There's A Schweine in my Schnitzel: International Pig Week Continues! Clearwater, Florida

Hello LilyOnTheLam.Com Readers:

Happy Halloween!  Welcome to DAY FIVE - and the last installment of LilyOnTheLam's first ever INTERNATIONAL PIG WEEK.  I chose today's porcine-themed blog subject in anticipation of my upcoming trip to Vienna, Austria.  

Ladies and Gentlemen, from the Pierogi Grill & Deli in Clearwater, Florida, USA ... the Schweineschnitzel with Pierogi ...

  
Also known as pork Schnitzel with mushroom gravy with a side of caramelized onion topped pierogi.  

It is heaven with mushroom gravy.  Crispy, crusty, breaded pork cutlet in a savory, not too rich mushroom gravy with Pierogi Grill's awesome pierogi.  This is not a meal for one with a light appetite.  It is stick to your ribs all day and all night food.  I highly recommend you plow some fields before you have this dish!   

If you are a regular reader of LilyOnTheLam, you will know that I adore Pierogi Grill and Deli ... and not just because I am part Polish.  (Although maybe 72% because I am part Polish.)  I also love their Eastern European deli where you can find products you would not normally see on your American grocery shelves.  Such as:

Instant cappuccino mixes in hazelnut, rum, brandy and cherry flavors!  The next time I go to one of my fancy friends' houses and they ask me what I'd like to drink; I plan on turning my nose up and requesting "a brandy-flavored instant cappuccino, please."  

Then I plan on looking shocked, dismayed, disappointed and judgmental when they woefully admit that they don't have any.  

I will then hand them a map to Pierogi Grill & Deli and I will whisper "I can wait while you go buy some."  Then I will stare at them intently until they depart.  Friends are so much fun!

I read in a tour book that schnitzel came into being when "back in ye olden days," the rich would actually coat their meat with gold flakes.  (My sister and I ate our body weight in gold flake decorated pastries at the Leela Palace in New Delhi, India.  If you're ever looking for the most amazing hotel to stay at - check out the Leela Palace!)  

Eventually either people went poor or the poor wanted to imitate the rich and voila, we now coat our meat with bread crumbs instead of gold to make schnitzel.  

I have no idea if this is a true story or not, but I love the concept of it.  I have this vision of me sitting on top of a solid gold throne demanding that my pork cutlet be coated in gold!  
I've been known to have a little Marie Antoinette in me and not just because I am delusional and bound for a beheading.  

I can't think of a better way to end International Pig Week (and to celebrate my upcoming trip to Austria!) than with a quality schnitzel.  Is Pierogi Grill's schnitzel as good as ones I have had in Germany or Switzerland?  No.  But it's pretty decent for Florida.

If you're in Clearwater, Florida, check out the flavored instant cappuccinos and the schnitzel at Pierogi Grill!

Put Some Butterscotch on My Bacon: International Pig Week Continues - St. Pete Beach, Florida

Hello LilyOnTheLam.Com Readers:

It is DAY FOUR of International Pig Week at LilyOnTheLam!  I hope you have been enjoying this week of porcine posts.  If you are just joining us mid-Pig week, please make sure you check out the previous posts:

Day One: Divin Porcello in Budapest, Hungary
Day Two:  The Thirsty Pig in Portland, Maine
Day Three:  Pork Sausage and Mustard-flavored potato crisps from the UK

and now Day Four ... Bacon Butterscotch Beignets from Castile Restaurant at the boutique Hotel Zamora in St. Pete Beach, Florida!

I loooooooove a good beignet (check out my Bitches and Beignets post from New Orleans, LA), so when I went to the swanky new boutique hotel in St. Pete Beach, FL - The Hotel Zamora and saw that Castile Restaurant had "Bacon Butterscotch Beignets with a Navel Orange Gastrique" on the menu, I said "SOLD!"  I went to brunch with my friend, the CEO of an organic home and body care line.  The decor is fabulous with a view of the lovely inter coastal.  A perfect place for brunch.

Despite my fun-loving palate, my day-to-day eats are pretty Joe Schmo.  The only time I hear the term "gastrique" is when I am watching Bravo TV's "Top Chef."  And even then I roll my eyes.  For the record, a gastrique is a reduction of vinegar and sugar.

I have to say I had very high hopes for these beignets.  They were decent but did not live up to my high expectations.  I am used to beignets that are bit more puffy and fluffy in the middle.  These were overcooked.  I suspect the cooking oil was too hot to allow the dough to properly puff up.  I would have appreciated more bacon flavor.  The butterscotch was tasty and the navel orange gastrique was delicious.  If I were to get these again I'd ask for the sauce on the side as some pieces were drowning in the sauce and overly sweet.  

All in all it's a great concept for a beignet, it just needs more work.  And more bacon.  (Check out my vegan bacon post here.)

I will say overall the atmosphere, customer service and cocktails at Castile Restaurant are top notch and are worth checking out.  So if you're in St. Pete Beach, don't miss out on this one!

P.S.  Yesterday was National Cat Day.  My youngest cat plopped himself down in front of me spread eagle and demanded a belly rubbing.  These cats -- give them a day and they think they are little Princes!

