EGGS BENNIE!!!

My Budder, his buddy M, and girlfriend C are working their way through all of the eggs benedict breakfasts in SLC. This is a very scientific process, including a rubric. While I was visiting I got to join in the fun...

The Restaurant: The Blue Plate
(you may remember it from Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives if you are a Food Network junkie like I am)

The Mission: Find the best Eggs Benedict in Salt Lake City

So we began by perusing the menu. They had 5 types of eggs benedict, plus a benedict omelet (yay for me!) and a special. They also were really good about sustitutions and add-ins, making the possibilities endless.


Bud chose the traditional - poached egg, canadian bacon, and a grilled tomato slice on an english muffin smothered in hollandaise sauce. Home fries served on the side.


M chose the greek and modified it a little - poached egg, spinach, tomatoes, avocado* and feta on an english muffin smothered in hollandaise sauce, again with home fries on the side.
*On the menu it was mushrooms instead of the avocado


I went with the benedict omelet - a bacon and cheese omelet, smothered again in hollandaise sauce. I did add some broccoli, to make sure my arteries didn't close on the spot.


The service was good, although a little slow. The atmosphere was excellent, great pop art on the walls, a jukebox in the corner playing great tunes. The coffee, not bad, but not Ria's either.

The verdict:

hmm... M's not too sure, although his plate is clean

And Bud gives The Blue Pate a 40/50...not too shabby!

After that Bud and I went back to his place, watched a little football (or napped), and then went on a hike to enjoy the beginning of the color change.

It was a great way to spend a Saturday!

Happy Birthday Bud!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BUD!!

I had a great time visiting Bud this past weekend and celebrating his birthday. It was a weekend of sports, fun, and just a few drinks in Salt Lake City. I arrived on Friday night and had dinner with Bud and our Cousin MW. We had a great time chatting and I got to experience my first 3.2 beer, not terrible, not great, just kinda sweet tasting. Bud and I also spent part of Friday watching the curling epic "Men With Brooms". He and I are already planning for a repeat performance at the Stevens Point Mixed next year. (yes, not only did Bud get my fabulous presence as a birthday present I got him a DVD of Men with Brooms)

The next morning we got up an walked in the rain to The Park Cafe. The breakfast was stellar with the potatoes getting my ultimate compliment. Yes, I did not use ketchup, they were that good. We then went to the Tracy Aviary and had a ball. Daddy, they even had a crow!

My favorite bird was the kookaburra, although it brought up one of the many camp songs from childhood:

Kookaburra sits in an old gum tree
Merry merry king of the bush is he
Laugh kookaburra
Laugh kookaburra,
Gay your life must be

After a few minutes Bud made me stop singing it, but it continued to play in my head all day long.





That night, after watching the Brewers win, we headed out to the Tavernacle. I'm not quite sure what Salt Lake City thought of our Wisconsin-style celebration. But, I am sure the dueling pianists have had that much fun in a while. Let's just say, no one got hurt and we made some new friends.

Here we are at the end of the night, a friend of Bud's, MW, me, Bud and some random guy who popped into the picture.







On Sunday, Bud's actual birthday, after watching the Brewers and the Packers lose, we headed up to catch the tail end of Octoberfest at Snowbird. The mountains were gorgeous, topped with their first snowfall and Bud and I took in a little polka!

While I was away, M was keeping track of the house progress. We now have forms up for the basement/garage and things look like they are coming along.