So, my older cousin introduced me to Grease maybe the summer before 1st grade? To say I was obsessed is an understatement. A few weeks later, at meet-the-teacher, I was asked for any nicknames. Simultaneously - Mom: No, Me: Yes, Mandy. Mom was clearly bewildered because never in my life had anyone called me anything but Amanda. But, I realized my name could be *so close* to Sandy! And so I became Mandy and remained so until my husband and I moved to B'ham and it just became easier as a *real adult* to use my legal name for signing documents and such. Back to Amanda. People who know me from college (and my parents and brother) still call me Mandy ;)
Ok, SAME with the food memories. Just got back from NYC with another BFOTS where we planned our entire trip around food.
NYC - (1) Bell Book and Candle - Get the crispy jalapeno fried deviled eggs and the goat cheese/bean dip, add chorizo. This place is pretty hidden in Greenwich Village. The vibes are (2) Tamarind - I'm always getting Indian food. This place was recommended to Mindy Kaling on Twitter and it did not disappoint. The Gobi special was fire. (3) Jacob's Pickles - freaking everything. EVERYTHING. But, be prepared to nap in Central Park after pickle margs and biscuits and gravy.
Italy - For your relics and ravioli trip with Jamie ... the bread at all the restuarants in Rome was significantly better than the bread at the Florence restaurants. In Florence it was more of a whole grain situation which was disappointing. I'll eat healthy stateside. Although, that was 10 years ago, so things could've changed ;)
Asheville - Chai Pani. Like I said, Indian is always on the schedule.
if you ever go to Vegas then you must go to Gordon Ramsay Steak! it is in Paris! So stinking good! and his you MUST order his Sticky Toffee Pudding for dessert! it won't disappoint!
The biblically accurate Larry had me legit laughing out loud.
Treasures with a side of turds, because life contains multitudes: We closed on the house on Monday. It got funded and recorded on Tuesday. Praise Jesus. But also, my nervous system is still trying to adjust to no new bad news and my intellectual brain is frustrated I can't just be there already.
In other good news, a family member who dealt with infant loss last year delivered a healthy baby two days ago - I'm headed to snuggle baby later today and having all the feels about it.
We attended the wedding of one of my husband's employees and my first thought wasn't immediately 'oh those poor kids don't know what they're signing up for' - it was my 2nd thought though haha. BUT I will take any improvement, I had to quit 'doing' weddings for a while there because all I could focus on was how poorly we equipped baby adults to be healthy in their marriages.
We watched The Lost City last night and I cried laughing at multiple points - sometimes just at my husband's discomfort with how unrealistic the action scenes and plotline was, but hey. It was free on Amazon Prime so we didn't lose anything but braincells and sleep (which, when put that way, sounds like it was an expensive watch).
I live in Greenville, SC, and I love the variety of quality food we have in this little big town! It’s currently restaurant week and if it weren’t for the multiple repairs my vehicle has required this summer, I’d be taking advantage of alllll the specials!
I cannot stop drooling over the crochet kit and I need someone to tell me that it’s 1) manageable; 2) beautiful as the pictures; and 3) worth the price. It seems a bit pricey but yet so lovely, and a truly beautiful way to craft and create. Has anyone completed this blanket or a similar project through Annie’s Kits?
Not a specific food city, but just, New Mexico. You think you know Mexican food, but New Mexican food is it's own thing, and can be very regional even just within the state. I am not even that crazy about green chile (thus bringing dishonor on the family name), but I do have a lot of NM patriotism, so don't even try me with that Colorado chile. That said, there is absolutely nothing better in the winter than a solid green chile chicken stew.
I've seen several Italy mentions for food recs (for obvious reasons), so buckle up for practical history corner. Italy is a bit like the U.S. in that it has very strong regional identities. It was a collection of independent city-states until unification in the mid 1800s, which is pretty dang recent. This means that each region has it's own food identity and things that it's known for. So, if you're going to Italy, do not expect to get great pizza everywhere. Find out what food the area you're going to is known for and eat that, you won't be sorry.
I too feel the food is part of the fun of travel. My favorite food destination is New Orleans. Charleston, too. I’m from San Antonio (live in Fort Worth now) and I’m biased but we have really great food in San Antonio. I also love the food in San Francisco!
