best crab rolls ever

Recently Walker and I went to Crab Shack in St. Pete. I told you guys all about it. Crab Shack is the best place for crab legs hands down. I took my mom there for mothers day and we had THE BEST TIME EVER. 

That is a vodka ginger ale... She is a riot. 

When Walker and I went we ordered like a million things. Typical of me and walker eating anywhere, which is what makes him seriously one of my favorite people to have a meal with. 

I mentioned that the crab rolls we tried there were not my fave.

They were really big and seemed a little over mixed. The amount of dough compared with the amount of crab was just not right to me. Also the crab was mixed in with the other ingredients so much that there were no lumps of crab left, it was more like shredded crab. 

I have grown up eating crab rolls form Brocatos. 

It had been a while but somewhere in my memory I knew a crab roll better than the big doughy things crab shack offered. Mothers day weekend I was reminded about what crab rolls should be and the reason I can not be satisfied by a mediocre crab roll. 

We went to visit with my Nana, Aunt Penny, and cousins. Before going we picked up a dozen and half mini crab rolls and a cuban sandwich to share with my Nana. 

We ordered the minis and I personally think that is the only way to go. They are a little larger than an egg and perfect size to grab and eat... again and again. 

I could not wait and had a crab roll right out of the package in the parking lot of Brocato's.

That my friend is how it should be. 

No hate to Crab Shack though I already have another dinner there in the works because of those killer crab legs.

I love south Tampa as much as the next guy, ya know little bars, fancy cupcakes, starbucks. However the authenticity you will find at Brocato's is exactly what Tampa has always been about. So everyone should stop in and check it out. They have a ton of things on the menu and you will not be disappointed with any of them.

#Brocatosdeviledcrab

cheesy sweet potato cakes

I was telling my Aunt Penny and cousin Wendy this weekend about how I learned to cook from pinterest. It is totally true. Basically I found stuff on pinterest that sounded good but required weird ass ingredients or utensils so I modified them to make them possible. Most of the time I took things out of recipes, like a bunch of flour in a recipe... that does not work for a girl getting ready for beach season so I would try it without. Some recipes worked out well and some not as much. It is great though because I learned what goes together and ya know how to make something other than eggs. But holy shit I love eggs. Anyway a couple recipes I was able to tweak just the right amount and they became a go to, this is one of them.

Cheesy sweet potato cakes 

What all you need 

2 Sweet potatoes

2 Eggs

Parmesan cheese

Seasonings 

and the stuff to cook it... you can wing it on most of this but you will need a grater and a clean kitchen towel

As far as how to choose the spices... I just open the cabinet and think about what might go with the cheese... so I usually go italian with the parm but you could make these mexican or any flavor really. 

Peal the sweet potatoes... (I use grated sweet potato for other dishes so I prepared 3 but only used 2 for the cakes)

Grate the sweet potatoes 

This will get messy... you will find little pieces of sweet potato in weird places when you clean your kitchen... its worth it. 

Here is where the towel comes into play... once sweet potato (any veg really) is grated it will have a bunch of liquid that if left will make for soggy cakes so you need to squeeze that juice out. You can add a little salt to the grated potato to get them to start sweating out some of that liquid.

Twist up the towel

This can turn into a bit of a workout....

There are many techniques but I like to press it against the side of the sink and then just lean back.

Thank you mom for taking the photo.. that is her finger in the bottom corner...

Oh shoot I almost forgot... preheat the oven... ok so I put it at 425 and the original recipe was like use a wire rack and all this crap... I just use a baking sheet and some parchment paper. 

At this point out sweet potato is ready for the good stuff... CHEESE

I know that Publix or Kroger or whatever store you go to probably sells grated parm. I promise when you grate it yourself it will be MUCH better. I know it can be a pain but it melts so much better and in this recipe it is part of what binds everything so you need a good melt.. trust me... try it... let me know what you think

The recipe calls for a cup of cheese and this is what a cup of cheese looks like for me... I love cheese.

The original recipe also called for I think 1/4 cup of egg whites. I do not keep that in my fridge so I use one full egg and one egg white and I mix it up a little so it distributes evenly when mixed in.

As for mixing I like to fold in the spices and cheese with tongs.

Then add the egg and at this point its best to get messy and mix with your hands. You dont want to squeeze though because any liquid still in the potato will come out and make it too soggy. However it is normal for the mixture to be a little wet at this point.

As for how much seasoning to add... I don't use measuring spoons or anything so I can't tell you exactly but keep in mind you salted it a little before so add some pepper and seasoning as you see fit. 

Use your hands to form patties. You want the patties to be a somewhat thin so they can cook all the way through without burning on the bottom. They will be similar to small pancakes. 

You will want to bake these for about 15 minutes but you should keep a close eye on them. 

