Yo Quiero Taco Truck

Friday for lunch, I finally got around to trying West Valley’s infamous Taco Truck (check out AL Eats for their full review). I had one asada, chorizo and al pastor taco and they were all amazing! It was a pretty chill atmosphere (I was the only “gringo” there for the first 15 minutes), no tables, and you just set your drink on the side of the truck. I don’t know if I’d call this (area) “family friendly” (I think the LOML would definitely be scared), but if you and your bros are looking for a place for to get some authentic Mexican “street” tacos, you need to check it out (I bet it’s even better in the Fall, when it’s not 100 some odd degrees out). I didn’t want to kill the mood (and prove to the regulars that I was a newbie), so I didn’t take a picture til I was driving away (but I think this gives you a better idea).

This weekend, Jay and I also took a bro-mantic weekend to PCB, and the highlight (dining-wise*) was Friday night at J. Michael’s. Jay mentioned before that the “Ultimate” roast beef would put Parasol’s to shame . . . and he was right. This sandwich was the JAM!! I couldn’t really tell you that the beef itself was that tasty, but the pepper gravy and onions made the sandwich. (the Pepper (Cole) Slaw was also really good). Just thought you should know in case there were any roast beef bets that needed to be settled.

* Next time you see Jay, get him to tell you the Duncan Donuts Icing story.

José, Can You See??

This weekend Charlie & Courtney invited us to tag along on the tail end of their 5 Year Anniversary ATL weekend . . . to the BRAVES GAME on Sunday!!! I think I’ve been to 2 or 3 Braves games (the last one about 6 years ago), but nothing like this. Our seats came with access to the 755 Delta Club where we ate lunch overlooking the Outfield (BTW, the “Knucksie” was the jam!!)

But nothing has ruined me for watching a baseball game like these seats!!! 4th row, behind home plate!!! These were seriously AWESOME!!

The Braves ended up losing, but we had a great time. And I felt like I was 8 years old. Charlie & Courtney, thank you for the best 5 Year Wedding anniversary present a boy could ask for!!!

In true narcissistic fashion, when we got home, I promptly checked the TV guide to see when the replay came on (luckily, the game was blacked out live).

We watched a little of it tonight after the Bachelorette (OMG!!!!), but got kinda bored after 10 minutes. You can only say “Hey, there we are!!!!” so many times.

Do you see me taking the picture that I posted above???

PS – Who knew there were so many Detroit Tigers fans in ATL??? I felt like it was split 70/30??

Are You There April 16th? It's Me TMF’H

Sorry I haven’t been too bloggy lately. It’s been kinda busy around TMF’H, what with corporate deadlines, catching up from the weekend, trying to get my gym on, and taking in all of the little munchkin’s newfound laughter/giggles/smiles :)

Speaking of NOLA, it was a success!! Sure I completely negated any progress (?) I’ve made at planet fitness, but we ate a lot of tasty food, like this:

Cochon De’lait Po-Boy (w/ Creole-Slaw). It’s basically baby (suckling pig) pulled pork. I did not feel guilty eating this.

The Draft started around 9 am Saturday morning, and I pulled the (lucky) 13th spot (I selected Ryan Howard in the first round). Stephen actually got the party started around 7:30 am Saturday morning with the theme from Ghostbusters, and Stew started making Bloody Mary’s. You can see our (impressive) draft board in the background.

And what trip to Nawlins would be complete without a trip (or two) to Harrah’s Casino. As an ardent supporter of Crown Financial Ministries/Dave Ramsey/basic personal finance, I’m not a big fan of gambling (maybe if I watched 21 again??) but I was able to enjoy watching my buddies gamble without the hassle of losing $200 in ten minutes! PS – I’m not “casting judgment” on anyone who gambles, I’m personally just not “good” at it and therefore don’t like throwing my money away. If you’re able to “bring down the house” more power to ya!!

War Damn Weekend

The LOML and I went to Auburn last weekend.

Why would you go to Auburn for an away game??

DUH!! AUBURN IDOL TRY-OUTS!!!!!!!

Just kidding. We just went for a nice, relaxing weekend at the AU Hotel & Conference Center. Walked around and ate at some of our favourite spots. Funniest sighting of the weekend was an “Aubie has a Posse” t-shirt in the vein of Shepard Fairey.

Here’s a severely over-exposed (err, “artsy”) picture of the pregnant LOML in front of Samford.

PS – Did you know Breeze Way shut down???? Apparently, it’s an India Garden restaurant now!! Gahlee, lucky AU students!!!

