Quick trip to NYC

In February, we decided to take a mini vacation to visit the Big Apple. There are not enough hours in the day to eat in all the cool, yummy places in NYC. Here are a few of our favorites:

We had breakfast at 2 quaint places, each had delish food items.

Penelope 
We had the Banana French Toast and the Penny Breakfast Sandwich on a croissant with ham. I apologize for the photo of the partially eaten sandwich. We were really hungry and remembered to take the photos after we began to eat up. The french toast was tasty but a little bit too tough, which is probably why they served it with a steak knife... But the sandwich with the pesto spread was simply amazing! Just the right amount of pesto!


Bluebell Cafe

We had the Country Eggs, Buttermilk Biscuit & Sausage Gravy with Potatoes and the Eggs Benedict with Potatoes. The Bearnaise Sauce was very rich and amazing! This comfort food hit the spot and was perfect for the cold, dreary morning.

Even though it was cold, we still craved ice cream. These were amazing concoctions from New Territories in the Lower East Side. They don't have a website but here is the Yelp posting:

One of our favorite spots to visit when we are in NYC is Chelsea Market. It has a food court with boutique shops and offices.

There are so many choices! We love the Lobster Rolls from the Lobster Place. We try to always try a new place when we visit. 

Tuck Shop

Visiting NYC is always a food adventure!

Chef Art Smith's Homecoming Restaurant in Disney Springs

We took a weekend get away to for my belated Birthday celebration. I know most people think of Disney as a kids only place. I love going to Disney and always fine new things to eat and do. We started our weekend with dinner at the newly revamped Disney Springs, formally Downtown Disney. They have added many new stores and restaurants, that exploring the entire area is an experience.

We made reservations at Chef Art Smith's Homecoming Restaurant and the reviews by others were on point. They serve farm-to-fork Florida cuisine. Chef Art Smith was the personal chef to Oprah and a former Disney Cast Member (employee).

We started off with the "Bee Haven Bay Fried Green Tomatoes". They were perfectly fried and drizzled with just the right amount of remoulade sauce. Even my picky husband had to agree! I paired it with a glass of the House Pinot Noir.

Based on the reviews I had read, I knew we had to try the Mac & Cheese and the biscuits. Since we wanted to try everything and didn't want to get too full, we decided to each order different items and shared. 

I ordered the "HFK Barbecue Bun" and swapped the side of BBQ chips to the "Cheddar Cheese Drop Biscuits". 

My hubby decided on the "Fried Chicken Sandwich" with the "Momma's Mac & Cheese".  

The chicken sandwich was OK, I prefer Chick-Fil-A. But the Mac & Cheese was the best I have ever tasted. I believe it has a combination of 3 different cheeses and the taste is amazing! 

We were so full from our meal that we did not have any room for dessert. But the one that has been recommended by many bloggers is the "Hummingbird Cake". It is described as Pineapple-Bannana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting and served with a scoop of Vanilla Bean Ice Cream. 

Can't wait to go back, next time I will save room for dessert! 

A few more delicious treats from Philly

Along with our quest to find the best Philly Cheese Steak, we also had a lot of great tasting food.

After Geno's and Pat's, we walked a block down for coffee, hot chocolate & dessert. We went to Cafe Crema, where they had such a great assortment of cannoli's and a hot chocolate bar. It was a perfect sweet treat after the Cheese Steaks.

Our hotel was located directly across from the famous Reading Terminal Market. The selection of food is incredible! There are rows and rows of merchants, selling so many different types of foods! Pizza, sandwiches, donuts, cinnamon rolls, cheese, nuts, and the list goes on!.

One morning, we had breakfast from Beiler's Bakery. The donuts were baked fresh and so delicious! My son's favorite was the Fruity Pebble topped donut, mine was the sour cream donut, and my daughter's favorite was the apple fritter. They were worth the calories.

Another morning we had the cinnamon rolls - both plain and frosted.
Also amazing! Since we were in there early, the rolls were still warm and goey.

Another morning, we had the breakfast pretzel roll ups from Miller's Twist. I had the eggs, bacon, and cheese roll up. It was also a delicious breakfast choice - the pretzel was warm with the right amount of eggs, bacon, and cheese.

 In our wanderings through Philly, we found a small Mexican restaurant, Quetzally. We decided to stop in after many positive Yelp reviews and it really was great! We had the Chicken Quesadillas, Steak Tostada, and Steak Burrito. We didn't expect to find quality Mexican food in Philly!

Here are the links of the places mentioned:
http://cafecremaphilly.com/
http://www.readingterminalmarket.org/merchants
http://www.quetzallymexicanfood.com/

The Great Steak Debate

When we were in Philly earlier this year, we had to do the typical touristy challenge of trying the best Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich.

We went to a few places, with and without Cheese Whize.

First, Geno's and Pat's, since they are across from each other. But of those with the recommended Cheese Whiz.

From the 2, the best cheese steak sandwich for us, was Pat's. It was perfect! Tasty meat, soft bread roll and just the right amount of cheese. Since it was a dreary day, the lines were not too long and we didn't feel rushed in our ordering. The Fries at Geno's were better than Pat's.

On a recommendation, we tried the cheese steak at Campo's. This one we didn't try it with the Cheese Whiz but with Provolone Cheese. I don't think the type of cheese matter as the bread was cold and hard. This was probably our least favorite steak sandwich.

Lastly, we tried By George! in the Reading Terminal Market. We ate it so fast that we didn't take a photo but it was our 2nd favorite spot for Cheese Steak. The combination of the meat, cheese and bread were so tasty!

Overall, the #1 place for us was Pat's followed by By George! 

I started the new year travelling to a new place. Since I am from South Florida with always warm weather, I actually wanted to travel to a new place that had colder weather and possibly even snow!

So I decided on visiting Philadelphia, the "City of Brotherly Love".

The weather was definitely cold - high of mid 40's to low of mid 30's. There was no falling snow but a few flurries and ice on the side of the roads.

One of places we explored in this great city was Philadelphia's Magic Gardens. It is an art museum and gallery by Isaiah Zagar.  It is located at 1020 South Street. It is a very unique art museum in that he used non-traditional materials such hand made tiles, glass bottles, and other miscellaneous objects.

Here are a few of my photos:


Arch way





There were several murals on neighboring walls near these gardens. They were all very impressive:






(A hobo artist that decided to pose for my photo)

More info on the Philadelphia Magic Gardens, here is the link:

https://www.phillymagicgardens.org/

*Tip: buy the tickets on line prior to arriving. They are time stamped for entry. It doesn't matter what time after your scheduled time you arrive, just can't enter prior to the scheduled time.