VIDEO: Hummus a Pantry Staple!

The first video in a 10-segment series with my good friend and fellow bariatric dietitian Vivianne Donahue. Stay tuned for more healthy, EASY, tasty recipes. Great for weight management, or those having bariatric surgery, and we also have four vegan recipes in the series!!

 

"The Range" Restaurant Review

When your friends are in town and want to meet for lunch what is a girl to do during these COVID times? My answer was shower up, find an outfit that can get sopping with sweat sitting outside on a high 80s degree day and grab my cutest mask. Off I went to Hingham (MA) to meet the girls at a driving range complete with a local favorite restaurant, The Range Bar & Grille.

I have no qualms about sitting outside COVID or not. I much prefer it to the over air conditioned, dark dining rooms at most establishments. This place did a great job of keeping people separated and keeping the service level up. The dining area was well stocked with giant umbrellas and while our table was more like an outdoor booth we still had plenty of shade. It would have been nice to have a cushion under our bottoms but we understood why they had been removed.

It was a 'ladies who lunch' event so obviously we ordered a bottle of prosecco to start. The only option was Chloe, it was a little flat in flavor department, but it was cold and refreshing, and beggers can't be choosers right?!


Our food order came. A strawberry and goat cheese salad with added salmon ($13+$11), a turkey club wrap with sweet potato fries ($12) and a 'veggie sandwich' with sweet potato fries ($14). The portions were very large, in my opinion definitely enough food for two lunches. The serving of salmon was a dinner portion size but had good flavor and the salad was light, crisp and fresh. The turkey club adorned some excellent additions like avocado which are not usually seen in a club sandwich. The veggie sandwich was a portobello mushroom cap with cheese and pesto on top of a Beyond Meat patty with normal vegetable accouterments. It had a good amount of flavor, but the patty was unnecessary and made the sandwich to heavy. I would have given people the option of the mushroom cap or the patty but not both. The sweet potato fries were a big hit among all three of us. They did not appear to be frozen, prepackaged fries, and they were wide which is much more to my liking as opposed to the shoe string varieties.

All in all, I would go back here. It was a nice quiet location, the food was good and it was sold at reasonable price. And hey if you get bored of your dining companions you can always watch the peeps at the driving range smashing balls around!

Cheesey Review: January's cheese of month club

I was anticipating the Mirabo Walnut to be my favorite, because I generally like a brie textured cheese with a rind that has something added to it, whether it is nuts or dried fruit or a ribbon of wine. But in fact, I liked the Five Territories best, because it was the most unfamiliar to me. There were five different types British of cheeses (listed from the bottom layer in the photo towards the top): Double Gloucester, Red Leicester, Cheshire, Derby, Cheddar - pressed in layers to form to form the wheel this wedge came from. The layers easily broke apart so you could taste the cheeses individually or all together. The Cheshire layer was my favorite. It was creamier then the others, and had a distinctive flavor that I had not experienced before. Ironically, Cheshire is believed to be Britain's oldest named cheese first being mentioned in the Domesday Book written at the end of the 11th century.

The Amish Blue from Wisconsin (go badgers!) was quite nice also. Blue is not necessarily the first cheese I would reach for if given multiple options, but this blue was creamy and coated your mouth. It tasted fresh (well as fresh as moldy cheese can taste I guess!), so it did not have that tangy or overpowering taste that poor quality blue cheeses can have from 'bad' mold. This would for sure be a winner on a cheese plate, even in a sophisticated crowd at a party, or atop a bison burger!

The Mirabo Walnut was not what I was expecting. It is a Bavarian cheese that came from Heising, a town which free-range grazes their cows in the Bavarian alps. The flesh of the cheese was creamy and smooth but did not have much flavor to it. The walnuts provided texture but no additional flavor. However, the rind was quite interesting. It provided a 'toasted' flavor to the cheese which was actually quite nice. Many people peel of the rind of a brie type cheese, but in this instance you would be missing out on the most complex part. The rind also really brought to life the flavor and texture of the cheese after a sip of Tempranillo (red Spanish blended wine). This cheese changed more then the other two, with the addition of a sip of wine.

