Whim's Bakery and Grille

If I had a restaurant I'd make all the breads from scratch.  Pumpernickel and wheat, sour dough and honey, flax and oat, bleached white and brown sugared, then we'd slice them thick and make toasts topped with jellies, jams, and/or different nut butters, local honeys or marshmallows.  We'd also serve grilled cheeses with as many kinds of tasty cheese as you can think of with fresh avocados or tomatoes or apples and other neat fruits and vegetables.  We'd grill them up and odd combinations of them along side jellies and and at night we'd serve soup with the toasts or the grilled cheeses.  We'd have chicken soup, french onion and a very nice tomato locally sourced and from scratch.  You'd be able to order anything from just a slice of toast to a sampler plate of all the fun things. And that'd be pretty much it. That's the whole menu. Toast, Grilled Cheese, Soup.

November Thunder & Fatt Cats

It's unusually warm this November.  I'm told because of El Nino.  We're under a tornado watch and there's distant thunder happening right now as the 60mph gusts and the thunder storm we know are coming blow in.  It's unsettling.  I'm talking about the weather because everything else seems so 'regular' that I don't have much to say. But now that I sat still and looked off into the lower left distance for a minute, I remembered that I wanted to say something about the lovely chicken salad sandwich I had at the Fatt Cat Cafe Rockton, IL yesterday.  It was on a very buttery croissant roll and it had fruit in it.  I ate the entire thing and the whole cup of soup they brought with it. I wanted to eat more, they have desserts and that was the whole reason I went, but there just wasn't room.   They had a bread pudding.  I swore I'd come back later in the week for coffee and bread pudding.

I chewed 20 pieces of Gum and thought I was going to die

I chewed 20 pieces of Gum and thought I was going to die.  Dad always brings over these bags of gum he gets at the Amish store.  They are delicious.  I like to chew them until the flavor is gone and then spit it out and get a new one. I can do this because I'm a grown-up.  I could add this to the list of fun things grown ups can do, but really eating a ton of candy until your belly hurts, is something a kid does.  That's what I did, only this time no adult said to me (including myself) you'll hurt yourself eating all that candy.  So I chewed about twenty pieces, one right after another.  Then my belly hurt like that time my appendix burst and I couldn't even move.  Being crunched over hurt, straightening out hurt, every move sent stabby pains deep into my gut and all I could do was sweat and say "ow ow ow ow ow." I thought I was poisoned.  I may have been poisoned - it's not real clear what's in a gumball.  My companion suggested I had gas, but I didn't, I wished that were the case.  I started to work out how I was going to crawl down the porch stairs and into the car for a ride to the ER where I would totally admit I chewed twenty gum-balls in a row and poisoned myself with Amish gum.  I wasn't even worried about being embarrassed - that's how much pain I was in.  Then I drank a glass of milk and felt slightly better - so I drank more milk and said markedly less 'ow's and eventually I stopped hurting.  I still like to chew a bunch of gum-balls in a row.  The same brand even.  I just try to limit myself to five.... and definitely no more than seven.

Oh the Pears

The pears are on sale this week, perfectly firm and juicy.
They must be respected when you hold them, if you are too rough you'll get sticky hands.
Yellow with specks of brown, they should be eaten today.  

Pears Art Print @ The Joy of Color Etsy Shop

The Sugars

One of the things I'm trying to do lately is give up some of the sugar in our lives.  Or at the very least be aware of when we are using it.  Like buying cereal with no sugar but then spooning some right onto it.  It seems less processed and less sneaky.  I've been reading labels like mad at the store and sugar or some other form of it

(corn syrup, 
beat sugar, 
agave nectar, 
barley malt, 
brown rice syrup, 
cane juice, 
caramel, 
corn sweetener, 
crystalline fructose, 
dextran, 
diastatic malt powder, 
ethyl moltol, 
fructose, 
glucose, 
high fructose corn syrup, 
maltodextrin, 
maltose, 
muscovado, 
raspadura, 
rice bran syrup, 
sorghum, 
sucrose, 
glucomalt...)

is in EVERYTHING.  So I'm just shopping for things with one or two ingredients.  Not including bread and a few treat type things for the kids.  It's hard.  The kids aren't happy.  But they aren't going to starve.  There is plenty of food in there, just not what they want.  It's been a crabby week and the Nutella is gone already. Hopefully in a few more weeks, we'll all feel better.

