Thirtysomething

Lovin' It

If you want to taste heaven, get yourself to Bonte and try their Chocolate Macaroon Latte. If you like chocolate and a slight coconut flavor, you will LOVE this.

Labels: food

posted by DJ Heavy D @ 6:22 AM 0 comments

Taking the Cake

So I wound up finding that dairy-free, egg-free cake mix I was talking about. It seems like if your kid has food allergies you have three options when it comes to baking:
1. make a cake from a specialty mix
2. make a cake from a vegan cake recipe
3. make a cake from one of your regular recipes, but using substitions

For Rolo's birthday cake, I tried out options 1 and 2. I had the necessary substitutions to try option 3, but by that point I was sort of caked-out.

I had the idea that I should bake a cake from scratch. I mean it was the little dude's birthday and hell, he deserves a homemade cake from scratch. I tried a vegan recipe. And it was edible. But it tasted a lot more like a corn muffin than a cake. Maybe that had something to do with the gallon of canola oil in the recipe.

I actually tried cake mix, from Cherrybrook Farms, first and it wasn't bad. Wasn't the best cake I'd ever had either, but it was fine. The accompanying dairy-free frosting was actually good. I used dairy-free margarine in both the frosting and the cake instead of regular margarine. So I surrendered on the "from scratch" idea and went with the mix.

Then Ron decided he wanted to decorate the cake with an Elmo (the theme for the party) and instead of buying a plastic Elmo, he came home with fondant, convinced that he could make an Elmo decoration instead. I totally laughed my ass off at that one. Ron? Fondant? I didn't think he even knew what fondant was.

I should know never to underestimate the man though, because he did indeed make an Elmo out of fondant. Two Elmos actually, one for the cake on Rolo's actual birthday, and one for the party the day after. Ron painstakingly cut out the shape of Elmo from a picture and colored it with frosting. I watched him, with his tongue sticking out as it is whenever he really concentrates on something, cutting, coloring, stepping back to admire his work, covered in powdered sugar. There is nothing that man would not do for that child.

The kicker? Rolo refused to go near either cake. We forgot to take it out of the fridge to let the icing warm on his birthday and so Rolo did not enjoy the feel of cold, hard frosting. And at his party, he was sort of overwhelmed and didn't want anything to do with the cake. So there aren't any pictures of him with cake and frosting all over his face and when I think about it, I could have just made a regular cake instead of killing myself trying to make an allergen-free one, since Rolo didn't eat any of it anyway. I could have been annoyed, but I'm not. The one real thing is that that kid could not be any more loved.

Labels: food, parenting, Rolo

posted by DJ Heavy D @ 7:46 AM 1 comments

Products That Have Recently Found Their Way Into My Home

Ener G Egg Replacer

Ricemilk

Earth Balance Buttery Sticks

My kid is a vegan. Who eats meat.

Labels: food, Rolo

posted by DJ Heavy D @ 7:06 AM 0 comments

Bingo! (I think)

Remember my dairy/egg/birthday cake dilemma? Well I may have found a solution. Enter Cherrybrook Kitchen cake mixes. I found the chocolate cake mix at Whole Foods, so now I'm on the hunt for the yellow cake version. All it requires is adding dairy-free margarine or oil and water.

Is it totally cheating to use a mix? Hell, I don't care! They also have dairy and egg free frosting! As soon as I can find the yellow mix I'm going to test it out.

Labels: food, Rolo, winter of my discontent

posted by DJ Heavy D @ 4:36 PM 0 comments

Tap, Tap

Is this thing on?

I'm still here and it completely escaped my attention that I haven't posted in a week. Time flies when you're busy as hell.

Work is busy, busy, busy these days. And my nights have been spent cooking baby food and letting Rolo experiment with self-feeding. I got this great book, "The Petit Appetit" and it was just the thing I needed to get my ass in gear. I've been steaming and chopping to my heart's content. I don't how long this making-my-own-baby-food will last, but then, I don't suppose I have much of a choice since I can't feed him the jarred stuff forever.

So far he'll eat carrots and green beans steamed and chopped, even though he totally turns his nose up at the jarred versions of those very items. And he's in love with unseasoned ground turkey (bleck). Me? I spend the meals silently praying that he won't start to choke.

