Thursday, September 14, 2006

Arrrrrrr

Tuesday, September 19th is Talk Like a Pirate Day.

And yes, this is an appropriate Movers post.

Playing catch-up:

September 13th, sushi at Sakura in Portsmouth. Zeus doesn't really like gourd.
September 6th, used up a gift certificate at KNR in Portsmouth. Moxie got drunk, but still doesn't like the place.
August 30th, Solid's Movers (and real) Birthday! We had an awesome experience at Habachi, with the best habachi chef *ever*. It was really really fun. Followed by bowling at Bowl-a-rama and pineapple upside-down cake. Special guests Al & Stephanie were a good addition.

I'm missing Augusts 23, 16 and 9 - one of those was the Jamaican Jerk Center fiasco, and the other two?

Monday, August 14, 2006

summary

we're really missing like a month of Movers events here - so I thought I would do a summary for posterity, though my memory is really very terrible and I doubt I will be successful. Chiming in and corrections highly encouraged:

July 12: Jazz @ the Academy Library, followed by a ho-hum dinner at 11 Water Street, Exeter

July 19: Slim Tex's in Rochester (thank you Wasabi!) this place probably deserves its own post. When we first went there in April (we think, we remember it was a bit before Cinco de Mayo), most of us were basically expecting it to be not very good at all. It was actually awesome! We had a great time, loved our drinks, loved the food (which is most definitely Tex-Mex and *not* Mexican - but that's what they are going for, so there's no false advertising). There were also ample bottles of hot sauce everywhere, so we wanted to take our beloved Hot Sauce! there upon his return.

This visit, Slim's was like we had anticipated it was going to be before our first visit, except now we thought we liked it, so the dissapointment was double. It wasn't tragic, and it most definitely could've been an off night, but . . . we hated our drinks, the food was meh . . .

July 26: La Famiglia, Greenland

August 2: Wasabi's Birthday!!!! @ Radici, Portsmouth

tricky tricky -

We fooled you all! and went to El Mexicano Jr.

The food was of course, totally amazing and wonderful. The trip there and back was overly-adventurous, involving excitement and danger in many forms (including out-of-control vehicles, and Mycroft and Ace being abandoned in the ghetto of Manchester and being forced to fend off would be boyfriends!)

You'll just have to come this week (Jamaican?) for the details . . .

Thursday, July 06, 2006

5th of July -

in attendance: Mycroft, Moxie, Solids, The Count, Zeus, and Wasabi.

There were mountains of food on the 4th. So many mountains, that before the feasting even began we made plans for Movers to be leftovers on the 5th. Except there was so much food we didn't even cook on the 4th that it was hard to actually call it leftovers, really, it was just more new food.

We had burgers with delicious toppings and seasonings by The Count, experimental (and I thought pretty good) mushroom tofu burgers, shrimp, assorted actual leftovers like sweet potato and cherries and home-made ice cream and cheesecakes and cauliflower and cheese, and these little beauties, envisioned by Solids and executed by Solids, Moxie, and Mycroft:

Pineapple wrapped in bacon, cooked on the grill.

pineapple wrapped in bacon - on fire.

Mycroft is attempting to turn the bacon-wrapped pineapple, although he kept catching on fire.

bacon wrapped pineapple on fire

close-up: bacon grease + charcoal = lots and lots o' fire. yummy scary fire.

Following the feasting we played our new favorite game (besides croquet, bocce ball, wiffle ball, miniature golf, etc.) SceneIt?. It is great fun.

Friday, June 30, 2006

Zeus's Movers Birthday

* draft - I need more pictures - anybody?*


For her birthday, Zeus requested an Alice in Wonderland Croquet Tea Party Extravaganza. With such a good idea to build off of, we were off and running.

tea food

Tea Party hors d' oeuvres: little toasts, some with goat cheese and artichoke, some with blue cheese and quince jelly; strawberries, haricot verts with a vinaigrette, cucumbers, and potato chips

tower of treats

Tower of sweets - cookies galore.

