Travels in Chicago –

 Did

 you think I was done highlighting some of the wonderful food mom/dad tried when they were visiting Illinois last November?  Of course not – snorts with piggy laughter.  How could

any visit be complete to the Chicago area without trying some of their famous Chicago deep dish pizza?  And of course, there was only one place they had to go for that –

Lou Malnati’s Pizzeria

First up, Aunt Tina said they had the best calamari.  So everyone ordered the Calamari Fritti which was lightly breaded and fried to perfection.  They serve this delectable appetizer with a side of cocktail sauce.  Of course, Aunt Tina made sure to spritz lemon all over these yum-yum’s before everyone dug into them.

And then everyone dug into some salad.  See even Aunt Tina made daddy eat some vegetables – mom was so proud.  Of course mom told daddy he had to eat the salad because the pizza takes time to cook.  That’s right.  Deep dish pizza takes longer to cook than the regular pizzas you might order from your fast food place.

 Then after a while, mom/dad/Aunt Tina said they heard angels singing and their individual pizzas were delivered.  Instead of getting one huge pizza, they all got individual ones with side salads.  These pizzas had sausage and black olives – and lots of sauce.

What did mom/dad think about this Chicago style deep dish pizza?  Dad is a huge pizza person.  He said that he ‘thinks’ he liked it but he would have to try one again to be sure.  That sounds like dad, huh?  But in the end, he said he would give it about an eight.

Mom said it was okay.  Mom is not a fan of a lot of sauce on her pizzas and of course this one is fully loaded with sauce.  And the crust is thick and a there is a lot of it surrounding the pizza.  Mom said the crust was kind of hard too.  There was lots of flavor but this pizza left mom on the it was okay side.  So for these reasons, mom gave it about a four.

But overall, everyone had a fantastic time at a famous landmark.  Would they go back again – of course they would!  There is more to the menu than just pizza.  And if you know anything about my mom/dad, they are professional eaters – snorts with piggy laughter.

 

Travels in the South

 Welcome my friends to another edition of Travels in the South.  This week mom/dad stumbled onto something that was simply amazing – Onion Rings.

Who doesn’t love a good onion ring?  Mom/dad were visiting a place a couple of towns over from the Hotel Thompson.  They saw homemade onion rings on the menu and decided to give it a whirl.  This alone amazed me because here is a little tidbit for you.  Dad hates onions.  He hates them raw.  He hates them in salads.  BUT, he loves onion rings.  I think that’s a little weird, right?  But then again, we are talking about my daddy – snorts and rolls with piggy laughter.

The onion rings finally came to the table and oh my piggy heavens – look at that mountain of goodness!  These are huge!!  They are fresh cut, hand battered and made to order – thus the ten minute wait to get them upon ordering.

The restaurant serves them with a Cajun dipping sauce (which when mom asked was told it was a ranch sauce with cajun spices).  And it does have a little kick.  Mom/dad asked for extra dipping sauce.  Trust me, they said you needed it because look at how many onion rings you get.  And mom said the price you wouldn’t believe – $4.99 for this tower of an appetizer.

But I just have one question.  Not that they were good because mom/dad both said they were.  My question is why does daddy get to play with his food and I can’t?  Go ahead mom.  Tell me.  I’m waiting.

 

 

Travels in the South

There are some things in life that you can never get too much of – like back rubs and cheese.  Really think about it.  Don’t those two things make you smile and feel good?  Me too!  Well recently mom and dad took nana out to lunch.  Mom saw this on the restaurant menu and they all just *had* to try this wonderment.  What is it you ask?

“Wisconsin cheese bites.  Hand-battered and lightly fried to order.  Served with a side of homemade marinara sauce“

Of course it’s going to be friend.  We are in the south where we fry everything.  But fried cheese bites.  I’m licking my piggy lips now.  See the gooey cheese on the picture coming out of the lightly battered bite?  The cheese was wonderful and hot and so stringy!  I’m not sure who enjoyed these more – mom, dad or Nana!

So the next time you see fried cheese on an appetizer list, try it.  You might just fall in love too!

 

Travels in the South

Oh friends!  What a week it has been.  With mom recuperating from her car accident, we have all been trying to be nice to her.  After one doctors appointment last week, mom was craving some comfort food.  Nothing screams southern comfort more than this picture, right?  For those that don’t recognize that awesome glory, let me break it down for you.

