Dining In: Myrtle Beach - Landry's Happy Hour

The last beach trip of the year is always a sad time when you realize that the long summer days and backyard bbqs will end in a few months. Although with the heat wave in NC this year, I have to admit that I'm looking forward to fall. 

Myrtle Beach is a quick 3.5 hour drive and makes for a great weekend getaway. Not only that, it is in SC, which has entirely different happy hour laws (thank goodness). My friend had been talking about the Landry's happy hour for a while so we made a point to head there on Saturday evening. All the food is anywhere from $3-5 per portion and they have a generous list of beers and cocktails that also range from $3-5. 

If there is something to indulge in for an affordable price at the massive Broadwalk on the Beach in Myrtle, it would be this place. Bring some good company and enjoy the food and drinks from 4-7 pm. A three hour HH is what I'm talking about. 

Crawfish Queso (Oh, how I miss texas). 

Crab Stuffed Shrimp with Bacon.

Fish Tacos.

We also ordered Fried Sweet Pickles and several of their drinks, which all were quite good. I would recommend the Mango Mojito. If you are headed to Myrtle Beach any time soon, go take advantage of this gem, but get there early as the bar seating does tend to fill up quickly around HH. 

See ya Landry's until next summer! 

Caramelized Onion Rolls

To continue along the vein of flavorful breads, I recent tried caramelizing onions to make some veggie burger buns. The caramelization process took approximately 25 minutes and because I didn't use butter I didn't quite get the browning that I would have liked. But I suppose this is healthier.

Caramelized onions with white wine, white wine vinegar, brown sugar, and dried oregano. 

These buns were sandwiched around potato and white bean veggie burgers (recipe here) that we threw on the grill. 

Just in case the veggie burgers were too healthy, we also made salt and vinegar chips. 

Since it will be raining all week, there will be no more grilling for a while. Have a great weekend and enjoy my favorite month, JULY! 

Dining In: Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico provided much-needed R&R before I started the next phase of my professional life (no, the next phase is not full-time food blogging, which The Husband likes to helpfully remind me). The trip had absolutely no itinerary aside from reading on the beach and eating good food.

On our first night, we had dinner at the resort since it was too late to venture out for local food. Not bad for a resort burger - super juicy.

However, we vowed to avoid resort food for the rest of the trip since there were much tastier options available. Such as the local fare at Raices in Old San Juan: Shrimp Medley, Flank Steak Mofongo, Chicken Stew, and the Kan Kan Pork Chop.

  

  

Guava breakfast pastry at Isamar Bakery. 

Guava colada at Guava's in Luquillo, PR. 

Ceviche. This was yummy, but not as good as The Ceviche Hut along a strip of kiosks on Highway 3. 

Fried calamari. 

Conch with rice and beans. 

Octopus with mofongo.

Whole red snapper with mofongo and tangy sauce. 

Fish (chapin) Arepas Rellenos and Crab (jueyes) wrapped in fried plantains. 

Coco Frio! 

Overall, Puerto Rico was a gorgeous, lush island with tasty food and great beaches. I'd highly recommend taking a ferry or flying to Culebra for Flamenco Beach. It was beautiful! 

Hope you have a great Monday! 

Week in Austin, TX

Just got back from PR and after an ordeal of losing my luggage for a few days, I'm back and resting. The Fam is here and we're cooking up a storm of traditional Taiwanese dishes - more on that in future posts.

In the meantime, I wanted to share our recent (or not so recent since it was 3 weeks ago!) trip to Austin, TX - home of The Husband and our favorite city in good ole' Tejas. 

Late night trip to Taco C: A tribute to one of my graduate school class's old haunts on Greenville Ave after some cervezas.

The In-Laws treated us to a 7 lb lobster at Ho Ho (great name...) Restaurant. Imagine mouthfuls of lobster with every bite. Heaven. 

Bananarchy: "There's money in the banana stand!" Frozen chocolate-covered bananas layered with crunchy confections.

   

      

Smitty's Market BBQ. We still prefer Saltlick BBQ. 

Food Trailers: Odd Duck and Gourdoughs. Yes, the last 2 pictures are of doughnuts...

Torchy's Tacos: Fried Avocado and Trailer Park. (Never forget to make it "Trashy"). 

Austin has become a crazy food truck mecca since we left college. Hopefully, the Durham food truck scene will also continue to grow in the next few years. I'll definitely be tracking that evolution while we're here. 

Have a fabulous weekend and enjoy your local food scene! 

Dining In: Durham, NC - East Coast Chinese Food Express

Anyone who knows us in Durham will have definitely heard of the chinese place inside the Krogers (no, not next to the Kroger, inside of it). This is our go-to Asian food place when we are too lazy to drive to Cary or Raleigh. With prices that can't be beat and fairly spot on flavors - why not have some chinese takeout? 

I was highly skeptical on my first visit since this place is seriously inside the Kroger grocery store next to the Coinstar and the feminine hygiene products. But, those who have been brave enough to order from here have not been disappointed. 

They have various items written only in Chinese, which I have my parents decipher each time that they visit. Otherwise, you can point at the random pictures or English names of dishes that most commonly grace the menus of chinese take out places. The husband wife duo have been here for 11 years, which must mean something. 

Salt and pepper pork ribs. 

Sichuan Chicken and Eggplant. 

Hong Kong Style Wonton Soup.

**Edit

The Husband was sad that there was no happy statement so here goes: 

Have a happy Memorial Day weekend. Thank you for all our service men and women who have fought to keep us safe and free. 

No posts for a while as we'll be in AUSTIN!