BB's bbq

I finally made it out to BB’s bbq….if you haven’t been, it is the “it” spot to go for live jazz/blues music, out on Troost and

85^th street

.  I learned about the restaurant years ago when the public radio station would air the live music from BB’s on Sunday evenings…the sound as you can imagine was just horrible, but that kind of added to the charm of the blues.

The restaurant itself has a nice picnic feel to it, with long communal tables in the center, booths on the sides and a bar in back.  They’ve also got a nice sized deck out front, which I’m sure is great for smokers, but even as a non-smoker we found the patio to be the perfect balance to be able to hear the music, but also talk to each other.  I was shocked for a Saturday night the place was only half filled…but I think Sunday is the “big night,” even though there is live music every night.

The cover charge was $5 (very reasonable) and the food prices were equally reasonable.  I really wanted to try the cajun wrap “An flour tortilla packed with Jambalaya and Gumbo, smothered in mozzarella cheese and topped with sour cream and chives”  but figured I have to try the bbq, since that’s what they’re known for.

I got a pulked pork sandwich, which was very very mild.  You could taste the smoked favor but it wasn’t at all spicy…I covered it with the unlabeled bottle of bbq sauce on the table, which was also very mild, and slightly sweet.   The guy I went with had the smoked Italian sausage, which had much more of a bite to it, and quite a thick encasement.  What stood out to me was their fries…. Or rather battered and fried potato wedges… each plate had three wedges (which almost amounted to an entire potato)…I wouldn’t say they were good or bad, just different, though I kept expecting them to taste like chicken since they looked like fried chicken fingers.

I know everyone loves Oklahoma Joe’s, but to me this place had much better food, and a much better menu…some spicy, some mild, and a much more interesting variety…not to mention there’s live music!

The Tea Market

A few weeks ago I was out and about with my parents, trying to come up with restaurant suggestions that would fulfill my dads desire for a cheep but fantastic steak and my moms sense of adventure that entails anything other than a steak house.  (If any restaurant comes to mind that fits the two of them simultaneously, please let me know, I'm forever searching!)

But in the process of racking my brain I used my cell phone to search for the closest restaurants....in that list a few tea stores popped up that I had never heard of...Being a HUGE tea fan, I couldn't let that slide, I had to check them out...

One of the new places was simply called the Tea Market... it's in the Crestwood shopping area (random street near Brookside that has a bunch of fantastic European style restaurants, bistros, clothing stores, a paper store...it's all very expensive, but super chic).

The Tea Market, to my surprise was actually very affordable, with some of the best teas.  One ounce of tea is $3.50 and comes in a resalable bag....two ounces is $6.50 and will be packed in a little silver tin, with a sticker placed on top.

She has a great assortment, a variety of flowering tea, jasmine pearls (one of my favorites), and a lot of fun/unique teas....the one I couldn't resist buying was Hot Cinnamon Spice it's a black tea that tastes like it's got red hot candies rolled in cinnamon included in the blend - it is slightly sweet, slightly spicy, and very heavy on cinnamon....only down side is there is so much cinnamon that escapes the strainer that I want to strain the tea twice.

Here's a few of the intriguing tea's I found at the Tea Market:
1. Peaches & Cream
"Sencha with ripe juicy peaches and smooth, velvety vanilla."
2. Cranberry & Roses
"A soothing blend of Sencha, mild cranberry, pomegranate and pink baby roses."
3. White Vanilla Grapefruit
"White teas infused with vanilla and grapefruit."
4. Holiday Dream
"Only here as long as the Season! Cloves, cinnamon, rose petals, almonds and vanilla."
5. Milk Taste Oolong
"A must try! Heady fragrance. Luscious creamy flavor. Rare treat!"


The website for the Crestwood shopping center -- http://crestwoodshops.com/the_Crestwood_Shops/the_Crestwood_Shops.html
And the Tea Market
http://www.teamarketonline.com/index.php

Adventures in Springfield, MO

I visited my parents this weekend, which always means exciting new food experiences.  My mom and dad are very different in their food tastes, my mom is in love with the adventure of food (like me) but my dad is very strait forward - pasta with marinara, steak, potatoes...nothing too fancy, just classic American food. As a result my mom is always looking to try new places when ever I'm in town.

