Last night we watched Santa cruise into Oak Bay on a fire truck.  It was a regular street party, complete with a choir and lively MC, who lead the crowd through the Twelve Days of Christmas, while chestnuts roasted over an open propane barbecue.

Miss Q quietly soaked it in from atop her daddy’s shoulders, while she ate her first candy cane of the season.

Miss S, on the other hand, grew weary of looking at all the people and lights and fell asleep.  Crazy how a year ago, I had just found out I was pregnant, and there she was sleeping on my chest.

The stores along Oak Bay Avenue, where we stood, have changed; but I still remember walking to the bakery with my Grandpa to get glazed donuts in a brown paper bag; and my grandparents taking my brother and I to Annie at the Oak Bay Theater.  Now, the bakery is high-end, and the theater, where I saw my first movie, is now a Starbucks.

The one building that hasn’t changed is the fire hall.  It has always been a nostalgic fixture.  There, my grandpa held me back, as a fire truck zoomed to a rescue.  The truck’s sirens pierced my ears and the fireman, who was showing us around, laughed.  (Perhaps this is where my trauma junky roots began.)

The fire hall, lit with Christmas lights, cardboard cutouts, and the nativity scene, was always the main event when driving to our grandparents’ house.  How fantastic it was to watch Miss Q’s face as Rudolph pulling Santa’s sleigh came into view.  In 32 years, the scene hasn’t changed.

As the MC yelled ‘one’ and the Christmas lights on the stores and trees turned on, Miss Q was mesmerized.  Funny how strings of lights make Christmas, Christmas.

Tuesday, December 1^st, we will decorate our house and break out the advent calendars.  None of the Santa figurines we own sport Vancouver 2010 mittens, or ride on fire trucks, but they will light up Miss Q’s world all the same.

To celebrate turning 30 in November 2007, I did the most responsible thing possible…I went to Reno.
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I had a great time this past weekend exploring the great state of Nevada. When I got back to work today a number of people asked me about going to Reno, most of whom I never told I was going there. Most people asked the “Are you doing anything special for your birthday?” as a throwaway question, then was impressed that I went to Reno to celebrate turning 30.

Here’s what I did while I was out there (and # of states I’ve done them in):
Thursday to Nevada (34 states I’ve been to)
- Barbecue at BJ’s in Sparks (15 states)
- Visited the Keck Museum at the Univ. of Nevada-Reno (minerals and rocks)

Friday
- Haircut @ Wild Hair Barbers, Minden (25 states), most unusual was the barber cutting my eyebrows and nosehairs. Had a deer head mounted on the wall with a hat: “You Can Take My Gun from Me, But Take the Bullet First.” Waived the name rule, since it proved to be a good experience.
- Drove to Lake Tahoe. If you ever want to golf Nevada, I recommend the Tahoe Golf Club – it’s situated at approximately 6,000 feet.
- As soon as you leave Carson City at 4,500 ft, you climb up to 7,146 ft. You also immediately see signs advising “Bear Xing Next 9 Miles” and “Road May Be Icy Next 11 Miles.” Drivers crossing the mountains Sat night/Sun morning were advised to pack tire chains.
- Went along shore to South Lake Tahoe, CA (35 states I’ve been to). Now the whole family has been to California. I stopped less than a mile across the state line, ate at Subway, and patronized a local independent bookseller. It counts.
- Pictures of Lake Tahoe. I probably slanted my horizon on some of them, but they still look good.
- Movie in Carson City, Fred Claus (17 states)

Saturday
- Nevada State Capitol (16 states)
- Nevada State Museum with re-created silver mine in basement
- Awful-Awful Burger @ The Nugget casino, it’s an in-famous delicacy according to UNR students. It’s “Awfully Good”!
- Nevada State Railroad Museum

Sunday
- Mass @ St. Therese Church of the Little Flower, Reno (16 states)
- Reno Veteran’s Day Parade (I got a shot of the parade passing under the famous Reno arch, a little confetti and it looks like the soldiers are returning from war)
- Fitzgerald’s Casino. I lost $3.50, played video poker and the slots (including one with old-fashioned arm). Ate at the buffet. Took a coin bucket. Therefore, I broke even.
- Visited the Duncan Hunter for President town hall meeting at the Airport Plaza Hotel where I stayed that night. He’s against illegal immigration and running 7th among Republicans. Of the other 50 in the room, I think 48 of them may be crazy enough to vote for him. First presidential campaign event I’ve ever attended.

Monday
- Flew back.

