The House To Yourself Burger with Mango Glazed Pork Belly

Mango glazed pork belly - indulge much?

One recent Sunday, I found myself mildly hungover (one of the good kinds of hangovers, not the bad nauseating kinds) and my roommate, whom I usually share a bed with, was off to visit her parents.  Let's all just take a moment to breathe and recognize what a wonderful time this was in my life...ahhhh.  After a few glasses of water and a couple games of NBA2K12 on Xbox, I became painstakingly hungry.  You know, to the point where your stomach feels like it is scourging through your intestines searching for any reminiscence of nutrients and despite being a middle-class yuppie, you have zero reservations about exclaiming "I'm starving," despite never missing a meal in your life.  So I ventured off to the super market and did what they tell you to never do - go shopping while you're hungry.  Thirty minutes later I was back in my kitchen with 1 lb. of cube steak (mistake - pun somewhat intended), 1.5 lbs. of pork belly (opposite of a mistake), an avocado, a red onion, cilantro, and a sesame seed roll.  Like Captain Planet, the combined powers of all the ingredients created a wonderful, nearly super-hero like synergy that was only held back by the stupid cube steak - check out the results after the jump.

Tacos and Sushi Meet in Malibu - Howdy's Taqueria

This past holiday weekend we were in southern California for the Bar and Bat Mitzvah of my twin cousins.  Since it was the girlfriend's first time seeing the Pacific Ocean, we decided to rent a convertible (Ford Mustang - go America!) and head straight for the beach.  We explored the Santa Monica Pier and then rented A SINGLE bike - no misprint there, we rented one tandem bike due to her inexcusable fear of riding a bike by herself - and rode down to Venice Beach to wander amongst the colorful locals.  The beach - scratch one of the two essential items on our SoCal bucket list.  Item numero dos - tacos.  For authentic Mexican, I would commit treacherous acts, against even my own family, but LA county has plenty to offer, so there was no need to harm anyone.  Fast forward through a windy scenic drive up the Pacific Coast Highway to Malibu and we happened upon Howdy's Taqueria.  Check out the food and pics after the jump.

The Cottage - Dining at Lake Placid's Finest View

Mirror Lake (considered downtown Lake Placid) is the view from The Cottage - albeit about 30 ft. lower

So I must admit that The Cottage is a place that I've been before - just not with a camera, or my family.  However, the results were still the same...good drinks, good view, better company, and an even better view.  The restaurant/bar sits on the edge of downtown Lake Placid and even closer to the edge of Mirror Lake (for those not familiar with the geography of North Elba, NY, the actual Lake Placid is much larger than the body of water pictured above, however, the landscape lent itself to building the downtown area here instead of on the namesake lake).  Anyways, we knew it was a local hotspot so the kids went down early to get our names on the list and post up at the bar for a noontime drink while the old folk slowly collected themselves and got ready for the rest of the day.  Check out their famous bloody mary's and what they do to a middle-aged mother after the jump.

A Portuguese Christmas - You've Never Seen So Much Seafood

A Christmas spread - and that was just the appetizers!

I figured that I'm already pushing the boundaries of Christmas being relevant, so I better get this post up ASAP.  Laid before your eyes is the Christmas appetizer spread that my girlfriend's family had laid out on 24th of December.  While the focal point at this festive time for American families tends to be a nice big ham (which we would have on this night), Europeans tend to highlight fish in honor of St. Nick.  There was enough fish at this table that I was burping up salt water for the next 48 hours (not even close to kidding).  Of course, being the gluttonous time of year it is, it would seem foolish to limit ourselves to fin friendly delectables, so various other salty and fatty items were sent to adorn this table in copious amounts.  The table above (somewhat from top to bottom) includes baked scallops, Spanish tortilla, jumbo cocktail shrimp, King Crab legs, pasteis de bacalhau (cod fritters), rissois de camarao (breaded and fried pockets of dough with shrimp and cream sauce in the middle), cocktail crab claws, prosciutto stuffed cherry peppers, fresh mozzarella, brie, thick cut fresh prosciutto, and smoked salmon (oh boy, I'm starting to get hungry again).  We haven't even made it to the main course yet!  Check detailed pictures and dessert after the jump.