Chinese Food Take-Out

Sometimes, I crave Americanized Chinese take-out. This is from Mandarin Palace in Boise, which is owned by friends of ours. Shrimp, fried rice and Mandarin chicken.

His and Hers Coffee

Good morning! The coffee is ready...I like mine to be about the same color as my hair, so I'll take the cup on the left :) Our favorite brew is White Cloud breakfast blend.

Taste Test: New Dishes at the Olive Garden

We popped into the Olive Garden for a quick lunch and to explore the new menu items. Above is seafood brodetto. Similar to a cioppino, but the broth has saffron in it and is milder. Full of shrimp, scallops, tilapia and spinach. I really liked this dish.
My husband's lunch is above and our friend's lunch below. I was so focused on my own lunch, I didn't really pay much attention to what they ordered :) I know the dish below is seafood Portofino.

Veggie Mixed Grill

Zucchini, beans, red bell peppers, summer squash, carrots and a little bit of onion tossed in melted butter with minced garlic and dusted with a little seasoned salt and oregano. Grill this on high so the flames can caramelize the natural sugars in this yummy veggies.

Huckleberry BBQ Sauce Chicken Thighs

Grilled up a pack of cheap chicken thighs last night. I like to par-cook them for a quicker grill time, and remove most of the skin after the pre-cook. These were brushed with huckleberry BBQ sauce that was out of this world. My mom brought me a bottle of it from Roche Harbor, Washington, and the "brand name" is "Roche Harbor".

A Smiling Dog for National Hot Dog Month

July is National Hot Dog Month - which inspired our dinner last night on the grill. What do you like best as a topper?

Srirachi Sweet Shrimp

Isn't grilling season fun? Here was last night's experiment: Srirachi sweet shrimp. Raw, thawed, tail-on shrimp were marinated for about 40 minutes in a mixture of Srirachi (hot chili sauce), sugar, lime juice and minced garlic. Then skewered and grilled until the sugar caramelized - and it took just a few minutes. A sweet-hot treat.

Grilled Pork Chops

A grilling experiment over the weekend: pork chops. I brushed them with a terriyaki-sesame-orange glaze...and then proceeded to overcook them :(

Browned Sugar Snap Peas

Sugar snap peas browned in butter with a little seasoned salt. This is the whole batch cooked - notice there aren't that many. My kiddo ate the whole bag raw for lunch.

How About a Little Pasta with Your Parm?

There really was some pasta under here, but I love grated Parmesan cheese more than the pasta. It's also fabulous on freshly-sliced Idaho potato French fries.

Taste Test: Pinnacle Sports Grill

We enjoyed lunch at Pinnacle Sports Grill over the weekend. It's a newly-opened restaurant along Eagle Road...in the location where Iggy's used to be. We dined there on a recommendation from a friend. Above is the fried ravioli appetizer. I was hoping for more flavor.
Grilled deli turkey with bacon. Yum.

The blackened chicken sandwich with waffle fries. This one had a lot of great spice.
"Rib ends" - which actually look like a full rack. This place is definitely sports-themed - with 110 inch projector screens and portable speakers that can be set up at each table. We got to see a World Cup game!

Salad on a Stick?

All of last night's dinner was served on a stick. Shrimp and steak skewers...and these sweet onions, bell peppers and tomatoes were a stand-out. Lightly brushed with minced garlic in melted butter and sprinkled with coarse sea salt.

Fourth of July Food

This is Tom - a BBQ master on our block. Look at those loaded skewers! A scene from our neighborhood 4th of July block party.
Stuffed jalapenos - cream cheese, cheese, bacon and seasonings. Some were really hot, others weren't. It was a burning mouth lottery.

Dinner at Red Feather

We recently dined with friends on the patio at Red Feather, downtown Boise. Above is a lettuce wedge with buttermilk-chive dressing and onion strings. Loved it!
Spicy chicken won ton bites. Also very good. Red Feather features local food, which I really like. My husband had a hamburger he rated as "very good." There is a downside, however. This is NOT a kid-friendly establishment. There are no children's menu options or super simple dishes that children might like - and we ordered three options for her to try and she didn't like any of them. We zipped across the street to get a piece of pizza for our daughter and were told we could not feed her anything not "Red Feather" while on the patio. It's an understandable policy to keep people from bringing in food from other places and just parking on the patio, but we, in fact, had spent a couple of hundred dollars on dinner - including paying for the three dishes my daughter didn't eat. No matter how wonderful the food and the idea of Red Feather, my friends say they will never eat there again. That's too bad.

Lunch Fail - Don't Try This at Home

Leftover macaroni and cheese stuffed into an avocado. It sounded like it might be good...it wasn't.

Salami Sandwich

Italian dry salami, crunchy lettuce and a dab of mayo on a fresh baguette. To me, this is the perfect lunch.