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Carlos O’Kelly’s Summer Drink Tour 2018

Posted on July 23, 2018 by Ching under Food and Drink, Free Stuff, Things to Do.

I did the Carlos O’Kelly’s summer drink tour for the first time ever last year. This year I couldn’t wait for it to begin! I kept asking my friend Missy who does it every year, “Has it started yet? Has it started yet?” like an annoying child in the backseat of a long road trip.

Guess what. It’s started and, even though they give you until Labor Day to complete your drink tour, I’ve completed it already — twice.

It helped that you only had to drink five drinks this year. Last year you had to drink twelve different drinks to complete the entire tour. You got three hand-blown glasses after the first six drinks and then a matching glass bottle after completing the entire tour. Naturally, I completed the tour twice because it’s just weird to have a set of three glasses. It made more sense to me to have six.

I know it’s supposed to be FREE but this is probably the most expensive glassware I will ever own.

This year you got two hand-blown margarita glasses and Carlos O’Kelly’s “legendary” margarita mix for completing the tour.

I planned to complete the tour twice to get four margarita glasses so I started two punch cards right off the bat. And, before you freak out, no — I did not drink all of those drinks in one visit.

I’m kind of a lightweight and can only handle one drink each time. I know some people who could easily complete this tour in one visit. Unfortunately for me, it took several. I did manage to complete both tours, though, and well before Labor Day to boot! I know this probably isn’t an achievement worth bragging about but you gotta celebrate the small victories. Otherwise, what else is there to live for?

Here’s what the bottle of Carlos O’Kelly’s “legendary” margarita mix looks like. It’s a decent size bottle.

Here’s what the fancy margarita glass looks like. It’s got a nice weight to it. It’s the same ones that they serve margaritas in at the restaurant.

Brian and I decided to skip pickleball yesterday because he needed some new sneakers for ZINCON. He mostly just goes to hang out but that doesn’t mean he can’t hang out in style. Anyway, since we were already out and about, we decided to hit Carlos O’Kelly’s to complete my second drink tour because I only needed one more punch on the second card.

Here’s my set of our margarita glasses that I worked very hard to earn this summer. LOL. It would be nice to have six and I have plenty of time to complete another tour before Labor Day but I’m not quite sure yet if I will go for round three.

Anyway, for those of you who are yet to start your tour, here’s the daily drink specials so you know the best days of the week to go.

Have fun on your journey and always remember to drink responsibly. GNG.

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Final Night in Kansas City

Posted on July 8, 2018 by Ching under Food and Drink.

I got to hang out with the Knowledge Management team in Raytown on my last full day in Kansas City. From left, Aaron, Joy, Molly, Kristy, and Mary Ann.

Later that night, a few of us got together at Seasons 52 for happy hour. I picked it because (a) I’d never been there before, (b) they had $5 small plates and two glasses of wine and a flatbread pizza for $15 during happy hour, and (c) happy hour there lasts until 7 pm, whereas it usually ends at 6 pm at most places.

Check out the happy hour menu (above) and the regular menu (below).

These are the grilled chicken yakitori skewers. They were amazing and the best part is they’re less than 350 calories!

These are the wood-grilled meatballs. Slightly more calories but also very good.

Here’s a picture of the flatbread pizza. You’d think it would be tiny considering you’re practically getting it for free during happy hour, but it’s actually a decent size. I think this is the garlic pesto chicken.

I think this one is the roasted roma tomato flatbread.

These are the caramelized grilled sea scallops, which is also part of the $5 menu amazingly enough. I can’t believe I didn’t know about this place before.

Had I known about this place sooner, I probably would have made it a point to visit several times. The food was delicious and really inexpensive during happy hour.

Here are a few pictures of me with my Communications Hub teammates.

These guys are so fun. I miss them already! Until next time. GNG.

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Carrabba’s Wine Tasting Dinner

Posted on June 22, 2018 by Ching under Food and Drink.

Several weeks ago I picked up this silent auction package for a wine tasting dinner for four people at Carrabba’s Italian Grill at the SALSA benefit for Wichita Area Sexual Assault Center (WASAC). It was perfect because Brian and I love Carrabba’s and the money went to a worthy cause.

