Cravings

A big part of the holidays is always the food, right? This past holiday season I enjoyed the traditional treats, but also had a chance to get hooked on a few new things that I have now been craving.

The first is the tomato bisque at The Loop. It is truly divine and even more delightful is the fact that my kids also love it (actually begging to go to The Loop for soup...not to mention that their salads and pizzas are good,too). So yesterday I picked up some tomato bisque from Fresh Market. Today we had the Fresh Market bisque with grilled cheese sandwiches and I am happy to report it has also become a family favorite. Which now means I am on the hunt for a good tomato bisque recipe. If you have one, please send it to me!

The second favorite new food discovery is Dale and Thomas Popcorn. Thanks to the Hess family we (ok mostly me) devoured one of their six sampler boxes. I am not usually a huge popcorn fan, but I am telling you there is something special about this popcorn. Now I know why it is one of Oprah's favorite things. Fresh, flavorful, and not full of kernels. My favorite flavor is the Twice-as-nice chocolate drizzle ...makes my mouth water just thinking about it.

And the third new discovery is BBQ Shrimp. Pris and Eddie swore this was an easy and tasty dinner and they kindly sent us home with two River Road seasoning packets (although I think we could use seasoning we already have for future dinners. We were lucky to have some very fresh locally caught shrimp and this is now a family favorite...super easy to make, quick, flavorful, and shrimp is a favorite food already (especially for Noah).

The fourth new delight is Galatoire's Godchaux salad. What a wonderful mix of flavors and textures. We had a nice, leisurely (ie no kids!) lunch with Pris and Eddie at Galatoire's Bistro and in addition to lunch they sent us home with the Galatoire's cookbook which means I will hopefully be able to replicate some of the good things we had that day.

I promise I am not receiving any endorsements or payment for singing the praises of the above listed companies/products. Just wanted to share some tasty discoveries. I recently heard an interesting interview with Michael Pollan which has prompted me to think more about savoring food and the communal aspect of dining. So in that vein, I share these new favorites with you. I am sure food will be the topic of future posts since I am getting ready to read Pollan's book "The Omnivore's Dilemma" for one of my bookclubs. After reading Barbara Kingsolver's " Animal,Vegetable, Miracle" I have made a stronger effort to buy locally grown produce (or grow our own). I have a feeling Pollan's book will spur me on to do even more.