Mutt's: The Canine Cantina

A few months ago a new dog park opened up in Dallas and I have been pretty excited about giving it a shot. This dog park, Mutt's, serves food and alcoholic beverages. What is not to like about this. I will admit that Lily does not really care for dog parks but I can't turn down food and wine. One of my good friends, Holly, had been a few times and we decided to give it a go on a Friday night. We met right about sun down so it wasn't too hot or too cold, it was nice. 

To be honest, neither of our dogs are great at the dog park and since they are different sizes we would have been in the different parts so we opted for a table. Lily wasn't too excited about the whole experience so I opted not to spend the $5 to get her into the dog park. I think we will give it a shot at some point, hopefully with another big dog so that I will have someone to visit with.

Once we got to the table we ordered the Margarita, which was amazing. I only had one and it was enough. The first food item we ordered was actually for the pups, they have doggie dogs. This was a pretty nice cold hot dog that Lily was apprehensive of at first but once some other dog stole the first bite she was ready and enjoyed it.

While she looks skeptical, you had better believe she ate that all up.

For dinner I got the Jessica Biel dog. This was an andouille sausage dog covered with mustard and peppers and onions. I got it without the mustard because I hate it and I should have had them leave the onions and peppers off. I don't really love them and there were so many in the end I mostly just piled them on the plate. This was a great sausage po-boy. I felt like I was at home having one from the side of the road. In Louisiana for fundraisers they often sell sausage po-boys.

Jessica Biel dog

Mutt's is most definitely a do over. At some point we will check out the dog park portion of it, but it was nice to be able to go to a restaurant and bring the pup. The food and drinks were so good. Also, a huge bonus is that there is actually a parking lot, sometimes in Dallas there is no parking near cool stuff.

Lily said to give this place 3 paws up. Not the full four because there was a giant chocolate poodle that kept chasing her but other than that she had a great time.

FC Dallas: Dallas till I die

Over the last few months I have been trying to try out more of what Dallas has to offer and since it is often hard to figure out what happens in a new city I have been scoping out the GroupOn deals or livingsocial (both tend to have the same thing) to find stuff to try. Several times there have been deals for tickets to the FC Dallas game. This was pretty intriguing since I love soccer and why not give it a shot right. I managed to con one of my friends, Sarah, into going with me. Actually, I think she was pretty excited as she had never been to a game.

I will admit that neither one of us knew what to expect since this is America and we tend to only care about some sports and soccer tends to fall by the wayside. I didn't know if this would be a great experience or if we would be leaving at the half.

It turns out that this was a great way to spend a Saturday night. We both had a wonderful time and it wasn't too hot or too cold at the game. Our cheap seats where at the end of the soccer pitch and that was an interesting view. I think I would buy tickets on the side if I purchased them (I think there would be a better view).

For the majority of the game we had the amazing opportunity to listen to a band. These men appeared to be big fans and often threw lots of confetti in the air. It made it feel more festive and pretty amazing. At the end I will admit that I was ready for them to take a little break but it was kinda fun once you got used to it. These guys were true fans and had songs and cheers and all kinds of good stuff.

Lots of confetti

The band

I had a wonderful time at the game. It was great Dallas beat vancouver 3-0 (maybe 3-1) I don't really remember but I know that it was amazing. A few highlights were that we never had to wait in line for concessions or the bathroom, this is uncommon for sporting events in Texas. Another highlight was that even though the sun was setting we weren't in the sun really at all. Also parking was free so that was a bonus. I would recommend this as a great thing to check out if you are coming to town and have nothing to do (or absolutely love soccer).

Another week?!?!?

I am not quite sure what has happened over the last few months but I have no been diligent about my blogging. Sorry about that. I will admit that much has happened since I went to DC in July but that is no excuse for not sharing the excitement in my life. I have also been having a hard time getting my laptop out at night. Oops. But I am trying again so just hang in there and I think most of this will pan out.

To hold you over as I write all of these blog posts, here are a few things that I have been up to:

I bought a new car, yes there is a great story here.

I look like such a grownup...

