Now for the next course and we had time to savour the food and wine and chat and then restroom breaks. Walking around it is sad taht the Vineyard Room is not used more often and could be used for romantic dinners and so much more. I thought Iwas going to be the messy one. One of the ladies had thre splotches from food on her light coloured blouse.
"Formatge y Xacuteria" refers to two spanish words for shops. It means Cheese shop and Meat shop especially a ham and sausage shop.
NOW YOU TELL ME. We all thought that was something on the menu and not something to describe the menu.
The ham was good but Lord give me scissors or a sharper knife. It was good sliced Serrano style ham. The Manchego cheese is made from sheep milk and was tasty but very dry and hard. I have SID issues with cheese and prefer it melted or soft. I skipped half of it as it was not worth the dairy reaction. The left side of the plate was a pool of honey oozing from a bit of yummy soft honeycomb. Lord them olives were spicy and heartburn city. I loved the olives but my SID freaked out over the oilyness and my stomach finally said no more to the spicyness. I love good olives and so wanted to finish them off but they were just too full of oil like, not sure what. I would drain the oil then cut back on the heartburn heat. I loved them and worked around the SID snit fit roaring inside me about all that oozing oil.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchego_cheese
I loved the second dish and there was a tiny edible flower in there. Lots of little touches in the dish and presentation. They gave everyone one but me the crostini and few were eating that. one inon each side and about the width of the plate and it was like very hard french breadsstick with oil and herbs apparently. Nobody at our table ate more than a taste. It was very hard. The rolls were ok but not many were eaten. Hard as a rock crostini, glad I am gluten free.
===============================
The herb roasted chicken was served with the skin on, oh joy. It was like the chicken served at the Blue Bayou. It was good chicken but please pass the ketchup. It looked like a breast filet bu thad that drummette attached with the bone intact. Nobody knew what the Warm Sausage-Bread Salad was. We got a nice Slim Jim which shocked us as the two ladies had never heard of Slim Jim. I ate half of mine and it was very good but way to greasy spicy like a Slim Jim. It was slightly flat and long and very good but I have had the same from a Slim Jim. sigh.
All of the above was served on white bean puree island that set in the middle of the tomato onion and garlic. The lady ot my right took my yellow cherry tomatos and gave them and hers to her friend across from me. So many wine glasses. I loved the small but not pearl sized onion, ooh the balsamic vinegar, it was so good as was the garlic and onion.
==============================
Last course was basically a plain round slab of yogurt that ws nearly frozen solid especially in the middle. It had a nice berry on mine and the others got a nice cookie like thing. BLAND and wet and just like tofu. the ladies on my right said it was supposed to be that way and to mix the sauce in it. On top was a ring of white chocolate with a lobster shell pink outside. That I loved, ooh so good.
I was not going to eat dairy unless it was really worth it like ice cream or grilled cheese sandwich. It was just ok for me as my SID did not like the wet slimyness of the block of yogurt like panna cotta or whatever that was.
The coulis was a syrup like sweet puddle with a bit of berries and sooo gooood, I wish I could have licked the plate clean. Now that on vanilla ice cream would have been heaven.
We all left half an hour early as they were all tipsy and some had second glasses of wine, one lady was dreading going to work and I had my bus to catch.
=-=====================
Summation
The event went well.
Problems were that they went with one dish meals that some guests could not or would not eat. Brick hard corstini, excessively spiced and oily olives, dry cheese, serrano ham that could not be cut with the knife we had, chicken was great but it had skin on it, block of frozen yogurt, NO ICED TEA, and NO RICE for me. I cannot get out of the France one. I enjoyed the evening and the food but it was not without some major flaws like serving a tiny crustacean that few dared to try to eat with their fingers and which was just like it was alive right now to the eyes staring at you. GROSS. I wish I had some bread for sopping up the soup and another Item. It was an excellent meal and the food was always the right temperature and the staff was excellent and friendly and helpful. Stephen once even refolded the napkins into their original origami whatever shape.
=================================
Best part of my day was going into Pirates and I stopped before entering. A little boy was squatting next to dad and looked hot and sad so I asked him if he was hot. He was, he said in a worn out tired voice. I gave him a round envelope seal that looks like a sticker and the boy put it on his shirt. I then gave his dad my celebration button and the boy was happier but you should have seen his face when I gave him my Stitch plushie keychain from my
ECV basket. I told him taht Stitch was cool and would keep him cool.
I think that made my day to watch that boy perk up and feel better. It was a hot day Wednesday. botstrappers had the same female but a few new players and the Hulk Hogan wannabe lead was not there this time. Celiac meal at Carnation Cafe was hot dog bun, chopped steak and steamed cauliflower and broccoli because the salad dressing has soy. I poured on the ketchup, pepper and salt and that was all I ate as I am not a veggie fan. Next time I will bring me some fries and maybe a salad from elsewhere and some cheese. I am 98% soy free and 100% gluten free so why can't they put cheese on by steak sandwich. Part of my SID is that I love philly cheesesteaks. I love the melted cheese and cooked onions and peppers so this was the worst disappointment I have ever had in DLR dining this year. I just stared and veggies and plain steak. so sad. I think I will one day go back and will bring with me fries and sandwich fixings, and a cupcake for desert. What you think? The waitress took off the price of the iced tea so with tip it was $15.

I could have had a chicken dinner with real mashed taters for that price or two cheddar burgers and real taters. so sad and disappointed at this restaurant.


Cafe Steak Melt - Grilled beef slices, melted pepper- jack cheese and caramelized onion on grilled sourdough, served with potato salad, green salad or fresh fruit. - $10.29
.
That became:
Cafe Steak - Grilled beef slices on gluten free hot dog bun, served with steamed cauliflower and broccoli and a tiny wedge of cantaloupe - $10.29
===========================
After thought: my gluten free, soy and egg problems were addressed by the chefs as best as they could, probably. Never did they in advance address nor were they asked to address my other eating related issues such as the SID related oily olives and liquid on the plate. Never were they told not to serve a crustacean as it was when it was alive. It would have been nice to have had a neater plate and it would have been nice to have had bits of seafood instead of a bug eyed crustacean but I never said to them once all of my food issues.
Considering everything I have that limit what I can and/or wil not eat I think the meal was fabulous and I dealt with the issues very well. I would do this again and will be there for the one for France but not the others. This money for the most part came from my
STIMULUS CHECK. That was my money to play with and mom is using hers to get herself a new television with the box in it to get the channels and hopefully DVD as well.
It will be farewell friends if I do get the DVD player built into the television as she will have me in the living room so much I will never see my computer again, lol. She will be happy so that is all that matters. Plan B is find a way to stack the television and DVD player, I have one somewhere in the original box in the garage unopened, then she can have her videos all day.
Hugs Laurie
Big steps for mom and me and less computer time and more time offline with my mother. sigh, I love the computer but mom needs me so much.


You all know we are neurovariants but mom has no knowledge that she is damaged or unusual. She does not have the friends like I do on this board to help me group and change.


I am not leaving disboard but just may end up with my mom a lot more. Love your neurovariants and your elders as they are very special people. Thank God for change especially for the good of my mother and to help her.