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 #33: Happy Blingiversary!

As I mentioned on Monday, last Thursday was the 1 year anniversary of Nathan proposing, otherwise known as our blingiversary. We decided to take that opportunity to celebrate with a nice dinner. It also helped that it was Baltimore Restaurant Week so that just gave us even more of an excuse to try out The Food Market.

[Breakfast]
Sweet breakfast scramble with unsweetened banana chips and peanut butter. Any surprises here? 😉

[Lunch]
A nice big kale and cabbage salad! I knew I would be indulging for dinner and dessert so I had to behave. I piled on the veggies and used some roasted garlic hummus as my dressing.

[Snacks]
Banana Chobani and an apple. Apparently I love fruit and the new banana flavor of Chobani is delicious. Find it!

[Dinner]
In our attempt to be fancy, we each started with a glass of the “house bubbles.” It was a nice treat to go along with the freshly baked foccacia bread that practically melts in your mouth.

For appetizers, I ordered the Spice Sliced Tuna with chiffonade romaine & crispy wontons, orange jus, & hot mustard. The tuna was perfectly seared and the orange and mustard sauces played so well off of each other. Nathan had the Pickle Juice Brined Pop Corn Chicken with sweet & sour sauce. Any chance he gets, he’ll opt for fried chicken!

For our entrees, I ordered the Seared Mahi Mahi with capers & raisins, cauliflower puree, & almond bubbles. The fish had the absolute best crust; just crispy enough to need a knife, but the rest of the fish flaked apart perfectly. The sauces were a little buttery but very light. Nathan ordered the Duck Breast with brussels sprouts, parsnips, & cherries in cider. This was my second choice, but I think we chose appropriately. The duck was tender and so flavorful; we both love duck and cherry together.. what could be bad?

[Dessert]
Once again, we were both pleased with our decisions. I ordered the Sweet Potato Pie with pecan brittle, torched marshmallow, & creamy maple. I’d never had sweet potato pie before [crazy, right?!] and I loved it! It was pretty darn sweet, I’m sure from the maple sauce, but it was so scrumptious. Nathan ordered the Heathbar Bread Pudding with condensed milk caramel & whipped cream. I thought this sounded amazing but too sweet.. turns out, this was amazing and mine was sweeter. Go figure!

The entire meal was fabulous and I’d love to go back again soon [hint, hint Nathan!]

Food for Thought

If you’re married or engaged, do you celebrate any anniversaries other than your wedding anniversary?

Bootcamp: The Midway Point

When I hit week 2 I thought 8 weeks might feel like a long time. Now that I’m at week 5, I can’t believe we’re already half way through!

If you recall from week 1, I took the fitness challenge which is to be repeated at the half way point as well as the end.

Week 1

Week 4

Overall, I’m pleased with my challenge results. My wall sit time increased by over 30 seconds [holy shaky legs!], I did 10 more push ups, and I cut 14 seconds off of my fastest mile! As far as my plank goes, I can definitely go longer, so I’ll be revisiting that soon. And burpees? Well.. they’re burpees. And they suck. But I’m hoping for at least 1 more by the end of bootcamp!

Week 4 Thoughts

I can’t lie, week 4 was tough. I don’t know if the workouts are catching up to my and my body was just more tired, or if it was just an off week. I definitely pushed myself and kept up the intensity and it’s showing. Not only did I improve on almost all pieces of the fitness challenge, I also was able to go through more sets in my timed workouts and I’ve also lost a total of 4″! It’s nice to see all of the hard work that I’m putting actually paying off. It is absolutely encouraging me to keep pushing through the next 4 weeks!

Favorite Meal of the Week

Last Thursday was the 1 year anniversary of Nathan proposing to me so of course, we had to go out to dinner! This is just a sneak peak as I’ll be recapping the whole dinner on Wednesday, but I had the seared mahi mahi with capers & raisins, cauliflower puree, and almond bubbles for my entree. It was light, a little buttery, and the fish had the perfect crust. It was definitely a winner!