I am excited to try to them again and see how I feel about the flavors now that I have given a once over.

Farmer's Market Opening

Don't forget this Saturday (May 18) is opening day of the Providence Alternative Farmer's Market!! It is being held in one of Miriam's parking lots (corner of Main St and 2nd Ave) from 9am - 2pm. There will be farmers selling fresh produce, and also local artisans selling their wares. It should be a beautiful weekend, head over there and check out the scene!

Deluxe Station Diner

Set in a cutesy part of Newton Centre, exactly where the green line stops, is the local favorite, Deluxe Station Diner. The old train station is a beautiful building, everything is mahogany stained wood with decor back to the glory days of train travel. The owners of Deluxe Station Diner remodeled the building in 2010 to create an eatery that is anything but a stereotypical diner.

The menu has some things on it that you might expect: meatloaf, chicken pot pie, fish and chips; and a few that had you go 'really?': vegetable curry, spaghetti and 'meatballs' (made with eggplant instead of meat) and a Thai noodle dish. As you people watch waiting for your meal to arrive, you realize that the menu is a reflection of the clientele, and it is as eclectic as they are. People of all ages, dressing styles, social classes, and professions frequent this stop - probably due to the ease of access and the high quality of all their homemade-made from scratch dishes.

I ordered the waiter's recommendation of Broasted Half Chicken which came with two sides. I choose mixed greens (which was exactly that, with a few grape tomato halves thrown in). When I asked the waiter to choose between the mac & cheese and sweet potato fries he gave me a look as if I must be a moron, he wrote down and muttered "mac & cheese" without letting me get another word in edgewise.

He was very correct in his recommendations though! The broasted chicken was a cross between broiled and roast chicken, so it had a crispy outside as if it had been deep fried, but the meat was juicy and pulled easily away from the bone. I was pleasantly surprised. It was also not over seasoned which was nice. Some places salt the heck out of the poor bird or cover it in thyme and then it also comes greasy. DSD let the quality of the meat shine through, which I really appreciated! The mixed greens were fresh and a nice thing to break up the cheesey deliciousness of the mac & cheese, which was creamy and saucy, with extra cheese melted on top. I was to full to finish it and it made a fabulous lunch reheated today!

The Deluxe Station Diner also has a selection of microbrews and small batch wines to go with the food. The choices fit the character of the place with things like Alagash White (ME), Smuttynose IPA (NH) or Original Sin Cider (NY).

The atmosphere of this place is fabulous, the location is great with plenty of street parking, the noise level is good (the T came by multiple times during the 2.5 hours I was there, and you never heard it once), and the food is fantastic and reasonably priced (dinner for 2 with 2 beers = $42 + tip).

Deluxe Station Diner gets an A most definitely.

FitBit

My patients are loving pedometers to help them track their exercise on a daily basis. This is a neat little device that my patients like and it has a great name and cool colors so why wouldn't a girl love it! The FITBIT is tiny (about the size of your - well ok - my thumb) and wirelessly uploads to the information collected on:
Steps taken
Distance traveled
Floors climbed
Calories burned
Sleeping patterns
The FitBit even has a flower that grows on the outside of it depending on how active you have been. It is slightly expensive at $99 but seems like a great gadget to add to your collection.

November Lix Fix

Flavors are in for the JP Licks November Lix Fix! I am pretty excited for the Factor X yogurt flavor - Cranberry Blood Orange :)

Pumpkin Custard
Wild Turkey Bourbon (this doesn't seem like a good idea to me! ahahaha)
Carrot Cake
Pumpkin Cheesecake
Sugar Free Vanilla
Peanut butter Ripple (YES PLEASE!!! and my obsession with peanut butter continues)
Cranberry Orange Sorbet
Pumpkin Lactose Free
Vermont Maple Low Fat Yogurt
Triple Berry Sorbet

The new toppings: Dried cranberries, frosted animal cookies or cheesecake bites

You had better make a few laps around the outdoor mall while eating your Licks treat this month :)