Nevada was fun to visit. It’s not a flat desert, but rather has a series of mountain ranges across the state. Reno and Carson City are in a long valley about 20 miles wide. You can see the mountains from anywhere. It snowed Sunday morning (the first snow of the year) and I took pictures. I discovered the joy of AM PM’s 44 oz. fountain drink refills. I discovered that one must first unlock the passenger doors of a PT Cruiser before unlocking the trunk – if one fails to do so, the panic alarm goes off (it took me about 5 minutes to figure out how to shut it off). I ate at a Jack-in-the-Box. Stopped at the Sak ‘n Save. I finished two books and left them in public locations (War and Peace in the Douglas County Library and a Rick Bragg book at Gate E7 in the Atlanta airport). If you wish, you can gamble at the slot machines at the CVS Pharmacy while waiting for your prescription to be filled.

I have now been in 35 states, had haircuts in 25, saw 16 state capitols, attended church services in 16, watched a movie in 17, and ate barbecue in 15.

This is a recap for a trip I took to Kansas City in late August 2007.
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I have now had my hair cut in my 24th state. Friday afternoon I had my hair cut at Doug’s Barber Shop in Independence, Missouri. I took a long weekend to Kansas City – saw the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, the Truman Library and Museum, the Missouri State Capitol, and a Kansas City Royals game. So, Missouri is now the 24th state in which I’ve had a haircut.

I didn’t go just for the haircut, I’ve wanted to see the Truman museums. I’ve wanted to see a Kansas City Royals game since I was last in KC 13 years ago. Now that I have seen the Royals, I have reached another baseball goal of mine – I have now seen all levels of organized professional baseball this season, each in a different state.

In my quest for historical euphemisms, I found this gem at the Missouri State Capitol on Sunday. If you remember from your American History classes, the Kansas-Nebraska Act enabled states to determine whether they entered the union as slave or free. Passed in 1854, it was the high-water mark of Stephen Douglas’ career. Let’s just say that Missourians stuffed the ballot box in favor of slavery, the votes were declared null and void, and then civil war ensued (Jayhawkers, Quantrill’s gang, John Brown, Frank and Jesse James, etc). Or in the historian’s words Missourians “chose to get involved by having public meetings and influencing elections in Kansas.” A bit understated, I might say…

Picture 3, originally uploaded by sizzled.

“how big is a dime of weed” probably ranks #5 or so on that list.

also of note: how frequently people spell boogaloo with a “u”

It’s been a while since we’ve been able to post any new blog entries, but rest assured that we’ve been busy in the kitchen and on the grill and have lots to share.

I’ve recently discovered a tool that will be a lot of fun for any other barbecue enthusiasts like me (especially if you are also a gadget-lover). Weber, the manufacturer of the best grills available nationally, has created an application for the iPhone. For details, visit http://www.weber.com/onthegrill/.

The app includes 250 popular recipes developed by Weber. The recipes are illustrated, well explained, conveniently categorized and searchable. In addition, the app has a function that permits you to choose the recipes you will make and it generates a combined grocery list for your use at the store. As someone who consistently forgets an ingredient when shopping from memory, I find this very useful. In addition, the app includes videos and explanations of various techniques and tasks essential to successful outdoor cooking. Finally, a useful cooking timer is also included.

In upcoming posts, I’ll be reviewing some of the recipes included in the app. I can tell you from experience that Weber develops delicious recipes for outdoor cooking.

This is a brief note about my trip to western Maryland in early June 2009.
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Here are a couple pictures from the trip I took to western Maryland a couple weeks ago. The theme was the Civil War (as I stopped at the Antietam and Monocacy and Harper’s Ferry, WV battlefields), as well as the National Museum of Civil War Medicine in Frederick (our motto is “All Amputations Were Necessary and Carefully Done”). I had barbecue at Redneck Ribs in New Market, watched a Frederick Keys baseball game, and had my hair cut by Pete of Pete’s Barber Shop in Boonsboro. That’s 23 states for those keeping track.

A store in Boonsboro is advertised here as being open, but actually being demolished. Struck me as an ironic use of the term “open.” Is ironic the right word?

You can never get good pizza in the airport, or deli, or burritos, or Chinese. But I just ate yet another satisfying airport meat-and-two-sides, this one at the Speedway Grill in Charlotte-Douglas, where we’re paused on our long way home from Thanksgiving. It was good enough that CJ, to my great surprise, demanded more than his share of green beans; and it was only the second best airport BBQ I’ve had this month. (Brookwood Farms BBQ in Raleigh-Durham takes the crown here.)

Why does barbecue translate so well to the airport setting?

I’m not sure about your specific situation, but Saturday morning usually finds me tired and hungry from whatever nocturnal activities is I was involved in the previous evening (usually that doesn’t include a dazzling tale of sexual conquest). Now, to deal with the feelings of hunger, of lack of inertia, of slight dizziness you invariably experience the next day, the best thing is to go out and eat, but if you’re anything like me (you’re not) you’ll remember all the money you spent last night you shouldn’t have and feel bad about splashing out on a $18 breakfast at some joint when it’s probably not going to be that good even (FACT – you can get a $10 big breakfast at the espy on Sundays. This however does not help us on a Saturday morning).

