Posts Tagged "Bourbon"

I love free drinks

Posted on Apr 26, 2012 | 3 comments

And I just can’t say no to them.

Matt’s end of year bash for his new company was this evening. And it was a blast! We ventured to the Beyu Cafe in Durham – a restaurant/venue I had not yet visited. There was an open bar, and I just couldn’t resist the fresh cocktail menu! So I ordered the 10$ drinks I always dream of ordering…

I had the Kentucky 57 – Maker’s, simple syrup, and champagne. So delish!

My second drink was an Cactus flower – an mix of a flowery liqueur, cucumber, and basil. SOOO good. (I requested the tall glass bc martini glasses are too easy to spill). There may have been a phenomenal margarita after this…

I expected dinner to be a mix of fried appetizers, but it was awesome! They had amazing chicken, salmon with rice and asparagus, steak kabobs, and salad with optional toppings (so happy they left off the onions!)

There was a pretty decent band, but we spent so much time talking that there wasn’t much dancing. Matt had to come home to work on a paper, but if it had been a Friday, this would have been a good dancin’ band!

I’m pumped that I don’t have to go to work tomorrow, although I’m gonna have to hunker down and do some report writing:( But then I’ll be free for the weeeekend!!!

Piedmont

Posted on Jan 29, 2012 | 1 comment

Man, I love Saturday nights. We dined at Piedmont for restaurant week with two of our friends. The evening commenced with cocktail hour in our apartment, where we opened a bottle of wine from Matt’s parents. I’m usually not a huge pinot fan, but this wine was fantastic!

At the restaurant, I was excited to see a bourbon drink with orange bitters – I’ve had this combination before and loved it, so I knew it’d be a winner.

The bread with herby butter was delightful, although I will note that it wasn’t free ($2)! You’d think they could at least refill it when you buy it…

I ordered the salad as my appetizer, but also shared Matt’s black eyed peas and shrimp, because we couldn’t decide between the two.

I was actually unimpressed by both. The salad was pretty boring and I’m just not a huge fan of cold shrimp and peas (and there were onions). I feel like there’s always a restaurant week course that’s just not great though.

Although small, I really enjoyed my entree – the crispy NC trout with broccoli rabe with a sweet demi glaze. The sauce was especially good, but it literally went down in 5 minutes.

Before our dessert course, our waitress came over with bad news. They were out of everything except the panna cotta, cold chocolate pudding (who serves that in a restaurant!), and the beignets. Obviously, I went with the beignets and they were fabulous. They were pipping hot and served with vanilla sugar and coffee syrup. Still, though, I was pretty disappointed with the selection, especially when I see things like a carrot-beet cake, cream cheese frosting, and walnut-currant conserve on the regular menu!

Overall, dinner was great, but I’d have to say that Piedmont’s food wasn’t on the level of other Durham restaurants (aka, Revolution, Nana’s, Guglhuph, Four Square). We had a blast with our friends though, and headed over to West End Wine bar for a nightcap/birthday party (Happy Birthday Katie!) after dinner.

I had a phenomenal tawny port that really made my night. LOVE that you can order a 2oz dessert pour at the wine bar across the street. I must go more often!!

And another weekend is over! Good night.

Saturday Celebration

Posted on Jan 8, 2012 | 3 comments

Vacationing is great, but weekends at home can be just as fabulous! Friday night, I had a lot of fun drinking wine and eating pizza with my co-workers. I’m getting sad about leaving them, but was so happy to be able to enjoy a night out with everyone.

Saturday was a boat load of fun because I had the whole family over to my place! I think it was the first time it’s ever happened.

Kath & Kanz came down from VA for a quick visit and to exchange Christmas presents. Kanz brought a home-brewed beer that was a unique combination of orange and vanilla. Yum!

I contributed brussels roasted with a bit of olive oil, as well as maple and cinnamon mashed potatoes. I was quite pleased with both!

My dad made his perfectly grilled London broil,

and Kath and Kanz brought rosemary garlic bread from the bakery!

I forgot how fun eating in can be when the food is awesome! We also opened a bottle of syrah that Matt’s parents had given us as a gift a while back and it was perfect with this meal!

[PS: a belated happy birthday to Matt's mom, Candace!!!!!]

Kanz’s birthday is coming up soon, so my mom and I picked up a carrot cake from Whole Foods.

Great cake! I had two of these plus more Christmas eggnog with bourbon that my dad made everyone drink to finish it up. Made for an uncomfortable bedtime, but twas a festive night. Felt just like the holidays again.

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Today we strolled around East campus, brunched at Guglhuph, and then I did a lot of relaxing before whipping up steak quesadillas with the leftover meat. Best combo ever. Tomorrow marks the last Monday at my job. Can’t believe it :/

To the Mountains

Posted on Nov 26, 2011 | 0 comments

Howdy. I’m absolutely loving my time off – longest time away from work since I started in July! Given our change in plans, Matt and I decided to spend the rest of our weekend in Charlottesville, visiting Kath and Kanz and my parents. We arrived just in time for a Thanksgiving lunch on Friday. THIS WAS SO GOOD.

I love getting to try other people’s Thanksgivings.

  

For dinner, we drove to a neighboring town to see a performance by musician Scott Miller. We dined at the music hall, where Matt and I split a huge portion of local spare beef ribs as well as a local pork ribeye with bourbon bbq sauce.

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Today, I’m relaxed, rested, and stuffed full of Great Harvest french toast. It’s time for exercise and then we’re off to Virginia wineries. Wheeeeeee.

Revolution Review

Posted on Oct 24, 2011 | 5 comments

So I’m a bit late with a restaurant review from this weekend. I got home late from outlet shopping and a mexican feast with my parents and I didn’t want to rush the post last night. Because the food I had this weekend deserves attention. I tell ya, Durham restaurants continue to impress.

Since it was a birthday celebration and all, I made cocktails to kick off the evening. Amaretto liquor with sparking cranberry and lemon. Delightful.