Thanksgiving 2015 - Thankfulness Trees

Dinner last night with our friend Alyn and her 7-year old son Elis. Elis wanted us to make thankfulness trees. He made them in school and was excited to show us how. He had the project all set up for us. After making the tree out of a brown paper lunch sack we added leaves on which we wrote down the things for which we are thankful. Very sweet. Elis did a great job of walking us throught the project.

Thanksgiving 2015 - Thanksgiving Morning

I had such a good sleep last night which is so appreciated considering the quality of my slumber has been less than optimal lately due to the stressfulness of work.

Quiet morning journaling while drinking coffee. Dale and Athena look so sweet together. Very cozy.

I colored the Strib's turkey again this year with (I think) impressive results, checked out the holiday issue of Martha Stewart living while watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, and sipped on Fulton's Harvest Pumpkin Pie Liqueur.

Thanksgiving 2015 at Jax Cafe - With Mom

Dale took this picture of Mom and me at Jax Cafe.

Thanksgiving 2015 at Jax Cafe - Pecan Pie

Dessert didn't come with Dale's dinner but it did with Mom's and mine. She ordered the pumpkin pie but I went with the pecan which I haven't had in ages. It was great.

Thanksgiving 2015 at Jax Cafe - Thanksgiving Salmon

Mom and I both ordered the turkey dinner. Dale ordered salmon. He told our waiter, Jim, that he just had to be the iconoclast. When Jim brought our food he set Dale's plate in front of him and said, "Here you go Mr. Fancypants." I found that amusing.

Thanksgiving 2015 at Jax Cafe - Old Fashioned

Mom arrived at our place at 3:30 so we could make our 4:00 reservation. I ordered a brandy old fashioned and Mom and Dale both had wine.

Thanksgiving 2015 at Jax Cafe - Something Different

From Dale's blog:

"We've been struggling with what to make for Thanksgiving. Certainly turkey, maybe cranberries, stuffing and sweet potatoes but it seemed unexciting somehow. So yesterday we decided to make something completely different. Reservations. Best. Decision. Ever. It has freed up today completely, and while I love to cook, this year preparing Thanksgiving dinner just seemed like another chore."

Both of us are exhausted. It was so freeing to take planning and executing Thanksgiving dinner of our plates. I got the idea on Sunday when a friend at church told us he and his husband would be going to the Normandy Kitchen for the big day. I didn't say anything to Dale right away but we toyed with the idea when we were at the Red Stag Tuesday night. Dale brought it up again yesterday morning as we drove to the gym. I made reservations for Jax after we got home. 

Thanksgiving 2015 - Yours, Mine and Ours

Watched Yours, Mine and Ours with Lucille Ball and Henry Fonda from 1968 on T.V. Haven't seen it in years. The scene where Lucy inadvertently gets drunk is a scream.

Thanksgiving 2015 - Holiday Cocktail

Thanksgiving martini sipped while watching Yours, Mine and Ours. Dale got a kick out of the scene where Lucy says her drink is delicious. I got quite a kick out of it too. 

Red Stag

Tuesday, November 24, 2015

Red Stag.

Red Stag - Dale

Tuesday, November 24, 2015

Dale waits in anticipation for food and drink at the Red stag Supper Club. Thanksgiving break begins tomorrow for both me and Dale. For being just a two day work week it was something we both found to be a fast and painful ride through hell. Despite that, this ended up being such a lovely evening. Dale mentioned it was the right place with the right food. I added it was also with the right people. We had such a fun time together. 

Red Stag - Me

Tuesday, November 24, 2015

Me being a goof. After I tied the napkin around my neck Dale asked if I was trying to be some kind of bon vivant. Sure. I guess the brandy old fashioned was starting to work. All part of my master plan for world domination. 

Red Stag

Tuesday, November 24, 2015

I really appreciate the relaxed atmosphere of the Red Stag. By the way, Dale was pretty embarrassed when the flash on my camera went off while taking a picture of my old fashioned (I didn't mean for it to). Oh well.

Red Stag

Tuesday, November 24, 2015

The last picture shows the first place Dale and I sat at our first ever time at the Red Stag in 2007(?).

If you squint, you can see the guy in the bottom right corner of the first picture turning around for the camera. I didn't notice him until making the photo collage. Maybe he's Santa Claus taking a little break before the big season kicks in. I picture him riding in on his big ol' motorcycle.

By the way, I ordered the beef stroganoff. It was awesome. I was excited to see it back on the menu. It must be seasonal because when we were in a couple weeks ago I didn't see it. Dale ordered the fish special. Said it was the best meal he's had at Red Stag yet! That's sayin' something since the food is always fantastic. 

