Fifteen Today!

Today The Hoss turns 15. You might ask what that has to do with cooking or food. It actually has very little to do with either, except birthdays are special at our house and the birthday boy or girl gets to choose the menu. My birthday boy has chosen to eat a local Italian restaurant, Casa Napoli, for his celebration meal instead of a meal prepared by me. I am not offended that he chose this restaurant as it happens to be one of my favorites as well. Menu selections and the facts will follow later. Here's what we ate:

Appetizer - Calamari
Barb - Eggplant Parmigiana
The Hoss - Crab Manicotti
Mr. B - Fried Flounder & French Fries
Salads all around!

Food Facts: The restaurant was oddly empty this evening so the service was even better than normal. We are seafood lovers and were salivating by the time the calamari arrived at our table. It did not disappoint. Light, crispy fried with a homemade marinara dipping sauce. Yummy! The salads were the usual spring mix with olives, tomato wedges and pepperocinni. Mr. B & I had the creamy Italian dressing and The Hoss had the ranch. All their dressings are homemade and so good! The dinner portions here are huge and part of mine is at home waiting for another meal. The fried flounder was crisp on the outside and moist on the inside. The fries were fresh cut but fried perfectly. Mr. B was a happy man. The manicotti was full of cheese and crab smothered in marinara and topped with more cheese. The Hoss scarfed it down in record time. My eggplant was perfect as always. The prices are in the moderate to high range, but well worth it. Note that lunch prices are very reasonable and a lot of the dinner items are available at the noon hour. We skipped dessert in lieu of the birthday cake waiting at home. If you are in the mood for or have room for dessert, I recommend the Tiramisu, the Italian Cream Cake and the Pecan Cobbler. We'll be going back for sure!

So I didn't cook today either!

After spending much of the day coordinating the wedding of a lovely couple in our church, I arrived home about 5:30 pm. It was at that point I made my mistake. I took off my shoes and sat down. It only took minor encouragement from Mr. B to decide to seek sustenance outside the home (that and the fact I had not been grocery shopping). The Hoss and his buddy went along for the ride and the food. Our destination was a new sports grill in our town, Coach's Corner. Here's how the orders stacked up:

Mr. B - Mighty Burger with onion rings
Barb - Chicago Dog with onion rings
The Hoss - Stuffed Mighty Burger with curly fries
The Buddy - Mighty Burger with curly fries
Appetizers - Mozzarella sticks with marinara & Jalapeno poppers with ranch dressing

Food Facts: This restaurant/bar is great for the sports lover! Big screen TVs are everywhere! We arrived right before the kickoff of the AL-GA game to a not so crowded room. Soon there wasn't a free table to be seen. A big plus for me is the fact that we were perfectly comfortable taking our teenagers into this establishment. The bar area is screened from the tables and the crowd in both areas was definitely well-behaved. It's also smoke-free! Now to the big test....our server was on her toes and very friendly. She kept our (very large) glasses filled with water for the adults and soft drinks for the guys and the food arrived in a timely manner. The burgers were handmade and cooked to order, the fries and homemade onion rings were hot & crisp, and the Chicago Dog was one of the best hotdogs I've ever eaten. The appetizers were nothing spectacular but well prepared and worth the price we paid. Most of the menu items are moderately priced. If you haven't yet, give this new eating establishment (60 Village Loop) a try if you are in the Wetumpka, AL area. We'll be going back for sure!

It's Friday!

If it's Friday, it's football! Mr. B and The Hoss will go to the game without me. There's a wedding at the church this weekend, so I'll be working. I do plan to join them at half-time for the rest of the game. Dinner for the boys will be Wendy's and dinner for me will be Weight Watcher's Smart Ones.

Food Fact: It's perfectly okay to skip cooking every now and then!