jeffery's

before heading home from sf we stopped off in menlo park for burgers at jeffery's. here is a picture of my meal and yes my burger is well done:

i'd like to take a moment to recognize and tell you just how perfect their chocolate shake is.

i'm on a boat

i was up early today despite not wanting to sail because of the weather but we drove to san fansisco and set out for our day on the bay. i'm glad i decided to go with elle and the main asian but i did come home and crash hard. i slept for 4 1/2 hours since i'm still recovering from our crazy weekend in vegas.

lady antebellum

after a long day in the office a few of my friends from work and i had a concert to attend. before heading to oakland we ate dinner at tito's in san leandro. i settled on the chile verde dinner plate which was good but not great. i did like that the pork was chopped into smaller bit sized pieces but the flavor just didn't leave a lasting impression on me. i did however really enjoy their chips and salsa.

we took bart to oakland to see lady antebellum at the fox theater. we arrived right on time to hear the opener david nail kick the night off. david did a decent job but his sound was a little off, not his voice but the sound at the venue so i felt a little bad for him. since there are only a few of his songs i knew it was hard to get excited by his stage presence. i will say now that i've seen him live it makes me want to get his cd cause the songs he sang i really liked.

when lady antebellum took the stage they came out swinging. they were on a high from their visit to at&t park only hours before where they sang the national anthem at the world series. i feel like their performance average and worth seeing if you can find tickets for the right price. the venue is beautiful and it could've been the seats we had but for some reason the fox theaters sound was not on point for lady a either. my favorite part of the night was the solo songs sung by each of the 3 members, mostly because i love that they share the spotlight and that they each sing.

slider bar

so i didn't find this spot but i was brought to this spot by a few of my new friends. it's a sports bar/slider bar and their menu has a fun spin on sliders. you get to choose not only the kind of slider but you also order the number of sliders. tonight i felt like pulled pork so i ordered the pork sliders with a side of sweet potato fries. i'll be back slider bar, i'll be back!!

memphis style natural pulled pork bbq slider - artisan white bun, barbecue pulled pork, cole slaw

frrrozen hot chocolate

serendipity 3 is home to the famous frozen hot chocolate. while in new york last year liz and i failed on our attempt to partake of this frozen delight, sadly their two hour wait didn't fit into our flight schedule. lucky for us we had an opportunity while in vegas to get our frozen fix filled. it was as delicious as i'd expected and it tasted exactly like what the name states. hot chocolate gets dumped into a blender and then mixed with ice. poured directly from a blender to a cup then brought to your table, all the while chocolate oozes off the sides from the melting ice... yummy! when/if i ever get a chance to order this treat again i will ask for no chocolate shavings on top since it wasn't my favorite.

before
afterbrenda and i shared the original for two while liz and the main asian shared the double chocolate for two.

pink's

most of you already know that i'm a yo yo dieter.. yo hot dog man, yo pass the peanuts, yo give me some hot sauce with that, yo i need a coke.

today was no different. after finishing our adventure at the paris buffet only 2hrs before i had my heart set on pink's. it's a hot dog spot that for me was a must eat before heading home. the original location is in la but it's always packed and i'm never willing to wait in the line. since there was no line at the vegas location it was well worth my time to stop in and see what the big fuss was about. i ordered the bbq & cole slaw hot dog with chili cheese fries. the fries were a mouthwatering mess which is exactly what i wanted when i saw them on their menu. the hot dog however was a disappointment. pink's cole slaw was very wet and it didn't taste like it was freshly prepared. the hot dog on it's own had a great flavor but when paired with their disgusting cole slaw the great flavor was lost. i ended up scraping off all that i could but the slaw tainted my first experience at pink's plus it made my bun soggy. for my next visit to pink's i'll stick with a standard chili cheese dog.

buffet of buffets

clockwise liz, me, brenda and strawberry shortcake. that's the main asians back, she is waiting in line to purchase her wristband.

for our buffet of buffet tour we started at harrah's then moved our way across the strip to the rio and finished our 24 hour food fare at paris.

