Turning 27

Last weekend, R's parents made a special meal for my birthday. Chicken & Dumplings and a Queen of Sheba cake. Don't let its modest appearance deceive you. This cake was the richest dessert I've ever eaten. Instead of flour, the recipe called for pulverized almonds. Oh, and it used a full pound of chocolate. Yeah.

We also had reason to celebrate because this week marks three years since Roland and I met. Our first date was the day before my 24th birthday, and our second date was on my birthday itself (I sure am glad he didn't wait to call me).

In a futile effort to work off some of the celebratory calories, Roland decided to take his old skateboard for a whirl after dinner. He was quite the skater in middle school, and he can still do all sorts of ollies and oodles and other fancy tricks.

Never having tried it before, I asked Roland to give me a quick lesson in Skateboarding 101. He tried valiantly, but I just couldn't get the hang of it. He ended up just holding me steady while dragging me along the sidewalk. I'm afraid I won't be headed to the X-Games anytime soon.



Don't worry; it's healthy!

I think Target should consider revising this sign to:

Better for you when compared with…

• A stick of shortening
• Twinkies filled with Pixy Stix
• Smoking

The Past Week in Restaurants...

Thursday, January 5, 2012 - Udipi Cafe in Richardson Heights

Roland has been fighting a cold over the past week (which he may or may not have picked up from me), so we decided to try some Indian food to clear out his sinuses. We’d seen Udipi Cafe in the neighborhood and the reviews seemed favorable online, so we went for it.
The good:

• Vegetarian!
• Very clean
• Attentive servers
• Inexpensive – our appetizer and two main courses came to $19.99 with tax!

The not so good:

• The Dahi Vada appetizer: the gritty-yet-somehow-also-soggy texture and cold temperature came as such a shock that I actually couldn’t swallow my bite.

Our main dishes were quite good; Roland chose a spicy curry and I got a dosai – a giant lentil pancake with hot potatoes, onions, and spicy chutney inside. Scrumptious!

Sunday, January 8, 2012 – Dream Cafe in Addison

We woke up super late this morning (is 11:30am still morning?) and realized we only had one egg left. So we headed up to Addison to the Dream Cafe, a popular spot known for their “cloud cakes” – light, fluffy pancakes made with ricotta.
The good:

• We were told there was a 20 minute wait, but got a table after less than 10!
• Last holdout still serving pumpkin pancakes in January.
• Much improved coffee
• Inexpensive – (see “not so good”)

The not so good:

• Our waitress was fairly quick to take our order; however, after about 20 minutes and watching other people seated after us get their food, we started to get little annoyed. I mean, we didn’t order a 10lb veal roast — just a few pancakes. After 30 minutes, we were in genuinely bad moods. At 35 minutes, our waitress came running up to us apologizing that she had actually forgotten to put in our order. She said they’d discount our meal, and that the cooks would “make it on the fly.” And by “on the fly,” she meant “We’ll put your order in at the end of the queue.” Our pancakes were good, but not 45-minute-wait amazingly good. At least they cut our bill in half, so we only paid $13 for two plates of pancakes and coffee.