Tag Archives: salmon

Fall Fun at The Iron Frog Tavern

I received the food and drinks detailed below free of charge. This is not a compensated post. My opinions are my own.

Though I work in Simsbury, I had never been to The Iron Frog Tavern (located in the same Connecticut town) aside from once when I first started my job…and that was for a glass of wine. My co-workers seem to have a love-hate relationship with the place…some are obsessed with certain menu items (I’m looking at you, fellow Sales Department employee with a mac-n-cheese obsession) and some are turned off by bad service they’ve received in the past. All were curious as to what my opinion would be after visiting this past Wednesday evening for dinner.

We were the only ones brave enough to sit on the patio on this humid Wednesday evening.

We were the only ones brave enough to sit on the patio on this humid Wednesday evening.

I won’t keep you in suspense – I had an awesome experience and would definitely return The Iron Frog. Kat and I (oh and of course Penelope) were invited by owner Pam Paydos to try out the new fall menu. The chef situation at this restaurant has recently changed and though I hadn’t tried the food under the previous chef’s “reign”, I know that what I tried on Wednesday was excellent. Tyler Anderson, owner and exec chef of Millwright’s, is even a fan!

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Proving Myself to…Myself

I sure hope someone catches the “Austin Powers” reference in the title…

I have the best readers in the world – thanks for your comments on yesterday’s post! I was already feeling a lot better when I published it Monday morning but I still had lingering feelings of regret that were holding on tightly. Like I wrote yesterday, time has been a huge part of making me feel better but your kind words help too. The way I spent my Saturday and Sunday evenings, post-Friday-evening-debacle, also gave myself the PROOF my mind needed to see that drinking all the drinks and spending all the dollars (I hope you caught that Alex) will not become habit and is not something I’ll keep wanting to do.

Saturday Night at Krust

Friends are the best medicine!

Friends are the best medicine!

Saturday night I had plans to attend the birthday dinner of Kelly‘s hubby Nick. I’d recommended to them one of my fave restaurants around, Krust Pizza Bar in Middletown. I have to be honest…I considered cancelling. I wanted to sit in my house and eat a salad and drink water, to punish myself for overdoing it on the alcohol the previous night. But I also knew that surrounding myself with loved ones and being a part of celebrating Nick’s special day would mean a lot to both me AND Kelly and Nick. Plus, staying in would have been letting the regret win. So I showered, put on a cute outfit, and headed out!

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Grilled Whole Foods Wild Sockeye Salmon

I received wild sockeye salmon from Whole Foods Market free of charge. This is not a compensated post and all opinions are my own.

Firstly I must address the supportive comments and tweets I received in response to yesterday’s post. THANK YOU! It felt good to get it all off my chest and put my fears out in the open. After my post went up, Maria tweeted me a link to a Kris Carr article containing a nifty acronym…FEAR = False Evidence Appearing Real. LOVE that! Fear is so often based on what is false and I’m feeling totally inspired to keep the acronym in mind today and beyond. Let’s get on with today’s blogging!

I worked with the three Hartford area Whole Foods stores (Glastonbury, West Hartford center, and Bishops Corner) previously during a one-day sale on shrimp. We teamed up again to promote the latest one-day sale, which took place last Friday 6/21 – wild sockeye salmon for just $11.99/lb!

Now that’s a LOT of salmon!

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Last Thursday at Thirty5

If you like what you see in this post, head over to SaveNowCT.com and purchase today’s daily deal – $15 for $30 to spend at Thirty5! Talk about timing!

I swear one of these days I will write about a topic for which it is impossible to use alliteration in the post title. Today is not that day…I’m sure it’s no coincidence that I chose to visit this restaurant on a Thursday. Last Thursday, to be exact.