This weekend we went to Bambino's, which is a little Italian restaurant tucked into a neighborhood.  Bambino's is run by an authentic Italian family that uses very classic recipes.  The food was fantastic, and covered in creamy cheese...tiramisu was to die for.  It's always hard to find a good authentic tiramisu, they nailed it. It was light and creamy with notes of amaretto, perfect ending to a heavy meal of pasta.

But what was most charming about this restaurant is that it's literally nestled into a neighborhood of houses...you would never find the place by mistake.  Our waitress (who was not affiliated with the owners at all) lived right across the street from the restaurant.

This exclusiveness gave the place an authenticity...it was very casual and friendly, but had a nice forgien feel, which you don't find often in American Italian restaurants.

After Bambino's my mom took me to Mama Jean's, which is like a small version of Whole Foods...and I was floored by their spice collection, as well as the tea selection (I bought an ounce of "lover's tea" for 70 cents!)

My mom and I always get into trouble in any kind of grocery store...Today we bought Appeal's "Pomelo & Pink Grapefruit & Lemon Aloe Vera" it was a light green colored drink that has small chunks of aloe vera in it, I kid you not....aloe vera drinks are supposedly the next "it" thing... I've tried a few aloe vera drinks and never liked them, this one was actually good... but chewy...there were small shavings of the aloe vera that one would have to chew before swallowing... but the sweet aloe mixed with a mild bite of grapefruit and a zesty splash of lemon was refreshing...it reminded me of drinking the juice from a can of pears...slightly sweet, and slightly chunky.

http://www.organicdirect.com/alo-appeal-pomelo-pink-grapefruit-lemon-aloe-vera-drink-169oz-p-9370.html

We also bought a few chocolates, my favorite being Chocolove's "Dark Chocolate Chili Cherry"

At first you taste the dried cherry's adding a nice sweet taste, but the chili hits you as an after taste, creeping into your mouth subtly and gradually getting hotter with each bite. I found the chocolate to be sadistically addicting!

Indian Food Part II

Korma Sutra, the Indian restaurant I was talking about in my last post has two locations.

One in Overland Park, which is the original restaurant, and the one in Westport is the second store.  Both have their own personality....I like the Westport one because it's more spacious, and I feel like it's more populated, so the food is constantly getting refreshed on the buffet.

The one in Overland Park is smaller and more intimate.  They make your mango lassie and your chi tea specifically for you, they also keep and eye on what you’re eating and give you samples of other foods they think you might like.

This sounds good in theory, but a few months ago I went to the Overland Park restaurant with the intentions of just sitting with a friend who wanted to eat lunch there.... this greatly upset the people who ran the restaurant (probably the owners of the restaurant).... they couldn't let it go.  I’m guessing they thought I was just afraid of Indian food, because I kept telling them over and over "I've already had lunch, I love this restaurant, but I'm too full to eat"... but every few minutes they kept bringing me food.

Fresh hot naan right out of the oven, personally delivered into my hands by the owner who was nervously grinning "you eat this, it's bread, it's good....you need substance for shopping"....small dishes of food from the buffet..."you eat this, then when you go shopping you will feel strong"..."no no, you drink mango lassie too, on the house, it's good for you...you like yes?"

They even sent me home with a foil pack of food...never before have I ever been sent home with buffet food, and beyond that never before have I been sent home with food when I didn't even order anything.

Of course I had to tip, they were so gracious, so I pretty much paid the same amount that the buffet would have cost in, but as a tip...and now I know, telling them I'm not eating is enough to unhinge them... their food is great, I love their restaurant, and sadistically it was almost fun to watch them try to win me over...but since I love them so, I think next time I will put their minds at ease and order a bowl of soup or something small off their menu instead of break their hearts with the words “I’m not eating”

Indian Food

One of the things I love most about Westport is the diversity in food...one of which is an Indian restaurant called Korma Sutra.

