Southern Snow: Hubster's Birthday

My heart dropped at 4:15 pm today when I got a call telling me two samples were coming in that needed testing. I had been hoping to get out of work and to put Hubster's birthday together a little better. Staying later at work wasn't in my game plan. My plan was to pick the girls up from daycare and to go to the store together to get their Father a birthday present, to call him and to tell him to plan on going out to eat. Instead I ended up calling him, asking him to get the girls, and just going and getting his card and present myself.

When I stormed in the door, I could hear everyone upstairs getting their nightly bath. I ran up the stair took over the bathing duty and then rushed everyone out to the car so we could go to that other " really good restaurant in downtown Hampton", Taphouse. Located at 17 East Queens Way Hampton, VA 23669; Tel. (757) 224-5829. This is a Pub/ Restaurant that serves a large variety of burgers, salads, appetizers, unique entrees, pasta, and seafood. I'm not sure how many beers they have available but it's a list that covers the front and back of a sheet of paper! I had an ale called Flying Dog-in-Heat Wheat and Hubster had the Black Turnip ( It was on the list or 50 beers to try before you die). The Dog-in-Heat was light and also citrus like, it was okay. And the Black Turnip was like a meal by its self. It was full of different flavors and quite smooth, but then after 5 sips was was getting to be a little much. So I wouldn't recommend this beer. We enjoyed picking from the large assortment of beers and the prices were 3-4.50 bottles and drafts.

Hubster had the Grilled Tuna Sandwich, I had some spicy sausages with rosemary potatoes, and the girls split the appetizer order of 1 POUND of chicken fingers!! Hubster liked his Tuna. I was very surprised with the pairing of rosemary flavored potatoes with a sausage that was so hot in heat. But the pairing worked and I though it was good pub food. The girls chicken fingers were the best any of us had ever eaten in our lives. I have never seen the girls eat chicken so fast. Hubster and I were so surprised that we had to sample them. They were soft and tender and the fried breading on the outside was amazingly good.

After dinner we headed home, where I reminded the girls about Daddy's birthday. The one gift I bought him was a set of wine glasses. The girls helped out with the assembly of the cake I had baked earlier in the week and set in the freezer. The recipe for this cake is from Andrea Nguyen.