Holy Jolla

Yes, that's pronounced "hoya" - don't worry, I made the same mistake.  I don't get Spanish pronunciation.  But let's skip ahead to the point.  Dave and I went on our date night to La Jolla Groves.





Sorry about all the blank space, I was holding down the "enter" button while I was daydreaming/drooling about this amazing restaurant.  What more can I say?  You MUST try it.  End of discussion.

By way of intro, La Jolla Groves is located in the Riverwoods in Provo.  It's only been open for a few months.  Everything they make is made from fresh, organic, locally-grown produce.

I had heard positive things about this place from several people, so Dave and I decided to see for ourselves.  And let me tell you, I wasn't disappointed.  We called ahead to put our names on the list (there was a 10-20 minute wait time for walk-ins).  Side note, don't you hate places that don't let you make reservations?  I do.

We were greeted by a very friendly hostess, and then escorted to a lovely table.  Here was our view:

Yes, those are lemon trees overhead.  They looked so good I wanted to pick one off and eat it.  If they weren't fake.  And if the lemons were apples.  But I loved the atmosphere!  The ambiance was really cool, and despite the fact that the restaurant was crowded and busy, Dave and I felt like we had the place to ourselves.

Now, don't get me started on the food.  Everything was an A+.  We started off with the Tomato Mozzarella Caprese - it's an Italian dish that I tried in Italy, and have loved ever since.  Beautiful and tasty!

Dave ordered the crepes, and seriously, they were a 10 out of 10.  And I'm not an easy critic - I can't remember the last time I had a 10 out of 10.

I ordered the salmon which came in a cilantro butter - divine!  I gave my own meal a 9.5 out of 10.  If you love salmon, you have to try it.

And finally, we couldn't leave without dessert.  Not when everything else had been so good.  And not when they had something called "Chocolate Mousse Cake" on the menu.  I admit, right here the picture doesn't look that good.  There's an explanation.  It looked so good, and was so good that I didn't even get to take a picture before my hand picked up my spoon and started feeding me.

For any of you who have had any sort of a chocolate lava cake before, this one tops them all.  And trust me, I know.  If there is a chocolate lava cake out there, I've pretty much tried it.  I seriously have been dreaming about this dessert ever since.

Other: they had delicious rolls with lots of different flavors, the service was great, and our food actually came really fast!

Prices: this is a little on the pricier side.  Appetizers range from $6-8, entrees from $10-15, and desserts from $5-7.  But oh so worth it!

Be sure to give this place a try.  It was so good, I was even willing to go online and review it, so everyone can partake of the goodness :)

Our Date Night Experiment

Picture from theplaylist.blogspot.com

The reality set in a few weeks ago when Dave and I sat down to do our budget.  We both feel very strongly about the importance of date night, and we have a specific budget category set aside for it.  But all of the sudden our costs were going way up.  It wasn't that we were going out more often.  It wasn't that we were doing more expensive things.  It was that we are now having to pay a babysitter  (Side note: it is very annoying to have to pay a babysitter to come over and watch cable, because Kate just sleeps the whole time.  But somehow I don't feel good about leaving her alone in the house . . .)  And in case you didn't know, that can add up pretty fast.  Even if we only paid a babysitter $5 an hour, and were only gone for 3 hours every Friday night, that's still an extra $60 a month!

So, we came up with a new game plan.  ONE Friday of the month we do a temple night.  Not only do we get a spiritual boost, we save some temporal bucks.  ONE Friday of the month we do a stay-at-home night.  This may not be the most exciting, but we try to do more than just reach for the remote control.  ONE Friday of the month we get out, but the date has to be completely free.  This has forced us to think outside the going-out-to-dinner-and-a-movie box.  And finally, ONE Friday of the month we get to go on a regular date and throw around a few GWs.

It's only been a few weeks, but we've already had some success.  For our stay-at-home night, we made personal  pizzas (a really good recipe that I need to post), had popcorn, and watched Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.  I had never seen it before, and I loved it!  I hadn't laughed that hard in a long time.  Take a look at our pizza creation:

To make things a little more exciting at home, I bought these adorable popcorn holders at the dollar store.  Eating out of these made it feel like we were in a movie theater.  Except that we got to wear really comfortable pajamas and sprawl out on the couch. 

For our free night this month, we went to a free violin concert up in Salt Lake.  We're finding out that there's quite a bit of free stuff out there, if you put in the effort to look.

Our temple night . . . well that was a failure.  I know, I know, you're wondering how a temple night could possibly fail.  Let's just say that you need a current temple recommend, not one that is expired.

And as for our ritzy date night?  That's this weekend . . . perfect, because it's our anniversary! 

I'll keep you posted on our ongoing quest for cheaper date nights.  I'd love to hear if any of you have any really great ideas.  In the meantime, I can't wait until Kate turns 12 and can babysit herself :)



Fresh Peach Pie

My mouth waters just remembering how delicious this peach pie is (yes, it's already been polished off).  And it is a lot of fun to make.  This recipe is a classic Grandma Kimball one, that is a must-make at this time of year.  Dave and I went to a local fruit stand and bought fresh peaches, and then went to our local grocery store and bought fresh frozen pie crust :)   The original plan had been to make the pie crusts from scratch, but when I realized I don't even have a rolling pin (which says more about my domesticity than any words ever could), the idea was quickly abandoned.

Ingredients:

1 pie crust (bake ahead of time)

6 large peaches
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
3 tablespoons corn starch
2 tbsp. butter
1/2 tsp. almond extract

Heavy whipping cream
2-3 tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. vanilla

Sauce:
Take two peeled peaches and use your hands to work them into a pulp.  Once they are thoroughly squished, bring peaches, water, sugar, and corn starch to a boil.  Once it starts boiling, remove from heat and add the butter and almond extract.  Stir and then set aside, waiting for the sauce to reach room temperature.

Pie:
Take the other four peaches, peel, and then cut into small slices.  Spread evenly in the pie crust.  Once the sauce has reached room temperature, pour it over the peaches in the crust.  Refrigerate at least two hours. 

Topping:
Whip one cup heavy whipping cream with several tablespoons of sugar and 2 teaspoons vanilla until thick.  Serve with pie.

Helpful hint:  Put your pie crust in the oven while you work on the sauce.  I like to overcook the pie crust a little so it's crunchy compared to the soft peaches.

So good!  We finished off the night by eating pie and watching old reruns of I Love Lucy.  What a perfect Saturday night!

Homemade Salsa

So, last night Dave and I decided to have a cooking adventure.  Truth is, we've been watching a little too much TV lately and were ready for a break.  And, when you have a daughter that goes to bed at 6 pm, you can pretty much count on having to find something fun to do at home.  So don't ask me how salsa and peach pie ended up on the menu, they just did.  I'm a little embarrassed to admit that Dave and I ate the whole bowl last night.  And a little proud.

A big thank you to Rachelle Kimball and Grandma Kimball for this recipe:

6 large tomatoes, diced
1 onion, diced
10 sprigs cilantro
2 inches jalapeno pepper (seeds or no seeds, depending on how hot you like it)
Salt and pepper to taste

The wonderful thing about this recipe is that you can completely tweak (isn't that a great word??) it to your liking.  Don't like a lot of onion?  Don't put as much in!  Love cilantro?  Double the amount you add!  Etc.  I like it chunky, so I chop everything small, and don't blend it, but you can blend it for 3-5 seconds if you prefer a smoother texture.  Enjoy!

To make your chips and salsa experience even better, heat the chips on a cookie sheet in the oven for 5 minutes and serve warm!