Tuesday, July 28, 2009
We'll Eat You Up, We Love You So!
I'm drowning in the annoying minutiae of life, but I'm still here. If only this movie were out NOW. I'm really looking forward to this!
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Lonesome Dove Bistro
I am so bummed I don't have pictures of us--we were fabulous--or our meal--also fabulous. It was all, well, fabulous.
We got there early, so we sat at the bar. This is where I had my first taste of Tuaca. Definitely a good thing to have in your mouth. I love that their Cucumber Tini is made with Hendrick's Gin. I've mentioned a couple of times before I'm a fan. Ellen Aim ordered the Texas Tini, which was smooth and fruity...but the cranberry helped the peach from being just cloyingly sweet, I think. Prefer the Tuaca. I don't usually have a stop at the bar before dinner, but I'm so glad we did.
The appetizer menu was desperately hard to choose from. Our waiter helpfully pointed out that you can order a sampler of four appetizers. This was a great option. I have to point out, though, it is also misleading. It is the same price as ordering four appetizers. No harm done as it was scrumptious, but a little surprising at bill time. Not TOO surprising, however. My discretionary income tends to all go towards food, anyway, so...
We ordered the blue corn lobster hushpuppies with watercress sauce. This was my second favorite. I adore lobster and corn together. Great match. The watercress gives it a contrasting note--just perfect. I admit, it didn't really seem or look like blue corn. It looked like yellow corn. Perhaps the lighting? It tasted great, so whatever. We ordered the wild boar ribs with BBQ sauce and house pickles. First, I love house pickles. It's a small thing, but you lose points in fine dining if you don't make your own and you definitely gain them if you make them. These were really good and paired well with the boar ribs which were nicely seasoned, perfectly cooked, and DAMN. I could have had an entree of this and been done. My favorite. We also ordered the rabbit-rattlesnake sausage on rosti and creme fraiche. I had to talk Ellen Aim into something with creme fraiche, but this was also pretty good. I say "pretty good" because the sausage was nice, but honestly unremarkable--a bit dry, too. However, I am a sucker for little potato cakes, which were spicy, but nicely so. Then we had the bacon wrapped stuffed figs, with an almond inside. Those were bits of lovely. I don't remember what sauce they were with--it wasn't celery root puree like it is on the current menu--it was a sort of cheese sauce. The bacon sort of dominated everything and you didn't actually taste a lot of fig, but well. That's bacon for you. I dare not say there was too much bacon wrapped around the fig. Who says that? I remember Ellen Aim asking me worriedly, as she was eating the fig, "You did say there was an almond in this, right?" It's good to know what you're eating sometimes!
We weren't inspired by the second course (I'm sure it's all delectable, but one has to pace oneself), so we decided to share the butter lettuce salad. The citrus vinaigrette was so, so light. It was delightful. It seemed to have a slight floral flavor along with a lemony taste. The pepitas were a great touch. I also just want to say it is so refreshing to eat somewhere where the greens are really fresh. I know. It seems really basic. It's surprising how many slimy green salads there are out there, even in places that should know better. It's a dangerous world. Now let's talk about the lardoons. Really, Ellen Aim said it best: "A chunk of bacon, if you will". I don't think I need to expound on this. So. A second course well placed. We also had this really sweet bread basket. House made (it had to be) cheese-corn-green chili cornbread and slices of a thin loaf of a molasses flavored bread. So awesome. Just needed a little more butter, but then, I am a butter whore. Really. It's quite shocking.
Alex ordered the roasted garlic stuffed tenderloin (one of their signature dishes), which was as tender as you could want. It came with a vegetable hash, asparagus (I ate that...well, most of it), and apparently, a syrah demi-glace. I didn't try the sauce, I see. Ellen Aim ordered the New Zealand red deer chop with Texas elk sausage, roasted hen of woods, which came with chicory salad---I believe you could also call this "coleslaw". I ate the mushrooms. Slurp. Roasted mushrooms! It was actually a mix of mushrooms--some button mushrooms were thrown in there. The deer chop was perfectly cooked (medium rare) and so succulent. Ellen Aim didn't care for the elk sausage, but I enjoyed it very much. Again, not the most amazing sausage, but perfectly respectable.
