A Night at Tresetti's

Last night, Cocodoodle (along with her 'fine food obsessed' sister) and I ventured out to my absolute favorite spot in town. Tresetti's.
I have lived in the same mid sized town for the majority of my life, only twice being able to escape. Once to Southern California and once to San Francisco. I have visited pretty much every eatery and bar in town. I have seen the good, and I have seen the downright deplorable. Over and over again I find myself returning to only one.
Tresetti's has been my go-to for the past ten years. I have seen the decorative changes but the atmosphere has always been the same, a mix of the young and old all with exceptional taste; smart, dry, wit and always with a relaxed smile.
I have returned so many times that I now have an absolute favorite waitress as well. Jessica knows my order by heart. Even when I pretend that I might change it, she always calls my bluff. She helped define my signature drink for me when only at Tresetti's. She pours me half vanilla vodka and half chai liquor over ice. And the figurative cherry on top? A dash of cinnamon scattered over the top of the concoction. If I am not feeling too decadent there is always a decent Cab being poured as the house wine or I stick to my standard, a gin and tonic (which is always crafted to perfection).
I explored the menu only a little bit before I settled forever on, what I consider, the two stars of the show. The 'Brie and Roasted Garlic' appetizer and I always finish it up with the 'Vanilla Bean Creme Brulee'.  When I dive into the brie and garlic, a instinctive reaction takes over at the memory of the all the times I have had it before. When I first had the creme brulee, I had thought it too fancy and too much of a decadence to not pair it with a glass of champagne every time I ordered it. I have since spoiled myself too much and sometimes only pair it with a cup of coffee.
I love the special occasions that Tresetti's pulls all the stops for. I have taken my mother there for a special mother's day brunch (which she still talks about to this day). I have been safely seated, watching the madness of XFest, while dining on another exceptional prix fixe meal. I think their best event is almost always what they prepare for Mardi Gras.
Last night, as we were getting ready to leave, I realized another reason I love this place. The music selection over the speakers took me right back to my younger days and made me feel like I did the first time I walked into the place 10 years ago. Can't beat a night of classy cocktails, fancy dessert and Snoop Dogg.

Sensing Sunday: April 3, 2011

(a little part of what I was working on today...)

Hearing: I heard this on the radio yesterday and its been running on repeat in my head ever since. It reminds me of when I was a high school freshman sporting my black body suit, plaid shorts, denim vest and dangling earrings all purchased from Clothestime. Ah memories!

Seeing: 'The Shawshank Redemption' over my shoulder on AMC. Although I love this movie, AMC this is no apology for your delay of the next season of Mad Men. Everytime I think of what you've done, only a stream of obscenities want to leave my mouth. What the $#&@ am I supposed to do until 2012?!?!

Smelling: Coffee, my lifeline.

Tasting: A ghetto s'mores. Graham cracker, Nutella and Marshmallow Fluff. On second thought, maybe just the opposite of ghetto, maybe a classy s'mores?

Feeling: Physically and creatively drained. Yesterday I tortured myself and took on three back to back classes at the gym (side note: I am in LOVE with the last one I took. I will be returning over and over again to the Burn Out class at Full Force Personal Training!) and I exhausted myself creatively today working for hours on launching Sweet Temper Baking. Full blog post on that to come soon!

Makin' Whoopie

I had begged G for the better part of the month of March for the recipe for his Key Lime Pie. I figured it would be perfect for this month's pie because it was fresh and best of all 'St. Patrick's Day' green. He attempted to give it to me over the phone this weekend but I was completely ignoring him when he was, I may have been preoccupied with nonsense internet browsing.... I missed the recipe. It being the 27th, I was running out of time. I had plans to bake at my mum's house today and then I realized that the item I was testing in the kitchen today would conveniently fit in with my need for a pie this month. This month's pie....whoopie pies! Petite whoopie pies to be exact.
For those that aren't sure what a whoopie pie is, it is more of a cake sandwich. It is typically chocolate cake with marshmallow filling. I chose to make the typical whoopie pie today and had wanted to experiment with other flavors today as well but ran out of ingredients and lost track of time.
Mum, grandma and I made sure to test them out and they were excellent. Although a whoopie pie is very much like a cupcake, I think I might have enjoyed them more because there was more cake and less frosting. Just to be sure, mum and I had one (ok, maybe two...) more and this time paired it with a cuppa (cup of tea, English style).
I think I am officially, chocolate wasted.

