Happy Tuesday!
I don’t think I have ever been more excited for a day to be over. I don’t mean for that to sound negative, but it’s true! Today I turn in my final accounting project, give my final presentation in my marketing class and have my second to last photojournalism class. Once Tuesday becomes Wednesday, I only have two small assignments left in my college career. Now you see why I’m excited?!
I’m also looking forward to getting back into a regular blogging schedule. I’ve been going through my days thinking, “ooh! I want to tell the blog world about that!” but I knew I needed this time away to get my work done. Thank you all for understanding – not that I expected anything less, but your kindness always amazes me 🙂
Ok, so this topic is becoming more and more antiquated since the trip was almost two weeks ago, but I’m glad you enjoyed Part One of my St. Louis trip! Here now is our Saturday adventures!
Meet Me in St. Louis: Saturday
I woke up on Saturday morning to the most amazing smelling homemade breakfast! Lisa and her husband really outdid themselves! Lisa was in charge of the broccoli quiche. She baked it in the oven and it came out fluffy and full of flavor from the special type of cheese she used (the name escapes me…sorry!). I forgot to ask her for the recipe, but I will try to get it and update you when I do.
Lisa also put some AmyLu chicken sausages on the griddle. I love AmyLu! These were the apple + gouda, which are tied with the andouille sausage as my top two favorite flavors.
And, last but certainly not least, Lisa’s husband whipped up the most intense batch of waffles I have ever had. (No offense Mom, if you’re reading!) These were whole grain banana-walnut waffles, and they were absolutely bursting with flavor and a nutty “crunch” in every bite.
To make them, Lisa’s husband used the Whole Foods 365 Organic brand whole wheat pancake mix and threw in whole bananas and a handful of walnuts. I am definitely going to have to recreate these!
Breakfast was filling and completely satisfying. Afterward, Lisa and I got ready and headed to a small farmer’s market near her house. They had live music and some fun booths that had fresh strawberries, garden plants and fruit butters. There was also a Great Harvest booth, and we were able to sample some delicious bread! I believe it was called “Breakfast Blast” – it was awesome, whatever the name 😉
After our trip to the farmer’s market, Lisa and I were very girly and went to get manicures. It was the first time I have gotten one since high school, and I forgot how nice it is to have pretty fingers! I chose OPI Done Out in Deco, which was completely unlike anything I’d usually wear. It was a lot of fun.
We visited with my other cousin’s kids for a while, and then it was time for lunch. Lisa told me about a great sushi place she had gone to recently called Sapporo, so that made the decision easy! Once we were there, we decided to get a couple of plates to share.
Our first plate was a smoked salmon-avocado roll with four pieces of nigiri – two with salmon and two with tuna. I am not usually a fan of tuna, but this was great! I enjoyed the nigiri and especially loved the sushi. Honestly, I think I could have sushi for every meal and be a happy camper.
We also got a Philly roll, which was essentially the same as the smoked salmon-avocado roll, but with a small piece of cream cheese thrown into each bite. Finally, we also had my ultimate favorite, the California roll with crab. Just looking at this picture makes me hungry!
After lunch, we headed back to Lisa’s and spent the rest of our afternoon lounging around, looking at photo albums and watching the movie Valkyrie. Eventually, we got prettied up again and went out to a music bar near their house, which is owned by a friend of Lisa’s husband. We listened to music…
And Lisa and I also may have had one or two of these peach martinis…
No, those are not both mine!! But I did have two 🙂 They were so good!! We decided we also needed some sustenance with our drinks, and since I had mentioned that I had never tried the infamous St. Louis specialty, toasted ravioli, we decided to order some for the table.
Ah, it was a little slice of heaven 😉 I mean, c’mon, it’s breaded RAVIOLI…does it get much better? Seriously though, they tasted a lot like mozzarella sticks, and I am very glad I finally tried them.
After listening to more music and doing some dancing (Lisa’s husband took some very funny videos, but I will spare you!), we headed to our final destination for the evening: Dewey’s Pizza.
