Month: November 2015

Happy Holidays!! Dining at it’s best!

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Live Action Quick Tips

Did you know….

Giving thanks for the Creator’s gifts had always been a part of Wampanoag daily life. From ancient times, Native People of North America have held ceremonies to give thanks for successful harvests, for the hope of a good growing season in the early spring, and for other good fortune such as the birth of a child. Giving thanks was, and still is, the primary reason for ceremonies or celebrations.

As with Native traditions in America, celebrations – complete with merrymaking and feasting – in England and throughout Europe after a successful crop are as ancient as the harvest-time itself. In 1621, when their labors were rewarded with a bountiful harvest after a year of sickness and scarcity, the Pilgrims gave thanks to God and celebrated His bounty in the Harvest Home tradition with feasting and sport (recreation). To these people of strong Christian faith, this was not merely a revel; it was also a joyous outpouring of gratitude.

The arrival of the Pilgrims and Puritans brought new Thanksgiving traditions to the American scene. Today’s national Thanksgiving celebration is a blend of two traditions: the New England custom of rejoicing after a successful harvest, based on ancient English harvest festivals; and the Puritan Thanksgiving, a solemn religious observance combining prayer and feasting.

Florida, Texas, Maine and Virginia each declare itself the site of the First Thanksgiving and historical documents support the various claims. Spanish explorers and other English Colonists celebrated religious services of thanksgiving years before Mayflower arrived. However, few people knew about these events until the 20th century. They were isolated celebrations, forgotten long before the establishment of the American holiday, and they played no role in the evolution of Thanksgiving. But as James W. Baker states in his book,Thanksgiving: The Biography of an American Holiday, “despite disagreements over the details” the 3-day event in Plymouth in the fall of 1621 was “the historical birth of the American Thanksgiving holiday.”(plimoth.org)

Today’s Restaurant

Mom’s House

Average Cost

It’s free besides the grocery bill..

Rating (1-10)

10

Recommended Dishes: 

All of my Mama’s cooking.. Recipes Found Here

I wanted to take the time to say Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas to all of my readers out there!

I hope you all had a fabulous Thanksgiving with much more eating to come when Christmas comes around.

I’ve added my Mom’s Delicious Southern Recipes that will make your dishes the success of the party; so make sure you take a look at them.

Outside of that, I had a great Thankgiving with all of my family coming together, with a super duper delicious meal that you see in the picture and another celebration of thanking our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ & Jehovah for all of the wonderful blessings we have had this year!

Our meal consisted of a mystical honey ham, succulent turkey, whimsical macaroni and cheese, unprecedented potato salad, dangerously flavorful cabbage, historical tidbits, flavor exploding corn, with soothing jasmine rice and mouth watering biscuits.

In one word I can say that would sum it all up..

Fulfillment!!

In one letter..

A

In a single number..

#1

In a single sentence..

True live action eating!!

Thanks for joining me in today’s adventure! I look forward to seeing you on the next run!

Cheers from my family to yours!!! God bless you all!

Eating is an enjoyable way of life.Live it..Learn it..Love it!

Trevis Dampier Sr.

References

William Bradford, Of Plymouth Plantation: S.E. Morison, ed. Knopf. N.Y., 1952. p 90 (2015 ) Thanksgiving History Retrieved from http://www.plimoth.org/learn/multimedia-reference-library/read-articles-and-writings/thanksgiving-history

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You can Inject me with the Flu as long as you give me some Smoked Pork Green Chile Stew!

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Live Action Quick Tips

Did you know….

The chiltepin, a wild relative of the cultivated chile, did grow in parts of Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and Northern Mexico prior to the arrival of the Spaniards, and the region’s inhabitants presumably used the plant (though direct evidence of such use is scant for precontact times, early Spanish documents record indigenous collection and use of chiltepin). These small, round, orange-to-red peppers with a spicy kick appear to have been used as a spice rather than as a foodstuff.

Cultivated chiles of the kind we celebrate in the Southwest today don’t seem to have been a major part of the diet north of the Mexican border until about the 1700s, and even then they were used primarily in areas with a substantial colonial presence. Minnis and Whalen argue that chiles may have been slow to gain popularity among indigenous Southwestern populations because they didn’t fit within long-standing culinary traditions that apparently favored bland foods. The spread of chiles seems to be a result of colonization, rather than just a yearning for spice in the diet. Colonization brought changes in the status of different kinds of foods, and colonial policies altered the foods produced and eaten by local populations.

In contrast, on the other side of the globe, chiles spread quite rapidly into Europe and Asia—where other kinds of spicy ingredients were common—after seeds brought back from Columbus’s second journey were cultivated in Spain, setting off what some have called a “minirevolution” in cuisine. The next time you dig into a tasty bowl of posole, pot of red or green chile stew, or green chile cheeseburger, consider the historical circumstances that led these foods to be so essential to New Mexican and Southwestern identity.(archaeologysouthwest.org)

Today’s Restaurant

Armadillo Willy’s – Sunnyvale, Ca

Average Cost

$11-$30

Rating (1-10)

10

Recommended Dishes: 

Smoked Pork Green Chili Stew, Hickory Bacon Burger, All of their BBQ

Everybody loves a good soup on a cold chilly day..

Better than soup is a stew..

And what better than a stew with smoked pork in it!

I tell you ‘Hands Down’ that this Smoke Pork Chili Stew from Armadillo Willy’s is one of the best stews I have ever had in my life on Earth!

Let’s talk about it..

Continue reading “You can Inject me with the Flu as long as you give me some Smoked Pork Green Chile Stew!” →

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These Grilled Pork Chops will make you ‘Sing a Happy Song’ when you Dine at Pho Kim Long!

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Live Action Quick Tips

Did you know….

