When Jeannene arrived home from work on Tuesday, she was ready to go poke around the grocery and see if there was anything interesting we wanted to add to our Thanksgiving feast. I still needed some fresh sage and we hoped to find some turkey-shaped butter, too. We went to Whole Foods first (and enjoyed the festive holiday lights at The Village of Rochester Hills) and enjoyed a Michigan craft beer (Jeannene) and a hot mint tea (me) as we walked around. Then, we went to Trader Joe's and picked up a boxwood wreath for the front door and some ilex for me to add to it. We also sampled their scrumptious coffee + cocoa and bought a can of it. Next up was Busch's, where we found the kale for my kale salad.
By the time we were finished, Jeannene was terribly hungry, verging on hangry, and I knew I should feed her soon. Mostly, though, I think she just wanted to get home because she'd been at work quite early and also because our oldest was due in at 11 or so. She hates when I drag her all over the place to find something cool to eat. Even the wonderful lights in downtown Rochester didn't feel worth it, I don't think, to her and she was distinctly irked with me for dragging her to The Rochester Mills Beer Company However, once we had entered the restaurant & brewery, located inside a former knitting mill, she was pretty impressed. There were plenty of tables in the wood and brick dining room and she certainly liked the look of the stainless steel beer vats.
It was hard to decide which of all the delicious options to choose. We finally opted for buffalo mac & cheese bites for an appetizer. Mac & cheese bites are one of those things I always think are going to be terrific and which are almost always disappointing. The first time I ever had them was at the Winking Lizard Tavern in Avon, Ohio, and they were off the hook. I think they must have used seriously sharp cheddar for them, because they were so very flavorful. I have never yet had them that good again. Generally, they're depressingly blah. I thought the "buffalo" qualifier on these would help, but, unfortunately, these fell on the blah side of the line. Ah, well, didn't need the calories, fat, carbs anyway.
For dinner, Jeannene settled on shepherd's pie and I chose Hungarian goulash over spaetzle. The shepherd's pie was enormous and quite yummy! My goulash was quite good, as well, and the spaetzle were a nice touch. The German pasta seems to be a food trend these days. I'm seeing it in more and more restaurants, not all of which get it right. I've had some pretty gummy versions. This was well-executed. Once we'd eaten, Jeannene was very chipper and really enjoyed the Christmas lights outside, too! Now, she's trying to talk our oldest into going there tomorrow for his birthday dinner. He sounds like he'd really like to go to Maggiano's Little Italy, but Union Woodshop is a possibility, as well.
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