Kirstin, Lacey and Jennifer Do Dallas...

I have the two best friends anyone could ever ask for. Seriously, my best friends are infinitely better than everyone else's. They are beautiful, hilarious, and the probably the only two people in the world (besides my mom) that really know me. Jennifer Lovell and I became besties in high school. I am the Lane to her Rory and we've somehow maintained this amazing consistent friendship through 4 years of college in 2 different cities and now psuedo-adulthood. Lacey started hanging out with us after freshman year of college and we immediately became this fabulous trio. We regularly make each other laugh till we cry, we have marathon phone conversations and we always see each other through everything- break ups, new boys, tough classes, and any other sticky situation we find ourselves in. These girls are the only two people that I am absolutely 100% open with, they know every one of my faults and love me anyway! Lacey lives in L.A. and I did a brief stint as her roommate in the summer of 08, Jennifer went to school at Vanderbilt so she spent the last four years in Nashville but she's doing Teach For America in Dallas now, so obviously we don't get to see each other very often. We try to get together at least once a year and this year we went to Dallas to see Jenn. I love going to Texas, everything is big and everything is so fantastically Southern. I'd never been to Dallas so I was so excited to check it out! Lacey and I got into town on Friday afternoon and since Jennifer is a grown up and has a real job now, we decided to lay low. We ended up going to dinner with Jenn's sweet sweet roommates at this place called The Common Table. It was within walking distance of Jennifer's apartment in uptown. First of all, this place was so freaking cute. It was really busy but we got seated immediately. We ordered drinks (which were pretty expensive but totally worth it,) Lacey and I ordered the First Lady which was Ketel One, lychee fruit liqueur, cranberry juice and lime juice...SO GOOD. Jennifer got the Iron Horse- Hendricks, St. Germaine, peeled cucumber, simple syrup, torn basil and lemon juice...equally good. Then we ordered this special where you could get three small entrees for $19, such a good deal! I ordered Veal Parmigiana Sliders, they were ridiculous. Like seriously ridiculous. It was breaded veal with provolone cheese and roasted garlic tomato sauce on top served with spinach in a ciabatta bread bun. I LOVED it. Lacey ordered the Calamari, and before you say anything about calamari being played out let me just say, this was the best calamari I've ever had. It was made with cornmeal and served with cilantro sriracha sauce...which Jennifer would NOT let the waiter take away even though we were waaaay finished with our meal. It was hilarious, every time he came by our table and tried to clear the plate she would say "Wait wait!!! I'm still using that!" Jennifer shocked me by ordering Pulled Pork Spring Rolls (she's usually a festive salad kind of girl.) I really think that these spring rolls were my favorite thing we ordered...maybe even my favorite thing I've eaten all month. They were amazing, they came with yuzu sesame sauce. I usually don't like spring rolls but these just blew every other spring roll out of the water. We laughed the through the whole dinner and caught up, basically picked up exactly where we left off last November when we saw each other in Nashville. We did typical girly things the next day, like shopping, watching Say Yes To The Dress, talking about boys and made plans to go out that night.

We got ready to go the this bar called Ghost Bar at the top of the W Hotel and then hung out with a few of Jennifer's other TFA friends, then we made our way to the bar. We walked up to the bar and the bouncer looked at Lacey and said "Are you ladies on the guest list?" He paused and then whispered "Nod your head yes..." So of course Lacey said "Oh yeah, we're definitely on the guest list!" (Like a boss.) So we rode the elevator up to the top floor and Lacey said "Ok girls, the plan for tonight is to not pay for a single drink...because they all cost like $20." So we walked around the bar until this guy asked us if we wanted to come over to his table where he and his friends had bottle service! I, being little miss Pensacola had never been to a bar that offered bottle service. It was pretty sweet. They had all kinds of fruit and mixers and it was fabulous.

The next night we decided to stay in since Jennifer (old lady) had to go to school in the morning. So we went to the grocery store and bought things to cook dinner (shocking because I DO NOT cook.) We bought chicken, and vegetables to cook and also made Rice a Roni (Jennifer's favorite food....) Lacey made the chicken by mixing up mayo and dijon mustard and coating it in that then putting Panko bread crumbs on it and baked it at 375 for about 25 to 35 minutes. Jennifer coated eggplant, mushrooms and squash in olive oil and baked them and I, being "kitchen challenged," followed the directions on the back of the box to make Rice a Roni. We also picked up some wine for dinner.

