Haircut and Ziti

Yesterday was a fairly normal Monday.  I did the laundry and went grocery shopping for the week.  The usual things I do on Monday just in case I get too busy (or lazy) to do them later in the week.  I also went to get my hair done in preparation for a friend's wedding this weekend.  I don't need to look amazing as a bridesmaid, but I can't look bad... No one wants to be the one who makes the pictures look slightly off.  I went to Shelton's Salon and Spa conveniently located in the shopping center next to Trader Joe's.  It was a nice space, and my hairdresser was perfect.  I had read some unfavorable Yelp reviews, but I didn't understand where they came from.  Mondays are apparently very quiet because only 4 hairdressers are working.  Supposedly, everyone else comes in the other days of the week, and I'm guessing it could get a bit loud.  My hair turned out great, and I feel like I'm myself again (I had let my hair grow out for the wedding but much prefer a shoulder length look).

After my hair appointment, I stocked up on groceries for dinner at Trader Joe's.  Hubby's family is Italian, which always makes me a bit worried about cooking Italian food for him.  However, I had a recipe from Food and Wine magazine for Speedy Baked Ziti that looked too good not to try.  I explained to hubby ahead of time that he should not expect this fast and loose version to measure up to his family's homemade ones, but how bad could pasta, tomato sauce, and cheese really be?  With expectations set, we took a bite, and it was delicious.  So flavorful (thanks Classico sauce), so cheesy (thanks three kinds of cheese), so perfect after a long Monday.

As I was assembling the ziti, I realized that if you didn't put in the cheese it was probably healthier, but the cheese makes it look so much more delicious (and it was fat free cheese).

Social Weekend

Hubby and I had another great (hot) weekend in Fort Worth.  It all started with dinner on Friday night.  From our neighbors, we had found out about a pop-up pizza restaurant that had just begun coming to Fort Worth on Fridays and Saturdays.  The restaurant, Cane Rosso, serves Neapolitan pizza.  They have a brick and mortar location in Dallas but also have a traveling oven that gets up to 900 degrees.  The pop-up restaurant in Fort Worth was being held at the Swiss Pastry Shop on Vickery.  Hubby and I were so excited to have some good pizza and were not disappointed.  The pizza came out quickly with bubbling cheese after being in the super hot stone oven.  Hubby had the Che Cazzo piled high with spicy meat and tons of topping while I had the more simple Bianca.  The pizza was perfect, just like the Neapolitan style pizza we had in New York (and pretty close to what we had in Naples).  The only thing better than the pizza that night was the leftovers the next day.

This is the truck that pulls the trailer with the oven.

 A simple menu that gets to the point... pizza!

Hubby's meaty pizza was good, but way too spicy for me.  Texans don't joke about spicy.

My simple pizza was good, but I want to try something more fun next time.

After dinner, it was still light outside, and hubby and I decided to go for a walk in the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens.  It was much larger than we expected and very beautiful.  We strolled peacefully around the grounds enjoying the escape from the unnatural world.  Parts of it reminded us of central park, especially the Northeast portion of Central Park where there are more manicured gardens.

Doesn't this have a Central Park feel to it?

Hubby strolling through the archways.

Saturday began with a bike ride to Einstein's for breakfast.  The ride took us up an intense hill, through the University Place neighborhood, and just past TCU.  Although it wasn't very far, it felt like so much work, especially before breakfast.  We were both hungry, and our bagels tasted just that much better since we had earned them.  The bagels at Einstein's are good, but we do miss New York bagels.  I think it's impossible to get New York bagels anywhere but New York.  In Einstein's favor, I will say that their schmears are delicious!  After breakfast, we road our bikes around Fort Worth, but the best part was getting to go down the hill that had killed us on the way to breakfast.

As the title of the post says, this weekend was a social one.  Saturday afternoon, we met up with my friend and her husband in Dallas with the intention of going stand up paddle boarding (SUP), which is becoming increasingly popular in the area.  It is so popular that we were not able to get boards without reservations.  Instead, we decided to go kayaking.  We rented two tandem kayaks, one for each couple, and leisurely rowed around White Rock Lake.  At first, we tried to be coordinated, aspiring Olympians, but it didn't take very long for us to appreciate all the work Olympic athletes must have to do just to row in a straight line. 

After kayaking, we went to dinner (don't worry, we showered first) at Salum, which was a culinary treat.  The boys ordered the rack of lamb while my friend and I ordered the scallops.  It had been so long (probably since my days as a consultant) since I had eaten scallops, which are a favorite indulgence of mine.  The food was delicious with rich flavors and perfect portions (though possibly a bit small for hubby).  We completed dinner by sharing two desserts, an apple and berry crisp and a caramel chocolate tart.  Both desserts exceeded expectations.  The crisp was crispy (of course) and almost savory which complemented the sweetness of the warm interior fruit.  The tart was decadent served with espresso gelato on the side.  After dinner, we went to Salum's neighboring sister restaurant, Komali, for drinks.  It was such a fun (and delicious) night and a nice break from Fort Worth's more glutinous, laid back scene.

