Tucson In Food Photos

Before I left for Arizona, I put out a call to my Tucson friends to give me their favorite places to eat in the city that wasn't Eegee's (because I was already going to go there). They, honestly, did not disappoint me and gave me way more suggestions than I had time to eat at. That's okay though, because I had a list of options for wherever I was, and I appreciate that.

When we lived in Tucson, we were very close to a couple of places, and one of my favorites was a 50s-style diner called Little Anthony's Diner. Needless to say, they had a lot of new stuff on the menu, including these enormous, ridiculous milkshakes. You know I had to try it out. 

This is called the I Want S'more Rama Lama Ding Dong Shake, because it had toasted marshmallows, graham crackers, chocolate, and a full Ding Dong on it. It took 20 minutes or something to make and it came with a sparkler like it was my dang birthday. I was all in. 

Eric and I did our best to take it down, and we did a pretty good job, but there were still some casualties, because we still were trying to also eat food we ordered. Eric had the Hatch Green Chile Cheeseburger and my mom and I split Elvis's Favorite - a fried peanut butter, banana, and bacon sandwich with honey and fries. 

Almost, literally, across the street is an Eegee's, a local chain that serves hoagies and specialty drinks called Eegees that are like a cross between a Slurpee and a Slushy, but made with real fruit. Everyone wanted strawberry (the best one, in my opinion), so I just got the biggest one they serve. Do you think it's big enough?

Yes, we did go straight from dinner to get take-out from somewhere else, because we ate really early and I knew we'd be hungry later, but wouldn't want to go back out. So, here's my turkey sandwich, too. I thought in 20 years, my brain would have remembered it being way better than it was, but I wasn't disappointed with it either. I wolfed down my half at 9pm while checking email and uploading photos.

I had looked up best places for brunch in Tucson and my Facebook friend Liana recommended LaCo, which I was already looking at, so I knew that was going to be a winner. They are right downtown, so easy to find and close to a bunch of things. We took a shady table in their courtyard and were served by a woman who had a very Portland vibe about her. She used to live here, so that made a lot of sense. 

I ordered the Potato Tacos, which were veggie soft tacos with tater tots in them. They were so good. Eric got the B.A.T. L.E.G. sandwich that was bacon, avocado, tomato, lettuce, fried egg, and herbed goat cheese, with balsamic reduction served on sliced sourdough.

My high school friend Kate mentioned a ton of places, including a BBQ joint called Brother John's that's on the outskirts of downtown and has been awarded Best BBQ in Tucson. We had eaten a lot of heavy things, so we went a bit light here. Eric got the Wedge Salad with brisket. 

I ordered the Buttermilk Fried Chicken Salad and my mom decided on the Potato Skin with pulled pork, which turned out to be half a baked potato heaped with meat and cheese. All of it was awesome and I can see why they are highly recommended.

Even though I was full, I saw they had Beignets on the dessert menu and asked for an order to go. They were delicious, but the chocolate dipping sauce was just Hershey's chocolate sauce and a big let down.

You know I love a good brunch. Liana also recommended checking out the Mercado, which is a block of independent shopping and eating establishments, so one morning we headed over, got an awesome coffee at Presta Coffee and then walked across the courtyard to order and snag a table at Seis Kitchen. All the restaurants share the outside seating, but there's quite a bit. 

My mom just got a bean and cheese burrito, but Eric ordered the Chorizo and Potato Breakfast Tacos, while I got the Plato Mixto - eggs scrambled with cheese and green chiles and bacon, beans and breakfast potatoes, served with tortillas. I could only eat half of it, so I took the rest to go and enjoyed it the next evening while we were watching a movie.

While looking for a place that was open after 7pm in Oro Valley (where we were staying) and not driving 30 minutes to get there, Eric picked a place down the street called Harvest Restaurant. It had outdoor seating, and we sat in the area that was covered, but still sort of outside. We were able to get in on happy hour and view the sunset, too. 

We got the Arancini risotto balls (above), I ordered the Short Rib Tacos, Eric got the Short Rib Nachos, and my mom ordered the Sweet and Salty Salad - chopped kale & roasted butternut squash in maple balsamic dressing w/ candied pecans, brie cheese, craisins & diced apples. Everyone swooned over their food. 

We had a lot of food, but there were two desserts that were specials that sounded fantastic and we asked the waiter to choose his favorite. Between the Coconut Carrot Cake and the Peppermint Cheesecake, he recommended the carrot cake, so we ordered one to go. It was beautiful, but we didn't realize until we opened it later that it was half pineapple. Citrus does not like me. I loved it, but I also had the worst heartburn that evening. If that's not an issue you have, I'm envious, but I also recommend that cake. 

It felt like we spent a lot of our time walking and eating, but that's okay. We had a great time doing both. I hope you enjoyed this virtual tour of our dining adventure. I'll be following up soon with things we did on our trip.

What are your favorite food cities, or even just your very favorite restaurant (and what do you order there)?

What's Australia Day All About?

Last weekend we took a staycation to Australia to learn about the country, do some sightseeing, and celebrate Australia Day. But what is Australia Day and why is it celebrated across the country? Like our Fourth of July, Australia has parades and fireworks and BBQs. 

If, like me, you thought this might be a fun holiday for all, even though Indigenous peoples are honored and celebrated, it's not a wonderful holiday for them. You can learn more about how those that don't believe this is a day for jubilation get through January 26. 

