Silver Fork @ Vermont

Silver Fork

4201 Main Street, Manchester, Vermont 05254

http://www.strattonmagazine.com/wp-content/files_mf/1324494336silverforkw1112dgweb.pdf

This is a long overdue post and there will be more to come.  As usual, my Christmas is spent at the ski resort and this time joined by my second elder sister's family to Manchester, Vermont.  But of course my vacation always revolves around good food, so here's a review of a local restaurant, Silver Fork.  In my opinion, probably the best restaurant in the area, we absolutely love this place!!!

Rating (out of 5):  

It's a tiny restaurant with only six tables, a warm homey atmosphere with friendly staff and services. The chef's wife attends all the tables and she is a wonderful lady, we chatted with her a little bit at the end of our dinning experience. Yes, it is an experience, not just any regular dinner. You just can't go wrong, starting from the drink, appetizer to main course and finally the dessert, everything is done in perfection and with heart.  The presentation and taste are both top notch! And on top of that, they don't charge you a fortune, it's very reasonably priced.  We all wanted to go to back to this restaurant but we were only in Vermont a few days, so we want to try out as many different places as possible.  But we did go back for my favorite Apple Cinnamon Beignets dessert.


I knew I was going for the duck so I asked for a suggestion on the red wine.  Melanie recommend the Vina Alicia Malbec, Argentina 2007 which was a perfect match for my main course.  Below is the description of Malbec from the wine menu and personally, I found it easy for my palate and enjoy the earthy taste to it.  My brother-in-law is a fan of eggnog and naturally he ordered the eggnog mix drink, I believe it is a Christmas special (sorry, I forgot to make note of the ingredients).  I took a sip of his drink and it was very good, not too sweet with just the right amount of alcohol in it.  It's definitely the kind of mix drink you can keep on drinking without knowing which number you are on. Oh, the eggnog mix drink is decorated with a mint chocolate stick which my niece snatched it away immediately...LOL.

• Complex aromas of plums, dusty earth, tobacco, and a little iron. Plums upfront transitioning to licorice on the mid-palate finishing with black pepper.

Next the appetizers, we ordered the There cheese onion soups and the Wild Mushroom Crepe for the table to share. I think everyone in the table agreed that it is by far the best onion soup we've all had in our lives.  It's like a little artwork with a flowerbed of fried onion on top of the creamy melted cheese.  The soup came with a pair of scissor which we believe is for us to cut the fried onion into smaller pieces. We all laughed trying to figure it out, it's so much fun to eat this soup. The soup has just the right amount of bread crumbs and onion flavor but not too salty, which is the downfall in many restaurants I have tried in the past.  Somehow these other restaurants think that salty beefy soup means french onion soup...wrong!!!  Silver Fork masters this soup to perfection!


My entree is the Tamarind BBQ Duck Breast served with crisp yuca, marinated onions and peppers.  The duck breast is succulent and the sauce is not tangy, an excellent match to capture the wild game flavor.


And when you think things couldn't get better than this, think again!  I am pretty sure no one in the table expected the dessert to become the star of the night.  My sister and brother-in-law ordered the Homemade Cheesecake and I ordered the Apple Cinnamon Beignets.  I have always been a sucker for apples desserts, I absolutely love the texture and the sweet and sour flavor of cooked warm apples.  The deep fried apple slices topped with homemade cinnamon ice cream served on the sweet creamy sauce was phenomenal. I don't know how the chef did it but the apple beignets were not greasy at all, it was so light and crispy and the apples were still tender and not too soft.  And the smooth homemade cinnamon ice cream did not overpower the beignets, it perfectly complemented the apples flavor.  Let's put it this way, my sister doesn't even like apple dessert and she said the Apple Cinnamon Beignets  is good.

Below are photos of this wonderful dinner, I apologize that the quality is less than optimal.  I had some problems with my iPhone camera but I assure you that everything was absolutely amazing.  Everyone cleaned the plates!!!  If you ever have the chance to visit Manchester, Vermont, be sure to reserve a spot at the great Silver Fork!  Bon Appétit!

 

Maybelline Illegal Length Fiber Extension Waterproof

I've been itching to buy a new mascara and I saw the Maybelline Illegal Length Fiber Extension several times in Target already. I can't help it so I bought it a couple weekends ago.  I finally tried it this past weekend and I did my best at the photos, I hope is clear enough you can see the differences between the coats of mascara.  

I'm very happy with the result, it definitely adds length to my almost non-existence lashes.  I didn't get any clump because it's on the thin side, this is especially important when I have to apply multiple coats.  But for this exact reason, you will not get much volume out of this mascara.  But for normal usage, just apply a second or third coat and it should build enough of a volume for most. 

However, if you want lots of volume, then use the Maybelline Illegal Length Fiber Extension as a base to get the length you want, then apply a volume mascara on top to have that exaggerate bold-looking lashes.  But I suggest you do this sort of application for an evening or party look, it might be too much for an everyday look.  ;P  

I also like the brush on this mascara, I'm not sure what it is but it seems to help give the lashes a better lift compare to my other mascaras.  Oh! Beware, this is a waterproof mascara, no joke, so make sure you use a waterproof eye make remover!