I am working on changing this table into something I love.

The paint color is in the corner, yup hot pink.

This is going to be a sweet wall decoration.

What girl doesn't need a wall monogram

And as always here is a pic of sweet Lily.

 I have high hopes that I am going to get back into blogging pretty soon but to be honest sometimes it is hard to write down my thoughts. But I am going to try. I realize that this is a boring blog but for me I really enjoy writing it down and thinking of fun things to try and share.

Taverna

One of my sweet nerd friends from work and I are both pretty new to Dallas, we started within a few weeks of one another so we are still trying to figure this city out. One of the things that we try and do pretty frequently is go out to dinner and we often try new restaurants. Now this is a little risky because it is hard to know what is going to be good and what is going to be gross. Our last adventure was terrible, the place smelled bad and the food was bad. So terrible, I tossed my leftovers in the dumpster on the way to my car. That is saying something.

This time we decided to check out Taverna (restaurant). Taverna is a well respected Italian place that one of her lab members recommended. We had heard that you had to make reservations and that parking and seating were limited. Unfortunately, as a party of two we were told that we would just have to wing it. We arrived just after 630 and found a parking place really easily and walked in and were seated. 

As we walked in, I felt like we had been transported to what I imagine could be somewhere in Italy. It was quiet and decorated with rustic touches. I was pretty impressed with how cute it was. We decided to get the Focaccia bread as a starter and it was really good. It might have been a bit much for just the two of us. I got a glass of wine, I think a Savigoun Blanc.

Spaghetti Carbonara

Pasta with gorgonzola and pears

For dinner I got the Pasta Carbonara. I am not sure where I fell in love with this dish but I do love it. I have made it several times at home and I don't know that mine have ever tasted this good. It was the perfect mix of bacon (or perhaps a prochiutto) and creamy sauce. It was incredible and the leftovers that I had were also really good. This was served with some homemade (or it appeared to be) Italian bread. You could just get this bread and not the Focaccia. Saumya got the fiocchi al gorgonzola e pera which is pasta with gorgonzola and pears. She was really pleased with this one, I didn't try it. 

A great night!

I would definitely go here again, it does get the Hannah Malcolm Seal of Approval. I will admit that the prices were a little steep but the food was worth the money. Also, this would be a great date place (I will be sure to get someone to take me here). Let me know if you give this place a try. 

Kraft Recipe Makers: Chicken Bruschetta Pasta

Look for this in your store...

The other day I was shopping at Target with the coupons that my mom sends me in the mail (she is an amazing woman) I realized that I had one for the Kraft Recipe Makers. I try to be open to trying new recipes and some kits, sometimes the dinner in a box is disgusting. I think this was about $4 and I had a $1 or $1.50 off coupon so I figured what the heck why not give it a try. There were several different choices and I thought this one looked the best and I only needed to add chicken and bow tie pasta noodles.  The recipe was pretty simple to follow and it took me about 30 minutes to prepare dinner (that is always a bonus).

As I made this, I was pretty impressed by the number of dishes needed: 2 pots. I am becoming more of a fan of doing fewer dishes, so the fact that is is pretty much a one pot meal thrilled me. It also made the house smell nice and pretty while it was cooking.

In the skillet

After the 30 minutes I dug in an I was pleasantly surprised by how yummy this was. I will definitely be picking up another one of these for dinner. I hope to actually branch out and try more of them or some of the other recipes that come with these two sauces: a pork one and and shrimp one. I made some broccoli to go along with it and that was good too.

On the plate

I will admit that the only downside is that while the box indicates that it will serve 5 when prepared exactly as described, I think that was a lie. I bet I only get 3 meals out of this. I am fine with that but if I was making this for a crowd I probably would have a salad and maybe some bread to make it go a little further.

Note: this was not supported in any way by Kraft Food. It was supported by me a girl who likes to eat and try new things.  However, if they find this and want to send me stuff to try I would be very happy to try it.

Trying two new recipes

As you know I love to cook and I love to eat, so I have been trying to incorporate new recipes into the mix so that I have a few new things to add to the faithful recipes. So here is a story of a new winning recipe and one that kinda failed.

