Happy Birthday Daddy!

I’m a little late on my posts now… someone had to get the FLU. All this time I thought it was a cold, but on Tuesday night on the way home from work I got the worst body aches and pain that I have had in a ver long time. Not having had the flu since 2004 (yes, i remember the last time i had the flu) I laid in my bed tuesday night and felt discomfort from the feeling of my clothes on my skin and an insane discomfort from the breeze touching my skin. I wish I would have taken my temperature…. but judging by the hallucinations I had during the few hours that I managed to fall asleep, Im guessing my temperature was somewhere in the 100′s. I slept virtually ALL day yesterday and all night last night thanks in part to Theraflu and codeine.
I sit here just a little stuffy and coughing here and there but feeling a lot better than i did tuesday night.
My entire family was hit with a shit storm, between hospital visits, weird ailments, and surgeries… my poor mother made me swear to all that is holy on this Good Friday that next year i will get the flu shot. I am saying it here for the sake of my mothers sanity, I swear I will get the Flu shot next year, OKAY??? People. Dont let me get away with not getting it next year, ya dig?

Back to our regularly scheduled blog…
LAST week was dads birthday. It totally snuck up on me this year and ironically, dad’s birthday turned ended up being on our designated lunch date! Easy Peasy! I told dad he can go wherever he wanted for lunch (as long as it was within lunch hour time limits) and he chose his favorite place: Spaghetti Western. AS long as it was his choice and it made him happy- then Im happy too.

Birthday poppa! This dude is 57 years old. God Bless him!
He chose his favorite too. The margherita Pizza. Shaking My Head. BORING. I was sure he was gonna order something insane and extravagent but my pop kept it simple. I, on the other hand…

wanted something fancy. I ordered the grilled atlantic salmon with herbed potatoes and roasted veggies. The salmon was cooked perfectly and the chef left the skin on for a delightful crunch to go with the tenderness of the fish. It was speckled with capers and olives and yes, i ate everything. it was awesome!

I offered to get dessert but he was stuffed from the pizza (and I was too after that large lunch) so we said our goodbyes while I conjured up a plan for after work.

At the time I picked up the goods… i was feeling really really tired (signs of illness!) but i pressed on and headed to the three S’s for some birthday cake. Sugar Sweet Sunshine Bakery was on the way to my parents house so i stopped by after work and picked up some goodies.

A chocolate bomb for myself! thank ya!

A honkin’ slice of red velvet for papa dukes…

A slice of ooey gooey for mama snob… and 2 sexy red velvets for later…

When i got to my parents house i unpacked all the goodies and started a pot of coffee. I realized while unpacking that my sexy red velvets were no where to be found. I left them at the bakery or rather, they left them out of my shopping bag I called them and they were nice about issuing a refund. But dammit- i wanted my sexy red velvets!

The slab of red velvet, for dad was good… but he said it was even better when he had some with his coffee.

The ooey gooey was really rich and mama snob had a few bites and couldnt finish the rest. it was a rich devils food cake and had an almond frosting on top. I really wanted to get her a yellow cake with chocolate frosting but they were out. boo!

My chocolate bomb was sinful and lasted me a few days. (sign #2 of illness: loss of appetite).

Any way kiddos, I hope you have a great Easter weekend and Check back in next week for a great GIVEAWAY! yay!!!

When I’m Bad, I’m REALLY bad!

So once a week I have lunch with papa-dukes. And we haven’t had lunch in like 3 weeks!
OMG
I know!
So when he called asking if we could meet up, I was really happy because I like lunch with dad. We get to talk about everything since we like some of the some tv shows and we have the same relatives (tee hee) – its a nice time to catch up. We haven’t been to Spaghetti Western in a while and dad wanted a good burger. I decided to skip breakfast so i could enjoy the monstrosity of their portions…. (and i still couldnt finish it)
I am supposed to be watching what I eat…but one day off the wagon won’t hurt, right?
Dad, ordered a burger and I have had their burgers before… but after seeing Food Inc, Im trying to steer clear of ground beef. (how much longer is Food Inc gonna influence my food?) But dayum dads burger looked fantabulous.

Dad’s burger came topped with tangy cheddar cheese and fresh cut and fried french fries. The fries are always crisp here! my fav! The burger was served on a seeded potato roll which was a yummy combination of flavors and textures (mmmm, potato bread)

As for me, I decided to get the panini, instead of the normal trough of salad that I normally get. This sandwich was sliced turkey, rare roast beef (i took out) and some ham, with arugula, tomatoes, avocado pesto (YUM!) and fresh mozzarella pressed into a crisp pizza crust like bread. One half of this sandwich felt like it weighed one pound. I ate half of the sandwich and gobbled up every french fry- because those are HORRIBLE when they are leftover. Fries should be eaten fresh. soggy fries are not acceptable.

