Ride & Dine

Earlier this year, I was treated to lunch at a client's office and they served us pizza and bread sticks. The pizza box was unmarked and really tasty, so I asked where it was from. They told us they have a great relationship with Ride & Dine just up the street and order them all the time. I made a mental note to definitely try them out myself soon.

Lent time came around and fish frys are extremely popular meals to eat on Wednesdays and Fridays for Catholics (or really anyone that lives in Wisconsin). I saw on Facebook that Ride & Dine offers a nice fish fry at a very reasonable price so I called them and placed an order to go. I scheduled the pick up for a certain time and when I stopped in, the order was ready to go and piping hot.

Even in the short drive to my guy's place, the food stayed very warm and crispy. Each fish fry comes with 3 nice-sized pieces of battered fish, french fries, rye bread, coleslaw and tartar. I splurged and order the deep fried pickles too. Everything was great. The fries were super crisp on the outside and mushy on the inside. I call this a double-fried fry, but I'm not sure that is the right term. The coleslaw was pretty basic, but a little pepper added by yours truly made it tasty.

And the pickles were really yummy. They come with a dill ranch dipping sauce. I like that they are spears and not slices because I can taste more of the pickle and not the breading. We were big fans and had almost clean plates by the end. There was so much food, we just couldn't finish it all.


I kept this place in mind the next time I needed a good meal. One evening, after running a few errands, I ended up heading to my guy's place. They had already had dinner, so I stopped into Ride & Dine and scoped out the menu for something delicious. I decided on the pulled pork and took the menu's suggestion to try it with melted cheese. I again order the fries because I liked them so much last time.

I took a seat at a table while they prepped my meal and checked out the decor. Though I don't have confirmation from anyone at the restaurant on this theory, the name makes more sense to me. There were jersey's hanging on the walls that I believe to be from motor-cross racing (or another type of racing). I am guessing the owner has a love of riding and dining :)

The menu hangs behind the counter on a very tall wall and though they offer a lot of items, I didn't find the menu overwhelming.

My meal was ready in a few minutes and I headed off to my guy's place. I ate as soon as I got there and the sandwich was wonderful. The pulled pork had a lot of flavor with some BBQ sauce mixed in and the addition of melted cheese is a must. It really brought another level of savory, deliciousness to the sandwich.

I was a member of the clean plate club that night and I can't wait to go back and check out the place again soon. They are very active on social media and post pictures of their food and specials frequently. This really helps show their diverse menu. They are closed on Sundays but open Monday - Thursday 11 - 2 and 4 - 8. Friday and Saturday they are open 11 - 9. Definitely take a ride and dine with them soon! (pun intended)

The Best Meal I Have Made My Guy....So Far

Last week, I received the ultimate praise from my guy. This is the praise that every woman that wants her man to be happy loves to hear. What is the best way to your man's heart? Through his stomach. Ok and being loving and supporting and a good listener and all those other things. But as a girl that loves to cook, I love it when I please my man with my cooking. So what was it that I heard him say?

"This is the best meal you have ever made"

And the best part - the meal was sooooo simple, thanks to some Pinterest searching and some Food Network TV watching.

I am a huge fan of Ree Drummond, AKA - The Pioneer Woman. I love her blog, her TV show and most of all her cooking style. She is so down to earth and cooks with normal ingredients. Most of her meals are simple to make and will keep you full and satisfied.

Recently, my guy and I watched an episode of her show where she made creamy herbed potatoes. They looked absolutely fantastic and we were left just short of drooling after the episode. I knew this was something I needed to make soon. Mind you this is not a healthy dish and even though I used a few healthier ingredients than Ree, it's still a splurge side dish.

Start with sauteing some onions in a lot of butter!

 
I was able to use my new mandolin to slice up the potatoes. It worked like a dream and all the potatoes were the same thickness to cook the same.

Then you add cream cheese (I went with the 1/3 less fat kind)

I used just a small amount of cream (because I had it) and 1% milk to complete the creamy part of the potatoes. I didn't have any fresh herbs, so I just cut back on my dried herb usage. I have read that dried herbs can have double the flavor as fresh so you don't need to use as much.