Put A Cork In It: International Pig Week Continues

Hello LilyOnTheLam.Com Readers!

Happy National Cat Day!  Had I known before today that it was National Cat Day, I may have actually named this International Cat Week ... but nope instead it is DAY THREE of my self-proclaimed International Pig Week here at LilyOnTheLam.  

If you have been keeping up with the Porcine-themed posts, you will know that Day One was a restaurant review of the Divin Porcello in Budapest, Hungary and Day Two was a restaurant review of The Thirsty Pig in Portland, Maine.  

For Day Three, we are going back to traditional LilyOnTheLam posting with a "New Product Wednesday" - product reviews on products that are new or new to me.  But in keeping with the International Pig Week theme, I am reviewing:  Corkers Pork Sausage and English Mustard flavoured (or in the US- flavored) potato crisps (or in the US- potato chips).  

In my subscription box trial-mania, I recently checked out Escape Monthly's "vacation in a box."  I find these boxes to be a super cool idea - you get a guide book and items from the country you are "virtually visiting."  This month's box is London.  I received a cute British toy car, an elegant tin of tea and several other Brit items including these CORKERS.

Although I must admit that so far I have already traveled to every place that Escape Monthly has sent me boxes on - Paris, Puerto Rico and now London.  Next month's box is Hawaii - a place I love and have been to many times.  So instead of "Escape Monthly," I have been calling them "Travel Memory Box."  Which is probably a better title than "Places Lily Has Already Been Box."

I must have an Irish soul resting in me because when I looked at this package of chips (a.k.a. crisps) from the Escape Monthly box, I thought "Isn't a corker like a weirdo?"  I looked it up in UrbanDictionary and sure enough, in Irish slang it is.  

Now before you say "You are what you eat, Lily you weirdo;' I have to say "Hey, don't call me a weirdo."  ;-)

I will admit that I am not one to shy away from non-American flavored snack foods.  My sister Squidge and I tried Frito Lay's India Magic Masala potato chips when we were in Delhi.  (Verdict: pretty tasty!)  

I also tried peanut-flavored Cheetos when I was in Moscow.  (Verdict:  Why does God hate me with these awful tasting Cheetos?)  

I even tried soft shell crab Pringles in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia.  (Verdict:  "These taste like crab butt."  To which my male Brazilian co-worker said: "How do you know what a crab's butt tastes like?"  Ahem.  No comment.)   

But even with my "gastronomical tourism" through snack foods around the world, my stomach wasn't sure if it was up for pork sausage and mustard flavored (or flavoured) potato chips.  I had had a particularly naughty weekend of eating a lot of junk food and my stomach was screaming for some fruit and vegetables that had not been deep-fried.  Sorry stomach, not today.  

I'm not sure why I was so wary.  I am a big fan of things cooked in animal fat.  It even says so on my curriculum vitae.  "Lily - friend of things fried in animal fat since 1734."  

Duck fat fries?  Yes, please.  Hash browns cooked in bacon grease?  Bring it on, baby.  Yorkshire pudding?  Cheerio and yes, yes!

But perhaps my wariness stems from the sad experience that generally food that is made to taste like other types of food can usually end up tasting only like chemicals.  

If these were homemade potato chips cooked in sausage fat and drizzled with mustard, I think I'd be more onboard.  But these are packaged crisps (a.k.a. chips) with a dusting of some sort of seasoning.  And maybe that seasoning tastes like pork sausage and mustard or maybe it tastes like soft shell crab butt.  Were my taste buds and stomach really wanting to get onboard this train?

Since it is International Pig Week and it is New Product Wednesday, I decided that this was no time for my stomach to wuss out.  So I tried the CORKERS ...

And ...

They tasted like pork sausage and mustard.

Not like a chemical, artificial version of a semblance of pork sausage and mustard, but they really did taste like pork sausage and mustard.

The question now becomes ... do I want potato chips that taste like pork sausage and mustard?

Ehhh ... I prefer a good old regular potato chip.  

Who knew that International Pig Week would be the defining point of my potato chip eating lifetime?  I've learned something new about myself!  

The Corkers were not bad, they were just not my taste.  Maybe one day I will be sitting on the couch, watching The Walking Dead on AMC and I will suddenly want a pork sausage flavored potato chip.  But so far that has not happened.

HOWEVER ... if you are craving a potato chip that tastes like pork sausage and mustard, this is the chip for you!

I have since learned that Corkers also makes a sea salt and cider vinegar flavor.  Now I have had salt and malted vinegar, but cider vinegar chips?  I am intrigued!  

They also make a red Leicester (like a cheddar cheese) and caramelized onion flavor as well as a Sweet Thai Chili flavor chip.  Traveling around Australia, I learned I am quite fond of Sweet Thai Chili flavored snack products.  Oh Corkers, you may make a convert out of me yet!  

(Sadly their website only ships Corkers to UK addresses - which is a reason to make friends with people in the UK.  I am quite content knowing I have at least ten people who I could hit up for an international potato crisp delivery if I ever had the urge!)

Tell me what your favorite potato chip flavor is in the comments section below!

Stay tuned tomorrow for the next International Pig Week blog post!  

International Pig Week Continues: The Thirsty Pig in Portland, Maine

Hello LilyOnTheLam.Com Readers!

