Tag Archives: restaurant food

Doorknob Ankle Cold

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Whew, vacation’s not over yet; Adam’s parents are here for a visit!  We spent the day running around with them and it was nice to be the one showing off the city for a change.

Before our visitors arrived, Adam and I set out for the farmers’ market.  We didn’t find any produce we wanted but it was basically a menagerie down there.  Here’s a llama –

there’s a llama –

(and another little llama, fuzzy llama, funny llama, llama llama,) duck!

That song will be stuck in your head for the rest of the day.  (Remember this one??)

While we were out we snagged breakfast, straw-style.

Organic 3 Cafe is great about letting you customize your juice orders.  This was spinach, carrot, cucumber, kale.

I also grabbed a half-sweet coffee from Wilson Farms.

Soon enough, my in-laws were here and we all headed to Tokyo Shanghai Bistro for lunch.

That’s the a la carte tomago (egg custard nigiri) I shared with my mother-in-law.

The lunch specials (only $6!) came with steamed rice and a cup of soup, I went with hot and sour.

For my main order I got the garlic eggplant with extra veggies.

I’ve been craving garlic eggplant for forever and this totally hit the spot.  It was a little bit spicy but not super sweet or fried tasting.

After lunch we took a movie break and headed to the theatre to see Mr. Popper’s Penguins.  The movie was a lot better than I was expecting, it was great to see Jim Carrey actually act (not just make crazy faces).  My favorite character was definitely Pippi.

We wanted to cash in a Groupon for dinner so we drove out to Hamburg to the Buffalo Street Grill. 

The husband and I had trouble deciding so we ended up sharing two dishes.

Tortellinni with portobello mushrooms and pesto,

and grouper topped with crab, brie, and roasted red peppers,

which came with french fries,

and a squash medley.

The veggies were seriously delicious, the best side I’ve had in a restaurant all year!

Finally, we took the parents to Anderson’s for frozen yogurt.

I got a baby twist with marshmallow topping.

Mmmmn.

After we said goodnight to my in-laws, Adam and I took a walk to pick up a few things at the Co-op.  It might be 90* in DC but it’s in the 60’s here; we were so cold we ended up sharing a cinnamon dolce steamer from Starbucks to warm up!

A steamer is just steamed skim milk with 1.5 pumps of syrup, but it did the trick getting us through our walk.

Adam is making the opening and closing remarks at a medical school ceremony tomorrow so we’ve got to get to bed and get him his beauty rest!

Walk It Out, II

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Apparently I’ve used this title before…  I don’t think I knew what “a lot” of walking was when I wrote that post; Adam and I (who love love love to walk) wore ourselves out this vacation!  I’m glad we’ve gotten in the incidental exercise though, we need the walking piece to make up for our eating.  It’s definitely been a vacation week!

After breakfast on Tuesday Adam and I dropped my laptop back at the apartment and headed into the city.

Our main destination for the day was the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.

We saw all sorts of amazing things but my favorite exhibit by far was “Written in Bone: Forensic Files of 17th Century Chesapeake.”  They recently discovered the burial site for the first settlers of Jamestown and using modern forensics were able to piece together a picture of how those settlers lived and died.  The exhibit was half American history and half forensic anthropology; I loved it!  If you are in DC in the near future I highly recommend you check it out.

We expanded our minds all morning, but unfortunately our stomachs stayed empty.  Failing to plan is planning to fail, particularly when you are visiting expensive museum food courts.  I did delight in seeing all sorts of these though –

and Adam and I split the Luna protein bar I had in my purse.

Even without breakfast or lunch, our next stop was obvious.

FroZenYo!  If my memory is correct, I served myself red velvet, cookies and cream, cheesecake, and tart yogurt topped with kiwi, strawberries, candied nuts, pb, hot fudge, and sprinkles.

It was ridiculous good.  Frozen yogurt was the high point of my day, but Adam was most excited for dinner.

First though we met my best friend for a drink (pink lemonade and Stoli),

and then an iced coffee for our long metro ride.

Finally we arrived at Adam’s heaven our destination.

Chrisfield Seafood has been an institution in DC (technically Maryland) since the 40’s, and it was a big part of my family vacations as a child.  I didn’t actually eat any seafood as a child so Chrisfield’s magic was lost on me, but this time I was ready!

Portions note – I ate about 1/3 of everything shown here; it was a rich meal but I kept it fairly healthy by not stuffing myself silly.  If you do go to Chrisfields (and you should!) and plan on going crazy, I still recommend that you not fill up on bread because your dinner will be worth the wait.

