Fall Break 2009

Here's the thing, this post is not about the kids Fall Break, it's about me and Kenneth. We were able to go to Cedar City for a couple of nights over Fall Break.

We had free tickets to see The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Abridged. It was definitely the funniest play I have ever seen. It was three guys acting out all the parts. It was laugh out loud funny.

The kids were able to spend time at their cousins this week. They were able to sleep over for two whole nights. They had so much fun. I'm glad that they were able to do that and so grateful to my sisters for watching my kids.


We stayed at The Stratford Court Hotel, which is right downtown. We were able to get a great deal from Priceline.

We ate at The Pastry Pub two times, I'm sure that place holds a lot of college nostalgia for people. It was better than fast food.

Friday we stayed in bed all morning, wink, wink, nudge, nudge, no really we read in bed all morning. Beautiful.

Later we went for a drive up the canyon.

We stopped at lava flows, drove to Navajo lake, and drove to the top of Brain Head. It was a lovely outing. Then we took a nap, went for takeout, ate in bed while watching Slumdog Millionaire. That bed was my friend for sure.

It was just such a wonderful weekend. So relaxing, rejuvenating and reconnecting. Thanks to Colleen for the link to the theater tickets, thanks to the families who took on my kids, thanks to Kenneth for running away with me, thanks to Vanessa for the food recommendation, and thanks to me for getting it done, it was soooooo worth it.

Body Worlds & David's Kitchen Review

Every year for the kids birthday we take them out to dinner at a nice restaurant. This year I saw the Body Worlds ad and offered Theron the choice of going to see Body Worlds and having lunch out or going out for a nice dinner. He chose Body Worlds.

We went on a Friday morning. The kids were out for Fall Break, so no skipping school. The place was packed. It was simply amazing. I wish that I could have taken pictures. I so wanted to touch the bodies to see what they felt like. There was so much information that it was mind blowing. I really would suggest paying the extra for the recorded tour. It got to the point that I couldn't process everything I was reading because it was just so much. I really wish that I could have spent more time, but I was soon starving and so tired of standing and moving so slowly. We were there for a little over 2 hours. I wish it didn't cost so much so that I could go back and see it again. I really suggest if you are interested in your body at all and can swing the cost you should go to see this exhibit. The things I was amazed by was the amount of blood vessels, so cool, and that the spleen is so small. I thought it would be bigger for being so important and hearing about it on ER so much.

We then headed over to David's Kitchen. It's a Chinese restaurant on 45 W 3300 S. It used to be located in this tiny dive that was next to a bar. It stunk like smoke when you would go in, but the food was so good you would soon forget about the initial smell. Now it's at it's own location, I'm still not crazy about the ambiance. David needs to get a feng shui practitioner in there. David hangs out in the restaurant and suggest things to eat and asks how you like everything. The thing you must have and that they are known for is their pot stickers. They will offer you this right when you sit down. The correct answer is, "Yes." They had some great lunch specials. I had the low mein with fried rice and egg rolls, Theron had sweet and sour shrimp, Kenneth had Szechuan chicken. All the lunches came with the hot and sour soup, which I love. We have searched for quite a while for good Chinese in Utah. We do like PF Chang's, as well as Sampan, but David's is the best non-chain Chinese we have found in Utah. Thanks to Michelle Larsen for introducing us. The prices are very resonable and the food is really tasty. When I was looking online for a website to link to, there weren't any, I read some reviews that said the service was horrible. The service isn't the best, but I will usually cut a place some slack for not super-attentive service when the food is good enough, which this is. The majority of reviews say that David's Kitchen is the bomb, which it is.

