fol epi.

This might be weird for some of y'all, but I'm not a huuuge sandwich person. I mean, I don't dislike sandwiches, but usually there's something I'd rather eat. Like a burger (which doesn't really count as a sandwich, does it?) Or sushi. Or... something else. So when, on my last visit to my hometown Victoria, my parents started raving about this Fol Epi place, I wasn't suuuuper stoked. I mean, I usually trust their taste in food (I didn't inherit my passion for sauce from nobody!) but I just wasn't jumping up and down and begging them to go. We went anyways. 

caramelized apple grilled cheese

Three things about this sandwich that made me really happy:

1) The fact that it felt like dessert... for lunch. Which it probably was. But I'm still going to call it lunch (hey, whatever I gotta do to get by, right?)

2) How ridiculously easy it was to make. And the small ingredient list, most of which you likely already have sitting in your fridge/pantry as you read this.

3) How gooey and oozy and messy and fun to eat it was.

One thing that made me sad:

The fact that I left my camera at a friend's place and had to rely on my Blackberry to relay how awesome-looking it is to you. Which is falling short. Because it looked really awesome, and only looks somewhat awesome here. Sad face.

tomato & caramelized onion grilled cheese.

I am in a constant inner turmoil over meat. On one hand, I love it and many meals in which it is an instrumental ingredient. Can I picture my life without juicy burgers, tender roast chicken or heaping plates of my nana's sausage-filled stuffing at Thanksgiving and Christmas time? Not easily, no. I'm also a person who cries over touching animal videos and interrupts my own showers to save a centipede who's crawled up our drain, running downstairs with a towel, conditioner-coated hair and a glass to put him outside. And have you seen those things? They aren't even close to cute and fuzzy. 

the county general.

 

One of my goals for the year - I start my "years" in September... who needs to be trying to embark on a new path on January 1st, a day when you're likely hungover as all hell? - was to try as many new restaurants as possible and avoid my usual trap of just re-visiting favourites because I know they're good (a seemingly easy mission, but I am a big-time creature of comfort.) When my friend Vanessa mentioned The County General, a new place that opened on Queen West serving up a cool twist on Southern food, I was excited to try it. (If you're sensing a theme here, yes, Vanessa's a very good restaurant-finder.) I looove me some fried chicken.