Our first "full" day in Provo -- and I do mean full!

I slept like a baby last night, and awoke to the thundering noise of Jared and Emily, our great-nephew and great-niece, who are the adorable and extremely smart kids, along with red-headed two year old brother Eric, of our nephew Adam and his wife Deena, who volunteered their home to us a couple of years ago when it became apparent that Tara would make it through all four years of BYU. It's a fun group, it really is! Today we were scheduled to take Tara and a bunch of her friends out to lunch. 

When parents of her friends came to town in the past, they would take Tara and some of the gang out to lunch, and I wanted to do the same. Tara chose a place called Zupa's, which is a lot like Panera in concept, but with bigger portions and more choices. Almost everyone had the "Take Two" combo, which meant you could choose two of either a soup, a salad or a sandwich -- for $7.99. And we're talking a whole sandwich and a big bowl of soup. Kevin had the tomato basil soup with orzo, which was excellent, and a Thai(!) Peanut Chicken salad. Of course I tasted his soup and it was excellent. It actually looked and tasted like a squash soup to me, which is a whole lot different than tomato basil, but either way, it was definitely yummy. I had a Turkey Bacon Avocado Panini and a Chipotle Chicken Ranch salad. The salad could have used a little more dressing (they actually toss the salad in the dressing before they serve it), and that's saying a lot for me since I don't use a lot of dressing on salad in the first place. But it was extremely fresh and tasty, and the Panini was absolutely amazing. The most fun was the drinks. The usual soft drinks were offered, but at the soda bar were bottles of flavored syrups you could add to your soda. Mango, raspberry, lime, lemon, orange, cherry -- all kinds of fun things were there. Tara actually put raspberry syrup in her diet Coke. That was really fun. I loved treating Tara's friends and getting to actually meet some of these people she's been through 4 years of school with. She is glad to be graduating, but she's going to miss this gang.

And, of course, to repay Adam and Deena for their kindness, we took their whole family out to dinner. They have three places they like to go to, and we were glad that one of their choices was a Mexican restaurant called Los Hermanos, in downtown Provo, right on the corner of University Avenue and Center Street. We used to go there all of the time when we were a poor married couple living in Provo and finishing school. Since that time, another location was opened in the northern part of the county, and we always ended up going to that one, since it just seemed to be closest to wherever we were in our wanderings. Tonight we went to the old location, and wow, did it bring back memories. Kevin had thrown me a surprise birthday party there when I was pregnant with Tara, and tonight we ate at the very same table! I ordered the same thing I always order -- a cheese enchilada. I can make cheese enchiladas. I've had cheese enchiladas in other places, but Los Hermanos cheese enchilada is just the best I've ever had. The sauce is just smooth and rich and flavorful, the cheese is never grainy -- I don't know, they just really hit the mark. 

Adam also said we should order the Nachos Supreme for all to share. Remember that plate of cheese fries from Lotawata Creek? Well, put that picture back in your minds, only with tortilla chips and refried beans. We did a pretty good job on that, but we didn't take before and after pictures, so you'll just have to trust us on this one. And Los Hermanos makes the best Spanish rice, hands down. It's just a great place with the best Mexican food I've ever had, and they give you lots of it at very reasonable prices. Even the obligatory chips and salsa are the best. And at the end of the meal, glory be, they gave us a mess of Utah Truffles -- some mint, some almond. 

Of course I had to try both flavors. They were, well, everything you would expect of a truffle. I can't really say any more than that. Los Hermanos also offers an "Eternal Coupon" -- buy a T-shirt and you get a free, non-alcoholic specialty drink when you order a meal if you wear the shirt when you come in. I actually have one of those shirts -- but I left it at home! But Deena had three, so we got three free specialties -- one of which was made, amazingly with AVOCADO. It didn't taste much like avocado, which I like, but it did remind me ever so slightly of (gulp) watermelon, which is one food I really, really hate. I know, it's unAmerican to hate watermelon, but there it is. Those frosty drinks really filled us up. It canceled Tara's plans to hit a shake place around the corner where they make milkshakes where they blend in an ENTIRE PIECE OF PIE. Amazingly, this does not appeal to me. I like pie, I love ice cream, heck, I like pie with ice cream, but blended? I don't know if I'm that open minded. But I suppose I will have to find some time to try this, since this is a food blog, and, now that I brought it up, you're all anxious to hear about it, right?

Tomorrow is the big graduation ceremony for the entire university, but beforehand we're going to lunch with the Dickens family (friends from Fairport who we actually never get to see much of when we're actually in Fairport) at Tucano's, which is a Brazilian grill. I was there once a couple of years ago and it is outstanding. It will undoubtedly be the only meal we eat all day, because after eating at the lunch buffet there, dinner will not be an option. I can guarantee that tomorrow night I will not be eating a milkshake, a piece of pie, or any combination of the two in any form!