Grilled chicken and veggies with a leek and tarragon cream sauce

Sometimes when the question of what I want for dinner comes up, all I can really express is that I want something with tarragon.  I love this herb!  It's aroma, it's flavor ... I love it.  So with only that criteria, Brownie made this deliciousness!  Yes, there is a grilled organic chicken thigh under that delectable sauce!  I went back for seconds :-)

Hangover Delight

So thankful today to have leftover Indian Chicken and Saag!  I think I got a little carried away last night with the wine....today my senses are loving the idea of some Indian spices and mustard greens!

And now I go heal....leftovers around here are awesome.

Aomatsu Sushi & Grill

Raising five kids makes it nearly impossible sometimes to plan a date night out on the town. But tonight, we made time for us!  Now, Brownie and I have tried a lot of sushi in the Albany/Corvallis area and our favorite is Aomatsu in Corvallis.  Their fish is so fresh and their rolls are creative and beautiful.

Aside from sushi, this restaurant also has table-top Korean BBQ grills.  This was what Brownie was dying to try tonight.  We ordered some sushi too, of course.  It was amazing as always! ;-)

We ordered the Korean BBQ 'Combo A' which included Pork Belly, Beef Chadol-Baegi, Beef Bulgogi and Soy Bean Paste Stew.  Above you can see the plate of raw meet and veggies to grill.  We were also brought several condiments and dipping sauces that circled the grill and filled the table.  It was gorgeous!

Now, we had never done this before, so we carefully watched those around us who looked like they knew what they were doing while our meat was grilling.  We used our empty bowls to fill them with rice and mixed in the meats and veggies when they were done cooking and started experimenting with different condiments and sauces, making a new little mini-bento bowl each time.  It was so much fun!

Word to the wise:  this is a LOT of food!  If we went back, I would do either the Korean BBQ or the sushi, but not both!  It was just too much.

If you're looking for something new to try and haven't visited Aomatsu, you're definitely missing out on a fun experience!  Go try it!  And if you've never tried their sushi .... go right now.  Tonight.  You won't regret it!

Saprona Sushi

We happened to be in West Linn, Oregon this evening and found ourselves hungry.  I did a quick search for nearby sushi restaurants (one of our favorites) and found Saprona Sushi.

We found it tucked away in a sweet little strip mall with other shops and restaurants and dropped in.  Keep in mind, we were just stopping for a quick bite and weren't expecting much.

This little restaurant is very laid back and casual and the prices are more than reasonable. They surprised us with the size of their sushi rolls!  They were huge!  We only ordered two rolls, we were in a hurry to get home, but what we tried was delicious.  Could I compare it to Aomatsu or Bamboo Sushi?  Maybe not, and maybe they're not trying to be either of those types of restaurants.  But we would definitely go back and if this was my neighborhood sushi bar .... I would be a happy girl!

Try it out and arrive hungry! :-)

Fried Chicken

So last night, we watched The Help; excellent movie.  One of my favorites.  I love the humor, I love the honesty, I love Minny's fried chicken!!!!!  Watching her turn those chicken thighs in hot grease, ever-so-slowly and hearing the grease respond with crackles and spurts .... my mouth waters every time.  My problem:  I can't fry anything to save my life.

Wait ... but Brownie can!!!! :-)

So today, we stopped and got some chicken and he made us fried chicken and potatoes!  I loved his chicken!  Fried chicken is usually way too salty and I can't even eat the skin, I pick it off.  But I cleaned these bones clean, skin and all!

Brownie and I rarely have disagreements about food.  Different tastes and opinions, yes, but disagreements?  Not really.  Except when it comes to gravy.  I like my gravy brown and I detest using flour in gravy.  My hippie mom used Arrowroot powder to thicken her gravy after adding broth and herbs and spices to the water.  It's a thinner gravy, but the flavor still takes me back to my own childhood.  Brownie grew up with good old fashioned white gravy made with flour and pepper.  He was very proud to share his childhood gravy with me and .... poor guy .... I don't like it.  I ate it, it isn't horrible.  But it certainly doesn't make me roll my eyes into the back of my head.  Maybe we need to make it our mission to combine the two somehow and meet in the middle.  Gravy challenge!

But for now .... our craving is satisfied and next time we want to watch The Help, we're making this ahead of time!

Cafe Blue Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee

My adorable stepfather is Jamaican.  My parents visit the island as often as they can and check on family members and neighbors and make sure that some of the less fortunate have clothes and food.  They're such amazing people.  They also stock up on some of their cooking staples that cost an arm and a leg here!

This trip, she brought me some Cafe Blue Coffee!  After seeing the price online, I about died!  She got a very good deal on it for what she paid but WOW!  For coffee!?  It's now my special occasion coffee :-)

I've served this with desserts and gave some to my mom to try in her one-cup brewer.  She had to call me, she couldn't believe the flavor!

For future dinner parties ... I'm brewing this amazingness and trust me, you will wow anyone if you put this in front of them!  Worth the price?  We'll see how long it lasts and I'll get back to you on that!

I just adore my teal plates and bowls!  It's taken me forever, but I finally found their red counter-part online!!!!!  We are officially ready to have dinner parties!

Red and teal are a strange combination, I know.  But I found some amazing art online that I just couldn't get out of my head.  Artist Megan Aroon-Duncanson is now one of my favorites and I planned my dinner table around her painting, "Twisting Love" But I couldn't stop there!  There were too many I loved!  So .... I made the investment and chose 4 of her pieces that I couldn't live without and that tied in the colors I wanted.  SO happy!  Bring on the dinner guests!!!!