Last night I had a delightfully delectable dinner date with mi madre, Mercer. [Say that three times fast.]
The date went well, as you can see below. Give this granola girl ice cream, and she will be yours forever. Too bad it was a date with my mom and not a dashingly dapper young gentleman. Eh, what can you do?
After an afternoon (great Jason Mraz song, by the way) spent running errands, during which I dragged her to a natural food store in Delaware [very good...just couldn't do much shopping as I am not at home and need to be CLEARING my pantry, not restocking it...] called Harvest Market…
[I couldn't help but by SOME things...obviously I chose bulk products (although there were some very enticing jams and cheeses), which, sadly were not from bulk BINS, but already packaged. You are looking at Valencia peanuts and hazelnuts (there is more homemade nut butter in my/your/our future), as well as some wheat bran.]…and during which I spotted an Irish pub called McLaren’s which made me SUPER happy (and should make you happy too if you are also a fan of HIMYM)…so happy that I did drive out of the way to take a picture. Too bad Barney wasn’t around. [Not purple dinosaur, "I Love You, You Love Me" Barney...Barney "Suit Up!" Stinson]
…we headed to dinner at The Kennett Inn, named for Kennett Square, which is, well, the town we live in. (Although I went to Unionville High School, not Kennett High School, but we can discuss that later.)
We started with a delicious glass of Pinot Noir apiece, with which mom proposed a toast to my new life (as opposed to my old life, that I am still living…the “new” comes when I move to Texas and become, as I said to her last night, “the bohemian cowgirl I was always meant to be”).
Then we chose two appetizers to share. Although she told me I could pick both of them, she mentioned the Bruschetta (brew-sKetta is the appropriate punctuation, I’ll have you know…thank you Giada for this education, but I will never feel right about saying it like that in public) as soon as we opened the menus, and twice more after that, so I knew what she was really saying by “It’s totally up to you,” was “It’s totally up to you, but I’m going to pay for this meal, and I really want the bruschetta, so you better order it, sweet child o’ mine.” [Yes, you can cue Guns 'n Roses there if you would like.]
So, the Bruschetta it was! Four pieces of crostini, two each of plain goat cheese (YUM!) and mushroom tapenade (double YUM!), with the olive-oil-marinaded tomatoes in the center.
We also had the Blackened Scallops with Kiwi Lime Sauce (I cannot resist a scallop and I cannot resist lime…so this was a no-brainer…well, one would think, but it actually took me 20 minutes to figure this out)….which were scrumptious, mostly because of the subtly sweet and slightly tangy sauce, which tasted fantabulous on both the scallops (which were SUPER blackened and had a spicy hot kick that paired nicely with the sauce), and the cantaloupe and raspberries.
(Hello char-grilled carcinogens, how are you doing this evening?)For our entrees, we both went with salads. Mercer chose the Caesar Salad with Crab…
….and I had the “Antipasto Salad,” which is basically just a bunch of seafood on Romaine, but sometimes that’s all you need. 
I’m still not sure why they gave me such an intense steak knife with the salad, but it was good overall, despite the fact that these scallops were not nearly as delish as the ones we had for an appetizer…the Citrus Vinaigrette is smashing (please use a British accent there, as I did in my head), although I did steal my mom’s cocktail sauce…you know how I am about sauces…
Say “Hello” to Blog World, Mom!
“My daughter is an insane person.”
Buen provecho!
Yes, if it’s for the blog.
Awesome.
We truly enjoyed dinner and conversation, and especially loved the view of this crazily painted sidewalk crossing…Mercer (Mom) decided that the painters were clearly drunk when this was completed:
And then is was time for…DESSERT!
When you are in Downtown Kennett, there is only one place to go (and I don’t mean that because it’s so great, although it is, I mean that because literally there is only one dessert place).
Known affectionately as “the Mexican ice cream shope,” La Michoacana is literally always busy. If they are open, there are customers either at the counter ordering or sitting outside enjoying their cups of homemade ice cream.
If you just briefly glanced at the pictures above, I encourage you to take another look at the flavors. Did you notice the CORN ice cream? (Great with cinnamon.) It’s the most popular, although my favorite was one that they had just randomly made on the day I visited, and it was RED BEAN. Yes, like red beans and rice, but in ice cream form. And it was DELICIOUS.
You never know what special flavors they might have that day, as it is often at the whim of the owner, but I’ve seen everything from Caramel Cream to AVOCADO (which I sampled last night). They also have plenty of cinnamon and chile shakers to put on top.
Knowing me as you do, you know I have a seriously hard time making decisions about which flavor to choose in everything from cereal to ice cream (and ordering meals in restaurants, forget it!), but the ice cream servers were so patient and, when I said in my kindest, most imploring voice, “Now, is there any way you can fit 5 flavors into the medium cup?” they most certainly did! [AND they let me take a picture of it being served to me. ]
Here is it again, ladies and gentleman (dames y caballeros):
On the bottom we have Coconut and Avocado scoops of ice cream, and on the top, there are three, count ‘em, THREE, different water ices: Mango, Passion Fruit, and Lime. A-MA-ZING.
I forced mom to get something. She got Lime ice cream (which is better than the water ice and what I meant to order but I got flustered…)
She set it on the stoop while I forced her to take pictures of me with my ice cream. She was very patient. Thankfully her ice cream did not melt…too much.
I scream, you scream, we all scream for ICE CREAM!
