Down Home Cookin' - My Trip Home to New Hampshire

Labor Day weekend I had the pleasure of going home for the first time in almost two years. Needless to say I was pretty homesick for some of my all time favorite eats. For me, food is comforting on so many levels. It takes me back to being little and getting the special treat of having Papa Gino's pizza at St. Mary's one day a month. It takes me back to the dream job I never had at Golick's Dairy Bar, and fun summer days with my best friend at Weirs Beach. Memories that all came back this trip as I made sure to hit up as many of my favorites as I could :)

First stop after touching down in Machester was at Papa Gino's. Like the picture shows below, nothing compares to Papa Gino's. Its NY style thin crust pizza with the most amazing blend of cheese and the most flavorful sauce. If I had to chose one pizza to call my favorite, a plain cheese from Papa Gino's is it. It sounds so simple, but it is the most amazing combination of ultimate crust, sauce, and cheese perfection. If you've never been to New England, go - just for this pizza. Don't let the fact that its a chain make you doubt its deliciousness...

 

Second stop was Blink's Frye Doe. Now, I'm not sure why they don't just call it fried dough like every other New Englander does, but Blink's is a staple on Hampton Beach. Fried dough is a pillow of heaven that I have cherished since childhood. This was a carnival, fair, and beach day staple. I think only New Englanders know what fried dough is, because everywhere else I go, people think this would be the same as a funnel cake. IT'S NOT! It is soooo much better than a funnel cake. Blink's serves it up in a few dozen varieties. I take mine traditional, smothered with melted butter and dusted with sugar. The ultimate indulgence you will NOT regret. You can tell its good, coming from such a classy establishment :)





















Sunday's meant going to the Asia buffet after church. I'm 28 and this is still something I look forward to when I go home. The Asia is a chinese restaurant that is only a place locals would go. Totally a DIVE. This place holds so many childhood memories for me, I've been going since I was a baby. When I was in pre-school I am proud to say that I stood up and sang "Teddy Bear Picnic" to the whole place, I guess you can say it feels like home. The restaurant has seen better days appearance wise, but let me tell you the food couldn't taste any better. The fried rice is unlike any other, its so crispy and full of flavor. Everything they make is fresh tasting and to me, the way all chinese food should taste. Its the only chinese place I will go outside of PF Chang's and Pei Wei, so you know its good!

Golick's Dairy Bar is a Dover staple. It was my dream to work here as a kid, but for some reason I never did. My favorite ice cream can only be found here. Its called a Princess Twist, and it is soft serve vanilla swirled with black raspberry. I always get mine covered with tasty rainbow jimmies :) The picture doesn't do it justice, but this is so yummy!

Weirs Beach is one of my favorite summer spots. Its just a fun place to go, and reminds me of being a kid. Mini golfing at Pirate's Cove, playing on the boardwalk arcade, and hitting up the drive-in theater just make me happy. My dad and I made it to the Tamarack Drive-In which is a classic stop. The best thing on the menu is the onion rings. They are light, crispy, and just plain awesome. They are known for their lobster roll, which my dad had. I am proud to say I tried it! I'm not a seafood eater, but I wanted to try it. When in NH, right?! I hated it, but at least I gave it a shot.

My friend Leya and I celebrated our 28th birthdays in Harvard Square. We tried mini cupcakes from Sweet. Not the same as my Sweet in Orlando, but I will say it was a close second. She chose red velvet and I chose chocolate with vanilla bean buttercream. YUM! Super moist and full of flavor, with icing that was just the right amount of sweet. Minis are my favorite because you can enjoy and not feel guilty! If you are ever around the Harvard campus, make sure to pop in and try one!








This trip was only 3 days, too little time to really give you the run down of all of my hometown favorites, but I hope I gave you a little taste of a few of the best :) If you are ever traveling to New Hampshire or the New England area let me know so I can give you my complete list!

Hidden Gem in Cocoa Beach

I'm proud to say we have FINALLY found a great place to eat in Cocoa Beach! After many failed attempts, on our most recent visit we found a gem. Brano's is located just down the road from Ron Jon's. It doesn't look like anything fancy from the outside, but on the inside its very nice. Perfect for a casual dinner or even lunch after a day on the beach. Since its Cocoa you can pretty much expect to find people in their most casual clothes at any restaurant.

We ate here for dinner and then lunch the next day since we enjoyed it so much. Its a genuine family italian place, no frills, just yummy food. A nice bonus is they serve big garlic butter rolls at lunch and dinner! You know how I feel about bread...

We tried the pizza, which was really good! Everything tasted very fresh, especially the dough. You can tell that it is made fresh in house. It is slightly sweet and was a welcomed surprise. They have a great homemade italian dressing that compliments not only their salad, but their italian sub. I had that for lunch and was awesome!

So next time you are in Cocoa Beach, check this place out. I know you won't be disappointed! Brano's is going to get our business each trip!

Jazz Brunch Munch

So I have a pretty cool job that allows me to get some pretty great stuff for free. Often I get the opportunity to eat for free, and most recently I had the opportunity to try the Jazz Brunch at the Bohemian hotel downtown. I was able to take my mom for her birthday, which was even more fun. So this brunch costs the average person $40, which is a hefty sum in my opinion. Not to say its overpriced, its just a lot of money because I don't think anyone can eat enough in one sitting at a buffet to make it worth the price. You do get unlimited mimosas, which does make the cost a bit more manageable.