Adam and Nikki ordered a pitcher of Red Hook Ale ($8!), apparently it turns you into a creeper,

but I still enjoyed a small glass.

When we sat down we were served bread,

and a plate of the necessary accoutrements.

Then we sat, and waited, and drooled and plates went by us.  Finally it was our turn to dig in.

When I called my father for menu advice (I wanted to maximize the opportunity now that I finally like seafood) he told me to order either the crab-stuffed flounder or crab-stuffed shrimp.  But when I got to the restaurant the lobster tail was calling me.  Thankfully I found my perfect meal, The Broiled Combo – lobster tail,

stuffed shrimp,

stuffed flounder.

My meal came with cole slaw and french fries as well.

O.M.G.  I think if I’d actually tasted the food as a child I would have been a seafood convert a lot earlier!  My favorite was actually the stuffed flounder, but the husband was more than happy to take over eating my lobster tail.

Stuffed to the gills (ha!) we slept very well that night.

Wednesday morning was spent walking around Georgetown.  Wandering down M Street is my favorite thing to do in DC!  Adam and I actually ended up at an old New York favorite for brunch, Serendipity 3.

I went with a favorite order too, The Summer Bries.

An open-faced turkey sandwich with apples, cranberry mayo, and brie cheese.

My bread was sort of burnt but I ate 2/3 before passing it off to the husband.

I’m glad I saved room, because we discovered a brand new favorite for dessert – Mr. Yogato!

I couldn’t serve myself, but the shop was so cute that it was worth the change.  I ended up with a small original tart yogurt with banana, coconut, and sprinkles.

Did you think I was kidding when I said we’d get froyo every day? 🙂

Guys, the walk back to pick up our stuff was brutal.  It was in the high 90’s and I was carrying my backpack with the laptop and it was just crazy.  Adam actually got so overheated he started to get light-headed!  Thankfully he felt faint right in front of a Walgreens and we could run in for provisions.  I drank 2 liters of water in under an hour!

Once we were back to our car it was time to head to our final destination: Baltimore.  We probably should have eaten lunch first though because as we sat in rush hour traffic we got pretty cranky.  I ended up digging into my packed stash and eating a serving’s worth of honey mustard chip crumbles,

and tons of (craisin, peanut, chocolate chip) trail mix.

When we finally got here my aunt and cousin had a great healthy spread for us to dig into.  Tortilla chips with homemade guacamole,

hummus with fresh veggies from the farmer’s market,

and this huge bowl of cherries that I basically dominated.

Plus a small pour (x 1.5) of sauvignon blanc.

For the protein portion of the meal my aunt grilled up some delicious Indian spiced chicken with yogurt and mint sauces.

It was so tasty I went back for a second piece (that’s a side plate).

Finally, dessert.

My aunt is quite the hostess.  There was dulce de leche Ben and Jerry’s and salted caramel gelato,

plus No Pudge Fudge Brownies and berry crumb bars (the blueberry crumb bar recipe from Bon Appetit made with raspberries and blackberries).

I was so stuffed I ended up leaving one bite of each piece on my plate!

And bringing this super long post full circle, I woke up at 6:30 this morning to go on a walk with my aunt.  She walks a 40 minute loop around her neighborhood most mornings so I happily joined her.  Even after our miles of city walking yesterday it felt good to get up and get my legs moving.

And now it’s time for breakfast!

Tears of Joy

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Hello from the nation’s capitol!  DC is one of my favorite cities (2nd to New York, of course) and it feels good to get back here for a visit.

Yesterday afternoon my best friend got off of work just in time for dinner.  Adam and I had one request: Thai food!  She happily delivered.

Yum, yum, yum, yum, yum.  Guys this was what I’ve been dreaming about!  Ever since my spicy Thai food fail last week I’ve been a woman obsessed.

I ordered the Vegetarian Drunken Noodles with extra veggies, made Thai spicy.  They delivered times two: tons of veggies to make my body healthy and tons of spice to make my soul healthy.

The spice got me a bit teary eyed, but I think they were just tears of joy!

Adam and I headed to Starbucks this morning so I could blog but we’re having some difficulty with breakfast.  Knowing this city I think I’ll manage to find something good soon.  The plans for the day include the Natural History Museum, so I’m off to get my learn on!