I've been to about 15 different Indian restaurants, and honestly to this day I don't really know what I'm eating.  They have brown goo, orange goo, and green goo's...which through the years I have learned a little bit about, but for the most part I usually try to stick to the buffets, because even with the names in front of each item, I say to myself "that brown goo looks really good, I think I'll try that."

If you've never had Indian food before, it's mostly sauces and meats (there are plenty of vegetarian dishes too) but it's roast beef in a spicy brown sauce, or chicken chunks in a bright orange creamy sauce...I don't ask a whole lot of questions, I just take a tiny bit of most foods...try a bite or two of each then go back for the best of the choices.

The food is always served with rice as well as naan (a puffy flat bread with garlic and butter on top)...personally I like to use the naan almost like a taco shell, piling it with rice and the sauce covered meat, fold and eat....delish.  But you have to be careful, it's easy to fill up on bread and rice!

So the reason I'm most fond of Korma Sutra's is because their lunch buffet has everything inclusive - all you can drink mango lassies and chi tea, about 8 different entre choices with rice and naan (bread), some fresh fruit, Indian rice pudding, and slightly fried balls of bread soaked in a mild maple syrup for desert.  All for $12.

Only trouble is that I want it all...and believe me, I eat it all... of course this means I feel slightly ill for the rest of the day, and I swear to myself every time "I will never do that again"... but wait a few weeks and I find myself in the exact same spot... drinking two mango lassies, a chi tea, 3-4 slices of naan, a little bit of all 8 entries and then a second(sometimes third) helping of 2 or 3 of the entries, small bowl of rice pudding (filled to the brim), a few of those golden balls of goodness, a few orange slices, and a handful of strawberries....feeling bloated just thinking about it?  Yeah me too, but makes my day every time!

Here's their website... you can see for yourself -- brown goo, orange goo, and green goo
http://www.kckormasutra.net/

I Wanna Win!

My teacup tale of the week:  The Nelson Atkins Art Museum has a new exhibit starting today… Clare Twomey created 1345 duel handled cups that she is giving away…When I first read about her concept I didn’t like the look of the cup, but wanted one despite…then the more I read about what’s happening the more I wanted to participate…so bad that I actually became a member of the art museum ($65) just so I could have a higher chance of winning a cup.

She had an exhibit in Europe where she made a bunch of little birds and scattered them around an art museum, and the visitors as well as the people curating the show stole them one by one.

When she was visiting Kansas City she became fascinated with a china set that a family donated to the art museum with a contract that frequently used the term “in trust forever.”

Following suite she replicated her favorite piece out of that collection and is giving them to visitors to keep forever.  The viewer must sign a contract picking out which cup they want in particular, and sign the contract they will take care of the cup, display it, treat it as a piece of art, etc.

Here’s the catch that sparked my competitive nature:  500 of the cups are going to be given away tonight to patrons of the art museum.  Patrons are allowed tonight to pick out a cup from a special lot and they will draw names until all the cups are gone, first name drawn for the cup gets it, and they will not substitute one cup for another.

After tonight they will give away 60 a week in the same manor but it’s open to the public.  You can fill out a contract every day if you want to, and they will continue until February.

I don’t even like the cup, but the more I got to thinking about it the more in love with the idea I became….there will be a website where cup owners can upload photos of their cup and talk about their experiences with it… so that means all 1345 owners will “forever” be linked together.

I wanted the higher chance of getting a cup. I like the idea of donating to the art museum…I respect what they do, and I like the idea of being a patron (which means I get to park for free, I get to go to the paid exhibits for free, and participate in all kinds of special events)…but honestly I just want one of the stupid cups, so I signed up as a “friend” of the art museum today, and I went to pick out the cup I hope to win...I'll be honest all of the cups looked the same to me…and again, I’m not very fond of the cup… it’s larger than a coffee cup, but smaller than a bowl….I looked and looked, noticed tiny blemishes on some, and small differences in the glazing, but they all looked the same… until I came upon cup #0393… there were no dark spots and the inscribed word "forever" was crystal clear... that was my cup, I just knew it, and sure enough after playing card games with friends until 2am, I logged onto my email account to discover I won my cup!!!!!  I'm so excited!!!

