Archive for "Food and Drink"
St. Louis Trip
Posted on January 9, 2022 by Ching under Food and Drink, Travel.
We traveled to St. Louis, MO last weekend to compete in the Dink-in the New Year pickleball tournament at Vetta Racquet Sport Sunset. Since Tiffany and Donnie Lesperance were staying in the same hotel, the four of us decided to carpool.
We’ve gone to tournaments with Tiffany and Donnie before but this was our first time actually “traveling” together and traveling with these two is quite interesting because they love Mexican food. They don’t love Mexican food in the same way that normal people love Mexican food. They “really” love it. To the point where they could eat Mexican food everyday of our trip. And that is pretty much what we did. LOL. Thankfully, Brian and I enjoy Mexican food too. Otherwise, we would have been having nightmares like our friend Karen Fox did on our last trip to St. Louis.
We arrived in St. Louis on Thursday afternoon and had a late lunch at this place called El Maguey. However, I couldn’t even tell you which specific one because apparently that is like the most common name for a Mexican restaurant. There are El Magueys everywhere. There’s even one in Derby.
Here are some pictures of our meal.
Tiffany had some lunch fajitas.
Predictably, Brian always gets a simple bean and cheese burrito covered with queso.
I got some grilled tilapia and shrimp, which was so good.
The next day we found a Mexican restaurant a few miles from the tournament venue called San Jose.
San Jose Mexican Restaurant was a step up from El Maguey the previous day. They were playing fun bachata music while we were there and the decorations gave the restaurant an authentic ambiance.
Once again, Brian got a bean and cheese burrito.
I don’t remember what Donnie had but this is a picture of it.
Tiffany had the Guadalajara chicken.
And, I must have been really hungry because I missed taking a picture of my Mexican chicken soup. It was really good. It reminded me of the Mexican soup I used to have at this place called Wrap It Up in downtown Kansas City. They had it as a special on Wednesdays.
I thought the food was really good, as was the service. Our server was very attentive, checked on our table regularly, and kept our drinks/chips/salsa replenished without prompting — unlike at some places.
I managed to talk everyone into getting an entire pitcher of margarita. The server helped my case by telling that anything we could not finish we could take to go. I think it took a couple of days to drink the rest of the leftover margarita.
We loved San Jose so much that we returned the next day. This time with Donnie’s doubles partner Mark Steiner who, I guess, loves Mexican food too.
I had a giant plate of pork with some kind of flavorful red mole sauce, side of rice, and some elote (Mexican street corn). Brian gave me some of his guacamole. My dinner (which was also my breakfast the next morning because I couldn’t finish it) was delicious!
I think these are Donnie’s and Mark’s plates. I’m pretty sure I didn’t take a pic of Brian’s place because it would have been the same thing three days in a row.
Speaking of eating the same thing on consecutive days, Tiffany really liked the Guadalajara chicken because she got it again.
This trip is the most consecutive days of eating Mexican food I’ve had. Thankfully, I never tire of eating Mexican food either. Anyway, now we know what to expect when traveling with Tiffany and Donnie. Until next time, GNG.
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Happy Hollitini Social
Posted on December 26, 2021 by Ching under Events, Food and Drink.
Debbie Fanning organized a fun holiday social at Todd Brian’s Brick Street Cafe & Tavern for the lady picklers a couple of weeks ago. It was so much fun!
Here’s a picture of me with Kimberly Howe and Tami Racine.
Karen Fox and Janelle Lindeman.
Tiffany Lesperance, Debbie Fanning, and Brooke Ayala.
Todd Brian’s is known for its fun and delicious martinis aka funtinis. They have 75 different flavors plus a special new holiday one.
I didn’t get pictures of all the food but I got a few.
I didn’t have them but the wings looked pretty good.
I had the crab cakes and they were fabulous.
I heard the salmon was cooked to perfection.
I used the opportunity to give the girls their presents — cute little fuzzy animal tape measure key chains, so they can measure the net whenever the need arises.
There were 12 of us at dinner. Clockwise from left: MariAnn Hereen, Karen Fox, Janelle Lindeman, Chandi Bongers, Melissa Burgess, Amy Jaramillo, Tiffany Lesperance, Debbie Fanning, Brooke Ayala, Kimberly Howe, and Tami Racine.
There were a few ladies who couldn’t make it due to schedule conflicts but it was a great turnout overall.
A few of us stuck around for some fun pictures with the big Christmas tree in the middle of Old Town Square after dinner.
Everyone had a lovely time. Here’s a fun video montage that I made of the various pictures and video clips we took that night.
I am so grateful that pickleball has brought all of us together. I just love these ladies. They are fun both on and off the pickleball court. Until next post, GNG.
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Breakfast with the Hubs at HomeGrown
Posted on December 10, 2021 by Ching under Food and Drink.
Brian has only been to HomeGrown once before so he wanted to go again recently. We were downtown for an oil change so we were near the Naftzger Park location. They weren’t very busy that day so it was the perfect opportunity. Also, Brian’s first HomeGrown experience was at Bradley Fair so it nice for him to try a different location. There are three locations in town and, although I’ve never been to the New Market Square location, I have no doubt that they are all equally good.
