RESTAURANT DELICACIES:
Barro's Pizza (take-out) - sausage and mushroom, the works, chicken and artichokes (thanks Mutti!)
Tia Rosa's Taqueria - salmon taco topped with mango salsa
Aloha Kitchen - wings, won-tons, manapua, bukolgi, katsu, kalbi
Haji Baba's - hummus, baba ghanoush, falafel, shish kabob, and many many spices
Riga Tony's under a new name - beautiful salad with salami and fresh cheeses and lovely vinaigrette, fresh baked bread with herbed olive oil to dip in, the tour with chicken piccata, Italian sausage, stuffed shells (and that's just what I ate)
Vito's - a white sauce, chicken sausage, and artichoke thin-crust pizza
Mango's - cheese enchiladas in a classic but tasty red sauce with nicely refried beans and rice, fresh chips and salsa
Zula's (in Nogales) - cheese enchilada, chicken chimichanga, shredded beef taco, nice fresh flour tortillas, and for dessert best apple pie ever served a la mode with a cinnamon sauce
the little old lady's tortilla stand at Tumacacori (old Spanish mission north of Nogales) - fresh, thick, hot corn tortilla made over a wood fire with refried beans, salsa, and queso fresco on top; the kind of experience that makes you dream in the middle of the night in cold and dreary Buckeye Country, "I bet I could figure out how to make my own corn tortillas."
Gourmet House of Hong Kong - the best hot and sour soup I've ever had, fried squid rings, succulent scallops in a garlic sauce with nice Chinese veggies, assorted meats (everything from beef to squid parts) lo mein, orange chicken, lightly breaded shrimps in tomato sauce with peas, and last but definitely not least wunan beef (beyond description, so crisp and delicate at the same time in its dark, tasty sauce)
And if you're not hungry yet...
HOMEMADE DELICACIES:
Lamb chops - thank you, luscious lambies
Chicky shnoodle soup with egg noodles and dumplings too
all sorts of colorful and tasty salads and good dressings (Bordeau salads, green salads, fruit salads)
cheese balls and other cheeses (cheddars, winsleydale with cranberries, pecorino romano, queso fresco, smoked gouda) with crackers and hams and apples from Utah
one Sunday dinner - pork loin, maple syrup and brown sugar sweet potatoes with pecans, and stuffing
Christmas Eve dinner - pork tamales (even got Prince Hal crying out for "swaddling clothes"), chips and salsa (homemade by neighbors), shredded venison tacos
Christmas dinner - deliciously strong Stilton soup, sizzling standing rib roast beast with yummy Yorkshire pudd, steamed broccoli, and tasty roasted taters; very few leftovers for a reason
Boxing Day - the great rice crisis of 2008 ("It tastes smoky, not burned," said a kind soul to teary eyed Car), hummus and pita chips, all the salads mentioned above again, home-cooked shrimps with homemade horseradish sauce, many other tasty things I'm sure
New Year's Eve - basmati rice with your choice of meatballs in a red sauce or lamb coconut korma (made from scratch by moi if you must know)
A Fondue night - green salad, Bordeau salad (oh alright, it's got tomatars and avocados and corn and a tasty mustard vinaigrette), french bread for skewering, gruyere and white wine fondue, Welsh rarebit, and some ham. Prince Hal kept asking for more "cheese bread". EJ had a friendly dispute with his Auntie Car over the green salad on his plate. It went like this: EJ "Can I please have some ranch dressing?" Auntie Car "Do you want to go on a mission, EJ?" EJ "Yes." Auntie Car "Then you have to learn how to eat your salad without ranch." Exasperated look from EJ's bigger and bluer eyes. 10 minutes later. EJ "Can I please have more salad?" Auntie Car "What happened to the salad on your plate?" EJ "I ate it." Auntie Car looks on Lucy's plate, where there is no salad, but there is no salad on EJ's either. "Are you sure?" EJ "Yes. I really liked it, can I have some more?" Auntie Car confused, "Ok." EJ on receiving more salad to his plate, "It has sauce on it. I like the sauce on it. I didn't know there was a sauce on it already." EJ wins. Auntie Car feels sheepish.
And of course, what would Christmas be without...
DESSERT DELICACIES:
Mutti's yummy rummy raisin cookies
spritz cookies
Aunt Sazzy's toffee and divinity
Sar's marzipan. (Cue Prince Hal - "Why marzipan?"). The marzipan was subsequently shaped into many things, from cookie cutter cows and German street-light-walking men to fruits and veggies and cocoa-powdered potatoes.
uncookies, made with love for Linus from his mom's secret recipe (we made chex mix too, but we adulterated it with nuts and pretzels and peanut m&m's)
hot chocolate of course, and fresh-squeezed naval orange juice
Christmas Cherry Cheese Bread. to be enjoyed on Christmas morning. enough said!
one Sunday: pecan pie, peach pie
a marzipan cake
Christmas Eve Dessert: Apple Bundt Cake (made by moi with fresh-off-the-tree navel orange and walnuts and apples, it was nice and moist if I do say so myself -- makes up for the rice incident)
Christmas Dessert: pumpkin pie, mincemeat pie, and a luscious and creamy fresh-off-the-tree lemon pie
Boxing Day Dessert: plum pudding of course! (annual tradition with a quarter placed in one or more slices)
Which is why at the end of the two-and-a-half-week vacation, Prince Hal declared to his Auntie Car that she had a "big" tummy that then prompted him to ask, "Is your baby in there?" Cutting him some slack, his mommy did have a new baby while we were there, so babies and tummies were on his mind.
I did have a much bigger tummy returning to Buckeye country than I did leaving it. But that's alright with me. It was a very happy tummy. Thank you, Mutti and Papa!
p.s. If you cooked it, feel free to claim it in the comments section.
5 comments:
I think I'm hungry...Papa
I'm coming with you next Christmas Vacation....
I read through every single food, and dreampt of it all. Mmmm, lamb. Mmmm Hagi Baba's. Mmmm, homemade lame coconut korma, which you simply must show me how to make. I'm so hungry, and I just barely finished eating. But leftovers have no claim on the yumminess I have just read. Even if Yumminess is not a word.
I was amazed that there were no leftovers from the two plum puddings steamed for the Boxing Day! Also amazed that there were no leftovers from the Yorkshire pudding which was served without quarters as an incentive. Great holiday feasting. Now on to the New Year resolution with shedding of pounds. Mutti
Yes, I too got asked by Hal if I had a baby inside. I wondered if he had noticed how I had grown since the holidays, until HJ informed me that Hal had also asked Mrs. Equinox the same question, and she is possibly even skinnier than you are.
Indeed, I was also the recipient of said question by Prince Hal. Logical for a little one whose mum had a new baby to ask other married ladies if they are lucky enough to be expecting. I loved his innocent, matter-of-fact way of asking the question. I thought at the time that other ladies have taken offense at such questions from sweet little ones, though I found it sweet and laughed with his mum when he turned back to his toys.
And I loved that hummus and wanted more after reading this. I also loved that rice and went for seconds (possibly thirds, though the quantity was low so I might have refrained).
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