Quote of the Day     “Everything I eat has been proved by some doctor or other to be a deadly poison, and everything I don’t eat has been proved indispensable for life.  But I go marching on.”       George Bernard Shaw

Today’s post was inspired by reading “Travel and Leisure’s” current issue featuring their World’s Best Awards.  Travellinbaen is no world traveller, yet, but there are some good meals peppering his travellin past.  I thought I’d share.

Best Breakfast–My Mom’s Christmas morning feast, featuring ambrosia, fresh squeezed orange juice, egg and sausage casserole, biscuits and shrimp and grits, improving and perfecting the recipe used by City Grocery in Oxford, Mississippi.  Top it all off with her version of the old Gatlinburg Inn’s Blackbottom Coconut Pie before lunch.

Best Breakfast, not my Mom’s–I’m going to go with a nameless place in Glen Ellen, Sonoma County, California–really nothing out of the box, but the perfect setting in perfect weather, with good friends, and the only place I’ve had lala berry jelly.

Best Appetizer–A pineapple bought on the side of the road leading to Hana, Hawaii, eaten with CCW on the balcony of our bungalow overlooking the Pacific Ocean.

Best Soup–The chicken tortilla soup at the Mansion at Turtle Creek in Dallas, Texas, with JB.

Best Ribs–My Dad’s cousin, Bugs, is better than the Rendezvous, Corky’s, or Neely’s, far better than anything I’ve found in Texas, and destroys Leatha’s down in the Pine Belt.  Everybody else is fighting for second, and who really cares about the runner up?

Best Steak–Billy Bob’s in or near Milam County, Texas.  JB was with me again, this time for an asbestos trial.  The place was half barn, half bar, and ole Billy Bob could grill a helluva good steak.

Best Vegetables–AKA the CCW Award, and there were so many places in California that could take this one home, but I’ll give the inaugural to Foreign Cinema in San Francisco.

Best Fish–I have to disqualify all Pascagoula natives here, because the folks down there can all cook up some fish, almost always less than a couple of hours out of the water.  But my favorite goes to a dolphin sandwich at a roadside bar on the A1A southwest of Islamorada where you can sit on the deck and gaze out at the Gulf of Mexico on one side and the Atlantic Ocean on the other.  Since I don’t believe in honoring second place, I’ll call that bar number one and award Moma’s Fish House and her Mahi-Mahi with an 1A.

Best Ice Cream–The Hotel Hana Maui makes homemade ice creams in tropical flavors like coconut and pineapple then adds a banana to make it a split.  TB and CCW were warned before they went that good food was hard to find in Hawaii.  As you can see, we found it.

Best Pizza–Honestly, my first choice may be really bad because I’ve only had it really late at night.  But its a place in Key West, Florida, across the street from Irish Kevin’s.  Enjoyed multiple times on a trip with Adam and Ed.  Pizzeria Uno in Chicago, once stag and once with CCW, BBS and SS is co-number one, though I’m told I have to go to Lombardi’s in NYC before I really can evaluate this category accurately.

Best Snack–Chocolate Covered Frozen Key Lime Pie on a Stick, Key West, Florida.  Thanks to Ed for insisting, and thank goodness that Coke machine didn’t keep that c-note or we’d probably have saved our money.

Best Dessert–Strawberry Ricotta Cake in Houston, Texas, at Grotto.  CCW came through here, turning a business trip in to a weekend fling, and choosing this fantastic restaurant featuring the best cake I’ve ever had.  Sorry Mom, you’re runner-up.