What's for dinner auntie?

I got a call from my nephew Jessie tonight asking "What's for dinner auntie?" So I said, "I don't know, come over and I'll figure something out."

Not really a recipe for Beef Stroganoff
Slice beef into thin bite sized pieces. Lightly coat with flour. Fry in hot skillet with a little bit of oil. Remove beef and add sliced mushrooms and onions to skillet. Saute with butter and salt for 5 to 7 minutes. Add beef, sour cream, mustard and beef broth. Serve over steamed rice or noodles.

Would you like those Hot or X-Hot...

I think they're better than BW3's. *gasp*

Maybe they only have 5 or 6 flavors, but they're good flavors. I like that the wings are fried crispy before they're coated with sauce. I like that they're not served all dry. I like their fries. And I really like that you can get 10 wings, fries and a drink for about $8.

All they need to do now is put some Mammoth gear up!

Wingman
http://www.wingmanwings.com/
303-980-0545
3333 S Wadsworth Blvd
Lakewood, CO 80227

How 'bout we cut 39 minutes....

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

159 min. Really?

Actually, I really liked this movie. I love love loved Queenie's character. She was hilarious. But I probably could have cut out 39 minutes and made it only TWO HOURS long! I think it could have done without any of the hospital scenes.

And what's up with Tilda Swinton who plays Elizabeth Abbott? Why is she so freakishly scary looking?

Wassssssssssaaaabi...

They have a pretty good happy hour and are conveniently located across the street from the movie complex - so way cool for dinner and a flick. And the food isn't bad either... not that I am by any means and expert on Sushi - so I could be all wrong.

OMG - They have a ginormous bento box. Really, does anyone need that much food?

Wasabi
http://www.wasabidenver.com/belmar/
Belmar in Lakewood
433 S Teller St
303-935-8888

yawwwwwn....

The Tale of Despereaux

Oh man, I really wanted to like this one.

Somewhere along the way I heard a review of the book that said it was great. And one of the previews must have caught my eye...

zzzzzzz....

I had trouble staying awake through it. When I looked over at my nephews, they were leaning against each other, head to head (so cute) - fast asleep. JJ, who was sitting next to me, drifted off too - but Denise elbowed him and helped him to keep awake.

It was just too slow. The kids we were there with were 10 and 12, but I wonder if younger kids would have been able to focus on it. I'm not sure if it's even rental worthy. If you're looking for a movie with rats and soup - try Ratatouille.

A little shady if you ask me...

A Restaurant Review....

Lechuga's Italian Restaurant

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Type: Half is Casual Sit Down and Half is a Bar
Location: 3609 Tejon St, Denver, CO 80211 / Phone 303-455-1502
Price: $5 and up
Recommendation: My son loves it! I'm kinda over it... but if you haven't yet, you should give it a try.

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Occasion: After a movie downtown, my brother and his family, my brother Mondo, me and my son went to grab a quick bite for dinner at Lechuga's. It's a favorite of his family and also of my son's, but since it's so far from us, we usually only go there when we're doing something else close by.

Order: Me and Mondo ordered a big square combo-pizza to share and a side-salad each. My nephew ordered a whole big square pepperoni for himself. The rest of the family ordered sausage and meatball canolis - some smothered with cheese and sauce, some stuffed with jalapenos and some with SOS (sauce on the side).

My family loves the canolis - and they are a pretty good value. Monstrous portions at about $3.75 each, $4.75 smothered with cheese and sauce. Tonight the sausage ones were as good as always, but the meatball that my niece ordered looked dried up. She doused it in sauce, but still hardly ate any at all. Not very appetizing.

My salad was swimming in ranch dressing. I'm used to that, but I still order them there because they cover them with mozzarella and pepperoni and I like 'em. However, I didn't like the pizza at all. The crust tasted too much like a Jiffy mix and was really thick. I'm sure it's the last time I will ever order one there. Mondo and my nephew didn't like it either - but my nephew did mention that their individual rounds are usually much better.

I guess this happens from time to time, but the soda mix was off that night too and everyone who ordered a cola thought they tasted like diet... and they didn't order diet.

Atmosphere: There wasn't enough room for our group of 8 to eat in the dining room, so we were directed to the bar area. It's an older establishment that has seen a recent update on the dining side, but is quite aged on the bar side. The room was dark and we sat against a wall sharing 4 tiny bar tables.

