Saturday, January 30, 2010

Hot food for a cold day!

Tex-Mex Chili - beef and spicy sausage with corn, black beans and green peppers.
Pumpkin Black Bean Soup (vegan)
Lentil Soup (vegan)

Homemade Macaroni and Cheese with a side salad

Chocolate Peanut Cookies v.3.0 will be in the pastry case shortly!

Friday, January 29, 2010

Friday Specials

Homemade Macaroni and Cheese with a side salad

Creamy Tomato Basil (vegetarian)
Lentil Soup (vegan)

Big news for soda fans - Mexican Coca-Cola is being sold in the Latin refrigerated section at Shoppers Food Warehouse! It is the cola I remember sipping from small amethyst glasses at Grandma's house. If you are young enough never to have enjoyed Coke as God intended (sweetened with cane sugar and not the cheap, ubiquitous, processed slurry known as corn syrup), get yourself to the store. Sip slowly straight from the the little green pop-top bottle and ponder the implications of actually teaching the world to sing in perfect harmony...........

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Wednesday Specials

Bring your appetite! The meatloaf is baking and smells great. Loads of caramelized onions form the base for the mushroom beef gravy.

Homemade Meatloaf Sandwich with Mushroom Gravy (served open-face)
Turkey Pepperoni Pizza Panino

Lentil Soup (vegan)
Creamy Mushroom Soup (vegetarian)
Mulligatawny Stew (anglo-indian chicken soup)

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Tuesday Specials

Creamy Mushroom Soup (vegetarian)
Mulligatawny Stew (anglo-indian chicken soup)

Turkey Pepperoni Pizza Panino

Monday, January 25, 2010

Monday Monday

Mulligatawny Stew (anglo-indian chicken soup)
Pumpkin Black Bean Soup vegan

Basil Pesto Caprese panino

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Saturday Specials

Pumpkin Black Bean Soup
Creamy Tomato Basil
Jalapeno Corn Chowder

Turkey Spinach Parmesan - turkey breast, spinach, parmesan, mozzarella and marinated artichoke hearts grilled on a ciabatta sub roll.

Friday, January 22, 2010

Friday Specials

Creamy Tomato Basil Soup
Jalapeno Corn Chowder

Falafel Sub stuffed with tomato, cucumber, red onion and tahini dressing.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Thursday Specials

the old-fashioned Tuna Melt, served panino style

Jalapeno Corn Chowder vegetarian

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Wednesday Specials

Spicy Jack Panino
roast turkey, caramelized red onions, habanero chesse, and zebra sauce

Split Pea Soup vegan

Italian Wedding Soup

vegetable soup with pasta and meatballs
a vegetarian based soup with either homemade meatballs or vegetarian meatballs

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Tuesday

Spicy Jack Panino
roast turkey, caramelized red onions, habanero chesse, and zebra sauce

Italian Wedding Soup
vegetable soup with pasta and meatballs
a vegetarian based soup with either homemade meatballs or vegetarian meatballs

Monday, January 18, 2010

Happy MLK Day

Vegetarian Potato Leek Soup and Black Bean Sweet Potato Chili (vegan) are our soups today.

Panini special is the Pesto Caprese made with fresh mozzarella, provolone, pesto, marinated artichoke hearts and roasted red peppers grilled on a ciabatta sub roll.

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Saturday Specials

Vegetarian Potato Leek Soup, Black Bean Sweet Potato Chili (vegan) and Beef Chili Con Carne are our soups today.

Panini special is the Pesto Caprese made with fresh mozzarella, provolone, pesto, marinated artichoke hearts and roasted red peppers grilled on a ciabatta sub roll.

And there may be a couple Apricot Oatmeal Scones left....

Friday, January 15, 2010

The week that flew by....

Black Bean Sweet Potato Chili (vegan) and Beef Chili Con Carne are our soups today. We also have a bit of the Green Lentil with Coconut Milk Soup left.

The cookie experiment produced mixed reviews. The Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip cookie had a great texture but I thought it was not chocolate enough. Jack (who is a bit of a cookie wolf) was meh, but Lisa loved them and looked at me like I was crazy when I suggested they were not chocolatey enough. Next batch will bump up the pb in the cookie and replace the too sweet pb chips with chocolate chips. If all life's problems offered such a sweet solution.....

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Thursday Specials

Pesto Caprese Panini with fresh mozzarella and Beef Chili Con Carne are on the menu today, as well as Green Lentil and Coconut Milk Soup. There some cookie experimenting going on and today a Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip cookie is in the pastry case.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

It's Wednesday!

... not Tuesday. Just in case you and I woke up in the same time warp.

The Buffalo Chicken Sandwich special is back for one more day - don't miss it! Spicy chicken with a blue cheese sauce and matchstick celery carrots on a toasted ciabatta roll. The Spicy Jack and Spicy Jeremy are also available.

Green Lentil & Coconut Milk Soup (vegan) and Chicken Noodle Soup are our soups du jour.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Praise a bit overdue

While I'm sitting in the back handling more mundane administrative tasks everyone else is cooking up a storm, figuratively speaking. Michael is up to his elbows in buttermilk, breadcrumbs and blue cheese making a Buffalo Chicken Sandwich special. Spicy chicken with a blue cheese sauce and matchstick celery carrots.

