You guys! Have you tried the delicious 90 calorie Fiber One Brownies? Let me tell you, if you are looking for an individually packaged, easily portable, help-you-resist-temptation brownie snack, THIS is the snack for you!
They taste just like a Duncan Hines homemade brownie, AND they have chocolate chips inside. It's quite a treat for your taste buds. : )
I have tried both varieties, the fudge and the peanut butter, and have to say I prefer the fudge. I'm not a fan of many peanut butter flavored things - if I want PB, I'll just eat a PB&J something or other (waffle, sammich, ya know!) or just have a little spoon full of Jif. Cuz, Jif = best PB to me!
Until next time - give these brownies a try, and let me know what you think, eh?
** The Fiber One ppl have never heard of me. They did not ask me to review this product. I just happened to pick up a box at WM last grocery run, and had to share the scrumptiousness! Also, Trish had the PB ones for me to try last night.
thanks!
Friday, 17 February 2012
Monday, 26 December 2011
Key West - Liquid Food
For you non alcoholic beverage drinkers out there, you may wish to skip this post. All the food discussed here is of the liquid variety.
This is the reason many tourist come to Key West. This is Duval street.
It is one mile long and stretches from the Gulf of Mexico (A couple of blocks behind where the picture was taken) to the Atlantic Ocean ( In the far distance). It is said that there are more bars in Key West per-capita than any other place in the US. ( The same goes for churches. A lot of "Sunday morning after Saturday night" I guess.) Most of those bars are right up this street. Duval street is one the main things that brought us here at first as well. We love live music, and every one of those bars has great live entertainment.
Most of the cruise ship tourists never get much beyond this crossroad of streets. That is Sloppy Joe's on the left there at the corner of Green street. The Lazy Gecko is right beyond it. On the right down Green is Cowboy Bill's and Captain Tony's next to it. On up Duval on the right is Ricks. Behind the photographer to the right is Hog's Breath Saloon. This is all you need if liquid food is what you are looking for.
You cannot beat Hog's Breath Saloon for it's drinks, it's food, or it's music. It is mostly just a big tent with trees growing through it's top. There is a smaller inside area for wimps who require air conditioning. They have their own beer which is pretty much my favorite on the island. We have spent many good hours here.
We always spend some time at Rick's. It has the best Margarita's on Duval street. It seems like a pretty small place, but it has an upstairs. Unfortunately we have never been upstairs because as you can see from the picture it is closed.
It is always that way. It is to keep tourists out. Up there is often full to the rafters with locals and really cute girls who the stair guards let through. Downstairs there is always an often raunchy guitar dude who spends as much time messing with the tourists as singing. On the pictured night they were having a pub crawl where rowdy crowds would come in and drink until someone would blow a conch shell and then they would head for the next bar. The goal was to have at least one drink in every bar on Duval street. Many didn't make it.
Captain Tony's Saloon is a Key West legend as was Captain Tony himself. He came to town from New Jersey in the 50's and had many famous adventures until he passed on a couple of years ago. Everyone has a Captain Tony story. This building with its huge tree growing through it's center (they say it once was the town's hanging tree) was the first Sloppy Joe's. In 1937 the original owner bought the slightly larger present Sloppy Joe's location. They say one day he came in the bar and made all the drunks (including that hack Hemingway) carry the bar and all the furniture the half block up Green street to the new location.
There are a lot of other cool bars on Duval like Irish Kevin's with it's continuous risque Irish music and The Bull and Whistle with it's rooftop nudist bar. Up the street a ways you will find Margaritaville, very famous, but not a place we often go because the prices are high and the food and drink are nothing special. I'm going to mention that to Jimmy the next time I see him.
If any of you want to get the feel of the music and fun of Key West bars, several places have bar cams you can watch on the web. Three that we often watch on cold winter afternoons are Sloppy Joe's, Hog's Breath, and Schooner Wharf.
