Breakfast Report - 8/6/07
* HOME *
scrambled eggs w/cheese & prosciutto
coffee
A good start to the week!
Monday, August 06, 2007
Dinner Report 8/5/07
* HOME *
steak
sauteed spinach
cous-cous
A quick dinner, perfect for winding down the weekend.
Weekend in the Hamptons
I did a REAL New York thing this weekend and went out to the Hamptons for some luxurious relaxing with friends. It was a lovely time and I especially want to thank Jim, our host, for inviting not only me & Tom, but the dogs as well!
Highlights include watching the dogs run around the backyard, seeing the Perseid meteor shower, spending time with some really wonderful people, and... of course... the eating!
Here's a rundown of the meals:
Friday night
We arrived around 9:30 and the guys had lobster rolls, salad, corn on the cob and a bottle of wine waiting for us all! (How great is that - come on!)
Saturday morning
We had a couple snack sessions. First, some lox & cream cheese on toasted bread. Second, I made myself a plate of fridge leftovers: chicken salad & lobster salad - yum!
Saturday afternoon
Rotisserie chicken (from the I.G.A.), pasta salad & a green salad. So good.
Saturday night
This was the big meal - the lobster boil! We did whole lobsters for everyone, corn on the cob, a green salad & garlic bread (plus wine & other drinks, of course). It was awesome - you can see some prep pictures in the slide-show I put together below.
Sunday morning
Tom made scrambled eggs & cooked up some prosciutto while Colleen went shopping with a friend and picked up some bagels, cream cheeses, muffins & fruits. It was all perfect.
Sadly, it all had to end, but I put together a slide-show (sans comments this time) to help keep the memories - enjoy!
(just click on the photo above or cut & paste the link below into a browser to visit the slide show)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/99863484@N00/sets/72157601251147042/show/with/1027180931/
Friday, August 03, 2007
Lunch Report - 8/3/07
* SUBWAY / SEATTLE ROASTERS *
(Penn station concourse)
6" subway club (from Subway)
black bean soup (from Seattle Roasters)
This was a good lunch - but it would have been better another day. Unfortunately I forgot that I BROUGHT HALF A LUNCH WITH ME TO WORK TODAY! DOH! So, naturally I ate it too (leftover pork cutlets from the other night)
Breakfast Report - 8/3/07
* HOME *
frozen burrito
coffee
Yay - it's Friday! Nothing says "It's gonna be a great day" like a burrito for breakfast!
Lunch Report - 8/2/07
* SKYLIGHT DINER *
(34th St & 9th Ave)
chili
tuna salad sandwich
Whenever I try chili at a place for the first time I get a little excited in hoping that it might be the best ever. This was a disappointment. Oh well.
Thursday, August 02, 2007
Dinner Report - 8/1/07
* SOSA BORELLA *
(8th Ave & 50th St)
caesar salad
bife alla sosa borella (grilled strip steak with chimichurri on a bed of arugula, side of french fries)
chocolate cake with nocciola gelato (shared)
wine
As usual, the meal was DELICIOUS!
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
New word: GLICHÉ
One of the fun things I get to do at my job is read some of the wonderful emails our customer service department receives everyday. A lot of the messages just say things like "You Suck!" (ouch), or "I'll never shop with you again!" (oof), or "Don't you know how to run a business?" (hey now). BUT, a lot of them actually are meant to be helpful and/or to alert us to potential problems with our site. Take for example a note I read from someone whose credit card wasn't processed correctly. Here's an excerpt:
It must have been some sort of gliche or hiccup with either your computer or theirs.
Now, what struck me about this had nothing to do with the point of the note, but the word "gliche." I know that it is probably just the word "glitch" misspelled, but I started thinking it could actually BE a real word, so I am going to define it as follows (as a derivation of glitch and cliché-
GLICHÉ - [glee-shey, gli-]
A trite, stereotyped "foot-in-mouth" expression; a sentence or phrase expressing something better left unsaid that illustrates the speaker's lack of awareness.
