Dallas Was A Total Party... But It Was Mostly About Food

DAY ONE


Whew! Talk about a whirlwind weekend. I'm completely pooped after the fast-paced weekend in Dallas. I think driving in traffic wore me down more than any other factor. I'm so not accustomed to traffic like they have in Dallas. Those of you who live in big cities will be chuckling, I'm sure, but I almost had a horrible wreck. Twice. It scared me into driving like an elderly woman.

So, we finally made it to the hotel from the airport (a 10 minute drive that took 45 minutes) and it was already time to get dressed for dinner (and prepare myself for the next drive). Thankfully, SD made it           back from Beaumont (after the funeral of her friend) in time to meet us for dinner at the Dallas Eddie V's Seafood Grille. We enjoyed one of the truly best meals we've ever had. Everything about our experience was absolute perfection.
               

We've eaten at the Eddie V's in Austin which was also a most incredible meal. It's one of the best managed restaurants we've ever had the pleasure of dining in. They maintain such a high standard, which we always appreciate. The waiters were not overly attentive, but there when you needed them. As always, the food was cooked to perfection and the presentations were nice without being too fussy.

We started out with market oysters on the half shell served with lemons and mignonette sauce as well as the Yellowtail Sashimi served with cilantro, red chiles and Ponzu on flatbread that was some of the best I've had. Both starters were divine.

For our entrees SD and I had both had the small filet mignon in a style they call *carpet bag* with delicately fried oysters drenched in Bernaise sauce. Mr. Snoots opted for the healthier North Atlantic Lemon Sole with Parmesan crust and a garnish of herbs and tomatoes and a garlic lemon butter. We were all exceedingly pleased with our meals and service.


One of the great perks about being in Dallas is that almost every good restaurant has complimentary valet. So,  since SD was really tired, we parted ways after dinner. Once back at the hotel Mr. Snoots went to sleep but I decided to stay up and watch "Social Network" (on pay-per-view), which I thoroughly enjoyed. Actually, I thought it was good enough to win the Oscar, although it didn't. If you have the chance to see it, don't hesitate. It's wonderful.




I have two doctors appointments today so I probably won't be back around until tomorrow...


To Be Continued..

Viva Las Vegas, Baby! Day One...

I absolutely have to start at the very beginning of our trip, which was my birthday. Our anniversary had been the day before, but we'd decided that celebrating it in Vegas would be a definite plus, so we waited. We weren't wrong to wait and we weren't disappointed.

The Wynn was so amazing. No. That isn't the right adjective. The Wynn exceeded all of our expectations in every possible way. The Wynn is phenomenal. We were astonished time and time again at what a well oiled machine this hotel is. I suspect much of it has to do with the fact that Steve Wynn lives on the top floor and is a constant, unexpected presence, which is what it takes. I saw him walking through the casino twice during our stay.

We had a straight through flight to Las Vegas the day of my birthday, which in itself, was a treat. Southwest Airlines is another finely tuned machine. Head 'Em Up And Move 'Em Out. Our flight arrived on time and we were ready to roll.

We arrived at The Wynn, were allowed to register and get into our room at 10:00 AM, even though the check-in time was 3:00 PM. Hmmmm... Yet another plus.

As you can see, our room was very nice and the view was spectacular. We could have spent a bit more and stayed in The Tower, but as little as we were in the room, I just didn't see the reason for it. We were perfectly happy with our room and the service we received. Our room overlooked the golf course, which is beautiful. We didn't have time for the likes of playing golf. We were there to gamble... and gamble we did.


The view from our room was spectacular, both day and night. My attempts at taking pictures at night, of our view, was evidently a lesson in futility. I just couldn't get it on the right setting, I guess.

