Fast Food Junkie

I was recently called out on my somewhat out of control LOVE of fast food. Not all fast food, but I definitely make some questionable food choices on a regular basis. I became a fast food fanatic last semester during my initial exploration of the world of unkosher meat products. At that point in time I was dancing 13 hours a week not including rehearsals and performances. The best perk of being a dance major is that I never have to go to the gym, and I really don't have to watch what I eat very much because of all the physical activity. Unfortunately, I am graduating in May, and will have to seriously change my eating habits when I don't have the same physical exertion built into my schedule.... but for now I can eat as much greasy fried food as my overworked heart desires!

Unlike many other food bloggers I am a food lover, NOT a food snob. I'll try anything once, and chances are, if it's fried, I'll probably enjoy it.

Over the course of the past seven months of working at a Restaurant I've had a surprising amount of drive-thru meals on the go. I think at this point I have narrowed down my favorite artery clogging meals at each joint.

I'll start with the big honcho himself, Micky D's of course! I will fight to the death with anyone who claims that there are fries that are better than Mc Donalds golden crispy fried potato slivers (except of course the duck fat fries, which I have yet to find).

Another favorite is their oreo Mcflurry (580 calories), and if I'm feeling particularly reckless with my body the McGriddle (420 calories), Cinnamon Melts (460 calories), and the McRib (500 calories) never fail me. Oh, and their iced coffee is my new obsession... clearly I'm a fan.

However, this is not my favorite fast food joint. My go-to food while drunk, sober, tired, hungry, happy, sad, basically anything but classy, is fried chicken!!! So of course, being in Louisiana I have many options to choose from. To be honest, some of my favorite deep fried thighs come from shady gas stations for 99 cents a piece. But when I'm not in the mood for sketchiness Popeye's is golden. Their chicken is good quality (shocker) and their dirty rice might be my favorite dirty rice in the city (sad, I know).

I also really enjoy Cane's, a local Chicken Tender franchise known for their spunky sauce and light and fluffy texas toast.

When I'm too late for Popeye's (they close at 1 am) and too far from Cane's I have sunk to low moments of craving my fried feathered friend to the point of going to KFC. Those were not proud moments, but they actually have a tasty spicy sandwich with bacon on a Hawaiian bun. It's no southern fried chicken, but it works. Plus, it's better than just getting chicken nuggets at Wendy's, which I do way too often, but they're only 99 cents! Clearly my cash flow dictates my meals, but the way I look at it, the more I save by eating shitty fast food, the more I can spend at fancy four star restaurants.

The only one of these drive-thru's which I hate is Burger King for three very valid reasons: 1. The King in their commercial seriously creeps me out. 2. I have not been able to find one thing on the menu I like. 3. I had the unfortunate mistake of trying their chicken fries. BIG mistake. Just trust me, don't do it.

I saved the best for last. It's not really in the same drive-thru genre as these other greasy establishments, but it is a gem among sketchier establishments. Get ready for it... Waffle House. Oh yes, so classy and soooo tasty. I'm not even kidding. People make fun of me to no end when I tell them how much I love waffle house, and I mean LOVE. So much so that I have been known to drive all the way to Arabi (30 minutes away) by myself to get my hash brown fix.

And I was lucky enough to be in the area today, ironically for an interview to be a fitness instructor, so I just had to go and get my fill of grease and cheese. If only the interviewer knew what I had just ingested, I would have had no chance of getting the job.

I usually like to get the "All Star," their biggest breakfast combo on the menu: 1 waffle, 2 eggs, 4 pieces of toast, grits or hash browns, sausage or bacon and coffee. But I actually exercised some form of restraint since I haven't danced in almost a month. Impressive, right?? Instead I got cheesy eggs and hash browns made "All the Way." That means they're covered (cheese), smothered (onions), diced (tomato), peppered (jalapeno), chunked (ham), capped (mushroom), topped (chili), and country (gravy). Oh yes, all of it! I was a little scared at first because I've never actually gone "All the Way" at Waffle House but it was actually pretty good. It would have been great if I had left out the overwhelming chili, but at least I know for next time. And there will be many more next times!

Home Sweet Home

After three weeks of vacation I'm finally back in the good ol' south, the land of crawfish and pickled pigs lips.

I was greeted by pleasantly warm weather and a giant Black Out cake from Mckenzie's, the most renowned New Orleans Bakery. They are most famous for their daubache cake, but my roommate Mackenzie (cute name coincidence) couldn't resist this dark chocolate wonder. Yes, she did buy the entire cake, and yes we are almost done with it only 24 hours later, impressive for three tiny ladies. I'm not usually a cake person, but this was incredibly moist and fluffy, so good that I even had to get seconds!

Another nice surprise waiting for me when I got home was my camera USB cord, which I was convinced I lost somewhere between here, LA, and New York. But alas, I found it, and now can share with you some more mouth watering photos of LA cuisine.

If it's not obvious by my previous posts, I am quite the fan of tasty breakfast food. My favorite place to go to brunch in LA is Campanile, a fancy award winning Restaurant on LaBrea, housed in a beautiful building which used to be home to none other than Charlie Chaplin. I usually order their enormous pastry basket and some form of eggs benedict, but once I saw their lunch menu I HAD to order their scallop dish and prosciutto salad.