Kids start school next week! I'm a bag of mixed emotions about it... happy, sad, overwhelmed, relieved. Anyone else... just me? 🙂🙁😩😅🤷🏻♀️
Adding the Hamburger Helper recipe to me list! Any other SIMPLE weeknight recipes out there? Hit me up! 👩🏻🍳
Treasures this week: enjoying the last days of summer at the pool with the kiddos (why didn't I do this earlier in the summer - so fun) 😎☀️, s'mores 🍫🔥, still enjoying Only Murders in the Building 📺, finished Loot on Apple TV 💰, getting my fall reading list ready 📚🍂 and celebrating my dad's 87th b-day! 🥳
I’ve lived a few places and am a firm believer in travel centering on food.
Pittsburgh - Primanti Bros (colossal fish sandwich)
Cincinnati - Skyline Chili & Graeters Ice Cream
Illinois - Monical’s Pizza (it’s the opposite of Chicago - thin crust and super yummy)
Denver - Tamale Kitchen. They apparently have more locations since I moved but I love the teeny tiny hole in the wall on W Mississippi in Lakewood. I still dream about their signature green chili
Honolulu - Moku Kitchen mostly locally sourced ingredients - never had anything less than delicious including the yummiest mai tais with pineapple foam on top. Lucky Belly I get their Beast Bowl ramen with brisket and oxtail wontons. Drank the most delicious old fashioned(s) of my life last weekend.
TBH- my Honolulu (Oahu) list is too long for this post, but any swipes who need to know about all the best fried dough etc lmk
This is why I love trying to new food even in my area. We went to a Georgian (county not the state) restuarnt for my birthday and had a superb waiter who told us what was authentic and what was more Americanized. I want to visit just to eat. Love visiting Europe with Celiac because they take gluten-free so much more seriously! There are options galore and good options! Croatia may be my favorite experience because we went from the bottom coast all the way up and the cuisine changes depending on what part of the country you are in. The north is very Italian, south very Mediterranean, and interior very Hungarian/Slavic (think stew and hard meals)
Hello, Internet friends! We also are wrapping up the first week of school, and it's been a wild ride. The kids are enjoying being back with their friends and having more structure, but the whole getting up early thing and doing homework is...traumatic.
We were in the Outer Banks last week with family (I do not recommend a huge travel vacation the week before school starts), and it was not awesome. For starters, I came down with COVID 24 hours after we got there. It threw off everyone's vibe, and none of us really got to do anything interesting. We also discovered that our vacation tastes have changed since the last time we spent a week at the shore with this particular branch of the family - among other things, we have become foodies. They go to the Outer Banks every year, so maybe they have eaten All The Things, but between COVID and the grocery store, I was so disappointed that we didn't get to enjoy the seafood. I am wary of eating seafood here in Colorado, and was really looking forward to raw oysters and steamed clams and shrimp. I think we've decided that we're better off vacationing on our own so we don't feel bad about going out to local restaurants for every meal possible.
I've been listening to The Bible Project podcast lately, making my way through their backlist, and am really enjoying their series from five years ago about the different genres represented in the Bible, and especially reading the Bible as Jewish meditation literature as opposed to a moral guidebook or Life Application(TM) text. Jon and Tim walk through the story of Cain and Abel to illustrate how they engage with meditation literature, and it pretty much blew my mind. I love everything The Bible Project produces - I've been so burnt out on Bible reading for the past several years, and they have such a thoughtful and fresh approach to it that they make me want to pick it up again. https://thebibleproject.simplecast.com/episodes/344c17fd-344c17fd
🌃 🥘 Shocker of shockers, Orlando has a developing food scene that is out of this world. *Stefon voice* this place has everything! Authentic Mexican tacos (with homemade corn tortillas and corn chips to boot!), the most delicious mahi mahi sandwich with crispy skinny fries, the best lobster roll in the last place you’d expect, the best pad Thai ever, Italian food that actually is authentic to Italy, brunch plus pies, BBQ with a Latin twist, and ramen that will make you weak in the knees. Asian food is my culinary blind spot, I know there’s a ton of great places that I haven’t tried in the Asian district (though I’ve tried a couple), it’s just the parking is impossible and I need someone to tell me what to do and what to order!
🎃 👻 Tonight I am going to Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party! It’s the first official party since before the pizookie and I cannot wait! The year before Covid was my first year and because of the infinite candy haul, I donated 95% of the candy to my church to put in candy dishes. I think I kept a full size bar of Strawberry Starburst and a full bag Peanut Butter M&Ms, and probably will do all of that again.
