♥ My Memorial Day Weekend ♥

Hey there friends!

I've still been slacking on the recipes, so sorry! But I've been eating of course! Just thought I'd pop in to share what I was eating this past Memorial Day weekend. 

Memorial Day (and summer, really) means LOTS OF GRILLING! I love everything about grilling... the smell of food cooking on the grill, relaxing and having a beer while grilling, and the taste of grilled meats and veggies... AH!! I'm obsessed. My goal this summer is to grill anything and everything. 

On Saturday, we grilled up some veggies for an avocado salsa to top our grilled steaks. Look at that veggie rainbow!









































Grilled steak filets and garlicky lemony grilled asparagus. Mmmm.

Love grilling with my man! Quality time :) 












































A counseling friend and I went to the Taste of Cincinnati on Sunday early afternoon, thinking maybe we'd beat the crowd. We didn't! The weather was perfect and so everyone was out. 

Menu items for the most part were about $4 or $5, which I expected. I didn't get to try as much as I wanted, and I really really wanted to try Alfio’s Buon Cibo (who won first place for best appetizer, entree, and dessert) but the line was so long. My friend Tia chose a restaurant, I chose another, and then we had to share a funnel cake for dessert, duh! 

Now that I look back on it, we could have sampled a couple more things had we not both ordered the same things lol! But what we did get, we loved. We both ordered the Grilled Chicken Thai Style ($5) from Arloi Dee Thai Bistro and it was tender and nicely flavored. It was a decent sized portion too! I found myself getting filled up already after only sampling this so far! Thanks to my friend for suggesting it because honestly, I woulda never thought to order it! I just googled it and unfortunately Arloi Dee is all the way out in Mason. Why, Arloi, why?!?! I would seriously eat you daily.

I have been dying to try McCormick & Schmick's for so long and was so excited to see that they had a booth there too! We both ordered their Crab Cake Sandwich ($5) and it really hit the spot. It was a plump cake with fresh lump crab pieces and I was surprised at the quality! I guess I was expecting subpar quality at a Taste of Cincinnati booth but I was wrong! I would have liked a little more of the sauce though, I'm a sauce kinda gurl. We enjoyed the Funnel Cake from Down Under too but I forgot to get a picture :(

I loved everything I had, so much that I was tempted to go back the next day to try some other restaurants and/or make PJ try some of the goodies I got to try. If only money grew on trees... I think next year I'm going to try to save up money and make it a whole weekend event so I can try lots of different booths. I wanted to try dessert booths and more booths of restaurants I've been wanting to try for so long. I'm actually looking at the list of restaurants right now and am getting very sad because we decided not to venture too far down and so I missed all the fancy restaurants like Prime 47 and Ruth's Chris, and a food truck I'd been wanting to try called Red Sesame. Next year, I shall be prepared!!!!

After The Taste, I hurried over to Cooper's Hawk Winery & Restaurant in Kenwood for dinner with my family. I'll be reviewing that soon so won't go into detail but look what we had! I had Short Ribs but just couldn't get a good pic due to low lightning in the restaurant. I need to start requesting a table near a window/good lighting when I make reservations. 

And finally, more grilling on Memorial Day Monday. Lounging, beer, grilling... that's my idea of the perfect holiday and day off from work. I love toasted grilled buns, they really take a burger or slider to another level. We slathered these buns with garlic and shallot mayo and topped our sliders with some pepper jack cheese too. Grilling the corn with the husks on makes for juicier corn, we learned. And I am officially obsessed with Johnsonville's Beddar with Cheddar Smoked Sausage Links + their Cheddar Brats. I thought I wasn't a brat gurl, but I'm definitely now a brat gurl and proud of it. Don't mind PJ's squinted eyes lol, he hates sunglasses (they give him a headache) and the sun was shining right in his eyes! He's still a cutie... and a trooper to put up with all of my picture-taking  :)

Thanks to all the veterans who have made this possible for all Americans.... freedom and the pursuit of happiness  ♥



Peace, and bacon grease!