P. B. Jams

The hubs and I attempt to try all the new places we can but obviously money doesn't grow on trees. At least our families didn't have one of those trees out back when we were growing up. Point being, we don't get to go try a new place every night and we check out things like Groupon anytime we can to see if any deals appeal to us. Scrolling through the list as my husband plays a video game I see the deal for the place my husband wanted to try is still on there. P. B. Jams is a rad little sandwich place that is being run by a woman whose heart is bigger than Paula Deen's obsession with butter. If you don't believe me just do a little research. A picture that was posted in the front window of her place quickly went viral but not because she is some crazy political business owner making a stand, it's because she saw someone hungry rummaging through trash looking for a meal and she couldn't bare to see it. Below you can see the picture that helps  restore a bit of your faith in humanity. However my husband and I just saw the picture on the ad of an ooey, gooey pb&j and completely forgotten about that act of awesomeness. So buying the deal we headed out for lunch. Upon arrival, it's a small, clean area. There is a cute general store motif and route 66 themed items on the wall. Which is fitting since you are off 39th st, anyone tell me what other name that street goes by? You're greeted by a very friendly woman with brilliantly styled hair who helps you navigate through the menu, all while explaining the things that aren't your normal pb&j. I assume this woman is the owner but I'm so chronically awkward conversation is either word salad all over the place or barely piecing a sentence together. You can guess which side I was on at this point. So after browsing the menu we decide on all the things. We order the "Donut touch my nuts" the "Mac Daddy" and the "Fluffy Nuts". All the sandwiches come with veggies and ranch as a side. Let me tell you I can't wait to get back there when my braces are off so I can confidently bite into carrots and celery. That hindrance plus my husband not liking veggies made me think we could both get a sammie and split one and be set. I DO NOT recommend someone following this same pattern. We were full for hours. The fluffy nuts is a righteous sandwich, that is marshmallow fluff, nutella, and bananas. We altered a tad, removing the naners because hubs doesn't believe in them and we added bacon because adding bacon was an option and only felt right. We did it on wheat bread and it was grilled so it was a blissful mix of gooey brilliance. Donut touch my nuts is the cardiac arrest that you didn't know you needed. 2 yeah 2 beautiful bouncy Krispy Kreme donuts get warmed slightly then made into the sandwich that tastebros dream of. She stuffs this thing with bacon, peanut butter, and jame of your choice. We went for strawberry. Seeing your in laws later? Go eat this sandwich and forget to wash your hands. Make sure when you hug them that you hold on to them extra close. You'll make a mess of their clothes and you'll be so busy with the food baby you won't even hear what they're bitching about. At this point do you get that we are bacon people? The. Mac. Daddy. At first I was like erm, slightly scary name for a sandwich but I can dig it. If nothing else convinced me to come back it was this sandwich. The moment it arrives your spidey sandwich senses go out of control. This is a grilled garlic butter roll, and your like shit sounds good I will eat it now but wait, then it is stuffed with Mac and Cheese AND Bacon!!! It's delicious and creamy and crunchy from the roll and the bacon, then salty and savory from the garlic. Your mouth has no idea what to do except signal for your eyes to water because there is no other way to cope with this. All around experience, I was pretty satisfied. There are a couple things I could be a diva about and I will list them in the next couple sentences but overall this is a good place to go with good people in it.  Cons: The hours are rough. The peanuts on the table that are there for guests to crack at will, weren't crunchy. Gonna say this is due to the biblical flood reenactment that oklahoma keeps trying to do. The prices are a bit higher than what you would expect. Some things that could be made from scratch are from the box or a bottle, the ranch, pickles, and the cheesecake. I adore that this place is different. There are so many places that are popping up and are the same shit with a different theme. This is a nice change. If you're in the area and have the chance to stop in to P.B. Jams, do it. I highly doubt you will regret it.

Carry Over. Pt 3

I became so excited about having a blog and actually starting that I didn't think it through. So these are the posts that I carried over from my first attempt. They aren't phenomenal but I still didn't want to lose them. Part Three. El Fin. Picture is what I carried over, the sentences below it are fresh.

                                  

So my ADHD is a newer diagnosis, just official as of last year. My shrink suspects that it onset when I was going through puberty. What timing, huh? I am learning more and more about ADHD and how I have just adapted with it my whole life, and I am learning how I have actually struggled. Learning the things that come with ADHD, like Anxiety and Depression, along with mood swings, irritability, sense of incompetence, and self loathing actually make me feel like I am not crazy. (for lack of better words) It has helped me realize a lot of things about myself and how I need to work on things differently. It has forced me to admit that I have struggled more than I would ever like to confess. However, I am working on me, I have a great doctor who listens to me vs. a doctor who just medicates and medicates. So I am just seeing wherever it takes me and trying to be as positive as I can with all of the things. Here's to loving myself more than I doubt myself.

Carry Over. Pt 2

I became so excited about having a blog and actually starting that I didn't think it through. So these are the posts that I carried over from my first attempt. They aren't phenomenal but I still didn't want to lose them. Part Two.

