Bottom's Up

Style: Pizza
Website: Bottom's Up Pizza

My Rating: 4.5 / 5 Stars

Likes:Fantastic "pizza," interesting decor, friendly service, gargantuan portion size

Dislikes:horrible parking, not enough quality beers on tap

On a dreary weekend in February, it was time to add a little culture to our lives. My husband and I took my grandma to the Virginia Fine Arts Museum and we spent the day there. There was quite a crowd because it was also "Chinafest" day. We saw a huge celebration ceremony for the Chinese New Year. After walking around and looking at art and chinese dragons for over two hours, we decided that we had had enough. None of us had eaten yet, and by 4:00 pm we were starving. So, we went to Bottom's Up.

When we walked in, there were only a few people sitting at tables near the bar that were getting their drink on. We sat down and rested because we were quite annoyed after trying to find a place to park. There was limited places to park on the street and we couldn't find one. We had to pay for parking. But once we sat down in the booth, the smell of pizza wafted over us and we became content. 

The decor in the restaurant is awesome. I love that they have the Richmond flood line painted on the wall after it flooded and closed in 2004 after Isabelle and Gaston. They also have twinkle lights on the ceiling and plenty of things to look at. 

 We each ordered two difference slices. Since the restaurant is far from us and we don't eat here often, I usually get two slices and end up taking two halves home for another home meal. I ordered first and requested a slice of ham and pineapple and the BBQ Chicken Pizza. After I ordered, the waiter asked me if I had been here before, I assume so that I realized that it is actually quite a lot of food. I told him I knew the slices were huge and that I would need a box. He laughed and nodded in understanding. But really, the slices are huge. HUGE. They are also not necessarily traditional pizza either. They are thick slabs of chewy and crusty bread that have toppings piled high on top. They don't skimp out on anything.

The picture below is one slice. My grandma ordered the Bottom's Up Loaded slice, that had Italian sausage, fresh ground beef, ham, pepperoni, sliced onions, green peppers, mushrooms and black olives. You can see in the picture below, that the slice is huge. When you take into all of the bread from the crust and the density of the greasy toppings and cheese, one slice is an easy meal and I am usually stuffed.

In the picture below, you can see the spread of our slices. At the top is the Greek Slice, which I thought was somewhat lacking in taste when compared to the others. At the bottom left is the Ham and Pineapple slice. This is my favorite slice of all the ones that I have tried. There is SO MUCH CHEESE. It is sweet from the pineapple and salty from the ham, and it wrapped together WITH A LOT OF CHEESE (are you noticing a theme here?). In the mid bottom is the BBQ Chicken slice. It had BBQ sauce slathered on instead of pizza sauce and was topped with chicken, and cheddar. I liked it, but the BBQ sauce was overpowering and it didn't taste like pizza at all. Not that it was bad, but it was not my favorite. My other favorite is the slice at the bottom left. The Mexican slice that they created is filled with taco seasoned meat, jalapenos, onions, and cheddar cheese. Normally it comes with a leaf of lettuce that has sour cream and salsa on top. This time they skimped on it and just gave us sour cream. It was no matter because it was still and explosion of taste and goodness. 

Bottom's Up pizza is a fabulous place to go in Richmond. It is a great place to take a date, a large group of people, or family. This pizza just serves any purpose you might need!

Cranberry Bliss Bars Copy Cat

This post is one of two posts that I have had the mind to write and yet and have neglected to do for two months. This first one is a copycat recipe of Starbucks Cranberry Bliss Bars. I loved these bliss bars the first time I purchased one from Starbucks. I have always loved cranberry, but never cared much for white chocolate. However, when the white chocolate is paired with cream cheese and the cranberries, it is sensational! It was so sensational that I baked three batches of them over Christmas break because we couldn't keep them in stock!

There are a lot of cranberry bliss bar recipes online. Going through and comparing about three or four of them from other blogs that I follow, I chose the one from The Girl Who Eats Everything. I chose this one because in her description, she said the blondie portion was chewier and less cakey than others. For the original recipe that I followed, please visit here. The only major difference that I did was replaced regular cranberries and orange zest with orange flavored cranberries that I got from Trader Joe's. 