Bon Ton Roulett Y'All
Gene and Nancy
“I want to go back down and lie beside the sea there. With a tin cup for a chalice Fill it up with good red wine,” ---- JB
This is the reason many tourist come to Key West. This is Duval street.
It is one mile long and stretches from the Gulf of Mexico (A couple of blocks behind where the picture was taken) to the Atlantic Ocean ( In the far distance). It is said that there are more bars in Key West per-capita than any other place in the US. ( The same goes for churches. A lot of "Sunday morning after Saturday night" I guess.) Most of those bars are right up this street. Duval street is one the main things that brought us here at first as well. We love live music, and every one of those bars has great live entertainment.
Most of the cruise ship tourists never get much beyond this crossroad of streets. That is Sloppy Joe's on the left there at the corner of Green street. The Lazy Gecko is right beyond it. On the right down Green is Cowboy Bill's and Captain Tony's next to it. On up Duval on the right is Ricks. Behind the photographer to the right is Hog's Breath Saloon. This is all you need if liquid food is what you are looking for.
You cannot beat Hog's Breath Saloon for it's drinks, it's food, or it's music. It is mostly just a big tent with trees growing through it's top. There is a smaller inside area for wimps who require air conditioning. They have their own beer which is pretty much my favorite on the island. We have spent many good hours here.
We always spend some time at Rick's. It has the best Margarita's on Duval street. It seems like a pretty small place, but it has an upstairs. Unfortunately we have never been upstairs because as you can see from the picture it is closed.
It is always that way. It is to keep tourists out. Up there is often full to the rafters with locals and really cute girls who the stair guards let through. Downstairs there is always an often raunchy guitar dude who spends as much time messing with the tourists as singing. On the pictured night they were having a pub crawl where rowdy crowds would come in and drink until someone would blow a conch shell and then they would head for the next bar. The goal was to have at least one drink in every bar on Duval street. Many didn't make it.
Captain Tony's Saloon is a Key West legend as was Captain Tony himself. He came to town from New Jersey in the 50's and had many famous adventures until he passed on a couple of years ago. Everyone has a Captain Tony story. This building with its huge tree growing through it's center (they say it once was the town's hanging tree) was the first Sloppy Joe's. In 1937 the original owner bought the slightly larger present Sloppy Joe's location. They say one day he came in the bar and made all the drunks (including that hack Hemingway) carry the bar and all the furniture the half block up Green street to the new location.
There are a lot of other cool bars on Duval like Irish Kevin's with it's continuous risque Irish music and The Bull and Whistle with it's rooftop nudist bar. Up the street a ways you will find Margaritaville, very famous, but not a place we often go because the prices are high and the food and drink are nothing special. I'm going to mention that to Jimmy the next time I see him.
If any of you want to get the feel of the music and fun of Key West bars, several places have bar cams you can watch on the web. Three that we often watch on cold winter afternoons are Sloppy Joe's, Hog's Breath, and Schooner Wharf.
Bon Ton Roulett Y'All
Gene and Nancy
“I want to go back down and lie beside the sea there. With a tin cup for a chalice Fill it up with good red wine,” ---- JB
Key West - The Lazy Gecko
Greetings, y'all! Sorry I've been slacking on the post a day, but between Christmas & computer issues, well... yeah. I'll be on vacation myself this week, so I'm setting up a couple posts. When I return, we'll finish out w/ the remaining ones. Thanks again to Uncle Gene & Aunt Nancy for writing such great material! Hopefully when I return I will also have some nice posts about East Coast seafood... : )
Also, I hope you all had a very merry Christmas and will enjoy a blessed 2012! Until next time...
