birthday rainbow in the morning

But wait! Wasn't this photograph shown yesterday???
Yes, it was, but it's pertinent once more. You see, this was breakfast today! I heated that lovely rainbow in the frying pac, then placed it on a bed of fresh spinach, and put all of that between two slices of lightly toasted bread. While I waited for it to heat, I nibbled the rest of the corn.
What an awesome way to start the day!
After consuming the rainbow, I decided to mow the front yards.
Yes, that plural was deliberate and not some odd slip on the keyboard.
Front yards.
Mine and my next-door neighbor's.
By coincidence, he and I have the same birthday, but in different years, with him being just a few years older.
It's been my habit of the past few years to mow his grass for his birthday.
Well, let me amend that.
Around the time of our shared birthday, whenever I cut my front yard's grass, I also cut his.
His work schedule is quite erratic, allowing little time for such inane chores as mowing the green carpet provided by Mother Nature. My schedule is all over the map, too, but I'm in the neighborhood more often than he is. So, one year a couple of years ago, when I was out in the sun making my yard presentable again to the world at large, I chose to surprise him with conquered weeds.
And so I did.
Then I went off and did whatever was on my summer schedule for the day.
The next day, he made a point of coming over when he saw I was home. "Did you mow my yard?" He had asked his yard guy and he had spoken to the neighbors, trying to assess how he had been graced with a lovely yard after a hard day at work.
I admitted I did so, as his yard was so small and my mower had plenty of charge and I had been caught up with the opportunity to do him a favor.
He was quite touched.
That weekend, while I was gone, he edged my front yard when he did his.
And so it has been ever since. I mow his grass, he edges my yard.
Just the front yards, please. Who cares how the back yards look? Right?
So, today, almost two weeks after our birthday, I finally had the opportunity to keep up my end of our gift exchange.
Between my schedule and that of the rain, I simply have not had the combination of time and dry grass needed. Today, the forecast called for rain in the afternoon, but there had been no rain yesterday. That meant the morning grass was dry.
So now the deed is done!
We both have manicured lawns fronting our houses!
I am clean and heading to Bluffton for the day, so... later!!!

Bonefish for my birthday, daddy-o

She's a beauty, ain't she?
That grilled Rainbow Trout took up better than half of the plate, topped with lime tomato garlic sauce - scrump-diddly-itious, as Ned Flanders might say!
The grilled Corn on the Cob is a brand-new item at Bonefish Grill, just added this week. It has an essence of mint to its inhaled fragrance - very nice change of pace and completely surprising!
The mixed veggies added a nice splash of color to the presentation, as well as a mild taste to accompany the fish. Well done, y'all!

I partook pretty well of the bread and olive oil, so I wasn't able to eat all of my dinner.

Nor was I able to feast on the free Bang Bang Shrimp, given to me for my birthday by the good folk at Bonefish. That's okay -
I ordered it "to go" and will enjoy it another day!

I didn't have any room for dessert, either. The PBJ Bread Pudding was a thing of the past, alas.
But they did surprise me with a gift box of two artisan chocolates, one milk and one dark. That was new!!!
Many thanks!
And I think I'll have that piece of fish for breakfast tomorrow...

more birthday lunch from Carrabbas

Okay, I admit it: I made the mustard greens and the pasta.
But the iced tea? That was from my earlier birthday lunch at Carrabbas.
The same is true of those two lovely centerpieces on the plate, the two pieces of prosciutto-wrapped pork tenderloin. Delicious!

I think I just may go to Bonefish Grill tonight to collect my birthday reward... and check on PBJ bread pudding for dessert!

happy birthday from Carrabbas

Woohoo! More free lunches for me!
Yes, I meant for that plural to be there.
You see, the birthday coupon from Carrabbas' Amici Club allowed me to deduct $10 from an entree...

... with the purchase of a second entree, of course.
Perhaps that addendum is to encourage someone else to come and share the meal.
That is not how I worked it.

Remember? I like to celebrate my special day over and over...
I did at least try two dishes I had never had before.
"New to me", don't ya know!
This is the Wood-grilled Chicken, accompanied by the superbly garlicky spinach and the Mama Mandola's Sicilian Chicken Soup.

Also, I tried a dish that was new to them, too!
Prosciutto-Wrapped Pork Tenderloin, in a port fig sauce -
oh, my!!! Totally delectable!
I paired it with the House Salad and Vegetable of the Day, aka broccoli with red pepper and garlic.
Perfect!!!

