Family & Food

I had the best weekend. I feel kind of weird saying that since Dave wasn’t with me, but I guess it’s good that we can have fun without each other, right? I know he had fun playing World of Tanks on his computer, building our fire pit, and ordering out food that I’m certain made him sick.

My weekend started Friday night when I left work, ran home and threw all my stuff in a bag, and made a two hour trip to Northeastern Wisconsin to see my family. As soon as I got to my parent’s house, I gave them each a big hug, and then Mom and I hopped in the car to head into town to see my uncle and aunt perform karaoke at the Oneida Casino.

My cousin Amanda came back to Wisconsin for a two week break in between her travelS from Hawaii to Alaska. Lucky bum. Since I had to fly all the way to Alaska to see her last time, I figured this was a lot cheaper than flying to Hawaii next winter (although I would like to….) There was a great mixture of family and friends at the Oneida Casino, and my mom kept me up until 4:00 in the morning! We had no intention of staying out that late, but that’s the way it worked.

At least I got to spend extra time with my family. It was especially nice when I came home and Dad had the spare bed all ready for me, then Mom built me a fire.

This is the best kind of TV before bed.

The next day, Mom, Dad, and I drove to Manitowoc to look at mom’s new shop. Then we headed back to Green Bay for brunch at the Mustard Seed. There are so many good things on the menu that I never know what to order. I knew I really wanted some of Ken’s vegetarian chili, and I scored when I found out he added a new item on the menu: Chili Frittata.

The three of us all ordered it, and it was delicious. Perfect for a cold and rainy day. I am very picky about eggs for some reason (I don’t like when the yolk and white are mixed together), so I don’t normally order or make omelets or quiche, but if it’s covered in enough other stuff, it’s fine by me. This frittata was topped with chili, cheddar cheese, scallions and sour cream.

Later, my friend Shelby met up with Mom and I to go see Divergent. Shelby had actually recommended the book to me way back when, before we were even good friends, so it was pretty cool that we got to see the movie together. Mom hadn’t read the book, but she didn’t have trouble following the plot and seemed to enjoy it just as much as we did.

Two of the same actors from this movie are going to be in the upcoming movie, The Fault in Our Stars, which I’m also really excited to see. Remember when I raved about the book? I’m glad I got over my fear of going to movies alone, just in case I’m flying solo for this one.

I had made reservations Saturday night for S.A.L.T. in De Pere to use a gift certificate I got on my last birthday. The whole experience there was just wonderful.

The food was as good as ever, the staff was awesome, and the company was even better. Plus, I never get tired of the atmosphere. I took Shelby as my date and we doubled with my parents.

Mom and I shared a bottle of Malbec, which Mom taste-tested first with a swirl of her glass and a sip before she approved it. She’s so cool.

Mom and Dad let me take the reins on ordering again, so I ordered all at once and asked the waitress to pace our courses for us.

We started with Pleasant Ridge Reserve Cheese and Curry Hummus.

Cheese = always good. Curry Hummus = awesome. Of course, with two of my favorite things mixed together, it was bound to be good.

Next up, we had Mac & Cheese: Cavatappi pasta in a mac and cheese sauce. After my experience in Alaska, I learned it’s always good to order mac and cheese in nice restaurants. They know what they’re doing.

We also ordered an Andouille sausage, served with creole mustard and “holy trinity” relish. It was a nice variation on “fancy food” with the perfect spicy kick.

Truffle fries with aged parmesan and a poached egg. I don’t care if fawning over truffle oil is getting old, I LOVE IT. The fries were delicious and perfect with the creamy yolk broken over. And they’ve made me decide that I need to buy more truffle oil, damn the cost.

Who needs crab cakes anymore? (Well, I do). These smoked walleye cakes with caper aioli were wonderful. I’d take seafood over red meat any day.

Last up was the Mushroom Risotto. When our server first brought out this tiny plate, I was a little worried, but it turned out she had actually portioned this one all out for us. Ha ha! Not to toot my own horn, but I actually think my risotto is a little better. Shelby’s never had my risotto, so she asked me to prove it. You’re on, Shelby.

For the first time ever, I had room in my stomach for the S.A.L.T. sundae: salted caramel gelato with candied bacon and a whiskey sauce. Shelby and I shared this bowl, and Mom and Dad shared one as well.

The sauce was a bit potent for me, but otherwise, the dessert was perfect. The waitress also brought out some complimentary White Russian shooters.

