My Birthday Dinner

I love trying new restaurants throughout Western New York and for my Birthday my Sweetheart took me to Black and Blue on Sheridan Ave in Buffalo, well I think its more like in Williamsville, NY.

We started with a Lobster and Crab Cheese Fondue appetizer and it was good, not incredible but good. It was very rich so a little goes a long way but the pita's were a perfect match. Next time I think I will try the crab cakes or something from the raw bar.

Here is the description of the Fondue

"crab & lobster fondue sweet crab & Maine lobster baked in a parmigiano-reggiano sauce with caramelized leeks and buttered breadcrumbs, served with crispy pita chips and a mascarpone popover" oh yeah the popover was tasty.

For dinner I had the Filet with blue crab meat on top. It was excellent. The steak was done perfectly medium rare and the crab meat added just the right touch extra vavoom. The steaks come with a house rub that did add a nice complimentary flavor to the meat.

All steaks and chops come with your choice of a side and one of their house-made sauces:red wine demi glace, horseradish crème, Gorgonzola cream, b& b steak sauce, béarnaise, or black truffle butter.
We choose the bearnaise and the gorgonzola cream. The bearnaise was the better choice. They also had a ton of sides to pick from but I would not recommend the cheddar cheese fries. Its like popcorn seasoning sprinkled quite heavenly on the fries. Next time I will try the shoestring fries or mash potatoes.

I have a terrible sweet tooth and it was my birthday so I had to have dessert. I have tried many lave like chocolate cakes and I have made quite a few too and this is definitely one of the best I have ever had, if not the best. Warm and gooey on the inside and perfectly dense on the outside with vanilla bean ice cream, yummy!

Life In Marilla

Random Thoughts

I am starving, I haven't eaten anything in like 14 hours. The only reason I have not eaten anything is because there was nothing good to cook for dinner last night. I can not take another meal of frozen chicken nuggets and buttered noodles, yuck. Why don't kids ever get sick of that crap? Anyway, I like the way I feel when I am starving, you just feel smaller for some reason. I am reminded of this famous quote "Nothing taste as good as skinny feels" from the well respected and always underweight Kate Moss. How can she be a model and be so smart all at the same time? Doesn't she feel skinny everyday? Is it worth it to be that small and never eat if you don't feel skinny everyday?
Got to go, time to order lunch!!

Vermont Cheddar Cheese Soup and Beer Bread, YUM!

It is very cold this time of year in Western New York and when I read this recipe for Vermont Cheddar Cheese Soup and Beer Bread at Alexandra's Kitchen I knew it would perfect for a cold Sunday evening. I love spending my Sunday's trying out a new recipe and enlisting my oldest son's help in the kitchen. We love to cook together which just makes cooking that much more enjoyable.

Click on the link to find the recipes.

The beer bread was extremely easy to make and it came out great. It is definitely best served warm with melted butter poured over it. I even dipped my bread into the extra melted butter, so good! I am going to keep this recipe handy because it is quick, delicious and I always have the ingredients in the pantry.


The soup was also easy to prepare and definitely worth all that chopping. It is wasn't too thick or heavy which I actually liked and the flavors all blend nicely. Next time I think I may throw some fresh seafood in the soup.

I made a few changes. I used the same beer for both the soup and bread, a Copper Ale and I did not make homemade chicken stock, which probably would have made the soup even better, maybe next time.
Serve this with a nice winter salad and you have a great meal for entertaining or a quite evening at home.

My Life In Marilla

I recently turned forty and decided I want to become a full fledged blogger, but do I really have anything to say? I guess I will find out. I really enjoy reading other peoples blogs. It is kind of like spying into other people's lives. I love food blogs, design blogs and personal blogs so I thought why not give it a try.

At first I though about doing just a food blog but I then realized those take a lot of work, consistency and good photography. Then I thought about a weight loss blog but my love of cooking and lack of consistency wont make that a very successful blog. So I decided just to write about my life in Marilla, NY (a small suburb outside of Buffalo, NY) and all the things I love to do when I actually have time to do them.

By the way my Mother made me my favorite chocolate cake for my 40th birthday, YUM!!

I will have to post the recipe at some point.