Box Natzi

There's this freaking adorable cupcake shop near the plaza that I'm in love with called Cupcake A La Mode (http://cupcakealamode.com/) ...The store is awesomely decorated in black and a dark hot pink, with black chandeliers.  It's very chic. The cupcakes are equally decorated....for example here’s a description of the "gold digger" cupcake from their website: "A Chocolate cupcake filled with gooey caramel and topped with our rich chocolate buttercream, rolled in crushed pecan pieces and drizzled with more caramel."  All the cupcakes are like that, they're decked to the nines, making it feel like a special treat...which is amazingly attainable for $3.  And if you order a cupcake to go they put it in a hot pick square box with a cellophane window cut out of the top so you can peek at your beautiful cupcake....

Recently I decided to buy a cupcake for a friend and of course I wanted one for me too...which meant I need multiple boxes (because lets be honest, I'm going to eat my cupcake the minute I walk out of the store, and i'd rather not hand over a box to a friend that appears to be half empty)... but when I asked for separate boxes I learned they are weird with their boxes.

If you by a cupcake to go they will fold up a box, place your cupcake in and add a sticker as a seal, no questions asked... but a couple trips ago, after paying for my cupcakes I saw they had a special box that was sized for two cupcakes, which as I mentioned before, I was planning on eating mine pretty quickly and was planning on giving the other one away a few hours later... so I asked if she could box them separately.... I received a very cold look from the clerk who explained to me as calmly as she could, "usually we charge an extra 50 cents per box to do that, since you already paid I'll do it for you this time no charge, but next time you need to tell me before you pay."

I felt bad, I wasn't trying to save 50 cents.... though I don't get the logic, I don't get a discount for ordering two cupcakes, if my friend was there with me she would have paid separately and both cupcakes would have been boxed individually... but since I'm only using one credit card I'd have to pay extra for the same amount?

So I saved my box, thinking next time I'll just bring my box with me....well the next time more people wanted in on the cupcake action... so when I went back I didn't take my box with me, this time I surrendered to the idea that they will all be in one box.

I went up to the counter and told the woman "I think I need six cupcakes, I want...." and after naming five cupcakes I realized I had miscounted... but the lady behind the counter was panicked "no you only have five, you need one more". "Um, no, thats the end of my list.  Sorry, I miscounted."  Again I received a cold look (from a different clerk than last time) as she pulled out a different sized box, carefully unpacked my other box and put them in the 5 cupcake sized box! (Little does she know I went home and reboxed one of them for my roommate in that spare box I had saved, and ate one of them myself....then transferred the other three in the 5 cupcake box to the friends at work).  But don’t tell the cupcake ladies this, I don’t want to get black listed!  I had no clue they have an appropriate box for any amount of cupcakes you could possibly want… and their cupcakes are absolutely amazing, but I'm a little disturbed by the boxing rules... I guess when your product is that yummy you are allowed a little room for excentricities.

Speaking of Christopher Elbow...

I was babbling about Christopher Elbow's chocolate shop the other day... but failed to mention he opened up an ice cream, called Glacé, this year.  Now his chocolates are good, and from what I hear, that's where his heart is at, but the ice cream shop is above and beyond amazing.

Just like the chocolate shop, we had a little bit of trouble finding the place the first time we tried to visit but this time it was due to a technicality, not because of an understated location and signage.  Glacé is on Main street, just south of the Plaza library...but like all the other wacky streets in Kansas City, if you drive south on Main Street from downtown, "Main" moves over a block right at the plaza library...so we kept driving in circles, pointing out every peculiar looking house saying "Maybe thats it"...nope, its just one street to the west, next to Spin Pizza and slightly north of Eggsettera. It stands out quite well, thanks to the huge line of people flowing out of the building...