Speaking of baby food, know what gets on my nerves? That they don't make as much variety of organic baby food as they do the conventional stuff. And like, it doesn't really make sense. Gerber makes organic carrots, sweet potatoes and green beans, but not peas. Why no peas? (actually, I just researched this and they do make organic peas but only in stage one for younger babies--weird). And also no mixed veggies like a garden or summer vegetable like the conventional version. There are 5 varieties of both otganic fruits and vegetables, but 12 conventional fruit varieties and 9 vegetable varieties. Snap to it Gerber! I was to see more organic variety!

Labels: food, hippie-dippy, Rolo, winter of my discontent

posted by DJ Heavy D @ 1:29 PM 0 comments

Uno de Mayo!

I totally stole this title from an email my friend Christy sent me. Tonight, my lady friends and I are heading to El Vez to have some margaritas, guacamole and Dine Out for Life. Also, I'm considering it the official kick off to the Summer Cocktail Series, or SCS. Which is good. Being social is good. I feel like I was in hibernation all winter.

Anyway, in addition to Christy and Michelle, Meg will also be there and I'm mentioning this only to link to her blog, something I didn't even ask if I could do, so it's possible she will be very angry with me. It's peer pressure to try to get her to post. If she continues to post regularly throught this month, I plan on taking her out for a night of heavy drinking as a reward.

Labels: food, peeps, SCS

posted by DJ Heavy D @ 8:14 AM 0 comments

Spring, Glorious Spring

This past weekend, we spent a good deal of time outside, specifically mealtimes. On Friday, since the weather was nice, we wanted to eat outside at one of our old haunts in Rittenhouse. When we got to Chaucer's, all the outside tables were taken and Rolo was showing an increasing demand for food, so we walked on to the Ten Stone. Unfortunately, the outdoor tables there were also occupied and while I would have been happy to wait for one, there was no where to easily wait for one with a stroller. And Rolo was about to have a meltdown if we didn't feed him.

So we took a table inside, but because all the windows were open (sans screens), you almost felt like you were outside. We quickly fed Rolo, ordered Coronas, and appetizers. They had updated their menu since we'd last been there and we decided to try the three cheese risotto fritters. They looked a lot like mozzarella sticks, but so much better. Probably not the best choice on a hot day, but they are seriously scrumptious. For dinner, Ron got the chicken brie melt and I decided on the tuna melt which was a special. Ron really liked his sandwich, and there was BACON on the tuna melt and we are firm believers that bacon makes everything better. About halfway through my melt, Ron pointed out that it was tuna steak, not tuna salad I was eating (tuna salad being one of the only "seafoods" I eat). Whatever, it was good.

The service at Ten Stone is always alittle spotty, but it's a good place for a beer and some pub style food (but like good, high class pub food--they have duck sandwiches for Christ's sake). Rolo was perfectly content to sit in his stroller and watch all the action.

On Saturday, my brother and his fiancee came to visit and after strolling around the city we wound up at an outside table at Continental. My brother and his lady got some espresso martinis and honestly such a concoction would not have occurred to me at 4pm, while sitting outside in the sun. But they loved them, and I loved my pomegranate margarita. The food at Continental is always pretty good. My favorites are the BBQ chicken quesadillas and the Szechuan shoestring fries. Ron had Thai chicken skewers with a peanut sauce that he really enjoyed.

We fed him while we were there, but again, Rolo was perfectly content to sit outside in his stroller while we ate (I must capitalize on this while it lasts). In fact, since it was so warm, I didn't have socks or shoes on Rolo, who spent some of the meal loudly sucking on his toes. Try not laughing at that. The people at the table next to us were.

Labels: food, Rolo

posted by DJ Heavy D @ 9:48 AM 2 comments

Pietro's Prime

On Sunday, Ron and I had dinner at Pietro's Prime to celebrate our anniversary, which was on Tuesday. Going out to dinner mid-week with an infant is basically impossible, so Sunday it was. Remember how I had grandious plans for a day long anniversary celebration? In the end, it was just dinner. Which wound up being just fine with me, after all.

Pietro's is in West Chester, about a 45 minute drive from Center City. Normally, I am all over an Italian restaurant when eating out on a Sunday, but this day I was totally in the mood for steak.

The decor inside the restaurant is really cute, and it manages to be both quaint and modern at the same time. There's lots of exposed brick, a beautiful bar and really funky artwork (which appears to have been done by a local artist).

