I spent the afternoon with my mom yesterday. When she suggested lunch at one of my favorite restaurants, Madeleine Bistro, I was very pleasantly surprised.
After perusing the menu (I don't see the brunch menu online, sadly), I chose a sandwich I'd enjoyed before. I believe it's called the Cajun Caesar Sandwich, but I can't verify that without the menu. On the side, I had a Caesar salad. The sandwich is composed of delicious, juicy, spicy, Caesar dressing-marinated seitan, romaine lettuce, and tomato on sourdough. It's one of those sandwiches that requires careful attention or else yummy, spicy juices will be dripping down your arm. Interestingly, they now offer the sandwich in either a half or a full size. I ordered full so I could save half for another meal, but I thought that was an excellent idea.
Chef Dave's Caesar dressing is really wonderful. It has just the right amount of garlic and is creamy without being heavy.
To drink, I chose something suitable autumnal: Apple Cinnamon Caramel Juice (or something like that). Madeleine's fresh-squeezed apple juice is superb and this was a fun and yummy variation on the original.
Oh, and guess who else was dining at Madeleine's this afternoon? None other than Emily Deschanel of Bones. Oh, and one of my mom's former colleagues and his family was there, too. :)
We went on a Target shopping spree after lunch and my mom bought me some fun new kitchen toys (thanks, Mom!), including a fine-mesh sieve (finally, I won't lose 3/4 of my quinoa while rinsing it!), a muffin tin that has a plastic cover for transportation (useful for taking cupcakes in to work), cupcake liners, a cute new camera case (I just might photograph it so you can see what it looks like), and some filters for my Brita pitcher.
I spent a significant amount of time in the kitchen this weekend, making up for lost time since I wasn't able to test any recipes last weekend. I believe I made 10 separate recipes! I'll be sharing photos with you this week and next.
One final thing before I end this post: Crickets have taken a liking to my home. I've escorted three outside on three separate occasions (usually after chasing them around the kitchen and/or family room for a while first) and there is another one currently hiding under my oven. He was on my dishwasher last night, hopped away before I could get him, just showed himself on the kitchen floor, and hid under the oven before I could grab a mug to cover him. While I appreciate that they are gracing me with their presence, I really don't want crickets in my home, especially in my kitchen. Does anyone have any humane ideas that would stop them from coming in? I have no idea where their entry point is because I rarely open the front door (I come in through the garage, which is on a separate level from the kitchen/family room). I'd appreciate any suggestions.
9 comments:
Kitchen Gadgets are the best!!! Have fun with your new toys;)
Was Em with her man? Go w/ kitchen gadgets!
I'm envious of your meal at Madeleine both because of the food and that you saw Emily Deschanel! i love Bones.
10? You've been a busy chica!
Target shopping sprees are very fun. I'm not into shopping at all, but when I was in the US this summer I spent many a euro-cum-dollar there. It's so bright and shiny!
That lunch sounds delicious and sweet. Hugs to toi et ta maman aussi!
I wish I had good tips for you on the crickets, I have the same problem. They love sneaking in under my door, the whole complex here is infested with them (and black widows, which feed on them... if you have lots of crickets look out for these spiders too). Basically I keep a tool by the door to catch them and then toss 'em back outside. Most normal bug catchers aren't big enough, so I use a container that has a large open mouth and a lid (it's a formerly a salad dressing container from a buffet table). My techinique involves trapping the cricket between the lid and the opening and scooping them in and quicking topping with the lid until I get them outside (sometimes once they realize they are trapped they will try to get away and jump right into the container for me without my having to scoop). Those jumpy buggers are hard to catch and sometimes it's 10 minutes dance routine between me and the cricket before I can catch them... and then of course there's those times they get away from me underneath something. Currently I've got on living between the walls of my bedroom closet and the constant chirping is driving me insane! As you can see... I sympathize :)
p.s... you might get a few suggestions here from people about natural ways to eliminate crickets. Best I can tell you from this side is that I've tried them all and nothing works except for toxic poisons. If you want to go the natural route, be prepared to chase crickets around like I do.
I'm so envious of your meal--and all the amazing vegan restaurant choices you have where you live! (Toronto does have some good places, but I get tired of frequenting the same 3 or 4 restaurants!). Oh, and seeing a TV star = always a good thing ;)
Sorry I have no advice for the crickets. . . myself, I'd going running in the opposite direction!
What an incredible looking meal! Sorry no advice on crickets. They seem to get in my bedroom and chirp all night driving me crazy too! Pretty much we chase, hope to catch, and release. :o)
THAT. LOOKS. SO. GOOD. i have been meaning to try madeleine's forever!
btw, the crickets have been going nuts at my pad as well. i was up til 4 in the morning the other day and i couldnt find it. grrrrr. fall.
I'm envy you!! You got to see Emily Deschanel!! hahaha, she is my favorite actress. Anyways, great blog!
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