WR: Fam Visit + Restaurant Week

Sorry this is so late. I thought it published days ago, but my iPad appears to have eaten the post.

On Friday, my parents came up to visit for the weekend. They picked Christine up at school, and then came over. Chester was so excited to see them and went crazy! He was less excited when Grandma presented him with a present, a spider hat!

At 7:30, we went to dinner at Boca Chica. The meal took forever to come, but it was good company so it wasn't a big deal. The food was excellent as usual!

Saturday morning, we slept in a bit and relaxed. Chester and Grandpa were buddies. Dad's allergic, so he didn't want to get too close, but Chester snuggled right in. It was cute!

Around 10, we headed over to the Science Museum of Minnesota for the Maya exhibit. Adam and I had two complimentary tickets from a friend that works at the Science Museum, which was really nice. 

 We had some time before the Omnitheater movie started at 11, so we checked out the dinosaurs and fossils in the permanent exhibit. They have a lot of cool things!

The Maya movie was good, but really old. The computer shown in the film was HUGE!

At 11:45, we entered the Maya: Hidden Worlds Revealed exhibit. It was fascinating and really well done. I love archaeology and history, so thoroughly enjoyed the exhibit.

What was really cool about the exhibit is that it was created by the Science Museum of Minnesota with 3 other museum partners. It opened here and is showing until January. Then it will travel to the other museum partners.

We finished up around 1, and drove over to Cossetta's for lunch. Unfortunately for us, the women's conference at the Xcel had just gotten out, so the place was packed. We waited in line for half an hour, but it was worth it. I had the October special which was cheese manicotti, and everyone else had the lasagna. Yum.

After lunch we checked out the new patisserie area. It's gorgeous! So many beautiful desserts on display! I ended up getting gelato and a macaron.

Back at home, we relaxed and hung out with Chester while it rained/sleeted/snowed.

It started clearing up around 4, so we headed over to the U to take our family Christmas photo. Parking was an issue, so my fam dropped Adam, Chester and I off and parked in the ramp. Chester was very overstimulated and stressed.

I set up the tripod, and with the help of the wireless remote, we took nearly 50 photos. I don't want to ruin the surprise by sharing any of the photos, so here's a few hilarious outtakes.

When we were done, Adam and I took Chester home while my parents and sister stayed to meet up with the K's (Carey, Bill, Caroline, Ashley, Mary and Kelly) who were also in town to visit Kelly at school.

After unwinding a bit at home, Adam and I picked my fam up at the dorm and went to the K's hotel where we hung out, watched baseball, and went in the hot tub.

On Sunday my family headed out, taking the boat with them. Our driveway feels much bigger without it, but it officially means winter is coming. Sad.

In the afternoon, I went to JoAnn Fabric's to get supplies for our Halloween costumes. All will be revealed in the next Weekend Recap post. Everyone else must have had the same idea as JoAnn's was packed. The line for the cutting counter was crazy.

That evening, Adam and I had date night. It was Restaurant Week (3 course menus for $30 pp), so we tried out a new (for us) restaurant, Forepaugh's. Forepaugh's is interesting in that it is located in an old house. There are three floors for dining, and each floor has multiple rooms. It was certainly unique!

To start, Adam and I both selected the Malaysian Chicken Samosas. They were spicy deep fried deliciousness with mango dipping sauce.

For our entrees, Adam had the Angus Beef Petite Tender with Sauce Gribeche, capers, olives, potatoes and herbs. He enjoyed it.

I had the Pan-seared Walleye with coconut curry, potatoes, zucchini, hearts of palm, Chinese long-beans, shiitake mushrooms, and Thai herbs. I was not impressed that the walleye had the skin on the bottom as it made it rather fishy. I also expected the curry (and the dish in general) to be more flavorful. I thought it was just okay. I certainly wasn't raving about it.

For dessert, we both had the Peanut Butter Crunch with pretzel meringue, salted caramel, and ginger Chantilly cream. It was delicious!

We finished with a complimentary truffle that melted in your mouth. It was amazing.

Our final verdict on Forepaugh's was that it was good, but didn't wow us. We may or may not return. Restaurant Week there was a good deal though as the entrees alone are normally $30.

We got home with plenty of time to spare before The Walking Dead.

Foodie Friday: Ham & Cheese Crêpes

I had saved some ham from our dinner on Sunday to have crêpes this week. I heated up the ham on the stove, and sliced up some smoked gruyère cheese to put in it. I did take the easy way out on the crêpe batter and used some of the mix I bought when we bought the crêpe maker. All I had to add was some cold water and eggs, and then whisk it together.

I'm pretty horrible at making these, so Adam had that duty. He's good at it.

They were delicious! And it was a pretty quick meal. Next time, I'll make a nice Béchamel or Mornay sauce to put over the top. YUM!

I had some chocolate crêpe mix that Adam gave me for Christmas that I wanted to use for dessert, but we were too full. Maybe another night! 

Foodie Friday: Garlic-Lemon Mahi

As some of you may know, Mahi Mahi is my favorite fish. And I'm a fish girl. Give me some seafood over steak or pork any day. We even had Mahi at our wedding reception (along with steak).

