Jay wanted meat and potatoes for lunch and dinner yesterday, so that is what Jay got.

We had a little hiccup along the way and discovered his first lunch choice, Irv’s Burgers, is closed on Sundays. So we decided on runner up, Umami Burger in Los Feliz.

Fortunately we were seated immediately and got to ordering…

Tempura Onion Rings with Jalapeño Ranch & Sweet Potato Fries with Roasted Garlic Aioli

Jay had the Manly Burger {of course} ~ beer-cheddar cheese, smoke salt onion strings & bacon lardons

I had the SoCal Burger ~ butter lettuce, slow-roasted tomato, house spread, house-made american cheese & caramelized onions

For dessert we all shared a peanut butter and marshmallow fluff moon pie {OMG!} and a peanut butter chip ice cream sandwich. Gone in a flash!

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In between our two meat and potato meals, we visited The Grove where I made a little dent in the niiiice Crate & Barrel gift card Jay won in a raffle at work and he and the kids went to the  Apple store and fiddled with the iPod Touches and spotted Stevie Wonder!

{sorry Stevie, this is probably the worst ever picture of you…I mean not YOU, but the picture quality!}

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For din din, his choice was chicken fried steak and garlic roasted mashed potatoes with blue cheese. I made Sonoma salad for a little something green!

Thanks, P-Dub for helpin’ me out with this one. I had NO idea how to even begin to make this….

And there you have it…meat n taters with a little speck o green peeking out in the background ~ a MANLY meal!

{for the mashed potatoes I just boiled up three large taters that were peeled and cubed until fork tender. then i melted half a stick of butter and about 3/4 cup milk and added it to the potatoes. i roasted a whole head of garlic [cut about 1/4″ off the top, drizzle with EVOO, salt and pepper, put cut side down on a large piece of foil and wrap the garlic in the foil. roast at 350* for about an hour. the garlic will be soft and spreadable! squeeze out the cloves and add to the potatoes and butter/milk mixture]. use hand mixer to blend until smooth. also added a little blue cheese.}

I was a little nervous about this meal since it’s something I’ve never made and wouldn’t ever order at a restaurant…but it was quite good. The cube steaks were very lean and I used just a little canola oil to pan fry them. The pan gravy turned out very well, too, since gravy is not one of my strengths.

{side note: Pioneer Woman mentions that her favorite way to eat chicken fried steak is between two slices of soft white bread with mayo. In the recipe she mentions Miracle Whip and I had to laugh because, I too, can not stand the stuff! When I was about 6 years old, I vividly remember being at our neighbor’s house and the mom serving me some kind of sandwich with M.W. ….. I must have said I {didn’t care for} it because I recall her saying, “Oh, no honey, it’s not Miracle Whip!” UM, YES IT WAS! Remember that commercial where the guy goes to the store in the middle of the night because he ran out of it? Yeh. NO thanks! I’m not a picky eater at all, but if you really DON’T want me to come over for lunch, just serve sammies with [the whip] AND alfalfa sprouts. Blech!}

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I am addicted to making these gift caddies! This was the one for our hero…..

{a couple Seattle’s Best iced mochas, Peanut Toffee Buzz CLIF Bar [with caffeine!], Carmex 3-pack and some shower gel}

{a nice big Hefeweizen and an orange to float in it}

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It was the perfect day even though {we} forgot the camera, Irv’s was closed and it took 15 minutes to park at The Grove.

Here’s proof of the perfection…..

Have a great week!