Ugly Sweater Par-tay

So....You might think we are out and about ALL the time....Not true!!  We love to host parties at our house too.  Our latest swaray was our Second Annual Ugly Sweater Party.  And it was a blast if we might say so ourselves!

Just because it was so fun, I thought I'd share a few photos with you and some of the things we did to make out party a blast.  I'd love to hear your ideas too because we are always trying to make our parties more awesome!

We ordered some food from Hy-vee and I made a few things.  Red and green deviled eggs are always a must for our sweater parties to add to the tackiness.

We hired Brianna Dawson Photography to set up a photo booth this year because I wanted to enjoy the party and not worry about the most important of the party...taking pictures to document the tackiness!  She was fantastic and I'd highly recommend her for your party.  She brought in a 10 foot backdrop and even had silly pose ideas for everyone.  Check out her Facebook page and more photos from our party here.

Our cocktail of the evening was candy cane shots.  So easy and so good!  Just white chocolate liquor and peppermint vodka.  We also had cheesecakes from Sugar Creek Baking (My favorite cheesecake EVER).  If you love cheesecake or are in the market for the most fantastic pecan pie ever, check them out.  Here is our past review of Sugar Creek.  And don't forget about the Ugly Sweater cookies made by Three Chicks Bakery.  These awesome cookies exceeded my expectations when I told them I wanted Ugly Sweater cookies.  I loved them.

And to round out the unhealthy food smorgasbord, we did a chocolate fountain this year.  We of course had tacky prizes like leg lamps and fruit cakes for the winners of each Ugly Sweater Category.

Did you have an awesome Ugly Sweater Party this year?!  Share your tips!

Jersey Guys

Finally got my first taste of Jersey Guys Pizza in Beaverdale.  I've heard a lot of good things about it being pretty authentic to Jersey.  The owners are young guys straight from the East Coast.

I'll start by saying that being from Boston, my hubby and I have been trying unsuccessfully to find New England House of Pizza-style pizza since we moved here.  There is definitely a difference between Jersey-style and what we've been searching for, but this is the closest we've found.  And don't get me wrong, head downtown to Pizzeria Regina in the North End in Boston and this is exactly what you'll find.  But hey, this is Jersey Guys and not Mass guys, so we weren't expecting it to be exactly the same =) 

The Greek-style which is what you'd find in a House of Pizza is more of a crunchy and buttery on the bottom and chewy on the top crust, but the toppings were close.  This pizza was mighty fine though.  This style is also very popular in Italian restaurants that aren't House of Pizzas in Boston and they hit it right on.  Their sauce it excellent and makes a difference in the taste of everything they make, not just the pizza.

What stuck out to me were the hoagies.  Perfect mixture of seasoning, cheese and the most awesome tangy marinara sauce.  I prefer an actual fried chicken breast as opposed to chicken fingers to be used in my chicken Parmesan subs, but that was a small detail.  It was the best chicken parm I've had since I've been in Iowa.  And it was HUGE, easily sharable by two people with big appetites.

I also liked the pizza fries.  They didn't just put sauce and cheese on top, but they made the effort to make a few layers so there was sauce and cheese on each fry.  A creative dish.

All-in-all this was a great meal.  The have a lunch special that includes two slices of pizza (with a select topping) and a can of soda for about $4.25. Great deal if you just want to try the pizza.  But I'd recommend giving a sandwich and pizza fries a shot too.  Good stuff.

Zuzap

We've been to Zuzap Thai restaurant a few times now and have always had solid experiences.  It's located on University Ave. in Clive, but you can't quite see it from the street, it's set back behind some other shops in the plaza.

For lunch on the weekday, the restaurant was packed, but the service was still quick and efficient.  It was fun hearing the owner greet regulars already knowing their order and calling them by name.

We must have been in for dinner on our last visits because this was the first time I noticed their very neat "Lunch Sets".