Let me know what you all think, drop a comment. :D

• Length
• Add visible length
• Volume
• Not much
• Price 
• $6.99 at Target
• Waterproof 
• Yes
• Rating (out of 5)
• 

Both eyes with no mascara

Left eye with 1 coat of mascara

Left eye with 2 coats of mascara

Left eye with 3 coats of mascara

Both eyes with 3 coats of mascara

Mandu = disappointing

We found this Korean restaurant in DC, Mandu and decided to give it a try. But I have to say I'm rather disappointed. The decor was nice but the food was mediocre at best and the service was terrible. No one at the restaurant had a smile on the face, it's as if we've murdered their loved ones. No one came by to refill water or checked to see if we wanted dessert, we were blatantly done with our food waiting and the restaurant was pretty empty.

We had an egg dipped zucchini for appetizer which was OK, a bit too greasy for me. For the main course, we had bibimbap and spicy seafood tofu soup. Nothing special about the bibimbap, very little beef and the soup was blend. Also the tofu wasn't the silky soft tofu that I normally get at the traditional Korean restaurants.

Overall, not a very good experience and not very good food, luckily it's reasonably price. But I'll never come back to this place when I can get much better quality traditional Korean food in any one of the restaurants in Annandale Korean town, not to mention the friendly service that everyone appreciates!

Zeno Hot Spot...not bad but not magic either!

Sorry it took me so long to review Zeno, I know I posted about purchasing this a couple months back.  But it takes time to test this product out properly.  I even had my boyfriend tried this to get more accurate results.

All Zeno Hot Spot does is use heat to kill the bacteria of the acne.  The package comes with detail instructions but just to give you an idea, here's how it works.  

1. Power up the device, little indicator lights come on.
2. Place the tip of the device on your blemism.
3. Keep a steady hand, the heat is on for the next two and half minutes.
4. Finally a multi-tone will signal you the treatment has completed.

Don't worry, the heat is bearable. But after the treatment, the acne may appear to be a bit red, which will subside.

Now, the million dollars question, does it really work?  Unfortunately, I've got very mixed results but for the most part, it worked only on small pimples for me.  But my boyfriend will beg to differ, because it worked on a medium size blemish for him.  However, it does seem to at least help control my bigger blemishes from expanding. 

If I use the coupon to purchase it and get about 80 usages out of the device, I guess I can keep one around in the house to subdue my occasional flare up episodes. But please, this is NO magic, don't think for a second that this will solve your acne problem.  I still have to religiously take my acne medication and use my Differin cream.  

Please also note that you cannot use this on "blackheads, whiteheads and the severe form of acne called cystic acne."  (Source: FAQ from Zeno website) 

• Effectiveness
• Sometimes, a bit unpredictable
• User Friendly
• Yes
• Number of usage
• 80
• Website
• Zeno ($5 coupon available)
• Price 
• $37.99 at Target; $39.99 at Drugstore.com;
• Rating (out of 5)
• 

Bliss Triple Oxygen Instant Energizing Eye Gel

Wow! It's already 2012, Happy New Year to everyone!!!  I wish everyone had a wonderful Christmas, I had a great time skiing at Vermont.  I hate to start the year with a negative post but this one is long overdue, and I have to write this before I forget about this product.


I received my Sephora $20 year-end-thank-you gift card last month, my immediate thought was, "Timing couldn't be better, I need a new eye cream!"  I did some research and was planning to grab one of the Origins eye cream, but when I talked to the salesperson at Sephora, I realized that Origins products are only available online.  So after discussing my needs to the salesperson, she suggested that I get Bliss Triple Oxygen Instant Energizing Eye Gel.  I tried a little bit and it felt great at the time and the salesperson said it's such a great product, blah blah blah, so I went ahead and bought it from the store.  


I was really excited about this eye gel because it really did feel refreshing after applying it around the eye area and the scent is clean like fresh air.  And according to the website, it contains caffeine, oxygen, and vitamin C which are a great mix of ingredients to keep the eyes looking radiant, perk! However, one of the immediate problems I noticed is that this eye gel is not a remedy for fine lines, because the lines reappeared as soon as the gel is absorbed to the skin.  Well, at the time I still hope that the gel would provide the "instant energizing" the label claims it to be. I really have to tell myself, STOP falling for these silly labels and pretty packaging ...., can this be my 2012 resolution?


Let's just say that my eyes really did get "pump up" because it stimulated an allergic reaction around my eyes.  Yes, bright red itch eyes like the light bulbs in Christmas tree. I was absolutely electrified (in a bad way), I wasted my $20 gift card on this! I mean normally I would just nod my share of bad luck and stick to the product but this eye gel caused such bad reaction that I had to return it.  On top of that, I lost my chance on the online promotional gift because I bought this at the store.  


Lessons learned, never ever let the salesperson convince you to buy anything before trying out a sample and second, don't use your one-time gift card on a new product!


I guess I really hated this so much I forgot to take a photo, well here's a link to the product in Sephora website.

• Consistency  
• Gel
• Moisturizing
• No
• Fine line, Dark Circles, Puffiness Reduction
• No
• Price 
• $50 at Sephora
• Rating (out of 5)
• 

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