Miro District Nashville

My best friend in the whole wide world ran away to the mountains and eloped with the love of her life a few weeks ago! So naturally when she came back to town I took her out on a fancy date to celebrate!!
We went to Miro District in hopes of having a nice quiet French meal fit for a newly married goddess and her bestie (that’s me).
Despite hearing a couple of not-so-great things about this place, I had also received some positive feedback, specifically that they had acquired a new chef recently who means business with French inspired cuisine.
The decor in Miro District is clean and simple. A white table cloth kinda place that has zero personality.
Let’s hope the food is better.
We ordered a couple of small plates to start with which we devoured like wild animals.
Success!!
Sauteed chicken livers with little toast rounds and fresh apple…Oh man!
Delicious! Hearty, velvety, dark, and perfect for the season.
I haven’t had Chicken Livers since I was a little girl, but hot damn they are divine!
Maybe it was the lighting issues I was combating and perhaps it is just that Chicken Livers are difficult to make beautiful no matter what, but the pictures of the chicken livers came out so horribly that I must spare you.
We also split the Goat Cheese Tart with arugula salad and fig jam.
Delightful! Much like a tangy savory cheesecake.

This was followed by a heavenly entree of Swordfish atop razor-thin sliced potatoes in a soft buttery lemon infused broth with herbs and carrot slivers.

Nicely done. I could have drank that broth with a straw if I was so inclined.
My super special awesome just-got-hitched best friend ordered this hearty brown stew of fava beans, mushrooms, and braised rabbit (which like the chicken livers, was not very pretty to gaze upon….again I held off on the photo representation…)
But the meal was lovely. She took a bite of mine, I took a bite of hers. We laughed, we commiserated, we enjoyed our food!
We both agreed that we should go camping with that stew. Perfect bonfire deep woods fare!
My Swordfish was perfect and the Chicken Livers I actually dreamed about eating the very next night!
Unfortunately, the dessert options were as boring as the decor.
Bread Pudding, Vanilla Ice Cream & Berries, Creme Brulee……YAWN.
We went ahead and ordered the Creme Brulee, because we just wanted something sweet.
It was actually really tasty (despite the complete lack of garnish. No berries, no mint…nothing).

(This photo isn’t that spectacular either, but I was having kind of an off night with the photography so you know, whatever).
But you see what I mean about it being utterly boring?
Guh. Next time perhaps.

Camera issues and boring dessert options aside, the food was really top-notch and I was very pleased with what we ordered.
There are more and more excellent restaurants popping up around Nashville so it is extremely important to stay on top of your game and consistently create creative and playful dishes that represent the season accurately. Other than the boring decor and snoozefest of a dessert menu, Miro District succeeded at impressing us enough to win our return visit.

http://www.mirodistrictnashville.com

Second Chance Tasti D Lite…

I promised to give Tasti D Lite a second chance and being a lady who keeps her promises, earlier this week I did just that.
I tried a couple of the daily flavors (raspberry cheesecake was pretty refreshing and fruity (albeit lacking any authentic cheesecake flavor) and peanut butter mounds was an interesting peanut buttery coconut concoction that sounded like it wouldn’t work but for some reason it did.
I decided to try another custom blended flavor and went with Chocolate Mint smothered in chocolate sprinkles. I was disappointed when I realized I couldn’t get it on a cone but then I remembered that I’m not 6 years old and I could deal with it.