for lunch on saturday we landed at harrah's. although they had the worst food by far during our tour of buffets we did have the most fun at this spot. thankfully i didn't need to eat much since i ate an order of asian nachos not long before we ventured over to the buffet. despite their less than average food we all enjoyed the rad 80's station they had playing. we even made friends with a couple at a neighboring table who loved our enthusiasm and energy as we sang or shared stories about each song played during our short stop. i would recommend picking a different buffet since the food here wasn't worth the time we spent. at least the atmosphere was delightful and my favorite part besides the company and music was of course the bacon.

thankfully we decided not to walk to the rio and were able to hitch a ride from harrah's. naturally we made friends with people next to us in line so this made the bus waiting experience worth it. once we arrived at rio we were overwhelmed with the amount of food in comparison to previous buffet at harrah's. it was station after station of food upon food. i was so excited that i started my trip off with two plates since i couldn't settle on where to start i opted to get a little of everything. the amount of food aside this buffet was several huge steps above the quality of the food at harrah's. they didn't have any food out of the ordinary from the typical buffets but the rio did it right and we found ourselves eating more than we should have.

rio round one:
rio round two:
for the last of our stops on the wrist band tour we picked paris. it was close to were we stayed and we were hungry!! they had the longest line to be seated but it was well worth our time. some of the things that made this buffet the best on our trip was the duck confit, gruyere mac & cheese, crepes made to order and creme brulee. i mean if you can make these dishes for the masses and still make them good then they deserve to be a stop on my buffet tour.

this is my first helping at paris, yes i went back for more.

this is brenda's plate of dessert, mine was devoured before i thought about taking a picture (the evidence left behind of my crepe and dessert plate were not pretty!).

thank you buffet of buffets for keeping my belly full and mostly satisfied for a full 24 hours.

grand lux

the grand lux was started by the founder of the cheesecake factory and has the same type of menu. this means everyone can find something they like because the menu continues page after page plus there is something for everyone no matter what food mood you are in.

here are pictures of my double stuffed potato spring rolls and polynesian salad.

i started the meal with an appetizer that elle and i shared. i'm sure these tasty potato rolls were double stuffed with love especially for me. yep i said it stuffed with love because someone loved me enough to create such a toothsome treat. here is the description from off the menu:

double stuffed potato spring rolls - creamy mashed potatoes with a touch of green onion, rolled in crispy asian wrappers topped with melted cheddar, applewood smoked bacon and served with sour cream.

for dinner i ordered a salad because once i saw this on the menu i knew it had to be mine. it was like the chef knew me personally and he created this salad with me in mind. there are so many of my favorite things in this dish thrown onto one plate.

polynesian salad - grilled chicken breast tossed with mixed greens, red and yellow peppers, red onions, jicama, snap peas, cucumber, mango, macadamia nuts, cilantro and apricot-pineapple vinaigrette.

hats off to the chef who created a scrumptious array of dishes. i admire and respect you for your willingness to push the food envelope and for thinking outside the box.

asian nachos

don't ask, just trust cause these are a must!

grand lux cafe is located at the venetian so it was only natural that it was my to go spot for the entire weekend. in fact i ate here a total of four times during my four day stop in las vegas. for two of my four stops at the grand lux i ordered the asian nachos. my friend from work told me about these and when he did i was slightly confused because those two words just seemed odd when placed next to one another, especially when talking about food. once i ordered the nachos and took a bite i was hooked. after trying this dish i quickly learned that this is anything but odd and that i feel it's my duty to shout from the rooftops and spread the word about this creative dish. seriously, do yourself a favor and check these bad boys out!!  the nachos consist of crispy fried wontons covered with chicken in a sweet-hot peanut sauce and topped with wasabi cream and melted cheese.

