Drew's Bayshore Bistro

Slice of Life may be over, but that doesn't mean that I can't keep blogging! From time to time, I'll be posting some restaurant reviews wherever I'm eating. :D 

Tonight, we dined at Drew's Bayshore Bistro, a small restaurant in Keyport. Most of their food is Cajun, and it's definitely worth your time. I've been here multiple times before, and it's never disappointed. For appetizer, I highly recommend the voodoo shrimp. This is the same dish that beat out celebrity chef Bobby Flay in Flay's throw down show! The shrimp is tender, and the sauce is spicy and creamy. The sauce soaks a piece of cornbread, which seeps a bit of sweetness into the sauce. For entree, the jambalaya or crayfish étouffée are delicious. I'll start with the crayfish. Crayfish tails are kind of like a cross between tiny shrimp and very tiny lobster tails. When tossed with brown gravy and rice, you get a delightful étouffée. The dish is a little bland for my liking, but it's still enjoyable. The jambalaya, however, is the star of the joint. Before I say anything else, let me warn you that it is SPICY. CONSIDER YOURSELF WARNED. My mom and I both have pretty high spice tolerances, but even we were tearing up after just a few bites. The dish is garnished with sausage, vegetables, and chicken, and the sauce is finished with some tomato to give it a little bit of a sour taste. The jambalaya is absolutely amazing, though if you have a low spice tolerance, don't go for it. The description for the dish literally tells you not to cry. For dessert, we ordered a coconut trifle, which consists of Devil's food cake, coconut cream, whipped cream, and toasted coconut. Sounds healthy, right? XD Maybe not, but it is definitely a very nicely presented dish.

Isn't it pretty? :D 

Despite all of that cream, the dessert was surprisingly light and airy. It wasn't very sweet, so there wasn't an obnoxious sugary heaviness stuck in the pit of my stomach. My only complaint was that there were two layers of whipped cream, one at the very bottom and one on top. Instead of so much cream, I would have preferred a scoop of vanilla ice cream, something cold to cut through the dessert's creaminess. 

I'm literally sitting in the restaurant as a write this post. The environment is casual and reasonably noisy. The lights are dim, and there is soft music in the background. It's one of my favorite restaurants. :D So the night ends now, with me writing yet another blog post. Until next time, this is Rachel Ma, and, in the words of Alton Brown, I bid you good eating. 

Song I'm humming tonight: Safe and Sound by Capital Cities

Day 31: One More Dawn, One More Day...

ONE DAY MORE! (er, one post more?)

This is, indeed my final Slice of Life post. It's been a long journey, and now, we are on the final stretch. So bear with me as we finish the last bit of out 2014 Slice of Life!

I was planning on blogging about food every day for this blog, but that hasn't exactly worked out. Some nights, I've blogged about other things, but tonight, let's finish this the way we started it. (TOGETHER! Harry Potter reference for those Potterheads out there. :P)

Dinner was very pleasurable tonight. My mom made pork chops, and I must say that this is some of her finest work yet. The pork was tender and juicy, brimming with flavor. The meat absorbed the light sauce like a sponge, so each bite was flowed with delicious tastes. On the same plate, the vegetables soaked up whatever sauce the meat could not, resulting in a similar, delectable flavor. Finally, the fresh garlic bread with butter rounded out the meal with a bit of richness against the sharper tastes of the pork. Dessert was more macaroons, as we finished the rest of the pack that my friend had brought two nights ago. Thank goodness they had not gone stale yet!

Today was the first time in forever (Frozen! ^.^) that I didn't have homework. Well, not really at least. I mean, I had the blog post, but that was about it. I don't remember the last time I had such a relaxed day! So the night ends now, with me writing one more SoL blog post. Until another time, this is Rachel Ma, and, and in the words of Alton Brown, I bid you good eating.

Song I'm humming tonight: For the First Time in Forever from Frozen (which I've actually never seen. That is definitely on my bucket list...)

Day 30: Almost Forgot...

Wow, I almost forgot to blog... And it's my second to last post. I would hate to have messed up that late. Yay, the streak lives on! :D
Today was a boring day. I finally finished my 40 comments! I had a piano recital, which was fun. I got my 10-year award for the piano evaluation that I do every year. It's a beautiful plaque, personalized with a design carved above my name. Now to decide where to put it...
Yesterday, my friend brought me a pack of macaroons. I don't mean those imposter coconut macaroons. I mean the real, French macaroons. Apparently, she got them from Restaurant Depot, also where the freshman council gets their soup. Huh. Anyway, they were very soft and delicious. I love macaroons! New York has wonderful macaroons at a store called Laduree. Unfortunately, Laduree's macaroons are very expensive. If you're interested, the link to their website is below! (It might be in French...)

• http://www.laduree.com/fr_fr/

So the night ends now, with me writing yet another blog post. Until next time, this is Rachel Ma, and, in the words of Alton Brown, I bid you good eating.

Song I'm humming tonight: Ho Hey by Lumineers

Day 29: Fanfiction, 2048, and Dinner Party

Within the past few hours, I've found two more sources of procrastination. The first is fanfiction. After watching a certain TV series, I have found a fanfiction story that can last me a while. At least, I hope so. The story is 100 chapters long, not to mention that there's a sequel. I first came across the story on YouTube. The author made a book trailer for it, and the trailer pulled me into the story. So far, the story is well-developed, but the grammar is absolutely awful. Sometimes, I struggle to figure out what the author is trying to say. I don't think there's been a single comma throughout the entire first half, not to mention the fact that the writer doesn't seem to know the difference between "threw" and "through". Sigh... At least the plot is decent.

