Thanks Kaydene!
Eight thousand four hundred calories and three hours later, the 22nd anniversary dinner finally defeats the Margarita-, Riesling-, and fondue-besotted couple, who weave unsteadily back to the minivan at once a hundred dollars lighter and twelve pounds heavier... Good times!
Download a pdf of the menu for the Ocala location at:
www.meltingpot.com/locations.aspx?z=32601&n=702248
Besides the wine and margarita, we started with the Swiss Cheese appetizer fondue. Hyperception did the house salad with ranch, I did the California as described.
Hyperception had the Land and Sea, I did the Pacific Rim, bourgigogne....
We ended with the Cookies and Cream and a tall glass of milk, which we split.
That $25 gift card I won on Facebook paid the governor and the waiter!
What's for dinner?
Moderator: Menolly
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stonemaybe
- The Gap Into Spam
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Happy anniversary Menolly and Hyperception!
No, completely different from your pic, Menolly! The table had a large round hole in it, the wood burner was on the floor, and a metal thing (looked like a car hubcap!) fitted into the hole. The hot surface was below the level of the table (slightly), and the side dishes were mixtures of things.
Been staying at my sister-in-law's apartment since yesterday. she runs a takeaway food business so her cooking is GOOD! No idea what we had, but it was great. Same idea, a small bowl of rice of your own and you sample from lots of different dishes. there was a baked fish (which they'd kindly cut the head from before putting on the table! The gf warned them I'll try anything, but having my food look at me really puts me off!), a mix of stirfried beef and these tiny little mushrooms (that looked like magic ones to me but weren't
), again various chilli pasted seeweeds and salads and cabbages (the cabbagey one is kim-chi). Every meal so far seems to follow this routine. If a dish isn't completely finished, it will be brought out again at next meal, with new things to replace those dishes that were finished.
Happy belly so far! And it seems to suit me (won't go into the details!!)
No, completely different from your pic, Menolly! The table had a large round hole in it, the wood burner was on the floor, and a metal thing (looked like a car hubcap!) fitted into the hole. The hot surface was below the level of the table (slightly), and the side dishes were mixtures of things.
Been staying at my sister-in-law's apartment since yesterday. she runs a takeaway food business so her cooking is GOOD! No idea what we had, but it was great. Same idea, a small bowl of rice of your own and you sample from lots of different dishes. there was a baked fish (which they'd kindly cut the head from before putting on the table! The gf warned them I'll try anything, but having my food look at me really puts me off!), a mix of stirfried beef and these tiny little mushrooms (that looked like magic ones to me but weren't
), again various chilli pasted seeweeds and salads and cabbages (the cabbagey one is kim-chi). Every meal so far seems to follow this routine. If a dish isn't completely finished, it will be brought out again at next meal, with new things to replace those dishes that were finished.Happy belly so far! And it seems to suit me (won't go into the details!!)
Aglithophile and conniptionist and spectacular moonbow beholder 16Jul11
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Cameraman Jenn
- The Gap Into Spam
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red rock crab. Yum.
Now if I could just find a way to wear live bees as jewelry all the time.....
www.fantasybedtimehour.com
www.fantasybedtimehour.com
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Menolly
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on his Facebook wall last night Hyperception wrote:Eight thousand four hundred calories and three hours later, the 22nd anniversary dinner finally defeats the Margarita-, Riesling-, and fondue-besotted couple, who weave unsteadily back to the minivan at once a hundred dollars lighter and twelve pounds heavier... Good times!
My own synopsis of the meal is as follows:
download a pdf of the Ocala menu at:
www.meltingpot.com/locations.aspx?z=32601&n=702248
Besides the wine and margarita, we started with the Swiss Cheese appetizer fondue. Paul did the house salad with ranch, I did the California as described.
Paul had the Land and Sea, I did the Pacific Rim, bourgigogne....
We ended with the Cookies and Cream and a tall glass of milk, which we split.
That $25 gift card paid the governor and the waiter!
A shame they changed the Swiss cheese appetizer though. Bring back the emmanthaler and dump the fontina! It takes on almost an Italian vs. a Swiss style. Still excellent; just not what was expected based on past experience.
All in all though, a very pleasant evening.
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Menolly
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Well with Passover starting tomorrow night, a last dinner of chometz will be featured tonight.
Hyperception picked up a fully cooked though cold semi-boneless ham, about five pounds worth. I'm cubing up half of it and mixing it in to my home made baked macaroni and cheese casserole. I'll be doubling the recipe and packaging up leftovers for Hyperception to have for lunches during the week, since he does not keep Pesach.
Salad with chevre and craisins, et. al.