Previous Reviews

Best Butt-Kicking Bootcamp [Week 1]
Bootcamp – Take 2 [Week 2]
Beat Up Bootcamp [Week 3]

Food for Thought

How do you measure progress? Do you use methods similar to a fitness test?

What I Ate Wednesday #13 – Birthday Edition!

It’s my birthday!

Or, at least it was yesterday. And what better way to celebrate then with some of my favorite foods and sharing them with you today.

[Breakfast]
For such an important day, I had to make sure to have my most favorite breakfast. Chocolate protein Coach’s Oats, topped with Earth Balance Coconut Peanut Spread and a fig, plus my Bombshell Spell on the side!

And no worries, I would never keep something so delicious from you. The recipe is coming soon 🙂

[Snack]
Grapefruit (not pictured)

[Lunch]
My lovely friend, Jessie, offered to take me out to lunch for my birthday. I decided to check out Brio, which happens to be right around the corner from both of our offices. I’d never made it over there, but I will definitely be going back! I got the Wood Grilled Salmon Salad, exchanging grilled chicken for the salmon. I was shocked when it came out; so many times I’m disappointed in the size of “entree” salads at restaurants, but this salad was huge! And super delicious. And the steaming hot sourdough bread to start out didn’t hurt either!

[Snack]
Vega One Chocolate Nutritional Shake. I have to say, I was quite impressed with the flavor of this shake. It was my first time trying this brand, and really any vegan brand of protein for that matter, and I’m looking forward to trying the other flavors!

[Birthday Flowers!]
He done good. Real good 🙂 Nathan definitely knows me well enough by now (almost 9 years!) to know that I’m not interested in a bouquet of roses. I just love all of the colors!

[Dinner]
Oh heyyyy awesome birthday dinner!

In the spirit of trying new things, we went to Dogwood for dinner last night. Neither of us had ever been there before, but we’ve heard so many good things about it over the years and I’m so glad we finally made it!

The meal started with a deliciously dense homemade bread served with mango butter; a little bit of sweet and a little bit of savory. I ordered the Summer Squeeze, a cocktail of watermelon juice, lemon juice, basil, and house-infused citron vodka. I’m a sucker for any kind of watermelon or cucumber cocktail so I had this one picked out before we even sat down!

For my first course, I chose the Grilled Summer Ratatouille.

Local summer squashes, eggplant & tomato, fresh basil

Nathan described this as a “hug in a bowl.” It was so fresh and flavorful; it was really the perfect comfort dish for a summer evening. Not to mention, it is vegan and gluten-free. For those of you Baltimorian’s out there that are vegan, vegetarian, or gluten-free, I would highly recommend Dogwood; everything on their menu is noted, and they even have an entire vegan prix-fixe menu!

For my entree, I was between a few options, but landed on the Pan-seared Wild-caught Swordfish per our waiter’s suggestion.

North Carolina swordfish served with ruby grapefruit, jicama and avocado salad, baby arugula and yukon gold potatoes

He definitely did not steer me wrong! The fish was cooked perfectly, the salad was light and fresh, and the potatoes were creamy and flavorful. And those sauces were divine. I topped off my entree with a glass of white wine recommended, again, by the waiter; a little sweet to play off of the sweetness of the fish.

Dessert was an amazing coconut cake. And if you’re like Nathan or me, you immediately just thought of the coconut cake episode of Good Eats. I will be trying Alton Brown’s recipe very soon.. I couldn’t get enough of the cake!

Oh, and that glass of prosecco? On the house.

As if the food wasn’t wonderful enough, the service at Dogwood was the icing on the (coconut) cake! They were all very attentive and friendly, and always willing to share a recommendation. This restuarant gets a huge Barr & Table seal of approval. I can’t wait to go back!

[Summer Staples]
FIGS!

I completely forgot how much I love fresh figs and have reminded myself in the past week. I could have eaten the entire box in one sitting, but instead I decided to space them out and savor them. Oh, and Nathan doesn’t like them. Darn.. more for me!

Speak Up!

What is a food for which you’ve recently re-discovered your love?