Even Lily wants to eat it

The winner: Baked Ziti Freezer Meal from SixSisters (which you can see for yourself here).

I have long been a fan of meals that freeze easily or are easily subdivided. Since this was marketed as a freezer meal I figured why not right, and seriously I love pasta. I will admit that I was a little skeptical about freezing an entire thing of Baked Ziti on the off chance that I didn't like it so I froze the sauce mixture. 

My friend Holly came over for dinner and we both agreed that it was wonderful and on some level it was just as good if not better the second day when I ate it for leftovers. It was soo good, I would definitely recommend this one if you like to cook. The half recipe gives me about 4 meals so that is about how long I want to eat the same thing so it works well for me. 

The only cooking hints are the dollop the sour cream around the casserole because the cheese melts (if the sauce and pasta are warm) and then you can't really spread it. Last night I made the second batch and the provolone slices that I had were a bit moldy so they got tossed and I replaced them with extra mozzarella and I think the provolone slices are better. I will admit that it was still pretty good and if your sauce is cold then it will take at least 45 minutes to really get warm all the way through. I took the foil off at 30 minutes and let it go 15 more without. It was still wonderful, this is a definite win and I will be making this again!

Looks yummy, just a bit bland

The loser: Cheesy Garlic Chicken from Better Homes and Gardens The Ultimate Slow Cooker Cookbook (pg 183, if you have the book).
This was a pretty simple crockpot recipe, add chicken and cauliflower and green beans and eventually some cream cheese. But when I made it, no matter how yummy it looks in that picture it was pretty bland. The chicken had no flavor and somehow managed to dry out in the crockpot in the liquid. Maybe if I had cooked it a shorter amount of time the chicken would have been better. On a side note some Tony's or Louisiana Hot Sauce would have worked.

In the end it was alright and I ate it for several days so I liked it enough to keep eating it. I think I might try this again eventually but I will probably make the chicken a bit more seasoned. When and if I ever get this recipe together I will be sure to share it with you but until then all you need to know is that it was super super bland. The cheese and fresh tomatoes helped but not enough.

I am finding that I really enjoy cooking these days and trying out new and different recipes is always a good thing it allows me to eat something different and not feel as if I am always eating the same things. I will be sure to let you know if I come across some wonderful gems in my hunt for new yummies. Do you have some favorite recipes or a great place to find them?

Maple & Motor

The other day one of my good friends, Linds, and I met for some lunch. Honestly, I suck at choosing restaurants but for the most part I am pretty happy with what people choose. She threw out Maple & Motor (810 Maple Ave, Dallas TX 75219), which she saw on Diners, Dine-Ins, and Drives (triple D) on the Food Network, and I of course was in. As a huge bonus, this place isn't too far from work. We decided to meet early, which was great since there were times when every single seat in the whole place was taken. 

The menu was pretty simple, burgers and a few other items. I opted for the BLT, which I can't really resist. Linds opted for the grilled cheese sandwich. I know that it is a little strange to hit up a burger place and then not get a burger, what can I say I am a rebel! We decided to split a side of onion rings. 

BLT sammy

Onion Rings

This was one of the better BLTs that I have had, the bacon was crispy and the there wasn't too much mayo. If there was one thing I didn't love it was the shredded lettuce and that is just because it kept falling out of the sandwich all over the place. The beer battered onion rings were really good, they must have just been fried because we had to wait a few minutes to really dig into those.

After we finished our lunch we sat there and chatted about life and the excitements that we have going on for a while and no one really rushed us away. I think had there been a huge line of people we would have left earlier but there wasn't ever anyone waiting for a table so that was awesome.

This place gets the Hannah Malcolm seal of approval!! I would totally recommend hitting this up if you are in the area. If you are one of my veggie only friends I don't know that they would have much for you other than the grilled cheese, just a heads up on that one. Let me know if you check this out and I will definitely be looking through the Triple D list to see if there is anything else that needs checking out from his show.