DON'T YOU LOVE WEEKS WHEN YOU GET TO EAT OUT MORE THAN ONCE!?

Ever since I got my appetite back, sometime in February, I have looked forward to going out to eat.  I'm not content to cook up something like I used to, although I love anything Judy does.  I guess it's a matter of whether I had to cook it or not!

Anyway, this has been one of those weeks, and it ain't over yet, that I've gotten to eat out 4 times!  Strangely though, every time I weigh at the doctor's office I still come in at 217 fully dressed.  That's 30 pounds less than this time last year!  I'm sure if this appetite keeps up that it will change, but thus far I've maintained that weight for about 4 or 5 months.

Judy and made a run to Knoxville Wednesday, after her dental appointment, and ate at my favorite place; P. F. Chang's!  I love that place and their KUNG PAO SHRIMP OR SCALLOPS (I get both) which has peanuts, chili peppers and scallions.  Judy tried their new SESAME CHICKEN lunch bowl which is stir-fried with broccoli, red peppers, onions and ginger in a sesame sauce.

 

Of course I always have to have a draft of KIRIN ICHIBAN!  

After filling our bellies, she wanted to stop by Markman's Jewelry, supposed just to look, but naturally she ended up trading up on her wedding bands!  I should have known better!

Thursday evening, I went downtown to the kick off rally for Chris Mason's second run at the Harriman mayor's job, and ate free BBQ.  It was really good, and I need to find out who catered that affair, 'cause I want some more soon!

Friday evening we were invited to meet Jerry and Gene Eblen at RedBone's in Kingston for supper.  They are good company for dinner and kept us laughing.  I had eaten almost half of my half of the GULF SHRIMP AND GRITS we ordered before I thought of taking a photo.  Besides, the tables are relatively close in there, so I didn't want to blind someone next to us and cause them to miss their mouth and put out an eye!  However, trust me, the dish was good...along with the fried green tomatoes on the side!

I'll have to say, the margaritas were a touch shy on the hard stuff!

Then there was tonight, Saturday, and we met the other Dragons and Knights at Carrabba's.

Everyone was in rare form, but Neena and Ron seemed anxious to leave on their western trip in their camper.  However, they sat still long enough to enjoy their meal.

I had a hankering for their brick-oven pizza, and ordered one with pepperoni, onions, and olives.  Man was it tasty! 

I've found that beer really fills me up quickly, so I ordered my next favorite - scotch/rocks!  It was good, but man the markup is almost as painful as gas these days!

Then there's tomorrow...wonder what I can sink my teeth into before Monday!?

A NIGHT OF HIGHS AND LOWS

The family clique, with the exception of Charlotte and Gary, our usual crowd, planned to meet at Carrabba’s Italian Grill at 5 PM tonight. Gary had a root canal done this week, so he was not up to all our frivolity and cackling! Can’t blam’em, you do have to be in tip-top shape and in the best of moods to keep up!

Anyway, Judy and I left home around 3 so we could stop by Best Buy and H. H. Gregg’s. We have decided to buy a mid-range laptop for travel, and to replace Judy’s aging Freecell and Jewel Quest machine. We began by looking at small 15” models, but have since graduated up to 17”!

We have the best luck! We were looking at a Toshiba at Gregg’s Friday but decided we should do some online research first, and then come back Saturday. We discussed stopping by Best Buy on the way out of Turkey Creek, but decided we could do that on Saturday too!

Turns out, we both fell for an HP – Pavilion at Best Buy tonight, and it was $150 off! However, with our luck they had sold all but a demo model Friday! If we had stopped, I might be sitting here configuring it right now – darn it! I asked the guy to sell me the demo, but he said they would not let him do that, since they had a thousand dollar model that looks just like it externally.

I have searched hi and low tonight and it seems this model was made specifically for Best Buy by HP. The sale is off, there are no rain checks, and it isn’t available anywhere online! So, the only thing I could do was to put the item on my “wish list!”

I’m hoping Black Friday will bring out other deals on AMD 64-bit processor and Vista 64-bit software packages!

