Derek & Collin both might post about this but since I paid, I figure I better do it first!

Last month was my parents' 38th anniversary. Sadly, they were both sick so I told them that when they were better Collin & I would take them out to dinner. Saturday night turned out to be the time. The place they chose was Brooklyn's, an out-of-the-way Italian diner that serves the most wonderful food. Derek & Heather joined us that night.

Our waiter was new and it took a while for our order to be taken. While we were waiting, he brought over this plate of cut up pastry. I can't remember the name of it - Squatchy was the only one who could after he told us what it was - but it was delicious! It was like a cinnamon roll infused with a little bit of Heaven. We all decided that was what we wanted for dessert.

When it was time to order dessert, Mom & Derek changed their minds to cannoli's. I was just going to share the cinnamon thing with Collin but he talked me into my own and Dad wanted one, too. So we ordered three. Now the waiter's job is to look out for his customers but this guy was new. What he neglected to tell us was each of these desserts was the size of a 10" pizza! No joke! He brought the first one and said, "Two more of these coming up."

Oh, my God! Dad was laughing his head off and all I could think of was "How much is this going to cost me?" We finished off a whole one and took the rest home for snackies later during game playing, which is another story that I'll let Derek tell. Now I know to always ASK how big a dessert is before we order!

Labels: family, food

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I wanted to do a picture post but Flickr is being a pain in the behind so...I'll talk about Freak Train instead!!

Last night was my first time at Freak Train - it's hard for me to go since it's always on a Monday night and I work every Monday night! Plus the kids usually have school...but last night we could go! The kids are on Spring Break so they stayed with their mom and I took the night off and up we went! We had to leave the second Collin got home from work with Trevor in tow so we didn't eat. By the time we found the Bug Theatre we were starving!!!

Derek suggested we go to the restaurant across the street to eat. He said their prices were reasonable but only order the chicken parmisagne and don't use the restroom! Hunger overtook us so we went. It took about 5-10 minutes to get seated and another 5 for the waiter to come take our drink order. This is the conversation:

Waiter: We'll start with the drink order

Collin: We're ready to order now if that's okay.

Waiter: I can't take the food order now. We'll just start with drinks.

???? Ummm.....What? Usually waiters/waitresses are happy to get it done in one fell swoop. But not this weirdo. It seemed that there was a pattern at Patsy's Italian Restaurant that we weren't familiar with. Drinks first, food second. Don't upset the pattern!!! Trevor said the whole trip up there was worth it just for that! We tried to come up with reasons why he couldn't do the food order right then - maybe he was a trainee and not allowed to seemed the best one. But no, 5 minutes later he was back for the food order. The mystery may never be solved!

The food was good - I had the homemade spaghetti and the cheese ravioli combo - but they were slow and we made it to Freak Train as the lights went down. That meant we couldn't see where Mom, Dad, Derek & Heather sat, saving us seats! We sat in the very back row for the first act; during intermission we found them and moved to the fourth row.

Collin was the 3rd performer of the 2nd act, after Pat Angello and before Derek. Pat's set made me laugh harder than I have in a while. He dressed as Kelly Clarkson and sang "Walk Away" with a puppet doing background vocals. Hilarious and very well done!! Collin was next, the only Freak Train Virgin of the night, not counting the 13th Freak. He shook while he was up there and when he shifted his hand to hold the bumper sticker he was talking about he was flipping the audience the bird unknowingly but he rocked!! He did SO good!! Everyone laughed and thought he was great!! Derek did good, of course. He's no stranger to the FT stage! He even included bodily injury to his gig which is always fun!

The hosts threw out bracelets from The Onion to the audience, one of which bounced off the lady in front of us and right into Collin's arms. I took it. It has my family motto on it: Cheat To Win. All in all it was a very fun night - I definitely want to go again as long as I don't have to be the 13th Freak!!!

I realized that some of you may not know what Freak Train is: it's a deal that takes place at the Bug Theatre in Denver the last Monday of every month. You go and sign up - there are 12 slots for performing - and you can do anything you want onstage for 5 minutes. Last night there was rapping, belly dancing, comedy (skit & stand-up) and general weirdness (Dueling banjos performed with noselights.). The month before a # is chosen and the next month, whoever is that number of person through the door is labeled the 13th Freak and HAS to perform. The hosts give you things to incorporate into your act. Last night's 13th Freak did good...Heather had to do it once and I heard she was fabulous. I just don't ever want to do it!

