We went to the Black Sheep Pub on 17th for the first time last night.
There are 3 floors, we spent time on the first floor and in the basement. (which didn't feel like a basement at all!)
There's a bar on both floors (I think the 3rd floor is just dining) and it has this great cozy, friendly, familiar feeling.

At the downstairs bar we ordered some snacks for the group: wings, sliders, garlic fries and potato and leek soup.
I was so surprised at how good the food was! I was expecting typical greasy bar food, but this was not!
The wings were saltier than they were spicy, so that was a disappointment. But the sliders, were great, good meat, not over cooked, sweet onions on potato rolls and they gave us regular fries with the sliders, which were good thin cut fries with the skins still on, brown and crispy.
The garlic fries were thick cut with skins on them and the garlic oil that covered them was great with chunks of garlic. It also came with a chipolte mayo dipping sauce, a perfect pairing.
I can't wait to go back and get these, they are the perfect pair with a good beer.

The potato leek soup was good, creamy, the sauteed leeks on top were fantastic. I wish the soup wasn't pureed so finely, I'd like some pieces of potato or leek and way less cream.

Overall, Black Sheep Pub has a great atmosphere and great food. Go with friends for a drink or with a casual date and get some food at a table by the fire place.

NY snow

Back yard, 10am (ish) on 12/26

So, we got some snow the day after Christmas. It started at about 10 am on the 26th. When it was finally done snowing (about 10am on the 27th) the wind continued to gust at 40 mph. Were actually still under a state of emergency...

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

Front yard, 10am on 12/27

Breakfast Praise!

I didn't only get praise for the breakfast I created this morning, Nicole actually changed her breakfast plans (gasp!) & ate something I cooked!
It was fried eggs with cheddar cheese, black beans, corn, red onion & cilantro. A lil avocado, hot salsa & sour cream on the side.
GOOD MORNING!

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

500

Met a great friend for lunch today at 500 Degrees on Sansom.
Had heard a bunch about their burgers, so I dragged her along to check it out.
Wow its a closet with a griddle in it!
This tiny place with 3 tables create some of the GREASIEST burgers I've ever experienced. yuck. I'm still burping it up.
I ordered the #3, a classic burger with one topping (I chose Provolone cheese)
While I appreciate that they asked for a cooking temp when we ordered, its that much more frustrating when they don't even come close to cooking it correctly! I ordered my burger medium rare, and got a well done burger.
We waited 10-15 minutes for the burgers - too long for a fast food, burger join if you ask me.
The one minute the burger was in the bag was long enough for the grease to soak not only the burger wraper, but also the entire bag.
At first bite, all I taste is grease, and chewy meat. No cheese, in fact I didn't taste any cheese at any point. The fries were soggy. And thats pretty much how the entire burger tasted, chewy over cooked meat and grease.

Now the good parts (I always try to find something good!)
The single leaf of lettuce was green, and the slice of tomato was ripe.
The spicy fries were spicy. Not knock you off your chair spicy, but a nice spice.

I highly suggest you save yourself the
calories and eat somewhere else.

Fuji Mountain

We were lucky to get a gift certificate to Fuji Mountain 

Although they had many entrees and noodle dishes, we got sushi. 

We had 4 rolls: Spicy Tuna, Crazy Roll, Philly and Arizona. The sushi was good, but expensive. 

The place was nice and quiet and a perfect place for a date. 

Sashimi

We did get dessert this night out. We had fried bananas with vanilla ice cream. An excellent idea, but needed more seasoning. I'm going to try and convince Nicole to make it at home. :) I'll let you know how it goes!

Adsum

One rainy Sunday we decided to venture out to 5th & Bainbridge. Adsum.

In the small space with big windows, we sat and watched the rain fall.

Initial opinion was why am I sitting on such a cheap, thin, rickety chair, ordering an over priced beer?!

The food was good. Not everything I had hoped for, but definitely something I want to give a 2nd chance.

For our 1st time we had the SUPER poutine, of course. This was good, and I probably would have thought great, if that was all we had. But it was dinner time, and we needed a meal, so we ordered entrees; perogies, and the burger. Unfortunately both tasted like the poutine. I would have really liked a different taste (or even a different temperature) to cut through the rich, fatty - bacon like essence which covered everything.

Although we will go back and try different dishes, it will most likely be one at a time.

Nicole's Meals, aka. Masterpieces

Nicole really likes to pose and take pictures of the food she cooks. 

If you have any questions about recipes etc. email her at: greatgobs123@gmail.com

For breakfast one cold morning Nicole thought she'd introduce me to grits...they were surprisingly good. We put cheese in ours, but she explained that grits are kind of like tofu and take on whatever flavor you pair it with. They have a grainy cream of wheat texture. I'm actually craving them now!

Cheese grits with jalapenos.

 Salmon was on sale (YES!) so was asparagus, we got both and made a meal with a lemon butter sauce. We did it all in the oven...excellent. And BONUS very little clean up!

Lemon butter salmon with ww spaghetti and oven roasted asparagus.

 Not sure if you can tell in this photo, its pretty small, but dinner was ready at 3:30. :) We had turkey for weeks.

Thanksgiving turkey.

 Always wanted to cook with Quinoa. We got a healthy booklet in the mail with our Philadelphia Magazine this month, found a recipe in it for peppers stuffed with quinoa, perfect! We added ground turkey and had a super protein packed meal!

Pepper stuffed with Quinoa.