Applebee's 2 for $20 Deal

I saw an ad on TV for Applebees's 2 for $20 deal. It says for the price of cooking some boring terrible food at home, you can get a sweet deal by coming to Applebee's and getting great food for 2 people for only $20 plus tip and tax ($25 total). I'm paraphrasing...but that's the gist. I wonder if it is true? I don't really know what it costs to cook at home. Let's find out.

All costs listed below are apporximate because you always have to put in some initial money to amass all of the ingredients, but you can use them more than once. Anyway, no more excuses, let's see who wins.

Last night we had Panko crusted tuna steak, with a beet salad, squash,regular salad and bread.

Panko-crusted Tuna:
Tuna: ~$24, but we only ate half so let's say $12
Panko Bread Crumbs: $1.59 for a bag we've had for over 6 months. $0.50
Served with Wasabi and Soy Sauce: $0.50

Beet Salad:
2 Fresh Beets: $0.25
1TBSP Heavy Cream $0.25
Pinch White Pepper $0.10

Acorn Squash: $0.59/lb we had about a pound. $0.59

Regular Salad:
Lettuce: $3.59 for fancy organic salad mix from Whole Foods. Makes 3 salads. $1.20
Radishes: $0.25
Celery $0.25
Olive Oil: Trader Joe's Greek Olive Oil $8.99 for a Liter. 2TBSP=$0.27
Balsamic: Also from Trader Joe's but I couldn't find the price. Let's say $0.25

2 Slices of Bread: $1.00

Total: $17.41

At Applebee's you get an appetizer which we didn't have. But we could add in the Martinis that we had before dinner. If you don't know Lukusowa vodka, you should take a look. It is by far the best Martini Vodka, and its cheap enough to use as a mixing vodka too.

Dry Martini
4 shots (6 ounces) Luksusowa Potato Vodka: $15 for .75 Liter (25.35 ounces) : $3.55
4 Good Big Olives: $1.00

HighDef Grand Total: $21.96
Applebee's Grand Total:$25.00

Applebee's 0, HighDef 1

Maybe this isn't a fair comparison. What we should do is cook one of Applebee's dinners and see how much it costs to do it at home. Look for fiesta lime chicken coming up...

Vacation

It's Sunday so you can imagine how the day started. NPR and the Globe, washed down by a couple of Mocha Lattes from Darwins. See here for more details of Sundays in the Boisvert household. The Globe had some interesting stuff today. The Travel section had a nice article about where to go for great but not expensive vacations. With the Euro so strong right now it looks like a lot of people are looking into different locations (us included). When thinking about a week vacation in the spring sometime, we initially thought about Costa Rica. We have heard good things from friends of ours, but are concerned that it might be a little too commercialized. Also, it's kinda a long flight for only a week (like 5 hours). The next thought was Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico is close, there are plenty of direct flights, and there is both rainforest (for hiking) and snorkeling opportunities, and some bay that glows. A quick look into accomodations proved fruitful as we found loads of VRBO houses at very reasonable rates.

Anyway, back to the Globe. I'm not going to list all of the them here...just the ones that caught my eye.
1. Honduras - I have no idea how safe Honduras is. Does anyone know? It looks beautiful. Look at this hotel. Are the rooms really under $30 a night? They have guided tours from the hotel into the rainforest to a 300' waterfall that you can swim in. Sounds like something Heike would like... VRBO has some nice places too . Ideal vacation here would include some Jungle time, and some snorkeling time.

2. Guatamala - Is Guatamala safe? Don't know. I'll have to look into it. Take a look at this hotel. Are you kidding me? This is so beautiful and under $70 a night. Guatamala looks like it might have a little more emphasis on culture...lots of Mayan culture still kicking around.

So, it comes down to Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, Honduras or Guatamala. What would you choose? Life is full of difficult decisions....

Voting Notes

Election Day tomorrow. Maybe I should figure out what I'm doing...Note that I don't really know anything about politics.

Let's see. What's on the ballot?
◆ President/Vice President
◆ US Senator in Congress
◆ US Representative in Congress
◆ Governor's Council
◆ State Senator
◆ State Representative
◆ Question 1
◆ Question 2
◆ Question 3

Actually Massachusetts makes it very easy to make these decisions as barely anyone runs against the democratic candidate. I had to look up what I'm actually voting on tomorrow (maybe you Germans don't know, but it's not just one check box). There are always surprises on the ballot, for example on the Presidential ticket there are actually 6 choices:

John McCain/Sarah Palin, Republican
Bob Barr/Wayne A. Root, Libertarian
Chuck Baldwin/Darrell L. Castle, Constitution
Ralph Nader/Matt Gonzales, Independent
Barack Obama/Joe Biden, Democratic
Cynthia McKinney/Rosa Clemente, Green-Rainbow

If you thought McCain was terrible, check out Bob Barr or Chuck Baldwin. Wow.



