Sweet!

Our friends Michael and Tracy are getting married tomorrow, and Hubby and I are the bridal party.  That's it, just me the maid of honor (I refuse to say "matron" as it sounds so frumpy!) and him as best man.  We went out to dinner to celebrate last night.

First we went to Via Italian Table in the Woo.  I'd been there for lunch, and it's always been good.  Dinner was even better, fancier and delicious!  We ordered prosciutto-wrapped shrimp as an appetizer, they were the BIGGEST shrimp that I have ever seen!  P.s.  "Biggest Shrimp" is a fun oxymoron.  Hubby surprised me by ordering Atlantic Salmon with white bean ragu because he hates beans.  He's got a real problem with "mishy" texture, shunning foods such as beans and (gulp!) cheesecake.  I ordered a spit-roasted beef tenderloin florentine with parmesano-reggiano risotto.  God, that was good!

For dessert, we headed to a dessert bar on "restaurant row" called Sweet.  I've driven past this place many times and it just looks like a bakery from the window.  However, we pulled up the website at work the other day and WOW!  It's a lot more than that!  Michael had caramel bread pudding, Brian had bananas foster, Tracy had peanut butter donuts dipped in chocolate and I had s'mores.  Not your typical s'mores mind you.  They make their marshmallows from scratch in-house, and I am forever ruined for commercial marshmallows.  (Not that I will stop eating them.  I mean....really.)  They bring you a little hibachi to toast your mashmallows and instead of graham crackers, they give you fresh cookies to sandwich it all together.  This thing was the real deal.  I've never had s'mores like that, they were out of this world.  There was nothing typical about the donuts either.  Right by the bar they have a cooking station.  After we ordered, the pastry chef got busy frying something.  The smell was pure heaven, and imagine the delight when we realized that they were frying Tracy some fresh donuts.  They do have some things for the calorie-conscious....which clearly the four of us were NOT last night.  (Live it up, live it up.) They had a dessert called "I'm on a Diet" which was homemade sorbet and fresh fruit.  And from the bar you could order a "SWB" (Skinny White Bitch) which is just Stoli Vanil with Diet Coke.  Think about it.....appropriately named, no?  :)

Good friends, lots of laughs, lots of good food.  Two places I would go to again in a heartbeat!!

Simple, Yet Satisfying

Tonight's Dinner:  Pan-fried tilapia, brown rice and broccoli in orange sauce.  The first bite of broccoli and sauce was a little bitter, but not inedible.  I'm really glad that Brian left out the orange zest.  We don't seem to be citrus zest fans in this house, oftentimes it's just too strong of a flavor.

Simple, satisfying.  Not every night is something fancy.

Flaky Beef Turnovers

I got two cookbooks out of the library the last time I was there, I like to do that once in a while to mix it up.  One of them was a Gooseberry Patch "Homestyle Favorites."

I have never, ever been disappointed in a Gooseberry Patch cookbook, they have great meals!  We tried the Flaky Beef Turnovers the other night.  Basically they were flaky pastry filled with steak and potato.  Wow!!!!!!! Sean loved them, but Will ended up having yogurt and fruit.  I enjoyed mine, and Brian had two.  However, the only thing I would have to disagree with was that the recipe was listed in the "Weeknight Favorites" section.  Any night that you have to wait for pastry to defrost and then roll out and fill=not a weeknight dinner in our house!

Next up:  Turkey and Rice Casserole on Sunday.

Where's the Waffles??

There are two well-known facts in our home when it comes to cooking.  One:  If the recipe calls for milk, we will probably forget to put it in.  Two:  Waffles cease to exist in our house, unless they come frozen in a box.

So when we were making the menu for this week's dinner and Brian wrote "Waffle Night" for Friday, I thought he was joking.  He wasn't:  stubborn as he is, he refuses to believe that he cannot make waffles.  

So Waffle and Bacon night it is.  The bacon, having fried up nicely on the stove, is keeping warm in the toaster oven.  The entire house smells beautifully of bacon.  The waffle iron is plugged in, and he's busy doubling the recipe so that we can put leftover waffles in there.  First, he forgets the milk.  Luckily, it is remembered before the mix hits the waffle  iron.  We wait, with baited breath, for our first batch of waffles.  

I am working on the menu for next week and  Brian says "What are we having for dinner on Friday?  I say "chili and cornbread, why?"  He says, "No, how about this Friday.  You know, today?"

The waffle iron has been flipped open and there's.....waffle batter.  The damn thing was plugged in to heat up and it never got hot enough.  The damn thing is broken.  

All you can do is nod and smile.  Brian took it well, with a smile and "I can't believe this s*#t."    The elusive Holy Grail of Breakfast Food has passed over our home again.  So what the hell to do for dinner?  I know!  How about BLT's?  No---No L, No T.  How about bacon, egg and cheese english muffins?  Every egg in the fridge is in the waffle batter.  So with that, dinner is at Friendly's.  The kids were thrilled!

We come home, and the iron is deemed trash.  Waffles have been doomed to frozen and restaurants.  And to add to the misery:  Joey was sitting on the couch waiting for us when we got home from our impromtu Friendly's Feast.  He was not pleased--we left him with the intoxicating smell of bacon and there was none for him to scout.

I'd say better luck next time...but there will be no next time.  

Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

I'm always doing this.  I buy fruit/veggies with good intentions but then they're starting to pass their prime.  And I have to scramble to find something to do with them!

Four zucchinis in the fridge.  This morning I turned 'em into Chocolate Zucchini Muffins.  The recipe said that it yields two dozen muffins.  I got......nineteen.  Ah well.

They're a very subtle chocolate flavor, and I thought a little bit dry.  My other two critics disagreed.  Will has already devoured one on top of his froot loops and banana, and just asked for a second one.  (Joke's on you buddy!  There's zucchini in there!!!)  And Sean?  I'd say that Sean likes them just fine!