planetdanika

My book club had brunch this morning at Caf Flora. I havent been to this local favorite, vegetarian restaurant in ages but it did not disappoint. I had the French Toast with lemon curd and blueberries. It was delicious, but then, I think Id like just about anything thats smothered in lemon curd. We also shared an order of beignets to start. Despite the rest of the groups raves, I have to disagree on this one. They just dont hold a candle to Caf du Mondes beignets.

Incidentally, our book got a resounding 10 thumbs down from all who attended todays meeting. Please dont waste your time reading Mangoes and Quince by Carol Field. But by all means, check out Caf Flora. Its almost worth reading a bad book for.

Home, sweet home? In this case I was happier to see my bed than anything else. After 4 nights spent away from home, it was a sweet return to my own bed last night. I spent 1 night on a plane and 3 nights with either my mother or sister. It was a very pleasant, if brief, visit to my hometown.

I set off on a red eye flight Tuesday night and arrived in time for Tessas graduation on Wednesday. Thursday was the associated party and I was able to catch up with many friends and family that I havent seen for 2 or more years. Friday was my intended return date but some severe thunderstorms kept me in Buffalo for an extra day.

Food highlights included a few local standards (wings, Sahlens hot dogs and Andersons ice cream), lunch at Le Metro and Gregs famous baked beans.

The 90 degree temps and some wicked jet lag kept me laying low for the rest of the weekend. Ideal conditions for lots of quality time in bed.

G and I ventured to a new restaurant in the International District for lunch last week. After doing sufficient research, we headed to Szechuan Noodle Bowl, equipped with plenty of recommendations on what to order. This restaurant is completely nondescript and utterly lacks any ambiance. The women who run the place hand make all their noodles and dumplings each day.

Based on my research, we ordered some vegetable dumplings to start. They were filled with spinach and green onion and accompanied by a spicy sauce. We struggled to eat the slippery things with our chopsticks, though managed to scarf them down quickly enough. Within minutes, our main courses arrived. I had the wonton soup and G opted for a spicy beef noodle soup. Both were excellent- my wonton soup had a clear broth that was surprisingly rich and flavorful. The wontons were perfect and there was some baby bok choy (my current favorite vegetable) to top it off. Gs broth had an incredible depth and was quite spicy to boot. I slurped some of the hand cut noodles from his bowl.

Chewy goodness. My sister described the similar hand cut noodles at Seven Stars Pepper as having great mouth feel. Oh yeah, and the bill was only $13. It could only be better on a cold, wintry day. I see more noodles in my future.