We were wandering around old town one day and decided to hit Amigos Tortilla Bar on Green street and try one of their shrimp breakfast fajitas. We were disappointed to find them closed, not permanently we hoped. We figured we would settle for some simple bar food, so we stopped into Cowboy Bill's about a half a block away. But Bill didn't serve food. The bartender told us to check out the Lazy Gecko just around the corner. The old dude sitting at his own well worn bar stool said as we walked out, “Be sure you and your gal friend come back and have a drink with us after you fill your stomach.” He thought he was Captain Tony, and he could have been but I know for sure that Captain Tony is gone.
We got some pretty normal food at the Lazy Gecko. Nancy got a tuna sandwich ( she never gets that at home when I'm around because I don't like the nasty dead rotten fish smell. How can anyone eat something that smells so bad? But, we were pretty much in the open air at our sidewalk table so I tried to deal with it. I'm a nice guy like that) and I got a French dip with Swiss cheese.
Gee, we could of got that at home in the Midwest, but it was just the mood we were in. They were both quite good and the bill came to $33 with tip and drinks, a little high for lunch, but we sat there for awhile having several drinks being lazy like the sign said and watching people stroll by on Duval street.
Just the attitude to have on a hot Key West afternoon.
Bon Ton Roulett Y'All
Gene and Nancy
“Got a schoolboy's heart, and a novelist's eye” – JB
Also, I hope you all had a very merry Christmas and will enjoy a blessed 2012! Until next time...
We were wandering around old town one day and decided to hit Amigos Tortilla Bar on Green street and try one of their shrimp breakfast fajitas. We were disappointed to find them closed, not permanently we hoped. We figured we would settle for some simple bar food, so we stopped into Cowboy Bill's about a half a block away. But Bill didn't serve food. The bartender told us to check out the Lazy Gecko just around the corner. The old dude sitting at his own well worn bar stool said as we walked out, “Be sure you and your gal friend come back and have a drink with us after you fill your stomach.” He thought he was Captain Tony, and he could have been but I know for sure that Captain Tony is gone.
We got some pretty normal food at the Lazy Gecko. Nancy got a tuna sandwich ( she never gets that at home when I'm around because I don't like the nasty dead rotten fish smell. How can anyone eat something that smells so bad? But, we were pretty much in the open air at our sidewalk table so I tried to deal with it. I'm a nice guy like that) and I got a French dip with Swiss cheese.
Gee, we could of got that at home in the Midwest, but it was just the mood we were in. They were both quite good and the bill came to $33 with tip and drinks, a little high for lunch, but we sat there for awhile having several drinks being lazy like the sign said and watching people stroll by on Duval street.
Just the attitude to have on a hot Key West afternoon.
Bon Ton Roulett Y'All
Gene and Nancy
“Got a schoolboy's heart, and a novelist's eye” – JB
Sunday, 18 December 2011
Key West - Island Grill
We found that visiting the Keys in September had some drawbacks. It is the slowest month of all in Key West. There are no big festivals or events like the rest of the year, hurricane season is going full blast, and the snowbirds are still up north. A number of businesses close up and the owners take vacations. (Why do you need a vacation from paradise?) We did not realize how much this might affect our eating plans.
After walking around old town for days we decided it was time for a road trip. We took the 50 mile drive up beyond the 7 mile bridge to the nearest town of Marathon. We had planned to eat supper on the way back at Boondocks, where we knew the food was great. It was closed for remodeling. OK, we said, let's try the Square Grouper that everyone talked about on Summerland Key. It was closed too with not even a sign to explain why. We ended up back in the Key West area for supper. It is not really unusual for eating joints to close down suddenly and reopen later as something else. Our favorite BBQ place in Key West, The Meteor Smoke house closed a couple of years ago. This last year Captain Mario's Seafood Buffet closed, the only place I could get enough crab cakes at one sitting. That is hard for old folks like us who don't like no stinking changes in life.
On our trip to Marathon we stopped on Big Pine Key for lunch. We couldn't believe the “for Sale” sign on the Island Grill.
