Sweet Sweet Vegas

Since I was in Vegas with my dad, the usual debauchery was out of the question. But I ended up finding some wonderful sweets. This is the canoli at the Tintoretto Bakery by the Grand Canal under the Venetian. I bought some Italian cookies but this canoli was AMAZING. They even had bits of licorice in the ricotta filling. I was a little uncertain about it in the beginning but it helped cut through the overwhelming sweetness of the filling. I did have some pastries at Paris but they didn't feel very special. This was awesome.

I also had the Frrrrrrrrozen Hot Chocolate from Serendipity 3. At about 9 bucks it felt an awful lot like highway robbery. But sitting under the shade and writing and sipping on this felt great after a long day of walking around. It also put the price of the $16 mix you can buy at William Sonoma in context. I feel much better about that purchase now.

I also ate at Diego in MGM Grand and the Fontana Lounge in the Bellagio. Diego had great margaritas and served spicy popcorn under appetizers like the empanadas and quesadillas. I didn't have the entrees there but they looked good and were reasonably priced for vegas.

The Fontana Lounge is cool because you can walk to the balcony on the side and see the Bellagio Fountain show from there. It's cool to see the fountain with the lights from the Paris as a backdrop and you can see how high it goes (higher than the "Eiffel Tower"). I'll have to post the videos on FB. Again, the drinks and apps were reasonably priced for Vegas and starting at 9 there's a band, too.

One non-Vegas food adventure was at the local IHOP. In the ultimate suburban meal I ordered watermelon lemonade (way too syrupy) and the artery clogging cheesecake-between-pancakes thing they're advertising. No I did NOT eat the entire pancake thing. After a few bites I mostly nibbled around the sides. I could feel my artery clogging as I ingested it. And I know this will shock you but the pancakes didn't come out like the tower of sweetness it looks like on the commercials. The cheesecake is essentially flattened between the pancakes.