Kneadful Things

I went to a chain......it wasn't bad. Greetings from the Gluten Free Menu of the Outback.

The world is a wonky, wonky, place. I never used to go to chain restaurants, now that I know I have celiac's, I find myself looking for places with gluten free menus and/or options. That led me all the way to Australia, To the Outback.

I got all tingly upon the presentation of the gluten free menu. At first I thought it might be the booze, but no, it was in fact, excitement. There was a whole menu just for me. Yay.

For dinner I ordered the grilled vegetables and shrimp with a baked sweet potato.(It came with a heart-stopping amount of butter on it, which I promptly removed. Seriously, it was like an ice cream scoop of butter.) The shrimp, though slightly overdone was well-seasoned and paired with pineapple and other kebab related vegetables. I had forgotten how much I enjoy grilled pineapple. It really brings out the sweetness of the fruit and makes it very pretty to look at. Not as pretty as a pile of pasta, but oh well.

For dessert Tim and I shared the "Chocolate Thunder from Down Under" A flourless brownie topped with ice cream, hot fudge, and whipped cream. It was enough for a class of first graders. Really excessive and equally wonderful. I wanted to roll around on the brownie. It was that good.

Can I mention that I often find myself out and about, having the richest fantasies about things like eating a hot pretzel or baking a pie. When I went to see "Waitress" I was salivating over the prospect of baking and serving/eating pies. I miss baking and trying new cookie recipes almost as much as I missed smoking when I quit. I bought chocolate and vanilla candles to try to curb the craving, that just made it worse. So I went back to my fresh cut grass scented soy candles. (A trifle bit odd for someone with nasty hayfever, but not as bad as the vegan I know that has a leather fetish.)

I have a bit of a gripe. I love keeping my home, I love crafting, and cooking, and organizing my shoe closet. So I thought I would add Martha Stewart to my TIVO list. Her show IS ONE GIGANOURMOUS COMMERCIAL. "Would you like to buy my crap from Michael's?" "Would you like to see my suburban that I clean with scotch brite?" Donny Deutch has nothing on this woman. She could plug a hole in a dike. No wonder she is a gajillionaire. There I have said my peace. Now I am going to Macy's to buy my Lancome to get my free gift with purchase and then I am headed to H&M to get some tee shirts. After that I may head to Whole Foods to get a snack.

Cinco De Mayo at Panchito's, Fruit makes me happy.

Can I just say how odd it is to turn on your morning television show and see your reproductive endocrinologist? I understand that he is the expert du jour, but it was just yesterday that he was poking me with needles and hopping me up on hormones. So I have a celebrity lady doctor? Should I feel dirty? He went to college in Ohio, so he HAS to be the best, duh.

Anyway, Saturday was CINCO DE MAYO! And we decided to celebrate at Panchito's in the west village. The service was Sllllllllllllloooooooooooooowwwwwww. We ordered guacamole, which came out promptly but without the chips, in fact, we never got the chips. We sent the guacamole back. I ordered the arroz con camarones and Tim got the fiesta chicken. My rice with shrimp was decent, but would have been tastier with a little more heat. Also, the presentation was a little unappetizing. I am used to more spice and cilantro than what was before me, but hey what do you expect from a restaurant that is more about margaritas than mexicans. Tim on the other hand went on and on about his chicken that was bathed in an apple/raisin/almond sauce on a bed of saffron rice. He loves the savory-sweet combo. He loved it so much that I made a similar dish for him with pork chops a few days later. Personally, I thought the sweet kind of hit you over the head and blocked out most of the savory qualities of the dish. But the margaritas are really great. So great that I am pretty sure some angry, drunken, troll crept up to my table, finished my margarita, and ordered me a second. (I hate it when that happens) That's ok, because the Buddhist monk at the table next to me was drinking wine, and all I kept thinking was...."are they allowed to do that?" I still don't know. I have to ask my hubby's grandmother. She'll know. He was white, so maybe he gets a reprieve.

Can I just take a minute to tell you how lucky new yorkers are? We live in the coolest city in the world. What make me think about this is that Saturday night, Tim and I took a walk along the Brooklyn Heights Promenade and it was beautiful. I love it here.

Aren't we a handsome pair?

Fruit salad makes me happy.  I don't think there is a more yummylicious food. Vitamins, Fiber, Sweet, Sweet, goodness. Organic Fruit Salad should be on everyones must eat daily list. DANG IT! Ok, rant over.

Pinkberry is Better than Yolato.....Staten Island gets Panera Bread....Guiltless Gourmet

Everyone wants to be Cary Grant, Even I want to be Cary Grant

-Cary Grant (aka Archie Leach)

Yolato is not Pinkberry. Sure it has a similar taste, texture, preachy message about bacteria and calories, but something just isn't right. The toppings aren't as good. It's a dollar more expensive (5 buckaroos for a small with one single, solitary, topping.) There are very few seats in the joint. (2, there are 2 seats in the shop) There aren't any cute, Korean ladies offering me crushed walnuts and trendy music. I was left longing for my Koreatown yoghurteque. Even if this place does let me take pictures. I wanted green tea covered in blackberries, instead, I had plain with pineapple. Not as good. It's like second best. Like marrying your first cousin, because marrying your sister is illegal. It made me sad. Oh well.

So NYC now has it's very own Panera Bread. Carb addicts beware. My hubby is on cloud nine. Cobblestones may have 1100 calories, but to Tim, it's eleven hundred hugs of goodness. I ordered the salmon salad tossed in a clean bowl with just a lil dressing. Minus the wheat-berries. It was decent, but then again we weren't there for me. (Obviously, I can't eat bread) Tim was over the moon for his tuna salad on asiago cheese baguette. I didn't hear a peep from him until the entire thing, INCLUDING the chips was lurking somewhere in the dark recesses of his tum-tum.  I really did like the meyer lemon dressing, though. It was tangy. It was very good with the salmon, which often cries for citrus. I can't tout the benefits of salmon enough, the omega 3 fatty acids are being hailed as everything from anti-carcinogenic to IQ enhancing to prevention of Alzheimer's. You really need to be getting enough DHA and Omega 3's it's FOR YOUR HEALTH people! If you don't eat fish, flaxseed oil is another good source of O3's. (I find that if you mix it in your mango smoothie, you don't really taste it.)

And if you haven't tried it yet, you really must. Guiltless Gourmet's baked yellow corn tortilla chips. I am totally addicted. They make great nachos, taco salad, crushed and used as breading, they are AWESOME! And NOT GREASY at ALL! My search for the perfect tortilla chip is over. I have found the holy grail of deliciousness. Thank goodness they sell them at Whole Foods. Makes my life a lot easier.