The atmosphere is very chic. The restaurant has a cool vibe to it, modern yet classic at the same time. Red velvet plush chairs, with a black and white decor. The jazz band plays in the center of the food buffet, which was an interesting concept.

The menu consisted of a large amount of seafood, which I don't eat. What I did enjoy was the fact that there was a menu of select items at our table that were made to order specialties. I tried one of these items, the turkey and brie eggs benedict.

This was absolutely delicious! There was also cranberry sauce that was underneath that balanced the salt from the dish and added that sweet element. The portion size was nice, on the smaller side, to allow you to continue eating the buffet and not getting full from one dish.

The buffet had your traditional bacon, eggs, sausage, chef created omelet bar. It also had some delicious mini belgian waffles! Berries, whipped cream, and warm maple syrup were the provided accessories.

The dessert selection was impressive. They had a large amount of meringues, cakes and my favorite, a mint chocolate mousse. The mousse was so filling that I couldn't even finish it. It was unique for sure, I have had my share of chocolate mousse, but never a mint chocolate mousse.

So, if you are in the mood to hear some jazz, eat some good food, and drink your fill of mimosas, check out this brunch. Its even better when you get it free :)

Something new for lunch

Sometimes we all get into a rut of where to go for lunch. If you are like me, you have your usual spots that are always a staple throughout the week. A few weeks back I noticed that a new restaurant had opened up fairly close to work. The name was catchy "Hot Krust." As the name eludes to, its a panini place. This is located right next to Pei Wei, in the former Delish spot. Needless to say I wasn't surprised that Delish had closed down...Anyways, Hot Krust has a pretty straightforward concept. Paninis, salads, that sort of stuff. I went with a roasted turkey with some yummy cheese and cranberry sauce. It was served with some outstanding homemade chips. 

I chose to have it on the herb bread, which I don't think I would do again. The seasoning on the bread overpowered the flavor in the sandwich a little bit, and had some spice that I didn't like. Overall, the sandwich was pretty good. I liked the chips best :) I would say try this place if you are looking for something new to throw into your lunch mix.

Brownie Sundae = Paradise

So I was having one of those days that I desperately needed something sweet. Typically when this happens it means I need something of the baked goods variety. I cured this craving by eating this AMAZING pecan brownie sundae at Copper Canyon Grill in Pointe Orlando. Copper Canyon is a great place if you are looking for some all around American fare, and they specialize in rotisserie chicken. I would have to say they also specialize in this heavenly treat.

This beauty features a large nicely cooked pecan brownie with crispy edges. It is then loaded with a huge scoop of creamy vanilla ice cream that is then covered in a heavenly cloud of thick whipped cream. YUM! It floats on a chocolate sauce pool and walnuts top it all off.

If you are ever craving something sweet, check this out. Make sure you have someone to share it with, because it is absolutely divine!

Heaven on a Plate - Goodfellas Cheese Calzone

Cheeze! One of my absolute favorite foods, especially combined with bread, garlic and melted to perfection. Goodfellas is one of my college favorites that I will drive the 30 minutes for any day. The pizza is excellent, but the cheese calzone is the absolute best you will ever have.

It sounds so simple, but they blend the perfect amount of mozzarella, ricotta, garlic, and olive oil into a toasty bread shell. It is oozing with an insane amount of cheese that floods out when you cut into the crust. This is truly unlike any other calzone you have ever had. Sure they make them with any filling you like, but trust me - the plain cheese is so good you won't need anything else to distract your taste buds.

Goodfellas is a no-frills family pizza restaurant. Make sure to eat here if you are simply craving something cheesy and delicious ;)

Sweet - My Favorite Guilty Pleasure

Cupcakes are all the rage right now, and it seems like wherever you go a new gourmet cupcake bakery is popping up! Being that baked goods are my ultimate weakness, I can't go by one without trying a bite. I have tried so many different cupcakes around the country and most places make you regret wasting the obserd amount of money that these places charge.

One place is unlike any other, and I am soooo lucky that this place is in Orlando. Sweet - by Good Golly Miss Holly is in Waterford Lakes by UCF. I am so sad that this place was not around when I lived on that side of town! However my waist line is thankful that it is a 30 minute drive to get a heavenly bite of these amazing cupcakes.

Make it on Monday for $1 mini cupcakes for a special bargain :) That's the great thing about Sweet - they have a mini size that lets to try several of the flavors, rather than getting full on just one!

So many of the flavors are my favorite, its hard to pick just one :) They have the perfect balance of cake and frosting. The best part about it is the frosting is not super sweet, it is utterly delicious. I'm not a big fan of frosting to begin with, but this is the only place that I will actually eat all of my frosting with my cupcake. Each flavor is totally unique and outstanding.

Red Velvet, PB & J, Coffee, Chocolate Mint, White Raspberry, Toasted Coconut, and Lemon are only a few of my favorites.

In this picture are Toasted Coconut (left) and White Raspberry (right) in the mini size. 

If you are looking for a place to indulge, make sure to visit Sweet! It is insanely good, and will be sure to fulfill your craving for something delicious :)