Paradise Bakery & Cafe Review

I really enjoy a nice sandwich/salad/soup/dessert type establishment. Paradise Bakery and Cafe was not my favorite though. The main problem I have with this one is that there is something better just a few blocks down the road. If Paradise was the only game in town then I think I would be fine, but the fact that Flour Girls and Dough Boys is just down the street, it ended up falling way short for me. Like my sports metaphors? I decided to go there on Tuesday, which was windy and cold, so a perfect day for some warm soup. I took my pal, Dylan. I was hoping to miss the lunch crowd so we went a little after 1pm. Unfortunately, it was packed. I didn't realize that this was a franchise, so they definitely know their stuff. It was run very efficiently and there was always someone near to answer any questions. It's set up cafeteria style. They hand you a cookie bite and a menu when you walk in. If I wasn't overwhelmed with the noise level and the amount of people there I probably would have been won over with the cookie bite. They have the main bakery area first, where they also do breakfast items in the morning. I picked up a cinnamon roll first. I wanted to compare it to FG&DB, since that is what I always get there. Then I chose to have the Paradise Club & Fire Roasted Tomato Soup Combo. They give you a chocolate chip cookie with your sandwich so technically you don't need to order a dessert. My total for the combo and the cinnamon roll was a little over $10. It would be just a few cents cheaper at FG&DB, super close, so price is not an issue. We then got our water and utensils and started looking for a place to sit. It was packed and it's a fairly big place. We got the very last table, literally. It was a tall table, something I wouldn't have chosen, if I had an option, but Dylan loved it. The food was good, but I thought the tomato soup at FG&DB was better. I had it just a few weeks ago. The sandwich was tasty, after all it did have bacon. Dylan and I shared the lunch and then started on the cinnamon roll. Yuck. The texture was more along the lines of what I would expect from Smith's bakery. Kind of like a dry pastry. True, I'm sure it was fresher in the morning, but the ones at FG&DB are so amazing. The frosting was a melted butter with cinnamon and sugar type. So it was a crusty, too sugary frosting. I decided to take it home to Kenneth. I prefer the cinnamon rolls that are more like a bread dough and have the cream cheese frosting on top. I can definitely finish that kind. Do I recommend Paradise? Yes and no. If you are somewhere outside of Utah Valley and you feel like stopping somewhere like this, then I think it is really worth it. Hopefully, it's not as busy as this one was. However, if you are in Utah Valley and you feel like stopping somewhere like this, then stop at Flour Girls and Dough Boys. It's just a few blocks down from Paradise and the food and atmosphere are superior.

Friday Night with the Schmaelly's/Restaurant & Movie Review too.

Last Friday Kenneth and I went out with Gary and Christine Ishmael to celebrate Gary's 53rd birthday. He looks young, but it's all the plastic surgery and Grecian Formula, promise. First stop was Daybreak where Christine was working at the "Oh Sweet Sadie" (look for the mention of Christine on their site) art & gift show with her amazingly cute items from her This & That Creations. She and her partners are super talented. Their stuff was sooo cute. This was my first trip to Daybreak. It was adorable, just as I had heard. I don't want to live their, but the community looks really nice and the houses where the show was located were amazing.

After looking around we headed to dinner at McCool's at The District. This is an Irish Pub. We even had a waiter named Shane. We asked him to say something in an Irish accent and he told us he was Italian so he couldn't do that. Irish pub, Irish name, Italian??? He was a good waiter anyway. Kenneth and I had the fried cheese plate for an appatizer. What is a fried cheese plate you ask? It is deep fried cheese that is then set on a plate. Crazy! Crazy good, that is. I love cheese. Christine and Gary had pierogis, which are basically potato dumplings, yummy. Kenneth had a lamb sandwich w/brie, Gary had fish and chips, Christine had a steak salad, and I had buffalo shepherd's pie. Kenneth's was not the best, kind of bland, but he had yummy sweet potato fries and regular fries. Gary said his was good, but they served it with chips (crisps) instead of fries (chips). They were fresh made chips though. Christine said her salad was good. Mine was the best though. There was another 1/2 lb (approx.) of cheese on top and inside was tasty, tasty goodness. So if you are looking for a lot of melted cheese and good comfort food I would recommend McCool's and then hit the movies at The District. Which we did.

We intended to see Eagle Eye, but there were no seats together so we ended up going to Ghost Town. We were very happy with that selection. It is a funny film. Ricky Gervais is the lead and he is hilarious. You may remember him from such films as Night at the Museum and Stardust. He is also Michael on the BBC version of The Office. Problem: 2 totally unnecessary "F" words. Seriously. It felt like they threw them in just to make the movie PG-13. This movie goes to show that if you can make women laugh that you can get someone as hot as Tea Leoni. That women don't need a hot doctor to make them happy, just a real person that they can enjoy being with for the rest of their lives. I do recommend this movie, great date film.

Gloria's Little Italy

I saw the review for this restaurant in the local newspaper so we decided to give it a try. It's in this little strip of ethnic shops and restaurants in Provo at 279 E 300 S. When you walk in you can order something like a sandwich, gelato, or dessert at the counter or turn to the left and go down into the restaurant area. They do take reservations. The room is small and it was fairly noisy when we were there. It has similar prices to places like Carino's or Macaroni Grill, $12-$15 for the pasta entrees. They have a good selection of Italian drinks. Our service was iffy. I think it was just our server though. I watched a table near us that was attended to quickly and more regularly. Okay, the food. The bread was interesting in the fact that it was 4 small, thin slices of a white bread that I would say was nothing exciting, but it was drizzeled with a delicious garlic olive oil. So it turned out to be pretty tasty. Our actual meals were really yummy and authentic. Kenneth said my sauce was a little salty, but I didn't mind. Kenneth had spaghetti carbonara and I had the gnocchi with the classic red sauce. They were both, so, so tasty. I would have to say it was the best gnocchi I have ever had. It was so light, amazing. As we had such slow and sporadic service we just didn't have time to get dessert as we were trying to make a movie. The desserts looked amazing and of course gelato is always good. I definitly want to go back to try a panini and the desserts, so maybe a lunch soon. Anyone? Anyone?