If you read yesterday's blog post, you will know that I have decided that this week is INTERNATIONAL PIG WEEK on LilyOnTheLam.com.  I started off this pork-themed week of blog posts with the fantastic Divin Porcello - Friends of Ham- restaurant in Budapest, Hungary.  It is now time to take this Pig Week to the United States - Portland, Maine to be exact.

I love Portland, Maine.  It has this weird zen calming effect on me.  

Of course Portland, Oregon also has the same weird zen calming effect on me ... so perhaps just the word "Portland" calms me.

(Side note: which by the way, I have FINALLY started watching Portlandia from IFC.  After years of doing the "Yeah yeah, I know I should watch it - I'll get around to it eventually," I have finally watched a few episodes.  Which, by the way, is the same thing I said about Modern Family [love it] and have continued to say about Downton Abbey and The Strain [yeah yeah I'll get around to it.]  Each episode of Portlandia makes me miss Portland, Oregon.  The quote "Portland is where young people go to retire" cracks me up every time I hear it in the following Portlandia sketch.  Probably because it is somewhat scarily true!  The Dream of the 90's really is alive in Portland!  Sigh ... I miss the 90's.)

While walking down the streets of the historic downtown Portland, Maine area, I saw a sign for "The Thirsty Pig."  I looked it up online and saw that it was known for its quality, specialty sausages and great beer selection.  Win-win!  I knew it was time to check this Pig out!

At The Thirsty Pig, you order your meal at the front counter.  If you like chatting with cute, male hipster counter staff while watching retro cartoons, this is your place!  (Side note:  I always love any place with cute, male hipsters.)

The decor is warm, homey and eclectic.  Very pub-like.  Very friendly.  The patrons and the staff are great.

And who doesn't want their own "dial out a handful" of peanut machine?  I had never seen so many peanut machines in one place!

And in homage to my listening to Cary Elwes' book on the Princess Bride on audiobook, I feel compelled to add this clip when talking about peanuts.  Rest in Peace, Andre the Giant.

But back to the bar/restaurant review ... I saw that The Thirsty Pig menu had a pretzel with mustard and cheese.  I know I shouldn't load up on bread in a specialty sausage house, but I am powerless to resist a good pretzel.  

And this was a good pretzel.

The cheese and mustard were OK, but the pretzel was top notch.

Next on to the pig ... Thirsty Pig's kielbasa with their fantastic pickles on the side!  But to my great surprise, The Thirsty Pig has collard greens as a side dish.  I love me some fantastic collard greens, so I ordered it and hoped the Thirsty Pig could make collard greens as good as I was used to in the South.   

I don't know how Portland, Maine made such great collard greens, but they did it!

And reviewers raved about their pickles and they were NOT wrong ... crunchy, tangy - everything you want in a pickle.

And of course, a cold beer ... or in this case, a cider beer.

The Thirsty Pig indeed has tasty, gourmet, quality, specialty sausages.  I was surprised at how delicious the food was- usually pubs focus more on the beer than the food.  The atmosphere was friendly, jovial and warm.  If I lived in Portland, Maine, this is the type of place I could see myself hanging out once a week.  I only wished my stomach were bigger to allow me to sample more of The Thirsty Pig's fine sausages.  But it gives me a great reason to travel back to Portland, Maine.

P.S.  The Thirsty Pig has great merchandise too.  Look at this fantastic t-shirt I purchased that I just HAD to have!

The front of the T-shirt has The Thirsty Pig logo on it

How are you enjoying International Pig Week on LilyOnTheLam.com?  What are your favorite pork restaurants?  Let me know in the comments section below!

It's International Pig Week! Be A Friend of Ham in Budapest!

Happy Monday, LilyOnTheLam.Com Readers!

I was watching TV the other day and the announcer said that it was "National Pumpkin Cheesecake Day."  This took me by surprise.  It was not in my calendar and I had spent the entire day without anyone wishing me a Happy National Pumpkin Cheesecake Day.  And just learning this fact at 11 p.m. was also disconcerting - where the heck was I going to get a pumpkin cheesecake in the next sixty minutes?  I felt like I missed out on the festivities!  

Who decides these "National" food holidays anyway?  Is there a committee?  Is it like the triumvirate of witches on American Horror Story: Coven?  Are there secret meetings where everyone wears a hooded robe and they throw darts at a board to determine that Tuesday will be National Foie Gras Day?  

Hopefully the Secret Society of National Food Holiday Namers will not come after me with pitchforks and darts when they hear that I am announcing that it is INTERNATIONAL PIG WEEK on LilyOnTheLam.Com!  Yes, I am going rogue and declaring this week of Monday, October 27, 2014 - Friday, October 31, 2014 on LilyOnTheLam.com to be filled with Porcine-themed blog posts.  I am drunk with power and no one can stop me!

In honor of the FIRST blog post of International Pig Week, I take you to the hauntingly beautiful streets of Budapest, Hungary.

I love Budapest.  It is like Austria by way of Moscow.  The old world European culture cut with a dash of Communist regime.  As we get further and further from the fall of Communism in Hungary, I suspect in maybe another 10 years you may not even feel the traces of the former life under Communist rule.  But for now it is an interesting mix.  