Firesteed Pinot Noir

Cupcake Vineyards Chardonnay

Lacey came home to Pensacola to stay with me for a week and we've been going out to all of her old favorite Pensacola places. Of course we went to Ozone, Fish House, McGuire's and Horizen, but yesterday we went to New Yorker Deli for lunch and I saw on the white board outside that the soup of the day was Beer Cheese soup. I got my usual small salad with the best salad dressing on planet earth: New Yorker Deli's basil vinegarette, grilled cheese with tomato and bacon on a croissant (you should try it) but instead of getting chips I ordered this beer cheese soup. I knew I was taking a risk but it was totally worth it. The first thing I said when I tried it was "It tastes like someone poured beer in my cheese...but in an awesome way." Lacey said the exact same thing. There really isn't any other way to describe it. It tastes like beer and cheese and I'm obsessed with it. I Googled a recipe for it, this one is from FoodNetwork.com:

1/2 cup butter

1 chopped medium sized yellow onion

1/2 cup chopped carrot

1/2 cup chopped celery

1 cup all purpose flour

2 cups chicken broth

1 (12 oz. beer of your choice) Food Network recommends Sierra Nevada Pale Ale or Blind Pig

7 oz. extra sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

7oz. proccessed Swiss cheese, shredded

2 cups half and half

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon dry mustard

1/2 teaspon Worcestershire sauce

1 lb smoked sausage

Melt butter in stockpot over medium heat

Add chopped onion, carrot and celery

Sautee until softened and add flour, let cook for about 5 minutes

Add chicken broth and beer, heat till it comes to a boil

Slowly add cheese while stirring until just boiling and smooth

Add half and half, salt, dry mustard and Worcestershire sauce

Reduce heat to low and cook until soup has thickened

Cut smoked sausage into half inch pieces and place in sauce pan

Sautee sausage over medium heat until cooked throughout

Add sausage to soup and serve!

After a week of adventures with my two best friends, I am completely exhausted. I need some serious sleep but it has been so worth it. I love those two with my whole heart. To quote Sex and the City (our favorite show) "Maybe our girlfriends are our soulmates and guys are just people to have fun with." Jennifer and Lacey are absolutely my soulmates, I am so blessed to have two people like them in my life.

P.S. (J&L)- Who even likes Helen Kellar?

Writer's block? Food block? Food Writer's Block?

It's been quite a while since my last post, to be quite honest I haven't had very much blog-worthy food lately. However there are a few places I've been to/things I've eaten recently that were worth a mention.

Tu-Do: I've been hearing about this place for a long time and hadn't had an opportunity to go until my friend Charlotte invited me. First we split the spring rolls, I really wouldn't recommend these. The texture, taste, everything was kind of gross. BUT then I got #38. I don't remember the name but I know it was rice noodles, chicken, shredded lettuce and peanuts. It was HUGE, seriously I got it on Sunday and I'm still picking at my leftovers. It was super cheap too, like 7 or 8 dollars. Loved it, definitely going again.

Tater Tot and Asparagus Casserole: I feel like in the South, food is a bigger deal than in most other places. Food has the power to cheer people up, which I'm sure is why, after my last break up, my house was filled with cake, ice cream, cookies and an assortment of other things to make me fat (and thus still single.) But for real what better thing to bring when someone is in need? Food is one of the three basic human needs, so of course whenever something happens you bring it in large amounts. Well for those of you who don't know me very well or haven't heard me talking about this non stop for the past month, let me rock your world with an awesome story. My friend Fed Barona had a serious accident on Blue Angel weekend that left him paralyzed from the neck down. The doctors gave him an 80% chance of quadriplegia, and of course because he (and God) is amazing he is living in what I like to call 20% chance of awesomeness and is WALKING. It is literally a miracle. So Fed's wife Heather is equally amazing and invited my mom and me over the other night to eat some of the food people have been bringing over since Fed's accident. Someone brought over a tater tot asparagus casserole that was seriously one of the best casseroles I've ever had. I was also so excited to spend some time with Heather and her sons Grey and Alecs. Ever since Fed's accident I have watched people pour their hearts out to the Baronas, it really has been so cool. I love this family so much and am so inspired by how strong they are. I had to google the recipe for this casserole and couldn't find one with asparagus included but here is the Duggar Family (of TLC's 19 Kids and Counting) recipe for tater tot casserole.

