Finding Fantastic Food in Florida

Well, we recently got home from a trip to Pompano, Florida for my husband's grandmother's 95th birthday celebration.  She and her husband spend the long winter months down south and are lucky enough to have a beach right across the street from them.  We were lucky enough to visit her & the beach, too!

Our youngest had his first trip on a plane and his first visit to the beach. He enjoyed the plane a lot more than the beach.  We have a theory that babies don't like beach since their skin is just too sensitive still.  Or, maybe our babies just don't like the beach until they're about.... almost 3?  Our oldest was in heaven.  She couldn't get enough of it.

So, instead of going on and on about about the beach, I'd like to share three of our favorite places we visited for grub.  If you find yourself near Pompano and Fort Lauderdale, I'd highly suggest going to these restaurants.

First up, Houston's.  Oh, my.  What can I say about this place?  They have an open kitchen so if there is a wait (there almost always is during dinner) you get a little entertainment watching them perfect every dish and presenting the food perfectly on every plate.  Another option is to wait on the dock watching the boats go by with a drink in your hand.  If I'm writing about how exciting and lovely the waiting at this place is, you know it's good!

The food is out of this world.  Our favorites on the menu are the Hawaiian Rib Eye Steak.  We tortured our server until he caved asked our server nicely and told us the secret marinade.  Soy sauce, ginger, & pineapple juice for 48 hours.  Yes, 48 hours of soaking goodness.  You better believe we will be attempting this concoction soon.  Our other must-have is the barbecue pork ribs.  The meat just melts off the bones.  We almost always try to do a little trade with each other to get the best of both worlds since each entree is our favorite.

We found a couple new places while we were down there this time.  We tried Chez Cafe for lunch one afternoon.  We were pleasantly surprised.  I ended up ordering a Turkey, Apple, Swiss Panini with a Raspberry sauce.  It was such a unique combination that just worked so well together.  Their triple berry smoothie was also amazing.  It's so refreshing to come across locally owned places to support.  It's also nice to walk away with a story and a desire to go back to that city being able to look forward to a food you can only get there.

The women working behind the counter were so sweet and treated us with such hospitality.  It wasn't what I would have ever expected from an Internet/Coffee Cafe.  Every customer that walked in after us was greeted by name which is probably the best indication that this Cafe is doing something right.  We are so excited to add them to our "must-eat-here" list.

Our next place we found on this trip is called Jojo's Tacos.  We ate here for dinner the same day we found Chez Cafe.  It's not often you find two new places in the same day that are both winners.

We went a little overboard ordering here.  Between my husband and I, we ended up ordering a fish taco, 2 frisky brisket tacos, and poppie's piglet taco.  We also had an enormous amount of guacamole between the rest of our table.  Our best description of this place is a very comfortable mom & pop type restaurant that serves "real food", real ingredients with an upscale mexican spin.  Each taco had such an elaborate presentation that had you going back for more.  We can't wait to go back to Jojo's Tacos!

I hope you all will get a chance to visit one or all of these places soon. What are the odds you may have visited Pompano, Boca Raton, and Fort Lauderdale area?  Any places you'd highly recommend to grab a bite to eat?

Oh, and of course with any good trip comes a giant pile of laundry.  This, among so many other household chores has kept me away the last couple of days.  I might finally be caught up soon.

My latest method of laundry consists of getting it all washed and dried then piling it up on our bed.  This way, I'm able to knock out all of the folding and hanging all at once.  This isn't the best for wrinkles, but it seems to be the only way I actually put stuff away. For a while, I would take days to put baskets away and dig down to the bottom to find what I needed.  Now, I can't go to bed unless laundry is put away.  Sleep is my bestest friend ever so magically laundry gets put away now.  It works for now...

Do you hate putting away laundry as much as I do?  Any methods that work better for you?  Once I have a finished laundry room, I'm pretty confident (wishful thinking) that I will thoroughly enjoy laundry.  Well, we'll not hold our breaths.

-Janice