This is a picture of my two favorite dealers, Monty and Danielle, at The Wynn. While sitting at Monty's table, I won $900.00. Danielle was the back-up dealer for Monty's table and she was adorable. Monty was a total scream. If you ever watched Seinfeld... this guy was the spitting image of Elaine's big, good looking, dumb guy boyfriend, who was so funny. He wasn't dumb by any means. The main reason I won was the people at our table. Every once in a while, you'll sit at a table with just the perfect mix of people and the cards begin to flow. This was my day and I seized it. Everyone at the table was funny and believe me, our table was overflowing with good bullshit. I laughed so hard, for so long, my cheeks actually ached. Giggling AND winning at Blackjack is definitely as good as it gets.

Mr. Snooty was busy playing the slot machines and would drop by the table periodically. He even sat at our table for a while and played, but he doesn't really like Blackjack. Too much guesswork, I suppose. Once I informed the table it was my birthday, the cards just started flowing, so I milked it for all it was worth.


At 7:30 PM we had a dinner reservation at one of the top notch Wynn restaurants, Bartolotta, where we were able to dine outside in one of their romantic cabanas. I had the Cappesante Dorate con Porcini (seared sea scallops with porcini mushrooms) for an appetizer, which was heavenly, while Mr. Snooty had the Cocotte di Parmigiano-Reggiano (parmigiano-reggiano custard with wild mushrooms). Next, I had the Lasagnette con Ragout di Crostacia ("rags" of pasta with lobster, shrimp, langoustines, crab, tomato and white wine). Mr. Snooty had the Pescano d'amo al Forno (fresh caught Mediterranean fish of the day) which turned out to be a Red Snapper. Just as we were about to order a bottle of wine, the Wine Somelier brought us a bottle of wine and said "someone" sent it to us. We couldn't imagine who could have sent us the wine, but we drank it all and it was lovely.

Then, the waiter brought us dessert, which was a divine little something like an Italian pudding cake with Happy Birthday written across the top of the plate in chocolate. We totally devoured it as we finished up our lovely wine. Then, I was ready to hit the casino and the Blackjack tables again, where I won another $200.00. I finally went back up to our room around 1:00 AM and fell into a deep slumber. Mr. Snooty was already dead to the world, so I quietly climbed into bed and drifted off with dreams of multiple hands of 21.

The next morning, Snooty Daughter called to see how we enjoyed everything. She and our son had been the ones who sent us the wine for our anniversary and she was wondering why we hadn't called to praise her and Snooty Son for their wonderful idea of sending us a lovely bottle of wine. I had to laugh and tell her our waiter's English wasn't very good, which is probably why he didn't tell us who it was from. Frankly, it was all we could do, just to order from the Italian menu. We could hardly understand every other word the waiter spoke. Still, I was thrilled that the kids had been so thoughtful.

To Be Continued Tomorrow....

OMG! My Brain's Lost Its Mind Again, But I'm Still Not A Really Mean Girl... Yet

Last night for dinner Mr. Snooty & I had planned to dine on a light meal, since we'd had a rather large lunch. I'd had 4 small artichokes in the fridge for days, so I decided we'd better include them or it might be too late if we waited. Good. Fine. I also decided that we'd have pasta with the chokes, which sounded like the perfect pairing. Good. Fine. Again.

This is what I eventually came up with:

You can click on the picture to see a larger version.

I was halfway through my meal before I realized what I'd done. Does anyone else notice this little *faux pas* or am I the only one who feels that this is completely off the scale of feeble minded thinking? Look at the picture very carefully. Yes, I had opened a large can of artichoke hearts, which I chopped up & added to the pasta & mushrooms. You know, to go with our steamed Artichokes Jerusalem. *Sigh.*

I immediately started laughing at myself for this ridiculous mistake, wondering why Mr. Snooty had not said anything. I suppose he knows me better than I realized, after almost 31 years of marriage, and he decided against bringing this up. He's such a wise man. I do wish he could be that quiet when we play golf. Anyway, the whole thing triggered a memory in my mind, so I'm going to run with it. Try to keep up.