So on a Saturday morning (afternoon) when you feel you need to eat but don’t want to spend the money, and would like to get out of the house, I have an answer! Prepare your feeble earth mind to receive wisdom of pan dimensional beings! Two words: Prahran Market. Curious? Read on. There are two areas of interest, one is the deli area, and the other is the meat hall (bad name I know, but blame Prahran council or whoever is in charge of that kind of shit). So the crux of the matter is that in both the deli and the meat hall all the different store holders are trying to compete by giving out free food which is designed to sway you into buying their products which are delicious (free is also delicious). Highlights include the fresh pasta shop where they cook up a bunch of freshly made ravioli or gnocchi, every single barbeque is a win (and sometimes there’s even grilled fish if you’re lucky) especially the organic ones that put out stuff like tomato and onion sausages.

So that’s the big secret, go to the Prahran market, do several laps of each area, and wear non descript clothing so the stall holders don’t notice that you keep on swooping on their food like cognitively advanced seagulls.

Enjoy

PS Let me know if anyone actually does this. I’d love to know I wasn’t the only cheapskate.

Well, now that the Thanksgiving holiday is behind us and Black Friday is upon us it’s time to start thinking about all those upcoming Holiday events!  Heck, it’s time to start booking your 2010 events as far as that goes!  Our calendar is filling up for the Spring and early Summer months next year and we’d LOVE to add your event.  Our 2010 Menu is going to change a bit, but our current favorites will all still be there, so if you’ve got a Holiday Party, Family Gathering or Company event coming up, think about adding some slow cooked, wood-smoked, ‘North Carolina Style’ BBQ!  We keep our smokers burning year round and what a great way to share good times and create memories with friends and family! 

Our pulled pork is cooked with the NC tradition always in mind…low & slow over Hickory and some Apple wood and MAN is it tasty!  Add a bun, some Carolina Style Vinegar Slaw and a bit of Hoover’s Southern Fusion BBQ sauce and it’s a marriage made in heaven!  Actually, it’s made here in South Middleton Township along the mountain…but you get the point!  We offer something for everyone in addition to the Pulled Pork, we’ve got incredible ‘Beer Can’ style smoked chicken which gets to soak up not beer, but an incredibly fragrant and tasty blend of fresh herbs and chicken stock, delivering a taste that is hard to beat.  We also have tremendous, lip smackin’ ribs that once beat the guy (Butch) who’s ribs beat Bobby Flay’s on the Food Network’s ‘Throwdown’ TV show…I think that means that they’re pretty tasty!  Finally our Beef Brisket is a taste of Texas right here in Central PA!

All of our meats, sides and desserts are prepared to order for your event and are served to you and your guests as fresh as can be.  Our smoked meats come right off the smoker and straight to your event, our sides are home made and complement our “Q” perfectly and our Desserts are sure to please.  We offer a variety of catering options for all types of events and are capable of serving 25 to 1500 folks with over 350 square feet of smoker space!  AND…as if that’s not ENOUGH to tempt your tastebuds…we are offering a 5% Discount on ANY sized 2010 event booked by December 31st!  That’s a 5% savings and you’ll lock in at 2009 prices…not a bad deal for Black Friday!

SO..if you’ve got an event coming up and you want something a bit different, consider our craft cooked meats and sides, it will be a meal that folks remember for some time!

I week end autunnali, complici le belle giornate, cominciano ad animarsi di frequenti passeggiate fuori porta, per rinfrancare lo spirito e godere di quei colori caldi  che l’autunno generosamente ci regala .

Rapiti da queste bucoliche atmosfere lo spirito, l’abbiamo appagato e riempito delle  belle immagini e degli odori della campagna autunnale….ma…magari pensare un po’ anche al corpo? Quel  rumore in lontananza non è chissà quale strano animale…è lo stomaco che comincia a brontolare, capirete…dopo tutto quel camminare…avrà diritto di reclamare un minimo di attenzione o no?

E allora quale migliore occasione per potersi concedere le mitiche “cipollate”, alfa e omega di ogni “arrustuta” ( barbecue) che si rispetti. Si tratta di delicati involtini di sottilissime fette di pancetta con al centro un cuore tenero di cipollotto e primo sale.

Prepararli è semplicissimo :

cipollotti possibilmente sottili , altrimenti si possono dividere a metà

delle strisce di formaggio primo sale

delle fette di pancetta (due per ogni involtino)

Si tratta semplicemente di arrotolare in modo compatto le fette di pancetta attorno al cipollotto e al formaggio e di scottarli sulla brace 5 minuti per lato. Ovviamente danno soddisfazione anche cotti al forno.

