Bacon Meatball Subs

When I was younger, it was my dad's job to do the grocery shopping, and he always went on Saturdays.  Sometimes I would tag along with him, and as I followed up and down the aisles, we would make sure to try all the free samples they were offering that weekend.  Back then, the grocery stores must have been rolling in dough or otherwise feeling generous, because they were giving away so much food that little girls like me often went home with full tummies, feeling spoiled by free treats and indulgent dads.  

Other weekends, I would stay at home with my mom while my dad did the grocery shopping, and those times he would usually make a stop at Subway on the way home to pick up lunch for us.  I remember I used to try out all different sorts of subs (I eventually decided I like the veggie sub on white bread best, boring I know), but my dad would predictably come home with the same thing each week: A meatball sub.    

When I was younger, I never really understood the appeal of the meatball sub.  I can blame that on childhood naiveté, or just plain picky eating, but now I know that my dad was a smart man.  Meatball subs are amazing.  Since I am all grown up (or so I pretend to be), I have changed my ways and fallen head over heels in love with meatballs.  Initially I slowly warmed up to them, but last year I chased after them with lust when I tried the Meatball Sammy from MIHO Gastrotruck here in San Diego.  (Seriously, check out the post, you can see me eating the meatball sub with gusto.)      

When this Meatball Sammy was on MIHO's menu, I tried it on Thursday, I went back and ordered it again on Friday, and I ate it again the following week.  I was obsessed.  Four of my co-workers tried it as well, and they agreed - MIHO's meatball sub was the best they had ever had.  Any hand-crafted meatball sub is pretty great, but I think their sub really knocked my socks off because the meatballs themselves were so intensely flavorful and juicy.  Of course, I had to have the recipe, and I found out their secrets: lots of fresh herbs and spices, shitake mushrooms, grass-fed beef... and bacon.  BACON.  Ah...it seems at the heart of every truly indulgent dish lies a core made out of bacon.    

A Celebration of Food and Friends, and Chocolate Cranberry Layer Cake

Did you hear the news?  Well, if you are late to the party (and I don't mean the actual party where we had this amazing cake), then I can let you know right away that I am officially out of Project Food Blog.  Yes, after more than three months of hard work and nine rounds of competition, my run has come to an end.  I would be flat out lying if I said I wasn't disappointed (there was $10,000 and title of food blog star at stake!), and when I heard the news on Friday, I did get a little emotional.  But, here's the thing: I surprised even myself when I realized I wasn't feeling sad about actually being eliminated.  There were no tears, I didn't have a breakdown, and I didn't feel like life was falling apart.**  And here is why: I am still a winner. Participating in this contest has brought only good things to both my life and this blog.  I thought to myself, "Ok, well, I am just going to go back to what I was doing before.  Only better."   

And then almost immediately, my phone started ringing, my email inbox filled up, and messages came flooding through on Twitter; new blogger friends, loyal readers, and real-life family and friends from near and far were all contacting me to share their feelings with me, to tell me that they were proud of me, or just to let me know that they care and still think this blog is awesome.  And that was when I started feeling a sort of aching in my chest that was just overwhelming.  It was as if the huge support I had received throughout this process was all being distilled into one perfect crystalline moment.  I knew I had given it my all, I had put my heart into each and every moment of this contest, and I hadn't let anyone down; all the way through to the end, YOU, my loyal readers and friends have supported and encouraged me every step of the way.  There really are not sufficient words to tell you just how much that means to me, so I will just offer you a simple and giant 

THANK YOU!      

I started out in the contest thinking that if I made it to the second round, it would be amazing (not kidding, I really said this to all of my friends) and then somehow I managed to find myself in the ninth round with only 11 other phenomenal bloggers left.  (I still sometimes find this unbelievable.)  At that point, I took a good hard look at my blog, and realized that it had undergone an incredible transformation into almost exactly what I had hoped it would be when I started it earlier this year: a place for friends to gather and share in the beauty and goodness of great food and great people.  Because Project Food Blog not only challenged me to grow and make The Cilantropist a better place, but it also brought together a like-minded community of people who support each other and revel in deliciousness.  I got to meet and be inspired by so many talented bloggers, and most importantly for me, I got to experience everything with constant encouragement from family and friends.

So, at the end of the day, even though I lost the competition, I think I have more than enough reasons to celebrate. I especially wanted to show those nearest and dearest to me how much I appreciated all their help... and so naturally I showered them with food.         

HOMIs meet MIHO Gastrotruck

***Project Food Blog voting is officially open!  Check out my entry page on Foodbuzz to vote, I have SO MUCH appreciation for your support!***  

Friends, I am really excited today to give you a full review of one of my new favorite lunch spots.  Actually, that's sort of a misnomer, since my new favorite 'spot' is actually a mobile hot food truck serving gourmet, hand-crafted street food: San Diego's own MIHO Gastrotruck. 

Over the last few years, there has been an evolution in the world of hot food trucks; previously, many major metropolitan areas were dotted with food stands and food trucks that served greasy foods or cold sandwiches, both with ingredients that the customer might rather not identify.  This is not to say the food didn't taste good, but it was squarely in the realm of 'fast food.'  More recently, the 'gourmet' food truck movement started in cities like New York and San Francisco, and then spread to Los Angeles, Portland, and even San Diego.  These gourmet food trucks differed from their predecessors, because in one way or another, they were stepping it up; instead of a fake crab patty you could get escarot and you could choose to eat a burger with grass-fed beef instead of mystery meat.  The lowly hot food truck was being elevated to haute cuisine. 

Here in San Diego, we now have quite a few gourmet food trucks cruising the streets, and San Diegians can take their pick according to what they feel like eating, and what food truck happens to be in their neighborhood that day.  Some food trucks are more popular than others, and MIHO Gastrotruck has definitely surged ahead and has strong foothold in local communities; it also happens to be my favorite because their food philosophies are aligned precisely with mine.  I like to know exactly what I am eating, and MIHO serves hand-crafted food (which means they make everything from scratch) and they get all their ingredients from local farms which means their menu changes weekly according to the seasons.  

If you know me at all by now, you are aware that I am a pretty curious and inquisitive person (I am a scientist, it comes with the territory), so when I decided to review MIHO gastrotruck I wanted to interview owners Juan Miron and Kevin Ho to get the full story about MIHO.                

I hope you enjoyed my coverage of MIHO gastrotruck!  I had such a great time talking with Juan since he is really down to earth and it is always a pleasure to chat with someone else who truly loves food.  The clip above is obviously an edited version of our interview and I wanted you to be able to see the whole thing if you are interested, so be sure to check out both Part 1 and Part 2 of my MIHO interview on YouTube.