With our new Sam's Club membership, we picked up a 2 lb pack of Mahi Mahi fillets. I especially appreciate that they come individually packed.

Since we didn't feel like getting out the grill, I looked for some recipes online and found this one from the Food Network.

We made a few changes, and it was DELICIOUS. Probably my favorite meal I've had in a while.

So while you should definitely check out the recipe I linked above, this is how I did it (original recipes with my changes) -

Ingredients:
Vegetable Olive oil, for sauteing
1 2 (6 to 8-ounce) mahi-mahi fillets (the ones we got from Sam's are a little smaller, but worked fine)
1 tablespoon 5 cloves   chopped roasted garlic, smashed
1 1/2 lemon, juiced (and even then it was pretty lemon-y)
1/4 cup white wine (we used our cheap $3 Chardonnay from Trader Joe's that we use for cooking)
1-ounce 2 T unsalted butter, melted or cubed
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

In a large saute pan, heat the oil. Add the mahi and cook until the underside is golden brown. Turn the fish over and add the garlic, lemon juice, and white wine. Once the wine and lemon juice have cooked down some, add the butter. Finish cooking (if needed) and season with salt and pepper.

You guys, it was seriously so good. Please try it. I wish I would have taken a photo, but I forgot until I was halfway through it. I must have been hungry! We just had it with some roasted vegetables on the side, but it would be good with some garlic bread.

Weekend Recap: Date Night & Adam's Trip to California

We had a quiet Friday evening at home watching the season finale of Gold Rush. Oh yes, we watch that show. It's a bit over dramatic at times, but we like it. I really like Parker and his Grandpa, so I was hoping they'd have a better season. I love to hate Dakota Fred, and I for real don't like Todd and his crew. Ugh. They seem like such idiots.

For dinner, I tried a new recipe which actually turned out quite well. Shrimp & Feta stew - Recipe here

 It was a good thing it turned out because the new recipe I tried the day before in the crockpot was disgusting. It was supposed to be a taco dish but tasted and looked like ground meat sludge with bloated tortilla strips. Ick.

Saturday was a lounging day. Adam ran a few errands including dropping off our old modem at Comcast. So glad to be done with them! We watched a movie, Fly Fishing in the Yeomen, which was a more of a love story than a fishing story. That evening was date night! We went out for Mexican which was delicious, and then to a movie, Django Unchained. It was a typical Quentin Tarantino movie in that it was extra violent, funny and mildly offensive. We enjoyed it though!

On Sunday, we enjoyed sleeping in and then it was time to take Adam to the airport at 1 for his flight to California for vacation work. Chester was a little stressed and didn't know what was going on. Adam even got to use his new luggage (in back). His (aka my) old Samsonite carry-on wouldn't fit in the overheads without having to be turned sideways, which was a constant irritation and discussion with the flight attendants. "Turn the wheels out please, sir"
It doesn't fit that way...
(flight attendant tries it)
"Oh, it doesn't fit that way. Okay that's fine..."
So I'm sure he's glad to have something that fits straight in.

"Take me with you, Dad!"

Excuse my lounge-wear, the only time I went out all day was to take Adam to the airport & Chester for a walk

He's been there all week now, so it's been pretty quiet at home. Luckily, Chester and I have kept pretty busy, and Chester has enjoyed lots of snuggling and being allowed to sleep in bed!

Foodie Friday: Anniversary Dinner at I Nonni

On our anniversary on Tuesday, we went to dinner at Osteria I Nonni in Mendota Heights. It's an odd place for a nice Italian restaurant, but it was excellent.

As soon as we were seated, our server brought out two glasses of complimentary prosecco along with anniversary wishes. It was so nice!

We went with the degustazione (three course tasting) menu. To start for our antipasti, we both had the Romanesca Salad (local baby romaine, anchovy vinaigrette, lemon, shaved pecorino). The anchovy flavor was a bit strong for me at first, but otherwise quite enjoyable.

For our Primi Piatti, I enjoyed the Fettucini (lump blue crab, sweet corn, avocado, calabrian peppers, crema) which was very flavorful. It was my favorite course.

Adam had the Scoglio (chitarra, clams, mussels, squid, shrimp, spicy tomato brodetto), which he also enjoyed. The bite I had was spicy but good.

For Secondi, I ordered the Ippoglosso (pan roasted halibut, apple wood smoked bacon, caramelized sweet onion-sea beans, basil sauce). Yum! The sea beans especially were strange, but excellent. And the basil sauce was amazing! And I loved the crust on the halibut. It was very rich though, and I was pretty full from the first two courses so I didn't eat a whole lot.

Adam enjoyed the Scottadito (grilled lamb chops, grilled scallion, amatriciana potatoes). I didn't try any of this though as I don't eat baby animals. Too sad. He enjoyed it but did say he almost wished he had ordered the halibut!

We were so full, we definitely did not have room for dessert. It was definitely a very enjoyable and romantic meal together!

Self portrait. Ignore my awkward arm.

