Thursday, June 28, 2012

Out and About Eating Adventures - Chapter 3

We have been keeping busy, getting out to try out some new restaurants, crossing some off of the list and just enjoying summer.

We had our last neighborhood Bunco before starting up again in September, a few weeks back. I was on snack duty and made some smoked salmon finger sandwiches. This one had a onion and chive cream cheese spread on rye bread with a dollop of creme fraiche and some fresh chives.
I did another variety with vegetable cream cheese spread on rye bread with a dollop of honey dill mustard and some fresh dill sprigs. 
All plated up and ready to go!

I have a running list of restaurants that I want to try and Hazellewood Grill and Taproom have been on the list for a while. On Wednesday they have a special dinner for two for $30. They had some really good choices, but the boy took one look at the menu and knew what he was having. 

We started with their brie cheese curds, which just looked too tempting to pass up. They came with a lingonberry ketchup, SO wonderful!
I had their Bourisn burger which is one of the things they are known for, it was delicious!
When the boy saw that they had a turkey dinner on the menu, he knew what he was having right away. When our waitress told him it was the last week on the menu, he could not pass it up. They have a great patio, and they are moving their half price wine nights to Wednesday, so we will definitely be going back!

A couple of weeks ago we were looking at apartments for a friend who is moving here from DC, over in St. Paul. We got hungry for lunch while working, and decided to check out Rusty Taco, we were in luck, this place was WONDERFUL. We started with some chips and queso. Tasty!
We each had a taco, I had the Roasted Pork taco, which I loved, and the boy had the Brisket taco, which I thought was just okay. We would definitely go back though, and they are opening one in NE Minneapolis soon as well!

This past weekend, we had an impromptu dinner party with friends T & J and J. T is now traveling during the week for work, so really the only opportunity to see him is on the weekends. It was a lot of fun catching up, and even though I threw together the menu at the last minute, it turned into a wonderful dinner. 

I had pinned this recipe for Mediterranean Layer Dip on Pinterest last week, and had been looking for a reason to make it!
I served it with pita chips and pita crackers, and even the boy who does not like hummus at all, loved it. It was quite the hit. 
We also had some meat and cheese. The rest of the menu was pork loin on the grill with a glaze, yellow wax potatoes cut up with onion in tinfoil on the grill and sauteed zucchini. Dessert was a black cherry gelato drizzled with honey, delish!

Another place on our list was Bacio for brunch. It is very close to home, and they have a great patio, so we thought it would be the perfect place for a Sunday brunch. 

The boy had the Delfino's Mexican Breakfast, which he said was delicious and he loved the chorizo. I might have to try to recreate this. 
I had Manny's breakfast sandwich with fresh fruit. I loved the avocado on it! SO good! We had only been here once before, for a HH at the bar, but we need to make sure to keep this on our go-to list!

This past Sunday we spent the day sailing with friends out on Lake Minnetonka. We were hoping to grill burgers on the deck with them after, but they had to work, so the boy and I decided to cross another one off the list, Minnetonka Drive-In. This place is a classic, a total throw back and has been here since 1961. 


I had to try a caramel milk shake, they make their own ice cream, it was heavenly! Perfect ice cream day too of course, that always helps!
The menu boasted of their homemade onion rings, couldn't pass those up. 
I went with the classic california burger with cheese, so much fun to watch them bring the tray up to the car and drop it off. Loved it! Every Thursday is classic car night, and I guess the cars come in from all over, we are hoping to get the boys car out and take it there one night and check out the other cars. Summer goes by so quickly, we will definitely have to put this on the calendar. 

It has been perfect grilling weather and dining al fresco weather! I threw some chicken breasts and summer squash and zucchini on the grill and made some thin spaghetti with sauteed tomatoes, fresh basil and goat cheese as a side, wonderful summer time meal! This meal just tastes like summer!
Looking forward to cooking up some good things this coming week and trying some new recipes and cocktails!

2 comments:

Martha said...

Your posts make me extremely hungry!!! Did you take any photos of the new apartment?
I love hearing what you're up to...you have the most inspirationally fun life, Jilly-girl!

Jacky Hackett said...

I should not have read this on an empty stomach. Yum! Those tacos look amazing. And I love that Mediterranean dip, always a hit when I make it.

 
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