Category: Food and Wine Thoughts

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Up Next?

Home from travelling and trying to recover while planning where next. My mind is not as exhausted and I am more present which is a big help. My goal now is getting into a better schedule for waking and sleeping (and cleaning). Some days I just want to stay up all night and sleep all morning, then get frustrated over how much I am missing out on. Motivation is coming in fits as I try to adjust to being home and not working. Being retired is starting to become more of a reality and I will need to figure out how to find purpose after work while being stuck between adventures and trying to not do a lot of shopping. (Unfortunately for me, shopping has become more of a boredom solver than something I truly enjoy doing, contrary to what everyone thinks.) Next up, finding ways to get out and enjoy!

The fun part, I got to babysit my grand-kitten Freya over last weekend. She is a joy and this time I was more present mentally and able to more fully enjoy my time with her. However, I did forget my cup (shown below with Freya) at my fitness club a couple days ago, not too mentally present as much as I think maybe?

For a restaurant recommendation, I suggest Big Bore BBQ in Hanover, MN. My son-in-law chose this for his birthday party and it was really, really good. I had the ribs and the fries with queso dip (yum!). They also did a great job with the birthday dessert presentation. www.bigborebarbecue.com

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Charleston 2014

I had 2 goals when I left for Charleston. One was to find the small alleyways mentioned by Laura Childs in her books and I found them! My favorite was the Philadelphia Alley between Church and State Streets. I also found Unity, Lodge and Longitude. My second was to try Poogan’s Porch, which is supposed to be haunted. This place was awesome! But I didn’t see any ghosts.

So what else happened during my week in Charleston? I had biscuits at least once a day (yum) and ate a lot of really good food. My favorites were Gaubert & Michet Cafe, Social (pizza), Minero’s (chicken taco), Toast (scrambled eggs, cheese and bacon on a biscuit), Queology (pulled chicken sandwich), Blossom (crab cake with asparagus and shrimp coolie) and of course Poogan’s Porch (shrimp pasta with a biscuit). Good thing I didn’t rent a car and walked a lot!

I also did a harbor boat tour, a carriage ride (with Lindsey, the guide and Miley, the horse), three church tours (2nd Presbyterian, First Scots Presbyterian and Unitarian), a historic walking tour (Beth the guide), and 2 house tours (Nathaniel Russel (Ken Brody the guide) and Edmonston-Alston). I also went to the Unitarian church service on Sunday morning and had a wonderful breakfast (they really put on a spread there after the service).

All in all it was a whirlwind week and I had a great time. BUT no plantation tours and I also wasn’t able to get up and visit my niece in Myrtle Beach. I do plan on coming back in a couple of years just to visit Myrtle Beach though, I hope. 🙂

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Going Back to Charleston!

It has been 5 years, and I am finally going back to visit Charleston, South Carolina. I am very much looking forward to the food, especially the biscuits.  I am looking forward to visiting more of the area than the last time I visited.  And did I mention the biscuits? Not that I dream of them or anything.

I am also thinking it might be time to revive my blog a bit.  I enjoyed working on it in the past, but I was finding that I had less and less energy to keep up with it as time went on. When did I start feeling so worn out and old?!?

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The Prairie Alehouse – Restaurant Review

A group from work went here for Happy Hour last week and it was a good time. Unfortunately, they didn’t start offering happy hour prices until the day AFTER, but it was still good. I tried the hoison wings, Cajun wings (dry rub), parmesan fries, sick pickle and the cheese curds. The cheese was tempura battered and very light and non-greasy. The wings were HUGE and tasted great. My only complaint was the fries, the parmesan was so fine it tasted kind of like grit and not a good combination. I will have to try it for lunch!

2014 Update – this restaurant really never found its place and is now closed. Try its replacement, Tavern 4 & 5 as they are really good and the staff are great.

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Nacho Mama; A Restaurant Review

I am using this opportunity to review a little “hole in the wall” restaurant in Stillwater, Minnesota.  I went to visit with my daughter, her husband and some of her friends.  There were 6 of us and it was a tight fit in this tiny little place.  But the food was just wonderful.  Tanya, Kurt and I shared the baked chicken enchilada casserole and the carne asada with the smoked gouda quesadilla.  Yum!  Although we shared two entrees among the three of us, there were still leftovers!  The enchilada bake was golden and creamy and very gooey.  The carne asada beef was crisp, beefy and sweet all wrapped up in one.  We got some extra tortilla shells and made it up into tacos.  The margaritas were very good, a pitcher is definitely a good bargain.  I like how they bring the ice on the side and the pitcher is just margaritas!  If you are ever in Stillwater I would definitely recommend this spot.  It is right off the main drag, close to the kitchen store.  You can always buy some great kitchen stuff and then go eat to get your energy back up!  Oh, and don’t forget to stop at the olive oil store before you leave to stock up on some fresh olive oil and balsamic vinegar!

http://www.nachomamasmn.com/

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SmashBurger – Free Food is Good!

I do a little volunteer work for the City of Plymouth, even though I no longer live there I know some of the other volunteers and they are a fun bunch.  One promotion we were able to get in on was a free preview of the new “healthier” options on the SmashBurger menu.  I tried the buffalo grilled SmashChicken minus the blue cheese and mayonnaise (how can mayo be healthy?).  I also tried one of their new salads as a side item.  They were both really good.  The rest of the group (daughter, son-in-law, friend of daughter) ordered burgers (the healthy option is that they now have a 1/4 pound option), sweet potato fries, french fries and fried pickles.  So we got a good taste of the regular food too.  To top it off we all had beer or wine with our meal.  And it was all for free!  Thank you SmashBurger, the food was good and I can’t wait for one to open in Eden Prairie.

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Hell’s Kitchen for Dinner

My daughter Tanya has been trying to get me to Hell’s Kitchen for dinner for a while and tonight she succeeded and I am glad.  The last time I went was at their previous location, and it was for breakfast.  Dinner was very tasty and the atmosphere here was a lot of fun.  The band was starting up right before we left, and they were pretty good – jazz/blues.  Dinner was a bbq bison burger with fontina cheese and shoe string fries – very good!  Tanya & Kurt had chicken and pear sandwiches with sweet potato fries and Kris had the lobster tacos.  All disappeared in short order.  I would definitely recommend it!