Author: megsas87

I don’t get to travel nearly as much as I’d like, but when I do I spend hours and hours researching my destination and figuring out the best places to explore and EAT!! My sister, Shannon, has been asking me to add a travel section to the blog to capture those foodie adventures so it’s only fitting I start with a trip my sis and I took together.

In May of 2015 (wow, that’s a long time ago!), I attended a conference for work in San Diego. I was excited for the opportunity to travel but wasn’t super jazzed about going alone. It just so happened that Shannon was out of school at that time and my dad some points/vouchers that were going to expire so Shannon tagged along for a $9 airline ticket! Thanks Dad!!

Neither Shannon nor I had ever been to the west coast and we were excited to be visiting California for the first time. I had done a lot of research before the trip about things to do in my spare time in the evenings as well as the day we arrived early and the days we stuck around after the conference. Shannon and I picked a few must-do things, places to see, and food we just had to try and planned out a rough itinerary.

I do my travel planning by laying out all my options, then based on the list of must-dos I plan a rough sketch of areas I’ll be in and what is most convenient in terms of other activities and places to eat. I don’t like to plan every minute but I like to have an idea of what to do and where to go to maximize our time. Shannon and I knew the zoo was top of our list as was whale watching, and dipping our toes into the Pacific Ocean. We planned those activities for days where we had the most free time. We had a list of a few other activities to do if we had a few spare hours or if some of our other plans didn’t work out. I started looking into restaurants with good reviews/recommendations in the areas we were going to be in so when we got hungry we’d know where to go. Finally, the last thing we had to plan was our trip hashtag. Shannon came up with the name Sunny San Diego (since the weather would be gorgeously sunny the entire trip) so we used the hashtag #sistersinSSD to memorialize our trip on Instagram.

First on our list once we landed in SSD and checked into the hotel was fish tacos! We opted for finding a place close to the hotel since we needed to get checked in and were HUNGRY after being up early for a long morning of travel. We decided on a place a few minutes away with good reviews and off we went. Downtown Fish Joint is a no-frills counter service place that services fish tacos and fried seafood plates. It’s in downtown SD but not exactly in a very lively part of the city. For as big as SD is, I was expecting the city to be more busy but oddly it felt like most of the city was on vacation while we were there, which we didn’t mind because we never had to deal with long waits or bad traffic. I digress… back to the fish joint. Shannon and I both decided to order the fish tacos since they are supposed to be great in SD with the city being so close to Mexico. The food was good at Downtown Fish Joint but neither of us were really wowed. Maybe we built it up in our head but the fish tacos were a little lack luster. I personally was thrown off by the cheddar cheese on the tacos and the flour tortillas seemed a little unauthentic but to be expected. We loved the fries and the fish was fried crisp and fresh. We even got to sit outside, which we loved. All in all it was a good and inexpensive lunch but if I ever return to SSD, I don’t think I’d stop here again. If you’re in the area and are hungry, I’d say go but if you have the means to go somewhere else we found better places later in our trip that’d I’d recommend more.

After an early lunch, Shannon and headed over to the harbor to get on a boat for our afternoon of whale and dolphin watching. We only saw one whale from the distance (too far away to photograph well). The whale didn’t breach out of the water but we did see spray from the blowhole. On the way back to the harbor we were flanked by a giant pod of hundreds of dolphins, including several babies!

Since my conference didn’t start until the next day, we had a few late afternoon hours to burn and decided to head to the beach. We love the ocean and really wanted to stroll along a CA beach and see the Pacific Ocean. I had heard/read that both Mission and Pacific Beach were good spots and had a boardwalks that we could stroll down and a few piers to walk out on. We drove the rental car up the coast from the bay to check it out. True to the California stereotypes, we saw lots of roller bladers and surfers, to Shannon’s delight.  We were particularly interested in the little houses built on a pier that allowed cars to drive along it – not something you see on the Atlantic coast given the propensity for hurricanes I suppose. We walked and walked and walked until it was time for dinner. I had a place nearby in mind that was known for their fish plates, which we learned were a SD thing, and their ceviche so off we went.

The Pacific Beach Fish Shop did not disappoint. The Fish Shop is both a market and a restaurant. You order at the counter but the rest of the restaurant is really nice but casual. All of their fish is seasonal, super fresh, and grilled to order. We decided to share a fish plate, where we got to choose our fish, marinade, and two sides. We also decided to share a shrimp ceviche as well. We sat outside on their patio, which was dog friendly) and scarfed down our food. It was here we fell in love with ceviche and this restaurant became our favorite in SSD. Absolutely go if you have the chance and get the ceviche!!

