We made it to Exile...

One of my goals for 2013 was for Matt and I to go out and try new restaurants together. Well I FINALLY have one to report back on. (Well actually we've been to 2 in the last couple weeks but one of them PepperJax Grill shouldn't really count. It's like Pancheros but they serve Philly sandwiches instead.) So where did we FINALLY go??? Exile Brewing Co.

Matt had to take his car into the shop on Thursday so he ended up driving to work and then came back to pick me up. Exile is right downtown so it was easy to head there after work. It was much fancier than I expected a brewery to be but given the clientele it made sense. Lots of business people eating there and I know it's used for lots of networking/social events too. And while it was a little more upscale than I originally expected, those dressed in jeans still looked like they belonged.

My biggest disappointment was that the didn't have a house rootbeer, nor are they supporting other Iowa breweries by having one of theirs on tap. (However if I could drink, I would have been happy choosing a cocktail off their drink menu.) Matt decided to get a flight of their 4 staples... His favorite of the night was the Hannah.

We got the sweet potato fries for an appetizer. They were delish (and they still tasted great as leftover snacks)! For our main meals Matt got the Italian Stallion and I had the Mac & Cheese. We both liked our selections but I don't think they will make ou list of favorites. Good enough to go back but not so amazing that I won't want to try something else. We (and I really mean I) ordered a dessert to go. It was a chocolate mess of Oreo crust, rocky road ice cream, marshmallows, drizzled in chocolate and caramel. Very chocolately - which I've been all about lately :)

Deliciousness -- Mexican Rollups and Chocolate Chip Oreo Caramel Cookie Bars

I owe a special thank you to Matt for helping me making these delicious mexican roll-ups that I brought to work today. My contribution was coming up with an idea and going to the grocery store to pick up the ingredients. And then Matt did all the rest -- including arranging them on the platter.

And here's how he did it...

Combine
8oz cream cheese (we used the 1/3 less fat variety)
16 oz sour cream (also the reduced fat variety)
2 cups shredded cheese
1 packet taco seasoning
1/2 can of the small Rotel can of tomatoes and green chiles (drained)
2-4 tablespoons of Ortega taco sauce

Spread mixture on flour tortillas and wrap tightly. We used up a package of 8 and had extra mixture left. So either reduce the ingredients or purchase more tortillas. Also next time we might try spinach wraps. (But don't accidentatly get italian wraps - they are indeed gross!)

Let the wraps cool in the fridge for at least a couple hours before cuting them into small peices. Then you just need some salsa for dipping and your ready to go! But watch out - they go fast. I couldn't even grab a picture before people took a few.

Besides my contribution, my favorite plate at the food day was this delicious dessert - a Chocolate Chip Oreo Caramel Cookie bar.


From: Recipe Girl



This isn't the pic of the actual dessert but it's from the website where she found the recipe. And her recipe turned out exactly like the picture (I didn't know that could actually happen!) I've seen this on Pinterest and it looked good to me before but I had no idea how good it would actually be! And it didn't sound that hard to make. Pat down cookie dough in a 9x13 pan-- put down a layer of oreos --drizzle some caramel over that -- put down the top layer of cookie dough -- bake and enjoy! Fingers crossed that my attempt looks and tastes just as good!

Here's the recipe she used from Recipe Girl:

http://www.recipegirl.com/2012/08/20/oreo-and-caramel-stuffed-chocolate-chip-cookie-bars/ 

  



Deer Sticks and Home Furnishings

So you may be wondering what can deer sticks and home furnishings possibly have to do with one another? The answer: Minneapolis.

A little over a week ago Matt and I took a road trip up to Minneapolis to pick up our finished batch of maple deer sticks. Yum!!! To make the road trip even more fun we stopped at Ikea. We didn't really have a list going in - although I had in mind a few things that we should check into in case we found something we liked. But really why I love Ikea is because of the showroom. It's hard for me to visualize how fun (or lame) or how big (or small) something will look when incorporated into a room so Ikea is able to take a lot of those doubts away. I feel more comfortable that I can make it work in my house and thus have more fun during the shopping process.

We easily dropped two grand... just kidding - it was only two hundred, on some cool new items. I think Matt's favorite is a new kitchen pot with a strainer insert. (We used it right away to make some pasta.) And my favorite is a new comforter and duvet cover. It is amazing how much difference a new comforter can make. Not only does it completely change the look of a room but it feels like I'm sleeping in a brand new bed!

And I'm pretty sure Gable loves it too!

Rhubarb x2

Last summer we moved in to our house and everything in our garden was pretty much all ready to go for us. The previous homeowners were completely into landscaping and gardening and we couldn't really claim much of it's success or beauty as our accomplishments. However, this year is a little bit different story. This time we can claim it as ours because we had to make sure the plants SURVIVED us cutting them back and making it through winter. :) Three cheers hooray because (most) of it did!

Of all the things I was concerned about, the rhurbarb was definitely not one of them. I've never really been a rhurbarb fan and I wasn't going to be crushed if it didn't come in. (Plus we've been kinda worried about Gable being around it with the leaves being poisonous and all.) My first adventure with rhubarb was last summer and was highlighted in my first blog post ever. Looking back that strawberry rhubarb crisp was good but my adventures with rhubarb this summer have both been better!

Both recipes I used this summer I found using google. :) I just googled "strawberry rhubarb" and then clicked on images. I searched the images until I found a good one and then followed the image back to a website/blog with the recipe. Ahhh - the power and convenience of google.

I first made a Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble for Matt and I because look how delicious this picture is!

From Carlo at your Service

I tried to take a pic of my own crumble with ice cream but food photography definitley isn't my thing. But good news was that my crumble tasted just as delicious as this picture. :) Here's the recipe that I used:

 http://blog.carloatyourservice.com/2009/10/strawberry-rhubarb-crumble.html

I thought one rhubarb dessert a week/month/summer would be good enough for me but when Memorial Day rolled around and I was in charge of bringing a dessert I decided to go back to the rhubarb and try something else. This time I choose an image of Strawberry Rhubarb Bars.

From Land 'o Lakes

You can find the recipe here or I've also included it below since this time I did a much better job at documenting the process with pictures.

Strawberry Rhubarb Bars

Filling
2 cups rhubarb, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 cups sliced strawberries
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch

Crust
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups uncooked quick-cooking oats
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
3/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

Drizzle
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 to 2 tablespoons milk

Combine rhubarb, strawberries and lemon juice in 2-quart saucepan. Cover; cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until fruit is tender (8 to 12 minutes).

Combine 1/2 cup sugar and cornstarch in small bowl. Stir into fruit mixture. Continue cooking, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil (about 1 minute). Continue boiling until thickened (1 minute). Remove from heat. Set aside.

Heat oven to 350°F. Combine all crust ingredients in large bowl. Beat at low speed, scraping bowl often, until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Reserve 1 1/2 cups crumb mixture. Press remaining crumb mixture onto bottom of greased 13x9-inch baking pan. Spread filling over crust. Sprinkle with reserved crumb mixture.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely.

Combine all drizzle ingredients in small bowl. Drizzle over cooled bars. Cut into bars and enjoy!

Rhubarb from the garden

Strawberries, rhubarb and lemon juice

Close up

Bottom layer

Strawberry/Rhubarb layer

Top layer

Yumm!