Friday Favorites

Feliz Friday Sizzlers! I hope you all bust out of your respective work-houses and start your weekend off right!

In an effort to celebrate my week's end, I ran my fastest 5k last night (I'm pretty proud) and had wine and sushi with my gal pals. Anywho, I've wrangled together some Friday favorites from around the Internets for your entertainment. Get out there this weekend and have a wonderful time! I plan on sunning by the pool, shopping, celebrating Cinco de Mayo, and then relaxing a little bit more :) (oh and running...lots of running)

Hope you enjoy these little gems!

1.) An amazing article about sweet tea from one of my favorite publications, Garden & Gun. I love sweet tea,and you should too. 

Source

2.) Celebrating the KY Derby? Here's a menu that'll knock your socks off. Off to the races!

3.) If Cinco de Mayo is more your speed, read up on why we celebrate and embarrass your amigos who don't know anything about it other than to sip a marg. 

4.) Back to the Derby; learn how to make some rockin' Mint Juleps and some tasty variations on the classic. 

5.) Need a playlist for a crawfish boil or a day drinking event? THIS ONE is for you. Hand crafted with TLC over here at TheSizzle. 

Be careful, drive safe, drink up, party down; and have an amazing weekend amigos! Also check us out on instagram to see what's shakin' on the weekend @thesizzlehouston

Throwback Thursday

Ciao y'all. Happy almost almost almost Friday! I don't know about y'all but this has been w.i.l.d.

Also. Eating salads alone is no fun. Luckily I have many many recipe books to keep it interesting so I don't go off the deep end and end up face first in a bowl of buttery mashed potatoes. 

It is officially one month on the nose from our 1/2 marathon. Yikes. Prepare to see me laid out on the pavements and running trails of H-town. Just feed me so agua (water) and tell me to get back to it. 

Anywhooo. My #TBT today goes to an amazing amazing trip to Italy I took, and many amazing amazing meals. I spent the majority of my time in Firenze (Florence) but had jaunts in Roma (Rome), Cinque Terre, and Siena. All utterly breathtaking, and taste bud tantalizing. 

say hello to my little fren.

This photo was taken before my life changed. We went to Il Paleo in Viena for the major bi-annual horse races, and it was so crowded that we decided to duck into this charming salumeria. Once inside, you are NOT allowed to take pics. However, the owner took a liking to us, and two hours later we were upstairs in his private kitchen learning to make risotto and seeing his homemade sauces and house cured prosciutto. We also drank lots and lots of vino rosso. I also learned that "Een Eetaly, a men will trade heez wife for bottle of Sassicaia". I don't know if you've had the pleasure of tasting this wine, but it's PHENOMENAL. 

ultima notte 

This phot of me stuffing my face was taken my last night. We found this charming little restaurant on the square in Santo Spirito called...Osteria Santo Spirito. I fell in love with this part of town, and you should as well.  (Seasonal menu, so what I had is no longer available, but you can't really go wrong here!)

Afternoon snack

Here you have TheSizzle standard snack. Prosciutto e melone. I was there in the summer, so the cantaloupe was PHENOMENAL. And eating prosciutto in Italy? Not a bad thing. 

I am walrus. 

Any given night, I was to be found in a café or outdoor patio sipping Amaro or Campari spritzers, taking in the scenery. Italy is just so alive, all the time. And you see someone wearing a super chic outfit, only to realize you're sitting in a piazza that has artwork by amazing artists that have been gone for hunnnndreds of years. Mind-blowing. 

Fiocchetti: delicious pasta "purses" filled with taleggio cheese and pear served in a creamy sauce with asparagusNot fattening AT ALL.

One of my all time faves in Firenze was 4Leoni. We went as often as possible, and it's in an adorable little piazza tucked away across the bridge. HIGHLY recommend. Plus they have sassy flowerbeds..See below. I died laughing.

4Leoni even has sassy flowerbeds, so what's not to love?

Monterrosso al mare. 

And now, beach times. We only had 2 days in Cinque Terre, and while the food was fine, the beach was my only concern. I'm a water fiend, and any chance to be near it, in it, on it, I'm there. SO there. I tried paddle boarding for the first time and loved it. It's a great place to visit and make sure you hike through the 5 villages, the views are unbelievable. 

Another favorite restaurant, Acqua al 2

Another great spot is Acque al 2 in Firenze. Great food, incredibly helpful staff and delicious wine. I'll an in-depth Italian wine post another day. It's too close to Friday for me to get so detailed. 

In the meatime, if you've gone to Italy, leave your comments below, and if not, buy that ticket!

Happy early Friday amigos.

Tuesday+Wednesday=Twednesday

Bonjour Amigos, it's already beginning to be a crazy week over here at TheSizzle. Apologies for the lack of a Tuesday post, but I was wrapped up in work and I caught myself blackout cleaning.... Not a bad thing really, eh?

