Taco Me, Baby

These days, I am an expert on most things Mexican. Fajitas? 'Ritas? Swirls? (Do you know what a Swirl is? If not, come see me at The Restaurant and find out - I bet you'll like it!) My current area of expertise, y'all.

The new job has been a most welcome and needed distraction from the state of my heart - isn't it funny how that axiom about one door closing and all that is so very true? - and despite the temporary set back of a broken bone in my foot, I've proven to be off to a successful start.

Here's what I've realized - I might have found a home, career-wise. Y'all know how much I enjoy food and eating at restaurants, and most of you know I've dabbled in working at a number of them over the last few years, but this is the first time I feel like this could really be my next career. There's something about this company that just - fits. Not since I started in the insurance business have I felt as comfortable in a setting and with the people as I do now. Working as a server is hard - and doing it wearing a button down dress shirt and tie (in summer!) is not so awesome - and most days I feel a bit like this . . .

After ten or so hours serving food, even the simplest taco looks like the Holy Grail!

But, something has clicked. They're looking at me for potential management and I'm already getting more and better shifts and working my way up through the different levels of server certification. I have felt at ease and confident more quickly here than at any other restaurant where I've worked - I just get it. There is a very specific way of doing things at The Restaurant and sure, sometimes that can be a little "much," but it makes sense to me. Management was great to me with my foot situation and got me back on as a hostess then onto the floor as soon as I was ready, and since it was only a few weeks into the job for me I really appreciated that. 

I actually do love Mexican food and our food is really great, so it makes it easy selling a good product. Some days are better than others - isn't that the case with any job, from CEO to bus boy? - and I'm certainly still learning the ropes. But from the folks I've clicked with at work (my Gay Boyfriends are fascinated with my current dating life as well as dying to know about my recent break up but I'm keeping them wondering for now about all of that . . .) to the fun I'm having with customers, even on our infamous Taco Tuesdays (Want to see a mad house? Come see us for $1 tacos every Tuesday and watch the melee!), I'm doing well and finding joy.

So on this much-needed day off (working 23 of 30 hours will do that to a girl!), I'm reflecting on what tacos et al could mean for me, more than just for sustenance. Here's looking forward to great things ahead - come see me soon!

Yours,
Love Bites,
Carrie Neal

Birthday Girl

Well, Happy Birthday to ME!

It's been awhile since I've posted and a lot - a LOT - has changed in Carrie Neal Land . . . 

Love Bites has meant a whole smorgasbord of different things over the last six weeks since I last checked in with y'all . . . from artichoke love to heartbreak, from daily cooking at home to working in a restaurant again, from last year's whirlwind birthday celebration in NYC to this year's - contemplative - festivities . . .

August 3 is always a Big Deal for this girl. Originally, it was like this . . .

Then later . . .

Ashy and me at the Ritz - how '80s are we here??

This . . .

17th Birthday Girl

Or this . . .

My 18th Birthday Surprise Party!

Or one year, this . . .

My parents at my 2002 wedding birthday!

And last year, it was this . . .

Ok, not really us, but it felt like that . . .

This . . .

The Real Us, on my whirlwind surprise trip to NYC.

And even this . . . 

 

He remembered the special place Dad took me on my 13th birthday trip to NYC . . .

So, yeah, my birthday has always been a big day in my world. This year, though, it's kind of rough. It's not the age - shh! if you know the number, you know, and if you don't, I'm not telling! - it's the situation. 

See, I am re-building - and re-cooking - my life. In the past six weeks, I've gotten a new job (more to follow about Mexican food very soon!), broken up with the Sweet Man, moved and dealt with death and other personal issues. So I've been busy.

And emotional. "Let them eat cake" is excellent advice from Marie Anotinette as far as certain people are concerned; "Now is the time for guts and guile" is another, for myself, courtesy of Elizabeth Taylor.

But this girl still makes sure there are fleurs on her birthday . . .

I will always make sure to get my own flowers if need be!

eggs for breakfast, and love to be appreciated. There may not be big parties or passionate kisses this year, but it's still my day.

Like I said, Happy Birthday to ME! Looking forward to the new year ahead.

Yours,

Love Bites,

Carrie Neal

Artichokes of Love

Sometimes, an artichoke is just an artichoke. Sometimes, though, it's so much more.

And yesterday, it was. See, it's been a rough go of late in this little girl's world (see, even that wording should tell you something - I have been feeling awfully small and fragile) and even a small thing like a lunch treat of one of our favorite produce products, fire-roasted

Artichokies!

yumminess! Artichokes of happiness. Once again, the Sweet Man knew just what to get for a brief dose of happiness, in the form of food. Just for a moment . . . 

Love was food, and food was love, and all was ok in the world. Of course, there was more to it - we had a quesadilla too (kidding! even though we did have a tasty one) - no, seriously, we were us, and the sun was out and for a few minutes and hours, problems, real, serious ones were set aside, and life seemed ok. It would all come back quickly enough, but the artichokes brought a little peace. Sometimes you have to take peace where you can get it, for as long as you can have it. And be grateful for it.

Till the next artichokes of love . . .

Yours,
Love Bites,
Carrie Neal

I Had a Bad Day . . .

Well, actually, it was a really, really good day . . . till the end.

See, I am bad at asking for help. I can usually (most of the time) accept it when it's offered - and that's gotten better with time and practice. Today I did - sort of . . .

