Thanksgiving Recap

Thanksgiving... success!  Now just counting down until Christmas.  But first, a recap.  Kind of like a timeline!

Thanksgiving Eve
Mr. Louisville and Squirt come for a visit!
We walk to Bar Louie for a drink and a snack then across the bridge for a Cyclones game at US Bank with 40 of my friends.
After the game (and a few dollar beers) we walk back to Newport and head to the Southgate House Revival for a little live music.
We were home by 11am for an early morning.

Thanksgiving
We wake up early for the Thanksgiving Day Race in Cincinnati.  It was a chilly morning but we finish the 10k (6.2 miles) in an hour and 5 minutes.  Not too shabby!
After the race we tidy up for my family's annual Thanksgiving lunch at Orchid's.
Oysters!  Crab!  Prime rib!  Cheese!  Desserts!
Naps.

Friday after Thanksgiving
I head to Louisville!
We meet up with Betas at the Beer Depot for drinks and dinner.  Special visitors Sean and Ellie are in town! Yay!

Saturday
Mr. L and I have another early morning.
We bike to Check's Cafe for chili and grilled cheese.
After our nosh we bike to the Stadium for the Louisville vs. Kentucky football game.

Good grief, the game was back and forth but Louisville pulled out the win.  Fine with me as we'll be seeing them on the basketball court later this month.
Finally, it's a holiday weekend get together at Shenanigan's in lieu of Mr. Louisville's annual cocktail party.
Shew, what a weekend!

Thanksgiving down, Christmas to go!

Swanksgiving

On Saturday my friends, Katie and Lyle, hosted Swanksgiving!  A spin on a Friendsgiving where a bunch of friends get dressed up and eat and drink! 

Gimme dat turkey!

I offered to bring a few appetizers since the Thanksgiving staples were taken care of.  They included a turkey (of course!), mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, mac & cheese (with avocado and basil), crescent rolls, brussels sprouts salad and sweet potatoes.  A feast!  I've already emailed Katie to rave about her brussels sprouts salad and beg for the recipe.

Anyway, for appetizers I made a jalapeno-cranberry cream cheese dip which I thought was good, not great.  But the real show stopper was the amazing artichoke-olive spread I made.  It was a huge hit and I'll definitely be making it again.  I've said it before but Smitten Kitchen never lets me down!

To wash everything down I brought a few bottles of wine.  I also made a big batch of Cranberry-Ginger Cosmos to share.

3 parts vodka
2 parts cranberry juice
1 part lime juice
1 part Cointreau (or triple sec)
4 large pieces of ginger

I muddled the ginger a bit and poured the rest of the ingredients in my carafe, then viola! 

The evening was a huge success!

Seattle & Portland, a timeline!

Another trip, another timeline!

Friday, August 29
My flight leaves Cincinnati at 7:30am and I arrive in Seattle by noon.  Thanks for the ride, mom!
I UBER to meet Mr. Louisville downtown. 
He used Hotel Tonight to book a room that morning at the Warwick.
We drop our bags and head out for lunch.
I had the vegetable pot pie at Local 360, he had fish and chips.
We shop around at the flagship Nordstrom store(!) and Nordstrom Rack then head back to the hotel to get ready for dinner.
We head to a bar near the convention center to grab a drink beforehand.  A huge gamer conference just got out and it was an interesting crowd!
Off to dinner at Blueacre Seafood where we dined on oysters, crab legs and a lobster!

After our feast we call it a night.

Saturday, August 30
It's raining and this shocks me.
I borrow an umbrella from the hotel and we head to brunch at CJ's Eatery.
We walk along the pier and past the Market.
We stop for a bloody mary and an eye opener at Lola.  A Tom Douglas restaurant!
Then it's off to the Amtrak station to catch a train to Portland!

All aboard!!