What’s your prefered spice level – Thai spicy, American spicy, or no spice at all?

Tired Travel

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Hello from Charlottesville!  The last 48 hours have been a total whirlwind, but a little sleep deprivation is definitely worth the family time. 

Yesterday afternoon we had to finish packing, and Adam had to shave, and we had to drop his car off, and the clock ticked ominously as it got later and later.  By the time we actually hit the road it was after 6pm and we knew it was going to be a long night.

We dinnered on sandwiches from home as we drove.

I assembled Nature’s Pride bread, Applegate Farms Organic Roasted Turkey slices, 2% Swiss cheese, and honey mustard; wrapped in tin foil for easy road munching.

Adam and I also split a Starbucks Double Shot drink.

Caffeine was a very good idea (and it continued to be good all today as well) since we pulled into my in-laws’ house at 4:30 in the morning!!  I’m not sure how we managed to be so chipper for our 9:30 wake up call, but I think that vacation excitement always overrules lack of sleep.  I can’t even tell you how crazy the drive was though, between the thunderstorms and the fog we were pretty sure we were driving through the apocalypse.

Breakfast called for carbs, protein, and bacon.  Half a bagel with strawberry cream cheese,

1 scrambled egg,

and 2 slices of turkey bacon.

Moving was not as bad as I was anticipating at all (it probably helped that I was responsible for packing up the pantry and not carrying the couch!), especially since my brother-in-law drove down to help as well.  At some point in the afternoon I was sent into town for packing supplies and Starbucks for my mother-in-law; I grabbed a grande iced nonfat latte for myself.

Lunch was one of those random simple meals that ended up being extra delicious.

This veggie pizza was something my MIL found in the freezer section and it was so dang good; she was worried that the crust started to burn but it was crispy and crunchy in the best possible way.

And this was the best (only?) watermelon I’ve tasted all summer.

The melon was supposed to be dessert but my MIL and I found ourselves stuck at Wendy’s while the moving truck was returned and Frostys were calling our names.  The new Caramel Apple Parfait looked too good not to try.

Oh my gosh guys, props to Wendy’s because this was delicious!  I only ate ~ 1/3 because I didn’t want to overdo it before dinner but I was seriously impressed.  The caramel had great mouth feel and the right balance of sweet and salty.

Adam and I stayed in town after the moving was done so we could have Fathers’ Day dinner at my FIL’s favorite restaurant.  Clearly it was a day of hot work because I drained my beer before it even occurred to me to snap a picture.

This might be the first time I’ve tried a Shock Top and I was surprised by how much I liked it, light and refreshing.

I also nibbled on a complimentary cheesy biscuit.

Think of the biscuits from Red Lobster, but better.

Sagebrush isn’t the type of restaurant that I typically love but my dinner ended up being amazing.

I ordered a side of the veggie medley (without butter)

and a side of sweet potato casserole

to go with my Mountain Trout.

Trout!  This was my first time trying trout and I think it might be my new favorite fish, it was so buttery.  The menu said flash grilled but I’m pretty sure this was fried.  I scraped off the skin but other than that I cleaned my plate.

After dinner we had another late, rainy drive.  I bought this huge (half-sweet) coffee for the road.

I hope the caffeine doesn’t keep me awake but traveling makes my stomach upset and I was hoping coffee would help me feel better.

Tomorrow we’re spending the day exploring Charlottesville and then driving to DC in the evening.  My best friend just texted to let me know that her apartment doesn’t have internet so my posting schedule might be a little off.

Can anyone recommend any “must go” spots in Charlottesville or DC?  Other than frozen yogurt we don’t have much on the agenda!

Boarding Time

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I started my morning with a shot of the Orange Dream Machine knock-off I made Adam.

He takes the Step I Board Exam on Saturday so we are testing out different breakfasts to find the perfect one for test morning.  This is a big-time important exam so he needs a breakfast that leaves him full and doesn’t make him have to go pee.  We’re also making sure he eats the perfect night-before dinner.  It’s the little things people!

The Step I Board Exam is similar to the MCAT exam, but more important and taken after your 2nd year of medical school.  Your Board score basically determines the rest of your career so, no pressure Adam!  Taking the exam also marks the “end” of your 2nd year of medical school.  The 3rd and 4th years you leave the classroom for rotations in different clerkships, ie hands-on experience.  In 3rd and 4th of medical school Adam’s schedule will be similar to what’s coming during residency – basically I’m becoming a single mom to Levinson.

