Kevin's Watch

Wyldewode wrote:Happy birthday, BGB! And if Jenn can muster up all of that (or find a place that makes it) I'm going to have to come visit before too long!

Thank you Wylde, she could and you should.

A late lunch of brie and prosciutto panini with coffee in Union Square after a movie with CMJ and Lucimay will serve as dinner today.

As I've said elsewhere on the Watch, FIL has finally made it here. He missed my awesome home cooked standing rib roast meal yesterday, but his gift to Hyperception is to take us all to Hyperception's favorite local restaurant, Mark's Prime Steakhouse (formerly Mark's US Prime). I had not visited the website before, it represents the restaurant quite well.

When FIL treats us to dinner, he goes all out. So, I'm not going to hold back. If anyone wants to look over the wine list, and make suggestions, I think other than the "reserve" selections anything is a possibility. Although, I may just start with a nice margarita on the rocks made with a decent tequila (any suggestions?).

Now, because I had the rib roast last night, I think I'll go with the following, if the steak tartar is available...

Appetizer ~ Steak Tartar
Salad ~ Original Bleu
Entrée ~ Pistachio Tuna (rare!!!)
Sides ~ I want them all!
But...I'll see if I can talk Hyperception into the Sautéed Wild Mushrooms and I'll order the Asparagus with Hollandaise
Desserts ~ I'll get the Chocolate Paradise and I know Hyperception will get the Crème Brulee
A dessert martini is tempting, but I think an Uptown Coffee with the Chocolate Paradise will be just the ticket

Now...if the Steak Tartar is not available, I'll get either the Coconut Shrimp or the Sizzling Seared Sea Scallops for an appetizer and the Bone-In Rib Eye for the entree, despite the rib roast last night.

What do y'all think?

I think it's back to the low-salt diet for me, as I woke up with a headache this morning. *grumble mutter whine* So I am not going anywhere near that restaurant website: too painful to think about what I'll be missing. Sorry, Menolly....

Understandable, ali.

Feel better!!

Hot dogs and baked beans tonight for dinner.

Dinner last night was fabulous. I did order everything I listed, and we ate family-style, passing around different dishes and trying a taste of each others entrees. You should have seen Beorn's face when we explained what steak tartare was, LOL!

I had a choice of having my asparagus steamed or grilled, so I went with grilled. Yum!
I was a little disappointed in the mushrooms, ah well.
FIL ordered the sauteed spinach, Hyperception the broccoli, and Beorn the mashed potatoes. So, other than the other types of potatoes and spinach, and the green beans, we did order pretty much all of the sides.

Our server's eyes just kept getting bigger as we ordered all of that food. She even talked Hyperception and FIL into splitting the chopped salad, and she was right. The salad servings alone was huge. I passed about a third of my Original Bleu around as well.

FIL went with the filet mignon. I like a well marbled steak, so I usually avoid filet. But I guess prime rated meat really does make a difference. The taste I had of that was really good.

Beorn ordered my usual stand-by, New York Strip. Really nice. And Hyperception got a Delmonico. Mmmm...

But (other than Beorn), the pistachio-encrusted tuna was the hit with all of us last night. I am so glad I ordered it. So rare it was still a dark purple on the interior when served, with a honey-chipotle sauce that was wonderful with it. And it was a huge filet, I brought half of it home, along with half of most of the sides, and a little bit of both Beorn's and FIL's steaks. I'll add the steaks to the rib roast when I convert them into strog.

We decided to pass on a bottle of wine, so I had a margarita before dinner, and what they called an Uptown Coffee (coffee with Bailey's, Frangelico, Dark Crème de Cocoa, topped with cream and cinnamon) with my Chocolate Paradise dessert. Yeah...I really either need to drink more often so I can learn to handle my alcohol better, or learn to stop at one drink. *blush*

Hyperception ended his meal with a Remy Martin 1758. Mmm, the aroma on that was something else.

FIL dropped a bundle on the meal, but he did it gladly and a fine time was had by all...

On our last shopping trip to Sam's, I picked up a fresh picnic ham and had their butcher slice it into 1/2" steaks. Once home, I packed three steaks together in a zipper freezer bag each and poured lower-sodium teriyaki sauce over them before freezing them.

Chr-stmas Eve I pulled a bag out to defrost, intending to make them for dinner, but Hyperception came home really late, and he didn't want to wait for me to put the rice on and cook, so he took us out.

The pork steaks have been flipped and marinating since. Tonight I will grill them, and serve them with rice and some green peas I think.

A friend is moving away in the next week or so, so a few of us are going out to Macaroni Grill. I think I'll have to forgo the alcohol since I'm on cold meds still. Too bad. . .

Birthday dinner tonight:
Boiled lobsters and butter, crab cakes and tartar, sautéed broccoli raab.

My New Year's resolution will undoubtedly deal with my grease intake.

I have to finish up that spiral sliced ham I made a few nights ago.
So tonight is planned over ham fried rice with egg, peas and carrots. I have everything but the fresh ginger, so a run to the market before dinner is in order.

Tonight is baked chicken parmesan, couscous, sautéd peppers and zucchs.

A Firehouse Subs opened in Rome, so I went there. Very, very nice. I got a meatball sub. It's the first time my food actually looked like the commercial.

Oh, Firehouse Subs is good.
Although, I still think Publix deli is the best bargain.

Ryan's had fish Friday, so I partook of some fine sea specimens. I started with a plate of veggies and pasta, and then my second plate was mostly fried stuff: crab cakes, onion rings, hush puppies, and catfish. Usually I'm not a fan of catfish, but it was nicely done--not too greasy.

Even though it was one plate of fried food, I hadn't eaten fried stuff in such a quantity in months. It was quite a treat. I also jumped up to 188 pounds.

Beorn is out of town visiting his grandmother, so Hyperception and I decided at the last minute to do a date night. Just dinner, but it was nice.

Chopstix Cafe

I started with a bowl of tom yom tofu soup, then Hyperception and I enjoyed sushi. His entree was a penang grouper noodle bowl. Very delicate. I had penang steamed tofu with extra vegetables. I forgot to tell them to make it three stars though, so it was a bit bland for me. But the basic penang flavor was still awesome.

I'm rather low on desire to cook. . . I've run out of audience. I suppose I should throw a dinner party or something. I have a Murder Mystery kit, so I guess I could do that. The one I have takes place in the Wild West, though.

*sigh*

No special birthday dinner for me today. Instead we need to travel to Orlando to pick up Beorn at the airport, and see MIL briefly before she heads off to visit friends.

Perhaps tomorrow...

I baked some potatoes, and baked a few apples with brown sugar, butter and pecans. My apple got finished before the potato, so I drizzled it with heavy cream and ate dessert first. The baked potato was definitely a let-down after that!

Arrrgh. Baked potatoes. I truly can't eat them, after exploring the sweet potato universe.

I think I'm in the mood for spaghetti tonight. I'll be busy with college and jogging tomorrow, so the extra carbs will go a long way.

I baked a sweet potato too, I just didn't get around to eating it. And if I had been intelligent, I would have baked some chicken while the oven was on. Alas, due to my lack of forethought, there will be no shredded-chicken goodness for my leftover baked potato lunch tomorrow.

Tonight I think I will make penne pasta with parma rosa sauce, and top it with freshly grated parmesano-reggiano. Yummy!