A rainy Friday brought back our old favorite of pizza and wine. After a failed attempt at renting The Grand Budapest Hotel, we watched a FRIENDS or two and called it a night. I wonder how many times Friends has been streamed now that it’s free on Netflix? I’ll bet it’s astronomical.
Saturday morning and homemade bread that is going stale could only mean one thing- French toast!
I’ve looked up some fancy French toast recipes before, but I always default back to the basics because it never disappoints.
I love throwing a few sliced bananas on the hot griddle at the end and letting them caramelize just a little before topping the French toast with them. Mmm…
Hailey had swim lessons and David took his youtube guitar lessons.
Plus, hours of magnatiles.
I see why toys like GoldieBlox are successful. Hailey has no interest in building structures, but once she realized she could build princess castles?! You can’t drag her away.
Saturday night David and I snuck away for a date night/birthday celebration and to take advantage of Queen’s Feast.
When we pulled into Trattoria al Gusto in downtown Mooresville, we were shocked at the number of cars. We had to circle multiple times to find a spot and my excitement grew. Oh man, it’s going to be good, I thought. Followed by, I’m glad we have reservations.
Things were bustling inside and when we checked in, we were told it would probably be a 45 minute wait. Say wha?
It turns out they were over/double booked, so David and I grabbed a glass of vino and decided to wait it out. We finally sat at our table at 8:45 pm, a full hour after of reservation time. Luckily the pesto served immediately helped take the edge off our hunger and was absolutely delicious!
The pesto set high expectations for the rest of the meal, which turned out to be slightly disappointing. I feel for the staff because they must all have been worn down from the craziness, but the food tasted rushed, though it took a while to get to us.
At 10:15, we ended up asking that our desserts just be served to go since we had to get back to our sitter. Matt, the manager, was very kind and ended up comping one of our meals and our wine.
The gesture was appreciated and I’d like to give them another go, perhaps on a less crazy week.
Sunday morning brought lazy snuggles (smothers?).
Followed by grocery shopping (at Target this week since I needed to stock up on toothpaste, coffee and other household essentials. With Hailey in tow, one stop shopping is the way to go).
And finally, a lot of time recipe testing in the kitchen with my little helper.
I also managed a little food prep, which I know will start the week off on an easier note.
Lentils, roasted butternut squash, homemade bread, carrots, celery, boiled and peeled eggs and a baby fritter that I’ll be sharing soon.
And that about sums up the wild weekend!
Does your city have a restaurant week?
When you go out do you prefer to try new spots or old favorites?
Jodi says
So crazy! We had a girls’ nite on Wednesday nite and I was btwn trattoria and Alton’s. One the girls said she wasn’t all that impressed w trattoria, while the other girls hadn’t ever been. We ended up at Alton’s. The appetizer I had was amazing ( tuna, avocado in a siracha cream sauce served w warm tortilla chips) , but the rest if the meal was just good, but just average. I kinda wonder if it’s just restaurant week?!
Brittany Dixon says
Too funny! I’ve been to Altons one time and had the exact same experience (and appetizer). I left a little underwhelmed. Have you heard of Kindred opening up soon in Davidson? I’m super excited about it!
John J. says
Happy Monday! Nice pics of the family! Da Corrado is our favorite – tasty and consistent- in our little “town” of Lake Oconee.
Kelli H (Made in Sonoma) says
I’m glad they comped one of your meals, because that sounds like a pretty bad experience. I can’t stand when you make a reservation and then you have to wait. Especially an hour!? Wow, you guys must be so patient because I would have left.
Sonoma County has restaurant week but I usually avoid it. I don’t like big crowds. lol. When we do go out lately we’ve been trying new places because we’ve been going out to places not in our city. When we go out at home, we always go to the same couple restaurants.
Looks like overall you had a great weekend. 🙂
Brittany Dixon says
We actually called another nearby restaurant but their wait was an hour. Restaurant week evidently brings out the masses! Wine definitely helped make the wait easier, but also since we don’t get out much, just being out without kids made for a pretty exciting evening so we were a bit more patient haha 😉
jen says
I have been going through and re-watching every single episode of Friends since it’s been on Netflix! I had forgotten some of the fashions of the 90’s, and it’s highly amusing to see them again.
I think Asheville just had a restaurant week, but we live 30 minutes away and what with the 8 month old and all, didn’t experience it. We did make it in for lunch one day last week, but no date nights. I’d say we are kind of stuck in a food rut, we always eat at the same places! Asheville has so many amazing choices, and we have probably 5-8 that we love and we just hit them over and over again. We did add a new breakfast place, Biscuithead, into our repertoire last year, but no new dinner places.
Katie says
I’ve never been to a restaurant week, I understand the appeal of getting discounts at great places, but I’d much rather go when they’re slow/normal paced as I like my dinners to be un-rushed.
Marnie @ SuperSmartMama says
Looks like an absolutely lovely weekend! Our son adores his magnatiles…definitely the best toy in the house. We have restaurant week coming up here in Denver at the end of February. We already have our reservations in!!
Laura @FitMamaLove says
Ahhh, that french toast looks good! Haven’t had it in so long! I have a little Magnatiles fan over here as well! He plays with them at preschool so often and I was debating getting some for our house, but decided we’d just stick with Legos and home and the Magnatiles can be a school thing.
Lauren says
That French toast looks delicious! Yeah, Baltimore has a Restaurant Week, and it can be a little dicey, since they ALWAYS are slammed, but at the same time, we got a great price on a Brazilian steakhouse!
Laura @ Sprint 2 the Table says
That french toast sounds so good… I always want that as my comfort breakfast food when it’s rainy and cold. Like today.
Marjorie @APinchOfHealthy says
On the French toast – why mess with perfection?? 🙂
And I need to find out more about those YouTube guitar lessons! I have always wanted to learn how to play guitar.
katy says
Magnatiles are awesome!!! KG built herself a princess castle this weekend too 🙂
Ashley @ My Food N Fitness Diaries says
Mmmm, you can’t go wrong with simple French toast! The caramelized bananas bring it to a whole new level too. 🙂
Glad you guys had such a great weekend!!
Matt says
Mmmm french toast!
Chantal says
Dang. Now I want French toast! Also, my daughter will build castles all day long. And then destroy them.