Since Adam is taking his exam this Saturday, we have exactly one week of freedom before he starts back for his 3rd year of school (Adam is hosting a student clinician ceremony the Saturday before school starts).  Since I’m not dramatic at all, I’m calling this “the last week of our marriage.”  To celebrate/spend as much time together as possible, I took the week off of work and we are going on vacation!

  • 1 day in VA helping my in-laws move
  • 1 day exploring Charlottesville (a lot of programs on Adam’s list are at UVA)
  • 2 days in DC visiting my best friend from high school
  • 2 days in Maryland visiting family

It’s going to be a whirlwind and lots of driving but we are so looking forward to it!

Apparently I’ve also been looking forward to bed, because that’s where I spent my entire day!  I stayed up until 3 am last night because I have some sort of mental problem and then I napped the day away.  I did finally get up around 4 because I needed to make the husband dinner.  I nibbled on more mini candy bars while I cooked.

I wasn’t eating dinner at home because I had a date with Katie.  She’s moving at the end of the summer so hopefully we will get in a lot of meet ups before then.  We went to Saigon Cafe and split a spring roll for an appetizer.

I ordered the Spicy Rainbow – an assortment of vegetables stir fried with basil leaves in a hot sweet basil sauce, with white rice.

The dish is marked with two stars (= extra spicy) on the menu and I asked the waiter for “Thai spicy” and he grimaced like my face was going to fall off.  After the grimace, but before tasting my food, I ordered Thai Iced Tea to combat the spice.

No dice spice.  The veggies were good, but this wasn’t even close to being a little spicy, let alone Thai spicy.  So disappointing!

I ate about 2/3 of my food but after this and last week’s bland meal I’m going to take the hint and stop going to Saigon Cafe.  Can any Buffalo readers recommend a local Thai spot that actually brings the spice???

After dinner we took a nice walk down Elmwood, stopping for Ciao Bella gelato.

Key lime pie and dulce de leche for the win.

I actually walked Katie all the way back to her apartment where she loaned me some books so … I could get in bed early and read!  Be back in the am!

What time is your bed time usually?  What’s the stupidest reason you’ve stayed up too late recently?  I think reruns of Food Network Star takes the cake for me.

My Friends, Ben and Jerry

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I know I said I was excited about blogging again, but I was more excited about sharing dinner with my friends in less than ideal table lighting.

I met up with a group of girlfriends from school and we had a great time playing summer catch-up.  I ordered a tuna melt (sourdough, no butter; with cheddar cheese).

I ate half and then brought the rest home to the husband.

Such a random diner order but it definitely hit the spot.  Sidenote – once I occurred to me to ask for no butter on my bread I started enjoying restaurant sandwiches 80% more.

Adam and I are spending the rest of the evening watching “That 70’s Show” with our new best friends.

I know, I know; it’s totally time for us to stop splitting a pint of ice-cream like that’s normal healthy behavior, but Maple Blondie?!

What’s your favorite flavor from Ben and Jerry’s?  Bonaroo Buzz is topping the charts for me, but I’ll let you know in the morning if Maple Blondie edges it out!

Bad Decisions Brew Bad Outcomes

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I’m going to be honest from the start: this is a fairly whiney post.  In fact, I’ve got a pretty fun recipe post coming this evening (hopefully!) so you may want to just wait.  If you’re still here, I’ll tell you that I’ve been in a rotten mood for the past 24 hours.  It’s been a very frustrating day, not without a few high points though.

I’ll be honest; yesterday afternoon when we went to the Co-op what I really wanted was nachos.  I talked myself out of them in the interest of attempting to actually be healthy this summer, but it was a big mental battle.  <– I shared the play by plays with the husband too, fun for him.  So when I was hungry within 5 minutes of arriving at work yesterday (the hot bar wasn’t very good) I had some regret about my choice.  It doesn’t help that my workplace serves some amazing looking nachos that make me green with envy every time I serve them.

Anyway, I was at work getting hungrier and hungrier, when we had a terrible string of customers that made me question humanity.  Sidenote:  to the woman who requested a private room for a birthday party, brought in her own cake for me to serve, received amazing service, and then tipped me $20 on a $245 bill – I hope someone punches you in the face.  I’m thinking about doing a mini-post on tipping actually, would anyone be interested in that?

As my mood got worse and worse, I knew nachos were the answer.  When I got cut 20 minutes early (ie before the kitchen was closed) I knew it was a sign from the cheese gods.  Nachos.