Although located in a small shopping center, the experience was anything but small.

 The lighting was miserable for taking pictures, especially with my phone, but you can see that the food still looks delicious even with a horrible photo.

Sunday morning we had brunch plans with two of our college friends who had gotten married last year.  They had suggested brunch at Hattie's in the Bishop Arts neighborhood of Dallas located just southwest of downtown.  Hubby and I were delighted for the more convenient commute to Dallas and excited to see a new area.  It was the best brunch we have had since coming to the Dallas-Fort Worth area.  That being said, we really haven't tried too many brunch places.  It definitely beat out the Ol' South Pancake house, whose diner food leaves something to be desired.  I had a crab cake benedict that was fresh and rich while hubby had the omelet of the day filled with seasonal vegetables.  The feel of the restaurant was light and airy with white walls and tablecloths and windows that let in sunlight without letting in the heat.

Afterwards, we walked down the small stretch of Bishop Avenue that is filled with shops and boutiques.  We popped into Dude, Sweet Chocolate and were greeted by the friendly sales people who told us about the homemade chocolate.  They handed us small samples as we read through the descriptions of the different chocolate options, which all had great names.  Tub of Love is an Italian hazelnut chocolate spread.   Albatross is a fudge with dehydrated bleu cheese and sea salt.  Fungus Amongus is a toffee with porcini mushrooms and pumpkin seed.  Although some may not sound as appetizing as others, they were all surprisingly good.  We bought an assortment of chocolate creations, and opened up Crack in a Box for dessert that night.

Bishop Avenue seemed like a quiet street, but there are plenty of restaurants that I am intrigued about and will have to go back to.

 I'm obsessed with their name, which I think is awesome and brilliant.  Their website says they are selling chocolates at Avoca Coffee in Fort Worth, which will have to be another adventure.

All the chocolates were packaged in simple boxes.

This is Crack in a Box.  I cut some up so it was easier to share, but it was also messier.

We relaxed at home the rest of Sunday, and hubby made burgers for dinner.  It was another busy, but very fun, weekend.  Hopefully there will be many more like this to come.

Hubby's burgers from Central Market were juicy and delicious!

Desks and Drinks

I spent time yesterday building the desks we had gotten at Ikea this past Sunday.  They had been on sale (yay!) and were perfect for our office.  I had realized after unpacking last week that we didn't have any drawers in our office, so the new desks were perfect for holding things like the stapler and paper clips.  They also happen to be bright and fun, which makes the room look that much more open and inviting.

The lighting isn't great for taking pictures in the office, but the desk is up and running.

I know this blog may make it sound like I only clean, build Ikea furniture, and cook, but I do other things as well, though they may not always be as interesting.  Last night, hubby and I went to a happy hour our apartment building was having at a local bar/restaurant.  It was great to hang out and meet other apartment residents.  We chatted with several people and got some great recommendations on restaurants and things to do.  Now, it's just a matter of making time to try new places.  Perhaps this weekend we will start working our way through the list of restaurants to try.

 

They had wine on tap, which I thought was pretty cool.

I did make dinner last night, though we are discussing the possibly of eating out more often just to be able to try all the new places.  I made cottage pie, which was very much like shepherd's pie.  It turned out warm and comforting.  Hubby says it would make a great meal for the fall.  I like that I could put it together ahead of time and pop it into the oven when it was time to eat.  The recipe serves 8, so I did cut it in half to avoid eating cottage pie leftovers for a week.

Putting together the cottage pie... so yummy!

 Hubby started serving himself before I could get a picture of the finished product.

 It almost looks like mashed potatoes with the most delicious beefy gravy ever.

As always, we have lots of exciting plans for the weekend, and I promise to share them all with you on Monday.  Have a great Friday and an even better weekend!

Thank You Notes and Mushrooms

It's hard to believe that hubby and I got married over a month ago.  So much has happened in this last month, and our wedding thank you notes have been consistently moved to the bottom of the to-do list.  Since the unpacking is done, I've been focusing on thank you notes this week, and we have a lot to be thankful for.  Beyond the great presents that are now a part of our everyday lives, we had such a wonderful wedding because of all the people that were there to share it with us.  I'm glad we are finally getting the thank you notes out, so people know how much we appreciate them.

Thank you notes ready to mail out

Last night I made a chicken with mushroom sauce recipe that looked delicious.  Mine didn't end up looking quite like the picture in the recipe, but it still tasted good and kept hubby smiling.  I like being able to make a meal that is healthy, especially in the middle of the week.  On the weekends, as you've seen in previous posts, we allow ourselves to splurge and try new restaurants.  For this reason, eating healthy and exercising during the week (and a little portion control on the weekends) is really important.  I read an article in BusinessWeek this week about people having more willpower on Mondays.  I am hoping to stretch that healthy willpower and self control as far into the week as I can.  

