Foster's "January's Not Such a Boar" Game Dinner...

Girls night! Joe was out of town tattooing and Sean had a 100 Demons show to attend so we decided to make it ladies night at Foster's. It's amazing how many more people are comfortable talking to us when our large, loud, heavily tattooed husbands are not around! Alethea, Katie and I arrived a little late but hadn't missed anything yet thank goodness! Shortly after we were seated the first course was served...

The PRE-GAME: Boneless BBQ Wild boar short rib

This little guy was so meaty and delicious!

1st COURSE: Wild boar sausage wrapped in puff pastry with a mango chipotle Dijon mustard This dish was like a giant and gourmet version of pigs in a blanket. The flavor of the sausage was great, and the pastry was so flaky and buttery.

2nd COURSE: Smoked boar belly with a golden BBQ sauce, corn bread and seaweed coleslawThis was my second favorite course of the evening (wait until you see dessert!) Corn bread? Yum! Coleslaw? Yum! Pork bellies? Yum!

3rd COURSE: Grilled boar chops served on a bed of flowers tossed with honey vinaigretteTalk about presentation! How beautiful is this dish? I had never eaten flowers before. Turns out they taste like they smell. The white, yellow, and multicolor flowers had a strong floral taste, while the purple blossoms were milder with a really great texture. I enjoyed the flower salad and liked the purple flowers a lot.

I thought the pre-game dish was one of the main courses so after the boar chops I expected to see dessert come out. Instead, out came this...

4th COURSE: Wild boar porketta with jus and roasted potatoes Are you kidding me? I was already stuffed and another entire dinner plate is placed infront of me. I'm a trooper so I dug in.

5th COURSE: Wild boar bacon Mississippi mud pieWhen this highly anticipated dessert was placed before me I died a little. The camera came out and it was like I was the paparazzi and that brownie was Britney Spears. Seriously, I took like 15 pictures of it. Here's another one: This may be one of the greatest things I've ever had in my mouth! Wild boar bacon dipped in dark chocolate and planted in a dalop of whipped cream, home made espresso ice cream, and yes, THERE'S BACON IN THAT BROWNIE! I actually told Chef Dave that if that brownie was a boy I would consider leaving my husband for it.

We had Orange Spice Hot Toddy's with dessert.

We made new friends at dinner. Here's Alethea and Doug. And fellow regulars John and Liz. Hi John and Liz! See you in March! And saving the best for last, Chef Dave Foster! The man himself gets behind the bar to serve us up some after dinner shots of flavor infused vodka (ginger and canataloupe), and tequila (espresso). They make it right at the bar. You can see the vodka marinated cantaloupe slices in the lower right of the photo. Talk about smooth! Thanks for another great meal Chef Dave!

At the end of dinner I learned that Chef Dave has added a link to my blog to the Foster's website. What a huge compliment! I hope anyone who ended up here by following that link found my blog helpful and headed over to Foster's because of it. The game dinners are great but they also have a full menu of "eccentric American" cuisine that is also worth the trip any time! I've said it before and I'll say it again and again EAT AT FOSTER'S!!!

www.fostersrestaurant.com

Inside the PI (Volume 6)...

The Pulse Pet. Meet Quincy the Pulse Dog. He's a grouchy old pug who spends most of his time sleeping on a pillow in my office.

The Couple That Plays Together...

For the record, I'm not trying to learn to play the guitar. I just think this is a cute picture. We were at our friend Daryl Palumbo's place in the city where there are guitars aplenty. I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. Turns out it's harder to play the guitar than the men in my life make it look. On the bright side, I did learn a mean pick slide. But I doubt we'll be taking this show on the road.

DISGUSTING...

I saw this on TattooSnob.com and I couldn't resist reposting it on my blog...



What's everyone think about this?

KATZ'S Deli...

I went to NYC with Sean to celebrate our first married New Year. We didn't get crazy and go to Time Square, but we did enjoy another New Yorker New Year's day tradition. We went to KATZ's Deli.We were visiting friends in the city and our gracious host was the one and only Joshua M Holden whose East Side apartment is just a short walk away from KATZ'S. Talk about convenience! On our way to the deli, we even got to walk by the Hells Angels NYC club house. There were some very real bikers out front so I had to act cool and not take pictures. Bum out.

When we arrived at KATZ'S the line was out the door! I blamed Adam Richman of Man vs Food via Twitter for this. We decided to tough it out, and even though I got so heated during a table standoff with another patron (I WAS THERE FIRST!) that I wanted to walk out or flip that table... it was still worth it. Thanks to my husband for keeping me cool. Anyone who knows us will have to read that twice, it's a bit of a role reversal!

Josh and I both ordered the brisket of beef. My sandwich is featured in the photo, on club bread with cheese. You can see Josh's in the back right corner on rye with mustard.

Sean had a pastrami combo the likes of which I've never seen before... Just as we finished our lunch (we ate it all including fries, half sour pickles and macaroni salad) a nice gentelman with a bus cart stopped by our table. He wished us a Happy New Year and asked where we were from. After finding out it was my first time dining there, he gave me the full history of the place, and asked us for our meal tickets. Turns out he wanted to give us the "10% Tattoo Discount". He took our tickets, lowered the prices and was on his way. Score! Being a bunch of tattooed maniacs finally pays off! It wasn't until after he left our table that I realized he was in fact the owner! The owner of KATZ'S gave us a break on our bill because he liked our tattoos! In the words of Joshua M Holden, "Happy New Year indeed!"

If you find yourself in New York's Lower East Side, EAT AT KATZ'S! KATZ'S has been featured in many films including Donnie Brasco, Across the Universe, Offbeat and of course, When Harry Met Sally...

Pulse is 10...

2010 marks our 10 year anniversary here at Pulse International. It will also be my 10th year with the company, but my anniversary isn't until later this year on June 16th. I really can't believe it's been that long! Where does the time go?

On our first day back to work after our New Year holiday break and inventory, we were delivered a surprise treat. A creative, beautiful and delicious cake from Margaret Brady AKA Katie's Mom (you should've seen the Santa cake she baked us for Christmas!). Thanks Margaret!