Cheesy

I love cheese. If you put bread and cheese on the table and you could only pick one, I'd pick cheese, hands down. A few weeks ago, I got the opportunity to taste compare Sargento Cheese and any other processed cheese I wanted, just to see if their's was up to snuff. 

One of my favorite meals was the Plowman's Lunch at the Biltmore Estate. Seeing this cheese, I wanted to recreate that when some friends came over, just to see what they thought. I didn't tell them which was which to see what they said. 

They chose the left one, which happened to be the Sargento Swiss, over another brand. You can even tell the difference in the color! It just looks more natural.

Thanks Sargento for letting me taste test for you guys!

[I gotta tell you that I received this product for free to try via the Foodbuzz Tastemakers Program. I thank them for all they do!]

DC: A Recap

I've been back in Jackson from DC for about a week and a half and I have to say, uploading these photos makes me miss it. It's such a great city with so much to do! I know I haven't even scratched the surface of everything there is to do.

One of the things I was really excited to see was my dog child, Ballot, when I got to Sital's office. How sweet is this?

 That night, Sital and I may have had one of the most wonderful dinners I've ever had at Bistrot Du Coin. 

 We started off with the salmon tartine, which was wonderful. 

 Then, the real meal started. A pot of steamed mussels and a cast iron pot filled with nothing but sauteed mushrooms. It was amazing.

 Walking back around Dupont Circle and trying to digest, we talked into this interesting tea shop with so many different flavors of tea. I could have spent so much time and money in there.

The next day, we got up and walked to Eastern Market. I've never seen such a vibrant farmer's market. The colors of everything, like the different varieties of heirloom tomatoes was beautiful. The good thing about Eastern Market is that you know all of the restaurants around the market are going to have good produce straight from these stands. 

 After walking around the market, we sat down for breakfast at Le Pain Quotidien. I had to have my coffee fix, so I ordered an iced latte. Didn't disappoint.

 We struggled what to get, but I decided on the french toast. Just look at how beautiful...

When I came to DC, I said there was only one thing that I cared to see and it was the Newseum. Until the end of this week, the museum has an exhibit dedicated to the coverage of Katrina and how newspapers in South Mississippi and New Orleans were able to cover the storm after the hurricane. Going to USM, I had to go see it because I've seen, heard, and met many of these people while in college, so it was really cool to see.

 Right outside the exhibit on the balcony was a great view of the Capitol.

After walking through the six levels of the museum for a few hours, it was time for lunch. Not just any lunch... Founding Farmers. Because I don't want to leave anything out about how great they are, check out their website. We may have had a four hour lunch their without even noticing. This is why...

 My chicken pot pie. Perfect.

 Sital got the Southern Plate with chicken, waffles, and mac and cheese. She said it was great.

I'll definitely go back next time I'm in town.

Somehow after walking back to Sital's place and taking a much needed nap we ventured out for a little something to eat (again). This time, we tried Sticky Rice, a neat Asian restaurant a few blocks from her house.

I tried the curry fried rice, which was perfect and spicy, just the way I like it.

I could go on and on about how wonderful it was. I can't wait to visit again!

Busy

As I'm sure most of you know (or notice), I can't seem to slow down. Honestly, I like it that way, so there's no end in sight. But, it means that I definitely don't cook as much at home. Maybe once or twice a week (if I'm lucky), but with everything going on, I just don't have time to grocery shop or cook as much as I like. So, when the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program asked me if I'd like to try the new Birds Eye Voila! frozen meals, I eagerly said, "Yes!"

It's a meal in itself- the pasta, veggies, chicken and sauce are all there for you. All you've got to do is put in a skillet with 1/3 cup of water and you're good to go! After a day at work, workout and yoga class, I wasn't in the mood to make something from scratch. Voila, here this was to save the day (They may be on to something?).

I have to admit, I was worried that being pre-packaged would mean it wouldn't be fresh or it would taste too salty. Not true. I even had leftovers for lunch today, which I think tasted even better.

[Gotta tell you that I did receive the meal for free via the Tastemakers Program, but it did taste great. I'd consider these again.]