Eight Years of Eats

Caution....EXTREMELY late anniversary post:

Well, we've done it. We've managed to survive another year of marriage. ;-)

To celebrate our anniversary, we splurged and went away for the night to San Francisco...WITHOUT KIDS! (That just doesn't ever happen.) We are so thankful for Granny Peg and Papa Tom and Tia Lina and Tio Mark for helping out that weekend. Granny Peg finally got a chance to try out the "Granny Camp" she's been thinking of doing for years. We came home to happy kids and tired adults! :-)

Back in the "the city" Nate and I ate good food, walked around town, spent time at City Lights Bookstore and for the big whammie...we saw Wicked! It was Nate's first time and we both loved it. We decided to splurge on this because my hometown friend Marcie played Elphaba, the green witch in SF for just a couple of months. She was fantastic and we got to go backstage after and visit with her in her dressing room. She even took us on a little walk on stage to see some of the big stage props and special effects up close. (Her dress weighed 35 pounds!)

 



I love Nate, for several reasons, but I love eating together with him. Over the years we've found some favorite restaurants, favorite dishes and some.....interesting food. Last year the post was on 7 weird places we've slept. This year, it's Eight Years of Eats, the good the bad and the ugly.

*Chile, 2004. A few friends invited us over for some traditional Chilean BBQ. Our Chilean friend took an old tractor disc (a what?) and scrubbed it down, turned it sideways, put coals on the bottom disc, and chicken, sausage and steak on the top. While we were waiting for the mountain of meat to cook, we all sucked down raw shellfish with a squeeze of lemon. When Nate and I stayed up all night barfing the next day, we weren't quite sure which food item to point a finger at. What were we thinking? (Plus side: That was the night we discovered The Office - the British one....it was love at first episode.)

*SB 2002. Using a gift certificate from the best man, we spent our one month anniversary dining at the very upscale Wine Cask in Santa Barbara. To this day, that was the best filet mignon I have ever had. Too bad they closed last year. (Not like we could ever afford to eat there again anyway.)

*Recent dinner snafu:  Chinese Chicken Salad. The dressing calls for 1/4 cup of sugar. (Apart from the sugar, it's a healthy dinner....) I found an unmarked jar of white grainy stuff in the cupboard and thought it was sugar. It was SALT...... too late! Dinner ruined. After rinsing the salad under cold water, the kids and I picked at it and gave it up. Nate came home late that night. I told him. He ate it anyway. That's love right there.

*One of my go-to favs. Liza's Carrot Ginger Soup along with my home made whole wheat pizza or bread. Crowd-pleaser every time.

*Thailand 2002: Honeymoon. Nate ordered Pad Thai every single night. And I had french fries every single night, along side everything....lasagna, burgers, soup......(This was before my current health-nut self ) Nate never ordered any other dish, so I thought Thai food was all Pad Thai and it looked slimy to me. No thanks. It wasn't until we were back in the states that my love affair with Thai food took off....the curries, the soups......I am totally kicking myself that I didn't even try it in Thailand! I am such a dork!

*Chile 2004: We found a Thai restaurant in Chile! Why not? They asked Nate what level of "hotness" he wanted his curry dish. (I knew it was over right there. Nate likes fire.)  He told them on a scale of 1 to 10, make it a 14!  It was literally inedible. He just stared at his dinner with his face all sweaty, wondering why he could no longer taste anything.

*Saturday mornings, Nate usually makes fruity waffles or breakfast burritos. It's my favorite meal of the weekend, and just about the only one I don't make! What is it about dads and breakfasts? My dad and father- in- law make great ones too.

 *Cold Springs Tavern, Santa Barbara. Nate and I have gone there just about once a year since we've been married. There's nothing like it. It's a little lodge tucked into the mountains, with a mix between the biker crowd and the fine dining crowd of SB. That basket of home made bread ......mmmmmm. Order any entree and you won't be disappointed. (I try to block out the deer and mountain lion heads mounted on the walls) We've been hoarding a gift certificate we got about a year ago and we are waiting for the perfect dinner date (and SB visit) to use it. My mouth is watering just thinking about it!

Thank you Nate for a VERY memorable anniversary and all the years of yummy and memorable meals together. I love you.