For anyone in the Rockford, IL area.... I would like to post a review for a fairly new restaurant named Pearl.

I was pleasantly surprised that it was not as "fancy" as I had anticipated. Not that I am beyond getting dressed up now and then, but this was one particular evening I was in a "jeans" mood. The inside is very modern, adorned in all white (for the "pearl" ambiance I suppose). The center is occupied by a horseshoe bar and is equipped with numerous "big screen" tvs for sports viewing. There are tables around the outside walls, some cafe (high) and some regular. It would seem their specialty is wood grilled pizza! This came as another surprise to me. The full menu consists of 4-5 spectacular appetizers, 4 steak (meat) entrees, now that I think about it one of those was pork (which I tried and will get to a little later), 2 chicken, and 4 fish and a couple pasta dishes. Soups and salads were alacarte. A great beer and wine selection and from where I was sitting I saw alot of martinis being created :)

As for me... I had the pork because it was served with grilled polenta and you just don't see this on many menus. It is one of my favorites. This was grilled to perfection! We began our evening with a prosciutto appetizer... yummy! My husband ordered a seafood trio, but on the advise of our great waitress, ended up with the grilled salmon dinner. She indicated the trio was just not enough food (guess she thought he looked hungry) lol. I selected the house cabernet and it was a great choice, while my husband chose Fat Tire beer that they had on tap. We finished our evening with a chocolate dessert (the name escapes me) but the taste is still lingering! Delicious.

The most expensive item on the menu was $24.95 for the fillet mignon. I give it 4 out of 5 stars only because it was "noisy". I felt that since it was a smaller restaurant it should have felt more quiet and cozy. Everything else was very pleasing. Thumbs up!

Thanks for reading!

April 7th Invention

You ready for this?? April 7th, in 1877 by an English Chemist named John Walker invented matches. There you have it. Short and sweet. Just another pointless trivial fact to store somewhere in that already overloaded, overworked brain! Stay tuned for more!

Easter Bonnet.... No Way! Easter Candy!

With Easter fast approaching, my sweet tooth is aching.... from too many Peanut M&Ms that is! Okay, you guessed it. Those are MY favorite. It appears Chocolate Bunnies hold their own still. I have compiled an Easter Candy list you might find interesting. What's your favorite? How do YOU eat a Chocolate Bunny?

1. $1.9 Billion worth of candy sold for Easter, followed by $1.4 Billion for Christmas, and $1 Billion for Valentines Day. Yes, Halloween still leads with $2 Billion.

2. According to 76% of Americans polled, 5% of them eat the feet of the Chocolate Bunny first, with 4% eating the tail first. No word on the head first. Any takers? I say Feet, then Tail, then right up the whole thing until it's GONE!

3. Consumers purchase over 700 million Peeps! Favorite colors start with Yellow, then Pink, followed by Lavendar, Blue and White... in that order.

4. Kids ages 6-11 eat Jelly Beans 1 at a time more than all at once, however, Boys are more apt than Girls to eat handfuls. No surprise there huh?

5. Favorite flavors of Jelly Beans are Cherry followed by Strawberry, Grape, Lime, and Blueberry... in that order. I do not eat Jelly Beans.

Let me know your favorite Easter Candy, how you would eat your Chocolate Bunny, and your favorite Jelly Bean flavor! Happy Easter!!