Favorites in New Orleans

View of French Quarter & Mississippi River from our last trip

I will be spending a weekend in New Orleans next month to celebrate my wedding anniversary and thought I might list a few of my favorite places to eat, drink and go see.  I've been to New Orleans around 8 or 9 times now.  It's such a quick and easy trip for us because we live in Dallas.  Usually it takes us about 20 minutes to get to LoveField and hop a cheap Southwest flight and be in Nola about 1.5 hours later.  Nothing better than leaving your house around 8:30am and being in the French Quarter sipping a Pimm's Cup by 11:00am.  I hope this post doesn't seem too "Goop" but so be it.

I'll start with my favorite thing to do in N'awlins...EAT.

Places to Chow Down

Commander's Palace - great food and in a beautiful location.  It's located in an old mansion in the Garden District.  Food is nouveau Creole cuisine so it's not good for your waistline but it's worth the splurge.  It is pricey and jackets are required.  Definitely arrive at least 15-20 minutes early to have a drink in their bar - you literally "belly up to the bar" for your drink.

The Palace

Arnaud's - in the French Quarter and is our go-to "high end" place for dinner.  You must be wearing long pants to eat in the main dining room and jackets are strongly preferred.  It's more old school Creole cuisine so it's definitely not everyone's cup of tea.  Think trout almondine and steak with red wine sauce, bananas foster, cherries jubilee, etc... Not creative by any means but solidly executed and the service is excellent.  I love the dining room with its original tile floor and chandeliers and huge windows. So southern yet so French.

Arnaud's main dining room

Felix's Oyster House - in the French quarter and directly across the street from the better known Acme Oyster House.  We have been to Acme but still prefer Felix's.  First, raw oysters are exactly the same at each place.  However, Felix's has the best chargrilled oysters in town.  Waaaaaay better than Acme's and you don't have the ridiculous wait!  We've also had their po-boys and jambalaya and they've been good but both places are all about the oysters.  Felix's has awesome crawdads and their shuck-n-jive guys are true entertainers.

Steve looking guilty for eating the last chargrilled  oyster at Felix's when I  went to the bathroom

Mr. B's Bistro - great brunch.  They are known for the BBQ Shrimp, which does not involve BBQ sauce.  It's basically huge shrimp with the shell and heads still on that are sauteed in a rich buttery sauce with lots of spices.  Delish!

BBQ Shrimp at Mr. B's

Honorable Mentions:  Coop's Place; GW Fins; Dickie Brennan's Steakhouse; Luke; Stella!

Places to Drink

Old Absinthe House - one of the few places on Bourbon Street that I really like.  It's in a historic building and has tons of sports memorabilia hanging from the ceiling.  They make strong drinks and the bartenders are always hilarious - if you get the talking, you can hear some great stories.  They have seen it all on Bourbon Street.

Carousel Lounge - located in the Monteleone Hotel.  What a fun bar of you can grab a seat!  It's made from an actual old Carousel and the bar chairs/stools revolve around the bar.  How fun is that? (Did I just sound like Ina Garten?).  Great classic cocktails and they do live jazz in the evenings.

Carousel Lounge - how cool is this?

Harry's Corner Bar - located in a quiet section of the French Quarter near the Ursuline Convent.  Total dive bar filled mostly with locals and service industry people late at night.  Again, strong drinks but a fantastic jukebox.  One caveat - it is CASH only.  BTW, it got it's name b/c it used to be owned by Harry Anderson, the guy who played the judge on Night Court.

Making out at Harry's Corner Bar

Napoleon House - Ahhhh....No trip to NOLA is complete for me w/o a Pimm's Cup from the Napoleon House (they supposedly invented the drink here).  It is the perfect drink for steamy, humid, hot New Orleans weather - Pimm's liquor, lemonade/sprite mix and a freshly cut slice of cucumber, served over ice. The house itself is awesome - historic and was originally built for Napoleon himself as a place to live while he was in exile (he never made it).

