Tag Archives: food

Empire Brewery Review

By Posted in Resturants Tagged , , , , , , , 20 Comments

There are a few highest honors you can have in my life.  A very important one is meeting my dad.  My dad isn’t scary and I don’t really know why people are intimidated by him…actually he downright hilarious.  Last week I begged Laura to come to dinner with dad and I before she left for the Cleveland marathon and I left for VA(which she rocked…you can read about it here).

empire

We settled on a local brewery at Empire Brewery in downtown Syracuse.   They make their own beer and have some of the best and most delicious bar type of food I’ve had to date.  I’ve been a few times (as to why I can write a proper LOLZ review) and gotten the Mediterranean platter, Greek salad, and feta chicken flatbread…

The reason I like their salads so much as not only do they add a ton of actual food (I’m actually not still hungry after eating), there is pita bread (+1 point), I can get multiple dressings (+1 point) and they have couscous in the salad (+1)…Not sure what these points are adding up too but it’s my review and I’ll add points if I want.

empiregrilledchickensalad

The main thing is the food filled me up and tasted good.  Oh and wasn’t expensive.  It might be a little bit of a lie if Laura and I hadn’t discussed the dessert options beforehand so that is that.  We settled upon each getting a sundae made from a special dark beer (similar to Guinness).  Wow, this was probably one of my favorite ice creams to date.  It wasn’t like beer overload but it had all the deliciousness of beer and ice cream combined.

laurandidessert

Then dad shocked the world and ordered a cheesecake.  He said it was “for the blog” (my dad routinely makes fun of my blog) and he also has absolutely not sweet tooth at all.  The cheesecake was also deliscous but left to my own I would (and next time I come to Syracuse) will get the sundae again.

dad

So would I recommend Empire Brewery?  Well if you can’t tell I don’t generally write restaurant reviews unless they have become a LOLZ staple.  (Though I know eventually I’ll write a snarky one) I think I should make a review tab at this point.  Oh and yes I would recommend Empire and I would say go big and get the sundae too.

Questions for you: Favorite flavor of ice cream?  Favorite beer? 

Cinnamon Roll Waffle

By Posted in Recipe Tagged , , , , , , , 25 Comments

Cinnamon waffles aren’t really that hard to make and don’t take a creative genius.  All you really need to do is take a plain pancake or waffle and hoard a bunch of cinnamon in it…wasn’t that easy and good? 

These are a type of waffle that I make when I’m looking for something simple…yet it looks complicated and fancy so I fool people into thinking I’m a foodie.  Good thing no one stays long enough for dinner because then they’d be out of luck.

Cinnabun Waffle

Basic waffle ingredients:

2/3 cup flour

1 egg

1 tablespoon oil

1 tsp baking powder

½-1 cup milk depending on if you like a more dense/light waffle.

2 tablespoons sweetener (I used Stevia)

2 tablespoons brown sugar

Cinnamon (I just shook it in until I felt satisfied)

To add more foodie flavor to it, I added pears on top.

To add more foodie flavor to it, I added pears on top.

 

Add all ingredients together and pour into your waffle maker of choice. 

Frosting:

¼ cup syrup (maple, sugar free…either will work)

¼ cup sweetener (I chose stevia again…what I had on hand)

2 tablespoons cream cheese at room temperature

1 tablespoon butter

I know this is unfoodie of me, but I added all the frosting ingredients into a small bowl and put it in the microwave for 30 seconds, stirred then another 30 seconds.  That is how the LOLZ rolls.

And then walaa.

Like I said, these look and taste a lot more fancy than they really are.  I have gotten it down to a science of about 20 minutes to make 2.

Questions for you:

Cinnamon buns…yay or nay?

Easiest but most foodie looking recipe you’ve ever made? 

Dates with Legends Part 2

By Posted in Breakfast, DailyMusings, Food, Personal, Resturants Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , 19 Comments

 It seems like forever ago, but really this week is really flying by due to packing and finishing up loose ends.  Hopefully whoever has them is done with finals…or doing well.  Last weekend I went to hang out with Laura in Rochester.  I honestly had one of the greatest weekends I’ve had in a long time and I’m really glad that I did.

After our nice shakeout run in the AM (and barely avoiding the rain) we headed to one of our favorite restaurants.  I know I would be a regular here if I lived this close.  Jine’s restaurant is always pretty busy when we go (but we always go during brunch time after a run on weekends) but they do serve some of the best brunch. You know how I like my omelets since I can’t cook them.  The two times I’ve been to Jimes, I’ve gotten a Lox Omelet with pita bread.

omelettepita

Both times, it’s been exceptionally good.  I don’t have too much to say other than the food was excellent (and I highly recommend it) as well as the waitress who we had was so kind and really took an interest to us.  We were literally chatting for about 10 minutes.  Even when it was busy, she made time to chat and really take care of us.

We went to the Rochester Lilac Festival, a big festival that is…well centered around Lilacs.  They had crafters, venders, food, music and even a road race…but that is next weekend.  I was really eye balling the funnel cake and fried dough but knew it probably wouldn’t be the greatest idea before a race the next day.   I love me some fried fair food but I’ll have to wait until there are some events in VA I suppose.

highlandfallslauraandi

And also went to Highland Falls, a gorgeous view in Rochester.  Am I really still in the city here?

highlandfalls

After hanging out, gossiping, shopping at target and doing stuff for a while we decided to get ready for our date at TRATA.  The Restaurant at the Armory is a tapas style restaurant that you can get a bunch of small dishes (or just one large entrée for yourself) and share with each other.

