Geitner Park is a very peaceful place. We visited in July (and I’m just now posting ?) and enjoyed a pizza from Tony’s while listening to the crickets chirp. Here’s a list of the amenities:
You want to know where the best pizza is in Hickory? It’s at Tony’s, in a little strip mall near Target. It stays wrapped up, so you know it is good. We like New York style pizza, thin and bendy. This pizza is perfect for that, with a crispy crust perfect for crunching.
Another awesome fact about Tony’s is that they sell pizza by the slice, just like in NYC! I always go with the fam, so we just get a whole pie, but you know, the option’s there. I can’t really speak on any of the other items on the menu, because I never stray from the pizza. Never.
Don’t miss this restaurant.
Another Charlotte Restaurant Week comes to a close and we celebrated by going to Sullivan’s Steakhouse. We brought our friends Jeri and Robert Walton to dine with us, and we all ended up getting nearly the same thing. But, you know, it’s Restaurant Week and you only get a certain amount of choices, so duplications are an inevitability. We left our home early, anticipating trouble from yesterday’s ice storm, and arrived at our destination without incident, happily, and 30 minutes early. As we sat down to wait, we were seated within 5 minutes! Score!
Our server was prompt and thorough. We never wanted for anything. For our first course my husband and I had the Caesar Salad. It was really large for a simple side dish, and the dressing was creamy and delicious. Nothing fancy, but decent. Our friends tried the Lobster and Shrimp Bisque and the Wedge Salad, which came with blue cheese crumbles, fresh diced tomatoes and blue cheese dressing.
For our second course, we all chose the filet mignon with grilled jumbo shrimp. It was served atop a pile of horseradish mashed potatoes and alongside a tumble of grilled vegetables. The filet was fine, though 2 of our steaks were switched. We didn’t discover until we dug in, then there was the awkward figuring out who had who’s steak and switching among ourselves. The shrimp were delicious, cleaned well (huge plus) but everything was heavily spiced with pepper. There was nothing wrong with my filet, but I’ve had the same flavor at home on our grill. So, yes, nothing special. I loved the creamy horseradish potatoes most, but they can keep those under-grilled and under-seasoned veggies that were limply sitting on the side of our steak.
Our last course, dessert, was for me the best course. We had the Bananas Foster Bread Pudding with vanilla ice cream. It was so yummy! Sweet and creamy and not too banana-y. It was amazing. Our friend had the chocolate mousse, bless his heart.
In the end, I have to give Sullivan’s a thumbs down, only because nothing I had was over the top delicious. You can get a better steak at many other Charlotte restaurants: Beef and Bottle, Firebirds or Morton’s.
Paula Deen is such a great ambassador for the South. But. She lays on that accent a little too thick sometimes and God help me with the cackling. No matter. If she says a recipe is good, you can take it to the bank.
This spaghetti is her recipe, and one of the most popular ones I’ve ever shared on Food.com. Tons of reviews. It is really juicy and you will be tempted to increase the pasta, but don’t do it! It makes it too dry, upsets the balance of goodness or something. Trust me, the best way to make this dish is just to do it exactly as Paula says. If you want to take a short cut by using jarred marinara, I understand the inclination; but you are shortchanging yourself. Delish with a salad and hunk of french bread. If you’re real naughty, splurge on that fancy Irish butter in your fancy grocery store and slather it on the bread. Heaven.
I’ve been hearing about P.F. Chang’s for quite a while.Usually I turn my nose up at chain restaurants. I have been proven wrong. We visited for the first time today after living here over a decade. What was I thinking? All of this time I’ve missed!
The interior is richly appointed with dark woods and a couple of statues of Chinese warriors. The setting is elegant, though when we visited at 3pm, we and most everyone else were dressed casually. I’d dress a little more “nicely” for dinner.
The service here, from management to wait staff was exceptional. Everyone seemed to work together in perfect synchronicity to make the dining experience all it could be. Seriously the best I’ve been treated in a long time!
We were informed that they had a new menu, and they have this “Dinner for Two” deal on the back where you get 2 soups, 1 appetizer to share, 2 entrees and 2 mini desserts. All for $40. It was a deal! It also gave us an excellent sampling of all of the great dishes we’d heard so much about.
We selected the Hot and Sour Soup and the Egg Drop Soup. The Hot and Sour Soup was dark and flavorful and properly tangy. The Egg Drop soup was lighter, but had no less flavor. We both agreed it was the best of both soups we’d eaten.
