Taste of Orange Blossom {Sicilian Stuffed Artichoke!}

Last night we DEVOURED the special appetizer: Sicilian Stuffed Artichoke! They take a monster artichoke, and stuff it with bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese. It's served with their Lemon Garlic Butter! Ohhhhh yeah! Seriously, if you're a OBJ regular and haven't tried this...you need to! You can thank me later!We probably looked like we hadn't eaten in days, if anyone was watching us. There's no "neat and polite" way to eat an artichoke. You gotta use your fingers! Tender artichoke, with crisp breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese, and THAT sauce....fabulous combination!

The special salad last night was a Avocado Salad with Watermelon Sorbet and Champagne Dressing! I love it when this salad makes the rounds! Well, really, there is no where around here that makes salads and dressings as fresh and flavorful as OBJ!

You will be pleasantly surprised with the watermelon sorbet, it has extra flavors to add to the salad! This salad makes you WANT to eat your veggies!

I am going to try to try out the brunch soon and blog about it, since I've never gone to Sunday Brunch there. I've HEARD it's delicious!

Check out OBJ here!

DIY Push Pop Stands!

Awhile ago I bought two sets of pushpops from Pick Your Plum. You've heard of Pick Your Plum, right? The first thing I do after I open my eyes each weekday, is check my email on my phone and go straight to the mail from Pick Your Plum! Each weekday, you receive a email with a GREAT craft deal at huge discounts! Being a party planner, I knew I'd use these! They come with these cool acrylic trays (which are awesome!), BUT I could never figure out how I would leave them at a party I was setting up. Someone would have to be holding the tray at all times or else they'd all tip over. I figured out a easy solution!To start off, I took a spare piece of wood from my garage (really it could be any size wood you have on hand, just make your measurements appropriate for it). I measured the length of the acrylic tray and cut the base of the stands. I took half an inch off of each end of the base, so that the tray would hang over both edges...make sense? Next, I sanded the edges.Now the fun part! I pre-drilled the holes with my DeWalt cordless screwdriver. My dad liked his so much that he bought extra, so I got one. ;) It's my favorite too! My mom also sent me his tray of drill bits so now I am able to use it to drill holes too! Next, I just used two screws on each end piece, drilling from the bottom.

All that's left now is painting! I decided to do white so that I can use them for ANY party. White will never clash. ;) I was out of white spray paint so I just brushed it on with white paint I had on hand. Laziness/Thriftiness 101:Use what you got!

A couple of coats later, and I'm done! I can't wait to finally USE them after just staring at them on my craft table for so long! I've had it in my head to build these, but just never found the time.

Taste of Orange Blossom {Crabcakes!}

This week I ordered the special appetizer, since I'd never had them before...Crabcakes! I LOVE crab, but for some reason I haven't had crabcakes since our wedding, 8 years ago! I've never had crabcakes like these before! They have SO much meat in them...seriously! They are served with a scoop of mashed potatoes and their famous Orange Ginger sauce. Mmm, mmm....swirl a bite around in the sauce. Take it for a little swim. ;) Crab lovers will definitely not be disappointed by these crabcakes.

The special dessert was Chocolate Ganache (it's under there, I promise) with Marinated Strawberries and Blueberries, topped with Cheesecake Ice Cream. Oh. My. Goodness. The berries were honestly the most flavorful I've had all season. I don't know what they do to them, but they are bursting with their natural flavor. It's like whatever they did to them didn't take away from their flavor, but just enhanced it! Cheesecake ice cream...homemade. Need I say more?? The combination of the three do a perfect dance in your mouth. :)

We were lucky enough to have a few people want to join us at the last minute, so we also had the Chocolate Trauma. This is my OBJ favorite from the regular menu. I'm a chocoholic, what can I say? Chocolate ganache tart, homemade chocolate ice cream, covered in hot chocolate, drizzled with white chocolate and caramel. You can pause to wipe the drool off your keyboard, I'll wait.

I was telling the owner last night (yes we ate there twice in one weekend!) that I practically have dreams of their chocolate ice cream. (As I was sneaking some from my kids' scoops...shhhh, don't tell) I tried to make chocolate ice cream in my ice cream maker. It wasn't good. I'm ruined now...none will be as good as theirs.

Check out OBJ online. You'll be glad you did!

