Highlights From The Weekend

Thursday: Mariah and I went for a run downtown after work. I absolutely love a)running with her and b)running down King Street. Why? Because a)she and I run at the same pace and b) there are babes galore. Super motivation.

After our run, we stopped at Midtown to refuel with frickles and beer. Totally rational.

I got that shirt at the Nike outlet last weekend. I want to wear it every day!

Friday: Mariah and I went to Hall’s for dinner. We split the blackened salmon salad and sweet potato fries. Absolutely amazing. As we were eating, we both kept commenting on how delicious it was. This was the 3rd time I’ve had this salad. Obsessed.

After dinner, we went to O-ku for drinks. We met some men at the bar who were visiting from NYC. For some reason, one of them wanted to use my lotion and I just felt the need to snap a picture of him with it. Honestly, I just wanted a pic of his stache. Horrendous.

Saturday: This babe and I went to lunch at Boulevard Diner. I had never been there before, because I tend to shy away from southern cooking. It’s awful for you, but wonderful when you’ve had too much to drink the night before. I ordered the pulled pork with lima beans and corn bread.

The pork was excellent but the lima beans had no flavor and the corn bread was too dry. Boo.

The babe ordered the ribs with sweet potatoes. They were HUGE. When presented with this massive rack, he asked the waitress, “How do I even start eating this? Can I get a bathing suit?” Sauce everywhere.

That evening, Amanda and I went back to Hall’s. This is not a joke and is indicative of how obsessive my personality is. Two nights in a row for the same salad. I would probably get it everyday if my budget allowed it.

After dinner, we went to The Macintosh, a new bar on King Street. We really liked it there! We ran into Ashley, too! Remember her? My favorite gym rat! Jenny came too! Love these ladies.

I’ll catch you up on the rest of the weekend soon…

What was the highlight of YOUR weekend?

Restaurant Review: Uno Más

Last week when I was at the Mustard Seed for dinner, the owner, Sal Parco, asked if I’d like to review one of his other restaurant’s new menu. Of course I was happy to oblige!

Monday night, Matt and I met Sal at Uno Más, the Dine With Sal Restaurant Group’s Mexican-themed restaurant. Uno Más’s menu contains some traditional Mexican items and other South of the Border dishes with a twist. Like all of the Dine With Sal restaurants, the menu relies heavily on fresh, local ingredients. Another positive aspect of Uno Más’ menu that differs from your average Mexican restaurant is the addition of lighter options, including several salads and vegetarian items.

In my opinion, one of the most important things a good Mexican restaurant must have is good guacamole. Good guacamole must use fresh avocadoes, not be over salted, and be a bit chunky, with a hint of lime juice. This guacamole epitomizes my perfect recipe. It is hands down the best guacamole I’ve had. I could have easily eaten it work a fork. Matt agreed that it was also the best he’s had. The portion, served in an authentic Mexican mortar is huge, to boot!

We also had a side of Queso fundido: Chihuahua cheese, fire-roasted peppers, and onion, served with tortillas. This was incredibly rich and creamy.

A lighter appetizer option is the Uno Más Salad – avocado, tomatoes, red onion, fresh cilantro, lime, and sea salt. Again, the avocado was very fresh, as was the sliced tomato. I’d be happy with this as a meal!

One of my favorite items on the menu is the Grilled Shrimp Quesadilla with cilantro pesto, arugula, cheese, tomato, and avocado. I loved the arugula on top – there’s a nice twist! The shrimp, which were seared perfectly, were delicious. Qué sabor!

The next entrée we sampled was a new addition to the menu. Here are the Carnitas: slow-roasted pork, cilantro, and onions served on corn tortillas with guacamole, tomato salsa, and salsa verde.

My favorite entrée of the evening was the Spicy Coconut Shrimp: red onions, tomatoes, cilantro, chilies, an shrimp, simmered in a coconut milk over a crispy cheese grit cake. I thought the grit cake gave this dish a bit of Southern flair. We Southerners love our grits!

Don’t think for a second that we didn’t take advantage of the excellent happy hour specials. What else would we wash all this food down with? The Happy Hour menu features $4 appetizer specials—your choice of  guacamole, queso fundido, nachos, or veggie taquitos. The drink specials are bottles of beer for $2 and margaritas for $3-6 depending on the liquor.

