Delay'd

As I sit here delayed in the airport, on my red-eye to New York and review pics from the weekend...I forgot to mention this good Soul Food restaurant "R & R Soul Food Restaurant". Its right across from the Home Depot Center. I ordered the dark fried chicken, with potato salad and mac & cheese along with a tall glass of cranberry juice. I would recommend this dish, not before sitting out in the hot sun to watch a 2 hour football match...but we all learn from our mistakes.

Pics from all my adventures are either on Flickr or Picasa. Check it out for the sweet clicks I did @ the match!

LA Life

This morning, woke up and had to go to one of LAs classic LA burger spots...IN & OUT. Absolutely one of the first places to eat in LA. Then after that place we went to this really good ice cream sandwich shop called Diddy Reise. A new edition to my musts in LA.

I would have taken more photos, but in this paparazzi life...the owner asked me to not take photos of his $1.50 ice cream sandwich shop menu. Did he think I would release his crazy idea of a $1.50 ice cream sandwich shop...oh no I'm sorry, I just let the secret out. I know I have just flooded the market with $1.50 ice cream sandwich shops. Someone stop this maddness...

Cooking & Football

I enjoy great food! One of the things I love about travel is experiencing the local cuisine as well as culture. Through food we can learn so much of any given culture. I know for Trinidad & Tobago, our food is delicious. And if you speak with anyone from Trinidad, it is definitely one of our most heralded pastimes. One person who shares my view is Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations. This guy from NYC is someone we should all pay attention to. His show is about travel and food, what is wrong with that life!

The photos below are from cooking classes my girlfriend and I have taken at Williams-Sonoma. The first set of pictures (as they cycle through) were from our first class, where we learned about different meats, preparation procedures, knifes, pan materials and much more. Most people wonder if we are doing the cooking…NO! They hire an executive chef to come in and cook the meals. While he is cooking the meal, we ask questions (pertinent to the current dish or not), joke around, eat (sample sizes) and drink (non-alcoholic of course). It’s a relaxed atmosphere, to the point where in the most recent class we took, the chef kept saying “You guys are so quiet”, inciting more conversation. And after the class is over (usually the class is held in the store after store hours, so space is limited and I would suggest contacting your local William-Sonoma for details) you get a chance to get a 10% discount on any items purchased that evening. There is a cost associated with this lovely evening (nothing free in this world) and it differs by location.

The second set of photos are from the 4^th of July class, where we learned how to make friend chicken, corn on the cob (surprisingly different than typical methods), stuffed burgers (click for recipe) and strawberry shortcake. It was so good! The recipes are online at Williams-Sonoma website. I made the stuffed burgers for the gathering on 4^th of July (posted on July 9^th, 2007) and everyone enjoyed it. Take a look at the pictures for yourself.

Isn’t your mouth just watering…

The video below is in celebration of the USA vs. Brazil victory (2 – 1) U-20 World Cup match that helped USA advance out of the group, while knocking out Brazil. Brazil, my 2^nd home, I am sorry but USA definitely put on a great match. The future is looking bright for American Soccer. They have come such a long way since knocking Trinidad out of its first world cup hopes in Italy in the 90’s (I saw that match in Trinidad, in the stands and it was heartbreaking for my country). Enjoy the highlights…ADU did his thing, especially at mark 6:47!

*This video was not edited by me. The video above is to be treated as a link within my blog.