Category Archives: Dinner

Austin Weekend

September 24, 2013

Welp… I guess the Longhorns officially suck less. While they were busy winning on Saturday, I, on the other hand, was busy making poor life decisions that would render me somewhat useless until this morning. Thank God for espresso and Adderall. (And other things right now, but really, coffee + amphetamine salts= my answer to save the world today).

I’ll give you a recap of my poor life decisions, most of which involve copious amounts of cheese and margaritas, followed by a bit more cheese and Michelob ultras. I got to Austin on Thursday and was flying solo for the night. What I really wanted to do was put on my robe and order Fleming’s to my room–a nice little filet and cab for one, but somehow I still had some dignity at that point. So I decided to go the take out route…chips and queso from CVS and the nicest wine available from the Hampton Inn convenience store… it was an all around fail and I just woke up HANGRY the next day.

Dinner Fail. So ashamed...

Dinner Fail. So ashamed…

The next day I woke up, ready to conquer downtown Austin shopping and restaurants, only to find that there was a small monsoon happening in Austin. I figured I am basically waterproof, so I braved the rain. Fail #2. Tried walking home with a to go salad from Leaf. Fell 3 times. My salad was in some sort of biodegradable paper box with no bag, so it was going to suck in the first place, but sucked even more after it got rained on. Austin needs to chill with their tree hugging hippie sh*t. It’s annoying, and no, I don’t want paper, I want plastic.

Awful salad.

Awful salad.

Wet rat. Defeated. Only thing I had left at this point is that bottle of Zantac on the counter.

Wet rat. Defeated. Only thing I had left at this point is that bottle of Zantac on the counter.

Friday night was much better. We went to Parkside and it was delish. Started with Sav B and oysters and then went the light route for dinner. A nice ribeye with grilled onions and some other delicious accompaniments that didn’t matter at the time. Their French fries rocked and we left drunk and happy.

Delish Steak.

Delish Steak.

Crawford's Lamb Chops

Crawford’s Lamb Chops

 

 

Saturday was a general day of debauchery. Starting a day at Doc’s with two bad influences (No, I do not want a floater in my marg, it’s 11:30) was a wise choice of course. Had already eaten Cisco’s–see images below, but won’t pass up a fried pickle. They aren’t the best at Doc’s–mainly because I wasn’t willing to wait for them to cool, and burned the sh*t out of my mouth. Well, I’m officially bored with myself, and my coffee got cold, so I’ll just post the rest of the pics and make you jealous.

Fried Picks.

Fried Picks.

Photo Fail

Photo Fail

Docs1 briancraw

Solid gameday crew

Solid gameday crew

Sunday Scaries with my Cousins ;)

Sunday Scaries with my Cousins 😉

Much needed veggie detox dinner

Much needed veggie detox dinner

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Parigi in Dallas is the ( . ) ( . )’s ….You know what I’m saying

September 17, 2013

Parigis rules. Anyone who likes good food in Dallas knows this. If you don’t then how do we know each other? It’s fancy enough that you would feel awkward in shorts, but not too fancy to where you have to have a reservation on a Monday night (usually). I went last night with my dad (ya, I’m super cool and live with my parents when I’m in Dallas for work). We called at about 8 to make sure we could get a table and went on over. They use all locally sourced ingredients and don’t f*ck around with anything that isn’t fresh. They have specials that change daily, and I always recommend getting one of those, but you can’t go wrong with the veal Milanese or the parpadelle that are always on the menu. We had a quick dinner and some nice wine, and the whole time I kept saying “DAD” really loud so that people didn’t think we were together. I tend to make solo dinners with my dad more awkward for the ones around us. I just don’t want anyone to think I’m into old dudes. Gross.

Veal Milanese with Chopped Arugula

Veal Milanese with Chopped Arugula

Blistered Shishito Peppers with Miso Aoli

Blistered Shishito Peppers with Miso Aoli

Grilled Halibut with Zucchini Ribbons and Cherry Tomatoes

Grilled Halibut with Zucchini Ribbons and Cherry Tomatoes

 

gettin fancy….

August 22, 2013

Well, I know I said I was going to post the recipes for the BBQ and the chicken with butternut squash, but I actually don’t really remember what all I did, and didn’t take notes. So, tough shit to the four people who read this blog and wanted the recipe. Now, on the bigger and better things: I got a badass camera. Well. Not so much got as found, but it was at my house, and I’m claiming it.* It’s a canon rebel XT and looks like a total mom camera. So for all of you idiots asking me when I want to pop out a Crawdad, the answer is not now, but at least I have the mom cam to fill in for the time being. Also, I’m not a huge fan of babies, but that is a story for another day, and a few more glasses of cab.

So, tonight I am having a few hoes over for dinner, so I’ve got to be on my A-game. Even though I have an incredibly demanding job where I work in a high stress office from 8-5 (ha), I have managed to waste half my day prepping for the night ahead. For most people, a girls dinner would consist of a light salad, probably something with Quinoa, and fish. Well, the fish in Midland smells weird, and I’m fresh out of quinoa, so I guess the girls will have to settle for:

Starters
-Phyllo wrapped baked brie with a glazed mustard
-Assorted cheeses
-Fresh made bruschetta
Left to right:
Basil from my garden, heirloom tomatoes (the uglier the better),
parmesan, garlic, toasted pine nuts, store bought basil

Dinner
-Toasted orecchiette with fresh pesto (basil from my garden), with Italian sausage
-Hatch chili cheese bread
-Chop salad with a light Greek vinaigrette, diced tomatoes, peppers, peppered salami and shaved parmesan

Close up of the tastiest pesto

Dessert
-Sour cream chocolate chip Bundt cake sprinkled with powdered sugar.

Once I write the recipe down, I will show you how to go from THIS

TO THIS
TO THIS
And a little set up for the dinner tonight…getting fancy with my new camera. Someone will need to teach me some tricks though.
My new garden, with the most awesome gardening partner ever.
PEACe
**I wouldn’t actually steal something as nice as a camera-it’s my husbands. Don’t get me wrong, love a good getaway, but only would steal something dumb like a bouncy ball or magnetic earrings.