Milt's Stage Stop

I would say that this restaurant can be summed up in images.....




Okay, I know the pictures are worth a lot, but here's a few words to go along with them. The atmosphere left a lot to be desired. The vinyl tablecloths were a lovely touch. The food was not great and it was really expensive. We had fried zucchini as an appetizer. It was sooo salty it could not be ingested. I'm not kidding. Kenneth knew it must be really bad when I said it was too salty. I usually don't mind a little extra salt. The salad bar was not bad per se, it's just the fact that this is an expensive restaurant and it's a self serve salad. Just strange, but not too strange considering the rest of the place. The actual meal wasn't bad. I had the tenderloin and Kenneth had the prime rib. Mine was better. For dessert we had the brownie sundae, which wasn't great. My brownie sundaes that I make at home are far superior (is this what you mean by bragging, Amber). The main thing is, if I am going to spend a good portion of $100 on a meal I want it to be really worth it. I don't mind having a bad experience for $30. I would recommend skipping this place if you have the chance. Go to Garden House in Cedar City, it's lovely.

A full weekend.

Let's start on Friday. We went to IKEA to finish out our "spring of IKEA." We bought furniture for Kenneth's office. For some reason he was able to put it all together in one day, but my bookcases for the living room sat for weeks. Why is that? Dinner followed at our favorite Indian restaurant, Royal India, in Sandy. I ordered a new dish that turned out to not be my favorite, Mango Chicken. I know sounds amazing, but is actually too pungent. Love our mixed appetizers, my mango lassi, and our peshawari naan. So very yummy.

Saturday, I played in my first ward softball game in 3 years. It was awesome and I am so freaking sore. Apparently, I am not sprinting enough in my daily life to avoid muscle pain from one game. Also I am not throwing things enough or hitting things enough. I was really not aware of most of these muscles until yesterday morning. Good news is that we won 15-7. We also had a ward 50's party on Saturday night. The activities committee did a great job. I couldn't believe what a great time all the kids were having. It was really fun.

Sunday we attended a baby blessing for my nephew, Simeon Jacob Pelo Allred. He's a cutey. We had a family feast afterwards with a lot of desserts. I'm pretty sure that is the actual main course at our family gatherings. My sister said to bring a salad or a dessert, so I brought cookie salad, it's both. My kids always ask how many desserts they can have. Yesterday I told them 2, then after I saw how much was left I told Orion he could have more. He didn't stop until everything was basically gone. There were mini cupcakes and he piled them high and called it the "Tower of Youth." I have no idea what that means, maybe something about how it would take a person with a lot of youth to eat that many mini cupcakes. His plate was a wasteland of wrappers when he was done.

When we arrived home we saw this. I can't tell you how happy it makes me. We planted these Peonies 2 srpings ago. So this is their third year. They die to the ground every year, which is something I was not aware of the first year. I just thought my streak with killing plants was prgressing nicely. So I was shocked when they came back last year, but they did not bloom. This is their first official bloom. I am so happy.

Summer break is officially underway. Wish me good luck. I will let you know how it goes. The first week of the summer I let the kids take a week off. They can watch TV and play as much as they want, or as much as I want as long as they get their chores done first. Next week we start with the summer schedule and rules. Have a happy week.

Zinn Bistro

Zinn Bistro is one of my favorite restaurants. It's located at 2020 E 3300 S SLC. It is located in a little strip mall. Not a location that you would expect to find such good food. The hours are unusual Tue-Thu 11:30am-2pm, Fri 11:30am-2pm, 6pm-7:30pm, Sat 6pm-7:30pm. You need to have a reservation for dinner. (801) 485-6644 is the number to call. First of all the outside is so different from the inside. The decor on the inside it very cute. White walls and dark exposed beams with pillows and fruit as accents. When you sit down they give you these little cups of hot cider while you look at the menu. The menu changes weekly. They cook according to what is in season or at the market that week. There are a few things that seems to stay like the meatloaf and the stroganoff. We went there for our birthday dinner this year. If you look at citysearch and read the reviews you will see that everyone says the food is great, but the service is not. Well, I pretty much agree with that. However, the service isn't horrible, it's just not fantastic. The family that runs it is nice just not overly gushy and friendly like you might get elsewhere. Meals are not prepared to your liking. It's kind of like eating at home with a professional chef for your mom. "You get what you get and you don't throw a fit." A favorite quote of teachers and moms everywhere. The food is amazing so if you are throwing a fit it's you, not the food. They bring you a spectacular basket of gourmet breads to start your meal, so you don't need to order appetizers. I'm telling you, the breads are the best. If you have leftover bread they will give you a bag at the end of your meal to take it with you. Then you have your entrees. When we were there asparagus was the hot item, so it came with everything. I like asparagus, so not a problem. Kenneth got the cheese stuffed meatloaf and I had the crepe provincial. I thought I was getting something slightly healthy. It wasn't, but it was so delicious. Then for dessert we had the banana cream. It was served with shortbread cookies. So rich. The price is $$$. If you aren't getting appetizers though and you skip dessert expect to pay about $40-$50. I highly recommend it for those romantic quiet nights out. I've never done lunch there, but would like to try it sometime.

