A #Nomcity for the books.

Greetings amigos! I'm in foodie rehab right now. I honestly don't even know how I ate so much this weekend, but it was like a delicious blackout that I never want to forget. However I spent my entire Sunday groaning and sipping Peppermint tea. I felt so gluttonous that I couldn't even crack open my new issue of Bon Apetit. The mere sight of food made me die a little. 

For some reason, the vast majority of my friends have fall birthdays, so a lot of my weekend was spent celebrating. 

It all started Friday. I had a very skinny soup for lunch, and then met a friend at Uchi for Happy Hour. I know Uchi does a lot of things right, but their Happy Hour just knocks it out of the park. So that happened. I went home totally content and very stuffed. 

Saturday morning I woke up to go on a nice run, but of course it started to monsoon. I really did have the best of intentions! I had a Birthday lunch at Caracol. I LOVE Caracol. I love the space, I love the staff, I love the menu and I can't even start on the food. Eight ladies who lunch gathered around a table and we ordered the hell out of that menu. 

Tuna tacos and raw tuna with ginger/coconut magic. 

Ceviche caracol. Conch ceviche. 

Blue crab miracle soup. 

All the girls pretty much ordered 2 dishes a person, and house "Caracol Ritas" abounded. It was one of the best lunch outings I've had in a WHILE. And it only got better when we gathered afterwards to drink some ice cold bevs and watch college football. 

Later that evening, for Birthday celebration Numero Dos, Foodie Photo Blog and I headed to Tony's for a MEAL. We had originally planned on practicing restraint and splitting several things, but yeah right. Of course my phone died, so all I have are the photos she texted me later that night as I was lying in bed hoping the button on my jeans wouldn't pop off and shatter a window. 

Tony's is truly a wonderful dining experience. I picked out a delightful Italian Dolcetto D'Alba to sip, and we split the Burrata Pugliese; fresh Oregon figs, Balsamic and some 'beer nuts.'  Our pasta entree were breathtaking; Capelletti al Midolo (Bone Marrow, House Made Ricotta, Cognac) and Pansoti (Squash Filled Pasta, Parmesan Puff, Sage Essence.) 

We also had the ribbons & squares ( ribbons and Squares of Ahi Tuna, Avocado, Soy Lime Vinaigrette) and then the grand finale was Birthday Souffle. Chocolate souffle with a fresh raspberry sauce and very fresh whipped cream. Un.REAL. If you've never been to Tony's, make it a priority. Another fun fact is that they can pretty much make ANY souffle you want. Our server informed us that "the sky's the limit" when it came to flavoring. Both of us stared at each other and after a couple minutes of feeling overwhelmed, we decided chocolate/raspberry couldn't be a bad call. 

So now you can see why my Sunday was spent in a food hangover. But guess what? WORTH IT. 

I know I still haven't finished telling y'all about Hawaii, and I promise I will! I also have some fun recipes coming up and lots of Holiday cheer! Stay dry, eat well and see you soon!

Doggie Bags & Breakfast for Dinner

It's almost the end of the week!! Which means my trip is sosososoclose. 

So I'm not sure about y'all but I love the occasional breakfast for dinner. Because sometimes after a long day, I don't feel much like cooking, and breakfast food has a sort of comfort to it. Last night, I hovered over the kitchen sink wolfing down a sweet potato for dinner. #pathetic. However my appetite was a little skimpy since I had just come from a yoga class where the girl next to me dislocated her shoulder (poor thing). I'm a tad squeamish so this was rather off-putting. 

A few weeks ago, I had a near empty fridge, some delicious whole grain bread, an avocado and some eggs. And while I know this is such a simple combo, it was just what I needed. Perfect dinner, not too much, not too little. I toasted my bread, scrambled my eggs with Celtic Sea Salt and a dash of fresh cracked pepper and sliced an avocado. I had a little bit of leftover green salsa, and voila....dinner was served. 

So if you're stumped on dinner, low on provisions or just not in the mood to put together a feast; look no further than some ole' fashioned eggs n' bacon. 

Sidenote: 

Doggie bags. Or rather, dogs in bags. 

Meet Sushi, my living and breathing stuffed animal. 

I'm a firm believer that if you have a well behaved dog and you're a good dog parent, you should be allowed to take said dog with you to human establishments. Sushi (my dog pictured above) is a great companion. She never complains, always is happy to see you and knows her table manners. I honestly can't say I've ever heard her bark in public. So, she's a perfect candidate. 

She's also recently become a huge fan of the "puppy latte" at Starbucks. I know. I've created a monster. 

Have a great weekend y'all, stay cool, stay fun and come on back later on for more #nomz, recipes and adventures. 

No, You Can't Read My Poker Face.

Bonjour! I hope San Diego part 1 was satisfying to your soul, but if it left you wanting more, then more you shall receive. We really had such a blast in SD, and I was reminded that there are actually parts of the world where cool, arid temperatures reign, and hair does not fall victim to humidity and constant rainstorms (ahem, Houston). Nevertheless, aside from the incredible weather, we packed in a lot of adventuring during our short stay. 

