The Ice Ridge

A few weeks ago a few of my friends posted some photos of their family's ice skating in Des Moines at The Ice Ridge.  It looked like they were having a blast and then I noticed they didn't have coats or mittens on!  Whatever they were skating on, wasn't ice, but they were wearing real ice skates and skating around this rink.  I had to find out what this was all about!

So, I took a trip over to the Southridge Mall today to check it out.  What a cool place!  I was greeted by Owner/Operator Burton who so nice and was excited to show me the "ice" which is really a synthetic material much like a cutting board that you skate on.  There are chairs all around the rink for spectators and lots of high chairs to hold on to for learners.  

The Ice Ridge offers classes and well as public open skating times and even birthday parties and special events!  Check out of the offerings and times at their website here.

Admission for public skating will run you $5 and skate rental is $3.50.  You can also purchase punch cards for discounted admission.

Very exciting to have something like this in Des Moines where you can skate year-round!  Take your kiddos out (or your adult friends) and support this cool place!

To the right is the weekly schedule and prices, but you can see this info better on the website as well.  They also have a Facebook page you can follow for special events and announcements.

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.

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!

Salisbury House & Gardens

I had always heard the The Salisbury house was a beautiful place to visit, full of history.  It's on Tonawanda Drive in Des Moines (not far from the Art Center).  But, with a little one, I never really found a time to visit.  That is, until I realized all of the fun events that they do throughout the year!  We went to their Halloween event last year, and my son couldn't wait to come back for this year's event.  They had face painting, Story-time with Dan Wardell, fantastic decorations, crafts, spooky science experiments and more. It's a great event.

I had no idea until this year that they had Christmas-time events too!  We attended the Chocolate-making class hosted by Beaverdale Confections at the Salisbury House and it was a blast!  My six year old can't stop talking about it.  It was only $20 and he took home over 30 pieces of chocolate!

Luckily, my friend Lisa was able to attend the Gingerbread house workshop and she was nice enough to share about her experience with us!  Thanks Lisa!  You might remember Lisa from her last guest post about The Little Gym =)

Hi!  Lisa here guest posting today about the Gingerbread workshop at Salisbury House in Des Moines.  

My 6 year old has been asking to make a gingerbread house, and I’ve been wanting to see the Salisbury House-so this was a perfect fit!!  

We opted to purchase one house and one student ticket for $20, but if you have more than one child, you might want to purchase more than one house.  

We were greeted on a very cold day by a nice volunteer in a big golf cart offering rides up from the street (overflow parking) to the house.  Once inside the house, we were led downstairs to a room that smelled of candy!!  The gingerbread house kits came with candy, but the volunteers had provided a ton more!  There was a lot of decorating, and a lot of eating the candy!!  Christmas music was playing while everyone worked away.  After we were finished, we were encouraged to leave our gingerbread house to dry and take a walk around the house.  

My 6 year old enjoyed the tour as much as I did!  Our favorite room was Edith’s bathroom…check it out and you’ll see why.  The Salisbury House was beautifully decorated for Christmas!  This included a huge tree, some local celebrity decorated gingerbread houses, and Santa in the garage next to a gorgeous red Packard!  Overall, a great local experience.  They have a lot of events and are supported by donations so check it out!  http://salisburyhouse.org/

Make sure your follow us (Eat Play Love Des Moines) and The Salisbury house on Facebook so we can remind you about upcoming events! =)

Sincerely, Jenni Blog Post

Hey Everyone!

Just wanted to share with you that I was featured on Sincerely, Jenni today!  Check out her super cool blog and the post about me here: http://sincerelyjenni.com/6718.html.

Here's the teaser from the post..."This week’s Featured Iowa Blogger is Sheryl from EatPlayLoveDesMoines. Her blog lists some amazing things to see and do in the area, and it’s a must-read! She’s only been blogging since February 2012, and already has 1,800 Facebook followers! (I’m jealous!!!)  Sheryl truly proves that Iowa (and specifically Des Moines) is more than just a place people pass through on their way somwhere else.  It’s an area rich in culture, with so many incredible things to experience.  We’re not just farmland anymore!"

Thanks, Sincerely, Jenni! Now, go check it out! =)

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.

Mandela African Restaurant

I kept driving by this restaurant named Mandela African Restaurant on Douglas Ave, just up the way from Taco Casa and knew I needed to try it.  Googling it didn't give me much info and no one I asked had tried it yet.  So today, my friend and I went to check it out.

We were greeted by the very friendly owner and had a seat of our choosing.  The restaurant is pretty small, but it was pretty slow over the lunch hour too.

We were given a menu, but were really encouraged to try the fried rice and wakye.  The fried rice was tasty mixture of rice and vegetables in savory spices.  It was very good and served with a piece of fried chicken and salad.  My friend ordered the wakye and it was also a flavorful dish of rice and beans also served with fried chicken and salad.

My friend and I both agreed that the chicken was excellent.  A crispy outside with a juicy inside and the seasonings in the fried rice were very good.  It must be tough for them to keep a full menu going when it is slow at lunch time, so they have a limited menu.  I'd love to come back and try some of the African specialties like fufu.  A dough ball that you eat in pieces after dipping in soup.

Owners Bright and Caroline Atubra were happy to share their story of coming to America in search of greener pastures and living their dream of opening up this restaurant to bring authentic food as well as the message of peace.  They named the Restaurant Mandela's after Nelson Mandela so that his message would be present here in Iowa.  Before becoming a US citizen, Bright served in the US Navy in California before moving to Iowa, becoming a citizen and opening this restaurant in June.

The Atubra's enjoyed lots of customers when they first opened, but said once the excitement died off, people are forgetting about them and advertising is very expensive so they are relying on word of mouth right now.

They would love to cook for you these popular meals inspired from Ghana where they are from, so please visit them and show them some love!  The restaurant is very casual and they cook each item from scratch, so give yourself some extra time and don't expect them to have every menu item for lunch until business picks up.  But you will enjoy friendly service, huge portions and good authentic African food here.  It's certainly family-friendly (they even have Mandela fries on the menu).  Try them out!

EPLDSM Night @ Confluence Brewery

We are pleased to announce that our event on November 7th at Confluence Brewery raised $500 to donate to Greater Des Moines Buy Fresh, Buy Local.

There was plenty of food, beer and fun and we appreciated each and every one of you who came out to the event!

A Huge THANK YOU to all of the vendors, entertainers and donors that made this evening happen!!

 

Raffle Doantions:

Kritter Knits & More

Peace Tree Brewing

Moonbugs Art Classes

Padded Little Seats

Grounds For Celebration

Radiant Om Yoga

Dishcrawl Des Moines

The Durr Family

Vander Sluis Chiropractic

Chick –fil-a Paradise Pointe

Tarre De’Amore Farms

515 Brewing Co.

Rogue Sweets

Noodles & Co. – Jordan Creek

J Sayles Design Company

Buy Fresh Buy Local

Confluence Brewing Company

Mo'Rub

Norwex

Vendors:

Confluence Brewing

Mo’Rub

Tamales Industry

Noodles & Co. - Jordan Creek

Rogue Sweets

 

Entertainment:

Jerry Lorenson

Dishcrawl Des Moines

Des Moines Derby Dames