date night @ searsucker

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oh brian malarkey.  you culinary conceptual genius, you.  thank you for gracing us with one of your restaurants here in the desert.  we thank you.

so my hubby ate at the original searsucker when he was in san diego for his boys weekend.  he came home and bragged about the best brunch ever.  and yes, pregnant me was very jealous of his gastro good time.  but then!  we discovered that mr. malarkey would soon be opening a searsucker in scottsdale {insert happy dance here}.  we waited for what felt like forever… long enough to have a baby even.  and then we finally stopped by for some brunch.  well, it was really something.  totally lived up to all my man’s bragging.

so, when we were planning our sans baby date night for this week {thank you grandparents!} we decided to give te dinner menu at searsucker a go.  good move, us.  it was amazing.  we didn’t even touch the real entrees, we just dabbled in small dish land. and oh my.  so darn yummy.  dare i say, scrumtrulescent?  yes, i dare say that.  we tried quite a few dishes and took our time savoring each one.  so much fun.  and so tasty.  if you are a local…go here.  and go here often.  it will rock your world people.

here’s what we had:

house made cinnamon infused bourbon + lime + ginger beer + bitters

cheddar puffers

nuts + spice + salt

duck fat fries + tomato jam

chicken + waffle + frank’s

shrimp “spicy” + bacon grits

and p.s. the menu descriptions are deceptively simple…what lies underneath is total creativity and flavor complexity.  i love that the menu is totally chill and then when you taste the dish it is like “woah!”  for example:  nuts + spice + salt = spice coated roasted nuts with a salty sweet, crunchy glaze.  they were the yummiest nuts i have ever had.  plain as that.

a scarf and a beard walk into a bar…

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i love date nights with this guy*.  we are blessed to have very willing and eager babysitters in our lives {thank you family} which affords us the opportunity to plop miss elinor at their pad and take off for a dinner together.  so friday night, we did just that.  my hubby and i sat on the patio at one of our favorite mexican food spots, blue adobe and enjoyed scrumptious dips and salsas and spices and peppers and meats.  yum.  it was leisurely and perfect.  a relaxing and ideal way to kick off the weekend.

*how dashing does he look with that scruff?  and did you notice how beards were the “it” accessory for hollywood’s men at the oscars last night?  my guy is so cool.  way to be on trend, hubby.

snaps & snippets & blurbs

aaahhh…looong weekend.  i love three-day weekends.  i love when the market is closed so elinor and i get an extra day with our favorite guy. but what made it extra fabulous?  kicking it off with valentine’s day!  after enjoying a quiet night at home on thursday as a family, my hubby and i stole away for a celebratory date at our favorite place to celebrate, our place {see here and here}, royal palms.  so romantic and perfect and delicious.  can’t wait to go back again…

happy tuesday to you all!  enjoy the snaps.

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a post that will make you super envious

this weekend, my amazing hubby made me the most scrumptious and decadent dinner.  you know you’ve got it good when your man randomly turns to you one day and says “i would really like to start making a special dinner at home once a week”.  um, okay.  so.  the plan is to get out on the town for a date night dinner out at least once a month and eat a special date night dinner in once a week.  courtesy of mister ben.  yup, sounds like a good plan.  he just loves to cook and he is so darn good at it.  this is one of his best ideas yet.  and has inspired a new series that i will be calling “chef ben”.  winner, winner, chicken dinner indeed.

dinner1he took a page out of tyler florence’s new cookbook fresh i highly recommend it. dinner2

nothing sexier than a man in the kitchen. dinner3the finished plate.  butternut squash puree topped with crispy porcini mushrooms, crispy sage, roasted pecans, and brown butter wine sauce.  and a dusting of parmesan.  so rich and satisfying…and no meat to be found!  now that is a culinary feat.

two new parents, out on the town

well, we did it!  we kissed our baby girl buh-bye for an evening out – just the two of us.  dinner and a movie with my hubby.  evenings out sure feel different now that we are parents.  they require much more planning {being someone’s food source involves some coordinating, after all} and they also feel like more of a treat.  it felt like such an indulgence to get in the carseat-less car and take an entire evening to just relax and chat.  PLUS!  coming home is so much better than it used to be because we get to see the sweet little face of miss elinor.

life is good.

