Cocktail Hour, a webcomic by Scraps

As part of our impromptu weekend away to visit the local winery and stock up on some favorites, Todd and I enjoyed a night at the Hotel Defuniak and dinner at their on-site restaurant: Bogey’s.

In the looks department, the restaurant is decorated very nicely, lots of sage green with white trim, draped windows and framed black-and-white images from the movie Casablanca. This was a nice touch since it’s one of Todd’s favorite films. The lights are kept fairly low for dinner and there’s a small dance floor across from which the Saturday-evening entertainment performs.

Like most places these days they have a well-arrayed martini list. My Pomegranate Martini was, unfortunately, all alcohol, no juice but I’m sure that’s how a lot of people like it. I just prefer mine tempered a bit. Todd’s Lemon Drop Martini, in contrast, was amazingly good: Citron Vodka, Grand Marnier and sour mix. I think, though, when I work on recreating it I’ll try it with lemon juice and a splash of simple syrup instead. Another interesting cocktail that we didn’t try, but that I took notes of from the menu, was the Pineapple Upside Down (vanilla vodka, butterscotch schnapps, pineapple juice and a splash of cola)–doesn’t that sound just too good? They also featured a pretty long wine list but, surprisingly, none of the wines they offered came from the local winery, not even a token bottle.

The dinner menu is pretty varied running the gamut from steak to seafood to chicken and veal. From the brief appetizer offerings we tried the Oysters Rockefeller and the Spinach and Artichoke Dip, both were tasty, portions were definitely not meant for sharing but it was a nice taste while we waited for our entrees. And speaking of entrees, Todd’s always in the mood for veal so he ordered the Veal Restauranteur (topped with ham, tomatoes and cheese) while I ordered the Catch of the Day Lorenzo (with Blue Crab stuffing and a bernaise sauce). Whereas the appetizers may have been of modest size, the entrees were more than generous.

You know, I had a dream the other night about an upscale restaurant that featured entrees at true portion sizes–talk about a dream! Inflated portion sizes aside, the taste couldn’t have been better. Both of our meals were well-seasoned, well sauced and perfectly prepared. They do have a dessert menu but I honestly don’t remember much about it–I was way too full to even think about dessert. Todd got something very chocolatey a la mode that I had a couple of bites of but that was it.

Bogey’s offers breakfast and lunch, as well, at least on certain days. It’s not unusual for restaurants to close on Mondays and, even, to have abbreviated Sunday hours but I have to admit I was a little puzzled that a hotel that bills itself as a Bed & Breakfast offers only a Continental breakfast on both Mondays and Sundays. Sundays, really? Sure, Sunday night isn’t a big travel night, most people head home that day so going Continental on Monday is probably not a big deal. But Saturday night? I would think that’s a fairly busy time for overnight guests so not offering a hot breakfast on Sunday morning seems really alien to me.

We’ll definitely go back–there’s a room that’s supposedly haunted that I want to check out, after all–but I guess we’ll have to go over after work on a Friday to try out their true breakfast.

We don’t keep a lot of packaged foods in the house–instant dinners, box mixes, frozen entrees. Partially because of my dietary restrictions and partially be cause we just like to cook from good, basic ingredients. If we don’t feel like cooking one night (it happens from time to time), it usually means going out or at least picking up take-out.

All of that to say, when we *do* have something pre-made it’s a rare occurrence and usually happens because of one of the following reasons:

• I went to the store hungry. Though even then I’m more prone to pick up snacks or some really rich cheese instead of something pre-packaged or instant mix.
• I saw something new and was curious enough to give it a try.
• I went to World Market. Something about all of the imported foods they carry just makes me want to try anything and everything they carry—I’ve yet to be disappointed.

The most recent case was a combination of the last 2, when I stumbled upon the Punjabi Butter Chicken Simmer Sauce from Tiger Tiger.

There’s usually a few other criteria if I’m going to pick up something like this. Usually it’s as real-food as possible (no long list of chemicals or preservatives), comes from a reliable source and is something that I can’t easily make myself.

This fit the bill pretty well. After trying to find a recipe that matches the awesomeness that was in that jar I’ve come to the conclusion that I might have to try a few before I find the at-home version I’m looking for. There are no cryptic ingredients  and it looked like something we might find at our local Indian restaurant which we don’t make as much time to visit as we’d like.

All it took was cutting up some chicken (we also added a couple of large-diced potatoes), browning it and adding the sauce until it was warm and toasting some naan in the oven. Making the rice took the longest but it was totally worth it and we got our usual 4 servings out of a single jar with no problem (2 for dinner, 2 for lunches the next day).

It was a nice compromise between cooking from scratch and take-out. What’s your short cut of choice on those nights when you don’t want to do too much?