Airplane Food Diaries: Japan Airlines

December 11, 2015December 17, 20151 Comment

When traveling abroad, one of the best experiences of going somewhere new is getting to try the food. While airplane food may not be at the top of that list, it is a chance to try flavors you might not otherwise. Usually, on a 5+ hour flight you have 4 options: 1) try to sleep; 2) bring your own non-perishable items; 3) take a chance on a random meal; or 4) starve. While options #1 and 2 seem the most practical, they are usually pretty hard to accomplish, especially when the hot food carts roll by and the heavy aromas meet your nose.

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Airplane food is, well, airplane food. It can sometimes be overheated, weird, or just not what your taste buds prefer. The meals during my Japan Airlines flights were… interesting. For someone not used to Japanese flavors, the foods were unique. The flavor palate was a combination of sweet, spicy, and sour. I was truely excited to try the meals. The packaging was so unique!

I was a little surprised at how each item was compartmentalized. My initial thought was on the level of detail that went into the presentation of the meal itself. It was kind of fun to unpack each item! Especially since I had no idea what I was uncovering. 😜

Here is a peek at my meals on two Japan Airlines flights; lunch and dinner. These are the meals they serve in regular class seating. They include a rice chip snack, entree with various sides, baked good, drink, and ice cream.

Enjoy!

Recipe: Strawberry Ghosts BOO!

October 25, 2015October 27, 2015Leave a comment

Happy Sunday! Hope everyone had a good weekend. Halloween is just around the corner, and I don’t know about you, but it’s one of my favorite holidays. If you are looking for Halloween themed recipe ideas, these Chocolate Covered Strawberry Ghosts are very cute and simple to do. I got the idea from a recipe I found on Taste of Home. To cut the prep time I used a ready-made white chocolate dipping cup and a cake gel tube to decorate. I will say that I didn’t realize the cake gel would not completely harden, so you have to be careful during prep.

Wishing you all a safe holiday. Let me know if you try this recipe out. 😊

IngRedients

15 Large Strawberries (Medium Package)

1 Cup Baker’s Dipping, Premium White Chocolate (7 oz)

1 Wilton Gel Tube, Black (0.75 oz)

Directions

Step 1

Prep the strawberries. Wash and pat completely dry. You want to remove as much moisture on the exterior as possible, as moisture will change the consistency of the melting chocolate when you are in the dipping process.

Prepare the dipping chocolate. Microwave the chocolate as per instructions.

Step 2

Dip the strawberries in chocolate. I found the best way to do this was to hold the strawberries by the head and spoon the chocolate onto the strawberry to avoid adding excess moisture to the chocolate. You must work quickly during this step as the chocolate in the cup hardens fast.

Place on a non-stick plate. I found that by linning my plate with wax paper, the strawberries were easier to remove from the plate.

Refrigerate. Freeze for about 5 minutes to make the decorating step easier.

Step 3

Decorate! Place the strawberries on your serving plate and decorate.

Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Happy Halloween!

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Sweet Adventures Around Thailand

October 22, 2015October 22, 2015Leave a comment

Here is a peek of some of the yummy treats we experienced in Thailand. During the trip we were able to try green tea ice cream and cookies, chocolate rum balls, luk chup, guava juice, and banana fritters, among other things. Everything was delicious! From the green tea ice cream to the sesame seed cookies, most deserts were light and not to sweet. My favorite desert by far was the mango sticky rice, a traditional Thai desert served with coconut milk and garnished with sesame seeds. Hope you enjoy! ☺️

Foodie Adventures in Chiang Mai, Thailand

October 20, 2015October 20, 20153 Comments

Chiang Mai is not just a beautiful city but it has amazing culture and food. Some of the best Thai food I had on my trip was from this province. Everything was just so full of flavor and spice.

We visited Chiang Mai on a whim, but now I regret not having spent more time there. We only spent two nights but managed to try some great dishes including Pad Thai, Pad See Ew, Tom Yum, and Khao Soi. The food in Chiang Mai was hands down the best out of the three cities we visited.

The flight from Bangkok to Chiang Mai is only an hour and can cost as cheap as $30. Here are a few photos of the food we tried. Enjoy!

The Purple Pig: Adventurous Eats in Chicago, IL

September 13, 2015September 14, 20153 Comments

Does eating roasted bone marrow, pig ears, pork belly, and squid sound exciting to you?! Yes? No?? 😋 I wasn’t exactly too thrilled to see all of those items on a menu for a restaurant my coworker suggested. But, he had his heart set on trying it out and it had over 3,000 reviews on Yelp, so I figured why not… I can always just order a salad! 😉

The location

Upon arriving to the Purple Pig, the ambience completely sets the tone, and I started to get a little excited for what was ahead. The entrance to the restaurant is off an alleyway on an overhead street. If you are not familiar with Chicago, let me first explain. The downtown Chicago area is made up of a series of multilevel streets. Very similar in a sense to San Antonio. Now the history behind it I’m not very familiar with, but I do remember that they explained on a tour that during the boom of the city, when construction was on the rise, everything was very concentrated in one area, so what people started to do was to literally sell air space rights above the land. For example, lets say you owned a parcel of land, constitutional rights stated that not only did you own the land, but you also legally owned the airspace above your land as well. So what occurred was that people would purchase the air rights to your land and build buildings at a level above, basically establishing whole streets built on top of another. This can be very confusing at times, especially when you are not familiar with a street and are looking for an address. Now circling back to the location of the Purple Pig, the entrance is located off of Magnificent Mile on an overhead pass of what would be considered an alleyway that looks down to the street below. It is easy to miss if you are not looking for the restaurant. And even if you do notice the sign, because the building itself sits in the back of the alleyway, you wouldn’t be able to tell what it was. However, when you do find it, you will be pleasantly surprised. The restaurant is very small and makes great use of communal seating. Inside, there is a wrap around bar which faces the open kitchen, so you can only imagine how loud everything can get. The night we went, the ambience was bustling. But from what I’ve heard, it’s supposed to be like that every night!

THE FOOD

My coworker is a big time foodie, so I have to credit him for making the restaurant selection. I have to say, I am very glad that we tried it. The Purple Pig specializes in small shareable plates with an international influence.

“Located at 500 North Michigan Avenue, the restaurant offers cheese, swine and wine, among other standout dishes, showcasing the flavors of Italy, Greece and Spain.” – The Purple Pig

When ordering dishes, we opted to order one plate per person to share. Sharing in this style proved to be a little challenging as some dishes came in small portions than others and we were a rather large group. If you are considering doing the same, I would suggest that you order at least two plates of the smaller dishes to share; or try not to go hungry… but who wants to do that? 😜

Click on the photos below to get a more detailed description. Enjoy!