Category Archives: Forking Thoughts

My Favorite Thai Dish in North Phoenix – Spicy Pumpkin Basil from Sala Thai in Peoria AZ – FORKING Delicious – Worth a Fork!

At the moment my favorite Thai Dish that I’ve come across in North Phoenix is the Spicy Pumpkin Basil from Sala Thai in Peoria. The Pumpkin adds another delicious flavor. It’s sort of sweet, a little creamy and sort of chestnut-like. This dish is basically a Pad Gra Pow with added Thai Pumpkin. It’s your choice of meat hand chopped with extra surface space to soak up flavors. Then it’s stir fried with bell pepper, onion, garlic, Thai Chillies, basil and fish sauce. It’s incredibly delicious. I enjoy that they use a handful of delicious basil that you can taste in this dish. This dish also taste better than from other places because they use Thai Chillies for heat unlike some of the other places that use jalapeños and or a granulated powder. Some of the other Thai restaurants in North Phoenix do offer Pumpkin Curry but Sala Thai is one of the few or possibly only Thai Restaurant in North Phoenix that offers Spicy Pumpkin Basil.

Why settle for Pad Gra Pow when you can have Spicy Pumpkin Basil?

Worth a Fork!

www.SalaThaiAZ.com

Every THING is subject to change and your experience may or may NOT differ.

The Forking Truth

My Forking Thoughts on White Chocolate Pumpkin Pie M&M’s – WTFORK it tastes like……….

These White Chocolate Pumpkin Pie M&M’s were out perviously (last fall or the fall before I forget) but this is one flavor I skipped. I thought I’d try them this year.

I start by opening the bag and taking a whiff.

I see that I got lots of broken pieces of M&M’s all over.

They are mostly larger and slightly irregular in shape….compared to standard M&M’s. They come in colors of white, orange and a brown that looks just like dog doo colored.

Now I smell them.

It smells familiar………sort of like a spice cookie but with sour cream cheese frosting.

I taste one…this is kinda gross………It’s really greasy……Maybe I just got a bad batch…..or maybe these spoiled in the truck making its way to 110 degree F Phoenix.

This taste like FORKING greasy artificial GINGER BREAD with molasses and sour cream cheese frosting.

This doesn’t taste like Pumpkin Pie.

I wonder if this flavor was concocted from other leftover flavors?

I don’t know WTFork they’ve done here but I imagine that it could be possible that I am tasting some sort of carrot cake flavor that is possibly mixed with gingerbread.

This one just doesn’t taste good.

There’s an unpleasant after taste from this one.

BLECH! These are sickening!…….and they are greasy gross.

On the bright side I know that I am not going to gain any weight from these M&M’s.

I have to give these White Chocolate Pumpkin Pie M&M’s a Not Worth a Fork!

NOT WORTH A FORK!

Taste is subjective and your opinion and experience may indeed differ.

The Forking Truth

The Forking Best Pizzas I’ve Tasted on the West Side in Glendale and Peoria AZ

We have really Forking Awesome Pizzas in Glendale and Peoria. All the pizzas are Forking Great and delicious. These are the most delicious ones I’ve tasted so far. Pictured above is the Pizza Milano from Bottega Pizzaria Ristorante in Glendale. This particular one is special because it is ultra thin and is made with San Marzano Tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, fresh basil and a little spicy kick from Calabrian Chile Peppers. It’s crisp but does have a soft middle. it’s also the best ultra thin pizza that I know of on the west side. The regular pizzas are delicious as well and are very similar to Pomo Pizzas….(this restaurant used to be a Pomo). Delicious pizzas you can’t go wrong here.

From Fabio on Fire in Peoria is the Bufalina Pizza. This one has all kinds of flavors going on. Rich San Marzano tomatoes, peppery arugula, sweet reduced balsamic, creamy bufala cheese, nutty parmesan on a thin light chewy and crisp crust. The bufalina cheese was partially delicious…..It was creamier and more flavorful than other buffalo cheeses I’ve tasted from other places. This pizza was incredibly delicious! It’s one of the BEST ever!

The Pizzas from La Piazza Al Forno are all delicious but this Bianca Pizza was really extra special. This pizza was made with their insanely delicious house made mozzarella, a high quality ricotta (don’t know if house made but it tasted like house made), extra virgin olive oil, fresh basil, Sicilian oregano, and Calabrian chiles. All this was on their very delicate textured certified crust. It was really awesome.