The pork chop is one of the most perfect parcels of protein known to man (or woman), possessing a rich, intense flavor (in the way all meat attached to a bone is flavorful). It’s affordable, costing a fraction of what you’d pay for a comparably sized veal chop or beef rib steak. It’s respectable enough to eat with a knife and fork, but equally at home being raised to your mouth with your fingers (especially when it comes to gnawing the meat off the bone).

Pork chops come in four major types, each with unique characteristics, yet they’re similar enough to be interchangeable for most pork chop recipes.

  • Rib chop: Cut from the front ribcage section of hog. Includes a section of rib and a meaty medallion of pork loin. Available pencil-thin, two-fingers thick, and everywhere in between. As far as I’m concerned, the thicker, the better.
  • Loin chop: Cut from the back section of the hog. Includes a piece of loin and tenderloin connected by a T-shaped bone. When cut thick, it’s sometimes called a pork porterhouse.
  • Boneless loin chop: A lean round slice of pork loin with the rib removed. You could think of it as the pork version of a skinless boneless chicken breast.
  • Country-style rib: A long slender pork chop cut from the neck—technically, not a rib. May or may not contain a bone. This is one ”rib” that’s so tender you can cook it by direct grilling. And its per pound price is super attractive.(barbecuebible.com)

Today’s Restaurant

Pho Kim Long – San Jose, Ca

Average Cost

Under $10

Rating (1-10)

9

Recommended Dishes: 

Crab Noodle Soup, Pho of your choice, Grilled Pork Chops

So it’s getting close to Winter and starting to be a little chilly here in San Jose,Ca.

“Hold your horses Trev, I live in the East Coast and we’re talking NEGATIVE degree Fahrenheit not put on a thin sweater at 50 degrees..”

“Excuse the french, my dear Buns Frozen Friend, it was a bit chilly to us spoiled weather Californians..Is that better?”

Anywhoooo..

My wife and I were meeting some friends for dinner who are visiting from New York and they wanted something that can get their taste buds racing…

Something that they couldn’t get in New York that exploded the palate…

Something the Bay Area is known for..

That something is Vietnamese Cuisine at it’s finest.

And today the Vietnamese restaurant of choice is Pho Kim Long!

Let’s talk about it…

Continue reading “These Grilled Pork Chops will make you ‘Sing a Happy Song’ when you Dine at Pho Kim Long!” →

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Malaysian Food so Good it’s Hard to Speak When You are Eating at Banana Leaf!

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Live Action Quick Tips

Did you know….

Malay cuisine is known for its vibrant and diverse flavors, eclectic influences and rich history. Generally, Malay cuisine refers to food from Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Indonesia, Mindanao and Southern Thailand. It is within these areas that food enthusiasts will find some of the most interesting and complex flavors in the world. Malaysia specifically is comprised of 13 states, and is home to predominantly Malays, Chinese and Indians, but the population is a wonderful hub of cultures and ethnic groups, making the gastronomy here an exciting blend of spices, flavors and cooking techniques. Historically, Malaysia was part of an incredibly successful spice trade, most records of which date back to the 15th century.(theculturetrip.com)

Today’s Restaurant

Banana Leaf – Milpitas, Ca

Average Cost

$11-$30

Rating (1-10)

9

Recommended Dishes: 

Tom Yam Soup, Malay Sizzling Beef, Roti Prata, Coconut Rice, Indian Nasi Goreng

If you love Thai food, Indian food and Chinese food then you will love Malaysian cuisine!

This can be a spicy food eaters heaven with the delicious exotic masterpieces of flavor so be prepared.

Don’t get me wrong you can ask for mild spicy dishes, but to me when you do that, you lose about 10-15% of the flavor.

Enough with the foreplay..

Let’s dive in and talk about it..

Continue reading “Malaysian Food so Good it’s Hard to Speak When You are Eating at Banana Leaf!” →

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I’ll Walk the Plank for Skirt Steak at Left Bank!

STEAK FRITES 26 8 oz natural skirt steak 34 10 oz Certified Angus Beef rib eye French fries, includes choice of Bordelaise, green peppercorn sauce, or Roquefort butter

Live Action Quick Tips

Did you know….

Skirt steak comes from the “plate” beef cut, which lies in between the brisket beef cut and the flank beef cut. The belly of the beef cattle is comprised of the brisket, plate and flank cuts. Towards the front of the beef cattle is the brisket and the flank is near its behind. Some drawings/pictures omit the plate cut entirely and depict the beef cattle having just having the brisket and flank cuts; this is not the most accurate.
What exactly is a “plate” cut? The only plate a non-veteran of the beef industry is familiar with is either the noun which describes the object we eat off of or the verb that describes how we place our food. Similarly, what is the skirt steak? It is actually the diaphragm of the cattle. You may or may not remember from biology class that the diaphragm acts as a divider between the thoracic/chest cavity (heart, lungs, ribs) and abdominal cavity (intestines, stomach, etc).(homeyeats.wordpress.com)

Today’s Restaurant

Left Bank – San Jose, Ca (Santana Row)

Average Cost

$11-$30

Rating (1-10)

10

Recommended Dishes: 

Skirt Steak Frites with Roquefort butter and Green Peppercorn Sauce on the side!

Steak on it’s own is a delicacy that us meat lovers fantasize about daily!

There is just so many things you can do with a steak and it makes everything taste good.

Almost as good as bacon; but that is an entirely different story.

I love steak and eggs..

I love steak with gravy..

I love steak in soup..

I love a steak sandwich…

I’d love steak even if I had no teeth to eat it. I’ll borrow someone’s dentures to eat steak… Hahaha

A version of steak that I really love is Skirt Steak; and Left Bank has one to die for.

Let’s talk about it!

Continue reading “I’ll Walk the Plank for Skirt Steak at Left Bank!” →

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