For our shared appetizer we chose the lettuce wraps. Don’t miss this! Small dices of water chestnuts, chicken, mushrooms, scallions and seasonings accompany leaves of iceberg lettuce, which you assemble like a taco. Fresh, light, crisp and wonderful!
We had Kung Pao Scallops and Mongolian Beef for our entrees, and of course shared. The scallops were my favorite. They were fried, but not over cooked, and then tossed in a hot and sweet sauce with peanuts and chili peppers. It was fabulous. The Mongolian beef was so tender, you cut larger pieces easily with a fork. It was garnished with scallion tops and both were served with steamed white rice.
I wish I could comment on dessert, but they were out of mini desserts, so our server gave us the option to have our soups deducted from the over all price to compensate for it. We were so stuffed, we readily agreed.
I ate there 12 hours ago and I’m ready to go back 🙂
Never Fail Chicken Casserole
Easy to put together on a busy weeknight, with plenty of passive cooking time. A new staple for us! The rice does get pretty “soggy” so if you are someone who likes individual grains of rice, this is NOT the recipe for you.
Combine soups, butter, water and rice in buttered oblong casserole dish. Salt and pepper chicken and place in mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 1/2 hours.
Almost-Famous Spinach-Artichoke Dip
Our Christmas Eve tradition is to gather the family for a night of appetizers and punch. Our grandparents always cooked a large Christmas Dinner on this night, much like a Thanksgiving feast, which we had to suffer through (and the cleaning of the dishes!) before we were able to get to the much awaited gift exchange. My family developed this appetizer idea as a way to avoid the formality, just a grab and go while we get to the good stuff. This however, has morphed into fancier appetizers and complex desserts as we grew up and had children and realized the value of making them wait! It is excruciating for them, and thus, much fun for us. 🙂
This is from Food Network, and it is a dip, but I think of it almost as a fondue. It was runnier than I expected. The flavor was good, but I encourage you to spice it up to you taste!
Almost-Famous Spinach-Artichoke Dip
INGREDIENTS
2 (10 ounce) bags spinach, stems removed
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 tablespoons minced onions
1 garlic clove, minced
2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups whole milk
1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 1/4 cups grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup sour cream, plus more for serving
1/2 cup shredded sharp white cheddar cheese
1/2 cup frozen artichoke heart, thawed, squeezed dry and roughly chopped
tortilla chips and salsa, for serving
DIRECTIONS
1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Stir in the spinach and cook until bright green, about 30 seconds. Drain and rinse under cold water; squeeze out the excess moisture, then finely chop.
2.Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic and 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook until the onion is soft, about 2 minutes. Add the flour and cook, stirring, until lightly toasted, about 1 minute. Whisk in the milk and cook, whisking constantly, until thickened, about 1 minute. Remove from the heat. Stir in the lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, parmesan and sour cream.
3. Return the pot to medium heat. Add the spinach, cheddar and artichokes and stir until the cheese melts and the dip is heated through. Serve warm with tortilla chips, salsa and sour cream.
Every year I have such grand dreams of baking these fabulous cookies, these intricate creations that are beautifully decorated and look really fancy…but I always fall back on the old favorites. These, however, I tried for the first time this Christmas, and they were delicious!
Follow this link to Pin or Print: Eggnog Thumbprints
I got the recipe here: Grumpy’s Honey Bunch
The kids always love to do these simple Christmas crafts, and this one was the most fun for my sweetie. I have to tell you, if you aren’t a crafty person, getting all of these items at once may be a little costly, but my little chick had fun using the leftovers for various craft projects later.
Hot Cocoa Reindeer
You’ll need:
Add enough cocoa in each bag to make 2 cups of cocoa. Top with marshmallows, chocolate chips and sprinkles. Seal with pipe cleaners. Glue on googly eyes and pom pom noses. Give to your buddies!
I got this idea at Little Wonders’ Days
I feel bad putting this under the “recipe” column, but sometimes you just need an “easy” fun thing to do with the kids during Christmas. Believe me, you better enjoy it while your children “want” to do it, because the day will come all too quickly when they get bored with these simple projects 😦
MATERIALS:
So, here’s what we did. Bake some cupcakes (I freely admit to using a mix). I’d fill them a little more than you normally might so they’ll hump up more when baked. While they cool, take a few containers of store-bought white frosting and dye it the colors you desire. Frost and decorate. Top with mini Reese’s cups with a pretzel “hook” jammed in. As you can see, mine look weird. The only pretzels I found were football shaped and I couldn’t get a good “hook” out of it, but a regular shaped pretzel would work amazingly.
I got the idea from: Homemaking Fun
barenakedchefsaidso.com 