Floooood 018, originally uploaded by sizzled.

ever seen someone smash through a door with a hammer and pent-up aggression towards you? well, i have and it ain’t pretty. but it is hilarious to watch.

North Main BBQ
Address: 406 N Main Street, Euless, TX 76039
Phone: (817) 283-0884‎
Website: www.northmainbbq.com
Known For: BBQ Buffet
What I had: BBQ Buffet
Price: $12.00
Rating: 8 out of 10

First things first I should mention that they’re only open on Fridays and Saturdays from 11:00 AM to 9:00 PM and on Sundays from 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM, so there is a limited time you can enjoy their grub. That’s not necessarily a bad thing because it makes it more of a commodity. Plus if you ate here any more than once a week you might find that their lack of booths as a deterrent.

Make sure you’re hungry when you arrive here….oh and make sure you don’t want much vegetables or dessert. It’s all about the barbecue. Your $12.00 covers 6 meats (chicken, pulled pork, beef brisket, pork ribs, tri-tip & sausage), baked beans, potato salad, coleslaw , a couple pickled items, whitebread, tea (sweet or unsweetened) and your sales tax.

It’s a buffet so you can obviously eat all you want…problem is they’ve pretty much only got the meats and there’s only so much meat one can eat. Good news is the meat is pretty darned good. I’d pass on the chicken, it wasn’t a roasted chicken it was like a boneless breast sliced and it was a bit dry.

The pulled pork was great especially with the sauce, it was nice and tender. I concocted a sandwich with the whitebread, coleslaw and onions. The beef brisket was good, I’ve had just as good at many a places and it didn’t knock my socks off. The tri-tip was the same, good but nothing I haven’t had elsewhere.

The sausage was really good, juicy and tons of flavor. I believe they make it themselves and you can certainly tell that a lot of time and effort has been put into it. Clearly these guys know what they’re doing.

By far the most mouth watering item was the pork ribs. I’m actually not even a fan of ribs, I only grabbed one rib to start with assuming that would be all I would get. I was sorely mistaken, they were absolutely phenomenal.  There was a nice smoke ring and they were fall off the bone tender. Best ribs I’ve ever had, I could not stop eating them. I want to emphasize this point because I normally do not eat ribs. I would almost recommend you come here just for them.

The sides were all good and I’d say on the high end of what I’ve had. The coleslaw was great, nice and crisp and not too much mayonnaise . The potato salad was really good too, sometimes the potatoes are all mushy but this was not the case here. The baked beans were good as well, slightly above average. They had the perfect sweetness to them and not over the top.

A real joy here was the staff and cooks. They’re barbecuing up right there in front of you and they’ll just talk your ear off. You can tell they really love cooking and serving people good food. There are big paper towel rolls on all the tables (and a huge stack of them up front if you run out) and trust me you’re gonna need it. This place was a lot of fun. I would say it’s worth a trip. You certainly can’t beat the price and the taste will definitely satisfy. I’d say give it all a try then go back for seconds of your favorites…..and thirds….and fourths.

Beef Brisket

Pulled Pork

Sausage

Pork Ribs

Coleslaw

Further reading:
www.yelp.com/biz/north-main-bbq-euless
www.urbanspoon.com/r/13/166684/restaurant/North-Main-BBQ-Euless

Sep 5, 2009 @ 17:30
5BGNCH5VYPZX

I wrote this as my response to the latest Read Write Prompt over at Read Write Poem. It’s all about childhood memories and food association this week.

Happy Thanksgiving, readers.  In honor of the holiday, I’d like take a few minutes to consider all the things for which I am thankful this year.  Here’s my list, which I present in no particular order yet numbered to give the appearance that significant time went into preparing it.

1. I give thanks that swine flu is not transmitted via barbecue.
2. I am thankful there are still a few dozen barbecue joints in NC that cook the traditional way over wood coals (alas, there are many hundreds more that do not).
3. I give thanks that a couple of the wood-cooked barbecue joints are run by young guys who I hope will be in business for a long time.
4. I am thankful that, after tasting barbecue all over North Carolina, I still think my local joint ranks among the state’s best.
5. I am thankful that there are people out there–like you–who think reading about barbecue is interesting (at least relative to preparing TPS reports, or whatever you are supposed to be doing when you visit this website).
6. I give thanks that The Rib Rabbi’s family will be joining my family for Thanksgiving.
7. I am thankful that the out of town guests joining us for Thanksgiving have requested that barbecue be served alongside the turkey (though this may indicate nothing more than a distrust of our ability to cook turkey).
8. I am thankful that Steve Raichlen’s Up in Smoke newsletter this month featured a recipe for barbecuing turkey.
9. I am thankful that my wife is willing to let me risk ruining Thanksgiving by barbecuing a turkey for the first time.
10. I give thanks that my 2-year old daughter is not old enough to physically restrain me from eating two barbecue lunches in one day.
11. I am thankful that the makers of Tofurkey, still reeling from the soy flu epidemic, have yet to produce soy barbecue. 

