A Trip to the Zoo

The first full weekend every month is Bank of America day at many museums and other public places nationwide. It's a great opportunity to explore new places plus admission is absolutely FREE! Perhaps there is a location near you: check here.

So, the first weekend of March, Brian and I visited the Phoenix Zoo and had a great time!  Here are some of the highlights.

Reason #797 why I love living in AZ: 6 days before Christmas, its 72 degrees, and I'm in a t-shirt, jeans and flip flops!

Cardinals vs. Vikings

We went to our first NFL game last night and it was great!  We had fabulous seats (thanks Dad!) in the north end zone and enjoyed the University of Phoenix stadium.  It was extra nice that they beat Brett Favre and the Vikings and are one step closer to securing a wildcard!!!  Go Cards!

Happy Thanksgiving

Here are some photos from the fun day!

Wildflower Bread Co. - The Food

The best part of our experience at Wildflower Bread Co. (WBC) last night was without a doubt the food. The atmosphere was good and with the hospitality that was shown to us, it did give that feeling of being at home, but the food will make you come back again.

WBC served a 5 course meal to us, in smaller portions to what they normally serve, to give us a sampling of their fall menu. Both Julie and I will review each course to give you a couple different perspectives.

Apple Streusel Pancakes

Brian: The caramel-praline syrup sold me on these. It was good enough to drink on it's own. It came delightfully warm with the buttermilk pancakes. It was the 1st example of the way WBC pays attention to the minor details. The currants and pecans in the soft pancakes added a nice crunchy texture. They could almost serve the pancakes and syrup as a desert, it's that decadent.

Julie: This was such a scrumptious "meal". The short stack of these pancakes include 3 - 2oz pancakes and the entree includes 3 - 3oz pancakes. We had 2 of the 2oz buttermilk based pancakes. The smell was heavenly! The pancakes had large chunks of apples, walnuts, topped with brown sugar and powdered sugar. The pancakes were light and flavorful on their own without the syrup and transformed into a fluffy caramel apple when dipped in the caramel praline syrup. The syrup was a bit sugar-y and I would be a little more cautious with it if I was actually eating this as my first meal of the day. I used a little bit of the butter on the pancakes but it didn't need it at all.

Fiery Butternut Squash Salad

Brian: This was my least favorite part of the meal, partially because I am normally not a big fan of squash. The squash itself was soft & moist, and the spice they added to the squash is a nice touch. It added that extra kick that can make food a bit more enjoyable. I thought there was a bit much of the cranberry-balsamic vinaigrette, so perhaps having it on the side might be better.

Julie: I like butternut squash and was looking forward to trying this salad. The salad had butternut squash that was roasted in maple syrup, sundried spicy corn and a great variety of greens. The salad comes with a great hunk of perfect sourdough bread. The squash had a nice "kick" to it becuase of the red pepper in the squash and it had a nice light texture. The gorgonzola added a nice tart balance to the bit of sweetness from the cranberry-basalmic vinaigrette dressing. I think though, if I ordered the salad again, I would get the dressing on the side.

Turkey & Cranberry Walnut Stuffing Sandwich

Brian: One of my favorite parts of the meal. A wonderfully thick sandwich that has every taste you could want out of one of these mini-meals. When the owner, Louis, was describing it my immediate comment was "You had me at bacon.". Yes, this Turkey Day inspired sandwich has bacon! Perfect. They also include a spiced mayo. Normally, I don't like mayo. On this sandwich...awesome. I already want another one.

Julie: The original size of this sandwich was enormous. One thing that Louis mentioned was the desire to reduce portion size and this, to me, would be one of the areas in which that could be applied. That said, the concept of this sandwich was really cool. The two thick slices of bread were really delicious and I love the concept of the Stuffing Loaf (made with carrots, celery, sage, and pecans - ready for the thanksgiving day turkey!). Then there were also small chunks of cranberry-walnut stuffing as the first layer on top of the herb mayo, which was not heavy nor overbearing. Then a few thin slices of turkey, then great quality medium sliced bacon slices, cranberry sauce and finally, another slice of stuffing loaf to top it off. I actually had to take the sandwich apart and slice off pieces of the sandwich and then eat it with a fork. The taste was a great blend of all of the tastes of a thanksgiving meal!

Butternut Squash Ravioli

Brian: I was surprised by how much I liked this dish. It's topped with a walnut cream sauce that is great for dipping the grilled garlic bread that comes with it. There's a wonderful warmth to the ravioli as well. I was impressed by how well the butternut squash worked with the cream sauce.