We had eaten at the grill a number of times last year when we were staying on Big Pine. It is a nice bar/grill with really good bar food. We knew it was having some troubles from comments on the Coconut Telegraph web site. (Yes Big Pine Key has it's own crazy web page) But, we didn't expect it to go out of business altogether. We had what will probably be out last ever juicy Island Grill cheeseburgers.
The bill was $32 with tip, and worth every penny.
Bon Ton Roulett Y'All
Gene and Nancy
“I want a cheeseburger in paradise” --- JB
After walking around old town for days we decided it was time for a road trip. We took the 50 mile drive up beyond the 7 mile bridge to the nearest town of Marathon. We had planned to eat supper on the way back at Boondocks, where we knew the food was great. It was closed for remodeling. OK, we said, let's try the Square Grouper that everyone talked about on Summerland Key. It was closed too with not even a sign to explain why. We ended up back in the Key West area for supper. It is not really unusual for eating joints to close down suddenly and reopen later as something else. Our favorite BBQ place in Key West, The Meteor Smoke house closed a couple of years ago. This last year Captain Mario's Seafood Buffet closed, the only place I could get enough crab cakes at one sitting. That is hard for old folks like us who don't like no stinking changes in life.
On our trip to Marathon we stopped on Big Pine Key for lunch. We couldn't believe the “for Sale” sign on the Island Grill.
We had eaten at the grill a number of times last year when we were staying on Big Pine. It is a nice bar/grill with really good bar food. We knew it was having some troubles from comments on the Coconut Telegraph web site. (Yes Big Pine Key has it's own crazy web page) But, we didn't expect it to go out of business altogether. We had what will probably be out last ever juicy Island Grill cheeseburgers.
The bill was $32 with tip, and worth every penny.
Bon Ton Roulett Y'All
Gene and Nancy
“I want a cheeseburger in paradise” --- JB
Friday, 16 December 2011
Key West - Sloppy Joe's
If you go to Key West you will find that everyone knows about Sloppy Joe's. You can't miss it at the corner of Green and Duval streets.
Everyone knows that the hack writer Ernest Hemingway got drunk there on a regular basis. They hold the annual Hemingway look alike contest there in July. (No, I've never won.) It is a tourist must stop. The building is kinda cool with it's wide open sides , tropical ceiling fans, and rustic wooden walls, a place right out of an old movie set. You would not be surprised to see Humphrey Bogart and Grace Kelly smoking and drinking in a secluded corner. (For you young folks who have no clue who those people are, ask your parents. Well, maybe your grandparents!)
It is definitely not a hang out for locals though. It is certainly aimed at the tourist trade. We tend to hang out there ourselves because of the music. There is someone playing on their stage everyday from noon on. We never eat there because we had a bad food experience there the very first time we came to this town. We just decided the place was a tourist trap restaurant.
A little side story about the picture. There is a guy sitting on the sidewalk playing with leaves. He is making hats out of palm leaves. It is a thriving business. You see tourists all over town wearing his creations. There are all kinds of rules in Key West about street vending. The guy has to have a permit to sell his hats. Before him, the first few times we came to town there was a guy in the same spot who would tell a dirty joke for a dollar. I hear he retired to his mansion in North Dakota.
We were in Sloppy Joe's one afternoon and didn't want to leave because the music was just so good. We both had enjoyed several refreshing drinks and decided we needed a bite to eat. We ordered some cheesy bread appetizers and they were great. (Hey, they were cheese. You can't hardly mess that up!!)(Carrie says - heck yeah, cheese makes everything better!!)
We went back another day for supper to give it a try. Nancy had chicken alfredo pizza and I had a crab cake sandwich and fries.
Both meals were excellent. I'd been hungry for crab cakes and those were nearly perfect. The bill came to $45 with tip and drinks. That is really pretty reasonable considering it included several cool beverages. We won't pass up Sloppy Joe's on our next Key West trip.