Now that its getting colder it seems that the crowds are dying down to a moderate number, but this summer no matter what time of day I went, there was always a line...but they move quickly, almost too quickly... as you stand in line it is imperative to stay alert, the flavors are posted on the wall, and you have to choose 1, 2, or 3 flavors.  Lets be honest, who wants just one?  So the entire time your in line everyone is madly scheming..."maybe I'll have the Venezuelan spiced chocolate with the salty pretzel...no wait maybe the cilantro with the lavender....no, no, Vietnamese Cinnamon and Coffee...."

Once your at the front your next decision is simple, regular or large cup, and the talented people behind the counter will pack that styrophome cup like a pie chart with 1, 2, or 3 flavors.  Personally I think this is awesome...while the classic tower of ice cream is impressive, I never actually want that much ice cream, I just wanted the variety...and when ice cream stores stack one flavor on top of the other it's hard to mix them together.... Glacé’s ice cream seems to be designed to mix together. The way they slam all the flavors into the cup side by side, it's very easy to eat one flavor at a time, or blend them together as you go.
So what makes his ice cream so amazing?  Well for starters its the unique flavors, he has simple vanilla bean, but who wants vanilla when you can have Boulevard Brewery Doppelbock, or Rosemary Caramel?  Secondly you can taste that ingredient list is pure, there's no unnecessary junk added in to extend the shelf life...and thirdly, as I was talking about before, he uses Shatto milk (I swear even mac and cheese tastes divine when made with Shatto milk), but this speaks to the quality of ingredients he has chosen... shatto milk is a local milk company that is ranked second best in the world, any ice cream that uses their milk as the base is equally a-m-a-z-i-n-g.  Mark my word, in a year or two, this place too will be nationally recognized.

Here's his website: http://glaceicecream.com/

Cider Doughnuts and Somerset Winery

This weekend was Weston's Apple Fest.  Weston is about 45 minutes northwest of Kansas City. We went last year, and found it slightly disappointing.  Basically it’s a craft festival with the typical funnel cakes, and very few apple oriented goods.  Though I will admit, about 10 minutes away from Weston is an apple farm that makes the BEST apple doughnuts.  We considered going, merely to stop at the apple farm, but instead Apple Fest inspired us to go to the Louisburg Cider Mill, which is 30 minutes south of Kansas City.

As one would expect, Louisburg put up a good competition for Weston’s Apple Fest... they had their own Ciderfest going on with live banjo music, bbq, craft fair, corn maze, pumpkin patch, etc., which will be happening next weekend too.  The place was packed to the point that we were in 15 minutes of dead stopped traffic on the highway just waiting to park.  But once we were parked and out of the car the crowd made the trip feel more like an event.  I've been to Louisburg in their "off season" and it always feels destitute, out in the middle of nowhere with only one person inside their country store... this was completely different... little kids everywhere, petting zoo, donkey rides, an apple fort... we wove our way past all the craft tables (selling everything from mini apple, pecan, and cherry pies to homemade rugs), and went strait for the food.  One friend got in the cider doughnut line, and the rest of us got in the BBQ line.

Apparently we should have done the opposite, because both lines took about a half hour, but the doughnuts were being rationed out, only 1 dozen per customer (and we wanted 2 dozen)... luckily my friend was able to convince them to let him buy the amount we wanted, but the meat line didn't have such rations, so we should have sent one person over to the meat line and the rest stand in the doughnut line.

The BBQ stuff was all pre-made, but I had the apple cider pulled pork (and it was awesome), though sadly I covered it in bbq sauce, so the apple flavor was a little hard to taste....but I also ate three cider doughnuts, and had a glass of hot apple cider too (it was too cold outside for frozen apple cider)... Mix all three together, I think I've had my apple fill for the day!

After we over indulged we moved on to the corn maze which was $8 per person, yet there was no one collecting the tickets, so I was a little bummed we spent the money when really anyone can go in for free.  The maze was a little barren/tattered/abused.  We saw one kid after another breaking off a corn stalk as a keepsake, so there were many waist high stumps….and we had expectations of a HUGE maze, but they had it set up with only a couple twists and turns.

