Friday, August 7, 2009
Finishing up -- sort of
I also have a page on Facebook now, and would love for some of my friends to follow along. I do love food, and I love writing about food, but sometimes life gets in the way! I do want to continue the blog, because it seems there's always something about food going on, whether it's cooking experiences (wait until you hear about the S'mores Brownies), or going to a local restaurant, or even out of town trips. I also want to share the food adventures of other friends who travel! That's what it's all about, so if you want to follow my and my friends' food adventures, become a follower and I will try my best to inform and entertain you!
So this is a short post about the last leg of our journey, or what I can remember of it, from Chicago (I heart you, Chicago) to home. Rain, rain, rain!! It wasn't great. Suffice it to say that a chain called Eat 'n' Park, which intrigued me on the way out, was not very good. It was basically a really good place for old people. It was a revamped Big Boy, with some of the same menu items. I have liked some Big Boys (Tipp City, OH comes to mind), but this wasn't one of them. It took over half an hour to get our food (breakfast for dinner), the salad bar was nothing to brag about (by sight) and the whole thing was just generic. We had been hoping to eat at the same Texas Roadhouse Kevin and I visited on the way out, but the line was just tooooo long, so we ended up at the Eat 'n' Park and you know the rest. Lunch was at Steak 'n' Shake (the theme of the day was restaurants with 'n' in the name, apparently) in South Bend, Indiana and I actually had food with my shake, which was a first for me. Food wasn't great, shake, of course, was. And we just pushed on through the rain until we reached Fairport at about 10:00 at night.
So the trip didn't end with a bang. Let's face it, anything after Chicago is anti-climactic. But I do have to end this post with a rant. Why can't we in New York eat at some of the places we see advertised on TV or other places that are all across this great country? I see ads for Sonic, White Castle, Dairy Queen, CiCi's Pizza, Golden Corral all over TV, and I can't go to any of them! I'd love to go to a pizza buffet for five bucks and change! (CiCi's). I want a Sonic shake! I want my Dilly Bars!! What is up with that? If we can't go there, don't advertise to us!! Don't tease us that way!! There isn't a Dairy Queen anywhere around here! The closest Golden Corral is in Erie, PA! And don't even get me started on Steak 'n' Shake and Chick-fil-A! Why can't we New Yorkers partake??? I kept seeing signs for a place called Max and Erma's. I have no idea what that is, but someday I intend to find out. Apparently, I'll have to travel outside of NY to do it!
And . . . it's nearly impossible to get a Milky Way Dark west of the Rockies! You'll have take your own stash! It seems that they like things a lot sweeter out west in general, so dark chocolate isn't as popular there. I remember when I lived in Utah I would go into a bakery and ask for a plain donut and people would look at me like I had two heads. "Why would this doofus eat a donut that isn't covered with icing and sprinkles and filled with jam when she can have one?" they were clearly thinking. As proof, there were never any plain donuts available. They just didn't think that way!! Well, suffice it to say that some things are better out west (Brazilian grills) and some things are better here (bagels and dark chocolate).
Thus ends my cross-country adventures with food for a while, but hey, there are plenty of other places to visit in the good ol' USA, including good ol' Wappingers Falls, NY, where, I hear, they're getting a SONIC!
P.S. I just heard the Obama family went to lunch at a place called the Good Stuff Eatery in D.C. Not that I want to associate myself with the Obama family in any way, shape or form, but I do want you to know that we ate there last summer and it really was good stuff. Try the marshmallow shake, it's unbelievable.
Friday, May 1, 2009
Chicagoland Chow
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
3 states in 1 day!
Dear, dear followers, I am sorry I have neglected you for so long, but I have been utterly exhausted! It’s not easy driving across the prairies for 10 to 12 hours a day. And now I am nursing the beginnings of a sinus infection! I have not, however, been lacking for food experiences, however, and I promise to catch you up from the last two days. (Pictures will be added as soon as we get some reliable internet!)
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Goin' 80 on I-80
Not much to tell about today’s adventures – just driving, driving, driving. Not the greatest weather in some spots either, particularly through parts of Wyoming and Utah, but we’re about 125 miles into Nebraska right now, and we’re starving. I may disappoint you and go to Denny’s, because already Tara is complaining about complying with my food choices, and it’s only the first day. Tomorrow I’m planning on going to a farmhouse type spread in the Amana Colonies of Iowa, and she’s not happy about it, which I really can’t understand, since it’s just like Good and Plenty down in Amish Country in Pennsylvania. Tough darts, we’re going.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Last Licks in Provo
So today, in this post, I'm going to write about Friday's misadventures. I wrote about Thursday last night (Friday night), and they'll both be posted on Saturday. Follow???
Repentance for my neglect
And, of course, half an hour later, I was ready for a Dairy Queen sundae. I am truly pathetic. Only it wasn't so good, the strawberries tasted, well, artificial. I should stick to Dilly Bars and cherry dipped cones.
Again, no dinner -- how could we after that? As a matter of fact, after the ceremony and the pictures, the day would have passed in kind of a blur, but for the fact that our dear friends, Debbie and Steve Ledingham, had called earlier to invite us over to their house for the evening. Now, we have known them since before their first child was born -- and he's now married!
Ah the memories we have made!
Side note: Kevin and I were married on April 23, 1983. In a million years, we never would have dreamed that on that same day, 26 years later, we would be watching our daughter graduate from college. Kind of neat, huh?
It's bedtime. Tomorrow I will write about the second graduation ceremony (the convocation) and our food, fun and family experiences of the day (Friday).
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Our first "full" day in Provo -- and I do mean full!
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.
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!