Eating – Page 2 – Mom's Guide to the Galaxy

Ups & downs to adulting

I was at the grocery store the other day, forlornly noticing that my preferred brand of peanut butter was absent from the shelf. The space was there, but not a single jar of crunchy (my preference) or creamy peanut butter in that brand were available. I sighed and reached for my purse… picking a different brand requires glasses, which is definitely a downside to adulting. Not just because I now read ingredients where I didn’t used to, but because I can barely read most of the label other than the brand name and the creamy/crunchy part. After some grumbling – mostly wondering why there’s anything other than peanuts and a minute amount of salt, and definitely not buying the one with sugar added – I settled on a new jar. (Don’t worry, nobody was staring at me… I tend to do my grocery shopping at the crack of dawn, when the store is mostly empty.)

It led me to consider other ups and downs I’ve encountered recently. I had an emergency dentist visit last month which resulted in a root canal, and anybody who’s experienced that sort of dental pain can tell you it’s definitely a down. But it had an up side… I had just enough in my Flexible Spending Account (FSA) to cover it, which means it wasn’t hitting a credit card bill and I managed to clear my FSA for the year.

For any readers outside the US, an health-related FSA account is money set aside before income tax calculations, and can only be used on health expenses. If unspent after the year plus grace period (in this case, 3 months into next year), you lose the money. In addition to actual medical appointments, it can be spent on some related items, with weird exceptions like covering dentist visits but not toothbrushes. It can lead to weird shopping on FSAStore.com and related sites at the end of the grace period, as you decide just how many first aid kits you really need.

Zuko, perched on the top level of the cat tree. Across the room, two toy mice near the garage door.

Our kitten is definitely an up… but like every cat, Zuko has his personality quirks. His is so excited about toys, particularly mice, and this one type of mouse gets… special… treatment. Watching him drop a toy mouse in the water is funny, until you realize how absorbent it is and see the trail of water he leaves as he drags it around. It’s downright hilarious to see him pause as he runs in from the garage to his bowl; if there’s a mouse between them, he will pick it up and carry it to the bowl. Yes, he sets it in the bowl. *sigh* Dropping one of his mice into my martini… that was definitely a down.

Ups and downs are a part of life… try to laugh when you can, even if there’s a toy mouse in your martini.

Find something that makes you smile.

This year has given us all some time for introspection. Well, that or video games. And if that’s what makes you smile, go for it. We each have different needs.

My garden makes me smile. Looking out at the flowers, stopping to smell the peonies (which smell like roses!), admiring the sunflower that has sprung up in the keyhole bed… particularly after losing all the sunflowers I planted out back to some hungry critter, and unsure whether the front yard sunflowers will survive whatever’s leaving holes in the leaves.

But I can’t complain too much about the critters… I just smiled at a rabbit hopping through my back yard. And have you ever watched a woodchuck run? It’s like a low to the ground penguin waddle, with hips shifting back and forth as it leaves a trail in my grass. Of course, that may be who ate my pea seedlings. It’s hard to tell, I’m not spotting the rabbits or woodchucks in the raised beds.

Keyhole garden with prominent sunflower (no flower yet)

At a guess, it’s birds eating my strawberries, but at least that’s the actual fruit. If the sunflowers had grown to full height, most of the seeds would have been consumed by the birds. The peas probably would have been shared between us and the woodchuck.

The cats June and Diane sitting on a cat rug

And then there are the indoor critters, sources of amusement and frustration. I walked in to these faces this morning. I was immediately suspicious. This was after breakfast, so they weren’t expecting food, and the third cat, Arwen, wasn’t in sight. Arwen is the main troublemaker, the one who figured out how to open the crockpot over Memorial Day weekend, landing a paw in my chicken soup. (Knowing it was possible, Diane then followed her example.) As it turns out, Arwen was lounging in the bay window, and I still have no idea why these two were eagerly awaiting my return from the garden.

Pork chops with cherry sauce, peas, garlic mashed potatoes with chives

I also happen to enjoy food, eating it and preparing it, given enough time. And it’s a mix of things I grew up with – like omelets, which Dad would make on Sunday mornings, grilling on my Big Green Egg – a gift from Dad, or making a pizza from scratch. We’ve developed a Friday night pizza habit, and while the multigrain crust is pretty much the same each time, the toppings vary from week to week, and sometimes I switch from tomato sauce to pesto.