Kasey started today's Butternut Squash Soup yesterday by preparing a roasted vegetable stock (which is the secret to many of our vegan/vegetarian soups). We also have Chicken Noodle Soup.

Just off Interstate 81 near Roanoke, Virginia is the best Mexican food I've ever eaten. Now in fairness I should qualify this statement. I've never been a huge fan of what is called Mexican food in the States. I like the idea of beans, chilis, rice, mole, etc. but assumed the only way I'd get good Mexican food was to head southwest towards the Texas/Mexico border. Rumors abound about where to find authentic Mexican cuisine - some say Wisconsin, especially around Madison, is littered with little Mom & Pop eateries, my brother is very fond of a place in Easton, but without an exprience guide, Mexican cuisine is a miss-more-than-hit proposition, in my experience. Which made this an extra special "find".

Tucked into the corner of the most generic strip mall (adjacent to a huge Goodwill Store) is one of three Alejandro's Mexican Grill locations. The original downtown location is standing room only from about 10:30-2:30 and then again in the evening, so I was tickled to find out there was a larger location which is actually a bit closer to home for me.

Alejandro's claim to fame is their fresh salsa bar. The minute we at down a basket of fresh, hot tortilla chips was rushed to our table and the "salad" bar in the corner? More than 12 varieties of salsa made fresh daily (there were 16 at the time of my visit) - green ones, red ones, creamy ones, chunky ones, hot ones and mild ones. It was a lot of fun making several trips to the bar and try out a whole bunch of them (the Pomegranate Margarita I washed them down with was pretty special too!). Beverage choices include beer, soda, aguas frescas and margaritas.

The Plato de Carnitas - chunks of pork served with rice, black beans, pico de gallo and tortillas was fabulous. The pork was tender and moist with a great crunchy exterior and the accompanying sides - far from being obligatory mounds of rice and beans, actually added texture and flavor. There was no room for dessert but flan, xango, churros and tres leche cake are a few of the offerings.

I really can't say enough good things about Alejandro's except that I look forward to many future meals in this delightful, family-style Mexican restuarante.


Monday, January 11, 2010

Monday Specials

Soups today are Chicken Noodle and Minestrone with brussell sprout, chestnuts &butternut squash (vegan).

The sandwich special is Spicy Jack - turkey, extra spicy pepper jack cheese, grilled onions and zebra (horseradish) sauce grilled on a ciabatta sub roll.

By the way, if you are a grad student at Hopkins the GRO Coffee Hour is on!

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Saturday Specials

Citrus Cranberry Scones with Pecans!

Soup today is Minestrone with brussel sprout, chestnuts &butternut squash (vegan).

The sandwich special is Pesto Caprese - fresh basil pesto, marinated artichoke hearts, roasted red peppers, provolone and mozzarella grilled on a ciabatta sub roll.

Friday, January 8, 2010

Go play in the snow!

Then come by for some Peppermint Hot Chocolate or a bowl of soup!

Soups today are Minestrone with brussel sprout, chestnuts &butternut squash (vegan) and Potato Leek (vegetarian).

The sandwich special is Pesto Caprese - fresh basil pesto, marinated artichoke hearts, roasted red peppers, provolone and mozzarella grilled on a ciabatta sub roll.

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Thursday Specials

I'm making a pot of vegetarian Potato Leek Soup this morning and the Sausage Chowder is coming to an end. It will probably be tomorrow, but Michael has a really exotic sounding soup up his sleeve in the next day or two.

The sandwich special is the Spicy Jack - turkey, extra spicy pepper jack cheese, grilled onions & zebra (horseradish) sauce. Replace the turkey with hummus and call it a Spicy Jeremy!

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Wednesday Specials

Sandwich Special
Banh Mi (Vietnamese Pork Sandwich)
Roasted pork loin with a salad of carrots, cucumbers, hot peppers tossed in Asian dressing with peanuts & cilantro.

Soups
Sausage Kidney Bean Chowder
Pumpkin Black Bean

Baked Ziti with Garlic Bread

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Very Special Tuesday Sandwich!

Sandwich Special
Banh Mi (Vietnamese Pork Sandwich)
Roasted pork loin with a salad of carrots, cucumbers, hot peppers tossed in Asian dressing with peanuts & cilantro.

Soups
Sausage Kidney Bean Chowder
Pumpkin Black Bean

Dinner Special
Baked Ziti with Garlic Bread

Monday, January 4, 2010

Happy New Year!

Today's soups are Pumpkin Black Bean (vegan) and Sausage Kidney Bean Chowder.

How nice is it to be back?! Missed you folks but, frankly, enjoyed the time off). So tell...were you on the Nice List? I got yummy cookies from Jack's mom and baklava from Ren, so it's pretty clear who is on my nice list ;-) Highlights from my holiday include receiving a great fuzzy blanket that my 15-year old niece Alex made (brought a tear to this ol' crafter's eye I tell you), a great basket from my brother Charles, tons of music from brother William and a Kindle from Santa.

The renovation/expansion of the cafe commenced over the holidays and the newly improved kitchen space looks great. A crew came in on Saturday to clean up the construction mess and get a head start on food prep for today. We're here. We're ready for you. Come and get it!

Happy New Year!