Friday,  October 19th (again)

I went to a beer store last week to stock up on Yeungling. MMMMMMMMM.

and the Budweiser looked particularly festive for Philly.

Since I have been working at NSNP, I have been eating some excellent Puerto Rican food. I don’t know how to spell this stuff, but…

Last night we had nicletas & beans, and here is a picture of a pastelillo that the kids made during the After School Program,  it was ddddelicious.

I also bought fresh and dried fruit for a staff meeting. The dried papaya was excellent.

Friday,  October 19th

I am SUCH a slacker. Nat and I went out for Chinese food forever ago. And I am just posting pictures now. What is up with Philadelphia being a “cash only” city? All of the restaurants are unwelcoming of plastic. How obnoxious. At least my stuffed eggplant was delicious. And yes, Nat can only be photographed wearing this d*mn lime green puma jacket.

and on our way back to the car, we found this:

Although I hate Rush, I do commend respect for the true gods of Metal: Manowar.

Sunday, September 23rd

By the time that my grandparents got here this morning, we had all worked up quite a hunger. Instead of driving to Center City to eat at Nat’s restaurant (where he was working), we decided to try a place around the Italian Market. We drove by Sabrina’s but it was packed and there was no parking. So we parked on 8th & Bainbridge and looked for a place to eat. First place that we found was a coffee shop with no food, then we found a place with wholewheat crepes (which were probably disgusting and an abomination of French food) and a 20-30 minute wait standing up, so we continued on to a place that was closed for a family party, and finally, we found Fitzwater’s Café.

They had a great dessert case. I need to go back for the creme brulee.

We sat on the window seat until we were called after about 15 minutes. The place was busy but not too noisy, so we could talk quite nicely.

The menu was excellent. Classic breakfast but with an unusual touch. My grandparents both got a ham and mushroom frittata.

I got a fig and nut compote over french toast.

Although it was delicious, the mascarpone and fig combo was very sweet- so I ended up saving half of it and eating half of my grandmother’s food. Mmmm. Pigs are yummy. My grandfather was pleased as well.

Nat and I will definitely go back (again- even if I just try the creme brulee).

Saturday, September 22nd

I’m really curious about the liquor laws here because if you are at a bar, you can take your drinks out to the sidewalk. We were downtown (but they call it Center City) last night and there was a guy in a business suit just drinking a bottle o’ bud on the sidewalk as people were walking around. He might have been the best dressed hobo on earth, but I’ve seen it outside of a bunch of bars. Nat said that he’s seen other people sitting on bench drinking in business attire too. But if that’s the case, why did I see a guy with a can in a paper bag? If it is legal to have open containers, maybe he was drinking a soda and didn’t want to lose his street cred?

Saturday, September 22nd

Abe and Beth went on a rampage, eating their way across Philadelphia. It was dddddelicious!

Last night we went out to dinner at Misconduct Tavern. Nat just started working there on Wednesday. It has a nautical theme.

The food there was beyond excellent. It was the best food I’ve had in Philadelphia. I especially loved our appetizer of crab & artichoke bruschetta.

Beth got a pear and brie baguette sandwich that was scrumptious.

Abe got a burger with freshly made bleu cheese dressing and yummy bacon.

I got the special. Cornmeal crusted trout with Swiss chard, yellow potatoes, and spice-y pecans.

We all shared. And if you are wondering if the fries were good- they are the best I’ve ever had.

We had whiskey (neat) that was delicioussssss too.

Best whiskey I’ve ever had.

After dinner, we continued on our ventures around the city of Brotherly Love. We went to Whiskey Dix, a bar that reminds me of Eugene’s John Henry’s or any other punk rock venue. It was on Spring Garden and 6th. They served out of plastic. Even the shots. We didn’t actually have the gasoline shots, but it was on the menu. I wonder what was really in there.

Thursday, September 20th

I had to work, so Beth and Abe did some exploring. They ate at an Irish Breakfast place in Fishtown and said it was both cheap and great. The perfect combination.

Then they went to the Amish market by my house and got Banana Pickles, Homemade Ketchup, Zucchini Bread, and the best sticky buns on earth.

When I got off work, we went to Johnny Brenda’s in Fishtown for dinner. They have live music and John Spencer was playing that night.

We ate and drank a local IPA. My food was not very good. The beer was good though.

Beth had Eggplant Parm, which she said was the best she’d ever had. The fries were very crispy, thin, and salty. Yay.

Abe got Octopus and it was reallyyyyyyy weird- yet strangely tastey.

They had something called “Long Hots” on the menu. Abe was intrigued, thinking it was a sausage or something. It was a plate of the hottest peppers ever. I ate one bite and had to split it out. Beth ate almost all of them. Abe was sweating.

Nat met us after he got off work. We walked around Fishtown and stumbled upon this bar called Myst. I had avoided it because it’s kinda fancy. Newer building with flags everywhere. I thought it was too schwanky for my taste.