I've been guilty of this sort of thinking before and I wasn't even old then. We were all Thirty Something (think early 1990's here) at the time and had been invited to a friend's home for a Lasagna Dinner and each couple had been asked, by our hostess, to bring a side dish. She had invited us a week earlier to insure that everyone could attend. Brainiac that I am, I worked all day on a lovely Pasta Primavera. Uh-Huh. As a side dish to Lasagna. Uh-Huh.

When we arrived, the hostess (whom I never did care much for) said to me "What the hell were you thinking?" I quickly apologized but as the other couples arrived, our hostess would immediately tell everyone what I'd brought and proceeded to make a Huge Deal out of it. It was humiliating the way she was referring to me as a complete basket case, a nut cake, and so on. Yes, I was actually bothered about other's opinions of me back then. Thank God that ship sailed.

It was Summer and it was as hot as the Devil himself, and I sat there thinking "So, Mrs. Bitch, why would you make & serve lasagna on one of the hottest days of the Summer? Served outside on your patio? In the heat?" When I excused myself to take my dishes in to the kitchen, she was still going on about it. She should have been keeping her eyes on me. I looked over at her lovely knives in their wooden stand, contemplating using the rather large one to either cut out her tongue or slice her throat, but decided I wouldn't like prison. However, I would have been doing her hubby a huge favor. Or perhaps he likes being emotionally beaten up. He must like it because they're still married.

So, I turned around and went over to their garbage container, which was enclosed in a lower cabinet, to throw away my napkin (I would also never serve dinner with lousy paper napkins) when I spotted a large Stouffer's Lasagna container & box in her garbage. That Bitch. She had bought her *homemade* lasagna at Sam's Club, then proceeded to pass it off as her own, then berate & belittle me for bringing Pasta Primavera that I made from scratch. Even the pasta.

Her biggest mistake of the day was not having the sneakiness foresight to take the packaging to the alley & place them in the trash bin. At least I'm not that stoooopid. And, yes, I am that sneaky, although I would never serve something from the frozen section at Sam's to my dinner guests. That privilege is reserved strictly for family.

So, being another type of bitch than she, I returned to the table with a smile on my face, having decided that if she said one more word about my dish, I was going to let the cat out of the proverbial bag. Of course, I knew she wouldn't be able to help herself. I knew it was going to happen and I laid in wait like some sort of predator, planning how nicely I was going to reveal her secret, as I stuck the invisible knife in her flat tummy & twisted it. Hehehehehe.....

I knew she wouldn't fail me and she did not. A bitch can always be counted on to open her mean mouth, which I already knew. Especially this one. She had the entire table of couples' attention when she made her fatal mistake. She opened her mouth about my dish one last time and I launched my verbal rocket... headed straight for her. Heads Up!

I spoke not too softly, nor too loudly as I very sweetly said "Well, at least I didn't buy it at Sam's and then pass it off as my own." All heads turned in her direction with mouths popping open & jaws dropping, sounding almost like a musical background for my rocket launch. Victory! All the compliments on her lasagna flew straight out the window at that point, followed by all of the mean remarks she'd made to me & about me that night. I couldn't even begin to tell you how perfectly sweet it was. Each wife had worked hard on their contribution to this woman's meal, so I'm fairly certain there were more pissed off people than just I.

Unlike her, I am not the type to go on about the ordeal all night. I just smiled the rest of the night. Contentment achieved. I still cannot understand why we never were invited to dinner again. Yeah, right. We never again did anything together either, which was such a shame. Not. And, guess what? She's still a mean bitch to this day, but not to me. Hehehe... I'm sure someone else has that dubious honor now, but it certainly isn't Moi!

We used to have them visit at the lake house every summer, for a week, with another couple & she was always a skinny bitch, which accounts for strike one.

She never even made their beds. Strike Two.

She also never pitched in to help with the work, nor brought an ounce of food. Yes, the guest from Hell. Strike Three... So, in honor of such a wonderful guest, I'm posting pictures for everyone's perusal. She's the one on the right trying to pee off the back of the boat. Hehehehe...

Then, a pic of the 3 of us on the Water Weenie. YeeHaaaawww!