Travels in the South

Every once in a while, your body just craves a good steak – well so says mom/dad.  And when mom craves steak, dad takes full advantage and takes her to a local steakhouse that they both love.  On this date, mom/dad shared this plate above, of course with a side salad.  This is one of mom’s favorites – a ribeye steak fire grilled on an open flame, medium please.  The juices were still running and mom licked her lips before jumping in with both feet to eat her way out.  And of course by splitting the meal with daddy, that does mean 1/2 the calories.  Dad said it was an awesome dinner.  When was the last time you had steak calling your name?

 

Travels in the South

Hello sweet friends.  How was your Valentine’s Day yesterday?  In honor of the sweetest day of the year, mom/dad shared a little love yesterday as well.  They went out to dinner and afterwards enjoyed this delicious concoction.  And hey, splitting a dessert means half of the calories, right?  But who’s counting calories on Valentine’s Day – snorts.

This lovely creation is called a Margarita Cheesecake which is seasonal special at a local steakhouse called Logan’s Roadhouse.  Now, it’s like other cheesecakes made with cream cheese but it has Logan’s signature margarita blend on the graham cracker crust.  And don’t forget about the sliced strawberries all over the place.  Mom said it was – what was the phrase she used – delightful to the fullest!

So, if you are near a Logan’s Roadhouse, make sure you check it out for this wonderful dessert.  You won’t be disappointed.

 

 

 

 

Travels in the South

Hello friends – welcome back to mom/dad’s Travels in the South.  Today is a good one…. snorts – I say that every week don’t I?  Rolls with piggy laughter.  Well as you know mom/dad have been changing their way of eating.  It’s definitely a work in progress for sure.  Well, a couple of weeks ago mom took dad out for his birthday.  Dad wanted to go to a local steakhouse for dinner.

Dad went for a steak of course ❤   He ordered a prime rib and mom said since it was his birthday he could have french fries.  Nice of her huh?  Snorts!  Mom went with the strawberry fields salad.  Doesn’t that look awesome?  It has everything in it from nuts to grapes to strawberries to oranges.  Yummy huh?

 

Picanha Comparison – HA!

 Snorts with piggy laughter.  Have I got a great story for you today my dear friends.  Mom/dad here are what I would call potato chip connoisseurs.  Yep, that’s right.  They like their potatoes.  And who doesn’t because even I love me some good potatoes of any kind.  Of course, they try to stay away from the snacking but every once in a while, they get pulled in.

Well, for some time Lay’s potato chips have had different flavors they have created and are sharing ‘with the world’.  One flavor intrigued mom.  It was Brazilian Picanha.  But mom took her time in getting a bag.

I mean heck, Lay’s potato chips are like almost $4.00 a bag – can you believe that highway robbery?

Now Picanha is one of mom’s favorite cuts of steak.  In fact, when mom/dad go downtown Atlanta they often eat at a restaurant called Fogo de Chão which is a Brazilian Steakhouse.  There house specialty is mom’s favorite cuts, picanha.  This is a picture of dad getting some of that cut at Fogo de Chão this year.  It is so yummy it melts in your mouth.  Well, that’s what mom/dad say.  I wouldn’t know because no one has ever brought me home a piggy bag.  I’m just sayin’.

But back to my story.  When Lay’s came out with this flavor mom was excited to try it.  She invested in the bag mumbling something about Lay’s is not cheap and what if she didn’t like it?  She gets home with her cherished Lay’s and tells daddy all about it.  They then open up the bag to try it.  That’s when things went south.  Mom hated it.  Hated it.  Nothing like her cherished steak she loves.  Absolutely HATE does not even describe the flavor of these chips.  Now me and dad on the other hoof said they were eatable.  Did we want to rush out and get another bag – no way!

Have you tried any of these different flavors from Lay’s potato chips?  Do you have a favorite.  Do share my sweet friends.

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NOTE:  Mom/dad were in no way endorsed for their opinion of these Lay’s potato chips.  This is their sole opinion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Field Trip with Bashful

Do you ever wonder what Bashful does in between his globe trotting around the world?  When he does land here at the Hotel Thompson, there are certain events on his calendar that he maintains.  But over the weekend, mom/dad decided to take him for the Penny Game.  You don’t know what that is?  Check out my blog here where I posted about it over the weekend.