Hyperception picked up a fully cooked though cold semi-boneless ham, about five pounds worth. I'm cubing up half of it and mixing it in to my home made baked macaroni and cheese casserole. I'll be doubling the recipe and packaging up leftovers for Hyperception to have for lunches during the week, since he does not keep Pesach.
Salad with chevre and craisins, et. al.
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Menolly
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Last night was PIIIIIZZZZAAAAA with easily two pounds of toppings after Passover ended.
We also had:
Steak Salad, Tossed Salad, Garlic Bread x2, Fried Mozzarella and Calamari, Chicken Parmigiana, Mussels and Clams fra Diavolo over linguini, Freshly made Cannoli, and a big slice of Milky Way Cake. Yum.
Tonight back to reality with hot dogs and most likely Kraft blue box with peas.
We also had:
Steak Salad, Tossed Salad, Garlic Bread x2, Fried Mozzarella and Calamari, Chicken Parmigiana, Mussels and Clams fra Diavolo over linguini, Freshly made Cannoli, and a big slice of Milky Way Cake. Yum.
Tonight back to reality with hot dogs and most likely Kraft blue box with peas.
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stonemaybe
- The Gap Into Spam
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Menolly
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Scored a 10 lb. frozen turkey breast from freecycle yesterday.
Plan was to crockpot it today on a bed of sliced carrots with home made cream of mushroom on top...
Cream of mushroom made.
Carrots peeled, sliced, and put in the bottom of the crockpot.
Turkey breast unwrapped.
...too big for my biggest oval crockpot.
Am experimenting by wrapping the top of the crockpot with a tight double layer of heavy-duty foil, then setting the lid on top of that.
Will check after three hours and see if there is any drippage or if the turkey breast has defrosted enough to attempt to squish it down deeper in to the crock.
If it doesn't work, at least Hyperception is agreeable to an emergency dinner out.
Plan was to crockpot it today on a bed of sliced carrots with home made cream of mushroom on top...
Cream of mushroom made.
Carrots peeled, sliced, and put in the bottom of the crockpot.
Turkey breast unwrapped.
...too big for my biggest oval crockpot.
Am experimenting by wrapping the top of the crockpot with a tight double layer of heavy-duty foil, then setting the lid on top of that.
Will check after three hours and see if there is any drippage or if the turkey breast has defrosted enough to attempt to squish it down deeper in to the crock.
If it doesn't work, at least Hyperception is agreeable to an emergency dinner out.
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Savor Dam
- Will Be Herd!
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Anniversary dinner out last night. Took advantage of one of the $25 certificates for $2 that Lorin let the Watch know about earlier this week. Yes, they really work!
My wife and I started out with Caesar salad. Her entree was crab ravioli in a garlic and white wine alfredo. I had a lamb lasagne. This was accompanied by two local microbrews, a hefeweizen and a scotch ale. Originally the hefe was hers and the scotch ale mine, but the hefe was a bit too floral/herbal for her, so we switched. Finished with tiramisu.
Echoing what is said upthread about another anniversary dinner, all in all...a very pleasant evening.
My wife and I started out with Caesar salad. Her entree was crab ravioli in a garlic and white wine alfredo. I had a lamb lasagne. This was accompanied by two local microbrews, a hefeweizen and a scotch ale. Originally the hefe was hers and the scotch ale mine, but the hefe was a bit too floral/herbal for her, so we switched. Finished with tiramisu.
Echoing what is said upthread about another anniversary dinner, all in all...a very pleasant evening.
Love prevails.
~ Tracie Mckinney-Hammon
Change is not a process for the impatient.
~ Barbara Reinhold
Courage!
~ Dan Rather
~ Tracie Mckinney-Hammon
Change is not a process for the impatient.
~ Barbara Reinhold
Courage!
~ Dan Rather
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Savor Dam
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Both my wife and I took three years of German...way back when Nixon was the US President. I suspect our pronunciation is pretty accurate.
I am not good at writing phonetics, which also may be subject to interpretation, but here is my best shot at it:
Heff eh vise en
I am not good at writing phonetics, which also may be subject to interpretation, but here is my best shot at it:
Heff eh vise en
Love prevails.
~ Tracie Mckinney-Hammon
Change is not a process for the impatient.
~ Barbara Reinhold
Courage!
~ Dan Rather
~ Tracie Mckinney-Hammon
Change is not a process for the impatient.
~ Barbara Reinhold
Courage!
~ Dan Rather
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Menolly
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Last night my guys took me out for my Mother's Day dinner. We were using one of the restaurant.com certificates which lorin had posted about, and since the restaurant we chose does not accept it on "special occasions," such as Mother's Day, we postponed until yesterday.
The restaurant we went to was Manuel's Vintage Room. The site has a menu page which describes each item we had, when it was not a special that night. I'll list which menu page each item's description can be found on.
When we walked in, we were greeted by a small, intimate space...
