Yesterday was very eye-opening. I never knew that lactose was in so many non-dairy foods! You can find some form of lactose in commercially available bread and baked goods, salad dressings (even ones that aren't creamy) and sauces, breakfast cereals, non-kosher deli meats, and even in margarine which I would have considered as a substitute for butter! I've already learned that reading the labels of foods that would seem to be a no-brainer is necessary.

I'm lactose intolerant. I ignore that fact all the time.

My last hurrah before I head into 3 weeks of dairy-free eating. Ridding my diet of dairy, also means cleaning out the fridge and making sure no temptations remain. I still had a half liter of whole organic milk, several cheeses including a blue, some triple creme and a small wedge of Pied de Vent. 

I can't make my kitchen bigger, and putting things up above my kitchen cabinets is not an option. I am short and would have to climb on top of the counters to reach up that high. Plus, I use most of my appliances at least once per week. There are only a few items in the kitchen that I don't use regularly and those are already stored out of the way.

I have been enamoured with the idea of preparing my own charcuterie for some time now, but it is kind of scary. I mean, I am not sure what could go wrong, I wouldn't want to make anyone sick. 

I've been meaning to try Blue Ribbon for some time now and finally, on this first trip to Vegas in the new year, I was able to find a night to head out to Blue Ribbon, made much easier as we were guests at the Cosmopolitan Hotel. 

We had dinner reservations at 7PM reservations on a Thursday and when we arrived the sushi bar was empty, we decided to take our seats there, I prefer sitting at the sushi bar and love to sit at there and watch the sushi masters work their magic. After a short wait, our waitress came over, handed us a menu and served us bottled water. 

The restaurant decor is very "woodsy" with dark wooden sculptures of waves or leaves running down the walls. A large chefs table sits just inside the restaurant on the far side of the bar and past this opens to the full restaurant. I found, like with many of the restaurants on this floor at the Cosmo, that the ambiance and the noise are at odds with each other. The music is turned up way too loud, making is hard to have a conversation. 

After sometime our waitress returned and we ordered a Samurai beer (the name eludes me right now) and the Kanpachi Usuzukuri (Amberjack w/yuzu pepper) as well as the irresistable  Beef Marrow, both appetizers were spectacular. I found the usuzukuri to be far superior to the one we had at Nobu here in LV and the beef marrow was perfectly seasoned with little challah toasts that held the marrow without becoming soggy. My only issue with the bone marrow is I wished that they had a proper spoon for it, the one they served it with was much too large and made it difficult to extract the yummy goodness, but that's what fingers are made for, right?

We ordered several sushi nigiri and maki, including a the Blue Ribbon roll, the KANI SUNOMONO,  ENOKI & HAMACHI and of course, some uni (because I can't resist uni). I have to say, apart from the uni, I wasn't very impressed. The rolls were unevenly filled, so each piece from the same roll was a different size and just in the end, despite the combination described being enticing the rolls themselves were just not all that appealing.

Overall, I enjoyed the appetizers, in fact, had we stopped there, my impression of Blue Ribbon Bar and Grill would have been completely positive. Instead, because the sushi fell flat, I left feeling a little cheated. Though I wouldn't revisit this restaurant for sushi, I would most definitely return for some of their appetizers. As well, their late-night menu is interesting and has received great reviews, and so, I would keep that in mind on my next visit.