I noticed that all of their hand-filled pints and quarts in the freezer were buy one get one free which is a really great deal if they have a flavor you can’t live without.
All things considered, my second experience was definitely better than my first and the Chocolate Mint was light and delicious.
I will say that I wish that Tasti D Lite was actually a frozen yogurt shop instead of a soft serve dairy dessert place….. I just love that tangy yogurt flavor you get at places like Krave. (Yeah I know…I never shut up about Krave)
But Tasti is pretty good too if you have a hankering for a lower calorie frozen treat!
http://www.tastidlite.com

Food-related T-shirts

Food T-shirts are awesome.
‘Nuff said!
Enjoy!
“BURGERTEE”

http://select.threadless.com/product/1896/Burgertee/Panayiotis_Terzis

“Baron VonFunburger’s Haunted Castle Calvacade”

http://www.threadless.com/product/1863/Baron_VonFunburger_s_Haunted_Castle_Cavalcade

“The Apple”

http://www.threadless.com/product/1855/The_Apple

“Lemon-Aid”

http://www.threadless.com/product/1306/Lemon_Aid
“Pancakes Mountain”

http://www.threadless.com/product/1744/Pancakes_Mountain

I kinda want to move to Pancake Mountain. Mmmmmmmmm rivers of Maple syrup…

Olive & Sinclair Southern Artisan Chocolate

If you don’t like chocolate we can’t be friends anymore. I’m sorry if you suddenly find yourself in this category but I have to draw the line somewhere.
Dislike of chocolate is my line.
Chocolate is one of the most perfect things ever created.
The darker the better!
(insert Lisa Lampanelli joke here)
Chocolate has always been there for me.
Through it all.
Whether the occasion was one of absolute joy or not so joyous like the time my high school sweetheart dumped me right after prom.
(which was awesome by the way…)
The only thing better than chocolate is chocolate with other things mixed in.
Caramel, peanuts, coffee beans, or even sea salt! (who knew?!)
And the only other thing better than chocolate with other tasty treats mixed in is locally made chocolate that meets all of the criteria I just mentioned.
Which brings me to Nashville’s newest addiction Olive & Sinclair Southern Artisan Chocolate Company.
Holy Hell this is some serious chocolate.
Just pause for a second and check out the awesome design work that went into the wrapper!

If that’s not enough to impress you then maybe the fact that Olive & Sinclair roasts their own beans from scratch and aside from a little help from their friends, is pretty much a two man operation!
Impressed yet?
No?
Well you should just eat the chocolate then and we will see how long you stay unimpressed..
I’m giving you 4 seconds.
Yeah that’s right. It’s fucking delicious.

Of the three flavors I tried, the coffee bean stole my heart.
I live for espresso and we have already established my affection for chocolate.
Marry these two in a lusty union and its definitely a party in your mouth.
A crunchy, velvety, bittersweet, pleasure ride of awesomeness in your mouth. (insert second Lisa Lampanelli joke)
The sea salt flavor puzzled me in a delightful and spectacular way.
The salt really aided in cutting some of the bitterness of the chocolate and was super fun to try out.
I had the chocolate bars for about a week glaring at me from my kitchen counter and the suspense was just about killing me.
Sea salt and chocolate? How does that work?
If I was more of a foodie I could probably better articulate why…but I’m not, so we will just say that Olive & Sinclair’s Sea Salt chocolate bar is kind of like being in a golden sailboat right at sunset on the high sea of sexy.
But in my mouth.
And good old super dark 75% was off the freakin chain y’all.
Talk about a fantastic experience for my taste buds.
Oh, and being the nice lady that I am, I even allowed other people to assist me in the sampling of my chocolate bounty and let me tell you, everyone involved did a little eye-closing and groaning in approval.
(It got pretty pornographic by the third bar).

In conclusion, all three sampled were ridiculous.
In a good way. In an amazing write-home-to-your-mother kinda way.
Coffee Bean is my new Shark week chocolate of choice.
Seriously. Less people might die thanks to Olive & Sinclair.
They may not yet realize it, but these guys are social workers. Heroes. Saving lives and curing heartaches one insanely scrumptious chocolate bar at a time.

http://www.oliveandsinclair.blogspot.com/

Marche Lunch with my buddy Christie

I can’t think of a more perfect place to enjoy the flavors of Autumn than Marche in October.
Apples, squash, warm breads, and nutty cheeses, and Drews Brews thick french coffee.
Day-um!
Last week my pal Christie and I lunched like the fabulous ladies we are and tore up some delicious food in the process.
Yes, I said “tore-up”…..I’m such a lady!
First, we dove into a hearty piece of wheat farm bread topped with melted cream brie, fresh gala apples, and warm sweet honey…nomnomnom.

