Our aniversary, and our culinary adventures

     This weekend was our 7th wedding anniversary, so we headed to the BIG city, Scottsdale. Why Scottsdale?? why not i say... i mean it is close to enemy territory that is the Sun Devils turf, but we'd be fine not sporting any UA colors, and we were. Really though it's our lil get away, we both enjoy getting out of town, and i LOVE visiting big cities. Their architecture, the mix of new and old that old town centers often bring ( in newer big cities). The whole of the Phoenix area has an awesome concept of outdoor malls goin that i think are top notch. That's why we go, a big part is the shopping, finishing up christmas shopping and whatnot, it's a good time for us both.

This time i wanted to try a new restaurant each time we went out. To steer clear of the Chili's and applebees, Mcdonalds and Burger Kings....and we did. for me it was all good... for her.... hit and miss...

Corn Bread from Bandera....

( obtained against the rules as cell phones arent allowed)

We started our journey at Bandera which has some awesome cornbread, with a loverly ( yes i meant to type loverly) southwest zing in it with peppers mixed in, and an awesome sweet crust on top, served in a cast iron pan that it was baked in... get that when you go... and you will go ( my jedi powers are making you want to go right now) Crystal..... hated it.... she then picked the simplest thing on the menu so that it wouldnt offend her.....plain palate... but it did anyways... a chicken ceasar salad....was too... mayonaisey.. (to her i had same salad w/o chicken with my tritip) i thought it was fantastic, and fresh. On to my Tritip... i've only had it a few times... it's not huge out here like it is over there on the left coast... but oh man do i wish it was... It was juicy and flavorful....and meaty! just the way i like my...meat. we also tried the banana cream pie, it was pleasantly fresh with a nice mix of crunch and squishy puddingy feel. I plan to be back at some point...Crystal... not so much.

EXPENSIVE!!!!

Next day...when was it....Saturday ^^^^that was friday^^^^ lunch time we hit up BRIO which seemed to us to be a nice mix of what would happen if Olive Garden, and Cheesecake Factory decided to hookup, and get knocked up.
     It was good, nothing hugely impressive, but i had a nice lobster bisque. and crystal partook of their lasagna, which she hugely enjoyed better than olive garden's offerings.

Less Expensive than lastnight!

Grimaldi's Coal Fired (Brick Oven) Pizza

Best pizza i've had EVER

On the way to Bandera on friday... we passed something that i could not pass up... crystal saw Grimaldi's... i saw COAL FIRED PIZZA!!!! i love brickoven pizza!! so this was set in stone to be dinner for saturday night...and boy was it fantastic. Coal... you know the stuff that they use to power steam locomotives, and give much of the country electricity, also cooks a mean pizza!! They offer one style... NY Thincrust. we had pepperoni on half and just cheese on the other. they use nice ...( i call whole) mozz, that is sliced rounds, instead of shredded mozz. which i think gives it a nice texture, and flavor, with the cheese overpowering the sauce, and dough. Their sauce, was pleasantly sweet, but not so that sweetness is all that is there, it was just enough to tone down the acidity of the maters, with a nice season blend touching all the notes on my tongue.

Cheapest Meal of the Trip!!

That's it for the good stuff in Scottsdale... the next mornin we went for a goodole redneck breakfast at cracker barrel... nuff said there... and a friend thought he'd offer me some advice stating that i didnt need this many plates at and one meal....

... but if they'd just use bigger effin plates.... then there would be no dilemma...im just sayin... crystal had to get her game in.... she's BOSS at this game!

We ended our weekend in Tucson, and from the advice of another friend we tried Culvers

Which...again...we in AZ have been sooo sheltered from these outer worldly burger joints. First In-n-Out invaded from california ( thank goodness!!!) and now this place comes storming in from the midwest!! It's about time!!! that's all i've gotta say bout that... It's about time!! Frozen custard... awesome stuff, Butter-Burgers.... the beezneez!!

for tonight i will leave you in your puddle of drool, to think about what i did this weekend, hope that your's was as memorable as mine.

OUT