Here are some pictures of our breakfast.
I had the Country Benny. It was so good! It’s basically an Eggs Benedict but made with biscuits and a sausage patty instead of a muffin and ham. I also had them fry my egg hard because I don’t like runny eggs. It had sausage gravy all over instead of hollandaise sauce, with sprinkles of bacon bits on top.
My breakfast was perfect in every way. Everything was cooked to delicious perfection. If I had one complaint, it would be that the potatoes could have been crispier. They were kind of soft.
Brian got what he always gets everywhere — biscuits and gravy with potatoes and eggs. I think that’s what most people order because I saw several of plates looking exactly like this come through.
For Brian, he dumps everything together and that’s how he likes to eat it.
This is how Brian looks before coffee.
This is how he looks after. It’s amazing how much difference a sip can make.
It was a cold day and Brian let me warm my hands with his coffee cup. He is much more amenable once he’s had his coffee and some breakfast in his belly.
I treasure leisurely days like this so much. It’s fun to just hang out and enjoy a nice breakfast with the hubs. Until next time. GNG.
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Birthday Happy Hour with Jenni
Posted on December 7, 2021 by Ching under Family, Food and Drink.
Met up with Jenni for happy hour at O’Malley’s Irish Pub during her birthday weekend. I’d never been there before and, since she lives in Haysville, I thought it would be convenient to meet there. It’s also a favorite post-pickleball hangout spot among my friend Debbie’s pickleball crew.
I think one of the best things about O’Malley’s is their extended happy hour. Very few places have happy hour past 6 PM. Their’s is 2 to 7 PM! That means five hours of cheap drinks – FTW!
I had a couple of boozy root beer floats while we were there. Root beer floats are awesome but even better when they’re spiked.
Besides the cheap drinks, they also have half-priced pizzas during happy hour so that’s what we got. They claim to have “the best” in town, which is a tall order considering that we have some pretty great pizza places. I thought their pizza was just okay (my favorite right now is Piatto’s Neapolitan Pizzaria and I also like Il Vicino and Wichita Brewing Company and Ziggy’s and River City Brewing — okay so there’s lots of other pizzas that I like better — LOL). Their’s is just a basic pizza. Pretty good for the price but not stellar by any means.
Jenni also got some wings, which looked good, but I didn’t try them. The main draw of the place is the drinks. The drink menu is extensive and the happy hour drink prices can’t be beat.
It was really nice catching up with Jenni and hearing how her career is taking off. She’s definitely “manifesting that shit” — which is why I thought the candle I got her for her birthday was quite fitting. My little sister is finally all grown up!
Until next time. GNG.
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Snowbound Ski Lodge at CNP
Posted on November 25, 2021 by Ching under Date Ideas, Food and Drink, Things to Do.
Snowbound had only been open a week and I’ve been there twice already (will be going for a third time tomorrow). When they first unveiled it, they had a special preview for employees which Karen invited me to attend with her as her plus one. We went on a Thursday and I met her there after my Aqua Zumba class.
I gave Brian a heads up that I would be home late because I was swinging by Chicken N Pickle after class. The funniest part is, after texting him some pictures from Snowbound, he texted me back immediately with “Where are you? Thought you were going to CNP?” LOL. Their goal was to completely transform the CNP rooftop into a merry ski lodge and, given Brian’s response, I would say they completely succeeded.
If you’ve ever spent any time on the rooftop at CNP, you really won’t recognize it. They did such a great job with the ski lodge decor. I’ve never been skiing before so I guess I wouldn’t really know but, I got a total kick out of the the reaction they got from Brian. Here are some more pictures.
They have these fun ski boot shot glasses that you can get various shots in. Karen did a cinnamon toast crunch shot with the guys — Dan Leddy, Rick Nutt, and Lauren Rezac. The shots are presented on skis. It’s super cute.
I got a video of the four of them doing the shot which you can watch by clicking here. Besides the fun shots in the ski boots, they have the prettiest drinks at Snowbound. They’re also very yummy and strong.
Here are some drink pics.
The avalanche is cool because of how it is lit up and everything. The interesting part about it is sometimes it is blue and sometimes it is purple. I just depends on who makes it, I guess.
That Thursday night that I went with Karen, she got the avalanche while I got the free rider. I love my drink except I wasn’t expecting the sprinkles which I don’t really like that much (not even in cookies or cupcakes).
The next time I order the free rider, I will ask them to hold the sprinkles.
This next one is the ski ya later drink.
Then this next pic is of white out with an empty ski boot shot glass next to it. I was told you now have to take the ski boots off the ski first before taking your shot because you can’t make drinking too much fun and game-like. Seriously? Who comes up with these crazy rules?
The drinks at Snowbound are yummy but the food is equally fabulous. These are two of my favorite things to get:
This is the salmon dip. They give you a generous amount served in a jar.
This is the pork belly and brussels which is amazing.
Here’s a picture of the Snowbound menu. I seriously cannot wait to go back tomorrow and try all the other food and drinks I haven’t tried yet. I highly recommend checking out Snowbound before the season is over. You can make reservations here.
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