The edges will brown and even look a little like they are going to burn but the bottoms will just brown up a little.

If you are cooking for one or two this recipe makes enough to last you probably all week. If you are cooking for more you might want to double it up because they are great left over and keep well in the fridge.

You can eat them just like they are as a snack or a side to a meal. Last night I had two with some BBQ chicken. I also like to put spaghetti sauce over them. You can take two and put a burger in between. Add one to a salad. And because I love eggs I like them under an egg for breakfast.

Make them. let me know how it goes and how you use them. 

#gratedparmrocks

thank you for the ... cellulite

Mothers day is tomorrow and I am very lucky to have a mom very worthy of some serious bragging.

I have mentioned how smart my mom is a couple times in previous post. She is legit. Honestly both my parents are pretty brilliant. Keep in mind you are not likely to meet someone who is brilliant and completely sane (sorry but true). Although I could go on all day about how smart she is and how much she has accomplished in her life sometimes despite some serious obstacles, this post is not going to be about that. I think some of her best attributes have less to do with degrees earned, money made, or obstacles she has overcome, but more about her incredible personality.

My brother and I both have some serious similarities to our parents, sometimes that is a blessing and sometimes is a curse... just keeping it real.

I think we all probably try to identify the characteristic of our parents we like and dislike and then attempt to emulate the ones we like. I believe in a mixture of nature vs. nurture therefore I would say we may have some success in doing this but some of it is out of our control.

A characteristic of my mothers I have always strived to emulate is her unwavering confidence.

I could go into a long rant about body image and the media and how hard it is to be a confident woman in todays world but I think that sort of sums it up so a mini rant will work instead. I am very interested in health and fitness and I think I have a normal fascination with beautifying. I work out almost everyday, try to be conscious of what I eat, and while I spend little time primping I do not leave the house without mascara. I would say I am probably the most confident I have been right now... and by other peoples standards I am sure I am still relatively insecure. It is a battle and any woman who says it is not... lies... and maybe she is onto something because she might believe her own lie... either way this blog is not about lies good or bad.

I remember being in my very early twenties maybe even nineteen and talking to my mom about how I compared myself to everyone else. Every woman I met had something about her I wished I could have. I was destroying myself by picking parts of people and trying to build myself out of them. This is impossible! I was already built... and I needed to be spending that time appreciating and caring for what I was given. My mom said "someone will always be prettier, someone will always be smarter." She told me about how she was insecure when she was my age and looking back she is pissed at herself for being that way. She says that she never knew how beautiful she was then... she would always follow that with "you are even more beautiful". She told me about how she would do the same comparing but eventually as she gained confidence she would see a beautiful woman and think "wow she is beautiful isn't she" rather than "I wish I was beautiful like her". My mom also made it clear that outer beauty fades and although in your twenties it may hold a lot of value, it should not hold it all. She made sure I knew there were other qualities about myself I should appreciate and spend time cultivating. (Maybe that is why I can't french braid? :) )  I knew she was right and I knew the women I admired most were not always the prettiest but they were smiling and confident. I knew that if I could learn to appreciate other peoples qualities rather than wish they were my own I would eventually appreciate what I have. And it worked.

I would be lying if I said this was it... the moment I stopped comparing. It was indeed the moment I knew comparing would do me no good but, I think it is natural to compare a little and sometimes be jealous. But I always remember that I am happy with what I have and more importantly I know that I am not just made up of my outside appearance but who I am as a person as well. I do think crossfit has been an outlet for me that helps with this issue. As I fell in love with crossfit I also started putting my body to work. And although I still see photos of tiny girls with perfect beach waves in their hair and think what the hell? I remember that I have a body that works for me everyday. I do not attempt to be skinny because it would not suit the lifestyle I have chosen. My hair is naturally stick straight and is usually up in a sweaty pony tail. And that is how I like it.

Today my mom and I sat on the back porch and she was reading something to me about cellulite, that she found on yahoo. Cellulite is one of those "characteristics" I was talking about before that you do not have control over inheriting. She read about a couple procedures you can have to minimize cellulite... the last one required an incision and all kinds of weird stuff. I cringed at the thought and told her "I will just live with a couple thigh dimples... I mean they don't bother me that much" She got up to head inside and looked at me with a smile on her face and said "The nice thing about my cellulite is... it has always been behind me." She laughed on her way in the door.