I was walking around Budapest, about a block in from the gorgeous Danube.  I had been woefully behind in my Million Step Challenge (10,000 steps a day for 100 days) and was grateful for this work trip to Budapest where I was averaging 10 miles a day of walking before the actual work started.  When I stumbled upon this sign at a restaurant behind the Danube facing Budapest Marriott Hotel.

Divin Porcello - FRIENDS OF HAM with a cute little pig silhouette with a curly tail.  WHAT?  I want to be a friend of ham!  

Later back in my hotel, resting my tired feet, I looked up the reviews of Divin Porcello.  Evidently there were a lot of friends of ham and they all loved Divin Porcello!  I was determined to join the club!

So when my one of my staff from the UK said "Where should we do dinner tonight?"  I screamed out "DIVIN PORCELLO - FRIENDS OF HAM!" in an overly enthusiastic voice that probably shattered any managerial credibility I may have once had.  Sigh ... we're talking about pork here- it's hard to stifle my enthusiasm.

I did a fantastic food tour with the amazing food and wine tour company Taste Hungary when I was in Budapest.  Our tour guide said that when the Turks ruled Hungary, the Hungarians' diet included a lot of pork because that was the only food supply that the Muslim Turks would not take from the Hungarians.  Even though the Turkish occupation ended in 1699, you can still see the heavy pork-based diet in menus in the city.  

In fact, Hungary has made it a mission to revive the once rare Grey Cattle and the hairy Mangalitsa Pig and elevate them to high gourmet foodie-loving popularity.  I had my first taste of Mangalitsa pig at a local Tampa restaurant who did an awful job of it.  When I went to Budapest, I had a "steak" of Mangalitsa pig that was stuffed with ham (Pork stuffed with pork!), cheese and onions and it was AMAZING.  I'm glad I gave it a second chance.  Darn you, Tampa restaurant for spoiling my first try of Mangalitsa pork!  

(Side note:  The pig is actually called a Mangalica but you pronounce it Mangalitsa, so the Americans said "screw it" and spell it phonetically.  So if you're looking for this delicious gourmet pork in Hungary, look for the Mangalica.)  

With pork on my mind, I dragged my UK team member to Divin Porcello.  I had very high expectations.  The restaurant didn't bill itself as "Casual Acquaintances of Ham" or "Former School Chums of Ham;" it said FRIENDS of Ham.  

Upon walking in, I was already impressed.  Although the restaurant was relatively new it was designed like an old school wine cave but with modern art work.  Plus the restaurant had little rooms adjoining each other so you could have a lot of people dining but still have a small cozy feel in each room.  I loved the crisp, clean, modern decor in an old world feel setting.

The menu arrived - attached to a mini cutting board- and we were overwhelmed with all the great choices.

There were ham and wine from various geographic locations as well as salads and entrees.  We were given a free bruschetta starter.

  
As I have learned in Spain and Italy, you can do a lot with just tomato and bread.  The Divin Porcello's starter was in line with the great European tradition of making something amazing out of simple ingredients.  The fine bread had a nice crunch and the smooth olive oil and tomato had so much flavor.  It was a promising first start for a Friend of Ham!

Next came a loaf of bread in a cute little paper bag.

Again taking something so simple - a folded over paper bag - and yet it was so cute!  The bread inside was amazing too.  I usually try to stay away from the bread course as my diet is too carb-laden as it is, but this bread was worth the extra starch and calories!

As I had made it my mission to try gulyas (a.k.a. goulash) in as many places as possible, I started with DiVin Porcello's gulyas.

It arrived in a Friends of Ham cup that I wanted to steal.  ("Is that a goulash cup in your purse or are you just happy to see me?")  The gulyas was hot and peppery with melt in your mouth bits of beef and vegetables.  It was very good.

My UK dining companion started with the foie gras.  As I was still trying to maintain some managerial composure, I did not shove my iPhone into her food and take a picture like I do with my friends when we dine out.  So sadly I have no picture of the foie gras, but Mrs. UK said that it was amazing.  The French may never tell you this, but Hungary is known for their foie gras.  In fact, Hungary is the second largest producer of foie gras in the world and the largest exporter of it.  If you do not have an ethical issues regarding foie gras, you must try Hungarian foie gras because it is really top notch.

I had already been in Budapest for six days before Mrs. UK and I had dinner.  I admitted that I had barely eaten any vegetables and my body was revolting from the veal porkolt (stew) and sheep's curd noodle diet I had been feasting on for days.  I decided to go for a salad, but of course being from the Midwestern United States originally; the salad had to have cheese on it.  I picked this lovely Burrata salad.  (Side note: my favorite place to get house made burrata in Tampa Bay is Cafe Ponte in Clearwater.  It is overwhelmingly good.) 

This salad of apples, vegetables, fresh bell peppers and a creamy luscious orb of burrata cheese on top was to the moon fantastic.  My body thanked me for forgoing veal for one night in Budapest!

But you can't be a Friend of Ham without indulging in some ham, so I had this delicious buttery prosciutto with Divin Porcello's fantastic bread.  You can see a bit of Mrs. UK's steak in the background of the picture.  She felt like she was missing out on the pork by having foie gras and beef, but I said maybe she was being a Friend of Ham by not eating the pork!