Other foods featured: iced teas, tea sandwiches (green pea, mint, and creme fraiche; watercress and cream cheese; peanut butter and jelly), oyster-mussles and bread and butter, and cupcakes.

An outrageously good time was had by all.

Aroma's Italian Cafe

The Movers heartedly welcomed the latest addition to Commercial Alley, in the home of what used to be the Bear's Den and is now Aroma's Italian Cafe, complete with breakfast, lunch, and dinner, very very charming outdoor seating, pastries galore and the best (non-Mexican) hot chocolate ON THE PLANET.

In attendance: Solids, Zeus, The Count, Wasabi, Mycroft & Moxie


salad
The Count's Insalata Di Spinaci
(spinach, mushrooms, red onions, tomatoes, strawberry vinaigrette)

caprese

Zeus's Caprese
(mozz, tomatoes, basil, olive oil on ciabatta)

mozz, tomatoes, and prosciutto

Mycroft's Salmone & Caprino
(smoked salmon, red onions, capers, lemon juice, olive oil, goat cheese on focaccia)

salmon yum

Moxie's Focaccia Imbottita
(foccacia with mozz, tomatoes, and prosciutto)

italian panini

Solid's Italiano
(italian deli meats served on sfilatino)

wasabi's omlette sandwich

Wasabi's intriguing frittata con spinaci & fontina (I call dibs on this next time)
(omlette with spinach and fontina served on sfilatino)

pineapple frozen sweet thing

Zeus's Pineapple Ripieno
(yes! that really is a pineapple half filled with pineapple sorbetto)

mousse

Mycroft's Hazelnut Mousse
("A layer of hazelnut crunch nestled between layers
of chocolate sponge cake, topped with hazelnut mousse")

best hot chocolate IN THE WORLD

Moxie's hot chocolate
(When I ordered this drink as dessert, the waiter got really excited. He said something like, "Our hot chocolate is the best. You'll see." It really is amazing. I always want to say its like drinking chocolate, which sounds kind of 'duh' but is really quite rare in hot chocolate. It is also very light, not heavy or sticky or creamy, but at the same time is rich. Very good.)

The Movers 1st Anniversary! at Lindbergh's Crossing, an interactive quiz!

On June 7th, we celebrated our first anniversary on the day and location of our birth. Appropriately, it was again a ridiculously dark and stormy night. We were again 5: Solids, Zeus, Wasabi, Mycroft, & Moxie.


Lindbergh's! Our Anniversary!

The quiz part: this contest is open to all Movers not present at the anniversary event. Spouses are eligible as long as they promise not to cheat. Here's how to play: match the picture to the Mover and figure out who had what. Use of background clues highly encouraged. The prize: fame, glory, and a really great surprise prize payable upon sight (it will not be mailed).

Picture 1: "Sautéed Escargots in a mushroom, sherry butter sauce finished with raclette"
(all descriptions from the Lindbergh's Crossing early summer menu).

escargot

[i have no idea what happened to these picture but i think it's
wicked funny - adds to the mystery and secretiveness]

Picture 2: "Shellfish Chowder: quahogs, mussels & shrimp in a smoky bacon cream broth"

chowder

Picture 3: "Radicchio with spiced pecans, gorgonzola, dried cherries and a balsamic vinaigrette"

radicchio salad

Picture 4: "Quail Adobo over grape almond red rice with bok choy"

pheasant?