Stoner Food

On my first excursion ever to an island so close to the coastline of my beantown home front, I discovered a fabulously enticing treat at a local farmers' market. The treat? Stoner Food. A delectable, crave-worthy treat made of - our you ready for this? - a pretzel rod dipped in caramel, then dipped in dark chocolate, then sprinkled with crushed heath bar and a few granules of sea salt. Whoa nelle! You can find this treat on Martha's Vineyard from the local maker, New Moon Magick Enchanted Chocolates, at 4 Chapman Ave in Oak Bluffs or you can go to the website and order all their treats online! New Moon makes all their chocolates from high-high (no pun intended) quality 70% cacao. Hooray! Home-made treats made from high quality ingredients in small batches so that everything is fresh and fabulous. If it was a requirement that to eat Stoner food you had to be a pot head, I can't lie - I just might take up smoking - it was that fanfreakintastic!

I might just attempt to make it myself :)

New Restaurant's to Opentable - Boston

Newly added restaurants at opentable - so if you were looking for a reservation or a deal on a meal check out opentable for these exciting places!

Smith & Wollensky - Steak and Seafood on Atlantic Wharf
Mystery Cafe - Contemporary American in the Financial District + you get a dinner theatre show!!
Catalyst - Contemporary American in Cambridge
Pasta e Pomodoro - Italian in the North End
Range Indian Bistro - Stoneham

Groupon - Milestone in Wellesley, MA

63% off a dinner at Milestone Mediterranean food in Wellesley, MA. For $35 dollars you will get a 3 course meal:

Choose between the following options:
For $35, you get a three-course dinner for two (up to an $88 value).
For $65, you get a three-course dinner for four (up to a $176 value).
Each diner orders one of the following from an exclusive chef's menu devised for Groupon customers:
One appetizer (up to $11 each)
One soup or salad (up to a $9 value each)
One entree (up to a $24 value each)

View the Groupon Offer - offer can be purchased through 8/31

August Lix Fix is out!

JP Licks August flavors:

Yogurt X (remember its 29calories/oz, full of probiotics, fat free and low sugar) = Peach

Other flavors:
Fresh Peach
Mocha Chip
Peanut Butter Oreo
Cow Trax
Fresh Lumpy Primate
Raspberry Lime Rickey Sorbet
Triple Berry Sorbet
Sangria Sorbet
Fudgsicle Sorbet
Sugar Free Vanilla
Lactose Free Black Raspberry
Red Raspberry Low Fat yogurt

also new for a limited time - PRETZEL CONES!!

Restaurant Week Boston - Returns

Open Table's Restaurant week - Boston returns next month. Over 180 restaurants in the Greater Boston area participate August 14-19 and 21-26.

Pricing: (alcohol not included)
2 Course Lunch = $15.11
3 Course Lunch = $20.11
3 Course Dinner = $33.11

So check out Open Table to make a reservation - spots go fast at many of the participating eateries!

ENJOY!!

Today's Groupon

Groupon today is 1/2 off at Sibling Rivalry, which is a South End staple for reasonably price, higher end food that blends some fusion with some eclectic ideas about food pairings in the setting of "Modern American". The whole concept of Sibling Rivalry starts with the Chef owners - two brothers, who each create their own "dueling" menu using the same main item (ie scallops) so that each item is on the menu two different ways. You are given 1 paper menu that contains all the options from both chefs. You can pick and chose from both chefs, but it is a fun idea that you could order from Chef David and you dinner date could order from Chef Bob and YOU could be the judge as to who did a better job!

Check it out - and at half off - how can you lose :)

July 21st...

Looking for something to do on a random Thursday night with a group of friends?? Kingston Station in Downtown Crossing is hosting a 4 course Narragansett pairing on July 21. The food accompaniments (because let's face it, food is a side dish to beer) for this inaugural event will feature Littleneck clams in a tomato saffron broth, a ginger vinaigrette-doused crab & avocado salad, and braised short ribs with wild mushroom potato risotto. Waiters will be serving up big pours of 'gansett's brewer's bock, citrusy summer ale, and malty porter (which will apparently ignite the formation of some ridiculous bags under your eyes overnight!) So give Kingston Station a call and make a reservation so you can "Git yourself a 'gansett!"

