Archive for "Food and Drink"
Salina Road Trip Recap
Posted on June 2, 2007 by Ching under Family, Flickr, Food and Drink, Travel.
Brian’s parents wanted to celebrate their 34th wedding anniversary by driving to Cozy’s in Salina and invited Brian and I to tag along. Now if you tell someone that you are driving 3 hours to eat some burgers, with gas at over $3 a gallon, they’re going to think you are freakin’ nuts. This is pretty much the reaction that Brian and I received from folks we told about our road trip. Our Cozy Inn burgers, as good as they were, have got to be the most expensive burgers I’ve ever eaten. Good thing they were on mom and dad. ;-P
Of course, I managed to talk everyone into checking out some of the Salina tourist traps to make the most out of the drive. No one believed me that there were things to do in Salina. Just type “things to do in salina” on Google and you’ll find several suggestions.
The three places we visited were the Smoky Hill Winery, the Smoky Hill Museum, and the Central Mall aquarium. The trip was loads of fun.
I think Smoky Hill Vineyards and Winery was my favorite part of the trip. We got to sample a variety of different wines. We also walked around the property a bit and checked out the vineyards. Mom and dad bought a couple of bottles of wine to take home with them.
The Smoky Hill Museum was really cool also. They had some really neat exhibits. I love the antique stuff and the reproductions.
Central Mall is just like any other mall, except it has a really neat aquarium by the food court. The aquarium is home to several species of fish indigenous to Kansas. The mall also has plenty of areas for children. It is very kid-friendly unlike some of the malls we have in Wichita. The stores are nothing spectacular, though. I think people mostly just go there to hang out.
Anyway, we had a really nice time on our day trip. We also had a nice treat on the way to Salina. We happened by the Black Kettle Festival in Moundridge. We stopped to check out the antique planes. Of course, I took the opportunity to take some photos. Overall, I think everyone had a great time.
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Bang Bang Sauce
Posted on May 27, 2007 by Ching under Flickr, Food and Drink.
Brian and I tried Bonefish Grill one of the newer restos in town a few months ago and really loved the food. I was completely amazed that Brian liked the restaurant because it is primarily a seafood joint. They offer great steaks, though, which is nice because then Brian has something that he can select from the menu. The two times that we have dined there, everything has been deliciously prepared. We have no complaints.
I was so impressed that I told my coworkers about the place. Jan has been there once or twice. Darcy has taken dining at Bonefish to another level. She’s been there probably half a dozen times since. She and her husband Mike absolutely love the place. They actually drive from the West side of town, where they reside, to the Waterfront, which is on the East side of town just to go to Bonefish.
Anyway, Bang Bang Shrimp is probably the most popular item on the Bonefish menu. Everyone loves their Bang Bang Shrimp. The secret is in the yummy sauce. The sauce kind of reminds me of the signature sauce, found in Honey Walnut Chicken at Fusa, but with a spicy kick to it. Darcy told me that she found a recipe online. This led me to my own search. Here’s what I found..
I found that the sauce consists mainly of three ingredients: mayonnaise, Thai Sweet Chili Sauce, and a few drops of Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce. How much of each ingredient you use will depend entirely on your taste buds. The simplicity of the sauce recipe is nice. However, from all the articles I’ve read online, most have failed at successfully duplicating the flavor of the famed Bang Bang Shrimp sauce.
I joked at Darcy that if she ever successfully duplicates the sauce, she could probably use it with everything. You could “bang bang” porkchops, “bang bang” chicken, and “bang bang” just about anything because it really is the sauce that makes the dish. The shrimp is just your run of the mill, garden variety battered and fried shrimp. Granted it is crispier than most, but the sauce is where the magic happens.
I’m not much of a cook, so I couldn’t really see myself toiling over the kitchen for hours mixing a bit more mayo and a bit more chili sauce just to get the flavor right. Surely there is an easier way to “bang bang” nirvana. Here’s a secret I will share with you: you can actually buy pre-made Bang Bang Sauce through the Dinni’s Select web site. I’ve not seen these carried at my local grocery store, but if I find it I will let you guys know. For now, I think it can only be purchased online.
Dinni’s Select offers a wide variety of delicious sauces for you to try. You can buy a three-jar gift pack and choose three different flavors. Or you can just get three jars of the Bang Bang Sauce. 🙂
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Saturday Lunch at Mom and Dad’s
Posted on April 3, 2007 by Ching under Family, Flickr, Food and Drink.
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A Wonderful Afternoon of Procrastination
Posted on March 10, 2007 by Ching under Flickr, Food and Drink, Movies, Reviews.