Stir it all around until everything is smooth and combined and then pour it over the potatoes.

The it's into the oven for about 45 minutes, or until the middle is bubbly. I do think I could cut back on the butter a bit - maybe use half a cup instead of a cup, but that would probably affect the flavor.

While the potatoes were cooking, it was time to make the Paninis. 

I recently got a Cuisinart Griddler and have been trying different Panini sandwiches on it. Cafe de Arts in Waukesha makes an awesome Prime Rib Panini, so I scoured Pinterest and found something similar to try in my press. I think what makes Cafe de Arts Panini so delicious is the sauce, so I made sure to buy some fresh horseradish to use in the mix.

I started by softening some onions with a little oil over medium heat. I didn't actually caramelize them, just softened them up for the sandwich. I nuked some mushrooms for about a minute in the microwave, drained off the water and set them on the side to add to the sandwich.

I made the spread from Miracle Whip, horseradish and mozzarella cheese.  Then it was time to assemble. Oil the outside of the bread and lay that side on the heated Panini maker. Spread the spread over the bread and then put two pieces of roast beef, onions and mushrooms and then 1-2 more pieces of roast beef. Then spread the spread on another piece of bread and place the spread side against the roast beef. Spray the outside of the bread with EVOO and then close the Panini press using light pressure for about 30 seconds.

The sandwiches were done 5 minutes later and the potatoes rested. It was time to dig in. My guy was in heaven. And that's when I heard....."This is the best meal you have ever made" He loved everything about it. The crisp bread with a little heat to the sauce on the sandwich. The potatoes were rich, creamy and irresistible.

I told my mom about the delicious sandwiches and she wanted the recipe as well. I sent it to her and she made them this past week too. She agreed they are fabulous! This meal definitely goes on the list of To Be Made Again (and again and again)!

Andrea's Red Rooster

A few weeks ago, my coworkers and I ended a meeting at a client's office right at lunch time. So what else was there to do but to go out for a bite. I suggested Andrea's Red Rooster and neither had been there before. They were in for a treat.

My history with the Red Rooster goes back to my junior year of college and looking for a part-time summer job to fill my days with while making some easy cash.  I was told of this job opening and that they even suggested me for the job from fellow industry coworkers and I became the summer hostess. Lunches could get pretty hectic as I had to manage the phone, place to-go orders and make sure tables were cleared and ready to go quickly. I even refilled beverages and took a few orders when we got really slammed.  I served a few dinner shifts but it really wasn't my thing at that time.

I left at the start of the school year and since then, there is no longer a hostess position and it's seat yourself style! They have a beautiful back patio (that was freshly constructed when I worked there) to have a drink or a meal on. Some walls have been removed and high top tables have been added.

My friends stumbled across this place when they lived at The Meadows on Springdale in Waukesha and we would meet for evening drinks on a nice warm summer night. Now none of my friends live in The Meadows, so it's not as convenient for us to go there. :(

Ok - back to current times. We walked in for lunch to a pretty packed restaurant but found a high top that worked perfectly for our trio. We were happily greeted by our server and supplied menus with a lot of options.

I decided on the Grilled Chicken Portabella with chips, John got the triple stacked club with fries and CT chose the Cajun Chicken with sweet potato fries.

The food came out really quickly for a lunch hour and all of us were really impressed with our meals. John and CT commended me on my selection of restaurants as they tend to stay pretty mainstream. The last place I did guide them too no longer served lunch but they tried another place in downtown Waukesha and enjoyed it.

I'm hoping to do lunches with some of my coworkers once a month. It's good for us to get out of the office and talk about life instead of always just work stuff.

And maybe I can get my friends out there for Monday or Tuesday night wing specials that they have. We have our favorite place for wings but maybe it's time to branch out!? And the fish fry sounds great too - I am always up for a fish fry!

United We Dine Begins

The United Way in Waukesha County has started it's third year of the United We Dine program. How the program works is that local area restaurants join forces with United Way in Waukesha County to donate part of their proceeds on a selected day to the organization. This year the program has expanded to run thru December!

