Foodie Fridays are here again!

Happy Friday Bloggies!

Once again, in order to celebrate the happiness of Friday, we will not concern ourselves with the foolishness of others, but instead focus on delicious food. You will get one restaurant review and one recipe from my in-progress cookbook. Sounds like the best post EVER, right? Right.

Restaurant:

Metro Diner ( at Jacksonville Beach)

* On a weekend you are going to want to get there by 9am if you want a quick seat, otherwise the wait could be 30min- 1hr. But believe me, it is so worth it. Plus they give you free coffee in the meantime!

What to get: Anything. The food is SO GOOD! But some favorites are Eggs Benedict(they have five varieties) or the Yohala French Toast made with Challa bread, stuffed with fruit and cream cheese and topped with blueberry compote. YUM!!

This restaurant is truly one of the rare places where incredible food meets friendly, quick service and the atmosphere is awesome. You can even bring in your own booze. I will capitalize that for the people just scanning this post. YOU CAN BRING IN YOUR OWN BOOZE. They charge a $5 corking fee, and they will bring you wine glasses, beer mugs, champagne flutes, whatever you want. Kristin and I had champagne with our breakfast and made mimosas!

 

 

Yes, we had cheap champagne. It was what was available at the time of our brilliant idea, and I am not afraid to admit that I occasionally drink what is on sale. I love me a bargain! The only place I do not compromise is my vodka. That is just insulting.

 

It was a morning to remember. Kristin and I only felt slightly bad that we were getting drunk at 8:30am next to children ( at an adjacent table...we do not have our own crumb-snatchers yet.) But we felt completely indulgent in having a 3 hour breakfast. Seriously, we both left a HUGE tip for the waitress because I could see the panic in her eyes that we kept sitting and sitting and the line was piling up outside with hungry diners.

 

 

We had this conversation:

 

 

Kristin: I think those people are looking in the window at us because we have been sitting here for so long.

 

Me: Wave!!

 

Kristin: I think they're pissed that we won't give up the table. **shouting to people outside** "I have champagne!!" **points to her glass**

 

Me: I don't think that made it better.

 

Kristin: Oh, like waving and smiling did? Why don't you go ask if they want your autograph?

 

Me: We have half a bottle left, I am not going to be an irresponsible citizen and drive with that, and we are sure as shit not leaving it here.

 

Kristin: Honestly, we're doing them a favor by not contributing to the drunk driving problem. Or driving with an open container. Whatever.

 

Me: Exactly. ** shouting at people** "Model citizens at this table!" *pointing to both of us*

 

Kristin: I think that lady just gave you the finger.



 

 

So, go to Metro Diner!! Go and eat lots of yummy food and then come back and share your pics!!

 

 

Recipe:

 

 

Candied Pecans

 

 

What you need for each batch:

 

4 cups pecan halves



1/2 cup sugar
2 tbsp cinnamon
1pinch salt
1 pinch cayenne pepper(optional)
2 tbsp egg whites

Preheat the oven to 300. In a mixing bowl, lightly beat 3 egg whites until slightly frothy on top. Set aside. In another small bowl, mix the sugar, cinnamon and salt. Set aside.

In a very large mixing bowl, put 2 tbsp egg whites in the bottom of the bowl. Pour pecans over them, and mix completely by hand until all pecans are wet and sticky. Pour sugar mix over them, and then continue to mix by hand until all pecans are covered in the mixture.

Pour onto a non-greased, non-stick baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes. Take pecans out, and using a silicon or non-stick spatula, lightly mix pecans around to get them off the sheet and kind of turned over. Put back in the oven for another 15 minutes. Take out and let cool before you serve. Let them cool completely, like an hour or so, before storing them in an air-tight container.



Merry Weekends,
Shana