Phoenix Area Report

Just got back from a week in the desert, and it was fantastic. Was sent there for a conference and dragged the wife along with me. It was realllllly hard to talk her into making the trip.

If you've never visited Arizona, it really just might be our most beautiful state. I would not have said so before this trip, but then again before this trip I would have voted for North Carolina (considering I would vote on only what I know). We too a beautiful drive up through Sedona


Past the San Francisco Peaks


And to the Grand Canyon


OK, now that I've got your attention!

A couple of quick food reviews from the area. The best part - when you're on a business trip, you rarely pay for your own food! Here are the highlights. Given that we ate out a lot, I won't list everything.


We had a nice meal at Rock Bottom, which is really a chain, but they have smoked salmon fish and chips, and the best mac n cheese in any restaurant I've ever been. Oh, and the beer is pretty good also.

The Keg serves a very good steak, maintains a great atmosphere and service. The rest of their food is only so-so. It's way more expensive I would ever pay considering the quality.

A fun evening took place at Harold's Corral with a bunch of co-workers after a long day of meetings. It certainly wasn't fancy, but they make a fine burger.

I must mention Sweet Tomatoes. Again - it's nothing fancy, but it's a nice affordable salad and soup buffet. I really like a nice mixed green salad with all kinds of different veggies. In addition to the usual, they also had black beans, chick peas, jicama, various squashes, and some unusual dressings. The soups are decent as well. This is also a chain, one which I think would do well in SE Pennsylvania.

The best for last as usual. Rosita's Place in South Phoenix (not to be confused with just Rosita's) is by far my favorite Mexican restaurant anywhere and one of my all time favorite places to dine. Just google it and you'll find some reviews online.
My friend Enrique(Henry), takes me there every time I visit. I've learned recently that Mexican food has much more variety than most people think. Much like the Italians, Mexicans use whatever types of ingredients are locally available. That means that some areas use more tomatoes than others. In fact, Rosita's place doesn't even use tomatoes in their salsa. Some use cheese, others don't. Even the type of tamales are different. Of course, tamales are my favorite and Rosita's makes the best (and spiciest) tamales verdes I've ever had.

Crock Pot Mac N Cheez

Since I mentioned Macaroni and Cheese as one of the recipes I'm looking to perfect, I figured I better post about our first experience with it since starting the blog. The Red-Head (AKA the Wife) made a Mac N Cheez recipe in the crock pot. Turned out pretty darn good - quite a bit like the traditional baked version that most of our Moms used to make. This one includes cheddar, Monterrey jack, and parm cheeses, as well as eggs and condensed milk.

I think we'd give it a 7.5 or 8 out of 10, but not quite the Macaroni and Cheese nirvana we were hoping for (Jer - still waiting for that recipe dude). I didn't discover the browning until later on when I dumped the leftovers out into a container. Still not sure if the browning had taken place during the normal cooking time, or after we left it in place while we ate and attended to other things. Either way, I found myself practically gorging on the brown stuff later on in the evening. I'd give that part a 9/10.

Just getting started

Well, here's another blog. Not that I have as much time as I should for the adoption blog but this will be much much easier to post. I'm kindof using it as a journal for my food experiences as well - something I should have done many moons ago.

My wife and I absolutely love to cook, and absolutely love to eat out. Whenever we travel, we tend to avoid chain restaurants, which has led to some interesting experiences. Unfortunately, I've just recently gotten into the habbit of taking my camera with me in order to photo-document those experiences. As this new blog progresses, I will go back and re-count some more interesting food escapades, some with pics, some without. This is also my way of sharing more of myself because I'm incapable of creating a blog without a theme. Call it anal, but I just can't bring myself to do it!!! In actuality, this blog will be similar to the other in that much of what actually happens will be joint experiences, but will be reflected on by just me. On second thought, it's a good bet to think that I'll include her thoughts as well.

Also, you'll be more likely to see home-made experiences more often. We've fully shifted to our more streamlined budget (nice way of saying forced semi-poverty) in order to work on serving our church and adopting a child. Because we saw that coming, we have spent the last couple of years aquiring some mid to higher level cooking tools. For instance a new stove, a chest feezer, decent knives, and most importantly, a kick arse grill that can double as a smoker. Pictures of all forthcoming. In the long run, this will save a ton of cash, because being able to cook larger quantities of tasty chow (and freeze the leftovers) will be more cost-effective even before our family grows.

So, what can you expect? What kinds of food do I like? I like many of the same things most people do, such as pizza, burgers, ice cream, etc. But I've also really come to appreciate the difference between Frank's in Mt Penn and Domino's (ick), as well as the difference between Fudruckers and McDonald's. As far as cooking food myself, here's what I aspire to perfect...

* Pizza- I'm starting to figure this one out, but I can get better.

* Smoked Pulled Pork BBQ - first attempt at this on the new grill came out great, not sure if I can duplicate.

* French Toast - this has always been a specialty, and lately I'm experimenting with some slightly different techniques. For me French Toast is not a desert and should not be eaten with powdered sugar and whipped cream.

* Macaroni and Cheese - this is my wife's absolute favoritest food, so I want to learn how best to prepare it. I've still got a lot to learn about cheese and cream sauces though.

* Thanksgiving dinner - something I love to host. Melissa and I split the cooking duties down the middle, I make turkey, stuffing, and mashed taters. She makes cranberry sauce, gravy, yeast rolls, and apple pie.

* Chili - at this point, chili is the one food that I feel confident I can make better than any restaurant, so I'm always torn when I see "worlds best chili" on a menu. Should I order it and find out for sure? Or would that be a waste of $3.99?

* Hot Sauce - this is kindof a hobby and passion. I love spicy food, and have been growing peppers for a number of years now.