We had a lovely Hungarian Pinot Noir with our dinner.  I have to say that Hungary has come a long way in a short time to restore a more artisanal methodology to their wine-making.  When Communism came into power in Hungary, the wine business was changed from quality to quantity.  Mass production of cheap, less flavorful wines was the only way to make wine under the Communist rule.  After the fall of Communism in Hungary, the wine producers went back to their former ways of producing smaller batch, higher quality wine.  The fruits of their labor are now readily tasted in the fine Hungarian wines being produced.

After our wonderful meal in the cozy Divin Porcello, Mrs. UK and I went for a walk along the Danube.  With pork in my belly, a song in my heart and the gorgeous bridges of the Danube as my backdrop; I can't think of a more perfect way to spend a night in Budapest.  

Stay tuned to LilyOnTheLam.Com as International Pig Week continues!

The Obsession Continues ...

Happy Sunday, LilyOnTheLam.Com Readers!

Next weekend in Los Angeles, California will be the first ever Hello Kitty Convention.  The old gal is 40 years old and she is having a party!  I seriously considered going for the event because sadly I am a ravenous Hello Kitty fan.  In fact, I suspect there is a subset of the population who rabidly hate me and downgrade me for my love of Hello Kitty.  To them I say a resounding "Suck it!"  There are worse things to be addicted too.  Love me for my Hello Kitty obsession or just walk on by!

As I have been traveling up a storm lately and will be traveling up a storm again very soon, I decided that a cross-country trip for Hello Kitty was probably not the best idea.  I hemmed and hawed for so long that finally all the convention tickets sold out.  Fate's way of saying "You waited too long, sister!  No Hello Kitty for you!"

I don't know if there is a huge scalpers' market for Hello Kitty convention tickets, but I don't want my picture splashed across newspapers with the headline "Elderly, Senile Crazy Cat Lady arrested in Undercover Hello Kitty Convention Ticket Scalping Raid."  I fully own my questionable obsessions, but I don't need to publicize them THAT widely.

Since I cannot go to the Hello Kitty Convention in LA, I did manage to pick myself up this little souvenir of the Charles De Gaulle airport in Paris, France when I was stuck for an incredibly stressful 2 days when flying home from Budapest.

When friends' children come over, invariably one of the kids will ask me if they can have my Hello Kitty from Australia or China or San Francisco ... and now this delightful one from Paris.  I usually gasp in real horror and say "NO, NO, A MILLION TIMES NO!" and then run off sobbing.  

That may be an exaggeration, but it also may not.

To further publicize how sad my obsession has become, I recently ordered this item ALL THE WAY FROM ISRAEL on eBay.

It's a frying pan that makes mini pancakes with various Hello Kitty forms on them.  

I know what you're thinking - "Who doesn't need a Hello Kitty pancake pan?"  

You are so right.

EVERYONE needs a Hello Kitty pancake pan.  But don't even think of stealing my Israeli pan!

I have a Hello Kitty waffle maker which evidently they no longer manufacture.  I live in perpetual fear that my waffle maker will one day break and I can no longer have waffles in the shape of Hello Kitty.  (Oh the anticipated tragedy!)

But at least for now, I can offer my guests a choice of Hello Kitty waffles or pancakes or both.    

Side Note:  Mrs. Jacksonville right now is reading this and yelling out "When are you having my daughters over for Hello Kitty brunch, you Hello Kitty-lovin' loon?!"  Soon, soon - as soon as I stop traveling all the time!

So on this lovely Sunday, I hope you all are out there indulging any harmless obsessions you may have.  Meanwhile I'll be whipping up some Hello Kitty pancakes and staging my own mini Hello Kitty convention in my living room.

Thanks for reading!

It's Like Southern Tapas - The Tasting Room - Winter Garden, Florida

Happy Saturday, LilyOnTheLam.Com Readers!

To get your weekend started right, I would like to share with you one of my favorite restaurants that you should definitely try if you are in or near Central Florida.  

In the cozy, charming little city of Winter Garden, Florida is a historic downtown area that I love to visit.  In the center of this area is the Historic Edgewater Hotel.  On the first floor of the hotel is a fabulous restaurant that has received much acclaim called "The Chef's Table."  But my favorite part is the bar/patio of the restaurant which is "The Tasting Room" where you can get Southern-style tapas and incredible cocktails.  

Throw this all together and you get the multi-word title of the restaurant which is called "The Tasting Room at The Chef's Table at the Edgewater Hotel."

I have been to this restaurant several times.  In fact any time I am near the Orlando area, I try to make time to visit The Tasting Room.  And it NEVER disappoints.  When the weather is beautiful, I love sitting outside on the patio with friends.  Even better is timing it when they are doing a music series in the main square park across from the restaurant.  Who doesn't love live music with their al fresco dinner?

The most recent time I have been to The Tasting Room was with one of my foodie partners in crime, Ms. Wrigleyville.  We were starving after a busy day of shopping (it's hard work, people) and we knew that a meal at The Tasting Room would make us happy little foodies.  We arrived and basically ordered EVERYTHING.  Here is a look at all the lovely edibles we sampled ...