We decided to try two cocktails. Shown below are the Cactus Pear: cactus juice, fresh lime juice, and a house made citrus blend and the Mojito Anejo: Bacardi 8 year, fresh mint, and soda. Guess who ordered the pink drink?

Matt did! How pretty is this cocktail?

I, on the other hand, ordered the less frilly, but still delicious Mojito. Rest assured that the lethargic look on my face was due to intoxication by delicious food, not the beverage. Please also be amazed by the fact that there are no stains on my white shirt! I made it through the entire meal without spilling on myself. This is quite an achievement.

Our very helpful and attentive server insisted that we not leave without trying dessert. Per her recommendation, we tried the Churros topped with whipped cream and dulce de leche. Um, yum. They were very crispy and sugary! And cinnamon all over? Of course I loved it.

And because my heart flutters when I see a dessert with bananas, I had to try the Banana Walnut Torte with crispy tortillas, whipped cream, and honey. I immediately dug out all of the banana slices – you can’t see them, but there were a bunch in there!

If you are still reading (thank you!), I insist you give Uno Más a try. I suggest you skip on over after work for Happy Hour. The food and drink specials will take all your workday stresses away. And for your vegetarians out there, be sure to check out the Vegetable Quesadilla or the Spinach & Mushroom Enchiladas.

Thanks for having us, Sal! Big thank you to our server and manager as well! You guys were awesome.

Surprise Frickles!

Last night, a bunch of us girls planned on doing frickle tasting at Mustard Seed. It didn’t work out as planned because my favorite chef Jonathan wasn’t working that night. Instead, we decided to go to Uno Mas for their yummy Mexican food and drink specials.

What’s special about this picture? None of us have pupils.

I was too starving to even thinking about taking a picture, but I ordered the Ensalada Camarones – grilled shrimp, baby arugula, queso fresco, roasted corn, diced tomatoes, red onions with a pomegranate vinaigrette. I asked for it without red onions, but unfortunately when it was presented to me those disgusting things were alllllllll over it. No joke, I got goose bumps when I saw them. Dramatic? Luckily they were easy to pick off and the rest of my salad was great.

After dinner, we went to O’Brion’s Pub & Grille for “one more drink.” Yeah, ok. On a more serious note, I’ve been cheating on Coor’s Light. For what? Bud Light. That stupid label where you can write your name on it has sucked me in!! Thank you, Jess, for scratching my name on the bottle with your car key. A group of 6 girls and none of us had a pen? Weird.

After “one more drink” I randomly asked our waitress if they served fried pickles. When she replied that they did, we may have all let out a loud shrill of excitement. A few minutes later, it was tasting time! O’Brion’s pickles were pretty good. Mary determined that they used Lawry’s seasoning which would explain why they were so salty. The southwest ranch  that they served them with, however, had no flavor.

As happy as we look in this photo, I think it was the beer. We all agreed that Midtown’s frickles are still winning!

In other news, Words With Friends has taken over my life. I may or may not have skipped the gym on Wednesday because I was sucked in to um, 16 games. What the heck?! I also cannot type on this phone. Examples of my typos:

Christina = Christuna

Xtina = Xtuna

What the heck? = What the gecko?

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh.

HAPPY FRIDAY!

Bringing Home the Bread. And the Bacon.

Carbs, carbs, carbs. That’s all I want when I’m tired. As soon as I saw Emily’s post on her newest recipe, I had to have it. Date Walnut Bread with Chocolate? YES!

The recipe was fairly simple to make and created such a beautiful loaf! Yes, bread can be beautiful. I have little to no patience when it comes to baked goods, you all know this. Knowing that bread can completely fall apart if sliced too soon, I waited the recommended twenty minutes to remove from the pan.

I did not, however, wait to slice it. And of course, it fell apart. Crap. Who has the patience for this kind of thing? I wanted warm bread with melted chocolate, darn it!
Can you blame me?

Earlier today, my blog and I were featured on the Dine With Sal facebook page. Dine With Sal is the restaurant group that includes my favorite place everrrrr, Mustard Seed. I was pretty excited about that.

Oh, and that job they’re talking about? Yeah, that happened. As of April 1st, I started working for Blackbaud, a company that provides software for non-profit organizations. In my role as a Communications Specialist, I will be responsible for reviewing and editing client deliverables and communications. Hello, grammar and typos! My team also develops company communications and newsletters. I am so pleased with this company and am very excited to be working for them!