Julie: Again, as a fan of butternut squash, I was really looking forward to this dish as well. IT WAS HEAVENLY! The sweetness of the squash was enhanced by the nutmeg. The creamy texture of the ravioli went perfectly with the walnut cream sauce. I also appreciated the slight hint of red pepper to compliment the sweetness of the squash. I could definately eat the large portion of this dish! In addition, as a huge fan of garlic, the smell of the thick slice of garlic bread that accompanied this dish was enough to want to make me hang it from my rear view mirror. YUM!

Pumpkin Pie, Roasted Nut Pie and Pumpkin Cheesecake served with Mayan Chai Latte (Yes, they served us 3 deserts.)

Brian: It's hard for me to pick a favorite out of the deserts. Without a doubt, I loved the latte. It was another favorite out of the meal. It had cayenne pepper in it, and I felt it as the latte went down my throat. The pumpkin pie is super creamy and melts in your mouth. The roasted nut pie is great. Think pecan pie, just add 5 more nuts. Crunchy and melty at the same time. The pumpkin cheesecake is wonderful, too.

Julie: I was pleasantly surprised with the selection of desserts. I love pumpkin during this time of year and it's great when it's incorporated into any sort of dessert! The pumpkin pie could barely keep its shape because it was so creamy and fluffy. The texture was so good that it almost didn't need a crust. The Pumpkin Cheesecake was also a delight! The cheesecake was fluffy and light which I appreciated because I could have eaten the entire piece. As for the Roasted Nut Pie, I was a bit skeptical because I usually don't like pecan pie or other similar desserts. The blend of 6 nuts was nice and wasn't "sticky" like other pecan pies. I don't usually like Chai Lattes but they offered to make mine with soy milk. Besides the abundance of foam (I'm not really a coffee drinker either) the taste was good. It was a nice blend of spicy chocolate and warm goodness.

As we left, the staff of WBC gave each of us who participated in this Tastecasting event a bag with 3 loaves of freshly-baked bread: Pumpkin cinnamon, cranberry walnut and stuffing loaf as well as 3 potato rolls. From the smell, they promise to be just as good as what we've already eaten. I can't wait to go back to Wildflower Bread for another meal.

Wildflower Bread Co.

Recently, Brian and I joined a group called Tastecasting, which is a movement to help local restaurants gain publicity by word of mouth/blog/tweet/linked in. It is a great way spread the word about the great food that restaurants serve and also about a great experience with fun people! I found out about it from a friend's sister's blog and then discovered that there was one here in Phoenix. Both Brian and I joined and had a great time tonight at our first tasting. Check out the link to see if there is one in your city!

While I will post about my experience tomorrow, Brian will also post about his experience soon as well.

But first, I'd like to introduce you to the place we visited. It's Wildflower Bread Company (WBC) and they have several locations, mostly in the Phoenix area. Louis Basile, Jr. is the head honcho and is obviously quite proud of this company. It certainly shows in the big and little details.

These are just a few things that stuck out to me about his commitment and passion about creating this restaurant:

- WBC lives by the Golden Rule of serving others as you would want to be served;
- his goal was to provide a place where Phoencians could get some excellent bread and also to provide a unique, tasty, affordable meal;
- each WBC has an environment with it's own character;
- WBC is active in the community and donates all its baked goods at the end of the day to churches and charities (definately a plus for me!);
- WBC takes its perspective of abundance and uses it to help others;
- all items are baked on-site and each loaf of bread takes 3 days to fully leaven (I LOVE bread and this is really cool!)

This was our first visit to WBC and we were certainly impressed by the decor, ambiance and again, the little details that convey that they really care about their customers.

One little thing that I noticed before we dove into the gastronomic festivities, was the really nice bathroom. Now I realize that I am blogging about the food of the restaurant, but for me, an indicator of a restaurant's cleanliness and care is the condition of its restrooms.

The restroom at WBC was surprisingly nice. I expected a little, but felt as if I was walking into a restroom at a fancy place. The frosted glass doors and ceramic tile complimented the bright lighting and FREE Bath and Body Works lotion samples on the counter.

I was so impressed (or perhaps dorky enough) to take some photos of the restroom!

Each stall is behind a frosted glass door


View from the loo


FREE lotion samples (Bath and Body Works Coconut Lime Verbena)


They even have a courtesy phone in the hallway


I must say that this first impression was certainly a reflection of the standard of service from WBC.