First - for me, a jalapeño margarita hold the cilantro.  I am one of the select percentage of the population who have the genetic variant that makes them hate cilantro.  My sister also has the same gene variation.  Our mother, on the other hand, loves it and cannot get enough of it.  A childhood of smelling cilantro (or as my Mother refers to it "Chinese Parsley") was enough to turn me off for life.  

This Jalapeño Margarita from The Tasting Room (called The Muerto Verde with five pepper infused tequila) is one of my favorites.

After I had my cocktail in hand, Ms. Wrigleyville and I ordered the Muffaletta Sliders - mini muffaletta sandwiches.  I looooooove Muffaletta sandwiches.  I believe the secret is in the olive salad and the bread.  The best olive salad (in my opinion) comes from Central Grocery and Deli in New Orleans, Louisiana.  But as I am not rich enough to fly to New Orleans whenever I want a good olive salad, locally I go to Mazzaro's Italian Market in St. Petersburg, Florida.  Their olive salad is not as good as Central Grocery's, but it is still pretty darn tasty.  

These mini muffalettas were toasted which gave a nice crunchiness to the bread and an oozy juicy savoriness to the fillings.  This was the perfect start to our Tasting Room experience.  

Next was a newer item on the Tasting Room's menu - PIMENTO CHEESE.  I had never had the Southern staple, Pimento Cheese, until I went to Nashville, Tennessee.  (Read my 12 Things to do in Nashville blog post here.)  I am now a Pimento Cheese believer.  This was not the absolute best Pimento Cheese I have ever had, but I would say that The Tasting Room's Pimento Cheese was in the Top Three.  Sharp cheddar, savory pimento and crisp lavash style crackers.  

Next up was The Tasting Room Empanadas - slow braised ox tail with a mango cilantro salsa.  Even with my sharp distaste for cilantro, these empanadas rocked the house.  The ox tail was extremely tender and the salsa gave a nice kick.

If you're a regular LilyOnTheLam.Com Reader, you will know I am known for two things - my 1034 cats and my love for arancini - Italian risotto balls.  When I saw that Shrimp Arancini - etouffe risotto balls with Gulf shrimp and a creole aioli were on the Tasting Room's menu - I knew we had to order them.  These crisp little deep-fried balls of love certainly delivered.  

We noticed that several of our items had the same creole sauce, but since this sauce was crazy tasty we did not mind at all.

I'd like to say we ended our dinner at The Tasting Room at The Chef's Table at The Edgewater Hotel on a light note, but ohhhhh nooooo ... when you're having Southern-style tapas, you need to go whole hog and go for the Fried Green Tomatoes.  But not just any fried green tomatoes -- noo, a stack of fried green tomatoes with crab and house cured Bacon Maque Choux (which is usually a corn, onion and tomato mixture).

I am not a stranger to the fried green onion stack and this was definitely one of my favorites of all that I have tried.  I would have liked the tomato to have been cooked about a minute less, but otherwise it was sheer gastronomic gluttony in a tower formation.  The crab was big puffy chunks of seafood deliciousness that "lightened" up the fried tomato.  A great combination.

Other items that I love from The Tasting Room menu from my previous visits are: the Mini Beef Wellington Trio (soooo freaking good!), the New Orleans BBQ Shrimp and Heirloom Cheese grits (this was the ONLY time I have not ordered them, it is a Lily Must Order), the Smoked Fish Dip, the Duck Fat French Fries, the Fish Tacos and the Pan Seared Scallops.  

I had ordered the onion and potato galette once.  The potatoes were undercooked and it had the rare distinction of being one of the only dishes I did not enjoy at The Tasting Room.  

I have never had dessert at The Tasting Room - as you can see from what Ms. Wrigleyville and I ordered, there simply was no room.  They do have mini desserts for those who have a mini amount of room left.  They look quite lovely and maybe one day I will experience them.

Lucky for us, Winter Garden's historic downtown area is the perfect place for an after dinner walk.  We window shopped and tried to burn off a couple of the calories after the great Southern-style tapas feast we devoured.  It makes for a lovely evening - dinner and a stroll.

The Historic Edgewater Hotel also has a Thai restaurant called Thai Blossom that I vow one day I will try, but it is simply difficult to go anywhere else in Winter Garden when The Tasting Room is just sooooo good.  If you're in Central Florida, you must check it out!

Have a great weekend!

    

A Miracle At Starbucks

Happy Friday, LilyOnTheLam.Com Readers!

I am so ridiculously happy that the weekend is almost here, I could do a Happy Snoopy Dance from Tampa, Florida to Quebec, Canada.  

I work primarily from home and as such, I live the life of Wagyu beef or veal.  Large animal in small pen with minimal movement.  I basically walk from my desk to the bathroom or to the kitchen.  I wear a Fitbit activity tracker, so I know that on a typical workday I barely move.  You would think seeing only a few hundred or maybe 1000 steps would motivate me to be super active as soon as work is over.  But I'm lazy.  

I have a big round chair from Z Gallerie.  It's called "The Cuddler" (see it here).  The chair spins.  It can hold me and all of my 827 cats and we watch a scary amount of television and movies from the aforementioned chair. 