Date Night: Bowling and Wings

(Uh oh...doesn't look good...)

When I got home from work on Wednesday I was fully prepared to slip into my fuzzy pajamas and hunker down to watch a the latest from Redbox (tonight's selection, Due Date). I walked in the door and the Mr. had other plans.
Every Tuesday night, the Mr. and four of his friends, play in a bowling league. At first he was doing fantastic. He would come home afterwards and brag about his score and each week he seemed to be besting his score from the week prior. Lately though, it has been like pulling teeth to solicit more than a grunt from him after he bowls. His game was obviously not going all that great.
Wednesday night, he thought it would be a good idea to get some practice in and off to the bowling alley we went.
I am not particularly fond of bowling so he compromised and took me out to dinner first. For Christmas, we had been given a gift card to Buffalo Wild Wings and decided to try it out. It was the first time we had been to that restaurant and I have to say...it wasn't the greatest of experiences. The waitress ignored us half the night, they didn't have the Boca burger I ordered (that was offered on the menu) and replaced it with a bean burger that I wasn't too fond of, and the fire alarm was pulled in the middle of our dinner by some mischievous patrons. The Mr. liked the food alright (he especially liked the hot sauce for the wings), but overall wasn't impressed either. I will give them this...they had bar trivia on the television and had these super cool interactive devices to play with. As we walked out of the restaurant  I strutted  by the big television that projected my name as the big winner that round. I was beaming. I supposed it wasn't all that bad....
After 9:00 on Wednesdays at McHenry Bowl, shoe rental is only a dollar and each game is only $1.50. The Mr. talked me into four games. It took a little bit to get warmed up (the Stella, or two, helped things along) and by the end of the second game I had mercilessly beaten my dear husband.
Read em and weep....

(ending with a score of; The Mrs., 100, The Mr., 87)

He tells me that he was only practicing certain tricks this round and wasn't trying for a big score. I hate to admit it, but I fully believe him. But shhhhh...don't you dare let him know. 

Not all that romantic (you better believe he owes me big time), but still lots of fun for a random weeknight.
Oh, and don't ruin Due Date for me...I still haven't had the chance to sit down to watch it.

Sensing Sunday: March 13, 2011

(Ski Day at Bear Valley Mountain) 

What I am:
Hearing: I am absolutely in LOVE with Adele's new album '21'. Her song 'Someone Like You' gives me chills and I have had it on repeat all week long.

Seeing: The pictures that 'Camo' took today of our ski day.

Smelling: The faintest whiff of Clean: Shower Fresh. I spritzed my hairbrush with it and ran it through my hair this morning. I like to wear perfume this way because I love to wear perfume but try not to make it overwhelming to others who are sensitive to it.

Tasting: My biggest indulgences today, Cadbury Mini Eggs and Fat Tire Amber Ale. Just not at the same time.

Feeling: Tired but not nearly as exhausted as I thought I would be. This weekend has been go go go since the moment I left work. First the nine hour marathon cake making session that produced this:

(oh yeah, I TOTALLY made this...jealous?)

Then onto the domestic duties of cleaning the house and doing the laundry. I attempted my long run at the gym  on Saturday but only made it about a third of the way through before I felt a huge wave of nausea (my body forcing me to take it down a notch I suppose). Onto today where I spent the day dominating the intermediate runs at Bear Vally Mountain. I had so much fun today and it made me realize two things. 

1. I am not nearly as exhausted or sore as I thought I would be and I attribute that directly to my training for the half marathon. 

2. I miss skiing. Before today I hadn't been in about 8 years and was fearful to make my way back to the mountain. So glad I did. I miss skiing with better skiers than myself...they always pushed me to go harder and  do better. If I go back, I am going to need that push.