poor man's fish tacos

Fill this post under: "Desperate."

There are some foods/dishes here in IL that are delicious and cannot be found in CA (I'm comparing IL suburbs to CA suburbs).  HOWEVER, a vast greater amount of foods/dishes that are equally delicious cannot be found in IL no matter how much you look.  One such food is a simple fish taco. I'm talking about a Wahoo's or a Rubio's fish taco (I prefer Rubio's) that you don't think twice about if you live in CA until you move away but is found basically any city in Orange County, CA.

Tonight we had the poor man's fish taco.  A warmed corn tortilla with a bed of shredded cabbage, two microwaved frozen fish sticks topped with Mexican crema, pico de gallo, and lime juice. The fish sticks we used are from Costco called "The Ultimate Fish Stick" made by Trident Seafood (they're actually pretty good).

birthday boy dessert request #1 : pizookie

My sweet hubby had two birthday dessert requests and here's one of them - a chocolate chip pizookie. If you're from California you should be well acquainted with the BJ's Restaurant and Brewhouse (ironically they serve "Chicago style" deep dish pizza...don't be fooled it's not authentic) pizookie and all their wonderful cookie flavors. A pizookie is a freshly baked cookie served warm from the oven in a pizza style dish and topped with loads of cool delicious vanilla ice-cream.


For my homemade version I used an entire recipe of ATK's Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookie and pressed it into a baking dish. Imagine the second picture covered with scoops of vanilla bean ice-cream and then imagine 10 people devouring it in a matter seconds. It went so fast I didn't even have time to take a picture.  ;P

california craving : el toro bravo

I've got to say I really crave good Mexican food a lot here in IL.  I think living in the 'burbs has a lot to do with it but in general I'd say that Mexican food is tastier at home in CA.  I'm talking about the late night, hole-in-the-wall, shady looking, slightly dangerous feeling, Mexican food places that make you happy to be alive.  I'm talking about places like El Toro Bravo in Costa Mesa, CA near Triangle Square.  I posted this picture in 2010, here, right after Christmas....good times, good times.  Augh, fresh ingredients, authentic preparation, and killer flavor...makes you want to cry.

california craving : tommy's

Today I woke up craving The Original Tommy's.  Damn it.  Flavorful, thick, rich chili that sticks to your insides smothered on and eaten with everything.  :(((  I almost had them cater the wedding....too expensive.  My brother and I would eat Tommy's together in the middle of the night.  You can't live in Fountain Valley, CA and not love Tommy's.   

I'd like to order a #2 with extra chili and tomatos with chili fries but with the chili on the side and a Coke.  That's my usual.  Now I will go cry as I eat cereal for lunch.