Travels in the South

I’ve told you before my friends.  My mom and dad have lost it. Totally.  This past weekend was one of “those” adventures – snorts.  They were looking for some adventure and wanted to try a place they had never been to before.  So they took off in Albert, mom’s little Smart car, and hit the highway.  Almost sounds like a song huh – snorts.

They ended up at this place called Mellow Mushroom – it’s a pizza joint which was right up dad’s alley.  He ❤ pizza.  Mom was somewhat reluctant.  First off because they sat right beside exhibit A to the left.  Pardon me while I say this but does that ‘mushroom’ look psychedelic?  It was kind of disturbing in a weird sense of direction.  Mom couldn’t take her eyes off of it.  There was just something about it that was just plain weird.

 That’s when mom got up to take a closer look at the psychedelic mushroom.   

It’s not all its cracked up to be – double snorts.  You get it – cracked up.  It really is around the head area.  What kind of restaurant is this place?  Mom shook her head, snapped a couple of pictures and sat down preparing herself for a psychedelic adventure.

P.S.  If you are ever out and about and see some crazy lady taking pictures at a restaurant, just call her mom.  That will probably be my crazy mom – she takes pictures of *everything* as you will soon see in this post.

Shakes piggy head.  At least it’s not all about me now.

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Mom has been on this DIEt thing lately.  It’s going okay. As she says, it’s all about choices.  So today she choose a Greek salad to start her meal.

Exhibit B to the left here.  She says if she starts with a good salad, it fills her so she doesn’t eat too much of a bad thing.

Which is good – I guess if you are living a DIEt kind of life.  Mom did say that this salad was delicious!  It had everything she loves – lettuce, mushrooms (which didn’t look scary like exhibit A), olives, peppers and feta cheese.

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Dad on the other hoof, went with a cheese covered pretzel.  See exhibit C here to the right.  Not only was it delicious and cheesy, they served it with a beer cheese dipping sauce.  It must have been great because daddy licked the cheese sauce dry and there were no crumbs left from the pretzel.

 Which is good because mommy kept watching him waiting for something to drop.  So much for eating a nice decent sensible salad huh?

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Now came the main course.  Mom and dad can never agree upon toppings for their pizza.  There solution is to always get a pie 1/2 and 1/2.  That way mom can have what she wants and dad can have what he wants.  May I present to you exhibit D to the left.  Drum roll – tongue hanging out – deliciousness.

Mom got the top side.  She ❤ white pizza with cheese, garlic and tomatoes – what’s not to love right?

Dad on the other hoof got the bottom side.  He gets the works… something this little piggy can’t discuss and think about.  But it looks good.  Of course a lot of pizza made it’s way home for lunch the next day.

You have to admit though, mom had hesitation at first with seeing the psychedelic mushroom – or maybe it was because of the psychedelic mushroom – the food was delicious!

 

Travels in the South

Last week I told you about a restaurant that mom/dad went to with Aunt Tina a couple of months ago while visiting Chicago.  This is the second half of that posting.

On this night, mom/dad split a meal.  They do that a lot.  On tonight’s menu it was a Fontina Pork Chop.  I know – I know.  I was shocked too.  Thank goodness I’m not that kind of pig!

This pork chop was boneless, had fontina cheese, garlic and prosciutto ham and a mushroom marsala sauce.  Mom said it was the best pig that she ever had…besides kissing me that is – snorts and rolls with piggy laughter.

They served it with garlic whipped potatoes and one of dad’s favorites – crab fried rice – which dad absolutely fell in love with!

This was the first time that mom/dad had visited this restaurant but they say they will be back for sure!  Wait until next week to see the dessert – oh yum ❤

 

Travels in the South

 Welcome my friends to another week of Travels in the South. This past weekend, daddy was craving his favorite – pizza.  It doesn’t matter what kind or where, daddy loves all kinds and doesn’t discriminate – snorts.  Mom/dad went shopping this past weekend a couple of towns over from the Hotel Thompson.  After a long day of spending money and daddy lugging all the bags (like a perfect southern gentleman), both were ravished.

So mom saw this darling little pizza shop and thought she would bless daddy cause you know his hard work of (A) pulling out the credit card often this date and (B) lugging said packages everywhere.  Let me start by saying that this is *not* a meal that mom/dad would splurge in often because of their new way of eating; however, today was a special date night of sorts.

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Mom/dad started with buttered garlic knots.  Now there were more buttered garlic knots in the bowl but someone conveniently forgot to take a picture before diving head first into that wonderful dish.  Not that I’m pointing hooves mom but it’s so hard to train humans.  Those two humans of mine acted like they had never eaten before and the next thing you knew – the dish was empty except for buttery/garlic goodness on the bottom of the bowl.

And of course, mom wouldn’t give that bowl up for all of the money in the world.  She told dad they would keep it.  Why?  So they could swipe their pizza crust up all in that concoction.  Yep, it was that good.

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Now for the main star.  The pizza.  Not just any pizza.  Dad said it was probably the best pizza he has ever had – and that is saying a lot!  Look at all of that cheesy goodness.

