A Restaurant Review – Crave Kitchen & Cocktails

You guys. Ohhhh my goodness. I’m dying over my dinner from Crave last night. You want to know how good it was? So good that I, Brittany “Dessert-Obsessed-As-in-I-Have-to-Have-it-Every-Night” Dahn, passed up dessert in turn for finishing off my leftovers later at night.

That never. ever. ever. happens. Taylor Swift style. So let me tell you about it.

A friend and I (Hi, Kaitlyn!) were supposed to grab sushi before our painting class. I looked up a place that was supposed to be in the same shopping center as the art studio, but after driving around for a few minutes, we didn’t see it and didn’t have much time to keep looking. Crave was right there and since I’ve read such good things about it from Christina, I was excited to give it a try.

I had to make a quick choice, which can be really difficult for me when I haven’t planned ahead and researched the menu. (I had already narrowed down the sushi rolls I wanted, but obviously that was no help now).

I was torn between the Cobb Salad and the Spinach and Tomato Grilled Cheese. Our waitress said both were very good, but said the grilled cheese in particular was really amazing. From my picture above, you already know which I picked. I figured you can get a good salad at a lot of places, but it’s not everywhere you see a grilled cheese on the menu made with goat cheese (!!!!!), provolone, spinach and tomato. If I see goat cheese listed in the menu description, I can’t get my mind off of it.

The sandwich was everything I hoped it would be and more. And then there were the sweet potato chips – which are really thick-cut round crinkle fries. I could not stop eating those, they were seriously addicting. 

This morning I did the longest run that I’ve done in probably two years. I’m attributing that accomplishment to my meal last night. It must have magically powers.

Needless to say, I can’t wait to go back to Crave. I would love to have this sandwich again, but there are many other things I’m looking forward to trying too. They even have weekend brunch including pancakes, which are apparently the “biggest pancakes you will ever see” according to the menu. Count me in.

Oh yeah, and after I tweeted to Executive Chef Landen Ganstrom about my fabulous meal, he said:

Chef Landen, you’ve got yourself a deal! 

Lemon Blueberry Skillet Sugar Cookie

I am going to come right out and say it. I cheated with this recipe. I used packaged sugar cookie mix. Gasp!!!

Betty Crocker to be exact. You know what? I don’t feel the least bit guilty either. I have made some good sugar cookies from scratch in my day, but I honestly don’t think a homemade recipe could have beat what this turned out to be. 

I was hooked after the first bite. Super thick, soft and chewy with just a hint of lemon and blueberry to brighten the flavor. It almost makes you think spring is here. Almost. So incredibly perfect in every way. So perfect it’s annoying. Annoying in the sense it keeps calling your name and won’t leave your mind alone until you take another bite. It’s a good kind of annoying if you ask me. I’m always up for another bite if it asks me kindly enough. 

Then there’s the bad kind of annoying, like when someone STEALS YOUR IDENTITY! Sorry, was I yelling? I’m a little upset. 

I received a call from my bank on Sunday morning asking me to verify a few purchases on my debit card. Sure enough, I didn’t recognize a single one. The little thief tried to make three different purchases of $200+ at True Religion in Florida. 

Seriously?

What a punk. That’s what I’m imagining this person to be anyway – a punk. The things people will do to steal other people’s information, only to go off and buy jeans of all things? Unreal. 

I am so thankful for my bank catching this right away and it seems it’s going to work itself out. I won’t be financially responsible for the charges as soon as I finish some paperwork. 

So while this little punk may have stolen a piece of my bank account, what he doesn’t know is that he missed out on a slice of THIS. At least I still have this. 

Lemon Blueberry Skillet Sugar Cookie 

(Adapted from Munchkin Munchies)

Makes 10-12 servings 

Ingredients:

1 pouch Betty Crocker sugar cookie mix

3 tablespoons blueberry Greek yogurt

1/4 cup butter, softened

1 egg

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/2 cup vanilla frosting

Sprinkles for topping, if desired

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

2. Combine sugar cookie mix, Greek yogurt, butter, egg and lemon juice in a large bowl. Stir thoroughly until all ingredients are well incorporated. Add dough to cast iron skillet and press down with your hands to spread the dough in an even layer across the entire pan. 

3. Bake 12-15 minutes or until the top of the cookie just becomes golden brown and edges slightly break away from the pan. Remove from oven and let cool completely before frosting. Slice and enjoy!

Weekend Eats 2-25-13

This weekend was bipolar.