The Sweet Man knew that I needed - something - heck, maybe anything, to be a pleasant break, a few hours away from all that is swirling in my head, and invited me on a short road trip to TN. Yes! So after a road side breakfast at Cracker Barrel (c'mon, you know you like it, too!) we rounded out the day with a nice late-lunch/early-dinner. This man loves me, knows how to feed me and is patient with my proclivities. He could also tell I was getting antsy and not feeling so hot. So, things like this were in order . . . 

A very nice crab and lobster cake at a cute little downtown Chattavegas spot!

Along with a tasty, simple Caesar and followed by . . .

Delightful, lightly battered cod fish-n-chips!

Well, we ate well. And he deposited me at home. I thought about what to do for the evening and I made some not-so-great choices. Was I hungry? Just a chicken (for lack of a better pun)? I don't know yet. But I've got to figure it out, and fast, for lots of reasons.

Food for thought, indeed.

Yours,

Love Bites,

Carrie Neal

Back Again

Well, hell. It's been awhile.

Without going into full detail about the last six or so weeks - heck, let's give it all the way back to the tree falling on my still-uninhabitable apartment in February! - I've been cooking out of a microwave. And while I've gotten pretty adept at it, to wit:

A take on veggie soup using that ubiquitous college staple, Ramen noodles:

I vary the veggies based on what's on hand or freshest at the store! Souper  easy!

But, now that I am back into a full kitchen, it's game on once again!

Oh, the things you can do with a stove and an oven (not to mention a full size fridge and freezer)!

Over the past few years, I've found joy in cooking, whether for myself or a special someone or for someone in need or who's just hungry and could use a little homemade TLC.

And one of my favorite things to make is pizza. While I admit that I use store-bought, not homemade, crust, that's the only thing about any of my pizzas that's done the "easy" way. Really. This girl knows how to make some pretty delicious concoctions - from my asparagus and Boursin pizza that everyone from the Sweet Man to my girlfriends love: 

It really is so yummy! Get the Mama Nikki's pizza crust (thin or thick) and add olive oil and minced garlic to taste, then thinly sliced or shaved asparagus stalks, top with mozzeralla and Boursin, a little s&p and bake at 425 for about 10 mins.
  

Or my newest creation I made last night, with the same cooking directions as above, but with the following ingredients:

Olive oil and minced garlic, ham, mushroom, spinach and Havarti, dash of s&p = yum!

Something about cooking your own food - as opposed to eating out, which I do love muchly - is just comforting and fun, too. I'm grateful to be back in the kitchen and cooking and eating more tasty things to share with you!

Yours,
Love Bites,
Carrie Neal

Mongolian Beef Me, Please

Well, it has been a hell of a rough couple weeks in CNLand. Post-funeral last week, I found out that my car insurance had lapsed, a friend of mine is the guy who fell off the Ovation yesterday, and I had to go to the ER last night (I will spare you the details).

Needless to say, when the Boy and I finally had a chance to catch up today, comfort food of some sort was in order. We needed to debrief and both were starving. Enter our most recent spot close to my parents' place and en route home from work for him - done and done.

Won ton soup (a new fave of mine ) - 

. . . seared potsickers (a lifelong fave and theirs are so good and full of pork) - 

And the Mongolian Beef. Sometimes, you just gotta go with the basics.

Classic, yummy and quiet enough that we could talk about some serious stuff. Two thumbs up for Chin Chin in Brookhaven!

Yours,

Love Bites,

Carrie Neal

Southern Style when Times are Rough

Well, y'all. It's been a rough week + in CNLand.

A dear family friend took his life last Thursday and we had his service yesterday. I am a sad, sad girl. See - my first memory of him is when I was seven and our family moved into our house in Brookhaven next door to theirs. It was June - I had chicken pox - my grandparents who usually took care of us any time needed couldn't because (oddly?) neither of them ever had them - and our AC wasn't working. So the very nice lady next door insisted I come over and lay on her sofa and watch TV (our cable wasn't working either- geez, moving is fun!). And from that day, when their oldest son brought me Cokes and paid attention to me - our families were friends. What 15 year old boy puts up with a random little girl his mom has stay over? He was that sweet. 

At the service yesterday, I was happy to hear the (note: very young) minister mention the same things I remembered about him: he was kind; he loved music - his bedroom was on the side of the house next to ours and often he'd play the keyboard or piano and have his window open and I remember hearing it at night; my dad's 40th Surprise Birthday Party and my brother and me, and his brother and him making our appearance then going to hang out in their carriage house, which I thought was so cool; dinner with our families every Christmas night (after my grandparents left for B'ham to see my uncle, aunt and cousin, and before they left the next day for their family in AL also- it's how I learned to make good white rice, from his mom); my wedding day brunch his parents threw . . . I could go on . . .

Southerners - maybe most people - like to comfort with food. So you find things like this at a visitation:

Cucumber sammies, pimento cheese, fruit plates - it's how we roll for grief in the South.

I couldn't eat a bite - even when one of my mom's (and his) very sweet friends tried to get the Sweet Man and me to sample something, but in a horrible situation like this there was something comforting about the spread that had been set out.

I pray none of you have to lose anyone to suicide. It is truly seminal. When a grandparent dies - when someone who's been terminal dies - those are things we can (almost) wrap our heads around. When it's a kid, or a brilliant person who takes their life . . . so much harder. What do you say? What do you do? I don't know. But at least we know how to make some good food. And then, hopefully, know to keep tabs on the people truly devastated - family and closest friends. My prayers are up and my memories are fond. It was a truly hard day and will continue to be hard for all who loved him. 

Still, yet again - I say that food plays a part in all the significant events of our lives. Love + Food + Relationships. They endure.

Yours,

Love Bites,

Carrie Neal