SDLT Family Brunch

I love my brunch, as does my parents. We LIVE for brunch.  We try to eat out at least a brunch or dinner every week, as a family.  We headed to SDLT since I had to get some stuff at Sephora and my mom wanted to shop around.  I was feeling SO sick and just couldn’t get up AT ALL.  So reservation for 1pm changed to 2pm and we barely made it.  I can’t tell if it’s allergies or something else but appetite was low, as was energy. Must. Keep. Going.

Bread Basket
Foccacia, Whole Grain & French Bread
… delicious, fresh baked and super creamy butter. MMMM….

Kelly loves her bread basket from SDLT ;D

Soup Du Jour —
White Bean & Kale Soup

It was filled with corn, squash, carrots, celery, other veggies, and obviously white beans and kale… altho not very much of the kale, SIGH. and a yummy garlic crostini YUM.  This was SUCH a good soup and I devoured it!  I reluctantly shared with my parents, not cuz I didn’t want them to try it, but cuz I wanted to swim in a TUB of it. It was super filling too since I got full real fast after. YUMMMMMM… Totally making this on my own next time I make soup. Hurry up and come fall.

Chock full of sexy goodness…

My FREE Rosemary Pommes Frites that I get everytime I sign into Foursquare there. BAD. ASS. Thin, crispy, some were overfried – which I LOVE, and of course a yummy herb-y taste NOM. Salty happiness!!!!

Mesclun mixed greens, soft boiled egg, smoked bacon, toasted focaccia, apple cider vinaigrette with Grilled Shrimp and Grilled Chicken

I usually ask for dressing on the side and a side of hot sauce. They gave me a smidgen of hot sauce on the side, and mixed in the dressing.  Good thing it was a pretty light apple-y one :] YUM.  I was hesitant at first but it turned out to be delish.  I demoished the whole entire thing.

Poached Egg Perfection = SEX

Mommy got this: Mushroom and gruyere cheese omelette and Applewood smoked bacon

It comes with home fries but mommy opted for bacon instead – with my suggestion.. :] She loved it, and she’s not a huge cheese fan.. she’s never had gruyere so I’m glad she liked… daddy like it too, WOOT.

Daddy got the special of the day… Why? HE LOVES THE PIG – he and bf are gonna get along FINELY

Peach Glazed Pulled Pork Shoulder with Grilled Watermelon and Potato Salad

First time my parents had GRILLED watermelon. YUM.  The pork was tender, and altho not really pulled, it’s fell apart easily.  The potato salad was chunky and lightly mayo’d YUM. Also came with flowers.

Leg legs leggs

Yes, I still cook….

… and HE actually cooks for me too :D

Before the Valentine’s Ball we were going to eat Chicken Sashimi at Tori Shin… but then changed to Lure FishBar after some drinks there with Z’s coworkers… but the matre’d was kind of an ass to us [which sucks cuz I was craving their oysters I saw all over the resto] — first he promised us a table immediately than a half hour later we had to wait another hour for a table….. SO LAME.. but I did get a free deviled egg [CAVIAR deviled egg, super oniony] out of it while waiting for drinks at the bar. I said really loudly that I didn’t like deviled eggs so this guy offered me his… hahahaha and yes, it was TASTY :D But yeah… we craved raw seafood.. but decided to go search for other raw bars elsewhere……

We WERE going to go somewhere else… but then we passed by Dean & Deluca. <3

DONE and DONE.

Bone Marrow

Fresh Foie Gras

Gorgeous HUGE Bone-In Aged Rib-Eye [altho we got the bone cut out.. #cheaper hahahaa]

Champagne <3 Funny cork.. hahahaha…

HOT HOT HOT GRIDDLE

Seared quickly on both sides.. black&blue baby

Foie Gras…

Basically you cook foie gras like scallops [treat them as so] they just need a quick sear on both sides, they cook REALLY fast.. really easily.. SOOOO GOOOOD]

Whoops, so fatty <3

Dinner fit for two wolf babies :D

Peanut Butter Dean & Deluca brownie.. warmed in the oven and with BarkEater [toffee bark and vanilla] Ice Cream
It sounds better than it tasted… hahahaha but you know me I needed a little sweet in my life…..