I ordered the Alaskan halibut, smoked crawfish stew, and crispy yucca. Okay, the little bits of crispy yucca were an outstanding addition to this dish and was the first thing I noticed and loved about this. I love dishes that have different textures to it. The smoked crawfish stew was my favorite part of the stew---really fresh tasting. The halibut was perfectly cooked and seared. I don't usually order the fish dish when there's beef and pork around, but we were sharing. I actually think I liked my dish the best.
I knew that Ellen Aim wanted a Zinfandel, and I thought that was an excellent choice. Zinfandel goes with so many things, and it's hard not to please with a good Zinfandel. You don't even need food with a Zinfandel. I was torn between Ravenswood (very safe choice) and Ironstone (I think the cheapest one, but still probably okay). I asked our server what he recommended and he right away pointed to the Ridge Zinfandels. These are everywhere and I think they have a good reputation, but I'd never actually tried one to my recollection. We ordered the 2005 Ridge, York Creek, Napa Valley (which seems to be out of stock at places online, and I can't find it at Spec's). It was well balanced, full of jammy berry goodness---really, the sort of thing you expect with a Zinfandel. Rich and yummy. It did not disappoint. I honestly didn't give it much more thought since I was there for the company and the food.
We did order one side dish. This was Ellen Aim's birthday celebration dinner, after all. Can't pass up white truffled macaroni and cheese. This was served with breaded artichoke hearts on top, which was a nice touch. We slurped this. We absolutely would have used fingers and tongues on the bowl, but we were raised better, even after a bottle of wine and a couple of cocktails. I forget, though, how potent truffle oil is. The leftovers we took home reeked of truffle afterwards, even though there was no leftover truffle macaroni and cheese.
For dessert, Ellen Aim ordered the Digestif menu, which totally flummoxed our waiter, who said he had never heard it called that. We got the bar menu from earlier. Okay. No bourbon? Not that I needed bourbon at that point. Maybe you have to ask. Maybe I just missed it (very possible). We did ask about something called "Dolce" under Dessert Wine for $30 and our waiter said it was very sweet and syrupy--I forget what he said, exactly, but he did say it was "like pancake syrup". He was obviously dissing it, for which I give him props. It made up for his, oh, Ellen Aim, what did you call it? His hostile apathy? Something like that. Anyway, we stayed the hell away from that and shared a shot of more Tuaca! They put it into 3 smaller shot glasses. We didn't order three desserts, alas, but we shared the churros (called Mexican doughnuts), which were warm, cinnamony, and plentiful. The cajeta was my favorite, but the chocolate did go very well with the Zinfandel (which we still had some of by this point. See, we aren't total lushes. Oh, and the bottle disappeared very quietly. No one saw a thing. Things came and went. It was really good service except for the lack of interaction, which in my book, is not necessary, and falls under bonus points).
We went home happy and watched a couple of videos, and then pretty much conked out like the party animals that we are.
We got there early, so we sat at the bar. This is where I had my first taste of Tuaca. Definitely a good thing to have in your mouth. I love that their Cucumber Tini is made with Hendrick's Gin. I've mentioned a couple of times before I'm a fan. Ellen Aim ordered the Texas Tini, which was smooth and fruity...but the cranberry helped the peach from being just cloyingly sweet, I think. Prefer the Tuaca. I don't usually have a stop at the bar before dinner, but I'm so glad we did.
The appetizer menu was desperately hard to choose from. Our waiter helpfully pointed out that you can order a sampler of four appetizers. This was a great option. I have to point out, though, it is also misleading. It is the same price as ordering four appetizers. No harm done as it was scrumptious, but a little surprising at bill time. Not TOO surprising, however. My discretionary income tends to all go towards food, anyway, so...