2lb ground turkey, cooked, seasoned and drained

3 2lb bags of tater tots

2 cans cream of mushroom soup

2 cans cream of chicken soup

2 cans evaporated milk

Brown meat and place in casserole dish

Cover with tater tots

Mix milk and soup together and pour on top

Bake at 350 for 1 hour.

And I say just throw in a can or two of canned asparagus.

Sutter Home White Zinfandel Wine: Finally I want to write about wine. I LOVE wine. Seriously, I know that sounds bad but it's the truth. I haven't always loved wine, in fact I used to hate it. But all of the sudden one day I woke up and decided I like wine...(which happens to me quite often, for instance I looked up from watching What Women Want when I was 20 and was like I HAVE TO HAVE A PICKLE after hating them my entire life.) Anyway, I love all kinds of wine: red, white, gas station brand or fancy expensive brands (as long as someone else is paying.) But there is one kind of wine that I am embarrassed to say that I love and that's White Zinfandel. I feel like it's the white trash, stripper's wine. Seriously, I love it but I'm always too embarrassed to order it when I go out, I feel like I should order something more sophisticated. Well when I'm buying my wine from the gas station on Bayou I feel like I'm already slumming it enough to justify buying my fave pink drink. (I mean for real, it's pink wine...how could I not love it? ) That gas station on Bayou was exactly where I found myself the other night when my fabulous girlfriends Maggie and Meredith and I had an old school sleepover (with grown up drinks.) I was having a crappy day and my wonderful friends invited me over to Maggie's for a sleepover where we were literally the girliest girls ever. We sat in our PJ's and talked about skin, make up, boys, hair, clothes and nail polish. Seriously, I think I lost a few brain cells because we talked about nothing of substance...just shallow girly crap and I loved it! We drank wine and laughed and Maggie got mad at Meredith and me because we couldn't stay awake past 1 (old ladies.) I am SO thankful for my sweet girls that take such good care of me! They are really two of the best girlfriends you could ever ask for, and they didn't even make fun of me when I showed up with my gas station white zin.

The Best Worst Trip Ever...

I mentioned in another post that I've been doing a book study on Crazy Love with a group of girls every Monday night. This past weekend to celebrate the end of the summer and also the end of our book study, six of us planned a camping/whitewater rafting trip on the Ocoee River. Well...God had other plans. We left Pensacola on Friday at around 1pm and drove up to Tennessee, what should have been a 7 hour car ride somehow turned into a 10 hour trek up to Benton, TN only to find that there were NO campsites anywhere. I mean literally not a single campsite in 3 different campgrounds. So we turned around and drove another hour and a some change back to Chattanooga to crash at my mom's friend Rodney's house. I was lucky enough to get to hardcore snuggle with my sweet friend Bayleigh Boles on the couch while most everyone else slept in the king size bed upstairs....still not sure how that happened. Anyway, we woke up the next morning and drove an hour back to Benton for our first rafting trip. After getting there we realized we had an HOUR to kill before our reservation...obnoxious, but finally after waiting for what seemed like forever we got on the bus to go to the river. The Ocoee is split up into 3 different sections, the upper, middle and lower, the upper and middle have rapids and the lower is pretty still and good for tubing. On Saturday we were going to raft the middle, we met our guide Curly (who we all had a pretty legit crush on) and managed to raft the whole middle section without falling out of the boat or getting any serious injuries (in spite of going through the rapid called 6 Broken Noses.) After getting back on the road to Chattanooga we stopped at the Choo Choo Dive Center to pick up Rodney and head back to his house. Since we were "fake camping" we decided to cook the food we brought to for our nonexistent campsite. Rodney built a fire (which sounded like "far" with his East Tennessee accent) and Molli McMilion, my mom and I made a fabulous chicken burrito dinner, recipe courtesy of our super outdoorsy friend Nathan Hicks of Higher Ground USA. You'll need: yellow rice, canned chicken, black beans, tortillas and salsa. Whether camping or cooking in a kitchen, this recipe is so easy! Throw the rice in a big pot and cook it about halfway (I think) then start throwing in the canned chicken (canned because you're camping and can't bring regular raw chicken), we made the beans in a separate pot because some of us (me) don't like beans. After the chicken and rice have cooked, line a bowl with a tortilla and fill it up with chicken and rice then top it with salsa...trust me, it's awesome.