I realize that bad lighting / the to-go container / the fact that these had to sit and wait for me to finish work makes these look less appetizing than they could, but let me assure you these were a high point of the day!

The nachos were ridiculous good.  Housemade chips with poblano peppers, mango salsa, and smoked gouda?  Heck yes!

I brought the nachos home to share with the husband but I ended up housing 80% of them myself.  Unfortunately, and unsurprisingly, consuming that much smoked gouda made me sick to my stomach.  Totally worth it, but this combined with my bad mood did keep me up past 3am.  When I did finally get in bed the husband tells me that I thrashed about and made noise all night.

I didn’t get out of bed until 10am this morning and after sending a few e-mails I realized that I was a) still in a terrible mood, and b) still exhausted.  Back to bed I went.

I got up around 3 with the goal of cashing in on free donut day at Dunkin, and getting in my 5miler.  I ordered a small iced coffee with skim milk,

and got a free Boston Cream donut out of the deal.

Goal #1, check.

Goal #2 = massive fail.  Probably in part because I fueled for the gym with a freaking donut.  Probably also in part because my sleep schedule is that of a college student or a crazy person and I’m in fact a 25-year-old sane person.  I got to the gym, suited up, bought a Gatorade, then got on the treadmill and died.  I was too tired to physically make myself run in the proper form.  I couldnt’ even walk at a pace about 3.2 miles per hour.  It was ridiculous.

I’m so mad at myself!  I realized from the start that I might not be able to actually do the half (especially when my knee started hurting) but I didn’t realize that it would have anything to do with being lazy with my training plan.  What has my problem been the last few weeks?!  As I yelled at myself I did at least come to two realizations –

  1. I need to do better at the grocery store so that there aren’t so many mornings where there’s nothing healthy in the house for me to eat.  Even without sleep, my gym trip would have gone better if I was properly fueled.
  2. I have to get serious about sleeping like an adult.  When Adam’s working at the hospital our hours will be crazy and there’s nothing I can do about it, but right now I have control over the situation.  I don’t get out of work that late, if I came home and went to bed it’d be all good.  But instead I come home and get sucked into the computer/tv and am tired and frustrated all the next day; not good!

What’s a bad decision you’ve made lately?  What can you do to help yourself in the future?

They Were The Worst Of Plans, They Were The Best Of Plans

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Contrary to this morning (when my grand plans were thwarted), my terrible evening plans failed for the better.  Sometimes when things run off course you end up in a much better place.

I needed a win after my lame shift, so I decided to spend time on an activity I knew I could do well –

reading magazines on the couch.  I also lifted my mood exponentially by breaking in to my Co-op best-ever candy bar stash.

I ate it slowly, with a fork, over 45 minutes of magazine reading and was practically in heaven.

But I guess I wasn’t feeling angelic, because the end result of our dinner plans was me getting in a screaming match with Adam over the best way to measure flour.  Seriously.

I stormed out of the house in a dramatic huff and ended up at Talking Leaves, sitting a table on the sidewalk with my book and a drink.

Like I said, a better place.  Though it was even better once the husband joined me, finishing off the other half of my iced coffee with Irish Cream.

We sat long enough for me to finish my book.  <– not Sloane Crosby’s best showing; I Was Told There’d Be Cake was far superior, How Did You Get This Number? was more whining than funny

It was too late to make dinner at that point, so instead we headed to Saigon Cafe for Thai food.

I strayed from my go-to order of broad rice noodles and went with Pad Krapow – chicken with spicy basil sauce.

I asked for extra veggies and extra spicy.

I got enough veggies, but unfortunately the spice level was much closer to bland than “Thai spicy.”  I housed the entire plate, but my spice tooth is still begging to be satisfied.

Actually, I was randomly so I hungry that I surprised the husband with how much food I wolfed down.  I shared most of my rice with him, but I killed my meal and stole several bites of his Pad Thai to boot.

Adam and I wandered down Elmwood in search of chocolate ganache (I’m not sure what sparked the craving but my spice needs seemed to be linked to a desire for deep chocolate) and finally settled for a Starbucks salted caramel bar mini.

I’ll let the chocolate thing go, but I still need to find something to smoother in Sriracha, soon!

Instead of dinner at home we somehow ended up with drinks, dinner, and dessert; at three locations natch.  Regardless of the fact that he knows nothing about flour, I think a date with the husband is always a better plan!