Sunday, April 25, 2010

And so the frenzy ends

Back home from trip to Portland. Alas, WW will not see me tomorrow for weigh in. Or any time soon. I joyfully admit to over indulging while on the trip. It was a food conference, after all.
The best: the food carts on Alder between 9th and 10th. My favorite was Sasawadee, a Thai cart. The best, and I do mean the best, Pad Thai I have ever tasted. Salty, sweet and sour. All beautifully balanced in a moderately spicy sauce. Wish I could have some right now. And the woman who runs the place, loved her because she loves what she does. Customers lined up. She knew most of them and their "regular" orders.
The Farmer's Market near the University: Wow. Speechless. Mushrooms. Colorful carrots. Lots of stuff we don't get here in the desert. Beautiful vegetables. Wished I had a kitchen to cook them in. Crowded. Bustling. Multigenerational and multicultural market. Best chocolate chip cookies from Pearl Bakery. Tasted Montreal bagel for the first time. Not a NY bagel but still good. Stood on line for an eternity for a fried chicken (yes, fried chicken) biscuit from Pine State but they ran out as soon as we got to front of the line!
Pizza from Apizza Scholls. Bacon pizza. Cannot describe how delicious that was. They add raw strips of bacon which cooks while pizza cooks so rendered fat becomes part of flavor. Hello! Jalapeno, walnut pesto, ricotta pizza was least favorite but still pretty good. Crust was amazing. Smoky. Actually cooked all the way through. Loved it.
Nostrano: great meal especially the pork chop with tomato jam. Packed with people still waiting at 10 pm. Not like my sleepy Phoenix town!
Clyde Commons: on a Tuesday night, not a seat in the house at 9:30 at night. Turning people away. Not our favorite restaurant. Noise level and food aimed at "younger" foodies.
Kenny and Zuke's: Yeah, not gonna cut it for us. Pastrami not even close to Langer's. No contest. Thickly cut. Too smokey for our tastes. Not fatty enough. Chopped liver was pate consistency....that's not chopped liver. And they served it with....Kalamata olives! Come on, people. But I did have a cream soda.
Other carts: Korean (my husband's favorite but not mine); Greek (excellent). Husband also liked Turkish cart. I didn't get to eat at all the carts. Had to attend meetings!
Heathman: always good. Just a quickie lunch before leaving for airport. I decided to have something I've never eaten in my life: steak and eggs. Two perfectly poached eggs (perfectly poached) with tasty steak, home fries and grilled asparagus. Hollandaise was sort of overkill and tasteless. There was already enough fat on the plate to kill a horse. Worth the assault on my arteries.
Oh, almost forgot Pok Pok: Good flavors. Didn't blow us away. Cleaned our plates anyway!

Back to reality today. Eating with a little bit of mindfulness. Just a hint. Went to the gym. Thinking I might actually cook dinner tonight EXCEPT that it is fried chicken night at NOCA so who knows. One more splurge. Just one. Tonight.

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