Ellie and Sean pick us up and wisk us off to Division Street.
We put our name in at Pok Pok and head to a The Richmond Bar nearby to wait for 2 hours!
Pok Pok is a pretty big deal and I'd say it was worth the wait.  We tried a bunch of delicious dishes, the wings and the Muu Paa Kham Waan (beef collar) were standouts but everything was pretty delish.  Our server, however, was hilariously blase and totally unhelpful.  My first Portland pretentious hipster experience!
After dinner we hit up Salt and Straw for pints of Rocky Road, Sweet Corn Buttermilk and Coffe & Bourbon to take home.

Sunday, August 31
We sleep in and head out to grab a quick breakfast.
Pine State Biscuits had a line 3 blocks long!!  So, we opted for Waffle Window instead. I devoured the Whole Farm Waffle and shared a Berry Bliss, too.
I didn't feel bad about the carbs because we went on a hike!
Multnomah Falls were amazing and we hiked to the very top.  The trail was very crowded at the beginning but once the switchbacks started it thinnned out a bit.

Then it was a quick stop at home before heading out for a Shangai Tunnel Tour.  I'm not sure I would recommend this but some parts were interesting.  Mostly, it felt like being stuck in a stuffy basement for 90 minutes.
After the tour we took a stroll by Voodoo Doughnuts but the line was ridiculous and the homeless were aplenty so we skipped out and went for drinks instead at APEX Bar.
Then we had dinner at Foster Burger. Our table split the Black & White Fries which had parmesan, truffle oil and were served with a house made squid ink aioli.  They were ah-mazing!

Monday, September 1
One of Sean and Mr. L's Beta Brothers was coming over so I helped Ellie prepare a most excellent brunch! I had a bloody mary with bacon vodka while everyone else sipped on freshly ground then brewed coffee.  It's a wonder I didn't become a coffee lover on this trip but alas.
We had homemade chicken salad over greens, bacon, sourdough pancakes with berries and cream, eggs cooked with mushroom, onion and tomatoes and fresh watermelon and huckleberries.  A feast!

Mr. Louisville and Ellie.

Afterwards we lazed around and took a long walk in the neighborhood where I learned the difference between Craftsman, Old Portland, Tudor, 4 Square homes. And more!  For the record, Sean and Ellie have the most beautiful Crafstman home I've ever seen!

Sean and Ellie's.

We had early dinner reservations at Ava Gene's which is another Portland hot spot.  Everything was good but the meatballs made with prime rib were something else.

With full bellies we called it an early night.

Tuesday, September 2
After eating some brunch leftovers it was off to the airport to head back home.

I was basking in the sun on the stoop and when I looked up Mr. L as already in the car ready to go!

I picked up Where'd You Go, Bernadette for my flight home and LOVED it!!  Made the flight home fly by. ;)

Good Eatin' in Louisville

It's no secret that I have been spending lots of time in Louisville as of late.  One of my favorite things about the city, aside from Mr. Louisville, are all the restaurants. There are so many and I just don't feel like Newport/Cincinnati compares!  I've listed some of my memorable food moments below.

I'm still thinking about the cornmeal pancake I had at Silver Dollar months ago.

North End Cafe is my favorite.  Maybe my most favorite?  I've only ever been for brunch but I am obsessed with their salads. I like to pop in by myself and chat with Andrew at the bar.  We even invented our own drink.  A Black and Rad.  Stiegl Radler on the bottom Guinness on the top and the perfect brunch beer.

I had the most amazing ribs at Doc Crow's and I really dug the atmosphere.

Cumberland Brews is my go-to when I want to grab a beer.  Also, their fried green tomatoes are delish!

I'm a sucker for some good Mexican food and El Camino is a fun place for it.  The atmosphere is the coolest!  I could eat chips and listen to the vintage surfer music all day. They were even nominated by Bon Appetit as one of their 50 best new restaurants for 2014!

Speaking of Mexican, we went to Wild Rita's before catching Bill Maher one night and I loved their cocktails!  WARNING: I LOVE spicy food so I was excited to try a sampling of their salsas.  However, their hottest, pinche caliente, was inedible.  TOO HOT!! Pinche caliente = Hot shit.