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this post made possible by my medela breast pump, tommee tippee bottles, and grandmama ridley {thanks mom!}

snaps & snippets & blurbs

happy monday!  it is monday, right?  i must admit, our little peanut is making things blur together a bit.  can you believe that thanksgiving is this week?!  eek!  you know what that means…it is just about time to put up the tree.  hopefully i can get that done during miss e’s nap time.  my, how life changes.

anyway…here are some recent snaps from around these parts.   you will probably notice an emerging theme:  baby + food.  this is our life.

it is my distinct pleasure to present to you…miss elinor’s belly button! + white bean and kale soup with homemade english muffin flax seed bread + coco snuggling with her buddy + peppered salami, chipotle cranberry turkey, cheddar, and stout mustard on homemade sourdough bread + the two of us + a date night at brat haus + nap time in a bumblebee blanket + chicken saltimbocca with grilled asparagus + all curled up with her cute little lips

snaps & snippets & blurbs

oh, this was a good weekend.  any weekend that kicks off with a blinking-finger-nibbling-swishing-party viewing of our baby girl is sure to be a good one.  and then, to follow it up with dates with my man at brat haus and citizen public house.  yup, we are living it up big time ’round here before our sweet little girl arrives.  we are so eager to meet her…but we are also trying to savor our last little moments together as just us.  life is going to change in a major way!

and speaking of changes…we did a little bit of redecorating around our house this weekend.  please welcome the newest addition to our home decor…a stroller.  and, a fabulously chic and sleek stroller, at that.  oh yes, we have a stroller here.  talk about changing the design aesthetic.  the view from our living room has suddenly been altogether altered.  another reminder that there will be a tiny one living in our house very soon.

so happy monday to you all!

we have a stroller.

{teeheehee}

a happy hubby with some crazy eyes and a mug of brew in early celebration of oktoberfest + duck fat fries with various dips + brat with the works + a smooch from my man + our favorite spot + farewell summer menu…can’t wait for the fall food release! + a cph meal staple.  the bubbling pot of fondue + as if there weren’t enough cheese…check out that sandwich

snaps & snippets & blurbs

welcome, my friends to the burger-palooza version of the s&s&b post.  this week, my hubby and i celebrated my cousin’s birthday, and coincidentally, national cheeseburger day, by heading out to the grind for some burgers.  it was pretty tasty.

and, in a stroke of good luck, we had also scheduled one of our before-the-baby-arrives-just-the-two-of-us date nights as a trip to zinburgeroops.  burgers twice in one week!  you know, most people would have chickened out and rescheduled, but not us!  no sir, we powered through.  plus, if it is in the daytimer, it must be so.

here are some mouth-watering pics from our burger excursions.  enjoy, enjoy.

and make sure to clean up the drool from your keyboard.

the table is set + the super crispy fries + my man’s side of mac and cheese + my man’s gigantor burger complete with fried ratatouille and peppers and cheese + donuts with butterscotch for dessert + two very happy faces + hurray for az restaurant week! + the cool milk bottle chandelier at zinburger + my man’s plate + my bunless burger with zinfandel onions.  bunless so that i had extra room for… two, yes two baskets of truffle fries and a chocolate shake!  whew.

mr & mrs whitehaüs at the brat haüs

this place has been on our list for a few months now.  so when my sister gave me a dinner double-date night for my birthday, the brat haüs was my first pick.  i mean, you can’t go wrong with brats, fries, and pretzels, right?  right.  it was quite scrumptious.  so get ready to see more and more of these tasty links appearing on the blog.  i have a feeling that we will be visiting this establishment on a regular basis.

try not to drool…

the haüs.  so cool + food & brew menu [or, "bru", as they call it] + hubby’s beverage + a half-eaten pretzel.  the pretzels also came with assorted mustards and a beer-cheese fondue…but we all kinda jumped in before a formal picture could be taken + okay.  seriously.  the best fries i have ever eaten.  these are the winners by far.  belgian style [the homeland of the fry] which means that they are “thrice fried” in duck fat.  duck fat is the best.  PLUS, they come with gourmet dipping sauces.  we chose homemade dill ranch, bacon bleu cheese, sriracha aioli, and truffle aioli. + spicy sausage with hot peppers and root beer onions + my selection for the evening…turkey, apple, sage sausage with apricot onion chutney + my beverage of choice…arizona date shake.