Well that was a nice little break.  Break from what I’m not exactly sure, but it was nice all the same.  Oddly, after a two-week hiatus, I really don’t much material to work with.  We’ve been crazy busy, and not with anything worth relating.  I suppose we did have a nice little outing yesterday.  We drove out to Sutter Creek and enjoyed a nice afternoon of wine tasting.  It was a fine day for walking around, if just a bit on the chilly side, and we had a great time.  Sort of reminds us of Parkville.

Other than that trip, we’ve mostly been shut up in the house avoiding the recent cold snap.  Weeks on end stuck in the mid-fifties, brrr.  Looks like that’s finally going to break towards the end of this week, and I’m more than ready.  The cold weather is hard on my old bones, you know.  We did sneak out to a few dinners over the last few weekends, with predictably dire consequences.  Every town/city should have something they’re know for, and I have yet to discover what El Dorado Hills has.  Not food, I can firmly attest to that.  Maybe I should contact the local chamber of commerce and let them know they’re suffering from an identity crisis, I’m sure they’d appreciate my input.  Anyway, our first outing, to the usually reliable Sellands, ended in bitter disappointment.  Sigh.  Maybe we’re setting our expectations too high. The whole reason we went there the other evening was their weekly special, advertised as “chicken pot pie.”  As I mentioned, we’ve been in a bone-chilling freeze lately, and a little comfort food sounded like it would hit the spot.  I can’t really accurately relate our let down, so I’ll just go with a picture:

chicken pot soup

I don’t know what that is, but I can confidently say it is not chicken pot pie.  Chicken soup with a biscuit floated on top?  The good news is, we could easily pass this one off as “you get what you pay for.”  Their specials are easily the best deal in town, that’s the main reason we go there.  The meal didn’t exactly live up to our hopes though.  Our second outing took us to the recently opened Milestone.  We’ve been trying really hard to like this place, as it’s close by and the menu is generally tasty-sounding.  Unfortunately, this was our 4th trip and I think it might be time to throw in the towel on it.  It can’t even get away with the “inexpensive” qualifier like Sellands.  For dinner, Donette ordered a big salad and I had the seared ahi tuna.  We shared those, at least they give you plenty of food.  The tuna was sadly overdone though, big bummer.  Maybe it was “seared” the first few minutes on the grill, but that last ten minutes didn’t do it any favors.  Sort of the same as everywhere else here, they like to cook the life out of everything.  It really doesn’t matter how you order anything, you’re getting it tragically overdone.  It was “OK” though, I guess.  The real nail in the coffin, we actually didn’t even try, we just saw it on the menu.  One of the specials proudly touted the “slow cooked Kansas-style ribs.”  Uh what?  What in the name of Emeril Lagasse are “Kansas-style ribs?”  I have to admit I really wanted to order them, but I just couldn’t imagine it ending well for anyone involved.  We sort of knew our waitress from another local spot, and she’s a nice enough girl;  No need to put her through any undue trauma.  Really, though.  Can I get a side of Rhode Island style beans with that?  Maybe an Irish style pizza for an appetizer?  How about a Delaware style donut for dessert, while we’re just making up random geographic food pairings.  Oh well, what can ‘ya do.  I keep thinking life on this veritable culinary desert will lead to weight loss.  Such does not seem to be the case to date, but at least it gives me something else to complain about.