eats along the 33rd parallel

Food reviews from friends

Miriam: Vietnamese Food in South Carolina? Hallelujah!

We were despairing: only BBQ, chicken, butter, and fast food.  But low and behold, a new Vietnamese restaurant opened up in Columbia about 6 months ago and they just started advertising.  Aaron, Collin, and I finally went to Pho Viet out in Forest Acres.  The place is an old fast food restaurant replete with a demolished playground that left nothing but a lone bolted table for parental supervisors.  That said, it was ridiculously delicious, like having a homecoming in my mouth.  I haven't been that happy about food in quite some time.  I ordered made-to-order veggie spring rolls with tofu, pho with brisket, and a taro snow ice with boba.  Wonderful!  The spring rolls came with peanut sauce, we put some sriracha on it, hoisin in the pho, and just ate until we exploded.  I like to savor food, but I felt like a wanderer out of the desert, gorging myself.  Needless to say, we'll be going back and taking more people with us.  I think the best places are those with the least assuming decors.  They're not playing off a gimmick, they are starting a business based on their faith in their food.  

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Miriam: The Office Party

I normally intend to write about food that I do not make... but I haven't had any interesting gastronomic experiences lately so here's a small summary of last night's Office Party (with food).  Aaron and I decided to host a "Welcome Back to THE OFFICE" party and Aaron was the chef!  I am normally the food-maker for parties and Aaron is the dominant dinner-maker, but he exceeded himself by taking on the role of party chef last night.  We decided on Office-related foods, so Aaron made a yummy JELLO concoction with strawberries, bananas, and a sour cream layer.  We also had a sandwich bar that included BIG TUNA, and turkey and more.  Aaron made a CHINESE chicken salad, we had "Mexican lemonade" (lemoñadé), and in lieu of ice cream cake we had MINT CHOCOLATE CHIP Baskin Robbins ice cream.  I've attached a copy of the flier I printed out and posted around the apartment.  I also put a print-out of Dwight's organizational flow chart on the bathroom door (so those waiting would have something to look at).  And we placed a note-card on the bathroom mirror so when a guest washed their hands, they would see themselves in the mirror with a note card on their forehead indicating that they're Jewish.  I think we covered at least seven episodes worth of inside jokes.  I am kicking myself because I forgot to take pictures of the party, but c'est la vie.  

**Also, this was the most "American" food that we have ever had for a party.  We usually cook at least something "international" or "ethnic" daily.  (I was reading a business case about pasta and they referred to it as "ethnic" food and I got a case of the giggles.)  Oh, how pretentious.

Dwightpervert

Bobby: Ralphs sandwiches & "sweetpalooza"

We work full shifts plus a little extra on Sundays because of football.

To inaugurate the '08-'09 NFL season, week 1 we had a pot luck, Jason brought his grill & cooked hamburgers in the back of his pickup truck & nearly everyone brought some sort of food: potato chips, potato salad, fried chicken, egg rolls, crackers, fruits, vegetables, assorted dips.  Week 2 was a "regular food day" however a disgusting taste was left in the mouths of many in the studio as the Chargers lost another heartbreaker to their division rival Denver Broncos.  Tiki was overheard saying, "Man, this is depressing, I need some comfort food" & so "sweetpalooza" was born.  So, for week 3, the plan was to bring some sort of dessert or sweet.  Tiki brought a chocolate cake & milk, Kelli made Rice Krispies treats, Elizabeth made peanut butter & chocolate chip cookies, Scott brought ice cream, & I brought Julian apple pie (I didn't go to get it from Julian).  Sugar rushes were had by all.

Scott & I have been trying to eat a little healthier by avoiding our local Wendy's, so we've been going to Ralphs to buy sandwiches from their deli.  They have a good selection & you can buy salads there too.  Here's a video with Scott explaining the sandwiches we bought.  We each got the same thing.  (It was turkey.  I said it was chicken in the video.)

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