Adventures Galore!

Adventure #1: We went out for dinner. It was wonderful! We went to The Granary Pub and Restaurant. It is a Farmington restaurant mainstay. You can always count on the Granary to serve a good plate. That makes it predictable. Tasty, but predictable. That’s good, but it Farmington where there are few worthy restaurants, predicable equates with a big sigh. “The Granary again?” That means I really have to be in the mood for the Granary. Last night, I was in the mood for the Granary, but when I actually got there, I remembered how predictable they are. Even their specials menu wasn’t a surprise. I was a bit shocked at the, ahem, decor…valentines…appropriate, but I would rather not have seen the ribbons. One visit and you’ll know. So it took three times the server checking on us to see if I finally decided. By then, I was tired of flip-flopping between tastes I already knew and the rather un-adventerous. So I settled on Shrimp and Scallop Alfredo. Desperate to dig up any hope of new and exciting, I checked their pasta selecction. Rigatoni. Hmmmm. So in mid-order, I said, “I’ll take the Shrimp and Scallop Alfredo. But wait, can you tell the cook to do something unexpected to it. Add something to it. Surprise me.” I got the curiously silly and wacky smirk that shouted, “I don’t have a button for that, sir.” Then after a long pause, she giggled and asked, “OK. What do you mean? What do you have in mind? Um. I just think they’ll ask me what you mean.” I just said, surprise me and assured her to just do it and I’ll go with it. I could tell she was unaccustomed to such a challenge. So in comes the plate. It sported the predictable edible flower – a sort-of Granary signature. Under the flower was filled with unexpected. The sauce was slightly reddened, there were filled pastas and green streaks. I thought at first that the red food in the sauce was bacon, but later found it wasn’t. Kim jumped the gun and asked the server, “Is that portabella filled ravioli?” She responded, “Well, they didn’t even tell me what it was. They told me that you can tell them after the dinner is done to see if you get it right.” And so we ate. Kim got a french dip sandwich. She didn’t like it so we shared my plate. It was wonderful! What a fun dinner this was! It turned out that we were right. Portabella filled ravioli, spinach and sun-dried tomatoes. Just look at their menu on the website listed above. You’ll see that the meal is definately not this adventurous. It was a pleasant and fun discussion point for dinner at a restaurant that would be otherwise predictable. It would have really helped our neighbors at the restaurant. They ordered dinner and didn’t talk at all except to discuss the wine. They were virtually silent through every bite and stare. They avoided each other’s eyes. This sort of fun food adventure evening would have really sparked a hot night for them! What a memory it was for us! They only charged us $1 more for the plate. What a deal! Try ordering something off-menu. Watch them squirm and find an adventure worth digging up. Want an adventure every time you eat in Farmington – without even asking? Go to the Homestead.

Adventure #2: We went to see National Treasure: Book of Secrets. As with any sequel, this movie followed the original in speed, tactics and actors. Nicolas Cage was predictable and Justin Bartha has those girl-thrill eyes and innocence lost personality. Predictable…but we loved it! Thank you Disney for giving us a PG-rated evening of fun adventure movie! There was a mixed bag flavor of patriotism, far-fetched and “c-mon” that made acctually ended up grounding the movie. But just like a good train, it had to start out slow and gradually speed up until it eventually was un-stoppable. It kept us guessing and wanting more! Another winner!

Adventure #3: We got home and found the kids had an adventure of their own. Our usual babysitter is awesome. Last babysitting adventure yielded toast under the chair and pancakes smooshed on top of the chair – with a dash or two of disaster in the kitchen, livingroom and wait – the whole house. This time, the bird got a shower and was completely drenched. I don’t know exactly what happened, but the adventure had Lauren and Harrrison written all over it.