(obligatory Paula Deen reference)

This weekend the LOML and I went to Savannah, GA to see our good buddies, Fef, Clay & Wyatt, and also to get a little R&R before the school year starts. This was my first trip to Savannah, but after this weekend, I’d put it in my Top Five cities to live in one day.

Saturday morning, we drove over to the beach at Tybee Island. Savannah doesn’t really feel like a “beach town” and I knew it was surrounded by “marsh land,” but I didn’t know it was so close to a “real” beach (excuse my excessive quotations). It was seriously, the warmest ocean water I’ve ever felt, and the LOML did a great job documenting my first experience skin boarding (I’m sure the picture looks a lot more impressive than I actually was). Saturday night we drove around downtown, walked down River Street (Savannah’s version of Bourbon Street) and had dinner at Huey’s. I don’t know if it was the Miley Cyrus movie filming in town, but Savannah was HOPPING Saturday night!!

After church on Sunday, we left Fef & Clay and headed to the 1895 Inn. I found it on Trip Advisor, and after reading 5 Star review after 5 Star review (there were literally nothing but 5 Star reviews), I booked us a night in the “Sovereign Room” (apparently, the Mrs. and I have turned into “B&B people”). Ed, the owner, was hilarious, informative and an all around great host (he and the Mrs. talked about interior design for about 30 minutes if that gives you any idea about "fabulous" Ed). The Inn could double as an art museum, and had an original Picasso, Toulouse-Laurtrec (the LOML knew that one, not me), and Thomas Hart Benton (Jackson Pollack’s mentor) amongst others.

After checking in, we walked around downtown, took touristy pictures, any had dinner at Six Pence Pub. The food was pretty mediocre, but they did have tasty Fat Tire Ale (in 22 oz bottles!). And for all you JULIA fans, this is where they filmed a scene in Something to Talk About (I had no idea, but the LOML told me).

Speaking of touristy pictures, the “Life is like a box of chocolates” scene from Forrest Gump was also filmed in Savannah at the Chippewa Square. The actual bench was a prop, but we acted out the scene on a random bench that looked pretty good. After dinner, we got ice cream at Leopold’s (famous for creating the flavor that inspired the song “Tutti Fruitti” . . . I got a sample, but I didn’t think it warranted a full scoop). One of the founder’s sons, Stratton Leopold, grew up to be a big time Hollywood producer, and the place is covered in REALLY random movie posters (Bless the Child, the General’s Daughter, Paycheck, Tango & Cash).

Savannah is probably the most pedestrian friendly city and has 21 town squares with little parks and monuments, etc. The Mrs. was a good sport Monday morning while we took our own walking tour of the city. We passed by Flannery O’Connor’s childhood home, saw the fountain at Forsyth Park and walked by Mrs. Wilke's Dining Room (and the line that went out the door). We grabbed lunch at SoHo South Café, then went to the SCAD bookstore and headed back home.

Did anyone else know SCAD is only like 30 years old?? Yeah, me neither, and the school has pretty much taken over downtown. The LOML got a SCAD t-shirt and I got some sweet SCAD sweat pants (I’m sure if they were Sean John, it would be no problem).

Life's Worth Living in Fort Smith, Arkansas

Hello from beautiful Fort Smith, Arkansas!!! That’s right, nine years after I came to “Hell on the Border” for a CUTCO regional training; I am back . . . And ready to count some fishing lures (seriously)!!! Now for those of you who haven’t been to the Ft. Smith Regional Airport, it is straight out of a 1980’s Southern Baptist church foyer. But I shouldn’t rag on Ft. Smith. Janice at the Budget rental car was super friendly. And the Courtyard here seems well kept and relatively new.

If I had more time to explore, I might visit Miss Laura’s Social Club, the only former “house of ill-repute” that is on the National Register of Historic Places!! Somehow, I don’t think a souvenir t-shirt would be appropriate at the next church family picnic.

I had a brief layover in Memphis and treated myself to half a rack of ribs at Jim Neely’s Interstate BBQ (I usually opt for pulled pork). I love me some BBQ. If someone asks me where to eat BBQ in Memphis, I’ll recommend Interstate over Rendezvous (OVERRATED!) every time.

I know people say this all the time, but the meat fell off the bone! I’m no BBQ expert, but apparently you don’t want your BBQ to fall off the bone?? I still thought they tasted great. The slaw was chopped fine, a bit runny, but still got me a little nostalgic. The baked beans (with smoky pieces of pulled pork) were awesome. The sweet tea, ehhh . . . sorry Memphis, Birmingham has ya beat.

