A feast for the eyes

I am sure I am forgetting something here.  I’ve eaten in different cities, different states, in 80 degree temperatures and in places below freezing.

Some of it was great – some of it was so-so. 

Greetings from Club Red in beautiful Boca Raton.  Mom, Jen and Jen’s friend Marge went to visit my Uncle Red and cousin Erin.  We ate at Duffy’s Sports Bar.

(say that with a South Boston accent.  It’s funnier that way).   It’s the official spot of the Florida Panthers.

I had a very delish Black Bean Buirger and yeah… fries. Lunch at the Boca Town Center.  Say hi to my cousin who works at Macy’s if you stop by. Short Rib and Grilled Cheese with a side salad.Super cute shoes courtesy of Jessica Simpson. See this?  This is me trying to tell you I didn’t make a waiter sit down at our table and ask him to explain to me what “We don’t have any more Pinot Grigio in the place” actually means in a way I can understand by making you think all I had was Diet Coke. Mellow Mushroom where your waiter will keep telling you if you order too much you can have the rest at 4:20 in the morning. Me thinks he knows a lot about the numbers 4 and 20. The Office – not to be confused with where Jim and Pam work.I don't even own *a* gun, let alone many guns that would necessitate an entire rack.  Uncle Red’s B-Day featuring an old school canned ham.Bruschetta is better.My plate.Some people like these.I am not one of those people.

Hotel, motel….Holiday Inn.A Vanilla Mudslide And chocolate ice cream.Jen got sick.  :(   I made dinner.  She ate rice at 11 PM.   Back in NJ – and the Muscle Maker Grill.  I ate half the wrap and all the potato. Dave wanted Lamb Chops, Brown Rice and Brussel Sprouts I wanted a Pork Chop, Asparagus, potatoes and creamed corn. So I made both.   And I also tried to make my dad’s meatloaf.  It’s not quite there yet – but closer. In the NYC - Salad with chicken, made at the cafeteria yesterday. A small potato with low fat sour cream, roasted asparagus….

And a Foreman Grill Burger – with grilled onions and mozzarella on an English Muffin. 

It’s good to be back.

Diametrically Opposed

I am a complete contradiction.

I am pleased to report that since Thursday I ate more salads, did more walking, did actual intentional exercise.   I walked for 2 miles at my mom’s on Saturday and then did 5 miles on the bike on Sunday.

Friday Jen made yummy pizza and I ate 2 small slices plus some sauce on the side.After my walk I got some mini bagels.  They reminded me of my dad.  He used to go out to get these for me all the time. Then I ate on Saturday night I ate 1/3 of this eggplant rollatini (I made the mistake of bringing the leftovers to Dave’s and left them as free game in the fridge) And shared this brownie sundae. 

Hopefully it’ll all even out.

Start your day the chocolate way

One of my dreams in life is to go to Paris and eat pain au chocolat for breakfast everyday.  Not like I can’t get that in NYC but I have this image of me sitting at a little sidewalk cafe eating chocolate for breakfast.

And after that I’d go to Christian Louboutain and buy some shoes.

But that’s another story.

Today – I had chocolate for breakfast because when my boyfriend went to Costco I slyly slipped a box of these in his cart.

I love these things.  Just sweet enough and full of chocolaty chips.

We had a lovely weekend. Friday night we went to Codmother’s for dinner.  I had a cup of clam chowder.

I ordered Shrimp Parmesan and split it in half.  I didn’t finish that half and ate the leftovers for lunch on Saturday AND still have some leftover for lunch today.   I don’t know if the portion sizes are just that enormous but it’s making me feel better about my vow to take home leftovers when I eat out.Dave had a salad and Black Sea Bass with Mushroom Risotto, Spinach and Broccoli.

Saturday I sleep super late (9 am – which is really late for me) and then sat like a lump on the couch watching many episodes of Top Chef while Dave ran around doing errands.  I got up – finally – and did something productive – which was to make dinner for Dave and the kids for Tuesday night – a chicken casserole-y type thing.  I should have taken pictures throughout but I get so caught up in cooking that I totally forget. 

Bad food blogger.  Bad.

I am not a big person for casseroles.  We really didn’t eat many growing up but I gotta say – I think this one came out pretty great.  Here’s what happened.

1) I put a pot on to boil and made about 3/4 a pack of Barilla Mostaccioli per package directions (actually slightly more al dente than usual) and set aside.   I drizzled some olive oil and sautéed some onion and garlic.  Then I browned some boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 2.5 of them) seasoned with a little kosher salt and fresh ground pepper till almost cooked through and then set aside.

2) I made a rue with a little flour and butter then deglazed the pan with some white wine.  I added one can of Cream of Asparagus soup and 2 cans of lowfat milk and another splash of wine and stirred until creamy.

3) I added  some cayenne (about 1/4 teaspoon) and about the same of poultry seasoning.  I also threw in about 2 tablespoons of grated parmesan.   I added some chopped baby spinach and green onions and about 3/4 of a bag of frozen mixed vegetables.  Then I added the chicken back in + the pasta and stirred till everything was coated.   I added some fresh ground pepper as well – no salt as the cheese and the soup have plenty of sodium already.

I put it all in a shallow pan and added about a handful of breadcrumbs and some more freshly grated parmesan on top (about 1 oz).