Our group rented a quaint little beach house in Mission Beach. The morning after our steak smorgasbord, MainSqueeze and I ventured out for some breakfast and bicycling. I can honestly say this was one of my favorite days ever. 

We started out walking to breakfast at The Swell Cafe. I was craving something sweet, and MainSqueeze is a fan of Mexican style eggs, so he went the savory route. We sipped on delicious vanilla lattes as we waited on our food. I'm no stranger to a latte, and these were superb, I liked them a ....latte. (I had to. I just had to). 

#nomcity

Strawberry Banana waffle. Yes please. 

Cali Scramble

Now that we had sufficiently re-fueled, we were ready to cycle. We rented some rad cruisers at a local shop and started our day. I haven't ridden on a fixed gear bike since fannypacks were in style, so I had a minor incident on the road which involved me not braking in time, jumping off the bike and darn near zooming into traffic. Phew. Crisis averted. 

Once I got the hang of it, we biked up the coast, all the way up to La Jolla. We stopped to look at the amazing views and walked down to some tide pools where I was delighted to see tiny little crabs scuttling around. 

amazing.

La Jolla should maybe sometimes be called La Hilla, because those hills had our legs screaming on the bikes. We parked it in a little cove and ran into a local "brah" and asked if he had any recommendations on where to whet our whistles. We ended up ducking into a surf shack type spot and ordered some refreshing cocktails. 30 minutes later, we were playing poker. You just never know what to expect around us!

The luck of the draw...

By this time, we had worked up an appetite, so we zoomed across the street to this amazingly awesome spot that also doubles as a catering company, The Promiscuous Fork. We split an appetizer of lamb lollipops and went on our merry way in search of our next adventure. 

We ended up at a beach side bar, dancing and then once again attempting the lift move from Dirty Dancing. It went really well, and ended in hilarity as I fell on the concrete and dissolved into peals of laughter. Needless to say, we had not a care in the world, and we were loving life. 

Our final days in SD were spent cycling, sunning, watching MainSqueeze and #Guau get housed by the waves and we threw in a couple more delectable nomz. 

Breakfast at The  Mission. 

I'll spare more "you had to be there" stories. But the following images will speak for themselves. We had a lovely girl's lunch at La Valencia Hotel while the boys golfed at Torrey Pines, sunset cocktails at George's at the Cove, and a splendid afternoon at Neptune Beach. 

Lobster Bisque at La Valencia

Lunch at La Valencia...with a view!

Cocktails at George's on the Cove

Hamachi Sashimi at George's on the Cove

Neptune Beach, La Jolla

And there you have it amigos. Our San Diego trip in a nutshell. We had a blast, everyone finished the race, we ate ourselves silly and had adventures I'll never forget. 

I actually almost went to college in San Diego but my instincts told me I'd flunk out, become a surfer queen and maybe not have a job. SO I went to Nashville. A decision I'll never ever ever regret! 

Next on TheSizzle, recipes, TV interviews, doggie bags and more! Happy Hump Day!

Mid-Week Feasting

Bonjour! I'm finally working at a normal pace, so I can blog happily! Have you noticed our new look? It's still a work in progress, but we're working hard over here at TheSizzle!

As you know, I love food. Lately, as this half marathon and several beach trips are approaching, I have taken to eating all of my meals at home, cooking super healthy thangs, but NEVER sacrificing flavor, quality ingredients, and the occasional nibble of dark chocolate. My new favorite treat is the flax seed dark chocolate bars from SweetRiot. I know flax seeds and dark chocolate sound gross, but trust me it's quite tasty. 

SOURCE

Last night, me and some good friends had a small gathering and ate a delicious meal. My friend's boyfriend is a new hot up and coming Chef in Houston (stay tuned for an interview!) and he prepared most of the meal. I obviously brought some of my black beans because I accidentally made enough to feed an army (they were very well reviewed, thank you very much!) The menu consisted of:

-Roast chicken, stuffed with fresh herbs from their backyard garden & potatoes

-Oven roasted cauliflower

-Asparagus salad with Shallot vinaigrette & Walnuts (I ate the whole bowl almost)

-Black beans

You can email me at thesizzlehouston@gmail.com for recipes, as I don't want this to be a terribly long-winded post!

Our delightful spread. Healthy, delicious and so so filling.

blanched asparagus salad with shallot vinaigrette, walnuts & shaved parmesan

roast chicken with herbs

ready to demolish.

Needless to say, I went home totally stuffed and content that I had eaten my fill, and run 5 miles prior. 

I can't wait to share my exciting news with y'all! I'll give you some hints: It involves vacationing. Somewhere awesome. 

Have a lovely humpday amigos!

Weekend Update (But not with Seth Meyers)

'Ello Sizzlers! I hope you had a great Easter weekend and got to have some down time and relax. My inability to blog was caused by the food & wine coma that I'm STILL recovering from. (Not to worry, there will be a long run tonight)

This weekend was phenomenal, quite the chart topper. It started with a half day on Friday, which is always nice. MainSqueeze and I got the weekend started Thursday night at Boheme to celebrate a friend's birthday. We found a new favorite cocktail too; the Old June. What a great name, and what a delightful spring time refresher. We will definitely be re-creating this. 

