Soooo the ingredient hunt for my recipe didn’t go quite as planned last night… Ben and I walked down to the grocery store and came back with everything BUT what we went there to get! The store we went to didn’t have the ingredients we needed, so we’re going to hit up another one tonight and THEN I’ll share what I’m cooking up!
All was not lost though, because we did pick up – drumroll please – Australian Licorice! I first tried AL from Trader Joes last year and fell.in.love. These sweet, pillowy, chewy, delicious little nuggets of heaven on earth are cousins of the “Twizzler-esqe” type licorice you and I both know…but I’m going to be honest…they are SO much better!
I’m not sure what makes this type of licorice “Australian” per se, but it’s got an incredibly dense and chewy texture that you’ve just got to try. If you have a TJ’s near you, get some ASAP – they come in those little containers that the mini peanut butter cups come in. If you don’t have a TJs nearby, look for this brand in the sweets aisle of your local grocery store – you will NOT be disappointed!!
Well we’ve got another chilly morning on our hands today. I’m thinking this is how it’s going to be from here on out? So long sweet summer? Nah, I can’t think that way just yet – too depressing. Anyways, to combat the chill I had some hot coffee in my new Las Vegas Starbucks Coffee Mug!
This baby joins my Chicago, San Francisco, San Diego and Des Moines Starbucks mugs. Love this collection…
I’m sort of surprised Starbucks chose brown as their Vegas mug accent color. I think something along the lines of hot pink would be more appropriate!
To go along with my java I made some Cinnamon Vanilla Pancakes for breakfast, yum 
I picked up some of this Whole Wheat pancake mix at the store last night and combined a serving of the mix with a dash of cinnamon and vanilla, added my water and cooked those flapjacks up right quick on my flat-top skillet.
I drizzled with some sugar-free syrup and dove into the soft stack of deliciousness…
Mmmm… that’s really all I can say. MMMMM! Look at this drippage!
Do you ever make pancakes on weekdays?
So, I’m not packing a lunch today because my Mom is coming down to eat with me at work and is bringing one of my absolute favorite meals – Gateway Market’s Vegetarian Pad Thai! Here’s a recycled pic of the deliciousness:
My stomach is seriously growling right now just looking at this. I am SO excited!
Oh – check out all this fresh produce my Mom brought over from a friend of hers that plucked it straight from her garden. Apparently this is a mere fraction of her latest harvest! Holy moly, I am in vegetable Heaven!
We’ve got fresh zucchini (lo
ok at the size!),
Cucumbers
and green beans.
Gorgeous. Can’t wait.
So, friends, my sense of time, date and location has been all out of whack this week since I returned from Las Vegas on a Monday. Thus, I didn’t even realize yesterday morning, that it was in fact Thursday morning. Come to think of it, I actually thought it was Friday morning yesterday, which makes no sense at all… Point is – I forgot about Three Question Thursday! Friday is feeling particularly generous and has offered to let TQT borrow it’s morning…yikes…anyways, here they are!!
~~~~~
1. What’s your middle name? Any story behind it?
2. Have you ever met a famous person?
3. Crunchy peanut/nut butter, or smooth?
My answers:
1. My middle name is Marie, which is the same middle name of my Grandma on my Dad’s side.
2. I saw/met Tiki and Oronde Barber (twin NFL Football players) within 2 weeks of each other. I stood behind Tiki at a stop light in NYC (soooo fine, sorry Ben) and then ONE week later I met his twin brother Oronde at a bar here in Iowa while he was in town coaching a nearby college’s football camp. WHAT ARE THE ODDS of meeting twin brothers within two weeks of each other, in two completely different locations??
3. Ugghhhh tough!!!! I say, smooth peanut, but crunchy almond. There’s something so satisfying about the crunch of an almond. I think it’s the density of the nut or something…
Have a GREAT Friday everyone!!!
ps I miss Vegas…
1) Remy
2) Harrison Ford. We were at dinner for my grandma’s 94th birthday last year at a restaurant in Soho called Five Points. He was sitting there with another man. My grandma, unbeknownst to me, loves him, and wanted to meet him. So on the way back from the bathroom, she was with me and my mom, she stopped to introduce herself!!! How funny. It seriously made her night – and probably year for that matter.
3) Smooth peanut butter, no question.
Can I hire you to come cook for me? Seriously girl! Just had breakfast and can be there by lunch for the yummy with you and your Mom:)
Sonya
Those pancakes..YUM! Love the pic with the syrup dripping off of it!!
1. What’s your middle name? Any story behind it? My middle name is Lynn. My Mom is Linda, though that is not why she chose Lynn for my middle name. It went well with Kimberly.
2. Have you ever met a famous person? Somewhat famous…a couple of NHL hockey players when they played for the Columbus Blue Jackets their opening season in 2000. Ron Tugnutt (his son went to preschool with my son & is the reason my son plays hockey now) & Lyle Odelein.