The restaurant itself is three floors tall and had some of the coolest decors I’ve seen in any restaurant.

trata

We opted to first try the duck quesadilla which was extremely delicious.  I can’t even begin to tell you how good the quesadilla was and when we had it I was more than excited to try the steak salad next.  I could have filled up on a few of those alone really.

duckquisadillatrata

The steak salad was also really good but there isn’t really a bad way to make a steak salad I suppose and with goat cheese I was in love.  My only little issue was I probably could have eaten 3 times the amount that was given.

steaksalad

But that was okay because it gave me room for the world’s BEST Guinness cake.  The cake was so rich and delicious, and I ate the entire thing (then I was full LOL).

Caught in the act. I'm not even sure Laura knew I got her.

Caught in the act. I’m not even sure Laura knew I got her.

Would I recommend TRATA?  Absolutely, the atmosphere, the service and the food was amazing.  I would say you are probably going to spend a good amount of money (our meal together was around 70) but it’s certainly worth it and a nice treat.  Heck, I would personally just go there for dessert and a beer the cake was that good.  So Guinness cake and Guinness?

All in all, I had an amazing weekend and I can honestly say that I will absolutely miss Laura to death.  (Yes, I’m sappy admitting that on my blog).  The LOLZ is a sappster.

Questions for you:

Favorite beer?

Mine is Guinness…followed by heinakin.  I’m certainly a dark brewed person. 

Have you ever been to a fair or festival?

Date with Legends Part 1

By Posted in Food, Personal Tagged , , , , , , , , , 31 Comments

I’ve had a lot of dates in the past week and I fully plan to give each person the awesome dedication they deserve.  Susan is the first.  Suzi is awesome and I was so excited to able to meet her down in Syracuse, NY at a local restaurant called The Clam Bar.

First, Suzi is awesome.  Not only has she scheduled a huge Boston Run Tribute in Syracuse (which gathered over 1000 runners in Onondaga Lake Park) but she has had a lot of great accomplishments I could brag about for ages…. But anyways since saying we had an awesome time would be a huge understatement, I’ll just leave it at that.

suziandi

We went to a nice restaurant called the Clam Bar and Grille located in Northern Syracuse.  You would never guess from the outside how delicious this place is going to be.  It’s an easily missed spot and even googling it didn’t provide a lot of results.  (Though they do have a website).   On a Friday night, it was jam packed with people though but not the type of people you would think for a Friday night bar scene.  Most of the people there were over the age of 60.  We actually waited for close to 30 minutes but that is typical on Friday’s which all our new found friends.

I decided to order the blue crab stuffed sole…because well…I had never had that before and wanted to switch it up from my typical Salmon.  The food came out pretty quickly and was amazing.  (I know great accurate foodie terms I have).  I absolutely would recommend it.

solebroccali

The other important factor that I personally take into account was how filling it was.  Obviously as a runner when you pay a lot of money for food that isn’t that filling…it stinks.  This was not the case though and I left feeling pretty full.  I won’t sit here telling you I like to eat expensive restaurants that I have to eat a second meal afterwords…ain’t nobody straight outta college  trying to pay race fees can afford that.

So do I recommend The Clam Bar in Syracuse?  Yes.  It’s a local scene with great seafood, the service was great and it’s more of my style of people (ie: the older crowd…literally).

My only sad part is that I really wish I was able to buy one of these adorable coffee mugs.  (Sell them Clam Bar!)

clamcove

After our lovely date at The Clam Bar, we decided to head over to Chuckle Berries a cute little froyo place down the road.  I honestly can’t tell you the last time I had froyo (it has to have been at least 6 months).  Chuckle Berries had great selection of flavors including my personal favorite cake battle and I also tried the caramel crunch.  The froyo was great and the toppings were pretty typical of a froyo place (fruit, chocolate, ect).  They also had homemade whip cream which is always half my froyo stash anyways.

How ice cream should be...as a side to my whip cream.

How ice cream should be…as a side to my whip cream.

Questions for you:

Favorite ice cream topping?

Cherries (I put at least 50) and whip cream.

What time do you normally eat dinner at?

S’mores Pancakes

By Posted in Breakfast, Food, Recipe Tagged , , , , , , , , 28 Comments

It hit me the other day and I thought about why on Earth I hadn’t made these before. As a child, one of my favorite desserts was a SMORE. Nothing beat roasting the marshmellows (well I tended to catch mine on fire) and squishing it between the chocolate and graham crackers.  Not that I don’t mind going out in -30 degree weather in upstate NY, but as a child it seemed like more fun in the summer.  This recipe is generally pretty easily and if you are like me (and starving the moment you come home) a quick chocolate waffle recipe always catches my eye.

Can you see I tried to do a LOLZ?

Can you see I tried to do a LOLZ?

Smores pancakes:
Basic Pancake recipe:
2/3 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ -1 cup milk
1 egg
¼ cup sweetener

Smores ingredients:
½ cup Chocolate (I actually used gheradelli chocolate chips)
2 Crumbled Grapham crackers
½ cup Marshmellows (I used mini ones because they were easier in the recipe)

Mix the basic pancake recipe together and then add the smores ingredients. Cook.

Such an easy and quick fulfillment in life, it makes me wonder why I didn’t think of this earlier!

I folded it so it be like a sandwich...you know...for fun...

I folded it the second time (could be the third or fourth time I made it actually) so it be like a sandwich…you know…for fun…

Questions for you:
Do you like smores?
I did as a child and I do now. Tim and I actually have spent a few nights drinking Guinness and making smores in the upstate weather.
Were you ever a girl scout or boy scout? (smores also remind me of my days doing that).