oscar extravaganza 2013

food dishes were inspired by the best picture nominations:

Amour

Argo

Beasts of the Southern Wild

Django Unchained

Les Misérables 

Life of Pi

Lincoln

Silver Linings Playbook

grilled hot link appetizers served on a football plate.

Zero Dark Thirty

waterboarding.. too far? maybe but i feel it was fitting and appropriate.

gorilla bbq

after at least 2 years of talking about it elle and i finally made our way to pacifica to eat bbq.  pacifica for bbq you ask.  why yes when it's for gorilla bbq then the answer is always yes.  we lucked out that they were open on a holiday and that the weather was warm enough to take it to go and eat it on the beach under the warm california sun.. in the middle of february.  i ordered the 3 meat combo with brisket, pulled pork and ribs.  it's served with cornbread, beans and rice but i picked mac n cheese, potato salad and coleslaw for my sides.  i didn't eat much of the beans or rice and only ate about 1/3 of the potato salad since i didn't care too much for it.  i did however eat all the ribs, 2 slices of brisket a little pulled pork and the rest of my sides.  the ribs were a little dry but had a good flavor from the dry rub and once i dipped them into the house made bbq sauce the problem was solved and dare i say mouthwatering.  the brisket was also a bit dry and although all the meat was good they all required bbq sauce to make them better.  overall i'm happy with what i ordered and i'd absolutely make the drive for more bbq.

this one's for you grandma

spam, rice and eggs

grandma ho-e would be oh so proud!

cilantro & jalapeno hummus

eating this tasty treat at my desk

way to nail it trader joe's, no really, you nailed it so hard!!

dinner in

sometimes the foreman grill comes handy. tonight was one of those evenings.  i cut up the rest of my fingerling potatoes from last week and threw them in the oven with some olive oil and minced onions and some spices.  next i pulled out the foreman and put my chicken on.  while that was cooking i chopped and steamed some broccoli.  then i thought i've got a little bit of bell peppers i could cook too so i pulled the chicken off and let them sizzle.  it really was as easy as that and dinner was done.

pre-game meal

asian nachos from the grand lux café may sound simple but i promise they are delicious!!  i've mentioned this dish before and i'm sorry but it's worth repeating.  i just love them and i am in vegas si it needed to happen.

hash house a go go

this monstrous plate is what i ordered at hash house a go go after a long day in vegas.

andy's sage fried chicken benedict w/maple reduction, 2 eggs, bacon, mashed potatoes & 2 biscuits.  while this tasty treat was incredible for the record i was unable to finish this by myself... but i'll be back for a round 2 to see what damage i can do.

blueberry panshake

i previously entered a blog post for i heart burger awhile back when a friend had recommended that i try it.  this vegas trip wasn't going to pass by without stopping in to see what the blueberry panshake was about.

even though i don't eat blueberry pancakes i decided i would shake things up a little and try this custom shake flavor.  i was impressed by how much flavor was packed into this shake and surprised how much i actually loved it.  in fact it was my favorite part of the entire meal and if i had anything to do with the title of this restaurant it'd be called i heart shake instead.

this is a picture of my caprese burger with angus beef, fresh mozzarella, basil, beefsteak tomato, lettuce and a balsamic reduction.  some of my friends would be impressed to know that i even ate the tomato and if i'm being honest with not only myself but with you i'll admit that i enjoyed it.  i always order my burgers with no tomato but it just felt wrong asking for no tomato on a caprese burger.

my garbage fries are topped with buffalo chili, jalapenos, green onion, cilantro, black olives and cheddar cheese sauce.  in my opinion these sound much better than they taste.  not only did i need to add salt to these fries but they just weren't very good.  the toppings were fine but they need to step up the class of the actual fries.  if i go back i'd much rather drink 2 shakes and leave the fries to be eaten by the amateurs.