How About Some Beer-On-Demand?

Do you like beer?I do.Don't look at this post with a side eye just because I'm a lady.I'm a proud beer drinker. I'm also a proud Rosé drinker but on a warm summer day I'll drink a nice ice-cold beer in a heart beat.Recently, I came across a site/company called Hopsy. I didn't think anything of it until I was given an offer to try some local craft beer (beer from the Bronx actually) for a great price. I'll tell you now, the price of a few growlers that contained craft beer sold me. So I did a bit research.Before we continue, I know you may be thinking: "Why do I need to order beer? I can go downstairs and across the street and pick up a six-pack of Budweiser's and call it a day."First of all, I'm here to help you get away from the average beer. I'm going to tell you how to get some refreshing craft beer while not leaving your couch. The beer comes to YOU. Secondly, it's really good beer. I promise you. And it's good enough to bring to a cook-out, a birthday party, a friends bbq, or even impress your netflix-and-chill buddy.Here's how it works, go to the website: http://hopsy.refr.cc/tameekaeatsClick on the "get started" buttonSelect your location of delivery (West Coast, East Coast, Midwest, and Somewhere Else) Click the "get started" button againThis will take you to a page for you figure out what your flavor profile isOnce you receive your flavor profile results you can then move on to ordering your first box of growlersLagers are my thing, and I enjoy light beers because they are refreshing, some contain fruit, and I noticed I like lagers with food (specifically burgers or hot wings).My first box contained 4 small growlers of the following craft beers: Greenport Harbor's Tidal Lager, Heineken's H41 Wild Lager (this was not the traditional Heineken beer, this was a special edition), Sixpoint's Crisp Pils, and Souther Tier Brewing's Pilsner.The above "pack" was called the "Hopsy - Light Pack".The site allows you to pick a ship date so you can make sure you are home when it gets delivered. Since this is alcohol, someone above the age of 21 should be home to sign for the beer. Hopsy's customer service is great! They are super helpful and will work with you when it comes to deliveries.I hope you give it a try and click the link below to get some beer-on-demand!LINK: http://hopsy.refr.cc/tameekaeats  

Day 29 - 30 Day Food Blog Challenge - Favorite Breakfast Food

Today's Challenge:Favorite Breakfast Food For all long as I can remember I love eggs for breakfast.I like them scrambled, fried, boiled (hard), and omelette style.Eggs are my go-to breakfast food.I however do not like soft, runny eggs. It may be a Food-texture issue but something about it doesn't sit well with me. The only times I can deal with a runny egg is when someone is mixing the egg into my bibimbap 🤤In the photo above you'll see an egg, bacon, and cheese breakfast sandwich. It's not your ordinary breakfast sandwich. It's a BEC on a croissant.This ties in perfectly with today's challenge because today (1.30.18) is National Croissant Day! Woohoo!Comment below let me know:1- What's your favorite breakfast food?2- What do you like on your croissants?

Day 21 - 30 Day Food Blog Challenge - Favorite Dish At Thanksgiving

Today's Challenge:Favorite Dish At Thanksgiving

Growing up Thanksgiving was one of my favorite holidays for (2) reasons:

1 - It’s a holiday that’s really close to my birthday, and as a child I would still get gifts in addition to cake and food from aunts and grandparents. Who wouldn’t love that!?

2 - It was a holiday where all you did was hang out with your family members and eat. That works for me!

Things are a bit different now that I’m older. I celebrate the days separately, and I no longer get gifts on both days but it’s okay. I’m still down for a feast. I will always enjoy that part.

One dish I love making and I always look forward to eating during this holiday is none other than Cranberry sauce.

I don’t know if this makes me weird but the only time I eat cranberry sauce is during the holidays.

I like it because it’s tangy, sweet, and throws the flavor of everything else on your plate a bit off. It makes everything a little sweet.

Lot’s of people have asked me if I like cranberry sauce from a can or if I prefer cranberry sauce made from scratch.

I’m honestly open to both.

I like the canned cranberry sauce, it’s something that reminds me of my childhood. It was treat as a kid to get this red sweet jelly thing and as an adult I started making my own cranberry sauce and I actually love it and think it’s so  delicious. So to wrap that up, if someone gave the option, I’d eat both at the same time.

Let me know what your favorite Thanksgiving dish is below. Leave a comment.

Day 15 - 30 Day Food Blog Challenge - What Are You Best At Cooking?

Today’s challenge is:What Are You Best At Cooking?For the last few years I’ve been known to make a mean aka really spicy beef chili.