I started with the French onion soup, one of my favorite things, and this version did not disappoint. Ron got the lobster bisque and loved it. As entrees, Ron ordered one of the specials, a surf and turf, and I ordered the Black Angus filet of ribeye with a hollandaise sauce. Sides are a la carte, and big enough to feed two (although we didn't know that at the time so we each ordered one). Ron really loved his steak, which was filet mignon, as well as his stuffed lobster tail. I liked my ribeye, but I wasn't in love with it. Ron had ordered mashed potatoes with a roquefort garlic butter, and I got a plate of the largest pieces of steamed asparagus I had ever seen. Seriously, they were like tree trunks. Good, but filling.

For dessert, we opted to share a brownie sundae with caramel gelato, fudge and whipped cream. It was heavenly.

All in all, Pietro's was great. Ron thought it was one of the best meals he's had. Admittedly, other than filet mignon, I'm terrible about knowing which steak is which and which ones I like. Next time I'd probably try a different one. The main thing here is that we tried somewhere new, had a great time and got to toast to one of the best days of our lives.

Labels: food, Living

posted by DJ Heavy D @ 12:14 PM 1 comments

Jin House Vs. New Heaven

Since we moved East of Broad Street, we've been in search of a good Chinese place. We've been going to this place on Walnut Street, in between 11th and 12th, called New Heaven. And it's good. However, my friend Star informed me that my all-time favorite Chinese restaurant, Jin House, just reopened after it burnt down 5 years ago.

I was elated and Ron and I ordered from Jin House last week--the new location is on Locust Street between 11th and 12th Streets. Whenever we order Chinese food, it's almost always the same thing: egg drop soup, steamed pork dumplings and General Tso's chicken. At Jin House, I got the Jin House special, which I always used to get back in the day. It is, for all intents and purposes, General Tso's chicken, only with smaller chicken pieces, (which makes them crispier--yum!) and a greater variety of vegetables, including asparagus (yummo!). Ron ordered the General Tso's and we also ordered the dumplings. I really liked the dumplings and thought they were tastier than New Heaven's verison. More onion or scallion, or something in them. Probably for that very reason, Ron wasn't a huge fan. I really liked the Jin House chicken. It wasn't as all-out spectacular as I remembered (but isn't that always the way?) but it was good. The General Tso's chicken, however? That was a hot mess. You know, like grade D meat that's edible, but barely? Yeah, it was like that. Gross. Even Ron was grossed out and that man eats chicken wings from all sorts of questionable establishments. I realized then that New Heaven uses all white meat and Jin House, not so much.

Last night we ordered Chinese again and we ordered from New Heaven. I have a thing about meat and I have a bigger thing about the persistent rumors regarding Chinese restaurants, so I'm an all white meat kind of girl. I'm disappointed that Jin House didn't live up to my expectations, but hey, at least we've already found a good alternative.

Labels: food

posted by DJ Heavy D @ 8:08 AM 3 comments

Kildare's

I know, I know, Kildare's is something of a chain here in Pennsylvania. I do love me a chain restaurant, though. I've been to the ones in West Chester and Philadelphia before, but on Saturday night, we met with Deidre and Frank at the one in Media. What I find strange about this particular location is that it's located on the tail end of a strip mall. We had to wait about a half hour for a table, which was to be expected on a Saturday night.

Our waitress was s-l-o-w, but she also had a very large party in her section, so I'll cut her a break. We ordered the nachos, which are made with kettle-cooked potato chips instead of torilla chips. I'm not sure if it was because we were starving or if they really just are that good, but we devoured them in minutes. We also ordered a crab dip that was okay, but I was loving the nachos so much, I barely even noticed it.

I'm not exactly sure how "authentic" the food is, but Deidre and I both got chicken and cheese boxty, Frank got a shrimp one and I very much enjoyed mine. Perhaps this is because I think I might enjoy anything wrapped in a potato pancake. Ron got some sort of sandwich, turkey I think--you can build your own sandwhich, right down to the type of condiments and style of bread. Rolo had organic mushy pears. They were not on the menu.

All in all it was a good experience. Perhaps not the most refined taste, but it's definitely a place right up my alley.