So they gave the penny to Bashful for the flipping.  Let’s just say that was interesting all in itself.  Every time he flipped the penny, he flipped himself – snorts.  But he led them to an area that was full of restaurants and it was dinner time so they went to Longhorns Steakhouse.  They were celebrating Bashful being home and mom needed a fill out of food.

This is Bashful talking to daddy.  They were discussing what to order because it seems that little rock was starving as well.  He said that he was thinking of something hearty and delicious – he missed mom’s southern cooking – awe.  Daddy tried to explain to him that we all missed it too because mom hasn’t been cooking southern meals too much lately – snorts with piggy laughter.

So they talked and discussed the options of something delicious to eat.  They did decide on a drink order and let me tell you, that little Bashful was thirsty.  He nearly drunk this entire glass of soda in one swallow.  I hope there is a bathroom near by.

Mommy had a coupon for a free appetizer.  Leave it my mommy to save money wherever she can!  Mom/dad chose what they call here as a Texas Tonion which are little petals of onions, battered and then deep fried.  They are then drizzled with sour cream and served with a zesty sauce.  The sauce is not too spicy but yet just enough to say hey there how you doing.  Bashful could not get enough of these things.

Mom/dad kept telling him that he didn’t want to eat too much because he had a big dinner coming his way.  He said that he could do it – he had the stomach of a rock – snorts with piggy laughter.  So he ate and ate and ate.

 Then one time, mom excused herself to go to the visit the facilities.  As in good southern fashion, both of the guys (Bashful and daddy) stood up while she got up and left.  When mom came back, she couldn’t find Bashful.

He had moved from the onion petals and was now snorting down buttered bread straight from the oven.  It was still hot and so delicious that he jumped right in to the middle and was trying to eat his way out.  Shaking my head – I’m telling you that my rock can put the food away for sure!

Mom/dad were able to snag one or two pieces of that bread before Bashful ate it all.

 Then dinner was finally served.  OMP – look at that meal!  I would not be telling the truth if I didn’t tell you that I was a little bit jealous over that meal.  Look at it – grilled to perfection.  Mom hardly ever eats steak but her iron has been down and it was recommended that she eat one or two a month.  Let me tell you, she said this steak tasted and looked so like perfection she didn’t want to mess up the picture.  Of course, Bashful helped her eat it.  And it was delicious!  Looks at the marbling and grill marks – have you seen anything so beautiful?

 Afterwards, can you believe everyone still had room for dessert?  And really who wouldn’t with this dessert.  The staff brought Bashful his own little sundae and mom/dad had peanut butter cheesecake – licking my piggy lips now.

A special thank you to Longhorns and our wonderful server Lauren who also got to meet Bashful!  THANKS!

 

 

 

Shopping Around the World

Thanks to everyone for participating in mine and Fozzie‘s Shopping Around the World.  It’s so awesome to see the various prices, recipes and pictures of food from around the world!

This month was a free for all.  Five items of your choice for any meal or dessert or appetizer – it’s your choice.  

Knowing this, my mom went all out – snorts.  I am going to tell you about the hottest thing that mom has eaten lately.  She gets this salad every.chance.she.can.  Notice I said “get” and not “fix” – snorts with piggy laughter.  Okay, this month mommy is cheating by not fixing this delectable, gorgeous salad.  She has been on this DIEt thing lately – not only to lose weight but to get a few of her numbers down in her bloodwork.

Well, my daddy is a meat eater – go figure huh?  There is a local steakhouse that he absolutely loves to go to and will jump at the chance anytime he can.  But here’s the great spot, mom loves this Strawberry Pecan salad they have and she says it’s a meal for her.  What daddy does is order his steak and upgrades his salad to this masterpiece for like less than $2.50 – can you believe that?!  That way, daddy gets his Flintstone steak and mom gets her beautiful salad.

And on this beautiful salad is red onions, grapes, strawberries, pecans, oranges and lettuce.  It is topped with a strawberry vinaigrette. Can you taste it?  I told mommy that this little oinker wouldn’t even mind this salad for dinner.  What about you?

  

 

I Really Don’t Think So

Hope you had a wonderful weekend my friends.  We spent the weekend catching up on a lot of things that mom has let go since her arthritis has been flaring up.  There was haircuts, nails, grocery shopping, Houdini had to go to the spa and other errands that had to be done.  As daddy says, ‘”It was about time too.”  And yep, I finally got me some Animal Crackers.  I was thrilled with that!

