Monday, August 22, 2011

OLIVE GARDEN

One thing that brought Vince and I together is our common love for food.  Suffice it to say that I gained 20 pounds in the first six months of dating him.  Our satiety thresholds are high, so as our appetite tolerance.  We entertain ourselves by watching Food Network.  We (try to successfully) cook and bake at home.  We explore local restaurants.  We simply love to eat.  That being said, I'm dedicating Mondays for blogging about our gastronome-wannabe adventures ;) Hungry or not, here I come !

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Last Saturday, we had our date night at Olive Garden, an American restaurant chain specializing in Italian-American cuisine.  It has more than 750 local restaurants, and the closest one from where we live is in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, which is about 45-minute drive away.

For antipasti (appetizer), we had a three-choice Sampler Italiano consisting of calamari, stuffed mushrooms and toasted beef and pork ravioli, served with parmesan peppercorn and marinara sauces on the side.  I loved everything in this platter but my favorite was the stuffed mushrooms (parmesan, romano and mozzarella cheese, clams and herb breadcrumbs baked in mushroom caps).



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For primi piatti (first course), we had creamy chicken and gnocchi soup and a bowl of garden-fresh salad.  Gnocchi are small, thick dumplings, similar to bilo-bilo (glutinous rice balls).




Now, comes the main course:

Vince had a Tour of Italy (homemade lasagna, lightly breaded chicken parmigiana and creamy fettuccine alfredo),



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and I had a well-done Steak Gorgonzola-Alfredo (grilled beef medallions drizzled with balsamic glaze, served over fettuccine tossed with spinach and gorgonzola-alfredo sauce).



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I paired up my sumptous meal with a Mango-Strawberry Limonata.  This drink is a mixture of mango and strawberry puree, lemonade, and slices of fresh strawberry.  Definitely healthier than sodas/carbonated drinks :)



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As usual, we didn't leave enough room for dessert!  Maybe next time ;)

So after all that Italian dinner, Vince and I went home a couple of inches flubbier on the waist, $50+ poorer, but twice happier :)

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For more foodie stuff, please click: GASTRONOMY MONDAY

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My share for:

FTFBadge


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30 comments:

  1. fallenrhainnesAugust 23, 2011 at 12:51 AM

    grabe, kakanose bleed naman na food.. hehe..

    ReplyDelete
  2. CrystalAugust 23, 2011 at 9:19 AM

    Oh, Karen, you're making me hungry just looking at all that beautiful food!! I'm a foodie, too, and I looooooooove stuffed mushrooms. That drink looks really nice, too. Yum!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. ChieAugust 25, 2011 at 9:43 AM

    This post made me hungry! :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. LainyOctober 24, 2011 at 10:42 AM

    Oh God! That is just sinfully delicious! I am drooling over here, KM! Grabe naman talaga ang mga Gastronomy Monday features mo. Nakakatulo ng laway, hahaha!

    ReplyDelete
  5. KMOctober 24, 2011 at 11:20 AM

    @ PS, nakakataba kamo. hehe!

    @ Crystal, hey girl, what's up? you haven't blogged in a while ;)

    @ Chie, same here!

    @ Lainy, sinabi mo pa. Sinful talaga! Imagine mo ilang calories yan. Lol.

    ReplyDelete
  6. MarieOctober 29, 2011 at 10:45 PM

    Worth it naman ang nagastos ate, diba? :P

    Visiting you from YS :)
    The Original THIN

    ReplyDelete
  7. LalaineOctober 30, 2011 at 11:11 AM

    I love your last line!! that's realy true!

    Baker Wannabe

    ReplyDelete
  8. cassandrasminicornerOctober 30, 2011 at 3:47 PM

    We like olive garden restaurant too, they serve good food:)

    Visiting for YS!

    Hope you can visit me too:)

    http://www.cassandrasminicorner.com/2011/10/yummy-sunday-114-salted-fish-and-green-mango.html

    ReplyDelete
  9. QuinnOctober 31, 2011 at 6:25 AM

    how amazing !

    visit from YS

    here's mine :

    http://memento-arajnniuq.blogspot.com/2011/10/ice-cream-for-hot-day.html

    ReplyDelete
  10. teJanOctober 31, 2011 at 6:10 PM

    waaahhh..its midnight here and i become hungry..ayayaya!

    visiting from YS;) hope to see you!

