Tag Archive | food

Photo Blogging #Challenge September 2015 theme: Happy #photoblog

September’s theme for the photo blogging challenge hosted by http://hoohaablog.com/ was Happy. The only challenge this month was to only pick 5 pictures.

Picture 1 – Gatlinburg, TN
Labor Day weekend hubby and I went to the mountains and stayed in a cabin with 10 our friends. Most of our days were spent sitting on the porch looking at the mountains. It was fun, relaxing with people we love. As one quote says, “Friends are the family you choose.”

mountains

Picture 2 – Whoopie pies at a local Business networking mixer
When the local college hosted a business networking mixer, their onsite catering company provided the food. The catering company is none other than Old Main Catering. Their pastry chef makes the BEST whoopie pies. For you who do not know what a whoopie pie is, it is a mound shaped cake that has a delicious filling. It looks like a cookie, but has the texture of cake. Pictured are lemon and chocolate.

whoopie pies

Picture 3 – Belizean restaurant in Los Angeles, CA
Sadly my great-aunt passed away in September (she was 88). The family gathered together in California to attend the funeral. Since my family is from Belize, we went to Belizean Fish Market to pick up food for lunch once everyone was in town. Some of my cousins, I had not seen in years. While we were gathered for a sad occasion, being around family to celebrate her life and love. My favorite menu item: panades! (if you are in LA, go here for delicious authentic Belizean food)

belizean fish market

Picture 4 – Almond Joy inspired mousse
I attended a restaurant menu preview dinner night. The chef is testing recipes before they officially open. One of the dessert items was the Almond Joy inspired mousse. It was delicious! I thought it would be too sweet but it was perfect. The coconut flavor was not overpowering. The cookie provided texture without being too much.

almond joy inspired mousse

Picture 5 – Inflatables & Obstacle course 5K
I signed up to participate in a 5K that included an obstacle course and several inflatables. My friend had as a goal to complete a 5K this year and I decided to do it with her. All together, there were 16 obstacles and 4 inflatables. It was fun and I would do it again. Hopefully next time, it will not be raining. The inflatable pictured was the last one. I was happy that I made it to the end.

inflatables

My love affair with Old Main Catering food

Dec15

It seems that I have a foodie love affair with Old Main Catering. I have at least one blog post each year extolling the great food experiences. I have not had a mediocre experience yet. There is always different gourmet food being offered when OMC caters an event.

Over the summer, I attended several events that Old Main catered and I had to share pictures of my favorites from these events.

In the collage, here are the standouts.

Top left – Teriyaki wings. The flavor was tangy and a little sweet. These were probably the best teriyaki wings I have tasted. Most the time teriyaki can be too sweet and overly salty. With OMC, the balance of savory and sweet left my taste buds wanting more. It was messy to eat, but no one was complaining because it was so delicious.

Bottom left – Fruit water. I liked the presentation and the bright colors of the fruit. Who needs soda when you can have something that is so much more refreshing! Plus, I felt healthy drinking it.

Middle – Banana cream tarts. I have to dissect the dessert for you to fully understand how awesomely good this was. The pie shell was thick, buttery, sweet, flakey, and crumbled in your mouth. It was the perfect pie crust. The banana cream was thick, not too sweet, and had bits of banana in it. The whipped cream on top tasted like REAL whipped heavy cream with a hint of vanilla. And the caramel drizzle was super sweet but there was just enough to compliment all the other flavors without overpowering them. This is what dreams are made of. Sigh….

Top right – Smoked salmon tart. The same pie shell crust for this is as what was used in the banana cream tarts. In this instance, the sweetness of the crust seemed to be intensified in comparison to the savory smoked salmon quiche filling. I was not sure if I would like this because I never had smoked salmon in this way before. Although hesitant, I still tried it because I believe you cannot say you don’t like something if you have not tried it. In this case, I loved it! I ended my dinner by eating two of these tarts. The herbs and smoked salmon came together well.

Bottom right – Tiny apple pie. It was cute and delicious. Wonderful combination! I like bite size confections with hints of spice and fruit and flaky crust.

Bottom right – Key lime pie in chocolate shell. I have mentioned the key lime in chocolate shell before.

The chefs consistently produce creative bite-sized dishes that excite and delight my taste buds. At every event, I was sad that I could not eat more. I know that makes me sound like a little piggy, but OMC food is so good that it is worth a little gluttony.

Excuse me while I look for OMC’s next catered event…

Rainbow Drive-in Honolulu, Hawaii

Apr8

Our first stop in Hawaii was to get something to eat. I already checked to see what Guy Fieri triple D restaurant was between the airport and our hotel: Rainbow Drive In.

I told hubby that was where we were going. He was understandably hesitant because he knew that the quality of triple D restaurant were sometimes hit or miss. We have had awesome experiences and then there have been mediocre ones.

When we arrived, I was excited. I do not let hubby’s lack of enthusiasm affect me. And the crowds of people there bolstered my confidence that this was a good place to eat. I ordered the mahi-mahi plate with fries and coleslaw. Hubby ordered a hamburger.

