Tag Archives: restaurant food

End of Vacation, End of 2010

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Keeping this quick, I’d like to finish before 2011, thank you!

Yesterday afternoon we took a long walk downtown, admiring the scenery,

And relishing johnny-cake with cheese.

The evening brought a trip to XO with my parents, for a belated anniversary dinner.

So.Much.Good.Food. Adam and I split the crabcake appetizer.

And I stole bites of my parents scallops,

and lobster.

For our main meal the husband and I did some sharing. Bruschetta pizza,

Spicy Thai salad,

Baked goat cheese salad.

For dessert I stole a few bites of Adam’s chocolate peanut butter deal,

but I was mostly saving myself for German chocolate cake.

We ended our vacation today with a final morning run.  About a mile, with some additional walking. I am so freaking proud of us for working out every day we were here!

My dad made me a small fried egg sandwich for breakfast,

I had a final piece of cake,

and then we were off.

We bought chicken pates for flight number 1.

Plus a few handfuls of mint m&ms.

And Chick Fil-A for dinner on flight number 2.

Boo for crappy airport food; I’m ending the year with a tummy ache.

Goodbye 2010!

STT; Tuesday Night – Wednesday Afternoon

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One by one, all of our fancy anniversary plans fell through. In the end, we got takeout and played board games with my parents. It was perfect.

Tofu pad thai, cashew chicken, and crab Rangoon.

I did some snacking earlier in the afternoon as well; half a sandwich for lunch was not cutting it.

Apple slices, beer bread with cheese,

and a brownie.

And during board games I showed the husband how much I love him by letting him share my favorite thing on earth –

This candy is basically just a cake of sugar soaked in peppermint oil, it’s fantastic. Minty and crunchy, it reminds you of getting your teeth brushed at the dentist in the best possible way.

Breakfast this morning was 0% Fage with half a sliced banana and a piece of coffee cake.

I also took some gingerbread coffee with skim milk to go while running errands with my dad.

For lunch I toasted a huge chunk of beer bread and topped it with hot pepper raspberry jam and melted swiss.

Yum!

The rest of the day brings a swim (we’ve gotten in a small workout every single vacation day, I’ll be darned if I miss today!), a movie, and dinner.  I can’t believe that tomorrow is our last day here!

What do you do to celebrate anniversaries?

Drilling for Coal

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Ta-ta for now, Buffalo!  We packed in another full day and body, mind, and spirit are all willing and ready for a trip tomorrow to St. Thomas!  Errands of both the boring and holiday variety, elfing, and celebrating are all complete……now I’ve just got to worry about packing!

We started our morning with a little anxiety, and got all the not-so-fun stuff out of the way first.  Brat that I am, whenever someone talks about scares at the dentist I always blurt out “I’ve never even had a cavity!”  Well fate finally decided to shut me up, and today I got my first filling.  My cavity was teeny tiny so it ended up being quick and painless but I about scared myself to death in anticipation.

Fun fact – I was totally dressed as an elf today.  As I said to the husband; “if you’re gonna get drilled you might as well dress in costume!”

Yes that does look like a dressing room mirror, our main errand of the day was trip to the mall!

That crazy Christmas-week-at-the-mall feeling is probably why we thought sharing a mini Reindeer Blizzard was a good breakfast.

This had caramel, pie pieces and toasted coconut so I was expecting to like it more than the husband, but he went to town, practically ripping the spoon from my hand!

Waiting to find a Christmas party outfit until the day before we left probably wasn’t my brightest idea, but I ended up getting 2 super cute outfits!

Also on the agenda was Adam’s belated birthday lunch at Cheesecake Factory.  Sourdough bread with butter.

And one of the husband’s avocado eggrolls.

For my meal I ordered the lunch portion of the barbecue ranch chicken salad.

It was ok, I mostly ordered it for the corn and black beans, but the dressing was lacking the tang I was looking for.

Seriously though, this is the half-portion?!?

I couldn’t even eat half of this monster.  Though I did have room for a couple of the husband’s fries.

For dessert, we split a peppermint stick courtesy of J.Crew.

Honestly JC, you don’t have to bribe me, you’re already my favorite!

I thought I was stuffed, but after lots and lots of mall-walking (maybe those grandma’s in the ’90’s were onto something?!) I was ready for a snack when we got home.

Two servings of Silk Soy Nog with nutmeg.

Leftover cheeseball.

