Blondes I-REview: Kitchen: The Newest Addition to the Growing Glover Park Restaurant Scene

Last night, I ventured out with some gal pals to try out Kitchen, the newest sibling in the Latin Concepts family. It opened last week on the "strip" aka Wisconsin Avenue in Glover Park. Upon entering, the crowd was a bit sparse with only a few patrons at the bar. Ok, so it was still kind of early....we selected a table and seated ourselves. Here we go, I thought....
The Waiter &; The Wine:
So, our cheery waiter pops by the table to take our drink order. I request the standard Sauvignon Blanc only to find out they don't have any. HUH?!?! It was explained to me that they are using up their inventory left over from Ceviche and haven't received a new shipment yet. (Uh-oh, I think. This is not the right way to start off the evening.) Waiter Boy offers two Chardonnay choices, quickly returning to our table with bottles in hand. Our choices are Jerry Garcia Chardonnay or Bad Dog. (Ok, things are looking up!!) I have never tried Jerry Garcia, but since I am a die-hard (not tie-dyed!) Deadhead, I signed up for the band leader's brand. And, what a tasty choice! Did Jerry ever do anything that wasn't outstanding??
The Menu &; Dinner Selections:
I fussed and fussed over the menu as nothing jumped out at me. It's a menu full of southern comfort food with flair. There were several options that caught my eye, but none that seemed right - all had some sort of ingredient that I didn't care for. So, gal pal #1 decided that we should each get an entree that she likes (and coincidentally appealed to me, but were far too much food for me to eat on my own) and we'll split them. Ok! Sign us up for the lobster mac n cheese and the country fried steak with sausage gravy and biscuits! Waiter Boy pushed hard on mama's meatloaf, but that just wasn't where my head was - mark that down for next time. And, as all good servers do, Waiter Boy suggested an app for the three of us to share. The fried pickles looked intriguing, but since I don't actually like pickles this is not necessarily the best choice for me...yet somehow I keep thinking about them.... Gal pal #1 again takes the reins (she manages me so well!) and orders us the BBQ Shrimp & Grits. (Um, ew - it has thyme, which I hate and will likely ruin a perfectly good plate of shrimp & grits. damn, damn, damn. And then it arrives....) While I was thinking this app would be marginal at best, having been ruined by the damn thyme, I was super surprised at the tasty goodness that this dish was. I could have had that for dinner all by itself. YUM, YUM, YUM. I totally enjoyed my country fried steak, although I could have left the steak and just devoured the biscuits and gravy. O.M.G. I could feel them coagulating right on my hips, but damn those biscuits were well worth it! The lobster mac n cheese was good, but not fab. All of the lobster was concentrated in giant chunks on top, but a suggested improvement would be for the chunks of lobster meat to be mixed throughout the mac n cheese. Still a yummy dish.
The Encore - Dessert:
Um, let me just say - I have never eaten a Twinkie in my life. I hate yellow cake with white icing, so this all-American treat just doesn't appeal to me. Unless its FRIED! Holy Crap! We got this delightful dessert and it took all of my will power not to stab the gal pals with my fork to horde more for myself. I will NEVER share this again. I will need my own order. O.M.G.

In addition to the great experience we had I'd like to say the service was terrific - cheerful, sweet and GOOD. Waiter Boy had the whole downstairs and handled all the tables and diners with ease. It should also be noted that they serve a full brunch on both SATURDAY and Sunday. Not bad!!!

Rating: 3 1/2 Blondes out of 4 Blondes - its a definite spot to check out.

Post your reviews and experiences at Kitchen here on Blondes I-View.

A SWIFFER-RIFIC contest brought to you by PetKnows

I write for another blog, PetKnows, and we are hosting a terrific...actually a SWIFFER-RIFIC contest. Here's a repost with all the info:

"As I previously posted about Cat Essentials - what you absolutely need to have as a successful cat owner - a Swiffer is a must-have for taming pet hair and dust that inevitably haunts the corners of your home. Well, I am pleased to announce that Swiffer has provided PetKnows with three (3!) Swiffer Starter Kits to bestow on our loyal readers.