It tasted sort of like chicken pot pie with pasta.  I felt very Good Housekeeping after I made this. 

Saturday afternoon, Dave and I headed to Long Island to go to dinner with my mom and Jen.   We went to Fork & Vine which was awesome.  It was very difficult to try and pick what I wanted to eat off the menu.  It was dark and hard to take pictures but if you ever find yourself on the North Shore of Long Island you should give it a try.

They have small plates as well as entrees.  Dave and I split a roasted beet salad.  Mom got the baked St Andre’s Cheese which was very brie like.  We also split the Philly Cheesesteak Spring Rolls.

I had Short Ribs over plantain puree with black beans. Jen got Pork Tenderloin.  Dave got Skirt Steak. Mom had Grilled Sole. The only downside of this meal was the goat cheese mashed potatoes I ordered on the side.   I expected creamy goodness.  They were seasoned with chopped tomatoes.  Wrong color, wrong consistency.  To their credit once I inquired about the ingredients and mentioned I didn’t care for them the waitress whisked them away and off the bill.

Dessert was…I mean…I am having trouble forming words.

There was chocolate.

There was peanut butter.

It was all mixed together in something called a Tasty Cake.

I almost licked the plate.

Sunday we had a delicious breakfast made by my mom aka Annie V.  Later she watched Inception while Jen, Dave and I went for about a 35 min walk.  Dave brought his dog – the lovely Genevieve with him and she proved that the snow is melting here in NY based on her condition when we got back.   She wound up in the tub. 

In the meantime Jen heated up some White Chicken Chili and we had that for lunch.

It’s a totally different taste than regular chili but it was really, really good.

        

I’m going to ask Jen to guest post again soon since she has virtually kicked me out of the kitchen at my mom’s.

We helped to clear out some books from the basement and then headed back to NJ to have Thai & Vietnamese food for dinner.   We went to Lemongrass and started with Shrimp Rolls – which are so delicious.  The peanut sauce on the side is perfect.

I had Thai Style Lo Mein.  Half of this is sitting in Dave’s fridge I’m proud to report.

Dave had Pho with brisket.  He loves Pho.  I think he also likes to say Pho.

And that leaves us with today. 

Today when I signed into MSN Messenger there was an article from Glamour where they talked about what ‘his Valentine’s Day gift means’.  Supposedly if your significant other gets you a frying pan you should break up with them.

Being partial to frying pans I wholeheartedly disagree.

I’ve got some work to do today before Dave and I head out for an early dinner.  I’ve tortured him for nearly a year with every culinary reality show known to man and tonight he is taking me to craft.   I’ve been to craftbar and ‘wichcraft and Williams-Sonoma where I asked Tom Colicchio if his hand hurt from signing so many cookbooks but this is the first time I’ll be dining there.

Happy Valentine’s Day.  Tell those you love you love them today.  You should do it every day – but today you have even more of an excuse.

In a little bit I’m going to go pledge my love to this box of beauties.

Almost all before – no after

My apartment smells out of control.

I can’t tell you what I’m making because Dave reads this and I told him dinner is a surprise but you will see tomorrow the deliciousness that is what I’m making right now.

I am definitely out of blogging practice my friends.

This weekend – I took pictures.  I took a lot of pictures.  But I always stopped taking pictures at the most pivotal point.  You’ll see what I mean in a bit.

Friday night Dave and I went to the opera.  Yeah.  That’s how we roll.

We went to the Met and saw Tosca.  

We went to dinner first at Vince and Eddie’s which I found completely charming.   I cannot wait to go back.

We split a salad – the picture came out blurry.  :(

I had the tilapia.

 

Dave had the Seafood Fra Diablo.

The next morning I made delicious breakfast sandwiches with the following ingredients.

Homemade bread. Cheddar that I got in my Hickory Farms box from the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program. Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit’s BACON! And eggs. And a spread of this good stuff. What you will not see is the finished sandwich as I neglected to take a picture.

I also made potatoes.  I do have a picture of them.  Well.  The leftovers anyway.

Then we went out and walked a lot.

I mean….A LOT.

We walked to the Whitney Museum to see the Edward Hopper Exhibit.   You probably know this painting – which wasn’t actually part of the exhibit.  Here’s a link to one that we saw.

Half way there we stopped for lunch.

I had a Diet Coke. 

I also did not have a burger.  I had a baked potato with broccoli and cheese. 

I did not take a picture of that or of Dave’s salad.

After the museum we went to see The King’s Speech which was awesome.

Question:  Do you think Dave looks like Colin Firth?

 

Then we went for pizza.

This is all I have for you from dinner.

Then I took Dave to Rolf’s for a drink because the Christmas decorations are not to be believed.

No.

Really.

 

And that is just a minor sampling.

The next day I made French Toast for breakfast.   

That’s as good as it’s gonna get.

We met my mom and Jen for brunch at a place I’m going to go with the girls so I will save my thoughts on that for a later time.

And also because I didn’t take any pictures.

And that brings you up to speed.  We were all feeling a little blue because the best baby dog that ever was is no longer here but just like everything else this past year we’re taking a deep breath and going forward.

It’s the only thing you can really do.

Be back tomorrow with something scrumptious.