Sara's Version of the Starbuck's Cranberry Bliss Bar

Ingredients

Blondie Layer:

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) salted butter, cubed

1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar

2 large eggs

3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 cup dried Trader Joe's Orange Flavored cranberries

6 ounces white baking chocolate, coarsely chopped

Frosting:

1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened

1 cup powdered sugar, sifted

6 ounces white baking chocolate, melted

1/2 cup dried Trader Joe's Orange flavored cranberries, coarsely chopped

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x13-inch baking dish with nonstick spray or line with parchment paper.

2. Prepare the blondie layer: In a medium bowl, melt butter for one minute in the microwave or until melted; stir in brown sugar. Pour the butter and sugar into a large bowl and let cool to room temperature. Use an electric mixer to beat in the eggs and vanilla. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon; gradually add the dry mixture to the butter mixture. 

3. Stir in the cranberries and chopped chocolate. Notice that the batter will be thick and difficult to mix by hand. See the picture below. 

3. Spread the blondie batter into the prepared pan. I used a spatula to spread it evenly. 

4. Bake for 18-21 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean (do not overbake). Cool completely on a wire rack.

4. Prepare the frosting: In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the cream cheese and powdered sugar until combined. Gradually add half of the melted white chocolate; beat until blended. Frost brownies. 

Sprinkle with chopped cranberries. Drizzle with remaining melted white chocolate. Let the frosting set (speed this up by throwing them into the fridge) then cut into bars- square or triangle-shaped. Store in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

We had a few leftovers from our third batch... because in reality it takes a lot of people to eat 70 bliss bars. My Mom kept the rest and froze them in her freezer. She said that they froze and kept well. 

Next Christmas, if you love your family and remember about these, please feed them with these. It is so worth it. 

Safe Haven

By Nicholas Sparks
My Rating: 4/5 stars

Goodreads Summary: When a mysterious young woman named Katie appears in the small North Carolina town of Southport, her sudden arrival raises questions about her past. Beautiful yet self-effacing, Katie seems determined to avoid forming personal ties until a series of events draws her into two reluctant relationships: one with Alex, a widowed store owner with a kind heart and two young children; and another with her plainspoken single neighbor, Jo. Despite her reservations, Katie slowly begins to let down her guard, putting down roots in the close-knit community and becoming increasingly attached to Alex and his family.

But even as Katie begins to fall in love, she struggles with the dark secret that still haunts and terrifies her . . . a past that set her on a fearful, shattering journey across the country, to the sheltered oasis of Southport. With Jo’s empathic and stubborn support, Katie eventually realizes that she must choose between a life of transient safety and one of riskier rewards . . . and that in the darkest hour, love is the only true safe haven.

My Summary: Erin is a girl who is not educated and doesn't have a driver's license to be able to drive around her town in Massachusetts. Kevin is her husband and she tries to take good care of him. She is sweet and kind-hearted, but has very few friends. The friends that she does have will one day save her life. 

Kevin is a police detective who appreciates a neat and clean house. He is also a delusional religious zealot who drinks too much. Vodka is his best friend. Pretending to belong to the perfect family, he controls Erin to look perfect to the eyes of outsiders. 

Katie is a strong woman who just moved to Southport, NC out of fear. She rents an old hunting cottage and turns it into a home. She makes new friends with the locals, waiting tables and the nearby restaurant. She then falls in love with Alex.

Alex is a widower with a gentle heart and two young children. He runs a general town in Southport and is well-loved in the community. He helps out Katie who intrigues him, and he falls in love with her.

I loved watching the love story develop between Katie and Alex and it made this novel worth a speedy read. I spent no time lagging in the page turns. For 250 page turns, I was in love with Katie and Alex, but I feared for the moment when Katie met Kevin.

I recommend this story for anyone who loves the romanticized version of a love story with a handsome and down to earth man and a story when the characters are magically fixed by falling in love.

Some Other Thoughts: I am glad that I read this before the movie came out. I enjoyed reading this story and was let perplexed by many things about it. While I was reading, this character named Jo continuously appeared throughout the book. I hated her up until the last twenty pages. The end of this book ties up the entire story line and adds so much more the plot. I would suggest that even if you are thinking about putting it down, keep going. The ending was worth it.

Vietnam Garden

Style: Vietnamese
Website: www.vietnamgardenva.com

My Rating: 5/5 Stars

Likes: Comprehensive menu with items for many different tastes, prices are reasonable, helpful service, certain dishes are available that are hard to find at similar restaurants

Dislikes: It is too far away for me to visit more often, some more common Vietnamese dishes (such a broken rice and pho) are not the best I have had

Vietnam Garden is about an hour away from my house. My husband and I first went the restaurant because we were prompted by a Groupon about our months ago. Yes, it is the usual case. Since then, we have been back over five times. For an hour long car ride over a painful interstate and often in rush hour traffic, we have been frequently. This is because it is so worth it.

