my first beef on weck

I tried my first “beef on weck” tonight at, appropriately, the restaurant touted as the inventor of the famous Buffalo sandwich.

Andrew and I have been meaning to go to Schwabl’s since we first saw it after we got here. You can read all about it here, but basically it’s an old, well-known hole-in-the-wall place that is known for its roast beef and seafood. Surprisingly, neither Andrew nor his parents had ever been, so the four of us met there tonight.

One of the drinks they’re known for is called the “Ebenezer Punch,” which is a mixture of Southern Comfort, orange and lemon juices, lemon lime soda, and is only served during the summer. Andrew got one and it was tasty but tart.

We all ordered the infamous “beef on weck,” which is essentially sliced roast beef served on a kimmelweck bun. Kimmelweck buns are large hamburger buns covered in salt. You can find beef on weck sandwiches all over the place, but apparently Schwabl’s is known for starting them, so I figured it would be a good place to give it a try.

Andrew and his mom got fries on the side, as well as their vinegar coleslaw. You can see some of Andrew’s punch in the top left corner.

The place is small; it might only have ten or so tables with a bar. Seating is limited, so it’s not uncommon to have a wait at prime dinner times. We showed up after 7 p.m. and had to wait just a few minutes for some people to leave a table in the front.

The walls are covered in framed newspaper articles and plaques announcing “Voted Best Beef on Weck” from just about every local publication. What I liked the most was the customer service and homey atmosphere. Every waitress was 50+ and wore white uniform dresses, similar to a 50’s diner, but with less kitsch. The gentlemen servers and bartenders wore shirts, ties and white aprons. Everyone was more than polite and our waitress offered not once, but twice, to bring us samples of some of the sides we were debating about.

Sorry folks, had to use the flash for mine. Andrew’s dad and I opted for the german potato salad instead of fries and I didn’t regret it. Look at all the salt on the bun! Traditionally, you’re supposed to put horseradish on your sandwich. Horseradish jars sit on Buffalo dining establishment tables just like ketchup and mustard do everywhere else. I love horseradish, but man does it have a kick sometimes!

I don’t know that any of us thought it was the best beef on weck we’d ever had (it was for me since it was my first), but it’s definitely the kind of place you bring your out-of-town guests, or go to when you want that small, cozy, welcoming atmosphere. Or Hungarian goulash. Apparently they serve it on Saturdays, and only on Saturdays, for lunch and dinner. We’ll be back then.

cake, nap, quinoa

So… I had a little more than a bite of that chocolate cake. I. could. not. stop. eating. it. I had enough willpower to stop at about half, after I’d dug around to get all the yummy chocolate mousse sandwiched between the slices of cake. So, a pseudo-victory.

Within about an hour, I had succumbed to a sugar coma and ended up taking a TWO-HOUR nap on the couch. I must have been tired; I can’t sleep like that unless I am. It was like I didn’t know what hit me! It was the kind of nap in which you wake up hot, and thirsty and STILL tired.

I woke up just in time to start dinner. I made Patricia Wells’ Quinoa Salad with Spinach, Parsley and Spring Onions. I had to use a mix of quinoa and millet (another grain) since I didn’t have enough quinoa. It worked out really well; I was able to use both of them up–SCORE!

It was really yummy. I started by toasting the quinoa and millet, then cooked them in chicken stock until softened. Then all you do is pulse parsley, olive oil and lemon in a blender to make a vinaigrette, and add that to the quinoa, along with chopped scallions.

Before serving, you make, essentially, a salad dressing to toss with the spinach separately (pictured below) out of light cream, lemon juice, lemon zest and chives. I didn’t know “light” cream existed… I’d always bought heavy cream for all my cream needs. This recipe specified light cream and it didn’t occur to me until I got to Wegmans that it might be hard to find. Thankfully, it wasn’t hard at all; it was right next to the heavy cream. Go figure.

The dressing was great. Very light, lemony and chive-y. I love chives. I don’t get them nearly enough. I actually used chives from my herb garden from before we moved. I froze teaspoonfuls into ice cubes and transported them here. Freezing fresh herbs in ice cubes has been brilliant for me. I use them all the time. I’m so looking forward to having a garden next summer.

