Inn Keeper's Kitchen at Dilworthtown Inn

Last night's dining experience at the Dilworthtown Inn in West Chester was amazing as always, but it was even more amazing thanks to the amazing staff at the Inn Keeper's Kitchen! Kevin and I were invited to attend "Burgundies", one of the many great themes offered on Tuesdays and Wednesdays!

via Dilworthtown on Facebook

 The philosophy behind the Kitchen:  "Our goal is to teach our students the fine points of food preparation and the discerning art of wine selection." The kitchen is set up so you face the chef, and there are even two television screens set to the left and right so you can view the top of the stove while the chef is working. 

Our chef for the Burgundies course was Rich DiStefano and the Wine Educator for the evening was Michael Walsh.  Rich did an amazing job of offering suggestions and cooking tips for each course, while serving perfectly prepared courses to his 12 guests.  The hand-out presented in class features the menu, recipies for each course served, as well as a wine listing with space for notes! My copy of the hand-out is covered with questions, answers, wine notes, and cooking tips and I can't wait to try out all of the above.

Our menu featured Polenta Crusted Scallops with roasted Fennel Puree and Linguine with Tomato Balsamic Syrup; Pan Seared Escolar with Wilted Rainbow Swiss Chard and Mango Foam (this was to die for); Grilled Quail (a first for Kevin), with Burgundy Poached Cranberry Onion Compote and Watercress Greens; and finished with a layered Chocolate Mousse Cake with Frangelica Sauce. I could not eat like that more than once a month, but with strategically placed meals throughout the day, it was a wonderful evening.

One thing that stood out for me, as a Pennsylvania resident, is that each wine the Michael chose is available via the PA State Stores.  I had incorrectly assumed before that the wines served would be specialy purchased/ordered/unavailable and was pleasantly surprised to learn that I can purchase the 2010 Pouilly Fuisse, Louise Jadot in the Ardmore State Store! The short handout via Total Wines & More also provided Michael an opportunity to teach each of us not only about the wines we were drinking, but about the quality tier system of Burgundies, the soil content, slopes for planting, and more!

I won't give away all of the secrets of the course, but I will say that 4 courses, 4 tasting wines, and 1 table wine served before dinner was worth well more than the $65 that is charged for each course! For a couple or a larger group, this is an excellent way to spend a Tuesday or Wednesday evening and I highly suggest it! The course listing is currently posted for May through July, and I will say that the 7/18 course on New Orleans Creole sounds very interesting!

*I know, I was too busy eating and forgot to take photos, but I assure you that we will be going back and I will be taking many many photos for Round 2*

Mommy Moyer's Birthday

I am so excited that we get to celebrate my Mom's birthday this week! She technically turns 60 on Friday, but we will be celebrating with dinner on Wednesday with the Bookheimer men, and then on Saturday with Kevin's family (hello Memorial Day).  I'm going to try and not be overly sappy, but I'll admit to being terrified for several months that I wouldn't get to wish her a Happy Birthday this year.  So we will be celebrating in style, over several days, and I will love every single moment of celebrating with her!



Photos via: Phila Dining; Lancaster from the Inn Side;
PictureFood, and Birchrunville



Wednesday's dinner sounds so yummy, and is Mom's choice of restaurant since she wanted "new and different".  We are going to the Birchrunville Store Cafe, which is a BYO located in... wait for it... Birchrunville.  The menu is small, the seatings are in two shifts, and the apps, entrees, and dessert all sound amazing! I can't wait to see what their specials are on Wednesday!

Tell me the food does not look amazing.  Go ahead, I dare you!



We'll also be celebrating Mom's birthday at the Memorial Day picnic at Gehman's on Saturday.  There will only be a small crowd, but I'm baking 3 kinds of cupcakes! The three that I picked are all from the cupcake cookbook that my best friend gave me, Southern Living Big Book of Cupcakes! I'm making their white cake with almond flavoring, and topping it with vanilla frosting and sprinkles for Memorial Day.  #2 is the Peanut Butter Cup, which is chocolate cupcake with peanut butter icing!  The third one is a twist on the angel food cupcake recipe in the book, and I am going to fill the cupcake with strawberry filling and top with whipped cream/italian meringue combination. I can't wait, and I hope that they turn out as cute as the ones in the book!

Happy Early Birthday Mommy, I can't wait to celebrate with you!

A 4th Roomate?

Oh yes, for the love of pete, we're adding a 4th roomate.  As though our townhouse isn't cramped enough with two men and a crazy lady, we're adding a law student to the mix for the summer. 

Now, I have met said roomate once, and that was for approximately 10 minutes following the Pearl Jam concert in 2009.  So, I'm going to admit that perhaps my memory is not the greatest, but I think she was nice?

There really are very few issues with her moving in that directly affect me, since she won't be using my bathroom, my bedroom, or my garage (yes, the garage belongs to the Acura).  She will be living in the loft (we'll get there in a minute) and using A's bathroom. 

However, I feel the need to try and figure out where in the h-e-double hockey sticks we are going to park a 4th car.  There are already four 3-car townhouses in the development, and a very full cul-de-sac at the end of each day.  So, current solution for that one is to pray that we all beat the neighbors home. 

Completely selfish issue number two is food.  Now, hubs and I cook at least 6 nights a week when we are home, and A does the dishes 4 or 5 out of those 6 nights.  Night 7 usually involves eating out, leftovers, or cereal because I worked until 10pm.  How do we add a 4th person into the mix?  I don't even know if she cooks, likes spicy food, or eats green stuff.  Oh, the green stuff.  So, we've never asked A to pitch in for the Veggie CSA that we purchase, since it is primarily my interest and I eat about 50% of it, with the other 50% being split between the men, sharing with the neighbors, etc.  So, do I ask new girl to pitch-in for the CSA that we already purchased and paid for before we new she was coming?

Loft.  The loft has no door! We are asking a 24?25? year old girl to live in a bedroom with no door for the summer.  For Realz? The loft also has no curtains on the two skylights, no blinds on the 48" window, and no curtains on the 28" window.  It also features a disaster area of furniture.  Are you ready for it?

 
• IKEA Desk (with a wooden top since the glass one shattered)
• IKEA End table from 6 years ago
• 27" Old School Giant Television
• My College Roomate's favorite chair
• My grandmother's marble top table, which is not level
• A pull out love seat size sofabed, with a bad brown slipcover
• Sagging bookshelf, also courtesy of IKEA
• Hand Me Down Chair, which is super comfy, but not quite my taste
• And a corner full of stuff that I'm hoping to block with a spare dresser in the basement

So, maybe it's more of a big deal than I'm letting it on to be.  But, she moves in on June 1, and I need to buy/make/fix curtains, curtain rods, blinds, and vacuum approximately 18,234,322 stinkbugs before then.  Oh, and politely accertain why the f*&k she is not paying rent.