President/Vice President : Obama/Biden
US Senator: John Kerry
US Representative in Congress, District 8: Michael Capuano (unopposed)
Governor's Council, District 6: Michael J. Callahan (unopposed)
State Senator, Middlesex, Suffolk, Essex: Anthony D. Galluccio (unopposed)
State Representative, 25th Middlesex District: Alice K. Wolf (unopposed)


Question 1: State Personal Income Tax
Summary: This proposed law would reduce the state personal income tax rate to 2.65% for all categories of taxable income for the tax year beginning on or after January 1, 2009, and would eliminate the tax for all tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2010.
Dan's Vote: No. This is the worst idea I've heard in a while. Are people going to be so selfish to get back ~$3700 and cut about $12 billion from state funds? I assume this will pass.

Question 2: Possession of Marijauana
Summary: This proposed law would replace the criminal penalties for possession of one ounce or less of marijuana with a new system of civil penalties, to be enforced by issuing citations, and would exclude information regarding this civil offense from the state’s criminal record information system. Offenders age 18 or older would be subject to forfeiture of the marijuana plus a civil penalty of $100. Offenders under the age of 18 would be subject to the same forfeiture and, if they complete a drug awareness program within one year of the offense, the same $100 penalty.
Dan's Vote: Yes. Although an ounce of Marijauana is a lot of pot. Seems like this should be more like 1/16 of an ounce...

Question 3: Dog Racing
Summary: This proposed law would prohibit any dog racing or racing meeting in Massachusetts where any form of betting or wagering on the speed or ability of dogs occurs.
Dan's Vote: Yes. Don't have a strong opinion here, but I think they treat the dog's pretty badly, and we don't need that.

Is it exessive or just another day in New York?

Last weekend we went down to visit Alan and Mary in NY. Over the last couple years we've had quite a few adventures when we head down there...this trip also did not disappoint. Let's start with the ride down. I looked at a lot of options. I hate the bus, so we took a look at the train. But at like $400 for the two of us, I decided against it. We actually tried something new, and went with the BoltBus. The BoltBus was great. You get Wifi and a regular electrical socket at your seat. The seats are also more comfortable, with more space, and the clientele is all college students on their iPods. It was the quietest ride ever. Good thing too, because we got stuck in traffic and it took about 6 hours to get down to Penn Station. That night we took it easy, just a couple of drinks and a little Wii tennis and bowling.

Saturday

Breakfast at the Miracle Grill. Brooklyn really has some great places. This was fantastic mexican breakfast. Heike's scrambled egg fajitas were delicious, and my breakfast burrito was filling and tasty.

After breakfast we just hung out and let it rain outside. More Wii was played, a little football was watched.

Around 5 we took the train into Manhattan and grabbed a drink at the Hudson Hotel. This place is so Manhattan. It doesn't even have a sign outside. There is just a doorman, and a lighted entry. Up a small escalator is an expansive lobby with a couple of slick bars and a huge outside terrace. We opted for the Library bar (inside, cause it was starting to rain), and treated ourselves to a $22 martini.

We had 7:15 reservations at Bar Boulud. I had read about Bar Boulud in Esquire. Esquire said it was one of the best new restaurants in the country. So how bad could it be. I looked at the menu, and they focus on Lyonnais food. Sounding better and better. Boulud did not disappoint. I had Tagine d'agneau, and Boeuf aux Carrottes. Heike had Pate grand pere, and Loup de Mer. Everything was fantastic. Alan ordered a beautiful bottle of 05 Burgundy to wash it down with. Note from Alan: Every bottle of 05 French wine is great...good to know. Dessert of poached pear and a plum tart, followed by a bottomless cup of excellent coffee ended the meal.

10:30pm. Arturo Sandoval at the Iridium Jazz Club. I had seen Arturo twice before, but always at big venues. This was something special. The music was fantastic. Arturo is getting older now, and didn't really play that much trumpet. It was his second set of his second night so he played a lot of piano, which is fine, because he might be as good a pianist as a trumpeter. They played an hour fifteen set of smoking music and came out for an encore (again on piano).