 We bought the Martha Stewart cutting boards that are specific for certain meats.  This way, only raw chicken gets cut on the chicken cutting board.

 Cooking up the chicken.  This time it didn't turn out dry (I used breast meat) because of searing the meat first and then cooking at a lower temperature... or at least that's what I'm guessing.

I served the chicken with mushroom sauce with a side of Texas-flavored green beans that I found in the frozen food section of Central Market.  They had pieces of bacon and chipotle chiles!

Columbia and Hubby's Salmon

I am a recent Columbia Business School graduate, and yesterday evening the Dean of Admissions was holding an information session in Dallas.  I thought this would be a great opportunity to meet other alumni in the area as well as share my experience with prospective students in the metroplex (that's what they call the Dallas-Fort Worth area).  I got all dressed up in my cutest business casual and made the rush hour drive to Dallas.  It was nice to break from my routine and see new people... no offense to hubby.  I had a wonderful time speaking with prospective students and even got a couple of suggestions about things to do in Fort Worth.  One suggestion hubby and I will definitely have to follow up on is Times Ten Cellars.  They are a wine bar/tasting lounge where you can have their wine as well as other Texan wines.  It sounds like a fun place, and Yelp gives it a 4.5 rating, which is pretty impressive.

I stayed at the information session longer than I had expected to, and hubby had to take over dinner duty.  I had already planned on having salmon and vegetables inspired by a meal in Self magazine's "Drop 10" plan.  Since we're only eating one of the Self meals, we have no plans on dropping 10, but if that happens, it would be great.  At the very least, we are eating healthy.  Hubby cooked up the salmon and asparagus perfectly.  I actually think I couldn't have done it better myself.  Unfortunately, he didn't take any pictures to show you, so today's post is picture-less.  Just imagine perfectly pink salmon topped with chili powder, oregano, and salt with vibrant green asparagus stalks lightly seasoned on the side.  It was scrumptious, and I didn't feel guilty about eating everything on my plate.

House Manager and Sun Gold Tomatoes

As I may have mentioned before, I am currently a housewife as we settle into Fort Worth living and I try to find a job.  With all the work that needs to be done in the house (especially with the addition of all the unpacking I had to do), I've been calling myself the house manager rather than the housewife.  I feel like house manager is a better representation of what I do and is a much more modern way to say housewife. 

Mondays are big days for house managers.  The relaxation from the weekend is over, and there are dishes, dirty clothes, and messes at every turn.  There is also a very empty fridge wondering what this week's meals will be.  Much of my Monday was filled with taking care of these important household tasks as well as making dinner. 

I found this meal planner/shopping list notepad while I was unpacking... so perfect!

Dinner last night was pasta with sun gold tomatoes from the May 2011 issue of Bon Appetit.  I got the recipe idea from my friend's brother.  My friend, who is getting married in a week and a half, was visiting her family in New York and invited me over for dinner.  Her brother was the elected cook for the evening and made this pasta dish.  I remember it being light but flavorful, and making it last night, it didn't disappoint.  Hubby liked it because it wasn't too heavy and tasted fresh.  I loved it because it was simple.

Part of the freshness of the dish came from using fresh basil from the plant I bought at Trader Joe's.

 The basic ingredients.  I'm not sure that those are actually sun gold tomatoes, but they are golden.

 Stir frying noodles in a pan is always a challenge.  I feel like my noodles just end up in a big bunch in the center.

Voila!  Dinner is served.

Today will be filled with more house manager tasks and hopefully something to tell you about tomorrow.

Visitor's Weekend Adventure

We had yet another very productive weekend with hubby's pop in town.  We showed him around Fort Worth, or at least what we know of Fort Worth so far, and explored new places we hadn't been before.  It was not a weekend for the weak of heart as we ate the gamut of Texas cuisine.  On top of the productivity and eating, it was hot, so we stayed hydrated and relaxed as well.

Saturday beat heat records for that day in Fort Worth... it felt like a desert!

Hubby's pop came in Friday night, and we took him straight to Fuzzy's Taco to pick up dinner.  Fuzzy's is known for its fish tacos and is open late, which worked out well.  I love their breakfast tacos, which are served all day.  We ate dinner at the apartment, so hubby's pop could see our new home.  Since it was way past our bedtime (I don't think we've stayed up past midnight since we've been in Fort Worth), we called it a night to rest up for an active Saturday.

Saturday began with breakfast at Panera Bread, which is a short stroll from our apartment.  Then we went back home to have cappuccinos from our Nespresso machine.  We spent the morning chatting and planning for the rest of the day.

