I love the word grub.

Sure, it can mean sluggish larva... But it also means good, hearty, joyous food.

Perfectly great example: Finns Seafood Grub Truck, Panama City Beach, FL.  I LOVE food trucks.  It's so exciting to see what kind of masterpiece can come out of that little 4 wheeled truck.  I've been to the fair food trucks, the waffle trucks, even the breakfast trucks- but this was my first Seafood Truck experience!

I had these.  Fish tacos.  So fresh and probably the best fish tacos I've ever had.  Fresh saltwater fish covered in lettuce, cheese, lime juice, cilantro and their special "sauce"- whatever that means.  I really didn't care what it meant because it was so good.

 Oh my goodness. My life is now complete.

Next Stop: Farmer's Market-  St. Andrew's Bay, FL.  It was a rainy day, so I think a lot of vendors had gotten cold and packed up, so we visited all the troopers' booths. Fresh breads, produce, jewelry, baked goods, wood carvings and that guy with his guitar singing Jimmy Buffet songs.  (You can't get away from those guys here- not that I'd want to..)

There was a little spot at our resort called "Liza's Munchies"- not the best name I've ever heard, but they made up for it with their little beach drinks.  They weren't exactly cheap, but that's what vacations are for.

Buying $8 drinks that you sit next to your beach chair and your husband kicks over when he gets up...

I had been talking about these little guys all week and so on the last day that same husband that would kick it over, brought me my beloved mango drink.

Again I say, my life is complete.  That umbrella- adorable. (Well before it got smashed by my husband's foot)  Ok- I'm done complaining about him kicking over my mango drink. For now...

beach bum.

There are a few things in life that bring me to a place of pure happiness.  Reading good food blogs, cupcake shops and a great pair of new pumps. This week happens to be full of different things that bring me to that place; the things that I only get once a year about this time.  I'm on a family vacation in Panama City Beach and if you want to let all your cares go, then this is the place to be.  You see the beauty of creation here and also the beauty of food...

We've been eating a lot of seafood and the coconut shrimp above is the best I've ever had. Oh my goodness. I had that along with gumbo last night at Montego Bay Seafood House.  I also tried oysters for the first time this week.  Not too shabby.  Grouper sandwiches are also amaaazing. 

And above is where I spend most of my time.  Some people say laying out all day long is boring.  I say they're crazy.  You just lay there, listen to the waves and that's it! No phone calls, no emails to check, no articles to read- just lay there and be a beach bum.  I'm off to the beach now. 

xoxo, lc

Salsa Mania

Salsa mania. I have it.  Not just your tomato and onion salsa either.  I'm talking fresh fruit, fresh herbs, lemon and lime juices, things you would say "wait.. that can go in salsa?" oh yeah. it can. No rules here.

I'm starting my salsa journey with this.

Corn salsa.  It's adapted from howsweeteats.com and let me tell you one thing- Mmm.  It's supposed to taste just like Chipotle's and it really does.  I made it a couple days ago and then made it again last night.  You could say I really like it..

Corn
Red Onion
Salt & Pepper
Lime juice
and my favorite- Cilantro
(the recipe from HowSweetItIs calls for jalapeno, but I didn't have any)

Throw it all in and grab some tortilla chips.  You will eat the whole bowl and you won't feel all that bad about it because it's vegetables. I mean unless your bowl is like a bucket..


Mine's not..

for the love of eggs

Eggs. So many possibilities.

Eggs Benedict.

Nog.

Salad.

Drop soup.

Quiche.

French Toast.

Eggplant Parmesan

I could go on forever.

But this takes the cake. Eggs that birth confetti. The world is now complete.

Happy Easter. Celebrate the beauty of the life story this weekend.
credit to <http://ohhappyday.com/2011/04/diy-party-confetti-egg-game/>

gems/

it's not hot outside, so let's make it hot inside.

I really think I was meant to be born in Florida.  Beaches, sand and almost every day is warm and sunny.  I am a beach bum at heart but somehow I was born in the good ole "Land of Lincoln".  Also the land of cold, and I mean cold.  I'm talking can't feel your fingers cold.


So during the winter I like to do anything that reminds me of summer.  Making beach boards on Pinterest, painting my fingernails bright pink and making food that warms me up.


This gumbo did the trick.


Let's just say I needed glass after glass after glass of water to cool off my mouth.

I wanted to make sure it was warm zesty borderline hot sizzling red hot. There we go.  So I added green chiles, cayenne pepper and my personal favorite green chiles. 


Gumbo
chicken broth
butter
Rotel diced tomatoes
green chiles
shredded chicken- I used Rotisserie 
cayenne pepper
hot sauce
pepper


-fix your white rice separately, then pour the soup over the rice in your bowl.


{my theory for cooking is to be creative and have fun- that's why there are no measurements- just keep adding until you love the taste!}


and lastly, 


Mr. swears it "burnt his throat".  It's possible, but a little dramatic if you ask me.  If you're ever up for one of those "I want to burn my throat" nights, then this is your dish! {It wasn't that bad, I promise}.

and again i say cake.

Funfetti cake mix, whipping cream and vanilla yogurt. What could go wrong here?

Nothing, that's the thing.  There is no way that this can fail, that's the beauty of it.

The only problem you could run in to is not being able to find these itty bitty precious animal crackers and let me tell you it would be a problem.

I found them at my local Amish-made food store.  The regular size will work, but really it's not the same. They're so cute I just want to eat them up.

Why do we say that about adorable things? "I just want to eat it up!" Whoever came up with that? I think of that phrase when I see cute children.  Probably not what you want to hear as a 4 year old.

back to the Cake Batter Dip:

1/2  Funfetti Cake Mix
tub of whipping cream, the regular size
vanilla yogurt- I used Yoplait

and

animal crackers- the tiny ones- they're just dolls.