Dinner and a Movie

We made it out from under the snow! Yes, after dreams by many of a White Christmas, Oklahoma city was blanketed Christmas Eve by more than 14 inches of the white stuff. It was beautiful, but it hit this town with a vengeance. After almost seven years away from the East Coast, we weren't ready for it either. Plans were changed, celebrations were moved, and families were forced to actually spend time together. It was actually quite wonderful.

However, earlier this week, it was time to dig out, hire a babysitter, and have some adult time. We met our dearly-missed Norman next-door-neighbors for a night on the town. This time it would be in our neck of the woods, so we decided to venture out to the Iguana Mexican Grill.

We had been there once before, in the summer, and we were looking forward to a return trip. We were not disappointed. We were immediately seated in a room with lots of festive folks and huge colorful paintings on the wall. Yes, this was the perfect scene for a fun evening. We started with their chips and salsa. Although the tortillas were quite tasty -- light and crispy, with just enough warmth that the salt lingered on the chip -- they themselves were nothing spectacular. But the salsa definitely was. So fresh and pleasingly pungent -- brightened with cilantro and lime juice (?) and just a hint of smokiness. We all loved it. (Admittedly, I am a wimp when it comes to heat, so others may prefer their salsa a bit hotter.)

We girls both tried Tio Pepe's Mini Tacos, from the appetizer portion of the menu.  They came four to an order, and you can pick and choose from three fillings:  ground beef, adobo chicken and wood-smoked tilapia, which was by far my favorite.  The smaller shells were light and crispy, and the fillings did not disappoint -- especially the chunky bites of fish.  Erin ordered  a good, but not great, order of guacamole on the side, and I had citrus and cilantro white beans which were a bit off the beaten path and quite yummy.  (They tasted just like they sound, lemony and bright, yet comforting, if that makes sense.) 

Eric ordered Fish Tacos (for the first time!) and said they were quite good.  Scott ordered Crispy Pork Carnitas which looked amazing ,and he devoured every bite before I could get a taste!  (I need to get better about trying my dinner partners' food if I am going to make a habit of reviewing restaurants on this blog!)  Both boys had the black beans which they reported were very tasty.

Did I mention the margaritas?  We had a picture of the "Perfects" and although I've had much better (Pearls'), we had no trouble enjoying them!  Next time I will probably go with another type, though.

It was wonderful seeing our friends, and we even made it to a movie that night.  We saw Nine, which was wonderful, but I don't think I'll start reviewing movies quite yet. 


 

Coffee and silence

It's so quiet.  Scott has taken Sam to an OU basketball game, Annie is snuggled in her sleeping bag watching Noggin, and the preteen is still asleep.  Yes, I should probably entertain Little Miss with some sort of fabulous educational game.  And Jack should be doing homework.  And I should probably get out of my pajamas and do something productive.  But it's one of those wonderful dank dreary November days where I just want to drink coffee and be silent.  So here I sit.

Annie has had a bad cold all week, so we've stuck pretty close to the house.  We did celebrate PaPa's birthday yesterday -- always somewhat of a challenge.  What do you do for a 78-year-old widower who is suffering with the early stages of Alzheimer's?  He spent the night with us, and we gave him a bird feeder for his back patio.  That just doesn't seem like enough, does it?    We also took him to dinner at Sophabella's.  We keep going there because it's close and Italian seems to be a crowd pleaser.  Unfortunately it keeps missing the mark.   Now the lobster-crab bisque is tasty -- creamy and a bit of a bite, not too too rich.  But nothing special either.   (Jack also reminded us all that we were eating Sebastian from the Little Mermaid.)

Chicken picatta was my choice -- usually an easy sell for me, but not good at all.  There was no zing -- where was the lemon?  I found only a smattering of capers -- literally only five or six of the tangy berries.  And the chicken itself was not the usual cutlet, but a very thick boneless breast like I purchase at Homeland.    Scott had shrimp linguine which I neglected to try.  (Remember, we were dining with three children and an elderly grandfather!)  He said it was fine.  The boys had calzones and pepperoni rolls that they both thoroughly enjoyed.  (Who doesn't love crust stuffed with cheese and meat?)  The marinara sauce that came along with those was really quite good -- very fresh, tasting of vine ripe tomatoes, basil and garlic. 

I think Virgil won the best menu selection of the evening.  Although the restaurant's specialty is deep dish, Chicago-style pizza, he ordered the quatro-formaggi with thin crust.  It was excellent.  Perfectly crispy on bottom with a generous, but not overwhelming, smear of pizza sauce (probably the same marinara from the boys' dishes), topped by the yummy cheeses and Italian herbs.  I will definitely stick to pizza when we more-than-likely dine there again. 

It's still cold and dreary.  My coffee cup is empty.  Guess I'll go wake the sleeping one and interact with my darling daughter.