Friday and Saturday were filled with rain. Rain, rain, rain. All day. I actually didn’t mind, because it really set the tone for what I hoped my weekend would be: lazy and relaxing. When Sunday turned into such a beautiful warm day, I made myself get outside a bit, but still relished the opportunity to lay on the couch and do nothing.

Before the laziness started, Greg and I hit up Graze for date night on Friday.

We started with the Pomme Frittes – “truffle oil, parmesan cheese and garlic aioli” ($6). From our previous experience ordering these fries, we asked for ketchup to dip them in. I know this is sometimes looked down upon, but honestly the aioli just doesn’t do it for me. It doesn’t taste like anything actually. The truffle oil and parmesan are amazing, but I can’t resist just dipping them in a little ketchup.  

The only dish I had previously had from Graze was the Pinenut Crusted Eggplant with a goat cheese couscous. Seriously one of my favorite meals in recent memory. I was sad it is not on their current menu, but also glad it allowed me to try something else without feeling like I was missing out on the eggplant. For my entree on Friday, I had the Pecan Crusted Atlantic Salmon – “Parmesan whipped sweet potatoes, broccolini, warm bacon-maple dressing” ($19). It was good, but I wouldn’t say GREAT.

Greg had the Chicken and Waffles – “Tabasco and buttermilk marinated boneless chicken breasts, housemade waffles, honey butter, pure maple syrup” ($16). That was a first for both of us trying this increasingly popular dish. The couple bites I took were pretty darn good and Greg really enjoyed it too, but in the end I think the maple syrup and waffles were too sweet for his liking.

We skipped ordering dessert at the restaurant, because I only had one thing on my mind. Fro yo!

We stopped at Menchie’s where I got a mix of cake batter, dulce de leche and strawberry yogurt. I kept things super simple and topped my bowl with a spoonful of cool whip and a few cherries. Perfect end to the night!

Saturday is when the relaxation really started. The rainfall made it easy to lay around in my pajamas for longer than usual. After a morning of lounging, I finally convinced myself to get my workout in before it was too late. Once that was out of the way, I had a hot bowl of my homemade vegetable soup for lunch. 

Later that night Greg and I met some friends to go bowling. I hadn’t been bowling in years so it was fun to show off my skills. Ha! Just kidding. I have no skill when it comes to bowling. I only scored 100 points in one of the two games, and that was only because Greg went for me on one turn and got a strike. Anywho, I had been craving a margarita, so that’s what I got to sip on while we bowled the night away. My weekend also included one of my favorite healthy snacks – a golden delicious apple and greek yogurt. 

This has been a long post already so make it quick with this one. Sunday involved brunch, as usual. We went to Triangle, as usual. 

I had the veggie omelet, fruit and home fries. We split some cinnamons rolls as well. Oh yeah, and since I gave up coffee for Lent, I was more than ready to have my Sunday dose! Everyone does it differently, but growing up I was always taught that you can, and should, ‘break’ Lent on Sundays. So that’s what I did. I think I downed almost three cups. Giving up coffee has been tough! I miss it so much.

Okay, friends. I think that about highlights all of the most delicious things from my weekend.

What was the tastiest thing you ate this weekend?

Sunday Blessings – (Wo)Man’s Best Friend

My baby Zoey is growing up so quickly! I figured it’s time for an update. 

She is a handful…maybe a hundred handfuls. But more than that, she is my precious lovebug. Recently I’ve found myself speaking my mind out loud to her. Like my best friend, she gets to hear all of my thoughts. She might thing I’m crazy. Greg sees it firsthand and I ignore his laughs. Secretly I think I may be going a little crazy too. But love will make you do crazy things. 

She is about 5 1/2 months old and about 62 pounds. The scary thing is that she’s not even half way done growing. 

Obviously I knew going into it that she was going to be big, but reality is slowly starting to set in. There have been a few moments where I think, “Oh my goodness, what have we done?” But then we see Breaker, the full grown Great Dane at the dog park, and my heart melts for the gentle giant. I can’t wait for her to be a gentle giant too. Zoey is the sweetest, cuddliest pup I could ask for, but there is no denying she is still a puppy at heart. It’s easy to forget that sometimes since she’s getting so big. 

She loves to eat and is never more proud of herself than when she finds a good stick to carry around for a couple minutes, only to chew it to shreds a minute later. After playtime at the dog park and filling dinner, she loves to tuck her face away and take a pre-bedtime nap. 

