Broccoli Robb ravioli

Had this for dinner the the night at Gervais and Vine in Columbia SC. Overall, very bitter as I had expected, but even more so with the addition of the watercress.

Peach Tilapia Salad

Had this peach tilapia salad at Mr Friendly's in Columbia SC. Great lunch salad that is a full out meal. The raisins obviously had to be pushed aside so as not to gag me. Can't see it, but it also has some blue cheese and candied pecans.

Clam Chowder and Grouper

Had an excellent clam chowder the other night. First time making this, and glad I did because it was great and pretty easy. Used this recipe from Epicurious and added a can of corn and left out the Sherry. For the grouper, I cooked it after a dish I had at Il Migliore in Miami which I was fortunate enough to enjoy a few months back. I salted the grouper well, then pan fried it in some great olive oil. When it was about done, in another pan I sauteed some chopped garlic, grape tomatoes, and basil. That's all there is to it, and it only takes about 5 minutes for a simple but awesome grouper entree. Sometimes it's not about fancy sauces or marinating something in some overpowering marinade for 4 days, but just some great ingredients, proper seasoning and a good frying pan. And good wine of course.

Smoked salmon

Back from a recent trip to Colorado where I smoked some salmon, I still had a taste for it with more dill butter of course. This one was topped with dill, olive oil, and lemons before smoking. It smoked for about an hour and a half, which is the max. Next time I'd do a little less to make it more of a medium. The potatoes were cooked in the smoker for a while as well with olive oil and rosemary. My summer favorite is brochette which only works with great tomatoes and good olive oil. I had good olive oil so I made due with the crap tomatoes from the Harris Teeter.

Johnson's

Probably the beat cheeseburger in NC. Johnson's in Siler City does it right with the Velveta and greasy burgers.

Westmalle

The Dubbel has landed in Columbia SC.

Gervais and Vine

Had this salad for dinner at Gervais and Vine in Columbia, SC. It is mixed greens with balsamic strawberries, candied almonds and Gorgonzola. It was good, but not worth celebrating with a bunch of food adjectives. I would recommend using fresher strawberries that were only marinated in balsamic for a few hours, and probably need to add some arugula and some citrus, that's just my opinion though. It would be better though, just saying.

Mushroom Pizza

If you look around and do a little research, good food exists in airports too. I had this mushroom pizza in the Denver airport at Chef Jimmy's . The pizza was topped with basil and a sherry cream sauce. It was good enough to make eating at Sbarro a crime against humanity, and only cost $9.

Grand Finale

After a week of camping, fishing and tons of cooking there was time for one final fire cooked meal. For the last dinner, we had fried red potatoes over the fire with sauteed onion and plenty of garlic salt. The trout (rainbow, brook, and brown) were coated in cornmeal, and fried over the fire with extreme care by my Mean Aunt Kathy. The Kokanee salmon were smoked for about an hour, then topped with a homemade dill butter. It's hard to beat fish caught only hours before dinner, cooking on an open fire, smoking meat, and a great family dinner.

Kabob night

Build your own kabob night sponsored by my uncle Bill and aunt Kathleen. The beef was marinated in orange juice concentrate and teriyaki sauce. Veggies were done in Italian dressing, and everyone made their own kabob for grilling. I'll definitely be testing out the orange juice marinade on several other things soon.

Christmas dinner in July

Almost forgot I had Christmas dinner in July a few days back. It was roasted turkey breasts, squash casserole with corn, mashed potatoes and some stuffing. If you haven't had squash casserole with corn, definitely worth a try. I've commented previously on gravy, and there is no reason not to have it. If you can make it with the meat drippings you better, and if not, make it with something else it's essential.

Hideaway meat sandwich

I ate one of these, sorta checking to see if my eyes and intuition were still working. I don't really like mayonnaise and I really don't like Miracle Whip, and Spam's not really up there on my list. Nonetheless, I took one down after skipping breakfast, and working up an apatite dominating some fish earlier in the morning. I think the last time I had one of these was when I was in seventh grade, and I worked putting up hay on my grandparents ranch for the summer. My grandma would make these and serve them to all the workers putting up hay in the summer. So if you don't mind Miracle Whip or spam, which no one else in my family seemed to have a problem with judging by how few of these were left, here's a good hot sandwich.

Grandma's easy chocolate cake

Killer chocolate cake with creamy icing, obviously required to be served with ice cream. I've tried making this, and I'm not really sure how the cake turned out due to my impenetrable outer shell of icing which could have been substituted for Kevlar. Easy is a relative term to describe making it, but however hard or easy it's a great cake that I'll most definitely be giving another attempt.

Russian/Bulgarian night

Russian/Bulgarian inspired dinner provided by my cousin Sonya and her friend Lilly. First is Tarator, a chilled cucumber and dill soup made with yogurt. Second was Vinegriette, a salad made with beats, carrots, potatoes, peas, and onions. Zucchini was grilled with just salt and pepper. Finally, Mousssaka, a casserole with hamburger, potatoes, onions and eggs. All were very good, and 100% new things I'd never tried with exception of the zucchini.

Basted egg

If you've never had an egg basted in bacon grease, it's a must have. This one was cooked in a pan of bacon grease over the fire by my Mean aunt Kathy. It's not necessary to flip these over, a little basting will cook the top and make a perfect fried egg.

Paella outside

I made this paella for a big lunch yesterday. For meat, it had grilled chicken, Chorizo, and shrimp. It also had onion, red pepper, and green olives. Paella is great any time, but even better when it's cooked outside and and large quantities. The recipe for this one is below.