We ordered the blue corn lobster hushpuppies with watercress sauce. This was my second favorite. I adore lobster and corn together. Great match. The watercress gives it a contrasting note--just perfect. I admit, it didn't really seem or look like blue corn. It looked like yellow corn. Perhaps the lighting? It tasted great, so whatever. We ordered the wild boar ribs with BBQ sauce and house pickles. First, I love house pickles. It's a small thing, but you lose points in fine dining if you don't make your own and you definitely gain them if you make them. These were really good and paired well with the boar ribs which were nicely seasoned, perfectly cooked, and DAMN. I could have had an entree of this and been done. My favorite. We also ordered the rabbit-rattlesnake sausage on rosti and creme fraiche. I had to talk Ellen Aim into something with creme fraiche, but this was also pretty good. I say "pretty good" because the sausage was nice, but honestly unremarkable--a bit dry, too. However, I am a sucker for little potato cakes, which were spicy, but nicely so. Then we had the bacon wrapped stuffed figs, with an almond inside. Those were bits of lovely. I don't remember what sauce they were with--it wasn't celery root puree like it is on the current menu--it was a sort of cheese sauce. The bacon sort of dominated everything and you didn't actually taste a lot of fig, but well. That's bacon for you. I dare not say there was too much bacon wrapped around the fig. Who says that? I remember Ellen Aim asking me worriedly, as she was eating the fig, "You did say there was an almond in this, right?" It's good to know what you're eating sometimes!
We weren't inspired by the second course (I'm sure it's all delectable, but one has to pace oneself), so we decided to share the butter lettuce salad. The citrus vinaigrette was so, so light. It was delightful. It seemed to have a slight floral flavor along with a lemony taste. The pepitas were a great touch. I also just want to say it is so refreshing to eat somewhere where the greens are really fresh. I know. It seems really basic. It's surprising how many slimy green salads there are out there, even in places that should know better. It's a dangerous world. Now let's talk about the lardoons. Really, Ellen Aim said it best: "A chunk of bacon, if you will". I don't think I need to expound on this. So. A second course well placed. We also had this really sweet bread basket. House made (it had to be) cheese-corn-green chili cornbread and slices of a thin loaf of a molasses flavored bread. So awesome. Just needed a little more butter, but then, I am a butter whore. Really. It's quite shocking.
Alex ordered the roasted garlic stuffed tenderloin (one of their signature dishes), which was as tender as you could want. It came with a vegetable hash, asparagus (I ate that...well, most of it), and apparently, a syrah demi-glace. I didn't try the sauce, I see. Ellen Aim ordered the New Zealand red deer chop with Texas elk sausage, roasted hen of woods, which came with chicory salad---I believe you could also call this "coleslaw". I ate the mushrooms. Slurp. Roasted mushrooms! It was actually a mix of mushrooms--some button mushrooms were thrown in there. The deer chop was perfectly cooked (medium rare) and so succulent. Ellen Aim didn't care for the elk sausage, but I enjoyed it very much. Again, not the most amazing sausage, but perfectly respectable.
I ordered the Alaskan halibut, smoked crawfish stew, and crispy yucca. Okay, the little bits of crispy yucca were an outstanding addition to this dish and was the first thing I noticed and loved about this. I love dishes that have different textures to it. The smoked crawfish stew was my favorite part of the stew---really fresh tasting. The halibut was perfectly cooked and seared. I don't usually order the fish dish when there's beef and pork around, but we were sharing. I actually think I liked my dish the best.
I knew that Ellen Aim wanted a Zinfandel, and I thought that was an excellent choice. Zinfandel goes with so many things, and it's hard not to please with a good Zinfandel. You don't even need food with a Zinfandel. I was torn between Ravenswood (very safe choice) and Ironstone (I think the cheapest one, but still probably okay). I asked our server what he recommended and he right away pointed to the Ridge Zinfandels. These are everywhere and I think they have a good reputation, but I'd never actually tried one to my recollection. We ordered the 2005 Ridge, York Creek, Napa Valley (which seems to be out of stock at places online, and I can't find it at Spec's). It was well balanced, full of jammy berry goodness---really, the sort of thing you expect with a Zinfandel. Rich and yummy. It did not disappoint. I honestly didn't give it much more thought since I was there for the company and the food.