3. Crunchy peanut/nut butter, or smooth? I think I am with you…smooth PB, but crunchy AB.
I love red licorice!
1. What’s your middle name? Any story behind it? Elizabeth. My name was supposed to be elizabeth (after my 2 aunts’ middle name) and well dad decided he was gonna nickname me betty. so my mom flipped the names and ended up being erin elizabeth. she was just like — no one is gonna call my daughter betty. i thank my mom for that.
2. Have you ever met a famous person? caroline rhea. she was so sweet & much shorter than i expected!
3. Crunchy peanut/nut butter, or smooth? smoooooth. I don’t like crunchy. even when it comes to my ice cream.
1. My middle name is Anne. It was supposed to be Suzanne, after my grandma, but then my parents realized my initials would have been LSD and they were not cool with that! I wish they would have stuck w/ Suzanne. Lisa Anne is SO boring!!
2. I haven’t ever met anyone famous… someday, perhaps! I did meet Brenda Warner, but I had no idea who her husband was. I met her the night before the superbowl this January when I was in Phx – she said her husband was a QB and I said, ‘oh, what string is he?’ Oops. No idea he was the starting QB! whoopsies. Yah, I am not a sports person.
3. I like the taste of crunchy, but don’t like how difficult it is to spread it on toast, so have to go w/ creamy!
1. Marie – It is my grandmother’s first name on my Dad’s side.
2. When I was in L.A. a couple years ago I ate at the Ivy and stood behind Yanni and his family as I was waiting for a table. He is really short in person.
3. I love creamy nut butters. Especially when its warm and dripping off the edge of my toast and jelly. YUM!
Oh, your pancakes look so good! I never make pancakes…but I need to start cause I love them.
1. I have two middle names: Kristina and Hokulani. Kristina is after my great grandma. Hokulani was picked for me from my grandma (Hawaiian tradition) and it means “twinkling star from Heaven.”
2. I’ve met Gary Busey…and I’m pretty sure he was drunk at the time. Also, I’ve met Robin Miller from Food Network.
3. I’m definately a chunky kinda girl…but really any kinda of PB works for me.
You take such great pictures of your food! And now after seeing those pancakes I’m hungry.
1. My middle name is Brooks, which is my maiden name. Before I got married it was Diane.
2. I met the Crocodile Hunter while I was studying abroad in Australia. Does that count??
3. Creamy all the way!
What an amazing veggie score!
1. My middle name is Vittoria. It was my dad’s mom’s name.
2. I live in LA, so I have at least seen quite a few celebs. Most recently, some friends and I were out to dinner and Alanis Morrissette was dining at the next table.
3. I lean more towards crunchy. But I definitely prefer a raw nut butter over any roasted one.
Have a great Friday!
1) Jane…no story that I know of.
2) Marty Brennamam…he is the “voice of the Reds” but unless you live in Ohio and listen to the Reds on the radio, this probably means nothing. I went to Chicago with my hubby and friends one year for my birthday and we met him outside of our hotel. Really nice guy!
I was just in Florida earlier this month and walked right past Cameron Diaz in Ybor City…I was so star struck that I didn’t say anything to her, so that probably does not count!
3) LOVE all peanut butter…but I tend to buy smooth.
OMG licorice is one of my all time favorite treats! I have GOT to get my hands on this. Do you like Red Vines??? I LOVE THOSE!
Just stumbled upon your blog…so cute!
I love pad thai; it’s probably one of my favorite Asian dishes. And I just made some lasagna using squash!
1. Mine is Marie also. My grandmother’s name was Mary.
2. I live in Nashville so I have met a few. Steve McNair, Drew Bledsoe, Vince Gill.
3. Smooth all the way.
Hi Kristin,
The brown on the mug is the new look of the city mugs…can you send me your snail mail address? I have a city mug surprise for you!
1. What’s your middle name? Any story behind it?
Anne- it was after my great grandmother and food pioneer Annie Acton. She used to soak parsnips to get them to lose their flavor and then make banana cream pies with them even though no one on the Canadian west could get bananas. With these pies she’d get workers to come to her farm and work for the morning just so they could have lunch in her kitchen.
2. Have you ever met a famous person?
I’ve met, Ben Mulrooney, Canadian talk show host and major jerk. I served him at le Bux and it was a challenge to keep smiling and not laugh at his ridiculous camera makeup
3. Crunchy peanut/nut butter, or smooth?
CRUNCHY!!!
1. Joy: I’m not sure if there is a story behind it, but now I wonder!
2. Candy Crowley (CNN), Helen Thomas, Steve Forbes, Bill Bradley, one of the actors from the original cast of ER (whose name escapes me now), Bonnie Blair and Dan Jansen, and Mat Kearney.