Chili is the perfect winter dish for me. It’s soupy, it’s warm, and it’s hearty. No slurping allowed.

I’ve been making one chili recipe in particular I put the recipe together myself from a basic chili recipe I fount on-line that was super dry.

You can see the recipe below.

As for the beef, I go for grass-fed.

I try to get all of the other ingredients as organic as possible.

I like to make my own tomato sauce and use tomato paste for thickness.

I always (ALWAYS) serve my chili with a side of white rice. Whenever I try chili without rice I’m always highly disappointed.

I’m all about topics too.

I always top my chili with avocado slices and a dollop of sour cream.

I’ve recently started topping my chili with bacon but if I’m in a rush I do not include it.

So the dish I’m best know for making is chili.

If you follow the below recipe let me know (comment below) how it goes and if you decided to top it with bacon or not :)

Day 3 - 30 Day Food Blog Challenge - Favorite Food Memory

Before I reveal my favorite food memory. I have to say that I was blessed to have a mother who knew the importance of exposing their offsprings to other cultures through food. I'm also very lucky to have a father who studied culinary arts. I believe this helped mold me into the foodie that I am today.Back to my favorite food memory. I was about 12 or 13 years old and my mother decided it was time to introduce me to Japanese cuisine because I would always see pretty pictures of sashimi on menus and I would always ask her about it.There was one afternoon after school my mother took me to this cute little Japanese restaurant near Union Square in Manhattan (here in NYC). It wasn't too fancy it was just right for a first experience. Not too stuffy, just right. At that time this was a huge deal for be cause it was time! Time to try the pretty food! I was so excited to try out the chopsticks. I will say I did a good job (you can confirm this with my mama).She started off by ordering California rolls for me. Don't give me side eye reader. I think that was a great introduction for a youngin'.I LOVED every bit of the rolls.Little did I know many years later I would be dining at the hippest Japanese restaurants in New York and Las Vegas.At this time I was "living my best life". I was trying the pretty food and I wanted more. We tried another roll. I can't remember which one but it may have been spicy tuna but I'm not sure about that. But on the second roll before my mother could explain what the wasabi and ginger was for. I plopped the piece of wasabi in my mouth.Allow me to explain.Growing up Caribbean you tend to eat avocados on the regular. The California roll contained a small piece and I don't know why my brain connected this but I figured oh the chef was so nice to put a piece of avocado on the side for maybe a palate cleanser. Boy was I wrong.The fire in my nose and my entire face spoke volumes. Tears were rolling my face. My mother tried to stop me but I was too fast. And my friends reading this, from that day forward I either ask what certain items are or I smell my food before I put it in my mouth.It is my favorite memory because I learned to take it easy when it comes to new foods and it was my first time trying one of my now favorite cuisines.

TameekaEats: Happy 1st Blogiversary To Me!

Today marks the 1 year creation of this site: Tameeka Eats!I'd like to give you a brief history about my site.Tameeka Eats came about at the end of an era. The end of a lifestyle blog I started/managed for about 6 years called Tameeka Time.In 2014, I took a break from blogging and took time for myself. I needed to take a break. I needed to really get into my life and focus on my post-production career. Mama needed them coins so I could take care of myself. My time off from blogging worked out well for me.Now that I had my career on track I was able to focus on what my heart wanted.At the beginning of 2016, I had a realization that I needed to get back into blogging no matter what.No lifestyle site this time. Something more focused.After a bit of meditating and some self reflection I realized my life really revolves around taking photos of food, looking up recipes, cooking, dining out weekly, going to food events and writing Yelp reviews. It all sort of came together.I started with a food instagram page. Then transitioned into creating the blog site to match.The biggest highlight of this year for Tameeka Eats was opening up and meeting like minded women of a group called BLACK BLOGGERS UNITED.I feel like I've fount my people. These are busy women making it work. These women have children, own companies, amongst other things and they still manage blog sites. Even from the first meeting I went to I was inspired. We have monthly meet-ups and those meetings put a fire under my butt and motivate me to get it together.A huge THANK YOU to everyone who has supported my site or have acknowledged my work in any way. It really means a lot to me.On a daily basis, I wish I would be able to post more. It bothers me that I can not but I'm doing my best. I work full time and at night or certain weekends that's when I research and work on my food photos and planning on where to eat. It's taken me a year to realize that I can't feel down on myself about not posting. It's like I have a mantra: "post when you can--post when you can, just be consistent". I'm using a calendar/planner now to organize myself better to schedule posts and I use an app called Trello to organize my ideas and topics. Baby steps. I look forward to providing you readers with more food photos, more IG posts, more snaps, more event recaps and more restaurant reviews.xoxo Tameeka ?