Conveniently, I had a mason jar from canning to use to shake up the dressing–sweet! I served the quinoa with some of my homemade apple pear sauce to round out the meal. We were going meatless tonight, whether Andrew wanted to or not! Actually, he noticed that tonight’s free hotel dinner was spaghetti and meatballs, so it didn’t take him long to ask, rather sheepishly, if he could go down the hall and get some. I was pretty peeved (someone back me up here), but relented if he’d wait until AFTER we finished dinner.

I had planned on serving wine with this dinner, but since we were going to be going to the last “Thursday at the Waterfront” downtown concert series event of the summer, I figured we didn’t need two alcoholic beverages in one night.

We met Andrew’s friend, Bart, downtown and listened to the concert for a little while before heading over to the Pearl Street Bar and Grill for some wings. I really didn’t want any (SO CLOSE to my goal!), but I didn’t want to be a stick-in-the-mud, so I went willingly. I chose water (instead of their awesome, seasonal BLUEBERRY beer) and ended up having just two of Andrew’s wings. I had to try them…what if they were to become a new favorite?? I won’t keep you in suspense, they weren’t. Don’t get me wrong, they were great. But nothing beats the Bar Bill and Pasquale’s, in my book.

Happy (almost) Friday!

size 4’s!

OK, so the highlight of my night wasn’t dinner, although the wheat berry dish was really good. Even Andrew liked it! (Always a victory…)

The highlight was, you guessed it…fitting into SIZE 4 shorts at J.Crew! Seriously, I never thought this would happen. Before I get too far, I will admit that I don’t really think I’m a 4; J. Crew’s sizes run a bit big, but still. They weren’t even tight! So yeah, I’m pretty much on cloud 9. Or 90.

No, I haven’t met my weight-loss goal yet, and I apologize to all my subscribers for the premature “congrats-to-me” post e-mail from late last night. With the end of my weight-loss journey coming soon (I hope! THREE pounds to go!), I have a draft of what I’d like to post that day going and I was working on it, and… accidentally hit the “publish” button instead of the “preview” button. Oops.

Let’s back up.

Today was my pilates/yoga and kickboxing day, so I spent the morning at the gym, sweating. I usually get back around 11 and then have a pretty substantial lunch after showering and getting ready. I hate waiting that long to refuel after working out, so today I grabbed an apple and a cheese stick and headed out the door on a walk with Hadrian.

Having eaten something already, I felt great and proceeded to do laundry/iron/clean-up/prep dinner for the next two hours until I got hungry again. This time it was sweet potato tortilla chips and guacamole–YUM! I love guac…I could eat it every day! Today I was craving another slice of Abigail’s leftover birthday cake, which was calling to me from our fridge. Because I’d gone so light food-wise so far (after a great workout) I didn’t feel bad indulging in the chocolate mousse cake; it was glorious.

Tonight’s dinner wasn’t the most amazing thing ever, but I thought the wheat berry salad was fantastic. I sauteed a sliced plum in some extra marinade from the chicken and white wine, then swirled some balsamic syrup on top. They came out mushy and with a bit too much bite. Oh well, there is always next time.

The chicken recipe I used was from my new Eastern Mediterranean cookbook. It was marinaded in orange juice, orange zest, white wine vinegar and brown sugar. Not bad, but not memorable either. I browned both sides of the chicken breasts in a skillet, then roasted them in our toaster oven for about 25 minutes. They came out very well cooked, so that was nice.

The star of the meal: Anna Pump’s wheat berry salad with pineapple, cucumber and mint. Loved it! It was incredibly fresh and light. The only other wheat berry salad I’ve made before is Ina’s, and it’s more of a veggie and balsamic mix, so a totally different flavor than what we ate tonight. I cut up a fresh pineapple for this (the only way to go here), and the salad also includes parsley, dried cranberries and scallions. The only dressing is lemon juice and olive oil, and plenty of salt and pepper.

After dinner we headed out to the mall since it was kinda crummy and rainy out. I had hoped to try on some shorts (since none of mine fit!) and Andrew loves perusing Williams-Sonoma and Banana Republic. Before we left the mall we shared a vanilla milkshake at Johnny Rockets, which brought back memories for Andrew of going as a child with his grandma. I was just proud we actually SHARED. All too often, I intend to share/have a few bites of Andrew’s treat, and instead am seduced by something enormous that I see on the menu. Victory tonight! As I said, I really lucked out at J. Crew and I was also able to run a few errands while we were out, so I would call the night success.

Yay for smaller clothes!