{"id":15865,"date":"2016-11-25T07:33:35","date_gmt":"2016-11-25T13:33:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/brubakers.us\/?p=15865"},"modified":"2016-11-25T07:33:35","modified_gmt":"2016-11-25T13:33:35","slug":"vacation-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brubakers.us\/?p=15865","title":{"rendered":"Vacation Time"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brian and I took the week off (well, most of the week – Brian actually has to work today) for Thanksgiving and so we started our celebration on Friday evening. We wanted to celebrate the fact that we wouldn’t have to go back to work for a week. And we decided to take our celebration Carrabba’s<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Neither of us had been to Carrabba’s in years. Brian and I figured it’s because we no longer live on that side of town. Besides that though, the restaurant is on a really busy street and we, like most people, like to stick within a few miles of our comfort zone. Whatever the reason, Carrabba’s ended up not making the restaurant rotation. But that changed last Friday.<\/p>\n

When we ran into Joe at Brew Ha-Ha a few weeks ago<\/a>, he talked up their new apple cider sangria. And you know me. Sangria is synonymous with celebration so I talked Brian into going their for our first meal of officially being on vacation. <\/p>\n

\"Untitled\"<\/a><\/p>\n

It doesn’t look like much but this is the most delicious sangria I’ve had in a really long time. You all know how much I love the blackberry sangria at Carrabba’s. I drink pitchers of it at a time. This recipe is even better than that. You all will have to try it. You won’t be disappointed. I promise.<\/p>\n

Another thing I like about Carrabba’s is their fresh bread and flavorful dipping oil. I had to get a picture of our bread basket and the oil and herbs.<\/p>\n

\"Untitled\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Then we started with a couple of small plates. Joe really talked up their small plates too, so we had to try some of them. Naturally. <\/p>\n

\"Untitled\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This is the arancini. They’re crispy risotto balls. Brian loved these so much that he wanted to order a few more and make a meal out of them. <\/p>\n

\"Untitled\"<\/a><\/p>\n

We also ordered the meatballs and ricotta. Now this, I could have made a meal out of! The meatballs were so good and I love who the ricotta and romano cheese worked with the pomodoro sauce. Incidentally, the pomodoro sauce is my favorite type of sauce at Carrabba’s. I always get it on my pasta. <\/p>\n

Anyway, this is the small plate that keeps on giving. Even after you finish eating the two meatballs, you can still enjoy the sauce by dipping your bread in it. <\/p>\n

One of the servers tried to take it away and we told him no. I wanted to enjoy every last drop. Our server confessed that the sauce is her favorite part as well and she makes a meal out of this on some days. <\/p>\n

Brian and I agreed that on our next visit, we’re just going to get several small plates and dessert. And maybe a pitcher of that apple cider sangria for me. LOL. <\/p>\n

\"Untitled\"<\/a><\/p>\n

For our meal we decided to go back to our old standby, the Chicken Bryan. We like not not because it shares Brian’s name but we really do like the flavors. You can’t beat wood-grilled chicken and goat cheese. <\/p>\n

I always ask for capellini pomodoro (angel hair pasta in their pomodoro sauce) because the pomodoro sauce is my favorite. And then Brian and I usually just split that. We also split a Caesar salad before the entree so between that and the appetizers we are usually too stuffed to each get our own meal. Doing it this way ensures we don’t have to take home any leftovers. It works perfect.<\/p>\n

\"Untitled\"<\/a><\/p>\n

We finished our celebratory meal with the sogno di cioccolata (chocolate dream). It’s my favorite dessert there. I liked the dessert Rosa also, which was a light, fruity cake but I think they quit making it years ago. <\/p>\n

Anyway, Brian was like, “This is amazing! I don’t think I’ve ever had this before.”<\/p>\n

I was like, “Yes, you have! You’ve had it several times and you like it so much that we ordered an entire pan of it for my birthday one year.”<\/BIG><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It was my 35th birthday and we bought dessert for everyone. Thus, we ordered the entire pan. Anyway, I searched and searched my Flickr albums for a picture of that pan of the dessert but the next set of pictures were all I could find. <\/p>\n

\"2011-10-23<\/a><\/p>\n

\"2011-10-23_19-27-48_295.jpg\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"2011-10-23_19-28-06_297.jpg\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"2011-10-23_19-28-25_524.jpg\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"2011-10-23_19-28-40_950.jpg\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"2011-10-23_19-27-00_709.jpg\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"2011-10-23_19-26-24_424.jpg\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"2011-10-23_19-26-45_839.jpg\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"2011-10-23_19-25-42_873.jpg\"<\/a><\/p>\n

It was 2011 and I had just started losing weight so I guess I was more concerned with getting pictures of myself than pictures of food in those days. LOL. <\/p>\n

Speaking of birthday celebrations, we’re coming back to present day now.<\/p>\n

\"2011-10-23_19-25-42_873.jpg\"<\/a><\/p>\n

We went to Margarita’s (another place we haven’t been in a long time) to celebrate Andrea’s 30th birthday on Saturday night. Margarita’s is a popular place for celebrations. I think there must have been a dozen different birthday celebrations going on there that evening. <\/p>\n

\"Untitled\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Here are a few more pictures from that evening. <\/p>\n

\"Untitled\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Missy took her shoes off to get down on the dance floor. Naturally, I took a picture with it. They were some cute boots. <\/p>\n

\"Untitled\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Here’s Missy and Charis together. <\/p>\n

\"Untitled\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This photobomb by the guy at the next table (found out his name is Corbin) was by far the funniest. I think everyone at their table tried to be part of our picture. LOL. <\/p>\n

\"15079015_1264811520238240_3874642426288506687_n\"<\/a><\/p>\n

And then Brian and I didn’t make the group photo because we had already left by then. We are old and, after dancing a few times, were pretty much done. <\/p>\n

\"15109530_1264886020230790_7287437041420802779_n\"<\/a><\/p>\n

We gave Andrea her birthday present and card, and had a wonderful dinner with friends, and we danced a few times, and then we were pooped. I guess that’s what happens when you get old. <\/p>\n

Oh, to be young and 30 again! I miss those days.<\/BIG><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That’s pretty much how our vacation started. Come back soon for more of our time off adventures. I have lots to share!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Brian and I took the week off (well, most of the week – Brian actually has to work today) for Thanksgiving and so we started our celebration on Friday evening. We wanted to celebrate the fact that we wouldn’t have to go back to work for a week. And we decided to take our celebration […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1340,7],"tags":[2839,1267,2475,181],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brubakers.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15865"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brubakers.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brubakers.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brubakers.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brubakers.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15865"}],"version-history":[{"count":25,"href":"https:\/\/brubakers.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15865\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15890,"href":"https:\/\/brubakers.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15865\/revisions\/15890"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brubakers.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15865"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brubakers.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15865"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brubakers.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15865"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}