So about fifty days ago, I decided to challenge myself with one of these "Hundred Day" things that people on social media seem to be doing everywhere.  Hundred Days of Happiness.  Hundred Days of Gratitude.  Hundred Instagram Pictures of My Cat (um or is that just me doing that one?)  Well I like being happy.  I like to show gratitude.  And who doesn't love one hundred pictures of my cats?  But I decided to put my own spin on it.  I wanted to walk one million steps.  

One million to me sounds like a lot, but basically it's 10,000 steps each day for 100 days.  Although there's no hard science behind it, the common mythology is that each person should walk 10,000 steps a day.  (Which by the way, after I started this journey I read an article saying 7,000 - 8,000 steps is good enough.  There's also an article saying walking 10,000 steps a day won't make you thin.  The joy and pain of the internet is you can find "an article" backing up anything and everything.)

Anyway, when faced with my current "veal-like" existence I figured my one million steps in one hundred day challenge is better for me than what I am doing now (which is a whole lot of sitting on my butt).  So I embarked on the million steps in one hundred days journey.  

Lucky for me, trips to New York City and Budapest where I walked 8-14 miles a day helped keep my step count high.  But now that I am back from my travels, I have wanted to lay on the couch and stare at the TV.  Back to a Wagyu-like existence.    

Fortunately for me, my friend Ms. Wisconsin also has a Fitbit and we are linked as "Friends" on our Fitbit dashboard so she could see when my step count started taking a nose dive.  Wednesday and Thursday, she helped get me off the couch and raising my step count again.  And for that I am very grateful.  

On Thursday, I did two walks.  The first one while listening to Cary Elwes' "As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales From The Making Of The Princess Bride" on audiobook.  Call me schmaltzy, but I just love the movie "The Princess Bride."  I was very interested in reading the book but then when I found out many of the actors involved with the movie narrated the audiobook, I chose to buy that instead.  I believe it is seven hours long - which equates to seven hours of walking for me. Win-win!  I am determined to get my million steps in one hundred days in!

My Thursday was off to a good start.  I hit 10,000 steps before 1 p.m.  Which for me is pretty darn amazing.  I had a lot of conference calls and as usual, I didn't have a break in my schedule for lunch.  I have a global job and so the team members from various time zones book up every single minute in my calendar.  Lunch generally consists of inhaling something fast while on mute and hoping no one on the conference call asks me a question mid-chew.

I started craving Chinese take-out food.  I looked at my calendar - nope, booked solid until 4:30 p.m.  My 1 p.m. call was with two of my team members.  I sighed and wished that the meeting would cancel so I could walk down the street and get some take out Chinese.  One second after I wished this, I received an instant message.  My team members needed to reschedule our call.

I did a little "yay, now I can get Chinese food" dance in triumph!  

Wish granted!  

But then after I called in my order for "House Special Fried Rice" and sautéed vegetables, I thought "Uh oh, what if this was my ONE WISH in the world?"  I could have wished for world peace or a billion dollars ... but no, instead I wished for a break in my schedule to get Chinese take-out!  OH NO!  My life suddenly seemed like The Simpsons' episode where Homer buys the cursed Monkey's Paw! 

I will say that the House Special Fried Rice was pretty darn tasty.  It's not world peace or all the riches in the world, but in the pantheon of low cost Chinese take-out food it was pretty high up there.  Thank you, Plum Tree!  

However I did expect my fortune cookie fortune to say something like "You wasted your one wish, SUCKER!"  Never have I held my breath before opening a fortune cookie before today!

Now a side note before I continue with this story "A Miracle At Starbucks."  Back in early Spring, I was in Las Vegas.  I have  a rule of thumb where I believe that new slot machines based on recent movies/TV shows never pay out.  Even with this theory, I still stuck a $5 bill into "The Walking Dead" slot machine at The Bellagio.  

And I won.  

Over $350 dollars.  

So much for my rule of thumb!

When I giddily took my cash voucher to the redemption machine, out came three crisp hundred dollar bills.  And on one of them was stamped a tiny Hello Kitty.

I'm not sure who "LMC" is and why he/she is rolling around stamping hundred dollar bills with Hello Kitty, but I have already determined that this person is "super awesome amazing cool."

If you are a regular reader of LilyOnTheLam, you may know that I am 952 years old and I am obsessed with Sanrio's Hello Kitty.  I proudly own this dysfunction.  I am single, geriatric and have 847 cats.  I am a walking cliche.

So needless to say a hundred dollar bill with a stamp of Hello Kitty on it was like my version of seeing Jesus' face in my grilled cheese sandwich.  

I vowed that I would not spend the "Kitty Benjamin" hundred dollar bill.  I took it with me to New York, Budapest and Raleigh-Durham ... and each time, I chose not to use it.

When I returned from Raleigh, I was scared I would accidentally give the one hundred dollar bill to someone thinking it was a $10 or even worse a $1.  I am not a high roller and if I have a bill as big as a $20 in my wallet, it's a good day.  I am also absent-minded, so handing out a $100 instead of a $1 is sadly highly plausible in my universe.  Because of my real fear, I pulled the $100 out of my wallet and left it in my car before shopping one day - and kept forgetting to take it out of the car.