X Factor

Who's tried the 'X Factor'? No, I'm not talking about a TV show - it was a TV show wasn't it? I am talking about JP Licks 29 calories per ounce soft serve - yes you heard that right - 29 calories per ounce of glorious soft serve! The newest flavor is Black Currant. Per their own email:

Yogurt X, if you didn't know already, is our tart and tangy frozen yogurt that's full of Probiotics and active cultures. It's non fat, has less sugar than regular frozen yogurt, and a refreshing dairy flavor that just has to be tasted. It seems we've created a (friendly) monster - now Black Currant joins our growing list of incredible flavor twists.

Check out the soft serve flavor rotations! There are no nutrition facts listed on the website - per Federal law they don't have to have them until they have 20 locations and currently there are only 10 JP Licks stores in the greater Boston area, so for my patients out there I can't attest that any of you would be able to enjoy these flavors unless they are the sugar free ones, but if you are taking your family, ask the girl behind the counter, she might have a nutrition facts sheet there for you to look at.

Hard Ice Cream July flavors: (Click on link for flavor descriptions)
Fresh Peach
Butter Cashew
Fresh Cucumber
Sugar Free Vanilla
Bailey's Chocolate Chip Cheesecake
Triple Berry Sorbet
El Diablo (yes the devil!!!)
Raspberry Lime Rickey Sorbet
Fresh Watermelon Sherbet
Fresh Mojito Sorbet
Strawberry Banana Lactose Free
Chocolate Chip Low Fat Yogurt

ENJOY!!!

B-night: Bourbon and BBQ that is...

Boston is known as Beantown and has some fabulous B-schools (business for those of you uneducated on the term, not B as in second tier), but BBQ and Bourbon are not 'B' terms usually associated with our hometown city on the water. Last week, Tremont 647 hosted one of their many yearly events, which have all become quite the popular Monday outing for Bostonians. This one was the annual BBQ tasting and Bourbon sampling event. We were super excited about our BBQ dinner and completely unaware of the Bourbon tasting, perhaps we neglected to read the fine print, as we often do, but it seemed like a great added benefit until we saw 4 poured shots per person sitting on our table!

Tremont 647 is known for its locally sourced cuisine ingredients and intimate setting, at address 647 Tremont Street in the South End (way to be real original with the establishment's name, Chef Husbands, way to be original). Anyway, Chef and owner Andy Husbands (who also owns and runs 647's neighbor to the right, Sister Sorel) is not new to the scene of high class cuisine, nor is he new to the BBQing scene. He won the World BBQ championships with the hog recipe he was preparing for us that tonight and his excitement showed when he squeaked into the microphone "I smoked the hog myself yesterday, its going to be awesome!"

We started the night with various appetizers including: fresh hush puppies, smoked trout remoulade over English pea cakes, and smoked chicken cakes. The hush puppies were to die for with plenty of corn kernels and moisture to spare in a golf ball sized, deep fried package. The chicken cakes were also delicious, but if you didn't stuff the whole thing into your mouth all one time, in one swift movement from serving platter to pie-hole, you were going to be walking on. The cake was very brittle and did not hold together at all, which is sort of a must if you are going to use it for a passed appetizer and thus it must be eaten sans utensils. Smoked trout was ok, I could have done without it though - a little to acidic for the people in my party.

Then we sat down for the bourbon tasting and just as Chef predicted, 1/2 way through it no one was paying attention to the girl hosting the tasting, because they were all drinking and feeling good. I, however, was pretty sickened by the bourbon. I would have rather drank urine - way to harsh for me - I almost did the head spin that Will Smith mastered for the intro to Fresh Prince of Bel Air, due to the stringency of it.