We decided to take my Grandma out on February 15 for a belated Valentine's Day. She had never had Vietnamese food and was excited to try it. However, the husband and I were hesitant to take her because we didn't want to upset her stomach with spicy food. We decided to take her Vietnam Garden because the menu is so extensive and there were a lot of "grandma-friendly" menu items.

The restaurant is located in a strip mall with many other ethnic restaurants. India K. Raja and Teppanyaki Buffet are two of these (which are completely UN-noteworthy).  It appears to be just another random restaurant with old carpet and cheesy Asian decor.

Walking in, the cheesy Asian decor is apparent, but so are the other diners. About six of the the seven other tables are Asians. We always consider this to be an excellent sign of authentic quality! When we are seated, we are served glasses of water and we place our orders. Here is what we had:

We ordered steamed dumplings as an appetizer. These are my favorite Asian dumplings because the pastry around them is very thick and soft. I like to poke a small hole with a chopstick before I dunk it for the first time. The ginger soy sauce that comes with it will flow into the opening and make the first bite a delectable sensation of sausage, spice, and pastry.  It is garnished with a thick cut of carrot and a mystery white vegetable that I have yet to discover what it is. 

My grandma ordered a Pork with Mixed Vegetable with a special house brown sauce, which tasted like an oyster sauce. It was served over white rice. When I sampled a taste of pork, carrot, and mushroom with rice soaked in the sauce, it reminded me of a tasty Chinese food dish. I liked it better than the Chinese I have had recently because everything tasted so fresh. It hadn't been sitting out and it wasn't overly salted. 

Brad and I ordered two different hot pots. A hot pot is a selection of meat served with a broth in a bowl over a bunsen burner. Brad ordered the Volcano On The Sea. This hot pot has prawn, fish filet, squid, enoki mushrooms and scallion in a seafood broth. The pieces of seafood in here are sizable and the portion is very large, especially for the price. My favorite thing about this dish is that or all of the seafood, it is not overly fishy. The broth is hot, buttery, and spicy. When it is spooned over the rice and the fish, it tastes like no other dish I have had before.

I had the Spicy Beef Hot Pot, which has beef, shitake mushrooms, tofu, carrot, Chinese cabbage, and cellophane noodles. When I had my first sip of broth, I coughed. It was spicier than I thought it would be. It wasn't too spicy though. My tastebuds quickly got used to it when I was eating it paired with beef, mushrooms, and rice. It was like eating a spicy beef and rice soup with an Asian zing! The only thing that I didn't like was the amount of tofu. I don't mind tofu, but I don't need really big chunks. This dish was a chunky tofu dish. 

The waiter that was serving us was an expert. He carried both hot pots at the same time without spilling anything. I was impressed. However, the best part about our server was that he asked us if we liked the hot pots. When we told him that we drove from Williamsburg just to have them,  he pointed out a few other menu items that we should try. He said that they are Vietnamese favorites and that he liked them better than the hot pots. We now have a take out menu with four menu items that he circled for us. I think that next time, Brad and I will try some Cripsy Egg Noodle Seafood Delight and Carmelize Fish In A Pot... and yes, that is not a typo :)   . 

Every Day

By David Levithan
My Rating: 2/5 stars

Goodreads Synopsis: There’s never any warning about where it will be or who it will be. A has made peace with that, even established guidelines by which to live: Never get too attached. Avoid being noticed. Do not interfere.

It’s all fine until the morning that A wakes up in the body of Justin and meets Justin’s girlfriend, Rhiannon. From that moment, the rules by which A has been living no longer apply. Because finally A has found someone he wants to be with—day in, day out, day after day.

My Review: When I read that this story was about a person who woke up in a different body every day and was trying to stay with the girl it loved, I was so ready to read this book. I really wanted to like it because it seemed it was right up my alley. Unfortunately, this story turned out to be more about how to complicate and ruin a perfectly reasonably tortured love story. 