All day long Rodney had been talking about this amazing dessert he was going to teach us how to make called a "Banana Boat," so we all gathered in his kitchen and watched him give the official banana boat tutorial. This dessert is SO good, it's perfect camping food but Rodney told us he ocassionally makes it in the oven too. You'll need: bananas (duh), tin foil and whatever kind of filling you want, we used Nutella, peanut butter, chocolate chips, butterscotch chips and marshmallows.

Step 1: Using a knife, peel back a strip of banana peel about an inch wide, leaving one end still attached to the banana

Step 2: Cut out and remove a wedge of the banana.

Step 3: Fill the hole with your favorite junk food! (I went really heavy on the Nutella right here)

Step 4: Replace the banana peel and wrap the whole thing in foil.

Step 5: Place on the hot coals of a campfire (or in an oven) for at least five minutes.

Step 6: Peel off the foil and loose banana peel and eat it with a spoon!

This was seriously the one of the best things I've ever eaten. We had a blast sitting around the campfire listening to Molli quote the Sandlot ("You're killing me Smalls! First you take the graham, then you put the chocolate on the graham...") and laughing about our best, worst trip ever. The next morning we woke up, packed up the cars and headed back to the river to raft the upper part, which also happens to be the same part they rafted in the 1996 Olympics. We requested Curly again (because he was a hottie) and began our trip down the river. Now, we told Curly not to go easy on us, we said we wanted the rough and tumble ride....and he gave us what we asked for. We got stuck on rocks, did 360's in rapids and at one point we all had to jump into the front of the boat to get out of a sticky situation (resulting in me having to bust out my knee brace.) But we had the best time! We got out and swam in the freezing cold water and sang songs until Curly was probably ready to throw us overboard. We cracked jokes about hitting each other with our paddles and occasionally followed through on those jokes. After leaving the river and hitting the road, we finally made it back to Pensacola around 10pm on Sunday night. We spent so much time planning this trip only to have to turn out completely different than any of us could have imagined. We learned about making the best of a frustrating situation, being loyal sisters in Christ and ultimately I think the biggest lesson we learned was that God is going to be glorified no matter what hard we try to make everything about ourselves. We all got cut down a few notches this weekend and walked away with a different idea of what crazy love is all about, it's about a crazy, out of control love for not only God but each other. I'm so thankful for the girls that went on this trip: Bayleigh Boles, Ashton Mosley, Debbie Norris (aka Mommy,) Paitra Prim and Molli McMilion; and for the all of the other girls that couldn't make it on the trip but were part of this book study. Go check out Higher Ground if you're interested in an awesome outdoors adventure! http://www.hgusa.org/index.php

If you're interested in rafting check out Sunburst Adventures!!

http://www.sunburstrafting.com/default.php

And if you're ever in Chattanooga and feel the need to go diving, go see my mom's friends at Choo Choo Dive Center!

http://www.choochoodive.com/

Goat Lips? Seriously?

The other day I wanted to go to lunch somewhere that would be blog-worthy, I invited my friend Paitra Prim (sassy sidekick) over and she started looking on Urban Spoon for a place to eat, she came across a place called Goat Lips and jokingly suggested it, I laughed but my mom was like "Oh my gosh, I heard that place is so good!" So we hopped in the car and drove over, it's on Copter Road kind of in Ellison Industrial Park. We walked in and Paitra was like "this is a total man cave," and it totally was...we sat in the pub section and the walls were covered with picutres of athletes, mucisians and movie posters. Since none of us had ever been there, we asked our waiter what his favorite things on the menu were (which happens to be something on my 101 things to do in 1001 day list, you can do it too at http://www.dayzeroproject.com/.) He told us if we wanted a sandwich he loved the Philly Cheesesteak Sub, the GL Club or the Blackened Fish Sandwich; but if we wanted an entree he suggested the Blackened Fish Alfredo or Baja Spaghetti. They were actually out of Baja Spaghetti and we were super sad because it looked really good, it was like Mexican spaghetti with chicken, beans, corn and enchilada sauce over pasta. The menu was full of really different things like that, for instance the Carribean Jerk Chicken Sandwich. So we ordered the chips with homemade salsa and queso as an appetizer, and that alone was awesome! The queso was super spicy and the salsa was really fresh, but the best part was the chips they served, I HATE when restaurants serve crappy chips, these were salty and not even a little bit stale. After trying to figure out what we were going to order, because we wanted everything, I ordered the Blackened Chicken Alfredo...it was huge. I actually had to bring it home and eat the rest for dinner. But it was SO good, the fish was really, really blackened and the alfredo sauce wasn't too....alfredo-ey? Like when you go to Olive Garden and the alfredo sauce is too cheesey (sorry Olive Garden lovers but that place sucks), this sauce was awesome. My mom got the GL Club and said it was the best club sandwich she'd ever had. Of course we were all sharing and I thought the bacon was the best part of hers, it was really smokey. Paitra's was definitely the best, she got the Philly Cheesesteak Sub and I don't even know how to describe it, it was just ridiculous...and I don't even like Philly Cheesesteak. BUT the best part of the whole experience was when we left, it was pouring down rain outside and we didn't have an umbrella....of course. So one of the guys that works there grabbed an umbrella and ran us out to the car underneath it one by one. It was SO nice! I couldn't believe what a gentleman he was.
A friend of mine came up to me at church tonight and said the he saw that my Facebook status said I was at Goat Lips a few days ago and he raved about it too! I'm always excited when people tell me about their experiences at places I've blogged about.
I guess this entry is really just about food, no life changing conversations or meaningful moments to write about...except http://www.dayzeroproject.com/! Seriously, go do it! And tell me if you start a list because of this blog because one of my to-do's is to inspire someone to make a Day Zero List of their own!

