The Friday Five

1. What I’m Reading:

I picked this book up from the library for two reasons: 1)Ellen is hysterical. 2)I say that all the time. I haven’t started it yet, but I’m sure it’s a gem.

2. What I’m Listening to: NOT CHRISTMAS MUSIC. I can’t get into it this year. I do love “Eyes on Fire” by Blue Foundation:

3. What I’m Watching: Dom Mazzetti on repeat. Can’t stop watching this tool. Here’s the latest video about Christmas.

4. What I’m Eating: Um, did you see my post on Hall’s Chophouse? What else… Mmm, these.

5. What I’m Pinning: Oven fried pickles ! ! ! ! ! !

What are you up to this weekend? So far I have plans to work out & have lunch with Amanda, a Christmas party, a photo shoot, maybe some Trio dancing action… HAVE FUN!

My Chick-fil-A Wish List

So, some people have birthday or Christmas wish lists. I have Chick-fil-A menu item wish lists.

Normal for most of society? No. For me? Totally. The following is a list of items I’d probably have a heart failure if I saw pop up on the menu.

Let’s do it countdown style…

5. Coke Float, Root Beer Float…heck, even a Sprite Float

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This one is so easy. Plop some of that wonderful (low-fat, by the way) icedream into a cup full of soda and BAM, it’s a float. Done and done.

4. Blueberry Pie Milkshakes

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I know they have blueberry topping for the cheesecake. They need to throw some of it into some ice cream, add some cookies, blend, and serve. Mmmmm. I’m thinking it should debut in the Summer. Are you listening Chick-fil-A?

3. Grilled Chicken Quesadilla

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So this one would be a little work. You know those wraps they have? Ok, they don’t have to be rolled. Take one, fill it with grilled chicken strips from the Southwest Salad, throw in some of that tomato-corn salsa, add cheese, and voila, Chick-fil-A goes Mexican. Olé!

2. Strawberry Lemonade

Shhhh, let me tell you a secret. My first job, at 15 years old, was a carhop at Sonic. I wore skates for one day, crashed into a car, and then it was only sneakers for me. During my 6 months there, my beverage of choice was Strawberry Lemonade. Chick-fil-A has the best lemonade ever. If they threw some strawberries in there, I’d do cartwheels.

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1. FRIED PICKLES!

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Anyone that reads my blog knows that pickles are one of my very favorite foods. Chick-fil-A specializes in frying chicken and they just happen to have some of the best pickles around. Tossing some of those sour slices into the fryer has to be possible.

So, Mr. Cathy, and/or any Chick-fil-A big wigs…if you’re listening, can you make one of my dreams come true?

Readers: Which item on this list would you most like to see pop up on the menu?

OR

Have any other new item ideas? Shoot!

Highlights From The Weekend

Thursday: Mariah and I went for a run downtown after work. I absolutely love a)running with her and b)running down King Street. Why? Because a)she and I run at the same pace and b) there are babes galore. Super motivation.

After our run, we stopped at Midtown to refuel with frickles and beer. Totally rational.

I got that shirt at the Nike outlet last weekend. I want to wear it every day!

Friday: Mariah and I went to Hall’s for dinner. We split the blackened salmon salad and sweet potato fries. Absolutely amazing. As we were eating, we both kept commenting on how delicious it was. This was the 3rd time I’ve had this salad. Obsessed.

After dinner, we went to O-ku for drinks. We met some men at the bar who were visiting from NYC. For some reason, one of them wanted to use my lotion and I just felt the need to snap a picture of him with it. Honestly, I just wanted a pic of his stache. Horrendous.

Saturday: This babe and I went to lunch at Boulevard Diner. I had never been there before, because I tend to shy away from southern cooking. It’s awful for you, but wonderful when you’ve had too much to drink the night before. I ordered the pulled pork with lima beans and corn bread.

The pork was excellent but the lima beans had no flavor and the corn bread was too dry. Boo.

The babe ordered the ribs with sweet potatoes. They were HUGE. When presented with this massive rack, he asked the waitress, “How do I even start eating this? Can I get a bathing suit?” Sauce everywhere.

That evening, Amanda and I went back to Hall’s. This is not a joke and is indicative of how obsessive my personality is. Two nights in a row for the same salad. I would probably get it everyday if my budget allowed it.

After dinner, we went to The Macintosh, a new bar on King Street. We really liked it there! We ran into Ashley, too! Remember her? My favorite gym rat! Jenny came too! Love these ladies.

I’ll catch you up on the rest of the weekend soon…

What was the highlight of YOUR weekend?

Pickle Dog Tasting at The Joe!