Napoleon House Interior

Honorable Mentions: Molly's on Toulouse; Sazerac Bar in Roosevelt Hotel; Fritzl's Jazz Club

Places to Stay:

Soniat House - An old Creole house in the Quarter that has been turned into a small, upscale boutique hotel.  We really love this place.  It's in a quiet area by the Ursuline Convent so it can be a bit of walk to where all the action is on Bourbon Street and Canal Street but it's also much closer to Frenchmen Street and all the live music venues down there.  It's very old school and is furnished with antiques so if a flat screen TV is a must for you, the this probably isn't your place.

Soniat House View 

Maison De Ville on Toulouse - I have to caveat this by saying that we have not stayed here in years but will be staying here again next month.  This used to be the ONLY place we would stay in New Orleans.  It's right off Bourbon on Toulouse Street so it is smack in the middle of the Quarter.  It's an old Creole house turned into a small boutique hotel (notice a theme with what I like).  It struggled after Katrina and closed about 3 or 4 years ago.  A new company recently bought it, spruced it up and reopened it about 6 months ago so we are giving it another try.  From the website, it looks the same so I have high hopes.  They did promise us our same old room, which I loved.  We got a king size room on the second floor that overlooks Toulouse.  The cool part is your window opens from the floor up so you step through it onto a balcony.  Really fun to sit there in the morning or evening and watch the people come and go from Bourbon Street.

View of Maison de Ville - our balcony is the one with flags on it

Ritz Carlton - located on Canal Street on the edge of the quarter.  Obviously, it's a big chain hotel but it is beautiful and the rooms are super nice.  Also, Jeremy Davenport, a grammy-award winning jazz artist, plays in their bar lounge on the weekends.

Honorable Mentions: W French Quarter; Hotel Monteleone; JW Marriott on Canal

Things to See:

Royal Street - I can spend at least a few hours just walking up Royal and looking at the ornate wrought iron balconies and flowers.  It's also fun to weave in and out of the various art galleries and antique stores that I can't afford.  However, there are some fun jewelry stores and what-not with reasonable items.

Bourbon Street - it's gross, it's dirty, it's loud and it's totally tasteless which makes it pretty awesome.  Bourbon Street pretty much gives the finger to the rest of the United States (I think of Cartman screaming "That's right. I do whatta want!").  We usually wander up and down it at least a few times just to people watch and look at the craziness and stupidity.  

One of Bourbon St's many sights (not my husband, see the
large man in gold sequin bikini behind him watching the Weather Channel)

Aquarium of the Americas - located on the river, this is actually a really cool aquarium.  I have a hard time getting Steve in here b/c of all the screaming kids in line but once you're in, it's large and has plenty of interesting and educational exhibits about the Mississippi river and delta, the swamps and the gulf.  It also has otters.  OTTERS, people.  Is there anything cuter than swimming dogs that hold hands when they float and sleep?  I don't think so.

Look at this!  How can you not die from cuteness overload??

Natchez Steamboat - totally touristy which is fun.  Sometime I get snarky like Anthony Bourdain (be a traveler, not a tourist) and other times I am all "Paddle wheel boat with a bar??? Hell to the yes and where is my "I got Bourbon-faced on Shit Street" shirt to go with it?"  Hey - if the weather is nice, this is a good way to spend the afternoon and you get some great views of the city.  They also talk about the river and how it's still used today and it's interesting to check out the massive ships and barges going up and down the river.

Bring on the Cheese Factor

Things I Haven't Done but Want to Do:

Yes, even after 8 or 9 trips, I still have things left to see/do/eat in this city:

Lunch at Galatoire's on Friday - supposed to be a great tradition to put on your jacket and tie and line up to have lunch here with the city's movers and shakers on Friday afternoon.  Martinis will be flowing from what I hear.

Worth the wait from what I hear

Eat at Willie Mae's Scotch House - voted best fried chicken in the US by Gourmet magazine a few years ago.  You have to take a cab b/c it's not safe to walk here from the Quarter.  I don't even like fried chicken really but I think I have to try this place at least once. Probably not this trip, though.

Hmmm....Maybe.