I expected WBC to be similar to a Panera, Paradise Bakery or Atlanta Bread Co. I was pleasantly surprised to have my expectations exceeded!

Tomorrow: the feast!

We're in Arizona!

it is finally complete. well, actually it has been for almost a week now. julie & i have made our big move to the valley of the sun, phoenix!

we loaded up the penske moving truck at our old house in the nashville area, put my civic on the trailer, and made the 4 day journey via I-40 west to phoenix. our 1st stop was little rock, arkansas. we visited our friends jay & karen and their son quin right after a deluge of rain and had a great (but too short) time visiting them. after catching some shut-eye in little rock, we began our new day's journey that would end with a stop in elk city, oklahoma. never heard of it? that's ok, we hadn't either. after 8 hours of driving, as long as it had a hotel that allowed pets (since we weren't going to leave nashville without our cats panini and squigs), we were ok with the humble town of elk city. the downtown reminded us of the 1950s, with it's small storefronts and marquee theatre.

the next day we drove another 8 hours, which included my 1st time experiencing the state of texas. to me, it was a little exciting. since i had never seen it before. for julie and her parents (who were kind enough to fly to nashville & help us with the drive to phoenix), it was a little dull. we slept that night in albuquerque, new mexico. we were tired of driving by this point, but we were glad that we only had 1 more day left before arriving in phoenix.

we drove through more desert (which was pretty much the scenery we experienced since oklahoma), but after we entered arizona (yay!) we made a slight detour to the painted desert in northern arizona. one word: wow. the desert can be beautiful, and it is there. we drove through much of this national park, and at the end walked amongst the petrified wood. the painted desert marked the end of our 3.5 day relationship with I-40 west, since after that we used a few different county roads to head south to phoenix. it was a bit tricky for julie's dad to drive the penske truck (22 feet plus the trailer with my car in tow) through these 2-lane roads, but in the end he got it through and this exhausted crew of 4 was happy to see julie's parent's home at the end of the day. phoenix, here we are!

we spent the next couple days unloading the truck and generally arranging things. needless to day, it's a relief to have the big move done and to be (for the most part) settled in. it will take me a while to adjust to the heat. as of this week-end, the past 25 days were all over 100. julie & i also now have our official arizona driver's licenses and license plates. she happily purchased an arizona state univeristy plate, and i purchased a personalized plate celebrating my favorite football club, ajax amsterdam.

Ode to Phoenix

In less than two weeks, Brian and I will be moving to Arizona. We are thrilled to be moving and starting a new chapter in our lives. We are also excited to be closer to my family and their love, encouragement and support, although we aren't excited about Jay and Joely and Jalen moving to OK rather soon after we arrive. We do know this is a good and exciting chapter for them in their lives as well. We will DEARLY miss them.

As Brian and I have been physically and mentally been preparing for the move, we have been making a mental list of all of the things we are excited to see, do, experience, etc. upon our arrival in Phx.

Here is a short list of those things in no particular order:

• being close to my family, especially my grandparents
• reuniting with old friends and making new ones
• being in the desert climate
• being in the "west" where we can find solidarity with those who have more progressive views of life than the south
• attending ASU football, Phoenix Suns, Phoenix Coyotes, Arizona Cardinals, and maybe MLS games
• showing Brian all of the houses I lived in while growing up
• showing Brian the different schools I attended
• attending performances by the AZ Ballet and Phx Symphony
• having a strong support system
• spending time with my best friends
• spending time with my siblings
• swimming in my parents' pool
• exploring various parts of AZ
• exploring other parts of the west such as San Diego, San Fran, Anaheim, Portland, Seattle, Vegas
• taking Brian to Disneyland- the happiest place on earth and IMHO, much better than Epcot
• spending time in Sedona again
• hot air ballooning in Sedona
• helicopter rides over the Grand Canyon
• escaping the humidity of TN
• riding the light-rail
• going to SupperThyme/Dinner-a-Fare

That's all for now. We're counting down the days!!!

I love Scrabble and I love Shaq

So here's a great commercial:

Fragility of Life

I got an email from my younger brother Jason today.  In it, he shared about an accident that occurred in Phoenix, on one of the major interstates (I-10), on Thursday May 29th.  My brother Matt, his ex-girlfriend is the one mentioned in the article.  Her name is Che Laughing.  The young man who was killed was her roommate.  Read about it here and here.

How fragile life is...