sober girls around me actin-actin like they drunk

seven of us girls went dancing at a club called tao. it's located upstairs near the grand canal shoppes at the venetian, it's one of the hot spots in vegas so of course we had to check it out. the venue was cool and for the most part the music was good and the dj was cute. the bad thing about this place is because it's a hot spot it was crowded and it's not big enough to accommodate the masses that flocked there. one of the really sweet things about tao is that when we were leaving the handed out flip flops to all the ladies, i thought this was a perfect idea because after a night of dancing in heels it's hard to walk. actually now that i think about this clever idea i'm almost certain they do it because all the drunk girls can't walk in heels after a long night of drinking and dancing.

i picked this song because my friends and i don't need alcohol to have a fun evening. we danced and partied until 5am when we returned back to the hotel room.

postrio

we ate at wolfgang puck's restaurant called postrio for dinner. i ordered the pancetta wrapped meatloaf, potato puree, mushroom gravy, buttermilk onion rings.

overall the meal was palatable but it wasn't as well executed as i would have expected from wolfgang puck. the meatloaf was good and there was some type of balsamic vinegar on the plate that enhanced the flavor of the meat. the mushroom gravy was also good (i ordered the mushrooms on the side) but the onion rings were softer than i prefer.

* i didn't even realize until this moment that both my meals for today had pancetta in them.

just outside the restaurant there was a gelato shop where we ordered dessert. i forgot to get a picture of my tropical smoothie.

tastes of the world

it was only natural that i would need to stop at the coke store in vegas since it was so close and located on the strip. after perusing the store the main asian and i found a coke bar upstairs and decided to order the tastes of the world. it consists of 16 popular sodas from different countries around the globe.

the absolute worst soda by far was the beverly which is found in italy. really... italy? this surprised me because so many great dishes come from italy, so how is it possible that they can get a soda so wrong? maybe it's because the only liquids they care about are made from grapes. since soda is not made from grapes they just don't care that it tastes like liquid dirt. the best soda was inca cola from peru. i've had inca cola before and didn't love it but when it was compared to the other 15 flavors it won by a landslide.

kgb

when we landed the main asian and i hit the ground running. we dropped off our bags to our room at the venetian then ran next door to KGB or kerry's gourmet burger at harrah's. we ordered two appetizers since we couldn't choose between them and i'm certainly glad we did!

fried mac & cheese sticks:

these sticks must have been made in cheese heaven then send down to earth to torture me. they had a perfect coating of breading, it was just enough to keep the cheese cased in and give each bite a little crunch. the inside was both creamy and cheesy mixed with the right consistency of pasta that just melts in your mouth. i hope that this appetizer sweeps the nation so that everyone gets a chance to taste cheese in one it's perfect forms.

fried dill pickle spears:

if you have never had a fried pickle you are truly missing out! i've had them a few times prepared differently each time. some have been good but these fried spears were off the charts, i even dare to say a grand slam. batting coated the pickle, then fried it in grease and served with a peppercorn ranch dip filled the three bases then add the filled bases to their quality selection of dill pickles just sends the ball sailing out of the park and all the runners home.

my burger:

i ordered the special that wasn't on the menu but was recommended to me by our waiter. it was an italian burger topped with bruschetta, pancetta and mozzarella. just typing those words make my mouth salivate. that being said i feel like i should explain that normally i'm not a fan of uncooked tomatoes. never do i order dishes with uncooked or non dried tomatoes as a main ingredient. however this bruschetta was too good to scrap off and when combined with these other flavors it was a necessity. each element of this burger was perfectly executed and my fingers remain crossed that kerry will open a kgb's in the bay area sometime soon.

i guess it's true what they say:

throwback thursday - back that @$$ up

this song was the jam when i was younger and hitting the clubs hard. since i'm going to vegas tomorrow and will be dancing i thought i should use the opportunity to reminisce on the days when i started backing it up in the clubs, holla!!

butternut squash lasagna

sorry no pictures of this being made so you'll have to wait until next time i make it to see. this recipe is courtesy of giada de laurentiis and can be found on the food network.

