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.