What are your thoughts on the inclusivity of this national holiday?

 

Happy Australia Day Staycation

Happy Australia Day. This weekend we were finally able to get back into staycations and we "traveled" to Melbourne, Sydney, and Bondi Beach. It was a whole thing. I have been wanting to do Australia for quite a while, so when I saw that Australia Day was January 26th, I figured this was the month to do it. So, let's talk about it!

I, honestly, didn't do any research on Australia Day, but then I felt kind of bad, because it's right up there with Columbus Day and that sucks. Not only did the Dutch come and take over part of Australia, the Brits came later and also declared that they discovered it and completely colonized it and named a day after it. Um...that's not how discovering something works, but whatever. The decent part is that each Australia Day, people who celebrate also acknowledge the native people and give thanks for the land. And, unlike Columbus Day, they include all the nationalities of people who make up Australia, not just that one white guy who got lost and stumbled upon land he wasn't looking for. (Hurray for Indigenous Peoples Day!)

So, yeah. While it's not the best holiday, I learned some stuff and was still glad that I had a banner and did it for January. Back to the rest of this staycation.

I wanted a little bit of everything, so I had a Sydney Harbour backdrop made and then also picked up a backdrop of Bondi Beach, because when I think of Australia, I think of surfing and the Sydney Opera House. So, we had a great view of the harbor and an iconic landmark. I set my table with a luminary that I used as a vase for eucalyptus stems that I picked up in The Spot at Target. On another trip there, I found some outback animals: a platypus, kangaroo, and koala. I also found an adorable rattlesnake of some kind, which I am using for something else, but thought it would make a good home with these other animals. 

I wanted a very natural feel to my table, so I threw on a rust-colored tablecloth and served food on recycled wheat straw plates that I paired with my favorite yellow cloth napkins. A packet of Wiley Wallaby licorice candies and a mini bottle of 19 Crimes wine completed the tablescape. (If you like flavored licorice, you'll enjoy these candies probably. Eric and I both thought they were gross. I probably should have bought some Marmite for toast instead.)

I debated on whether I should make food or if I would even find anything that I could make that wasn't rack of lamb, but went with a local hand pie shop that was the closest I could come to true Australian fare around here. We got a good variety of things and all of them were pretty hearty: 

Cottage pie (shepherd's pie, but with beef), lamb pot pie, curry pasty, and sausage roll. I thought everything was tasty. I don't generally eat sausage, but all of these meat products are locally sourced and high quality, so I pretended I was on actual vacation and tried it all. The sausage was pretty spicy to me. Eric said it wasn't, but I told him his tongue was broken. 

While we ate, we watched the 2020 Australia Day parade in Melbourne. For having so many people, the parade seemed kind of sparse, and I'm not sure there were a ton of people in attendance, but it could be that tourists there aren't loud and obnoxious like they are here. It started with a tradition by the Australian Air Force and then much of the rest was just people walking in groups. There were a few floats, but not many. It lasted 30 minutes and then we moved on to learning more about Australia Day and the history of the country itself. 

We moved on to dessert, while we enjoyed a nice cruise on Sydney Harbour. I had picked up a slice of bourbon hazelnut pie (kind of like a boozy pecan pie, but hazelnuts) and Anzac cookies, a traditional biscuit made from rolled oats. The cookies were perfectly sweet and not at all tooth-shattering like I assumed they might be. The outside is crunchy and the rest is soft. It's kind of a perfect non-chocolate cookie. I also really liked the pie, but Eric wasn't into it, so I had a whole piece to myself. 

We watched a regular harbor cruise for tourists that was beautiful, but also really hard to hear, because the boat engine, and then one of a family who was taking a 4-day boat getaway on their own. It's like if your family wanted to go camping...except on a boat. They made all their own food and stopped to take advantage of showers and whatnot. We got to see quite a lot more from a different perspective and then got the inside scoop of where to stop and sightsee. 

At some point, we may revisit Australia and do a walking tour of Sydney and/or Melbourne, because the country has so much to see and we basically did a mini hop around to get a little taste of everything on a holiday. You could totally make a whole weekend out of an Australia staycation: one day for Melbourne, one for Sydney, and maybe one for Brisbane or the Outback to learn about the native people. It can be both fun and educational, especially if you're doing it with kids.  

Watch some surfing competitions, take some undersea voyages with scuba divers off the Great Barrier Reef, go on a safari to see all the cool (and sometimes terrifying) wildlife, or celebrate Anzac Day - a national day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand that broadly commemorates all Australians and New Zealanders "who served and died in all wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping operations" and "the contribution and suffering of all those who have served" - that takes place in April. 

More ways to say g'day, mate to an Australian staycation:

• A backdrop of Sydney Harbour
• One of an Australian beach (the one I have doesn't seem to be sold anymore)
• One of Melbourne
• Some eucalyptus garland or stems
• An Australian flag
• Big one
• Little ones
• Outback animals
• I also think this bingo game sounds fun if you have enough people
• Marmite
• A travel guide for your kids or for you
• Learn some slang with these lingo cards
• An Australian cookbook
• Natural looking dinnerware
• A YouTube playlist (mine was fine, but you might want to find non-Australia Day things if you're not celebrating that.)

I hope your staycation is bonzer! (that means great or cool) Even though we can't go there right now, and it's one of those once-in-a-lifetime trips, we can plan and we can do the next best thing. What has your favorite staycation been so far?

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