Labels: food, peeps

posted by DJ Heavy D @ 7:14 AM 0 comments

Beneluxx Tasting Room

Friday night, my lovely friend Meg and I met up at the Beneluxx Tasting Room for dinner and let me tell you, any dinner that consists of mini-pizzas and cheese fondue is totally okay by me. The Beneluxx website is pretty uninviting, but I found some positive reviews online, so I wasn't sure what to expect.

We got there at about 7:45pm and it wasn't crowded at all, which was surprising because it's also not that big. There's a bar along one wall and tables along the other and the whole place is below sidewalk grade. Which makes it kind of cool, actually. Now, perhaps I should have been wary about a semi-empty restaurant on a Friday night in Old City, but for some reason, I wasn't.

Our waitress was brand-new and not very knowledgable, so Meg and I were on our own as far as deciding which wines and which food. Fortunately, I don't really care what goes with what and choose wines based on what I like, so much on what I'm eating. You can order what is essentially wines by the ounce, so to start Meg and I each tried three different kinds (her, red; me, white). The different wines each come in there own little beakers along with one white glass. There's a funky rinsing device on each table to rinse your glass between tastings. I've never seen anything like it before, but it was neat.

We each ordered a mini-pizza, as well as a Swiss cheese fondue, bread, veggies and fingerling potatoes. The cheese was wonderful and dipping the bread into all that melty goodness was comfort food at its finest. I'd get the veggies again, although I think they need to make the slices of red and green pepper thicker so they can actually hold the cheese. The fingerling potatoes were a huge disappointment though--I thought they tasted like they had freezer-burn.

The mini-pizza however, with gooey mozzeralla cheese, basil and juicy tomato slices totally made up for it. Because we are total gluttons, and I'm not sure how we arrived at this decision, but I'm so glad we did, we ordered a second order of cheese fondue, the chef's special, provolone cheese and Stella Artois (I think, at any rate, it was some sort of beer I enjoy).

At some point, we ordered more wine to taste and then finally, full glasses. Lastly, we sampled white, milk and dark chocolates for dessert. All in all, it was a completely sinful eating experience but I really enjoyed it. And the crowds, by the way, started rolling in about halfway through out visit. I would defintely go back again. I enjoyed the wine, most of the food and generally, the vibe of the place.

Afterward, Meg and I hit Oceanaire for a nightcap. I love the decor. And I love the "generous pour" the bartenders provided--all of whom seemed to recognize Meg immediately. Interesting...Anyway, I'm not one for seafood, but the barstools are comfy and although the wine is pricey, it's a good place to go for a first or last drink.

All in all it was a great night out and I can't wait to do it again.

Labels: food, peeps

posted by DJ Heavy D @ 12:59 PM 1 comments

Field House

On Saturday, Ron and I dumped the kid off at Ron's parents' house and we went to the Auto Show with Deidre and Frank. Everybody seemed to find their dream car and for me, apparently it was a Ford Edge. Well, not really. I like looking at cars, but strangely none ever totally appeal to me. Sedans generally speaking are not my thing.

I do like the Ford Edge, but as far as cars go, high-end, it is not. And if you're going to the Auto Show, you're looking for fancy. So I tried to be in love with BMWs. I love them from the outside and the interior leather was like butter, but the design of the dashboard irked me. The cupholders were chintzy. I know that cupholders are not an essential design element and that frankly, BMW probably cringes at having to incorporate them at all, but for $50k, it think they should be somewhat substantial.

I did enjoy the Range Rover Sport I also like the look of the BMW SUV, but I've long held that it's ridiculous to get a luxury SUV. And again, the dash was probably annoying.

Anyway, we all had a ridiculously good time and afterwards, we went to Field House, a new restaurant in the space previously occupied by Independence Brew Pub. Other than adding small TVs to every booth, Field Day changed virtually nothing from the Independence Bew Pub (IBP) design. I was definitely wary about going. Although IBP had a good location, their food was...meh. Plus, we were originally supposed to have our rehearsal dinner there, but last minute logistical problems caused by the IBP manager forced us to change the venue. Regardless, I was willing to give it a try.

The menu looked decent and I felt much better when I realized that this place was owned by the same folks as Public House and The Mission Grill. Not that I've been to either of those places either (well, I did have a beer once at Public House), but at least I knew that Field Day was not owned by the same folks as IBP.

