one of many Birthday Celebrations…..

I recently had a birthday that I was ecstatic about. I celebrated multiple times because it was a milestone year. (And you'll hear about all the festivities in upcoming posts.) The first celebration was for March babies at work. After much deliberation we agreed to head to Courtyard Café on Main Street in Over the Rhine. This is one of those places that I didn’t know about until recently. Courtyard on the Main, as some like to call it, has been mentioned more often than I can remember as a great place to grab lunch or drinks, by coworkers and even a fellow blogger, Veggie Option.

It is a low key bar and a casual place for lunch. They have high tables, booths and bar seating for patrons. On the day we went, it wasn’t too busy. There were couple booths taken and few bar patrons watching a Xavier game. Our server brought us waters and asked for our drink order; I stuck to the usual, water, no ice with lemon. There are variety of options for food which include wings, burgers, sandwiches, salads and wraps. One coworker raved about their wings so after a quick glance at the menu, we all agreed to share a basket of wings. And instead of garlic or hot and spicy sauce, we ordered the sweet barbeque sauce. unfortunately. One person doesn’t like garlic or can't tolerate hot food. what? While it was entertaining to chat and gossip, we were all starving when the food arrived, 30- 40 minutes after we placed our order. At one point a coworker jokingly wondered out loud if the cook went to a farm to buy the chicken, plucked the feathers, cut the meat and then fried the wings. After we got the wings and potato wedges, we were all happy campers. Both the wings with the sweet barbeque sauce, and fries tasted delicious. The wings had a crispy outer layer and the meat was moist. The wedges were golden brown, crispy on the outside and done well on the inside. Most importantly, the food tasted as if it was freshly prepared before serving as opposed to being reheated. My coworker’s speculation of the cook going to the farm for a fresh chicken might be true. The server even brought multiple blue cheeses for individual dipping, a nice thought.

During lunch, the atmosphere is relaxed and the noise level is low. Our server was a mid thirties hippie guy that provided good service. I was a little disappointed in the slow food service but I believe it could be one isolated incident. (I don’t mind restaurants that take time to prepare food, it shows the cook and company are cooking from scratch. It’s the short lunch hour limitation that makes it difficult to enjoy slow food.) I liked both the food and service so much so that I plan to return for a meal, maybe even a glass of beer. Next time I’ll venture into the wraps and sandwich part of the menu.

Happy Happy Happy Birth....

The husband's midnight birthday celebration, sort of. We had some friends over and his ultimate dish is Murghi (Chicken) curry. Their was some drinking, okay a lot of drinking and some cooking. The recipe is so top secret, I still don't know the ingredients. However I do know he marinates the chicken in yogurt, garam masala, ground cumin & coriander, chili powder, lemon juice and salt for an hour or two; the longer the better. During the winter months, the chicken is broiled in the oven at 450F degrees and in the summer it's grilled. That in itself is so tasty, I usually just munch on those. Then onion and garlic are sauted with bay leaf and cinnamon stick in a large pan with vegetable oil on medium high heat. After adding tomotoes, garam masala, chili powder and other great spices; he lets it simmer for a good hour- hour and half



As soon as I have the recipe down to the tee, I'll share it with everyone.
We usually eat this with rice but naan is a great accompaniment.



This post is for my wonderful husband, that's a great cook if he wants to be. Happy Birthday Love