Five Things Friday

Happy Valentine’s Day! Have any fun plans for tonight? We have done good stuff coming up in the next week.

1. My parents will be here in less than a week! I realize I mentioned this yesterday, but can you tell I’m excited?!
2. I stocked up on our Valentines Day dinner/dessert ingredients yesterday. On the menu:
   Appetizer: Truffle gouda with crackers and balsamic jam [from Italy!] .. Entree: Seared lamb with a cherry port sauce, Moroccan rice with pistachio and dried apricot, and roasted rainbow carrots .. Dessert: Cheesecake squares. But I can’t tell you the flavor because that’s a surprise for Nathan. There may or may not be pictures to share later 😉
3. I miss the snow a little bit but I have to admit it was awfully nice to be able to take a walk this afternoon when it was 65 degrees.
   
   My parents just got a little dusting.
4. Nathan surprised me last night by picking me up after work to go out to a point near our place and watch the sunset.
   
   It was a really crisp, clear night and such a nice way to end the day. Doesn’t hurt that he’s cute too!
5. This weekend is Belgian Beer Fest at Max’s. It is, by far, our favorite bar in Baltimore and Belgian Beer Fest is the best. Definitely missing that this weekend. We’re going to try to make up for it this weekend and while my parents are here.. I’ll report back.

Giveaway Winner!

Congrats to Tiff at Love, Sweat, & Beers! You’ve won my Peanut Butter & Co. 31 Days of Dark Chocolate Dreams giveaway!

Food for Thought

What are your Valentines Day plans?
Are you being hit by the crazy weather?

What I Ate Wednesday #63: Going ALL Out!

This past weekend was one for the books. We crossed off a couple more places from the bucket list and then some! It was our second-to-last weekend in the city so we had to take advantage as much as possible and it was so much fun.

Of Love and Regret

Love this place. As I mentioned in my bucket list post, we had been here before but wanted to head back once more and I’m so glad we did. The food is always fabulous and the drinks didn’t disappoint either.

The Old Man’s “Hatten” – bourbon, cochi di torino vermouth, aperol, luxardo cherry garnish, rocks

Saison Darkly – Brewed with dark malts and burnt sugars then lightly spiced with rose hips, hibiscus, & schisandra berries

Vegetarian Bahn Mi Burrito – seared Asian Pâté (black beans, barley, scallions, & ginger), South Asian slaw, Sriracha sweet chili aioli, fresh basil & cilantro, wrapped in a grilled whole wheat tortilla + a baked sweet potato

Nathan surprised me and sprung for dessert. He usually doesn’t have much of a sweet tooth and this one was delicious.

Pumpkin Cheesecake with chocolate sauce and goat cheese caramel

Bluegrass Tavern

Another place that we’ve been to a couple times that didn’t make it on the bucket list post, but I knew we had to go back for Nathan. They make a smoked fried chicken to die for! It’s the perfect combination of smoke and crunch, plus they topped it with crispy brussels!

I was worried my Apple Cobbler cocktail would be too sweet but the bourbon balanced it nicely. I’d highly recommend anything that comes with a bourbon-soaked apple 😉

Apple Cobbler Bourbon Cocktail

Charcuterie & Cheese Plate – Homemade Garlicwurst, Rabbit Black Truffle Terrine, Sharp Cows Milk Cheese, Pickled Okra, & Chutney

Kale salad with goat cheese, shallots, fennel, grilled salmon, & lemon vinaigrette

Smoked Fried Chicken with crispy brussels sprouts over garlic mashed potatoes

Lexington Market

FINALLY! Lexington Market is a Baltimore staple. Everyone I know that doesn’t even live in Baltimore has been to Lexington Market so I had to go and it was so worth it! On top of the crab cake, I also had a couple raw oysters [best I’ve ever had!] and a fresh Berger cookie. The chocolate literally melted in my mouth. You should really order some.. they’re worth every penny [and calorie].

Faidley Seafood – Lexington Market

This place is no frills. Just the way it should be.

The famous crab cake from Faidley Seafood with pickled beets and cucumber salad.

The Food Market

This wasn’t an official bucket list place either since I was lucky enough to have a catered work brunch, but when my family wanted to get together for brunch, I figured it would be a good choice. Plus, I need to get all the blue crab I can before we go.