Mr. L's favorite restaurant is Ramsi's.  The service was too terrible the time I went there for me to take it seriously but they have a very eclectic menu so I'll definitely give it another try.  It reminds me of my Newport favorite, York St. Cafe, but 10 times the menu.

Monday night is wing night at Shenanigan's and I could drink their mixed BBQ/Hot wing sauce.  They also have my favorite kind of jalapeno poppers filled with cheddar cheese.  Bar food at it's best!

I've mentioned the burgers from Grind before.  So good!  But they've recently added a permanent location in addition to their food truck that I can't wait to try.

We stopped into Baby D's Bagel and Deli before a bike ride one day and I was seriously impressed.  Their bagel sandwiches are so good!   I crave a good veggie sandwich so I loved their Hogan's Fountain with cream cheese, avocado, lettuce, tomato, cucumber, sprouts, cheddar and brown mustard on a bialy.

Sapporo for sushi and hibachi has always treated us right!

Mr. Louisville loves his steak.  We've been to Jeff Ruby's and Morton's.  Jeff Ruby wins, obviously.  I'm not much of a steak snob but the service was amazing.

There are some places that are on our list like Mussel and Burger Bar, 610 Magnolia, Harvest, Bahn mi Hero, Sergio's, just about every new restaurant opening up on Bardstown Road and so many more!

What am I missing, Louisville?  Any other suggestions?

Showering Abbey

This Sunday I hosted a Bridal Shower Brunch for Abbey.

 A picture of Abbey and Mike the night before the shower.  We went to Rhinegeist for our friend, Ashley's 30th birthday.

I kept the decorations simple.  Flowers from my parents' garden.

For drinks I had mimosas and a Blood Mary bar.

Over drinks, I asked Abbey questions that Mike answered for me earlier in the week.  Here were 2 of my favorites:

Q. What is your most commonly used phrase?
A. Hmmm? if someone says "That pisses me off!" I always say "It's better to be pissed off then pissed on". Also... I act that part out in the movie "Hook" Where I take my fingers and smush her face around and say " There you are Peter" pretty weird. 

Q. Who is her celebrity crush? Yours?
A. (Hers) Ryan Gosling (Me) Zoey Deshanel and Jessica Simpson.



For games, I downloaded a game of scattergories that went over very well!  At the last minute I picked up a few gifts at Kroger.  These little succulents were 2 for $7.

 

MENU:
Blueberry Baked Oatmeal
Powdered, glazed and chocolate doughnut holes
Baked ham and cheese sandwiches
Whole wheat penne with butternut squash and goat cheese
Bacon
Crustless Broccoli Cheddar Quiche
Fruit

The shower was scheduled from 11am - 1pm and my last guest didn't leave until 3:30 so I'd say it was a success.

San Francisco, a timeline!

It's time for another timeline since I just returned from an 8 night trip to San Francisco.  Mr. Louisville was going for a variety of actuarial ditties and invited me to tag along.  Oh, hell yes.

**Fair warning: Long trip = long post.

Wednesday, July 18, 2014
Hop on a direct flight from CVG to SFO.  I leave at 5 and arrive at 7.  Score!
Tyler picks me up from the airport and takes me to his favorite little taqueria for chorizo tacos and beer.

The view from Tyler's balcony.

We go to his new apartment in the Cathedral district to have a bottle of wine, catch up and play Monopoly Deal. 
Since it doesn't take me long to adjust to the new time zone I stay until around 12:30am until he drops me off down the street at Hotel Nikko.

Thursday
Up and at 'em to check out the neighborhood shopping situation and meet up with Tracie.
We head to the Ferry Building to explore and then discovered Belden Place for lunch.  We decide on Belden Taverna because it had an outdoor dining area.  We each had the Warm Brussels Sprouts Caesar and split the asparagus.
After a little more shopping we retired to our rooms to get ready for the evening.
Around 6 Mr. L and I walked to Water Bar to meet a group for supper.
5 of us shared an obscene seafood platter of oysters, clams, shrimp, lobster, crab and ceviche.  Afterwards, I enjoyed the peach and fig salad with chevre stuffed squash blossoms, rosemary, watercress and white balsamic.
Perfection.