Also on the flight from BHM to Memphis, was University of Wisconsin’s head wrestling coach, Barry Davis. Very nice gentleman, and we had a good discussion about Malcolm Gladwell (I started Blink on the flight . . . finished Moneyball last Friday). I guess you never know when you’re going to sit next to an Olympic Medalist???

Chillin' at the Hampton Inn

In addition to hanging out with Mimi & Op last weekend, the LOML and I also went to see Brad & Elle in the Big Apple!! We actually drove into NYC Saturday morning and then rode with BLEE to the Hamptons (cue P. Diddy). That’s right; we were rubbing elbows with Billy & Katie Lee (ooops!!) and rolling 26’s on the Bentley!!

Saturday we went to the Barefoot Contessa’s favorite Farmer’s Market (no lie), hung out at the pool, walked around downtown East Hampton, had $5 ice cream cones, and caught up on all our Condé Nast publications. BLEE is renting their house (in Amagansett) with another couple and the wife is a kitchen manager for Martha Stewart. We quickly tricked her into cooking dinner for us Saturday night. OMG, I could have eaten this Chimichurri sauce on my Top-Siders for dinner, it was that good (don’t worry; I’ll recreate it for yall later in the summer)!!!

Sunday we drove up to Montauk and had lunch at Lunch (while Lunch may be world famous for the Lobster Rolls, their website is HTML-lame!). When in Rome, I decided to do as the Hamptonians do and had one of their world famous Lobster Rolls.

Can I be honest?? The roll was the best part (hot, buttery and delicious) of the sandwich. Maybe I was expecting it to be the best food I ever put in my mouth, but the Lobster was really just alright for me, dawg. I mean, I’m glad I tried it, but I don’t get all the hype?? After lunch, we walked on the beach, took various awkward family photos, and then went for a drink and people watching at the Surf Lodge.

The thing that struck me about the Hamptons was how LUSH and GREEN everything was! It’s not like the usual beach towns you’re used to. Everything is covered in thick hedges and tall trees (no palm trees). It’s very New England-y and a bit Euro-rustic. We saw some crazy big houses (mostly covered in those thick 20 ft hedges), but I think everyone would be just as happy on the Florida or Carolina coast.

The LOML and I had a great time and loved hanging out with BLEE (along with Boston Rob and Alison!!). Thank yall again for having us and hopefully it won’t be 2 years before we fellowship again!!! OMK!!

Greetings from TMF'H

So last weekend, the LOML and I took a mini-vacation to the Tri-State Region. We haven’t been up to see my grandparents since their 50th Wedding Celebration (a little over two years ago) and really wanted to fly up to the Garden State for a visit. We had a FANTASTIC dinner at Reggiano’s Thursday night (I really want to recreate the prosciutto and fontina wrapped asparagus) and also went to my Aunt & Uncle’s Friday night for a cook-out with my cousins.

In addition to being two kind, generous, and loving people, Mimi & Op are both really hip and “with it” (Mim is an avid Facebooker (and Blog commenter!), and although Op can’t stand Conan or Dave, he thinks Craig Ferguson is pretty funny). Friday afternoon, Mimi took the LOML and me on a tour of NJ (Montclair, Glenn Ridge, Livingston, etc.) where we drove past my grandparents’ old homes, and also stopped at a Border’s (Mim said we could each pick out two items). I don’t care if you’re 7 or 27, it’s still exciting to pick out a toy (or book, rather) with your grandmother. I picked up When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris and A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg.

This was my first foray into David Sedaris, but I’m sure everyone else has been reading him for years (Did you know his sister was Amy Sedaris from Strangers with Candy??). I was walking through the store, contemplating my next choice, when I told the LOML I was thinking of getting this book, because I heard he was funny. One of the Border’s employees was like “OMG, he is hilarious, you have to get this book!” so I took the plunge and picked it up. He is known for his dry, self-depricating humour and reminds me a lot of Larry David. As a bonus, Mim also gave me her old copies of Barrel Fever, Me Talk Pretty One Day, and Naked!!! (I told you she was “with it”)

Molly Wizenberg is the author of the popular Orangette food blog. I added her to my Google Reader last Fall, and although she’s taken a hiatus from blogging (as of 5/18/09), you should still poke around there for some good reading. I didn’t really know if this book was going to be a memoir or a cook book (it’s kind of both), but after the food blogging community was raving about it a few months ago, I thought I’d check it out. I read the first 4 or 5 recipes (each has a 2-3 page background story) and I’ll try and post some recipes here in the (near?) future. Also, if you’re (blog-stalkers) ever in Seattle, Molly and her husband are set to open a sweet pizza joint, Delancey, in the “late spring”??

Thanks again for everything, Mimi & Op!! We love you!!