I wasn’t going to share this recipe because it’s both simple and similar to one’s found online, but so many friends raved about it at the party that I figured I should –

Spicy Creamy Cheeseball

  • 16oz 1/3 less fat cream cheese (aka neufchatel cheese)
  • 1/3 cup hot pepper peach preserves (I used Stonewall Kitchen’s)
  • 2Tbsp chopped white onion
  • 1Tbsp chopped long hot pepper (if you use the spicier jalapeno I’d cut back a little)
  • 1/4 cup shredded sharp cheddar
  • 3Tbsp chopped pecans

Allow the cream cheese to soften.  Add all ingredients together in a bowl and mix well to combine; we found it was most effective to use our hands.  Shape into a ball if desired, and store in the refrigerator until serving.

My plan for dinner is the rest of my lunch salad.  I planned on blogging it, but – it’s 9pm now, I still haven’t packed, we have to leave the house at 5:30am tomorrow; you do the math!  Speaking of spotty posting, I just want to give you guys a heads up that my posts will be sporadic during my days in the islands (like anyone cares!).  I’ll recap everything in full, but I’ll be doing fewer, longer posts.

See you from the beach!

A Pre-(Impromptu)Party Post

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Ooof!  So far we have packed this winter vacation full of fun.  I’ve been AWOP (<–away without posting) so I’d love to give you guys a full recap, but frankly, we’ve got a party to throw!  Yes, the party is tonight, and yes, it was planned, um, today.

Yesterday evening we took my in-laws out to dinner at Pearl Street.  (No you didn’t miss a lunch post, I just didn’t eat lunch.)  I ordered a turkey reuben.

There isn’t actually a turkey reuben on the menu, but PS is fabulous so when I asked to sub turkey for corned beef they happily complied.

With cole slaw on the side.

We had some time to kill so we headed to Starbucks where I ordered a short, skim, salted caramel hot chocolate.

Then we headed to see….. The Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra!

No photography was allowed during the show, but I promise you it was as aesthetically pleasing as it was easy on the ear.  I didn’t recognize all of the music but the show closed with scores from “The Nutcracker” and “Messiah” and everything was wonderful.

During intermission, the husband and I split a cranberry juice with champagne.

Fast-forward to a morning that came way too quickly, and the husband and I were out the door to see his parents off.

We were out and about too early for Target, so while we waited for paper plates and napkins to become available we stopped into Bagel Jays to split a rye bagel with lox spread.

Delish!  The rye bagel was a pretty exciting concept.

During the fray I did take time to cash in a Groupon for a mani/pedicure.

And to grab lunch from the Wegman’s hot bar.

But then it was back to work!

We’ve got things mostly done now, so I took a break for blogging and dinner.

The other half of my turkey reuben was delicious.

But this microwaved frozen okra was not.

Even spicy paprika couldn’t save it.  I forced down half to get in my greens, but this was slime city.

And now I’m looking forward to seasonal beer, mint chocolate cake balls, and hot pepper peach cheese-ball!

Better Than 32Minutes in Bed or 2.8Miles by Car

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Hello, Saturday!  We’re having a fun visiting day, but stopped by the house to do a huge load of laundry chat so I figured I’d do a quick post.

We put the late in late-night yesterday, but I was determined to go to the gym today.  Our in-laws are staying in a hotel with a little gym so I could work out there, then shower in the room, and then head to breakfast.  Doing everything in the same building was soooo nice; I would up my gym time exponentially if there was one attached to my house!

I decided to hit up the treadmill for a short run.  My right arch was killing me so I kept having to take walking breaks to stretch my foot, but I manged 2.8miles.  With warm up/cool down I ended at 32minutes.  I was frustrated about how slow that is, but then I put it in perspective – 32minutes and 2.8miles of activity is never a bad thing!

Neither is breakfast at Pano’s!

Adam and I split the California Omlette, “avocado, sautéed mushroom, green onion, tomato, shallots, sour cream, cheddar, pepper jack and swiss cheese; served with home fries and (sourdough) toast.”

It was a tasty meal, and sharing left us with the perfect portion size.

I’m not sure entirely what the day will bring, but this evening will be spent at the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra.  Can’t wait!

And the Camera Ran Away with the Hairbrush

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There was no day post today because my camera battery needed to charge.  Really I think suicide was a last-ditch effort on the battery’s part to avoid involvement in my train wreck.  It’s probably a good thing the earlier half of the day went without photographs.

I ate chips for breakfast – embarrassing.

I met Katie for lunch at Moe’s – repetitive.

And I did it all still in my clothing from the day before – why am I allowed to leave the house?

Thankfully the husband’s parents came into town for a belated birthday celebration and that got me to pull my act together.  I even took a shower.

Because if cake’s not worth clean hair, then what is?