    ReplyDelete
  11. JennOctober 31, 2011 at 8:54 PM

    I would love to taste all your food... lahat masarap! :) Pero, it's strawberry limonata that I am interested about.

    Thanks for linking to Weekend Eating.

    ReplyDelete
  12. JessicaNovember 1, 2011 at 9:47 PM

    great foods...looks very delicious, we seldom eat at Olive Garden but their food is always delicious, worth every penny. Visiting for YS, hope that you can visit me back too

    http://www.tropical7107islands.com/2011/10/buffalo-wings-from-t-g-i-fridays.html

    ReplyDelete
  13. KMNovember 2, 2011 at 11:35 AM

    Thank you for the YS visit, guys :)

    ReplyDelete
  14. kat in the kitchenDecember 3, 2011 at 6:28 AM

    kaka tulo laway...sarappp!! happy FTF. Hope to see you at my blog.

    ReplyDelete
  15. JessicaDecember 3, 2011 at 6:57 PM

    I love Olive's Garden too, their foods are really delish and filling too. It is worth every penny. Thank you for sharing. Dropping some love for Food Trip Friday, hope that you can return the favor too.

    http://www.tropical7107islands.com/2011/12/rice-egg-and-dried-fish-for-lunch-everybody-is-welcome.html

    ReplyDelete
  16. UnknownDecember 3, 2011 at 10:26 PM

    I really want to experience the foods in OG, it looks sumptuous

    ReplyDelete
  17. ♥ Willa @ Postage Journal♥December 4, 2011 at 8:28 PM

    I like to eat at Olive Garden from time to time although I'm not into Italian food but my boys are.

    ReplyDelete
  18. LainyDecember 4, 2011 at 8:32 PM

    WAg mo ng patuluin lalo ang laway ko dito. These are just too tempting. Wag na! Sayang ang paghihirap ko sa gym, LOL!

    ReplyDelete
  19. KMDecember 5, 2011 at 1:37 PM

    ^ thanks for the FTF visits :)

    ReplyDelete
  20. Jay-agent112778December 21, 2011 at 9:47 PM

    calamari and stuufed mushrooms???!!! love it

    heres my share for the weekend

    PS:
    sorry for the late visit, i need to be onto something since saturday (dec 17)
    collectively im visiting thru Food Friday; Food Trip Friday and Yummy Sunday

    thank you for visiting and/or commentimng on my entry

    ReplyDelete
  21. Luna MirandaDecember 22, 2011 at 3:09 AM

    i love your choice--it's something i would go for.:p

    wishing a warm Christmas!

    ReplyDelete
  22. imrizDecember 22, 2011 at 5:43 PM

    i seconded luna's comment, i will definitely choose those creamy pastas:)

    ReplyDelete
  23. maiylahDecember 22, 2011 at 8:59 PM

    yummy feast! love that limonata...perfect after all that delicious food! :)

    thanks for sharing over at Food Friday, and have a very Merry Christmas! :)

    ReplyDelete
  24. KMDecember 28, 2011 at 11:04 AM

    thank you, all, for the comments :)

    ReplyDelete
  25. Roger Owen GreenApril 24, 2012 at 11:17 AM

    I've been there a few times!
    ROG, ABC Wednesday team

    ReplyDelete
  26. Leslie:April 24, 2012 at 11:31 AM

    I went to an Olive Garden once and since then am drooling to go back. However, I don't think I could eat that much at one sitting without being sick! How do you do it? :D

    Leslie
    abcw team

    ReplyDelete
  27. photowannabeApril 24, 2012 at 12:16 PM

    I think I just gained 15 pounds reading this. It all sounds wonderful and Olive Garden was the perfect pick for the letter O.

    ReplyDelete
  28. zongrikApril 24, 2012 at 3:14 PM

    the soup looks best to me

    organize

    ReplyDelete
  29. AnonymousApril 24, 2012 at 3:18 PM

    45-minute drive is a long way to eat :), but since it's a date night, i'm sure you had plenty of bonding time before the eating time.

    yummy food photos. i haven't been to olive garden :(

    ReplyDelete
  30. Chubskulit RoseApril 24, 2012 at 10:43 PM

    Di ko type ang foodies sa olive graden hehehe.. Masyadong salty sa panlasa ko.

    O is for....
    Rose, ABC Wednesday Team

    ReplyDelete

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