Those two delightfully brown looking pieces on that plate, that would be boneless fried chicken.  You see chicken of any kind is like one of mom’s fall to foods when she is feeling really icky.  And personally I think these past couples of weeks qualified for just that.

Mom ordered the chicken with green beans, a side salad and white gravy on the side.  What was the gravy for?  Of course to dip that wonderful chicken into before eating it.  You’ve never done that before?  You are so hidden from southern comforts.  You must try it.

So you see mom didn’t do too bad but she sure felt better afterwards. ❤

 

Travels in the South

 Welcome my friends to another edition of Travels in the South.  Being in the south, we do have some great barbecue restaurants that come up with some wonderful creations.  This is something that we have actually highlighted here before.  In fact, when our friends Bill and Jean (with Canadian Cats) came for a visit, we introduced them to these as well.  Every once in a while, we crave these… and it helps that mom had a coupon for a free appetizer. 🙂

Let me introduce you my friends.  These are called Redneck Egg Rolls.  The restaurant takes egg roll wrappers and adds slow smoked pulled pork, coleslaw and jack cheese.  They then deep fry the egg rolls until they are crispy.  They are served with a ranch dipping sauce but mom/dad like to eat them with a spicy barbecue sauce.  They are hot, delicious, gooey and you will crave more and more!  Just ask Bill and Jean.  They will tell you.

So when in the South, eat barbecue Redneck Egg Rolls.  ❤

 

Fear of Heat

Let’s talk about something that is really scary – the fear of heat.  Do you think you can withstand this fear?  Let’s see when i tell you what I’ve found.

First up – the Jalapeño.   I’m sure you have heard of this lovely creature.  On the heat scale, it’s three out of four peppers being hot.  It’s origin is Mexico and these days they are grown everywhere.  You can find them in cheese dips, wrapped with bacon and stuffed with cream cheese, in salsa, in chili – it’s unlimited.  Most peeps can withstand the heat on this one… most.

Then we move up to the fierce red Habanero.  The Habanero is a variety of chili pepper.  On the heat scale, it’s five out of five peppers being exceptionally hot.  A ripe Habanero is bright red where a unripened Habanero is green.  So you see, they color as they mature into their full potential.  They can also come in different colors – look for the beautiful orange.  The Habanero comes from the Amazonas region and from there spread throughout Mexico.

Whereas you might enter a contest to be dared to eat a Jalapeño and survive the contest, you might want to think twice about a contest eating a Habanero.  Mom has said once that she believes the Habanero was made by the devil himself because he thought all other peppers were ‘tame’.

I’m sure you have heard about these two famous peppers.  But let’s go deeper my friends.  Are you ready for the fear?  How about wrapping your lips around a Ghost Pepper?  Maybe your lips shouldn’t touch this pepper.  The Ghost Pepper originates in India.  On the heat scale, the Ghost Pepper is also five peppers out of five peppers being exceptionally hot.  In 2007, the Guinness World Records certified that the Ghost Pepper was the world’s hottest chili pepper – 400 times hotter than Tabasco sauce.  Can you wrap your lips around that?

And you probably thought I could stop right there with the fear of heat in peppers.   But I can’t.  I found one more for you to fear.  Are you shaking yet?  Let me introduce you to the hottest pepper these days – The Carolina Reaper Pepper.  Okay it’s called the Reaper – does that not tell you anything? You are certain for death eating this bad boy – fear it!  The Reaper is officially  the world’s hottest pepper by the Guinness World Records.  It is a cross between a Pakastani Naga pepper and a Red Habanero.  Can you just feel the heat over your lips, down your throat to the deep pits of your stomach?

Is today’s post scary enough for you my friends or do I need to start making some brownies for you… of course with these peppers?  Happy eats my friends.

 

Bone Sucking Sauce

  Uh-oh my friends.  I may be in trouble… or is it my parents that are in trouble?  I’m telling you – my humans can NOT be trusted to go out into public by themselves.  They left yesterday to run errands and came home with this creation – Bone Suckin’ Sauce .  As if that’s not bad enough did you read the bottom of the bottle?  Now thicker style.  Rolls piggy eyes.  Trouble I’m telling you – TROUBLE.

I overheard mom/dad talking about fixing chicken today on the grill with this sauce.  I’ll keep you posted on to how it turns out.