Slurpee

Free slurpee day for 7/11 is on May 23. Why it isn't on July 11th I'm not sure but I hope y'all got to have your own sample before it's too late. Enjoy while frozen like this mango one because once it melts it's pretty disgusting.

Georgia Peach

One of the best tasting yogurts I've ever had. I don't usually like yogurt but this one is a keeper. Here's a discovery at the local Wholefoods: Brown Cow cream topped yogurt in peach. More watery than most yogurts but very tasty. I can eat at least one a day.

Veggie Rolls

Otherwise known as vegetable lumpia. That tasty, kind of healthy, crispy merienda.

Serve with sukang maasim (I use the Datu Puti brand). You'll know it by the onions, garlic and peppers floating around at the bottom of the vinegar bottle.

1 pack spring roll wrapper
1 lb ground pork, browned and then drained of fat
julienne the following vegetables to the amount you like:
- carrots
- green beans
- water chestnuts
half a small onion, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
- one small sweet potato chopped finely and fried
a handful of bean sprouts

Saute veggies together in the following order: onions, green beans, garlic, carrots, water chestnuts, bean sprouts, sweet potatoes. Add ground pork, season with soy sauce and pepper, and then wrap about a small scoopful of this deliciousness into a spring roll wrap and fold diagonally until you get a rough cylindrical shape going on. Seal the end with a little bit of water. Deep fry these babies in a pan and drain onto a paper towel before serving.

Ignore the oil, taste the flavor and just tell yourself that after your fifth one, you'll stop.

Red and Juicy

Mmm . . . Rambutan. Kicks lychee ass. You can find these in random grocery stores (I saw it advertised at King's once), or your local Chinatown vendor. If you're lucky enough, you'll be eating them sitting around a table with your relatives while basking in the sun on a tropical isle.

Mini Fail

Tried these a while ago at our local Burger King, and while cute and handy, they were bland and dry. Commercials you got me again.

Stack 'Em High, Stack 'Em Low

After a disappointing first attempt to head over to Stacks, the relatively new pancake house in Paramus, NJ, I decided to finally mosey on down there again. Will it be better this time around? 

 Our first attempt was back in June. Being pancake aficionados, my mom and youngest sister were excited to go, and being known for taking too long to decide on my orders, I took a look at the menu online prior to leaving. Lo and behold, there was a sign on the menu stating it was open 24 hours a day on Fridays/Saturdays. So we headed over after a day filled with some hard work and waiting for my other sister to get off work and getting lost along 17 (thanks a lot Darth Hugh for wasting my gas looking for u-turns all over 17 north and south). After what seemed like a ridiculously long journey and some stomach grumbling and near tears frustration only the hungry will understand, we reached the promised land around 11PM. Only to find out that no, in fact they aren't open 24 hours a day, despite the menu stating otherwise. Should've known better when there was no "hours" posted anywhere. There were still construction going on, a few stragglers chomping down, and some waiters who had no clue as to what their hours were. They were more interested in socializing with each other than knowing when they were open and closed apparently. We had to ask 2 servers and wait for the hostess to reappear before learning that they were "very sorry" but they were already closed for the night. 

Ready to punch someone in the face at this point, I shored up reserves of patience previously unknown to me and we drove as quickly as we could to another dining establishment almost guaranteed to not disappoint--Stateline Diner in Mahwah.

The second time around was a couple of months later and unfortunately, it did indeed not live up to expectations. Is it the gloom from my first experience coloring this post? Most assuredly not. This food was just ok but not great. We arrived at a very respectable time of 8PM. Our waiter, Nick was nice enough, and gave us our menus promptly with a cute basket of cornbread. It was yummy I admit, with a great sweet crusty top. It was like having the corner piece with each bite. I ordered hot chocolate as a drink and unfortunately most of the whipped cream was already melted by the time it reached our table (Nick seemed embarrassed about this and pressed upon us that there was indeed real whipped cream in our drink). The hot chocolate was good, so good that it was like taking a pouch of Swiss Miss with mini marshmallows into a mug and pouring hot water in it. I do believe it was Swiss Miss. For $2. A mug. 