The soup and salad came out together, as I had requested. Lovely! I ate every last bit of both of them, as well as some of the fresh bread with the olive oil.
You bet! I love that stuff!!!
Then my two entrees arrived, with perfect timing.
Yes, I did order it that way and Dalton made sure I got it my way! I wanted to try the food fresh from the chef, not after it had spent time in my refrigerator. Fresh, that was the key!
Fresh it was, too! And oh so tasty!!!
I ate only one of the three pieces of pork tenderloin, but I ate all of the veggies on that plate. Yum! The pork will be delightful for another meal!
Then I ate a couple of bites of the chicken breast, as well as some of the spinach. I knew the spinach would reheat as good as new, especially piled on top of the chicken. More yummy leftovers!
Dalton boxed it all up for me.
Would there be anything more?

Well...
now that you mention it...
This is a birthday dinner...
And I did eat all of my veggies...
So I ordered the Tiramisu...
Oh, so very rich!




But maybe not as good as that I had in Italy two years ago with the future nurses and health professionals...
(smile)
... which we made ourselves at the cooking school in Siena.
(smile)
Everybody's Mama makes it differently, don't they?

them ribs! them ribs! love them ribs!

This is my free birthday gift from
Texas Roadhouse:
a Sidekick (Half Order) of
Fall-Off-The-Bone Ribs,
brushed with their very own barbeque sauce.

This is those same ribs,
after a light stroke across the top with a knife to break them up.
Seriously, the meat
fell off the bones.
Just like they said it would.

And this is all that was left of those tasty ribs.
Bones, bones, bones!
I even nibbled the marrow at the end of each one!
You see, I am a flat-out fool for good ribs.
And these were superb!

I'm glad I selected the Country Veg Plate as my entree.
I got a bowl which was slap full of steamed carrots and broccoli,
another bowl with Southern-style green beans,
and a baked sweet potato sprinkled with brown sugar and cinnamon.
I regarded that as dessert!

Oh, and let's not forget about the House Salad!
Nice hearts of romaine, fresh greens, chopped egg - heck, it could stand in as a lunch on a summer day!
And that was even with me omitting the cheese and croutons, y'all.


Was it enough food?
Oh, yes. I even brought half of the sweet potato home with me.
How about the atmosphere?
Definitely a party, but family style fun. There were a few songs that a group of the waitresses would two-steo to and my waitress, Samantha, was friendly and chatty as I neared the end of the meal.
She knew to leave me be while I was attacking the ribs!!!
(smile!)

Before the meal, I went to "The Other Woman", the latest Cameron Diaz movie, with Don Johnson as her dad. What a hoot! I had put off going, concerned that it might be more ridiculous than fun.
That was definitely a mistake on my part. I was in such a good mood after so much laughter!
It was the perfect prelude to my meal, after a nice walk around the mall.

After the meal, gorged on rib meat and veggies, I partook of "The Railway Man", the post-World War II film with Colin Firth and Nicole Kidman.
Excellent.
Truly it was.
Even though it made me cry.
I think I cried mostly because it was a true story of two men and forgiveness.

And it occured to me that I had actually seen the movies in the right order.
Not the order in which I wanted to see them, mind.
I had thought seeing the war film first and the funny movie second would be the way to go.
No.
If the showtimes had allowed me to do that, I would not have been in the elated mood I was for my dinner.
I would have been sad and maybe even a little weepy.
That would have made for a totaly different dining experience for my birthday meal.

I am thankful for the coincidences which came into play for my benefit.
I am truly blessed!!!
i thank You, God.

accidental fish & shrimp birthday

Many thanks to Landry's Select Club for my free lunch today!
As I was in Daytona, I chose Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. to redeem my $25 gift from them!
This Sparkling Mango Lemonade was perfect for a warm spring day on the beach!
Aaaahhhh!

The crisp, cool salad was the perfect starter, too.
Balsamic vinaigrette added the right amount of dash to perk it up, but not overload the taste buds.
Crunch, crunch... good!

Yes, you ARE seeing that I am having my dessert with my entree!
Mama's Bread Pudding, sans the lactose-laden ice cream, with that delicious sauce on the side - wow!
Accidental Fish & Shrimp was perfect for a seafood lover like me - grilled mahi and scattered sweet shrimp - yum!
And, as I found out, that bread pudding's sauce is very good with the delicate flavor of the fish. What a serendipitous discovery!
Happy early birthday to me!