Future notes: Um, make sure you actually have bacon for this. Also, maybe a better quality of cheese. Monterey jack, for instance (a la pepperjack) and maybe hollow them out more? They were really thick. I would probably slow-roast them longer in the future. But ultimately, not bad!
Saw some fresh jalapenos on sale at Aldi's last time I went to the grocery store, and decided to grab a pack of them. I wanted to do a bacon-and-cheese thing, but I did not have... Um. Well, bacon. I know, I'm dumb. But I did manage to get some jerky to try and manage to get by with that. Some onions, garlic, cheese... Barbecue sauce. I stuffed it all in the peppers, expecting a mess, and tossed it in a toaster oven. They came out a bit al dente, so there was a good crunch, and HOLY COW were these ones spicy! A nice surprise. I had to drown them out in ranch, too, to eat it, but that's fine with me...
Future notes: Um, make sure you actually have bacon for this. Also, maybe a better quality of cheese. Monterey jack, for instance (a la pepperjack) and maybe hollow them out more? They were really thick. I would probably slow-roast them longer in the future. But ultimately, not bad!
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Now, full-disclosure, I was NOT prepared for this. But as soon as I got to Cleveland and told people I was a foodie, EVERYONE was telling me about the Night Market. Located in the heart of Asiatown on the last Friday of the month, it's part cultural festival, food festival, and crafts market. There's music, food, art, performance, music... EVERYTHING. I was having a very bad day this particular Friday, and decided to just GO to the thing, even though I wasn't prepared, just because I needed the pick-me-up. And it breaks me, because there were SO MANY GREAT VENDORS THERE, and I only got a few shots off before the phone I had on hand died, but I did see a really cool 'tour bus' for Tour de Cleveland, had some AMAZING little bonbons from Sugar Bomb Confections (those ladies were a HOOT), a jolly man from J. Gumbo's selling THE BEST CRAWFISH ETOUFFEE I'VE EVER HAD, a firetruck-turned-food truck from Firehouse Grilling Co., a Korean-style hot dog... God, SO much food, and I only had $20 to really enjoy it, which is NEVER ENOUGH at a food festival, as you well know. I've since bought myself a digital camera, but moments like this were times I legitimately mourned my poverty.
On the loooong list of things to do now that I have regular wi-fi again, working up uploading some backlogs of the food blog. Because I love you lovelies and I owe you...
I also officially started my Tour of Cleveland today, and it would be good to start with a fresh slate. Will be (forever) working on making this more up-to-date, since it's gotten away from me since the beginning, ha! Have to say, though: LITTLE. ITALY. They have an Asia-town, too! The ICHC has an amazing asian grocery store that... just... EURGH. I was a giggling mess. Every time I drive down Little Italy I stare out the window like a 5 year old on their way into Disneyland. There's a crazy amount of diversity here, and I'm CRAZY excited about ALL of the things!!! Mmmm... Jamaican food. Finally getting a chance to properly explore my neighborhood! There's a Jamaican joint within walking distance, and I HAD to try it. Growing up, a couple of the ladies in our church were Jamaican, and they always had that jamaica punch and jerk chicken, mon... MMPH! So I was excited to get some!
I will say, the food is AMAZING. It might not look pretty, but all of that dust is SPICE. Good jerk just sticks in your teeth, and this was some GOOD STUFF. They even had my cola champagne!!! It's got a good price, too, but I will say that the customer service was hit and miss for me. I'm white-passing and presently living in Buckeye, a predominantly black neighborhood, so I stick out like a sore thumb. I think perhaps they don't know why this white boy is wandering into their shop, and it did turn me off of this place. But at the same time, this might be part of the Jamaican culture -- they have a dichotomy of being uber friendly and welcoming, or very abrasive and rude, so it might have just been a bad day. I don't know. But that kind of thing doesn't sit right with me as a food service worker. Everyone should feel welcome, and I didn't really feel welcome here. Which is a shame, because they're right up the hill from me, and I could have been a regular customer if I hadn't felt so neglected. The food really is good, too. Hopefully you have better luck than I did. Golly, do I love ice cream. Cookie treated it as a staple on our grocery list, and I fondly remember family dinners at Friendly's for birthdays, and my recent tradition of peppermint ice cream cup-cakes from Cold Stone Creamery as a holiday treat. To celebrate today, we stopped into Mitchell's Homemade Ice Cream, and we were not disappointed! There's just something special about going to a shop and getting samples of all of the flavors, even if you just end up going for your favorite anyway -- mint chocolate chip. Seriously, though, this ice cream was AMAZING, rich and creamy, and the place was hopping for the holiday.