When we walked in, we waited for about 5 minutes for a bartender. But all of the taps were dry.

So I ordered a round of PBR bottles. But they only had Budweiser (yay!) and Tequizaaa left.

And they couldn’t break a $20 bill. It was great. I loved it. I think we might take that place on as our home. Most of the people in there were from Oregon and the West Coast. It was a little freaky.

Traditions?

Sunday, September 16th

On the West Coast, coffee, burritos, produce, and hippie food are the norms. In Philly, water ice and donuts are common snacks everywhere that you look.

But more importantly, the Philly Cheesesteak is the mainstay of any Philadelphia diet.

Nat did some research and read that Geno’s and Pat’s were the most famous cheesesteaks in town. We went to Geno’s. The line was long and went into the middle of the street. We were very excited.

When we got to the front of the line, we discovered that Geno had politics that we (as West Coasters from Eugene, Oregon) were not used to (sic).

I got the cheese (freedom) fries. They were fries soaking in CheezWhiz.

That might be a one time adventure for me. I think that I exceeded my plastic cheese intake on that one.

With our 2 Cheesesteaks, we were set to go. We got one with Whiz and one with Provolone.

And they were terrible. Inedible. Tofu ate some and ran away. She usually begs for meaty treats. We ended up throwing out $20.00 Cheesesteak adventure in the garbage. How disappointing. Nat had a better Cheesesteak in Atlantic City. It wasn’t even of the Philly variety. Boo.

ITALIAN MARKET

Sunday, September 16th

To begin the afternoon, we wanted to grab some ChickFilA sweet tea, however, of course, ChickFilA is closed on Sunday. So we went to Micky D’s to try their Sweet Tea.

It was actually pretty good. Then, we decided to explore the Italian Market and end with Philly Cheesesteaks. Our first ones! At first we just ran around looking at things. But alas, the search for a decent latté made us stop.

Apparently it was a good enough latté for them to go there again the next morning, but back to the meats. My mom and Nat were facinated by meats and treats.

Nat liked that you could buy your meats and pelts at the same store.

My mom was excited too until the buck started eating her head. Yipes!

Nat spent some of his birthday money on Wild Boar Prosciutto.

The next adventure was in the cheese shop.

I think that Nat and my mom were going to have a heart attack.

Especially when that was just the beginning of the cheese shops.

The fresh pasta and salami looked good too.

We found the place where the party people got their pig.

TASTY!

Friday, September 14th

Nat is clamouring for me to put The Jersey Devil under food too. Because you could probably eat it.

Tuesday, September 11th

Dino’s Subs is the Best Sub in the Country. I’m not exaggerating! Frank Sinatra used to have them flown in where ever he was playing.

My mom usually flies them across the country when she comes out here. Their regular is fantastic! Mmmm. Italian Meat! We got 2 whole regulars, half of an Italian Sausage, and half of a Cheesesteak.

I got the regular.

My mom got the Italian Sausage.

And Nat had his first East Coast Cheesesteak. (Although not in Philly!). His eyes are glazing over- it was that good.

Saturday, September 8th

We started off the morning with toasted bagels with lox cream cheese from Philadelphia Bagel Company, instead of this tempting breakfast!

Then, after working up a sweat, we stopped by Chick-Fil-A on the way to the Shore for Chicken, Sweet Tea, and Lemonade. DELLLLICIOOOOOOUS!

All of this is in preparation for shore food. The best food on earth!

Friday, September 7th

Philadelphia is one of those weird places where you can’t buy beer and wine in the grocery stores. So, tonight we went to the beer store 2 blocks from our house, the “Fishtown Beer Store”. We got a local beer and some cute 10 oz. glass bottles of soda pop. I saved a couple Cokes in Glass Bottles for my mom…

Yummy gingerale.

We rescued Tofu’s rat from the car. He’s sitting on a case of mixed beer from Yards’ Brewery. Yards’ is a neighborhood brewery. I tried the Tavern Ale. But I actually am going to stick with Yuengling Lager on the next beer run…

Monday, September 3rd

So far, Nat and I have not eaten out of our house too much. Or really at all. But aside from all of the porkchops that Nat’s been feeding me, we have managed to sneak in some Lingonberry Soda from IKEA and some Yuengling Lager. Now I know that IKEA food shouldn’t really count as East Coast food, but jeepers, is it delicious. The perfect amount of pink and the perfect amount of sweet.

The other delightful treat that we’ve encountered is Yuengling Lager. Apparently, as a Northwesterner, and a beer snob, I’d take a domestic lager over a stuffy microbrew any day. It is delicious. Seriously. Unfortunately, they only distribute it in 10 states on the East Coast. So you’ll have to visit to try it.

We have yet to eat a Philly Cheesesteak, however I probably shouldn’t admit that or we’ll be booted from Philadelphia!