The Cheesecake Factory

Yesterday was National Cheesecake Day, so in celebration, Elisa and I ventured to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner. I happen to love the Cheesecake Factory. I love that, despite an enormous menu, the food is delicious. Sometimes restaurants get so focused on having a large variety that the quality of the food suffers. Not so with the C.F. Everything I have eaten there has been positively delicieux. I was in the mood for something light, so I went with the Thai Lettuce Wraps. They provide you with very large lettuce cups, shredded carrots, bean sprouts, these noodle things, a marinated cucumber thing, and peanut satay-like chicken. There are three sauces, and all are divine. My favorite is the peanut sauce. This dish is messy-- I even had to whip out my trusty wipes (thank goodness I'm a mom and am always equipped!) post-eating to take care of the carnage on my hands.

Because it was National Cheesecake Day, the cheesecake was half off, which was lovely. Not that I wouldn't have gotten it anyway, but you know. I usually opt for the Tiramisu cheesecake (or vanilla bean if I am sharing with Sam), but I decided to go for something a little different this time with the Chocolate Coconut Cream Pie Cheesecake. Oh. I am so glad did. It was so smooth, creamy, and decadent. It was a coconut cheesecake, with coconut cream on top, nestled on a chocolate macaroon crust, topped with shredded coconut. What's not to love? Coconut and I love each other so much. It was perfect. Plus, since the pieces are so huge, particularly after a huge dinner, I still had a hefty chunk of my cheesecake to bring home, which I will certainly devour tonight.

I'm feeling stretched thin these days-- Sam left for Virginia almost six weeks ago, and I did see him for a couple days in the middle there, but a girl can only go so long without her boy. I'm going to jump back into some of my culinary explorations to help spice things up a bit, so you can look forward to some better, more frequent postings. I'm hoping to try something new everyday. So stay tuned.