Deep Fried Macaroni and Cheese

Terrible. I know its just terrible to make something so good and fattening and deep fry it for even more flavor. But what was also terrible is the recipes that I found when I googled deep fried macaroni and cheese. Some wrote about frying it in a skillet and adding ingredients and some wrote recipes that I believe they never tried like; use (a national known brand of) frozen macaroni and cheese and scoop it out of the foil package and bread it with white bread crumbs? How do you 'scoop' frozen macaroni and cheese? And just how did they bread it without a binder and being frozen? Terrible.

The recipes that sound good give you no pictures. And one recipe goes so far as to add meat, tomato, and...now how is that macaroni and cheese?

Train Birthday Cake (Estevam turns ONE!)

Recently I was talking with a friend about cakes and using fondant and it reminded me of a time in West Africa that I had to make my own...

Friends of mine, Tatyana & Rodrigo, had their sons’ first birthday while we were working with Mercy Ships aboard the Africa Mercy and Tatyana asked me to help with the cake.  Well I looked at some of the illustrations that she sent me by email from Internet pictures and I said, ‘Is this all you want?  You want me to do the whole cake?  I got a bigger idea…’

Of course Tatyana probably had so much more to worry about getting her child’s first party together so she freely gave up that project.

Joy of Coffee

This coffee shop in Dublin Ireland (not to far from the famed Temple Bar) was a great little 'hole-n-wall' place to take a break and have some lunch.

Sandwiches, soups, and various other offerings.  Besides coffee there were plenty of tea choices...One that I remember right away was a green tea with mint and coconut.  That hit the spot as we were there during winter time.  Warming the cold body!

I  posted the picture to simply say the name of this place says it all for people like me~ Joy of Coffee!

What are some of your 'hole-n-wall' coffee places, joints that you like?  What makes them special?  And lets steer clear of the ones in Amsterdam!

Risky Business!

One the first things people tell you when leaving the country for developing or Third World countries is, "don't drink the water!", "don't eat raw foods" (like salads), and/or "make sure everything is cooked all the way!".  All this is good advice but sometimes you just can't be bothered.

When I sat foot on land after sailing on a ship to Central America (my first time out of the U.S. many years ago) I was so eager to go eat anything new and different that accepting a few days of diarrhea "in the name of culinary research and experience" was worth it!

Over the years I have ate quite a few things outside of the 'box' 

Where are the Mexican Bakeries?!

I was talking with Juan last week about Mexican food and Mexican stores in the Huntsville/Madison area (in Alabama) and he brought up a very interesting question, "Where are the Mexican Bakeries?".  Juan is a young guy about 21 and his family is from Mexico.

Juan was right, where are they?  We have restaurants and even small stores...But where are the bakeries?

I had a favorite bakery when I was living in Tyler TX working with a catering company.  I knew which days to go and when to get there so I could pick my still