New Amazing Dessert

I got a hankering for a fast food hamburger the other day and swung through the Carl Jr's drive thru.  I ordered a BBQ burger and the cashier lady asked if I wanted to try their new dessert item... I said, Sure, Why Not?  It was the new pop tart IceCream sandwich.

It was awesome!  Great smooth vanilla IceCream in between a strawberry pop art that was cut in half.  It hit the spot.... Not overly sweet, but a fantastic ending to a great burger.

Suggestion... For the holidays: how about pumpkin IceCream in between the brown sugar and cinnamon pop tart, and for Christmas, how about chocolate mint IceCream on the fudge pop tarts?  I am addicted to all things pumpkin, so I would have to visit just for the pumpkin pop tart at least twice per week.

Food Critique

Has customer service really gone the way of the dinosaurs?  From eating out the last few days, I would say it is extinct.

First, I am currently on vacation from my 4A-6P job and took the time to travel to a nearby city to "get away" and be pampered.

I ate at a place called the "8oz Burger Bar" inside the Horseshoe hotel and casino.  I saw on the menu that The Oprah Winfrey show recommended a sandwich called the "Short Rib Grilled Cheese" .  It came with Short Rib meat, red onion marmalade, and Swiss cheese on grilled crispy bread.  The Bread was great, the meat was tender, the cheese was perfectly melted, but I think they forgot the onion marmalade.  It had a few slices of red onion on it, does that count as marmalade now?  Since it was missing the marmalade, it was on the dry side.  Not worth what we paid for it.

The next morning I went to the "JB Cafe" in the casino.  I am to suspect that it is supposed to be like a Starbucks with pastries and coffee drinks.  My pastry and mocha totaled $11!  WTF!  Starbucks is only $6.  They made the mocha backwards... they started by pulling the espresso. (I managed a high end coffee shop) that is the LAST thing you do when making a coffee drink.  My pastry was handed to me right out of the fridge instead of the case.  It was still wrapped in clear wrap.  It would have been nice if they put it on a plate.  I asked for it to be warmed in the microwave.  She microwaved it still wrapped in the clear wrap, then she handed it back to me, still without a plate, but at least I got a plastic fork this time. 

Final Verdict:

Don't waste your money eating at the casino unless you are eating at "Spread" the buffet.
See my review in the video below!

Eating my way to Chicago and Back!

I recently got a wild hair and decided to hop on a train and go as far north as it could go.  That turns out to be Chicago.  I took a 20 HOUR train ride from Longview, TX to Chicago, IL.  What a LOOOOONG train ride but I was able to see some beautiful country side, eat some great food (some not-so great food) and I ended up in Chicago!

Here is the trip through thru food!

I started out on the train Friday night where I had dinner.  I ordered Vegetarian Alfredo Pasta in the Diner Car.  This was one of the nights that was not-so great.  The Bread that was served was hard as a ROCK!  The salad they brought out was limp! (it was just tomatoes and iceberg lettuce)  The pasta that was sent out was still frozen together in a chunk in the middle!  After I asked them to go microwave it for a minute, it tasted okay.

The next morning I just bought a coffee and a pastry as I watched the sun rise over the Ozarks in the Observation car.  Because of the view, that was the best breakfast I have had in a long while.

I skipped lunch because I knew I would be eating well in Chicago.

I finally arrived at Union Station where I called a cab to get to my hotel downtown.  Downtown Chicago was beautiful, all of the architecture, lights, people, ambient city noises, etc...  After I checked in headed down to the lobby where I was meeting a musician that I was interviewing for www.TeeJayToday.com  We went over to the hotel bar so that I could try the regional beer, "Goose Island"  It was great!  You have to try it.  Met some awesome ladies in the bar that were in town for a Hair Stylists Convention.... and yes... they had GREAT Hair!

I decided to walk around the downtown area and eat where ever I stumbled upon.  Being from Texas, I was freezing, so I ducked into an open door, and low and behold, it was a Sushi Restaurant.  So I decided to just sit down and order.  I told the waitress to just let the chef prepare me some Niguri Sushi.  The fish was FRESH... the food was AMAZING... BY FAR THE BEST SUSHI I've had! 
Here are a few pics from this restaurant.

 

After my early dinner I wanted to do some shopping, so I stopped by Marshalls, HomeGoods, Burberry, Nordstroms, and a few more stores.  After a few hours of shopping, my appetite was back and I wanted to try an original Chicago Deep Dish Pizza.  So... turns out I was only 2 blocks from Pizzeria Uno... Which claims to have INVENTED this type of pizza.  I walked in and had a seat at the bar.  (be prepared to wait, it takes about an hour to cook this type of pizza)  I ordered an individual Sausage Pizza.  As I was waiting I took the time to try another Goose Island beer, a Screwdriver, and Sam Adams while in the pub/restaurant.  Everything was GREAT,  I only want Chicago Deep Dish Pizzas from now on... except when I make my way to New York... then I want REAL New York pizza.  (this is what my Pizza looked like)

 

 

 

I finally stumbled my way back to the hotel to get some rest before I went to museums and got back on the train the next day.

 

For Breakfast there was a small croissant bakery and coffee shop right beside my Hotel.  I stopped in for a Croissant with Nutella! (So GOOD!) and a Tuxedo Coffee.... (Apparently that is a Texas term... Chicagoans call it a Zebra Mocha) which is a regular mocha with an extra pump of white chocolate.   With croissant and coffee in hand, my doorman hailed a cab for me so that I could visit the Field Museum before I needed to leave ChiTown. 