First course was three different kinds of ribs with matching coleslaw: America style, Jerk Style (read SPICY!!!!) and Chinese style. The ladies liked the Chinese style best probably because it was coated in brown sugar, the men, though they were crying and bright red, powered through the jerk ribs and even started in on seconds, proclaiming that it was their favorite. America was neither good nor bad, it was just kind of boring compared to the other two! All the ribs were tender, moist and flavorful, but the Chinese style ones were banging for sure!

Then we cooled off with a wedge salad: iceberg lettuce, pickled onions, BACON, and as one of my dinner dates proclaimed in excitement "FULL FAT DRESSING - THERE'S NOTHING LIKE IT!" It was a good break from the spice of the ribs and a nice cleanse before the family style main course. Paper boats of food covered our table minutes later, full of: blackened catfish, pulled pork, greens, beans, watermelon, potato salad, coleslaw, burnt ends, and honey covered cornbread. The Catfish had a little to much cayenne in it for me but it was cooked very well so that the integrity of the flesh was maintained and the moisture level was spot on. The beans were fabulous, slightly sweet with a touch of cumin, I could have eaten a whole bowl of those if I had room. The cornbread took a couple bites to get used to. It was very sweet from the honey and I am more used to a fatty hunk of cornbread due to high butter content. I liked the idea of it though, as it seemed to help the heat issue in the mouth after the catfish. Greens were good, no complaints - they just aren't my favorite option at the BBQ to begin with. I was truthfully expecting more from the World Championship winning BBQ recipe on the hog, but I was not disappointed - I guess I was just expecting fireworks. There was also potato salad and coleslaw neither of which I tried because I don't really appreciate mayo as a food item and I try to boycott it whenever possible. The burnt ends were fabulous though! Contrary to belief, they were not dried out and were so flavorful - LOVED LOVED LOVED them!

Dessert was a strawberry shortcake with a twist. They used home made vanilla wafer sugar cookies for the outside instead of biscuits and instead of strawberries with cream on the inside the two were blended together into more of a creme filling for the cookies. A few dark chocolate chips rounded it out. I would have liked a bushel of the cookies to take home - they were fantastic! Sweet, with more then just a hint of real vanilla bean - definitely no short cuts were taken in the recipe for those puppies.

You can take full advantage of all the events Tremont 647 and Sister Sorel have to offer by going to Tremont's website and joining their email list for first crack at all the goodies!

Absolutely one NOT to miss!!

In an effort to 'get off the reservation' (as in the resort I am staying at for the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery), I hailed a town car and galavanted off to the Orlando neighborhood of 'Point Orlando'. My destination was Oceanaire, which came recommended by the concierge desk. Oceanaire flies its fish in fresh everyday and changes it's menu depending on the quality of items it receives, which, might make you immediately jump to conclusions of selling your first born to pay for a dinner date - not the case (entrees range from $25-40 which is expensive but I was invisioning a $50-60 entree when I was told about the fish freshness)! There are locations throughout the country: Atlanta, Boston, Denver, Indianapolis, Minneapolis, San Diego, Baltimore, Dallas, Houston, Miami, and DC, so you don't have to be in MCO airport code area to nosh on this good stuff!!

On the outside, it looks no different then a Capital Grille or Legal Sea Foods, but on the inside I was transported back in time to a traditional oyster bar and seafood eatery on the wharf in downtown Boston. Waitstaff is dressed in white fish market jackets and their friendly, 'can-do' attitude was much appreciated. Details, right down to changing out my white napkin for a black one, so that white link would not rub off on my black outfit, to the dental clips (yes dental clips!!) to pin a bib around you for dishes such as lobster or cioppino, were always on hand. The meal starts with 1/2 boule of fresh bread and a relish tray - ohh yes, welcome back 1950 - relish tray. I was super excited to see Barramundi on the menu given my last encounter with the Australian version of bass, and I it wanted it Oscar style (ie topped with lump crab, asparagus and hollandaise), but because I am picky at times and have great disdain for hollandaise after having to learn how to make it, I replaced the hollandaise with Louie sauce (lemon-butter). My dinner mate ordered a pink snapper louie style which also had lump crap atop it with a side of rice. Since the menu ran slightly like a steakhouse the sides were A la carte and we settled on cheesey au gratin potatoes and a white anchovy salad for our sides.