I love reading romantic stories, whether adult or young adult. I love when there are two souls who find each other and their whole worlds stops and shifts itself to center around that newly found person. If this story had centered on this principle, I would have loved it. Instead, it centered around the difficulties there were to be in a different body every day. The person may be a boy or girl, straight or gay, or rich or poor. They may be hungover, depressed, or crazy. I felt that this story was trying to hard to make different people seem the same as they are tied together by this one body invader. Instead, it was like an out of control train that makes stop after stop to crazy town. All of the stops took me farther away from the love story to the point where they just seemed like two really stupid teenagers that just needed to drink a cup of grow the hell up.

This story is not for people who like love stories. It is not for people who want to read about happy endings. It is a story for people who want to make political statements about the diversity of the American population.

Tomato and Sausage Breakfast Strata

 Breakfast Strata with Sausage and Tomato is something I grew up with. My Mom used to make this when I was a child at Christmas. Every Christmas morning she would make this mysterious egg casserole where the eggs had an odd, but delightful, fluffiness to them. I had no idea how she made it, but I loved every bite of it. Now that I have my own grown up self and can make my own food, I can eat this any time!

I did not realize what this mysterious egg casserole was until I watched the movie, The Family Stone, with Sarah Jessica Parker. In one scene, she is making a similar dish for Christmas morning breakfast. She is having a "tiff" with another character, and the unbaked casserole splashes up onto her and she is wearing chunky raw milk and eggs. Yum! It was then that I realized what a classic this dish was. 

Ingredients
4 cups cubed, day-old firm white or french bread (must be crunchy)
2 cups (8 oz) shredded cheddar cheese
10 eggs, lightly beaten
4 cups milk
1 package of maple sausage links, cooked and quartered
1 tsp. dry mustard
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. onion powder
1 can of Hunts Petite Diced Tomatos
a dash of pepper to taste

Directions
1. Generously spray a 9 x 13 inch glass baking dish with cooking spray

2. Arrange bread cubes and sausage in the dish and sprinkle with the cheese 

3. Beat together the eggs, milk, mustard, salt, pepper, and onion powder

4. Pour mixture evenly over the cheese, sausage, and bread 

5. Sprinkle with the tomato

6. Cover and chill overnight
7. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F
8. Bake the casserole uncovered until set about 1 hour - 1 hour and 15 minutes. Tent with foil if it begins to over brown. 
9. Let cool for at least 15 minutes before serving. 

The Round House

by Louise Erdrich

My Rating: 4/5 Stars

Goodreads Synopsis: One Sunday in the spring of 1988, a woman living on a reservation in North Dakota is attacked. The details of the crime are slow to surface as Geraldine Coutts is traumatized and reluctant to relive or reveal what happened, either to the police or to her husband, Bazil, and thirteen-year-old son, Joe. In one day, Joe's life is irrevocably transformed. He tries to heal his mother, but she will not leave her bed and slips into an abyss of solitude. Increasingly alone, Joe finds himself thrust prematurely into an adult world for which he is ill prepared.

While his father, who is a tribal judge, endeavors to wrest justice from a situation that defies his efforts, Joe becomes frustrated with the official investigation and sets out with his trusted friends, Cappy, Zack, and Angus, to get some answers of his own. Their quest takes them first to the Round House, a sacred space and place of worship for the Ojibwe. And this is only the beginning.

My Thoughts:This story starts off with a brutal rape and assault of a mother, tearing a family apart. The main character is the son of the mother, Joe, and the reader sees through his eyes how the assault affects his mother, his father, himself, and the community. He relies on various family members and friends to help him find peace with what was done to his family.

The complexity of the plot astounded me. First, there were so many characters, which normally confuses me. However, Erdrich developed each character within the first few sentences of their introduction that I knew who they were. Partially based on stereotypes with their own little quirks to make them understood and unique, each character had a definite presence in the novel. There was the ex-marine who decided to become a priest and the aunt who was an ex-stripper from a bad home. There was also the Uncle who relied on alcohol and hit his ex-stripper that was not his actual wife. There was the father who was a judge and always looking to the legal aspect of the situation with his quirky fountain pen. Each character had enough "stereotype" that I could understand them, but they had their own little quirks about them that made them unique. 

There was the group of good boys with a hooligan side that were my favorites. Watching Joe and his relationship with Cappy blossom was my favorite part of the novel. They act like such good adolescent boys who are trying to cope with learning to be an adult. I respected that their friendship was so strong and that they watched over each other until the very end of the debacle. It restored peace of mind that even though there were bad things going on in Joe's world, he also had some very special.