I am so blessed having for Zoey in my life. If I have this much unconditional love for a puppy, I can’t imagine how I am going to feel when I have babies of my own. Toomuchlovetohandle!!!

Roasted Carrot, Squash and Sweet Potato Soup

There are officially less than three months until my wedding. WHAT?! That is insane. Most of the planning is done, just some little things here and there to finalize. But you know what is super annoying right now? Postage.

I really want and need to get the invites out like, yesterday. I sent Greg to the post office to get postcard stamps for the RSVP cards but they only had apples. I do love apples, but not on my wedding postage. On the bright side, at least Greg was smart enough to know this was not okay and didn’t buy them. So I’ve been looking online and I don’t think wedding postcard stamps exist. At least not for face value. I don’t want to spend $1 for each customized one. That is insane.

Now that the wedding countdown begins with, “two months and ___ days,” it’s time to get serious about wedding body shape! More importantly, honeymoon shape. Did I mention we’re going to Maui?! Well, we are. We just about have everything booked for our Hawaiian getaway.

I like to think I do a pretty good job of eating a balanced diet on a regular basis, with the occasional weekend indulgences. But it’s easy to get a little too comfortable with the comfort foods during cold winter days.

A hot, filling, and somewhat spicy soup like this does the trick of satisfying my belly, while keeping me on track and ready for Hawaii!

I’ll just be daydreaming about another cup of this soup and maybe the postcard stamps I need will magically appear.

Because that makes sense.

Roasted Carrot, Squash and Sweet Potato Soup
(Adapted from Everyday with Rachael Ray, Jan/Feb 2013)

Makes 6-8 servings

Ingredients:
1 pound butternut squash, peeled, seeded and diced (about half of a medium squash)
1 sweet potato, diced
1/2 pound carrots, sliced (about 25 baby carrots
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cups water
2 cups vegetable broth
1 tablespoon dried sage
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup crumbled goat cheese for topping, if desired (about 1 tablespoon per cup of soup)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Lay squash, sweet potato and carrots on a large baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt and drizzle with olive oil and gently toss everything to evenly coat with oil. Roast about 25-30 minutes, or until vegetables begin to brown.
2. Add roasted vegetables to a large saucepan over high heat. Add water and vegetable broth. Bring to boil then turn heat to low. Cover and simmer about 15 minutes.
3. Pour contents of saucepan into a blender or food processor. Blend until smooth. Add to a clean saucepan over low heat. Stir in sage, paprika, cayenne pepper, and salt and pepper to taste.
4. Ladle soup into individual bowls and top with a tablespoon of crumbled goat cheese immediately before serving.

*Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to one week.

~About 65 calories per cup~

Weekend Eats 2-18-13

Hello, hello! It’s been a little while and a lot has happened in the past few days so let’s catch up.

I hope everyone had a great Valentine’s Day. I did. It was amazing, maybe even the best ever. If you follow me on Twitter or Instagram, you may have seen I was surprised on my lunchbreak on Thursday when I came home to box of a dozen Cupcake cupcakes from Greg.

I could not have been more excited. Thankfully I had some family in town this weekend to help me eat them all. I loved every bite, but I am also glad they are gone now. I had plenty. My favorite flavor always seems to change with these, but this time around I was loving the Cookies and Cream. 

Another thing that made my Valentine’s Day so great was the Rascal Flatts concert! Greg got me tickets for my birthday, which conveniently served dual purpose for Valentine’s too. Rascal Flatts put on an amazing show. Our seats were about four rows back from the stage, which didn’t hurt either 😉

The weekend brought lunch at Black Bean Co. on Friday. 

And a dinner date with Greg on Friday night at Sesame. We started with the pimento cheese appetizer. 

I had the Napa Valley Black Bean Burger (in a bowl) – fig and bacon jam, bleu cheese, and a red wine reduction. 

Yes, it was as delicious as it sounds. And the patty was enormous, making for great leftovers the next day. 

On Sunday, I took my family to Triangle for brunch after church. It was PACKED. Greg and I go here often for Sunday brunch, and I haven’t seen in that crowded in a longggg time. It was worth the extra wait for our table and our food. Sipping on $1 mimosas helps pass the time waiting. 

I had blueberry pancakes that I scarfed down before getting a picture. You can say they were mighty delicious. 

My weekend ended after saying goodbye to my family and making a simple meal at home consisting of a vegetable medley (chopped portabella mushroom cap, broccoli, onion, sun-dried tomato, chipotle sauce, shredded cheese), and a couple slices of a garlic herb baguette. 