$7.95 includes an egg roll, soup of the day and an entree.  For an extra charge, you can pick a soup off the menu and pick your appetizer instead of the egg roll and soup of the day and includes a drink.

I chose the corn cake and coconut soup along with Pad See Ew and my hubby got the Basil.  Everything was very good, except we realized that they used a lot of salt in everything we ordered.  My hubby said that while his sauce was every good, there could have been more sauce and I agreed with my dish as well.

I normally really enjoy the thai coconut soup.  It's creamy with chunks of white meat chicken and has a tangy flavor.  I still enjoyed it today even though it was obviously more salted than usual.

The portions were great for lunch and the lunch sets were a great value.

The restaurants is casual enough to bring the whole family, but cozy enough for a date-night.  Nice to have a good Thai restaurant on this side of town since the my other go-to Thai places on the West side are down the road a few miles in WDM (Cool Basil and King & I) .

I also left with a warm-fuzzy feeling after reading my fortune-------->

Wok in Motion

On our way to the Funny Bone to see Dave Coulier a few weeks ago (which was hilarious by the way...cut. it. out), we stopped in to Wok in Motion for dinner.  It's located just across from Abelardo's in West Glen.  They offer stir fry Chinese dishes and sushi.

Sadly, we were one of two occupied tables for dinner on a Saturday evening at around 7pm.

The restaurant is casual but inviting and you can choose from about twenty seats or sit at the sushi bar.

They are open M-F for lunch and for dinner daily with lunch and dinner on Sat.

We had no complaints with our meals as they were cooked to order and service was prompt.  We ordered the pot stickers and crab rangoon for appetizers (apparently we were really hungry) and the Jack Daniels infused Mongolian steak and the Kung Pao chicken.  At $12 and $9 respectively for our meals, we were satisfied.

It was definitely a step up from your normal fast food Chinese joint and we've had the sushi in the past and it was good, but not particularly memorable.

If you're shopping at West Glen or dancing the night away at Tonic or Shotgun Betty's next door and need some food, stop by and check them out for something different.  If you like Mongolian beef, you'll like the Jack Daniels beef.  I'd order it again.

Over-all, a very casual, tasty experience.  Go here if you are looking for a step up from fast food, but more causal than a Cafe Su or Red's.

OOoohhhhh.....Bacon!

I don't know what it is about bacon than makes Iowans go crazy, but thousands of people buy tickets for the Blue Ribbon Festival every year, and I'm one of them!

It's seems that we aren't surprised by dishes that include bacon anymore.  Has it all been done?  Bacon ice cream, bacon-rangoons, bacon cookies, bacon tacos...they can all be found at Baconfest!  Has it all been done?!  I think that's part of the draw of the festival for me...Seeing what they can come up with and seeing if it actually tastes good!  Some are hits and some are misses, but it's all part of the fun.  Unlimited bacon samples from producers are included with your ticket along with $5 in bacon bucks (to try the dishes from the restaurants), 2 drink tickets and swag.




Loosen your pants, or hey, dress up like a piece of bacon!  The 2014 Baconfest is set to be the biggest event to date with 12,000 tickets available.  They go on sale on 12-12-13 @ well, 12:12:13 of course!

Even though there are more tickets available this year than in past years, they'll still sell out fast!  You can also opt to buy your ticket in conjunction with one of three bacon elegance dinners (held in the few weeks before the big event) or you can buy a table of 10 or the Bacon University package or be one of 3,000 to get married at the Festival!  The theme is Viva Las Bacon!  You know what they say..."What Happens at The Bacon Festival..."

Time: February 1st, 2014 10:00am-5pm

Place:

Iowa State Fairgrounds
3000 E Grand Ave Des Moines, IA 50317

Wasabi Chi

I have really enjoyed my experiences at Wasabi Chi.  It's located on Douglas right near the Merle Hay mall.  It's sister restaurant, Wasabi Tao opened last year downtown.  

