A few of my favorite things: fancy chocolates, special soda, the grape, nature, humor, kindness and thoughtfulness

I didn’t have any good dining experiences to tell you about tonight, so I wanted to share with you a few of my favorite things, some of which are in my fridge (lucky me).

Fancy chocolates. Procured at Walgreens, Safeway and Fry’s.

After all, the kitchen wench can’t afford to eat Julia Baker chocolates every day.

Special soda. Found at Fresh & Easy.

 

The orange version pictured, but these guys also make lemon, grapefruit and other versions I probably don’t know about. Not as sweet as Fanta. This goes well with prosecco (think half and half).

The grape.

 

Provided by next door neighbor.

Nature.

Our cold weather this past week is inspiring me to plan a ski trip next month. Hopefully in Durango, Co.

Humor. Shown here by Jack.

He is so silly. If you can get a little silly in your life, I highly recommend it.

Kindness. My Mom made me a bean burrito today.

I invited her to Manuel’s and she said, “Honey, why don’t you just come over and eat lunch here?” Enough said.

Thoughtfulness. Catalina, my friend from work provided all of us ladies (and gents too) a rose for Valentine’s day.

Mine is still looking pretty spritely.

 

 

 

 

 

The Golden Greek, Fez and a bloody mary from Madison Improvement Club

One of my favorite places for lunch in the 80’s was The Golden Greek. At the time I was working at Accident Chiropractic on 35th Avenue and Northern, and this little Greek place was introduced to me by my boss, the wonderful Dr. Zellers. The food was just great. And still, it is just the same.

A couple of weekends ago Jack had a gig on the west side and I mentioned we should check out The Golden Greek.

http://www.azcentral.com/thingstodo/dining/Golden_Greek_643364325950

The chicken souvlaki sandwich and gyros sandwich are winners. You get a Greek side salad with each. They also serve Greek beer, lentil soup, hummus (you must try this) and baklava. We skipped the baklava this time because with appetizers, soup and sandwiches we were looking for a wheelbarrow to get out of there. You must go.

It is mom and popish, the original owners are keeping the place humming. It is clean, cheap and the food is wonderful.

Jack’s gig on the west side ran into two weekends (two weekends we could have tried to escaped town, mind you) and we decided to spend a day at the mall near the new Phoenix Cardinals Stadium. It is pretty neat. There is a Yard House (one of our favorite places for onion rings and pastrami sliders), a Johnny Rockets and also a Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville. On this visit we chose burgers (or I did that is) at Johnny Rockets, we both enjoyed shakes and malts, along with unlimited fries and Jack opted for a hot dog. Their food is tasty, but it is recommended you make this your main meal of the day. Again, a wheelbarrow might be needed to get out of there. Did I mention they have unlimited fries?

Deadly.

http://www.johnnyrockets.com/

There is also a Cabela’s nearby, Jack took the opportunity to hop onto one of their ATV’s.

They have quite an impressive aquarium with huge fish that are native to AZ.  A cool place to bring the kiddos (and free, too).

Continuing with dining experiences…Linda invited us to Fez (at the recommendation of her lovely daughter Adriene) for dinner on Saturday night. I felt like the ugly duckling in the room. I was reminded instantly that I need to get my hair colored and cut, and my eyebrows and lip waxed. Let me just say, this restaurant is filled with beautiful people. Go there, and you will understand. And you will thank me, because the food is delicious.

I had a hummus burger on a ciabatta roll with a baby romaine side salad that was dressed with just the right amount of vinaigrette. And the colorado bulldogs weren’t bad, either. And be sure to get some sweet potato fries.

http://fezoncentral.com/

Ever since the nice folks at Chow Bella (The Phoenix New Times food blog) have been been writing about Brat Haüs on Scottsdale Road, I have been talking to Jack about going. He doesn’t need his arm twisted too much to eat a sausage. Neither does the kitchen wench. So, on Sunday we went. He chose the lamb sausage a french roll with carmelized onions and I went for the pork schitzel sandwiches. These are small (4 count ’em) and cute. On little hawaiian rolls. And they are filling. Jack enjoyed a beer and I had a cider, I needed something light from our Friday night of debauchery, I mean…dinner.

I almost forgot to mention that they have a charming patio so you can sit outside under very tall ficus trees (sun or shade, whatever  your preference). There is also an oversized Jenga game if you are, well… game.