The scallops were cooked perfectly, crispy on the outside but not overdone. These succulent fresh scallops were served with lardons and a light herbal dressing. It was absurdly tender. Divine.

The side dishes were also very enticing, the best was the long stemmed broccoli and Feta cheese.

I recently found another incredible brunch spot in LA. Larchmont Bungalow might be my new favorite restaurant on the west coast. Unfortunately it is a little ways away from my parents' house, but totally worth it! Their Mole Benedict is the best take on the classic poached eggs dish that I have yet to try. It comes with 2 poached eggs, roasted pepper, spinach, and mole-chicken sausage on brioche topped with hollandaise, pico de gallo, and crispy tortilla strips. Simply lovely.

I also had the luxury of trying their famous Red and Blue Velvet Pancakes, which were featured on thisiswhyyourefat two days after I had them!!!!!

They were the absolute definition of decadence, the cream cheese frosting was so rich and creamy it left me speechless; for a good five minutes all I could say was "Mmmmmmmm, sooooo gooood."

On the topic of creamy, I also got to frequent the BEST ice cream parlor I have ever been to. Mashti Malone's is a persian ice cream shop right off of Sunset, hidden in a little shopping center. It is truly a gem. I first discovered my love for rose water, saffron and pistachio ice cream two years ago when I first entered this eclectic establishment. I make it a point to go as often as possible, and I'm currently scheming different ways to convince the Whole Foods in New Orleans to carry it.

Finally, the last Restaurant worth mentioning is Haru Sushi, a spectacular sushi bar named after their badass female chef. Trust me, it is GOOD.

My Favorite Deadly Sin

Not surprisingly, Gluttony has always been a sin that I have happily engaged in... although sloth is a close second in my ranking of favorites. Over the past week and a half in New York City I have not failed in either regard, sleeping in until noon and eating my way through Manhattan. Here are some highlights... enjoy!

Of course no trip to New York is complete without a stop in Magnolia Bakery for some scrumptious cupcakes. Luckily, my wonderful friend Aria has a convenient connection that hooked us up nicely! Aside from the complementary cupcakes, Aria scored us some Banana Pudding that is seriously godly!

Although it is not a famous Big Apple restaurant, Tenzan is a staple for my family. Though it has recently been remodeled, it once was a tiny little sushi bar, just blocks from Magnolia (and my Aunt and Uncle's apartment).

I've never had fish as fresh as at Tenzan. Their Toro and Chilean Sea Bass is to die for and I couldn't resist getting their Udon when a cold snuck up on me.

On my second to last night my Aunt and Uncle graciously took me out to Cafe Luxembourg, an adorable and outstanding French Restaurant, which has succulent Steak Frites, and Wild Boar Ravioli. To be honest, the ravioli was smothered in a citrus sauce, which I found overwhelmed the taste of the meat.

Although I was disappointed with my Wild Boar, I'm convinced that the recipe for my salad was a divine creation, made specially for me with my unique taste in mind. I know that sounds a little ridiculous but I have four words: bacon, cheese, poached eggs. I know, I know it sounds like breakfast doesn't it?!?! But let me tell you, it was phenomenal! I kept struggling to not scarf it all down in one bite. Half of me wanted to savor every bite, and the other half was so entangled by it's glorious combination of flavor and texture that I could barely stop myself from inhaling it.

While waiting for desert my cousin Michael discovered a new surprisingly good pairing. Get ready for it... hot chocolate and french bread. Seriously, it's actually really good! It tastes like a nice moist brownie/bread hybrid, a little on the soggy side but the crust stays nice and chewy.

Speaking of crust, I finally tried New York Whole Foods pizza. Now you're probably thinking that it sounds a little strange how excited I am to try it, considering the fact that there are Whole Foods stores everywhere; however, my friend Joanna, a native New Yorker, has assured me many times that the pizza at the Whole Foods in NY is a thousand times better than back home. Honestly, I was pretty skeptical, but after hearing her rave about it on New Years I knew I had to try it out for myself. Let me tell you, I should not doubt her again, it was great, and very experimental. They had Hoison Chicken with Tangerine, Calamari pizza (which was too salty), and here's my favorite: Fennel Grape pizza, it was delicious!

For dinner tonight we ordered in from a nearby chinese restaurant. Of course, Michael and I decided to get a feast of pork products, including spare ribs, fried pork dumplings, and pork buns. Yummmmmmy.

Which reminds me, I had another incredibly unhealthy, but delicious breakfast on the go this morning: Bacon and Tea. Literally. That's it. It was AWESOME.

SnakeBite!!!!

Considering it is already 3 in the morning here in New York, this is probably going to have to be a short post, but I could not fall asleep before sharing my new delicious find. After months of pining after this drink my taste buds finally found what they were looking for!

A snakebite is a delicious combination of Beer and Cider. As a notorious hard apple cider connoisseur, my beer savvy roommate Mackenzie first taught me about this delightful concoction about six months ago after returning from the UK, where it originates. This beer cocktail truly wonderful and I highly recommend it to all those Woodchuck drinkers out there, who have slightly outgrown their alcoholic sweet tooth and are in need of something slightly more mild. Cheers!