Brick and Mortar Cafe

We live near the town of Albany and the restaurant scene is booming in that little town!  Brownie and I tried out Brick and Mortar Cafe downtown a few months ago to check out their famous Bloody Mary Bar on a weekend when we had no kids.  We are in love!  The Bloody Mary Bar is everything you could ever want in your Bloody Mary and trust me when I tell you that there are endless combinations and possibilities - but be careful!  You can spend a lot VERY quickly building these drinks!  Is it worth it?  Yes, the novelty is unique and the ingredients and options are awesome.  I mean, a pepperoni straw!?  Fahgeddaboutit.  But unless you're feeling wealthy, I would stick to just one and order breakfast :-)

Which brings me to Brownie's favorite item on Brick and Mortar's menu:  Chicken and Waffles.  I myself am not a fan of sweet and savory together, but Ryan simply can't get enough of this dish!  He now wants a Belgian Waffle Maker so we can play with this idea at home.  So look out for that :-)  Even though it isn't my style, it smelled amazing!  The chicken was crispy and perfectly fried and as you can see, the waffle was perfect as well.  He drizzled it all with syrup and devoured it in no time!

I ordered the Eggs Benedict and while it was delicious ... the ham was cut too thick for my taste and it overpowered the flavor of the english muffin and hollandaise, which is my favorite.  It was cooked well and plated nicely, just too much ham for me.  Someone who likes more ham flavor would LOVE the Eggs Benedict here.

We returned recently so Brownie's two boys could try the Chicken and Waffles.  They are now just as in love with it!  This menu choice just never seems to disappoint!  I tried the Salmon Lox Benedict this time and it was DELICIOUS!  A little red onion, the lemon flavor in the hollandaise .. .all went incredibly well together in each bite with the salmon.  I can't say enough good things about it!  YUM!

This time, we also chose to try their espresso over Bloody Marys.  As you can see in the photo, they make the foam lovely.  Brownie ordered a salted caramel latte and he loved it, but was VERY sweet as syrup drinks usually are.  I ordered the honey lavender latte and it was beautiful!  Good, strong coffee flavor and a hint of lavender.  

Albany has been begging for a new spin on breakfast and brunch for years and I must say, Brick and Mortar is a breath of fresh air!  We highly recommend trying it!  Be prepared for a line, this town loves this little restaurant!

Fresh Herbs!!!

These were the herbs when they were freshly trimmed from the garden, laid out to dry and labeled.  I just finished processing them this weekend and getting them put up and .... it's time to harvest again!  :-)  Delicious ingredients for amazing creations to come!!!!!!

I realize that dried herbs are dried herbs but after processing these over the weekend, we were marveling at the fragrant clouds lingering in our kitchen.  These beauties are SO much more fragrant and flavorful than the herbs we buy even in organic bulk!  Just amazing!

If you don't have a garden and no room for an herb garden, I suggest combing your local Farmer's Market for fresh herbs in bundles and drying them at home.  It is SO worth it to have these available when cooking!  Our oregano went crazy this year - our Italian food will be beyond amazing this winter!

We're so excited!!!

-Jen

BBQ Plates

Brownie's first love is Barbeque.  He just couldn't help himself this weekend, he had to use that smoker!  I should have known when he came home with a grocery bag from Market of Choice that I was in for it.  Sending him to MOC is like sending me to a shoe store!  It's a playground and his imagination goes wild!

So yes, we had BBQ ribs, BBQ chicken sausages, BBQ shrimp, grilled veggies and a yummy salad from their deli.  We ate huge plates of food (I couldn't finish - too much meat!) and spoke in southern accents describing the food.  Hey, we said we were foodies, we didn't say we weren't odd! :-)

Lumpia - First Try

I was born in Hawai'i and when we moved to the mainland, my aunt moved to the islands and years later, married a local boy.  So I've visited my birthplace often over the years and in the summers during high school, often I would stay for weeks at a time.  My Filipino grandma used to make lumpia in huge batches, and even freeze them and send them home with me so I could fry them up for an after school snack.  Dear Nana (nah-nah) passed away two years ago and the memories of her sweet self trying to feed us 24/7 has been on my mind.

Since Brownie and I love to cook and try new things, I thought ... why am I sad and nostalgic as if I'll never have lumpia again!?  So I stopped by the Asian food store and bought some wrappers.  I looked up some recipes online for filling and went to work.

These wrappers will take some practice, but ... overall I did pretty well!!  Nana would be proud :-)  I'm terrible at frying things, so Brownie took over once they were assembled.  I served them with simple crushed garlic and black pepper in vinegar just like Nana used to do.  The were delicious!  They definitely didn't have the love that Nana used to put into her own lumpia, but ... for a first try, I thoroughly impressed myself!!!

Leftovers Suck

Brownie made a full-on chuck roast Friday night so he could use the sliced meat for his amazing sandwiches.  There's all of this roast and veggies leftover!  Yeah.  Leftovers are just so disgusting.  !!!!!!   SO good!!!!

Chuck Roast Hoagie

Sliced chuck roast, straight from the oven with caramelized leeks and sautéed spinach on a hoagie bun.  I should have known something was up when I came home on a Friday night and smelled a roast cooking in the oven!  :-)  The man had a plan and it was delicious!  Our kids had already eaten, but the boys had to try their dad's new invention and....they loved it!  I even saw one of them pull a huge blob of spinach out and it fell on his chin ... he scooped it up and ATE IT!  Kids WILL eat spinach and leeks!  


Well, they'll eat it if Brownie makes it.... hahahaha  
Or, if they're like my daughter who isn't a huge fan of meat OR sandwiches ... they won't eat it at all.  
But hey, eating this sandwich made it worth the try!

Baby Tomatoes!

Our tomato plants have baby tomatoes!  And so it begins ..... our imaginations are already running wild with how to use them, what to can, what to make ..... the possibilities are endless!!!!!