I love barbecued ribs. I can eat them without any sides items – just ribs are enough to make me feel like I’ve had a …
bacon
Thanksgiving Brunch 2012
Happy Thanksgiving!
This is the first Thanksgiving in years that I do not make a turkey. Okay, that isn’t true. I didn’t last year either – but that was ONLY because I was away for military training and that shouldn’t count. It didn’t feel like Thanksgiving happened at all for me in 2011.
Don’t get me wrong, we were taken out to a great restaurant and shared a meal with our shipmates. The food was great and I even took pictures of it (maybe I can dig those up and update this post another time). It still isn’t the same when your family is two thousand miles away (1,949 to be exact).
This year I’m thankful for a lot of things. God has blessed me with a supportive family that enjoys watching me grow as a woman, a mother, and now a wife. I’m also thankful that I could start a new tradition – Thanksgiving Brunch. I love making food for the holidays and brunch is a new meal I never took on with guests.
I am posting links to the recipes that I used for the meal today (see related links below).
The full spread:
The Raspberry Lemon Scones:
Quecitos:
Related links:
Recipe (very traditional) for Quecitos (think cheese danish with a Puerto Rican twist)
Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins (from Sparkpeople.com)
Raspberry Lemon Scones (I would suggest adding more sugar than recipe calls for if you like your scones sweeter OR but sugar on top before baking so it’ll caramelize on them)
Egg Muffin cups (I only used egg and cheese in mine, but this was my inspiration)
Creamy Fruit Salad (not pictured above)
Pumpkin Spiced Pancakes (and other ideas)
I hope you enjoy and have a great Thanksgiving.
Zulaika H.
2-4-1
This is one of those posts I for some reason overlook because I think I’ve done it before. I would say we eat at Chili’s semi-regularly, which for us is at least 6 times a year. It’s one of those fun places where you always know what you want and 2 for 1 specials never seem to end. I have never had an issue with my food at this restaurant and I think that is the main reason we keep coming back to this franchise.
If you’ve never been I would suggest going and trying the $20 Dinner for Two special (a great way to sample their food).
Today, we stopped here for lunch before driving back home from a four day trip to Mayport. For just a few days of military training, I felt very tired. I barely slept 3 hours last night.
I had a couple beers (frosty mugs were the best part) and wanted to have some salty food with it so I opted for the Fried Shrimp, which is served with french fries and cole slaw (quite good, actually).
Ruben had Bacon Ranch Quesadillas (Bacon + Ranch are two of his favorite things to put in food so he was in heaven).
Now, just for fun, I am putting the images from their online menu of the items we ordered. The difference for me was my basket didn’t seem as full and the difference for Ruben’s food was the lack of a pretty arrangement. At least on Ruben’s part I know he would have preferred not to have the guacamole.
The Yuengling helped to put me down for a much needed nap – all the way to Orlando.
Related links:
Chili’s Grill & Bar Restaurant (Official website) – you can even order online and pick it up to bring home
Yuengling (Official Website) – The “Story” section is quite interesting
Thanks for reading!
New York City 2012 Part 3
The mention of Astoria always reminds me of New York, low-key fashionistas, and now it also reminds me of the very cool brunch Ruben and I had at a place called Fatty’s Cafe. Today actually marks a whole month since our visit, but the experience is my favorite from the entire trip (to be beat only by breakfast at Tom’s – more on that another time).
Part of me wishes I would have taken more photos of the ambiance, but I was too excited to think twice of it. Fatty’s is a small cafe on the corner of Ditmars Blvd. and Crescent St. When you approach it, you might almost miss how perfectly awesome it is. If you go, (and weather permits) request to be seated out on the patio. You’ll walk on the sidewalk to the back of the building to enter a whole new realm. Instantly, we felt as if it wasn’t even New York anymore. The atmosphere is that different.
Your order is taken – drinks first of course. Take note: Each brunch entree ($15) comes complete with your choice of a Orange, Mango, or Pineapple Mimosa. I am pretty sure we all chose Mango flavored. I also couldn’t help but to order and try their “Cafe con Leche” (espresso with sweetened warm milk). It was really good…
But let’s remember my husband is Cuban – and no one makes a cafe con leche like he does.
At any rate, Fatty’s cafe con leche did not disappoint.
Ruben had Steak, eggs and home fries (which he thought would be fries and not potato chunks) he didn’t eat the potatoes. I tried not to crop this photo too much so you could see the natural light we were basking in 🙂
I ordered pancakes, eggs and bacon – and sadly could not eat it all. But really tried!
I enjoyed visiting this place, and it is very hard to put into words the feeling of comfort you get by coming here. The servers were friendly, the food was good, and there were no negatives. I don’t know when our next trip to New York will be, but I would not hesitate going to Fatty’s again. Please feel free to share your reviews as well if you’ve ever gone – I’d love to know what the other food was like.
Related links:
Fatty’s Cafe, Google Plus page – Scored a 22 in Zagat
Thanks for reading,
Zulaika H.
Eggs, bacon and toast
In our house, eggs and toast is the regular breakfast item. This is why I will not bore you with daily posts on what I eat in the morning. But just to have the example logged – so here it is.
I prefer my eggs over-easy (fried in butter), but occasionally we have them as an omelette or scrambled to mix it up. My daughter prefers her eggs scrambled so when she’s not having cereal or Farina I’ll make her eggs like this. I have no idea what my husband prefers for eggs because if I ever ask he’ll just say he’s happy with whatever I want that morning lol.
I had my breakfast with sweet tea (the Sweet Leaf tea I mentioned in an earlier post). By the time breakfast was done, I had already drank my first cup of coffee.
Thanks for reading,
Zulaika
