Category: food

meh.

I was excited to finally go to the restaurant that I’ve heard so many people rave about, but as I sat in my booth and read the menu, I knew I was in over my head. It became abundantly clear that Sweetwater Tavern is a fancy place.

I work for a company that loves to treat its employees to fancy fare. And most would consider that a nice perk, to be able to eat at Clyde’s, The Capital Grille, or Bob Kinkead’s Colvin Run Tavern on the company’s dime. But not me – I’m more than happy with a kid’s meal and some cheesecake from Chick-Fill-A.

I ordered the grilled salmon, and was surprised when the waiter asked how I wanted it cooked – the menu clearly stated that it was grilled. When he clarified that I could get it cooked to order like a steak – medium rare, medium, etc – I asked him what was best. I went out on a limb and ordered the medium he recommended, and made a mental note that at fancy places, you don’t have to have your fish thoroughly cooked.

When my food arrived, it was arranged on my plate in a rather odd manner. My mashed potatoes were dead center. My salmon was draped over the mound of potatoes. There were 3 sweet potato chips stuck into the left side of the potatoes, where they emerged from underneath the salmon filet. And the right side of my plate was covered in mustard sauce for the fish. It was very artistic and all, but food is … food. I want to be able to eat my potatoes without disturbing the fish. And without mustard sauce running all over everything. And without having to remove sweet potato chips.

I suppose the atmosphere was … fancy … and the food was … fancy … and I suppose the food was even pretty good. But I was so out of my comfort zone, that I couldn’t wait to get out of there. (I took half my food home in a box, and had it for dinner – it was much better the second time around, in the comfort of my own dining room, after the microwave nuked that medium salmon to completely cooked.)

I have to say, though, the best food I’ve had recently is Kenny’s Barbecue. Never heard of it? That’s because Kenny is my father-in-law. Any time my husband’s family has a big get-together, Kenny barbecues up every kind of meat known to man. Chicken, brisket, pork loin, sausage in a variety of spiciness levels, you name it, he’s barbecuing it. And not only did I get to enjoy his barbecue, there’s always all the ‘fixins’ that come with it, prepared by the rest of my husband’s family: butter potatoes, rolls, black-eyed peas, bacon-wrapped asparagus, apple pie. Having grown up in the Pacific Northwest, Texan cuisine is something I missed out on – but I’m trying to make up for it on every trip to Texas.

All in all, I’m sure Sweetwater Tavern is a fine place. If you’re in to that kind of thing. As for me, I’ll take Kenny’s Barbecue any day of the week.

Ingredients:

• One box thin mints
• One container cool whip

Directions:

• Dip cookie in cool whip. Eat. Repeat. (For maximum indulgence, do not let spouse see.)

blech. I thought I would give it a try, especially after it was recommended by my sister, but I really don’t like it. At all. I bought the ‘vanilla’ flavor, thinking it would help mask the soy flavor, but I found it bitter. And with a really horrible aftertaste that stuck with me for hours. I had it on my cereal, so I wasn’t like I was just drinking it by itself.

So – for any soy milk lovers out there – if I stick with it, does it get better? Does it get less bitter? Did I pick the wrong flavor? Did I pick the wrong brand? Do I need to make sure it’s supa cold before I drink it? I made the switch to lactose-free milk a while back, and that definitely took some time to get used to – and it’s based on actual milk.

I should know better than to try foods recommended by family. My dad likes greek olives, my mom likes kimchi, and my older brother likes a whole host of foul smelling foods, including buttermilk, sour kraut, and emmenthaler cheese. Perhaps I’ll finally learn my lesson …

I know that transfats are evil and unnatural, but I really kinda miss them.

Junk food just isn’t the same without transfats. I know that other fats have risen to the challenge to take the place of my dearly departed transfats, but they don’t quite do the job. Doritos, oreos, microwave popcorn and mcdonald’s french fries have suddenly become lacking. There’s something slightly different about the flavors, the textures – and there is certainly something different about the addictive qualities.

I can’t eat a whole bag of microwave popcorn anymore. I get bored with doritos before I get anywhere close to half the bag. Oreos? 2 or 3 will do it. And PLEASE get me a bucket of ketchup if you expect me to eat all the fries in my happy meal.

The death of transfats means that junk food has risen right to the top of my food pyramid, where I guess it shoulda been all along. Goodbye, transfats. Now if they could just do something about high fructose corn syrup, maybe I could kick all my food vices …

I love Dairy Queen. It always bring back such good memories. From my childhood, when my dad used to take me to out for special Dilly Bar treats. From my teenage years, when it was the best fast-food hangout on Saturday nights. From my college intern years, when all the interns used to sneak out for DQ breaks. And more recently: my husband knows dinner and dessert at Dairy Queen never fails to put me in a good mood.

Dairy Queen was where I was first introduced to the idea of gravy with chicken strips. (I still don’t like it.) It’s where I fell in love with chocolate covered ice cream, hot fudge sundaes and peanut buster parfaits. It’s where my husband and I shared our first spoon. It’s where I steal my tartar sauce. And, recently, it’s where I discovered the new choco cherry love blizzard.

It’s my new favorite! It’s like chocolate covered cherries – as a blizzard. You can’t get better than that! One of the world’s best candies combined with the best use of milk on the planet.

Dairy Queen. What will they think of next?

I love buffets. Not because I eat a lot – in fact, I am incapable of eating a whole lot in one sitting. But the great thing about buffets, is that you can eat whatever you want. There’s no entree, 2 sides and a roll rule. There’s no salad first, dessert last rule. The only rule is get a clean plate every time around. And THAT’s a rule I can follow.

The other morning, I found myself at Shoney’s for breakfast. Intrigued by the promise of a buffet on the menu, my husband snuck over to check it out while the waitress was getting our drinks. He reported back that it had everything: biscuits, gravy, sausage, bacon, potatoes. When he couldn’t give me details on the fruit and cold cereal selection, I had to make my own not-so-covert run. I didn’t see any cereal (one of my four basic food groups), but there were enough other tasty food items to satisfy my needs, so we signed up for two buffets when our drinks arrived.

And so it was, on my second plate, that my husband stopped mid-sentence and asked, “Is that a pickle?!” I had to concede that it was, in fact, a half-eaten pickle I was holding in my hand. He then proceeded to tell me that red jello, pickles, cucumber slices, cinnamon apples and french toast sticks was not a good breakfast. I agreed, and said it was a good thing I had a strawberry shortcake and potatoes on my first go round …