Restaurant review - Japonais, Las Vegas

Before dinner - we went to the Terry Fator show. What a great show that was.  He is a ventriloquist that had won America's Got Talent a couple of year ago. He was incredible....his talent is undeniable.  He sings, talks and you never see his mouth move...and it is all so clear.  I can't imagine how he does this!  The only negative thing was that in the middle of the show he put down the puppets and spoke about a kid that died of cancer then he sang a song he wrote was a dying kid who wanted to know if there were horses in heaven.  Can he sing? Yes. Can he write music? Maybe.  Was this a good idea to put a song like this in the middle of this fun show? Not at all!

We then went to Japonais. What I don't get it how early the kitchens close here (10pm).  We had to order pretty quickly in order to be able to get food from the kitchen.  Everyone looked at the menu and just threw out dishes to order.  Here are a few of our dishes....I didn't get pictures of everything.  It was a great meal - and I would like to go to Japonais here in Chicago sometime.  And it was also rather affordable for the freshness and creativity of our meal.  About $50 per person.  Not bad at all......

 This was the amuse bouche....raw shrimp with a peppered honey sauce.  It was delicious.

 This is called "The Rock" with waygu beef.  This rock is heated to about 600 degrees, and you put the thin slices of beef onto the rock to cook it.  It only takes seconds on each side.  It just melts in your mouth.

 This dish is sweet shrimp and diver scallop.  It was simply delicious....simplicity at its best.

 Here is soft shell crab rolls.  The crab was crunchy and tender.

 This is koby beef carpaccio.  It had yuzu and dark soy sauce on it.  This was a very delicate dish.  The pieces tore to pieces with one touch.  Tasty and fresh.

My life - My Garden

I will start with bad news and move onto good news....

 Part of my garden has been destroyed.  My precious brussel sprout leaves were a meal for some critter.  I am not sure if the plants are going to live......I am SO pissed and disappointed.  It happened overnight.  I hope some animal out there has a REALLY bad stomach ache!

Here is my favorite summer meal. I usually go to the local garden stand and buy fresh tomatoes....not this year!!  Straight from the garden!!  Goat cheese, really good balsamic vinegar and my fresh tomatoes.  I made happy mouth noises the whole time I was eating this!!

My life - Chris' party

My friend, Chris, through a party for her mother's birthday. She has the ability to take small things and make it beautiful. Here is her backyard...

 She made little sitting areas around her yard.  Here is one of my favorite spots....she had an arbor and put a bench she already had in it.  She hung mason jars that she put tea lights in.  She bought these special tops that had the chains on them.

Look at this centerpiece.  It was SO pretty and simple.....and at night it looked just as beautiful!!

My life - My bug adventure

Look what we saw today.....

 It was staring at me and then......

It jumped on me and this was the next picture I took.

Restaurant review - Frank's Diner Kenosha, WI

I heard of this place from the Brenners.....and it was on triple D (Drive-in, Diners and Dives on the Food Network with Guy Fieri).  I tried to go here once before, but it was so crowded that we gave up.  Not this time.  We got there at 11:15 on a Thursday and we were able to sit immediately at the counter.  No tables were ready for about another 10 minutes.  People don't move fast here - customers and employees.....but that is all part of the experience here.

 On the weekends, there are bikers there that hang in the front.  They hang out, drink and see to have a lot of fun there.  Just be careful parking your car - you don't want to hit any of their Harleys.

 Here's the inside.  All kinds of fun little signs on the walls....and lots of action behind the counter.  People going back and forth, taking orders, serving, clearing. Action galore!

 This is the grill area. Great place to sit and marvel as to how they cook for so many people on such a small area.  So much action.....moving so fast.

 Look at my bloody mary.  It was a "virgin" bloody mary since I had no designated driver - but it was sensational!  Spicey, tasty and rimmed with Old Bay.  A perfect bloody mary - minus the vodka (this time!).

 This was our son's order.  Simple and great.  The ham was about 3/4 of an inch thick.  The bread was fresh and the hash browns crispy.  He did say the eggs were a bit runny/wet.

I had oatmeal - nice steel cut oats.  They had a nice texture to them - not too creamy, not too dry.  Just right.

Keep in mind - you don't got here for the food - you go for the experience....and the Bloody Mary.

My recipe - Dark Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread

What to do with the giant zucchini from my garden....zucchini bread.  I got a recipe from Food Network - Paula Deen's recipe for chocolate chip zucchini bread.  I made some changes, to make it a bit healthier.  With Paula's new health kick - I think she would approve of my changes.

Here is my version of Paula Deen's Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread - indicating the original recipe and my changes.  This recipe makes 2 loaves - I doubled it to make 4 loaves....but I left measurements here for 2 loaves.

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3 eggs
• 1.5 cups white sugar (this was 2 cups of white sugar)
• 1 cup apple sauce (this was 1 cup of vegetable oil)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups grated zucchini 
• 1 cup dark chocolate chips (this was semisweet chocolate chips)

I didn't do, but it was in the original recipe:

• 1 cup chopped pecans 
• 1 tablespoon orange zest
• Whipped cream, for serving
• Zucchini ribbons, for serving

Directions

Preheat oven at 350 degrees F. Grease (2) 9 by 5-inch loaf pans. (I used tin foil pans so I could give them away)

Sift together flour, baking powder, salt, spices and baking soda.

In a large bowl, beat eggs until light and fluffy. Add sugar, and continue beating until well blended. Stir in apple sauce, vanilla, zucchini, and chocolate chips. Stir in sifted ingredients. Pour into prepared loaf pans.

Bake for 50 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove loaves from pans and cool. Chill before slicing. (I ate it right away....who can wait when the kitchen smells SO good?!?)

 Here is the "raw" batter in a tin foil pan that I had buttered. Make sure that there is about 1 inch of space still in the pan.  I buttered the whole pan, so when it rised, it all would come out cleanly.

 In the oven - all pans lined up together.

 See how much is rises?  Here is the stick coming out cleaning - indicating it is ready to come out.

 Here is a close up of the finished loaf.  Isn't it pretty?  See the color?  Browns, golds, greens....so pretty!!

The finished piece.  Moist, not too sweet.....perfection!

My life - My Garden

Sorry for not writing for awhile....the summer has been so busy.  You can see part of what I have been doing right here.....growing my garden.  With the heat we have been having, keeping ahead of the heat has been a challenge.  I water my garden every day, always watering down low, to make sure the water gets to the roots and doesn't just roll off of the leaves.  I have a sheet on my fridge to keep track of how much I have harvested....I'll let you know at the end of the season my final count.

 Here are my brussels sprouts....see how they are budding along the thick stem?  This plant has been my most fascinating.  It is so different from how everything else grow - fruits coming from flowers vs. the intersection of stem and leaves.

 Here is the eggplant.  The color contrast between the leaves and the veins are so pretty.  And the deep purple of the vegetable.  Wow.....

 This is a spaghetti squash.  It has quite awhile to go.....but it's getting there.

 See the cauliflower growing in there?  And look at the wonderful blue, gray green of the leaves.  It needs more time, but it is going well.

 Here is broccoli.  I already picked on large bunch.  Each plant only grows one bunch.....not much yield for the amount of space this plant needs.

 I have a jungle of tomatoes.  You can see them starting to ripen.  I already have been able to pick the smaller ones.  The larger ones are taking longer.

And now the piece de resistance.....my giant zucchini!!!  Isn't this crazy?!?!  It grows SO fast.  I am going to make zucchini bread.  I'll post pictures and the recipe soon.