SO that is how he won my stomach [I mean heart] over

And this is how I made sure he keeps me around…. ;D

So after some meh brunches… I decided to make it a taco night!!!!… so off to Whole Foods after brunch @ Public….

I made a buddy

Super cute VDAY cupcakes <3

BUT they weren’t as awesome as my VDAY donuts <3

Go Taiwan Beer <3

I’ve been promising him tacos for awhile now and he was sooo excited for them.. so I braised 4bs of pork shoulder, made spicy pom guac, spicy tomato/mango salsa and super garlicky salsa verde… he invited his sister over and we drank good red wine and Estrella Inedit [while watching the Grammys] all night long….

Taco #1 of many…. looks pretty now but got fun and messy… the jicama added a nice brunch in the taco and while we debated between whole wheat and corn tortillas [we ended up getting both kinds] my ww ones tasted SOOO much better with the tacos [I WIN!]

He liked taco night :D Score!!! I got a couple of more tricks [recipes] up my sleeve so hopefully it’ll make him stick around for awhile ;D

Z made me brownies… :D From the box, but FAT WITCH bakery brownies from the box :D… plus we added preserves in it…. He wouldn’t let me touch any of it… hahahah except help him melt the butter.. what a sweetie hahaha too cute – anyways after brownie fail from the other night [the PB blehtasphrobe] I craaaaaaved some GOOOOD GOOEY chocolatey brownies [we almost opted for blondies, but once you go chocolate……. yeah I duno I still like vanilla… and strawberry and banana… what DON’T I like?]

Me and his sis wanted it extra goopy…. so we got it EXTRA undercooked…

We ended up picking and nibbling and licking at the whole thing and adding this delicious mint chocolate chip ice cream with it :D NOMS!

Side EMO Note: To be honest… I really don’t like sharing a kitchen with somebody… I always heard that cooking with a sig other or a friend is fun, but I just get mad anxiety… This is probably one of the first times since college that I felt completely comfortable just us two in and out of the kitchen…. it was the same way when we were drunk and making pasta. I like to take charge and push everyone out but *sappy* Yea yea yea… :D I had lots of fun :] TEEEHEEEEEE*

Ok enough sappy talk :D Onwards to mooooooore writing

[btw if you can’t tell, I’m way behind in posts… but I’m really sick in bed…. so I’m just posting away all day…. Next up is some more NYC stuff and MIAMIIIIIIIII SOBEWFF’11 :D]

A Delicious Night Out at Dovetail

I remember seeing Chef John Fraser on Iron Chef America a short while ago… and ever since then, Dovetail has been on my list of go-to’s. I came here on a Sunday and they suggest the prix fixe Sunday Suppa… but you know me, I can’t play by the rules OR color within the lines….. so I ordered my own mix and match [Basically, three prix fixes and a few a la carte]

Look how excited I am :]

Amuse Bouche + Cheesy Corn Bread

Usually I fill up on bread if the food isn’t good or filling enough – but I was inhaling these because they were amazing.

All sorts of mushroom gelee goodness on a cool bended spoon – very cute way to present *currently thinking of doing appetizers this way for Thanksgiving!!!*

Me acting like a smart-ass and posing like a duck with my spoon :D

happy birthday part UN – piggie/clown style

I’m all about birthdays, especially when it’s mine…as a child I HATED having my birthday in the summer. Everyone else got punch and cupcakes during class and I would be one of the few that couldn’t. Sometimes I would celebrate it in June before school let out. I felt left out :[ But it’s been awhile since the days of ABC, eating playdoh and finger puppets. I LOVE having my birthday in the summer. Sunshine, great tans, and August is the easiest month to get out of work – slowest month of the year.

I abuse the fact that it’s my birthday and I tend to celebrate for the whole month of August. Thankfully all my friends and family are down with it and just go along with me. This year I decided to start early and have my first party on July 31 :]

What can I say, I’m addicted to birthday parties.. and finding the perfect bday dresses ;D — of course good food is a must… Remember last year?!