Bon Ton Roulett Y'All
Gene and Nancy
“I ate the last mango in Paris” ---JB
Everyone knows that the hack writer Ernest Hemingway got drunk there on a regular basis. They hold the annual Hemingway look alike contest there in July. (No, I've never won.) It is a tourist must stop. The building is kinda cool with it's wide open sides , tropical ceiling fans, and rustic wooden walls, a place right out of an old movie set. You would not be surprised to see Humphrey Bogart and Grace Kelly smoking and drinking in a secluded corner. (For you young folks who have no clue who those people are, ask your parents. Well, maybe your grandparents!)
It is definitely not a hang out for locals though. It is certainly aimed at the tourist trade. We tend to hang out there ourselves because of the music. There is someone playing on their stage everyday from noon on. We never eat there because we had a bad food experience there the very first time we came to this town. We just decided the place was a tourist trap restaurant.
A little side story about the picture. There is a guy sitting on the sidewalk playing with leaves. He is making hats out of palm leaves. It is a thriving business. You see tourists all over town wearing his creations. There are all kinds of rules in Key West about street vending. The guy has to have a permit to sell his hats. Before him, the first few times we came to town there was a guy in the same spot who would tell a dirty joke for a dollar. I hear he retired to his mansion in North Dakota.
We were in Sloppy Joe's one afternoon and didn't want to leave because the music was just so good. We both had enjoyed several refreshing drinks and decided we needed a bite to eat. We ordered some cheesy bread appetizers and they were great. (Hey, they were cheese. You can't hardly mess that up!!)(Carrie says - heck yeah, cheese makes everything better!!)
We went back another day for supper to give it a try. Nancy had chicken alfredo pizza and I had a crab cake sandwich and fries.
Both meals were excellent. I'd been hungry for crab cakes and those were nearly perfect. The bill came to $45 with tip and drinks. That is really pretty reasonable considering it included several cool beverages. We won't pass up Sloppy Joe's on our next Key West trip.
Bon Ton Roulett Y'All
Gene and Nancy
“I ate the last mango in Paris” ---JB
Wednesday, 14 December 2011
Key West - Snacks
Carrie's note - sorry for the delay, folks! Technical difficulties have been figured out, thankfully! : )
Enjoy, and don't forget to enter the Giveaway! : )
I'm not going to lie to you, it's pretty hot in Key West even in September. It's still in the mid 80's to low 90's most days. We always try to stay inside somewhere in the middle of the day. But, this was a walking vacation, so we were caught out in the mid day swelter a few times. There is only one way to stave off the heat and that is eating key lime sherbet.
It is better than water to cool you down and refresh. There are two main places we got the heavenly stuff, the conch train depot at the corner of Duval and Front streets downtown and the Island Ice Cream Shop on the harbor walk.(They call it sorbet at the ice cream shop. I don't know the difference, they taste the same to me) They were about $8 for two at both places. We tried some ice cream at the Front street ice cream shop one day and it just wasn't the same.
Other than our sherbet fix we didn't snack all that much. Once in awhile we would get something like a crab dip at Schooner Wharf when we hung around late on the upper deck lazing around and listening to the music and enjoying a couple of brews. That cost us $22 with beer and tip. One kinda crazy late night we grabbed a couple of slices of too chocolatey chocolate cake at Harpoon Harry's and took them back to the room. Man we were sorry for that. A real intestinal battle was fought in both of us that night. (D'oh!)
The last night in the Keys calls for our long standing tradition, Key lime pie while watching the sunset.
This night it was Schooner Wharf's upper deck . Two pieces of pie, a Landshark, and a Margarita (it is a requirement when you are in Margaritaville) cost us $30 with tip. (I was tipping big, it was the last night and Eric was a good friendly guy even though he said he never wanted to go back to Illinois. He had found his home here). Schooner Wharf's Key Lime pie is a little creamier than Turtle Kraals', but they are equally good.