Foodie Friday: Crave with Robin

I've has so much good food this week, but my definite favorite was CRAVE with Robin on Wednesday night. She took me shopping at the MOA as a girl's night for my birthday. I got some really comfortable shoes at Nordstrom's for our upcoming trips, and some fun girly peep toe pumps - silvery snakeskin. They didn't have my size, but they're coming. And I can't wait!

I must say our shopping experience at Nordstom's was leaps and bounds above that at Macy's. When they didn't have the pump in my size at Nordstrom's, we went and checked at Macy's. It took forever for someone to help us, and of course they didn't have my shoe or any sizes of the shoe in other colors other than the display. It smelled musty in the store and the floor was all dirty. My dear Macy's, what happened to you?

I had never eaten at CRAVE before, but it was delicious. I had a refreshing glass of white wine "Summertime Sangria" with Torrontes, St. Germain, fresh strawberry, blueberry and raspberry. Through my Google skills, I learned St. Germain is an elderberry liqueur. Who knew?

My main course was "Minnesota Bound Walleye" - rosemary & thyme crusted with grilled polenta, pesto, tomatoes and green beans. The pesto sauce was creamy and very flavorful. It was a big serving, but I didn't want to stop eating even when I was full - always a sign of excellent food! I did leave about half for my lunch yesterday though.

 We had a really fun time together. Thank you Robin!

Foodie Friday: Birthday Dinner at Meritage

As I may have mentioned, my birthday is on this upcoming Monday. We already have plans for that night (Twins game with my sis), and the rest of the week is really busy as well. Soooooooooo we had our birthday dinner out on Wednesday at Meritage. Conveniently, it also happened to be Restaurant Week.

Nothing on the Res Week menu really appealed to me, so I got my usual/fav - Moules Frites. Of course.

Adam of course partook in the special Prix Fixe Menu.
He started with 3 oysters. Ish. But he enjoys them.

His main was twelve hour marinated Flank Steak with white bean puree, smoked tomato soffrito and chimichurri sauce.

I of course had the Moules Frites which were delicious, as usual. For the first time ever, I finished it all (with significant help from Adam).

And for dessert, Adam had mousse au chocolate with a raspberry cream.

I went all out and got Creme Brulee PLUS the Macaron du Jour which was chocolate. Yum. I can't wait for cooler weather when I can start whipping those up again. It's much too hot in our house in the summer for unnecessary baking.

It was a great dinner at Meritage, even though it was really crowded and kind of loud. It's still our favorite restaurant though!

Foodie Friday: Garden Lettuce

This week, we enjoyed salads with lettuce from our garden. It was so tender and delicious! I made a homemade vinaigrette with lemon, dijon, garlic, olive oil and a little honey. Yum!

Don't mind the weeds... they sprang up after all the rain we've been getting!

We decided next year we'll plant a lot more lettuce! It's awesome.

Foodie Friday: Cake Balls

Ok so this is a little late, but I didn't want to ruin the surprise by having it up on the blog.

To celebrate my dad's belated birthday, I made cake balls. Yummy, gooey cake balls.

It was really simple, yet time consuming, and that was even with being lazy and using store bought cake mix and frosting.

First, I baked a regular vanilla cake. After letting it cool for about 20 minutes, I destroyed it. Really. I tore it out of the pan, but it in a bowl, and beat it into crumbs.

Then, I mixed it together with a jar of vanilla frosting with sprinkles (in a separate package on top). I saved the sprinkles for decorating later. Once the frosting was evenly incorporated, I rolled it into 1 - 1 1/2 inch balls. This made about 35 balls. Then, I put them in the freezer over night.

The next evening, I melted some white bark to cover them. I improvised, and stabbed them in the middle with a wooden skewer. This I removed once I placed the covered ball on a sheet of wax paper. To hide the ugly hole, I used a spoon to put on some more bark. I finished it off with sprinkles (while still wet so they would stick).

I repeated this same process with the chocolate bark.

 And voila! Yummy cake balls that even Adam enjoyed!

Foodie Friday: Dinner at Meritage

Earlier this week we celebrated Curt's birthday at Meritage, our favorite restaurant. It was delicious, as usual!

To start, we all shared grilled baby octopus (yum - reminded me of calamari) and foie gras (soooo good). Adam and his dad also had oysters. Yuck.

For my main, I had my favorite, Moules Frites (Mussels & Fries). It was just as wonderful as the last time I had it.They're steamed with smoked pancetta, garlic, tomato and white wine, and served with some grilled bread in the bottom that soaks up a lot of the wine. The fries also come with Bearnaise sauce, which I am just not a fan of. Luckily, the fries are so good they can stand on their own.
It was a huge portion, so I had some help from Adam on finishing it all off.

Adam tried the Roulade of Rainbow Trout Wrapped in Prociutto. He said it was excellent, but I didn't try any so I can't vouch for that. It looked interesting.

For dessert, I had the Macaron du Jour (pistachio). It was very yummy! Adam was sweet and said he didn't think it was any better than the macarons I make.

Adam tried some port

Thanks to Adam's parents for a fun night out in St. Paul!