🏊♀️ 🎉 Pool party season is in full swing and I’m so grateful that I have cultivated the confidence to wear a bathing suit. Not to mention, it’s Church Beach Day next Saturday! I think I’m looking forward to it for the very first time. It’s fun to have fun!
I'm sort of half-planning a trip to Stockholm next month to see Penny & Sparrow live (Ts and Ps that I'll be able to go would be appreciated) and you better believe that I'm already listing what restaurants I want to go back to and which ones I've never been to but want to try. In 2016 I had an incredible meal in an overpriced tourist trap of an Italian restaurant in Old Town that I didn't even want to eat at but I was so tired and so hungry, I just had to eat something. I barely remember what I ordered but I remember it tasted so good I couldn't stop giggling!
🤓 I got new, very much needed, glasses! And they're green. And they feel a lot more fun than any other frames I've ever had. The lenses make me a bit seasick though, so I hope that gets better soon.
☀ The weather has been really great lately, sunny, not too hot, perfect for ice lattes on the patio.
🎬 It hit me last week that if I bring my laptop to the patio I can watch stuff in the cool evening breeze, so I've been sitting outside bingeing Never Have I Ever and watching movies in my private little open air cinema and I don't know why I didn't realize sooner that this was possible. 😂 Just remind me to get more comfortable patio furniture next summer.
🩳 This is such a silly treasure but I bought a pair of short overalls in this coral? orange? color and they make me so happy! One the one hand they're so unlike what I normally wear and on the other they're so me. I love them.
Ok, now I have to go figure out how not to get nightmares about that biblically accurate Larry the Cucumber. 😂 Have a great weekend! ❤
OH I have to add my ONJ tidbit ...
So, my older cousin introduced me to Grease maybe the summer before 1st grade? To say I was obsessed is an understatement. A few weeks later, at meet-the-teacher, I was asked for any nicknames. Simultaneously - Mom: No, Me: Yes, Mandy. Mom was clearly bewildered because never in my life had anyone called me anything but Amanda. But, I realized my name could be *so close* to Sandy! And so I became Mandy and remained so until my husband and I moved to B'ham and it just became easier as a *real adult* to use my legal name for signing documents and such. Back to Amanda. People who know me from college (and my parents and brother) still call me Mandy ;)
Ok, SAME with the food memories. Just got back from NYC with another BFOTS where we planned our entire trip around food.
NYC - (1) Bell Book and Candle - Get the crispy jalapeno fried deviled eggs and the goat cheese/bean dip, add chorizo. This place is pretty hidden in Greenwich Village. The vibes are (2) Tamarind - I'm always getting Indian food. This place was recommended to Mindy Kaling on Twitter and it did not disappoint. The Gobi special was fire. (3) Jacob's Pickles - freaking everything. EVERYTHING. But, be prepared to nap in Central Park after pickle margs and biscuits and gravy.
Italy - For your relics and ravioli trip with Jamie ... the bread at all the restuarants in Rome was significantly better than the bread at the Florence restaurants. In Florence it was more of a whole grain situation which was disappointing. I'll eat healthy stateside. Although, that was 10 years ago, so things could've changed ;)
Asheville - Chai Pani. Like I said, Indian is always on the schedule.
Food!! My hubby & I love finding yummy food wherever we go. Let's see....
Maui: Miso Phat Sushi & Maui Pie
Kauai: Kauai Sushi Station, Plantation House (the desserts!!), Bar Acuda (tapas)
Portland, OR: Tin Shed Garden Cafe (breakfast!), Salt N Straw (delicious ice cream), Petite Provence (amazing croissants!)
Seattle, WA: Din Tai Fung (dumplings)
Walla Walla, WA: Bangkok 103 (thai!!!!)
if you ever go to Vegas then you must go to Gordon Ramsay Steak! it is in Paris! So stinking good! and his you MUST order his Sticky Toffee Pudding for dessert! it won't disappoint!
The biblically accurate Larry had me legit laughing out loud.
Treasures with a side of turds, because life contains multitudes: We closed on the house on Monday. It got funded and recorded on Tuesday. Praise Jesus. But also, my nervous system is still trying to adjust to no new bad news and my intellectual brain is frustrated I can't just be there already.
In other good news, a family member who dealt with infant loss last year delivered a healthy baby two days ago - I'm headed to snuggle baby later today and having all the feels about it.