This is the first example I could think of:
(asked of a fat woman) - "Congratulations, when are you due?"
I'm sure there are a lot more, so if you think of one, please add it in a comment. (And let me know if you ever get a chance to use the word itself!)
Lunch Report - 8/1/07
* SEATTLE ROASTERS CAFE *
(Penn Station concourse)
chicken burrito
A build your own burrito station!! Why didn't I try this before? Today I had spicy chicken, black beans, mushrooms, spinach, some pico, a little guacamole, a little cheese and some salsa in a whole-wheat tortilla. Muy delicioso!
Breakfast Report - 8/1/07
* HOME *
ham & cheese omelette
coffee
This classic never goes out of style in my book!
Dinner Report - 7/31/07
* HOME *
garlicky pork cutlets with prosciutto, lemon, and sage
sauteed spinach
bourbon
mmm - the pork was a new recipe I tried from America's Test Kitchen "Fast & Fresh 2007." I think it tasted good & Tom liked it.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Lunch Report - 7/31/07
* HALE & HEARTY SOUPS *
(7th Ave & 34th St)
three lentil chili
spinach salad w/chicken, tomatoes, cucumber, red onion
Ok, ok. It has been a long time since I posted anything, but the only way to get back into it... is to get back into it!
Monday, July 09, 2007
Dog Comic - Part 1
Hey all, started another new thing that may (or may not) get finished!! Hope you enjoy part 1 of my new comic "Dog Party Weekend"!
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
RIHS '87 Reunion (Part 2 - let the eating begin!)
Well, now that you know all about Rock Island and the Quad Cities, it's time to get to the really fun stuff - the food!
Here are the non-reunion specific places I visited on this trip:
Happy Joe's Pizza & Ice Cream
(30th St & 14th Ave, Rock Island)
Happy Joe's is probably my most favorite place to eat when I'm visiting the QC. Not only do I love the pizza, I also love the fact that I used to work there. During my time there I was a delivery driver, a pizza maker, a dough-man, even the cleaning guy at one point.
It's great to go at lunch on a weekday because you can sample all types of pizza from the buffet, but for this trip I ordered a whole pizza. I had them do half Happy Joe's special (canadian bacon & sauerkraut) and half taco (my favorite). Happy Joe's claims to have originated this (and maybe they did,) but all I know is that it is d-e-l-i-c-i-o-u-s!
Pizza and Subs
(Blackhawk Road at 38th St, Rock Island)
They call themselves "Home of the calZONE" and they don't lie. It's hard to describe just how good this is... the meat-cheese-crust ratio is perfect, and when topped with sauce - ouch! These days they have over a dozen specialty calzones, with half-a-dozen sauces, but I'm old school and can't tear myself away from the original.
Rudy's Tacos
(18th Ave @ 28th St, Rock Island)
When I think of Rudy's, one thing comes to mind - CHEESE! No matter what you order, it's covered with cheese (and cheese grease). It's somehow disgusting and wonderful at the same time. This visit, I brought an order of beef & bean burritos (w/hot sauce!) home - they were great.
Ross' Restaurant
(under the I-74 bridge, Bettendorf, IA)
Ok, if you're at all sensitive to over-the-top food ridiculousness, SKIP THIS SECTION. But, if you have a strong stomach, I will introduce you to the "magic" that is Ross'. This 24 hour truck stop is a must at 3:00am. Their signature, the Magic Mountain, is a dish beyond compare - only topped by it's more ridiculous cousin, the Volcano. No picture will do it justice, so just imagine... texas toast, loose meat, french fries, cheese sauce, chili, chopped onions (the chili is what changes the mountain into a volcano.) Many joke that the name is more of a prophecy than a description, but it works for me.
Rock Island Arsenal Golf Club
Located on a 946-acre island in the Mississippi River, this country club shares real estate with the Rock Island Arsenal Garrison, an active US Army facility. The weather was beautiful, and lunch (seafood gumbo and a blackened grouper sandwich) on the veranda of the clubhouse was fantastic.
