My "F" (Fonda San Miguel)

I will keep this brief.

I was so incredibly excited to try Fonda; unfortunately, the service on my visit was poor enough to severely cloud any positivity toward the food or any other part of the visit.

Yep, I do indeed write less-than-gloating posts. Sorry. Overrated.

My "E" (East Side Pies)

Nothing says food-gasm like the "Mojo": handmade meatballs seasoned and formed to perfection with bacon, sun dried tomatoes, jalapeno, and cilantro on thin-crusted pesto slices of deliciousness.

High five East Side Pies. High. Freakin. Five.

Particularly special because I got the chance to spend time with my Sweetheart. Once again the slices were halfway down our throats before the camera snapped a shot :)

Random Acts of Kindness (RAK) Week 2

I'm a bit behind in general posting, but regardless of whether it is shared or not I've still immensely enjoyed my RAK project. Week 2 was an easy decision for me - it was something I had planned for a while but I was waiting on timing and a paycheck to hit.

I scheduled a visit to see my Grandmother this summer over July 4th holiday. I tried being creative and origami-ing the itinerary to tuck into a card, but the attempts were lumps of folded mess so I opted for a straight-forward handwritten card.

My mother's mother passed away when I was very young, and maybe that contributes to some of the closeness I feel toward my paternal Grandmother. Far more than attachment of being the surviving family matriarch, though, I fully credit her with the genetic basis for my intelligence, wit, carefree but responsible attitude, and most other positive characteristics passed via my father and manifested in yet another generation: Me.

I was beyond blessed to spend time with her last year over a weekend and told myself I would again make a trip, regardless of money or time needed to squeeze every beautiful second I reasonably can with her. She is fighting for her life right now. Nothing dulls the news of serious illness in a family member, particularly someone so close to your heart.

She has always believed in me, always assured me that I can do and reach whatever I want, and never issued even a whisper of discouragement. The beautiful memories of childhood visits to her house on the Maryland beach survive carefully tucked away in my mind and I made it my mission to not let anything - money, excuses, "no time" - come between developing even more fond moments. Not for anyone dear to me, and especially her.

It's hard to call it an act of kindness but maybe we'll just tag it as a deeply-deserved moment of love. She is and will always be my hero. Cannot wait for July to roll around.

My "C" (Contigo)

My first visit to Contigo was for my birthday on their "un-Valentine's" party. It was a unique buffet-style setup that was good-food-but-better-company-type night. Either way, I knew I wanted to return.

I was blessed to go with my friend curiousnotions. I'm embarrassed to say, but I dug into half the plates before even getting a quick pic (a combination of hunger and the food-porn spread going on in front of me). At her recommendation, and my partial unease, we started with Ox Tongue Sliders and Fried Green Beans.

You might be thinking right now "Ox Tongue? Seriously?!" Even if you're not sure - DO IT.

Chicken Thighs and Cauliflower Gratin were equally as yummy. I used to have a thing about cooked cauliflower: smell, texture, something like that is just wasn't appetizing at all. Contigo and Barley Swine have both really impressed me with their dishes, though, aaaaalmost enough to try getting some cauliflower creativity in my own kitchen started.

Or maybe another day.

Random Acts of Kindness (RAK) Week 1

Among the many food challenges and other resolutions I have mid-year challenged myself to look outside my own world, and sometimes my own circles of friends and influences and make someone else's life a little happier. I'm going to try and find at least 1 thing/week to share.

It would be great to pass the contagion on to others - to think about and offer out random acts of kindness - for your friends/for strangers but in any case it's my own personal journey and I can't wait!

Some of these offerings will be free, some will cost a few dollars, and others will be a personal sacrifice for me. For every act, though, I hope to enrich my life by finding a focus outside of myself. Very excited for this --- we'll see how it goes!

Week 1 (I'm a little behind): Green cookies on St. Paddy's Day to the local fire department who I KNOW is acutely-familiar with my apartment complex :)
The recipe was from the back of the Costco chocolate chip bag (like 8 pounds!) I had the wild idea to buy? A little lotta green food coloring and voila! They were still warm when I dropped them off...

My "D" (Dan's Hamburgers)

At some point I had to add a burger joint to the list.

While it may be a topic for another time I decided to not go down the road of which divorcee serves the best food - Dan's/Fran's , Tino's/Zorba's , etc. - and opted for the North Lamar Dan's Hamburgers.

The epic people-watching that occurred during this visit was almost as good as the food itself. Everyone from (what I think were) college students in a state that induced the munchies to gentler souls that probably ate at Dan's back in 1973 to first-timers like me, the range of clientele at least made this a promising find. I took some jalapeno cheeseburgers to-go and opted for the curly fries (a no-brainer).

I can't be sure, but the flavor and slight crunch of the jalapenos led me to believe they were fresh until the point they wound up on the skillet when my order came in. Fifteen minutes later I was wishing I'd sat right then and there and not taken to-go...

Not disappointed. Will be coming back - and maybe even checking out their breakfast - another day.

Birthdays

If there's one thing I do well it's revenge...

For my birthday last month, I came home to glow in the dark birthday balloons and a Duck Dynasty sheet cake. Disclaimer: I've never in my life even seen Duck Dynasty.

Lucky for me, my brother's birthday comes a cool 1 month after mine. Plenty of time to plan.

I recruited the help of the girls over at Cupprimo to carry out my plan #siblingrivalry

Favorite: Red Velvet w/cream cheese frosting. Good things were happening in my body when I ate this one. The strawberry had the best natural strawberry flavor in cupcake and frosting I've ever had. I lost out on trying the blue velvet... [Boooooo!] Double chocolate and Primo vanilla? Who does the "standards" well?!

Respect ladies. Mad respect.

Before and After.

Hive Five Cupprimo.