Cruise recap

The foodies went on a New Year’s cruise. We have recapped some highlights here.

Dates: Saturday, December 28, 2013 to Saturday, January 4, 2014
Cruise Line: Celebrity
Ship: Reflection

She says:
Many years ago my husband went on a New Year’s cruise with his parents. They always speak very highly of the experience, so several times I asked, why don’t we do that? Last year I finally talked everyone into it and we went on a Carnival cruise that was really, really bad. We tried to have fun (several friends went with us) and enjoy not being at work but the food was awful, the ship was tacky, dirty, and poorly maintained, the bars sucked, and the crew was surly. We were standing on our balcony in port and across the dock I saw a beautiful ship with REAL GRASS on the top deck. I said to my husband, “We should be on that ship.” It was a Celebrity ship (likely the Reflection). Within two weeks of getting back last year, we had booked this year’s cruise.

Valentine’s Day, Dinner Done! style (Tampa)

She says:
Just wanted to write a quick post about our fabulous Valentine’s Day at home, thanks to Dinner Done!. Dinner Done! is one of those places where each month they have a menu of about 15 items that you prepare at their location and freeze for later. They also offer to-go items and limited delivery. For holidays they run specials. For instance, for Thanksgiving they have something called Everything But the Turkey, where all you have to do is make the turkey. You buy all of your sides and desserts pre-assembled and ready to cook. For Valentine’s Day they offer pre-assembled meals ready to cook and we think it really beats the pants off going out.

Biscayne Tavern (Miami)

She says:
We were in Miami overnight at the end of December to get a cruise from Port of Miami. The following is a Yelp review I wrote that night about our really nice dinner at Biscayne Tavern in downtown Miami.

Columbia Restaurant (Ybor)

Day of the Week: Christmas Day (Wednesday)
Total Bill: $363.00 (before tip)
Breakdown: 4 starters, 5 salads, 1 soup, 7 mains, 4 desserts, 3 coffees, 2 beers, 2 pitchers of Sangria, 3 sodas/iced teas
Pros: Historic restaurant, excellent food, fabulous service.
Cons: None.
Verdict: A stellar Christmas experience.

She says:
I haven’t gone out on Christmas Day in ages. The last time I did was probably when a friend and I took our moms to Disney for Christmas (about eight years ago). But our plans got a little topsy-turvy this year and we ended up in Tampa for the holiday (instead of Orlando, like the last six years) and decided going on to dinner on Christmas sounded nice. Not a lot of places are open Christmas Day, and a lot of the ones that are open are quite pricy. We all finally agreed on the Columbia in Ybor.

Epcot Food & Wine Festival

[Note: I was waiting for Hubby’s contribution before I posted this but I don’t think I’m going to get that at this point. So here it is!]

Event: Epcot Food & Wine Festival 2013
Day: Saturday, November 9, 2013

She says:
I had not been to the Food & Wine Festival in about 10 years and last year I started bringing it up to Hubby that I really want to go. This year some of our friends were interested as well, so we finally managed to get it on the schedule.

Grille One Sixteen (Carrollwood)

[Note: I was waiting for Hubby’s contribution before I posted this but I don’t think I’m going to get that at this point. So here it is!]

Day of the Week: Thursday, 9/19
Total Bill: $171.74 (before tip)
Breakdown: 3 starters, 2 mains, 4 or 5 drinks (forgot to grab the itemized receipt!)
Pros: Good food and drinks in a beautiful setting.
Cons: None.
Verdict: We’re happy to have Grille One Sixteen in our neighborhood.

She says:
We haven’t been to Grille One Sixteen in ages. When it first opened we went there a lot. It was a breath of fresh air for Carrollwood: stunning, Vegas-esque décor, quality food, and good drinks. But then it became a real middle-age meat market populated by douchebags and the women who love them. So we quit going. Then we went back a while later and the menu had stagnated and the liquor selection was sparse. So we didn’t go for a while after that. But Hubby looked at the menu and decided he wanted to give it a shot for his early birthday dinner. I’m very glad we gave it another chance.

Graduation Party

She says:
I graduated from USF on the 14th. Even though this was college 2.0, as I like to call it, my family and I wanted to celebrate. But here’s the problem with a graduation party: you’re not home during the time you need to be prepping (since you’re at commencement). And here’s the other problem: commencement exercises typically end at odd times of the day (so it’s tough to book a restaurant). In my case, commencement was scheduled to end at 3 PM. We decided our best option was to hire a caterer and have the party at our house.

Genghis Grill (Tampa)

She says:

Hubby and I have just discovered the awesomeness of Genghis Grill, so I wanted to write a quick post to share. We were at Whole Foods and spotted it across the street. We needed lunch ASAP, so we thought we would try it. We were so impressed, we went back the next day.

Nacho Chicken Mac ‘n Cheese

She says:
The Foodies have been very remiss in blogging recently, as you may have noticed. We have been going out. We just haven’t been in the mood to write about it. But I’m getting there. I have a mostly-finished rundown of our culinary adventures in London in August, which I would love to finish and post soon. And we’ve been to Edison Food and Drink Lab twice in the last month or so, which definitely deserves a blog post. So stay tuned.

In the meantime, I wanted to do a quick post about a dish I semi-created that is a very big hit in our house for quick weeknight dinners.

NYC Day 4

The Foodies went to New York City for five days in July (yes, we are just now getting around to these posts). We had a fantastic time and have so many places to share with you. Each day will be covered in a post.

Day 4

Lunch: Baohaus

Day of the Week: Saturday, 7/27
Total Bill: $38 (estimated, before tip)
Breakdown: 5 bao, 1 rice bowl, 1 fries, 2 drinks

She says:
We didn’t have much planned for Saturday during the day, so we decided to go back to Baohaus for lunch. This time I tried one of their rice bowls. I have to go by memory because the menu online is a little outdated. It was stewed pork and pork belly over rice with some relish on top and a side of garlic vinegar cabbage (maybe $9?). The stew was pretty good but the relish had something in it I really dislike (can’t put my finger on it). I’d recommend getting it on the side the first time. The cabbage side was really good. Hubby had the same thing as on Day 2 and enjoyed it just as much.