Labels: collin, food, freak train

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At least my dining out life.

Mimi's Restaurant here in town served the most wonderful Chinese Chicken Salad I've ever tasted. It was so good I would dream about it. I was convinced that I could live on it.

Today Shanon & I went to Mimi's and I started looking through the menu and my heart stopped. "My salad's not on here."

Shanon: What???

Me: My salad...it's GONE!!

Waiter: Are you ready to order?

Me: You don't have the Chinese Chicken Salad anymore?

Waiter: No, we replaced it with the Asian Chop-Chop Salad.

Me: Is it as good?

Waiter: No. There's no mandarin oranges and they put peppers and cabbage in it. But the dressing is the same.

So! There you go! I have to boycott Mimi's now. I had the French Dip for lunch but it didn't make me cry with joy when I bit into it. Stupid Mimi's.

BTW, there's a new post over at that other blog I contribute to!!

Labels: food, life-ending happening, shameless plugs

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I'm about 2 months into this South Beach Diet thing and I'm doing pretty good - I don't know how much I've lost cuz I don't have a scale anymore but I know I've lost something! I was able to get into a pair of jeans recently that were too tight so that's a plus. But what drives me crazy sometimes is what I can't eat. This is what I miss:

-Potatoes. God, I miss them terribly. All kinds of potatoes...french fries especially but at Thanksgiving dinner not being able to have mashed potatoes smothered in cream gravy will be horrid.

-Pizza. Real pizza covered in cheese and pepperoni and pineapple and green peppers and onions...I've tried the South Beach pizzas made on wheat crust with 6 pieces of pepperoni on there and it's not so great. I think it's the sauce that ruins it. I'm a light-sauce or no-sauce-at-all girl. Collin gets Little Caesar's Pizza sometimes and it smells sooooo good....

-Wendy's Chicken Nuggets. I can't have anything deep fried. And I can't have honey mustard or BBQ sauce or sweet & sour sauce because of the sugar. Bah!

-Jellybeans. I love jellybeans...sour jellybeans especially.

-Skittles. Especially sour Skittles.

-Buttered Popcorn. I can have plain popcorn but sometimes I really crave that greasy buttery flavor while I'm watching a movie.

That's about all. When I get down to my goal weight I'll start cheating again! Until then I must be strong!

Labels: food

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Before I go any further can I get a "Whoa, Derek?" Whhhooooaaaa Derrrrrek!! AOL News linked to him in a feature about Blogger reactions to Terrell Owens being suspended and ultimately released by the Eagles. He's our little star!! I guess I better start writing about more sporty topics, huh?

Also...in yesterday's post I have a small correction to make. Mom called the Colts "Loser-Free", not "Non-Losers" like I originally posted. Still funny, though!

So!! On with the post! Last night the Dinner Crew hit IHOP as usual and lo & behold there was a fashion victim sitting across from us, just begging to be MattedSpam fodder. Sadly it wasn't the infamous IHOP Skank - I seriously think she's been banned from going in there. I heard the waitresses complaining about her one night so it wouldn't surprise me if they told her not to peddle her trade in their establishment.

This girl, though, was immediately christened the IHOP Slut. She looked to be in her early 20's with streaked blonde hair and a ton of make-up. She was wearing pajamas. Now, I wear pajamas in public - shopping or even to work - but my idea of public pj's are long pink & white plaid flannel bottoms and a long sleeved pink Hello Kitty In Candy Land t-shirt. It's all respectable looking. This chick...teal bottoms with Tinkerbell slung way low so that her red thong (& butt) was in full view, a tight skimpy matching tank top that her boobs were bursting out of and a teal cocktail umbrella in her hair. I'm thinking that the cocktail umbrella was the clue to why she was dressed the way she was. Too drunk to know or care.

She wasn't near as bad as The Skank but I really don't need to see boobs & butt while I'm eating. Is that too much to ask?

Labels: food, Mom

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First off, Mom has a new post! Check it out!!

Now, on to my main topic. Last night Collin and I were talking about foods I could and couldn't have on this South Beach Diet. He asked about potatos and I said that I couldn't have them, as much as I enjoyed them, they were taboo.

