OK, finally got my computer back and it seems to be operational, albeit even a little faster, so I’m going to catch up a bit on some photos from the past week.
Here’s Nicholas and his girlfriend on Sunday, feeding sheep at the farm:
Here’s the HOMEMADE macaroni and cheese that I made for Nicholas that he refuses to eat … not even one stinkin’ taste!
The Coconut Shrimp Ceviche I made the other night, from a recent Tyler Florence Food 911 episode:
Here’s the Teddy Bear and the Elmo Nicholas made earlier in the week at Build-a-Bear store:
Nicholas’ nails from the “Beauty Day” at school yesterday. Hard to tell from the picture, but each nail has a small blue and white circle on it.
Beauty Day
Today we ended up getting take-out and taking care of things around the house. It’s so hot outside, neither of us felt like going out. Nicholas was at my parents’ house for dinner, so it gave us a chance to catch up on a few things. We have officially had the worst take-out dinner ever, so far. And I guess, by tonight’s standards, if this is as bad as it ever gets, then we’re doing OK. Getting food like this just makes me want to open up my restaurant NOW.
You know how restaurants always make perfect looking wraps? So perfect that you wish you could replicate it at home? Not this restaurant. I couldn’t decide what I wanted, and finally settled on the Bleu Cheese Chicken Wrap. First, there was not one speck of bleu cheese in this wrap, nor one iota of bleu cheese dressing. Secondly, you could not pick this dang thing up. It fell apart as soon as you did. And lastly, it was so fiery hot that I couldn’t eat it, and The Husband ended up giving me half of his Chicken Parm sub as a trade.
Chicken Wrap… Yeah, Right!
Next we have bruschetta. The bruschetta I am familiar with is usually a slice of toasted bread topped with chopped tomatoes, a little diced onion, some basil and olive oil … no? This was a slice of bread (not toasted), topped with balsamic dressing, BIG pieces of tomato, slices of red onion and white onion, big slab of melted mozzarella cheese and finished with tortilla strips that were doused with more balsamic dressing. Now please enlighten me … what bruschetta is topped with tortilla strips? Maybe one at a Mexican restaurant … though not a Mexican food, I could understand the tortilla strips there. But at an Italian restaurant? The concoction was edible, though I wouldn’t order it again. It’s just not bruschetta.
Bruschetta?
And lastly, the Cannolis. I love cannolis. I have found the best ones in town, and they come from another Italian place (no delivery). These arrive and they seem to have missed the point of the ricotta filling. It’s called filling because it FILLS the cannoli shell. See anything wrong with this picture? It’s all over the bottom of the pan, and the shells are mostly empty. Now lest you think this is a “but it’s 90 degrees outside, it must’ve melted problem” — not so. I’ve had them once before in the Winter, same end result. Then, I chalked it up to it being a new restaurant, and a very young, inexperienced waitress.
Poor Excuse for Cannolis
Ugh.
Another long week is finally over. Not sure what’s on tap for the weekend yet … getting a pair of glasses (I know, we live on the edge of excitement, right?). The exciting part is it’s a mystery shop, so someone else picks up the tab. Since I only wear glasses at night, I hate spending the $$ on them myself. This works out nicely. A favorite reggae band of Nicholas’ (Verdict) is playing at IKEA on Saturday afternoon, so we might head out for that. After that, this weekend is anybody’s guess, so tune in to see what develops. Until then…
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Wow, those dishes look horrible!! I’ve never seen anything that looked so bad. Sorry!
On the bright side….LOVE the picture of Nicholas with his build-a-bears! That’s sooo cute!
Sorry to hear about the bad experience at the restaurant. Thats pretty awful! Too bad the dessert didnt make up for it!
Don’t you hate when take out turn out to be such a disappointment? I am glad your computer is up and running again, and Nicholas is absolutely adorable.
wow, i hope you complained about the food. how do you get to mystery shop?
Thanks, Jeff – you can tell he’s into posing!
Joe – thanks. I made up for it tonight. :)
Punky – thanks, Punky! I think he’s pretty cute too!
Randi – sigh, no I didn’t complain. Most of it was objective, you know? Not like, ew, this is disgusting, more cosmetic stuff. For mystery shopping, go to http://www.volition.com and click on the Get Paid link. There, you’ll find an alphabetical listing of companies you can sign up with, and a forum with mystery shoppers. Have fun!
I would’ve given those cannolis back to the waiter. How horrid! Yikes – and that bruschetta! With Tortilla Strips??
I definitely would never go back there again.
BTW, my son, at 9-3/4 still won’t eat homemade mac n cheese. He tried something in Greenville, SC but because there was nothing else. Also, he ate one serving of a recipe I made when we returned from the south and only because it was the recipe from a friend. He wouldn’t eat the leftovers – guess who did?
So don’t feel bad that you went to all that work and Nicholas didn’t eat it. I’ve been there before – for at least 7 years of my sons life. He just prefers the box. Don’t know why.
RisaG