Thanks for reading and have a wonderful Thanksgiving, whether your meal features turkey, tofu, or barbecue.

This is a recap of a trip I took to Mississippi the first of October 2006.
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I flew into Jackson on Thursday, saw the State Capitol. There is an eagle on the front that faces south. This is “in defiance of Washington” (the other way to say this is more colorful), given their lingering resentment on civil rights. I stopped in and visited a guy who I last saw when he attended LSMI at Minnesota five years ago. I drove up to Greenville that night. I went through Belzoni, the Catfish Capitol of the World, with various catfish sculptures around town. Had some catfish that night. I also ate at Tabb’s BBQ in Greenville, “The Best Dang BBQ in the Whole Dang Delta.” Yep, Ned Flanders of the Simpsons could have written the slogan.

I drove up through the Mississippi Delta region on Friday (as far north as Clarksdale) and south to Vicksburg on Saturday. I visited a number of sites related to Delta blues music (stopping at the Delta Blues Museum in Clarksdale and the Highway 61 Blues Museum in Leland), saw a working cotton gin, saw the MS River at a low point, climbed up the levee at Greenville, tooled around the Vicksburg National Military Park, etc. The locals greeted me warmly in Onward, where the Teddy Bear was invented. I had my hair cut by Marty Eubank, a 66-year-old marathon runner who owns a small two-chair barber shop in Clarksdale. The overall experience was a 3.5 (out of 5) – mainly because the others knew I was a tourist and steered their conversation accordingly. That’s 20 states for the haircuts.

I realized that “Bridge May Ice in Cold Weather” as they feel the need to point this out every time. Apparently the thing to do in Flowood, MS is to take the family to the Saturday matinee, get dinner, and then go home. I went in to see a movie about Huey Long. It’s not terribly exciting, but it sure beats “getting into a fight in Jackson, MS on a Saturday night.” Went to a Methodist church in Brandon before flying out Sunday afternoon. That’s 11 State Capitols, 14 for church, and 13 for movies.

So the trip overall was fun. I had planned to go to MS several years ago, but things kept coming up. Driving through the Mississippi Delta reminds me of west Texas. As flat as can be, hardly anyone on the road, and you can literally see for miles. I passed through Tutwiler, a town where W.C. Handy claims to have discovered the blues. Most of it is falling down. There are a lot of lower-end businesses (pawn shops, liquor stores, etc) and vacant storefronts in the towns I went through. The poverty is obvious to you, but I had seen similar places driving around southwest Georgia. There seemed to be very few folks interested in the same areas as me – I would have expected a larger crowd given the recent resurgence of interest in blues music.

OMGosh, people, it’s almost Thanksgiving! Where has this year gone? Really, now!

But with the autumn and winter, we get some really awesome seasonal foods to play around with–one of my favorites being the sweet potato. Now, granted, before I lived by myself (i.e., a few months ago), I never cooked sweet taters. My mom always did. And they were damn delicious, too.

I would always fall into the trap of Burgerville’s seasonal sweet potato fries, and I was ALWAYS disappointed. They just weren’t special.

So this year, in the absence of both my mother AND Burgerville, I decided to try my hand at scratch sweet potato fries.

First, peel your potato:

Then, if you don’t have super-duper sharp knives, I can tell you right now that you won’t be able to cut these bad boys. I was SHOCKED at how hard they were. I had to stick them in the microwave for a few minutes just to soften them enough to cut.

When you can cut them, cut them into fry-shapes, however thick or thin you want them. Then place them on a baking sheet that’s been greased or sprayed:

What you do next is basically up to you. If you want them super crisp and delicious, toss with a little bit of olive oil. If you want to be nice and healthy, use cooking spray instead. Add some salt and pepper. If you like them spicy, sprinkle with some cayenne pepper.

Bake your potatoes in a preheated 375-degree oven for about 45 minutes.

These sweet potato fries will be different than the ones in restaurants. The high sugar content will make them get a little charred around the edges, but it’s really delicious that way–they get crispy and almost caramelized. You’ll see for yourself!

For a finishing touch, I dipped my delicious fries in some Tribal Moose Cranberry Ketchup. This stuff is freaking AWESOME, and was perfect with the fries. Also, it’s great because 100 percent of the proceeds from this product go to the Salvation Army. So you’re eating something fantastic and healthy (no HFCS, here!) and doing something great for the community.

Mmm!!! Delicious!

I also used this on my spicy black bean burger with provolone, mushrooms, and avocado on a ciabatta roll.

You guys have to try this. It’s one of my favorite meals so far.

