Painted Pepsi Bottles

Colorfully painted Pepsi bottles found in a gift shop in Old San Juan Puerto Rico.

Arroz con Gandules

$5.00 lunch from a roadside stand in Puerto Rico, with an ocean view. This dish had a wonderful smokey flavor that, unfortunately, I am having a hard time duplicating quite as well in my own kitchen.

Multiple stands in Puerto Rico sell these along with fried "antojitos" (snacks).

Istanbul Turkish Restaurant

Colorful narrow stone streets in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico.




Scenes from Istanbul Turkish restaurant






The check is brought to the table in a wooden box.



Diners on Trip Advisor gave this restaurant four out of five stars. I was not quite as impressed with the food and thought it was more towards the mediocre range, although a nice change of pace from the heavier Puerto Rican food.

Food Blogger Camp

Food blogger camp? Who knew! Maybe next year. http://foodblogcamp.com/

Food Blog Camp 2011 from Evolution Multimedia on Vimeo.

The Honest Pint

Beer and boxtys at the Honest Pint, a new Irish pub in Chattanooga. This boxty (an Irish potato pancake) was filled with steak, peppers, and jalapenos, and was alot tastier than it probably looks in this photo. We had a lovely brunch while listening to live Irish music. The cheesecake was excellent also.

Chocolate Wine

Finally, a wine that I can pour on my cereal.

Now THIS is a Chicago Hot Dog.

Nothing beats an authentic Chicago hotdog. The poppyseed bun, florescent relish, sport pepper, Vienna beef, and salad on top are all a must.

Good Dog

A valiant effort but a Chicago hot dog fan is hard to please. This was from Chattanooga's Good Dog, one of but a few hot dog only places in the Chattanooga area. They get points for creativity with the "Dog Dust", a mysterious powder in a pepper grinder that has a definite taste of curry.

Dine-o-meter presents the Art-o-mat

The art-o-mat is a refurbished, vintage, cigarette machine from which comes tiny works of art for $5 each. Chattanooga's art-o-mat can be found at Create Here on Main street.

Pupusas in Honduras

Photos from a "pupuseria", taken on my recent vacation to Honduras.

Pupusas are a popular local dish served in Central America, primarily in El Salvador and Honduras. They are basically like a thick, filled, tortilla and are topped with onions or a cole slaw like topping called curtido.


After consulting with friends, my guide decided that La Cabana had the best pupusas in Tegucigalpa. The food was basic but good, and definitely inexpensive.

Dragon Fruit

Dragon fruit obtained from the international farmer's market, and lychee (lychees?). This was my first time trying dragon fruit and I really liked it. The texture is very similar to kiwi but with a pear-like flavor. Unfortunately, they were very expensive.

Roatan Vacation

Korean Noodles

You wouldn't think there would much difference between any types of noodles. A noodle is a noodle, and containes flour salt and water, right? But I'm telling you, these noodles are spectacular and taste great in Asian dishes as well as Italian. Seriously, they didn't pay me to say this either.

From the Eunsung website:

Manually stretched into fine strips of noodle one by one and aged with devoted care in perfectly pollution-free conditions in an effort to revive the genuine taste of old hand-stretched noodle, this is high-protein-contained handmade fine noodle with special make flour only used.

Chicago Hot Dog Earrings

These are so authentic that they even have the tiny little sport peppers on top. https://www.viennabeef.com/store/item.asp?ITEM_ID=39

Galería Nacional de Arte

Scenes from the national art museum, Tegucigalpa Honduras.

Rose Flavored Syrup

Rose flavored syrup found at the Asian grocery store. Adds an interesting flavor to beverages but should be used VERY sparingly. As in a few drops at a time or the drink will become bitter and perfumey.

Bargain Find

Stemware from Goodwill, only 59c a piece! I am so proud of my bargain finding abilities.

Wordless Wednessday

Brontes Memphis

Found in the archives: This post from almost 2 years ago was stuck in my draft bin and never published. I am not sure if Brontes is still open.

Brontes in Davis Kidd Bookstore
Memphis, Tennessee

David-Kidd was once an excellent independent bookstore. There was a time when you could find books there that were not available at any other area bookstores. Now, after a change in owners it is just a great bookstore. As is true way too often with independent businesses, when former owners Davis and Kidd retired, the stores were bought up and incorporated into the larger Joseph-Beth chain, the focus changed slightly. Time was that Davis-Kidd had a large inventory of not only popular titles but lesser known books as well. In fact, they often had books used as texts in local colleges and were a good back-up source when the university bookstores were sold out. But in recent years with the increasing popularity of online book purchases and the ease of searching for needed books online, Davis-Kidd has changed to offering a selection that is similar to what the large chains offer, and filling the space with gift type options such as fancy lotions and spa type items.

Another change over the last few years is the name and offereings of the in-store café. The authorial name is Brontes. The menu items feature dishes from cookbooks that you can buy in the store such as Barefoot Contessa, In the Kennedy Kitchen, and The Joy of Cooking. A great idea I think, because the items featured are not your typical café fare. In addition, there are specials that change monthly, from featured cookbooks.

Usually the cafe offerings are tasty and make for a delicious lunch to eat while reading your newly purchased book. On my most recent visit, I tried the stuffed cabbage rolls which actually could have been a little better. There was a slightly fishy taste and they lacked the herbal flavors of other dishes I have tried in the past. The gourmet berry pie was good but the crust tasted slightly of freezer burn. This meal was a disappointment. On a previous visit, my experience had been much better.
Dineometer Rating 70%

Hand Woven Dish Towels

My hand woven dish towels. The finished product of weaving classes.