December 16th 2011: Company Luncheon in Worcester and Dinner in Shrewsbury

Today, my department had a luncheon to celebrate the holidays at Peppercorn's Grille and Tavern in Worcester.

We had a free drink ticket, so I decided to get something for once, though I rarely drink because I do not like the taste of alcohol. I decided to have the Elizabeth's Butterscotch Pudding, a mix of Espresso Vodka, Butterscotch Puckers, White creme de cocoa, Amaretto and a splash of milk, served in a marini glass complete with a butterscotch swirl.

 I know it's a girly drink, but I think there's no point in drinking something just because everyone else does so, and not because I like drinking it. As it turned out, the drink was pretty good, and my colleagues ordered it as well. The food was to come next, in the form of a buffet of mashed potatoes, cheese lasagna, salad, steamed zucchini, chicken parmesan and fish in some sauce I can't identify.

The food was pretty good, much better than it was last year at Buca di Beppo in Shrewsbury. After lunch, I was surprised when they further served us dessert, in the form of vanilla ice cream.

 That was not the end of it. We had a Yankee swap, and my contribution was the pocket watch I had gotten from the Charles River Museum of Industry in Waltham. When it came my turn, all I got was a $20 Macy's card, which only the ladies wanted, so I swapped it for a popcorn making machine. We then had several rounds of bingo, of which I only won one round, and it was only after all the binoculars had already been won, which I wanted badly for my sightseeing. I would have gladly given my popcorn machine away for those. Oh well.

I left for home after the luncheon, but later realized that I had left something at work, so I decided to use my trip out as a chance to try out a new restaurant that recently came to town, Jimmy's Tavern and Grill in Shrewsbury. It has taken the place of Bugaboo Creek along Route 9 before the bridge into Worcester over Lake Quinsigamond. The moment I stepped into the new restaurant however, I realized that nothing much had changed. The seats had not been moved, and the main structures were still unchanged. In fact, even some of the pictures hanging on the walls were the same, as far as I can remember from the last time I went to Bugaboo Creek here, which was pretty long ago. The only difference was that there were no longer any stuffed animals or talking moose heads hanging around.

I decided to get the Argentinian Steak Frites with rice pilaf, a skirt steak dish with Chimichurri sauce.

I have to say I enjoyed the steak very much, although by this time my head was throbbing from the effects of the alcohol I had had earlier. It's a good thing that it's over now though, as I finish this blog entry.