Whitey's Ice Cream
(16th St. Moline)
Yes, the name is almost offensive, but the ice cream is anything but! Named “Best in the Midwest” by Midwest Living Magazine, this chain is known for shakes thick enough to stay in the cup when turned upside down. Everyone has their favorite, but this time I went for mint chocolate chip with vanilla flavoring. YUM!
Believe it or not, I didn't explode after all of this. And unfortunatly, I didn't have a chance to get to Harris Pizza or Jim's Rib Haven this trip - each of them worth a trip home themselves.
NEXT UP: Part 3 - reunited and it feels so good! (coming soon)
RIHS '87 Reunion (Part 1 - what's a QC?)
So... it was my 20th High School reunion this past weekend and I made the trip back to the Quad Cities (QC) for the first time in a couple years.
Let me start this recap with a little info about my hometown area (via visitquadcities.com):
The Quad Cities rests on the banks of the Mighty Mississippi River and share a population of 400,000. The region is made up of Davenport and Bettendorf in Iowa and Moline/East Moline and Rock Island in Illinois, and surrounding communities.Here's an awesome video:
(there's also a part 2 if you're
I grew up in Rock Island, home of Black Hawk State Historic Site (one of the Seven Wonders of Illinois). About 40,000 people live there and it has tied for second place as one the best mannered cities in the United States.
My high school was creatively named Rock Island High School (or Rocky for short)
Rocky is also known as the "Home of the Rocks!" and our mascot, Mr. Rock, wore a paper mache rock head at all the games.
All in all, it was a fun place to grow up and I was excited about the visit.
NEXT UP: Part 2 - let the eating begin!
Dinner Report - 7/2/07
* SOSA BORELLA *
(8th Ave & 51st)
sosaborella.com
fresh crab ceviche
caesar salad
rosemary lemon chicken (grilled boneless chicken, side of sautéed spinach and gorgonzola mashed potato)
wine
After having a few happy hour drinks at The Ritz (the bar, not the hotel), the group decided on our ol' favorite, Sosa Borella, for dinner. Once again, the food matched the company - GREAT!
Monday, July 02, 2007
Gawd - I'm so behind!
So, the past few weeks (since I got back from Russia) have been hectic. As such, I've done nothing on the blog and sincerely apologize to everyone who actually humors me enough to check in from time to time. Here goes a quick recap of June highlights...
Best restaurant meals:
Craftsteak (15th St. and 10th Ave)
Tom surprised me with a visit here as a way to prepare for the new season of Top Chef which is judged by the restaurant's head chef Tom Colichio. We started with oysters and I had one of the New York Strip selections. The meat was incredible.
Blue Ribbon Brooklyn (5th Ave & 1st St)
One of my favorite restaurants, we went out to celebrate "just because" with a bunch of friends one night. I had one of the Paella's for the first time - and it ROCKED!
Landmarc TWC (Time Warner Center, Columbus Circle)
This was a 5th grade graduation dinner for my cousin - so not only did I get good food, I had a great time hanging out with my family. The mussels were a big hit as an appetizer, and my grilled skirt steak salad was great.
Fun & activities:
Cousin Lindsay's wedding
A quick flight up to Rochester was all it took to have a really fun weekend with my family. Seeing everyone was great & the wedding was beautiful.
Xanadu - the Musical
A MUST SEE for anyone who has a sense of humor and/or likes ELO and/or likes roller-skating. It was just funny & fun. The post-show banana-split and cheesecake at Junior's didn't hurt making the night one to remember either.
The Mermaid Parade
Tom and hosted a Saturday brunch before dragging a bunch of our friends out to Coney Island for the mermaid parade (click on the picture below to see the slideshow I put together.) It was great and the mini-Wii competition afterwards was lots of fun.
Well, it's not much but it's a start to getting back on track. I figure that this past weekend's HIGH SCHOOL REUNION (!!) deserves it's own post, so I'll make that a goal for this evening.
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