ingredients
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 (1 1/2 to 2-pound) butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1-inch cubes
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup water
• 3 amaretti cookies, crumbled (I skip this and just added a little sugar to the squash)
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 1/2 cups whole milk
• Pinch nutmeg
• 3/4 cup (lightly packed) fresh basil leaves
• 12 no-boil lasagna noodles
• 2 1/2 cups shredded whole-milk mozzarella cheese
• 1/3 cup grated parmesan

directions
heat the oil in a heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. add the squash and toss to coat. sprinkle with salt and pepper. pour the water into the skillet and then cover and simmer over medium heat until the squash is tender, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes. cool slightly and then transfer the squash to a food processor. add the amaretti cookies and blend until smooth. season the squash puree, to taste, with more salt and pepper.

melt the butter in a heavy medium-size saucepan over medium heat. add the flour and whisk for 1 minute. gradually whisk in the milk. bring to a boil over medium-high heat. reduce the heat to medium and simmer until the sauce thickens slightly, whisking often, about 5 minutes. whisk in the nutmeg. cool slightly. transfer half of the sauce to a blender*. add the basil and blend until smooth. return the basil sauce to the sauce in the pan and stir to blend. season the sauce with salt and pepper, to taste.

position the rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 375 degrees F.

lightly butter a 13 by 9 by 2-inch glass baking dish. spread 3/4 cup of the sauce over the prepared baking dish. arrange 3 lasagna noodles on the bottom of the pan. spread 1/3 of the squash puree over the noodles. sprinkle with 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese. drizzle 1/2 cup of sauce over the noodles. repeat layering 3 more times.

tightly cover the baking dish with foil and bake the lasagna for 40 minutes. sprinkle the remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses over the lasagna. continue baking uncovered until the sauce bubbles and the top is golden, 15 minutes longer. let the lasagna stand for 15 minutes before serving.

*when blending hot liquids: remove liquid from the heat and allow to cool for at least 5 minutes. transfer liquid to a blender or food processor and fill it no more than halfway. if using a blender, release one corner of the lid. this prevents the vacuum effect that creates heat explosions. place a towel over the top of the machine, pulse a few times then process on high speed until smooth.

four years strong

after the release of four year strong's rise or die trying album i went to see them in april of 2008 at slim’s in san francisco. their performance was crazy good! i did so much jumping and screaming that i didn't leave the show with an ounce of energy remaining in me. i haven't listened to much of their other cds since i can't move past this one but they are playing tonight in sf.

kimbra

if you don't know, you better ask somebody!  kimbra is coming full force and one day she'll hit the radio like whoa!

dang it!!

here is what i missed out on this weekend at the treasure island music festival:

ike's, anthony's & fog city

instead of waiting around for our sandwiches to be made we drove to anthony's cookies. i'm so glad we did because these cookies were off the hook! meaning that these cookies are the cookies that the other cookies are jealous of and that all wish to be. i would like to know what anthony does so right that the rest of us are not on board with but keep it up anthony, keep it up. they melted in my mouth even though they weren't fresh out of the oven. speaking of fresh out the oven.. i wonder if this is something i can make happen? if this is possible i'm totally on board. i ate 2 toffee cookies, a chocolate chip cookie and 1/2 a cookies-n-cream followed by a milk chaser. i loved the toffee cookies and didn't even want to try the other flavors cause i loved toffee so much. don't get me wrong i like other flavors but i was sold on toffee and wasn't interested in deviating from my plan. despite my better judgement i did. when i bit into that chocolate chip cookie and fell in love. at that moment i somehow wished that each cookie i'd previously eaten was chocolate chip instead of toffee. don't get me wrong i like chocolate chip cookies just fine but these were better than i could have imagined. D E L E C T A B L E

finally i made my way to ike's place for a sandwich and i can now cross it off my must try list. it had been taunting me for awhile now and i am so happy my wait is over. it took me way too long to settle on my sandwich choice but i am 100% satisfied with my decision, well i should say rocawear's decision. there were several sandwiches on my radar but rocawear stepped up and narrowed it down to two. that is right two. we each ordered the nacho boy (hot roast beef, avocado and swiss) on dutch crunch with jalapeno chips and then ordered a super luigi (beef meatballs, stuffed jalapeno poppers and marinara) to share.