Foodie Haul: Teas from Paris & London

I love tea! I've said it before and I'll say it again: I'm a tea lady :DI like it hot, I like it cold, I like it in the morning or in the evening. Ok.. ok... I'll stop turning this into a Dr. Seuss rhyme.My dearest (and favorite photographer) friend Camile (check out her work) vacationed in London and Paris recently so she ever so kindly brought me back some tea. I am over the moon with this tea haul. I'm so happy!I waited all day to open up the bag she gave me and lookie look at what I got!I can't wait to try all of these teas! I'm starting out tonight with the above Marco Polo Rouge.I'm so using this Palais Des Thés cotton loose tea filter (something I did not know existed). I've only used metal filters. This should be quite interesting. The Montagne Bleue (below) black tea has rhubarb in it! I'm pumped.  This is also a product from Palais Des Thés. The ingredients in this one is giving me evening tea vibes.Then there's the  Marks & Spencer Rwandan black tea from London. I can just image this with some almond milk right now ?I haven't tried these teas yet but I already have a favorite. The Marco Polo iced tea!!! You guys I'm going to drink French iced tea *I'm screaming on the inside right now*​[video src="http://tameekaeats.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/ae79d532-48cb-4a2b-9aaf-399f5b7355e4.mp4" poster=""][/video]​I was also lucky enough to get some of my favorite things in the world from Paris! Popcorn and nail polish. I don't know what it is about popcorn but I love it and one of these days I'll be brave enough to show the internet how much nail polish bottles I own.I'm super duper lucky to have friends who know and love me! Hashtag Lucky. Hashtag Spoiled.Have you been to Paris? Have you had any of these teas? Comment below. Let me know!

My Top 5 Favorite Food Podcasts

 I've been listening to podcasts for almost 10 years now. I listen to episodes on my commute to work and from work. 9 out of 10 times while I'm at my day job, I have a podcast playing in my ear if I'm working on budgets. I listen to a wide variety of podcasts from comedy to pop culture all the way to food topics.On a weekly basis, I listen to the following (5) food related podcasts. There are so many out there these days it will make your head spin but the one's I've listed here are the most consistent and prove to be an inspiration to me (and hopefully to you reading this). Whenever I listen to episodes from either one of these shows, I'm thrown into a fit of new ideas for my blog or for my foodie life in general.

* * * * * Starting from the top my #1 pick - The Splendid Table * * * * *

The Splendid Table is my favorite food podcast to date!Why I Enjoy This Podcast: I really REALLY enjoy listening to the award winning host Lynne Rossetto Kasper. Lynne is a James Beard Award winner for the Best National Radio Show and she is well deserved of this honor because is just so knowledgeable about food. Her tone is so calm it makes me want to listen to episode after episode. It's probably my love of learning that draws me into this show. Plus, the topics are always interesting and you are always left fulfilled with the description of the topic of the day.Show Format: The duration of each episode is usually around 50 minutes. Lynne interviews about 4 different individuals about 4 different topics or cuisines. Each interview lasts about 10 minutes. In between the interviews Lynn gives tips on food or cooking. Then the last 10 minutes of the show Lynne takes phone calls live! It's such a fun and informative show.What's This Podcasts Tag-Line: "The show for people who love to eat"What Episode Would I Recommend: Episode 547 titled SOUL FOOD - This episode appeals to me for obvious reasons because I grew up on soul food and good to hear someone talk about how important it is to preserve soul food for future generations. Plus there is some talk of truffles and truffle oil during the listeners call. That always gets my attention.

* * * * * #2 on my list - The Sporkful * * * * *

Why I Enjoy This Podcast:  I enjoy this show because I feel like I'm always taken on a journey. It's like you and the host (Dan Pashman) have a subject and you both are diving right into the topic head first! I love Dan's storytelling style. Dan also cracks me up when he says "We obsess about food so we can learn about people". I think that is one of the main reasons why I'm obsessed with podcasts and watching interviews. I love learning about people and why they do certain things.

Show Format: Each episode is about 30 minutes and is mostly interview based with storytelling inserts in between.

What's This Podcasts Tag-Line: "It's not for foodies - it's for eaters"

What Episode Would I Recommend: The episode titled A TRUNK FULL OF TRUFFLES  - This is such an interesting episode. Dan and his guest follow around a truffle seller. It's pretty wild and if you listen to this episode listen to the very end, I promise you'll get a good laugh.