Brian drug me to see 300 today. Prior to actually watching the movie, I really had no idea what it was all about. Brian, being the comic book freak that is, had already read the graphic novel. He’d been eagerly awaiting the movie’s release and could hardly contain himself. Although, it was I who had to be shushed in the middle of the movie for vocalizing my awe and excitement.
I highly recommend seeing this movie. It is rated R because of the graphic battle scenes and occasional nudity. The gore is not gross, though. It is very beautifully done. In fact, the entire movie is beautifully done. Every scene is picture-perfect. Nay, painting-perfect. It is the best movie I have seen thus far in 2007. Granted, I have been too busy to do much movie watching, but I expect that it is the best movie that I’ll see this year.
Since Brian drug me to do his thing, I drug him to do my thing. So we went to Cocoa Dolce after our movie. Cocoa Dolce is this new (they’ve only been around for 15 months) gourmet chocolate shop on 37th and Rock. Master chocolatier and proprietor Beth Tully likes to call her shop a chocolate lounge because it’s like a cozy little coffee shop offering chocolate beverages and gelattos besides the vast offering of delectable chocolate confections.
We’d driven by the store many times going to Dillon’s and QuikTrip and other places in the area but we’d never really considered going in until after we saw Ms. Tully speak at WSU on Thursday. She is a very articulate, impressive, amazing woman. I suspect she could sell a refrigerator to an eskimo. Our curiosity was piqued and so we went.
At $52 per pound, she was quite accurate when she described her demographic. In decribing her niche target market, she described her product as a luxury item. Most of us don’t really think of chocolates in that way but she is absolutely right. Gourmet chocolates such as these probably wouldn’t appeal to the average person who is satisfied by your run of the mill grocery store candy. Although, for those with enough discretionary income to indulge, the delicious morsels are an indulgence worth every penny.
Brian and I don’t see ourselves going back every week, after all we are pretty pragmatic and frugal these days. However, we agreed that we could afford to splurge just this once. Or maybe a few more times in the coming weeks. We have already talked about returning to try some of the gelatto. One patron described it as putting even Coldstone Creamery (our favorite ice cream shop) ice cream to shame.
Oh, their sugar free chocolate selections are also worth mentioning because they don’t taste sugar free at all. You can buy some of their stuff through the Cocoa Dolce online store. I promise that you will not be disappointed. Brian and I give Cocoa Dolce our seal of approval.
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Bonefish Grill Rocks
Posted on March 5, 2007 by Ching under Flickr, Food and Drink.
Brian and I finally got a chance to redeem the $45 gift certificate we received from Bonefish nearly a month ago. I love Mondays because it’s my pretty much my free night these days. Free night meaning no school, no poker, no nothing. Only Heroes, one of our favorite shows. So we can pretty much go out to dinner and have a nice evening.
Anyway, I decided to try their sangria this time. I didn’t get a chance to try it last time because we didn’t want to get carried away. However, since our meal was pretty much free I thought I would get a drink so we’d have some sort of check to pay (alcoholic beverages were excluded from our certificate/coupon thing).
The one thing I noticed about their sangria was that it was more wine-y than fruity. I typically prefer fruity-tasting sangria since I’m not much of a wine fan. After a couple of gulps, however, the sangria started tasting pretty good. It wasn’t the best sangria I’ve ever had, but it’s possibly one of the strongest. By the middle of our meal I was feeling pretty good (and borderline obnoxious). Brian actually wanted to go walk around Best Buy after dinner, but we canceled that idea after my sangria. LOL. I really can’t drink anymore.
This time we had the Bang Bang Shrimp, Imperial Mahi Mahi (one of the specials), Sirloin and Creme Brulee. I skipped the best corn chower ever because the last time I had it, I got too full to eat my meal. If you go to Bonefish, however, I highly recomend it. Because it is simply the best corn chowder ever. It has big hunks of crab meat in it.
The Bang Bang Shrimp did not disappoint, though. Lance recommend it because he and Lisa had it the last time they were there and he said it was spectacular. Naturally, we had to try it. He was absolutely right. The Bang Bang Shrimp was delicious. Brian even loved it. He said it’s the best shrimp he’s had. His salad and our bread came shortly so we didn’t get a chance to finish the shrimp, but I had a few more of course. It was really good stuff.
My mahi mahi was good, but I didn’t get a chance to eat much of it as I got full from the shrimp. This always seems to happen. Anyway, Brian said that his sirloin was outstanding. He said it was still juicy despite being well-done. It was possibly the best sirloin he’s ever had. Although, his angel hair marinara (the side item he chose) was not very good. It was watery and didn’t have enough marinara sauce, I thought. Then again, pasta really isn’t their specialty. But then, they ought to try to make everything good so I would suggest improving this dish. (more…)
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