Apples at Braeutigam Orchards

Discovering the London Tea Room, Downtown

After our book binge at Left Bank, JD and I stopped in for tea and scones at the London Tea Room, which is, of course, in St. Louis and not anywhere near London. Not even London, Ohio.



(The St. Louis Tea Room is in Tower Grove South - totally different place. More on that later, I'm sure.)

Anyway... I've enjoyed the London Tea Room's website and blog for a while, so we decided we should stop.



It was a classic Julie & Lainey outing: good food and drink, people-watching, Julie tweeting, Lainey taking surreptitious photos, complete with live music from a violin & guitar duo. We even had the table of ladies next to us finish their drinks and ask if I could take their picture.

Why doesn't anyone ever ask Julie to take their picture? History shows it doesn't matter how I'm dressed, where I am, or what I'm doing; strangers pick me out of the group, hand me their camera and ask if I'll take their picture. I guess I have a "good camera karma" sort of vibe. Or maybe it's a "she too fat to run away with my camera" vibe. Oh well.

Here's Julie checking out the list of loose leaf teas, deciding what we needed to take home with us.

Pizza from the Blackthorn

Okay, while I'm on this decadence kick, let's talk about pizza. We stopped in for some deep dish last week. Luckily we'd called ahead an hour earlier, so it was ready when we got there.

Quiet Summer Night at Ted Drew's

Summer + St. Louis = Crowds of people spilling onto Chippewa Street, waiting for their frozen custard fix.

A Delicious Dinner of Appetizers @ Riddle's Penultimate

When were feeling decadent, Julie & head to Riddle's in the Loop. Usually nothing can distract JD from their Cajun Cavatelli, but last week we decided we wanted a selection of little plates. The descriptions are straight from Riddle's ever-changing menu.



Shrimp Cocktail – Big wild, Gulf Shrimps served with the traditional American tomato cocktail sauce, this one made with fresh Southern Illinois Horseradish ground fresh for us at Rothman’s Deli, 4720 Delmar.



Smoked Copper River Salmon - This is not lazy slacker farm-raised Salmon. No. This is beautiful, wild, swim-for-your-life Salmon harvested sustainably from the cold,
clean waters of the Copper River in Alaska, smoked in our own kitchen, and served chilled, with pumpernickel toast points, capers, onions, and cucumber.

Crostini Harrisburg - Crostini (“little toast” in Italy) made with crusty, just- baked Breadsmith Baguette spread with Fresh Herb-enhanced Chèvre-style Goat Cheese from Harrisburg, Missouri and an excellent Italian Sun-Dried Tomato on top.



Crab Stuffed Artichoke Bottoms - Crab is the operative word here, held together only with Homemade Cornbread Stuffing and a prayer, these are like little Crab Cakes stuffed into the ‘Choke Bottoms.

Crawfish Stuffed Mushroom Caps - Large caps piled high with a rich stuffing of Crawfish Newburg, spiked with dry sherry and a good shot of cayenne pepper.

Blue Cheese Stuffed Mushroom Caps - Big caps stuffed with a mixture of Blue Cheese and quite a good shot of Avery Island, Louisiana Tabasco Sauce.

I'd tell you more about how good these were, but I've made myself hungry. I think it's time for breakfast.

Brunch at Chuy's

This was delicious. Shame it's so far away.
(Yeah, I'm lying. My office is practically across the street. JD can pick me up there after work. No one needs to tell her how many margaritas and Jalapeno Hush Puppies I've had.)

The BBQ - Before the Sun Went Down

We had a backyard full of food and trivia and activity last Saturday.

Research

I think I finally have a rye bread recipe I like, thanks to Julie and her researches.

Food pics with the new PHD

I finally gave up nursing my old digital point and shoot. These are with my new Sony DSC-W300.

Lunch on Cherokee, May 2

First order of business when going to Cherokee for Cinco de Mayo festivities?
Food.
Delicious food.

More Food from Our Artists' Retreat

Our Easter Breakfast. Yes, the jar was full of mimosa.





I know we talked about gooey butter cake here recently. For the record, this is what it's supposed to look like.

Lovely Saturday in Tower Grove

Picnic time.

Friday Night Dinner at the Deluxe

So, imagine if Crybaby's mom decided to cleanup her act, go legit and open a diner in St. Louis. It wouldn't quite be the Deluxe, but it would be its closest competition.







On a side note, if you take a couple of left over Rings of Fire (large yummy onion rings dripping with Buffalo sauce), chop them up, and add them to your scrambled eggs the next morning, I recommend adding a touch of cheese.

Dinner at Crown Candy, Friday night

http://crowncandykitchen.net/







I had a chocolate banana malt and a BLT. I also had the wrong camera with me to show you what they looked like. You'll have to go and order your own.

Tuesday night at Lily's

For once I don't have any pictures of the food, or even the beautiful margarita I sipped all night. I do have this silly pic Julie took of me wearing my new scooter helmet.



No, I don't own a scooter. The helmet is my birthday present/motivation/reward for getting stronger. When I'm strong enough to maneuver a scooter without pulling my shoulder apart, then I can get serious about buying one. Until then, I have a helmet.

Anyway, as usual, Lily's food was wonderful. Our hosts were really good sports about us bringing a group of eight into their small dining room, too.

Dinner at Mangia Italiano

JD and I decided to go to Mangia Wednesday night for no particular reason. We got there fairly early (6:30pm) so it wasn't very loud yet. I have to admit, I'm a whole lot happier going there since the redesign and the no-smoking expansion.

We split appetizers, a salad and a sandwich between us, and left happy and sated.

Our appetizers were polenta fries, toasted ravioli and a scallop special (a pair of scallops on a polenta base).


Our salad was a special, too: beets, onion, walnuts and goat cheese.


Finally we met the Marcus: roast beef, black olives, roasted peppers, cheddar cheese and jalapeno cream cheese. Julie was underwhelmed by the bread, but I thought it was fine.


Stay tuned for reports on our weekend adventures: mmmelt at the Kemper, Funhouse at PSTL, Mad March at Mad Art, a photo walk along Pickle Creek in Hawn State Park, and the Arch Rival Roller Girls season opener. I hope the camera batteries are charged.

Dining in Chicago

My vacation dining choices are based on a rugged tripod of criteria:
- locals eat there
- I can afford it
- it doesn't offend JulieDill's nose
(My nose is not always trustworthy, but JD can smell bad food a block away.)

I can recommend Harold's Chicken Shack on Wabash behind the Hilton. You know, if you eat chicken. Or even fries with hot sauce...

Piccadilly at Manhattan

Okay, so this place was around for ages, shut down briefly, and has been open again now for a year or two. I don't know how I missed it. It's smoke-free and full of comfort food.



If you like wings, try a batch "our way." Julie & I split an order while we were waiting for our sandwiches, grilled cheese for Julie and pulled pork for me.



We sat at the Willie Nelson table in the back.

Quiet week

I've been baking. My left arm is strong enough to knead bread again.

Happy Hour at Van Goghz

Julie and I stopped at Van Goghz Martini Bar & Bistro for the first time after work last Friday. I'm sure we'll go back, even if it's just so I can get some decent pictures. Of course, the big frothy cafe au lait is kind of a draw, too.



Julie tried and liked the cappuccino martini.