Last week, everything was unplanned when my family and I had a glutton’s gastronomic adventure from breakfast at Starbucks Coffee and lunch at Filipino restaurant, KKK,  to ultimate dessert at  HAAGEN-DAZS and ending the day at YAKIMIX!  

My wife, Tina, our son, Gabby and I, all came with hungry tummies with my youngest brother, JC  for dinner to this buffet-and-grill-all-you-want-restaurant that we’ve been wanting to try for several weeks now.  Initially, we planned to try it months ago as we spotted Yakimix in their branch along Macapagal Avenue in Pasay City near those seaside-’dampa’ restos. But unexpectedly, after long hours of strolling in SM-Mall of Asia last week, finding difficulties in deciding where to chow down from so many choices, we’re just lucky to find Yakimix’s  posters at the entrances of the mall as one of its newest food places. 

We had to wait for few minutes when we came to Yakimix-SM-MOA before 5:30PM as it re-opens in the evening.  When we’re ushered in to our table, we saw this impressively spacious buffet place…

This was just one view taken from where we’re seated. Another section is available to accomodate, more or less 60 to 70 pax inside and few more tables are outside catering to those who prefer al fresco dining.  Believe it or not, before we get to taste our first choices from the spread, the place was packed in a heartbeat…

I know you’ll agree with me that whenever an oriental food place is full of chinky-eyed diners, then it verifies the taste of Japanese and Chinese foods it offers.   That was so apparent when we dined at Yakimix; the more we got excited to try all dishes at the buffet table.

I got this plate filled with raw seafoods and marinated meat for us to cook in our smokeless grill at our table…

Soon after the wait staff smeared oil on the grill and turned it on, our little ‘chef’, Gabby became too busy

Obviously, our son enjoyed cooking for us   Look at his ‘masterpiece’…

We’ve tried Shabu-shabu few times before and still enjoyed Yakimix for it’s purely grilling pleasure.  Everything was browned by Gabby to almost perfection

There were more seasoned cut meats and seafoods on the buffet spread; skewers which we failed to sampled; there’s always a next time.

It may not be the best Sukiyaki in town but it satisfied my craving for that sweet and salty Japanese soup. For me, UMU in DUSIT THANI, Makati City serves the best Sukiyaki.  My brother, JC had the other bowl of Hot and Sour soup which was also just OK.

I got few sushi and two slices of sashimi

On Tina’s ONLY plate :  ebi tempura, fried unbattered prawns, california maki, bacon-wrapped shrimps,  crab sticks, mushroom and veggies,  and according to her, the best among she tasted from Yakimix were those “seafood balls” .  I cannot agree because I failed to bite at them

On my plate : almost the same thing but I got to try the noodles.  There were more on the spread that we passed on simply because we’re so satiated already. And unlike what you might be thinking, we don’t have bottomless gastric pits, LOL.     There were just so many dishes, but so little time!

There were salad bar, fresh tropical fruits and yes, cakes and pastries too, mostly from Red Ribbon and Goldilocks.

On our table :

Yakimix offers Selecta Ice Cream included in the buffet! Gabby went several times to the dessert table for these ice cream sprinkles…

Although I found Yakimix’s dishes plain and ordinary,  it gets our nod because of its wide-array of choices, better traffic of diners and spacious ambiance.  Our drinks were refilled at an instant even without asking, but nothing special for the commonly tasting instant juices and iced tea.  Far from the other blog reviews of Yakimix-Macapagal branch,  service at SM-MOA was quick and friendly exceeding my expectations.  :)   Yakimix’s buffet costs half as hotel buffet prices and can surely give Dad’s Saisaki Kamayan Ultimate Buffet a stiff competition.

Another reason to give Yakimix a try :  where else can you find an eat-all-you-want-Selecta Ice Drops ? LOL

We’ll visit their branch in Tomas Morato, Quezon City whenever possible because it’s closer to our place.

Have you been to Yakimix?  How’s your experience ? 

————————————-

YAKIMIX /Unit 122-126 Ground Floor SM Mall of Asia, Pasay City /

Yakimix Weekend Buffet rate : PhP 580 per pax; bottomless drinks at PhP 55.

PS : Gabby ate for free (children below 4 feet get to dine free of charge)

Hola friends!  Happy Sunday night ??

Since last visit here’s how our day went down:

After a short noon-time nap on the couch I ate a quick leftover lunch then woke Sleeping Beauty from his slumber, 1pm friends, yes 1pm haha

We got showered up an headed down to BW3’s to watch the Packers game & to get his royal highness some buffalo wings – win win on all accounts!  Great way to spend a few hours this afternoon…

After some more Wii Mario Bros (we have problems haha) we headed over to my parents house for The Man’s birthday dinner!

DINNER WAS AWESOME  

When we arrived at the parental’s abode the cooking action had already started!

