Bucket List & Food Festival

I have a few things on my bucket list.

For example, I'm going to have my own chickens someday.

You can laugh if you want.  I'll still bring you farm-fresh eggs.

We'll see who's laughing then.

The Food Network Wine & Food Festival has also been on my bucket list.

I went with my two favorite girls.

My wonderful mom!

Me 'n my Katie

Oh look!  We met Alex Guarneschelli.  I like to think that we would be friends.

The Food Festival exceeded my expectations.

I did not expect to like Alton Brown.  I loved him.  He was hilarious.

He's from the South and there's just some things that only Southerners understand.

We understood.

And we were the only three people in the audience that did understand his humor.

Bobby Flay was... well, he was Bobby Flay.  He was nothing short of fabulous, of course.  What would you expect?

He made paella as easily as some people pour a bowl of cereal all while explaining what he was doing, why he was doing it, and taking random questions from the audience.

We sat behind his mom.  She is a proud mom.  Who can blame her?  And she is adorable.  And she loves to be on camera.  Bobby said she comes to these events to get her "face time" in.  So she introduced us...

And then Bobby (we're on a first-name basis) asked us where he should eat in Lexington, since he comes there all the time to run his horses at Keeneland and everything.

And I refrained from saying "just give me a call and we can meet at Malone's" and instead I just casually mentioned that he might want to try Ramsey's.

I was cool. Not.

Oh, and then Katie and I met Bobby and Jamie Deen for at least the third time.

I joked that we had stalked them from Savannah all the way to New York.

And Bobby said, "Well, I've been stalked a lot more than that."

Um, awkward.  I was just kidding, Bobby.  I hope he knows that.  I'll just reiterate it the next time I see him.

So long, New York.  Keep on doing what you do (name that show) and we'll come again someday.

NYC Food Tour 2011: Part I

You know, Mario Batali says that there's two types of people in the world...

Real Italians and those that wish they were.

Correct.

Since there's precious little blood running through my veins besides Scottish and Irish, I'm pretending to be Italian today.

With my Italian coffee and my imported vanilla cream wafers.  For breakfast.

Do you want to hear about my trip to New York with my mom and my Katie?

You do?!?

That is so sweet of you to say.  Because I can't wait to tell you about it.

It was all about food (Broadway Schmoadway).

If you've never made food the central focus of a vacation, then please close this and return when I post a recipe involving cardboard and sawdust.

Oh, and we walked pretty much everywhere because (1) there's no greater way to see, feel, and smell (and I do mean smell) the city; and (2) once you see the pictures of the things we ate, you'll understand why we needed to walk.  A lot.  And (3): it's just part of the experience.

And I don't ever again want to hear about how many people in Kentucky smoke.  Ever.  Because anyone who says that has never walked down a New York street.

Our concierge told us that we would definitely need a taxi to get to our lunch spot.  We smiled sweetly and I thought just because we are Southern doesn't mean we're soft.  So we walked to E.A.T.

Oh, hi Eli!  Weird, because I have to remind myself that we're not friends in real life.

Eli Zabar is an institution in Manhattan.  He is famous for his Kosher delis, grocery stores and out-of-this-world breads.  He caters to locals, not tourists.  What a true New York experience.

Barefoot said this is the best grilled cheese she's ever had.  Agreed.  Gruyere cheese.  Will be making this soon.  'Nuff said.

Peasant Soup, which is day-old bread soaked in tomato soup.  It sounded like something I would not normally order, but I do trust the Barefoot's recommendations.  And it was beyond good.

Chopped salad.  Peppers, cucumbers, avocado, onion in a cilantro-lime dressing.  Fresh and oh so light.  Will be making that too.

We ate an early lunch and walked a few more miles to be sure we were hungry for dinner at Mesa Grill.

I kept peeking through the kitchen window to get a glimpse of Bobby.  And then I took pictures of my food.

I behave strangely in restaurants.

Especially restaurants that serve the best corn soup eveh.  Unfortunately, my camera ate the picture of my corn soup.  I'm telling you, it was that good.

I'm not sure what was better: the soup or the tamale with shrimp, fresh corn and garlicky sauce.

Seriously, Bobby?

I have to remind myself that I'm not actually friends with Bobby Flay, either.

The only problem with the tamale is that there was only one.  I could eat this every day for the rest of my life.

We also went to Eataly, where Mario has created an entire Italian village in Manhattan.  There are no words to describe it.  Think 50,000 square feet of Italy.  Right in New York.  Genius.

The TSA agents at LaGuardia TSA confiscated my jar of real chocolate-hazelnut spread (think Nutella on steroids).  I'm pretty sure they ate it after I left, too.  I wanted to ask them about the last time a blonde woman tried to take down a plane with a jar of Italian chocolate sauce.

And then I remembered that common sense has no place in airline security.  And if I had questioned their decision to steal my chocolate sauce, they probably would've stolen my Parmigiano-Reggiano, too.

Oh!  We also ate at Bar Americain.  I looked for Bobby in the kitchen there, too.  No such luck.  But the food was phenomenal.

I had French onion soup.  Best I've ever had.  Hands down.  Will be making that soon.

To cut the richness of the food, we shared a lemon meringue tart with raspberry salad.  Only Bobby Flay can call this raspberry salad and sound like a culinary genius.

And only a twisted person can use a dessert to cut the richness of dinner.

Later I'll tell you about the day we spent at the Food Network Wine & Food Festival, where I actually did meet Bobby Flay.  And his mom.  Oh my goodness.