Hmmmm.........

 I was so excited about my Valentine's Day lunch. It's been ages since The Mister and I have been out together. We go separately with our old work friends but rarely together. The Mister wanted to share a place he goes to with his crowd that I had never been to. I had high hopes.

 We got a nice table for two by the fire place. The ambiance was nice. Then....the wine came. That was a $9 glass of Riesling? Seriously? It looked like the waiter had drunk half of it before he brought it to me. Am I that out of touch? Is that what passes for a glass of wine these days? That's not a particularly large glass. It's the same size I have at home. Jeesh.

 The Mister's jambalaya looked wonderful.

 My Beyond Burger on the other hand was horrible. First they bring it to me without a bun or any condiments. Like I am going to eat a veggie burger plain. Yeah, right...and then when they brought it back it was slapped on an ice cold bun that was hard as a rock. Still no condiments or fixins of any kind-just a dried out burger on a bun with a piece of lettuce for decoration. I choked it down by dipping it the maple sauce that filled my plate from the roasted sprouts-which were actually pretty good.

 I was really looking forward to the beignets The Mister promised. This is what they brought me. If you have ever been to New Orleans you know what a beignet is. You don't chew them. They melt in your mouth under a cloud of powdered sugar. These were over fried eclair pastry that you are supposed to dip in a chocolate or strawberry sauce. Sacrilege.

This is a beignet. It's a puffy cloud of sweet perfection......

....and thanks to Betsy I have a box of the mix heading my way at this very moment. She sent me a bag of yummy taffy and an Amazon gift certificate which I put a bit of to very good use right there in the restaurant ordering me up some authentic beignet mix for Mardi Gras. Thanks so much Betsy!!! You saved the day. You turned a disappointment into a quest. Story to follow......