My friend Olivia and I made a dinner date at one of West Hartford Center’s newer restaurants, Thirty5 Bar & Grille. Located on 35 LaSalle Road (next door to McLaddens, for those who are WeHa-layout-literate), this spot was formerly Reuben’s Delicatessen, a popular breakfast and lunch destination. As Thirty5, the restaurant still offers the beloved deli-style breakfasts and lunches of Reuben’s, with the addition of a full bar (happy hour!) and a dinner menu featuring apps, small plates, sandwiches, and entrees; some of the dinner menu is available on the late night “bucket list”.

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Easter 2012: Party at Mi Casa!

We have a great group of family friends that get together for every major holiday (every major excuse we can find to get together, more like it) to eat, drink, chat, laugh, play, and just enjoy each other. We all moved up to CT from Florida, so we have that common bond, even if all the parents don’t still work at the same company like they used to.

Oh that moment before a photo is taken…

You may have read recaps of past shindigs:

There we go! Can you find me?

My family decided to host the Easter get-together (because we knew there’d be one) at our house. Perhaps that’s what inspired me to become a chef for a day and contribute a dish!

Mr. Pereda contributed the above (delicious) Chilean Merlot.

I also enjoyed several small glasses of different wines, and even a sampled a few beers (more on that to come…)

Hanging out on the deck with my wine! Isn’t the little glass cute?

I also got to hang out with my friend Andrea, who I hadn’t seen in forever. We’ve known each other since our sophomore year of high school, when we were seatmates in AP Bio (shudder…I was so bad at that class). Her boyfriend’s aunt lives in my neighborhood (I used to babysit for the family, small world right?) and the two of them were there for his family’s Easter party, so I asked them to stop by.

Andrea and her boyfriend enjoying a dessert at the end of the party!

My mom had some tasty apps set out and ready for our guests’ arrivals!

I know I have a lot of guac-lovin’ readers!

The sweets were present from the beginning!

Our friends brought some good apps too!

Essential veggie/hummus plate – don’t you just LOVE the colors?!

Mrs. Aubuchon’s famous deviled eggs – I had one and it was all I could do to not fill up on them before dinner. AMAZING!

Time flew as I caught up with old friends and before I knew it, dinner was served.

My sister (right) leads a prayer.

Mashed potatoes and a cheesy corn casserole.

A mini-salad-bar on a plate of sorts, and a whole grain side salad!

Everyone dug in and was certainly hungry. We did not have that many leftovers, when you consider how much food we had!

Can you spy my mom overseeing it all?

We had many meats – grilled chicken and pork tenderloin! My mom accidentally bought 8 tenderloins instead of 6, so she froze 2 for our family to use later. Turns out she should’ve had my dad cook them all up…we ran out of meat completely!

My apologies to all non-meat-eating readers 😉

My mom used the rub I got in my last foodie pen pals box when prepping the meats – so thank you so much, Loy! It was delicious!

My FAVORITE dish of the party, prepared by my madre, was the amazing cold salmon platter above with dill, capers, asparagus, red onions, and tzatziki on the size. Meg, I know you’d have died over this. I did too. It was the only thing I had seconds of because it was the only thing I wanted seconds of, I just loved it so much!

First plate!

Damn sun ruined this shot, but I went for everything except the mashed potatoes and corn casserole (those make me too sleeeeepy).

People brought a seemingly endless supply of cupcakes! Cupcakes are cool but I can take them or leave them. I was more interested in one of the things pictured below…

Above left is some kind of berry crisp, but above right is Mrs. Aubuchon’s famous chocolate Coca-Cola cake. Yes, Coca-Cola is an ingredient! This is the only time you will find me consuming soda 😛 I had one of those nice corner pieces (corners are the best!)

Great job, mama!

What a fun party – everyone had a blast and we only just finished the leftovers last night! Or shall I say, I only just finished them last night 😀 oh, I also passed out after this thing at about 8:30PM. THANKS WINE.

Cupcakes – take them or leave them?

Pieces of cake – aren’t corners the best?!

What’s the best thing you ate on Easter Sunday? Even if you weren’t celebrating Easter!