See Live Music (preferably Kermit Ruffins) on Frenchmen Street - we may try and do this next month during our visit.  Apparently he usually plays down there on Friday night so we didn't make any dinner reservations for Friday to see if we can get in.  

Muffaletta at Central Grocery on Decatur Street.  I love a good muffaletta.  We always get ours at The Napoleon House but people have been swearing by Central Grocery's for years and years.  We walk by it everytime but have never gone in.  Need to add this to my list for May.

I think that's all I have for now.  If you ever go to New Orleans, drop me a line or comment as we have plenty of advice on where to go and what to avoid!

Birthday Weekend and Boston Marathon

First and foremost, my condolences and prayers to those affected by the tragic events at the Boston Marathon yesterday.  As a runner, it saddens me to think that some sicko would do something so depraved and disgusting as plant bombs at the finish line of a race  like that so that people's loved ones and kids who were cheering them on would be maimed or killed.  So depressing.

In happier news, I had my birthday last weekend and we were blessed with the best weather Dallas can offer and a fantastic weekend.  My birthday was on Saturday but I started it off a little early with a big sushi dinner with a friend on Thursday night.

Sushi at Shinsei

Friday was work and an afternoon gym workout with my trainer.   Then I had to take the angel dog to the vet for a check-up.  She's pushing 13 years old now and her arthritis has really been bothering her.  Some mornings it's as if she can barely get up.  Fortunately, all her blood work came back fine and she's actually in pretty good health other than the arthritis and the fact that's she's overweight due to the fact that I constantly give her table scraps and tidbits of cheese.  So, the tidbit giving is over as she's on a diet now and we are even starting to take her on short walks.  The doctor also prescribed her a joint supplement and an anti-inflammatory, both of which seem to be helping already.

Fly at the vet.  She won't look at me when I take her picture.

Friday night was a casual dinner with the hubby at The Londoner pub on Greenville Avenue where we sat on the patio, had a few Harps and some fish & chips.  Saturday I slept in and then went to meet my old law school friend and former bridesmaid at Highland Park Village for a girlie lunch and shopping.

Off for lunch and shopping.  Maybe it's just me, but I feel
seriously stupid taking these photos of myself

Janet has a twisted sense of humor like me and she gave me the most hilarious Bday card ever.  I died laughing:

Most hilarious Bday card ever!

Sat on the patio again at Bistro 31 and enjoyed a light lunch of tomato basil soup and a salad. Afterwards, we stopped into Trina Turk where I got a blouse and used the $50 off birthday gift card they sent me.  We then decided, on a whim, to pop into the brand new, super swank Christian Dior boutique they just opened. Wow.  This place was amazing.  I felt like a slob walking in there even though I was actually pretty put together that day.  The boutique is covered in mirrored walls and there are hidden doors everywhere so you felt as if you were in the boutique in Paris.  They offered us champagne while we browsed, which we readily accepted, and looked at the amazing handbags and shoes.  I ended up buying an overpriced pair of sunglasses, which I don't really need but decided to treat myself to anyway and Janet decided to go big or go home by spending her bonus check on an incredible handbag.  There are only 4 bags left in the entire country of the one/color she wanted so they are shipping it here and she and I plan to meet this Thursday for another lunch and to pick up the bag.  After this, we decided we had both spent enough and needed to go home before we did anymore damage to our bank accounts.

My insanely overpriced sunglasses

Here is the bag she bought but she got it in a bright royal blue.

My friends insanely overpriced purse...except hers is in royal blue.  I'm so jealous.

After lunch it was a few errands to the grocery store and Starbucks and then dinner at Oak Restaurant in Dallas.  Oak was as amazing as ever.  It is hands-down my favorite "special occasion" restaurant in town right now.  We recently tried the other new hot spot, FT33, and I still think Oak is better.  We split an appetizer of gnocchi with spring peas and a small caesar salad.  I had the duck breast with lentils and my husband had the steak with parsnip puree.  We shared a cheese plate for dessert.  We also had a great bottle of French red.  Sorry, I was too busy pigging out to take any pics.  Afterwards, a friend met us back at our house for a nightcap which ended up being a few too many nightcaps.  I had a bit of a hangover on Sunday morning.  ;-(

Still, I managed to get up Sunday, take the dog for a walk, plant some herbs in my planter, go grocery shopping and then sit on the patio outside and watch The Masters with the hubby as he set up our outdoor TV.  We also cooked fajitas and I made guacamole.  The weather couldn't have been better - about 80 degrees and sunny.