As a birthday present—Good Lord, I’m still celebrating?—Charleston Pickle Company set up a very exciting pickle tasting event for my pickle crew and me. The Charleston RiverDogs baseball park is the only place in Charleston whose menu features a pickle dog. What’s a pickle dog?

A hot dog inside of a pickle.

Yup.

Amanda, Jess, and I (the original frickle tasters), along with my friend Nancy, went to The Joseph P. Riley park for some food fun. Honestly, we went in thinking that we were just there to try the pickle dogs and watch the game. It actually turned into a food extravaganza. Josh Gilkey, Director of Food & Beverage at The Joe, led us around the park to show us the many food options.

We started here:

Josh showed us that the park serves typical game food, but also healthier options like black bean burgers, pretzels & hummus, and veggie trays. He told us to sit tight while he went to gather some food. Look at the amazing view from the back of the park!

A few minutes later, a ridiculous amount of food was presented in front of us. We tried The Charleston Dog with coleslaw and okra.

The Dixie: a hot dog with coleslaw and pimiento cheese.

The Yankee: a hot dog with chow chow and spicy mustard.

The Elvis: a bun filled with a banana, peanut butter, and honey.

And the Pickle Dogs!!!

Ohhhhhhhhhh my gosh, we were in heaven. People walking by must have thought we were insane for standing around with all this food. We ended up sharing with some tourists from California – they loved The Elvis as much as we did. We also tried the black bean burger and everyone was very impressed with it. We’d all order this the next time we come back for a game.

Here’s Jess with The Dixie:

And Nancy with The Yankee:

Our second stop was The Nacho House where we tried two different types of nachos. The Vegetarian Nachos are topped with a Southwest bean mix, queso, sweet chili sauce, and pico de gallo.

The Chipotle Chicken Nachos are topped with chicken, a Southwest bean mix, queso, pico de gallo, and sweet chili sauce. I might be obsessed with these.

The last thing we tried was the Pig On A Stick. This is a foot long bacon-wrapped corn dog, or maybe we should call it a heart attack. Whatever the damage we did to our arteries was worth it.

After gorging ourselves with food, we played with the baseball cut out signs.

The amount of food we sampled was painful, but delicious. On the way home, Amanda texted me, “I feel like I need to throw up and die, but I would do it again in a second!!!”

And yes, we will be doing it all again. Stay tuned for Part II of The Charleston RiverDogs menu tasting…Burgers and DESSERT!!!

If there’s a pickle anywhere near ice cream, I’m going to lose it.

In a good way!

Humongous thanks to the Charleston Pickle Company for setting this up!!

Major thanks to Josh for showing us around and killing our diets!!

I <3 pickles too much.

Bambu for Mary’s Birthday

Wednesday was Mary’s 26th birthday, so a big group of us went to Bambu to celebrate. I had previously met the chef, Joaquin, at the Best of Charleston awards party. I let him know that I was coming in because I wanted to say hi. Right after we ordered our meals, Joaquin texted me telling me to come in the kitchen.

In the back waiting for me was a little sake glass bouquet of flowers! How sweet is this?

While we waited for our appetizers, I was suddenly presented with…….I kid you not…FRICKLES!!! Frickles at a sushi restaurant? How was this real!?
They were tempura fried and served with some kind of sauce that Lauren ended up stealing to put on her sushi. Both Jess and Amanda decided that these were the next best frickles after Midtown’s. I agree – tempura battered pickles are pretty ridiculous.

As part of my meal, I ordered the edamame & spinach dip served warm, crispy wonton chips. The last time I went to Bambu with Diana and Lucy, a reader told me that I needed to try this appetizer the next time I went in. Thank goodness for her recommendation – this was absolutely delicious. The whole table was raving about how good it was. It was topped with panko breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese – to die for!

I also ordered a unique roll that was wrapped in cucumber instead of rice. This is the Coleman Blvd roll with tuna, salmon, yellowtail, scallions, asparagus wrapped in cucumber with ponzu sauce.

Without the rice, it was a lighter roll and you could really taste the freshness of the fish. Although it really didn’t need any sauce, I ended up dipping it in Jess’s ponzu sauce. That citrusy sauce is hard to resist!

After we all finished our meals, the birthday girl was surprised with dessert! Our whole table got these amazing sugary cinnamon dough balls with warm caramel sauce. One bite in, Jess declared, “My life has changed forever.” They were that good.

Perhaps the most exciting event of the evening (after the surprise frickles, of course!) was my next surprise. Joaquin had made me Pad Thai to go for tomorrow’s lunch! Lauren and I plan on eating this at work tomorrow, Lady & The Tramp style.



Shout out to Lauren – it was great to meet you!