Around qutting time, I was still alittle full from my half of sandwich and the other half that i was saving for dinner was a nasty mush that had to be thrown away (RIP WASTED SAMMIE) i headed over to the local watering hole for a drink with some friends.

Blue Moon. Refreshment! I haven’t been to happy hour in a while because I worry about leaving Mickey girl All alone for longer than necessary. But the day was trying and I needed an hour to myselfI’m sure she missed me. (lazy butt)

But when i walked into the bar I was hit by the smell of… bar food. and this bar has really good food for really amazing prices! Whiskey Tavern.

I ordered a turkey burger topped with cheddar and some fries and honey mustard for dipping. they make some awesome fries! as I was 3/4 way through i realized…. i had fries for lunch…. and a big ass half a sammie. and then i said OHWELL. Might as well be really bad. At the end of hte night I had two beers and the burger and fries. My total- $21- isn’t that amazingly cheap???
On the way home to walk Mickey, there was some love waiting for me at the door.
Henry and I made a mental note to do some “research” on these later. We had to see Julie/julia. Naturally, i dragged him to the theatre but Henry was pleasantly surprised with the movie. He didnt say it was the best movie ever but he did say it was enjoyable and interesting (since hes dating a blogger). I loved it! As a blogger, as a Cook, as a woman who has seen Julia on tv. It was done really well and meryll streep kicked ass as julia child! Now, will i ever pick up julia’s book on french cooking? Hell no, that shit intimidates me! I like my regular stuff!
When we got home we were hungry for some research. My quest for natural snacks brought me to Miguels. Im beyond fascinated with products that have minimum ingredients and maximum flavor. Miguels everything chips really impressed me, they had a clean and delicate taste that wasnt over powering or too strong. It was a subtle wholesome taste that has prevented me from trying the other flavors but i feel there will be lots more positive things to day about this brand!

I let Henry choose the dip and he chose the black bean and corn salsa which was really yummy. the black beans and corn made a really nice duo with their spicy kick that made henry say “this tastes like Mexico…babe, write that on your blog” (EYEROLL) I say it tastes homemade, my boyfriend thinks it tastes like a south american country…. men!
Henry surprised me with dinner… the man doesn’t cook much and I seem to have a thing for men who have no rules in the kitchen. He has been calling me for guidance in the past when he was alone in the kitchen and on this particular day he decided to wing it and impress me. At first bite, it was not gagging- so i kept eating. when he told me what he put in it, i nearly had a heart attack….

penne

heavy cream

half and half

mushrooms

kielbasa

colby cheese

parmesean cheese

onions

garlic

HOLY CLOGGED ARTERIES. what did you feed me??? LOL. Moral of the story: ask whats in it BEFORE you eat it.

Lunch Date with Daddy-O

I mentioned before that Thursday is “Lunch with Dad Day”. We didn’t get to go to lunch last week because he was out of town. But he’s back this week and left me a voicemail the morning of “Mo, Lunch today with ur old man?” I called back, “Most Definitely, Dad”. Because it just so happens that I left my brekkie home.

Good thing there is a cafeteria in the building (AKA the Roach Coach). I kept it safe and had the yellowest banana they had (it was still a lil green) and a tangerine with a cup of watered down coffee. Better than nothing. But this left me famished for lunch!

The venue today is Spaghetti Western (downtown Manhattan) and they get pretty crowded during lunch. Word on the street is their new head chef was a sous chef at a 5 star restaurant. I beleive that…

I had 2 pieces of bread. *blushes*

I ordered the Country Salad. Their salads run between $10 or $13 dollars but they are HUGE!

See? Gi-Normous! It was tasty! It was served with an array of greens (raddiccio, argula, romaine, bibb, mesclin, etc.), grilled chicken, gorgonzola cheese, procuitto and a balsamic glaze. OMG. I live for Spaghetti Western Salads!

Then Mom asked me to take a pic of her with her lunch.

Hi mom! Mom got the Margherita Pizza. It had a delicious marinara sauce and fresh mozzarella baked onto a thick and cripsy crust. It was sprinkled with fresh basil. Mom was sneaky in offering me a slice of pizza- when i accepted she asked for some salad. DANG Ma, you got me! We liked our lunches very much!

Then I took a pic of Dad’s lunch. He got the Pizza Bianco. Essentially a WHITE Pizza with ricotta cheese, mozzarella cheese, and garlic with fesh basil on top.

“Hey! You took a bite before I could get a pic of it!”

Dad really liked it… apparently he needed to take a bite before I snapped a pic of it. When I asked “How is it dad?” he just nodded his head while his eyes nearly came out of their sockets. I think that means “This is good”.

Work was hectic as all hell and I didn’t get to post much. When I got home my boyfriend called to see how I was and I was beyond frustrated at work so he surprised me with dinner.

How did he know I was craving sushi???

He got pad thai and he let me taste it. It was pretty good! And a total surprise.

If anyone was wondering, I am going to keep him. He totally flipped my day in a good way!