Brussels Sprouts

November 22, 2015

At Lunds today. Dale had never seen Brussels sprouts on the stock before. I've only seen them this way once and it was in a photograph.

Fall Golden Hour Kickoff 2015 - Cocktail Hour

Saturday, November 14, 2015

Rosie and Bachelor's Guide to the Galaxy.

Fall Golden Hour Kickoff 2015 - Dinner

Saturday, November 14, 2015

First chicken pot pie of the season.

Fall Golden Hour Kickoff 2015 - Dinner and a Movie

Saturday, November 14, 2015

Train wreck. Funny lady, that Amy Schumer.

Silver Hour

Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Silver Hour

Dessert with Julie and Eric

Saturday, November 7, 2015

Dale and Julie had sea salt and caramel ice cream from Pumphouse Creamery. Eric and I had pumpkin pie flavored.

Dinner with Julie and Eric

Saturday, November 7, 2015

My friend and former colleague Julie along with her husband Eric joined Dale and me for dinner last night at our place. I haven't seen Julie much since she changed schools a few years ago but whenever I do we have some lovely conversations which always include reminiscences about notable teaching moments. It was nice to have some quality time to catch up on recent events in our lives.

Dale made baked rigatoni (also called baked ziti) with Italian sausage. He also stir fried green beans and served up some garlic bread. I drank a couple sidecars. The rest of the crew wasn't drinking much besides water.

Dinner music included the album Love Songs by Rosemary Clooney and Cugi's Cocktails by Xavier Cugat. 

Although I knew they used to live for a number of years by Mancini's in St. Paul, I didn't know they were fans. We've made some tentative plans to get together there in the next couple weeks.

The Red Stag Supper Club

Wednesday, October 21, 2015

The Steak Pit Part 1

Saturday, October 17, 2015

Had the opportunity to try a Wisconsin supper club tonight. Warren, Gary, Dale, and I are staying on Madeline for the long weekend and we made a special trip to Washburn to try The Steak Pit restaurant.

Upon walking in we found the decor to be very unassuming, but why would it need to be with its incredible view of the lake? Kathy, our server, was a no nonsense albeit pleasant person who provided excellent service. We could tell shortly after she greeted us that we would be in good hands.

We ordered cocktails to start. I, of course, began with a brandy old fashioned. Warren had Myers run, his favorite dark rum. Gary had Dale both had red wine.

We ordered a couple of appetizers, the shrimp basket and the clam basket. Both were deep fried and fabulous.

The Steak Pit Part 2

Saturday, October 17, 2015

In true supper club style they had a Friday night fish fry. I simply HAD to have it. It was a generous portion of trout that was lightly breaded and lightly fried - not greasy at all! It came with the option of French fries or baked potato. I had had fries with lunch so I went with the baked potato. Dale had the broiled Lake Superior trout. He said it was awesome. Warren had the surf and turf. I think they called it a tug and hoof. Hoof, for the steak and tug (as in tugging the tail) for the shrimp. Gary had a steak.

We all had dinner salads to start. Gary asked what the salad dressing options were and Kathy said she would bring all of them out when serving the salads. When the salads appeared, she brought a caddy of three dressings including green goddess, blue cheese, and French. She also produced four bottles of dressings. I can’t remember all of them. One was a cranberry something or other which Dale loved. Another was a Hawaiian poppyseed which sounded divine. I went with the green goddess which is something I’ve never tried before. I loved it. It’s basically ranch dressing blended with avocado.

The dessert tray which Kathy brought over had a lot of different cheesecake options all under Saran Wrap. One was cheesecake wrapped in a flour tortilla. That’s how it was presented on the dessert tray, although if ordered they would deep fry it and then cover it with something like cinnamon and sugar, possibly caramel sauce. The non-cheesecake item was a chocolate hot lava cake which is what Warren ordered to split with Gary.

After going through all the options on the tray Kathy mentioned that they also had ice cream drinks. I wanted to tell her she was a woman after my own heart but thought better of it since she didn’t come across as a warm-fuzzy kind of gal. Instead I simply asked if the pink squirrel was an option. She said that it was along with the grasshopper. Since I had a grasshopper most recently at Jax I decided to go with the pink squirrel. I almost fell out of my seat when she brought it over as it was massive. Absolutely delicious though.

Our server, Kathy, was exceptional. She was not overly familiar with us but courteous and very attentive. I could tell shortly after she greeted us at our table that she would take exceptional care of us which is exactly what she did.

Lots of supper club hallmarks at The Steak Pit: attentive and friendly service, great cocktails, Friday night fish fry, prime rib, ice cream drinks, and of course, cloth napkins (purple ones at that). Didn’t see any evidence of live music but that’s not to say there isn’t. Next time I call ahead I’ll definitely have to ask. We’ll most certainly be back.

