Pepe's is the best ghetto taco villa I've ever been to. I love the dim lighting with shady booths, the sticky floor, the Negra Modelo pinata, chili pepper Christmas lights, and the crazy art (a Budlight metal sign next to an Italian restaurant painting). 

I loved my pork tamales. Shredded pork inside the tamale and chunks of pork in the sauce on top. You know my love of pork…pork-tastic tamales. 

Jason got #6 Tacos del Pollo, which are chicken soft rolled tacos with lots of guacamole. The chicken was tender and the guac rocked, but the actual tacos were a little tough.

We also split the Taco Monterrey. Dried beef, scrambled eggs, chile, tomatoes, onions in a tortilla. It's perfect cold weather food.

Pepe's is definitely ghetto fabulous!
  

"Until I was about 25, I was usually so self-conscious that I actually hurt if I thought people were looking at me, then I somehow realized that so many people were so busy with themselves that they were not looking at me at all. And I am continually trying to keep "ME" out of as much of my relations with people as possible, and transfer a full interest to you/them, which automatically, and actually, makes me a more lovable person to them…"

~Julia Child

Love this quote…we get so wrapped up in our thoughts, we forget that everyone else is probably doing the same. 

After a long phone conversation with one of my dearest friend about the recent changes in her life, it got me thinking about what the next step in my life will be. I have absolutely no idea, but I have never been happier. And let me tell you, I'm a planner, so any level of comfort with the unknown is a huge step.

The only things that I am sure of in life is that I'm meant to be in the kitchen and to write about it. I never thought I would be so happy to wear clogs and be covered in flour. Collapsing in bed every night, I'm exhausted and satisfied that I've worked as hard as a possibly could. 

Somedays, I think about being an office wench again, chained to a desk and a sedentary existence. This is mostly on the days when I get my paychecks and genuinely want to weep at their lightness. No Louboutins for this lady. But I'm actually a much happier person. My work doesn't make me miserable, and I don't want to beat my head against my keyboard on a daily basis, anymore. 

Speaking of Louboutins, I miss my stilettos. However, my clogs are more comfortable and I can always wear the stilettos on dates with all the gentlemen callers that are lining up to date a pastry chef, who will surely expand their waistline. (Side note: I'm searching for my Paul Child. All applicants may see E.Clair, who will be interviewing potential candidates.)

My own waistline has had a bit of an expansion…apparently, a diet of eggs, butter, cream and sugar isn't the best way to keep your girlish figure. Who knew? I'm not fat, though, and like to think of it as more of a Nigella Lawson curvy. 

Food is the great connector (not to be confused with Ronald Reagan, the great communicator). We share meals with others when getting to know someone, reconnecting, celebrating, mourning, living and loving. And I get to be apart of that. Somedays, I need a reminder, but I know that I'm doing what I love. Corny, cheesy, but true. 

Are you doing what you love?

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"Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy."

~Benjamin Franklin

'Why you might just as well say that "I see what I eat" is the same thing as "I eat what I see"!'

~Lewis Carroll

"When you open a restaurant, you live it, you sleep it. You always have sawdust on your clothes. You can't shower the smell of the place off you."

~David Chang

"Keep it simple and keep it consistent. I cannot repeat this enough."

~Mireille Guiliano

A topic constantly on my mind is supporting local farmers.
It’s good for our farmers but there is a selfish reason; we are getting
high-quality, fresh food for our tables. In doing this, we are teaching the
younger generation – that is so used to the couch potato video games, social
networking as the entire means of communication, food only comes from the
grocery store, cellophane wrapped meat – that food does come from somewhere and
you should care.

In our active endeavors to encourage healthy eating for children, we’ve forgotten about an important part of
our culture, the older sect. The elderly are more often than not, placed in any
number of facilities, where food becomes an afterthought.

I remember going to visit my grandmother at her retirement
facility. The food was horrific. I got a piece of
chicken that was bone-dry and grey, with large glistening, globulously
gelatinous, goobles of fat dotting the top. This is what they are serving to my
grandmother? 

Food is a simple pleasure. It is one of the daily moments in
our lives that we can stop the spinning of the crazy around us, and for a brief
amount of time, enjoy. 

Read the letter from the editor in the latest issue of Gastronomica, that touches on this topic. Thought provoking. 

"I felt terrible. I was wracked with stress. So I did the only thing restaurant cooks know how to do: worked harder and harder."

~David Chang

(A fresh coat, a fresh day.)