Friday
At 10am Tracie, Kathleen and I are off to walk 3 miles to rent bikes for the day. Coincidentally near Haight/Ashbury and a place called MILK Bar which reminds me of my homey, Damon.
We go on a nearly 3 hour tour of Golden Gate Park, along the coast, across the Golden Gate Bridge and into Sausalito.  Biking in SF is no joke!  No shame in walking the bikes up some big hills a few times.

A view along our ride.

We enjoy lunch with a view of the water at the Barrel House Tavern.
I have the grilled peaches and burrata salad with pistachios, honey, arugula and balsamic gastrique.  I also share the flatbread with local mushrooms, caramelized onions, fontina and ricotta cheese,arugula and truffle oil.
After lunch we take the Ferry back to the city, return our bikes and head back to the hotel.
From 5:30 - 7 we partake in free drinks and snacks at the Actuary recepection with our fellas.
Around 7 we go out with a group up many hilariously steep hills to dine at Osso Steakhouse. More seafood for me!  I have a large helping of iron skillet-roasted shrimp and mussles.

Saturday
Adventure day with Tyler!!
He picks me up at 8:30 and takes me to breakfast at Hollywood Cafe.  Seriously good fruit!! 
Afterwards we pick up supplies and head to Muir Beach.

The essentials: Champagne & OJ, Jerky, beer, wine, water.

Me and Tyler at Muir Beach.  A passerby offered to take our picture because he said we looked like we were having such a good time.

After we finished the bottle of champagne we head up Hwy. 1 to Point Reyes National Seashore.
We stop off at Kehoe Beach where we have to hike about a mile back to reach the shore.  Hardly anyone is there besides us.  Bliss!

The hike back to Kehoe beach.

After Tyler drops me off back at my hotel I get ready for date night!
Mr. L and I head to Tony's Pizza to put our name in for a table and go to Rogue for a beer and an appetizer of bacon to hold us over.
Once our table is ready we enjoyed meatballs and pizza and walk back to our hotel.  Perfect evening.

Sunday
Napa Day!!
Mr. L and I switch hotels in the morning to the Hilton.  Luckily, right next door!
A limo picks a group of us up at 10am to head to Napa.

We stop off for beer for the non wine drinker but we all partake.  It's going to be a long day.
We do official tastings at Cakebread and Mumm with a lunch at Mustard's in between.  We stop off at another winery but I can't quite remember which.  It was such a fun day!

ML and I.

Tracie and I at one of the wineries.  We been drankin'.

As soon as we return we meet up with Aaron and Heather who were in from Colorado!!
After a drink at the hotel bar we go to a quick little sushi place and then for a nightcap at Jasper's.
It was a long day!

Monday
We take it easy after Napa!
Kathleen, Tracie and I meet for back in Belden Place where we dine alfresco again at one of the restaurants there.
We walk to Union Street where there are a strip of neat boutiques and then back to our hotel.
It's round 2 for an Actuary reception. Free drinks and snacks!
After the reception a group of us head to Kuleto's, per my mom's recommendation for an Italian feast.
Mr. L and I go out for one more drink at Jasper's, yet again.

Tuesday
I meet up with Heather first thing and hop on the BART to meet her friend, Stacey in Berkley.
We have breakfast at a diner and poke around at the shops.  One of the only things I buy from the trip were a few boxes of iced tea (mango and peach) from Peet's. 
We head up the hill to pick up Stacey's husband from the Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary.
I have the best deep dish pizza of my life from Zachary's then mosey around Telegraph Avenue and UC-Berkley's campus.

So good.  Soo good!!

I head back on the BART by myself to get ready for dinner.
7 of us randomly take a limo to Forbes Island and from there take a 2 minute ferry to the restaurant.