This video was taken by ashley when we were working on our squat clean form. Which is by no means perfect. It was originally in slow mo and when I watched it all I could think was how crazy my ass was with all the jiggle. After todays conversation with my mom I am reminded that ass jiggle or not a girl working on her cleans is a beautiful thing! So I am posting it shamelessly :)

My mom is seriously one of the most beautiful women I know. She shines from the inside out. She has fun and laughs through life and always does what is best for her... sometimes thats putting on 15 bracelets and sometimes its wearing sneakers with a skirt :)  She takes pride in her appearance and loves to brag about how beautiful her kids are but she knows there is so much more to life than looks. She always keeps it real and enjoys life. We both appreciate pop culture phenomenon like the selfie. But while some women spend an hour applying makeup and fake eye lashes just to post a selfie, I am glad that my mom has encouraged me to spend less time getting ready to go do things and more time going and doing them.

I have so much to thank her for... I will spend my entire life doing so. But this mothers day I will thank her for two things...   My confidence and my cellulite.

Mom you are incredibly beautiful and you freakin rock!

#confidentwithcellulite

easy bar & bistro

I went to Tennessee this weekend to attend a wedding, which was freakin awesome. Of course while there I was able to eat a couple great meals. One of those was at Easy Bistro & Bar.

First a little about my first impression of the place. 

It is located on a cute little corner in downtown Chattanooga. One of the two streets is littered with places to eat but I am confident our choice was the best. 

We looked at the menu online before we chose so I was somewhat familiar with the logo otherwise I may have missed it. But once you are inside you won't miss a thing. This place is super cute. Not all weird and white table cloth fancy but definitely modern and chic. The weather was incredible so we asked for a spot outside and had a drink at the bar while we waited. 

The cocktail list did not disappoint. They make their own infused liquors. I am a total sucker for cucumbers and gin and they had a cucumber infused gin... so I went for some fancy cocktail made with that...it was bomb. 

They had cute little eye dropper things for their drinks kind of like I mentioned seeing at Patterson House, however this place was lay less pretentious about their drinks which I like. 

The bottom left photo is our little outdoor table. A small round table is kind of an insane choice when you are with this group... we all four like to eat, drink, and be merry and that table was not ready for it. 

Luckily our server was super supportive of our over ordering and our table choice so he staggered our food so it was manageable (even still Raven's filet almost ended up on the floor but she is like a ninja and recovered it effortlessly). Although, due to the staggering of dishes my favorite eating partner, who is basically a machine, left dinner slightly "hungry" which was mind blowing for everyone. 

We ordered....

The bread assortment and a meat and cheese plate

and of course OYSTERS.... 

You know how I feel about oysters and oyster shoorters. I have no desire to do another oyster shooter... but Rob had other ideas... Oyster backs? Yeah that's a thing now. So Raven ordered four chilled shots of some fucking amazing tequila and we all got an oyster ready as a chaser. Apparently the trick to it being good is making the oyster super spicy. I am still not in love with oysters so mine was on a big ass saltine cracker.

The tequila was great and put just the right amount of pink on my cheeks... and I have to admit the oyster was tolerable with the cracker, siracha, and chili flakes. We moved on to the next round of apps.

Steak Tartare, Cobia Belly, Pork belly, and a side of trumpet mushrooms. 

The top two did not blow my mind but don't judge them based on that because everyone else was mind blown. I ate some bitter leaf with the piece of cobia I had and it was not the best. As for the steak... I feel some kind of way about steak tartare just not into raw cubed steak...yet.

Moving on to the dish that always makes my heart skip a beat (and might make it stop beating one day) PORK BELLY. This one was an itty bitty little thing but it was over this amazing slice of watermelon with all kinds of other edible garnish. Honestly I probably could have ordered 4 of those but the nice gentleman who picked up the tab is probably very glad I did not. 

We added a side of trumpet mushrooms to the mix and they were incredible. 

The entrees followed and while Rob and Raven ordered heavy here we did our damage early on so we ordered the Mussels and fries to share.

The mussels were super good... I even got blamed for eating too many? whaaat? me? 

Rob ordered the duck and Raven ordered the filet. I did not get pictures but I did get bites... delicious... heavy, but delicious. 

When Walker went to order a SECOND round of the mussels our server informed us that sadly the kitchen was closed... however they were still serving dessert. 

Raven ordered a chocolate cake thing that was very good and I ordered the Macaroon assortment 

I have heard all the hype about macaroons and this was the first time I actually had any. Well my friends they lived up to the hype. I am not typically a big dessert person but these delicious little cookies hit the spot!! I also love the idea of having some variety.

We had a great experience at easy. Our server was awesome and the food and drinks were killer. I highly recommend this place to anyone visiting Chattanooga. It is basically right across from the Tennessee Aquarium, which I did not visit, but I hear good things about. But if you go for dinner they close at like 10 on the weekend which is kind of weird and apparently even earlier on some days so check out the hours before you go.

I would highly recommend all of the items we ordered and next time I am able to stop into Easy I think I will be trying the trout, it is local and sounds super good.

Another delicious meal with some amazing people.

#eatwelltraveloften