A little Italian

Italian food. I love love love it.

Here's an easy meal to put together. Linguini with marinara sauce and I added shrimp. With a piece of garlic toast, a green salad and glass of wine. That's fresh garlic on the bread, my friends.

peas

I believe this photo was taken on the morning of my 36th birthday. I had some friends over for brunch and one of my friends was helping prepare the breakfast and opened the microwave to find a bowl of peas.  I found this to be most hysterical because I couldn't even remember when I had decided to nuke some peas for some dinner. I had no recollection. I mean I think they were in there for a day or two. I had the greatest belly laugh about it...the kind of laugh where you are crying. I love that kind of laugh. In fact it's making me smile just thinking about that day, and I feel thankful to have wonderful friends in Chicago that make me smile and laugh.

A full moon, a new look

Okay, I'm back to the white background on my blog. The black was hurting my eyes. I don't want to change it around too much...but hey, I'm working out the kinks. My plan is for the photo at the top to change monthly but have the look (and name!) of this blog stay the same. So here's a NYC bagel for ya to look at all December long. I took this at Effie's, a lovely little coffee shop on the upper East Side, on 3rd Ave, between 91st and 92nd. I've been there many times with my friend Jenny. So many good breakfast and lunch items to choose from! My favorite is egg scrambled with cheddar and roasted red pepper, on a sesame seed bagel toasted. It really doesn't get any better than that. Add a coffee and I'm in "morning heaven".

Here's a meal I made a few weeks ago. Scallops, with rice, sauteed spinach, and those little canned mandarin oranges...those are so tasty! I shake my head at scallops. I love them and I keep trying to cook them and I have yet to perfect them. I do all the things they say..."make sure they are completely dry before searing them"...."don't flip them too soon"...yadda yadda. But my scallops fall short. Maybe it's the type of scallop, or quality of scallop I'm buying? I always use sea scallops of course for searing, rather than bay scallops (the tiny ones), but perhaps I need to go to Dirk's Fish Market and get the best, or Whole Paycheck or somewhere? I think I need some scallop therapy. All in all, I rate this meal a 5 (out of 10).

2 strikes and you're out

I've been going to Jury's in Lincoln Square for years now. I've taken my parents there, gone with co-workers, friends, etc. The past two times have really bit. They claim to fame is there burger, which is good, but why does everything else on the menu have to be so mediocre, or worse yet, just downright awful? I'm the adventurous type. I tend to order something new from everywhere I go, searching for that perfect meal I guess, or just wanting variety all the time. The risk is, 66% of the time, I'm disappointed in what I order. But yet I still search. It's not that I'm complaining. I've had many many wonderful, memorable meals in my 39 years of life. (My earliest food memory: eating cream of wheat in the dining room in a tupperware plastic bowl, and my mom put a pat of butter in it...warm and cozy!). Back to Jury's. I ordered the beef au jus sandwich. Mostly cuz I like to say "au jus". It was awful! The bread was stale (my BIGGEST pet peeve), there was a slab of swiss cheese thrown on that wasn't melted and the beef was not tasty at all. I could barely eat it.

I hate to bash a place, but come on. We all work too hard to put our money towards disappointing dining experiences. Sorry Jury's...you lost me...at least for a while.

Some might say "Laura...just order the burger there...you know it's gonna deliver". I'd rather have the adventure.