FAMILY DINNING AT CARRABBA'S

Nope, I haven’t been spending much time here anymore and I suppose I’m sorry, but the time away has been well spent and I wouldn’t change a thing.

I have been completing my physical therapy for my second shoulder operation, had almost a weeklong visit from my blogging buddy FatHairyBastard, and it’s been so hot that I haven't cooked much.

Now, if you visited Mushy’s Moochings, you know that I have been eating well – lots of food shots there from last week’s visit, but cooking inside, and especially outside on the grill, is just out of the question right now.

Tonight the eight of us dinned at Carrabba’s Italian Grill!

Here is a shot of their bar, which, to me, gives the place an overall rating of a B+. There are only weak, light colored domestics on tap, and the only “pale ale” they had in bottles was New Castle, and of course there was Guinness! I have to admit I enjoyed all three I had, but the super frosty mugs made all the difference!

I started with an order of Calamari, which is lightly battered then fried to tender, crisp, golden brown, and served with a marinara sauce.

The other end of the table ordered Cozze In Bianco, which is fresh Canadian Cove mussels from Prince Edward Island that are steamed in white wine, basil, lemon butter and Pernod. I didn’t like them as much as the ones at Bone Fish, so I stuck primarily with the Calamari!

Three of the outstanding dishes were:

CHICKEN BRYAN

Grilled chicken breast topped with goat cheese, sun dried tomatoes and a basil lemon butter sauce.

CHICKEN MARSALA

Grilled chicken breast topped with mushrooms, prosciutto and our Lombardo Marsala wine sauce.

SPIEDINO DI MARE

Shrimp and sea scallops coated with Italian breadcrumbs, grilled and topped with lemon butter sauce.

I would post some of the family shots, but you would not believe some of the weird faces I caught tonight – one eye open one closed, wrinkled noses, and squinted eyes…too much for the blog to handle.

Well, that’s it for this visit…maybe I’ll stick with it…we’ll see. I know, this seems to be a running theme of a couple of my blogs, but I need to spend more time at Mushy’s. Oh, have you seen my new header…I need feedback…thus far it’s a split decision!