The Third Annual Day of No Cooking

Posted on by Laura & Brett
M and our grandkids surprised us midday with flowers and mini cupcakes from Gigi’s!

Our third annual anniversary Day of No Cooking couldn’t have gone better if we tried! The weather was delightful, everything we ordered was delicious, there were a couple of surprises during the day, and we almost stayed within our budget (we went over by $11). We kept costs down by sharing one or two dishes at each restaurant, and still ended up with happy, full stomachs at the end of the day.

We started the day with breakfast at Biscuit Love. We noticed the moment we arrived that things worked a bit differently here but it didn’t take long to figure it all out. Basically, guests stand in line and place their orders and are given a number and assigned a table. Wait staff then brings food and drinks to the table.

Sitting on a bed of blueberry coulis, and topped with a swirl of lemon mascarpone, the Bonuts were delicious, bite-sized treats.
The extremely yummy Southern Benny was a flaky biscuit topped with shaved ham, then covered with sausage gravy and a fried egg.

Brett and I were to the front of the line in around 15 minutes and ordered Bonuts, one of their specialities, a Southern Benny (southern style eggs Benedict), and big cups of coffee.

P.F. Chang’s chicken lettuce wraps were as good as we remembered, and the ship dumplings were a perfect compliment.

Lunch at P.F. Chang’s was delicious – the chicken lettuce wraps were as good as we remembered. We also got an order of shrimp dumplings, also very good, and Brett enjoyed a Tsingtao beer. Because it was our anniversary we were offered a free dessert but turned that down as we were too full to enjoy it (the offer remains good for another month though).

We picked up a half dozen cupcakes at Gigi’s: two for us, and four for M & the grandkids. The cupcakes were good, and the frosting amazing.

On the way back from lunch we stopped at Gigi’s cupcakes to pick up two for our evening dessert as well as some for M and the grandkids. Brett dropped off the cupcakes with M, and then a few minutes later they showed up at our door with a beautiful bouquet of flowers . . . and a box of Gigi’s mini cupcakes for us!

We enjoyed refreshing, perfectly made cucumber G&Ts for cocktails at home.
A dinner of Indian food was the perfect ending to a perfect day.

In the early evening we enjoyed cucumber gin & tonics, and then as the weather was still delightful, we decided to walk to Persis, located just a half mile down the road from us. Our dinner – potato samosas, a tandoori chicken mixed grill, and butter naan bread made us feel like we were back in India again – it was absolutely delicious. We left feeling very full and content, and vowed to return to try more from their extensive menu.

At home we shared our cupcakes (banana cream for Brett, lemon dream for me) along with some coffee, and talked about potential restaurants for next year. We couldn’t have asked for a better day, but according to my fortune from P.F. Chang’s, more good new is coming soon!

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Published by Laura & Brett

Slow traveling the world with a sense of adventure!

10 thoughts on “The Third Annual Day of No Cooking”

  1. What a wonderful tradition you and Brett have. All your food for the day looks so delicious.

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    1. We had such a good day this year, and so much good food – the restaurants were all great. Both of us were positively stuffed by the time dinner was over. We’ve already got our restaurants picked for next year!

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  2. Happy Anniversary! Some of my family members are visiting Nashville and I told them about your restaurant experiences. They reported back that they ate at Biscuit Love and loved it! Those cupcakes look amazing.

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    1. We loved Biscuit Love and will definitely be eating there again.

      WenYu had asked us if we would check out Gigi’s and we thought our anniversary would be a good time to do that. They were wonderful – the frosting is to die for!

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  3. Sounds like a fun day with food that you obviously enjoyed! Glad everything was a “win” for you!

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    1. Every place and everything we ate was just what we had hoped for. Servings were large enough that we could share and still feel satisfied (if we hadn’t shared I think we would have quit after breakfast). We’re already looking forward to next year – there are so many good restaurants around us.

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    1. We did have a wonderful day, Cindy. It helped to have nice weather, but service was great, and the food was delicious from start to finish. It’s really such a great way to celebrate our special day.

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  5. What a fun day, and as always your photos are so lovely. The photo from the Indian restaurant made me literally drool, LOL.

    I don’t know how we missed Biscuit Love when we visited Nashville, but now we have a reason to return!

    BTW- if you make it back to my neck of S California at some point, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised at what a foodies town both San Clemente & San Juan Capistrano have become.

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    1. Thanks, Tamara! I think this year’s day out was our best yet, but we have an abundance of great choices here for places to eat. I was a little wary of going back to P.F. Chang’s because I didn’t know if the lettuce wraps would be a good as in the past, but they were terrific. And Persis! My goodness, we felt like we were right back in India – everything was so delicious. We’re going to make an effort to go back because their menu was extensive – I want to try their lamb jogan rosh.

      If you’re ever back this way, Biscuit Love is not to be missed!

      I so hope to get back to San Clemente one of these days – it still calls to me. Many of my co-workers are from California, and three lived in San Clemente or nearby. We have had some great conversations and how it’s changed over the years.

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