The Forking Truth is that I do really love their Margherita pizzas too but they differ depending on the visit……They both taste good (pictured below) but I prefer the one on the right. The one on the right might be my favorite Margherita anywhere. The house made mozzarella is the most flavorful mozzarella…Their crust is the most delicate and tender and when the sauce is just right is pretty darn amazing.

Also on the west side by the same owner of La Piazza Al Forno is Piazza Romana that is technically in Avondale but is so freaking close to Glendale it just has to be included. This place is basically around the corner from Westgate in Glendale.

Here are Piazza Romana in Avondale is the Metro Phoenix first Roman Style Pizza Shop. Pictured above is the Arrabiatta. It has a delicious chunky thick topping that’s seasoned well with a kick!

Pictured above are the Margherita and the picante (spicy salami ((sopresata))

These pizza slices have a bubbly textured dough that is crisp but also moist in the center and are generously topped with delicious toppings. They aren’t as heavy as they look….and they ARE DELICIOUS!

At The Rec in Peoria they serve Detroit Style Pizza. (pictured above and below)

This pizza has a bubbly thick crust that isn’t doughy with these scrumptious crisp CHEESY edges.

The bottom taste almost like a buttery grilled cheese and this pizza was topped with a rich chunky oregano laced sauce and a delicious melty cheese blend. This pizza is incredibly tasty.

I make pizza too…..One of my favorites that I make is the Heirloom Tomato slices with fresh basil, E.V.O.O. with my cheese blend of mozzarella, provolone, sharp provolone and parmesan.

Those were The FORKING Best Pizzas that I’ve Tasted on the west side …..(mostly) in Glendale and Peoria.

Every FORKING Thing is subject to change and your experience may or may not differ.

The Forking Truth

The FORKING BEST Thing I Ate Out This Week – The Arctic Char from Confluence in Carefree AZ

The food is always spectacular from Confluence in Carefree Arizona. Not just great but usually detailed and very complex…..actually astonishing. I’ve been to many better restaurants in several states and I haven’t found one restaurant anywhere that does fish as well as from Confluence. This is the only restaurant where I am able to eat the skin. It’s seasoned just so and is crisp, delicious and stays crisp from first bite to last bite. The arctic char was tender, moist and cooked to perfection. If you like salmon then you will LOVE arctic char because it like a milder creamier salmon. The fish plates I tried from Confluence always “SING” with flavors that harmonize and go together like an orchestra arrangement. Here on this plate was sweetness from golden raisins. Piney, buttery flavor from pine nuts. Touches of bitter and salty from Gaeta Olives. A sort of floral saffron sauce is the glue that ties it all together and clean tasting patty pan squash and couscous complete the plate. It’s a stunning plate. Sweet, piney, buttery, touches of pleasant bitter, salty, floral…it’s delicious and interesting in the mouth.

The Arctic Char from Confluence in Carefree AZ was The Best Thing I ate out this week and was Worth a Fork!

Worth a Fork! Worth driving across town for.

www.RestaurantConfluence.com

The Forking Truth

My Trip to The Italian Festival of Arizona 2019

The Italian Festival took place February 22nd – 24th 2019 in Old Town Scottsdale. There was flag twirlers from Italy, Italian dancers, musicians, some goods, a demo, lots of food and more.

Hot or Cold Italian Coffee.

Fabio on Fire was there with lots of baked goodies and his mobile pizza oven so we tried some of his pizza.

Across from Fabio on Fire were Italian Dancers from Italy.

Maui Pasta

We tried arancini and meatballs from Maui Pasta…..

Saw a cute Red Alfa Romeo Car.

Ate like an Italian and tried Aiello’s Eggplant Rolatini and their Escarole with Beans.

Did a lot of Manga Manga because portions were very generous!

Dolce Vita Gelato

Tried some Lemon gelato from Dolce Vita.

Walked around a little more.

Someone was selling Italian T Shirts, hats, purses, baby bibs and more.

Someone was selling their Tomato sauce.

Trattoria D’Amico

More Italian Food

Dancers are walking by.

Marcellino’s

I’m stuffed but my husband can try one more. Here’s Marcellino’s hand made pasta and sauce…

That was my trip to The Italian Festival of Arizona 2019.

