Carmine's

I am filing this Carmine's post under Making Lemonade. See, I had more laundry than could possibly be accomplished in a timely manner with my limited washer/dryer setup. What's a girl to do but go to the laundromat? This is where the lemonade comes in.

There are two laundromats within a mile or so of my South Pasadena apartment; both happen to be near tasty restaurants. The plan was to throw in some wash, grab my food, and be back in time for the dryer. One laundromat is by Señor Fish, home of the incredible potato tacos that I wrote about in March. The other is by Carmine's, an awesomely decadent Italian restaurant that I walk or run by several times each week. It even smells good from the outside! I hadn't eaten at Carmine's since I was carb-loading for the March, 2009 Pasadena Marathon. Based on this photo, I think it's clear my lemonade this time was made by Carmine's.

This dish is their Gumbi House Special. That's the wait staff's writing on the bag, not mine. What is Gumbi, you ask? It's rigatoni sauteed with marinara, romano, light butter, melted mozzarella, diced homemade meatballs and mushrooms. Yummm!! Now you know why it's so special!

As you've probably guessed if you're a regular here at Cruise Director Los Angeles, I can pack away a lot of food, but this ended up being dinner for four nights. And, the minestrone soup that came with the Gumbi was practically a meal by itself.

So, laundry mission was accomplished with happy taste buds to boot. Now here's my challenge to you: tell me about the last time you made lemonade!

Click here to go to Carmine's Web site.