My mom and John got stuck in quite a bit of NJ Turnpike traffic last night and didn’t get to Brooklyn until around 8:30 or 9. I snacked on the orange pieces I saved from Friday’s work event while I waited:
When they did arrive, I decided we should take advantage of the car and go to a restaurant in a nearbyish neighborhood that’s a little awkward to get to on foot or on the bus. I’ve wanted to try Picket Fence for a while, so that’s where I directed us. As soon as we pulled up outside, I knew we had made the right choice. Look how charming:
Restaurants with homey charm and cozy glows are always instant hits with me. They could have fed me dog poop at this point, and I wouldn’t have noticed. OK, maybe I would have noticed a little bit.
We requested a spot in the garden since it was still in the 70s, even at the late hour!
And they brought free plain popcorn (the perfect whole grain pre-dinner snack) to the table while we waited:
Mom and I shared the apple salad with Granny Smith slices, arugula (my favorite green!), red onions, grape tomatoes, blue cheese, and balsamic vinaigrette on the side:
I ordered the special: blackened red snapper with pineapple glaze over ratatouille.
This was perfect! Geez, I’m sorry I’m being so positive. If there was one drawback to my dinner, it was that it made me think of Rudolph with that half of one grape tomato sitting on top.
I also had a teeny bite of mom’s pan-seared scallops.
Scallops are my favorite seafood, but things often go wrong in preparation. Not so with these. They were brilliantly crisped on the outside!
And a teeny bite of John’s crab cakes:
Also verrrrrrry tasty.
So, it’s safe to say we were pleased with our food (even though it took forEVER to come out):
We picked one dessert to split three ways. We almost ordered two but then decided that one would probably suffice. Take a look at these “picket fence” dessert menus. Can you guess what we got?
We actually ordered the special: banana bread pudding with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce.
Mmmmmmmmm, it was warm and gooey (and melty by the time I finished photographing and let the vultures have at it!):
Mom and I had a spoon Olympics battle at the end for all the drips:
I’m not used to having to compete for my plate-cleaning title! Mom did claim, however, that she is the original plate scooper, and I guess she has a point there. She did come first!
Speaking of letting nothing go to waste, mom and John have been busy raiding Holiday Inn Expresses and their continental breakfasts up and down the East Coast over the past week for all sorts of goodies to bring to me! Left to right: leftover Thai coconut seafood curry, jam/honey/pb/syrup, tea, thank you mints, skim milk, fruit cups, apples, banana, instant oatmeal, instant cheddar grits, microwave popcorn, breakfast muffins, and loads of cinnamon bun-scented hotel toiletries!
Now you know why I turned out the way I did. Thanks, mom!
Why did you turn out the way you did?
Tales of Expansion: Baby Butternut Edition 
that is too funny that they brought you all that stuff!
dinner looked like a lot of fun š
my mom is a little scatterbrained sometimes, and I definitely got that from her!
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YOu’re soooo funny!!!! “compete for my plate-cleaning title! Mom did claim, however, that she is the original plate scooper, and I guess she has a point there. She did come first!” it made me laugh so much!!!!
And really, now I can tell all the freebies and sampling tips where they came from!!! hhhahahha…..
I don’t know if my lifestyle has to do with my mom’s, but life vision yes, she’s such a positive person and I learned it from her (only lately).
have a nice Sunday!!!
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How great that she brought you all of that stuff! You guys are so alike! hahaha
My mom and I are really similar too… All of the food looks so good! I can’t decide which I would rather have. Dessert is definitely drool-worthy. Great night!
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Great eats today! The worst part about going out to dinner is waiting on the food. Especially when you’re already ravenous. It’s like torture.
Your snapper looks delicious – I generally order fish from restaurants. I love fish so much.
And I’m not surprised you went for the banana bread pudding. Although apparently it was meant to be ‘overflowing’? The Walnut crusted cheesecake sounds pretty good too…
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That restaurant sounds great!
Oh man…why I turned out the way I did is a long and complicated story…hahah
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FUn dinner and dessert! My whole family is food obsessed, so I guess I fit right in!
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How fun of a day!!!! I love that your fam brought you all that stuff š
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Banana bread pudding sounds oh-so-good. YUM!
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Ha! Your mom’s hotel goods are too funny!! My family is LOUD and always tell me I’m too quiet. I just say it’s because I can never get a word in š
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The restaurant looks adorable and the menu wasn’t what I was expecting.
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Cute family photo and charming little restaurant! Looks like a good time :).
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How cute that they brought you all those sample!
That restaurant looks adorable!
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Oh those hotel goodies are too much! I love it, and I would have totally done the same thing.
I love when a restaurant hits home runs from start to finish! And I have no idea why I turned out the way I do…basically I blame all the bad aspects of my personality/habits on my upbringing and all the good things on myself….which I’m sure is just a little inaccurate but it works for me š
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What a great dinner…beautiful food and love the cozy atmosphere!
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Comment 1:
I love freeze dried fruit…just wished the Just Tomatoes brand stuff wasn’t so freaking expensive!
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