What was the tastiest thing you ate this weekend?

Happy Valentine’s Day 2013!

I wish you all a very happy, love-filled Valentine’s Day! Eat some chocolate. Give someone a hug or kiss. Tell someone, “I LOVE YOU.” Eat more chocolate…

I love each one of you who pays any attention at all to the words I write and the food I bake. I love each one of you who takes the time to comment on a post and tell me your thoughts. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU! I wouldn’t be here in this blogosphere without you.

So, I have to ask – Will you be my Valentine?

Recipes for the food shown above:

I Heart Vanilla Cupcakes

Peanut Butter Banana Chocolate Cheesecake Squares

Red Velvet Cupcakes with Greek Yogurt

Mini Red Velvet Brownie Pies

Chocolate Dipped Strawberry Scones

Homemade Pop Tarts

Peanut Butter Banana Chocolate Cheesecake Squares

Well that’s a mouthful. A mouth full of light, fluffy, cheesecakey deliciousness! 

We can shorten the name to PB ‘Nana Choc Cake Squares if you want. I like abbreviations. Probs. Maybs. Totes. Adorbs. 

Perf. 

You get the point.

Do you realize Valentine’s Day is in two days? TWO! I think you could use a PB ‘Nana Choc one of these to sweeten your V-Day.  

But be careful. They can be addicting! (Name that movie!) 

At first I wasn’t sure I liked the outcome of these. There is no mistaking the banana flavor. Not bad by any means, just stronger than I expected. I think after literally not being able to stop myself from just taking ‘one last bite,’ then ‘no really, just one last bite,’ I realized how good they were. 

Things were getting out of control between these little squares and myself so I shared them with my coworkers and only heard good things. Then again, I can’t imagine a coworker telling me to my face they didn’t like something I made, but you never know. 

Now I wish I still had one, or two, left for Valentine’s Day. Prepare yourself for the sadness that comes when you or your coworkers finish these off. I’m still mourning the loss. 

Oh, oh! And if you’re counting calories as my obsessive self usually does, these are only about 150 cals each, assuming you use “light” versions of the ingredients as I have them listed below. 

Peanut Butter Banana Chocolate Cheesecake Squares

(Adapted from Bake at 350)

Makes 16 squares

Ingredients:

1 1/3 cup chocolate Teddy Grahams

8 ounces cream cheese, softened (I used light)

1/2 cup sour cream (I used light)

1/4 cup plain or vanilla Greek yogurt

1/3 cup cocoa powder

2 tablespoons corn starch

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 egg + 1 egg white

1 very ripe banana, mashed

1/4 cup creamy peanut butter

1/3 cup white chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line 8×8 baking pan with foil so that the foil completely covers the pan and hangs over the sides. Spray with nonstick spray and set aside.

2. Add Teddy Grahams to a food processor and blend thoroughly. Pour into baking pan and gently shake the pan to spread the crumbs in an even layer. 

3. In the bowl of a stand-alone mixer, add cream cheese, sour cream and yogurt. Beat on medium speed until ingredients are well-blended, about two minutes. With beater on low speed, add cocoa powder, corn starch and sugar. Add egg and egg white and continue to beat until well-incorporated. Add banana and peanut butter, again mixing until well-incorporated. Pour batter into the baking pan and gently shake to evenly distribute. Sprinkle white chocolate chips across the top of the batter. 

4. Bake 35-40 minutes. The top of the cheesecake will begin to crack slightly. Remove from heat and let cool in the pan for up to an hour. Place in fridge to chill an additional hour. Slice into squares and serve chilled.

Weekend Eats 2-11-13

This weekend was everything I needed it to be and more. 

Things started out with a bang on Friday when Greg and I went to pick up my new car right after work. Woohoo!! Although I never have been too picky about the car I drove (maybe because my first car was my mom’s minivan that I drove through high school), it is nice to now have a smooth ride, that doesn’t sound like a truck that’s about to break down. I hardly noticed some of my old Explorer’s faults, but everyone else seemed to comment on how loud and bumpy it was. 

We drove my new ride downtown to meet up with some friends for dinner at their favorite restaurant, Trattoria Lucca. It was the first time Greg or I had been there and after a long week of work, I was excited to eat some good Italian food and drink some wine with our friends. 

It was too dark to get a decent picture, so let me try to tell you with words…my dish was amazing. I had the Gnudi with Motadella Polpette (Italian sausage meatballs), and an absolutely to-die-for marinara sauce. Oh my gosh. So good. 