The next day marked the start of my conference so most of the day was spent indoors, but Shannon met me on the lunch break and we headed down the street to another fish joint (surprise, surprise) for a bite before the afternoon sessions started. Spike Africa’s Grilled Fresh Fish Grill & Bar did not disappoint. It was a little more pricey than anticipated for a lunch but worth it. I got the fish tacos and Shannon ordered a mango bbq mahi dish and we shared them both. Again, we were able to sit outside on the patio and enjoyed some palm trees and sunshine before heading back to the conference. Pretty tasty meal if you are in the downtown area but we decided to continue our quest to find the best seafood in SSD.

Once the conference got out in the middle of the afternoon, Shannon and I booked it up to La Jolla to check out the cliff views and hang with the seals that have taken over an old beach. We strolled the area for hours and took way too many pictures and videos of the seals.

On our way back towards the hotel, we stopped for dinner at a restaurant called World Famous. The restaurant sits on Pacific Beach and we were able to sit on the patio to have a seaside dinner, watching the sun set over the beach. Unfortunately we only got pictures of the sunset and not what we ate. I got the crabcakes and Shannon got some sort of seafood pasta. The food was good and the views were great – Highly recommended!

The clouds started rolling in, which made the downtown city lights look cool so I snapped a pic of Shannon in the hotel parking lot before crashing for the night.

More of our trip recap to be posted soon…

This fall I spent more than I should have on pumpkins for my front porch (#sorrynotsorry). I didn’t want to let them go to waste so I cut them open, roasted the seeds, and decided to cook the flesh from any of them that Google said were edible. Turns out, only one was recommended for cooking. So, I lugged the giant sucker home for the holidays where my mom had a pot big enough for the soup it was going to make, and where there were more people to help me eat the gallons of soup it made. I really wasn’t following any particular recipe – I just used ideas I had seen in various blogs, Instagram feeds, magazines, cooking shows, and tasted in restaurants, (as evidenced by the random mix of spices used). Also, I decided to cook it all in one giant pot but if someone had the time, patience, and willingness to do dishes, then roasting the squash before cooking it into the soup would be ideal. Alas, I did not so one pot soup it was.  If I make this soup again (and I probably will), I will obviously make a smaller batch. So, the recipe below is my attempt at capturing what I did but also cutting the quantities down to make a more reasonable batch of soup. Honestly, who really needs 3 gallons of squash soup?! *Special thanks to my mom and baby sister for helping me cut, peel, cook down, and blend the massive amounts of squash for this soup.

Spiced Squash Soup

Ingredients

• 8 cups of peeled and cubed squash (I used pumpkin, butternut squash, and sweet potatoes in a 4:2:1 ratio)
• 2 sweet onions, chopped (1 onion per 4 cups of squash)
• 2 cloves of garlic, chopped (1 clove per onion)
• Vegetable stock (enough to cover the onions, and ultimately the squash)
• 2 apples, chopped (1 apple per onion)
• 1 tbsp of brown sugar
• Poultry seasoning
• Pumpkin pie spice
• Cayenne pepper
•  Salt and pepper
• Heavy cream (optional)

Directions

In a large pot, cook the onions and garlic in enough stock to cover them. Add in the cubed squash and apples and season with salt and pepper. Add in more stock (enough to submerge the squash but not too much to where the squash is floating in stock). Cook down until the squash and apple chunks fall apart when you stir the soup. Add in the seasonings (brown sugar, poultry seasoning, pumpkin pie spice, and cayenne (be careful with this one). Adjust salt and pepper and spices to taste. Stir and cook down another 10 minutes. With an immersion blender (or regular blender or food processor) puree the soup until the desired consistency (I prefer mostly smooth). Taste and adjust seasonings. Continue to cook down until desired thickness (I prefer thicker soup than a runner one with this). If the soup gets too thick, thin out with more stock. Right before serving, add in a few splashes of cream for added richness (optional).

One of my favorite things in this area is Triangle Restaurant Week! TRW happens about 4 times a year and it’s a great way to get to experience some great local restaurants. Participating restaurants offer a prix fixe menu of three courses that is meant to showcase all that the chef and that restaurant have to offer. I try to visit at least one but sometimes two or three new places each restaurant week.

The last TRW happened back in June. My friend, Kelly, and I went to Plates Neighborhood Kitchen. This actually wasn’t the first time I visited Plates but I was happy to go again. Their tag line is “Globally Inspired Locally Produced” so all their food has an international origin but uses local produce and sometimes a slight southern spin.

Plates is located in the Glenwood South district of Downtown Raleigh. There are a lot of cool restaurants and bars in that area so its a fun part of town to walk in the evening. The people watching is also great! Across the street is a motorcycle shop/bar/coffee joint and there may or may not have been some hunky looking dudes we got to admire. I digress…

I don’t normally drink much when I go out to eat but TRW is an exception. I think its a great chance to see what cool cocktails the bartenders can mix up. There were a lot of really neat cocktails on the menu but I was really feeling the sangria. I must admit that I was a little disappointed with my choice. It wasn’t bad per say but it wasn’t very strong and I have definitely had better glasses of sangria.

