I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it every week: I love Saturday. Sleeping in, having a leisurely morning, not rushing around… it’s the day of the week that I love the most. It’s also the only morning that Greg and I sit and eat breakfast (and drink coffee!) together, which is most definitely one of life’s simple pleasures. I usually cook us breakfast while he makes coffee- it’s a perfect team effort. I look forward to having a big warm bowl of oatmeal on Saturday mornings, because I haven’t been eating it for breakfast during the week lately. Sometimes I make pancakes or French toast, but this past Saturday I was definitely craving oatmeal.
For the last few weeks, I’ve been making this for Greg:
That’s two pieces of (savory) French toast with melted cheddar, ham and a scrambled egg in between. He then covers it with maple syrup and powdered sugar. God bless him.
I always have a bite of whatever I create for him, but was more than happy to dig into a bowl of perfect oatmeal.
And a lovely cup of coffee…
We ran some errands and did some grocery shopping right after breakfast, followed by a long walk with the dogs. When it was time for lunch, I made myself a wrap using a Tumaro’s Pumpernickel tortilla, some roasted veggies and Beyond Meat “chicken” strips.
I also had a bowl of kale with nutritional yeast “dressing” (nooch, water, garlic salt).
A little later in the afternoon (and after cleaning bathrooms!) I had an apple and a spoonful of Better ‘N Peanut Butter.
This held me over until dinner, which was one that I had been looking forward to for several weeks prior! I made sure to take advantage of Frederick Restaurant Week by choosing one of my favorite restaurants to dine at: The Wine Kitchen. Greg and I were lucky enough to be joined by Gretchen and her boyfriend Sean, who are the perfect foodie double dates.
The restaurant week menu at The Wine Kitchen was different than many others offered around town. They let you choose each course from the regular menu, and a supplemental charge was added for certain entrees.
The Wine Kitchen offers wine by the glass or bottle, but also has about 10 different flights to choose from. Naturally, I chose to order the “Pinot Evil” flight (so did Gretchen!).
We all hemmed and hawed over what to order, but easily agreed that we needed to start with an order of roasted Brussels sprouts (x2!)
We also got an order of the bacon biscuits with maple butter. No explanation needed, right?
After a lot of deliberation (I sound like Patty Stanger here!), I made up my mind as to what I wanted to order for each course.
For my first course, I ordered the local beet salad (red and golden beets, arugula, tangerine, goat cheese, pistachios and a coffee vinaigrette)
This salad was insanely delicious. The beets were probably the best I’ve ever had! My only complaint was the lack of goat cheese. There was a little bit smeared on the bottom of the plate, but not really enough to taste. If you going to advertise that a salad has goat cheese, you’d better deliver!
My entree:
Three big, fat scallops with two big fat glazed cipollini onions covered in chorizo and apple jam on top of carnival squash puree. I can’t even think of a good description for how this tasted, so I’m just going to go with “party in my mouth.”
And then there was dessert…. Ahhh. Dessert.
A cute little Sweet Potato Mousse Cake. The menu describes it as sweet potato and maple mousse, sponge-cake, walnut tuille and candied currants.
I need to learn how to create sweet potato mousse ASAP.
After dinner, the four of us went over to our friends Zack and Michelle’s house, who live right downtown. Zack happens to be a (very talented!) home brewer and always has multiple beers on tap.
Yes, all six of those pour out different varieties of beer. I plan to do a post on this soon….
And, he’s always more than happy to offer them up! I sampled two of the different varieties the Zack brewed, which were a Whiskey Oaked Milk Stout and an ESB. OH MAN they were good.
And, after my flight of wine (approximately 6 oz total) and my two tastes of beer, I had a hangover the next day. Teaching Spinning class the next morning was really fun.
Live and learn, I guess. Have a delicious Wednesday!
Do you make a special breakfast on weekends? Which do you order more often: wine or beer?
That sure looks like a breakfast my husband would enjoy too
Coffee vinaigrette! That sounds awesome sauce.
i think i’ve heard of a sandwich like that before… like a monte cristo? sounds crazy enough to work. but i’m with you on the oatmeal. and coffee! love your colorado mug.
restaurant week is so fun! i think i’ve only gone to one or two. can’t wait for another one.
I feel ya, lady. My tolerance is so not what it used to be! I cannot drink at all (well, maybe one) if I have something to do the next day. On the plus side, my liver is probably happy with this development. But to answer your question – wine!