Alas, the Bday weekend came to a close and I am now back on my strict low carb, high protein diet and my achilles seems fine now so I am back to running.  Now, I just have to plan for Steve's bday which is the weekend after next!  Not sure what I will do but I have to think of something good....

This Week

This week I am:

1.  Nursing a strained achilles tendon.  I was running on the treadmill yesterday and suddenly felt a burning sensation just above my left heel.  By the end of the day I was limping, badly.  I used hot and cold packs on it last night and it's definitely better today but that means no running for the next few days, which really annoys me.  Given that I just got from vacation where I ate two cheeseburgers in one week and drank copious amounts of high calorie, fruity rum drinks, I really need to get my workout back on track.

2.  Having a birthday.  Yes, my birthday is this Saturday.  I think I'm aging pretty well but still, saying "I'm 38" is a little depressing b/c now I realize how close I am to 40.  The day is planned with some kind of workout on Saturday morning (depending on my achilles), a light lunch, a little shopping at Highland Park Village (I received a $50 card from Trina Turk for my Bday and it's burning a hole in my pocket) and then my husband is taking me to dinner at my current favorite restaurant in Dallas, Oak.  I LOVE Oak.  It's New American cuisine so lot's of grilled fishes and meats but with amazing flavor combinations and great presentations.  They also do some killer cocktails.

Oak Restaurant - Dallas

3.  Making arrangements for our anniversary weekend in New Orleans next month.   Our wedding anniversary (11 years) falls on a weekend this May so we decided to do a quick weekend getaway to New Orleans to celebrate.  My husband is very much a "whatever you want to do/eat" kind of guy so I make all the reservations (he does get veto rights on restaurants, though).  So far, I have the trip planned for lunch reservations at Dickie Brennan's steakhouse on Friday when we arrive, massages at the Ritz Carlton on Saturday afternoon, dinner at Commander's Palace Saturday night (day of our anniversary) and dinner at Mr. B's Bistro on Sunday night.

Mardi Gras 2011

4.  Looking for a new shoe repair place.  I know.  My life is exciting, isn't it?  The little tailor/shoe repair place near my house closed a few weeks ago.  I need a place that can replace the heel caps on a few pairs of high heels.

Not much else going on around here.  Just trying to readjust to work again.  ;-(

Boo. Hoo. Vacay is Over.

It's amazing how fast 8 days goes by when you're having fun.  We got back last night from 8 nights in the Caribbean. While I am a teensy bit glad to be back home, to have a nice hot bath in my tub and to sleep in my own bed, I still really miss the islands.  We split our time a little differently this year as we needed to keep the trip to one work week only.  So, we left early Saturday morning (5:45 am flight), flew into St. Thomas, USVI and took a private ferry to the Caneel Bay Resort on the neighboring island of St. John for a 3 night stay. I hate the early morning flight but being able to be on the beach by 1:00 pm Dallas time with a rum punch in hand, makes it worth it.   I have to say, Caneel Bay was heaven.  They greet you in the airport, take your bags and then drive you straight to their own private ferry, where you are offered water and rum punch for the  20 minute ride to their private resort dock. Bags are sitting in the room when you walk in with a chilled bottle of Moet & Chandon (which we sadly never drank and I ended up giving to the hotel maid on Jost Van Dyke, Blossom, who was absolutely thrilled to have it).

