Scenes from Early 2013

I made German Chocolate cupcakes for my boss's birthday. I know what side my bread is buttered on.

Housa, hash browns, and wheat toast at The Brunch House. 

Spinach salad from Holiday Market in Royal Oak. 

Dehydrated peanut butter- excellent for making smoothies with less fat. 

Egg bagel, light cream cheese, lox, from New York Bagel in Ferndale.

Mini chocolate cheesecake and carrot cake cupcakes from The Cupcake Station in Birmingham. Don't waste your calories on these.

Christmas Eve Fish Market Lunch

Every Christmas Eve, my bestie and I have lunch. We gossip, we talk about our plans for the rest of the holidays, and we exchange gifts. This year we tacked on an early-morning yoga class. I'm not even sure if she knows this, but working out with her is one of my favorite things in the world. Yoga in particular, but Pure Barre or even a boring session at the gym- I love it.

This year, like last year, we headed to Mitchell's Fish Market. I had to pick up the mussels I had ordered for my family's traditional post-mass cioppino, so we figured two birds with one stone. I knew the bartender, so we sat at the bar for lunch and I picked my bartender friend's brain over some additions to the menu.

I've never met a fish taco I didn't like, but she highly recommended the Codwich Sliders and I decided to give them a whirl. I'm so happy I threw caution to the wind and actually took direction this time, because these little babies provided one of the best lunches I've had in a long while.

The huge pieces of cod hung over the side of the puffy, yeasty bun. The coleslaw topping was a little bland but benefited greatly from a quick shake of salt and a healthy squirt of Tabasco.

The gumbo alongside was good but I barely remember it. The sliders commanded my full attention. The breading was light, the fish was flaky, I didn't get one Godforsaken mouthful of what I disgustingly refer to as "fry." You know what I mean. A mouthful of batter with no substance. It's a huge disappointment and you feel yourself gaining a pound.

Codwich Sliders at Mitchell's. You won't regret it.

Five for 2012

Five of my best meals of 2012 were:

5. Dinner at Bistro Bella Vita (Grand Rapids)-
On February 19, 2012, homegirl Stacey and I went to see Anthony Bourdain and Eric Ripert at DeVos Hall in GR. We ate at Bistro Bella Vita (which, apparently, in-the-know Grand Rapids people refer to as "Bistro") and I wrote about it here. I ate there again in September, during Labor Day weekend when I went to GR to go to a West Michigan Whitecaps game with a friend from law school. We had both just taken the bar exam and were probably insufferable.

Also, while we were wandering around GR, we went into some dive bar and a dude started talking to me. He was wasted, and he started YELLING things like "You think America isn't the greatest country in the world? Why don't you lawyer THAT!"

Normal.

*Anthony Bourdain is coming to this neck of the woods in May. You might want to buy your tickets now, because I am seriously considering going off my own fiscal cliff and buying every ticket so I can just have a private conversation with him.

4. Cousin's graduation dinner at the Knight Cap (Lansing- Downtown)-
In May, one of my favorite cousins graduated from MSU. His family and my family celebrated his accomplishment at one of my all-time faves, the Knight Cap. Ya know I love it.

The Knight Cap is one of my go-to places when people ask me for a favorite restaurant in Lansing. I qualify it- although not every meal I have ever had there has been incredible, enough of them have been. And the atmosphere can't be beat. It's cozy and fabulously 70s.

I had other great meals at the KC this past year in January, for the birthday of one of my favorite men, and in August, with one of my favorite doctors. I should get back to this classic, sexy place pretty soon. 

3. Pre-bar exam breakfast at Golden Harvest (Lansing- Old Town)-
A week before the bar exam, we were all grasping onto our last vestiges of normalcy. My study schedule was ridiculous and I would get up at 5am to do a quick 50 multiple choice questions just to get warmed up for the day. A group of four of us needed a little break so we decided to meet at Golden Harvest one morning in mid-July. We were the only ones there, which was perfect, because I'm sure we were obnoxious. But that sandwich with avocado on it was bangin.

2. Birthday dinner at Mitchell's Fish Market (Lansing, Eastwood Towne Center)-
Yes, a chain. Deal with it. My little group of friendsicles has been treated very well by Mitchell's over the past few years. Because we are ridiculous people, we have occasional group roasts of each other. The private room at Mitchell's is the perfect size, is free, and allows us some privacy so the rest of Lansing isn't subjected to dirty jokes about past indiscretions (not that I have any of those.)