www.goatlipsdeli.com

Horizen sushi takeout and long discussions...

I eat at Horizen at least once every two weeks, sometimes I go twice in one week, sometimes I go twice in one day. It's pretty safe to say I love Horizen! Yesterday I was on my way home from visiting a friend in the hospital and was running a little late for the book study we have at my house every Monday night, so while I was waiting for the security guards to rescue my car keys from the closed down valet parking station I called in a to go order at Horizen. I ordered my usual Tiger Roll and a Sonic Bomb Roll. The Tiger Roll isn't listed on the regular menu and I'm not quite sure what all is on it but I do know this: it's topped with eel, spicy chile sauce, japonaise and eel sauce and it's the most ridiculous thing I've ever eaten. Now even though I would love to credit myself with the discovery of this awesome roll, I was actually at dinner with my friend Britt and some boys I was interning with when they turned me on to this roll. I had to look on the website but I found out exactly what's in/on the Sonic Bomb Roll and I can proudly say I tried this one all on my own. The Sonic Bomb Roll is a California Roll topped with snow crab that's been tossed in japponaise and then they torch it for a few seconds so it tastes all smokey and fabulous. Now, I've had both of these rolls many, many times but I never get tired of them. The Tiger Roll is so spicy I eat it with a glass of milk, but it's worth the molten lava feeling I get after swallowing. There's a crunch in it that I'm pretty sure is cucumber and I'm fairly certain it's got crab and tempura inside, but the best part is the eel. I, being terrified of anything that slithers on the ground or in the water, shockingly LOVE eel and even more than that I love eel sauce. My mom and I sometimes order two Sonic Bomb Rolls when we go to Horizen because we fight over who got more if there's only one. They torch the snow crab for just a few seconds so that the japponaise is still creamy but it's also just a little toasted on top. I'm dead serious when I say that I could probably live off of these too rolls if I had to.
After leaving the hospital and driving like a madman to pick up my order and get home on time, I ate dinnner while reading the chapter we were going to discuss that night, the chapter was a bit of a snooze and the sushi was setting my mouth on fire with every bite so I put both away. Here's just a little background info on this book study: my friend Paitra Prim (also known as my sassy sidekick in this blog) came to my mom a while ago and started talking to her about how there isn't very much for college students to do in the summer as far as church goes, so she started a book study at my house for older high school/college girls. She chose the book Crazy Love by Francis Chan and every week about seven to ten girls sit in my living room and discuss the book and the DVD that goes with it. Like I said earlier, this chapter was a little on the dull side...it was a collection of short stories about real people who completely dedicated their lives to Jesus and His ministry. We started talking about what our legacies would be and whether or not we were satisfied with them. I mean, I'm not living in some third world country saving orphans everyday and I've never given up all of my earthly possesions to go serve the Lord...so what will my legacy be? My mom was listening to the sermon at Northpoint Church in Atlanta from their internet campus on Sunday afternoon, my rockstar friend Dee Dee was leading worship there that morning so we tuned in, and she said that the pastor challenged the congregation to get a card and write down the things they wanted to be remembered for or accomplish and every time they were faced with a situation that might compromise those things to bring out that card and think "Is this worth my dreams not coming to fruition?" So I thought about it and decided that I want to be remembered as someone who loved people, and I mean really really loved people. I also want to leave a legacy of great faith behind. I have always said that my greatest hope is that my love for Jesus Christ would manifest itself through the way I love others and that as a result, the knowledge of God would begin to seep down from my brain and into my heart. So that's my legacy, and I hope that the people who read this hold me accountable for it.