We did order one side dish. This was Ellen Aim's birthday celebration dinner, after all. Can't pass up white truffled macaroni and cheese. This was served with breaded artichoke hearts on top, which was a nice touch. We slurped this. We absolutely would have used fingers and tongues on the bowl, but we were raised better, even after a bottle of wine and a couple of cocktails. I forget, though, how potent truffle oil is. The leftovers we took home reeked of truffle afterwards, even though there was no leftover truffle macaroni and cheese.
For dessert, Ellen Aim ordered the Digestif menu, which totally flummoxed our waiter, who said he had never heard it called that. We got the bar menu from earlier. Okay. No bourbon? Not that I needed bourbon at that point. Maybe you have to ask. Maybe I just missed it (very possible). We did ask about something called "Dolce" under Dessert Wine for $30 and our waiter said it was very sweet and syrupy--I forget what he said, exactly, but he did say it was "like pancake syrup". He was obviously dissing it, for which I give him props. It made up for his, oh, Ellen Aim, what did you call it? His hostile apathy? Something like that. Anyway, we stayed the hell away from that and shared a shot of more Tuaca! They put it into 3 smaller shot glasses. We didn't order three desserts, alas, but we shared the churros (called Mexican doughnuts), which were warm, cinnamony, and plentiful. The cajeta was my favorite, but the chocolate did go very well with the Zinfandel (which we still had some of by this point. See, we aren't total lushes. Oh, and the bottle disappeared very quietly. No one saw a thing. Things came and went. It was really good service except for the lack of interaction, which in my book, is not necessary, and falls under bonus points).
We went home happy and watched a couple of videos, and then pretty much conked out like the party animals that we are.
More Pictures from the Space Center
She has seen Star Wars (and I don't mean those recent horrors...I mean the old, er, good ones), so this was pretty cool. She loved trying on the space helmets, too.
Here we are on our new sofa. It is very cozy!
Monday, July 13, 2009
Unedible.
Ellen Aim has written an excellent post about our visit to Lonesome Dove here, complete with pictures (I don't have pictures unless she mails me the one of me holding the bowl of luscious mushrooms...and even then, I'm not sure I'll be sharing). It was truly a sublime meal. I'll get to that in a minute. I have something else to get off my chest first.
It's a little blurry. Suffice to say, it is a monstrosity. It is supposed to be a grilled cheese sandwich from the Space Center in Houston (a very cool place, by the way. But bring a picnic). It is not. Oh, no. It is lukewarm white bread---and yes, without crusts. "Pre-toasted". It tastes like lukewarm dry cheap cheddar cheese surrounded by moist cardboard. It is an abomination. They put that on my tray when I paid and I nearly said "WTF" out loud. Let me first explain. The prices here are astronomical (heh heh heh--bet I'm not the first person to say that!). Fiona wanted a cheeseburger basket (that just means it has fries, too). That's nearly 8 dollars. For a mediocre cheeseburger. It's edible, but mediocre. Hey, it has a piece of small wilted lettuce and a Roma tomato round. So I got a kids' basket in case she didn't finish hers. Plus mine came with a Caprisun, which is this drink in a foil packet that is mostly sugar and has token fruit juice in it. It'sass fruit punch flavor. I just wanted her to have some liquid. Anyway, I thought I could not go wrong with a grilled cheese sandwich. I have been solidly proven wrong. By the way, I paid nearly 6 bucks for that. I will say this: the fries are pretty good. They were hot and nicely salted. We had no problem finishing those!
I have this feeling I'll probably find myself eating there again (actually, Fiona certainly will, she's going to four camps there--that's just four days--and they provide snack and lunch, which is very cool for the price) and I think it's possible I just need to try something different. We should have kept walking and tried the Italian place. You can't go wrong with pizza...right? Okay, don't answer that. I did see some people eating some and it looked okay. We actually would have ordered Chinese food, but they didn't have pork, so she turned her nose up at that.