As you can probably guess, I was in this last visit for a Bento Box to continue my Bento Box tour of Des Moines!  I assumed it would be a lot like the one I had at Wasabi Tao, which was great because I liked it a lot.

To my surprise, it was much different.  I ordered the teriyaki chicken box and was promptly presented with miso soup.  I did hear another diner ask for hot and sour soup instead of the miso, so apparently that's an option too.

The miso soup was ok, but not as awesome as the spicy egg drop at Wasabi Tao.  My salad could have used a little more ginger dressing, but overall it was a great box.  And at $7.95 a great value as usual.

The chicken was juicy and especially good.  The "obligatory fried side" was a shrimp rangoon (tasty).

I like that they offer kids meals (Little Ninja meals) and they really have a wide menu including lots of Asian favorites like Pad Thai, fried rice and of course lots of awesome sushi.  Wasabi Tao and Chi both do a great job producing constantly good sushi.  Check out both locations and see which is your favorite!

Viva La Bamba

I'm hard-pressed to pass up a fajita Friday.  So fortunately, Viva la Bamba (this time the location on Grand Ave, there is also one in Urbandale) stood up to the challenge.

Unfortunately, Viva La Bamba is one of the restaurants losing a lot of business because of the bridge closure at 63rd and Grand since it's location just over the bridge, on the Des Moines side.

Another interesting tid-bit is that, this summer a chain in Chicago called the owners and told him the name was infringing on their Mexican food chain's name copyright and he had to change it.  They agreed to change the name to just "Viva Mexican Restaurant", but the signs still boast Viva La Bamba for now.

So, today, I took detour around the construction and it was totally worth it.  I just love the Mexican restaurants who serve bean dip along with chips and salsa for an appetizer.  Honestly, I could probably just eat the whole basket of warm chips with their chunky (and very fresh) salsa and bean dip for lunch and be a happy camper.

But, alas, it was Friday (so fajitas were a must) and they'd probably not appreciate it if I only ate the free stuff and left.

Anyway, These were some darn good fajitas.  A huge portion of good quality chicken and fresh veggies accompanied by the familiar rice, beans, salad and tortilla that most restaurants serve.

A solid fajita Friday at Viva la Bamba.  Give them some love, especially since the bridge will now be closed until at least the middle of December.  Prices are great and they have margarita specials often!  They need our support!

Wasabi Tao

Wasabi Tao is the sister restaurant to Wasabi Chi (which is located near the Merle Hay Mall) and is located downtown on Walnut St, right across from the Gramercy Tap.

Being that I'm on a Bento Box kick, I stopped in for a Bento Box of course!  I'm getting quite versed on the Bento Box offerings at each restaurant in town and I definitely have some favorites.  It's refreshing that each offers such different options and I was not disappointed with Wasabi Tao's.


They have such a large selection that it was hard to choose.  They offer chicken, steak or salmon teriyaki, shrimp tempura, yaki udon or sushi or sashimi boxes.

I went with the chicken teriyaki so I could keep it an even playing field to make a better comparison with other boxes I've tried it town.

I have to say, Tao's box stood up the competition pretty well.  At $8.50 it's just a great value.  I was first impressed that I was offered a spicy egg drop soup in lieu of the miso and it was fantastic.  You can't go wrong with creamy ginger dressing over some fresh salad and their California roll was excellent.  The chicken teriyaki was in a rich sauce and I appreciated the fresh steamed veggies.  The shumai wasn't my favorite "obligatory fried side" that I've had in a local box, but it was tasty.

Over-all a winning box.  More food than I could finish for lunch and so much variety.  Ahh..the   wonders of Bento Boxes.  They service a lot of the downtown lunch crowd so it gets busy at lunch time, but they are fast and efficient with a good amount of seating.

It's obvious that I'm addicted to Bento Boxes and I'll happily order one from Wasabi Tao again soon.  Try it out or come in just for the great sushi, I don't think you'll be disappointed.