* * * * * #3 on my list - Gastropod * * * * *

Why I Enjoy This Podcast: I love learning about food history. I love food facts and I love the science of food. This all stimulates my curiosity, so this podcast is right up my alley. Also, the hosts (Nicola Twilley and Cynthia Graber) do a great job at keeping the podcast interesting and fun while teaching you things about food you never knew you wanted to know. Plus, how bad-ass is it to hear females discuss anything science related!

Show Format:  Each episode is about 45 minutes long. An interview clip usually starts the show then the hosts nicely transition to start the show and tell the audience what today's episode will be about and what to expect to learn. There are sometimes tips given towards the end or you'll hear the hosts testing out what they were discussing earlier (this is usually the really funny part of the show to hear reactions).

What's This Podcasts Tag-Line: "The podcast that looks at food through the lens of science and history"

What Episode Would I Recommend: The episode titled THE SPICE CURVE: FROM PEPPER TO SRIRACHA   -This episode blew me away with the American history on certain spices, what existed and what was introduced much later on. It's also a must listen for those who think American food should be categorized a certain way, this show will put you in your place and teach you why so many different cultures make up what is considered "American Food".

* * * * * #4 on my list - Spilled Milk * * * * *

Why I Enjoy This Podcast:  I like this show because the hosts Matthew and Molly are hilarious. Every single episode leaves me giggling (mostly at my desk) because they occasionally break out into laughter themselves while recording. This gives me a good mix of learning about food and getting a bit of comedy relief all at the same time.

Show Format:  Episodes are generally 30 minutes and the hosts focus on 1 main topic for each episode. This show is not generally interview based it’s 99% the hosts talking to each other. I will warn you listeners, there will be eating going on during each show which instantly makes me hungry, so be warned. What usually gets me is the occasional plate scrape you hear in the background. *drool* The hosts also go down what they call “memory lane” and discuss what they remember about a certain food. They also end the show with some kind of food joke.

What's This Podcasts Tag-Line: "The show where we cook something delicious, eat it all, and you can't have any"

What Episode Would I Recommend: Episode 254 titled FRENCH FRIES  It's just a hilarious episode where the hosts talk about horses, bugs, and one of my favorite things to eat: french fries.

* * * * * #5 on my list - Wine for Normal People * * * * *

Why I Enjoy This Podcast:  I’ve only started listening to this show about a month ago, so I have a lot to catch up on. But, so far I like this podcast because it’s a show for those of us who like to drink wine but want to learn about different wines without having to take classes or become an actual sommelier. Speaking of I really like the fact that Elizabeth is an actual sommelier. Elizabeth and her husband host the show, they have such great chemistry.

Show Format:  The episodes are not consistent in length they range from 40 minutes to 55 minutes. The main focus of this show is wine and change weekly from interviews with wine makers, wine magazine editors to discussions about wines the hosts have tried on vacations/trips. I will add they give very honest opinions on food and wine pairings. There are also audio blogs uploaded to the podcast feed. I haven't gotten a chance to listen to many of them because I like to listen to the meat and potatoes of the show which are the actual episodes.

What's This Podcasts Tag-Line: “The podcast for people who like wine but not the snobbery that goes with it”

What Episode Would I Recommend: Episode 172 titled THE ONE WINE THANKSGIVING SOLUTION - Since this is the holiday season and lots of you readers/listeners out there will be going to each others homes for meals or cooking in your own home it’s great to get delicious wine solutions for all gathering occasions.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

And that's it folks! I hope you foodie's out there find this list helpful. Let me know if you listen to these shows as well and if you have any suggestions on podcasts/podcasters I should be listening to. Drop a comment below!

Recipes: Potato Salad

It's the holiday season. The season for being with loved ones and the season for eating. As I stuffed my face today and yesterday I realized that one of my favorite side dishes to eat on Thanksgiving (and pretty much any other day) is potato salad. It's really simple to make and the way I make it gives my guests a refreshing crunch from all of the other warm side dishes.Since this is the holiday season and sharing is caring, I'd like to share my Potato Salad recipe with you!INGREDIENTS:*Serves 4-5 people

• Potatoes (4 large) 
• Mayonnaise (3-4 tablespoons)
• Eggs (2 large)
• Celery (2 stalks) 
• Corn (1/2 cup) 
• Onion (1 large) 
• Mustard (1-2 tablespoons)
• Salt, Peper, Garlic Power (all to taste) 
• Paprika (used to dust on top of the potato salad)