We tried the Old June (favorite by far) and the Garden Poppy.

We may or may not have gone to a wine bar afterwards and split a bottle of this delightful red blend. ALSO please notice MainSqueeze's sleek and amazing timepiece. (More to come when I publish the Man Style Guide)

Friday morning, we ventured out to Tacos Tierra Caliente (the amazing Taco Truck) by West Alabama Ice House and tried their breakfast tacos. WHOA. For a mere 7 monies, we ate so so much, and even had leftovers. I highly recommend any of the tacos and the Chilaquiles were #NOMCITY. 

Post breakfast coma, we knew the day was too pretty to waste, so we headed out with golf clubs and running shoes to Memorial Park. We ran until we saw sand volleyball courts, and 2 hours and a totally rad racerback sunburn later, we were dehydrated and ready for a break. We popped a few cold ones open and headed out for the driving range. We obviously were starving after all the activities, so we grabbed some fried chicken sliders at Canyon Creek and split a frozen mimosa to take the edge off our increasing hunger.

Dinner date night was at Brenner's on the Bayou. We sat on the patio and had some steaks. The overall ambiance is really fun, and the views are awesome, but we were both kind of just OK with the food. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't the best steak I've had. But we still had a great time. 

My toes glowed in the barlights outside on the patio. MainSqueeze's boots did not glow unfortunately. 

Saturday morning consisted of a marathon trip to the grocery store to prep for Easter Sunday's meal and MainSqueeze played golf while I lounged at the pool and caught up with amigos. Post pool/golf consisted of riding bikes around town to some local watering holes, and a late night meal: Linguine with LittleNeck Clams. It was not as successful as I'd have liked it to be, but alas, we scarfed it down.  I'd post the recipe but I'll save it for later in order to avoid this being a monster blog post!

EASTER TIME! Sunday morning was go-time. I had marinated my leg of lamb overnight, so I popped her in the oven and got to roasting. FACT: I am really really bad at math. So naturally, I had to leave church in the middle of the service to go home and change the roast temperature and add the veggies.... I know. 

However, the final result was amazing. Talk about a food coma. 

Roasted Asparagus with Gruyere and a lemon butter sauce.

Leg O' Lamb with roasted taters and the asparagus. We started with an arugula salad with dried Montalcino Cherries and chopped almonds. 

My mama happens to be quite the cook herself, and she brought over her world-famous Tres Leches cake. I can't even begin to tell you how good this cake is. It's just unreal. 

Fresh strawberries and homemade whipped cream. #NOM

Of course we all got Easter Baskets. Of course I gorged myself on chocolate. And cake. And leftovers. Sigh. At least we made an attempt to be active when we capped off the night with a bike ride, some croquet and bocce ball, and the latest episode of Game of Thrones. 

This precious nugget stared us all down during lunch. How can you say no to this face!?

And there you have it my friends, the Easter Weekend Recap. Phew. Any interesting things on your end? Pray tell.... 

Pollen is the New Black, Tennis, NomCity and Greasy Tex-Mex

Hola amigos! This weekend was a bit of a whirlwind and I found myself drowning in work on Monday, so you know how that goes. I feel yesterday I was prancing around in my new Christmas PJ's and now it's darn near Easter. 

With spring, comes pollen. You Houstonians know the drill. BUT this spring takes the cake, my allergies have been out of control. My car is permanently yellow/green instead of jet black, and I can't seem to make it stop! Now, even though my eyes have been a little itchy and my throat has been a little scratchy, my penchant for the outdoors will not be broken. 

Saturday we headed out for a nice morning round of tennis (we watched, they played) at the Men's Clay Court Championship. I love watching tennis, and these guys are real pros. 

German brothers with skillz.

After that, we ambled around town, hit up a crawfish boil and decided on a last minute group dinner at Provisions. As in The Pass & Provisions, as in, utter delight. We had all indulged in a few cocktails prior, so as we settled into our patio table, our appetites took over and we ordered half the menu. Pizzas, mussels, cheese, meats, hamachi, shisito peppers, rabbit ravioli, bucatini, sazeracs, sexy Italian reds and a plethora of desserts. You jealous? Anywho, I love this place, GO get the rabbit ravioli. It made my heart sing. 

An empty plate and a very satisfied tummy.

You thought my culinary adventures were over? Wrong. Sunday evening I went to a greasy little Mexican place in my Mama's neighborhood with her best friend (who happens to be my second Mama and my best friend's Mama) and our "adopted uncle" who has known us since we were 5. The weather was grey, damp and cold, so I opted for a frozen marg, taco al carbon, half a gallon of queso and a cheese enchilada. Zero calories (because it was Sunday and rainy, duh!)

polished.it.off.

So there you have it. I was so full from my weekend culinary gallivanting that I couldn't post on Monday. Stay tuned this week for some delightful spring recipes, concert happenings, Easter delights and playlist magic. I hope you had some delightful weekend meals as well (tell me about them in the comments!) and as always,