I always seem to have to best time when sushi is involved. Whether I'm sitting with a group of people who just lost someone they love, on a first date, reconnecting with a long lost friend, killing time with my mom, going through a bottle of wine and about five rolls with my best girlfriends, or simply running in to pick up take out just to go home and be spiritually renewed with some fantastic girls, I always leave with a smile and feeling like I just gained about ten pounds.


So here's my advice for Horizen:


Order at least one of the following: Tiger Roll, Sonic Bomb Roll, Horizen Spicy Roll or Ying Yang Roll...you won't be disappointed!


Ask to be seated in my sweet friend Charlotte's section...and tip her really well.


And always ask what the discount rolls are for the month!
http://www.horizensushi.net/index.htm
http://www.crazylovebook.com/

The day I stumbled upon Porchetta's...

It seemed only fitting that my first actual post about an amazing food experience should be the one that inspired me to start this blog.
So first of all, I'm a nanny and my hours are very unpredictable. Well a few days ago I found myself with an hour to kill before going back into work, so I was driving around downtown Pensacola, looking for a quick place to get lunch. I used urbanspoon.com (one of my favorite websites ever) and came across this place that had been rated 94% called Porchetta's. This place is on Garden Street and it's a little hard to find, but I'm really into places that are off the beaten trail. I walk into this super clean, albeit empty restaurant, and start looking at the menu (which consists of a chalkboard and several pictures of the food taped to the wall) I ordered the Big Momma because it got awesome reviews on urbanspoon and the woman behind the counter even suggested it. First of all I had to google the term porchetta. It is a savory, fatty, boneless pork roast of Italian culinary tradition according to Wikipedia. So the Big Momma is 4 ounces of porchetta on a hard italian roll. They dip the porchetta in au jous and it's all spicy and fabulous just like that...BUT then they mixed mayo, mustard, salt and pepper and spread it on the bottom half of the roll and well...let's just say I was ready to call the Food Network. This sandwich, humble as all get out in it's styrofoam box and bag of Lay's potato chips on the side, was to die for. The meat melted in my mouth and the bread was somehow soaked in au jous but still crunchy. So I took this sandwich up to First Baptist Church where I happened upon my friend Paul Hood-Patterson, a minister at the church. Paul and I had an impromptu sit down and talked about the path God has he and his wife on right now and life in general. It was one of those meaningful conversations I am so thankful for. Maybe next time I'll bing Paul his own sandwich...probably not.

http://www.porchettas.com/index.html

Forget love, I'd rather fall in chocolate.

Here's the story: I am a 22 year old girl, I am recently single and after years of trying to figure out what I love, what makes me get up in the morning, I have come to the conclusion that my great love in life is food. Now I don't mean Mcdonald's or Applebee's. I mean food. For me, food is like a religious experience. I don't mess around with food. I want to experience every moment of a meal and walk away thinking "holy crap, I could die happy now." So after yet another failed relationship and a self help book or two, God and I made a deal. I asked God not to bring another relationship into my life until I am completely aware of who I am and am completely happy being her. So in order to hold up my end of the deal I started thinking about what I love and how to begin living life to the fullest. I began looking for new things to try or places to go. I looked at yoga classes, plane tickets to places I'd never even thought about going, I even looked into learning a new language...all of this made me feel INCREDIBLY single. Then one day while trying out a new place for lunch, I had one of those meals, one of those meals that turns into a spiritual experience. As I was sitting in food heaven, I thought to myself, "Oh my gosh! This is it! This is what I love!" So I'm going to take my love of food and drink and explore everything the two have to offer, and I'm going to write it all down here. For me food is about more than satisfying hunger, it's about being with people I love and laughing and crying together while we share amazing food. Food is about trying something I've never tried before and learning about myself while I do it.