*I suggest using Yukon gold potatoes (the white potatoes). I've tried using red potatoes for this recipe and it just did not turn out the same. Red potatoes taste better when the skin is left on but for this recipe I like taking the skin off of the potatoes before boiling. The mustard I use for this recipe is a garlic based mustard it gives a bit more of a garlicky kick. INSTRUCTIONS:

• Peel (4) potatoes before boiling (from experience it's a hassle to peel potatoes once they've been boiled and cooled).
• While you are peeling the potatoes, bring salted water to a boil. Make sure it's enough water to cover the potatoes (this all depends on the pot you decide to use, I would use about 2 cups in my large pot).
• Once the water is boiled, place the peeled potatoes into the salted boiling water. Boil potatoes for about 10-20 minutes. Use a fork to determine if the potatoes are tender all the way through.
• In a separate small pot bring slightly salted water to boil (make sure it's enough water to cover (2) eggs). Once the water has come to boil, add the 2 eggs for 11 minutes. 
• While the potatoes are boiling, cut the onion and celery into cubes.
• At this point the potatoes should be tender, take them out of the water and let them cool off. 
• Depending on what type of corn you used (frozen, canned, or fresh corn kernels) cook/boil the corn until done (about 5 minutes if it's from a can or frozen). 
• Once the 11 minutes are up for the eggs, immediately place them into a bowl of ice. This process is called blanching. This contributes to the perfect boiled egg. Blanch the eggs for 5 minutes. Once the 5 minutes have gone by, peel the (2) eggs and cut them into cubes as best as you can. I keep the yolk in for those wondering. 
• Once the potatoes have cooled cut them into cubes, place them in a big enough bowl for mixing and storing. Combine the onions, corn, celery, and eggs with the cubed potatoes.  
• Add salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste. 
• Use 3-4 table spoons of mayonnaise and mix.
• Mix in 1-2 table spoons of mustard and continue to mix all of the ingredients. 
• Top with a few sprinkles of paprika, cover bowl, chill and enjoy! 

Comment below if you've tried this recipe. Let me know what you think!

Tameeka Eats Food Facts: Apples ??

This week I'd been thinking a lot about apples. I've been craving them which I do not normally do but they seem to be everywhere: in supermarket displays (right when you walk in), on television, in technology (Apple products), all over  bars with seasonal ciders, they are just everywhere this fall! Earlier today I was walking my dog and saw this (I had to stop myself for buying a bunch of the update jonagold's.              Is anyone else like me out there? For some reason, every single time I eat an apple the old saying comes to mind: "An Apple A Day Will Keep The Doctor Away" which I'm guessing can have some truth in the sense of we should all eat a piece of fruit instead of snacking on potato chips or candy ?.My all time favorite apple is the granny smith. Granny Smith apples are simply beautiful to look at and have the most addictive tartness I've ever tasted. Plus once you have a ripe granny smith you can crunch down on it and experience juicy crispness. Did you know it's an apple that originated in Australia in the 1800s, also did you know it's one of the most popular apples to cook with? One of my favorite lunches includes a turkey sandwich with brie, honey, slices of green apple and whole wheat bread! Yum. Yum. Ok wait!  I can go on and on about one of my favorite fruits but I'm going to stop and get it together and give 5 facts about this delicious fruit instead.??FACT #1 - Apples are said to have been growing wild in Central Asia around either 2 or 10 million years ago. That's a long long tie ago.??FACT #2 - A steady diet of apples are noted to reduce cholesterol. I guess there is some truth to that old saying.??FACT #3 - Apples are one of the most diverse food items around. You can create savory dishes, sweet pies, alcoholic beverages, and make a soup out them. You can puree them, bake them, grill them, blend them, feed them to your dog, infuse them with booze and add them to almost any dish you make. So be careful of putting apples in the refrigerator because they stay fresher longer. ??FACT #4 - Eating too many apple seeds can kill you. I'm being a bit dramatic but I figured this was important to mention. The apple seeds are poisonous if you eat about 200 of them. The small seeds contain a substance called amygdalin. Amygdalin releases cyanide (a chemical compound) when it comes into contact with the human digestive enzymes. ??FACT #5 - Apples can be used as a clarifying facial mask. Believe it or not adding an apple with honey, lemon, and flower can make for a natural facial mask.I hope you enjoyed this post and learned a little bit about one of the healthiest fruits you can eat! If you have any apple facts you'd like to share or even let me know what your favorite apple is feel free to leave a comment below. Now go and have an apple, it'll do you some good :)