And may I say, the weather was lovely!

We took a spur of the moment type trip out to Arizona for a few days.
Tucson, then Phoenix (Paradise Valley). It was cool, without being cold, and
after weeks of nothing but rain here in Sandy Eggo, it was good to see the
sun!

OB Food:
First, I loved AJ's Fine Foods. It reminds me of Bristol Farms. And wow,
they put Starbucks to shame with their lattes. The antipasto bar was the
highlight of the trip there for my husband. And I brought a dozen of their
Jazz apples home with me (well, 8 of them actually made it here!).
I don't know how many, if any of you all, have ever been to Oregano's...but
if you live near one and haven't been...get thee there post haste! or
something like that!
We dined there twice. The first thing I noticed was how nice, polite and
friendly the staff is. We tried the UFO's (stuffed fried artichokes) which
were slightly spicy, quite rich, and very tasty. They serve pizza and pasta,
and though the pizza looked good, I'm not much of a pizza person. The first
night I ordered the "Big Ole Ravioli" which was the size of the dinner
plate! Who'd have thought one could get completely full one half of a single
ravioli? lol It was delicious! Stuffed with cheeses and topped with meat
sauce and more cheese. My husband and daughter ordered penne. It came with a
chicken that was very thinly sliced (to the point of partially shredding,
perfect for pasta) and cheeses in a pesto sauce. The "bowl" was made of
pizza dough, baked crisp. Delicious, too, though I liked my ravioli more.

The second time, we all shared the Ziti, which was served in the pizza dough
bowl as well. Baked with meat sauce, and topped with cheese and chicken. It
was divine! For dessert? A pan pizza cookie topped with vanilla ice cream. I
could only eat a couple small bites, but it was delicious, and fun.

There was also a place there that reminded me of Panera, called Beyond
Bread. Very tasty sandwiches....but they really need to change the font on
their sign. I realize that sounds odd, but it really was a bad sign. lol

Anyway, good to be home

kimberly