Random Food Shenanigans

Thanks to Mark from www.thedailycity.com for telling me that Blogger has an iPhone app. Now I will actually post stuff.

Here are some random things I've ate recently.

Clockwise from top left:

Meatloaf stuffed Papas Rellenas smothered in gravy. One of Tim's favorite things I make is meatloaf and Papas Rellenas. He had a genius idea 2 weeks ago to combine the two. It was deeelicious!

Roasted Chicken Flatbread Pizza from Eola Wine Co. Roasted chicken, caramelized onions, artichokes, Parmesan, goat cheese, avocado, and roasted red pepper pesto sauce. Need I say more?

Coffee and Cocoa crusted burger from The Crooked Spoon. Didn't taste too much coffee or cocoa but these dudes know how to make a fuckin burger so it was still amazing. It also had a raspberry vinaigrette or something on it. I don't remember much, just that it was awesome and gone in like 5 minutes.

Candied Bacon ice cream. I made it, it is absolutely the best ice cream I've ever ate, and no I'm not sharing the recipe.

Why I've been so gosh darn busy lately

So back in April I had left a food truck event and thought to myself that a pet food truck would be awesome. It was just a thought though. Wasn't going to act on it because I didn't have the resources or money to do so. I looked online to see if such a truck existed (for shits and giggles) and ONE did. In Chicago. So anyways, I went on with my life, with that little idea in the back of my head. Then my sister emailed me.
I guess she had just got done reading my blog and she was like you really know a lot about food and food trucks. "How would you like to do a food truck with your sister?" I was like OMFG! I called her immediately. I was like "I just had the best idea for a food truck!!!" I told her my idea, she called me brilliant, and the rest is history.
Well not really history. I'll say that when I'm a millionaire. But after she called me brilliant, genius, and some other really awesome descriptive words, we got to work.
Have any of you ever started your own business? It's freakin hard! I was like it's pet treats, how hard could it be? Between coming up with the name, licensing and taxes and recipes and logos and packaging and most importantly, finding the perfect truck, it has consumed every bit of any extra time I have plus any extra money. Hence, why I haven't been out in a while.


We just hauled the truck back from Georgia on Sunday. Now on top of everything else we have to get the truck road ready. We're hoping that we can have it ready by September. We plan on being at food truck/pet events and dog parks. I can't wait.

You can follow our progress and see our awesome treats on Twitter and facebook.

Brunch under a bridge

Me and Tim woke up one Sunday and decided to go get Brunch from the Big Wheel Truck. I think it was their second weekend doing bunch. We arrived to the truck in the parking lot of Harmon Photo on Ivanhoe Row and let me tell you, their menu on this day is still my favorite. EVERYTHING on it I wanted to eat. Had I had enough money, I would've bought em out. A gun may have worked too.

It was so hard for me to make a decision on what to eat but I did, and I made a good one. I got the Palmetto Creek maple and brown butter sausage w/ local fried duck egg on local green salad. Holy what?! Yes, you heard me. The boyfriend got the Crispy local pork belly and fried egg on an English muffin with onion jam and arugula. Yes, you heard me.Tim's pork belly breakfast samich

I suggested that we eat at the lake across the street but Tim remembered that he saw a spot a little ways down that was by the lake but under a bridge. Sounded cool, so I was down. So we parked under the bridge, got out of the truck and took a seat, ate our food and drank our beers....o yeah, we brought two Yuenglings.Tim's up to no good face?

Both of our meals were amazing but I liked mine the best. It was seriously the most perfect combination of flavors. The sausage mixed with the giant runny egg yolk was classically amazing but then you mix it with a bite of the balsamic vinaigrette dressed salad and it was thee perfect bite.My delicious breakfast. Oh yeah, I put Sriracha on it :)

It was all actually quite awesome sitting under the bridge, listening to the little waves roll and that hollow sound of the cars driving over us, eating nomnom food and drinkin beer. May have to do it again sometime.

A weeks worth of food, drinks, and shenanigans

First of all this blog post was titled "a months worth of food, drinks, and shenanigans" but that was like two weeks ago. Just thinking about blogging about a month and two weeks worth of that shit was a bit overwhelming. So it's now a weeks worth. This makes me feel better.

Sunday, April 24th
We went to The Milkbar for some afternoon beverages. Krista recommended my first sour beer, Duchesse de Bourgogne. I actually liked it a lot and her description of it was perfect. She said it kind of tasted like balsamic vinegar. It did. But with beer. It's not a beer I would drink more than one in one sitting, but I would definitely have it again.
Then we went to Wildside to try their Lamb Burger. It was good, but this is something I wouldn't order again. Definitely lacked the wow factor.



















