by airplane, car, then ferry I arrived on Nantucket Island ready for dinner.  We started with an appetizer plate of raw clams and oysters on the half shell, actually pretty much every day when I am in Nantucket I have a plate of clams on the half shell- so yummy!  On the menu for dinner was 2 different bbq chickens that were dressed in different rubs, a FABULOUS watermelon and onion balsamic vinegar salad (truly these flavors together were wonderful!), normal mixed greens salad, and a meddly of grilled veggies.  The salad was the high point to this meal until the dessert tray came out.  My mother has probably one of the largest sweet tooth’s of anyone I know.  Always after a visit with her I have to ween myself from my own sweet tooth.  So with the meal finished she rattled off our choices:  lemon custard flag cake, barefoot contessa dark chocolate brownies (the best ever brownies – I literally ate the leftover crumbs from the pan), coconut cupcakes, rice krispy treats, and ice cream bars.  I went for the 3 baked goods.  Come on….I was on vacation!  Oh and I almost forgot.  Nantucket is home to one of my favorite microbrews – Cisco beer.  My summertime favorites are #1 Whale Tale Pale Ale #2 Grey Lady Ale (a newer one), #3 Bailey’s Blonde Ale (mostly because my dog is named Bailey), so this meal was enjoyed with one of these tasty beers that come in a large oversize glass bottle.

I love my mom....and her sweet tooth!

The Ships Inn, ACK

My next memorable meal was had out.  In celebration of some recent accomplishments of mine and because my mom wanted me to experience her favorite restaurant we headed to The Ship’s Inn.  This Bed and Breakfast is only open during the summer season and is an old home that has been converted.  The restaurant is in the basement but still boasts a lovely dining area with plenty of windows at sidewalk level.  The home was originally built by one of the most lucritive whalers of Nantucket, and was home to the first woman suffragete.  But the food is whats really worthy of talking about.  This is an upscale dining establishment so I didn’t really feel comfortable pulling out the old kodak.  But I couldn’t resist snapping one picture….Dessert!  We each ordered an appetizer or salad premeal and an entree.  The dessert was also pre-ordered as they specialize in souffles and their special for the night was a banana strawberry – YUM!  Anywho….I keep getting sidetracked by dessert….the meals.  My mother’s appetizer was clearly the best of the 3.  She ordered a micro greens salad with spiced pears and fried goat cheese.  As for entrees each of us ordered a different bottom feeder.  My mom had the flounder – not  the best, I chose a lovely halibut, and my dad had by far the best, a sole that came in a cream almond glaze.  Each came with some sides and though they were all good the sole was amazing!  We accompanied the meal with a very nice Chardonnay and then dessert was accompanied by an equally yummy ice wine (or late harvest wine depending on where its from).

no words to express the goodness of this....

Lobster, clams and beer....oh my!

And finally the last meal.  This is another traditional meal when in Nantucket and probably the only time I eat a whole lobster, though I really only eat the claws and tail.  We headed to the fish market around lunch to pick out our lobsters.  I asked to see a 3 pounder and quickly decided a 2 pounder was plenty for me.  The crustaceons were picked up cooked and ready to go around 6 and couldn’t have been tastier!  Ofcourse there were sides and the appetizer of clams/oysters, plus beer and the dessert tray again.  But then since it was such a beautiful calm night we decided it was perfect weather for a fire in the fire pit.  And SMORES!  We always do smores, sometimes on the beach over the bbq grill, sometimes on the deck over the grill, and rarely on an open fire like this night afforded.  They were so good!  We have a system to doing our smores where my mom preps the crackers and chocolate then everyone cooks their marshmallows to their liking (mine I like on fire, torched!) and then they are sandwiched down!

smorific!

The visit wasn’t as long as I would have hoped but I still had a wonderful time and can’t wait for the next time we are all together enjoying another fantastic meal!