"I love potatos...heck, I'll even eat them raw. They're really good that way," I said. He ooked out and told me no one eats potatos raw. My family never saw anything weird about it so I assumed everyone did that. Am I wrong? Has anyone else out there eaten and enjoyed raw potatos?

I did a little research and here it says that it is safe to eat them raw. But at Wikipedia I found this:

Potatoes are edible (if not very palitable) raw, but are slightly toxic. A few people do die from eating raw potatoes each year somewhere in the world but this is usually because they have been improperly stored and have started to sprout. It is in the eyes and the sprouting parts that the toxins are concentrated.

So, what do YOU think??

Labels: food

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...of my South Beach diet and guess what that means?

I can have bread again!!

I'm so happy! I've missed bread! I also get to eat popcorn, yogurt & pudding. Whee!! The good news is that the diet appears to be working...so it was worth it not having wonderfully yummy bread for 2 weeks!

Hope everyone has a spectacular weekend!!

P.S. Mom's on a roll...check out her version of the I Need Game here!

Labels: food

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Prescilla & I were so jazzed about going to IHOP for break last night that while we were doing our 5:30pm walk before work, we had already discussed and decided what we were having: A Denver omelette with a side of bacon. Mmmmmm.....bacon....We were both going to have the same thing because it sounded so freakin' GOOD!

1am finally rolled around and we took off. We were only 2 last night because Ginny was out sick. We got to IHOP only to find them closed!! For remodeling! *sigh* So much for not only my omelette and bacon but for my weekly report on the IHOP Skank. Sorry to disappoint you. But the dispair doesn't end there, oh, no!

We hightailed it up the road to Denny's, the only other 24 hour sit-down restaurant in the area. We're not big fans of Denny's because everything's greasy and it reeks of smoke but in a pinch it will do. We pull into the lot only to find that they're closed as well for cleaning!! GACK! What do we do???? We're soooo hungry!!

I decided we were going to take a chance and drive 10-15 minutes out of our way to hit the IHOP on Chelton & Platte. I wanted my omelette & bacon, dammit! With the sparse 1am traffic, it didn't take us long to get there. It also didn't take us long to realize that they were closed as well. They closed at midnight! What kind of IHOP closes at midnight for crying out loud???

Okay, one last chance. There's a Perkins on the opposite corner of Platte and I like their food. Plus I was REALLY HUNGRY!! We're sitting at the light waiting to go across when we realize...holy crap!...they're closed for remodeling, too!! It's now clear...the omelette & bacon Gods are against us! "You want to diet? Here's a diet for you - DON'T EAT!!" You know that's what they were saying!!

So I whipped the car into the turn lane and headed back to work. We stopped at a 24 hour King Soopers and Prescilla got a sandwich and I got some turkey and Laughing Cow cheese (which if you haven't tried you need to if you like creamy Swiss cheese - this stuff is mucho yummio!!) and ate our paltry meal in the break room.

Please send bacon. Thank you.

Labels: food

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I've mentioned before that I'm part of a lunch group; two other ladies here at work & I go to IHOP for our lunch break every Tuesday night/Wednesday morning. Last week they were fairly busy for 1am and we had to sit by the restrooms. A young lady came in with what appeared to be her boyfriend and made a bee-line for the ladies' room. We had no warning to look away & shield our eyes from the oncoming monstrosity.

She was very tall without the 4 inch spike heels she was wearing. She was also not a small girl. Not grossly overweight by any means but not slim either. She was showing everything in a mini-mini black dress, the skirt of which stopped right under her butt cheeks. The dress had a halter top and no back so we could see her thick black lace bra she wore with it. As she walked by our table, she was tugging at the skirt, trying to get it to cover her legs. I know my brain was scarred from the amount of cellulite that was flashed our way. Ginny, the older of the two other women, leaned across the table towards me and whispered, "Hooker." I was also of the opinion that she would make a great candidate for ValuHo.

Last night we made our trek to IHOP and were sitting at our usual table when here she came again, the same guy in tow. She looked a tinch less sluttish this time but she still appeared like she frequented Nevada Avenue a lot. She was wearing a tight maroon tank top that scooped down low, showing off tattooed boobs, a maroon hoody, tennis shoes and a mini-mini pink and maroon plaid schoolgirl skirt. The skirt, once again, barely covered her butt and this time she was standing by our table talking to the waitress and kept kicking her legs in the air towards her man (who looked like a drunk biker). We were forced to stare at each other so as not to see the show. Honestly! People are in there to eat! Have some decency for Heaven's sake!