Flour Girls & Dough Boys Artisan Bakery and Cafe

This is the cool new restaurant where I went to lunch for my birthday. 35 N. Barrett Avenue (150 West), American Fork. It doesn't look like much from the outside, but it is really cute on the inside and so comfy. You basically have sandwiches, salad, soup and super yummy desserts. Also, they have their artisan breads, which are very good. The prices are very reasonable. I got the combo deal, where you can combine 2 of either the soup, 1/2 salad or 1/2 sandwich for $6.49. I had the cranberry walnut, turkey, brie sandwich with the blueberry apple salad. Honestly, it's not the best turkey brie sandwich I've ever had or the best salad, but I think the atmosphere and price made up for some that. Now on to the desserts. They are so gigantic. I had the cinnamon roll with cream cheese frosting, I should have just had that for lunch. My friends had brownies, mint and peanut butter respectively, and a cream puff. I tried all of them and they were all yummy. They have a lot more than that, cookies, cupcakes, pumpkin bars that are the size of mini loafs, muffins, cheesecake, raspberry danish, choco croissants, lemon bars. I can't wait to go back to taste test more stuff. Perfect lunch place. They also have breakfast panini for $2.99. It was busy the whole time we were there. It doesn't have a lot of seating so consider take-out. They have a play kitchen for the kids and complimentary magazines and books all around.

Valentine's Dinner

Usually for Valentine's Day we go out on the Monday after, as it is President's Day and Kenneth has is off. As I said, usually. This year Kenneth didn't have it off. Not cool. He had to choose between having Pres. Day or Pioneer Day off. Since Pioneer Day is when we visit his parents it won. Luckily we saw the movie on Valentine's Day and Kenneth brought me flowers on the day. Saturday night we went to Martine in Downtown Salt Lake. The menu on the website doesn't match what we had, but you'll get the gist of the place. It's a really cool place. It's surprising to find that kind of place in the middle of downtown. It's a pretty cozy place. I loved how warm it was. I hate, hate eating in restaurants that are cold. Kenneth said it's not as comfy as the Tree Room, true in seating, but so much warmer. The tapas all has meat which I guess is fine if you are ordering it for your whole meal, but I'm not a fan of meat in my appetizer. I did get tapas though. I had duck on grilled flat bread. Kenneth had calamari. They were both really good. Then I had the seared pheasant. It was amazing. I loved it. Kenneth had lamb, also very good, just not as good as my pheasant. For dessert I got the Chocolate Decadence and Kenneth got the bread pudding. Both very good, but again mine was better. It was fairly pricey, but hey, it was Valentine's. The service was great. We had a wonderful time. So, if you are looking for a nice place to go celebrate a special occasion I would suggest Martine.

Sampan Review

I don't know if any of you have been to Sampan before. We won a gift card in an auction and so we used it last night. There are a few in Utah, but we went to the one at South Town Mall. I saw on their website that they had sesame chicken. I loved the sesame chicken that I used to eat in Ohio from a restaurant there called the China Cottage. Everywhere else that I have ever eaten it has not even come close. It's been a few years since I last tried it somewhere, so I decided that this was the place. First of all the prices are really seasonable. The main course items were mostly under $10, seafood was a little more. The servings were really large. You could easily get one thing and split it. We got a dim sum platter for an appetizer as well as veggie potstickers. The potstickers were good, and Kenneth enjoyed the dim sum. Kenneth got something called Dragon and Phoenix. It has shrimp, chicken and mushrooms and is a little spicy. Kenneth enjoyed it. We both loved my sesame chicken though. It is the closest thing that I have tasted to my memory of the China Cottage. I was so very happy. They have a really large menu. It's not the kind of place that I would have thought would have very good food, but I was pleasantly surprised. So if your looking for an inexpensive, good Chinese place I do recommend Sampan.