Picture 5: "Seafood Paella: fish, mussels, shrimp & spicy chorizo sausage stewed in saffron rice"

paella

Picture 6: " Lightly Smoked Sockeye Salmon with artichoke-potato latke, braised greens & herbed crème fraiche"

Lightly Smoked Sockeye Salmon with artichoke-potato latke, braised greens & herbed crème fraiche

Picture 7: "Housemade Canneloni of swiss chard, pinenuts & goat’s cheese in a vegetable macédoine"

Housemade Canneloni of swiss chard, pinenuts & goat’s cheese in a vegetable macédoine

Picture 8: " Seared Duck Breast over warm romaine & lentils with a grape-rhubarb chutney"

Seared Duck Breast over warm romaine & lentils with a grape-rhubarb chutney

Picture 9: "Canadian Beef Tenderloin au Poivre with mashed yukon gold potatoes and brandy cream reduction"

Canadian Beef Tenderloin au Poivre with mashed yukon gold potatoes and brandy cream reduction

Picture 10: (they've changed their dessert menu so you're stuck with my memory) berry cannoli cheese yum.

berry and yum crepes

Picture 11: lemon blueberry tarty thing

blueberry lemon tart

Picture 12: medium rare chocolate cake

molten chocolate cake

Good Luck!

Monday, May 29, 2006

Bella Rosa, rte 1 North Hampton, April 12th

In attendance: Mycroft, Solids, Zeus, and myself: Moxie

meh.

that't about all I can muster for this most recent incarnation of the place across from the purple bicycle store. It's subtitle is "Brick Oven Pizza" The pizza's were pretty good, not great, not bad.

We started off with onion rings which was a big mistake. We had just had the best onion rings on the seacoast - Wheelies (potentially tragic aside: on a recent trip to Newmarket Mycroft discovered that Wheelies is no longer - they are now part of Mama Lena's of Stratham - we don't know what this means for the future of onion rings on the seacoast) the week before, so it really wasn't a fair fight.

onion rings

We also tried the cheezy garlic bread, of which I have no memory whatsoever.

cheezy garlic bread

The pizzas had good crusts - they weren't bad. I remember that we were dissapointed in the spinach one for some reason. If I had to guess the reason, based on this picture, we were overwhelmed by sundried tomatoes, which should be used sparingly.

sundried tomato and spinach

The margherita was good - fairly hard to mess up, anyway.

margherita pizza

The pineapple and ham and barbecue chicken was genius.

pineapple and ham

The meat-a-palooza was a little too meaty. Go figure.

meat-a-palooza pizza

Puerco Pibil Night, April 26

Location: Beach Palace
In attendance: Solids, The Count, Wasabi, Mycroft, and myself: Moxie

Ever since I saw the special feature "10-minute cooking school" by Robert Rodriguez on the Once Upon a Time in Mexico dvd I have wanted to make this dish. Not only are the ingredients fascinating, the preparation, the sum total irresistable, but the creation of this 10 minute video is the best example of cinematic foodography (I just made that word up - do you like it?) I have ever seen. It was simply a matter of gathering the ingredients (which took months) and waiting for the right opportunity (school vacation for me), but the stars were aligned in late April, and the results lived up to the long anticipation.

Since the dish itself reminds me of real barbecued pork, we played off the southern food thing with mexican flavors.

Wasabi's guacamole
best guacamole ever, made by Wasabi

puerco pibil
ta da! the puerco pibil.

garlic cornbread
garlic cornbread

collards
collards

rice&beans
Mycroft's most excellent rice and beans

Wednesday, April 12, 2006

Brewery Lane Tavern, from a long time ago

I can't remember exactly when we went there. I know it was around the end of February or the beginning of March, because part of the reason we went there was to celebrate The Count and Wasabi's new condo ownership a stone's throw away.

In attendance: The Count, Wasabi, Solids, Zeus, Mycroft, and myself - Moxie.

Overall, there were fairly strong feelings in both directions about this place. Initially, there was enormous apprehension, because of BLT's website. It looks like hos and trash love this place. I'm outing Zeus here - she totally tried to back out of going. Seriously, check this website.

But it def isn't as scary as the website. Actually, its kinda nice in there. All big booths and wood and a fireplace. And lots of men. Not so many hos.

