An Indonesian in Mississippi. Not as catchy as "An Englishman in New York"
Appetite for Jackson
We made it to Appetite for Jackson after all, and I’m glad we did. Fun event that can be completely free if one so chooses, good food and music, a celebrity appearance, and a warm (by winter standards), beautiful day–what’s not to like?
Merry Christmas
Happy New Year
Sofia and Penelope all made up
Here’s a quick one for the family: Sofia and Penelope in their Halloween outfits.
Moon cakes inna bag
I have to admit, despite being of ethnic Chinese background I’m very nominally Chinese. I speak and understand very little Mandarin and am almost entirely illiterate, and I don’t observe most of the customs and holidays. About the only thing I’m very Chinese about is food, and I crave moon cakes at least once a year. Problem is that they’re served on and around the Mid-Autumn Festival, which because of the lunar calendar upon which it is based the date always changes. As a result I’m always craving moon cake when none are available.
Fortuitously, because Denise signed us up to be a host family for a foreign student this year and we are hosting a student from China, this time around the Mid-Autumn Festival came up in conversation a day before it was to happen and as a consequence I was able to pick up some moon cakes before I missed them again. Thanks, Samuel! Yes, he got some too, entirely by serendipitous way of my own selfish craving.
Burrito Mexpress
“Burrito Mexpress”!? Really!? The name of this new restaurant in Clinton filled me with nothing but doubt. Thankfully Denise convinced me that we should try it, and because of that we’ve discovered the first authentic Mexican restaurant in Clinton and the best tacos in town.
Birthday snow cone
Sofia had her birthday party. This year’s theme: dinosaurs! The snow cone… er… the ice age. Yeah, that’s it!
Mischief
Tiger Roll and Tsunami Roll at Edo
Just a quick public service announcement reminding everyone that Edo is still the best sushi restaurant in Jackson.
Sofia's sushi
Sofia and her chipmunk cheeks agree.
Denise feeding Penelope Chicken Teriyaki
So would Penelope if she had sushi. Not quite ready for that yet, so she had Chicken Teriyaki instead.
Sofia's first sparkler
I’m late as usual, but happy 4th of July. Hope you had a great long weekend. We went to the Mississippi Gulf Coast for a couple days (more on that in the coming days) and came back in time for the 4th. We thought we would catch the fireworks here in Clinton on the 4th but they did them on the 2nd instead. Lolwut???
Sofia got to play with her first sparkler, which she enjoyed immensely. We also got a few other tame fireworks to play with, all of which were a big hit with Sofia and Penelope.
Going to town on a fruit bar
And of course there’s gotta be something food related. Saw these Edy’s fruit bars on sale at Kroger so I picked up a box. We got the non-Splenda sweetened Lime, Strawberry, and Wildberry assorted flavors. Sofia is pictured here gnawing on a strawberry one. They’re so good–made with real fruit. The lime is refreshingly sour, and the strawberry tastes oh so strawberry-y. Definitely getting the bigger ones soon (we tried the small ones this time).
Babalu
Babalu Tacos & Tapas is a trendy new restaurant on Duling Avenue in the Fondren district of Jackson that serves (surprise!) tacos and tapas, among other things. Denise tells me there used to be a tapas place in Jackson, but it must not have done very well because it’s long gone. Having wanted to try tapas for a long time but not having the chance to, Babalu is a sort of answer to that wish. “Sort of” because if I had to categorize it (and I’m just as hopeless at categorizing food as I am music) I’d call it Mexican/Spanish-Southern/American fusion. It has a distinct Mexican base with its tacos, empanadas, enchiladas, etc., as well as Spanish with tapas; but the end product is very much informed by American sensibilities in general and Southern sensibilities in particular. So it’s not authentic tapas but, as is increasingly apparent to me, food doesn’t have to be 100% faithful to original regional/national recipes to be good.
As for the “trendy” bit, Denise and I are decidedly un-trendy. We don’t wear the latest fashion, drive a late model car, or even bother to go to the movies or watch popular TV shows to stay current. So as it seems everybody in town has eaten at Babalu twice already, we just got around to our first visit last week. Now we’re sorry we didn’t go sooner because in this case “trendy” has a healthy helping of substance to go with its style. » Continue Reading…