...totally filled with a loud party of about 30 celebrating a birthday.
Ah well, we forged ahead and enjoyed ourselves anyway.
I honestly believed Beorn would be easy about his meal for once, he loves pizza (menu page 3) and pasta and the menu offers what struck me as a really nice create your own pasta (menu page 4) selection. But the pizzas were not a typical tomato and mozzarella choice, and I think he may have been overwhelmed by choices of pasta to decide on one. *sigh*
Anyway, Hyperception and I decided to try various things before our entree, and to share one of each.
Even though it is called "Vintage Room," we passed on any alcoholic beverages. They were just not in our budget at this time. Hyperception's eye was drawn towards an Israeli gewurztraminer he hopes to try at a later date though.
Appetizer: "Snails" (menu page 3)
These were not served in what I have come to expect as a traditional escargot service. The escargot that I have had are usually served in a specific style dish with each snail in it's own little crevice and covered in the butter sauce. Occasionally I have had escargot served in cleaned shells as well.
These were simply presented in a bowl, and our waitress spooned them on to separate appetizer plates for us. The herbed garlic butter sauce and the tenderness of the snails were superb. The table was brought a crusty artisan white loaf which we used to devour the snails.
Salad: "Caprese" (menu page 1)
Standard presentation, though the balsamic reduction was very tasty. Even though we ordered one to share, our waitress plated it on two plates, so we received two stacks of caprese each. Each plate had a criss cross pattern of extra virgin olive oil in one direction and the balsamic reduction in the other, on which the caprese was placed. Very nice.
Soup: Red Clam Soup (menu page 2)
Neither Hyperception nor Beorn expressed interest in this, so I ordered a cup instead of a bowl to try. Big mistake. As soon as both saw the abundance of clams in the tomato based broth, it was "the family's." Again, very good.
So, for entrees, Hyperception is the only one who ordered off the menu. The specials last night were:
Salmon in a mustard glaze.
Scallops in an apricot glaze.
12 oz. New York Strip Steak
and
Lamb Stew
All came a la carte, but the Grilled Vegetable Plate (menu page 3) didn't appeal to any of us as a side, so we left it untried. I guess I could have asked if they would do only the grilled asparagus, but again, I would have been the only one eating it and truthfully, it only just now occurred to me that I could have asked.
At the mention of the steak, Beorn's eyes finally lit up. So...
Entrees:
Hyperception: Macademia Chicken (menu page 7)
Since Hyperception is mostly low carbing, we had selected this as his choice before we went to the restaurant. And man, was it awesome! Unfortunately, the description did not say it also was coated with panko, so Hyperception put that aside for the night. A winner all the way around though. The vanilla cream sauce it was served with was divine.
Beorn: 12 oz. New York Strip steak
Nightly special cooked medium rare. He did not see the steak knife our waitress left and was using his butter knife to eat. It sliced that steak as if it was butter. He offered each of us a piece in exchange for a taste of our dishes, and it was delightful.
Me:
I was originally going to get one of the Veal dishes (menu page 6) listed, until I heard the specials. Then I was torn between the scallops and the lamb stew. Our waitress told us she was the room mate of the chef, and that she had tried the lamb stew in its experimental stages. She highly recommended it. I also happen to adore lamb, but get it infrequently. So lamb it was.
This was extremely tender cubed lamb in a hearty tomato base served over some very good risotto. I would have called it a lamb ragout myself, though I guess the tomato based sauce does differ from a typical ragout. Wonderful flavor, and yet...
Nearly too hearty, for what the meal had consisted of up to that point. I gave Hyperception the last quarter of my dish, though Beorn did enjoy the taste he had and I secretly wished I had gone with the scallops instead.
Still, overall it was very enjoyable.
Their dessert offering last night was tiramisu or chocolate cake. None of us were in the mood for either, so we departed and went to Dairy Queen, where the guys each had Oreo Blizzrds and I had a small cone of chocolate soft served dipped in chocolate hard shell and covered in chocolate sprinkles. Yeah, baby...
Then we went home and pretty much all fell in to l-tryptophane stupors...
The restaurant we went to was Manuel's Vintage Room. The site has a menu page which describes each item we had, when it was not a special that night. I'll list which menu page each item's description can be found on.
When we walked in, we were greeted by a small, intimate space...
...totally filled with a loud party of about 30 celebrating a birthday.
Ah well, we forged ahead and enjoyed ourselves anyway.
I honestly believed Beorn would be easy about his meal for once, he loves pizza (menu page 3) and pasta and the menu offers what struck me as a really nice create your own pasta (menu page 4) selection. But the pizzas were not a typical tomato and mozzarella choice, and I think he may have been overwhelmed by choices of pasta to decide on one. *sigh*
Anyway, Hyperception and I decided to try various things before our entree, and to share one of each.