Anyway, as the name suggests, Field Day is definitely a sports bar that just happens to serve food. We got the crab articoke dip which was quite thick, but pretty yummy. We also got an appetizer of fries with cheese and Old Bay seasoning. I'm not big on larger cut fries, which is what these were. Ron and I got the turkey club sandwiches on a pretzel roll. I love a pretzel roll. Turns out I wasn't much in the mood for turkey, but I think otherwise it would be a good sandwich. It had this mustard sauce, that was quite tasty. Deidre and Frank got burgers, which were huge, and they came with larger cut fries as well.

One appetizer that we didn't get (and should have) was the soft pretzels with a cheese dipping sauce. Seriously, how great is that as bar food? So all in all, I think Field Day is good place to watch a game, or to meet for a beer, particularly if beer is specifically what you're looking for. As a restaurant, it's okay for a casual meal, but nothing spetacular.

Labels: food, friends

posted by DJ Heavy D @ 8:51 AM 2 comments

Dolce

On Wednesday might, I went to Dolce with my friends, Christy, Star and Meg. Like my visit to FARMiCia, this was part of Restaurant Week. Star posted a review of the restaurant as well, and I agree with a lot of her sentiments. I think the food was all okay, some of it good even, but I wasn't bowled over. The filet mignon was good, but unimpressive. The ribeye I had at FARMiCia was more tasty and....really, the filet should have been better. I will say that the veggies that accompanied the steak were very good. Vibrant color, good crunch and flavor. But I noticed they were the same veggies that were served with Star's chicken marsala. Not that that's a problem per se, it just seemed a little lazy. Perhaps I'm overthinking this.

Anyway, the decor in Dolce is very modern and while that's nice, I think I've realized that I like my Italian restaurants to be the old-fashioned variety with red-and-white checked tablecloths. My Italian restaurant doesn't need to have a floor that lights up (I kept on having "Billy Jean" flashbacks).

One highlight, other than the fabulous company, was the Dolce martini. It involved pineapple juice and cinnanmon and while that might sound gross, I thought it was great.


All in all it was okay, and as Star indicated, probably better when it's not Restaurant Week. I wouldn't make a point of going there again, but I wouldn't avoid it entirely either.

Labels: food, friends

posted by DJ Heavy D @ 7:27 AM 1 comments

FARMiCia

Last night, Ron and I went to dinner with our friends Deidre and Frank as part of Restaurant Week. We had decided on FARMiCia, as they had a pretty extensive menu relative to most other Restaurant Week participants.

All in all, we had a pretty good experience. The wait for the food seemed unreasonably long, given that the restaurant wasn't that full, but other than that everything was enjoyable. Deidre and I started with p.i.n.k. cocktails (which are disappointingly not pink) and the boys tried out a couple of beers. A choice of white, sourdough or rosemary bread was offered with herb-flavored butter. I chose the rosemary and thought it was delicious (as it should be; FARMiCia is owned by the same folks as Metropolitan Bakery).

Slowly, I've been dipping into the seafood world by trying out dishes involving crab. So I chose the crabmeat and pear salad, which was delicious, albeit, crabby. I only ate about half the crabmeat, but it was a generous portion. There was a lime dressing that added nice kick and almonds gave a nice texture. I also tried Ron's crab cake and honestly, I really liked it. Should have ordered that, maybe.

As my entree I decided on the ribeye steak, with chive mashed potatoes. I had been torn between the steak and dijon mustard pork chops (with mashed sweet potatoes--yum!). The steak was very flavorful and came with a blue-cheese butter. I'm not a super huge fan of blue cheese, but I found that it works really well with steak and this was no exception. Ron had the St. Peter's fish (tilapia), Frank had the tuna and Deidre had the swordfish. Everyone seemed to like their entrees. I tried the polenta (which I've never had before) that came as a side with the swordfish. It's sort of pleasingly bland.

Finally, for dessert, I had the vanilla bean creme brulee, as did Ron. Ron didn't care much for it. I liked it well enough, but the shortbread cookie that came with it was disappointing. It kind of tasted like a Shoprite sugar cookie that I used to get as a kid. Deidre had the apple puff pastry, which she loved. Frank got the apple and pear crisp and I don't think I asked how he like it--me bad.

After dinner we dropped into Jager's, a dive bar down the street from FARMiCia. They have an impressive wall of beer on tap and an even more impressive shot menu (who knew there was even such a thing as a shot menu?). Not surprisingly since it was a school night, we opted not to do any shots. By the way, being smoke-free makes dive bars a lot more enticing. I enjoy me a dive bar anyway. And unscheduled stops for after-dinner drinks with good friends is one of my most favorite ways to pass the time.

