Thursday, July 14, 2011

Hot Air Balloon Festival

Last weekend we got up bright and early and headed to Urbana to watch hot air balloons.

The site had a small carnival that was shut down at the time.


The first balloons...


Giant Strawberry Balloon


Grimes Field:


I've just started trying to edit some of my pictures with Picasa. I'm very proud of this one, I took out a man, 2 traffic cones and a few shadows... pretty good!
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Philly's Lolita



A while ago, one of my very best friends, Mary, came to visit me in Philly. Even though she was only in town for a little while we still had a fantastic time and managed to hit most of the Philly highlights. I took her to all of my favorite Philly spots including Max Brenner, Reading Terminal, and the Game Piece Plaza across from Love Park and City Hall. We even had time to experiment with Lush Cosmetic's henna hair dye.

Orange-Ginger Glazed Pork Carnitas
We stopped for a light dinner at Lolita, a BYO Tequila restaurant. Lolita is cash only which is kind of a bummer (I've had to run to the ATM both times I've eaten there, oops) but their dishes and margarita mixes are fantastic!
This is the "tamal de humberto con huatilacoche, pollo y mole rojo." Whew. In other words, its a chicken tamale with homemade masa (the corn tamale) and red mole sauce. The tamale was fantastic and huge. Between the two of us we split three apps, the tamale, orange-ginger glazed pork carnitas and Lolita's version of chips and guac. They serve their guacamole with traditional tortilla chips, slivered plantains and malanga de coco chips. Overall, I really enjoy Lolita. My only gripes are their $18/person minimum and cash only policies!
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Monday, July 11, 2011

Veggie Hot Dogs

After talking with friends and trying to be health conscious for a few months, I decided to give vegetarian hot dogs a shot. Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with the occasional Nathan's or Hebrew National dog but I figured I might as well give them a try.

I used a panini press grill to cook the dogs. I cooked them for about 4 minutes, 2 on each side until they were a little charred and sizzly.

I paired my dogs with shelled edamame, baby carrots, Sabra's delicious roasted pine nut hummus and TONS of yellow mustard.

So how did my taste test go? Not bad! The taste was okay, a little bland maybe. The biggest downfall of the veggie dog is probably the bite. A regular hot dog should have a little "crunch" or "pop" when you bite through the casing. These were a little... chewy? Maybe? I'm not sure what the right word would be. I give them about a 3 out of 5. Stay tuned for a veggie sausage review!