Bon Ton Roulett Y'All
Gene and Nancy
“Yeah, I wish I had a pencil-thin mustache,
then I could solve some mysteries too.” –- JB
Enjoy, and don't forget to enter the Giveaway! : )
I'm not going to lie to you, it's pretty hot in Key West even in September. It's still in the mid 80's to low 90's most days. We always try to stay inside somewhere in the middle of the day. But, this was a walking vacation, so we were caught out in the mid day swelter a few times. There is only one way to stave off the heat and that is eating key lime sherbet.
It is better than water to cool you down and refresh. There are two main places we got the heavenly stuff, the conch train depot at the corner of Duval and Front streets downtown and the Island Ice Cream Shop on the harbor walk.(They call it sorbet at the ice cream shop. I don't know the difference, they taste the same to me) They were about $8 for two at both places. We tried some ice cream at the Front street ice cream shop one day and it just wasn't the same.
Other than our sherbet fix we didn't snack all that much. Once in awhile we would get something like a crab dip at Schooner Wharf when we hung around late on the upper deck lazing around and listening to the music and enjoying a couple of brews. That cost us $22 with beer and tip. One kinda crazy late night we grabbed a couple of slices of too chocolatey chocolate cake at Harpoon Harry's and took them back to the room. Man we were sorry for that. A real intestinal battle was fought in both of us that night. (D'oh!)
The last night in the Keys calls for our long standing tradition, Key lime pie while watching the sunset.
This night it was Schooner Wharf's upper deck . Two pieces of pie, a Landshark, and a Margarita (it is a requirement when you are in Margaritaville) cost us $30 with tip. (I was tipping big, it was the last night and Eric was a good friendly guy even though he said he never wanted to go back to Illinois. He had found his home here). Schooner Wharf's Key Lime pie is a little creamier than Turtle Kraals', but they are equally good.
Bon Ton Roulett Y'All
Gene and Nancy
“Yeah, I wish I had a pencil-thin mustache,
then I could solve some mysteries too.” –- JB
Friday, 9 December 2011
Giveaway Break and a note from Carrie
Hi folks! There are more Key West posts in the pike, but I'm having a little trouble w/ Uncle Gene's 2nd batch. Hopefully I'll have time to work on them Sunday & get some more posts out next week!
Meanwhile, I would like to thank everyone for reading! Thanks to Uncle Gene & Aunt Nancy for sharing their trip with us! : )
To show my appreciation, I've chosen to do a giveaway, if anyone's interested. Whadda ya say? : ) I say "Hooray!" LOL
How's it gonna work? Well, I'll tell ya! If you'd like to win one of Uncle Gene's beautiful prints of Key West, just leave a comment below. I'll be taking entries on this post until the end of the Key West posts, at which time I'll pick a random number for a winner.
What the winner shall receive - A copy of one of the photos listed in this post, framed and sent to your door. Or someone else's door, if you'd like to gift it! *laugh*
Sound good? I guess we'll see... ; )
Until next time... here are the choices! (Mostly sunsets - the fish & the crab are there in case you have eclectic taste like me! *grin*)
Meanwhile, I would like to thank everyone for reading! Thanks to Uncle Gene & Aunt Nancy for sharing their trip with us! : )
To show my appreciation, I've chosen to do a giveaway, if anyone's interested. Whadda ya say? : ) I say "Hooray!" LOL
How's it gonna work? Well, I'll tell ya! If you'd like to win one of Uncle Gene's beautiful prints of Key West, just leave a comment below. I'll be taking entries on this post until the end of the Key West posts, at which time I'll pick a random number for a winner.
What the winner shall receive - A copy of one of the photos listed in this post, framed and sent to your door. Or someone else's door, if you'd like to gift it! *laugh*
Sound good? I guess we'll see... ; )
Until next time... here are the choices! (Mostly sunsets - the fish & the crab are there in case you have eclectic taste like me! *grin*)
the one above is the picture they gave me for my birthday. it's now on the wall above my computer desk, so i can look at it all the time! i loves it! : )
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