Road Trip America, Pit Stop #2: Nashville to Fort Smith, AZ Via Memphis (cont.)

Ok, there wasn't really "nothing."  There was something, but nothing I care to see again. We decided to hit up Graceland along the way and hope to get some Memphis BBQ.   I cannot express how much we deeply regret this.

If you're passing through Memphis and think to yourself "I have to see Graceland", just tell the voices in your head to shut up. Graceland is the pits. No joke. I thought it was some beautiful estate kept as a shrine to the King in the beautiful countryside. It is quite the opposite. (This is why you need to do more research, kids.) Graceland is in the, well, less-than-desirable section of town, let's just say. It's pawn shop strip-mall after strip-mall and the famed "Elvis Presly Boulevard" is riddled with potholes that will surely rip the chassis right off your car. My husband said "this can't be right" just about the time we arrived at the parking entrance of Graceland ($10. Ten-frickin-dollars to park in an empty parking lot in the ghetto that looked more deserted than Wally World.) I immediately felt depressed. This place clearly was not reminiscent of the glamour and glory of the old days of Elvis. In fact, I'm quite positive the King would roll over in his grave and throw fried peanut butter-banana sandwiches in the faces of all that now run this place. To top it all off, we never saw the mansion. The standard tour is $30/person (no dogs, obvi) and I had already decided I was uncomfortable enough with this place to not stay. I would love, however, to meet the person who shells out $69/person for the deluxe mansion tour. What the hell could you possibly see to make walking in an old house where someone once lived worth it?

Anyways, I ran inside the ticket area/gift shop to see what the deal was and was dead set on at least getting me some Elvis sunglasses to make the $10 parking worth it. Nope. All they had were super cheap-looking shiny plastic sunglasses for $25. I feel like those should be free w/parking at this hell hole. (*NOTE: I apologize if you are from here and love it. God speed or something nice.  I heard it used to be lovely.)

So...long story long, we got out of Graceland w/in 10 minutes. (That's a dollar a minute for anyone counting.) We set off to grab some Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives BBQ nearby. No chance. I wasn't stopping anywhere near there. We opted for a bag of Doritos we had in the car and kept driving to Fort Smith, AK. In case you haven't taken this drive, there isn't much to see other than flat fields spotted with the occasional Jesus sign. We were entertained by downloading Aziz Ansari standup from iTunes. (Love him- hilarious.) It was a quiet, peaceful section of road, but left us with zero fun food options.

So, I'm sad to say I have no good food stories to report from day 2 of my Road Trip America. Tomorrow we're passing through Oklahoma City on to Amarillo, TX. From what I've read, we should definitely catch some great sites and great eats as we begin to hit the old Route 66. I'll keep my fingers crossed and keep you posted!

Road Trip America, Pit Stop #2: Nashville to Fort Smith, AZ Via Memphis

Day #2 of the journey and we set off on 40W from Nashville to the other side of Arkansas in Fort Smith.  Oh man, do you know what there is to see along the way?!!!!


Nothing.  Absolutely nothing.

Road Trip America- Pit Stop #1: Pizza Palace, Knoxville, TN

As you may know I'm in the middle of moving across the country to San Francisco.  What better opportunity to see (and taste) the country than a cross-country road trip?  After packing up our house into a moving van and packing our dogs into a tiny mazda hatchback, we were off.

We left yesterday morning and drove from Silver Spring to Nashville with some minor pit-stops along the way.  It was an easy drive of about 11 hours, mostly up and down mountains with stretches of 40 miles between rest areas.  What surprised us the most is the cold.  It seems the further southwest we traveled the colder it got.  We hit some snow, but thankfully nothing that really stuck.  The wind was pretty brutal, though.  I was thankful we decided to drive the Southern Route.

Our friends Suzi and Eric got us Guy Fieri's Diners, Drive-ins and Dives book before we left.  What a great idea!  We decided we were going to hit as many stops as we could along the way from that book. 

Our first DD&D stop was the Pizza Palace in Knoxville, TN.  Three immigrant brothers from Greece opened this drive-in in 1961 after buying a pasta sauce recipe.  The "secret sauce" is now a star attraction at this joint.  They are known for their pizza, pasta and onion rings. 

We pulled the car up to the little menu speaker box and ordered a pizza and onion rings (recommended by Guy.)  When the woman brought out the tray, she exuded that southern hospitality one would expect in Knoxville.  She proclaimed "we have the best pizza in the world, ya know! we're famous!"  Love her.  She doted on our cute dogs, remarked what a giant head Lelu has (she really does have a big noggin') and handed us the hot tray of artery-clogging food.  The pizza had thick layers of mozzarella oozing from each slice like hot lava.  They do have something about their sauce.  That was the first thing I noticed.  I almost regretted getting ham and pepperoni because I didn't want to mask the sauce.  It was pretty good pizza, but I wouldn't run out and say "the best in the world."  You have to love her spirit though.  The onion rings are hand battered, giant sweet vidalia onions.  Not bad.  I would recommend stopping if you're ever passing through.  There isn't much else around there...really.  There is nothing.  It's a quick stop off the highway though so not too much of a hike.  It's really all about the old school drive-in experience with southern hospitality and charm.

So what's next?  I'm not sure exactly.  I'm pretty sure lunch today will involve some Memphis BBQ though.  More to come...

App Review: Epicurious for iPhone

Photo courtesy of iTunes

There are tons of food-related iPhone apps out there and I honestly find most of them useless.  They either don't have the features that I would want or have only a handful of recipes.  I have come across one that I have now fallen in love with: the Epicurious app.

This app offers loads of useful functions for the beginning cook and the seasoned pro.  You can search for recipes by keywords, ingredient, course, dietary consideration and even season or occasion.  There is an impressive variety of recipes- over 8,000 under the main ingredients search alone.  Once you find ones you like, you can save them into a favorites folder.  When you're ready to use it, you can save it to your "shopping list" where it breaks out all of the ingredients you need.  This app has photos and user reviews as well. 

I have yet to see another app out there that combines all of these functions.  The best part...it's FREE!  This is quickly joining the Yelp app as one of my favorites.

Brunch is Awesome

I love brunch. There is nothing more perfect after rolling out of bed extra late on a Sunday and brushing off a hangover with some Eggs Benedict (Benny) or Belgian waffles. This weekend being Halloween I imagine there will be plenty of need for a gluttonous Sunday feast.

One thing I hate is deciding at the last minute you want brunch and then not knowing where to go.  Brunch DC has a great blog about brunch all around the DC metro area. I was particularly tempted by the Tabard Inn's homemade doughnuts and and Cafe Saint-Ex's Monte Cristo! They have a pretty extensive list of brunch reviews and you can sort by neighborhood.

If you want to be original, host your own brunch! Change it up- do a special theme or cuisine. Friends will love the casual gathering and it can be a nice change of pace from standing in line because a lot of places don't do reservations for casual brunch. Check out this list of a Month of Brunch Menus to give you some inspiration.

Whether you go buffet style, sit-down, formal or a casual brunch at home- be sure to go heavy on the grease and keep the mimosas coming!

Devouring San Francisco

Nope- this just doesn't have the same feel as Devouring DC.  Lacks originality and alliteration.  Now that I'm a Bay Area transplant I'm going to have to redirect my foodie focus.  I could still write about DC, I just won't have any recent personal experience to back it up.  Now how is that helpful to anyone?

I've been agonizing (embellished, but still) about what to call my new blog.  It seems every time I come up with a name someone else has already done it.  Let's face it, food blogs in San Francisco are a dime a dozen.  I'm going to need to stand out and really set myself apart from the others if I don't want to get swallowed and lost in the bowels of food blogging hell. OK, that was an overly descriptive, overly dramatic and just plain gross metaphor. Sorry.  Now let's focus.  It's time for you to help me!  If you have any fun, original and creative ideas, please feel free to leave them in the comments.  Results TBD...

The CIA Is Coming to DC!

Not that one from Langley, the food one.  I'm talking about the Culinary Institute of America, one of the most prestigious culinary schools in the world with an alumni roster that includes the likes of Cat Cora, Michael Symon, John Besh, Anthony Bourdain and Michael Chiarello. 

If you've ever thought about becoming a chef, baker or restauranteur (and who hasn't?) then now is your chance to rub elbows with staff and find out everything you need to know.  The CIA is holding an admissions reception in DC on Monday, October 25th at 6:30pm at the J.W. Marriott downtown at Metro Center.  Admissions staff will be on hand to answer all of your questions and provide information about their programs and scholarship opportunities.  Speaking of scholarships, you could enter for a chance to win up to a $15,000 scholarship for the best Thanksgiving turkey in the CIA Top Turkey Scholarship contest!

Not really looking for a career change but want to have the experience?  Try out the CIA boot camp.  This is an intense training camps for adults with a passion for food.  I am personally saving up for the week-long bootcamp at the CIA campus in St. Helena, CA. That sounds like a perfect vacation to me!