For anyone who lives or plans to travel to De Pere, Wisconsin, I highly recommend S.A.L.T.

We headed home right after our two hour dinner experience and promptly went to bed. Sunday morning, we started our day with a fried egg sandwich.

Adorned with spinach, sharp cheddar, red pepper flakes, and Frank’s Buffalo Sauce.

Afterwards, Mom and I got to work making scones for Amanda’s homecoming brunch.

My mom’s side of the family was all there, and my aunt Colleen and cousin Amanda put on a lovely spread of food with sangria to drink.

Plus, I got to see my little Moonbeam!

Amanda also surprised my grandma with a birthday cake. She’ll be 90 next month!

I had to force myself to leave just before 5:00pm. Fortunately, I had Dave and my kitties to look forward to, otherwise I may not have left.

S.A.L.T., Take Two

For my Dad’s birthday, I offered to take him out for a delicious dinner at S.A.L.T. My parents live in the country, about thirty miles away from civilization (which is a great thing, sometimes) and don’t go out to eat very often, so a dinner out on the town is a treat for them.

 

We made a reservation for 7:30pm, but we got there at about 6:30pm to have a few cocktails in the bar first. While walking in, I noticed that they now have outdoor seating. Had I known that, I would have requested an outdoor table. It was a beautiful night: clear, sunny, and 70 degrees with just a hint of a breeze. I’ll have to remember for next time.

I love the atmosphere of the bar area. They have clear garage doors facing the street that are thrown open on nice days, and the interior is very chic. I don’t think I’ve ever used the word “chic” before, but this calls for it, don’t you think?

 

My parents were pretty impressed with the inside as well;  my mom said it used to be a laundromat when she was growing up.

Davy was incredibly tired from a very long week, but he rose to the occasion splendidly.

 

Kind of. 🙂

 

In the spirit of trying new things, I ordered a Surely Templeton, which was made with rye whiskey, vermouth, and cherry bark vanilla bitters. This drink was strong. I sipped on it for about an hour, but I’m not sure I’d order it again. I think my brother Tyler would have loved it, but the rye whiskey was a bit too much for me.

After that, I stuck with my standby: a dirty Tanqueray martini.

 

Perfection. At about 8:00pm, I got worried that they forgot about us, and I checked in with the hostess again. There had been some kind of mistake, but after I spoke with her, we were seated within ten minutes. I ordered another beer to drink with dinner (can’t remember the name).

 

My parents (especially my Mom) absolutely loved this beer, but I didn’t care for it. It was heavy on the hops and had an overwhelming grapefruit taste; since I’m not a fan of grapefruit, it was a no go. I sipped on it a little bit, then gave the rest to my parents to share.

My parents put ordering completely in our hands, so Dave and I ordered a bunch of small plates to share. It’s fun ordering for others!

I asked the waiter to stagger their arrival, so our table wouldn’t be overcrowded with dishes.

First up was the S.A.L.T. sampler, which came with cheese, crackers, pita, shaved beets, pickled peppers, and a whipped salmon spread. I adored the salmon spread, it was so light, fluffy, and flavorful. This sampler was a step up from the traditional Middle Eastern sampler we ordered last time.

 

Goat cheese is the only cheese I do not like, but my parents do, so we ordered an olive & goat cheese “smear” which was served with crostini. It tasted a lot like a tapenade but fluffier, similar to the consistency of the salmon spread. Despite the goat cheese, I actually thought it was quite good.

 

Fresh oysters served with a Tabasco lemon juice sauce. Always good. And so much fun when you don’t have to pry them open yourself.

 

(This is when I switched to flash on my camera). We ordered my favorite steamed mussels from last time in ham and hennipan (a type of ale) and, though they were delicious, the sauce was not quite as good as last time. It didn’t taste as fresh or flavorful for some reason.

 

Another old favorite: seared rainbow trout. This was just as amazing, and my mom couldn’t get over how good the lemon caper aioli was. It really was a perfect accompaniment to the fish.

 

This is not something I would normally ever order, but I’m glad I did: “Los Pollos Hermanos:” spicy fried chicken breast with a cilantro-lime dipping sauce. This was the absolute best fried chicken I have ever eaten. It was so light and crunchy, closer to tempura then regular, greasy fried chicken. Had I made the sauce myself, I would have balanced the acidity a little more, but it was a good accompaniment to the chicken.

 

Shrimp & Grits. Just as delicious. And I think we decided that the “sticks” on the top were uncooked spaghetti, flavored with sauce.