Mmmm, Digestive Flavored

No, I haven't tried one yet.  I'll let you know how it goes.   

Breakfast at Bombadee's V

Jack's snack.

  

Breakfast at Bombadee's IV
Breakfast at Bombadee's III

Breakfast at Bombadee's II

Breakfast at Bombadee's

Gateway Breakfast Food

My friend Derek was at the after party last night with a baggie of candied bacon in his pocket.  He'd pull it out and open the bag wafting bacon smell out into your face before the offer "Candied bacon?"  The first one is free kid. Little did I know that one bite of it would lead me out to the food truck outside where they were selling chocolate covered bacon which I loved soo much that later when our coach pulled out a bacon chocolate bar and offer everyone in the room a square, I would put both hands up and yell  "Me! Me! Oooh, me me  me! Pick me!" while hip checking every one in the way, between me and that little square of artery hardening goodness.  I hope last night's binge doesn't lead to a hardcore deep fried butter habit.

***

Dear Greenpeace, sending me an e-mail with the subject line "A Horrible Way to Die" does not entice me to open your e-mail.  Put some candied bacon in your pocket.

Corn Syrup + DHA + Pro-biotics = Toddler Food?

I got this stuff in the mail today. The first few ingredients include whole milk powder, corn syrup solids, galactooligosaccarides...

Why in the world would you make the second ingredient corn syrup? and why would this product have so much sodium in it? I just don't understand why this is better than actual milk and food.

Ok I just looked at the add and it says;

" milk lacks, like Iron, Vitamin C, and DHA - a building block of the toddler brain."

But I'm pretty sure feeding a baby other things in addition to milk at one year old will do the same job. They pretty much want to put things in their mouths and that's the baby's way of yelling to you "Feed me things with vitamins and minerals in them!" It's called learning to eat.

I'm still not sure exactly what DHA is. When I looked and it seems to be in a bunch of food I've been told not to feed the baby yet; egg yolks, fishes, sea weeds. Also the third ingredient "galactooligosaccarides" is a pro-biotic that helps the baby digest the stuff his gut is not really built to digest yet that delivers the supplements that replace the foods he's not supposed to eat. Does this sound stupid yet?

So in total the idea is, don't feed him the foods he needs to grow his brain, instead feed him this undigestible supplement requiring a pro-biotic that will change the flora in his gut so that he can digest the supplement we say is necessary and by the way it contains a crap load of corn syrup so that it's palatable.

I'll probably throw it in the garbage and opt for actual milk and in a month or so scrambled eggs.

Shake Me Up

Last year about this time I stopped at McDonald's and asked for a Shamrock Shake, the voice on the other end of the speaker said "You want a what?" I said "A Shamrock shake... you know, the green ones...?" I was met with silence. "What kind of shakes do you have?" I demanded "Um, vanilla, strawberry and chocolate." Now I was silent while taking in the possibility that McDonald's didn't have a Shamrock Shake in Texas. I started again "I'm from the Chicago area and every year for St. Patrick's Day McDonald's makes a minty green shake called a Shamrock Shake and I guess you don't have them here." The voice on the other end said "Oh what a great idea, when is St. Patrick's Day?"

Asking a Illionian when St. Patrick's Day is, is like asking a Texan when Cinco De Mayo is.

Find your nearest Shamrock Shake here www.shamrockshake.com

One Tall Please

I received a French press for Christmas. I use it every day. It makes the best coffee in the history of coffee. Even better than the expensive coffee shop coffees and in fact the few times I went through Starbuck's drive-through and ordered a regular coffee because I've given up dairy, I received burnt coffee like sludge for $4.00, even worse than the stuff in that brown topped pot at the local gas station. When you remove all the chocolate sauce and cream what's left tastes acidic and gross. I guess the Barista Index is on the swing, all the good drink makers have left their crap ass coffee shop jobs for real ones and left the teenagers and the inexperienced olfactory challenged freaks to burn the drinks.