This place was great! They have windows looking into the kitchen so you can actually see the chefs tossing the pizza dough, which was so much fun. They also have really great salads, so we decided to order the Candied Walnut and Grape salad to share, which came with a mix of field greens and romaine lettuce, candied walnuts, red grapes and Gorgonzola cheese, tossed with Dewey’s Citrus Basil Vinaigrette. I had roughly 1/3 of what you see in the picture.
I love salads! Especially when they have gorgonzola or bleu cheese on top 🙂 Then it was time to order the pizza. We ordered a big size and definitely could not finish it, but it featured pepperoni, black olives, artichokes, spinach, and cheeeeeese 
It was quite the night for pizza + pasta, no?
We left the restaurant feeling stuffed to the gills (at least I did!), but very happy. It was a wonderful day! My cousin really knows how to plan a trip 🙂 We got back to her house and talked for quite a while, then hit the hay for another night of sleep before our big day on Sunday!
And that, my friends, was a long winded “Part Two” recap of my trip! I hope you enjoyed it.
GIVEAWAY WINNER!
Now the reason most of you probably are reading this post 😉 We have a winner of the PB Charm Giveaway! There were 146 entries in all, and using Random.org, the winner is…
Here are your random numbers:
39
Timestamp: 2009-06-02 14:26:17 UTC
After doing the counting, that means that the charm goes to…Joanna!
This is so cute! I love all the nut butters (and PB2) on your blog. Have fun in St. Louis. I go to college there, so I know there are plenty of foodie spots to enjoy!
Congratulations, Joanna! Please send an email to eatingbender@gmail.com with your address so that I can get the charm to you! And as a bonus, you have also won a jar of Peanut Butter & Co. Dark Chocolate Dreams! I thought it was a fitting addition to the prize package 😉
Don’t forget, you can always order your own charm by visiting Mara’s blog! Thanks so much to her for giving me the opportunity to host this giveaway!
Around-the-Blogosphere
- My good friend Karla, who I officially met recently, has started her own blog to document her summer internship at a big-time fitness magazine in NYC! Check it out here!
- I got to meet up with Mara and another foodie friend this weekend! You can read all about it in this post. It included Whole Foods hot bar…yum!
- Congrats to all of the runners who ran half marathons, marathons and other races this weekend! You know who you are 🙂 You are all such go-getters and it is very inspiring!
My Google Reader has been at “1000+” all week long 🙁 Le sigh! I’m keeping them because I can’t wait until the moment where I am done with my major projects and can spend my time catching up on what’s been happening in the ‘sphere! I will “see” you all soon, I promise!
I’m out,
All that food looks so delicious! I’m now craving pizza…waffles…and sushi 🙂
Congrats! You’re almost done!!
deeelicious eats! the peach martinis look lovely. just enough to get a little buzzed 😉 pizza + toasted ravioli = italian food heaven!
Boy do I love to go to new places and try new foods! All your meals look delicioso! The sushi looks so yummy!
so much to sayyyyyyyyyy!
a) I am so happy AND PROUD of you for almost being done with school! Keep chuggin!! You are SO CLOSE!!
b) Hurrrrrrray for amazing food!! I haven’t had an AmyLu, ever?! I always grabbed the TJ’s instead……..wait that’s a lie, I tried their tiny breakfast sausages once and quite enjoyed them!!!
c) Sushi loooks INCREDIBLE, as does the ravioli puff puffs and the beautiful SALAD and pizzzza. DIE.
d) CONGRATS TO JOANNA
e) is for EATING BENDER… one of my best bloggin pals!
mad loveeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
gluck with the rest of your to-do list!!!!!
Peach martinis . . . get me there! Glad you’re enjoying a well-deserved break!
oh the food and drinks look delicious, jenn!
Great to see a post from you! I can only imagine how thrilled you are right now!!!! Enjoy every minute of the end of college 🙂 :).
Love part 2 of the St. Louis trip. What a fabulous breakfast- please, please get the egg/broc casserole recipe. I want a peach martini and a ravioli right now!
Good luck today 🙂
Love this post! SO much fun packed into one post- can it get any better? 🙂 Congrats to Joanna!!
Keep at it with school you are almost there!!!
There is some GREAT food in this post, Jenn!!! I think it’s time for me to pull my lunch out after drooling over these dishes!
So. So. So. So. CLOSE. to being done. And it will all be worth it!
good luck with the rest of your school stuff – your trip sounds like SO much fun! Toasted ravioli and peachy drinks? Sign me up.
You can do it!!! So close!
sounds like you had an amazing time!
Those waffles look perfect.
I thought that breaded ravilois tasted exacted like mozz sticks too. but they were definitely fun to try.
That looks like a perfect pizza!
Ahh you’re so close to being done – one more day!! YAY! Isn’t it funny how blogging has gotten so ingrained in daily life?! I do the same thing with the, “oh I need to tell them that!”
MMMM the quiche looks spectacular! As does the martini, toasted ravioli, waffles, salad, bread, I could go on and on! Everything looks delicious!!
What a fun trip!! The waffles with bananas and walnuts and sausage oh my oh my! If I ever come to Chi-town, I will eat sushi with you every day! I definitely one of my favorite foods in the world!
There is too much good food to comment about in this post! The pizza pie and the peach dranks! So pretty! Your cousin sounds so groovy and knows how to show a good time! 🙂
Peach martini and toasted ravioli? Yes!
I know what you mean about not being able to wait until it’s over. Finals kill but then that moment when it’s over is pure heavenly bliss! Good luck today and the rest of the week. That sushi definitely made my mouth water!
what great trip of eats! toasted ravioli? omg. sounds amazing! I have a Dewey’s Pizza near my house, but still haven’t been! After seeing your pics and recap, I’ll definitely be making a trip 😉
YAY for almost being DONE!
Um – peach martinis and toasted ravioli? Yea – I’d like some of that please! 🙂
Love all the food!
Hope school finishes well!
It’s amazing how the google reader increases exponentially without constant attention 🙂
I totally share the sushi every day sentiment. How could anyone ever get sick of it?!
Those toasted ravioli look so SO good. I’ve never heard of anything like that but it definitely sounds like something I would LOVE. I used to ADORE mozza sticks. I haven’t had them in quite I while but I could sure go for some right about now!
Thanks for the fun St Louis recap!
SO HAPPY FOR YOU that you’re almost done Jenn! Finally! 😀
Good to “hear” from you, glad to know you are having such an awesome time!!! All that sushi, and peach martinis sound delicious!! 🙂
Yay for almost being done, you can do it Jenn!!
That does look like some amazing sushi. Tuna usually isn’t my favourite either, but I don’t mind a couple pieces of nigiri every once in a while, esepcially when I’m at a place that I know has awesome quality fish. Mmm.
Those peach martinis are looking pretty tasty right about now as well, and it’s only 3:30 pm on a Tuesday for me!
Good luck on all those final projects 🙂
Omigosh! I hope you’re making it through the day!!!!
Your food looks amazing! It sounds like the perfect foodie getaway!
Wow Those eats look so so yummy! Good luck with everything 😀
Sounds like a great trip!! Glad to see your back!
You’re almost there Jenn!!! Congrats on reaching the final leg.
It looks like your trip was a blast. I bet you all were VIPs at that bar since you knew the owners! Thanks for sharing and thanks for the shoutout 🙂
ok i couldn’t finish your blog entry because you posted this marvelous thing called “fried ravioli” and i am now going to devote the rest of the night to researching it and finding out how to make it.
Very hungry,
annabel
fabulous travels! And those peach martinis look luscious. 🙂 I’m so excited for you to be done with school and on a more regular blogging schedule! You’re almost there!!
T-ravs! I’m so glad you got to try them! They’re huge in STL – we used to have them every Wednesday in my high school cafeteria!
Oh man, so much good food in this post! Broccoli, waffles, peach martinis? You’re killin’ me.
Good luck in finishing up your senior year!
Don’t tell Lisa, but her hubs can come make me waffles ANYTIME.
Glad you are well, Jenn!!!
What delicious food! Don’t worry about your reader, we’re all still here! Just hang in there with your crazy schedule. I’m sorry I haven’t written back to your email! Gah! But yes if you still want to do a swap just let me know when your schedule lets up and we will talk 😀
Every time I see that you have a new post I get excited. I’ve always loved your blog and, of course, you so you are throughly missed! BUT, I’m am absolutely stoked that yesterday was your final day of big assignments and that your semester/undergraduate career is coming to a grand close. So proud of you Miss Jenn! I don’t know if you’ve mentioned it, but do you have a job/internship lined up or are you out there looking?? I can’t wait to see what you end up doing!!
Too bad my google reader is almost always over 700 posts. I just don’t have enough free time in a day to read all the blogs I want to.
Last but not least, the peach martinis look to die for- GLAD you have a GREAT time in St. Louis.
You should be happy! You worked so hard.
The waffles look amazing. I love waffles. And your peachy drinks look so good! Yum. Your pizza eating reminded me of a question I had for you – because you live in Chicago, do you prefer Chicago style or non-Chicago stle?’
Can’t wait to see all your post-school celebrations!!!
Way to go for almost making it to the end! =) You seem like such a driven/fun girl! And btw, those toasted raviolis look YUM–I may have to try to recreate some here in the kitchen =) Take care!
Sounds like your trip was awesome Jenn! And ALL of your eats (and drinks! 😉 ) look fantastic and tasty! Congrats to Johanna for winning the charm (and that tasty DCD PB!!)
Have a great day!
Yea, you are SO close to being done! You have worked so hard and deserve a break once all of this is done.
Farmer’s Markets are the best, but free bread is even better! Great Harvest is one of my favorite places to go for yummy bread, and their free slices are the best.
I am so impressed at the waffles that Lisa’s husband made! Does he offer cooking lessons for hubbies that don’t know how to cook, haha! 😉
Have a great day lady!
Congratulations on being so veryveryclose to the end of school! Amazing!
I will meet you in St. Louis ANYtime if it means rolling like you did. Fun stuff! 🙂
Well I hope the very last projects,classes and exams of college are flying by. And your St. Louis eats were downright incredible…especially that pizza!
Happiness Awaits
Jenn,
I love your side of vitamins with the waffles. 🙂
What a wonderful day in St. Louis! Your cousins sure know how to do it up right. Everything from breakfast to dinner looked delicious. Toasted ravioli? Um, yum!
Ugh, my Google reader was simply getting out of hand – over 1000+ for weeks. It totally stressed me out, and so I completely emptied it out without reading any of it. So refreshing. Then I just re-subscribed to a few blogs. It was too much to keep up with before. Much happier now.
Best of luck with your last 2 projects. You’re almost there my friend!
P.S. – New Moon…Edward, oh my….Jacob wasn’t look too shabby either. 🙂
Wow – who knew st. louis could be so amazing – drooling over everything especially the sushi and pizza!
whoa, ive never heard of toasted ravioli! that looks so good.
Almost there Jenn! Wheee!!!
Le sigh! Oh Jenn, you’re adorable.
Oh I love the old movie Meet Me in St. Louis! I wish life was more like a Judy Garland movie 🙂 Toasted Ravioli looks insanely good. Can’t wait to keep reading more!
-Shannon
Ahh! I’m a St. Louis gal, born and bred. Now that you’ve had toasted ravs and Ted Drewes, the only thing left is a nice slice of gooey butter cake (St. Louis tradition at its finest!)
Also…while Dewey’s IS good you should really have a couple slices of Imo’s pizza while you’re here. It’s basically the definition of St. Louis style pizza, not to mention the fact that provel cheese is to die for and they’re famous for it.
[…] here now is the final recap from my trip to St. Louis. I enjoyed writing part one and part two. As many of you commented, my cousin really knows how to entertain! Our last day was no […]
[…] having twins!) who are due in May and June. My cousin Lisa, who I’ve mentioned several times on this blog, is also having a baby girl, due in seven […]