Mamma Mia . . .

Where does one go on her birthday for work? Pittsburgh of course. Actually it wasn't that bad. I'd never been before but weather was delightful, sun was out and I had some good food as long as I stayed outside of the hotel.  

I really did have to travel on my birthday with several work compatriots. All are pretty rowdy and fun so no issues there. One gal in particular I'm good buds with and we decided off campus dinner was called for when we got in Tuesday evening, my choice. Did I mention it was my birthday? 

She is a Researcher and a Planner. Even for a spontaneous dinner. She went so far as to call the front desk for suggestions. I'm more of a go with my gut girl so I just did a quick map search while she was busy contacting friends for recommendations and looking all over the Internet. My map showed a place called Juliano's somewhat nearby. Local joint not fancy with wine and basic Italian. My gut said go there.  Buddy took some convincing but I did get her on board. We dialed up an Uber and took off. 

Julianos didn't disappoint. I wouldn't call it a dive. More of a joint. Maybe an old fast food place converted to a restaurant. Waitress had a good solid burgh accent. Anything less would have been devastating.  She suggested a carafe of house wine after we ordered two glasses then Buddy again hit the Planning and Reaearch wanting to know what the house wine was. What grapes where'd it come from etc. Burgh took it in stride simultaneously looking at her like she was insane. Finally she relented and accepted that it was just House Wine. This is by no means a criticism. Just what makes her kickass at her job and an endearing dinner partner. 

We ordered way too much food combined with ridiculously large portions there was no way we could even hope to make a dent in it. Breadsticks, fried zucchini , eggplant parm with a side of spaghetti that could've fed 4 people , she had some pasta with homemade pink sauce that came in a bowl more like a trough. Ridiculous. All tasty 

We topped it all off with Dum Dums from the register. I felt too bad to leave my leftovers so took them with. Uber driver didn't want them. He was concerned about a food coma. The box must've weighed like 4 pounds. Took it back to hotel anyway and offered it up as a snack to all my co workers. Biggest regret was no mini fridge in the room to take advantage of cold spag for breakfast. Can't have everything I guess. Even on your birthday. 

Jiliano's family Italian on Steubenville Pike. Recommended. 5 microwaves. 

YUM 

Whoa. Part deux.

These on the other hand suck and are super disappointing. 

Boo Dancing Deer. Or maybe boo Randall's. Not sure which. These should be wonderful but instead are dry and lackluster. Gravely disappointing. I kind of feel like they are thawing out from frozen. Surely that's not right? 

Too bad. The name alone was supper exciting. 

Meh 

Whoa.

Oh my gawd this is so good. Nom nom nom nom. 

Chana Saag. Saffron Road. For realz. CRAZY GOOD 

Highly recommended. 

Tisket a Tosca

Lunch at Tosca on work trip to DC with a good friend. 

Worried about late afternoon food coma I got scallops and mussels. Perfect portion and left room for dessert. No photo because I inhaled it. Honestly I can't even tell you what I ordered other than something with strawberries. Maybe pannna cotta. Yeah. That is spelled wrong. Sue me. 

Meal topped off with lovely cappuccino and no resulting food coma. 

Great company and great eats. 

Recommended!

Luby's. A celebration.

Recent excision to the Galleria Luby's with TNT, my New Guy and Someone Else's New Guy.  When discussing lunch choices we threw out that we'd considered Luby's but New Guy wasn't familiar. SENG jumped in on the Lubys donee bagged former and and set off on foot for the promised land. Not to mention being pumped that SENG was a member of the Cult of Luby's. 

Usually, as y'all know from previous posts I favor the fried fish Luann platter with fried okra. Past 6 months I have been trying to eat better and thought something not fried was in order. Toyed with the sides platter but went with meatloaf Luann. 

LEt me just say this was some damn good meatloaf. Like really good. Great flavor nice texture, good loaf quality. The total package. Naturally the aides were good so I won't waste words on that.   New Guy seemed pleased with his meal as well and that bodes well for his future. He's a New Englander transplant to Htown. Luby's was total foreign concept to him. He managed it all very nicely.   And it turned out that T2 went to high school with SENG in Kingwood. Small world! But I didn't need to hear what year they graduated from high school. That just made me feel like an old lady but was not enough to overcome the meatloaf high. After a lovely walk back to the office we all took a nap. 

Not really. But we could have. 

Well done Luby's! 

A 5 microwaves rating for this visit!

Crack in a Bag

I recognize I'm in the minority with liking coconut, but goddamn this is addictive. 

I bought this Sunday at Costco and I've inhaled neay the whole bag by Friday. Jerks. 

If you like coconut HIGHLY recommended. If you don't, well what's wrong with you!

More Pickles

In my never ending search for the quintessential pickle, may I present Cooper Farms whole dilled pickles. Cooper Farms is. Texas family farm/ orchard that has a roadside stand with fruit and veggies and pies and are best known for peaches. Cooper farms may actually be quite the commercial operation but I like to think I'm really eating something homemade. Thus the pickles. 

The jar is whole pickles. I just cut one up for pics. I have to say I'm pretty darn enamoured with these. Very nice balance of vinegar dill and garlic with a smidge of red pepper. And you can see all those things in the jar too!

They are reay quite spectacular. Tangy. Crunchy. The end. 

If you're on I 45 in the near future follow the signs to the Cooper Farms store and grab yourself some. 

Recommended 5 microwaves