The Forking Truth

Sriracha Apricot Glazed Acorn Squash with Nectarines Cherries and Almonds Recipe

 

Sriracha Apricot Glazed Acorn Squash with Nectarines, Cherries and Almonds

It can be challenging to make acorn squash taste good without tons of butter, brown sugar and  cinnamon. This time I made a sriracha/apricot glaze for this acorn squash and I thought seasonal summer fruit of nectarines, cherries and almonds would go well here and they do! This dish came out overall savory but also is a little sweet with a building heat that isn’t too hot.

Ingredients for about 4 servings

1 medium – large sized acorn squash – cut in half, scoop out seeds cut each half in four wedges so you have eight

non stick spray

1 nectarine or a peach – remove pit and cut in eight wedges

16 cherries – pitted

1/3 cup apricot spread – all fruit no sugar added

3 Tablespoons sriracha – I used Shark Brand other brands have more heat and some have a metallic taste so you will want to use less if you use a different brand or to your taste.

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1/4 teaspoon ground all spice

16 almonds – crushed well

2 Tablespoons panko bread crumbs

2 scallions cut thinly on a diagonal

Fresh ground sea salt to taste

Fresh ground black pepper to taste

Directions

Set oven to 425 degrees F.

Spray baking sheet lightly with non stick spray.

Lay the squash wedges in two rows of four.

Put a nectarine wedge inside of each squash wedge.

If you didn’t pit your cherries pit them now with a straw.

Put a cherry on each end of each nectarine wedge.

In a small bowl mix together the apricot spread with the sriracha .

Pour over squash and fruit.

Sprinkle with olive oil.

Sprinkle with allspice.

Sprinkle with almonds and panko.

Use fresh ground sea salt and pepper to taste.

Put in 425 degree F oven for about 30 minutes or until fork tender.

Sprinkle with scallions to serve.

Sriracha Apricot Glazed Acorn Squash with Nectarines, Cherries and Almonds

I think what made the flavors pop was the cherries….They just added something really great to these flavors.

The Forking Truth

 

 

Return to Doughbird Phoenix AZ – Still Worth a Fork

 

DoughBird Restaurant in Phoenix AZ specializes in free range rotisserie chicken and organic pizza….get it ?….doughbird. The decor is farmhouse modern and sort of similar to my local Ikea Store.

This time we started with a pizza. We picked a pizza with Swiss Chard, Mushrooms and  Black Truffle.

The texture of the crust is similar in texture to Neapolitan Pizzas. It’s thin and wet in the middle. The pizza is topped with a  generous amount of toppings that have great flavors. It’s a tasty pizza. We also took home half the pizza for latter so we’d have room for the chicken.

We order a whole chicken again because it’s a better value than the 1/2 chicken. The whole chicken is only a few dollars more than the half chicken.

Again they gave us a very large chicken….we ate a big portion each and took home enough for two dinners each. (WIN…..Winner winner Chicken Dinner) The chicken was moist, meaty and very flavorful. Again we both really liked the spicy buffalo sauce and the chicken. The Spicy Buffalo Sauce is really super delicious! It’s like crack…really addicting.

One side is included with the whole chicken but we ordered a second side just like last time. We ordered different sides this time.

Potatoes Puree and Fresh Asparagus with Broccolini. The potatoes are a smaller portion but are enough for the two of us. the potatoes are tasty but have something different in them…..I’m not sure if it’s a different kind of butter…..or a dash of something rich added to them..? The vegetables are firm and crisp but cold….the vegetable are really good and very fresh but I don’t think the vegetable should be cold..?

Didn’t go for dessert this time but the butterscotch cake I tried last time was good. I think a deluxe fruit plate would be nice after a meal like this…

The leftover chicken I brought home was really good and enough to make our meal out a great value.

Yep! ….Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!

Doughbird is still Worth a Fork!

On most (but not all) holidays this restaurant is open and usually offers a 25% SPECIAL (if you sign up on their website) !

Worth a Fork! Good service, nice atmosphere, good chicken and sides!

www.FoxRC.com

EVERYTHING is subject to change and your experience may or may not differ.

The Forking Truth

 

Special*** May 5TH 2016 Edition – The Birthday Boy’s Photo Album

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Someone Special is 15 Years Old Today!

louie4

He looked like this when I adopted him. I was told he was a beagle cocker mix and would be a small dog. He started to grow and tipped the scales at close to 70 pounds a few years back. Now he’s around 60 pounds.

