Puttin' on the Ritz!

Look what I found this morning!  Yep, after the storms we were graced with a rainbow on the way to work!  If that can't make a dreary drive better I simply don't know what else can.  It was the perfect start to a busy, crazy day!

I love when day's are as topsy turvy as this one, when the small things add up to the perfect day.  And when a day like today ends up with an unexpected trip to Dierbergs, it simply has to be something that makes me smile.

I grew up in Europe.  Germany is almost more of a home to me than the US... for no other reason than I simply grew up there, I know it., it is familiar. So, needless to say there are a few things that I consider myself to be a snob about.  And food is one of them!  And Dierberg's definitely flames the passions of my inner foodie!

I personally believe that American's have weight issues because we have never learned to savor the wonderful taste of good food.  Quantity is not the issue, we have so much food, everywhere, but quality, that is another story.  Now I am not saying that the Oreo doesn't occasionally have a place in everyone's life, especially when dipped in milk, ask my hubby or Gator.  But I am here to tell you that nothing can compare with the taste and flavor of a meal devoid of chemicals and artificial ingredients.  I do not believe that any bread should last more than a day or two.  And we are not even going to discuss the difference in ice creams or creams that are pure and natural.

So when hubby said he needed to pick up a cake for tomorrow and the only bakery we could think of  that would have the kind the boss wanted at 6:30 pm was Dierbergs, I knew we were in trouble.  I don't usually go to Dierbergs, because I could absolutely end up broke if I shopped there all the time.  I love fresh, real food.  I love quality over all else where food is concerned, one of the reason's I grow a garden.  But off to Dierbergs we went... oh my...

Neither of us had eaten since lunch and I hadn't planned dinner, so it was probably a mistake to go, but luckily they have the greatest "deli" I have ever been to, and their meat counter would make any butcher proud. It took far longer than it should have to make a decision, or two or three about what dinner was going to entail... and what an odd dinner it ended up being.

I am a huge fan  of sushi and veggie wraps, hubby is okay with them, but he is not a huge fan. Honestly, how can you not love that?   Thankfully, he was really okay with my decision to enjoy sushi and veggie wraps, while he shared, but added a nice juicy applewood bacon cheddar burger as his main dish.

We enjoyed our main dishes, savoring the flavors and chatting about the day.  Laughing that the dogs were seriously trying to enjoy Dad's burger, not so sure about Mom's meal though.  Funny, who would have thought dogs would turn their noses up at seaweed?

The snob in me raised it's head again as I thought about dessert.  I mean what on earth do you serve with a meal like the one we just ate? Neither of us are big sugary food fans, and the older I get the more of a savory taste is to my liking.  And both of us love cheese and fruit for dessert.  Did I mention that Dierbergs has a huge selection of quality cheeses, no I don't mean Kraft American cheese (that really isn't cheese, you know that right?).  I will forgive them the displays of Provel, again not really a cheese, but something folks in this area are passionate about. So after pondering what cheeses to try, we finally agreed on two of them.  One was a beautiful cheddar marbled through with a rich porter, a nibble said that was a great choice and it is being saved for tomorrow's meal.  But the winner tonight was an amazing Rasberry Bellavitano with pistachios and Godiva milk chocolate.  Who would have thought those flavors could even remotely go together? Now it might have been better with a dark chocolate (preferably with a sprinkling of sea salt), but hubby is not a dark chocolate fan and I can compromise on some things. All I can say is WOW!

Now before everyone goes thinking that I completely let the food snob that I am rule the day... I want to assure you that there are some things in the Mid West that can't be beat, and the only thing that would have made the last part of the meal any better was if I had remembered to pick up some schnaps... but here's a toast to Breeze, Illinois and the most wonderful soda in the world... Ski in a glass bottle...

Did anyone else notice that hubby is not as snobby as me?  He enjoyed his Ruffles and Brooks Ketchup with his burger (you know the giant Brooks Ketchup water tower is only a few miles from our home - how could we have any other kind?)... I am working on converting him, and I am doing a darn good job of it also!

Was it a dinner that made any sense at all... nope, but did it hit the very heart of my "comfort" food zone - absolutely!  And tomorrow I will enjoy a few more of those treasures I found, savoring true flavors and kicking back with my hubby. Tomorrow will include a nice local wine and that cheddar, to me and my European raised heart that is true comfort food.

So tonight while the wind howled and the flurries tried to fly, we enjoyed a bit of the good life.