Tonight we were visiting our friends who just bought a house in Palatine. (Happy Freakin' Birthday Katie!). Rewired some stuff, put together some furniture, waited for the women-folk (who have jobs or something) to get home, then went to dinner at Lamplighter Inn. It's a relatively small restraunt, decorated in a train wreck motif with decent bar-type food and a very nice server.

Nicole got the Italian Beef and Sean got the Gyros Sandwich. Both came with fries and a pickle (as all sandwiches do (and should)). The fries were thin cut and crispy, but not so thin and crispy as to be like those shoestring potatoes that come in a can, or so that they steamed themselves and wer mushy by time you got to the bottom of the pile. The Italian Beef was spicy (as if it had had hot peppers, but there were none in evidence) but very good. The au jus was also a bit spicy (and also good). The Gyros sandwich was served on a roll, rather than the traditional pita, and the meat was cut fairly thick. There was a good amount of meat, and the cucumber sauce was very good. Service was attentive, and although the server spilled a bit on Nicole when serving, she was clearly more upset about it than we were and immeadiately grabed some club soda to help clean it up. (She also advised against ordering coffee, apparently they only brew it once a day.) The sandwiches run between about $5 and $7.

If you're in the area and need a quick meal, this is not a bad choice at all.

Fried rice is one of my favorite dishes, like mac & cheese, its something that's better when varied upon. Here's my basic recipe based on one from Help! My Apartment Has A Kitchen

1 Large Egg
1 Tbsp Water
1 Tbsp Butter (I usually just use olive oil)
1 Med Onion (Sometimes we add green onion)
1 tsp Peanut Oil (Again, we usually substitute olive oil)
2 cups cold cooked rice (a little bit drier than you'd normally eat it)
2 tsp soy sauce
black pepper
sesame oil

Beat egg with water. Melt butter in non-stick skillet, add egg and cook without stirring (you want this a thin, flat sheet). Remove from pan, shred and put aside. In a wok over high heat, sweat the onion in peanut oil until just starting to soften, add rice, soy, and pepper. Cook about 5 minutes stirring constantly. Add shredded egg and sesame oil. Serve Hot.

We frequently add some peas and occasionally some meat or spices. Tonight we added the leftover salmon burgers, crumbled after the onion was just starting to soften, we stirred this together and got it warmed up before adding the rice. We use brown rice for almost everything anymore. It has a lot more flavor, and is better for us too. (Minute Rice is okay for some recipies, but doesn't qualify as real food in our book.) We also tend to double or triple the recipie (do the egg in batches or it won't cook right) so that we have plenty for lunches.

An interesting thing about this recipie is that Nicole can't make it. She's tried, it just doesn't work. Some people can't see green, Nicole can't cook fried rice. Oh well.

Groceries for this week's (5) meals came to about $88. We find we spend less if we plan ahead. Still have a few things we need to pick up though. Menus: Salmon Pizza, Beef Korma, Beef with Pine Nuts and Rasins, "Chicken Parmasean", and Spinach stuffed squash

We weren't familar with Viognier wines, but they were shelved near the Rieslings and the description sounded interesting, so we picked up a bottle for $6.99. We chilled it and had it with our salmon dinner the other night.

First impressions were good. The aroma was nice when we uncorked the bottle and when we poured it. However, it smelled better than it tasted. Really, it had almost no flavor in the mouth, only in the nose. Drinking it was like drinking water from a glass that used to have vodka in it. Not very impressive.

However, after we let it sit a while, and it warmed up, more of the flavor came out. The flavors still weren't distinct, but they were better. Also, a glass on the second day after opening seemed better too.

I think we might give Viognier another try some time, but probably not this particular one.

Amelia's is a mexican restaurant that opened a few months ago at 46th and Halsted. We've been there mutiple times and the food is excellent.

Two of the three times we've been there we have gotten a small bowl of chicken rice soup (chicken, carrots, celery, rice, and broth) and chips and salsa before we ordered. The salsa has great flavor and texture with just the right amount of heat.

For appetizers, we have tried the guacamole, choriqueso (chihuahua cheese and chorizo), and ?????. Appitizers run $5-9 apiece and easily serve two.

For entrees, we've tried the chicken taco salad, vegetarian platter (sufffed poblano pepper, cheese enchilada, and avacado tostada), a garlic butter shrimp dish, burito frito and chicken fajitas. Entrees run between $7-20 depening on wether or not you get a dinner and or seafood. All of them have been fantastic and very filling. Nearly all the dishes come with rice and beans, and most would be worth the price even without.

We have not tried any or the desserts and, as of today, they still do not have thier liquor license. We will definitely be going once they get it to try their margaritas.

As an added bonus, they bring a carafe full of ice water with a slice of lemon. No need to ask repeatedly for more water. The service is attentive without being overbearing, and the food is quick to the table.

This neighborhood doesn't have very many restraunts in walking distance, but this one is one we'd go to regularly even if we had many more to choose from.