I'm wondering what she'll be wearing next week.

Labels: food

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I love Subway. For two years that was all I ate while I was on my diet. My fave sandwich is the roast beef on wheat. I used to get the Dijon horseradish sauce on it but a while ago they discontinued it. That seems to be the beginning of my disenchantment with the sub shop. Last night sealed the deal. Sealed it up right tight!

Collin & the kids came to have dinner with me on my break and Justin really wanted to go to Subway. That sounded good to me so I acquiesced and we went to the one just down the hill from work. I've been there so many times and never had any problems. I ordered the old standard: roast beef on wheat with southwestern sauce (in lieu of my much-missed horsey sauce), lettuce & onions. Collin ordered the other three and went to pay. The total came to $27.42! We both thought that was a little high but the girl ringing it up handed him a receipt. Sadly, the total was correct. It was obvious, though, that the prices had gone up. Each sandwich (we got the Meal Deals) was $7.50 and Jordyn's Kids Meal was $3.50! Add on the tax and you get the insane amount that Collin paid. (At 1am I went to IHOP with Prescilla & Ginny - they both had a chicken strip dinner & I had a grilled Rueben sandwich w/ onion rings and our total was the same as Subway! That's just not right!)

While we were lamenting over how much prices had gone up, I started to eat my sandwich. The first two bites tasted like cigarette butts. After that it seemed to be okay until I reached the end of the first half - then the butt taste was back with a vengeance. I set that half aside and bit into the 2nd half. Bleck! More cigarette butts! I don't know what made it taste like that - was the guy that made the sandwich a smoker and the taste transferred from his hands through the protective gloves onto my food? No one else had that taste so it had to be either the sauce or the onions...those were the only things I had that no one else did. Whatever it was, you can bet I won't be having Subway for a long, long time!!

***A side note just for giggles***

These are three names I ran across while working on my genealogy project last night:

-Benjamin Outlaw
-Arson
-Urethra

I hope the parents didn't name Ben & Arson with hopes to what they'd be when they grew up. As for poor Urethra, I'm thinking that they heard that word one day and when she was born they said, "Hey. Remember that great name we heard a while back? That'd be a right purty name for our little girl." Ick. I'm so lucky I have a nice normal name...even if I am named after a flowering weed.

Labels: food, names, Subway, yuck

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You know how it is when you're a kid and your parents have friends who have kids so when they're invited to their friends' house for dinner or whatever, you HAVE to go, too, because they have kids and you're supposed to play with the kids, even though you don't know them?

Sure you do.

This happened a lot when Derek & I were growing up. Dad's good friend Bert the plumber (that's his full name, I swear! It's never "Bert came over today" or "I'm going to Cripple Creek with Bert" it's "I'm going to dinner with Bert the plumber.") & his wife Nancy had 2 boys Chad & Jeremy (not the 60's singing group... I don't think they were named for them, either. Just a happy coincidence). We got to be fairly good friends with them - at least I did: Jeremy was my age & Chad was a year younger.

Then there was Dave. Dave was 7 feet tall and an artist. If any of you reading this are from Colorado Springs or have visited here and eaten at Gunther Toody's on Academy, he painted the old car that used to be on the wall on the north end. Anyway...

Dave & his wife Sharisse had a son about my age named Travis so when Mom & Dad were invited over for dinner, Derek & I were dragged along. This was the first time we did anything with this family and we weren't sure what to expect. Dad had met Dave through his job at the theatre somehow & had never met his wife or son. Derek was only 3 or 4 and a picky eater. On the way to their house, Mom told us "Just eat what they put in front of you and be quiet."

Okay. No problem.

We got there and Sharisse turned out to be nice if not a little odd. She was making goulash for dinner... whole potatoes, big hunks of meat, half a carrot here, half an onion there. At the end, right before serving it, she dumped in a whole tub of sour cream. My mother was mortified - you could see on her face that she so did not want to eat it but she had to be polite.

While she was trying to choke it down, Derek leaned over to Mom, lifted her hair up and whispered in her ear: "Just eat it and be quiet."

We stopped at McDonalds on the way home that night. And I don't ever remember going back there for dinner. Ever.

Labels: derek, food, Funny

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