The Glutton Tastes Downtown Houston

Houston has great eatin'.
My limitations were:

1. Be within walking distance of the hotel. 
2. Satisfy food cravings.

Yelp helped me find some:

I also took advantage of the Hotel ICON's inhouse restaurant, Line & Lariat. A lot.

Here's a gluttony breakdown, day by day [long post]:

Thursday 

Afternoon Tea

Cold brewing teas in my bathroom. (Hibiscus and PG Tips. They both cold brew well).

The hotel only had Keurigs and offered no Black Tea, only one pod of Green Tea.

Which I brewed but didn't drink.

And I didn't have foil to MacGyver refills with my own tea.

Next time, I'm bringing a kettle. Because I woke up WAY earlier than 6am, when they offered the complementary caffeine buffet. Which was awesome, BTW.

 Dinner

Line & Lariat: 

Roasted Brussels Sprouts (had leftovers for later)

Rolls (ditto)

Chile (so delicious that I had it again on Sunday)

Research (important Gluttony activity)

Breakfast looks promising (from Room Service menu).

Friday

Breakfast (and Lunch) at Line & Lariat

My spot. This is where I sat every time I ate in the dining area.

10% discount for artists! Woohoo!

Migas. Did not disappoint.

Made soft tacos for later with the beans and tortillas. (Very necessary).

The waitress gave me a superior Chipotle Salsa, which I poured onto my leftovers.

Midday Sweet
I craved a scone. I got Tres Leches from Treacherous Leches.

OMG!

I made it last all day.

Dinner [I didn't have dinner?]

Saturday

Breakfast
I craved a country breakfast, specifically grits and eggs.
After much Yelping (and a lot of delicious sounding places are closed during the weekend in downtown) I settled on Toasters Cafe. Walking over there was lovely -- I'll post pix in another post.

Surprise! Mexican Coffee with Cinnamon! This when I simply asked for coffee.

 [pulled from their online menu] Shrimp & Grits

Large Pan Fried Shrimp, Andouille Sausage, Onions and Peppers in a Spicy Tomato Based Sauce over Savory Grits and topped with a Fried Egg served with a Biscuit. [WAIT!!!! Where's the biscuit????]

No matter, this was super delicious. I took the toast ToGo, but never ate it. A biscuit would have been more useful.

Midday Sweet.
I was still craving that scone.
On my way back from Toasters, I stopped at (very busy) Boomtown Coffee Main Street Cafe.
No scones (sad face).
Got Cinnamon Cake instead upon advice from a "regular" waiting in the line in front of me.
It complemented the free Hotel Icon Caffeine Buffet coffee, but was no scone.
[No photo]

Dinner at 9:30pm

Behold the long awaited sad salad.

Sad because I ordered it at 7:30.
I couldn't order room service (room phone dead) so I got an art fair helper to spell me and I ordered this from the bar.
"Do you want this sent up to your room so you don't have to wait for it?"

"Sure."

I blithely go upstairs.

Work the fair until 9pm.

No salad appears.

Back down to the bar.

"Where's my salad?"

"What? You never got it? I went on break and told them..."

Gets salad from kitchen.

Is given no additional tip.

I take it upstairs exactly as you see it here.

The salad itself was yummy.

Not getting it when expected was brutal.

Sunday

Breakfast (and Lunch)

Mas inhouse Migas.

It worked on Friday and I didn't want another Sad Salad situation.

Embellished with Pico de Gallo

Dinner
Got a ToGo cup of Chili from the bar (waited for it). So good! (no photo)

Monday

Breakfast (and Lunch and Later)
La Calle Tacos

Chilaquiles [huge portion that I carted to the airport but couldn't finish].

Esquite (Elote off the cob). So good. Packed into checked bag so Severo could taste it.

Yep. Good eats in Houston!

Linking with
Catherine's #sharealllinkup
Shelbee's Spread the Kindness

The Flight from Hell

Sixteen hours in Newark.

A lot of it is recorded in the text alerts:

Translation: the AC is malfunctioning and the cabin is 100F

They have to cool it down.

(Kind of hard to depart in 10 minutes if everyone is still in the terminal)

Translation: all westbound flights are grounded because of weather.

We board. We wait on the tarmac, there's a long queue for the runway. There's a lurid sunset.

8:13

8:33

Plane is broken.

We return to a gate (that takes a while, we have to wait for one to clear).

8:51

At this point, the flight attendants meet their time limit and a new crew has to be located.

I think more weather issues are involved -- lightning and flight pattern closures.

And catering. They have to refresh the catering. This detail annoys everyone.

We reboard. We wait at the gate. And wait. The tow is broken and another is found.

We finally amble onto the tarmac.

The pilots meet their time limit.

We return to the gate.

They can't find anyone to drive the gateway.

Passengers start yelling.

The line at Customer Service to rebook is very long and since my seat was in the back of the plane, I am near the end of it. When the last agent leaves at 3:30am, there are maybe 25 of us without new boarding passes. Most leave in a mob to the lobby. Four of us like the look of being first in line when CS reopens at 5am, staying inside security, and having carpet to loll upon (most of Terminal C is linoleum).

3:40am

Add to the mix a forecast of thunderstorms that will start around 1pm.

5:15 am: get a 1:00 direct flight, same seat. Hmmmm. Will I beat the weather?

Lurid sunrise. 5:24

Trying standby seems worth a shot, since I have nothing better to do.

The 6am to LAX is already boarding, nevermind.