Right next to the corn maze was a genuine pumpkin patch...I kept trying to get my friends to buy the blazing red pumpkins (which they insisted were gourds not pumpkins)...We quickly discovered all the good pumpkins were hidden on the outskirts of the field, which kind of felt like a giant easter egg hunt, bright orange pumpkins tucked under green vines, leaves and brush.....and big orange pumpkin flowers acting as decoys...you would think you found a pumpkin only to discover it's just a flower, false alarm.

Now there was a lot more we could have done at Louisburg's Cider Mill, but we ran short of time, and on our way into the farm we saw signs for a winery, which we wanted to at the very least peek at, so we cut our time short at the Cider Mill and moved on.

The winery was called Somerset Ridge Vineyard.  At the Cider Mill there are signs that say "winery next left," which makes it sound like it's near by, but its not....we drove through a neighborhood, then a trailer park, and after the road switched to gravel we started to lose hope....yet sure enough, there was a winery, and it is definitely worth the drive....Happy groups of people sat outside around tables set out near the vineyard.  They were all smiling, chatting, and drinking bottles of wine while a guitar player quietly strummed a soothing melody. The store itself was packed, due to all the activity of the Ciderfest, but they have about 20 different types of wine.  None of the wines have descriptions other than "sweet dessert wine" or "dry red"...but at the counter they will let you try as many as you want, which is much more fun than reading descriptions on the backs of bottles.  We didn't have time to stand in line to try out the wines, but people were leaving the stores with cases full, so it must have been good, either that or they must give you so many samples that you leave thinking its good (and I'm all right with that).  :)

The whole trip was a nice classic fall activity, out in the sun, in the fields, eating apples and pumpkin spiced foods.  This is definitely the time of year to check out Louisburg!

Heres the websites to all the places:

Weston's Applefest: http://westonmo.com/entertainment/calendar.html#anchor_10

Louisburg's Cider Mill: http://www.louisburgcidermill.com/

Somerset Ridge Vineyard: http://somersetridge.com/index.html

Real Mad Hatter Teas (Hallucinogenic Teas that are legal in the United States)

I'm obsessed with tea. Personally I think it's unhealthy to be obsessed with something so trivial, but I guess it is what it is.  I have teas from California (my favorite is coconut chi black) all the way to teas from Key West, Florida (my favorite is a Cream Earl Grey).

This last week I went on a date with a culinary guy and we got to talking about tea, which somehow stumbled into a conversation about the darker side of tea. I had vaguely remembered the owner of Key West Tea telling me about a hallucinogenic tea that he had just ordered (perfectly legal stuff, though still anything hallucinogenic is disconcerting).

After my date I asked around, just out of curiosity, and apparently there are several hallucinogenic tea's.  The one I remembered from Key West Tea was "Kava."  However many say this does not make a great tea, it tastes like dirt and has to be cold brewed, because it looses its potency after reaching 140 degrees (tea is usually brewed at 160-200 degrees). You’ll probably want to mix it with a secondary tea to mask the gritty taste.

The second suggestion was ayahuasca.  Ayahuasca is a combination of two herbs that surprisingly when mixed together create a hallucinogenic tea.  This one is used by shaman and some religious people (which is why it is allowed in the United State. Apparently a few years back there were religious battles in the courts to get the tea legalized)....though if one were to try ayahasca with the hopes of hallucinating, they would have to get the version that has the DMT "Psychotria Viridis" in the tea, most ayahuasca teas sold use a different herb as a substitution, probably because hallucinating is a bad idea.

Third, and last on my list, is Kratom.  They debate whether Kratom is addictive, and it is said to have similar highs as opium (to be honest, I really don't know what that means)...there are about 5 different grades of Kratom, the Hawaiian version being the weakest, and cheapest, and Maeng da as the strongest, but also the hardest to find.  This one, if you ingest too much will cause vomiting (some how I find that comforting).

I feel the need to say, I am in no way endorsing the idea of trying any of these Mad Hatter teas, personally I doubt I will ever try a hallucinogenic tea, even though it is completely legal...I'm scared of advil, mind altering tea is much more scary than advil…but I must admit, I like knowing tea has a darker side.