Even though it is called "Vintage Room," we passed on any alcoholic beverages. They were just not in our budget at this time. Hyperception's eye was drawn towards an Israeli gewurztraminer he hopes to try at a later date though.
Appetizer: "Snails" (menu page 3)
These were not served in what I have come to expect as a traditional escargot service. The escargot that I have had are usually served in a specific style dish with each snail in it's own little crevice and covered in the butter sauce. Occasionally I have had escargot served in cleaned shells as well.
These were simply presented in a bowl, and our waitress spooned them on to separate appetizer plates for us. The herbed garlic butter sauce and the tenderness of the snails were superb. The table was brought a crusty artisan white loaf which we used to devour the snails.
Salad: "Caprese" (menu page 1)
Standard presentation, though the balsamic reduction was very tasty. Even though we ordered one to share, our waitress plated it on two plates, so we received two stacks of caprese each. Each plate had a criss cross pattern of extra virgin olive oil in one direction and the balsamic reduction in the other, on which the caprese was placed. Very nice.
Soup: Red Clam Soup (menu page 2)
Neither Hyperception nor Beorn expressed interest in this, so I ordered a cup instead of a bowl to try. Big mistake. As soon as both saw the abundance of clams in the tomato based broth, it was "the family's." Again, very good.
So, for entrees, Hyperception is the only one who ordered off the menu. The specials last night were:
Salmon in a mustard glaze.
Scallops in an apricot glaze.
12 oz. New York Strip Steak
and
Lamb Stew
All came a la carte, but the Grilled Vegetable Plate (menu page 3) didn't appeal to any of us as a side, so we left it untried. I guess I could have asked if they would do only the grilled asparagus, but again, I would have been the only one eating it and truthfully, it only just now occurred to me that I could have asked.
At the mention of the steak, Beorn's eyes finally lit up. So...
Entrees:
Hyperception: Macademia Chicken (menu page 7)
Since Hyperception is mostly low carbing, we had selected this as his choice before we went to the restaurant. And man, was it awesome! Unfortunately, the description did not say it also was coated with panko, so Hyperception put that aside for the night. A winner all the way around though. The vanilla cream sauce it was served with was divine.
Beorn: 12 oz. New York Strip steak
Nightly special cooked medium rare. He did not see the steak knife our waitress left and was using his butter knife to eat. It sliced that steak as if it was butter. He offered each of us a piece in exchange for a taste of our dishes, and it was delightful.
Me:
I was originally going to get one of the Veal dishes (menu page 6) listed, until I heard the specials. Then I was torn between the scallops and the lamb stew. Our waitress told us she was the room mate of the chef, and that she had tried the lamb stew in its experimental stages. She highly recommended it. I also happen to adore lamb, but get it infrequently. So lamb it was.
This was extremely tender cubed lamb in a hearty tomato base served over some very good risotto. I would have called it a lamb ragout myself, though I guess the tomato based sauce does differ from a typical ragout. Wonderful flavor, and yet...
Nearly too hearty, for what the meal had consisted of up to that point. I gave Hyperception the last quarter of my dish, though Beorn did enjoy the taste he had and I secretly wished I had gone with the scallops instead.
Still, overall it was very enjoyable.
Their dessert offering last night was tiramisu or chocolate cake. None of us were in the mood for either, so we departed and went to Dairy Queen, where the guys each had Oreo Blizzrds and I had a small cone of chocolate soft served dipped in chocolate hard shell and covered in chocolate sprinkles. Yeah, baby...
Then we went home and pretty much all fell in to l-tryptophane stupors...
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Vader
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Vanilla-cilantro cream sauce - oh, the mind boggles.
I would have never thought of mixing these flavors myself but now after giving it a second thought it just seems too obvious. Oh, the possibilities ... discovering new flavors is so exciting and I'm pretty much excited now. Thank you Menolly.
I happen to have some premium Madagascar vanilla pods in stock and lots of fresh cilantro in the garden. I think I'm going to experiment a bit ...
I would have never thought of mixing these flavors myself but now after giving it a second thought it just seems too obvious. Oh, the possibilities ... discovering new flavors is so exciting and I'm pretty much excited now. Thank you Menolly.
I happen to have some premium Madagascar vanilla pods in stock and lots of fresh cilantro in the garden. I think I'm going to experiment a bit ...
Functionless art is vandalism. I am the vandal.
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stonemaybe
- The Gap Into Spam
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aliantha
- blueberries on steroids
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BEAKER!!! OMG, I loves me some Beaker! 
EZ Board Survivor
"Dreaming isn't good for you unless you do the things it tells you to." -- Three Dog Night (via the GI)
https://www.hearth-myth.com/