My favorite dish at any Italian restaurant is the Eggplant Parmesan. I have entered several cooking contests and have over 200 cookbooks, but this is a dish that I would rather eat out (usually commenting that "I could have done a better job preparing this at home")! Some of the chain restaurants obviously purchase it frozen- I have had it served "undercooked" several times! I am usually not a person to purchase pre-pared frozen foods, but one day I saw some Michael Angelo's Eggplant Parmesan on special at H.E.B. (the local chain grocery store), so I decided to purchase a package just to try it (not expecting much as far as food quality). I put it into my freezer and just forgot about it.

We went to the Hill Country Pasta for their "Anniversary" buffet (they didn't have my favorite dish of eggplant parmesan on the buffet that evening) and then to a wine dinner the next week at the Johnny Carino's Italian restaurant. There we met some friends from Australia who said that they also enjoyed eggplant parmesan very much (again, it was not on the dinner menu). "Craving" eggplant parmesan, I prepared the frozen entrée in the microwave the next evening for dinner! Without a doubt, this was some of the best eggplant parmesan I had ever tasted (restaurants have lost my business for this entrée). I wanted to tell my friends to purchase this product, so saved the packaging.

Curious to know where the product was manufactured, I looked at the box, and much to my (pleasant) surprise, I learned that the product was made right here in Austin, Texas- at a facility about twelve miles from where we live! Michael Angelo's has an extensive product line of other Italian entrees- all prepared with fresh all-natural ingredients, no preservatives, and everything is manufactured and shipped to stores within 36 hours. I sent an e-mail to the company the very next day saying how much I really enjoyed their product and how surprised I was to learn that it was made in my own home town. How often does this happen? I'm telling everyone about these products and intend to purchase more of them in the future.

Austin is the capital of Texas and a lot of folks from California (including movie stars) are moving here. Many folks work and don't have time to prepare meals at home, so they eat out a lot and there are many good restaurants in this city. Unfortunately, all the Italian restaurants have lost my business for my favorite entrée since we would prefer to eat this at home (rather than in some restaurants where the clientele is so noisy that you would think you were in a New York City restaurant)! I purchased another package of Michael Angelo's Eggplant Parmesan that we plan to have this week- it's "addicting"! Come to Austin and try this if you love eggplant!