The lump crab might just have been THE BEST crab I have ever sunk my teeth into. The quarter sized pieces of Maryland lump crab were cooked beautifully - tender and juicy with out any hint of canned or prepackaged flavor. Maryland crab is the good stuff - none of that Alaskan crab shit for me, and I really believe that these Maryland crabs hit the back of Oceanaire alive (like a lobster would) and were prepared freshly at the start of service that night, they had that much 'just out of the water' mouthfeel and flavor to them. The pink snapper was nice, it reminded me of a lighter version of swordfish. The barramundi, though not as thick as the fillet from White Dog Cafe, was full of flavor and complimented nicely by some lemon butter. The cheesey au gratin potatoes were laced with bacon and leeks. Now we all know I love bacon, so the chunks were a welcome addition to my favorite item (cheese - duh), but the slight onion flavor from the leeks gave the potatoes an interesting twist. This 'side' dish could have be shared by 4 people, so at $10 it was a fabulous purchase of two heaping portions and leftovers. We were in Florida so we had to order key lime pie for dessert, which could also have fed a family of four. I like my key lime pie a little tart and this one was just that - tangy with a thick, buttery graham cracker crust. It was also served with a steak knife and I have since proclaimed that if the dessert doesn't come with a steak knife, I'm not buying.

White Dog Cafe in Wayne, PA

What has become a yearly pilgrimage to the Devon Horse Show in Devon, PA has also turned into an exciting few days of dining each year. Devon is nestled among a few little communities: Berwyn, Wayne, Paoli, Malvern, among others, and in this affluent area, small eateries with high quality menus are bountiful. This trip I visited Alba, in Malvern, and White Dog Cafe's Wayne location. When a friend 'yelped' the restaurants in the area, these two were on the top our 'must dine at list'. When my foodie and wine expert uncle, Dennis, suggested he and his family meet us at White Dog Cafe, Alba became the stop with friends the night before.

You are either going to love or hate the decor inside White Dog. The walls are covered, and I mean COVERED, with portraits of canines, the chandeliers are made from empty wine bottles and the menus are wooden slabs with a paper boasting their offerings strapped on top. The rolls came out freshly baked, with a hard crust and pot of soft butter. Those of you who know me best, know that I judge the prospect of return to many restaurants based on their bread, and after the first dinner roll, this place was showing promise.

I ordered a spinach salad which came with house made croutons, hard boiled egg, smoked bacon and some vegetables. The croutons were slightly to salty for my liking and the consistency was oddly airy but interesting nonetheless. I would have liked for the bacon to either be crispier or for it to be cut into smaller pieces, but the size of the chunk in the salad and the chewy texture made it hard to negotiate.

For dinner I had the Barramundi. I have seen this Australian fish on menus before but never ventured into its waters. I remember when fisherman were first trying to break into the USA market with this one. There was a big article in the Boston Globe about 'The Next Big Fish'. They were actually considering calling it 'Next Big Fish' because they didn't think people would buy something called Barramundi - it sounded to mean/harsh, like the fish might have huge teeth and be really scaly. (Got to love how the marketing teams perceive the American intellect)

Anyway, I digress. At White Dog the Barramundi came with sides that I really wanted: truffle chive gnocchi, trumpet mushrooms and asparagus all over a porchini emulsion, so I thought 'what the heck!' Barramundi is more or less an Australian Bass. It is a white fish, slightly oily, sans strong flavor or smell, and with texture much like a perfectly cooked wild Norwegian salmon or Arctic char or Chilean Sea bass. The skin on it was crispy and of course I gobbed that up too. There is nothing better then a crispy, salty piece of skin to offset a piece of buttery, soft textured fish.

We also ordered a side of Parmesan truffle fries (yes we like truffle anything), which were fabulously fried, salty from the cheese and truffly at the same time!