Taste of Orange Blossom {Baked Triggerfish with Crabcake and Coconut Cream}

The special last night was something I'd never heard of...triggerfish. I bet you're scratching your head too. I'll get to the fish in a minute. First things first! The special salad last night was Avocado Salad with Watermelon Sorbet and Champagne Vinaigrette Dressing! This salad does one flavorful dance in your mouth! The watermelon sorbet is not what you'd expect, it has a bit of a twist to it. I love how many goodies come on this salad, and this dressing is one of my favorites! Every thing about this salad make your taste buds do the happy dance.Since we both ordered specials, one of us tried the soup, and one of us tried the salad...and then we shared (of course!). The soup was Cream of Broccoli & Potato with Cheese and Croutons. This kind of soup is so good...creamy, with big pieces of potato, and topped with homemade croutons! Yum!

We were super lucky last night and Chef George sent us out the special appetizer, Pork Cakes with Spicy Schezuan Sauce! This was our first time trying these and they were SOOO yummy! The pork was really tender, and the sauce gave them that extra kick. I loved the extra crunchy breading! These were delicious! Thanks George!

Here's what you've been waiting for! Baked Triggerfish & Crab Cake with Coconut Cream. I had never heard of triggerfish so I got a crash course! It is a tropical, deep water fish that is wild-caught. (NOT farm raised? Sounding good already!) It is a delicate white, flaky fillet with a mild buttery flavor and a medium-firm texture. I thought it was delicious, and that it was paired perfectly with the coconut cream. The only thing that could have made it better if I was ON the tropical island while I was eating it. ;)

It came with Parmesan Polenta, Spaghetti Squash, Broccoli, and Garlic Bread. I loved ALL of these sides! The parmesan polenta is a absolute favorite of ours! It's a good thing we both got it last night, otherwise there would have been fork wars going on at our table!

One of the special desserts was Chocolate Ganache with Marinated Strawberries and Bourbon Vanilla Ice Cream. We all know chocolate and strawberries are a natural pair, but I love that they top it with homemade vanilla that balances out the richness of the ganache. It was SO yummy! I'm pretty sure formal food reviewers don't use words like "yummy" and "fork wars" but I do! ;)

Check out the latest at OBJ, here! There are concerts coming up... date night anyone? AND if you're on the e-mail list, you know that this week they did away with pre-formed patties on their burger! They now grind their own meat and form them by hand! If you wanna know another secret, they buy their burger buns from Fresno! That's a long way to go for one ingredient, so you KNOW they care about quality! ;) Sign up for the mailing list on their website or you'll miss out!

Taste of Orange Blossom {Ultimate Chicken Fried Steak!}

Last night was a tasty one at OBJ! Check out this special salad! It's a Romaine Salad with Candied Walnuts, Champagne Dressing and topped with Bleu Cheese Ice Cream! Yep, you heard me right! If you like bleu cheese, you'll love it. It's just one of those things you've got to step out and try! This salad was so fresh and crisp on a hot day. I love their champagne vinaigrette dressing! Big surprise, a OBJ salad dressing I love! Ha ha. I can't help it, they're delicious!

You aren't going to believe this Chicken Fried Steak! This is a New York Steak, and it's been tenderized to the max! The breading is crunchy and the meat is super tender and delicious. I don't think you'll ever have a better chicken fried steak. Honestly. Not to mention this thing is enormous, and topped with Linguicia Gravy and two fried eggs. It sits on top of a bed of mashed potatoes, and framed in with toasty bread. Seriously, does it get any better than this?

Dessert was a Warm Coffee Tart with Cheesecake Ice Cream. If you haven't had this yet, you're missing out! It has a thin, crispy crust and I can't even guess at what's in the middle, but it's delicious and tastes like coffee! ;) Do I even need to tell you how good the cheesecake ice cream is?? Well, I'm going to anyway... I don't think it gets any creamier than this. The creamy deliciousness of cheesecake in ice cream form to take the edge off of the summer heat. Perfect! :)

Here's an artistic view of last night's special:

And because our second meal was SOOO good and I've never ordered it before, I have to show you....
Shrimp Skewers with Tequila Lime Butter! Heck yes! We already know I LOVE the sauce, it comes on the Almond Prawns and I could lick my plate clean with that stuff! But these were sooo good! SIX jumbo prawns, grilled to perfection and topped with the tequila lime butter! We chose rice pilaf and green beans as our sides. They're green beans are so yummy...they have mushrooms in them and THIS girl loves mushrooms! If you wanna know a secret, the sauce is reallllly good mixed in with the rice too! ;)

As always, check 'em out here! Tell them the blogger sent you! :)

Ice Cream Sundae Party!