On the way there we ran into Al, ex-brother-in-law of Hot Sauce! who recommended the Gumbles, which as far as I can tell are chicken tenders pretty much. I am documenting this poor recommendation in the event that evidence of Al's lack of foodie-skills be called for. Although our lackluster reponse to said Gumbles may be our own bad ordering skilz, because we got the sauce on the side in our excitement to get 2 sauces.

Things turned around with the entrees. There were many burgers ordered, all of which were enjoyed. Wasabi got fajitas, which were awesome, and The Count got fish, which was also awesome. Zeus got fries. We also shared some nachos for an additional appetizer (we ordered sooo much food!), which were very good.

Wasabi's fajitas

Wasabi's sideways and stretched fajitas. Too tired to figure out what happened there.

The Count's fish

The Count's washed out fish.

bacon burger - there were several

One of several burgers. The tell-tale mayo says its mine.


I'm going to take this opportunity to once again say how lame it is that the Brewery Lane Tavern, also known as the BLT, does not have a BLT sandwich on its menu. They should also, easily, have a BLT burger. And so on. LAME-O!

Then, the tragedy. They had fried dough on the menu for dessert. We were soo excited! But it was mad gross. Greasy and thick and heavy. Fortunately, our waitress was very cool about it and noticed were weren't eating it and took it off our bills, agreeing that it just wasn't right.

Highlights reel: burgers - wicked good. nachos - very good. fajitas - tres good. fish - muy good. other stuff - not very good at all.

Monday, March 13, 2006

Flatbread, with special guests, The Spaniards!

In attendance: Mycroft, Solids, Zeus, The Count, Wasabi, Nacho, Anna, and myself, Moxie.

Many bets were placed in the week leading up to meeting Nacho, The Count's younger brother. Was Nacho his real name? If so, does that automatically make him a Mover since he already has a Mover name? Would he be just like The Count, a wild and crazy guy devoted to beer and good at debating? Or would he be the polar opposite, short and stubby (this was Mycroft's bet), very mellow and laid back.

The Count and Wasabi wisely chose Flatbread in Portsmouth for this infamous meeting. We ordered the specials - they were awesome. Something about chicken and barbeque sauce on one and artichokes and . . . . I can't remember. There was too much else going on.

FIRST, The Count showed up with a moustache. This was not just any moustache, it was an intense moustache he had grown basically overnight. When we commented on it, The Count suggested the adjectives we were all looking for: he now resembles an 80's California porn star. Apparently, I was the only one unfamiliar with the various decades and regions of porn genre. Wasabi, Mycroft, and Solids kindly explained in amazing techno-color detail what these all were.

SECOND, The Count's brother Nacho is *exactly* like The Count in the following respects: he loves beer, he loves to argue and debate. In particular, The Count and Nacho were arguing over a bet they had made, something to do with a particular style or brand of guitar used by a particular musician. Wasabi thought the issue had been settled that morning, but no, they were still arguing.

Since we *heart* The Count, we also *hearted* his brother, Nacho. Plus, his name is Nacho. Anna was cool, too. I especially liked her haircut. And the food and beer were good.

Thursday, February 16, 2006

The Well Dressed Hog

In attendance: Mycroft, Moxie, Solids, Wasabi, and The Count

Apologies: Zeus and Movers outside of county.



Since Zeus was not with us we decided on meat-fest. Given the choices of Goody Coles, which some of us had only a couple of weeks ago, and The Well Dressed Hog, which only Moxie and myself had been to, we chose poorly.