First though, was dinner.  We needed quick wait, accessible parking, and good food – Jack Astor’s.  With lobster and crab dip to start.

I ate this plate x2.

And then I proceeded to terrorize the wait-staff.  Diet Roy Rodgers, please.

Once we got that figured out (diet soda, grenadine, cherry on top) I cobbled together a meal using pieces from three different menu items.

The end result was delicious.  A turkey burger with white cheddar, jalapeno zucchini relish, and fig jam.

I ate all of my turkey/toppings, half of my bun, and half of my fries.  Truth be told, I did not need the fries, but malt vinegar was available and I feel the end tummy ache was worth it.

After dinner we did a driving tour of Christmas lights. 

I couldn’t get pictures from the moving car, but the trees on Elmwood are just gorgeous!

Then we headed back to the hotel room for cake.  Actually, Chocolate Decadence to be exact.  “4 layers of chocolate sponge cake filled with whipped ganache, frosted in chocolate butter cream. Garnished with chocolate buttons and drizzled chocolate.”

I only ate a few bites of my piece (I wasn’t kidding about that tummy ache!) but it was pretty divine.

We spent a long time talking to my in-laws, hence the midnight post.  It’s been a fun day, and if I want tomorrow to be fun as well I’ve got to get to bed!

I’m Done!

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For real this time – I’m done!  I’m done!  I’m done!

And, in further cause for celebration – I found out I scored a 93% with the curve on the Anatomy final, which means my final grade for the semester was a 87%!  And I think we did a great job on our presentation today.  Booyah!

This morning started off with a chocolate mint strawberry smoothie.

For two (I love that Adam likes these!) we mixed 2 cups of frozen strawberries and 2 cups of chocolate peppermint soy milk.  I know that picture is a little grim, but that what it’s like outside in Buffalo at 7am and 12*.

Our final presentation went well; not gonna lie, I think ours was the best.

Plus, I might have bribed everyone by brining in Tamarind Candy!

After a quick meeting I was free, free, free!  I spent almost an hour walking down Elmwood, just happy to be outside.  I can’t believe I don’t have class again until late January.  Or that I’m going to St. Thomas next week!

Lunch needed to be walking distance from the apartment, celebratory, and in my budget.

Chicken fingers drenched in Buffalo sauce?  Don’t mind if I do.

I scarfed this entire thing, got a bit sick to my stomach, and was totally in heaven.  All I need now are some sweatpants.

When does your holiday break start?

Going Out with a Bang

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Thanks so much for the encouragement on my last post!  Although, it seemed like many of you thought I was stressed; I was actually being matter of fact.  And I matter of factly failed my test this afternoon 😉 😦

Breakfast at Starbucks ended up being a success.  I got a tall, non-fat latte,

and a slice of gingerbread.

Then I brushed my teeth in the public bathroom and spit Scope in the parking lot like a total creeper 😉

My breath was fresh, but the dentist did give me the bad news that I got my first ever cavity.  I knew it was coming (they’ve been “keeping an eye on” that spot for a year and a half) but I’m still a little nervous about getting drilled.

After my appointment I headed to Wegman’s for a great hot bar lunch.

An assortment of veggies plus a few pieces of sweet and sour chicken,

with fruit for dessert.

I left my car parked at Wegman’s, which meant I got to walk to school for the slaughter (Orgo exam), and then walk back to do my grocery shopping.  I love walking so much, I hope this “nice” weather holds out!

When it was all said and done I ended up with a ‘you shouldn’t grocery shop hungry’ candy bar.

Delish, like honeycomb enrobed in chocolate!

I also ate a bowl of random cereals (Barbara’s Shredded Oats, plus Kashi H2H and Strawberry Flakes) with Silk Almond Milk.

I’m not sure why I was so hungry, but I’m glad I ate because I had a lot to do in the kitchen.

I’m at the point where I transfer my obsessive love from fall foods to holiday foods, and I wanted to end the season with a bang.  There’s no better way to go out than P-U-M-P-K-I-N, pumpkin, pumpkin, pumpkin!  (Can you tell I watched “Bring it On” during dinner?)

Hello there.

We made Rachael Ray’s Pasta with Pumpkin and Sausage.

We subbed rigotoni for penne and vegan crumbles for sausage, but other than that we pretty much followed the recipe.

Delish!

For dessert I went with more pumpkin, (and more Rachael Ray, come to think of it) Cheesecake-Filled Pumpkin Muffins.

I skipped the frosting, these babies are perfect without it!

I had two.

Now I’ve got to go to bed, go, go, to bed!

Were you a cheerleader in highschool?