The big to-do remaining was the mac n’ cheese since Mom had made the bbq ahead of time (she’s a planner, apple doesn’t fall far from the tree eh? )…. so Mom enlisted yours truly to lend a hand.

The sauce was made using a roux of butter & flour, adding some herb & garlic infused milk until thick before finishing with the cheese

Then mixed with some elbow macaroni & into the oven to bake for a while

In the meantime we cooked some delicious peppered bacon on the stovetop

Along with some chopped onion & garlic… these were going to be the toppings!

Once the mac was done in the oven, we topped with the chopped bacon and onions

Holy cow I couldn’t think of a better dish for The Man for his birthday dinner, this was amazing  

Mom had also made some pork tenderloin bbq in the slow cooker earlier in the day, so a quick reheat was all it took

Plus a superfab Caesar salad to go alongside, complete with fresh Parm & croutons!

Of course while us ladies were hard at work, the men were making sure the TV “stayed safe” haha

I decided to serve my bbq open-faced style, on a fresh roll with some hot sauce + coleslaw… yes please!

After dinner & perusing through some old school’ pic albums it was time for some dessert!  Mom & lil’ sis were in charge of this venture and let me just say that they out-did themselves this time!!!!

Chocolate Fondue, ummmm pot o’ gold?!

Served with poundcake, bananas, strawberries & apples for dunking… plus some candles for the birthday of course 

Served by the most beautiful sister in the world!

OMG was this ever good!!!

Let’s just say I was s-t-u-f-f-e-d after this meal… but so freaking worth it.  And there may or may not be a picture on my camera of a certain someone licking the chocolate off their plate (haha DEF not me )

It was a wonderful way to end our fantastic weekend — thanks again Fam for being so wonderful and having us over for this incredible meal!!

Alright friends, it’s late and I need to get myself together and ready for this 2 day week whoop whoop!  See ya”ll tomorrow for BSI winner and Monday funday!

There’s a reason that one of my dogs is not-always fondly called “Barbecue Head.” During fragrant 45-minute outdoor chicken roasts, she routinely used to peer up the air vent on my old Weber grill, hoping for the occasional dollop of sauce that might slide its way down the side of the kettle and land on her tongue.

More often than not, the sauce hit the top of the animal’s head, right above her eyes. And that is why we have always kept a wet towel next to the grill.

Yesterday, we moved into uncharted territory with both of my two dogs, when my blossoming skill at slowly roasting meats in my new barrel drum resulted in a kind of canine insanity.

Trying to get a leg up on a Texas-themed Thanksgiving, I had spent the day feeding Mesquite chunks to a 200-degree barrel full of pork shoulders and beef ribs. The idea was to cook the meat, cool it, freeze it, and painlessly reheat it on the Big Day.

Despite the fact that winter finally has arrived in Southern California, and it was a rather chilly day, both Red Dog and Lola spent it alertly parked on the cold, shaded patio near the smoker.

As the ribs slowly browned, they melted off a phenomenal amount of grease, which trickled down to a release spout where I had not placed a catch-cup, because none of my previous efforts have required this kind of mess-preventing measure.

Shortly before dusk, I emerged from the kitchen for one of my hourly checks on the smoker temperature. There I was greeted by two dogs that looked like someone had poured candle wax on top of and down the sides of their heads.

There was so much cold, congealed fat on their craniums that all I would have had to do to fashion both of them with striking Mohawk hairdos was just start working the fur to the center of their heads with my two hands.

This god-awful mess apparently was created by the two beasts working in tandem, taking turns lapping at the dripping grease, none of which made it to the shelf below the spout on the drum.

Normally, these dogs sparkle. They clean themselves like cats, and almost never receive baths, the latter of which always have been provided by a veterinary assistant on those rare occasions when the dogs are boarded for a weekend or so.

Not so this Saturday. With the sun and the air temperature rapidly plunging, my little nuclear family grabbed bottles of Dawn Detergent – it’s what animal experts use to clean oil-slicked birds – and armfuls of garage towels. After snapping on a pair of latex gloves, I began squeezing off the hardened fat, and then scrubbing Lola down while my husband kept her gripped on a leash and used a washcloth to block sensitive ears and eyes from soapy liquid.

My son really had the worst job. For about 45 minutes straight, he had to methodically cross the backyard and march in and out of the kitchen, filling up and delivering warm gallon buckets of water, like “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.”

This story does not end with large damp dogs still smelling of smoke and old mohair sweaters.

Before all of us ran inside to change into dry, warm clothing, my husband suspended a Styrofoam cup below the barbecue barrel, to trap grease that might still be dripping.

A bit later, a friend came by to claim a pork shoulder that I had been promising to him all summer. His timing was superb. An insta-read meat thermometer had just clocked the smallest roast at a perfect 185. As my friend and I discussed the merits of the barbecue sauce I had simmering in the kitchen, I caught a flicker of movement out of the corner of my eye. Red Dog had slithered silently out of the dog door, after which she had gently removed the Styrofoam drip cup with her teeth. As I slowly turned around, I saw her happily begin to lick the grease that had begun to drop onto the shelf below.

