Restaurant review - Wild Egg Louisville, KY

We went to Louisville in Kentucky for part of our spring break.  I love Louisville....it so just SO pretty there.  Hills, flowers, nice people....all kinds of good stuff.  The only problem I see is the public schools...not so good.

We met my father-in-law at Wild Eggs for breakfast before we left town.  The place was packed!   
 If you are a regular reader of my blog, you know my kids, especially our middle daughter, is a hot chocolate conniseur.  Here is what the hot chocolate looked like here at Wild Eggs.  Our daughter didn't like it, but our son loved it.  For her, too many marshmallows....for him (and myself) never too much marshmallows!  When they all float on the hot chocolate, you get all melty, creamy, sweet layer of love.

 This is the stuffed french toast our daughter got.  It was very tasty.  It was supposed to come with fruit, but she didn't want that.  This was delicious, but very rich!  One bite was plenty for me!

This was my dish...it was really good.  And that balsamic drizzle is just right. And the mushrooms, and tomato hollandaise sauce was a great combo....with the runny egg....really good breakfast! I had the choice of sides.  I chose grits of the day...they were Greek grits....grits with feta cheese, artichoke hearts and spinach.  It was quite salty...I didn't really care for it.

Bennies Gone Wild

Wild mushrooms, toasted English muffin, grilled tomato, poached eggs, roasted tomato hollandaise, balsamic reduction and smoked paprika

The service was SUPER slow....and not southern paced, laid-back slow....really SLOW.  And then once our food came to our table, two (out of 6) dishes came out wrong.  They fixed them quickly. But the management handled it right and comped us two of our dish. Good business.....

Restaurant review - Original Bagel and Bialey Buffalo Grove, IL

I went here for breakfast the other day - on of our family's favorite place to go for breakfast.  My daughter ordered my favorite dish.....challah french toast.  I wish I didn't worry about what I ate...I would eat this every time I went there.  Instead, she ordered it and I got to eat some of it. It is a huge order, so she didn't mind sharing. It is soft and almost creamy inside the pieces.  It has a slight sweetness to it. In fact, you don't even need syrup with it because it is so perfect.

I had eggs, toast, coffee....nothing different, so I didn't take a picture, but it was good.  I enjoy going here....it is comfortable and everyone that works here is very nice.  They are also on the local high school (Stevenson) discount card - so make sure to bring it.  Go and enjoy.......

My Life - Sundried Mango with Chili powder

I went to La Luz (search La Luz on the right of my blog page to see more about this amazing bakery!) to get my tamales and to pick up some churros when I saw this creation on the counter.  I don't really like mango, but it sounded so different I had to try it and boy am I glad I did.  It is chewy, sweet and spicy. Just the right amount of everything that it makes you want to keep eating more.  Yum yum....what a treat! You must go and get these.  Uber yum!

Restaurant review - Hong Kong Cafe

We have been to this restaurant before and liked it so much we went back for supper.  It was as good as we remembered and as affordable.  The service was SO attentive it made it a pleasure to eat there.  When the kids were asking about the different noodles, our server brought out this box with sections that had a dry version of each noodle and the name of each noodle.  GREAT idea!!!!!

We ordered pot stickers to start with.  When we asked for sauce she pointed to the sauces on the table.  The kids loved mixing their own sauce.  One was soy sauce and one was some kind of vinegar.

I had braised noodles with BBQ pork.  I had this dish as Asian Noodle House as well.  This dish was better.  There was more sauce and more pork.  Two welcomed additions.  There was still a mild fishy taste to these noodles.  Must be common to this dish since the last dish of this had that taste as well.

This was chicken and broccoli chow fun.  The noodles were so good....see how they have some crispy parts.  Love that!!!  The flavor of this dish is very mild.  I added some soy sauce when I ate it.  Our son picked out the chicken and  a lot of the broccoli and declared he was done.

This was beef lo mein.  Again, nice thick noodles.  This sauce was very tasty and everything was cooked perfectly.  Great dish!!

Dessert - Roasted Marshmallows

The weather has been so great that I just want to be out in it as long I can. Tonight we had our first fire pit time.  I bought it last year and love sitting out in front of the fire.  There is something so relaxing and enjoyable about sitting near a fire. The smell, the heat, the light....everything is perfect when you are sitting in front of a fire.

We had HUGE marshmallows (have you seen these extra large marshmallows?  You can find them at most grocery stores.) and our son went to the trees to cut off branches to use to the roast these white cylinders of perfection.  Who doesn't love a marshmallow roasted over a fire?!?!  Warm, gooey, crispy, sweet.....need I say more!!! Some of you out there would say - hey what about a s'more??? Sure, I have everything to make a s'more and some people in our family like them....but I am a purist.  Just the marshmallow - thank you.  What I really like to do it roast it, then put it in my mouth and pull off the crispy outside layer, put it back in the fire, pull off the crispy outside...and over and over until the marshmallow is done.  Such simple and complete joy!!!!

My life - Happy dog, happy day

It has been such amazing weather!  It actually concerns me when I think about it...why?  Why so warm? Why almost no snow? What will this mean to my plants? What will this mean to the heat this summer? What will it mean to the bugs? Ughhhh.....I just have to stop thinking.

Being with my dogs are the best way to just stay in the moment.  They are such great reminders of how lucky we are and how wonderful life can be if we just focus on the now and not worry about the past or future.

A great thing you can do for your dog is to give your dog raw bones.  NOT COOKED BONES!!  Only raw bones.  You can get these from your butcher.  I get them from the butchers in the grocery store I work at and keep them in the freezer for days just like today.  I only give them to the dogs when the weather is perfect because the raw bone cannot be in the house.  It is SO good for their teeth! Scrapes away yucky stuff and exercises their gums.

Here is our Greater Swiss Mountain Dog, Jake, enjoying his bone.  You can see my new composter in the background. I go out and spin it every day.

So....knick knack patty wack give your dog a bone!!!!

Dinner - Corned Beef, sauerkraut, swiss cheese and thousand island dressing

WARNING - YOU MIGHT WANT A DROOL RAG WHILE READING THIS....

This time of the year is great because corned beef is on sale.  Yum! I made Boar's Head corned beef.  I just followed the directions.  You put the meat in water with the spices from the packet and let it first boil then simmer for about 3 hours.  That's it!!  I made enough corned beef for us all to eat as well as left overs....for only $14!!  Are you kidding me?!?!?  To buy it from a deli, it would be TONS more money....and all you have to do is boil meet with spices.  And it is SO much leaner than anything you can get a deli.

I made a bread-less reuben.  I cut up the corned beef, put some swiss cheese on the meat, put a pile of saurkraut on it and dipped each yummy bite into thousand island dressing.  I found a sugar free, very low fat thousand island dressing and it was delicious.  Having the left overs are great to have!

Lesson here - Make your own corned beef....you will not be disappointed and you will save money also!