Jots and Tittles on Spots and Vittles
I enjoyed my first visit to Alderman’s Ford Preserve and was keen to see the changes brought on by spring. it was now early summer and I feared I would miss the pretty flowers. Yeah, I said it. I like looking at pretty flowers. So I drove out to hike the trails with camera in hand and decided to share the experience using fewer words than I’m accustomed to spouting.
Continue reading “Photolog – Alderman’s Ford Preserve”
One evening we thought we’d try our luck at a Thai sit down spot that was wedged into a local strip mall. This was all very last minute and we were not even sure we’d get a seat. We did and we proceeded to have one of the nicest Thai dinners we’ve ever had. Did I mention it was Valentine’s day?
The flavors and compositions were deliberate and delicious. The service was personal. The experience was so enjoyable that I remember very little of it, we were so enraptured. This entry is not about that meal.
Continue reading “Exceptional Thai Cuisine in an Unremarkable Retail Scene”
When planning trips lately I’ve been bearing in mind my Triumvirate of Funvirate concept wherein I try to plan a bite, a sight, and an activity. This particular day we were going to Lakeland to visit my grandfather and I thought this might be a good time to take Christa to the Munn Park Historic District in downtown Lakeland.
That would cover a sight and a bite, as this was both a part of the historic district and chock full of restaurants including a spot I’d enjoyed twice before: Harry’s Seafood Bar and Grill. As far as an activity goes, sure, we could walk around the city a bit, maybe take in the Polk Museum of Art, but since my acquisition of a used camera, I had also been itching to get back to Circle B Bar Reserve to capture some better pics of our feathered friends in the wetland habitat.
Want to treat yourself to a special breakfast? Is a bowl of cereal or cooking your own omelet is not enough? Do you want pampering, eggs poached for Benedict, the thick-cut maple-cured bacon you won’t buy for home, and slabs of rich challah french toast stuffed with cream cheese and fruit compotes, all served in a fun and upbeat environment with pleasant, attentive service, but not too early, maybe after nine but before noon?
Oh? And what else, your majesty?
We call it brunch and it has become a verb for the masses engaging in finer breakings of the overnight fast, often after indulging in a late-night liquid snack. The word brunch invokes images of finer breakfast treats overlapping finer luncheon eats. Quality and elegance are inferred, but these days, not necessarily implied.
Continue reading “There’re Eggs Inside Your Mouth at Noon. Is It Brunch?”
What comes to mind when I say “French pizza”? Frozen halves of bread topped with hard splinters of icy cheese embedded in an arctic sheet of red? My misgivings weren’t so grim. When I’m feeling particularly dogmatic, I think of the pizza as one of those things you don’t mess with beyond the original: A Neapolitan yeast dough topped with simple seasoned tomato sauce, buffalo mozzarella, and fresh basil and olive oil, baked in a searingly hot oven. “French pizza” invoked a froufrou version of simple perfection that was wholly unnecessary.
But I’m no Francophobe. And I should know better, being trained in the French culinary method—French cuisine exemplifies superfluous as much as American cuisine exemplifies barbarian. Tampiz pizza could be bad or good on its own merits irrespective of the culinary roots. How would I know if I didn’t try it?
Continue reading “Pizza, Pastries, and Pralines by Way of Lyon”
Isn’t it encouraging to know that wealthy, successful people make mistakes just like us? Only on a grander scale. Their mistakes can often cost millions or billions of dollars. The lessons learned come at a high price, but the good news is we can share the same valuable lessons for free. Ah, the elixir of history.
The Henry B. Plant Museum maintains a frozen parcel of time, a revelation of the exotic and the opulent in a fledgling outpost city whose existence was only just becoming known to Americans: Tampa, Florida. Where a train magnate’s venture into whimsy becomes his loss, but our gain. And it’s a great spot for an air-conditioned day trip.
Continue reading “Find Folly and Fortune in a Preserved Palatial Hotel”
There are two kinds of breakfasts if you want to view things binarily: Sustenance providing square meal and stomach stuffing gorp fare. One can be exemplified by a plate of bacon and eggs with toast and potatoes…and…grapefruit, I guess. The other features things like cream cheese stuffed french toast, saucy eggs benedict, cheesy sausage and egg casseroles, biscuits and sausage gravy, and chocolate chip pancakes with whipped cream. A week’s worth of calories devoured in one meal with hot lashings of cream and sugared coffee followed by a cinnamon roll the size of your head. Continue reading “A Great Breakfast Every Time”
Where do you go when you get that craving for seared ground beef and melty cheese in a bun? Do you head to the local Choke N’ Puke, or do you find that prized destination, that one place where they do it right every time, treating the simple hot sandwich with the honor and love it deserves, not merely in exchange for your dough, but because they appreciate a good hamburger and enjoy selling them to those who share the love? Continue reading “An Agreeable Answer to Hamburger Hankering”
How do you commit to eating a healthy lunch when you’ve got a cooler full of freshly picked peaches and blueberries in your car? “But, Peaches and blueberries are healthy.” In limited quantities, yes. But as delicious as those fruits were, sweet and warm from the summer sun, I knew I wouldn’t stop at a reasonable amount. It took everything we had to not simply go home and gobble them all up.
On our path home there was a place I had been wanting to try and I thought the light and simple nature of fresh fish and rice would be a pleasant follow up to a day in the sun plucking unadulterated fruits from their burdened branches, as well as being less filling, thus leave room for some dessert berries, peaches and whipped cream.
Continue reading “Absorb an Edible Gallery of Japanese Fusion”
Today was a double whammy, make that a triple whammy of peaches and berries and sushi. Oh, my…stomach. Last month while looking for things to do in the area I learned of a local u-pick peach orchard, but it wasn’t quite the peach season. So I made a note to check it out when the time came.
When the time came…I failed to remember. But Christa remembered, like Pepperidge Farms. My wife suggested we go that morning and informed me that it was located in Fort Lonesome; a point on a map I had been interested in seeing…and just did, several days ago when we drove an alternate route home from Little Manatee State Park. But how did I miss the presence of a peach orchard and blueberry farm?
Continue reading “Pluck Sweet Life from Limbs at Local Farms”