They really do exist!:
My husband Joey and I finally were able to try the pretzels from the Twist truck! We had tried multiple times to get to them and had no luck due to weather or any other terrible thing that can keep an honest person away from a pretzel. We tried quite a few from the selection that they have and let me tell you, OMG. These were INCREDIBLE. We ordered the Chester, the Tove, and the Kirby. The Chester is the classic salted pretzel and we paired it with the beer cheese dip. This goes to say for all of them but it was airy and chewy all in the perfect places. The salt was not over powering like a lot of the pretzel options you find which really allowed you to taste the dip. The beer cheese dip was a tad more runny than what I like in a dip but my god the flavor was so rich that it didn't need to be dense. The Tove was the Truffle Parmesan pretzel and we asked them what dip was recommended and they said that it pairs well with their tomato soup. It paired perfectly. A couple things you will learn along the way are the things that Joey hates. He HATES tomato soup. He doesn't even eat it with his grilled cheese, right?? I was super hesitant for us to try it but he knew if all else fails I would like it. After getting these glorious little babies home and breaking into them, Joey decided to try the soup and his exact words were, "This might change my mind about tomato soup. Is all tomato soup like this?" So of course I had to try it because after hearing that I thought I might pass out. BLESS. The soup dip was as magical as anything else from there. The consistency was smooth and velvety. With the amount that we got I did not see huge chunks of tomatoes, which for me no problem but with Joey you could see my struggle. Our last item that we ordered was the Kirby with the caramel dip. The Kirby is a cheesecake pretzel that in itself makes you question why someone hasn't ever made these two food species breed. It is lightly dusted with what I assume is a cinnamon sugar mix and has a layer of cheesecake IN the pretzel. The moment it touches your tastebros you immediately don't know if anything that good has ever happened ever. Then you try it with the caramel dip that they make and you just give up. This dip has no competition, seriously I could say if I was at the Twist truck and they were like so sorry we are out of our dips I would be like eff it. I will eat all of the pretzel types they sell with this dip. I will eat cardboard with this on it. The perfect texture, they nailed everything we had but this dip was creamy, it wasn't granulated. My super picky husband who doesn't like sweets even raved over this. So our venture to finally find the Twist truck was so well worth it and we will make sure to never walk passed it if/when we see it. I can only pray that you do the right thing and follow them on instagram if you haven't already. Hunt them down, this food is so worth it. The gal and guy in the truck were super patient with us through our whole order too, I'm super awkward and indecisive and they didn't even sigh at me. Twist is the whole package.

Carry Over Pt. 1

I became so excited about having a blog and actually starting that I didn't think it through. So these are the posts that I carried over from my first attempt. They aren't phenomenal but I still didn't want to lose them. Part One.

Pastatrophe:
So as I hinted in my previous post, this started with a terrible experience with even worse food. I was so angry from this experience and not wanting anyone else to waste their money there that it put the bug in my ear to start this blog. I love a lot of things but let's be real, pasta is a gift from the food gods. My husband and I decided to try an Italian restaurant on Reno and Meridian called Portofino's. Let me get a few things clear. We were helped as soon as we came in and the staff was very friendly. We were immediately assisted with our drinks and left with the menu. Being first timers and soaking it all in we were promptly brought our drinks and what seemed to be warm dinner rolls/bread. We dug right in and that bread was fantastic. It was warm, airy, and buttery. Being stoked about dinner we ordered our entrées. Joey ended up ordering a ravioli and I ordered a penne with red sauce. Salads came with our dinner and we of course ordered Italian dressing. When getting the salad it all looked fine but the dressing tasted like it came straight from a bottle. It was sickly sweet. Looking at the salad and thinking of the bread we still had hope for dinner. We got our main entrées in phenomenal time but we were highly disappointed with the quality of the food. The portion was tiny for the price. Joey's ravioli was either frozen or stuffed with minimal cheese and the sauce was just smothered on so that all you could taste was high acidity from the tomato sauce. Whomever helped plate my entrée did not know how to drain pasta from the water or correctly drain penne pasta so the bottom of my dish was a mixture of the tomato sauce and pasta water. The tomato sauce tasted semi house made, a jumble of canned tomatoes and tomato paste with fresh tomatoes. Judging by the high acidity and lack of herb flavor I don't believe fresh herbs were used in this sauce. Overall, the service and the bread were great but I was left frustrated at paying for bottled Italian dressing and someone who didn't know to shake pasta longer because of the shape. I work hard for my money and when I go out to spend it on what should be delicious food, I want to know that some passion or thought went into it.

To Start:

I have wanted to start a blog for at least a year now. This thought was inspired by me being tired of paying my hard earned money for shit service/food/things around my home town or in general. I thought if I started this my warning could prevent anyone else from having the same awful experience I did. This blog will hopefully be full of my personal journey through good and bad things, more than likely food focused  because I am a self proclaimed foodie but I have ADHD (so I craft and shit)so I may just want to tell you about the rest of my day and adventures. Plus I feel like I have some important shit to say, not vital to your life per se but will help decorate it none the less.I am always looking for new friends and people. So, let's be friends. Worst case scenario is you end up loving me. If you don't know me. My name is Sierra. I work in health care, and I love people even though they frustrate the hell out of me. I am still becoming, but what I am so far I am pretty proud of. ie: Happily Married to my Best Friend. Oklahoman. Aunt. Funny. Adorably Asthmatic.Smart. Charismatic. Painfully Blunt. Nerd.