Service: I'm sure this lady is the owner or at least the manager - but she came over to our table, standing right next to the two youngest in the group, 10 & 12 - and seeing our tables only half set up yells "What kind of shit is this? Where's your silverware!?" Her call was aimed at the waitress of course and me and Mondo could barely hold in a laugh, hardly believing what just happened.

I feel like I've been getting duped on bills lately, so I took the liberty of itemizing out our order (me and Mondo got separate checks from JJ & his family). We were overcharged a whole $1.00 for a smothered item, that we didn't get smothered. Even taking that into consideration, our total was still off. Turns out tip was added. I know - it's usual for a tip to be added when there is a party of 8 or more..... but usually it's noted on the receipt and if not, the server usually mentions it! A little shady if you ask me...

Conclusion: Although I feel like I'm over it... I used to like going there every once in a while. It was a great place to grab some take out on the way to a Rockies Game! But, my son loves it - so chances are we will be back every now and then.

If you haven't had one - and your near the area - you really should stop by and grab a "Super" - or a "Devil" if you're daring

I'm not a professional anything - it's just my opinion, and that's what ya get for reading my blog. Cheers!

What's up with Mickey...

It's the day after Christmas. I got to leave work early and decided to take Darren to the movies. He invited JJ, Denise and Aubrey and they joined us at Colorado Mills to see "Bedtime Stories" with Adam Sandler.

I thought it was a pretty cute movie and I laughed more than I thought I would at the pet Guinea Pig.

Can't beat $2 U-Call-Its

Tomorrow I have a vacation day - YAY! Tonight, Mondo and I stopped by The Park Tavern for their amazing Happy Hour and some pizza. I've been craving it since the last time I went there several months ago.

So what's so great about their Happy Hour you ask? Well, $2 U-Call-Its should explain it all (only on Tuesdays). The last time I went there, I was prepared. I visited the Chambord website and wrote down recipes for a few (okay - several) drinks I wanted to try. When we got there I just handed the list to the waitress and she brought them out one at a time.

Tonight I had an Italian Margarita (sugared rim and a shot of amaretto).

On the menu was the following offer for pizza: Buy three toppings, get three free - so we loaded up... Mushrooms, Artichokes, Onion, Ham, Bacon AND Sausage. Yikes.

You can't beat the deal on the drinks and they were yummy. The pizza was pretty good too, although I would have liked it toasted just a tiny bit more.

However, I can't say much for their service. In the handful of times I've went, it hasn't been the friendliest... and on one occasion we were seriously overcharged on drinks. But, we also had a bit too much that night, so kinda blaming ourselves on that one.

In the end, I'm sure I'll go back, sometime.

Park Tavern & Restaurant
www.theparktavern.com
921 E 11th Ave
Denver, CO 80218
303-832-7667

Some tasty recipes from Chambord Online

Atlantique
Served in a Martini Glass
1 1/2 shots Finlandia Vodka
1/2 shot fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/2 shot Chambord
1/4 shot Peach Schnapps

Chambord French Martini
Served in a Martini Glass
1 1/2 parts Finlanda Vodka
1/2 part Chambord
1/2 part pineapple juce
Shake ingredients with ice and strain

Chambord Margarita
1/2 part Chambord
1 part Don Eduardo Tequila
3 parts sweet and sour mix
Add all ingredients except Chambord to blender. Add ice to top of liquid. Blend. Pour blended ingredients into margarita glass and drizzle 1/2 shot of Chambord over top

The. BEST. Movie. Ever.

Took Darren and Mateo to see Madagascar II which Lindy told me was The. BEST. Movie. Ever.

Lindy is a liar.

I had trouble staying awake. But, I also had a lot going on that week, so it could of been that I was just wearing myself out.

Ah well, Mateo and Darren both liked it. And it was probably worth it just cause I got to take them to Cold Stone first and then got them the kid packs in the movie and Mateo said "We probably shouldn't tell my mom..." Sneaky kid!

Bargain laughs...

Fun stuff...

I love going to comedy shows. In fact, over the summer - I went to Comedy Works downtown three or four times.

Tonight I went for the first time to the new Comedy Works South venue in Greenwood Village. It was wayyyy nicer than the one downtown if only that our tables and chairs weren't nailed to the floors! And since it was a Sunday evening, maybe because we weren't packed in like sardines. The only thing I can say that was bad is that it was really cold inside and I ended up putting my jacket back on to wear through the whole show.