 

Grilled asparagus. My mom asked what the purpose of a poached egg on top was, but didn’t question again after Dave broke the yolk and let the sauce cover each crisp-tender asparagus. Divine.

And for something completely American….(although I think the origins are actually European)

Gravy fries. The gravy on these fries was savory perfection, and the cheese curds made it even more so.

 

I really, really wanted to save room for dessert, but I was full again. Blast. Next time!

It was a wonderful dinner altogether, and I think Dave and I are finally ready to move onto ‘Medium Plates.’ 😀

After we parted with my parents, we stopped to visit our friends Shelby and Cory and their new kitten Kaylee.

 

I’m in love. We got both of our cats when they were a year old, so we never got to experience the kitten stage. She was a little fur ball of cuteness and fun.

We only stayed a bit, as Dave and I were both exhausted. As soon as we got home, we were in bed five minutes later. Good night world! I’m ready for the rest of the weekend!

 

 

 

Super Saturday at S. A. L.T.

I was definitely feeling the burn in my legs and back from my runs the last two days, so I decided to go easy on myself and do some weight training yesterday with Bob Harper.

Twenty minutes of the Beginners’ Pure Burn Super Strength was the perfect amount yesterday morning to wake my arms up.

After my mini-workout, I made myself a delicious green monster smoothie for brunch around 2:00pm.

• mango chunks
• pineapple
• strawberries
• peaches
• bananas
• mango juice
• unsweetened vanilla almond coconut milk
• water
• ice cubes
• spinach

Delicious and very filling. I’m glad it’s smoothie season again; they always taste like summer in a glass.

I read quite a bit of poetry yesterday, replaced the wiper blades on my car, and then Dave and I went for our first bike ride of the year. We biked to the gas station to fill our tires with air and it was a pretty short ride, but it felt wonderful. I love how biking feels like flying.

We invited our friends Shelby and Cory over for a pre-dinner cocktail and chatted for awhile before heading to S.A.L.T., a new restaurant in De Pere featuring upscale comfort food. Several members of our group had been to the location before when it was a bar and were amazed at how it changed. This was my first time there, and I absolutely loved the atmosphere–it was dimly lit (my favorite), classy, and very inviting.

Image source: greenbaynightlife.com

We waited at the bar a bit for a table, so I ordered a specialty cocktail from the menu: Prez Tommy Jeff, which was sage, fresh oj, ginger beer, and lemon tree bitters. They had a nice selection of beer, wine, and other inventive cocktails.

The Prez Tommy Jeff tasted just like a summer walk in the forest: fresh, aromatic, and very earthy. I loved it.

The bar had an entire wall of windows and glass garage doors facing the street, so it was really fun watching all the college kids stagger through the town. People watching is so fun.

As soon as we got to our table, I ordered a dirty Tanqueray martini, which was absolutely perfect. It’s so easy to screw up a martini when the amounts are off, so I love when I order them at a bar and they are smooth as glass with the perfect amount of dirty. Good, fresh olives are always a plus, too. S.A.L.T. didn’t have bleu-cheese stuffed olives like Bleu, but I won’t fault them for it.

Each place setting had mason jars already filled with water for each guest.

I really like the mason jar trend, and I love it even more that the server automatically gave us water without having to ask. Someone told me when I was young that that was the best sign of a good restaurant. The atmosphere away from the bar was just as cozy.

And the menu was…incredible.

I wanted to order every single thing on the menu, and between the group of us, we pretty much did. Dave, Shelby, Cory, and I decided to get a bunch of small plates and share, so we ended up order nine different small plates. The waitress staggered their arrival which worked out really nicely for us, but it was strange eating half our food before anyone else was served.

My favorite of the night: Mussels with Ham and Hennipen (a Farmhouse style ale).

I don’t know if the ham added that much for me, but the broth was so amazing: creamy, rich and very well rounded from the beer. The watiress brought out some toasted baguette slices to soak up the broth, which was wonderful on its own. I forgot how much I loved mussels–they are so good! I think Dave and I will start incorporating them into our dinners more often.

Then there was the Middle Eastern Plate.

It came with fresh, warm pitas, baba ganoush, curried hummus, olives, dried apricots and dried figs. We probably could have skipped this since we eat most of these things regularly, but it was definitely a good sharing plate.

Then there was the Seared Rainbow Trout.