We started the night with an order of Buffalo chicken wings. Here they are smoked before they are deep-fried. When they came, they just looked scary. The flavor was primarily smoke and there was no real spice to them. There was a sauce on them that looked like “a melted cheese-like product”. They were not spicy.

terrifying wings from the well dressed hog
terrifying wings

What we all ordered. I believe that Wasabi ordered the Pulled Pork Bar-B-Que Sandwich. The Count ordered a Cup of the Chili. Solids ordered a Build your own combo plate with Brisket, Ribs, Pulled Pork, corn on the cob, and corn bread. I ordered the Plate O’Hog Bar-B-Que Combo plate, consisting of: Pork spare ribs, Smoked Sausage, Pulled Pork, mashed potatoes, and corn bread. Moxie had a little trouble ordering. First she ordered the chicken fried steak. They did not have any. Next she was going to go for the all you can eat pasta, but it was only valid for the spaghetti with marinara sauce and not the penne with garlic sauce. Apparently penne is not pasta in the eyes of the Well Dressed Hog. They said they would add broccoli to the spaghetti for a dollar more. Moxie finally ended up ordering the smoked sausage and chilly sub. Wasabi ordered a side of fries and Moxie ordered a side of onion rings.

combo plate
Solid's combo plate

a different combo plate
Mycroft's combo plate


chili
The Count's Chili

I was originally saying that compared to Goody Coles the food was not as good, but that may not be it. I am beginning to think it just was not very good at all. I can say my food, was not very exciting. The smoked sausage was the best. It was very flavorful and well cooked. My mashed potatoes were good and garlicky. The ribs I thought were very tough, and stuck to the bone. I did not enjoy them. The pulled pork was nothing special, I thought it could use more vinegar. I tried Solids brisket and it seemed way to tough. When Moxie’s sub came out, the cheese on the top was melted Kraft squares, and it was a little let down. Solids was unable to finish his combo plate due to the large amount of grease that was flooding the bottom of his platter. It may not have been so bad if his platter was not the cardboard type, because as time passed his plate was becoming more and more transparent. The corn bread made me angry.

bbq sandwich
Wasabi's pulled pork sandwich

sausage chili thing
Moxie's sausage and Kraft

Some things were good. Moxie and I discovered a new beer that we like, Rouges Dead Guy ale. Wasabi’s fries were good. Moxie’s onion rings, were definitely out of a box, but not bad. I may be coming off a little harsh. The food was not terrible, a lot of the flavors were spot on just the production was not up to par. It was a quiet night, and we were the only ones there, which may have had something to do with it. I think we all enjoyed ourselves but I think next meat-fest we’ll try someplace different. The odd part is that at the end of the meal I packed up all the unfinished food and brought it home. No one else wanted it, and it seemed wasteful at the time. Now we have a bunch of greasy meat at home that I have no idea what I am going to do with.


Just Moved,
Mycroft

Thursday, February 09, 2006

unofficial 43

Check it out, a blog post.


This is not an official movers post. No other movers were present. But it has to do with food and restaurants so I am posting it anyway.



I should start from the beginning. The accountant from our company came up to the office this afternoon and offered to take us all out for drinks. Unable to pass on company-sponsored debauchery, I accepted. Only two others from the office joined the accountant and myself at the fine establishment of the Rusty Hammer. After about 3 jack and cranberry’s one of my coworkers excused themselves. Three left. Two more Jack and cran’s and I had to slow down so I switched to Guinness. After that my other coworker said she had to leave and the visiting accountant asked if I would like to get a bite to eat. He said he would like to get a good steak. So, running through the possible places to get a good steak in Portsmouth,(muddy river, molly Malone’s, random bar) I asked if he had ever been to 43 Degrees North. He asked if they had good steak and I said they have good everything. True, I am a little biased toward 43, but I have always liked it there. Moxie has gone and not enjoyed it as much as myself. The accountant said it sounded good and suddenly my coworker no longer had to leave.

This suggestion may seem out of the blue but I have suggested it to different suits from the corporate headquarters before, and they really enjoyed it so when they come back they like to go back. Works for me. On a side note I was recently sent to the Chicago office where we went out to dinner at the “best Italian food in Chicago.” It was crap. I was with the CEO and he ordered the wine. He asked what I would like and I asked for Chianti. Being at an Italian restaurant I thought it might be a safe bet. Unfortunately he ordered a bottle of Da Vinci Chianti. Not that the wine was particularly bad, it was not complex, but I have such an aversion to Dan Brown at this point that even the name Da Vinci makes me dislike it. The next day they ordered authentic deep-dish pizza for lunch. Crap again. I’ll take Savarios any day.