Crab Benedict – Homemade whole wheat english muffin, crab cakes, poached eggs, & potatoes

I guess you could say I really ate my way through the weekend. Every bite was fabulous and so much fun.. though the best part was all of the time I got to spend with my family. It was the perfect way to break up all of the packing!

Food for Thought

What food is your hometown known for?

What I Ate Wednesday #58: A New Restaurant

Even after growing up in Baltimore and living in the city for 2 years, there are still a ton of restaurants I haven’t tried. Last Friday we decided to knock another one off the list. It was a Bond Street Social double date night with Adam and Jessie.

Obviously I’d scoured the happy hour and dinner menus online and had picked out a few things for us to share during happy hour and planned on a lighter meal for dinner. Unfortunately not all plans workout; the happy hour menu online was an old one.. hate when that happens! Nathan and I ended up sharing a chicken tikka skewer appetizer that was pretty tasty but a touch dry. I do love the presentation though!

Chicken tikka skewers over grilled flat bread with tzatziki

The menu told me that it pairs well with The Show Cabernet and I couldn’t argue with that! However, the happy hour drinks carried over into dinner and Jessie and I were talking into sharing this bad boy..

We put up a big fight too 😉

Since we didn’t go for all of the apps I had planned on, I was hungrier for dinner so I went for a full entree. The waiter explained that the menu is setup for sharing so all of the entrees came out in a similar style to the chicken skewers. Nathan went for the chicken and biscuits with citrus slaw and I ordered the miso glazed salmon.

Miso glazed salmon, with sautéed spinach & shiitake mushrooms

Again, I loved the presentation and the sauce wasn’t too heavy or salty. I was also concerned about the spinach being greasy, as sauteed spinach often is in restaurants, but it was perfect. Nathan’s chicken and biscuits came out in a similar presentation as well, but of course I didn’t get a picture of that before he dove in!

The four of us rounded out the night at another new-to-us place; One Eyed Mike’s, a Grand Marnier bar. I ordered the smash—their twist on the mojito—and Nathan had the Perfect Storm. He’s a dark and stormy kinda guy so I knew it would be perfect for him. I didn’t get a picture of either of these drinks because, well.. when you hit up happy hour and are then coerced into sharing a bottle of wine, you forget about pictures for the night 😉

It was a fun night though and I’m glad we knocked a couple more places off of the list!

Food for Thought

Do you have a list of new restaurants you’ve been wanting to try?

Have you been to a bar that specializes in a particular kind of liquor?

Five Things Friday

It’s Friday!! We made it! And now all we have to do is make it through today and then it’s time for the weekend. Ahhhhh 🙂

1. Thank you all so much for all your wonderful comments on yesterday’s post. I was a bit nervous to hit publish as I’ve not really had any personal posts on my blog yet, but I do plan on keeping it up after seeing the response.
2. On my walk to work, I pass a breakfast place and can sometimes get a little whiff of some bacon, pancakes, and waffles. Nine times outta ten it doesn’t phase me but man, I could have gone for a plate of bacon this morning!
   

   Thick cut. Only thick cut will do.

   And speaking of bacon, we went over to the Fells Point Farmers’ Market a couple weeks ago so Nathan could try the famous BLT from Peter’s Inn and I’m pretty sure there was at least half of a pig on the sandwich. If you like a good BLT, this is place to get it! But go early because they sell out! Nathan got the very last one!

3. I can’t believe we’re already halfway through another round of Best Body Bootcamp! It always flies by so quickly and this time is no different. And this week has been awesome.. I cut 6 minutes off of my time for Monday’s workout and 5 minutes off of my time for today’s workout! I can’t wait to do the fitness test again on Sunday and see if I’ve improved.
   

   Monday’s workout

   

   Friday’s workout

4. The weather this week has been outrageously beautiful! I can’t believe it’s in the 80s in October! I definitely took advantage of dresses, skirts, and sandals this week.
5. And speaking of the weather, we’re supposed to have a perfect weekend. They’re calling for upper 80s which sounds wonderful to me and just in time for the Fells Point Festival! We’ve never been and I’m hoping to make it over there at some point during the weekend.

Food for Thought

Do you have any big plans for the weekend?

Marvelous Leftovers and Fabulous Finds

Happy Monday, friends! I hope you all had a marvelous weekend.. I know I did.