I've heard it said that a supper club is always for sale.  Interesting to find this sign outside.

Cocktail Hour

Saturday, September 19, 2015

Cocktail hour before Sunday dinner. White wine and a Hendrick's martini. 

Sunday Dinner

Saturday, September 19, 2015

Dale made the most delicious dinner. It's been a while since we've had steak and even longer since we've had his most awesome oven baked Brussels sprouts.

Dessert was one of my favorites from Kowalski's. Chocolate dream.

Brunch - Red Stag Supper Club

Great brunch with Dale at the Red Stag Supper Club.  Dale had an egg scramble with sliced turkey and spinach. I had the prime rib eggs benedict. Both came with has browns. Sound good? It was!

They also make an awesome Bloody Mary. It came with a beer chaser - very Minnesotan.

Salmon for Dinner

Photo taken at Lund's in Uptown. We bought filets. Not a whole fish.

Brunch at Jax Cafe

Sunday, September 6, 2015

After church Dale and I decided to head to Sunday brunch at Pizza Luce. There was some kind of block party happening in front of it so we decided to try someplace else instead. I suggested Jax so we headed right over. We parked on Sirloin Strip and were seated almost immediately after entering the restaurant. 

They really had an amazing brunch spread. The lamb was quite the highlight and our server Megan sold me on the Polish Bloody Mary. I asked what made it Posish and she told me they used a Polish potato based vodka. It was an amazing Bloody Mary. Another server named Tommy came to our table and told us he was working with Megan "because they needed to let her sit down once in a while." He asked if we needed anything. We didn't but thanked him. They've got such great service there. They had a piano player this morning and our booth was right next the her baby grand. She performed a very charming Sound of Music medley. 

We toured the patio to take a look at their trout stream. I told Dale that the most elusive trout in the stream is named Captain Jack and that if if you catch him you get a special prize. He believed me. Sucker, but God I love him. 

Jax Cafe

Wednesday, August 12, 2015

Dale and I celebrated my birthday tonight and we had the good fortune of being joined by our good friends, Maggie and Cindi. As part of my recent supper club kick I chose Jax Cafe in Minneapolis as the restaurant.

The parking lot at Jax has the rows labeled like avenues. We parked on Sirloin Strip which is right next to Lobster Lane.

The gals met us at the restaurant at 6:30. Our waitress, Sheila, took our drink order. I asked for and Old-Fashioned cocktail and before I could request that it be made with brandy, she gave me the choice of just that along with whiskey or bourbon. I went with brandy (Wisconsin style) as that's my favorite spirit to add to the drink.

While waiting for our drinks to come, the family of four at the table next to us got their food order. The father got prime rib and the portion they set in front of him was HUGE. He put his hands to his mouth and actually let out a giggle of delight when he first saw it. The mother was given the same thing. The son, who looked to be 7 years old or so, was also given the same  although his looked to have a side of mashed potatoes. The daughter, who was about 3 or 4, was given small bites from her mother's plate along with a little bit of mashed potato. They all finished those huge portions of beef. I was impressed.

Anyway, I had originally intended to order the trout which you can net in the restaurant's own trout stream on their outdoor patio. I've heard they take your picture during the netting which they then put in a photo sleeve with the caption "I caught my limit at Jax." They have it ready to send home with you when you leave.

Despite originally wanting the trout, the family with the three huge orders of steak had me salivating for it so badly that I had to change my mind. I just couldn't get that beef out of my head.

We all had a lovely salad of field greens, strawberries, and balsamic vinegar. I had the 14 oz. slow roasted prime rib which came with au-jus, horseradish sauce, and a baked potato with sour cream - totally old school. It was divine. By divine I mean it was soft and tender and practically melted in my mouth. I made the right choice. The trout can wait until next time.

Our server, Sheila, was a great gal. Supper club servers are always awesome and she really is one of the best I've worked with. I think she took a shine to me too.

I'd heard that Jax did personalized matchbooks so I asked the host. He said they made little notepads as well. I ordered four of those for the four of us (see top photo).

For dessert Cindi and I each ordered ice cream drinks. I got the grasshopper and Cindi got the pink squirrel. 

The recipe for the grasshopper is as follows:

1 part ice cream (or cream)
1 part creme de menthe
1 part creme de cacao

When made with cream I suppose a shaker with ice would be the appropriate preparation. With ice cream, a blender. 

The recipe for the pink squirrel is as follows:

1 part ice cream (or cream)
1 part cream de noyaux
1 part creme de cacao

Same preparation.

Great restaurant, great food, great company, great evening. Dale loved it so much he wants to go for his birthday too. I hope the trout is ready for me.