Continuing with the food…we took home some lamb sausages from Brat Haüs. Yes! They let you take them home (3 come to a pound) so you can cook them any way you want. Jack made them with fettuccine pasta last night, along with some shrimp, basil and grape tomatoes, sauteed in olive oil. Yes, rabbit sausage goes well with shrimp, in case you were wondering. Leftovers for the kitchen wench’s lunch tomorrow (not pictured).

http://brathausaz.com/

Also we decided to take home some dessert, Brat Haüs had sweet potato pie as their daily pie special. Trust me, you must get a piece of this pie.

After all, it is in the vegetable group.

Recently the kitchen wench had the opportunity to sample a bloody mary at Madison Improvement Club. They use horseradish. I highly recommend you get one of these to start your day.

On a Saturday or Sunday, of course.

http://www.themadisonphoenix.com/

Their latest email blast this week included this quote:

“We think it’s safe to say it’s officially patio weather!! and can’t imagine anything more siplicious than a weekend morning mimosa.  So on Saturdays & Sundays we’ll give you two mason jars of oj and a bottle of champagne for $20.  And if you just can’t wait for the weekend and ask nicely, we’ll probably sneak you that deal during the week, as well.”

Oh, my.

Heavens. Mercy.

Union Biltmore, Julia Baker chocolates and immigration reform

Is anyone else out there excited that we might actually have immigration reform soon? I am living vicariously through the 11 million (I think that is the correct figure) undocumented people living in the U.S. who may see some relief in the near future.

Today being payday, the kitchen wench went a-celebrating. One of my favorite places to walk around when the weather is nice like it is now, is Biltmore Fashion Park. Back in the day it was only for the “haves”, but now…the frugal kitchen wench can hang out there and spend an pleasant afternoon, but not break the bank.

I started at Julia Baker chocolates. A glass of port and a “dark chocolate experience” later, I was feeling no pain. In truth I still have a bit of a sugar high. After all, the dark chocolate experience is 4 truffles (count ’em) which consist of a dark ganache hand-cut chocolate, a dark chocolate French caramel truffle, a dark chocolate hazelnut truffle and a dark chocolate ancient truffle. The hand-cut, which was square and dense, with a dot of gold on top (this is Biltmore Fashion Park, folks) was my favorite – not pictured.

The rest were great in their own way, very chocolaty, smooth, creamy and oh so delicious. You must go and eat some of Julia Baker’s chocolates. She makes them in Scottsdale, by the way. She studied chocolate making at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, no less, so you know that she knows how to make ’em. I finished off my stay there with a capuccino. And the nice hostesses there didn’t mind that I was reading the newspaper, all casual, in my jeans and t-shirt. The best $25 I ever spent.

People, it is okay to treat yourselves once in awhile. This is a great place to do so.

http://www.juliabakerconfections.com/

Union Biltmore is a conglomerate of stores which is located on the East end of the mall. I have been reading about it for 6 months now on various food blogs, finally I made it there today. When you go, expect to find candles, clothes, furniture, artisan olive oils, cupcakes, breads, the list goes on and on. I found a new dress today. Lookie lookie.

This is from Lilly Boutique at Union Biltmore. If you look closely you will see that there are little birdies all over it. Neat, yes? I think it is very Jonathan Livingston Seagull. And only $65. Still within the kitchen wench’s budget. It will be cute with boots I think.

Next door there is a clothing/shoes store (sadly I don’t remember the name) but they have fabulous retro platform shoes in many bright colors (think royal blue, red, green, purple). At $225 a pop, I didn’t get a pair, but if I hit commission at work, hopefully during tax season, well…a girl can hope.

Also I found a candle for Jack for Valentine’s Day. It is from White House Flowers, also at Union Biltmore. It is beeswax and it was explained to me that this is one of cleanest burning candles (least carcinogenic of them all), so that is a great relief. It is “Sampaguita” scented, which is a flower from Thailand. The nice man who sold it to me told me that it will burn for 40 hours, and for $25 it seemed like a good price.

How appropriate that Jack gets a candle from his homeland for V-Day.

http://shopbiltmore.com/union

Lastly, a blast from the past. My friend Kellee in Greenville, SC. is having her wedding anniversary today. I’m unable to be there in person, but thanks to her brother Rob, I am participating in spirit with this retro picture of me and him from 25 years ago today.

Wow, and wow.