OK now back to my main story ... 

My last conference call of the day was with two Executives and it was warm-fuzzy-wonderfulness.  Lots of kudos for me and great motivational discussion.  I was very happy. 

After the work day was done, I set out for Walk #2 of the day with Ms. Wisconsin.  I was determined to make up for several days of laziness and get my step count nice and high for the day.  We had a good walk with good conversation and by the time we said goodbye, I had over 11 miles on my Fitbit for the day.  Not too shabby!

I decided to reward myself with a Trenta (i.e. huge huge huge 31 ounce cup) unsweetened Passion iced tea from Starbucks.  I pulled into the drive thru and placed my order, then I drove forward.  The drive thru has cement curbs on either side - kind of like bowling bumpers, but taller ... and I guess in this scenario, I am the bowling ball.  

Well as I navigated between the bumpers, I came to a stomach-dropping realization.  I didn't bring my wallet with me!  I just had my cell phone, keys and ear buds in my wristlet for my walk with Ms. Wisconsin.  I hadn't brought any money!  OH NO!

My mind raced - I had pretty much cleared out all my quarters I had in the car weeks before.  There were cement bumpers so I couldn't drive off with a "Ha ha, sorry Starbucks!"  What the heck was I going to do to pay for my monster-sized iced tea?

Then I remembered the Hello Kitty Hundred.  I winced.  NOOOO!  I have held on to this hundred dollar bill for seven months!  I couldn't blow it on a $3 iced tea!  Argh!  I turned on the light in my car and started ransacking for change.  I had a handful of coins from my center console.  I started picking through them.  "God, WHY SO MANY PENNIES?"  I was fishing out dimes and carefully counting them ... argh, I had like $2.30 max.  Why did I order the Trenta like some high roller?  Was I too good for the Venti or the Grande?  Damn me and my champagne tastes!

I looked at the SUV in front of me.  The guy was paying with the Starbucks mobile app.  WHY, WHY DON'T I HAVE THE STARBUCKS MOBILE APP?  I can tell you why - because if I had a loaded Starbucks card on my phone, I would be stopping at Starbucks every day.  And seriously, I don't want to be the crazy old cat lady who says "I can't go on my sailing vacation because I paid $6 for coffee every day for the past year."  That stuff adds up quick!  

But frankly in a moment like this where I'm about to lose my beloved Hello Kitty stamped one hundred dollar bill, I really wish I had the Starbucks app with a loaded payment card.  I grabbed a few more pennies and drove up to the drive thru payment window with a wincing sheepish look on my face.  "Ummm, how much is it for my iced tea?"  I asked like a big loser.

The incredibly cheerful Starbucks lady said "The guy in the car ahead of you paid for your drink order!"

My jaw dropped open and hit the pavement.

"WHAT?  You're kidding me - is this a joke?"  I asked, my hands still cupping all the coins.

"Nope, he paid for your drink."

I broke into the biggest smile ever.  The Hello Kitty hundred was safe!  I took a big sip of my free iced tea and drove home.  

Free iced tea from a stranger tastes really good.

I have heard of people paying for other people before, but I don't think I have ever been a recipient of this type of stranger kindness.  And frankly, I really don't deserve it.  Yes, I was scrounging for coins to buy my iced tea and I was in grubby workout clothes.  But I was also driving in a BMW.  I wasn't projecting "Homeless, please help me!"  However the timing was crazy fortuitous - so to the kind man in the SUV who drove off before I knew he paid for my drink, I have to extend a BIG THANK YOU!  You really made my day.

And now of course, I need to pay it forward.  Maybe I'll go downtown and feed quarters into parking meters for people who have run out of time.  I volunteered twice last weekend and I will be volunteering twice this weekend, so maybe I'll run into someone who really needs $3.  

Of course with guilt and Monkey's Paw thinking, I also thought "Argh, another wish wasted!  Chinese take-out and a free iced tea - I should have wished for billions ... oh and an end to all wars too!"     

But I do believe that sometimes the best things are the little unexpected things ... a break in the day when you could really use it.  The kindness of a stranger to save a Hello Kitty hundred dollar bill.  

Ms. Wisconsin had texted me to make sure I got home OK - I called her and said "You'll never believe what happened after our walk."

My fortune cookie fortune did not call me a sucker who wasted my magical Monkey Paw (Hello Kitty Cat Paw?) wishes.  Instead it said "The secret of happiness is not in doing what one likes, but in liking what one does."  Which is similar to one of my favorite adages: "Happiness is not having what you want, but wanting what you have."  

On Thursday, I had time to actually have a lunch break with some pretty tasty Chinese take-out.  I had a good day at work, a friend who helped me out of my veal-like existence and a free iced tea from a stranger.  

It may not be glamorous or cool, but all in all I think it was a pretty awesome Thursday.  But best of all, it reminded me that there are good people all around me - even people I don't know who want to make sure I have a great day.  That's a really great world to live in.    

Now it's time to pay that forward.

Have an amazing, awesome, terrific weekend, LilyOnTheLam Readers!  I hope the universe you inhabit is filled with free iced tea from strangers and people who pull you off the couch to inspire you to do better.  

And as always ... thank you for reading!