For $21, I would have expected a larger portion, especially for an Italian restaurant where large pasta dishes are the norm (in the U.S. anyway, although maybe authentic Italian portions are actually smaller). But it was still plenty of food, so I can’t complain. 

I went on an outdoor run Saturday morning in the beautiful sunshine, then played with Zoey for a bit while Greg cleaned and waxed my car. He’s nice to have around for things like this 😉

Lunchtime came quickly and I reheated a bowl of butternut squash and sweet potato soup that I made last week. I had steamed broccoli and avocado spread on a toasted english muffin as well. That’s my current favorite thing, by the way.

We spent the rest of the day lounging around the house. When dinnertime came, I was craving Mexican. Greg already claimed both of our Italian leftovers for his dinner, so I made myself a bowl of brown rice, pinto beans, tomatoes, onions, avocado and cheese. 

Talk about hitting the spot. 

Fast-forward to Sunday. We typically go to the 9:45am church service and about half of the time we go to brunch after that. Before leaving the house, we decided we wouldn’t go out, but instead come home and I would make brunch myself. We even had orange juice and champagne awaiting us in the fridge. Mimosas were calling our name. 

I made Greg a Southwestern style omelet with the leftover filling from my dinner the night before. This included pinto beans, tomatos, onions, avocado and extra cheese. I stuck with plain old scrambled eggs for myself. 

I also threw together sweet potato biscuits (ohmygoshsogood!) and some fruit for the side. 

This post is already getting too long so let’s skip my nothing-fancy salad for Sunday dinner and go right to dessert. 

Okay, so these are addicting. I only bought them because I needed a chocolately cookie type of thing to use for a crust I was making (recipe coming later this week!) and of course had plenty left over. But not for long. I only wish I had some of this around for a dip. 

That is all my friends. The weekend is over, sad. But the next will be here before we know it! Happy 🙂 

I {Heart} Vanilla Cupcakes

It’s true. I’m in love. It’s like the candy heart just magically knew what I was thinking as these cupcakes were coming together. 

I think it’s what you call love at first sight. I might even go as far to say it was love at first thought. Pink. Heart-shaped. Vanilla. Frosting. Sprinkles. Candy. 

All rolled into one precious cupcake. 

Yes, that is love. 

Oh yeah, there’s also this guy in my life that I’m going to marry in about 3 1/2 months (!!!!!). You could say I’m pretty in love with him too. But you don’t need to hear about all that right now. 

These little cake-of-the-cups have the most perfect, simple vanilla flavor. Some people may associate vanilla with ‘plain’ or ‘boring.’ But not here. Not now. 

Make these cupcakes for the one YOU love this Valentine’s Day and I promise they will love you even more. Make them for yourself and well, if you don’t love yourself after that, then all hope is lost.

In all seriousness, I hope you love yourself anyway. Eating cupcakes or not, just love yourself.

I {Heart} Vanilla Cupcakes 

Makes 12 cupcakes

Ingredients:
For the cupcakes-

1 cup + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/2 + 1/3 cup granulated sugar 

1 large egg white

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup milk (I used skim)
Red food coloring
12 candy hearts
Sprinkles

For the frosting-
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 1/4 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2-3 tablespoons milk

Directions:
For the cupcakes-
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake tin with liners of choice, heart-shaped if you have them!
2. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk and set aside.
3. In the bowl of a stand-alone mixer, add butter and sugar. Beat on medium speed until light and creamy. Add egg white, followed by vanilla extract and beat until well incorporated. Turn to low speed and add half of the flour. Slowly add milk, followed by the remaining flour mixture. Beat until well combined.
4. Pour half of the cupcake batter into a separate bowl. Add 2-3 drops of red food coloring to one of the bowls of batter. Mix thoroughly, adding more food coloring as needed to reach your desired shade of pink/red.
5. Drop pink/red batter by the tablespoon into the cupcake wells. Then drop a tablespoon of the white batter into the wells. Use a toothpick to gently swirl the batter together in each of the wells.
6. Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in the middle of a cupcake comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool completely.
7. Frost as desired. Top each cupcake with a candy heart for the full Valentine’s Day effect 🙂

For the frosting-
1. Add butter and powdered sugar to the bowl of a stand-alone mixer. Beat on medium speed for about one minute. Add the vanilla and milk while continuing to beat on medium speed until well incorporated. Be sure to scrap down the sides of the bowl as needed.