JoeAnn's Corner

So we went to NYC for the first time last December during the holiday season. It was an incredible trip and truly the only city that rivals LA in terms of food in my opinion. We had a list of over 50 NYC places to eat from friends and family. We'll be going back again soon as we love visiting!

Above - my dreams and what I crave while here in Los Angeles. Seriously - the pastrami sandwich at Katz's Deli is just unbelievably tender and moist and literally melts in your mouth. The most amazing pastrami ever. And of course going in December when it is nice and cold, we got some Matzo ball soup. With all the walking you do in NYC - you can eat whatever you want! And that is exactly what we did!

Information:
205 East Houston Street (corner of Ludlow St)
New York City, 10002

The one meal that both the hubby and I still talk about and miss like crazy would be the pizza though. We met up with some friends on 1st street at Luzzo's.

Information:
211-213 First Ave.
New York, NY 10003

The pizza crust was so thin, the toppings so fresh and amazing, and they had an amazing sauce! It was like olive oil with hot peppers that you drizzled onto the pizza - omg so tasty and amazing!

We were fans of Chicago from the hubby working there for about 4 months - no more. It is NY pizza all the way now!

Below was a prosciuitto pizza with some arugula on top - wowza. The crust was super super super thin and the ingredients all came together in your mouth!

Sigh - maybe we'll plan a trip back this summer! There were so many food adventures there, I could write for a while. Let's just wait till the next NYC post!

So I know many of my readers are from Cali so I will put this disclaimer that Tex-Mex is totally different then Cali-Mex and different then authentic Mexican. It is totally unique in my opinion.

We flew into Houston around lunchtime and texted a good friend asking about the best Tex-Mex in town as we are not from there. She mentioned two restaurants and we picked Lupe Tortilla based on location as we were staying by the Galleria.

We pull up and immediately the partner was like whoa - I know this place, I can't believe I forgot about it. The place has very cheesy cute decorations like sombrero lights but still is so cute.

First and foremost we had to start with the margaritas because anyone who has had a Texas margarita knows those are the best! I had 1/2 of a cup and could not even finish it sadly - yes light weight! Phenomenal especially with salt and on the rocks.

The homemade salsa here was too die for and oddly but in a good way, they also had pinto beans with just a little bit of pork in it. It might not sound awesome but let me assure you, dipping chips into these amazing beans were surreal. Sooooo super tasty! Of course, after we demolished the first batch of chips, I had to stop or ruin my appetite.




Fajitas - holy moly seriously omg. Yes the beef and shrimp were sizzling, because the were cooked on the platter - not just placed on it after it was already cooked, which is what so many places outside of Texas do.

The sizzle alone makes you salivate. The homemade salsa, the freshly made tortillas that come out warm, the guacamole - especially the warm tortillas. There is something to be said about fresh warm tortillas that were just made.



All in all - it was a productive eating trip to Texas based on this meal alone!

Hi all,

I want to apologize for being absent for the past few months. As some of you know, I went back to school and have been slammed. I am back and will aim to post hopefully once a week. Just a heads up - I'll be posting things that I have cooked as well.

Coming up - blog on some darn tasty Tex-Mex from Houston as well as some recipes from a great blog - http://www.wanderingchopsticks.com