The cappuccino was delicious and fit perfectly into our new cappuccino cups (both amazing wedding gifts).

We began our tour of Fort Worth with a drive through the TCU campus and up through Hulen where our Trader Joe's and Central Market are located.  We continued up through Camp Bowie Blvd and headed toward Angelo's on White Settlement Rd.  Hubby's pop had gotten the recommendation to go to Angelo's for BBQ, and since we had already eaten Tex-Mex, BBQ seemed like the logical next step.

 We almost didn't find it in a nondescript wood building

I had the chopped beef barbecue sandwich with coleslaw, though hubby says the sliced beef was better

There were animal heads lining the tops of all the walls at Angelo's

We continued our beat-the-heat driving tour down the road to Braum's for ice cream.  I had seen Braum's when I was running errands one day and was very interested in checking out the ice cream as well as their market.  Braum's has a small convenient store attached to it that carries Braum's branded grocery items as well as the largest selection of ice cream I've ever seen... all Braum's, of course.

Hubby's ice cream cone

The driving tour continued to the Stockyards, downtown Fort Worth, and Sundance Square.  The heat really kept us from taking full advantage of the day, but we enjoyed the best we could with stops for air conditioning and refreshments.  The last time we were in downtown Fort Worth on a Saturday afternoon, it was full of people enjoying the day, though you could see how the heat affected people's plans.  It was much quieter but still an enjoyable walk.

They have just started construction on two new high rises in downtown and have put up a comic strip about Sundance Square around the construction site.  I just think that's the greatest idea.

For dinner on Saturday, we decided to try Fred's Texas Cafe, which had been featured on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives in 2009.  Fred's lived up to the expectations from the episode and to the "dive" designation.  The three of us enjoyed delicious, juicy hamburgers with fresh cut fries.  Hubby tried the popular Diablo Burger while his pop and I stuck to less spicy options.  It was a great meal, but we were almost ready for bed after that (at 8:30!).

 Fred's is located near 7th Street, which has recently been built up, and you can tell that Fred's has been there for quite a while

Hubby's beer came in an impressive sized glass

I only made it through half my burger and fries, so I have my lunch for today lined up

On Sunday, we spent our last moments with hubby's pop at Ol' South Pancake House.  Hubby and I had been there once before with my mom and found it to be a classic diner-like breakfast place.  It reminds us of IHOP, but with a more homegrown and local feel.  The boys, of course, had pancakes while I tried their "Famous German Pancake."

My German pancake was good but ended up being too sweet for me

Hubby did it right with an omelet and pancakes... it's all about sweet and salty

After dropping off hubby's pop at the airport, we went to Ikea (yet again) to look for cushions for our outdoor couch... but that is a story for another day.

Happy Monday!

P.S. We found a Dunkin' Donuts not too far away... Hubby is getting happier!

Food Trucks and the Last of the Boxes

I can't believe it's already Friday.  This week I've made a big push to unpack the remaining boxes and do my best to organize and find places for everything.  The reason for the Friday deadline of my productivity efforts is that hubby's pop is coming to town.  We are so excited to have our first official visitor (sorry, mom, you'll have to come back now that the apartment looks nice).  As hubby said last night, the apartment finally looks like a home.  So here it is...

This is the kitchen... notice how there is visible counter space

The living room

View of the apartment from the patio

The office still needs some work, but I can see the floor!

Yesterday, hubby and I decided to go out for lunch.  We went to The Great Outdoors, which sounds like somewhere you could buy camping equipment, but it is not.  The Great Outdoors is basically a fancier Subway with an outdoors theme.  It was good but not worth writing more about.  The more important story here is that we went to the Food Park to try a food truck for dessert.  In New York City, food trucks are a big deal, and they are everywhere.  There is a food truck for every kind of food imaginable... They even have food truck awards each year!  When I found out that there was a food truck park here in Fort Worth, I was pretty excited.  I've been trying to come up with a reason to go, and dessert sounded like as good a reason as anything else.

The Fort Worth Food Park is located behind Target.  It looks like two long driveways with picnic tables set up in the middle.  There were more trucks than I expected, so you should expect another Food Park post in the near future.  Since we were there for dessert, we went to Red Jett Sweets, who has appeared on Food Network's Cupcake Wars.  Hubby tried the Coconut Comet, and I had the Nuts for Kentucky.  There was plenty of icing and dense cakey cupcake that made hubby smile.  Both were super delicious, and I can't wait to go back and try the other flavors.

 I love their jet-setting logo

It looked so pretty in its box... I almost didn't want to eat it...

But I can't say no to a cupcake... yum!

Before I take off to clean the house and enjoy the weekend, I wanted to leave you with a picture of the sky yesterday.  The clouds looked so puffy.  It was almost like they had been specially painted there just to keep the blue of the sky company.  I am enjoying my sunny new home.