Best Restaurant Experience

Instead of going to the chain restaurants that we always tend to do with the family, I wanted to do something a little different. I did some research on Urbanspoon of some unfamiliar restaurants in the Bountiful area. I came across this restaurant/cooking school called Thyme and Seasons Market Place. It had really good reviews, so I thought we’ll give it a try.

I walk in with my 92 year old grandparents, parents, brother, aunt, and McKay. We met Chef Hai who told us to sit at the chef's table. The chef's table is a long table where he does his cooking, serving, and other duties. He tells us there's no menu and then asks us what type of food we like to eat. My Grandpa said he likes seafood, I said I've always wanted to try Vietnamese food, and my Aunt said she loves pasta. He told us he was going to make something special for us. To the right is a glass wall that overlooks his kitchen so people can watch his culinary skills. I got out of my seat and started to watch him to see if I could learn any new tricks. He then tells me to come on in and he'll show me how to cook our dishes. I couldn't believe it! He gave me some instructions and I made this sweet and sour chicken and vegetable Vietnamese dish.

Chef Hai showing me how to taste the sauce

The Vietnamese Chicken dish was so delicious. He makes us two more dishes: A seafood pasta medley in a tomato cream sauce and a catfish dish. All of the dishes were delicious! My little brother is really picky about food, so Chef Hai asked him what he likes to eat. Cameron responded by saying he likes meat and bread. Chef Hai pulls out some sirloin steak and teaches Cameron how to make his own Philly Cheesteak. I think this was the first thing he's cooked for himself.

After we ate I was kind of worried of how much this was going to cost us because there were no prices and menu. For 7 of us it totaled to $80! This is one of the most fun experiences I've ever had at a restaurant; the food was amazing, I was able to learn, and for what we got it‘s a great value. Chef Hai told me he teaches cooking classes twice and if I wanted to learn how to cook something in particular he'll teach it at one of his cooking classes.

Lovely Sprummer

I'm calling the season right now sprummer, because it's not hot enough to be called summer. Here is what our sprummer is looking like at the moment.

It's kind of hard to see but these are baby finches we found in our Fuchsia basket that is hanging on our front porch. They hatched about a week and a half ago and we're enjoying looking at them and seeing how much they've grown.

I purchased some plastic chairs for our backyard, it's become one of our favorite places where we eat dinner, have lengthy conversations, and play on the swing set with the neighbor kids.

I bought these two chairs at the DI for $20! They're currently resting on our front porch.

We had this bush in our front yard and we didn't know what type of plant it was until it was blooming with these. We soon found this bush were peonies. We're in love with them and have them all around our house. They're so fragrant and remind me of pom poms.