6 grilled chicken breast, seasoned with salt and paprika

2 pounds shrimp

1 pound chorizo

1 jar green olives

2 onions

2 red peppers

4 cups arborio rice

8 cups chicken stock

salt

saffron

S'mores

Making the perfect s'more takes a decent amount of work. First you have to get the fire just right with coals that won't ignite your marshmallow and turn it into a black char. After you achieve a perfect roasted marshmallow, the other key is to have the chocolate softened on the graham cracker to make sure you'll have a complete mess when you're ready to eat it. The final step is to force the gooey tower into your mouth with complete disregard for the sticky mess it's about to create.

Wine and cheese dinner

Tonight was a wine and cheese dinner at camp. I made a baked brie with apricot jelly and cinnamon almonds. We also had a black raspberry baked brie provided by my mean aunt Kathy. The cream cheese stuffed jalapenos were provided by my uncle Billy and aunt Kathleen. Best part is to see what a seven year old makes of wine and cheese.

Steaks and corn

Dinner tonight was steaks, corn on the cob, and baked potatoes. The corn and potatoes were cooked on the open fire. I'm becoming big believer in cooking over the open fire, so much so that a fire pit in my back yard is coming soon. The baked potatoes were cooked in the Dutch oven and the corn in the husk. For the steaks, they were on the grill with some expert guidance. If you want to know the right way to cook a steak, stand next to an 80 year old cattle rancher tending the grill. I couldn't help but pick up a few tips and enjoy 15 minutes of grilling with my grandpa.

Cinnamon role on the fire

Starting to think everything is a little better over the fire. Warmed this cinnamon role up over the fire for breakfast this morning to accompany my Huevos Rancheros from the leftover green chili. Credit goes to my Grandma for making the cinnamon role which was great.

Green Chili

Green chili cooked over the fire to smother on burritos for dinner. The leftovers should also be great for breakfast. The key to cooking over the fire is one side coals, one side fire, and several beers. Also pays to have someone else do the majority of the work. Green chili is one of my favorites, and even better over the fire.

Phoenix Airport

I've had lots of good airport food, and plenty of bad too. There is usually a spot in every airport w/something decent if not above average. Since I don't often frequent Phoenix, I used chowhound.com to find this spot. Glad I did, b/c the place next to my gate had plastic food.

Blue Cactus Cafe

Stopped by an interesting lunch spot in Columbia yesterday. Their menu was split between southwestern and Korean food. I had the spicy pork which also had some sweetness for the perfect balance to the heat. Can't wait to go back and try some of the stews and southwestern choices next time.

Rockaway's

Had this giant super greasy pimento cheeseburger at Rockaway's in Columbia SC for lunch today. They also cover the fries in a layer of pimento cheese which were almost as good as the burger. Burger was fantastic, but fearing for my health and dreading an entire night on the treadmill, I restrained myself to half of each. Probably still put down 1,000 plus calories in 10 min which were completely worth it.

Baked Ziti

Had an excellent baked ziti for dinner Friday night. Cooked the chicken on the grill, before adding it to the ziti. It was excellent for dinner, but even better as breakfast leftovers.

Last supper

Took advantage of my last DE lunch and went to a great tapas place. We
had the paella, both vegatarian and w/seafood. Great stuff, wish I
could eat stuff like this for lunc every day.

Deep Blue Calamari

Killer calamari at Deep Blue in Wilmington DE. Comes with a small
arugula salad with a lemon oil dressing. Not only is it top 5 on my
calamari list, it only $5 until 8:00. If you don't have a top calamari
list, better get on it. Never know when someone might ask you for it.

10 minute dinner

Actually made this dinner in 10 minutes. Had some pre-made tortellini & Alfredo sauce and topped it with sauteed baby spinach. Only good part was the spinach, and the raspberries I ate while it was cooking. Not really sure what could have helped it other than a few scotch bonnet peppers, or me actually having drank a fair amount of Scotch before eating it. Only vindication is that it beat Rachel Ray by 20 minutes and I never once used the word EVOO.

Southwestern Dinner

Still enjoying the southwestern fare. Had some people over for dinner and cooked up a bunch so ended up eating way to much and gave myself a food hangover the next day. I'm pretty sure that's what did it anyhow. Menu consisted of the following:

Guacamole

Mango civeche

Lobster corn chowder

Roasted corn w/lime juice and feta

Poblano's stuffed w/sweet potato and blue cheese

Pork tenderloin stuffed with chipotle peppers

topped with Blackberry ginger sauce

Chocolate mouse desserts (provided by Alex of Winestyles)

Highlights were definitely the lobster corn chowder and for me the blackberry ginger sauce. It may have actually been better on the tacos made from the leftovers the next day. Think I also personally took down about five of the desserts.

Manwich

Had this Sloppy Joe for dinner the other night. Can't really remember the last time I had one of these, but I had to be less than 10 or maybe 12. This one is topped with some sriracha sauce to spice it up, plus that's probably the way I had it when I was 10 anyhow. Awesome Friday night meal.

DE Indian Buffet - Nirvana

Found something I never would have thought existed in Wilmington DE,
an Indian Buffet. Had Tandori chicken & vegetables, butter chicken,
lentils, Nan, and not pictured was rice pudding and Gulab Jamun. And a
King Fisher beer. Great change up for, DE and now have to try the
Mongolian place next door.

Grilling on the 4th

Not sure why the 4th of July is a traditional grilling holiday, it's got to be one of the hottest days of the year. None the less, grilled out with my parents in Youngsville for some 4th of July lunch despite record heat. We had bacon wrapped jalapenos stuffed with cream cheese and pineapple, baby back ribs, squash casserole, and watermelon. For the ribs, I used a dry rub w/salt, pepper, paprika, chili powder, mustard powder, and garlic powder. For cooking, they were steamed with a Honey Brown beer, then finished on the grill to add some char. Used a little of the watermelon in mojitos to balance out some of the outdoor grilling heat.