There seems to be one time of year when I really branch out and try new recipes and that time of year is now – the fall. Even though the mornings aren’t always crisp and the days aren’t necessarily chilly in October in DC, I still tend to want to nest and make soups, chili and break out the crock pot. Surely others do this?  Mr. Wired Momma has come to think of this time of year as his 4-6 week window where  the standard Taco Tuesday and Pizza Friday are rotated out (sparingly, of course, I wouldn’t want anyone to get too spoiled or their expectations too high) for something new and different. Clearly I am tres exotique in the kitchen, right?

It’s not just making dinner at home that changes for me in the fall, it’s also where we like to eat out and what we tend to order when we eat out. Look, on a hot July day, you will not find me ordering pasta at an Italian restaurant. Frankly, it doesn’t even really occur to me to go to an Italian restaurant when it’s hot (no offense, Italian restaurants). But come October, it’s topping my list. Do you do this? As it’s my season to be on the hunt for new recipes, I’d love to know what your fall favorite meals are and share the recipe! Right now I have a rare beef stew going in the crock pot, so surely chili is coming later this week. Please, share away by emailing them to me at WiredMomma@me.com. I will happily turn them all into a great fall recipes post from the fabulous and amazing WM readers.

And while I’m on the hunt for good Italian food, I’m thinking I’m trying out this local Italian restaurant, Tragara in Bethesda, using Restaurant.com next. Are there any local spots on your must-try list that tend to pique your interest when the weather changes? Do you eat differently when the seasons change?

Last week, a good friend of mine, Debra, from grad school was in town for business. What else can a gal do upon learning such great news but immediately plan for a much-needed ladies dinner out?

At least if you’re me, the obvious reaction is planning a fun dinner out.

Along with our other grad school friend, Vanessa, we quickly set to making plans for the evening. Debra was staying in DuPont Circle and it had been a while since I’d eaten out in DuPont. I don’t know about you but I tend to get in restaurant ruts. I like a few particular restaurants that are convenient to certain parts of town where I might also be heading for another reason – Penn Quarter tends to top the list – and so I head there again. I might try different restaurants but I don’t always go out of my way to explore in various parts of town.

#Lame

So this was a great excuse to look into what was new in DuPont since I’d last eaten out there….and also….it was the perfect opportunity to use my $25 gift card from Restaurant.com.  One of the things I’m loving about my work with Restaurant.com is it’s giving me an excuse to head out and explore something new and well, it’s established that I love to eat. As for the $25 gift certificate (for which you spend $10 to purchase), I was thinking that $25 into a bill for the three of us wasn’t really going to be that much – but more on that in the end.

I searched through the variety of restaurants in DuPont that work with Restaurant.com and we selected Bistro Bistro – you can’t really ever go wrong with French food and none of us had eaten there yet. It was a lovely cool fall evening, the big windows of Bistro Bistro were wide open and we were seated right at the front by the street, soaking in the views of DuPont and the live music from the jazz club next door was drifting in. The atmosphere and company were outstanding.

Mix in the delicious bottle of Sancerre we ordered and the absence of children for our peaceful night out and you’ve really hit the trifecta of perfection, right? Of course, toss in gossiping and catching up and isn’t anyone blissfully happy in this moment?

#IHadTimetoTasteMyFood

My lovely dinner companions were very agreeable when I noted we were on important Wired Momma business and it would be our duty to test out a few courses of the meal. They accepted this mission. Oh – and there wasn’t much arm twisting needed in kicking diets to the curb on this particular evening.

#YouOnlyLiveOnce

We each started with an appetizer and when in a French restaurant, you can be sure I am always going to pick onion soup. You’d have to tempt me with warm chevre cheese on a salad to lure me away from my deep love and commitment to onion soup. For this I blame my parents.

In full disclosure, my soup looked lovely but unfortunately Bistro Bistro, in my opinion, doesn’t make that great of an onion soup. I’m pretty much an onion soup whore around town and could spend all day naming the places circling the beltway I’ve tested it out.  Vanessa and Debra each ordered a salad which looked delicious and they quite enjoyed- so in this instance – I probably should have gone for the greens over the onion soup. The Sancerre, conversation and bread with olive oil and tomatoes the waiter brought to the table were yummy.

For dinner, I was totally tempted by some more fattening options (read: heavy on the cheese) but instead selected the salmon with the lentils and carrots – it felt like a great autumnal choice and it absolutely didn’t disappoint. By the end of our main courses, we couldn’t shove any dessert into our mouths no matter how much we would have liked too. The options sounded delicious.

Now back to the bill. Recall how I was suspicious over how I’d feel about a $25 gift certificate?

Enter the bill:

and suddenly seeing $143 reduced to $118 divided by three – I actually was really grateful for the discount. Seeing as how my dinner companions all suffered through the finance class in grad school avec moi – we all learned about the consumer price threshold. For me, somehow seeing a bill below $120 for three of us feels a lot more palatable than seeing a bill for $143, even though much of that was the cost of the wine. And again, this was a gift certificate you spend $10 for the $25 discount. I always like to remind everyone to read the fine print before using a discount deals site, however. When using this particular gift certificate, you cannot apply it towards alcohol and you can only use the gift certificate on certain nights of the week (read: not weekends). Lucky for us – my ladies night out was a mid-week treat.

Overall conclusion: Everyone needs a ladies night out on the town. I was so glad such a great friend came to town, giving us the excuse to go out and explore a part of town I tragically hadn’t visited in a while. Give -away alert: I have a $25 gift certificate from Restaurant.com to give away to one of my lovely readers….but my self-imposed Wired Momma rule is you also use it for a much needed ladies night out with some good friends. Just comment on the Facebook posting about today’s post to enter in the give-away.

Disclosure: As a blog ambassador for Restaurant.com, the $25 gift certificate was gifted to me. My opinions here are all my own.