And the winner is…—via Bakerella

I am sure some of our readers/listeners are going to be attending an Oscar Party as I am planning to, so I looked around for something fun to do for the party and found this post. It is a fun recipe that seems easy enough to do and in my eyes, a sure winner to take to the party.

From Bakerella…

And the Winner is…

The Oscars are coming in March and it’s going to be exciting this year. So who’s your pick for best picture? Me? I don’t know yet. I’ve got to catch up on some of these and quick so I can decide. Avatar, The Blind Side, District 9, An Education, The Hurt Locker, Inglourious Basterds, Precious, A Serious Man, Up, Up in the Air. Tough choices.

While I am indecisive, how about a little Cookie Award how-to?

Discover how to make Oscar cookies at Bakerella.com

Review: Seven Stars

Last week was my partner’s birthday. We decided instead of making a big deal out of it that we would just head out for a nice dinner. I decided to use his birthday as an excuse to check out a very well known, old restaurant in our area called “The Seven Stars Inn”. The history of the Inn dates back to 1736, when the then owner of the land petitioned “His Majesty’s Justices” for the right to conduct a public house (inn) to house travelers from Philadelphia out to the Old Iron Works. The Inn was named “The Seven Stars” two hundred years ago in 1809.

Many people have recommended the Seven Stars to us. A steakhouse in Chester County, it’s a very old school place. Quiet, intimate dining rooms, with tables decked out in white linens it was very upscale, if not a little dated. I have to apologize in advance for the photos as the dining room was very, very dark. I did my best to clean them up, but they are what they are.

We walked in and were led thru the bar and lounge into a small, empty dining room. The decor was not my taste (It was very “country”), but the atmosphere was extraordinary.

Our waitress was one of the most enjoyable part of the meal. She was just our waitress. Not waiting on loads of customers, she spent lots of time speaking to us, and it was lovely. She noticed me taking photos and asked me just why I was doing so, I told her I was writing a review for my food blog and she offered to bring us samples of some things to try, even tho we didn’t order them. That was a nice touch.

The menu was very much what I’d expect from a steak house but I was overwhelmed by the size of the entrees. We started off with soup. I had the clam chowder, he had the crab bisque. The clam chowder was just right. Sometimes clam chowder can be kind of “sandy” and I don’t really like when the potatoes are super huge, and this chowder had neither of those problems. The bisque was also much better than I had anticipated. Super creamy and full of crab it was delicious. Our waitress was also nice enough to bring us a sample of the snapper soup as well. It was unlike any other snapper soups I’ve had. Thick and flavorful, it was almost more like a stew than a soup. There was a very strong flavor of nutmeg in it. It was the best snapper soup I ever had.

For our main courses, we chose two classics on their menu. My partner chose the “Seven Star’s” specialty… the 40oz Prime Rib. I went with the King’s Cut of Filet Mignon. An equally huge 20oz filet and I ordred it “oscar style”. I’ve eaten large cuts of meat before in other steakhouses, and in those places everything other than the meat is usually a la carte, but at the Seven Stars.. it wasn’t. Each entree came with a salad, bread, and two side dishes. This yielded entire too much food for both of us. The prime rib was as humongous as it was delicious. I had no idea just how big 40oz of prime rib, served on the bone would be but as you can see below… it’s huge!

My filet in my mind was even more ridiculous than the prime rib. When my plate arrived I could not believe how piled with food it was. The steak, since I ordered it “Oscar Style” was accompanied an enormous amount of lump crab, a huge handfull of asparagus and a lovely hollandaise . Add to that the fresh cut and fried onion rings, the baked potato and broccoli! There was hardly any room on the table! My steak was cooked perfectly and the crab meat was amazing. The hollandaise was great and the onion rings were the best I’d ever eaten!

Even tho I had an enormous amount of food left on my plate, we decided on coffee and dessert… why not right? I ordred the Molten Chocolate Lava Cake. A lovely devil’s food cake with hot chocolate truffle filling inside. It was amazingly delicious. I had it served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, which we were immediately able to identify as “Turkey HIll” brand. Turkey Hill is a local dairy that makes fantastic ice cream and it was nice to see them give the nod to a local place.

In short, the Seven Stars Inn is amazing. Not the best decorated place, but a great atmosphere, fabulous wait staff and unbelievably large portions and just outstanding food make this place a must visit in my book. 5 pans!

The Seven Stars Inn
Rte 23 & Hoffecker Road
Phoenixville, PA 19460
610.495.5205
http://www.sevenstarsinn.com