Marvelous is kicking off the weekend with a semi-impromptu date night. We had planned on going out but as the day progressed, we decided it might be better to stay in and order carryout from one of our favorite little restaurants. To my surprise, on my walk home, Nathan called me and told me to meet him out on the main road so he could swing by and pick me up for our original date night plan. Off to Ten Ten!

Cocktails, Fried Brussels Sprouts, Ragu, & Local Rockfish

Our meal started off with their famous fried brussels sprouts. They were amazing and I’ll be sharing more detail in my WIAW post this week, but for now just enjoy the mouth-watering picture 😉

Marvelous is having leftovers! I was super excited to have leftover rockfish for my lunch on Saturday. It was just as delicious the next day!

Kale salad with leftover rockfish

And not only did I enjoy leftovers for lunch on Saturday, but I had leftovers on Sunday too! We had dinner at The Red Star on Saturday night and I ended up bringing home half of my sweet chili salmon. Yum!

Kale salad with leftover sweet chili salmon

Marvelous is finally finding a sweater long enough to wear with leggings! I’ve been looking for a year for a sweater that I like and now that I found this one, I might have to buy it in more colors 🙂

OOTD complete with a cheese ball smile and all!

Marvelous is incredibly huge and flavorful local fuji apples! I found these bad boys at the little Thursday farmers’ market near my office and they’re amazing! In years past, I haven’t been able to find local apples that are crisp but this year they are absolutely perfect. And they size of my head!

Local Fuji Apples

Marvelous is finishing my weekend with another eggy quinoa stuffed squash.

Need I say more?

Food for Thought

Did you have a marvelous weekend?

MIMM Weekend Photo Dump

Is it just me or do weekend days go much faster than weekdays? I feel like Monday always sneaks up on me.. 26 years and I’m still not used to it! We had a fun, pretty relaxing weekend that we kicked off with my cousin at the Orioles game. Always fun to be at the park, especially for a win!

Pregaming for the O’s game! They poured my beer twice so I got a freebie.. hate when that happens! 😉

HeyOOOOOOOO 😉 [Too much?]

Brian Matusz and Jim Johnson warming up in the bullpen. Fun to be so close to the action!

My cousin Nicole, Nathan, and me. We had a terrible time!

Lunch on Saturday. I added mango and avocado to my chick pea tuna salad and it was delicious! I love all of the colors.

Hit up our favorite bar in Baltimore, Max’s, for an evening brew on Saturday. They have a crazy long list and I decided to go for some samples instead of 1 full beer.. I just couldn’t decide!

Nathan made a killer dinner Sunday. Herbed chicken over pasta with a light tomato, vegetable, white wine sauce. Yum!

Hope you had a great weekend too! Back to the daily grind..

Food for Thought

Are you a baseball or football fan? Or neither? 😉

Do you prefer to get one large drink or a sampler?

Bootcamp: Take 2

Week 2 of Tina’s Best Body Bootcamp is complete and I’m alive! Sore. But alive.

Monday I hit the ground running and pushed through my first workouts from both Tina and Tone It Up.

It was tough, but knowing what to expect out of the workouts helped me crank em out a little quicker than last week. And I already found that I could increase my weights for some of the exercises! That really makes me look forward to revisiting the fitness challenge after week 4!

Week 2 Thoughts

Once again, my motto of less thinking, more moving rings true. Some of the moves got easier and I was able to increase weight. Others [like that darn scorpion!] are still putting me to shame. I’m also pleased to say that this weeks’ workouts have pushed me over my 100 miles since January 1! The newest goal? I’m going to hit 200 miles by Valentines Day. Might as well double it, right? 😉

Workouts for weeks 3 and 4 have been sent out and they look grueling but I’m up for the challenge and I’m looking forward to changing it up again.

Favorite Meals of the Week

It’s a toss up! Nathan made a delicious fajita spiced skirt steak which I made into a huge kale salad. But tied was a salad from Kooper’s Tavern, a local Baltimore bar. This salad was not only topped with beets and roasted squash [some of my faves], but also everything bagel seasoning crusted tuna. Everything bagel seasoning crusted. It’s revolutionary.

Previous Reviews

Best Butt-Kicking Bootcamp [Week 1]

Food for Thought

How have you pushed yourself this past week?