This is called the white pizza (one of mom’s favorite pizzas to order anywhere).  It has a blend of ricotta, mozzarella, provolone, parmesan cheese and minced garlic.  Then they sprinkle MORE fresh parmesan cheese on top before bringing it to the table.

Can you see the cheese dripping everywhere?  Okay, maybe this picture of dad eating slice shows you how cheesy and wonderful this pizza was.

 

 

 

Shopping Around the World

Today’s Shopping Around the World is being hosted by our cousins Teddy and Angel Sammy from TWOspoiledcats.  This month Teddy and Angel Sammy are hosting main meals that do not have meat. Now this is a tough one.  Anyone that knows my daddy, knows that he is definitely a meateater.  So mom got creative.  She told daddy he had to come up with a meatless dinner.  HA!  It’s not so funny or easy when the job falls on the daddy.  Good one mom!  So without further ado, this is what daddy came up with for Shopping Around the World.

Dad here.  I told the mom I had this one.  I can do a meatless dinner.  Sure I can.  I have that much talent.  Okay, maybe it’s not how the mommy does things on Shopping Around the World but I’m a man… give me a break this time okay.  So over the weekend since we had a difficult time, I told the wifey I had dinner.  That’s when we went to a restaurant called Mellow Mushroom.  See, I know you are suppose to cook and post recipes but I do have a visual impairment so I get a learning curve, right?  Thanks friends.

We started out by ordering a lil salad to share.  It had romaine and iceberg lettuce, shredded carrots, red cabbage, onions, cucumbers, green peppers, mushrooms, Kalamata olives, Roma tomatoes and mozzarella.  See that’s a great start.  And I added candied pecans for crunch.  Yummo!  The salad cost $4.49 and there was plenty for me and the missus to share.  Sorry for the picture.  I forgot to snap it before I dug in.

Now came the hard part.  Getting a meal without meat.  This was the most difficult choice in my life in some time.  I mean heck, first up my wife usually makes my food choices and she knows I like my meat.  This body was made for meat!  Second up, I don’t do much cooking so I kind of had to cheat and go out since I was challenged with this Shopping Around the World.  I thought hard about what to order as a meatless entree.  I think I nailed it.

May I introduce you to a large wheat dough Mellow Mushroom pie with an olive oil and garlic base (extra garlic please), fresh mozzarella cheese and black olives – no meats.  Doesn’t that look awesome.  I also sprinkled it with red pepper flakes.  The pizza cost $16.96.  And here’s the kicker.  Me and the wife like to call this kind of meal, a meal that keeps on giving.  There is enough pizza to last a couple of more nights – Deal of the Day, right?

So for a total of $25.00 (including a tip), we have a meatless dinner that lasts three nights for two peeps.  So that’s what, $4.17 a person?  Not bad for a dude huh?  So I hope I pulled off Shopping Around the World this month.

Thanks again to cousins Teddy and Angel Sammy for hosting this month.  Sending you much love from the Hotel Thompson ❤

 

Mom and Dad’s Weekend Adventure

I’ve told you before my friends.  My mom and dad have lost it. Totally.  This past weekend was one of “those” adventures – snorts.  They were looking for some adventure and wanted to try a place they had never been to before.  So they took off in Albert, mom’s little Smart car, and hit the highway.  Almost sounds like a song huh – snorts.

They ended up at this place called Mellow Mushroom – it’s a pizza joint which was right up dad’s alley.  He ❤ pizza.  Mom was somewhat reluctant.  First off because they sat right beside exhibit A to the left.  Pardon me while I say this but does that ‘mushroom’ look psychedelic?  It was kind of disturbing in a weird sense of direction.  Mom couldn’t take her eyes off of it.  There was just something about it that was just plain weird.

 That’s when mom got up to take a closer look at the psychedelic mushroom.   

It’s not all its cracked up to be – double snorts.  You get it – cracked up.  It really is around the head area.  What kind of restaurant is this place?  Mom shook her head, snapped a couple of pictures and sat down preparing herself for a psychedelic adventure.

P.S.  If you are ever out and about and see some crazy lady taking pictures at a restaurant, just call her mom.  That will probably be my crazy mom – she takes pictures of *everything* as you will soon see in this post.

Shakes piggy head.  At least it’s not all about me now.

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Mom has been on this DIEt thing lately.  It’s going okay. As she says, it’s all about choices.  So today she choose a Greek salad to start her meal.

Exhibit B to the left here.  She says if she starts with a good salad, it fills her so she doesn’t eat too much of a bad thing.

Which is good – I guess if you are living a DIEt kind of life.  Mom did say that this salad was delicious!  It had everything she loves – lettuce, mushrooms (which didn’t look scary like exhibit A), olives, peppers and feta cheese.

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Dad on the other hoof, went with a cheese covered pretzel.  See exhibit C here to the right.  Not only was it delicious and cheesy, they served it with a beer cheese dipping sauce.  It must have been great because daddy licked the cheese sauce dry and there were no crumbs left from the pretzel.