The best part of the meal was the anticipation. It did not live up to the hype. In the picture is my food. The mahi-mahi was tough like it was overcooked. I think maybe they fried it and had it sitting under heat lamps (I do not know, just guessing). The coleslaw was good. It had a nice vinegary, light peppery taste. The fries were okay-nothing outstanding or special about them. Hubby’s hamburger was one sorry little sad piece of meat between two pieces of bread slathered with their special sauce. To me, it looked like one of those 59 cent burgers from McDonalds.

Hubby said that he was picking the next restaurant meal. Justifiably so. I did not even argue. I felt like I wasted my pick because I bought into what Guy Fieri was selling.

Overall, if you are in Hawaii, do not fall for the hype. The food is average, not spectacular.

BBQ chicken pizza

Jan22

There used to be a Schlotzsky’s in Greenwood about 15 years ago. At that time, I did not fully appreciate what they have to offer.
Fast forward to today, I have fallen in love with their BBQ chicken pizza. I always order with extra BBQ sauce and no onions. The crust is soft with a little crunchy exterior bottom. The jalapeno peppers balance the sweetness of the BBQ sauce. And there is enough cheese and chicken in every bite.

It is delicious.

I felt compelled to share this because I recently ordered a BBQ chicken flatbread pizza from Subway. I thought that if Schlotzsky’s could do it, Subway could too. BUZZZZ!!! Wrong.

The BBQ at Subway was sickly sweet. Yuck. The flatbread was not crispy as if it was undercooked. The chicken tasted like pressed meat. I do not think I can fully convey how much I hate pressed chicken. The texture of it turns my stomach. I was totally disappointed. That bad experience almost turned me off of Subway completely. It did make me come to terms their limitations. Stick to ordering Italian combo sandwich and I will not be dissatisfied.

Whenever I am out of town and I see a Schlotzsky’s, I have to stop and order BBQ chicken pizza. Even if I am not hungry. I will take it home and savor every bite (it reheats well in a toaster oven).

Festival of Discovery – Greenwood SC

Jan21

It does not take a math genius to know that the formula Good People + Good BBQ = GOOD TIME!

At the Festival of Discovery, the focus is all about tasting the best BBQ. Cooks from the surrounding areas have come together to participate in the Kansas City Barbecue Society (KCBS) sanctioned event. The goal of KCBS is to showcase BBQ and promote those who love to BBQ. Across the US, there are KCBS sanctioned events and participants can receive points for their placement in each competition. Some people only compete at the events in their local area. Others will travel hours to compete. If a team travels the KCBS circuit and enters different local competitions, they can accumulate enough points to have the opportunity to get invited to national premier events like the Jack Daniels Invitational competition.

The KCBS judges take their job seriously. They make sure that all the rules are followed to ensure a fair competition for the $20,000 in prize money. There is a 10 minute window to turn in food for each competition category. Even one second outside of the window, disqualifies the entrant team for that particular competition.

In the past, categories that were judged were hash, chicken, brisket, ribs, pulled pork, potato salad, and a category called “Anything But”. In the “Anything But” category, the submission could be anything but BBQ. For this, one team submitted New England Style clam chowder. Not what you would expect at the BBQ competition, but it goes to show that these cooks are versatile in their culinary abilities.

No gas grills allowed. These grills and smokers use wood and charcoal only. Many of the grilling teams prefer a blend of apple and hickory wood.

How does someone get to the point where they want to compete in one of these competitions? I talked to a few teams to learn more about this type of competition.

One team captain was Chip Youngblood of CD’s BBQ and More. His love of cooking dates back to the days when he was 8 years old watching his parents working at the family own business Somebody’s House in Hodges SC. I like that his team reflects his family oriented origins because his wife, children and grandchildren were all there on the team helping in any way they can. See picture below for some shots at his cooking station.

CD’s BBQ and More is one of the original 7 teams that started participated 12 years ago when the Festival of Discovery was formed. He has seen the competition grow from 7 teams to almost 80 teams in 2012. And after about 4 hours of setup, Youngblood is ready to start cooking.

This is not the only place where he competes either. He has awards from other competitions:

2009 Piedmont Blues & Hash Bash (Abbeville, SC) 1st place Hash 2010 Piedmont Blues & Hash Bash (Abbeville, SC) 2nd place Hash 2010 Piedmont Blues & Hash Bash (Abbeville, SC) 3rd place Overall team Michelob Ultra Invitational Rib Cookoff 2nd place

When it was time for food submissions and Taster’s Choice competitions, there were so many complimentary comments made by tasters. I overheard one person say, “That is the best piece of meat I ever had in my mouth.” Another person commented on the “smokiness” and “tenderness” of the meat. In my opinion, the meat had a mild flavor. The meat was tender and fell off of the bone (just the way I like it). It tasted like a balanced blended mix of seasoning and smoky flavor. But even with all the seasoning, the meat could not be considered to have spicy heat.

Overall, there were a lot of talented BBQ cooks at the Festival of Discovery and I enjoyed trying the different styles of BBQ. I will be in line the second weekend in the next July for more delicious BBQ. I will make sure to look for Chip Youngblood for a BBQ plate also. Super yummy.

http://www.festivalofdiscovery.com

http://www.kcbs.us/index.php