So in a few short weeks I'll be on vacation and then running the half marathon in San Diego. So this will be a 2 part post. 

1.) My pre-race plan

2.) Reader suggestions

So. #1. In an effort to be at my physical prime for the race, I'm making a concerted effort to eat 95% of my meals at home and to really keep them clean. This week, I'll be doing a lot of salads with cherry tomatoes, shredded chicken, feta and this amazing dijon mustard dressing. 

Dressing Recipe: 

-1/4 c. Olive Oil

-1 TB white wine vinegar

-1 tsp. honey

-1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce 

-2 TB whole grain dijon mustard

METHOD:

I pop all the ingredients in a mason jar, stick the lid on, and shake what my mama gave me. Boom. Dressing done, and you can use it on sauteed/roasted veggies as well. Delish. 

Other than that, I'll be baking a lot of fish, eating my veggies, and splurging on sushi/Snap Kitchen/Giacomo's whenever I can! You have to have one little indulgence here and there, right? 

Anywho, I want to hear from you dear readers. Any suggestions for San Diego? Spill the beans, let the cat out of the bag, just hit me with it already! Gracias. 

Stay tuned for more recipes and restaurant reviews this week. For now, adios!

We Have Great Legs.

Buenos Días amigos! Let's forget that it's Manic Monday and just be grateful. Then you'll have less wrinkles from frowning. You're welcome. 

This weekend was action packed at TheSizzle. Friday night kicked off with a bike ride to our usual spot, West Alabama Ice House, and then we met some amigos over at OTC for the Rockets game. Saturday morning we rode our bikes out to Urban Harvest and nommed on a breakfast taco and a green smoothie. This farmer's market is super fun to visit in the morning and a great spot to people watch and sample goodies. 

The rest of Saturday consisted of #crawfishoncrawfishoncrawfish, or as my friend's husband's t-shirt says, "That fish cray". By 11 pm, we were sufficiently stuffed, and played Heads Up in the backyard with amigos till we had to get to bed. 

Sunday was the Mother of all Sundays. Sun was out, and the bikes were ready to rock. We biked to Lowbrow for brunch. I had the HISD breakfast burrito and 1/4 of a waffle, and MainSqueeze had the leek ejjeh which was ehhhhhh....meh. But I still love this place and highly recommend. My waffle was delightful and so was my burrito. 

As we were nomming, we were trying to decide what to do, and we decided on biking to Hermann Park and hitting up the Houston Zoo. I'm a huge animal lover, so obviously I was pumped. 

can you spot the baby giraffe? I die of the cuteness. 

MainSqueeze's favorite exhibit. The ever so thoughtful orangutan.

We had perfect zoo weather, and as we headed out to grab the bikes, we realized how parched we were. We zoomed down to Cloud 10 creamery to cool off. I had the hibiscus honey sorbet, while MS went old-school with the classic choc/vanilla combo. Both were really tasty and did the trick. However, we were not satisfied. I heard that the new spot next door "Punk's" was worth trying, so we sat at the bar for an adult refreshment and an appetizer to take the edge off. 

Pimm's cup & Texas Tea. Pimm's was my fave. 

cocktail menu

oyster #nomz

We settled on the BLT sliders which were tasty, but we really wanted to have a go at the "biscuit bar" but apparently that's "coming soon". 

We rolled happily on with our afternoon and topped off the night with sushi from AKA, some red wine, and the latest ep of Game of Thrones. What a Sunday, no? 

And now we start our weeks well-fed, with happy legs and hearts. Biking around town is such a great way to try new things you normally wouldn't try, and your gams will thank you as well! 

I hope y'all had the happiest of weekends! In regards to my Liberty Kitchen experience, a friend went on Saturday and said the Steak & Oyster Cobb salad was worth going back for. So there you have it, I will def be going back! Shout out to us on instagram with your foodie suggestions @thesizzlehouston. 

Friday Essentials

Hola Sizzlers! I hope yesterday's post didn't leave a bad taste in your mouth, but I couldn't not tell you about it. I do have some exciting things up my sleeve for today and the weekend though, so perk up!

Last night me and some amigas headed to Uchi for HH. I wanted to enjoy the HH and decided to stow my phone away and refrain from pics. BUT I did snap a photo of my beer. If you read my previous beer/wine post, you'll remember the Kitachino Nest Beer I am obsessed with. Well, last night I tried a new one and it was bombtastic. 

sheer delight.

We tried everything on the HH menu, and everything was fantastic. My stand-outs were the Uchiviche, the Wallu Wallu, and the Machi Cure. #Nomcity. 