 Which is good because mommy kept watching him waiting for something to drop.  So much for eating a nice decent sensible salad huh?

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Now came the main course.  Mom and dad can never agree upon toppings for their pizza.  There solution is to always get a pie 1/2 and 1/2.  That way mom can have what she wants and dad can have what he wants.  May I present to you exhibit D to the left.  Drum roll – tongue hanging out – deliciousness.

Mom got the top side.  She ❤ white pizza with cheese, garlic and tomatoes – what’s not to love right?

Dad on the other hoof got the bottom side.  He gets the works… something this little piggy can’t discuss and think about.  But it looks good.  Of course a lot of pizza made it’s way home for lunch the next day.

You have to admit though, mom had hesitation at first with seeing the psychedelic mushroom – or maybe it was because of the psychedelic mushroom – the food was delicious!

 

Mom’s Birthday Lunch – WOW!

Today was a great and wonderful day for mom with her birthday.  Daddy took her to one of their favorite restaurants called Fogo de Chão (pronounced fo-go dèe shoun) for lunch downtown Atlanta, Georgia.  This place is superdelicious even from this oinker’s point of view… not that *I* would know first hand.  For some reason, I don’t think they would be too accommodating for me to walk in and order lunch.  Then again.. they might if *I* was lunch but that’s not going to happen okay! Snorts – I’ll just live vicariously through mom and dad with their fantastic lunch date.

When you first get seated at your table, there is this round disc that is next to each plate.  Just like a stop light – flip it to green for “Come on Gauchos bring me some meat” or flip it to red for “Hold back cowboys – I need a moment” – snort. 

But, I’m getting way ahead of myself.

 

After you get settled and order your drinks, you can go visit their magnificent salad bar.  And trust me, I say salad bar but mom and dad said it was a culinary experience.  There’s everything on that bar!  Aged parmesan, aged manchego cheese, artichokes, fresh mozzarella, smoked salmon, shiitake mushrooms, all kinds of different breads, potato salad, apple salad, tomato/cucumber salad and huge green and black olives.  Mom said they even had fried bacon strips on the salad bar. I admit that this scared me for just a few minutes and had me shaking in my hooves.  Fried bacon – that would be me?!  But, mom calmed me down and explained that it wasn’t this type of piggy.  You know, the loveable, snuggable, huggable miniature pot bellied pig.  I’m not for eating – just loving 🙂 winks

After you get your fill of the ‘salad bar’, the wonderful gauchos will bring some awesome side dishes to your table.  They include crispy polenta, garlic mashed potatoes and caramelized bananas.  They also bring these delectable little cheesy rolls they call pão de queijo to the table in little baskets.  Mom says they are heavenly.  She and dad went through THREE baskets of them.  I was shocked!  But, I told mom that it was her birthday and we *all* know that there are absolutely no calories on one’s birthday, right?!  And I must admit, these rolls are out of this world.  Someone – looking around – brought this oinker back one.  Now I understand why they had three baskets – oohh yummy!

Now it’s time to flip that little card to green and bring on the meat!  Gauchos start flocking to your table to carve meat right in front of you.  It’s amazing!  This is daddy getting one of his favorites called Picanha (pronounced pea-CAN-ya).  Picanha is top sirloin, so juicy that it literally almost melts in your mouth!  Daddy says it’s even better when there is a some ‘fat’ on the edges that are caramelized from the heat of cooking over the fire.  They have all kinds of meat that are served.  They are:

• Filet Mignon which dad says is THUD delicious – either bacon wrapped or without bacon
• Beef Ancho (pronounced beef AN-cho) which is rib eye
• Alcatra (pronounced al-CAT-ra) which is top sirloin
• Fraldinha (pronounced fral-DIN-ya) which is bottom sirloin
• Cordeiro (pronounced cor-DAY-roo) which is lamb.  You can get lamb chops or leg of lamb  Either way is succulent with a little bit of mint marinade on the side!
• Frango (pronounced FRAHN-go) which is chicken.  You can get chicken legs or bacon wrapped chicken breasts.
• Costela de Porco (pronounced co-STELL-a gee PO-co) which is pork ribs.
• Lombo (pronounced LOM-bo) which is pork loin.  This is encrusted with parmesan cheese coating before roasting over an open flame.
• Linguica (pronounced lin-GWEE-sa) which is sausage.

And mom’s favorite is Costela (pronounced co-STELL-a) which is beef ribs.  Mommy says this gaucho has the hardest job of all of the gauchos at the restaurant.  Not only does he have to carve the meat, he has to hold the cutting board as well.  That is some job – right?!  But mommy says it’s all worth it because the meat just melts in your mouth.  And, she loves the beef ribs with a side of horseradish sauce.  Yummy!

 

 

 

And then to top off the meal – they brought mommy birthday flan with happy birthday written on the plate.  So sweet, huh?  Mommy and daddy said it was so great – not too sweet.

So you see, mommy had a terrific birthday lunch.  I’m glad I could share the pictures and fun with you.  Mommy would be for some reason she is sleeping.  She said she ate too much – snorts.  The amateur – double snorts.