Pie!

"The Banquet brand began in 1953 with the introduction of frozen meat pies and frozen dinners first hit store shelves in 1955." I've been eating them since I can remember and today while at the grocery store a light shone down from the heavens and directed my attention to Banquet's new Apple Pot Pies for $1.00. I bought one apple and a cherry. While it doesn't look like what's is on the cover (ok, I burned it a little) it was delicious. Banquet should have been doing these long ago. I recommend them.

The Little Bistro

A few weeks back I helped Ms. Quik write a business plan for her new restaurant, The Little Bistro right in front of the farmer's market in Beloit, WI. She'll feature Paninis and gourmet burgers along with the best potato salad I've ever had in my life, home made potato chips that are to die for and various beer and wine. She'll also have jazz and art and wine tasting on Friday nights, it's my kinda place for sure. I won't get the pleasure of being here on opening day, July 1st, but I did get to sample some of her genius today. She invited folks over and taste the menu as well as all the wines and beers she's trying to choose from. It was simply the best way to spend a Sunday afternoon with pals.

Brain/Blog Dump

Wow people, I've been on the go for days and my brain feels like mush. I've hit the point where I have to start making lists so I can remember put gas in the car. Tomorrow I hope to pencil in a long hot bath and a date with my DVR. I've just got tooo much to do. I just sent a fax and it's 12:13am. Who sends faxes at 12:13am? Fax spammers and really freaking busy people. Anyway I am having a Miller High Life and thinking of staying up until 1:00 to read my dear blogs that I haven't caught up on for days and I'm wondering if all my digital pals are still kickin'.

I find it ironic that my blog's spell check says that "blog's" is spelled wrong.

I liked the movie Watchmen even with it's very Biblical theme. Oh yeah, I said it; Dr. Manhattan represents Jesus and Ozymandias is Judas. Also I am still really upset about the parents who brought their 6 and 4 year old to see it who sat in front of us. And I really think the person who sold the tickets to that family needs a good lecture on how 'it takes a village.'

I can't wait to cook some squash tomorrow night - I've been craving it for days. There must be some vitamin in squash I need right now.

We (The Stateline Divas) won against the Fox City Foxz' Rollergirl Regiment in Appleton last Saturday 65 to 64 and it came down to the last second so it was a super great game and the ladies we played were very nice and the hotel was great and a good time was had by all. As far as I know, no major injuries - Yay! Thousands of photos HERE (I'm #00.) We play in Beloit against the Paper Valley Flying Squirrels on April 25th. Tickets HERE and the fabuous poster I made for it HERE.


Feeling down? Go read THIS it may make you feel better. My favorite: "Today, I was eating ice cream and I noticed some on my jeans so I wiped it off with my finger and licked it. It was bird shit. FML"

Skimping

So I find myself using every last thing in the pantry before going to the grocery. There are tons of websites out there that will find a recipe based on what you have in the pantry or freezer and I've been getting a little more creative too. It's kind of interesting meeting the challenge but today because we were out of town, the cupboards are really bare. Our fridge looks bacheloresque with mustard, a flat two inches of coke in a two liter bottle and left over mostacholi from a week ago. I just fried the last three eggs for breakfast and if we want lunch before we hit the grocery store it'll have to be canned soup or graham crackers with apple slices and peanut butter. So I'm going to the big store in the next town over to do the big shop today. We're also not splurging on Oreos and chips any more. Really week after week my grocery lists look like this:

Milk
Eggs
Butter
Cheese
Veggies
Fruit
Bread
Meat
Soap

Occasionally we have to add flour or sugar or some spice but this is the typical list and everything we eat is formed from these $65.00-$100.00 worth of groceries. Sure the veggies and fruits change according to season but really I think it's the typical American grocery list up there.

***

Read about how restaurants are cutting back on what they're serving, but not what they're charging. Also, food at the grocery is shrinking, cerial boxes are getting smaller and cheese blocks tinier. I wonder if America will loose a few pounds or gain. If people are buying more food in a box (ramen noodles, cheap pizza and mac n cheese) or if we'll grow our own fruits and veggies and cook from scratch... someone should do a study.