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loupackjuly

When he was younger he enjoyed playing with boxes.

lousnow

When we lived back east he used to enjoy the snow.

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He enjoys Halloween and doesn’t mind dressing up.

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Voted least likely to graduate and voted most highly improved at PetsMart Dog Training.

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Loved old back yard.

 haircut

haircut

Still LOVES to run and chase the hot air balloons that fly over yard.

Photo Hound

That Face

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That Face

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Resembles the Shape ups Shoe Dog

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Enjoys getting his feet wet.

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Wants Cookies

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Good Sport at accepting an adopted sister. He used to be a collector of bones until she dug them.

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Enjoys Hamburgers

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Really enjoys Hamburgers!

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Enjoys macaroni and cheese.

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Enjoys Italian Food.

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Doesn’t drink wine but has an appreciation for wine.

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Enjoys Pizza

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Enjoys Vietnamese Food.

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Happy 15th Birthday! Everyday is your birthday now!

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WTFork happened to Candy Canes?

 

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A long time back in a land far away it’s said that children were given candy to shut the fork up while in church on Christmas. Someone in Germany decided to put a little religion into the candy sticks that shut kids up and made the candies hook shape to remind the children of shepherd’s  hooks like from the dudes in the Noel Scene.

Some time latter someone thought that hyssop should be added to these candies (that shut kid’s the fork up in church) because hyssop was used in the old testament for purification and sacrifice. Maybe nobody wanted forking child sacrifice on their hands and possibly because mint was cheaper or probably because mint forking tasted better than hyssop they went with mint flavoring because it was similar.

Some people say the red stripe was added to symbolize Christ’s Blood.

Recently I went to the Forking Supermarket and noticed mostly all the candy canes were forking weird!

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I saw Candy Canes that were filled with Pixy Stix Powder. Why would you want powder spilling out of a candy cane?

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These Candy Canes are filled with SweetTart Powder.

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Chocolate Mint Candy Canes sound tasty.

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Dum Dum Candy Canes

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Smarties Candy Canes….Would you want a Dum dum or a Smarties?

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Fruit Flavored Candy Canes

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Jelly Belly Candy Canes

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MORE Jelly Belly Candy Canes

Doesn't Forking matter what flavor the candy is. The Forking kid will shut up with candy in his mouth.

Doesn’t Forking matter what flavor the candy is. The Forking kid will shut up with candy in his mouth.

Merry Forking Christmas!

 The Forking Truth

The Forking Truth

References

Wikipedia.com

whychristmas.com

noelnoel.com

 

Rocket Burger Phoenix AZ It’s A Forking Blast!

Rocket Burger and Subs Phoenix AZ

Rocket Burger and Subs Phoenix AZ

I’ve been here before but not in a forking while. I was reminded of Rocket Burger while watching the PBS TV Show about local eateries called Check Please Arizona. This is an extremely casual eatery where you order at the counter and seat your forking self. This place isn’t fancy so don’t forking expect to see any forking linen napkins.

Rocket burger is well known for burgers, sandwiches, beef hot dogs, sub sandwiches, soft serve ice cream and a forking wall of assorted bottled sodas. They had so many sodas I don’t know what I forking saw. The Portions are forking HUGH and the prices aren’t much more than fast food but the food your receive is FORKING much better than fast food.

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So I forking made it back to Rocket Burger and ordered my first burger and ordered the Popular New York Burger platter.

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This was forking much larger and better tasting than I was expecting. The rolls were carefully toasted and the 100% Angus Burgers were cooked a perfect medium to my liking. The pastrami on top of my burger was much tastier than most pastrami you get anywhere and was actually grilled nice and tasty. The house made coleslaw with rocket sauce was delicious. Even the fries were very good. They tasted like real potatoes!

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After a few bites I was almost forking full. At this point I lose the bun and go and get a fork. Bag up half the burger left for my dogs and pick at the rest of the filling.

My husband had a double bacon cheese burger platter. Each platter  we ordered was a double patty sandwich with a side of fries or onion rings and a bottled soda.

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He said his burger was great and we should forking come here more often.

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He got all these corn meal crusted onion rings with his burger! I would like to try the soft serve ice cream but I doubt I’ll ever have the forking room in my stomach after eating here.

We had a BLAST! at Rocket Burger!

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Forking Truth

Worth a Fork          Forking Truth