Fourth weekend activities

We had a good long weekend. Thursday we caught an early show of Wall-E. I really liked it. Not quite as good as The Incredibles, but animation is amazing and the story is very desolate for a long time. I'm sure I'll be seeing it again sometime soon. After the movie, we hit Osha Thai. They were open (but were closing for the rest of the weekend) and we had a great meal, as always. I love their panang, even if it was a tad spicier this time than normal. The important thing is it had FLAVOR as well as a bit of heat.

Friday we did a late-ish lunch at Stacy's Smokehouse. The last time we tried to go, two days after the good review on the Republic, they were closed. Turns out Stacy had a trip to Vegas already planned and didn't want to be open without him so soon after the article. Tara got a beef sandwich and I got a pork sandwich, both with mild sauce. The sauce was sweet and vaguely Sloppy Joe-tasting. The meat was amazing as usual. We tried the deep-fried corn on the cob, onion rings, and fried pickles. The rings were the winner. The pickles were good, but very salty to me. The deep-fried corn on the cob didn't have much flavor. It was battered in a cornmeal batter that Tara like separately, but not with the corn. Still, if you stick to the meats, you can't go wrong at Stacy's.

We tried Ice Tango after Stacy's at Frank Lloyd Wright and the 101. We both got their tangy tart yogurt with different mixins. It's really good and tastes like real yogurt. It was a bit too tart for me to finish all of it, but still outstanding. Tara loved hers with granola and fresh strawberries. Definitely will go back for more.

Friday night we decided to catch some fireworks. We eventually decided to watch the Tempe Town Lake show from Tempe Marketplace. It was close enough to see the fireworks and hear them after a bit of a delay, but no drunks or cover charge. A ton of folks were doing the same thing. Tara got to play with a little eight year old girl who was watching them next to us with her older sister. We could see five different shows from where we were. Tempe, Mesa, possibly Indian Steele Park, and two to the northwest in N Scottsdale or so. It was fun.

Saturday we stopped into Wicked Bakery on Cave Creek Rd south of Greenway to check them out. Man, they've got some good stuff there. We left with a whoopie pie, a slice of deep-dish Dutch apple pie, a double-stack brownie, and a piece of carrot cake. All were really good. The whoopie pie wasn't quite like the ones I used to have growing up in Maine, but pretty close. The apple pie was very yummy. It would be better heated, but I didn't have the patience. Tara loved the carrot cake, but eventually it was too sweet for her to finish, so I did. :) She had her brownie today and it was very chocolatey. We'll definitely be back.

Saturday evening we decided to take a road trip to Joe's Farm Grill in Gilbert. Thankfully it wasn't mobbed like the last time we attempted to eat there. Tara had a burger with gruyere and sweet potato fries. I had a double hot dog basket with regular fries. My dogs were great and the fries were very crispy and good. Tara's burger had great flavor in the small bite I had. Her sweet potato fries were very crispy, but she thought they lacked a good sweet potato flavor. I could taste the flavor, but it was very subdued.

Sunday we lazed around the house. We made homemade buttermilk pancakes for a late breakfast. We found an awesome recipe a while back. Very fluffy and nice flavor. I really need to get a new electric griddle. Our current one looks like it should be in a greasy spoon somewhere. Still does the job for now, though.