Steve on the private Caneel Bay ferry with rum punch

Cruz Bay, St. John

View from Caneel Bay Beach on our first day

Most of the island of St. John is a protected national park and the resort of Caneel Bay is actually 100% located within the park.  It was formerly the private residence of Laurence Rockefeller who used to vacation there in the 1950's and 60's.  It now consists of a main house, several beachfront rooms and cottages as well as several garden view rooms.  Caneel Bay is a Rosewood property so it is a little high on the price point scale (rates start around $500 per night) so we opted for the cheaper garden view rooms, which were still great.  We had a nice view of the expansive grounds and watched deer and donkeys roaming the property.  We also started calling these the "skinny rooms" b/c they were located way back on the property so you definitely got your exercise in walking to and from the main restaurant/bar and the beaches but it made it nice and quiet in the evening and we love to walk anyway.  As my husband said in island voice "Ya see where de jungle starts and ya cahn't go na further?  Ya room just a leetle pass 'dat."

Trunk Bay on St. John

Scott Beach at Caneel Bay Resort

Hawksnest Beach at Caneel Bay Resort

The best part of St. John was definitely the beaches.  Caneel Bay itself has 7, yes 7, beaches on the property and pretty much everyone of them was devoid of people.  You might see 3 or 4 other couples on each beach but that was about it.  Plenty of space and privacy and the water was incredible at every beach - think Bombay Sapphire Gin and you get the idea.  We also rented a car and drove over the entire island, which was great fun.  It's steep and hilly so coming around each curve you would be greeted by yet another gorgeous, picture perfect beach.  Too many to choose from since we only had 3 days here.  Unfortunately, it rained a lot the day we had the rental car so we only got to enjoy an off-property beach for about 30 minutes but we did manage to get to Coral Bay to visit the famous restaurant/bar called Skinny Legs where I officially turned my diet off by eating the below.

Skinny Legs Cheeseburger - AH-Mazing.

Steve acting silly at Skinny Legs

Me acting silly at Skinny Legs.
Don't know what the drink was but you can bet it had rum in it

About 5 minutes from Caneel Bay is the main town on St. John called Cruz Bay.  We did quite a bit of shopping (I scored a beautiful handmade necklace at Bamboo Studio) and we ate dinner there 3 nights in a row (sorry, but Caneel Bay is your typical resort where it's $28 for a club sandwich and I hate paying those inflated prices!).  Our favorites were the Waterfront Bistro and a great Italian place called Zozo's, where we sat at the upstairs bar and enjoyed the lights of St. Thomas in the background. We were also treated to an incredible sunset on our last night in St. John.

Sunset on Cruz Bay

Sunset from Cruz Bay...Ahhhhh

After 3 days on St. John, we took an afternoon ferry to Jost Van Dyke in the British Virgin Islands.  Well, after we had more drinks at the waterfront bistro while waiting for our ferry...I may have been slightly tipsy...and see the giant margarita at Margarita Phil's below that I had at lunch...I did not share that margarita but, to be fair, I couldn't come close to finishing that bastard either.

Margarita Phil's in Cruz Bay.  Good margarita but terrible food

This is our 9th year in a row to stay on Jost.  We always stay at The Sandcastle Hotel.  It's no Caneel Bay as in it is not a resort and the rooms are pretty spare but it's unique, intimate and sits on the most amazing beach and has the most amazing staff.  We always let ourselves into our own room (no locks on the doors), unpack and then head to the bar to chat with the staff and get a Painkiller cocktail.  Our next door neighbor back in Texas also flew down that same day and met us for dinner.  He stays in the room next door and was there for the same 5 nights.

Sunset on Jost Van Dyke

This is what you do on Jost - hang out with the other hotel guests and make the hotel bar
you're own private bar (it's all on the honor system after they close at 9pm)

Steve with Tina, the hotel manager.  Gary photo bombing in the background

There's not much to say about Jost b/c there's not much to do.  It's my "non-active, get-away-from-it-all" vacation.  I'm all for trips that involve hiking, boating, white water rafting and climbing cathedral after cathedral in Europe but this is my one trip to truly relax and turn my phone and email off.  I actually read books on this trip - I finished two books in 5 days and I loved both of them.  Highly recommend Wild by Cheryl Strayed and I See You Everywhere by Julia Glass.  To be fair, you can do activities on Jost and after 9 years we have done them all - some many times over.  You can hike to the top of the island, you can hike to a natural pool, you can charter a boat to go out to snorkeling or diving spots, etc....  We pretty much just ate, drank, slept, swam and read/napped on the beach this year. We did rent a car as we like to drive ourselves to various restaurants on the island and it's cheaper than using their cabs, which charge per person and are outrageous (i.e., a cab ride to the other side of the island is $20 p/p making it $60 ONE-WAY for 3 people or $120 round trip and you can rent a car for $75 a day...so, rent the car and remember to drive on the left).