I go to the 7am LAX gate -- first in line! -- and add my name to the list.

I am Standby #6, because of my lowly miles status.

I am the last passenger to board the flight, with a window seat, no less. Whew!

It is an uneventful journey (aside from the new terrible high tech window which remained in "blackout" mode until Arizona).

You can barely see the plane's wing. This is the view at 10am.
I pushed that button many many times, with no success.
The flight attendants had my side of the plane on "blackout" override.
So much for doing artwork of the landscape patterns.
Super annoyed.

SO glad to be home!

[added 7/23] 

I WILL say that the crews and all the agents (that I observed) were GREAT. One of the pilots kept us abreast of what was ACTUALLY transpiring vs the vague text alerts that we got. He was even willing to take the blame (and gave us his name, which I immediately forgot) if anyone wanted to spew angry words at United.

Also, I only heard three episodes of a passenger yelling (one guy twice). 

Linking up with
Catherine's #ShareAllLinkup
Shelbee's On the Edge

Super Delicious Shrimp

This is a one-pan dish that we love!

Super Delicious Shrimp
serves 4 -- makes a great leftover!

Ingredients:

• 3/4 lb Shrimp, peeled and deveined (about 3 dozen medium)

• 1/4 tsp saffron threads

• 2tb olive oil
• 1/2 medium onion, chopped
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced

• 1 14oz can Rotel or other tomato/chile mix
• 2 chipotle peppers (the canned in adobo sauce kind), chopped fine
• 1/2c white wine

Method:

1. Soak saffron in 1/4 c water
2. Saute onions and garlic in olive oil in a skillet
3. Add saffron, Rotel, chipotles, wine -- let simmer for 5 minutes
4. Add shrimp, simmer until shrimp is opaque/cooked

We like to serve it over rice.

The Adironack Experience

The Adirondack Experience is the new name for the Adirondack Museum at Blue Mountain Lake, NY.
I coerced my mom and Severo into joining me to meet up with Shelbee and her sons.

It took Shelbee a while to make her way south from Watertown (road construction) so we ambled around and took in some of the sights.

A little house on stumps.

Replication of an artist's studio cabin.

WARNING: TAXIDERMY FOLLOWS -- if stuffed animals upset you, stop now!

I'll give you some space...



...




OK, here goes:

Deer hoof coat rack in the cabin.

We found an exhibition dedicated to taxidermy in the gallery.

Deer hoof inkwell

Bird foot goblets

Flayed fish

Jackalope

Gambling squirrels

Boxing squirrels sans tails

Rabbits' Village School

Glass eyes

Did not take photos of the stuffed dogs and cats because, too sad (and creepy).

We finally rendezvoused with Shelbee, but Severo went missing in the process. (Bad cell reception, he didn't get my "Where are you?" texts). We frolicked in the main building a bit, but soon the boys got antsy and needed to run around outside, so we exited without seeing the entire thing. (I've been before, so not tragic).
Here's a funny moment:

Archie as a mad scientist

Linking with Shelbee's Spread the Kindness

The Gluttons Take a Vacation

No, not a vacation FROM gluttony -- heaven forbid!
The first week I was solo. This did not hamper me.

Providence
Staying with Patucci and Mark is always an exercise in gluttony. They are both excellent cooks (and hosts!).
Denden on Benefit

For Patucci: KOREAN RAMEN spicy Korean noodles with vegetables and egg
Split: KIMCHI PANCAKE korean pancake/egg batter, flour, onions, kimchi 

For me: JAP CHAE  sweet potato noodles stir fried in sesame oil with vegetables and mushrooms 

Breakfast array:

The Apricot Scones have Almond Paste in them

#goals

Once Severo joined me, the gluttony got turned up to 11.

Troy, NY
Plumb (no photos)

Barneveld and Yorkville, NY
The Village Diner

For him: Village Giambrotti - Grilled Home Fries, Ham, Bacon, Italian Sausage, Greens, 2 Eggs, Mozzarella -- AMAZING.

For her: Eggs over easy and awesome Home Fries

Karam's Middle East Bakery

Spinach Stick -- spinach, chickpeas, and feta cheese in bread dough

Meat Sfiha -- mini pizzas topped with ground beef, onions, tomato, and pine nuts

Spinach Pie -- spinach, onion, and lemon in bread dough

Pita made on premises

Adirondack Lanes and Diner

My Aunt Bunny presides over breakfast there daily. We took my mom over and met up with:

Me, Aunt Bunny, her daughter Kitty, Kitty's daughter Jade (behind the ketchup), Kitty's daughter Sam, Allie, Mom, Severo

Desantis Meat Market & Deli

Tomato Pie slices for later. I ate mine while Severo toured the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.

East Newark, NJ
Tops Diner (under new management and not as great as before)

For him: CORNED BEEF HASH & EGGS with buttermilk pancakes

For her: CUBAN BREAKFAST two eggs, chorizo con arroz y frijoles negros, salsa verde, fresh pico, maduros

(To go, I put the chorizo and salsa on a brioche bun to eat on the flight home. WINNER)

NYC
William Greenburg Desserts -- it's our pre-Met Museum tradition

We didn't get any luminescent cupcakes. Aren't they wild?

Xi'an Famous Foods

Tiger Vegetables Salad (celery and cilantro)
In bag: Spicy Cumin Lamb Burger
Spicy & Sour Spinach Dumplings

Scotch Plains, NJ
Nunzio's Pizza

Two jars of frozen "gravy" to go.

STOP THE MADNESS!