I ordered the Hudson, a pancake wrapped around scrambled eggs, bacon, cheddar and home fries and served with a side of salsa. Unlike my sister and mom, I am not a big pancake fan. I like my pancakes flat, sprinkled with white granulated sugar and rolled up.  I wasn't even feeling pancakes at this point but if I went to a pancake house, I might as well try them. Pleasantly surprised that the pancakes were indeed fluffy, light, and sweet. Yummy. The wrap itself was huge, and I was served two pieces.

Sadly, this wrap wasn't too flavorful. I hardly tasted the bite in the cheddar, and the home fries were tasteless. Thank goodness for the pancake, bacon and salsa. Otherwise I wouldn't be able to finish it. My mom has a tendency to order too much. This time, she ordered another pancake wrap, Washington, and the chicken wings. Half hot for me, half mild for her. We got all hot the first time and had to send it back.  Was it worth it? They said the mild was good, but the hot sauce had too much of a vinegar taste to it and not enough sweetness to balance out the heat. Wish I brought my own bottle of Frank's Red Hot. Why? Because like the old lady said, "I put that Sh*% on everything."

I ate everything but a few pieces of the pancake wrap and one wing. After all that food, my verdict is I'd rather not return there again. Decor was fine, place was clean, plates were adorable, and I do love the stacked stone outside. Wait staff was attentive when he wasn't too busy copping a feel of the hostess' butt. Repeatedly. In plain view of the entrance. Classy dude. Real classy.

Stacks 

479 Rt. 17 South

Paramus, NJ

Shake Shack Shake Up

I like to peruse the internet for "Best of . . . " lists when I have the time. One of those lists happen to be the best burgers in America. Discovering this list I wanted to jump in the car and go right away but I reigned in the impulse because I was going into the city this weekend anyway. So off we went after having run a mile that morning with the dog, looking forward to some fish balls and burgers. I was planning on dragging my family over to the Shake Shack in the Theater District but since the Philippine Independence food area was located on Madison and 24-26th streets we found a Shake Shack right in the park there.

A plus is that this is where it all began. We went to the original shack and I was expecting a lot considering the line was long enough to be a 30+ min wait. Not that I was counting. I'm not sure whether the wait was due to hundreds of Filipinos there for the festival or that it was just that happening here but we dutifully stood behind a man with a box of craft beer from Whole Foods woefully warming in the spring weather. We finally ordered and the guy next to me joked about my ordering the whole menu. I ordered three single stack Shack burgers and three shakes (2 caramel and one Fair shake: Vanilla spun with coffee). 

Here's the handy dandy vibrating guest caller  and the receipt totalling a little more than 30 dollars. Thirty dollars for four people? It was good and considering it's NYC, I guess worth it. 

The only thing is, after the long wait to order, there's yet another wait for your food. However, I was not complaining as it means they cook it fresh. Yumm.

We got the food and it looked and smelled delicious. Grabbed an almost indecent amount of napkins and ketchup and joined the group.

Conclusion? Juicy and delicious. Worth it and I will be coming back. The meat patty looked hand assembled, slightly pink in the center and dripping with juice. The american cheese melted on it like a hot delicious glue to hold the burger in place with ripe red fresh tomatoes and a leafy lettuce. No iceberg for this baby. Amazingly enough the tomatoes did have their own flavor that added to it, they were small but there were at least three in there.  The shake was delicious but being "spun" with coffee, way too liquid to be called a shake. The caramel shakes were perfect in consistency but the Fair shake had better flavor. Just wished it was thicker. The fries were alright, I tried it with cheese but nothing special. Next time, these burgers coupled with Pommes Frites poutine. Match made in heaven. An added bonus? Lots of eye candy to be had.

Shake Shack
Southeast corner of Madison Square Park
Near Madison Ave. and East 23rd.
(Take the R/W to 23rd St.)
11A-11P