I definitely give Marty (owner) and his crew two thumbs up for the quality at this place and it was a pretty fabulous suggestion by good ole Uncle D!

Nashville - "must tries"

If you are venturing to Nashville in the near future for business, fun, to hear some country music or to check out Vanderbuilt, there are a few neighborhood hot spots you should check out. I say 'neighborhood' because, similar to Jersey, Nashville also has townships or areas with names that are known by the population but not on a map. When you have a friend driving you around saying this is such and such and such and such you start to think you have crossed 50 different town lines. I do not recall all the specific neighborhood names of the restaurant locations, however, they are all in the Nashville zip code.

Tin Angel for a date night or business dinner
Puckett's for weekend brunch
Burger Up for a gathering of beer loving friends
Sweet Cece's - see prior posting in regards to frozen yogurt


Tin Angel has forever ruined eggplant Parmesan for me. Theirs dubbed 'Inside out Eggplant Parm' was by far the best I have ever had, and one I still continue to crave to this day. There were slices of eggplant breaded with panko and baked. The breading was crisp but the eggplant was soft and not at all hard to chew through as eggplant can be if not cooked properly. In between the layers of eggplant was a mixture of ricotta, Parmesan and mozzarella cheeses with a hint of pesto. The whole thing was served topped with some marinara sauce and seated over a grilled vegetable medley (onions, sweet peppers, zucchini). I came home to Boston from that meal, to find eggplant parm in the cafeteria at work on Monday. I was so excited. I got it - took one bite and spit it out in disappointment and now I'm not sure if I can ever eat eggplant parm again unless it is the inside out version from Tin Angel!

Puckett's was a cool mid-atlantic area staple. Most of the stores also sell groceries but the location we frequented in the heart of downtown-touristy Nashville, did not. We had to start off with fried green tomatoes of course, which came with a great chipotle dipping sauce, which cut the friedness and added some zing.

I followed that up with a Red Neck Burrito, which was their famous pulled pork, baked beans and house made BBQ sauce in a soft tortilla, which was then grilled on the flattop. I found that I needed to add more BBQ sauce with each bite, partially due to the deliciousness of the sauce and partly due to the fact that I thought the burrito could use a little more moisture (it wasn't dry and I don't want to give that impression, the meat was perfect, but like a pasta that cooks to long in its sauce and absorbs it all and is somewhat gloppy - that was what the burrito was like). My side of turnip greens was mushy and lacked flavor - I don't think they even added salt to them, BUTTTT the smoked pulled pork was pretty worth the trip!! Other hits at Puckett's were 'Meat and Three' as in three sides and a BLT.








Burger Up did have a damn good burger and an even better beer list with many locally brewed favorites. I got ground lamb with goat cheese, arugula, caramelized onions and Dijon mustard. I was torn between ordering the truffle fries or the sweet potato fries, so what do you do when you can't decide? You convince people sitting at the bar to let you try theirs so you can make your own decision! Sweet potato fries came out on top for me, slightly sprinkled with very coarse sea salt! I would not, however, recommend the onion rings. We were so excited for them the whole plane ride and they were a big disappointment. The onion pieces were fine, but they seemed to be covered in dough and deep fried - it was as if you were eating an onion donut - definitely not cool!! Caroline and I also split a Caesar salad which was HUGE and very fresh. The house-made croutons were light and airy and well seasoned, not covered in salt and onion or garlic powder like many of them are.

Thoughts from a Chocolate Shoppe

On a trip to San Diego recently, my brother took me to the Hotel del Coronado, known by many of it super-rich patons and the Coronado Island locals as 'the Del'. It is a fabulously beautiful place, built in the 1800s, the detail on the outside of the wood-shingled buildings is an architectural lover's dream. They have upscale poolside bars, great restaurants and many high end shops for guests to poruse. One in particular was a candy store called Spreckles, and while I wanted to eat every house-made chocolate or flavor of fudge they served, I was much amused by the 'Chocolate Lovers' trinkets. I took pictures of all of them and hopefully, you too will smile and see the truth in their jesting sayings.