Labels: food, peeps

posted by DJ Heavy D @ 8:40 AM 0 comments

Tidbit

One of the best parts of working from home is that you can simultaneously try out new banana bread recipes. I used this one and made two loaves. One I substituted pecans and the other I used chocolate chips. Delish! Next week, I'll try pumpkin bread.

By the way the apple and pear crisp from last week came out really well too. Lordy, I need to start watching what I eat.

Labels: food

posted by DJ Heavy D @ 7:38 AM 0 comments

Progress

So far, Operation Turn-Off-The-TV is going pretty well. I've been out walking twice this week and plan to go again tomorrow. It's actually kind of funny, but I put all my work-out gear on and headed out the door with the carriage. Funny because someone who used to work out twice a day has been reduced to a brisk walk as exercise. I can't even say I was speed-walking, because the Bugaboo currently has the bassinett attachment and this has no restraint system. Which means if I take curbs or bumps too quickly, little Rolo gets jostled all over the place. So for now, I'm just walking at a slightly faster than normal pace. But I've been going for over an hour and check out little neighborhoods in the process. Yesterday we walked around Queen Village and Bella Vista. I love those areas and I'm kind of sad we never bought a house there. On Monday, we toured Old City and I found this place, which I had seen featured on the Food Network, and I totally need to visit at a time that's appropriate to have ice cream (apparently it's not open at 10am when we passed. Like no one ever wants ice cream at 10am). Anyway, despite this being a huge departure from my normal fitness routine, I feel more productive just being in sneakers, shorts and walking faster than just the leisurely pace I've adopted over the last couple of months.

And I've been reading. Inspired by the book reading last week, I re-read Ann Patchett's "Truth and Beauty". I figured I'd start my reading slowly, since my memory is totally shot, by reading something I'd already read. I don't do this as much anymore, but when I was younger, I would re-read books, three or four times. Actually, I read "Gone With the Wind" twenty-seven times before I stopped keeping track. For some reason, a phrase or a scene in a book would pop into my mind and I'd become obsessed with it until I'd read the book all over again to find that section. I finished "Truth and Beauty" and I finally found my copy of Elizabeth Gilbert's "Eat, Pray, Love". I'm about a third into that book and am LOVING it so far. So yeah, the reading thing is going well. I feel smarter already.

It's been a slow start for cooking, although I have a new, completely made-up recipe, going in my slow-cooker right now. And I got all the ingredients for this pear and apple crisp the other day, knowing that today was supposed to be rainy. I'd figured it would be a good day to stay in and cook. We'll see how far along I get with that recipe because all the peeling and coring is somewhat labor-intensive so I'm hoping Rolo settles in for a long nap.

Lastly, after my little fit last week, I find that I am enjoying being home after all. Not every minute of it, but as an overall experience. I enjoy it because I know it's temporary and that makes it somewhat bittersweet. After some soul searching, and temporary moments of insanity when I thought "maybe I could be a stay-at-home mom", I've come to the conclusion that in a perfect world I would work part-time. Or maybe go to school part-time. And then spend the rest of the time with little Rolo. At any rate, then there would be some structure to my days, something to occupy my mind, while spending more time with my son than working full-time allows. But that's not a realistic plan, because I'm the breadwinner right now, so...back to full time I go.

Labels: books, fitness, food, Rolo

posted by DJ Heavy D @ 8:30 AM 1 comments

Lately

Well I'm back to work. Sort of.

On Friday night, I took Ron to Penang. We'd both been before, although not with each other. Since it's a chain (I think), I'm not sure how authentic the food is, but I always get the same thing anyway. I'm not too adventurous with my food and I alway get the mango chicken. Mainly because it's the one thing on the menu that I can actually tell what it is. And it's good. Also very good is the Indian pancake appetizer. Super yum. The decor is nothing particularly spectacular and it's pretty loud when it's crowded. Penang is Malaysian, but as far as ambience goes, if I'm going to Chinatown, I prefer Vietnam Restaurant, which is obviously Vietnamese. My palate is not particularly refined, so alot of Asian cuisine tastes similar to me.