Once my whistle was wet I took at look at the menu. I thought it was pretty cute that the menu was put on a clipboard. While the restaurant week menu is a three course dinner, the server takes your order for all three courses at once. I decided on the ceviche, the catch of the day, and the blackberry chocolate torte. Before we ordered, the server did tell us about some of the specials they had that weren’t part of the TRW menu, one of which was gazpacho. I asked if I could have that as my first course but they don’t allow substitutions. So, I decided to splurge and order a cup anyways. I definitely went the all seafood route and Kelly went the all beef route with the tartare, steak, and toffee pudding.

My first experience with ceviche was in San Diego and was outstanding so this dish had big shoes to fill. This particular ceviche was pretty interesting as it had sweet potato chips and corn nuts. It was fresh and had a nice, clean flavor but I think I prefer the more traditional version of ceviche.

Because the ceviche was a little disappointing, I was excited for my gazpacho. Lucky for me it did not disappoint! It honestly was the best gazpacho I’ve ever had! The server told us that the secret was that they put some of their homemade focaccia bread in the soup – who knew?!

Kelly’s first course was the steak tartare but this particular version was the coolest tartare I’ve ever seen! It was Big Mac Tartare! The plate had basically a fancy, deconstructed mini Big Mac, all the way down to the tiny fries, pickles, sauce, and sesame seeds!

Our entrees came out shortly after and looked delicious! The catch of the day that I got was Mahi-Mahi, and it was cooked perfectly. The fish came with a romaine salad wedge with a corn salsa, which tasted a lot like the ceviche so that was a bit of a bummer. I would have preferred some different flavors but I knew the dishes would be similar when I ordered so that’s on me.

Kelly’s steak was perfectly cooked as well and the loaded baked potato cakes looked yummy!

I think we were both more excited for our desserts! Kelly’s toffee pudding reminded me a lot of a salted caramel bread pudding. It was a little too sweet for my liking but the fresh whipped cream was a nice balance.

The blackberry chocolate torte that I got was the perfect ending to our meal – it was rich but not heavy, I think because of the fruit mouse. Next to the gazpacho, it was my favorite.

While some of the food was a little lack-luster, the service was great! Our server was very attentive and funny. I also love the ambiance at Plates, particularly their patio area. Overall it was a good dinner and I will definitely go back.

Wait. Before you turn your nose up at the idea of an onion pie, hear me out. This pie is like what would happen if french onion soup and a quiche had a baby, except better! The idea of this recipe came from an issue of Southern Living many years ago that featured a recipe for an onion pudding. My family now makes onion pudding every year for Christmas with our roast beef.

A recent Pie-Day event at work got me thinking about what I could do for an original savory pie, so I decided to try putting the pudding into a pie crust. I didn’t have a chance to test the recipe so I just crossed my fingers and hoped it turned out, which it did and I won best savory pie!

I make a few alternation to the recipe that I think make the dish. First, I use more onions than the recipe calls for. I just prefer more onions to filling. Second, I add fresh thyme. I really think this makes the dish. Finally, I top the pie with a thin layer of freshly grated Parmesan, because cheese!

Sweet Onion Pie

Ingredients

• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup of whipping cream
• 2 oz freshly grated Parmesan cheese (1 oz reserved for topping)
• 1 and 1/2 tbsp of all purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon of sugar
• 1 and 1/2 tsp of baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• several sprigs of fresh thyme, leaves removed (a hearty tablespoon or more to taste)
• 1 stick of butter
• 3 medium or 2 large sweet onions, cut in half and sliced thin
• 1 pie crust

Directions

In a large skillet (cast iron preferred) over medium heat melt the butter and add the sliced onions. Cook until the onions are caramelized and are a light brown color (approximately 30-45 minutes). Remove from the heat to cool to room temperature.

Slightly pre-bake the pie crust for 5-10 minutes at 375°. The crust needs to barely just start turning brown and be slightly baked to prevent the bottom from getting to soggy when adding the wet ingredients but not too done that it over bakes while the filling cooks. Once the pie is slightly golden, remove from the oven to cool for 5 minutes.

In a medium bowl whisk the eggs with the cream. Add in the flour, baking powder, 1 oz of the cheese, and seasonings. Mix well. Stir in the sliced onions. Pour filling into the pie crust and top with the remaining 1 oz of Parmesan cheese.

Bake the pie at 350° for 30-45 minutes until the crust is golden brown and the filing is set. Allow to cool slightly before serving to make cutting easier. Serve warm.