before eating we zipped over to fog city diner to order fries and eat our sandwiches. not just any fries but the much talked about hand cut truffled french fries topped with asiago cheese. seriously, could this day get any better? the fries were good but sadly they weren't great. the flavor was there but they could have used a few extra minutes of cooking to make them crisper. alos, the manager at fog city came out and told us we couldn't eat our sandwiches inside the restaurant because of health code violations. FALSE. he just didn't like the fact that we were eating ike's and didn't bring him any. i ended up waiting until i got home to eat my sandwich but every bite was well worth the wait!!

thanks rocawear for introducing me to new flavors today!!

linguine w/butternut squash, bacon & goat cheese

this dish turned out so delicious and i am totally gonna make it again, thanks real simple for the recipe.

ingredients
• 6 slices bacon
• 1, 2 to 2 1/2 pound butternut squash, peeled, seeded & diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 4 ounces soft goat cheese, crumbled
• 1 1-pound package linguine, cooked
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

directions
1. cook the bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until crisp, about 5 minutes. drain on a paper towel, then crumble or break into pieces; set aside.
2. drain all but about 2 tablespoons of the bacon fat from the skillet. add the squash and garlic to the skillet and sauté over medium heat for 3 to 5 minutes. stir in the broth and salt. cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the squash is cooked through and softened, 20 to 25 minutes. add half the goat cheese and stir well to combine.
3. place the cooked linguine in a large bowl. stir the sauce into the linguine and toss well to coat. drizzle with the olive oil and add the reserved bacon, the remaining goat cheese, and the pepper. serve immediately.

chicken adobo

chicken thighs (bone in)
1/8 cup water
3/4 cup soy sauce
3/4 cup white vinegar
1 clove crushed garlic
7 peppercorn balls
2 bay leaves
1/2 tbls. sugar

since i don't use recipes for my own dishes these are estimates rather than exact measurements. for the chicken i skin them and wash them before i cook them. i prefer skinless chicken for this dish because i don't like soggy chicken skin unless it's fried but i guess that means it's no longer soggy. anyhow just add the chicken to the pot of liquids and cook on med until the chicken is cooked all the way through. i serve it with steamed rice and pour some of the juices over the rice.

crepes take one

tonight we made crepes. i didn't do much to help but there really isn't much to do so i guess i'm off the hook. they turned out to be good but we've got a long way to go before we can sell these things as a career but hey we have to start somewhere. this recipe is from alton brown found on the food network website.

ingredients
• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 cup flour
• 3 tablespoons melted butter
• butter, for coating the pan

directions
in a blender, combine all of the ingredients and pulse for 10 seconds. place the crepe batter in the refrigerator for 1 hour. his allows the bubbles to subside so the crepes will be less likely to tear during cooking. the batter will keep for up to 48 hours.

heat a small non-stick pan. add butter to coat. pour 1 ounce of batter into the center of the pan and swirl to spread evenly. cook for 30 seconds and flip. cook for another 10 seconds and remove to the cutting board. lay them out flat so they can cool. continue until all batter is gone. after they have cooled you can stack them and store in sealable plastic bags in the refrigerator for several days or in the freezer for up to two months. when using frozen crepes, thaw on a rack before gently peeling apart.

my tender heart in a blender

i would swallow my pride, i would choke on the rinds,
but the lack thereof would leave me empty inside

griffins

i would like to say first and foremost that peter seriously scored big when he snagged lois who is such a babe. she is truly the complete package. i'm not sure what he did to deserve such a catch but he must be doing something right.

lois: peter, did you paste a new picture of yourself on our wedding picture?
peter: yeah i think it looks better.
lois: you pasted it over me.
peter: yeah i think it looks better.