We drove up to the ridge road for views of the islands.
Looking towards Tortola

Just to give you an idea of how steep the roads can be.

View of Little Harbour, JVD and Tortola in the background

View of Diamond Cay from the East side of JVD

Our next door neighbor (who shall remain nameless...not really) did get a little wheels-off this trip.  Let's just say that he got "rum dumb" and managed to get himself into an argument and then a full blown fight with some other "rum dumb" boaters late one night on the beach.  Fortunately, I missed the entire exchange as I went to bed early that night but he had the evidence in the form of facial bruises and a black eye to show for it the next morning.  Quite unlike him so I was rather surprised to hear about the whole event.  I managed to do nothing too stupid the whole trip but did have one pretty nasty hangover on the 5th day of the trip that  wiped me out for most of the day.  I had one too many rum punches at Foxy's Bar the night before. Other than that, I kept it in check but let myself enjoy the moments.

Last morning on Jost before the long trip home

Leaving is always a pain.  We really needed to be back to work today so we had to do all our travel in one day from Jost to Dallas, which isn't easy.  It involves two ferry rides, an hour long cab ride on St. Thomas and then two plane trips.  Makes for a long travel day but we finally got home at 9:00 pm last night, exhausted and not smelling so great.  Too make it even better for me, Aunt Flo visited that morning (thanks for being 5 days early, Flo) and I had to borrow feminine products from the hotel manager just to get through the day...and the cramps in coach class on the plane were great too.

Now I just have to wait until the next trip -- a short weekend to New Orleans for our wedding anniversary next month.  Sigh....


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Vacation is Here

Well, almost here.  Our offices are closed tomorrow in observance of Good Friday so today is my last day of work until April 8.  Woo-hoo!  I have a nice, relaxing day planned tomorrow which will consist of a few minor errands, a gym workout and then a spa appointment for a pedicure and a spray tan.  After the hubby gets off work, we will be heading to DFW airport and staying the night at The Grand Hyatt.

Seems kind of weird to stay at the airport hotel but the Grand Hyatt is actually very nice.  Our Saturday morning flight leaves at 5:45 am, which means we need to be at the airport no later than 4:45 or 5:00 am.  Staying at the Grand Hyatt, which is part of Terminal D (where our flight leaves from) saves us a good hour to hour and a half more sleep and we don't have to worry about driving, finding parking, etc...  So less stressful and it's kind of nice to start the vacay at the hotel on Friday.  They actually have a great bar lounge with good food and a nice wine list so we hang out there for a little bit and then head to bed early to get up for our early morning flight.

Fingers crossed that everything goes smoothly!  We have a pretty tight connection in Miami (about 30 minutes) to make our flight to St. Thomas.  If all goes well, then I should sitting on a beach by 2:00 pm Dallas time with a rum punch in hand.

Now, just have to make it through the rest of this work day.  Here is how I will feel at 5pm today:

Food Cravings

As I've posted about 20 times already, I am getting ready to leave for vacay to the Caribbean in a few days for the U.S. and British Virgin Islands.  In connection with that, I've been on a pretty hard core, low carb diet and have been exercising my butt off so I can look half-way decent in my bathing suit. I lost weight before my trip to Jamaica last November but then the Xmas and New Years' holidays found my fat ass and I packed a few lbs back on.

 I'm not weighing myself again until this Friday when I have my last workout session with my trainer before leaving as that is when I will declare this diet to be officially OVER but as of last Friday, I was down 7 lbs to 122lbs.  That's the thinnest I have been in almost 2 years, sad to say (I mean sad as in I have been too lazy to work out enough and say no to things I shouldn't drink eat for two years).

