#74 - Buy a crepe at Sofis and enjoy it during a movie at the Charles Movie Theatre

After a wonderful foodie day, there's always room for one more - particularly when you are having a sweet crepe and about to enjoy the amazing Harry Potter (book seven, part one). Since we were very early for the movie, we tried to get extra credit with going to Tapas Teatro for drinks before the movie. (ok - we really don't need extra credit at this point but who is going to turn down great sangria?) Tim's friend's Jim and Kristin who had joined us for the foodie apps were along for the ride and fun movie (and, of course, movie popcorn).

So, there are too many crepes to choose from but we chose stellar ones - basically the one that tastes like apple pie (what's not to like about that?) and nutella and peanut butter (nothing wrong with that one either!) The apple pie one was much easier to eat during the movie, but the other was delicious too. Hard to pick between them for favorites.

Oh, and the movie was great.

#42 - Discuss a bottle of wine with Tony Foreman at Cinghale

OK - have we mentioned here before how many times we have ventured to Cinghiale to try to find Tony Foreman to check this one off the list? Probably not because blogging has been not as stellar these days (timing - we are too busy eating and drinking!!) After many tries, we wandered into Cinghiale fully prepared to stalk Tony Foreman until we could meet him and check this one off the list. Fortunately, Sara was early and had a better idea when she opened up the menu. Since Tony had left for the night, and apparently is headed out on vacation soon, what about asking the Sommelier for a suggestion? Almost as good as talking to Tony himself we reasoned.

So, because of the aforementioned times spent at the bar at Cinghiale, we enlisted our favorite bartender Clark to see if we could speak to Lindsay Willey, Cinghiale's Sommelier. Fortunately for us, we felt like we hit the jackpot. Heather wanted a wine from the Piedmonte region (and Sara was far too indecisive) so Lindsay laid out our best options. And, she helped us pick a great one. A Barbera d'Alba Conterno. So smooth. So delicious.

In picking the wine, she wanted to know all about the foodie quest. Now that we are up to 95, we are starting to feel that it is an accomplishment. And, its getting even more fun to talk about. We told her that she was filling in for Tony and we were prepared to cross it off the list (totally justified because we felt we had a good wine conversation - i.e. no idea what she was talking about!) But, she thought Tony would be interested in coming back to speak with us.

Since we know my blog posts are far too long, I'll cut to the chase. He did come back to the restaurant. Had a great conversation about wine (where Sara realized that she knows nothing about sparkling wine because she likes cava but Heather knows a ton because she has been to the Champagne region!) He was impressed by our wine selection (for which of course we credited Lindsay). When he found that out, he wasn't surprised at all - after all - he trained her! Really great conversation. Very good #96 on the list.

PS - While we had ordered some antipasti, he mentioned to the bartender that we really needed pasta with the wine. Little did we guess that in a few moments, the bartender would arrive with some of the most delectable pasta! And very worthy of the foodie list!! Pasta stuffed with mushrooms with shallots and spinach in an amazing sauce. Perfectly complimented the wine. What was already a spectacular night just got even better!! Thank you Tony, Lindsay and Clark!

Now I guess we have to catch up on other blog posts - but how do you top this?

#55 - Tamales from the truck on Broadway

Sara and Heather decided to duck out at lunch and head over to the tamale truck on Broadway in Fells. Not a lot of vegetarian options and no veggie tamales, so, went for the veggie tortillas. Nopales (cactus paddles) for Sara and beans for Heather. Mighty tasty! Since it was pretty cold out, they were quickly consumed in the car. Worth a return trip - perhaps in the spring!

#74 - Crepes at Sofis while at a movie at the Charles

Dec. 18 - Crepes & Movies

Heading down to the wire, but we think we're going to make it, or get awfully close!

Sara, Heather & Tim (and two special guests) trekked up to Mt Vernon/Station North arts district on a Saturday night to grab some crepes & see a movie. Well, we did a quick detour to Tapas Teatro for Sangria in a to-go cup and then off to Sofis. Sara and Heather went for the Apple Cinnamon and Nutella/Peanut Butter crepes, to split, of course. Kinda messy to eat during the movie while it's dark, but we managed with a lot of napkins. (Oh and for those that care, the movie was Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows, Part 1.)

#32 Red Canoe for Savory Muffins

Dec 4 - Red Canoe in Lauraville, Savory Muffins

Sara and Heather drove up to Lauraville (12/4 was a busy day) to check out Red Canoe. Definitely worth a return trip. Cute little bookshop and coffee shop. Great muffins - spinach cheddar (amazing!!!!), too bad we only got one. There was a bacon quiche muffin we brought back for Tim & Kent for sustenance before the big trek out to Smokey's. Also had a pumpkin spice, blackberry cobbler and apple/mango, with just enough "muffin" to hold it all together. They were all as good as they sound. Fabulous coffee, too - great lattes and they have their own Red Canoe blend. It also happens to be right around the corner from Zeke's coffee (they weren't open when we were there). Muffins were huge, so we had plenty to bring to Cathy's so there was some food other than 20 dozen cookies to be baked. (So, indirectly, Cathy, Julie, Lauren, Janna, Shelly and Donya were a part of this one.)

A super enjoyable day. And, getting down to the wire of the list, we just might make it. The holiday party is going to be an interesting catch all of list leftovers. Stay tuned!

#50 Cream of Crab at Smokey's BBQ in Carroll County

Dec 4 - Smokey's in Carroll County

Sara, Kent, Tim & Heather drove all the way out to Carroll County to Smokey's on Liberty Road. It's a BBQ joint with some pretty good soup, they only serve their famous cream of crab soup on Fridays & Saturdays. We arrived around 1pm on Saturday, about the same time some folks were done with the morning hunting. Yup, it was us city folk and a few groups of men in camouflage (one had white sunglasses, didn't quite go with the hunting gear, but to each his own). Saw some blaze orange, too. The bbq was pretty good - the junior sandwich was on ok size, but Tim insisted on the extra large, with his bowl of soup. Good, not sure if worth the trip, but was a fun diversion on a crisp, sunny Saturday. Something different.

(photo soon)

#41 All You Can Eat @Vaccaro's

Dec 6, Vaccaro's on a Monday

Sara, Gautam & Heather braved the cold to head to Vaccaro's for all you can eat dessert on a Monday night. We should have known we'd be in trouble when the waitress warned us that the most "successful" people order smaller desserts first and then see what else they want. She said they generally bring the next dessert after finishing one "round." Well, we ordered tiramisu (asked to bring a smaller than usual piece), apple streudel and cream puffs stuffed w/chocolate hazelnut gelato (baci ball). Doesn't sound like too much, right? Um, actually, this was WAY over the top. The streudel was loaded with vanilla ice cream and a plate's worth of whipped cream. The cream puff was just as big - 3 cream puffs with like 10 scoops of gelato. Needless to say, we ate all we could, but that didn't include multiple desserts for each of us! We did find a smidgen of room to try the mini cannolis (basically any other bakery's normal cannoli!). Heather liked the filling, Sara prefers the shell. Those were barely touched. Vaccaro's 1, Gautam/Sara/Heather 0. Not sure if this is a repeatable outing. Definitely worth returning for dessert, but not on a Monday! And, not all you can eat - just too much! [The waitress took pity on us and didn't charge us the full price for the all you can eat, just the individual desserts.]