Except for that unpleasant bit of lunch, we had a fabulous time. If you are ever in the area, this place is a must see, especially with kids. Especially with kids over 40 inches. It would NOT be a fun place if you went when it was packed, because I think you would feel like a sardine (especially in the kids' area). We had a blast and Fiona wants to go back to tomorrow (not happening). I loved the presentation they have on living in space. Next time I want to allow more time to roam around. We had to cut it short to go grocery shopping before I picked up Sophia (who seems to still be enjoying school).
I shall return to talk about the dinner in my next post!
It's a little blurry. Suffice to say, it is a monstrosity. It is supposed to be a grilled cheese sandwich from the Space Center in Houston (a very cool place, by the way. But bring a picnic). It is not. Oh, no. It is lukewarm white bread---and yes, without crusts. "Pre-toasted". It tastes like lukewarm dry cheap cheddar cheese surrounded by moist cardboard. It is an abomination. They put that on my tray when I paid and I nearly said "WTF" out loud. Let me first explain. The prices here are astronomical (heh heh heh--bet I'm not the first person to say that!). Fiona wanted a cheeseburger basket (that just means it has fries, too). That's nearly 8 dollars. For a mediocre cheeseburger. It's edible, but mediocre. Hey, it has a piece of small wilted lettuce and a Roma tomato round. So I got a kids' basket in case she didn't finish hers. Plus mine came with a Caprisun, which is this drink in a foil packet that is mostly sugar and has token fruit juice in it. It's
I have this feeling I'll probably find myself eating there again (actually, Fiona certainly will, she's going to four camps there--that's just four days--and they provide snack and lunch, which is very cool for the price) and I think it's possible I just need to try something different. We should have kept walking and tried the Italian place. You can't go wrong with pizza...right? Okay, don't answer that. I did see some people eating some and it looked okay. We actually would have ordered Chinese food, but they didn't have pork, so she turned her nose up at that.
Except for that unpleasant bit of lunch, we had a fabulous time. If you are ever in the area, this place is a must see, especially with kids. Especially with kids over 40 inches. It would NOT be a fun place if you went when it was packed, because I think you would feel like a sardine (especially in the kids' area). We had a blast and Fiona wants to go back to tomorrow (not happening). I loved the presentation they have on living in space. Next time I want to allow more time to roam around. We had to cut it short to go grocery shopping before I picked up Sophia (who seems to still be enjoying school).
I shall return to talk about the dinner in my next post!
Wednesday, July 08, 2009
Moist
Now there's a great word. Moist. However.
This. This is our purple house that is under contract in Vermont. The one we spent so much time and effort working on.
I think I like the waterfall and the warped floor the best. So the toilet apparently has been leaking. For days. That's about 4 inches of water in the basement there. We have insurance and it's all going to be okay, and hopefully the buyers will still want the house (well, they'll have new floors, etc). But damn. Now? Thanks, life.
This. This is our purple house that is under contract in Vermont. The one we spent so much time and effort working on.
I think I like the waterfall and the warped floor the best. So the toilet apparently has been leaking. For days. That's about 4 inches of water in the basement there. We have insurance and it's all going to be okay, and hopefully the buyers will still want the house (well, they'll have new floors, etc). But damn. Now? Thanks, life.
Tuesday, July 07, 2009
Maybe Not the Kangaroo Nachos
I'm driving up this weekend to help Alex take Ellen Aim out to dinner for her birthday. We are going to a restaurant named Lonesome Dove in Fort Worth. Look at the dinner menu (which changes daily). What would I NOT order? Damn. I don't know if Alex or Ellen Aim picked out the restaurant, but it looks like a bitchin' choice. I sort of just hopped on at the last minute to go in on the birthday dinner.
The dessert menu is chocolate this and chocolate that (I know, it's chocolate, but I prefer something else after an enormous meal. This will be an enormous meal). However, I see they have Mexican doughnuts, and I'm sure I'll have that. I mean, first, fresh doughnuts. That's enough right there. But dipped in cajeta? Now I feel all fluttery. I'll have to inquire about cheesecake lollipops. Strawberry shortcake is always good and, really, the basic desserts like strawberry shortcake can be the best desserts of all...or the worst. Like the banana split. At a place like this, I would have high hopes for something like a banana split. So that could be interesting. I am loving the fact that the ancho chocolate cake has a tomatillo anglaise. Having a hard time picturing what that would taste like. Actually, I sort of can and I'm still not sure. If I have room, maybe I'll have that. We'll see what the birthday girl wants to try and hopefully, we'll share desserts (3 desserts shared, I mean. Research. And birthday. Must have lots of desserts for a BIRTHDAY, right?). Tuaca is this, by the way. I had to look it up. Okay. So the flan sounds good, too.