Midnight. Some woman walks right in front of Alan and takes the cab he was hailing. This happens every time we go to NY. Do you think Alan was gracious and let her have the cab in peace? No. Screaming and swearing and making menacing gestures with his oversized umbrella Alan graciously told the woman what he thought about that move. We get a cab quickly and are off to Brooklyn. Should we go home and sleep off the long day? or should we continue the excess? Off to Blue Ribbon for a snack. Chicken Wings that you reheat on a Pupu-platter-style grill, 6 oysters, Perogies, and the most decadent bone marrow you have ever seen. Wash this all down with 2 Zyr dry martinis and you've got yourself a nice little late night snack.

From NYC Arturo and Alan

A $5 cab ride home. Some more Wii bowling. And good night.

Sunday:
Got up, frisbee in the park, Peter Luger steak bagel from La Bagel Delight, and back in the BoltBus (only 4 hours this time, and we watched Hot Fuzz on the laptop)

So you tell me, is that excessive or just the right way to do NYC?

Palin Again

Too funny, not to share. Worth the 10 minutes.

Sundays with the Globe

On Sundays I like to wake up, go down to Darwins get a couple of coffees and the Globe. I like to then come upstairs, put on NPR and read the paper. Basically I like a whole morning of no computer and no TV. Unfortunately, the radio doesn't turn on anymore. I had bought this great Onkyo T15 analog radio, and now it just doesn't turn on. The question is whether to get it fixed (at least $50) or buy a new one. I really like it but it only cost $100...so I'm torn. Anyway, back to the paper. I don't really read the news sections of it, but I really like the local sections. It does a good job of letting me know what is going on in Boston. There are always good ideas of museums, art shows, concerts etc. This week there was a spot about weird museums. I guess there is a guy in Portland with a museum of Cryptozoology in his house. Heike sounded interested...maybe we'll go.

Two weeks ago the Globe magazine had a great recipe. Cooking with grapes. I don't usually like mixing fruit in with real food, but we had a bunch of grapes around, and I thought we could try it. Since then, we've had it twice. We hardly ever repeat a recipe, so you know it must be good.





In case the link goes away at some point I'm pasting the recipe here:

SAUTEED CHICKEN CUTLETS WITH LEMON, CAPERS, AND GRAPES
SERVES 6

1 large lemon
1/3 cup flour
6 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, 6 to 8 ounces each, cut in half horizontally to make 12 thin cutlets
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1 large shallot, finely chopped (about 3 tablespoons)
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup homemade or packaged low-sodium chicken broth
1 cup (about 6 ounces) green seedless grapes, halved
2 tablespoons capers, drained
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

Cut the lemon in half crosswise; cut one half into thin slices and squeeze about 2 tablespoons juice from the other half; set the slices and juice aside. Place the flour in a wide, shallow dish (such as a pie plate). Dry cutlets and season each liberally with salt and pepper. Working one at a time, dredge each cutlet in flour, shake off excess, and set on a large wire rack.

In a large, heavy skillet set over medium-high heat, heat 2 teaspoons of oil until it just begins to smoke. Add 4 cutlets to the pan and cook, undisturbed, until bottoms are lightly browned, about 2 1/2 minutes, then turn cutlets over and cook until second sides turn white, about 30 seconds. Transfer cooked cutlets to a plate, tent with foil, and keep warm. Add 2 more teaspoons of oil to the empty pan and repeat process to cook 4 more cutlets; finish with 2 more teaspoons of oil and the remaining 4 cutlets (adjust the burner if the pan drippings darken or burn).

Reduce heat to medium and add remaining 1 teaspoon of oil to pan if it looks dry. Add the shallot and cook, stirring constantly, to soften, about 40 seconds. Add wine and broth, increase heat to high, and scrape the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Add lemon slices and any accumulated chicken juices and boil vigorously until the consistency is slightly syrupy and the volume is reduced by half, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium, add lemon juice, grapes, capers, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and pepper to taste, stir to distribute, and simmer until grapes are heated through, about 2 minutes. Off heat, add the butter and stir to incorporate it into the sauce. Taste the sauce and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper, if necessary. Add the parsley and stir to distribute, then spoon the sauce over the cutlets, and serve at once.

Homer and Palin

Alex pointed me to his hilarious blog, and I just had to share it.

Homer Simpson vs. Palin

This one is good too. I think Tina Fey delivers the nonsense a little better.


Unfortunately we can't watch the debate tomorrow. We're off to Cirque du Soleil.

Alan on the upcoming debate:
me: Biden is intelligent

Alan: yeah

at least with McCain and Obama its a fight

you have two guys that have their strengths and weaknesses

9:53 PM but their debate was a fair fight

this is going to be like the Boston Red Sox playing the SHaker junior High school baseball team