House of Asian In Forest City, North Carolina

I have traveled to North Carolina for the last fourteen years to keep up with my family. I've visited a few really cool places like Downtown Charlotte, Blowing Rock, Tweetsie Railroad, and Boone. And, when I do go, I ALWAYS stop at one of my most favorite cities in the whole world, small town Forest City, NC USA. It has the Andy of Mayberry feel all over. I've often thought I would like to retire there but, reality bites and I probably would go stark ravin' mad with all the coziness after a few days. So, I just drop in from time to time and mosey down Main Street to check out all the super trendy merchants and restaurants.

Usually I stop by the (always crowded) old time soda fountain in Smith's Drug Store. However a couple of years ago, a bit farther down Main, I found the House of Asian. No more favorite pimento cheese sandwiches, chips, and malts from Smith's. I am hooked on everything the HOA has to offer. This year I got the usual Fried Egg Rolls along with some Tom Yum Soup and Hibachi Shrimp (see first two pics below). WOW!!! All three were absolutely Di vine! Rolls are always expertly fried, never greasy. The soup was a little pricey at $3.99 but well worth it.  And, the grilled shrimp with carrots and mushrooms plus their special mayo Asian sauce and fried rice were out of this world. No small town cookin' here. This place is the BIG TIME! I think I enjoy it so much because you can tell someone really CARES about the various Asian cuisines they are cookin' here! Vietnamese, Thai, or Japanese...try it and you will see what I mean.  Hopefully, the remaining pics will take you back to your good ole memories from any town Main Street USA. These are mine...

 

Rocky Mountain Grill Pearcy, Arkansas

Driving 'round the Hot Springs area the other day, we noticed a nice, little restaurant on a hilltop in Pearcy, AR Pop. 3,903. Looked friendly enough and as they always say, you never know what's 'round the corner unless you go 'round it. So, we screeched on our brakes, turned 'round, and came upon a very delightful meal. Mike had the Steak Special which was melt in your mouth tender and cooked to perfection. I had the Fried Catfish Dinner with a perfectly loaded sweet potato and all was scrumptious. Salads were great, soup was delicious, and the bread loaves were Di vine. Oh, and did I mention my most favorite food in the universe was on the menu. Yep, they had To Di For Hushpppies, and we will be back.

The New (But Not So New) Cilantro's Grill...

Yesterday at 3 pm on a Sunday, I might add, Chili's in North Little Rock had a 35 minute waiting line! Gee, when can a couple get a nice leisurely meal, at a supposedly off hour in one of the oh so busy local restaurants??? Because, heaven forbid, we certainly don't try to get in at normal eating hours from 11-2 or 5-7 when there usually is an even longer wait. So, instead of waiting (with no available waiting chairs in sight) we wandered down the street to the new Cilantro's Grill in the Lakewood Village strip mall. Should have waited the 35 minutes at Chili's.

At Cilantro's we were immediately taken in and whisked away to the very back area of NOWHEREVILLE. In fact, we were the only souls back there for the longest. No one knew we were back there until they brought another couple back who got there food long before we did. Service was bad,  the kitchen was slow, and no one cared if we had chips, refills, or our ordered food. And, I might add, Cilantro's Grill is just another of many authentic Mexican restaurants in the area. I ordered the Poblano Queso Fundido which was an appetizer with corn tortillas. Pretty good. Mike had the Fish Tacos, order of two, which were tasty as well with a delightful side rice dish. But, considering the cold shoulder and delayed treatment, we will not return for a very long time, if ever. I try hard not to ever say never. Besides, I like El Porton (which is not too far away on Int 67/167 ) for authentic Mexican food. They are good and they care. I do like the shade of green on the walls at Cilantro's Grill...

Chai Di Tea and The BASIC Raisin Bran Muffin...

Hey, if Oprah can name a chai tea at Starbucks after herself, so can I. Maybe not at Starbucks but around my kitchen, I can.

And, I might add, "It's a sad day at Starbucks when your once booming company has to rely on the Oprah effect to help you out. Maybe SB should slow down and get back to the basics like quality product and spectacular service that got them going strong in the first place. Sorry, I digress...

How To Make A Dozen Perfect Raisin Bran Muffins...

1/4 cup oil

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

1 cup buttermilk 

2 cups Raisin Bran Cereal

1 cup flour

1 teaspoon soda 

1/2 teaspoon salt

Mix in order and bake in greased regular size muffin tin at 400 degrees F for about 15 minutes. Double the recipe for 24. If you want, save batter in fridge for up to 5-7 days and bake when needed. I bake all at once and freeze the leftovers, if there are any.

How To Make Chai Di Tea...

2 cups almond milk

2 Vanilla Chai tea bags

3-4 teaspoons Splenda 

Sprinkle of cinnamon 

Heat milk and tea bags together in microwave for about three minutes. Remove and allow to steep for another couple of minutes. Sweeten with Splenda and sprinkle with cinnamon.

Sharky's in Sherwood...

There really is an art to frying the heck out of food and making it something enjoyable. Sharky's has defined that art. I would highly recommend Sharky's if you are having a Southern fried fish attack as was my case today for lunch. I wanted to eat at Two Sisters on Kiehl but, when I drove through the parking lot, there was no parking space to be had. As I exited the lot, I noticed the neon sign special flashing fried chicken so I thought of Sharky's on down the road. Glad I did. The $5.99 lunch special consisted of 2 fried catfish steaks, crispy fries, two hushpuppies, two slices of bread, and a delicious cup of cole slaw. Yummy, yummy! I was only able to eat half of the meal because it was so huge. Saved the rest for an afternoon snack. And, talk about perfectly fried. It was absolutely fried to perfection with no hint of grease or oil. I don't do fried very often but when I do, this Southern girl will choose to eat at Sharky's... because I have not defined the fine art of food frying.

Thank Heaven...

for the aspiring young graduates who have acquired the (seemingly) lost art of the thank you note! And, thanks back to them for their achievement which makes our country a better place to live. #education 

Mylo Coffee Company in Hilllcrest

So I was deciding not to like this place when I walked in and ordered a large latte with Splenda and whip cream on top and I quickly got, "We have no Splenda and no whip cream but, we do have Stevia." OK, I can handle Stevia and forgo the whip cream on my latte today.

But, I really got silently puffed up when they handed me a large latte in a very, very small cup. Is this mine, I did say large, didn't I. OK, it did have a pretty little design on top. I'll give it a chance. So, I ordered a pastry with some bacon in the middle, paid my tab on their IPad (don't you love those things) and added a tip as well, and took my very, very small cup of latte and my cute little pastry over to sit by the window which had the most beautiful yellow tulips on the counter.

Well, fickle person that I am. I quickly forgot about the huge Venti I have ordered for years at that other place. And, this latte was so smooth and delicious that I did not need to drown it with whip cream. And, Stevia is a pleasant tasting sugar substitute. Glad I tried it. And, when I bit into that pastry with the bacon on top and found that it had the most subtle flavor of bacon throughout with a bacon brittle on the bottom, I quickly forgot about all others. I will surely travel the extra miles it takes me to get to Mylo's just to get one of those delicious choux pastries and just the right size of luscious sized latte ...2Di4 ...so nice to be flexible.