Last year's pre game bday dinner

I love spending time with my pea!  I don't get to see her enough since we both have crazy schedules, lives, we live across town from each other and well, timing doesn't always work. (A year later and still that way...but we do try!!)  But when we can make it work ~ we have the best of times and so much fun.  Like our Texas trip last year! Was SO MUCH FUN!!

She had gotten us tickets to the Dimondbacks game, so she wanted us to do dinner before the game.  What an awesome way to spend the evening with my best friend for my birthday!!








We started the early evening with drinks at The District at the Sheraton Down Town.  Had never been there before and it was close to the ball park so it was perfect!

We started in the bar for happy hour for a bit since dining opens at 5pm (see a pattern?? -LOL!!)
Happy hour is from 3-7 and then 10p-close Mon-Sat.








                                              Our bartender Mitchell was great!








There are so many options for drinks from beer, wine to hand crafted cocktails and cocktails is just what we girls were wanting...but what to get?!

After telling Mitchell what we liked and were looking for we made our decision.  I enjoyed the Jeremiah Peach Tea (let me tell you that this drink goes down REALLY smooth and quick!!) and Prickly Pear Mojito for Chrisie.
They were the perfect recommendations!!

We still had a while before dinner and the game, so we ordered another round (DUH!!) and looked at the bar menu for some lite munchies.  :)~  What we loved is that most of the items on the menu are from local growers which is awesome!!  We decided to try the tuna ceviche and the tepary bean hummus.

While we were waiting for the appetizers, I decided to wander around and check out the space.

I really love this space!  It has just about everything for everyone.  By that I mean that it can be intimate, social, casual or formal.  There's so much space for what suits your occasion as you can see by some of the pictures, but you REALLY need to check it out yourself to fully get it ~ especially if you haven't been there before.

After I was done taking pictures I returned to enjoy the apps that had arrived and looked amazing!

The presentation of the hummus was so farm to table! You know that the Chef takes pride when the presentation makes you say "Ooooh..."

Loved that the veggies were in ice in a mason jar. (great idea!!)

The hummus was SO GOOD!!  It had a little drizzle of Queen Creek Olive Oil and the pita chips were crisp and well....we ate it all!!







Notice that they only brought one fork for the tuna ceviche?? (BIG problem!! ~ LOL!!!)

LOL....they did bring side plates and an extra fork...otherwise I would have had to use my fingers to fight my pea for some!!  We should have ordered another but we didn't wanna ruin our appetite for dinner.  :)

It was melt in your mouth good and yes..just as with the hummus....we ate it all!!!

Perfect bites to hold us over.  On to dinner!!








                      This was our server Ian and he was amazing!!










So many yummy choices it was hard to decide what to have for dinner.  Chrisie decided to have the short rib stroganoff.

It may not look like much but the bowl was deep and she had 3 HUGE chunks of short ribs in that bowl.

The noodles and the short ribs were cooked to perfection. Not a bite went to waste!!














Me....I chose the salmon cedar plank with the asparagus parmesan risotto and I WAS NOT disappointed.

The salmon was so moist and tender it was SO GOOD!! And the risotto??  Well....let's just say that it looked like I licked my entire board and pot clean!

WHAT?!?!  It was good!! (don't judge!!)

So...you would think as much as we had to eat and drink that we wouldn't have room for dessert, right?!
WRONG!!!  LOL!!!

Now typically I'm a creme brûlée girl, but we both saw whoopie pie and of course we had to get it!!

They were SO cute and SO yummy!!!  Had a nice strawberry flavor with a hint of rhubarb.  AND it came with a strawberry shake!! (that green stuff is pistachio)







With dinner done it was time to head over to the game.  You would think that after having such an AWESOME dinner that the night was perfect- RIGHT?!?! NOPE!!!

Aside from getting to spend the day with my best friend, an incredible dinner and going to the ball game, the piece de resistance?!?!

That was the night that the Dback's were playing the Oakland A's and we were losing 6-8 at the bottom of the 6th.  7th and 8th inning came and went....no score for either teams.  Top of the 9th and the A's are up to bat...no score. (bitting nails at this point!!)  Bottom of the 9th ~ I think at that point Dback fans were hoping for the best but preparing for the worst.

First two Dback players struck out. (need another drink!!)  Then Chris Young was up to bat, he was walked.  Next up was Aaron Hill ~he swings to get on first, moving Chris to second. (GULP!!!!)  Batting next was "Tatman" Ryan Roberts.....HOME RUN BABY!!! He brought in the runners scoring all 3 runs to win the game 9-8!!
It was an AWESOME way to end the night!!!

                                                      Best memories, best times, best friends!!!

Last year's birthday dinner with Paige

Hello my readers!!

Slowly getting caught up on my blog!  My goal is to try and get all caught up from last June till current.  o_O   (keyword- TRY)  A lot of work to do but I'm up for the challenge.  ( I am!!! I am!!!)

If you're a regular reader of my blog you know that Paige is one of my foodie friends.
I love when we find new places to try or places that neither one of us had gone to before.





For my birthday last June, Paige wanted to take me for an early dinner since she wasn't going to be in-town for my actual birthday. Though I told her it wasn't necessary, there is no arguing with Paige. :)  She knew any excuse to get together to have dinner or drinks I was in!  ;)

We decided to check out the Roaring Fork.








Now, I know that I've driven past this place I don't know how many times never really knowing what it was or how to get to it.  And unless you know what or where it is, guarantee you've driven past it during the day without realizing it.

Now at night...that's a different story. (the restaurant name is lit up) But if you're not used to the area...trying to figure out how to get there is another story!  LOL






We got there shortly after they opened and sat in the bar area (they are only open in the evenings with happy hour starting at 4pm and the dining area opens at 5pm) but you can order food in the bar area.

The bar area is pretty spacious with a nice long bar, several high and low tops, a few booths and they have a outside patio area. The place has a rustic western feel to it.







We both ordered a nice glass of Cypress by J Lohr, a Cabernet (which was AWESOME!!) while we looked at the menu to decide what we wanted to start with.

We decided to go for the Fondue Pot Lamb Chop with butternut squash  (ok..maybe a bit curious than anything) - but OMG..it was SO yummy!!!

The lamb was SO tender and had a nice spicy kick. I think we could have eaten another order of it!!  Thank goodness for the side of bread that came with it..no cheese was left to waste. :)~







Shortly after we finished our glass of wine and appetizer we moved to a table in the main dining room.
(we typically talk for hours and wanted to be more comfortable ~ lol)

We had our server bring us another order of Cypress while we checkout out the menu.

Paige decided to go for the short ribs with horseradish mashed potatoes.

I know the picture doesn't do it justice (was dark in there and the flash made it look gross) but TRUST me when I tell you that she loved it!!

She even let me try a bite.  It was tender, moist and there was nothing left on her plate! :)

Myself, I opted for the bacon wrapped tenderloin with Mexican street corn and cheese grits.


To quote one of my favorite movies (guess which)

"Each flavor was totally unique. But, combine one flavor with another, and something new was created!"







It was really good...but I only ate half.  WHAT?!?
I had to save room for another glass of wine and dessert!!

So, of course we had another glass of wine and for dessert, well.....what goes well with a nice western-ish dinner but pecan pie with vanilla bean gelato!!

As always having a foodie outing with Paige is always a great time.  We will need to come back (can't believe this was last year!!) and check out the updated menu but thinking in the fall so we can enjoy the patio and the wonderful fall weather!

                               People who love to eat are always the best people!  ~ Julia Child