Thursday, April 28th
Tim and I went to The Shipyard. It was his first time, my second. I must admit this time wasn't as awesome as my first. The first time I went I had the Lobster Bisque and it seriously was going down on my list of best soups. The second time I had it it wasn't as good. I don't know why. Tim had The Fork and Knife Meatball Melt. It was good, but the meatball sub I had from The Crooked Spoon a few weeks ago was better. I'll talk about that in a later post.
Then we went to The Imperial for the first time. Super cool bar and I especially loved the outside seating area. It was fun to walk around with a delicious beverage and look at all the neat furniture....but that lasted about 10 minutes then we got bored.


















Friday, April 29th
Tim and I went to Redlight Redlight to have another delicious beverage and check out Big Bruno's Bites. That dude rules. And so does his food. I had the organic beef hot dog and a fried Oreo. Then we went downtown and bounced around our usual spots. Sky60, Eyespy.....I don't remember where else we went. I do remember stopping at the Big Wheel Truck and getting some post I-just-drank-a-lot munchies. I don't remember what it was called but it had pork belly, blue cheese, and wing sauce on it. Nomnomnom. I ate the other half at work the next day. It saved me.



















Sunday, May 1st
This was the day of The Daily City's Food Truck Bazaar #2. I already blogged about it.

Wednesday, May 4th
I spent it as I have every Wednesday for about the last three months. At the food truck pod at Firestone Live. I brought my mom this time. It was her first food truck event and she had a great time. I had the Mexican Burger from The Crooked Spoon that they did for Cinco de Mayo. It was aawweesssoommee! It definitely knocked someone off my top five burgers list. Which, btw, I need to revise. My mom had the Crooked Spoon burger and she said it was totally worth ruining her diet for. We also had some stuff from Big Wheel. The fried Risotto Balls were my fave.












Friday, May 6th
We went to Cityfish as usual. Then we went to The Milk Bar (again) and I drank a new beer called Maduro by Cigar City. And by new I mean new for me. It was a great, brown beer. Then we decided to try out The Social Chameleon for the first time. That place is awesome. It might even be a new little din din spot. Cute, small, and quiet. The outside seating area has that whole secret garden feel and the twinkle lights make it even better. And not to mention the food was delicious. We got the Naan bread with the Baingan Bharta sauce and the Meatloaf Pizza and added pepperoni on it as suggested by our server. That's a really, really, good pizza.












So that's it! Next week I'll write about how we got brunch and ate it under a bridge.

Food Truck Bazaar #2

The Daily City put on another food truck bazaar. I went to the first one and had a somewhat irritating experience. It was held at a church in their parking lot and they got way more people than expected. It was like something I had never seen. There were freakin' police directing traffic for pete's sake. I walked in and saw how many people were there and how long the lines were and immediately got frustrated. All I had ate all day was like 1/2 of a Cliff Bar and five cheese puffs AND went to the gym in preparation for that evening because I knew I was going to stuff myself. So I met with my other extremely disappointed friends and we decided where we were going to eat. I heard the next day that there were some people waiting in line for 3 hours just to be told that they ran out of food. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE food truck food, but not that much.


This time it was organized MUCH better. It was in a bigger space (Dillards parking lot) and you could tell that the trucks learned a lot from the last one. The Treehouse Truck had a separate line for people that just wanted deserts and there was someone going down the line taking orders. The line looked long but they definitely came up with an efficient plan this time because it moved at a good rate. Big Wheel Provisions Food Truck also had a "snack shack." It was a table set off to the side with some pre-made foods and drinks. The Crooked Spoon Truck sized down their menu a bit and just did gourmet hot dogs with a condiment bar off to the side.


Because it was more efficient this time I was able to try two new trucks. It was awesome! The Pupusas Food Truck was delicious. Read my review on Yelp! For $2.50 I felt like I was stealing from them.















The Sunset Ice Italian Ice Truck was deeeeelish! I got the mango, Tim got the cotton candy. They were both velvety smooth and sweet. They're based out of Merritt Island which is kind of a bummer. I hope they come to Orlando more often.














Tim, of course, got the Beargrrr again from The Treehouse Truck and I, of course, took a bite ;)
I also tried the Voodoo Dog from the Crooked Spoon Truck. That was my favorite all night! It was a giant hot dog with crawfish gumbo and pickled onions on it on a brioche bun.







I didn't get an opportunity to try any of the food from these trucks but I did get some good pics!

This truck is dope!

Melissa's Chicken and Waffles. I didn't get to try it but it looks scrumptious.

Winter Park Fish Co.

The Wing Commander and The Traveling Gourmet

The Country Chuck Wagon

BIG thanks to Chris from EatLocalOrlando and Droolius for the awesome I Heart Food Trucks T-shirt!!!

