Birthday Foodie Style

So had a pretty gluttonous birthday weekend this past weekend which I think is okay per the rules. Something like "it's your birthday do what you want" or "hey let's get fat!". Why not both?

The first stop and meal of the day was lunch at Emerson Creek Pottery and Tea Room which isn't too far from my house in Oswego. First heard and visited this place last year on a recommendation. It was pretty funny as you drive down this gravel road towards an old farm you start thinking "where am I?"

Road leading to Emerson Creek (from their site I'm not that talented)

They do have a wide variety of teas but really the food is a star for me. I think they have the best mango salsa I've ever had. Funny enough Karen had taken her mom here the week before and brought me back some salsa. With that in mind I opted to go completely new- also helps they switch up their menus on a weekly basis.

Opted to go with a new item for an appetizer- baked blackberry brie. Honestly I don't know what my expectations were before it showed up- mostly because I couldn't tell you how brie tasted. Probably still can't as I'm pretty terrible differentiating between the types of cheeses- except for blue cheese as I am not a fan. That being said, this was pretty tasty. From what I gather its not a complicated dish to make but the freshness of the blackberries stood out to me.

Baked Blackberry Brie with crackers

Karen opted to get a strawberry lemonade that they make.  She was telling me how last time whoever made it had a plethora of diced strawberries in it. I think she was hoping for the same treatment but apparently that person from last time wasn't on lemonade duty. Probably got fired if they were stuffing these full of strawberry. That being said I gave it a try and liked it.

Karen's Strawberry Lemonade

Emerson Creek offers a you pick two type meal option. I mean I don't think they all it Pick 2 cause they don't want to get sued by Panera.  I enjoy it as I got to try a couple more new items. I ended up going with an Oven roasted turkey with Raspberry/Cranberry spread croissant and Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Soup. Fear not if you're thinking "hey those don't sound like they go together" as I ate them individually and did not mix them. Although to be fair the croissant and turkey would mix well with the soup. Can't say I've every had red pepper soup before but giving that Karen got a copy of their recipe we will be eating it again. Definitely would get both of these again as they were good. I think the overall quality that made these more enjoyable is the freshness of the ingredients.

Oven roasted Turkey with Raspberry/Cranberry spread Croissant and   Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Soup

Karen opted to go the pick two route as well and got the soup and a Oven Roasted Turkey Club with Provolone cheese on a pretzel roll. I think a club sandwich is definitely on the Karen's go to list when it comes to sandwiches. Once again to kill you with the recurring theme- the freshness really put it over. I should know as I tried it. Also in fairness I think you have to try very hard (aka be super lazy) to mess up a club sandwich.

Oven Roasted Turkey Club w/ Provolone on Pretzel Roll and Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Soup

Emerson Creek does have a kid's menu for you folks with kids. Lily hit up their grilled cheese which came with chips and fruits. Once again fairly simple and hard to screw up so understandably this was fantastic per Lily.

Kid's Grilled Cheese with chips and fruit

Overall was  a good lunch and will try to get back to Emerson Creek again at some point. Probably the trickiest part of hitting up that place is their hours: Tue - Sat 10:00 am - 4:00 pm Also the place fills up quickly. If it wasn't for those I probably would frequent it more often.

Probably blogged about this before but as is tradition for any special event my mom suggest eating at Gemato's. Really not sure when this tradition/idea started. I mean ribs are great there and she loves it so why not go there?

Half slab of ribs with Texas toast, fries, and back beans

Haven't ventured out in the area for BBQ food but as of now Gemato's is the best place in the surrounding Naperville/Aurora area. I know I got a couple suggestions for places but forget to check them out.

Speaking of other traditions in regards to my birthday, Karen once again baked a cake for my birthday.  I of course forgot to take a pick of the whole cake but did take a pic of my slice of cake:

Karen made: Three Layered Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownie Cake

Fairly certain I gained 10 pounds just looking at that piece of cake again. A three layered chocolate peanut butter brownie cake. That cake was awesome- not even trying for brownie points (no pun intended). That cake didn't last very long as folks dug into fairly quickly. 

Birthday was pretty good and fattening. Thanks again  to everyone I heard from and hung out with. Was a great time.

#Foodie,

Reef

P.S. Karen sent me a picture of the whole cake after I wrote this: