Excuse me while I eat.....

Hi,,, My name is Danielle and I'm a Foodie-aholic.
(other foodies): Hi Danielle.

So my friends and family like to frequent many eateries in our lives. Food is something we all enjoy and sometimes celebrate. Well anyone that is from Buffalo or ever visited knows that there are a lot of eateries to be celebrated, and we love our foods. From Fish Fridays to Wings and everything (SERIOUSLY everything) in between.

So I thought I'd start to review some of the restaurants we go to , and then maybe I'll learn how to organize them in a lil tab section nearby and then if you or a friend ever visits here you'll have a list of must eats:). Or if I go elsewhere maybe I can share my thoughts on various eatings elsewhere!!!

This evening we decided on one location but upon finding out (after we ordered drinks at the bar while we waited) that we could expect still a 1 hr wait (we'd already waited about 20 min) we were like PEACE OUT. I won't say where that was cause I love love love them and that is uncharacteristic. So we decided to venture to a restaurant we've never eaten at. We have drank here but not eaten, and its close to home so we thought we'd venture in....




Loughran's Bar and Restaurant....
Here is a link to their website.,,, LOUGHRAN'S

So lets start by evaluating the atmosphere.
Atmosphere: We went in on a Friday nite at circa 6, and there were probably 8 other groups/couples but they were all spaced out quite nicely and with enough room between groups so that we could all talk comfortably and not hear others' conversations or they hear ours.

Wait Staff: Excellent, not only did we have the hostess give us tableware and waters she assisted the waiter if he was serving another table to ensure our water was full and plates cleared and bread replaced.

Food: (the crux of it all)

Soup: I ordered a cup of French Onion and Kevin had the New England Clam Chowder (he likes to call it Chow-da). Well first off I'd like you to know that I have tasted MANY a crock of this soup and I'm often frustrated when they're only offered in crocks so I can't get a small bit to taste how their may compare to my many previous loves. Anyway,,, so I got a cup but next time I'm getting a crock , cause they make the BEST French Onion soup I've had in Buffalo so far,, and while I've had a few others I cant even recall their locations or the like 'second best' cause none have been as good. Kevin said the Chowda was great, that he'd put it in his top ten,,, but not top five :).

Salad We both got salad's with our dinners and normally I just go with an Italian or house dressing but then when Kevin asked what other ones they had, they said peppercorn,, so since my younger brother used to have a peppercorn obsession I thought I'd try it.. Definitely recommend this, its a lil thick like a blue cheese but with some mixing its like a Caesar mixed with creamy Italian and awesome.



Entree I got the steak and shrimp... mostly cause I love both steak AND shrimp, but also cause it was 16.95 and that is cost effective for a dinner with protein!:) Kevin got a southwestern chicken pasta which looked delicious and he said was good, but I was too focused on my meat to taste it (sorry bloggies) So back to my steak. YUM . On top of the steak was about 10 shrimps that were fried and I then dipped them in a most awesome cocktail sauce which had the right amount of sweet and horseyradish. So those were the start of the delicious, then the potato was cooked and crispy on the skin but warmed and baked on the inside, and the steak was easy to cut and perfectly cooked to my 'well' choice. Yum YUM YUM.

Dessert Well we figured all the other parts of the meal were DELICIOUS we went for dessert,, usually I don't but for a special occasion. Well we shared a Fudge Brownie sundae and it was as expected,,, delicious brownie that I could have had four of but thankfully there was just one:) and it was shared under some ice cream and whipped cream:)

So if your in the area,, this is a good potential option, especially if your hungry:)

Earthquake in BUFFALO???

So random,, and unexpected.
I mean if we lived in Cali,, maybe we'd know all about this,,,
but BUFFALO? We do snow,,not shakes (although I do like myself a Black Raspberry Andersons Milkshake)


Anyway so apparently we had a bit of an earthquake today. I didn't notice cause I've been feeling headachy and 'off' all morning so it was no different, but the ladies I work with were like 'DID YOU FEEL that?' and then it was all over FB..

so it must be real....

well I guess it actually occurred (The Buffalo News)

and apparently it has happened in the past too! (HIstorical like website)

So yeah, we're blaming the Canadians because the epicenter was there, but it was a lil change in our normal Wednesdays!:)

Buffalo Powder Keg Festival

This weekend was the first-ever Powder Keg Festival in Buffalo, NY. In years past there have been snowy days where parts of the highway were not used for driving but instead for tubing down. ( I never partook but I wish I had). There is a history of a pond-hockey tournament with local hockey players. So in an effort for Buffalo to full out rock the cold, this festival was an awesome collaboration.

So Kevin and I and a good friend, Matt took this opportunity to break ground on a new and awesome event in celebration of our Buffalo love! We walked down near the rails and found our way to where the awesomeness occurred. We had seen and heard stories of tubing and snowshoeing but what we heard as we approached was awesome rock music that we later learned was live!.

When we got there, since it was evening the tubing had been closed down but the Pearl Street Brewery was lined with people on the balcony with hats and gloves and beers rocking out to the music.

We made our way to the Ice Maze... Yes folks a maze made of ice...
These next two pictures are awe-somely taken by Joe Cascio, Please go check out his page and see ALL the pictures!!


This is the WORLD's Largest Ice maze... We had Guinness world record verify this! It was made with 2,200 blocks of ice,,, each approximately 300lbs!!! Check out this pic to imagine yourself standing inside it (you couldn't see over the walls!)


(AGAIN Credit to Joe Cascio!!!)

So we entered the maze and did a quick time check to make sure we could record how long it too us get through it. We did the time check only because we decided if we were still lost after 20 minutes we would work on making our way back. It was cold and because it had gotten warmer during the day the ground had been walked on by many and was full deep puddles of cold watery slush, which soon submerged our feet and socks and boots!. We moved carefully through the maze and made it to the Buffalo in the middle to see many others have their picture taken on the ice-throne in the center (right smack dab in the middle). It was great fun to watch families and friends rejoice over snow and ice instead of the usual dread and angst!

We made it out of the maze in SEVEN MINUTES!!!We made it quickly and we jumped for joy on having found our way through. Pure ecstasy!! We look forward to coming many many more years!

After the maze we hit the beer tent for some special-brews courtesy of Pearl Street Brewery (my male companions and 'beer snobs' were hugely impressed.... which takes a lot so that means it was awesome!).

This was a great great EVENT and we even came too late to experience everything. But you bet your bottom dollar (what does that even mean!?) that we will be back again!!!