Best Happy Hours in Orlando

Cityfish
Drinks - Happy Hour is all day, every day. Some drink highlights are $2 Bud Light mugs and Mimosas, $4 OBP mugs and Peppar Bloody Marys, select $5 mixed drinks and martinis, and select $5 Barcardi drinks. They make their own mix for the Bloody Marys and are the best Downtown IMO. If Rob is working the bar, tell him Lauren sent you.
Food - On Sundays and Mondays starting at 6 they do all-you-can-eat Snow Crabs with sides for $25. Monday - Friday from 5 to 7 get FREE oysters at the bar and on the patio.
Cityfish is located at 617 E. Central Blvd. in Thornton Park.
*you can usually find free street parking on Eola, Church, or Pine near Cityfish. If not, there's a garage off Eola and Central.

Mucho Tequila and Tacos
Drinks - They have different daily drink specials all week so check the website but some of my favorites are on Mondays - Happy Hour (which is usually 4 to 6) is all day. $2 Tacos, Ritas, Dos Equis, and 1800 Silver shots. Tuesdays - $2 Negra Modela and $4 Milagro Ritas and shots (my favorite tequila.) Sundays - 6 to close - $5 Tecate quarts and $4 Sangria all day.
Food - Free chips and salsa all the time and $2 chicken or beef tacos during Happy Hour. Even if it's not Happy Hour they have a bunch of 8 inch tacos for $4 or less including a fish taco.
Muchos is located at 101 S. Eola Ave. in Thornton Park.
*you can usually find free street parking on Eola, Church, or Pine near Muchos. If not, there's a garage off Eola and Central.

Wildside BBQ Bar and Grill
Drinks - Happy Hour from 4 to 7 and all day on Sundays. $2 House wine and wells and beer specials. My favorite is Yuengling for $1.79!
Food - Haven't seen any Happy Hour food specials yet, but all sides including fries, coleslaw, side salad, and pasta salad are under $2.
Wildside is located at 700 E. Washington St. in Thornton Park
*they have their own parking lot but if it's full there's usually free street parking on surrounding streets.

Dexter's
Drinks - It's $2 off everything from the bar except domestic bottles which are $1 off. It also includes $10.00 off bottles of wine that they sell by the glass.
Monday- 3 till close
Tuesday- 3 till 7PM
Wednesday- 3 till 7PM
Thursday- 3 till 7 and from 7 till close for ladies excluding bottles of wine
Friday- 3 till 7PM
Friday and Saturday nights from 10PM till 1AM enjoy 50% off all Liquor Drinks
Sangria Saturdays - $4 Sangria, $2 Tecate cans and Tapas specials from 11AM to 7PM
Drink Specials on Sunday are $4.50 Bloody Marys and $2.95 Mimosas from open till 3PM and $1.50 Domestic bottle of beer all day.
Food - Tapas specials from 11AM to 7PM on Saturdays and $1 Burgers on Tuesdays from 5 to close.
Dexter's is located at 808 E. Washington St. in Thornton Park.
*they have their own small parking lot that is always filled during peak hours. There's usually free street parking near Dexter's. If not, hit up the garage off Eola and Central.

Waitiki
Drinks - $2.50 Red Stripe beer all the time. $3.50 SoCo shots and Tropical Punch shots all the time. 1/2 off Tiki Drinks and $2.50 Barcardi drinks during happy hour. Happy Hour is Monday - Friday from 4 to 7.
Food - 1/2 off appetizers during Happy Hour.
Phucket Fridays - 1/2 off Phucket Buckets on Fridays from 12PM to 12AM!
Waitiki is located at 26 Wall St.
*can usually find free street parking on Orange after 7PM until about 9 (not Fridays or Saturdays.) If not, check other side streets or use parking garage on Washington or Central.

Wall St. Cantina
Drinks - During Happy Hour from 4 to 7 Monday - Friday get $2.50 Margaritas and $2.50 Coronas.
Food - 1/2 off apps during Happy Hour.
Taco Tuesday - $2 Tacos, Tequilas, Margaritas, and Mexican beers on Tuesdays from 2PM to 2AM!
Wall St. Cantina is located at 19 N. Orange Ave.
*can usually find free street parking on Orange after 7PM until about 9 (not Fridays or Saturdays.) If not, check other side streets or use parking garage on Washington or Central.

Downtown Pourhouse
Drinks - Happy Hour is from 11AM to 8PM Monday - Friday. Specials on liquor and beer. $3 SoCo shots all the time. Pinnacle drinks and shots are $3 for ladies every night after 8.
Food - No food specials yet that I know of but nothing on the menu is over $14 including the famous Black and Tan burger and Lobster Mac n' Cheese!
Country Music Mondays - $3.50 Jack drinks and shots, $2.50 Bud and Bud Light, and if you wear a cowboy hat you get a free shot of SoCo.
Half off Tuesdays - 1/2 off all alcohol on Tuesdays after 9PM.
Downtown Pourhouse is located at 20 S. Orange Ave.
*can usually find free street parking on Orange after 7PM until about 9 (not Fridays or Saturdays.) If not, check other side streets or use parking garage on Central or parking under I4.