Any way, back to 43. The three of us made the long journey from the rusty hammer to 43 without incident. The manager who I have talked to on multiple occasions seated us. While the accountant and my coworker were hanging up their coats the manager said that he had a new cordial that he had just made. He said it was not on the menu yet but he would go and get me one. I was joined by my compatriots and the waitress came over and asked us if we would like to order drinks or if the manager had already taken our orders. They said they were fine and I said that the manager was getting me a drink. They waitress replied with what I can only describe as a “well La-Ti-Da.” The attitude is so out of place it is great. About this time my coworker asked if the music playing was what she thought it was. Yes it was. We are sitting at one of the fanciest restaurants in Portsmouth, about to order some great food, surrounded by yuppies and suits, and we are listening to Johnny Cash sing Cocaine Blues. This restaurant seems to be designed around what my subconscious thinks the ideal restaurant should be.

The Food. Since with the company accountant we decided to pass on the apps and salads and go strait for the main course. A bottle of wine was ordered and it was good. It was a Cab from CA, nothing overly special, but decent. I was more interested in the drink I was brought. The manager had made an Earl Grey tea cordial and mixed it with chia spice, sweetened condensed milk, and vodka. It was delicious. It was like a weird cross between a chai latte and Thai iced tea. It was really delicious.

My coworker ordered the salmon and the accountant ordered the steak, so not wanting to duplicate I ordered the pork. What I got was amazing. It was almost what I would describe as chicken-fried pork but fancy. It was served with wild boar sausage gravy on top. One side dish was an apple cored, sliced across multiple times, stuffed with what I can only describe as a cheesy and starchy filling, and baked. It was incredible. Under the pork was what seemed to be homemade sauerkraut, with a little fruit mixed in. I have eaten a lot, but this is defiantly one of the best, even for 43 this food was above par. I can say that this entrée will be one that I will use as a comparison for a while.


Just moved,
Mycroft

Tuesday, February 07, 2006

Movers Cat Blogging

I think these pics are from Superbowl leftovers night - the wednesday following the superbowl, where we thought we would try to eat all the leftover chips but didn't. We did eat delicious flatbread, and very very delicious macaroni and cheese made by Wasabi.

not the mean cat
you can see the bags of chips in the background


not the mean cat


not the mean cat

Thursday, January 12, 2006

Waroeng Redux

Present: The Count, Wasabi, Prag 4, Hot Sauce!, Ace, Mycroft, Solids, Zeus, and myself (Moxie).

Our second trip to Waroeng was not as successful as the first. I really can't put my finger on it - maybe it was the larger crowd, maybe it was it not being so new and different and crazy. Certainly the fact that the dish we were counting on for one of the foodtards was not available that night was problematic.


waroeng

waroeng

The poofy cracker things were a big hit for all. Ace totally messed with Solids, telling him Indonesian curry was similar to Indian curry - not sure where he thought that was going to go once the food arrived. I liked Solids food better than mine, so I ate his. I think Mycroft might have eaten mine. There was a lot of meal swapping.

IMGP5295

IMGP5297

I think this was mine - a sort of cold salad with a peanut sauce and a shrimp cracker. I think I thought the cold salad would be noodles - but it was iceberg lettuce.


IMGP5293
meaty spicy goodness - with hardboiled eggs

IMGP5296

IMGP5299

We got two orders of the chicken satay - the first was the bomb. The second, they rushed for us, but rushing chicken is . . .um . . . a bad idea.

Overall, although we were all kinda meh about this visit, I think it was more our bad for not ordering well. We got careless and crazy. But we'll definitely be going back.