Though there were some exclusions listed on the certificate (no Friday or Saturday), it wasn’t hard to find a time redeem the package. The hardest part was finding another couple to share the experience with. We have lots of good friends who enjoy food and wine as much as we do.

We ultimately decided on inviting Jenni and her boyfriend Adam. We thought it would be a nice way to celebrate their recent engagement.

Here are a few pictures from our fabulous dinner.

It was a ridiculous amount of food! On top of that, we each got dessert!

As far as wine went, we really could have taken more advantage but we didn’t want to be wasteful. Plus, Jenni and Brian seemed to really enjoy this bottle of cab and they wanted to finish it. We didn’t get past this bottle. LOL. Perhaps next time we can try at least a couple more different wines.

I’m not usually a red wine drinker but I actually enjoyed this cab as well (much to my surprise). It’s rare that Brian and I find a wine that we can both enjoy. Unfortunately, this one is on the expensive end. We normally spend $10 to $20 a bottle. This one is about $60 a bottle so it’s not one that we will buying by the case as we typically do with our other wines. We did find it on sale for about $49 at Groves a couple of weeks ago so we decided to splurge and pick up a bottle (just one) for us to enjoy the next time we have something to celebrate.

Anyway, despite Joe not being at the restaurant that night, we still had a fabulous dinner. His team made sure of it. Next time I see one of these packages at the next fundraising benefit, I’m definitely going to try snagging it. It’s worth every penny!

Until next time. GNG!

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Nortons Brewing Company

Posted on June 13, 2018 by Ching under Food and Drink.

I recently had the opportunity to check out Nortons Brewing Company when we went there for Carmen’s 20th service anniversary. It’s a really neat new brew pub just a stone’s throw from the office, which is super convenient considering you now have to pay for parking in the lot next door.

A bunch of us from work walked over for a late lunch one Friday a couple of weeks back to celebrate Carmen’s milestone.

Here are some pictures of food that we got to try that day. Pictured above is aptly-named bacon crack. It is deliciously addictive.

This is their homemade spinach and artichoke dip.

Truffle fries… which used to be harder to come by but now it seems everyone is serving their own version of it.

This is the wedge salad, which is more than just a wedge!

I wish I could remember which sandwich this is.

Another salad but I can’t remember which one.

A blurry photo of someone’s grilled cheese sandwich. This might be mine, actually. I asked for the grilled cheese sandwich with a hamburger patty in the middle because I just couldn’t get myself to order the Norton burger (it’s a double cheeseburger sandwiched between two grilled cheese sandwiches — way too much food for one person to eat) so I decided to make kind of a smaller version of it.

Nortons is also known for funnel cakes, which I’ve yet to try.

I almost talked Brian into it this weekend when we were back at Nortons for Chad Smith’s surprise birthday gathering. Alas, it was not meant to be. We just ended up getting a charcuterie board, fries, and some drinks.

We did, however, get to see Chad’s new Tesla. Chad said he might have been the first person to register this vehicle in Kansas because he had to wait for the tag office to enter the model in the computer system. I guess this type of car didn’t already exist in the vehicle registration system prior.

But I digress… Nortons is worth checking out. It has a cool, casual ambiance inside and fun hangout spaces outside. The food is good and the drinks are plentiful. We will definitely be back. I have a funnel cake in my future. That’s all for now. GNG.

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Dempsey’s Biscuit Company

Posted on June 10, 2018 by Ching under Food and Drink.

Brian and I discovered a new place to eat Sunday brunch last month, Dempsey’s Biscuit Company. They’re in the space on Douglas that was vacated by Fork & Fennel a few years ago. It’s just down the street from Dempsey’s Burger Pub, which is another local favorite.

Dempsey’s Biscuit Co. has been open for a while now and we’d heard great things but we’ve just never had the time to go check it out until recently. We’d been going to Reverie for Sunday breakfast but decided it was time to venture out and try some new places. That was all the push we needed to check out Dempsey’s.