does my opinion count for anything? cause my opinion on this duo known as the griffins were matched long before they ever knew each other. they are everything that is right and perfect for one another and yet just enough differences that they don't make you sick.

lois: i just wish my opinion mattered to you.
peter: well, the important thing is, it matters to you, and that's the greatest gift of all.

the griffins are the most hilarious couple i know!! they are a barrel of laughs and if you know the griffins than you understand why the phrase below was picked so perfectly by lois!!

peter: lois, less talkie more fetchie.
lois: i'm just gonna assume that's chinese for 'i love you.'

sorry i can't past the code for the video but this song is for you:
and i can't believe, uh that i'm your man,
and i get to kiss you baby just because i can.
whatever comes our way, ah we'll see it through,
and you know that's what our love can do.
the griffins are everything that they need in each other. i'm so happy to have them in my life and i love them both dearly.

la bamba

yet another mexican taqueria near my house and still not a slam dunk. it was good but not great and not a must have or must try, just average. i ate a pork pupusa and a chile verde burrito.

fallon swagger

finally a good clean full length clip of the history of rap with jimmy fallon, the roots and jt. i am not a fan of jt but the roots more than make up for jt. plus it's fun and i'm trying not to hate on him since one day he could marry elle and i'd have to deal then anyways. also i know that jimmy doesn't really have swagger but i still heart him. sorry i am not posting the clip here but the ones on youtube aren't good enough.

things go better with coke

here is a picture of my new stocked coke cooler that arrived a few days ago. it has taken a few days for the right temperature to be reached but so far so good. no pepsi allowed!!

waiting for superman

brenda, brenda's sister, liz, elle, and girl from back in the day went to see waiting for superman at the bob hope theatre in stockton. it's a movie/documentary about the educational system and schools across the states. i thought the movie was informative and interesting. i don't really think much about the school system since i don't work in the field and i don't have any kids so it was a little hard to step out of my box and think about what some families and children go through in this crazy time of a chaotic system.




since john legend sings a song about/for this movie called waiting for superman he came out after the movie spoke for about 30 mins and answered some questions and explained a little about his personal views on the issue. after his thoughts he then performed for an hour. it was just him and his piano and it was incredible!!! he's a phenomenal artist who's talent is natural and flawless. i was in heaven and i didn't want the show to end. sadly it did and i missed my chance to meet him face to face by about 200 ft and only seconds... why me??

mitchell's ice cream

we decided to stop off for ice cream at mitchell's in san francisco before heading home. my two jumbo scooped waffle cone consisted of caramel praline and coconut pineapple. it was deliciously creamy. what a perfect way to end the fun evening.

ma, meatloaf

for liz's big 30 she picked suppenkuche for the place to celebrate. there was 13 of us including the main asian, the griffins, the tiny dancer and her husband, brenda, punky, betty, elle, rocawear and a few others whom i haven't named yet. we started the evening off with a few appetizers, one GIANT pretzel and a few orders of the potato cakes, the pretzel was a huge hit with the group but the potato cakes not so much, they left so much to be desired! they were just shredded potatoes that were fried and there was absolutely no flavor to them. the pretzel on the other hand was fun, tasty and fed all of us. it was served with a side of cheese dip that was interesting and i have no clue what it consisted of.

for my meal i ordered the falscher hase mit zwiebelsoße und kartoffelbrei or meatloaf as we call it in the states. it came with bacon and egg served with union Sauce & mashed potatoes. when i read the part about egg and bacon i thought it'd be served on the side but i was wrong. the loaf was wrapped with bacon and the egg was hard boiled and cooked inside the meat. i was a little put off by it but ate it anyways. if you look close at the pictures you can see the egg in the center of the meatloaf.

i also tried wiener schnitzel vom schwein mit bratkartoffeln und grünem salat (breaded and sauteed porkloin) and gegrillte nürnberger bratwurst mit sauerkraut und kartoffelbrei (pork sausage). overall it was a fun experience to try and even better when you factor in the company of my great friends but i can now say i'm not a fan of german food.