Brian, Tacie, myself and Mr. Louisville on the ferry to Forbes Island.

After dinner, M and I have a nightcap with some of his friends at the Hotel bar.

Wednesday
I meet Heather for breakfast at Cafe Mason.
Mr. Louisville finishes around 1pm and we head immediately for lunch at Akikos.  The place is busy so we grab a drink next door at a bar where everyone was watching the World Cup.
Soon our table was ready and we had the best sushi ever.  Highly recommend this gem!
We catch the Trolley with the Pauley's and head to the Wharf where we meet Heather and company at The Buena Vista for Irish Coffees.
M and I decide to stroll back to our hotel and go down Lombard Street for kicks.
We meet the whole gang for dinner at the Redford where we had the entire balcony to ourselves.
Many drinks and much merriment was had with good food, to boot!
Heather and Aaron and Mr. L and I stop off at Jasper's one last time for a nightcap.  The service sucked there but it was so close we kept going back.  Ridiculous.

Aaron, Garrett, Heather and I.

Thursday
Mr. L leaves at 5:30 to catch his flight home.
I wake up around 8 and walk to Boudin to pick up some fresh sourdough to bring home.
I meet Heather and Aaron at Cafe Mason for a quick breakfast before catching Uber to the airport with them.
I randomly run into my bro-in-law, Ryan, at Detroit on my connection home.

Shew.  What a trip!!

Happy Birthday, Julie!

I'm into dinner parties.  Especially 30th Birthday dinner parties.  So, I threw one for my friend, Julie.

Cute Mexican Coca-Cola place cards by Katie.

Guests:
Julie & Andy
Katie & Lyle
Abbey & Mike
Laura

Drinks:
Frozen Margaritas.  1 cup tequila, 1 cup contreau, 1/4 cup fresh lime juice, squeeze of agave and a pinch of salt.  Blend with lots of ice.
Mexican beers.
Sangria (courtesy of Abbey)

Snacks:
Various salsas from Trader Joe's
Guacamole Bruschetta (courtesy of Katie)

Dinner:
Chicken enchiladas
Black bean and spinach enchiladas
Refried beans
Spanish Rice

Dessert:
A huge homemade donut from Holtman's

Happy 30th Birthday, Julie!! xoxo.

Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies

I've done it.  I've perfected my chocolate chip cookie recipe.  Chocolate chip cookies can be very personal.  I've heard some people say they like their cookies burnt, some like them with nuts, others may be partial to soft baked.  But my favorite is nice and flat, crisp on the edges, chewy and a little soft in the middle, with semi-sweet chocolate chips and a sprinkling of salt.  The salt makes these taste so grown-up and perfect.

I used the recipe from Back in the Day Bakery that a friend gave me a while back and have been tweaking things ever so slightly until I got it just right.  I made a batch for zombie club and they were devoured, I took some to work and they literally disappeared.  I had friends over this past Friday for a UK game and I believe everyone had at least two... or three!  Have I convinced you to make these yet?

Laura's Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies
Adapted from Back in the Day Bakery

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 lb. butter (2 sticks) at room temp
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed light brown sugar
2 eggs at room temp
1 12 ounce bag semisweet chocolate chips
Coarse sea salt

Preheat oven to 350 and move the rack to the lower third of the oven.  Line a large baking sheet with parchment.
Sift together the flour, baking soda and kosher salt.
In a stand mixer cream together the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar for about 3-5 minutes.
Add eggs 1 at a time and mix for just about 30 seconds.
Turn the speed to low and slowly add the flour mixture.
Sprinkle in the bag of chocolate chips.
Use a mini ice cream scooper to form heaping rounds of dough and place on the cookie sheet about 2 inches a part.  Warning!  These cookies spread out pretty significantly so make sure to give them enough room.
Pat the cookies lightly with your hand to flatten them out a bit and sprinkle each one with a little sea salt.
Bake the cookies for 13-16 minutes.  The cookies should be golden brown around the edges but still light in the center.
Remove from oven and using a spatula, transfer to a wire rack to cool.
Repeat this process until you've used all your dough. By the time the next batch comes out of the oven your cookies should cool enough to stack up off to the side to make room.
ENJOY!

