Cleveland and Coffee

Brandon and I had a great Easter weekend spending time with our friends Patrick and Bethanne in Cleveland this weekend.

Patrick is the general manager of an Embassy Suites in Independence, so we stayed for free at his hotel. (His apartment is small, so it would have been cramped with all four of us.) We spent Friday night hanging out at a nearby bar and grill called the Winking Lizard. Saturday, we slept in late and went to the Cleveland Public Market. This was the highlight of the trip. I absolutely love going to public markets and shopping. We bought homemade garlic sausage, fresh pasta, bread and lots of vegetables.

It's amazing how much better food tastes when it is fresh and unprocessed. Last night, I made a fabulous homemade pasta sauce (garlic sausage, olive oil, red wine and roasted peppers, red onions and garlic) to go on the pasta from the market. YUM.

After the market, we explored the Botanical Gardens. That night, we had dinner at Lolita, a exceptionally well-conceived and well executed restaurant owned by one of new Iron Chefs from the Food Network. After having the most incredible gourmet macaroni and cheese I've ever had in my life, we went to this cool 1930s-themed cocktail lounge (Velvet Tango Room) known for it's custom-made drinks. Again, the experience was amazing. Drinks were wicked expensive, but fabulous. We also enjoyed tradtionally prepared bananas foster table-side. Sweet.

It was great to spend time with Patrick and get to know Bethanne better. They've been dating for several years, but I never really fully opened up to getting to know her until now. We were very good friends with Patrick and his ex-wife, Amy, so I had a hard time accepting the new girl. Bethanne is great though, and I'm so glad we finally got some time to get to know each other!

Today when I got home I had a box of bliss from Crimson Cup Coffee: a 5-pound bag of Armando's Blend and several 12 ounce samplers. Fabulous! If you haven't tried it, you should. It redefines what coffee should be. Thanks, Anna!