I have a HUGE crush on David Chang and his food and of course, pork… so it only seemed appropriate to go to Momofuku Ssam Bar

We got the 6-Course Prixe Fix Menu… but then added on a lot of other items.. because I’m a fatty like that ;D I’ll star * the items that we added on…

* greek sardine –

arugula, strawberry, toasted rice
Amazing. I don’t get why anyone would not like sardines.. it’s fishy, because it’s supposed to be. Salty, fresh and delicious. The strawberries and the arugula just added so much to it.

spanish mackerel –

melon, mustard
Not fishy at all.. super tender and I loved the sweetness that balanced off the slight savory to it.

bread + butter –

sea salt butter (vt) + whipped lardo
Apparently I’m the only one that was super excited about having whipped lardo ;D Pork fat is an amazing thing…. we had a few plates of the bread and it was demolished asap. We were all starved… we got to the place at 545 but we probably didn’t really start eating til way after 630. What can I say, my friends always roll late – haha LAME. But we had gotten our drink on by then.. especially with the help of Matt’s White Dog.. one sip and I was done…. except.. I kept going…

White dog is what distillers call whiskey when it comes off the still, but before it goes into the barrel. It is, in other words, raw whiskey, without the mellow flavors and rich hue that the barrel brings. It is as clear as water and if it is destined for the barrel, as opposed to the bottle, is strong.

Source

country hams tasting  —



finville ham (finchville, ky)
broadbent ham (kuttawa, ky)
edward’s wigwam ham (surry, va)
Delicious!!! I don’t know which was which and they didn’t have the smoked ones – boo – but they were delish!

In the mood for Wine & Cheese

I have weird food swings. Yep, you heard me right, FOOD swings, not mood swings….. I crave something different every few minutes – or so it seems…. I’m gonna be a scary pregnant lady… hahhaha… so this particular morning I was in the mood for Maoz’ falafels… but by dinner time…. the verdict?

“I’m in the mood for wine & cheese”

I had heard of a great wine bar near my apt that actually served a MEAN pig’s ass – literally – sandwich. So why not hit it up?

Casellula : Cheese & Wine Cafe

BRILLIANT.

It’s tiny and quaint.. so cute and you could smell the fresh bread from the back :D yum.

We started off at the bar with some delicious champagne…

The couple by the window tried to cut in front of us and steal our seats – boooo, they were so rude and shoved past us when they first came in….the best part when the guy sat at a “table” while waiting and didn’t let the girl sit… too funny. They ended up sitting NEXT to us LOL

It was hard to get noticed even tho the bar fit less than 8 or 9 people… so we decided on our whole order while drinking and ordered it all at once when we finally got the attention of the bartender- we even got cut off.. hahaha.. “that’s a LOT of food” – we hear that a lot – too bad they don’t realize how big our appetites are…

But then a table opened up right after we ordered – thankfully so, since we ordered a LOT and I had NO idea how the tiny bar would’ve held it

Delicious meats plate!!!!

it used to be “Big Buns & Pita” (all this food lately IS making MY buns big ;])

…but now it’s Sahara Kabob.

I’m sorry but the former name is so much more badussy (in the words of Onch ;])

BUT THE WEBSITE is still: www.bigbunsandpita.com :D woot!

So I like Greek/Med food but it’s been awhile… I used to eat it all the time when I worked at Directory M since a ton of my coworkers were from that region… and there was an amazing Med place right by work… but I’m lame and always got the Chicken Shwarma.. (so loves it) since it came with amazing rice with tiny pieces of noodles, the sauce.. and just delicious chicken. I’ve had a falafel ONCE in my life and it was there and I wasn’t impressed.. it made me hesitant to ever eat it again.. until now…

Boyfriend LOVES this place.. and I trust him. So I go along with it. He used to come here all the time.. trekking thru rain and snow… and he has good stories about the place and people there. So I enjoy listening as we walk and eat there :]

To start… we had the Baba Ghanouj, Boorek, & Medames, as appetizers…. I LOVE the rice with sweet carrots and raisins that the dishes come with. YUM! They also give you soup or salad (we got the delicious lentil soup) and pickled jalapeno, beets, onions, etc… to munch on… and of course pita!!!