Shari Sushi Lounge
Happy Hour is seven days a week from 5-7PM
Drinks - Select beer, Sakitinis, and Sake for $3.75
Food - Over twenty different rolls, sushi, and sashimi for $3.75. Ask for some rice cakes.
Trust me this is the best sushi happy hour downtown.
Shari is located at 621 E. Central Blvd.
*parking - see Cityfish

My top 5 favorite burgers in Orlando (at this moment.)

#1 - The Black and Tan from Downtown Pourhouse
Onion Rings, Stout Glaze, Gruyere Cheese

The perfect blend of sweet, savory, gooey, crunchy, soft and juicy.


#2 - The Crooked Spoon Burger from The Crooked Spoon
Angus Beef, Chipotle Aioli, Swiss, Caramelized Onion, Lettuce, Tomato

I stole this picture from Julius at Droolius.com (one of my favorite food blogs) because I've ate this burger twice and never took a picture.


#3 - My "Design Your Own Burger" at Pine Twenty 2
Humanely Handled, Grass fed, Hormone and Antibiotic-free 100% Angus Beef, Local Multi grain Bun, Pepper Jack, Herb Aioli, Bermuda Red Onion, Charred Pineapple, Dill Pickle, Organic Mixed Greens, and Applewood Smoked Bacon.



#4 - The Beargrrrr from The Treehouse Truck
Cheeseburger with bacon in between two Krispy Kreme Donuts



#5 - The Wild "Fire" Burger from Wildside
Hand Patted Black Angus Beef, Mixed with Gorgonzola Cheese, Mild Buffalo Sauce, Served on Texas Toast with Bacon, Lettuce, Tomato, and topped with Crispy Onion Rings.

Check out this freakin' sandwich I ate!!!

Well, I was going to wait to write about this samich until I had enough samiches to complete my "5 favorite sandwiches at this moment" list, but it's too good not to tell right now. AND it's on special at The Rusty Spoon so it won't be there for long. So go get it!

So, I went to The Rusty Spoon last Friday to check this place out. It's new and on the bottom floor of 55 West off Church St. Our waiter, Tim, was EXTREMELY informative and enthusiastic. I think maybe he had been doin' blow all night. Who knows. So far his recommendations of the beer, martini, and appetizer were correct, so I listened to him when he said their special, the Fried Soft Shell Crab Sandwich, was A.MAZ.ING! I could seriously see this man's pupils dilate when he told me how awesome it was. He was not effing joking. They brought this thing out and I'm pretty sure my jaw hit the ground. Then I immediately started taking pictures. I will let them speak for themselves.



Yes, there were legs coming out of my sandwich. In between two pieces of grilled, buttery Texas toast.


Yep, that's an entire fried soft shell crab. It was fried perfectly. Crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside. It also had lettuce, tomato, and a thick chive aoili or something on it. With fries. With homemade ketchup. Yeah. And now for the money shot...



Although I had a great experience, my boyfriend did not :( Read about it here on Yelp!

My sleeve is finally finished!!!

A little over a year ago I decided to get a half sleeve. I went to Freak who I've known for a while and he's done a lot of my friend's work. He does really amazing stuff. I told him what I wanted and he told me to give him a day or two to draw it out. I basically wanted some of my favorite moments on my arm. I wanted the Marlin I caught in the Bahamas, the hammock hut from Tensing Pen, Jamaica, the 165 foot waterfall I rappelled off of in Costa Rica and the Arenal Volcano I ate lunch next to all against a backdrop of a Keys sunset.
I went back to see what he had drawn and he drew it as one big scene. I said it was awesome but I wanted all of these things separated somehow considering they were all separate events and places in time. So we decided to "frame" a couple of the scenes and he would re-draw it. He did, and we got started on the outline on my birthday of last year.
I am admitting this publicly now, that I should've listened to him and went with the original drawing. Don't get me wrong, I love it, but it does look a little crowded and "busy" just like he said it might. Oh well! Can't go back now! Just a word of advice from me: always listen to your tattoo artist.
All in all, it was a great experience and I don't regret it one f*ck!ng bit.

The outline took about 1.5 hours. It wasn't too bad.

the outline

marlin colored in

Arenal Volcano in Costa Rica and the hammock hut at Tensing Pen in Jamaica

aaannndd the finished product!

The parts that hurt the worst were on the underside of my arm. Ya know where it's not exposed to too much sun and it's soft and fatty? Yeah, that part. Thank God for headphones and Pandora. Each scene took about 45 minutes to an hour. The background with the waterfall took about 1.5 hours. So all in all I think it was about 6 hours total.