A Lunch with Coworkers at PW Pizza in St. Louis

As I mentioned yesterday, me and some fellow isolateers from work met at PW Pizza on Chouteau in downtown St. Louis yesterday for a holiday lunch. My wife had patronized this establishment before and raved about it and the pizza that she got so I felt I was well prepared for what was in store. Even with my wife's stellar report on this joint and the fact that they were voted Best New Restaurant by St. Louis Magazine, I had no idea how good it was actually going to be. This was by far THE BEST pizza I've had in St. Louis... bar none!

We each ordered our drinks (I ordered a water with lemon... I'll have to tell you about my new fascination with this simple concoction at another time but let's just say that there are some good health benefits). The we started with the BLT salad which was a glorious combination of iceburg lettuce (which I am usually not a fan of but it works here), bacon (of course), tomato and blue cheese dressing. That's it! Folks, one of the many things that I have learned over the years is that keeping it simple is often times the best thing to do when it comes to food. PW did it with this salad and it yielded a fantastic salad.

We then moved on to our pizzas. We ordered the old standby of sausage and pepperoni as well as a signature pizza they offered called the Pulled Piggie Pizza. Both were outstanding pies but the stage was stolen by the Pulled Piggie. This little piggie was so good. I am an avid barbeque fan and I was not even close to being let down by this pizza. It had a base sauce of barbeque and was topped with gruyere cheese, slow smoked pulled pork and cole slaw. What a great combination. Each ingredient was evident and no one overpowered any of the others. The crust was also something to behold. Not too thick, not too thin, just right.

Although we were there for lunch, I also noticed that they had a tremendous selection of beers on tap. I am a huge fan of draft beer. I love it. I will actually order something else at a restaurant before I order a bottle of beer in most instances. PW had a colossal selection of micro beers (for beer snobs such as myself). I plan on going back and perhaps eating at the bar so that I can partake of some of these choices.

In short, this little piggie went to PW and had the Pulled Piggie, and smiled wee wee wee all the way home (sorry I couldn't resist). But seriously, looking for a good pie in St. Louis? Go to PW pizza. You won't be disappointed.

Office Holiday Parties

One of the few drawbacks to working out of the house is that I rarely get to feel the comradery associated with going to an office. Seeing as I am a very social person, this is a definite issue that I have spending so much time isolated in my "home office". I also miss out on the great fun, entertainment and food of an office Christmas party. That's why, this year I took it upon myself to ask everyone who works for my company here in St. Louis to meet a local pizza joint to celebrate the season for a couple of hours. I'll post my thoughts on PW Pizza tomorrow.

I'm excited because I am taking some holiday spritz cookies with me to give as gifts to my fellow isolated coworkers. This is a great holiday treat that was adapted from my wife's mother's recipe. It is a great not to sweet almond flavored cookie that we enjoy throughout the holiday season (I made some for our family as well as the neighborhood families a couple of weeks ago). This is one of many holiday sweets that are a staple this time of year at my household but it is definitely one of the most fun to make and you can involve the entire family by having them help decorate.

Here is the recipe:

Spritz Cookies
1 Stick of Butter
1 Stick of Margerine
1/2 Cup + 1 Tablespoon of Sugar
1 Egg
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1/2 Teaspoon Almond Extract
3/4 Teaspoon of Salt
Food coloring (optional)
2 1/2 Cups of All Purpose Flour
Colored Sprinkles

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Cream the butter, margerine and sugar until the mixture is creamy and pale yellow. Mix in the egg, vanilla extract, almond extract and salt (if you would like your cookies to be colored you would mix in the food coloring now). Gradually stir in the flour about a 1/2 cup at a time. Knead the dough and place in the refridgerator for 5-10 minutes to set. Load the dough into the cookie press and press each cookie onto and ungreased cookie sheet. Decorate with sprinkles. Bake at 400 for 7-8 minutes. Let cool on a rack and enjoy.

Happy Holidays!

Well, it is about 6 days until Christmas. I just got back from my annual family trip to visit my folks in Lexington, Kentucky. Always good to see family. Even better to eat with them. Everyone has their favorite holiday culinary traditions. In Kentucky (more recently than in the past) we go to either Malone's or Sal's for dinner one night and stay home and have some apski's (my cute word for appetizers) and drinks another night. It may not seem all that traditional, but I sure do enjoy it.

First, we ate our family dinner at home between the kids and adults openning their Christmas presents. This year was especially good because my Mom and Dad drove all the way to my hometown of Dayton, OH to pick up some frozen Marions Pizza. If you ever have the chance to try what I consider THE BEST PIZZA EVER, please do so. It is thin crust and piled high with finely chopped toppings. FANTASTIC!!! My Mom also made a couple of standby favorites of Meatballs with Chili and Grape Jelly Sauce and Barbeque Lil Smokies. This was all of course paired nicely with Wente Chardonnay and Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale (one of my personal favorite beers). We had some other things too, but of course these were the highlights.

On Saturday, we went to one of my favorite Lexington retaurants, Sal's Chophouse. It is an open air style restaurant featuring trendy American cuisine in a traditional steakhouse style atmosphere. We started with the Hot Brown Flat Bread which was a feet of culinary genious in and of itself. Picture a Kentucky Hot Brown sans the toast and put on a slab of toasted flat bread. AWESOME! I then had the Lexingtonian Salad which is also quite good and then the Filet Medallions with King Crab Stuffed Portabella Mushrooms. To say this was a good dish would be an understatement. It came with 2 four ounce Filet Mignon Medallions atop a large portabello mushroom stuffed with Alaskan King Crab and drizzled with lemon butter sauce. It was defintely a great combination of sweet and savory. I left with a smile on my face (mostly because of the food, but partially because I started with a Woodford Reserve and 7-Up and paired my meal with the Mathew Fox Cabernet). My wife had the Grilled Sea Scallops which she said were very good as well paired with her Pinot Grigio (I didn't see what kind --- I was too excited about my food).

We returned to my parents house that night where we all had dessert. Most of us enjoyed one of the best peanut butter pies in Lexington. It was from Ramsey's. If you enjoy southern cooking at it's best (not just deep fried everything --- although they do that too) go to Ramsey's. My favorite thing on the menu (other than the Peanut Butter Pie) is the country vegetable plate where you can eat up to 4 of your favorite country style vegetables. Great for lunch or dinner!

On Sunday, it was time to leave. But not before we had my Mom and Dad's famous breakfast of Gravy and Biscuits (for the 2nd time on this trip). Yes, I know most call it Biscuits and Gravy but in our house, we put the most important thing first. Maybe some day, when I have more time, I'll post the recipe for this wonderful Sunday morning Little family tradition that usually draws more family visits than the holidays.

That's all I have for now. Have a great week! Cheers!