Lamb Meatballs with Feta and Lemon

While looking for a new, tasty recipe online, we came across this interesting looking gem.  It's quite different from a lamb and cumin meatball recipe that we've used a couple times recently (to rave reviews!) so we decided to give this one a spin. 

We paired with cous cous, creamed carrots along with sauteed root veggies and kale.  Despite some technical issues on my part when putting together and some misgivings on whether the seasoning was sufficient, Country Girl gave it an enthusiastic thumbs up.  Will def give it another (and hopefully better) go in the future.  

Explosions in the Sky - San Diego

A short trip to sunny San Diego afforded the dynamic duo a chance to see Explosions in the Sky, an instrumental, atmospheric rock outfit out of Texas.  The venue was an outdoor amphitheater on the SDSU campus and really delivered.  Excellent sound, perfect sight lines and entertaining light production.  The band absolutely rocked our faces off as well.  Great energy and stage presence were definitely the order of the day.  Very highly recommended.

Of course, we made time before and after the show to indulge in some of San Diego's tasty bites.  Interesting, yummy taco options more than made up for the surprisingly consistent up-selling wherever we went.  

Chicago, UGA Game

Fortune greatly smiled down on City Boy recently.  He was lucky enough to not only visit one of the world's great cities and head back to the alma mater but he go to do so with the best possible company.  Country Girl and two dear, similarly college football inclined friends joined for the trip.  Even better, a friend who lives in Chicago joined us for the adventure to campus for gameday activities.  Outstanding weather, a brilliant food tour and an electric atmosphere on campus more than softened the blow of not finding reasonably priced tix for the game as well as the unfortunate outcome.  First leg of this season's away schedule was a grand slam success.

Kizuki Ramen & Izakaya - Northgate

We noticed a new to us izakaya on a recent visit to a different, nearby restaurant.  As we're both quite keen on tasty, tiny Japanese bites, we made a point to go back and check it out.  We went to Kizuki for a late lunch and came away mostly impressed.  The service was outstanding; attentive, informative and not over bearing.  The decor, with heavy wood tones and lots of open space, is quite lovely.    Unfortunately, it's more of a ramen place than izakaya so their non-ramen options aren't super abundant.  With that said, the dishes we tried were indeed tasty and they had an excellent nigori to boot.  Another successful meal outing and we'll likely return.

   

Citrus Salmon (Two Ways)

Country Girl once again worked her magic with another brand new to us recipe.  This Citrus Salmon (Two Ways) accompanied by rice, creamed carrots and sauteed zucchini was a big hit.  Very likely to make another appearance on the dinner rotation. 

Birthdays!

It's celebration central during summers on the Ranch as birthdays for both dogs roll around.  As always, parties were carefully planned and organized, with no detail left unaccounted for.  Hats, balloons and banners were the order of both days.  Country Girl also  whipped up some cupcakes that were a big hit with the b-day boy and girl.  While KW isn't crazy abt the hat part, he was a trooper for both celebrations. 

The D

Country Girl kindly accompanied me on a trip home recently.  I hadn't been back in a number of years and it was her first visit to the Motor City.  We took in a couple of Tigers games and I showed her around my childhood neighborhood.  Lots of Stroh's, a yummy, dirt cheap meal at a coney island and a river front stroll to Hart Plaza.  Despite sad times in the old neighborhood, the city shows surprising vibrancy in other areas.  Very much looking forward to the next visit.