 

 

After the museum I had to run to catch the train, but since it was late I was able to explore Union Station a bit.  I was able to see where "The Untouchables" filmed the epic shootout scene on the stairs.  I had to go up and down the stairs.  I also had time to go find some food in the food court.  I found a burrito place that offered a BBQ chicken stuft burrito, plus I wanted to see if Chicago Style BBQ was as good as Texas BBQ.  It was amazingly sweet and tangy... closer to TX BBQ than I was expecting!  It hit the spot and was very satisfying and filling!

 

 

 

Back on the train for dinner, in the Diner Car.  I ordered the special hoping it wouldn't be a pre-frozen entree.  It was braised Lamb Shank with garlic roasted potatoes and green beans.  The meat was cooked so well I was able to just pull the bone out and chow down.  The potatoes were awesome, but the green beans were kind of rubbery, no doubt they were previously frozen.  Since it was the last day of my mini vacation I ordered dessert to eat back at my seat on the train.  It was a torte of peanut butter, chocolate cake, and caramel.  It was great!

 

 

 

Anyway... That is how I ate my way to Chicago and Back.... If you know of a great place to eat in Chicago, send it to me on Twitter (@TeeJayToday) and I will add it to the list here!  I hope to be going back to Chicago soon!  It was fun and the people were all very nice!

 

 

 

Want a Deep Dish Pizza Pan?

Panda Express for the First Time

I am still on my training business trip and I got off yesterday before everyone else...so I decided to go and try a place that I have never been before....Panda Express.

I wanted to try a little of everything but the lady behind the counter (Tong) would not let me sample! LOL I got a little Beef and Broccoli, Sweet and Sour Chicken, Orange Chicken, Fried Rice, and Pot Stickers.

The food was pretty good, the beef was tender, the sweet and sour chicken was perfect except I could have used a little more sauce on it!

Overall I would rate it a 6 out of 10, it was tasty and filled me up after a long day of work!

Eating Healthy....What!?!?!?

I am currently on a business trip and I am trying to eat somewhat healthy on this little trip. So I ate at Chili's yesterday...I ordered the Black Bean Burger with Avocado on a Wheat bun. It was REALLY Good! It came with crispy fried onions, french fries, and ranch dipping sauce.

I ate about half of the burger, fries, and onions. I rate it about a 7 out of 10.
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Another way to eat healthy is to eat nuts and seeds as snacks. Since it is nearly Halloween and a lot of people will have a pumpkin...I decided to roast some pumpkin seeds and video it. With a pumpkin around only $4...it is a cheap snack as well!

You can see me do it here: http://youtu.be/2SWqfDCn860

I tried something new...

I was walking through the meat section of my local megamart and saw something new. Boudain....

Boudain...
A sausage like meat product made from Pork, rice, pork livers and other seasonings, served inside pork intestine. Popular in Louisiana.

I have never had this product so I bought it. When I got home I had no idea on how to prepare..the directions told me to simmer in in water or slowly cook on a grill. I knew that I wanted to prepare it so that I could take it for lunch at work.

I took some pizza dough and added a few leaves of fresh bab spinach, then put the boudain on top of the nest of spinach. I sealed it up in the dough and baked at 350 for 20 minutes. Sliced it kind of thin and at it with a little mustard and ketchup.

The flavor was 'alright' I would have loved a little more liver flavor and it was a little spicy for my taste....and I like spicy.

The Food Critic in Me

I use a scale of 1-10 with 10 being "I would walk across a desert just to smell it again" and a 1 being "get it away from me!'

I recently took a trip to vegas with some guest and we ate at some great and not-so great places.

The first day

We arrived at our hotel (Luxor) and ate at Nathan's Fast Food Restaurant. Me and one of my guest had The Philly Cheese Steak with Fries and my other guest had Chicken Strips and Fries.

I would rate the Philly Cheese Steak and Fries as a 6 and the Chicken Strips were really dry so I would rate them as a 4. Both were about $10 each.

Later we had dinner at the Pyramid Cafe inside the Luxor. I ordered the Chicken Parmesian, one guest ordered and Hamburger and Fries, and one ordered the daily special, a Chicken Fried Steak.

My Chicken Parmesian was great, even though the said that the sauce was made of Roasted Red Peppers, I could not taste the peppers, just tomatoes. I would rate it a 7.

The Hamburger had a stale bun but the meat was wonderful. I would also rate it at a 7.

The Chicken Fried Steak was the weak point for us. I was breaded with bread crumbs instead of flour, but the mashed potatoes that it came with were outstanding. We would rate it a 6.

2nd Day

We decided to go downtown to see what was going on. We decided to try the Breakfast Buffet at The Golden Nugget. It was wonderful, my favorite was the French Toast. It seemed to be made of potatoe bread and topped with macerated strawberries. I rate the french toast as a 8.

For Dinner we decided to go to the Seafood Buffet at The Rio. OMG, this was by far my favorite spot for food of the whole trip. I had great lobster, fresh oysters, sushi (my personal fave), and all of the other seafood you can think of. It was a little pricey at $40 per person. IMHO it is still well worth it! I rate the entire buffet as a 8.

3rd Day

We were leaving this day so we decided to eat the MORE Buffet at the Luxor. It was wonderful! One thing we all got on our plate was Beef Strogenoff. It was tender and savory, I would rate it as a 7.
The best part of the whole buffet was the dessert bar. I went crazy. All the desserts were in tiny little 'shooter' bowls. I grabbed a strawberry whipped tart, taramisou, chocolate mousse, and caramel flan. All were wonderful! I would rate the dessert bar a 9 EASY!.

OMG = Oh My Gosh
IMHO = In My Honest Opinion

At the airport on the way home I stopped at Starbucks and had a Java Chip Frap with Whipped Cream, It hit the spot and was wonderful. I rate it a 6.