Over the weekend, we were watching a special on television that piqued our interest.  It was a special on weddings and the new venues of where to get married.  There is still the traditional way of getting married in a church.  But there are so many different venues now.  For instance, did you know that when mom/dad got married they got married in an upscale steakhouse.  They rented out the banquet room, invited 60 of their closest family/friends that thought they would never get married and had the wedding. Following the wedding, they had a sit down dinner at the restaurant and they gave the option of steak, chicken, shrimp or salmon.  That’s another thing that’s kind of part of the past – sit down dinners.  Nowadays, people go for finger foods and buffets.  But a steakhouse wedding was awesome.  You have doubts don’t you?  I thought you might so here is a picture of mom/dad from their wedding day at the restaurant.

But do you want to hear about a new venue that people are picking for their wedding?  This one totally blows my piggy mind.  It really does and I’m sure yours too.  People are opting to have their weddings in funeral homes.  I was what are they thinking.  Then they explained.  There is room for plenty of parking and the facilities usually have huge rooms inside for the wedding.  I guess you would just want to make sure that your special day doesn’t coincide with someone’s departing.

Now the question is could you get married in a funeral home?  Where did you get married?

 

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.

 

On the Road with Bashful

BASHFUL – the rolling stone…

 

 

 

 

OMR (Oh my rock!!). This is a special edition of one of my field trips. I had to share this one as soon as possible to my friends. This little rock had the best of times this past weekend. WOW is the first word that pops in this little pebbles noggin. Okay – okay. Let me calm down … Breathing.

 

 First up, mom/dad took nana out for Mother’s Day.  With all of us going – including this lucky pebble, we had to take the big car.  So mom parked the little car in the yard behind the tree in the front yard.  It’s so small you can hardly see it hiding behind the tree! 

Isn’t that a hoot.

 

 

 So we all bundled up in mom’s other car, which is a small SUV, and went to pick up Nana.  See to the picture on the right, I had a perfect place to sit for the drive.  It was fun.  Every once in a while, mom/dad would reach down and pet my little noggin’… you know for safe keeping purposes.  But I’m getting used to these little field trips and I look forward to them now.

I mean after all, I’m Bashful – the rolling stone.      

 

Nana wanted to go to this steak restaurant called Longhorns.  Trust me, there was some very long horns in this place – I was in awe!  When we first got there, I met some friends in the parking lot – they were my kind of pebbles.  Mom/dad let me stop and chat for awhile and took my picture. 

Then we went into the restaurant and nana gave me a kiss.  YAY – nana loves me.

 

 

 I was so hungry that I just couldn’t wait for food!  My core was rumbling – I was starving!  I was jumping all over the table eating this wonderful appetizer of a blooming onion.  Thud – it was so delicious!  Mom/dad had to keep getting on to me because I kept jumping in the sauce.  I couldn’t help it – my arms are really short – almost invisible!

 

I was so glad when the food arrived.  My plate was most excellent.  Mom ordered me mac and cheese – one of my all time favorites – and she shared her chopped steak with onions, mushroom and red wine sauce (it’s okay – the red wine sauce was cooked out). 

 

 

 Mom said I did good because I was a member of the clean plate club and finished everything she gave me.  This little rock was ready to bust into a thousand pebbles I was so full.  BUT, never so full that I couldn’t have dessert. 🙂

 

 

Someone, namely mom cough cough, let it be known that I was celebrating my birthday.  I turned 6 months Saturday – that’s OLD in rock ages.  Mom got me ready on the left wrapping my napkin around me. 

 

  

When my dessert came out, the only thing sweeter on the right was the

lovely Longhorn ladies who sung to me.  That was pure heaven!  Thanks ladies – I’m single – hubba hubba.

 

As you can see, I got a little messy with the dessert.  It was so good – I couldn’t help it.  I jumped in head first and got whip cream all over me!  The only thing that would have made this dessert better would be if the ice cream was Rocky Road ice cream.  That’s my favorite ice cream in the entire world! 

But it was good.  We all had spoons and dug in.  Mom had to clean me off afterwards.  I can’t help it.  If the food is good, I’m going to wear it. 

 

With all of the fun we had, it wouldn’t have been perfect without the wonderful staff at Longhorns making my day.  They came back to the table afterwards to have their picture taken with me.  See, I told Bacon I was going to be famous one of these days. 

Ohh, and ladies – remember I’m single.  Would love a date night.  You can take me out anytime and take pictures to be posted.  hubba hubba – 🙂

Toodles – Bashful