We attended the wedding of one of my husband's employees and my first thought wasn't immediately 'oh those poor kids don't know what they're signing up for' - it was my 2nd thought though haha. BUT I will take any improvement, I had to quit 'doing' weddings for a while there because all I could focus on was how poorly we equipped baby adults to be healthy in their marriages.
We watched The Lost City last night and I cried laughing at multiple points - sometimes just at my husband's discomfort with how unrealistic the action scenes and plotline was, but hey. It was free on Amazon Prime so we didn't lose anything but braincells and sleep (which, when put that way, sounds like it was an expensive watch).
I highly recommend Annie’s club! But um the Moroccan afghan blanket is HARD if you are a beginner like me 😂
I’m also seeking some food recs for NYC! Specifically around the lower east side if anyone has any :)
I live in Greenville, SC, and I love the variety of quality food we have in this little big town! It’s currently restaurant week and if it weren’t for the multiple repairs my vehicle has required this summer, I’d be taking advantage of alllll the specials!
I cannot stop drooling over the crochet kit and I need someone to tell me that it’s 1) manageable; 2) beautiful as the pictures; and 3) worth the price. It seems a bit pricey but yet so lovely, and a truly beautiful way to craft and create. Has anyone completed this blanket or a similar project through Annie’s Kits?
Not a specific food city, but just, New Mexico. You think you know Mexican food, but New Mexican food is it's own thing, and can be very regional even just within the state. I am not even that crazy about green chile (thus bringing dishonor on the family name), but I do have a lot of NM patriotism, so don't even try me with that Colorado chile. That said, there is absolutely nothing better in the winter than a solid green chile chicken stew.
I've seen several Italy mentions for food recs (for obvious reasons), so buckle up for practical history corner. Italy is a bit like the U.S. in that it has very strong regional identities. It was a collection of independent city-states until unification in the mid 1800s, which is pretty dang recent. This means that each region has it's own food identity and things that it's known for. So, if you're going to Italy, do not expect to get great pizza everywhere. Find out what food the area you're going to is known for and eat that, you won't be sorry.
This tweet made me laugh real hard and I've been thinking about it for days: https://twitter.com/masonmennenga/status/1560408745514921985?cxt=HHwWgsCjzZLf16crAAAA
I too feel the food is part of the fun of travel. My favorite food destination is New Orleans. Charleston, too. I’m from San Antonio (live in Fort Worth now) and I’m biased but we have really great food in San Antonio. I also love the food in San Francisco!
Kids start school next week! I'm a bag of mixed emotions about it... happy, sad, overwhelmed, relieved. Anyone else... just me? 🙂🙁😩😅🤷🏻♀️
Adding the Hamburger Helper recipe to me list! Any other SIMPLE weeknight recipes out there? Hit me up! 👩🏻🍳
Treasures this week: enjoying the last days of summer at the pool with the kiddos (why didn't I do this earlier in the summer - so fun) 😎☀️, s'mores 🍫🔥, still enjoying Only Murders in the Building 📺, finished Loot on Apple TV 💰, getting my fall reading list ready 📚🍂 and celebrating my dad's 87th b-day! 🥳
My husband's cousin's son is one of the mullet contestants 🙄 I've been voting every day but it is quite painful for me!! However, go Rowan Bell!
I’ve lived a few places and am a firm believer in travel centering on food.
Pittsburgh - Primanti Bros (colossal fish sandwich)
Cincinnati - Skyline Chili & Graeters Ice Cream
Illinois - Monical’s Pizza (it’s the opposite of Chicago - thin crust and super yummy)
Denver - Tamale Kitchen. They apparently have more locations since I moved but I love the teeny tiny hole in the wall on W Mississippi in Lakewood. I still dream about their signature green chili
Honolulu - Moku Kitchen mostly locally sourced ingredients - never had anything less than delicious including the yummiest mai tais with pineapple foam on top. Lucky Belly I get their Beast Bowl ramen with brisket and oxtail wontons. Drank the most delicious old fashioned(s) of my life last weekend.
TBH- my Honolulu (Oahu) list is too long for this post, but any swipes who need to know about all the best fried dough etc lmk
This is why I love trying to new food even in my area. We went to a Georgian (county not the state) restuarnt for my birthday and had a superb waiter who told us what was authentic and what was more Americanized. I want to visit just to eat. Love visiting Europe with Celiac because they take gluten-free so much more seriously! There are options galore and good options! Croatia may be my favorite experience because we went from the bottom coast all the way up and the cuisine changes depending on what part of the country you are in. The north is very Italian, south very Mediterranean, and interior very Hungarian/Slavic (think stew and hard meals)
Hello, Internet friends! We also are wrapping up the first week of school, and it's been a wild ride. The kids are enjoying being back with their friends and having more structure, but the whole getting up early thing and doing homework is...traumatic.