My friend Matthew won a "party" which allowed us in for a bargain $5 bucks each. (Fill out a slip and you can win too :) You know, there are usually three to four openers before the headline act. This time I happened to like at least two of them, and that was a good start. The headliner was a guy named Tommy Johnagin. I know, cool name. Oh wait - I just remembered another bad thing - it sucked that there were two hecklers sitting in the front row and security took wayyyyy tooooooo long for security to remove them. Tommy (yeah, like we're on a first name basis) handled them well and moved way up to the top of my favorite comedian's list. Yep, he's now up there with Jo Koy and Sam Fidele. So if you ever get a chance to check any one of these guys out - let me know what you think....


Comedy Works South
5345 Landmark Pl
Greenwood Village
720-274-6800

All about texture...

A Restaurant Review....

Wahoo's

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Type: Fast, dine-in
Location: 280 S Union Blvd, Lakewood, CO 80228, 303-597-0095 http://www.wahoos.com/
Price: $5 and up
Recommendation: If you haven't already - Try it!

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Occasion: Lunch!

Order: I am writing this review only because I usually really like picking up a bite at Wahoo's. I order the sandwich or sometimes the carne asada enchiladas with red sauce and then extra green sauce (roasted peppers and cilantro) on my rice. mmmm.....

The Wahoo's Carne Asada (Steak) Sandwich was disappointing to me this time. The bread was too soggy and it was all I could taste. And the fries weren't crispy enough either. Guess it was all about texture this time.

Atmosphere: I always find them clean, at every location I've been to. Surfer deco - with stickers strategically placed all over. Reminds me of a giant Nalgien bottle... or a Subaru.

Service: Umm, the guy who took our order was nice...

Conclusion: Some people I talk to are afraid to try Wahoo's cause they think all that they serve is FISH TACOS! And I'm not knockin' fish tacos, cause I actually like them there... BUT, that is not all they serve. Their carne asada (marinated grilled steak) is awesome! It's spiced just right and always real tender. So good in all of their items.

I will definitely be back, just probably won't be ordering the sandwich for a while...

That's Hot...

You've heard of Facebook right? Well, I'm on it. Have been for a while. The funny thing is, when I first got the account setup, it was to be in contact with friends that I know through my younger brother. So I have all these friends who are eight years younger than me and who all went to a college that I never attended - but they're people I know and hang out with.

As time passed, I started getting requests by people I went to high school with. People who I probably would never have talked to if it hadn't been for FB. But the cool thing is that I have actually had some meaningful conversations with some of them. And recently met up for dinner with a couple of girlfriends I hadn't seen in years - almost 20.

We left dinner promising to get together again - and guess what - we did! Claudia set up a Girls Night Out...

The Spa Party was at a place called MoonDance Botanicals in Denver. There were supposed to be 7 of us, but only three showed. Thank goodness the owner was a real sweetheart. She was very understanding. We just had a smaller gathering and really got to catch up on life while we gave ourselves an amazing facial.

$15 per person (minimum 4 people) includes facial, wine, cheese and organic chocolate! What a deal! And Tonja was not high pressure about her products at all! We're going back next month for the Spa Pedicure Party!

MoonDance Botanicals
http://moondancebotanicals.com/about.html
601 Corona St
Denver, CO 80218
303-263-7275

Lo Lo Lo Lo Lola's

What an excellent night...

I think I keep myself pretty busy. I like to have fun, I like to "do stuff" - but I don't usually go out by myself. I never really have. Well, once I went to a movie by myself - but it was pretty weird. Tonight, I made another exception... and I'm so glad I did.

I attended a holiday party given for the staff of my son's school and the Board of Trustees. For the 2nd year in a row, it was held at Lola's in Denver and for the 2nd year in a row, it was a lot of fun.

The school has grown by one full grade. That means a lot more teachers and significant others - so it was quite a crowd. The company was great. I really love the staff and the board at the school. There are a lot of amazing and caring people who I'm so glad to know. I enjoyed good conversation, lots of laughs, a couple of drinks and some really tasty ceviche (citrus cured sea bass, pico de gallo, toasted pine nuts, smoked tomato). Mmmm...

What an awesome way to start the holiday season!

Lola's
http://www.loladenver.com/
1575 Boulder St
Denver, CO
720-570-8686