DINNER: Sunflower cafe

Sunflower's Web site

I’ve heard about this place for years (mostly from the teachers at little C’s school) and after hearing that DC was going to skip a week, I decided to give the Sunflower café in Fair Oaks a whirl. I had heard AMAZING things about this mostly vegan place, so I asked Bernadette to join us so she could weigh in as well. This place is a kin to a drive-in — picnic tables outside and one long family style table inside the place. It’s super cute, just be prepared for the picnic style dining and take a look at the weather before you go since it's mostly outside. The menu includes things like veggie burgers, burritos, smoothies and the like. I had the black bean burrito — simple and natural; and it hit the spot. Just as you would expect, it was filled with black beans, sprouts, bosmotti rice and other natural goodies. Claire opted for the kids bean and cheese burrito - which came with a drink and a fruit leather. Our entire meals cost less than $10! Sweet. We began our dining adventure outside, where two rather large roosters greeted us. I don’t spend a lot of time in the city of Fair Oaks, but it seems that chickens, roosters and turkeys walking around is a daily and common occurrence around town. So, at first miss C liked the roosters.... until one jumped up on the table and snatched a piece of her burrito right out of her hands! Then, we promptly moved to the table inside that was rooster-free. B had the falafel which I had a bite of and determined was excellent. Be on the look out for her blog on this place. We will definitely be going back — but will keep the roosters in mind when we choose our seating!

DINNER: Mulvaney's

Mulvaney's Web site

We finally got around to checking Mulvaney's out. The first and last time there was at the pubcrawl where they were making their mozzarella right in front of us. Had to go back. We finally did, and we spent and ate more than we do anywhere we go! Talk about gluttons! We should have been in the movie "Seven" where the fat guy got bounced/offed. Anyhow- we started with Prosecco, beer, pea shoots, and posole. The posole was awesome and they were kind enough to split the order into two bowls. The pea shoots were interesting but highly pricey at $11 and very skimpy. Would skip next time. We then had the pork belly and scallops, lamb, and a pasta dish with mushrooms. All were excellent; the small plates were generous. The pork belly scrumptious. The red wine, an old vine zin, went well with all. The decaf coffee was the best I've ever had. The only loser of the meal was our dessert; we misordered. Will order the ding dong next time. Why did we pass that up?

Dinner Club Recap: The Gang is all Here

So it was the first dinner club in a while with the gang all back together. This time of year is always tricky – 70s during the day but back down to the 40s at night still means you might be in the mood for some warm comfort food. Well, in trying to balance the Spring tastes I turned to my friend’s blog www.everythingrachaelray.com for some inspiration, which is where I found the main course. You should check it out! I started with just a simple Spinach dip served with sliced baby cucumbers and assorted colored pepper strips. Dinner was cheese tortellini with roasted tomatoes and green beans with fresh mozzarella and basil. Next time I would definitely add more roasted tomatoes (they were SO good) and less cheese tortellini. I forget how filling tortellini can be, a few really go a long way. But, I always get worried that I never serve enough food at DC, hence the hearty portion. I liked the veggie combo - you throw in the green beans during the last two minutes that the tortellini is cooking - just enough to cook but still leave the crunch. Plus, this dish can be accomplished in one pot! Always a plus. I served this with garlic bread and a mixed green salad with dried cherries, crumbled blue cheese and almond slices. Dessert was fresh cantaloupe with raspberry/pineapple sherbet - I couldn’t contain my excitement for the warmer weather in the months to come!