Three-Way? Yes Please!

No matter where you are in the world, there is always some new kind of food that you have never tried, or a food that is exclusive to the area you live. While I was in Cincinnati on an LDS mission, aside from people eating roadkill and squirrels, they ate spaghetti topped with Chili. And they called it a two-way. Want to add cheese? Ask for a three-way. More toppings? Four- or five-way and so on from there.

The other day I made a batch of some homemade chili and was thinking about what I could make with it when I remembered the Cincinnati-style meal. Here's my creation:

A six-way with chili, cheese, fresh tomatoes, salsa, and sour cream

Next time you're looking for a simple meal, but not the same-old red-sauce spaghetti, suggest a 3-way to your significant other and see what they have to say!

To the East!

A couple of weeks ago I flew out to Wilmington, NC for some work training. I've never been to the East Coast, and Wilmington is pretty much right on the coast, so I was excited for the opportunity to be in a beach town and experience their unique food. Typically when you hear about the water from the Atlantic you always hear that it is "so warm", and I was excited to try it out because the water in the Pacific is always so cold! Unfortunately I guess that doesn't hold true in February - the water was frigid! I talked to some of the locals though, and they said it has been colder than usual because of some unusually-cold weather down in the Gulf. Just my luck! It was fun being at the beach though, and of course I had to take the opportunity to send a message to my wife (who didn't miss me fortunately since we're already apart):

Aww... How sweet!

The best part of the trip (besides the training of course... heh heh...) was the FOOD! Check out the awesome cuisine I tried!

A Mexican sushi-roll! Avocados, rice, cheese, tomatoes and shrimp!
And instead of Wasabi they had chipotle/BBQ dressing. So good.

A crab cake INSIDE of a crab! I wasn't expecting this on my seafood platter -
it was more of a WTF moment - but it too was delicious!

Raw Oysters - I always have been curious about them and never sure if I would actually do it, but the opportunity presented itself and I just went for it.
They were saltier than I expected, but overall not too bad.

I also was told by some locals to try out a place called "Smithfield's Chicken 'N Bar-B-Q" and to get the "Chicken and Barbecue" platter. So I went into the restaurant and asked for the "BBQ Chicken" and the lady looked at me like I was a little slow. She replied "You mean the Chicken and Bar-B-Q?" I was a little confused at this point - was "Barbecue" a food here or something? Turns out it was! Barbecue in North Carolina mean pulled-pork in a vinegar- & pepper-based barbecue sauce. It definitely was different, but it was really good! And they even have a mail-order service where you can have "Bar-B-Q" shipped to you front door anywhere in the United States!