Saturday we went to my parents' house for my dad's birthday. My parents couldn't be more thrilled to see Rolo. They are totally smitten and it warms my heart to see that. Rolo has started smiling routinely now, and you would think my parents won the lottery each time he smiled at them. Of course he also smiles at the ceiling, the TV and the inside of his stroller, but who cares? They're very bitter people, my parents, and I think Rolo is beginning to mend their broken hearts.

Sunday was our niece's christening and I had two beers at the party afterward! Whoohoo!

This week and next I'm going to try to establish some sort of schedule for Rolo, since I'm eventually going to need to actually leave the house for work each day and get Rolo to day care. I'm also going to try to reintroduce exercise to my routine. Just power walking to start. I have 10 pounds to lose to be about my pre-pregnancy weight. And I really have another 5 to lose on top of that to be at my ideal weight. But I'll settle for 10 for now. I gained a ton of weight at the end of my pregnancy because of fluid retention, so I've lost about 30 pounds already. But really that was mainly fluid that I sweat out, so it was effortless. This other 10 is not going anywhere without me doing some work. My diet has also gone downhill (it's much easier to eat a donut with one hand than it is to have a bowl of cereal with fruit when your infant is screaming) so I need to start behaving on that front too.

Time to start getting back (somewhat) to my normal life.

Labels: fitness, food, preggo, random

posted by DJ Heavy D @ 6:01 AM 0 comments

Eateries

So this past weekend, as a break from all my unpacking, Deidre and I headed for manicures and pedicures. We tried out a new place and although the interior wasn't as nice as the place I used to go to in Rittenhouse, the staff was friendly and they did extra massaging. Which I enjoy.

Then we headed to La Scala's for a late lunch. I had been there once before and had the tortellini with prosciutto and peas in an alfredo sauce. It was wonderful. This time, Deidre and I opted to split a salad and pizza. We started with the arugula salad, but substituted provolone cheese for the gorgonzola cheese. I'm so not a fan of gorgonzola. Anyway, I LOVED the salad. The sun-dried tomatoes and the grilled eggplant were perfect with the arugala. We tried roasted peppers and ricotta cheese on our pizza. The pizza was definitely oily, but overall, it was fine. Not the greatest pizza I've ever had, not the worst. Next time I'd probably opt for a pasta dish instead.

Sunday morning, Ron and I made it to Sabrina's for breakfast. I had fresh OJ, Ron had coffee and we each ordered one of the specials. Mine was a raspberry-vanilla-lemon stuffed french toast with a pineapple berry sauce. It was HUGE and overall very good. But I didn't taste any pineapple in the sauce, or any vanilla in the toast for that matter. I think all the berries overpowered other flavors. Ron had the eggs benedict. They were okay, but they balance the ham on top of the egg, which just sort of makes it a pain to eat. Ron said the taste was fine, but definitely nothing to write home about. Plus, all said, with tip, it wound up being a $40 brunch and I've had better $40 brunches.

Yesterday I grabbed a sandwich at Au Bon Pain at 10th and Chestnut. It's the same as virtually every other Au Bon Pain I'm sure, except it's brand-new and totally chaotic. Like, seriously, there seem to be an insane number of people working there and yet orders are lost or wrong. I hope they get their act together. I only ever get the caprese sandwich at Au Bon Pain, and I was kind of hoping that post-delivery, Ron will be able to run down and get me one.

Labels: food

posted by DJ Heavy D @ 8:19 AM 0 comments

So the Bonte at 9th and Walnut now serves ice cream and waffles with a chocolate or carmel sauce.

Is it just me, or is that what heaven must be like?

Labels: food

posted by DJ Heavy D @ 12:51 PM 0 comments

Tapas!

Last night, Meg (for the love of the internet, Meg, update your blog!) and I met up at Amada for dinner. Two words for you: super yum! Honestly, I thought the meal was just perfect. I'm usually not one to be particularly adventurous with food, but with Meg as a guide, we sailed through picking out 6 tapas. Meg and I wanted to order the hazelnut spread that came with one of the cheeses and bathe in it. And the beef shortribs on flatbread was to die for--as were the spicy potatoes. I don't have a particularly refined palate per se, but everything was just so delicious.

I loved that the tapas came out at all different times. It gave you a chance really savor each one and not feel gluttonous for having a ton of plates on the table at the same time. I'd definitely go back!

Labels: food

posted by DJ Heavy D @ 11:18 AM 0 comments