Christie ordered the smoked trout with potatoes and wasabi slaw…

I didn’t try it but she said it was awesome.
I ordered the egg salad sandwich with lentil salad. Classic and simple but always tasty!

I love Marche. It’s not a big secret. It’s a staple in my diet and 3 blocks from my house!
Here is Christie enjoying her cup of Drew’s Brews coffee!

Thick French is where it’s at on a dreary October afternoon!
http://www.drewsbrewscoffee.com/
Yummm!
http://www.marcheartisanfoods.com/pages/home.html

What I should eat vs. What happens sometimes..

This is what I should eat every day for lunch in order to keep more junk from piling up in my trunk.

I grilled chicken with veggies a few times last week and it was delicious, healthy, and didn’t make me feel like a loser post consumption.
And then THIS is the result of not eating at all throughout the day (aside from unhealthy amounts of espresso) and then working a twelve hour shift to return home to an empty house…

This sinful photo, if you cannot tell, is a big bowl of tortilla chips smothered in a fantastic cheese blend and melted to saturated fat perfection.
This is not the path you should take all of the time, but sometimes you just need to melt cheese on something and devour it while watching last week’s glorious episode of Vampire Diaries.
SHAMEFUL.

Smoooothie city..

Lately I have been making Smoothies in the morning because fruit has a lot of fiber and fiber helps you poop and I need help sometimes doing that.
Perhaps that is TMI for you but everyone poops. Except sometimes me.
Which brings me back to the importance of fiber.
It’s important.
(FYI I used to work at Smoothie King and all of their fruit is soaked in sugary syrup aside from the bananas…those smoothies are a dieters nightmare!!!)
In my morning smoothies I use organic frozen peaches, white nectarines, blueberries, strawberries, pineapple, blackberries, raspberries, Orange or apple Juice, fresh banana, greek yogurt, and honey.
They are delicious. And I would know because I am an expert on delicious.

I also like that my smoothie sparkles in the sunshine like Edward Cullen’s tortured soul.
Here is another smoothie I made that was just as delicious but noticeably less Twilight-themed…

And here are some gorgeous roses I bought that totally match my smoothie color scheme.

You should eat more fruit.
And buy flowers.
You deserve it.

Pumpkin Spice Latte and Pumpkin Streusel Muffin and mounds of delicious Homework.

I’ve been basically swimming in homework for weeks now. Long story short, I went against what was suggested for my class load by my ADVISOR this semester and in the process have pretty much screwed myself into a lonely homework corner of sadness and paper-writing.
It’s cool though. I really want to GTFO of college.
But I’m always doing something school related instead of food blog related….so it’s tough to balance..
It’s hard to admit that my little baby Gimmeyummy has suffered because of my schedule.
Not to mention that my social life has vanished entirely aside from good ole Facebook.
Ha!
Hell, I shouldn’t even be doing this blog post right now, but I’m all rebel yell on the inside and what not and whatever…. so here it is.
AND I wrote 3 papers today so I’mgoingtodowhateverthehellIwant.

Really the only thing getting my ass through this jungle of college work is coffee.
Specifically the Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte.

Makes my toes warm and my brain relax.
But I’m a big fan of anything pumpkin.
Which brings me to this very very delightful Pumpkin Streusel muffin of goodness from Costco’s Bakery!

YEAH.
Costco has a bakery.
And it’s effing spectacular so don’t hate.
I mean…just look at the close-up I have provided you…

That is some seriously tasty muffin action.
Now I must go write a paper on behavioral disorders so bear with me kids….I promise I’ll be back!!

P.S. I just got my very first iPhone so now I can totally take more pictures of yummies to post! YEEHAWW TECHNOLOGY!