Since we’ve moved to North Carolina, I have been touting the superiority of North Carolina to Tony. He’s a northernor who didn’t grow up with the sweet, tangy vinegary taste of NC BBQ.  We’ve been trying to find the best North Carolina barbecue in the Triangle area. Lexington is of course the barbecue mecca in North Carolina, but the Triangle has had a lot to offer too. Three places stand out in particular, the ritzy The Pit, Allan and Sons in Chapel Hill (that will be a future adventure), and Backyard Barbecue in Durham. Backyard Barbecue has two locations, one of which was featured on “Man vs. Food,” so we had to see if it was worth the hype.

 The Backyard Barbecue we went to ( 5122 NC HWY 55, Durham NC 27713) is at a “blink and you’ll miss it” strip of Highway near RTP. This place definitely had a down-home local feel; the kitchen is small, the sides are kept in heating trays and served cafeteria style, and the walls are covered in signatures and grafitti from previous customers. If it wasn’t for the two state troopers on the other side of the room, I would have gotten a little artistic myself.

Once we got our eyes off the walls, it was time to check out the food. The lunch special is the BBQ pork sandwich and two sides. The sandwich was definitely worth coming out on a chilly Saturday morning for; the pork was tender and the sauce was a surprising mix of sweetness and heat. The pork lacked the vinegary bite I usally love, but the spiciness of the pork was something I hadn’t seen a lot of in typical North Carolina Barbecue. What I loved was that the meat was tender, but didn’t threaten to turn my bun into a soggy, wet mess. Tony had his sandwich topped off with the traditional layer of cole slaw, which he said was tart and crunchy and looked pretty fresh,

As far as the sides, well, let’s just say you’re there for the barbecue. The french fries were obviously made fresh, and tasted okay, but were a little soggy.  My macaroni and cheese was an oily mess, the cheese on top had coagulated and the noodles were literally in a pool of grease that spilled over into my french fries, which made me a sad panda indeed.

Like Cooper’s, Backyard Barbecue focuses on providing good barbecue, not fancy surroundings. Judging from the years of writing on its walls, Backyard has provided that. But what keeps this place from being one of the best Barbecue places in the Triangle is the sides. If you make your way there, just plan on grabbing two sandwiches for a full meal.

~Julia

Ted Cook’s 19th Hole Barbeque
2814 East 38th Street
Minneapolis, MN 55406
612-721-2023
http://www.tedcooks19thholebbq.com

Ted Cook’s lights up the night, but will it light up your life? If you have been eating at Famous Dave’s, it probably will! Ted Cook’s has served up pit smoked BBQ since 1968 and on a recent blustery fall evening, it was my introduction to what they call “soul food.”

The menu is on the wall. You choose your meat, your level of hotness (mild, medium or hot), your sides, your dessert, and yell your order up to the guy in the window. Ten minutes later you are back in your car, but this time your mouth is watering and you speed faster and faster until you finally get in the house, open the styrofoam container and see this…

Beef ribs with jojo potatoes

Need a closer view of the meatiness?

Seven delicious ribs in “medium” BBQ sauce

I ordered the beef rib dinner which comes with jojo potatoes, coleslaw and bread for $12.50. The ribs were huge, lean, and had a decent amount of meat on the bone. It took a serious effort just to get a grip on these things and I would not recommend tackling them on a first date or important business meeting. The “medium” version of the tomato and vinegar based BBQ sauce was lip-numbing hot and smoky. Next time I will get the “mild” even if I get made fun of for doing so. The thin-sliced, fried jojo potatoes were perfect for sopping up extra BBQ sauce, but of course, they played second fiddle to the meat.

Coleslaw, baked beans and bread

The sides were good, but nothing too special. The coleslaw was tasty; a sweet yet common version. The baked beans were better than the average can of baked beans I normally get. I suspect it is due to a lot of garlic salt? Yummy!

Corn muffin

I loved the corn muffins! Unlike mine, these were tasty, moist, and try as I might, they did not crumble! 60¢ well spent.

Sweet potato pie

This was my first experience with sweet potato pie and I have to say that it was the low point of the meal. The consistency was fine, and exactly like pumpkin pie, but there was no flavor or spice enhance the vegetable. The crust left no impression. I didn’t finish it.

But folks, you don’t go to Ted Cook’s for their desserts. You go there because:
1. You want to impress an out of town guest
2. There are not tons of options for good take-out in South Minneapolis
3. Your soul is hungry

If I could change one thing:
1. Friendlier service (sorry, just being honest). It felt like our business was not really wanted.

P.S. They are closed on Mondays!

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