3. Creamy! (But there are times when crunchy sounds SO good!)
P.S. I’ve been wanting to try Gateway’s pad thai for so long – thanks for posting the photo – now I really can’t wait!
Mmm those pancakes look incredible! I’ve got to make some soon
1) Irene–it was my great-grandmother’s name
2) Hmm… I’ve met famous classical musicians (I’m a harpist), but no mainstream celebs.
3) Smooth, definitely!
OMG those pancakes looks delicious!
1) Nell (I hate it) It was the name of a friend of the family
2) My cousin used to date Dash Mihok–he played Benvolio is Romeo & Juliet among other things, so I spent some time with him
3) CRUNCHY!
I just had the vegetarian pad thai for lunch yesterday! It’s really good. Not as good as Thai Flavors, but what is?
1. My middle name is Rae and I absolutely love it and there is a story. My middle name is based on my mom’s dad’s first name (raymond), and my brother’s middle name is my dad’s dad’s first name (benjamin). I love that there is a story!
2. I have met Tom Hanks (his daughter went to school with my brother and he would ocassionally pick them up from school). I think there are others, but I am drawing a blank. I usually try to play it cool if I see a celebrity.
3. I go for smooth. When I was a kid I loved crunch but then had 4 molars pulled and the nuts would get stuck in the spaces, so I gave it up and I nver went back.
I’m definitely going to be looking for that licorice!
1. Sue. It’s my Mom’s middle name also. I used to hate it but now I think it’s cute.
2. I’ve met Toby Keith (he’s an ass btw) and lots of past/present famous athletes but no one too serious.
3. CREAMY
1. Noel- I was born on Christmas day:)
2. Never met anyone famous! I did spot Stevan Segall at a shopping center one time! Apparently he lives in Memphis!
3. Creamy!!
1. My middle name is Pasdiora (yes, as in Samantha Pasdiora – Hi Kristin, love your blog), because it was my maiden name and I refuse to give it up. Before that it was Lynne but I dropped it because it was never on my birth certificate, go figure.
2. I have met the guy who plays bud bundy…david ??? not sure of his last name but he was on the same flight I was on when I was traveling for work. Honestly, that isn’t very exciting, is it?
3. Crunchy, mainly because that is all my husband eats it and I refuse to invest in two peanut butters and it really doesn’t bother me to have crunchy peanunts in my peanut butter.
1. My middle name is Anne. It is passed down through the family. My mom, grandma, great-grandma and great-great grandma all have the middle name Anne. I plan on carrying on the tradition should I ever have kids.
2. Never met anyone famous.
3. Smooth peanut butter. I like both but always buy the smooth.
First of all LOVE australian licorice, yummy!
1. Middle name: Chrystine
2. I worked for the Kansas City Chiefs Summer Training Camp at my alma mater, so I dined with the coach and some players, the owners wife and family too!
I miss that job!
3. Definetely the crunchier the better!
1. Middle name is Alexandra. Nothing too exciting – just my Dad wanted a “girly” middle name since my first name could also be a boy’s name.
2. Nope, never met one, but I’ve seen one!
3. I love both, but crunchy wins!!!
Smooth PB, all the way! the crunchy just doesn’t nestle in all the crevices of the bread/crackers as well as creamy does;)
I’m a little better late than never on this post but I love your questions this week and I’ve been away from my laptop all day!
1. Patricia, the name comes from my Uncle’s middle name Patrick who had a large impact on the life of my Mom and Dad. His middle name was after my great aunt Patricia.
2. I live in NYC so I see famous people quite often but my favorite encounter was with the lead singer of the band Rooney in the terminal of JFK waiting for the airtran. My heart melted and I actually asked for his autograph, which I rarely do. He ended up asking me directions on how to take the subway to get into Manhattan!!
3. Smooth all the way!
I’ve been thinking about Australian Licorice since this post. I bought some in the bulk/organic section at the HyVee across from Valley West last night.
YUM!!!! so freaking good.
Ahahahaha – you crack me up, well actually your mom cracks me up. “No one is going to call my daughter Betty” – I love that
Kristin @ Iowa Girl Eats http://iowagirleats.wordpress.com http://twitter.com/iowagirleats
Gosh, wouldn’t being a personal chef just be the greatest gig in the world?! Sign me up!!
Kristin @ Iowa Girl Eats http://iowagirleats.wordpress.com http://twitter.com/iowagirleats
omg I used to listen to the Matt Kearney CD on mad repeat…crazy!
Kristin @ Iowa Girl Eats http://iowagirleats.wordpress.com http://twitter.com/iowagirleats
HA true!
Kristin @ Iowa Girl Eats http://iowagirleats.wordpress.com http://twitter.com/iowagirleats