Chow Town Chicks at home in Kimy's back yard

I've realized over the past couple of weeks that I don't like to write about food I don't like, so the last two places the chicks have been weren't anything to write home about.  Bummer, cuz they had such potential.  So many places do.  But that is exactly why we decided to start writing about our food experiences - because we are definately passionate about it, AND we want to change what people seem to be accepting as GOOD.   We're definately in the minority here, realizing that not everyone has the same taste buds that we three chicks have, NOR the expectations when it  comes to good food, service, cleanliness, and just plain ole' hospitality.

So after one really great start to this endeavor and two really bummer ones, we decided to take the bull by the horns and just go to Kimy's house.  Sit in her absolutely breathtaking back yard, and eat food that only an artist could create.  It was picture perfect.

I suppose everyone has a favorite memory of a meal - the one that always comes to mind when someone asks you what your favorite food memory is.  Mine was at a restaraunt in St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands.  A tuna steak, about two inches thick, seared on both sides for about two minutes each, served with a reduced soy sauce and drizzle of spicy green wasabi.  I can't even remember what else came with it.  But it was SO good, I wanted to order it again.  Next time I have a meal like that, I WILL order it again.  I've done it since, and have learned my lesson.  Life is too short to go wanting at the table of a great chef. 

So at Kimy's house, she served my favorite.  I'm not sure if she knew it really was my favorite food.  I have lots of favorites.   She DOES know, however, that I am an eater, and to make sure there is plenty in the kitchen.  There are rarely leftovers when I am served.  Much to her husbands regret for not being there to share in the feast.  I even ate what was left on Christy's plate when she got too full to finish.  :)

Two salads.  That opposing sweet salty thing that Kimy does so well.  Arugula with chunks of cool seedless watermelon,  drizzled with balsalmic reduction, and scattered with home made nearby local feta cheese.  Oh my. 

Cool refreshing Pellegrino in a big round wine glass.









THEN, on the BIG plate.  This shell thing that she made out of parmesan cheese.  Made extra open so all the salad could fit inside - knowing how I love a gargantuan salad.  Feild greens, red onion, crisp corn cut from the milky cob, craisins, and her own luscious homemade garlicy balsalmic vinaigrette. 
The tuna was bought fresh, that morning, all pink and thick and wonderful.   Salted and peppered and coated wtih black and white sesame seeds, and seared on both sides for no more than two minutes, served rare, the way God intended it, sliced thin and served with a drizzle of aioli and horseradish sauce.  Absolute heaven. 

Well, if that's not enough.  Dessert was another delectable delight.  Not too sweet, but wonderfully chocolatey, these 70% pure cocoa muffins, made with real cream and my own backyard Shady B Ranch happy hen chicken eggs.  She was whipping them up when I got there.  When she took 'em out of the oven, timed perfectly for the end of our main meal, she poked a chunk of that immensely rich chocolate down inside the middle of the muffin, served it on top of some yummy homemade whipped cream with real vanilla bean flecks in it, and topped it all off with little rubies of strawberries, coated with more of that reduced balsalmic vinegar.  Coffee with real half and half.  More blissful heaven.  Nobody puts chocolate and strawberries together like Kimy does.  It is one of her specialties.



I wish I could recommend to you, a reservation at the restaraunt Kimy.   The first time I had dinner there, I asked her husband, sort of jokingly, if he ate that way every night.   And his answer to me was,

"Yea, actually we DO." 



Good food is not fattening.
 Eat real. Cook more. Find joy in the food you eat. Share it with others. Shop for it often.  Eat at home.  Buy fresh. Buy local.  Eat organic. Eat slowly.  Say "mmmmmm" throughout your meal.  Rub your belly.  Relax in the moment.  Take photos of your plate.  Eat more vegetables.  Arrange your plate for color.  Eat a salad every day.  A good one.  And always say thanks.

 Eating good food and making good food choices is the best thing you can do for yourself. 

Mangia!

love, rachel

Say it with a SMILE and a handmade TILE! www.tilesmile.etsy.com www.tilesmile.artfire.com www.tilesmile.funkyfinds.com www.tilesmile.1000markets.com