Hello! This will be the last party that I blog about until after the wedding I'm doing in September. I am relieved to have everything cleared off my calendar so that I can fully focus on wedding decorating. I set up this party today and it turned out super cute! The mom requested an ice cream sundae party! I ordered these invitations on Etsy, from LillyMaeDesigns.She took less than 24 hours to email me back my finished file! Aren't they SO cute?? (This is the picture on the etsy listing so that I'm not showing my client's phone and address.) ;)

I should have asked what length her table was going to be, but I didn't.....so the ends of the table are showing and driving THIS perfectionist crazy! The client said it was fine, but I guess I'm just a perfectionist. Thankfully, she is gracious and easy-going. ;)

These cookies were made by none other than Nandie {of course!}.

I found these ceramic ice cream cone dishes on clearance at JoAnns a couple months ago. They are super cute!

All the things you need: sprinkles, nuts, reese cups, hot fudge, cherries, pirouette cookies, whipped cream.

How cute is the ice cream truck set? It is filled with pretty ice cream cups and it's from Shop Sweet Lulu. I wanted to make sure there were enough cups for grown ups too, so the cups on top of it are from JoAnns.

The cute paper plates and napkins are from Party City.

How cute are these honeycomb tissue puff ice cream cone toppers? They are from JoAnns, and all I had to do was open them up.

Want a delicious Chocolate Buttercream Recipe?? Here's mine...

2 sticks of room temperature butter

1 tsp. vanilla

2 T. milk

3 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1/2 cup cocoa powder (plus a little extra for good measure)

Beat the butter with an electric mixer until it's beat well. In my experience, if you let the butter get TOO soft, it doesn't do as well. I like to do it while its softened, but still cool. Add milk and vanilla and mix well. add powdered sugar and cocoa a little at a time while the mixer is running. Wait until it's combined to add more.

If you want vanilla buttercream, omit the cocoa powder and increase the powdered sugar to 4 cups.

Taste of Orange Blossom

Today I'm going to bring you TWO specials from OBJ! With a 3-course special you get to choose salad OR soup, your entree, AND dessert! Check out this special salad, Smoked Chicken Salad with Raspberry Vinaigrette Dressing! The smoked chicken adds SO much flavor to this salad! I always love their dressings (because they don't come from a can!) and I am especially partial to the different berry vinaigrettes that pop up from time to time on the specials! LOVE!The soup was Cream of Asparagus. It was DELICIOUS! It's topped with cheese and homemade croutons! It had the greatest flavor, and I loved that it had mushrooms in it! Actually as I'm sitting in bed tonight writing this blog post, I would kill for another bowl of it before bed! ;)

Brandon ordered the Smoked Pork Chop with Spicy Apple Butter. It is one of our FAVORITES of OBJ! Believe me, you've never tasted a pork chop like this one! Underneath it is the apple "mixture" (because I don't know what to call it) and the flavor of the apple butter, with the ever-so-slight kick of heat is AWESOME! It was served with a twice baked potato, sauteed kale, and candied carrots, as well as a big piece of garlic bread.

The special I chose was the Bacon Wrapped Filet with Tomato Bearnaise Sauce. This was served with the same sides, and was SO tender and delicious! You KNOW how tender this cut of meat is, and it doesn't disappoint! The sauce is absolutely perfect and adds another layer of flavor without taking away from the steak at all. Do I need to even mention the thick cut bacon?? Yum!

After ALL of that, we had a Warm Coffee Tart with Cheesecake Ice Cream! Oh gosh, I don't even know how to begin to describe it. What could be better than creamy cheesecake ice cream on top of a warm coffee tart? It's topped with caramel, hot fudge, and white chocolate! No, I'm not kidding you!

Orange Blossom will have a new menu coming soon. I've heard "rumors" that the Smoked Pork Chop AND Bacon Wrapped Filet might be permanent fixtures. I've heard some other really tasty details too.... but you'll just have to wait and see! I'll be sure to update you on the new menu when it debuts this week or next! I THINK you should sign up for their weekly e-mail so that YOU'LL know when things are cookin' at the Junction! ;)