Carmelina's

Hi friends! It's confession time! I confess that I haven't been working out. Like at all besides a few runs here and there. I'm not going to make excuses or give false promises. I just wanted to put it out there for full disclosure. I'm definitely in an off period right now. A lot of hectic things have been going on and I just haven't been making it a priority. I know I should, but I just haven't. I don't necessarily know when I will get back into the swing of things, but I will be sure to let you guys know ;)

That may be a future ten things post inspiration right there! Anyhoo, breakfast yestereday was an unpictured muffin. Lemon poppyseed to be exact. An impulse buy of course. That's the problem with being in such close proximity to a cafeteria. Yummy baked goodies. Lunch was my new usual (in Springfield anyway) of a chicken salad sandwich on wheat bread with lettuce and tomato. Once again they were out of pickles so I had to settle for carrots. Carrots are great and all, but when you have the option of carrots or pickles, obviously pickles are the favorite (which is probably why they keep running out of them, but honestly, just buy more pickles). On the side I had a bag of pita chips and a disgusting Kozy Shack vanilla pudding cup. Disgusting. I literally ate three bites of this thing and threw it out. The only reason I even got it was because I went to lunch a little late and all the desserts had been picked over. It was the pudding cup or some sad looking pumpkin pie.

For dinner we went to a little Italian place in Hadley called Carmelina's.

At first glace, the decor was a little cheesy and it was surprisingly bright for an Italian restaurant. The restaurant was not large by any means but was roomy and comfortable. The waitress brought out warm scali bread to start with butter and a side of tepanade that I didn't have the courage to try. In looking over the menu, I was surprised to see that they had gluten free options on the menu, something I would have thought would be particularly rare for an italian restaurant. Bonus points for Carmelina's there.

I wasn't all that hungry and didn't think I would be able to eat a full sized entree, so instead I opted for a salad and an appetizer for my meal. I ordered the Warm Spinach Salad, which is baby spinach tossed with spiced candied walnuts, fresh blue cheese, caramelized pear, grapes, and Gorgonzola peppercorn dressing.

I was not blown away by this salad. The concept is good, but the spinach was way too salty. Some of the spinach was raw and some of it was cooked, giving the salad an inconsistent texture. The grapes and pears were probably the best thing about the salad. I most likely would not get it again. For my "entree" I ordered the appetizer of BuonaBocca, which is mozzarella pillows stuffed with spinach and sun-dried tomatoes, fried and served with a lemon caper sauce and a side of cranberry relish.

The dish was good, but not great. You would never know there were sun-dried tomatoes in there as I couldn't see them or taste them. The lemon caper sauce felt wrong for the mozzarella (nor were they "pillows," more like square bars) but the cranberry relish was divine. I ate a little with the mozzarella and some just on it's own. Of course I got food envy, as my coworker ordered the chicken marsala which I thought looked fantastic, so I took a photo of that too.

Luckily my coworker cut off some for me to try and I immediately wished I had gotten it. It had a sweet smoky flavor and was delicious. The potatoes were slightly undercooked, but not so much that they weren't still really good. Even the vegetables looked delicious. For dessert, we each ordered a cannoli. Now I am normally not a fan of cannolis, but my coworkers were talking them up from this restaurant, so I figured why not?

Well they were right. As far as cannolis go, this was probably one of the best I've had. The chocolate chips were actually inside the filling and the shell was crunchy and delicious. If I ever went here again, I would definitely get the cannoli again. My other options were the other typical desserts (creme brulee, cheesecake, and tiramisu). All in all, not a bad experience, but not a great one.

What is your favorite Italian dessert?