Now for weekend plans: 

-Sunshine

-Crawfish

-Tunes

Click here for my favorite sunshine/pool/happy day playlist. 

If you're in doubt this weekend and need some suggestions,I give you this:

-Go walk around the Menil Collection, then drive/ride down the road and have a cocktail at LowBrow. 

-Take your dog out for a walk and head to West Alabama Ice house for a cold one. 

-Hit some balls over at Memorial Park Driving Range or meander to the sand volleyball courts and see if you can catch some court time.

This weekend in Spring, TX, the Texas Crawfish Festival is going on and there are some great bands playing. So if you catch a wild hair head on out!

Have fun, be safe, use your SPF, call a cab, eat like a king and be happy. The end. Happy Weekend Sizzlers!

Liberty Kitchen & Oysterette

Bonjour Sizzlers; it's finally Thursday. I am so so ready for some sunshine, cold bevs and shorts. 

Yesterday afternoon, after I almost fainted in the streets of Houston while attempting my first hot weather run; me and Foodie Photo Blog decided to treat ourselves to mani/pedis and an early dinner before our weekly sorority meeting. (Just kidding we don't go to sorority meetings we go to Bible Study on Wednesdays). 

Sidenote: It was so hot outside and I was so dehydrated I was actually planning in my head what I would do if I needed to pass out or frantically beg for water. I was scanning for garden hoses in the neighborhood and was THISCLOSE to running into someone's front yard and turning on the hose. 

Moving on....

The nail salon is next to Liberty Kitchen & Oysterette, and I've been jonesing to go. I browsed the menu on my iPhone and was STOKED. We snagged an outdoor patio table (mostly because I was still in workout clothes and was embarrassed to be in public looking like a sweat monster). And ordered cocktails. 

Kelsey ordered "The Neoclassical" and I opted for a glass of Montepulciano. So far so good. Until her drink came. It tasted like water. She sent it back and got a glass of what I was having. 

We decided to split the deviled eggs topped with fried oysters, and then contemplated entrees. I asked the waitress how the tuna salad sandwich was because I was in a sandwich mood, and she said "well I hate everything that has mayo in it so I definitely wouldn't order it." Well... I hate it when people tell me their own opinion about food assuming I'm going to hate it too. So as an act of defiance, I ordered the tuna salad sandwich. Because I'm not afraid of mayo, and I'm not afraid to do what I want. Kelsey went for the tuna tartare and a side of brussel sprouts. This was only after she asked the waitress which tuna tartare dish she preferred and she said "the other one" and Kelsey asked "why?" and she said "because of avocado"....errrrr. ok? So Kelsey also defiantly ordered her original dish. We do what we want up in here. 

deviled eggs & fried oyster

So the eggs were delightful. Would totally order again. And then my sad excuse for a tuna salad sammie came out. 

1.) IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO EAT. Why? Because they put 12 lbs. of lettuce, bacon (which I WILL say was delicious) and tomato and tuna on AN ENGLISH MUFFIN. English muffins are BARELY big enough to support an egg for an egg benedict. So that's the first big problem I have. 

2.) If you have a mayonnaise fetish, this is for you. Otherwise, GROSS. I mean, I will eat mayo when it's needed, but this was like runny mayo soup on lettuce with tiny tiny pieces of tuna. I basically ordered a jar of mayo with 1/4 can of tuna. The tuna was barely noticeable. Tuna salad is supposed to not be swimming in mayo. And then on top of that, they smothered one side of the tiny English muffin with another type of aioli mayo. 

I will admit I felt a bit sheepish since the waitress warned me, but under NO circumstance is this acceptable. There was literally no way you could eat this thing except to take it all apart, spoon the mayo soup in your mouth, eat the muffin, and then eat the bacon. I ate the bacon and left everything else. 

Drippy tuna salad and half a head of lettuce make NOT a tuna salad sammie. 

I am not a whiner. But this was just not ok. When the waitress asked how everything was, I said "errrrr I mean I'm not going to eat this anymore" and then the manager came out, and then it got awkward but I'm sorry. No, I'm actually not sorry. They comped my sammie (which was nice considering I ate 1/16 of it) and we paid and left. 

Needless to say, I was underwhelmed. I will DEFINITELY give this place another chance as I'm sure there are tastier items on the menu, but the tuna soup was not ok. I literally felt grossed out the rest of the night. I have never had anything against mayo, but this was overload. 

So, Sizzlers, please tell me you've had better experiences at this place. I want to love it, and I will go again, but maybe after I cleanse my palate of the mayo overdose. That being said, Happy Thirsty Thursday, pour yo'self something nice this evening, and buckle your seatbelts for FRIDAY!!

peacelove&saynotomayo

Double side not: Saveur Mag just posted some tuna recipes that look delightful Note the non-soupy textures!!!