This was Dave’s favorite. It was served with roasted almonds, green beans, and a lemon caper aioli. The fish was cooked perfectly. It was tender and flaky, and the lemon caper aioli was a flavorful and moist accompaniment. The green beans were delightfully al dente and wonderful with the sauce as well.

Then there was the Tandoori Quail.

The quail was served over a couscous salad with sambal-apricot chutney. The quail was juicy, savory…amazing. I didn’t really care for the couscous (I think the couscous I make is better), but I could have eaten just the quail and been happy.

Then there was the S.A.L.T. Seviche.

Shrimp and cobia served on a salt block with avocado, ancho, cucumber, mango, radish, and citrus. This one definitely won the most points for presentation. The Himalayan salt block was such an inventive and attractive way to serve this dish. Unfortunately, I found the cobia to be a bit too salty from sitting atop the salt block, although the boys disagreed. I read that women have more taste buds than men so they require less salt for taste–maybe that’s why?So…not my favorite, but still good.

Then there was the Tobacco-Smoked Pork Belly.

This was served over miso-creamed corn. Creamed corn is definitely a comfort food for me. We never eat it at home, but I loved it growing up so it was a wonderful way to be reintroduced. The pork belly melted in my mouth and had a wonderful smoky flavor from the tobacco.

Then there were the Scallops, Potato, and Ham.

Seared diver scallops served over Benton ham and creamed potato. I don’t think I need to tell you how amazing the scallops were. I have never had a bad scallop in my day (of the four (?) times I’ve had them). I was surprised how well the scallops worked with something as heavy as potatoes, but the the combination worked quite well together: the creamed potatoes were amazing. I probably ate more of the potatoes than anyone else, because I couldn’t keep my fork out of them.

Then there was the Shrimp Rossejant ‘n’ Grits.

Gulf shrimp served over creamy cheese grits and spicy tomato sauce. I told you last week that shrimp & grits is one of my new favorite foods, and this dish only proved that statement to be more true. I have no idea what the stick things were (classy, I know) atop, but this dish was incredible: plump and juicy shrimp, buttery cheese, and rich tomato sauce….it was just as good as Dave’s. 😀

We finished our dinner with another round of mussels, this one cooked with chorizo and wine.

At this point, I really couldn’t appreciate the mussels as well as I would have liked because of how full I was, but the few I had were almost as  incredible as the first.

The dessert menu looked equally incredible.

I was drooling over the S.A.L.T. sundae which was salted caramel gelato, candied bacon, cocoa nibs, cashews, and straight scotch, but there was no way I would have been able to enjoy it after dinner. Next time! Because there will be a next time.

We basked in our fullness for awhile at the table.

We had a pretty late reservation (8:30), so we weren’t being rushed to leave as the dinner rush was over by the time we finished our meal.

The only bad thing about having so many friends is not getting to talk to them all during dinners out. Our table was so large that I barely got to speak to my friends at the north end of the table. Fortunately, that changed when we went back to the bar for another drink. I ordered the Jamaican 2-Squeeze (unpictured, but it looked just like my first cocktail) which was made with Uncle Val’s gin, ginger beer, and Jamaican #2 bitters.

I love gin and I adore the spiciness of ginger beer, so this cocktail had the perfect amount of punch for me. No one was ready to call it a night yet, so we ventured over the bridge to a bar called The Vault.

There was a live band, and the lead singer was a guy we know from the grocery store–small world! It was nice hearing live music, and it wasn’t too loud in the bar, which is always a plus. I like being able to chat at bars without having to shout.

What was even more amazing about this bar were the prices. I thought my bill was wrong when I got it because it was so inexpensive. Love when that happens! After bar close, we still weren’t ready to call it a night.

Dave and I invited everyone over to cap off the evening, so we had another cocktail and talked poetry and World of Tanks (a new obsession among many of my friends) while Dave and Shelby whipped up a snack.

At this point, it was about five hours after we had eaten dinner but I wasn’t really hungry and just had a bite. I’m not even sure what they created–I think it was toasted English muffins with sauteed mushrooms, friend eggs, cheese, and smoked paprika. Very tasty!

When we heard birds chirping, we knew we finally had to call it a night. I face planted into bed at about five am and slept til ten this morning. Such a great day, and a wonderful experience at S.A.L.T. I will definitely be there again!

*Note: We asked the waitress what S.A.L.T. stood for, but she said the name is actually not an acronym (they just thought it looked cool), so they invite customers to create their own. My brother suggested Seven Angry Lion Tamers. I haven’t thought of one yet. What would you name it?