I'm thinking Po' Boys

If there is one thing I’m a sucker for, it’s trying food and/or restaurants that have been featured in magazines (preferably “foodie” magazines, not US Weekly, etc.)

This past Saturday I flew down to NOLA to catch the tail end of our Fantasy Baseball League’s Live Draft/Man-Weekend. Aside from hanging out with a bunch of close dude friends (and staying at Stewart’s sweet house), the highlight of the weekend was trying a Roast Beef po’ boy at Parasol’s Restaurant & Bar. Sound familiar?? This month’s issue of Gourmet magazine did a feature on “the Best Roast Beef Sandwich on Earth” . . . Parasol’s was the first place they wrote about.*

First, I’ve got to thank Stew and everyone else again for going back to Parasol’s Saturday night for dinner (everyone went on Friday whilst I was at home, anticipating another Saturday morning at the office). Per Stew suggestion, I went halvsies on the Roast Beef and fried Oyster Po’ boys with Whaley which was a delicious idea. Truth be told, the fried Oyster Po’ Boy was a better sandwich. I guess I pictured more of a “deli” style roast beef sandwich (like what Arby’s in Heaven will be like) as opposed to the pot-roast variety Parasol’s served up. Don’t get me wrong, it was a tasty sandwich, and I’d recommend it just for the experience, but I’ll be ordering another fried Oyster (or Shrimp!) Po’ Boy next time I’m there . . .

* A few months ago, we were reading up on Garden & Gun’s “100 Southern Foods You Absolutely, Positively Must Try Before You Die” . . .  Parasol’s Roast Beef Po' boy was on their list as well!

Soylent Green is Asheville

Oh man, I’m sure I could really bore you readers with a long detailed itinerary of our weekend in Asheville, NC, and how sweet that town is, but I’ll try my best to keep your attention! Let me try and break it down DDT style.

1) We stayed at the Beaufort House Victorian Inn (my first time at a B&B). It’s funny because you feel like you have to whisper and tip-toe down the stairs because the house creaked like a 100 year old house would. Both of us enjoyed the friendly conversations we had with the other guests at the breakfast table each morning (how random is it we ran into a couple from Troy, OH, where my grandparents live?). We also found out Charlton Heston rented a room here for 6 months in the 1940s.

2) If you had asked me before how exciting I thought a 110 year old house could be, I probably would have shrugged and said, Ehhhh, but seriously the Biltmore is a really cool place (and attracts over 1M visitors a year). The nation’s largest private residence opened in 1895 and had a bowling alley, an indoor swimming pool and 43 bathrooms before most Americans even had electricity in their homes. The audio tour was key and gave me all sorts of new trivia I would otherwise have had to find on Wikipedia . . .

3) In addition to tourists, this town was full of hippies and/or artsy folks. The Mrs. and I played a fun (for me) game called “Count the Subarus” . . . I think we lost count after we saw 5 on one neighborhood street (approximately 75% with Obama bumper stickers). Asheville was also home to Kenny George (of the UNC Asheville Bulldogs), the world’s tallest (7’7”) college basketball player. Sadly, KG had to undergo a career ending surgery on his foot earlier in the year. Another notable AVL resident: Memphis transplant Greg Cartwright (of the Reigning Sound, Compulsive Gamblers, Oblivians, etc.). Oh, you wanted street cred? I saw them Live at Legba Records (TBHS record release – Summer 2002).

4) Twice a year, all the local artists open up their studios (housed in dilapidated old warehouses and factories) for the River Arts District Studio Stroll. We actually didn’t know this was going until Saturday night, but got to see some really interesting stuff Sunday morning. I’d love to see Birmingham “gentrify” an older area like this, I think they’ve started on 2nd Ave North . . .

5) My one regret of the weekend . . . Not having enough time to try all the restaurants! We had dinner Friday at the Corner Kitchen, and Saturday at Fig (Oh, man, the Bass with baby bok choy). Both excellent meals, but I wish we had more time for Bouchon, Table, Salsa’s, Tupelo Honey, 12 Bones, Wasabi, Laughing Seed, Bistro 1896, the list really could keep going and going . . .

Ok, I just have to say one other thing about Asheville . . . Chocolate Fetish! Recognized by the LA Times as one of America’s Best, this Chocolate Shop (get your mind out of the gutter) makes gourmet truffles (at $2 a pop) with some exotic ingredients (Wasabi; Basil & Pistachio; Cayenne Pepper). The French Kiss was hands down the best we tried . . . Dragon’s Kiss was a little too funky cold medina for me . . .

And there you have it, my longest post to date . . . Hope I didn’t bore you all and seriously . . . go visit Asheville!