I love Pinot Noir!! Just had a fabulous one last night. Bob would LOVE that beer set-up that your friends have. Holy cow. I can’t let him see that post, or else I’m sure our little condo’s kitchen will be under construction for home brewing in no time.
I love that little CO mug. So cute!! Those bacon biscuits look incredible. Love the way they’re served!
I prefer to go OUT to breakfast on the weekends – or rather, to brunch. There are a few places in the Twin Cities that have amazing vegan brunch and especially if I’ve imbibed a bit the evening before, that is where it’s at. Usually, though, I don’t order wine when I’m out. I’ll order a cocktail or beer. Wine is saved for at home, in box or occasional bottle form
That home brewing setup looks awesome, you’re lucky to have such a friend! haha.
I usually make a breakfast that’s a little more time consuming on the weekends since I don’t have as much time throughout the week. Pancakes, French toast, or waffles are my favorites! I always love going out for breakfast on the weekends too. We rarely do it, but it’s one of my favorite things when we do!
Wow, everything looks so delicious even your husbands breakfast! I always love pancakes or waffles on the weekend.
Your breakfast sandwich is calling my name!! Yummy! I love taking extra time on the weekends to make a nice breakfast and just enjoy the meal without feeling rushed! It’s also one of my favorite times of the week!
I eat in a dining hall, and breakfast is always special on weekends!
Oatmeal and coffee is my favorite breakfast ANY day of the week.
I love restaurant weeks, but I have to say, I am super weird about it. I like there to be at least four people, and we all have to order different things…and then allow wandering forks to taste them all.
OK. That was really only in Austin when I ate everything. It is a bit harder to enjoy restaurant week like that when you eat vegan. [Dangit!]
P.S. I LOVE the Tumaro’s Rye Wraps, but haven’t found them since Texas. I am JEALOUS and would love to try the pumpernickel.
That lunch looks amazing!!! I love kale!
That does look like a pretty perfect bowl of oatmeal
And one of my goals in life is to visit a fancy restaurant where they swirl the condiments around like that. Lol.
Will you please make me a breakfast sandwich at Blend? *drool*
OMG, that french toast breakfast looks right up my alley – sweet AND savory!
Check out this recipe: http://www.dailycomet.com/article/20130123/ENTERTAINMENT/130129870
I don’t know if it’s close to the sweet potato mousse you had, but it might be close?
My husband usually makes breakfast on the weekends – makes the best eggs ever. Thankfully we sleep in on the weekends because his breakfasts are a little heavy handed on the cheese, so its usually my breakfast AND lunch!
Love the Colorado mug! I have the Maryland one so I can show all the people at work, since I seriously don’t think they could even place it on a map!
I used to make special breakfasts on the weekends, but I have gotten lazy! I need to get back to it!
I always have a bite of my hubby’s food that I make for him too! Your dinner out looks amazing and how awesome are the beers on tap at your friends house! So cool!
Oh my goodness, that salad and those scallops look absolutely fabulous!
Everything from your dinner out looks fabulous! Especially dessert. Sweet potato mousse cake? Heaven. I wish we had a better restaurant week where I live, but the only place that really goes all out is San Francisco which is a bit too far of a drive.
i love those wraps, but i have never seen pumpernickel! i am a sucker for it too, i love pumpernickel bagels so much! i usually get the rye ones, but my only options are those or i think peppercorn which didn’t sound appetizing to me.
my breakfasts actually stay pretty typical on the weekend, but only because i work, so i’m still kind of in the same rush i am during the week. i am such an early riser though, i usually have time to cook
What a gorgeous day of food! I almost always order wine but sometimes beer just hits the spot.
Omg, this is TOO much delicious for ONE post!!! Let me start first by saying, um…can I PLEASE have your husband’s metabolism?! He can keep the ham, but seriously? If I could get away with it, I’d eat that sweet/savory French toast every…single…day!! OMG!
That beet salad sounds amazing! With coffee vinaigrette? Mmm! Those scallops ridiculous, but holy smokes, that MOUSSE!! I die! :O
I’m even sitting here jealous of your apple! I love Pinata apples, but can NEVER find the organic ones! …I tried that PB a couple of weekends ago…is it just me or does it have like a glue consistency? And for some reason (even though it only has like 2g of sugar, it just seemed SO sweet…boo!)