Today, we're heading to a birthday party, and we were asked to pick some wild mint from the PLETHORA of it growing in the empty lot next to our house. Not only is this a great way to find a wonderfully useful herb for free (mint can be made into teas, tonics, as an herb in roasting, cooking, or oiled for scent, and helps with concentration, breathing, upset stomachs, and indigestion), but also... Mojitos.
Which got me to thinking about another cool website I know about: Falling Fruit is a database that lists places in your area that has free forage, from wild herbs to fruiting trees and other crops that are available around your community! There's also RipeNear.Me and likely a dozen others -- a little Google Fu could give you not only a way to cut down on your grocery bill, but also add some fresh, local fruit and produce to your diet, and an adventure through your neighborhood! And maybe you might even meet some interesting new neighbors along the way. Exactly what it says on the tin. In an attempt to eat something fairly healthy (I'M TRYING!!!), I made a salad for myself and the roomie! A bed of fresh spinach, a handful of grape tomatoes, lightly seasoned chicken, fresh onion, bell pepper, and mushrooms, with a hardboiled egg. It's not entirely raw, but mostly.
Mmm... Bahn Mi. Today I'm hanging out with MANDEM, a painter duo here in Cleveland, OH I know from the Abney Park circles, who do some AMAZING artwork, and are also working out of the Negative Space Gallery in the Asia Town Center. Now, you know me -- I LOVE Asian cuisine, and there's also a grocery st ore in here, which I am drooling over (now I know where to go to get the good stuff...), and for lunch today, we're having Vietnamese.
A PHENOMENAL bahn mi sandwich with pork, in-house made pickles and carrots and a sprig of... Err. Parsley? I need to learn my herbs better. The bread had a nice toasted crunch to it, with a subtle sweetness, which mixed nicely with the meat and pickle in a simple, but delectable bahn mi. I also got spring rolls -- so tasty, fresh and crispy vegetables and perfectly cooked shrimp wrapped in rice paper, with a gorgeous peanut dipping sauce. I was sad when it was over, but SO HAPPY to have had the experience. If you've never had Vietnamese food, this is a pretty simple way to break in without trying anything too terrifying for nervous eaters. It's not unlike the Vietnamese take on a Cubano, in fact! But without the mustard, heh. One of the best bahn mis I've had, simple and clean and not over-complicating anything. The folks who ran the shop also had very prompt and friendly service! Will definitely look forward to coming here again. Oh man... I haven't had Rally's in YEARS. We used to get Checkers down in Orlando, and we had a Rally's at home (there was one across the street from the big bus depot in downtown Norfolk that I used to hit now and again), but in Tucson we got Checkers COMMERCIALS, but there wasn't a shop in town. I imagine there was one nearer to Phoenix or something, but it was TORTURE for me, because I just wanted some of those fries and we just didn't have any. So when I get into town and realize there's a RALLY'S AROUND THE CORNER, I legitimately squealed.
Burgers aren't my most favorite, but boy howdy do I love these seasoned fries. They're also apparently one of the only places in town that have Dr. Pepper, which is PROBLEMATIC for me. |
Brunch w/ BlakeHalf-boricuan, half-corn fed Indiana hick. Stir in a taste of the southwest and serve in LA, on the rocks. #BrunchWithBlake #FoodPorn #LAFoodie Archives
July 2021
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