Meanwhile, back a Carrabba’s, everyone arrived and the Knights begin ordering Yuenglings, and letting our cute little waitress pour them for us. Dang…can’t remember her name…wonder way! Anyway, I gave her one of my “blogness cards”, so maybe she’ll leave a comment!

The fellowship, as usual, was soul filling, and we all needed a fill-up…it had been a while!

The food was the only thing more filling and, as usual, perfecto! I don’t remember ever having had a bad dish at Carrabba’s.

Our only complaint, and it was because of the size of our group (6), was that we were seated near where the waiters pick up their orders. However, it too had some rewards, at least for us Knights. It was mostly the Dragons with their backs to the action that had less of a reward! I kept waiting for Chef Ramsey to come out of the back and scream some obscenity at some cook! (Just a little inside joke…Judy has gotten me into watching his shows.)

There are so many delicious sounding entrées on the menu that it’s hard to make a decision. Ron, of course, had the Grilled Salmon, fresh from some river in Italy, Judy and Terri had tilapia (Which is the common name for nearly a hundred species of cichlid fishes, so there’s no telling what they really ate!) from the Pacific covered in “wulfe” sauce, and Neena had something involving chicken I’m sure, but Steve and I had the only real Italian dishes.

Steve had the Linguine Pescatore, which is shrimp, scallops and mussels tossed with linguine in a spicy marinara sauce, mmmmm…Mamma Mia! I choose the Chicken & Spinach Cannelloni, which is stuffed with chicken, spinach, garlic, fresh herbs, fontina and romano cheese, topped with pomodoro and cream sauce! All were great choices!

As we left the restaurant, a dark cloud of stench wafted over us, and everyone looked to their right and left. Everyone was blaming the other, so we hugged quickly and left the area!

After we got home, “someone” called and confessed…Gawd; you can’t take a Dragon anywhere!

SATURDAY NIGHT ON THE TOWN

You can only hike and look for wildflowers so much. Sometimes you just have to take a break and go out on the town.

Saturday night we all met at Bonefish in Knoxville and started out with Bang-Bang Shrimp, and great bread dipped in olive oil, salt, and pepper! Then we gorged on fresh seafood like salmon, grouper, wolf fish, shrimp, and scallops! Of course it all had to be washed down with Yuengling draft!

It seems we always go out to eat somewhere each year around this time, evidenced by the arrival of young boys and girls all dressed for their local proms! We saw them same time, same place, last year, but we have also enjoyed watching them at Carrabba’s in years past. Note how the Dragons are critiquing the gowns! Oh yeah, check out the tux with the backward ball cap! Where's Mr. Blackwell when you need'em?

Another group arrived as we were standing outside, letting our food settle, so I decided to be their paparazzi for the evening. I have no idea who these people were, but some took the time to wave or smile at the camera. Oh well, it distracted me from my original intention of going next door to Maggie Moo’s for a double dip of cookies’n cream! As you can tell I didn't need it anyway!

After meeting in the parking lot to exchange magazines, and making it look like a dope deal going on out of the trunk, we made plans to meet up at Borders Book Store. There I found and bought two of Cormac McCarthy’s books. Jeff (FHB) got me started reading again by sending me “No Country for Old Men” and demanding I read it before he returns to pick it up! Well, I saw the movie, and have since finished the book, and I thoroughly enjoyed them both! I now look forward to reading All the Pretty Horses (1992) and The Road (2006).

Well, at least three of the Dragons will be back on the shopping trail tomorrow, while Steve works, Ron delivers an old bedroom suit to a local “goodwill” type store, and I mow the lawn!

However, another rest day comes Tuesday evening for Ron and me as we are set to enjoy a group called “Son Volt” at Knoxville’s legendary Bijou theater. Of course, we will stop in at the Downtown Grill & Brewery prior to show time to enjoy a burger and micro-brewed Downtown Ale!

Now be sure to follow all the links…I worked hard on them, and you might actually learn something!