Sotto

Truly great restaurant experiences are the best.  I went to Sotto last night and had the best time.  Service, food, atmosphere was everything I want in a restaurant and more.

The person I went with knew a lot of the staff because he works at Nada which is in the same restaurant group... along with Boca which is probably the best restaurant in Cincinnati.  The guy behind all three restaurants, David Falk, was there last night and I got to meet him!  Is it weird that I was totally star struck?  I also got to meet the head chef and most of the guys working the kitchen line.  A friend of mine is the FOH manager and he came over to chat with us for a while as well.

We sat at the bar right in front of the open kitchen so I we got to be all up in the action.  

We sat right in front of this station on the line.  They weren't cooking those chickens, mostly just breads and fish but we got to watch them add the wood to the fires and adjust the racks up and down to get the best heat.

We started off with their house wine and ordered the goat cheese and hazelnut honey bruschetta to start with.  It was amazing and was actually the only thing we ordered all night.  Everything else was sent over for us! 

• Porchetta bruschetta w/ mustard & pickled shallot
• Polenta w/ fried egg, brown butter,lomo & parmigiano - no words 
• Short rib cappellacci – shallot, amish butter & thyme.  

Such a treat and so fun to be connected in such a great restaurant.  We totally got hooked up and only had to pay for our booze so that was a such a nice surprise.

Have you had an amazing restaurant experience recently?  There is nothing better than impeccable service and mind blowing food, right?

 

Food, friends and music

This new house is keeping me busy!  I'm having my big housewarming shindig this weekend and I'll do a post on that soon including a little house tour for my friends and family far away.  Until then, I'll focus on what I've been up to.. which is mostly just food, friends and music.

Eli's BBQ

Oh my gosh you guys.  This BBQ is so good!  A few weeks ago it was my friend, Zach's, 30th Birthday!  I had folks over and got their BBQ pork and mac & cheese.  Good grief it's so good.  I also made some jalapeno cheddar cornbread and coleslaw.  We had such a good time and it was so fun to host a delicious, casual dinner party.  The first in my new house! 

Kyle! Myself and Zach, the birthday boy man!

It was so good I did the same thing the next weekend for my mom's birthday!  I had my mom, dad, molly&ryan and eli over on Saturday, March 9.  I picked up the BBQ and mac & cheese, made a more traditional coleslaw and that same cornbread.  But the big deal were the snickerdoodle blondies and salted caramel brownies. It was my mom's birthday after all :)
I have made about 4 or 5 batches of those blondies since then for co-workers and friends because they are seriously the best thing I've baked all year and I get mad compliments on them.


Music

As always, seeing lots of live music.  Man Man, Murder By Death and Tillers all at the Southgate House.  Super Massive and Sligthly Stoopid at The Madison. 
Also excited to be planning my summer which is filling up fast with the Forecastle Music Festival and of course some Phish.

Eating salads

Have you been to the gym yet this new year?  It is bonkers.  I have decided to lay off the gym for the month of January and focus on eating well, drinking less alcohol and more water and trying some new healthy recipes.  Until the loads of new folks give up on their resolutions.

I made this avocado salad with carrot-ginger dressing and it was flipping delicious. 

One of my 2013 resolutions is to be less wasteful when I cook which means trying to eat more leftovers (which I'm really not a fan of).  However, this quinoa salad with black beans, avocado and cumin-lime dressing is so good.  So easy to pack for my lunch with a side of tortilla chips.

Finally, I'm slightly addicted to Chipotle so I make my own spin on my favorite salad there.  A bed of romaine lettuce with sauteed peppers and onions, this awesome salsa, this addicting corn salsa with a little sour cream.  I wish I could find a good recipe for Chipotle's hot salsa and then my life would be complete.