The other option is a game called 2048. As I understand it, many people at High Tech have already discovered this game. If you haven't yet, try it! It can be found here. The point of the game is to match up similar tiles so they can combine. You want to try to get the 2048 tile, or 2^11. So far, I've gotten up to the 512 tile. The game is a both frustrating and entertaining, making you think about the best strategies. One wrong move, and you could be done for. Have fun!

Tonight, some family friends are coming over, so I won't be able to blog about my culinary travels. :( It should be fun; we haven't had dinner together for a while. Until the families get here, I'll be doing some more comments for SoL. I really shouldn't have left them to do all at once... Oh well. I should probably get to that. So the evening approaches, with me writing yet another blog post. Until next time, this is Rachel Ma, and, in the words of Alton Brown, I bid you good eating. 

Song I'm humming today: Iris by Goo Goo Dolls

Day 28: Frozen Coffee Treat

Today, I discovered a wondrous new dessert option. It seems so obvious, but it never occurred to me to try it. A couple of days ago, my mom bought hazelnut-flavored ice cream. My mom got me hooked onto hazelnut coffee in the fall, so naturally, I had to try to mix coffee ice cream and hazelnut ice cream. What resulted was an amazing mixture of sweet and creamy.
I love how the slight smokiness from the roasted hazelnut countered the bitterness of the espresso, while the sugar balanced all of that out. The ice cream was smooth, lightly sticking to my tongue. The dessert was frozen, and it wasn't warm outside, but I didn't care. I was thoroughly satisfied. I reminded me of affogato, an Italian dessert in which a ball of ice cream is dunked into strong espresso coffee. Since the coffee ice cream was not particularly sweet compared to most variations, it resembled actual espresso coffee nicely. The ice cream was flavored with hazelnut, so it was essentially a frozen version of a hazelnut coffee.

Yum!

If you ever get a chance, give affogato a try! Just take a scoop of ice cream and pour some coffee over it. It's just a fancy name for a coffee float, but it tastes so good! Or, if you'd prefer, pour hot chocolate over the ice cream! :D So the night ends now, with me writing yet another blog post. Until next time, this is Rachel Ma, and, in the words of Alton Brown, I bid you good eating.

Song I'm humming tonight: Hasta El Fin by Motel

Day 27: Being Emotional

Today, I learned a very valuable lesson. I used to think that hiding your emotions was a good thing. It meant that you were strong, not weak and unstable. Turns out, it's the exact opposite. Hiding your emotions makes you seem like a weird robot person who has no feelings. I've learned that the hard way, and now, I finally seem to understand what it really means to be strong. Being strong can mean feeling weak sometimes. It's not always going to be sunshines and rainbows and unicorns. The matter of "being strong" is how you react to when it's sad and gloomy. If you really are tough, you know when to act a certain way. You know that if it gets dark, it's okay to show it. It's okay to tell people what's wrong and vent about your problems.
All my life, I've been told that I should take what life hits me with. I've been told to "be tough". The thing is, I didn't understand what that meant. I thought I did, but I really didn't. I had a crazy notion that being tough meant to brave everything alone. In fact, it meant quite the contrary. There are always people out there who care. There are always people who are willing to listen and help you. You're never alone. Never truly.
Today's post had nothing to do with food, but I really don't care. I've learned something so valuable today, and I know that I won't ever forget it. I guess no homework ends up with a lot of thinking time. So the night ends now, with me writing yet another blog post. Until next time, this is Rachel Ma, and, in the words of Alton Brown, I bid you good eating.

Song I'm humming tonight: About a Girl by The Academy

Day 26: ¿Paella? ¿Noodles? ¿Por qué no los dos?

What do you get when you cross paella, risotto, and noodles? I have no idea, but apparently, you get this!

I saw it on a NY Times Dining article today, and the dish looks absolutely delicious! Just as a quick note, paella is a traditional Spanish rice dish made with tons of seafood, sausage, and a pinch of paprika. It's absolutely delicious!!! It's extremely popular in Spanish culture, and if you go to a Spanish restaurant, chances are, it'll be on the menu! Personally, I love the brininess of the seafood fused with the herbs that are stirred into the rice. The rice is savory, sucking in flavor from the succulent seafood. 

When I read this article, I was totally fascinated. Normally, I'm not a big fan of rice. I'd prefer noodles to rice any day. It was also a cross between Spanish and Italian food, two of my favorite cuisines. The dish seems to have all of the flavors of paella, while using the techniques of making pasta. Hooray for the recipe at the bottom of the page! 

The article is linked below, with a recipe at the bottom of the page. If you're interested, I recommend giving it a try! And if you do, be sure to comment on your results! :D So the night ends now, with me writing yet another blog post. Until next time, this is Rachel Ma, and, in the words of Alton Brown, I bid you good eating.

• Article: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/26/dining/a-cross-between-risotto-and-paella-the-catalan-way.html?ref=dining&_r=

Song I'm humming tonight: Radioactive by Imagine Dragons