We were in the Outer Banks last week with family (I do not recommend a huge travel vacation the week before school starts), and it was not awesome. For starters, I came down with COVID 24 hours after we got there. It threw off everyone's vibe, and none of us really got to do anything interesting. We also discovered that our vacation tastes have changed since the last time we spent a week at the shore with this particular branch of the family - among other things, we have become foodies. They go to the Outer Banks every year, so maybe they have eaten All The Things, but between COVID and the grocery store, I was so disappointed that we didn't get to enjoy the seafood. I am wary of eating seafood here in Colorado, and was really looking forward to raw oysters and steamed clams and shrimp. I think we've decided that we're better off vacationing on our own so we don't feel bad about going out to local restaurants for every meal possible.
I've been listening to The Bible Project podcast lately, making my way through their backlist, and am really enjoying their series from five years ago about the different genres represented in the Bible, and especially reading the Bible as Jewish meditation literature as opposed to a moral guidebook or Life Application(TM) text. Jon and Tim walk through the story of Cain and Abel to illustrate how they engage with meditation literature, and it pretty much blew my mind. I love everything The Bible Project produces - I've been so burnt out on Bible reading for the past several years, and they have such a thoughtful and fresh approach to it that they make me want to pick it up again. https://thebibleproject.simplecast.com/episodes/344c17fd-344c17fd
🌃 🥘 Shocker of shockers, Orlando has a developing food scene that is out of this world. *Stefon voice* this place has everything! Authentic Mexican tacos (with homemade corn tortillas and corn chips to boot!), the most delicious mahi mahi sandwich with crispy skinny fries, the best lobster roll in the last place you’d expect, the best pad Thai ever, Italian food that actually is authentic to Italy, brunch plus pies, BBQ with a Latin twist, and ramen that will make you weak in the knees. Asian food is my culinary blind spot, I know there’s a ton of great places that I haven’t tried in the Asian district (though I’ve tried a couple), it’s just the parking is impossible and I need someone to tell me what to do and what to order!
🎃 👻 Tonight I am going to Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party! It’s the first official party since before the pizookie and I cannot wait! The year before Covid was my first year and because of the infinite candy haul, I donated 95% of the candy to my church to put in candy dishes. I think I kept a full size bar of Strawberry Starburst and a full bag Peanut Butter M&Ms, and probably will do all of that again.
🏊♀️ 🎉 Pool party season is in full swing and I’m so grateful that I have cultivated the confidence to wear a bathing suit. Not to mention, it’s Church Beach Day next Saturday! I think I’m looking forward to it for the very first time. It’s fun to have fun!
😘 ❤️ Have the best weekend available!
It's Friday!
I'm sort of half-planning a trip to Stockholm next month to see Penny & Sparrow live (Ts and Ps that I'll be able to go would be appreciated) and you better believe that I'm already listing what restaurants I want to go back to and which ones I've never been to but want to try. In 2016 I had an incredible meal in an overpriced tourist trap of an Italian restaurant in Old Town that I didn't even want to eat at but I was so tired and so hungry, I just had to eat something. I barely remember what I ordered but I remember it tasted so good I couldn't stop giggling!
🤓 I got new, very much needed, glasses! And they're green. And they feel a lot more fun than any other frames I've ever had. The lenses make me a bit seasick though, so I hope that gets better soon.
☀ The weather has been really great lately, sunny, not too hot, perfect for ice lattes on the patio.
🎬 It hit me last week that if I bring my laptop to the patio I can watch stuff in the cool evening breeze, so I've been sitting outside bingeing Never Have I Ever and watching movies in my private little open air cinema and I don't know why I didn't realize sooner that this was possible. 😂 Just remind me to get more comfortable patio furniture next summer.
🩳 This is such a silly treasure but I bought a pair of short overalls in this coral? orange? color and they make me so happy! One the one hand they're so unlike what I normally wear and on the other they're so me. I love them.
Ok, now I have to go figure out how not to get nightmares about that biblically accurate Larry the Cucumber. 😂 Have a great weekend! ❤