The good news is that I pulled my shorts and beach wear out of storage last weekend and tried a few things on.  Several pairs of shorts that I didn't even wear last summer b/c they were too tight (but I was unwilling to concede defeat and give to Goodwill) either fit perfectly now or are actually loose.  What a great feeling that was!!!

However, over the course of this diet (3.5 weeks), I have had food cravings out the wazoo.  My evenings usually consist of me drooling over Pinterest food porn photos after eating my lame-o dinner of  5 oz of plain baked salmon and 1 cup of green veggies with no salt or butter.  Here are a few of the things that I have been saying I would kill someone for one bite of craving the last few weeks.

1.  Conch Fritters

I love conch.  I especially love it when surrounded by spicy dough and fried.  I'm actually not a huge fried food person as the smell of grease turns me off but I can eat these babies like they are going out of style.  Will be one of the first things I order when I hit the beach.

Fried balls of dough with conch?  Bring it.

2.  Margherita Pizza from Il Cane Rosso in Dallas

Il Cane Rosso makes the most amazing pizza in Dallas, IMHO.  It's classic Neapolitan style pizza - super thin crust and awesome, organic, high quality tomato sauce and cheese.  Jay Jerrier's pizza is actually certified as authentic Neapolitan pizza by the Associazone Verace Pizza Neapolitana and the brick oven is ordered from Naples, Italy and shipped over.  Carbs and cheese...tomato sauce...cheese...basil....did I mention cheese?

You will be mine.  All mine.

3.  Cheeseburger from The Lakewood Landing

Ahhh...the Lakewood Landing.  What a dump.  An old Dallas bar that probably hasn't been cleaned in over 25 years.  The blinds are covered in thick dust and the smell of stale cigarette smoke is something they will never be able to get out of the walls even though no one has smoked inside in years.  The outside isn't much better (see photo below).  However, it makes my favorite cheeseburger in Dallas.  I haven't had one in months and I really don't think about it very much but I swear that this burger has crossed my mind every day during this diet.  It's perfect b/c it's only a 1/4 pounder and has the perfect ratio of bread to meat.  The hand cut fries are pretty good too.

Landing Burger...come to me, my love

Lakewood Landing, Dallas.  Dive? Yes.  Upscale?  No.

4.  Painkiller Drink

The Soggy Dollar Bar on Jost Van Dyke is supposedly the home to the Painkiller Drink and is where it was invented back in the 1970's.  It's a wonderful mix of orange juice, pineapple juice, cream of coconut, dark rum and topped with freshly grated nutmeg.  Fortunately, the Soggy Dollar is actually part of the hotel we stay at on Jost, The Sandcastle Hotel.  So, I can have as many as I want and they just charge it to my room. Very dangerous...

Mic, the best bartender ever, making up a batch of Painkillers.  All for me??

5.  Coconut Cream Pie or Key Lime Pie

Speaking of coconut...I only discovered my love for it a few years ago.  Up until my early thirties, I hated coconut.  Not sure why.  I think the texture of it always bothered me.  I still don't like pina coladas but my two favorite pies are Coconut Cream Pie and Key Lime Pie.  I love them both equally now.  Steve and I went to Key West for our honeymoon (almost 11 years ago) and we split a piece of Key Lime Pie everyday we were there...it was the best.  Last year, the new chef at The Sandcastle came up with his own recipe for Coconut Cream Pie and Steve and I split a piece.  We almost died, it was SO good.  We had a fork war over the last piece.  Steve said it was as good, if not better, than the Coconut Cream Pie his East TX grandmother used to make and that is saying a lot.  This year, I am bringing a UT baseball hat as a gift for Dwayne, the chef, but he can only have it if he makes his coconut cream pie.

Coconut Cream Pie...Hell to the yes.

Boo-ya.

BTW, Key Lime Pie should be pale yellow.  If you see one for sale and it is leprechaun green, run away b/c that is just wrong.  On all levels.

Just 3 more days of torture and then my inner fat girl demon can be released to begin feeding once more.