Here are the rules:

In order to enter:

1. Follow us on Twitter @PetKnows

2. Fan our Facebook page. And then leave your Twitter handle in the discussion section of our Facebook page.

3. Leave your best pet-hair challenge story in the comments section of this post.

All three criteria must be met in order to be eligible and winners will be selected at random, but a good story helps!

This is open to all current and former pet-owners (cats, dogs, etc.).

Winners will be announced on February 11 here on PetKnows!"

BlogHer Made Me Rich!

I got my first check from BlogHer!  It was for a minimal amount - enough to keep me Starbucked for the week, but not enough to finance a trip to Aruba.  But, the amount doesn't matter. What matters is - I get it now! 

I knew the power of blog ads, I understood and accepted it (in my business you have to in order to advise clients), but I've never lived it.  Well, now I have.  And the motivation to get another check - bigger and quicker - is driving my blogging. 

If you are reading this and have a blog that you've neglected of late...get on the stick! You are just throwing money away if you aren't actively updating your blog, writing compelling content (or just funny stuff), and driving traffic to it - which ultimately leads to ad clicks (read: dollars in your pocket). 

There are tons of ad networks out there, like BlogHer - just find the one that works best for you and your blog and sign up and reap the rewards - literally.  You can choose a blog ad network based on the sheer size and influence of it like Google AdSense, Technorati or Feedburner.  You can choose it based on similarity to you or your content, like Women's networks, such as BlogHer or Women's Blog Ad Network or based on a passion that you have, like the fashion based Glam or Men's Sports focused SportsBlog Nation. Whatever your passion, whatever your blog content, just be sure that you're monetizing it by having blog ads running in an unobtrusive area of your blog (typically a right hand column.)

In this economy, every penny counts, so why not get paid to talk (write)?  Seems easy enough to me!

Hey, I know you read - why don't you speak up?

Dear Friends, Family, and a few loyal reader strangers,

I know you read Blonde's I-View. I see it in my stats (thanks Google Analytics). I even know where you come from (Virginia, Philly, Cali, and those London readers?). But, you are a silent group.

Maybe its that you can't get a word in edgewise? Maybe its that my posts are so compelling that I've covered all points and you totally agree? Somehow I doubt it. So....I can only assuming that you are either afraid to post (I promise I won't respond mean or snarky) or you don't know how. Two reasonable assumptions (because it is, of course, not the content that bores you into silence...right? right?).

So, I am going to give you a Blonde's I-View tutorial. See below this post - where it says "Posted by J-Coll on 1/17/09" - to the right of that, you will see "0 comments" (which pains me.) If you take your little mousey and scroll over it you will see it is actually a link. CLICK IT! Yay!

Now you have a form that will ask for your name, email, and website if you have one. Fill it in. You do not need to leave your real name. Promise. Your email doesn't show. If you have a website - it will hyperlink your name to it (nice little way to drive traffic to your site). Then add your comment, thoughts, outrage - whatever. I'm desperate for some feedback here, people. Please! It will likely ask you to put in a serious of nonsensical words - that is to verify that you are not a computer spammer. Its ok, do it. It won't hack your system, promise. And that is it!! Its that easy. And, I will respond - promise, promise! So, try it out....I'm waiting, although not holding my breath. Blue's not my color...

We interrupt this regularly scheduled blog...

Please take a quick moment to pray, meditate, count your lucky stars, kiss your cat,...whatever...to acknowledge the herosim of "Capt. Sully" who successfully landed and Airbus320 full of 155 people in the narrow Hudson River yesterday.  His actions led to something that was nothing short of a miracle. 

Lives were saved - how often does that happen when there is a plane crash of this magnitude?  Commuter ferries became first responders and water rescuers.  How lucky was it that they happened to be there.  What a touching example of human compassion among strangers. 

Just a reminder from Blonde's I-View of how precious life is - you cannot take one moment for granted.