We celebrated my 30th birthday a few weeks late but had another wonderful meal with wonderful service at Mitchell's. They've got my endorsement. Plus, you can buy mussels for $3.99 a pound, which I do every Christmas Eve to make cioppino.

1. Publican Bachelorette Brunch (Chicago)-
Don't even play like you didn't think this was going to top the list.

Honorable Mentions:
- Scarfing oysters on the half shell on my tour of the state of South Carolina in August
- Bridesmaid brunch at Dusty's in Okemos on the day before my bestie's wedding in September
- Dinner at Meat (Lansing- Old Town) before a show at the Riverwalk
- A friends birthday dinner at Ukai (Okemos) on the night before Thanksgiving
- Tavern 109 with my favorite veteran, and subsequent return visits to put my money where my mouth is
- My yearly dinner with a college bestie at The Laundry in Fenton on December 23 (the Brussels sprouts were fantastic. The coq au vin was disappointing. The chocolate cake and cinnamon-vanilla ice cream were worthy of making the drive to Fenton.)
- A Sansu lunch series with my tallest friend, @ruistom, where we invariably order too much and wonder how the check is a million dollars.

2012 saw some good eats. Not so much good photography. I will get better at that, my friends. Stick with me.

And Happy New Year. 

Bar 30 Micro-Review

Last night I went to a Grand River Connection event at Bar 30. This place. is. SWANK.

It's also super loud.

As I stood there talking to Lansing's young and gorgeous, I slowly devoured a bowl of guacamole. I don't know what the heck is going on at Bar 30, whether they have a direct line on the world's best avocados or what, but this was some of the most delicious guacamole I've ever had. It was creamy and a little spicy and I literally scraped the bowl clean.

As a friend of mine said repeatedly to everyone who approached us- Holy Guacamole!

A New Job and a New Goal

As of Monday, I've got a new job. The office is in Royal Oak, which means I get up early and go to bed late (as my bff puts it, "you've joined the real world again. Not everyone gets to go to yoga class everyday, you know.")

Law school was heaven.

Anyway, this position has offered me the opportunity to spend a lot of time in Oakland County. Incidentally, one of my favorite things happened last week when the Detroit Free Press published it's Top 10 best new metro Detroit restaurants. A 2013 goal arose- eat at each one of these restaurants. Now I just have to make some friends in metro Detroit. . .

Any other places that should be on my list?

Tavern 109 for City Pulse

My column this month is on Tavern 109, a little gem in Williamston. I took some photos while I was there, hopefully these will whet your appetite.

Chicken and waffles.

Pear pizza. PEAR PIZZA.

Tavern Trio.

I ate a lot over the course of two visits.

Breakfast pizza.

Apple oatmeal pancakes. These deserve their own post.

Bread pudding.

Peanut Butter and Yogurt

I've been reading quite a bit lately about people eating peanut butter and pickle sandwiches. I originally thought that this was just an oddity in my beloved Sunday New York Times, then I saw a video snippet on CBS Sunday Morning where a man took a big bite of a PB&P sandwich. Honestly, it looked disgusting. Has anyone ever eaten this sandwich before? Is it as horrifying as it sounds?

On the same episode of Sunday Morning I was intrigued to see a segment where Serena Altschul (remember her from MTV News?!) went to a Chobani cafe in NYC. Check this out. The pistachio yogurt with chocolate and mint looks ahmahzing.

During normal (read: non-Thanksgiving) weeks, I eat about five servings of Greek yogurt. It has a wallop of protein and very little sugar, which is exactly what I look for in my afternoon snack.

Of course, in my morning snack, I look for caffeine, chocolate, and a minimum of 1,000 calories, but a girl's gotta have some fun, right?

Anyway, you can get Greek yogurt at just about any grocery in town nowadays. I generally stick to Chobani or Fage, whichever is on sale. I always buy fat-free plain yogurt and add my own topping, if I have gotten myself together and planned ahead. I very rarely buy flavored yogurt. It's full of sugar and nonsense.

Serena Altschul also talks about Siggi's Icelandic yogurt (skyr, if you want to be technical.) This stuff is great, it has even more protein and has delicious and natural flavorings. I make an exception to my no flavors rule and splurge when I find Siggi's. I know that you can buy it at the Better Health Store on Clippert near Frandor, which is where I also like to buy my tempeh and Bob's Red Mill products when I am trying to be good and healthy and virtuous.

Then I eat these-

Pumpkin cheesecakes on Thanksgiving. I ate three. Then I hated myself.