Got any RVA farmers market photos?

If you have any photos of the local area farmers markets, please add them here.

Yesterday I went to the West End Farmers Market.

I picked up some spring onions and chives and ran into Valerie with her brand new Sweet Cheeks line of  baby skincare products.

Y'all! There are a whole slew of markets this year. Pick at least one and give some business to your local neighbors every week!

I Look Forward to Pot Luck Lunches

At work we have pot luck lunches once a month. And I get to try new foods (at least for me!). This past month, my mouth delighted in the following:

Mango puree and milk

Chicken Tandoori (B finally sent me the recipe!). Always good and always a promise of being mild (not really, but I don't mind)

and Payasam - a liquid sweet milky dessert with toasted cashews, tiny golden tapioca pearls, raisins, and vermicelli. Served warm. Heaven!

Temple, Gardens, and BBQ

Last Thursday was a very interesting day (after work, mind you). I visited the Sai Baba Temple in Goochland with a couple of friends. Very fascinating.

I then headed over to Lewis Ginter. They were open until 9 PM with jazz in the gardens. Lots of lovely flowers.

On the way home I stopped by Virginia BBQ on Lakeside.

They were out of ribs (darn!). I took home a 1/2 pint of NC BBQ pork and an order of hush puppies. The BBQ sported a wonderful vinegar sauce, but did not exude an abundance of smokiness. The hush puppies were good, but very tiny. Calling this a side order was a bit of a stretch. I would consider visiting occasionally, and I still want to try the ribs, but this would not be my must-have BBQ.

Mosaic Cafe

Last week we checked out dinner at Mosaic Cafe. The last time we had stopped by, they were not yet a full service restaurant.

Quite a few patrons munched away, including a large group of women, but the noise level was still acceptable. We were seated at a table with two chairs on one side and a booth/sofa seat on the other. We sat side by side so we could snuggle.

Our choice of wine - Frog's Leap Merlot (decent restaurant price of $46) was a bit of a challenge. We were told they were out (strike one). We ordered another merlot. We waited...and waited. Our waitress came over twice to ask about putting in our order for food. We were not ordering anything until we had gotten word on our wine choice. They finally produced the Frog's Leap.

And it was yummy.

For dinner I had:  Creamy roasted tomato cavatappi with roasted tomato cream sauce, garlic, white wine, olive oil, fresh basil, parmesan cheese, and grilled chicken. I really could not distinguish the taste of roasted tomatoes, but the cream sauce was not too rich and it coated the pasta and chicken very nicely. And I had enough food for lunch leftovers.

Hubby selected a dish from the monthly special menu: Cashew beef stir fry with roasted broccoli, carrots, red and green peppers, chick peas, onions, garlic, yellow squash, cashews and bistro beef strips, with grits on the side. Very tasty! The cheesy grits on the side were good, but seemed a bit disjointed with the main dish. This entree also gave us enough for lunch leftovers, but this dish did not heat up well the next day.

Mosaic Cafe features a lot of choices for eating (entrees, salads, sandwiches) and a cozy atmosphere. They also feature Fit 450 sautees where the meal is only 450 calories.

Photo Hunt: Addiction

My Favorite Olives

Upon discovering cerignola olives while dining at Olives in Las Vegas, I have become a huge fan of these very green, very meaty, very mild treats. I am so pleased that Libbie Market (near the corner of Libbie and Grove) carries these.

And we have a winner!

Thanks to everyone who entered the 500 + 4 = 1 Giveaway. The restaurant recommedation that made the top of the list was Aziza's on Main. I must check it out!

And Scott was the lucky winner. For his efforts he will receive a $25 gift certificate to Tastebuds, one of my favorite dining spots. Scott - the prize is in the mail. Enjoy!

Weekend Round Up

Lots of activity this weekend. On Saturday we shopped for furniture. If anyone out there is aware of a pair of cool oval, round, or triangular bedside tables - contemporary or whimsical, let me know. I've had no luck.

We popped by the French Food Festival supporting the Little Sisters of the Poor. While the beef burgundy was tasty, it was ordinary.

The Cream Puffs based on Sister Teresa's recipe were incredible! It will be worth returning next year just for these.

In the evening we headed to The Diamond for Flying Squirrel action. On the way, we paused at Kitchen 64 for a margarita. Kithen 64 makes them with Sauza Gold tequila. I have always liked this brand for making margaritas. It retains the tequila essence (hint of licorice and black pepper) despite the sour, lime, and orange mix. Yummy!

During the game, we tried the BBQ - okay, but no great shakes and Dominic's brats (good, as usual). A word to the wise - if you want food at The Diamond, get to the game early. The lines were horrendous! Our friends elected to eat peanuts (Virginia Diner brand, I'm pleased to report) for dinner becuase the game would have ended before they got dinner.

I thought I had read that the vendors would also serve wine as well as beer. No wine to be found, so I stuck with Coke.

We were pleased that our team won and we met Nutzy.

While I have not found any bedside tables, I did fall in love with a chair for the office. We brought it home today. A big shout-out to R-Prime for the use of his truck. I hope you enjoy the Chateau Meyney!

And we enjoyed some burgers and fries at Five Guys.  We both like bacon with our beef - me with cheese, grilled onions, and ketchup; hubby with A-1 sauce (remember steak burgers?).

Nice weekend.

Photo Hunt: Covered

Best Doughnut in Town

I finally had me some Country Style Doughnuts today thanks to a co-worker. OMG! Yeasty, sweet, fried. Mmmm Mmmm. The plain ones stole my heart

I'm not sure why I did not try them earlier, but they are the best in town.

Dinner and a Movie

We visited Coppola's yesterday  -

We ate Industrials with no tomatoes -

We drank limonata -

And then we went to The Byrd -

Bob Gulledge performed an awesome version of Seventy-Six Trombones on the Mighty Wurlitzer -

And Avatar was pretty decent, too.