Who knows if this is really the dessert menu we'll see (it may change fairly often depending on what's available and seasonality...one hopes). Still, I can see it will be hard to choose.
Do look at the wine list and feel free to leave a comment about what you would have. I have a feeling birthday girl will want it red and complex. I always love to try the specialty cocktails (there's that Tuaca again, frozen shots...I think I may have to try that), but I'm more interested in the wine/food pairing and this girl can only hold so much alcohol...and I just can't do alcohol on an empty stomach.
Anyway, celebrating will be had! Then Ellen Aim leaves us for Boston the following weekend. Boo.
The 4th was great fun and had in excellent company! We braved going out to see the fireworks (sort of a drag waiting for the bus to take us back to the parking lot where we left our car, but maybe there is a side street we can park on next year...and we'd need a cooler with wheels). Now I just have to figure out when to see Triana and her hub again! I'm just a wee bit too far away for visiting as often as I'd like. Yes, I know. I'm greedy. Triana took breathtakingly beautiful pictures of my babies. Here are some examples:
Triana also introduced me to Spec's, which has a very nice collection of wine. Damn. Perhaps, however, now, when we listen to the 3 Wine Guys podcast, we can actually find the wine! I haven't listened to the Mourvedre podcast yet, and I'm eager to. I love Mourvedre.
The dessert menu is chocolate this and chocolate that (I know, it's chocolate, but I prefer something else after an enormous meal. This will be an enormous meal). However, I see they have Mexican doughnuts, and I'm sure I'll have that. I mean, first, fresh doughnuts. That's enough right there. But dipped in cajeta? Now I feel all fluttery. I'll have to inquire about cheesecake lollipops. Strawberry shortcake is always good and, really, the basic desserts like strawberry shortcake can be the best desserts of all...or the worst. Like the banana split. At a place like this, I would have high hopes for something like a banana split. So that could be interesting. I am loving the fact that the ancho chocolate cake has a tomatillo anglaise. Having a hard time picturing what that would taste like. Actually, I sort of can and I'm still not sure. If I have room, maybe I'll have that. We'll see what the birthday girl wants to try and hopefully, we'll share desserts (3 desserts shared, I mean. Research. And birthday. Must have lots of desserts for a BIRTHDAY, right?). Tuaca is this, by the way. I had to look it up. Okay. So the flan sounds good, too.
Who knows if this is really the dessert menu we'll see (it may change fairly often depending on what's available and seasonality...one hopes). Still, I can see it will be hard to choose.
Do look at the wine list and feel free to leave a comment about what you would have. I have a feeling birthday girl will want it red and complex. I always love to try the specialty cocktails (there's that Tuaca again, frozen shots...I think I may have to try that), but I'm more interested in the wine/food pairing and this girl can only hold so much alcohol...and I just can't do alcohol on an empty stomach.
Anyway, celebrating will be had! Then Ellen Aim leaves us for Boston the following weekend. Boo.
The 4th was great fun and had in excellent company! We braved going out to see the fireworks (sort of a drag waiting for the bus to take us back to the parking lot where we left our car, but maybe there is a side street we can park on next year...and we'd need a cooler with wheels). Now I just have to figure out when to see Triana and her hub again! I'm just a wee bit too far away for visiting as often as I'd like. Yes, I know. I'm greedy. Triana took breathtakingly beautiful pictures of my babies. Here are some examples:
Triana also introduced me to Spec's, which has a very nice collection of wine. Damn. Perhaps, however, now, when we listen to the 3 Wine Guys podcast, we can actually find the wine! I haven't listened to the Mourvedre podcast yet, and I'm eager to. I love Mourvedre.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)