26 February 2010

Wisconsin Dells Girls Weekend part one

Gotta love when the Chef starts the little paper umbrella in your drink on fire! It's a memorable start to the weekend! Go Ginza of Tokyo!
23 February 2010

Pizza Night at Casa de Dingfelder

Nothing does a stressful day like homemade pizza and beer!

Tapas Rias picture

Here are the tapas from Tapas Rias! Sorry it's so dark.
22 February 2010

Cultural Fair

We had a cultural fair at our school last week! Families were encouraged to bring in dishes or things to share from their various cultures. Classrooms were encouraged to choose a country and create a poster. We chose Norway. It's obvious that I like to play with paper, stickers, markers, and glue!
18 February 2010

Valentine's Day

Our Valentine's Dinner! Teriyaki pork chops, garlic sauteed asaparagus, steamed red potatoes with olive oil and garlic, greek vinegarette salad with a pretzel roll! Followed up with chocolate chip cookies! All while enjoying a movie together!

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13 February 2010

(Valentine's Date Night) Tapas Rias

Otto & I decided to celebrate Vday early since we live in a much bigger city these days and just dropping into a place doesn't mean you'll get a table, or even if you call a day or so ahead doesn't mean you'll get a reservation. Thus, we figured a Friday Date Night was in order!!!

It was Otto's turn to plan one, so he took care of everything and I just sort of waited to hear what I needed to wear and when we'd be leaving.

It's always funny when we plan Date Nights for each other, because we love to make them surprise, so we never tell the other person where we're going or what we're going to be doing. So, when we got in the car and started driving I started my guessing game... and usually I'm very good at guessing where we're going! But not this time... I kept trying to think of places located in the direction we were going, and I think Otto found it funny how I just kept guessing wrong.

Eventually we pulled into the parking lot of a strip mall, and I was extremely confused! Here he pulls the car up to a place call Tapas Rias, (a taste of Spain). How exciting! We've never gone to a Spanish place before!!! The place was very nice, rich/rustic colors covered the walls, and wonderful arches defining different areas of the restaurant gave it a very Spanish feeling in architecture. The lighting was very soft, and I loved how there were empty wine bottles sporting red tulips and small red glasses with candles (definitely a touch for Vday)! We sat down and even before our server appeared we were given a small, sliced loaf of white bread and a plate of olive oil. Otto wasted no time in adding fresh ground pepper to the oil before dipping the bread in it!! Was very delicious!!! When our server arrived, Nicolas, we admitted that we were quite sure how this all worked. Nicolas explained that 2 people would probably eat 3-4 tapas, and an entree was enough for 1 person. So, I ordered a House Margarita (very orange with a salt/orange mixture around the rim of the glass) and Otto ordered an Estrella (Spanish lager) to start and then we began exploring the menu with all the different options it had to offer! We decided to order three and go from there. Our order consisted of Vieiras A La Pancha (grilled sea scallops with saffron sauce), Albondigas Catalanas (Spanish style meatballs with pine nuts, onions, fresh herbs and manzanilla wine) and Patatas A La Riojana (rioja style potatoes with wine and Spanish sausage). We were also assured by Nicolas that these were very good choices, which made us feel mush braver about our order!

When our tapas came they also brought out more bread and left us to our own devices. The Vieiras A La Pancha was a small dish with about 5-6 scallops lightly grilled with a sauce consisting of chunks of peppers, oil & saffron. It was delicious, but mind you, I wasn't having an of the sauce... I'm not a pepper person, but the scallops were delicious! The Albondigas Catalanas consisted of three large meatballs in a tasty brown gravy with pine nuts floating in there. These were good, but nothing extraordinary. Just meatballs in a good brown gravy. Lastly we tried the Patatas A La Riojana which consisted of chunks of potatoes, slices of sauteed onion, and slices of sausage in a wine/oil sauce. This by far was our favorite! It had an amazing flavor and everything blended together just perfectly!!! I'm pretty sure we could've ordered another one, but instead, by Nicolas's suggestion, we ordered dessert! Creme Brulee.

Otto & I have never had this before, so it was a new adventure for the both of us, which seemed to be the theme of the evening! I can't say we were disappointed... It was extremely tasty! I loved the combination of the creamy custard and the crunchy, sweet top! After we polished it off we realized we were extremely satisfied! It was the prefect amount of food for the two of us to share on a very romantic evening!!!

I would definitely give Tapas Rias an A+!!! The atmosphere was amazing, it helped that there was a live musician playing traditional music in the background, the staff were nothing but helpful and courteous, and the food was absolutely fantastic!!! If you ever have the chance take the time to stop by Tapas Rias!!!
12 February 2010

Beautiful flowers from Otto for Valentine's Day!

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2008 Chevy Aveo

Here's the POS I've been driving since my car is in the shop. 2008 Chevy Aveo. Looks decent enough, but rides like a nightmare, and the rental place only had like 1 gallon of gas in there. Can't wait to get my Buick back, and you know how I feel about the Buick!
11 February 2010

Otto's Birthday Breakfast!
07 February 2010

Check out the buffet table set up for the party! We need people to eat more food!
05 February 2010

Hubbard Ave Diner

Gotta love the Hubbard Ave Diner in Middleton! Huge pies, tasty milkshakes, and wonderful food! Definitely a place you want to try. From comfort food to new and exciting combinations!


Hubbard Avenue Diner on Urbanspoon
01 February 2010

Remedy?!

How do I help myself feel better after taking some Tylenol sinus congestion? By eating ice cream while reading a book! Of course!