I also loved the complexity of the plot. This novel was tying in both so many educational aspects of reservation life for Americans who know very little about being a Native American. This stretches from social aspects, such as the drinking and the way they spoke (no th's!), to the low economic status they have. Joe expresses how excited he was to have a grocery store on his reservation. Erdrich also discusses Native American law and has a note in the back with more details. It was educational as well as entertainment.

To top it off, there is even mystery involved as Joe and his father attempt to learn what the entire situation of the mother's assault was. Was it a random attack? Someone they knew? As the the novel read on, there were so many branches of the plot that once I thought I had something figured out, another detail entered and I had to start over again.

Overall, I loved reading this. I recommend it to all adult readers and I will be looking forward to reading more by Louise Erdrich!

Mamma Zu

Mamma Zu
Style: Italian
Website: This place is lucky to be featured on Yelp!, let alone have it's own site. Read on and you'll understand what I mean.

My Rating: 4.5/5

Pros: The food, low key, the food, romantic lighting (meaning hardly any lights), the food, casual atmosphere, the food, when you are waiting for a table you can drink wine, and the food. 

Cons: They only take cash and American Express, everyone else likes them so they are hard to get a table at, chalkboard menu gives character but few details

I go to Mamma Zu's every year for my birthday dinner. Why? Because it is sooo good, but such a hassle. It is one of my most favorite restaurants, but sometimes the hassle makes me wish it wasn't. It's just that the food is so good. Who knew that some of the best Italian food I have ever eaten would be from a dumpy place in Richmond, VA? 

I will start from the beginning. Mamma Zu's is open for dinner at 5:30. We were going to have a reservation which they will take for parties of six or more. However, someone got sick and had to cancel. Therefore, instead of showing up at 5:30, we arrived at 5:10 and waiting IN the LINE that had already formed to get in. It was about 28 degrees and there were snow flurries. We love this place so much that we huddled together and froze to death before we could go in. But one of the best moments of the evening was when they began cooking five minutes before opening and a big whiff of garlic hit us in the face. That's when you know it's going to be a great meal.

Five of us crammed into a booth really created for about 3.5 people. One of us is very overweight, another is over 6 feet and 4 inches tall. Another had to sit at a chair at the end of the booth next to a coat stand with people waiting for a table right behind him. Looking around the restaurant is not an impressive view. It is sort of a dump, but after awhile there are so many people packed into the joint that you don't even notice.

Once we sat down we realized a bad thing... we couldn't see the menu. The menu is a chalk board. My husband had the brilliant idea to take a picture of it and bring it back to the table (see the picture above). When they run out of something, they go over a wipe it clean away. That is a second reason why it's good to get there early.

They always give you bread and there is olive oil on the table for dipping. I like to add salt and red pepper flakes to my oil for a little pizzaz. I recommend getting the broccoli rab with garlic, lemon, and pine nuts for a starter. It gives a whole new meaning to green vegetables.

The portion sizes for the dishes vary. Sometimes you get a monstrous meal, and other times it is just normal eating size. In addition to the food, I always order a cheap table wine for charisma. This time we got the house Merlot which is served in small plain glasses. It reminds me of my childhood when the Italian adults would drink their wine from jelly jars!

My cousin had the squid ink pasta. My husband has had it on a prior visit. It is interesting how my cousin had it in a bowl this time, while my husband had it on a plate once. It is slightly spicy and we love it.

My grandmother ordered the mussels. You can order either a spicy red sauce or a garlic butter sauce. She got the latter. We thought it was just going to come with the mussels. Oh how we were wrong. It was a giant platter with linguine that you could barely see because it was topped with so many mussels you could barely see it. It was very tasty to also dip the bread into the broth that the linguine was sitting in.

One of my staple favorites is the pork chops. This time my husband ordered them. It comes with two very large pork chops over and inch thick. They have a core of black peppercorn pesto in the middle and are served with white beans. The beans are soaking in a rosemary garlic broth which makes them the most delectable bean I have ever eaten. Usually I eat one of the pork chops and take one home. It is enough for two meals.

I tried for something new this time. Once I tried something that was not pork chops and instead I got the lamb meatballs. They were tasty, but I only received three small meatballs. This time I got the Veal Marsala instead of the pork chops. The veal was pounded thin and roasted in a lovely sweet wine gravy. It came with a side of pasta. I only wish that it had mushrooms with the veal.

We finished with a cannoli and tiramisu. Of course they were a delicious way to end the evening  on an amazing note.