Taste Test at the Cheesecake Factory

We hit up the Cheesecake Factory while in Scottsdale, and we sampled the sweet corn tamale cakes. Oh my! What an interesting explosion of sweet, salty, sour and smooth flavors.

Late Lunch at Oregano's in Scottsdale

Our first eating adventure in Scottsdale last week - Oregano's. It's a favorite when we're there, and how I WISH we had one here in Boise. Above is the lunch-sized Vino Bambino salad. It has shredded chicken sauteed in wine, fresh bell peppers, olives, black beans tossed with a light creamy Caesar dressing.
A sausage sandwich. Oregano's makes it's own sausages daily.

A simple slice of pepperoni pizza.

This is the fresh guacamole. It's served with hot cheese crisps. YUMMY!

Lasagna Fritta

We popped in for dinner at the Olive Garden last night. I ordered this new appetizer as "dinner," along with the all-you-can-eat salad and bread sticks. This is Lasagna Fritta. It's a twist on toasted ravioli or tortellini. The lasagna pieces are sitting on a bed of Alfredo sauce and are topped with marinara. They were very good. This is plenty of food for a meal, too. I shared and still couldn't finish them all.

Simple Dinner

A potato so large, I cut it in half and it made a meal for my daughter and myself. The salad was a surprise from my friend. She popped over a salad big enough for dinner and lunch tomorrow. I brushed the potato halves with olive oil and sprinkled them with coarse sea salt. The salad was tossed with minced garlic. It didn't even need dressing.

Cheesecake Factory Dinner...Again

Another early dinner at the Cheesecake Factory, thank you American Express Rewards! This was the best thing of the night - Tex Mex Eggrolls with salsa and avocado cream. Lots of cilantro inside, which makes food an instant hit with us!
My dinner was the Navajo sandwich - grilled chicken, red onions, avocado slices, tomato and mayo on fry bread. An interesting combination with the lightly sweet fry bread. I would have liked the chicken to have more taste. This would be a fabulous sandwich with Cajun chicken. Also, half of this sandwich is more than enough for a meal.


Grilled cheese was a hit with our daughter. Lots of gooey cheddar.

Fresh fish tacos - which featured mahi mahi. I don't think my husband would have ordered these if he had known they would have tuna inside, although he said they tasted fine. Our daughter had a piece of cheesecake for dessert. We weren't even tempted because our tummies were so full, and because last weekend, we had cheesecake at the Carnegie Deli - the best cheesecake in the world!

On the Road...Carnegie Deli, Las Vegas

The Carnegie Deli in the Mirage, Las Vegas. This is the "Woody Allen" with Swiss cheese - half corned beef, half pastrami. Yes, it really is stacked that high between two pieces of silly-looking bread. Carnegie cures their own meats. They are wonderful and taste nothing like what you get in a grocery store "deli." We hit up Carnegie in New York City last year, and ever since, my husband had been dreaming of one of these sandwiches. He shared this one with my Dad.