I participated last year by specifically choosing to go to certain places on certain days just to support the United Way in Waukesha County. And yes, I am specifically writing out their full name each time because the proceeds of United We Dine go directly to the Waukesha County affiliate of United Way. The money stays here folks!

On top of the select restaurant featured each day, Moe's Southwest Grill in Pewaukee is donating 20% of all the catering orders received in October to United Way in Waukesha County. (One catch - you must mention United Way when placing the order!) If you haven't eaten at Moe's, definitely check it out and then consider it for a catered event later this month :)

So let's break down these places to get you more familiar with them. For the full schedule in a nice neat form, click here.

10/3 - Moe's Southwest Grill (Pewaukee) - They catered the Hospitality Tent at the Waukesha County Fair this year for one of the Main Stage shows and the chicken was so flavorful and delicious.

10/4 - Double D's Pub & Eatery (Mukwonago) - Small bar with great food and fun bartenders.

10/7 - Sprizzo's (Waukesha) - I am a regular here - the sandwiches are excellent and I love the dill mayo!

10/8 - Gyro's West (Waukesha) - Another staple in Waukesha with a delicious gyro and taziki sauce

10/9 & 10/16 - Armeli's Restaurant (New Berlin) - My family used to have all its get togethers here. Great pizza

10/10 - Hardee's (Waukesha) - Huge burgers at a fair price.

10/11, 10/18 & 10/25 - Cafe Esperanza (Waukesha) - I was only here for a catered holiday party but the food was really tasty.

10/14, 11/11 & 11/15 - Denny's (Pewaukee) - Grand Slam anyone?

10/15 - Nashotah Clubhouse (Nashotah) - sorry, I know nothing about this place.

10/17 - Trysting Place Pub (Menomonee Falls) - Great sports bar with a really juicy burger that the spot after Brewer's opening day a few years ago.

10/21 & 11/18 - Chuck E. Cheese (Brookfield) - Where a kid can be a kid, right?

10/22 - San Laurio Coffeehouse (Muskego) - Great chai

10/23 - Lakefront Grille (Pewaukee) - Haven't been but have heard amazing things

10/24 - Kim's Lakeside (Pewaukee) - I know nothing, sorry!

10/28 - Alpine Lanes (Muskego) - Great appetizers

11/6 - Buffalo Wild Wings (Pewaukee) - Wings, Burgers, Salads - it's all good and you can play trivia.

11/7 - Uno Chicago Grill (Menomonee Falls) - I love the deep dish pizza. I miss the one by Brookfield Square Mall.

11/8 - First Watch (Brookfield) - only open thru lunch, but get a fabulously healthy, wholesome breakfast with the cheeriest waitstaff I have met.

11/12 - Max Meier's Hartland Inn (Hartland) - Just checked this place out last week for a client meeting - old school German feel with amazing sandwiches.

11/13 - Yo Mama! Frozen Yogurt (Brookfield, Shorewood & Wauwatosa) - Serve your own yogurt with all your favorite toppings :)

11/19 - Rochester Deli (Waukesha) - Best Reuben and you must check out the dessert case - PB dipped cookie and lemon bars are my weakness.

11/21 - Brisco County (Pewaukee) - It's been years since I have been here but delicious!

11/23 - Endter's Sports Grill (Hartland) - I know nothing but it looks fun! And a mug club? OK!

11/27 - Ally's Bistro (Menomonee Falls) - Hmm - haven't even heard the nam. Panini's, Wraps and Sandwiches are right up my alley :)

12/2 - Picnic Basket (Nashotah) - again nothing :( Website shows breakfast, Mexican entrees, subs, sandwiches, pizza and catering - they have it all covered!

12/3 - The Chocolate Factory (Oconomowoc, Pewaukee, Waukesha & Elm Grove) - Sub sandwiches and Ice Cream - such fond childhood memories of this place! Mmmmm - The Chipper!

Ok - so that's the list - go check them out and help support the United Way in Waukesha County and eat some great grub at the same time!