This is by no means the entire list of things that make me smile, just a few things that came to mind. What makes you smile?

Lickity Split – ice cream and more

On our way to black belt camp last weekend, we missed our first lunch choice (my fault) and bypassed our second (not realizing yet that we had missed our first), so we found ourselves in Brookston, Indiana searching for a late lunch. For anybody not familiar with Brookston, the Wikipedia entry for the town shows it’s total area as 0.66 square miles with just over 1,500 residents as of the 2010 census. A quick map search showed a few restaurants nearby, but Lickity Split was the closest. We pulled in across from it, wondering if it was just ice cream, and noticed a sign mentioning other food options – hot dogs and burgers were available.

The other food options are a tiny portion of Lickity Split’s menu… you could get lost in their ice cream/milkshake/malt options. When we ordered, we were warned that the fries would take 10 minutes… that didn’t seem like long until the milkshakes were served after about 2 minutes and the burgers after 5. Talk about fast! I had just finished my burger when the fries arrived; we actually discussed ordering a second burger each because of how fast they were ready and how hungry we were.

The other great thing about their milkshakes (I ordered butterscotch) was the size. A small milkshake was actually just that, a single serving milkshake. While I love a good Oberweis milkshake, I typically split it across multiple meals because of the size, but the Lickity Split small milkshake was perfectly sized to finish with our meal. Even if we eat somewhere else some years, this will be a good place to pick up a milkshake on the way to or from camp.

Sushi… burrito?

A sushi bowl at Poke Burrito We found ourselves looking for lunch in Oak Park recently, having seen a movie (Toy Story 4, stay through the credits) and torn by the varied selection. We had passed a couple sushi places, so another one didn’t surprise me, until I saw the name: Poke Burrito. And under that: “Sushi Bowl – Sushi Burrito”. Suddenly, our choice was made.

The restaurant is small, there’s indoor seating for less than two dozen people, with some outdoor seating to supplement in reasonable weather. The menu is fairly straightforward – you pick one of seven house creations or build your own from the list of ingredients, then decide whether you want it as a bowl or a burrito. If you select a burrito, you then choose between seaweed and soy paper.

As you can see from the photo, I opted for a sushi bowl – Jimmy’s Creation, which features both salmon and tuna (I’m trying to keep my doctor happy by occasionally eating fish), along with other ingredients, on a bed of brown rice. While eating, I mixed small sections together, so I always had a bite of multiple ingredients. (I realize I could have stirred the entire thing before I started, and I may do that next time.) Cassandra chose a sushi burrito, which, as expected, was massive and had trouble staying together.

We enjoyed the food and service, and definitely expect there to be a follow-up visit now that we know that sushi bowls and burritos are a thing.

Little Bohemia Restaurant

Every so often, after visiting Brookfield Zoo, we find ourselves wandering through Riverside looking for lunch. After last fall’s ZooRunRun, I had a particular restaurant in mind to re-visit, only to find we had arrived before they opened. A quick Google search turned up a nearby Bohemian restaurant that was already open, so we walked that direction. And almost walked past it… the door is tucked in, so we got to the window and had to take a few steps back once we verified that it was the right door.

It would have been a shame to miss this delightful restaurant. I meant to write about it back then, but other things came up and kept me busy. Then this Sunday, after wandering around Brookfield Zoo again, we specifically headed to the Little Bohemia Restaurant again. The inside is small enough to feel cozy without feeling cramped, allowing staff to keep an eye on diners’ needs without feeling like they’re hovering.

Bread basket, beef noodle soup, corned beef dinner, and a custard-filled donut — A full meal at the Little Bohemia Restaurant

But what about the food? We are talking about a restaurant, after all. We each ordered a dinner plate, which included soup, the entree with sides, and a dessert, along with a bread basket for the table. The portion sizes seemed right, most of us had just enough room for dessert after finishing our entrees, and it was all delicious. It was also surprisingly cheap – all that food came out to about $14 each. We will certainly be back.

Balmoral – a Scottish delight in Chicagoland

For a recent celebration, we made our way on a snowy night to Balmoral, a Scottish restaurant in the far west suburbs of Chicago. Before learning about this delightful restaurant, I had bemoaned only being able to dine on haggis at the annual Scottish festival in Itasca, particularly since I don’t make it to the festival every year.

The ambience of the restaurant was lovely, we were seated in a neat little nook about midway through the restaurant. We were barely seated when a basket of breads was delivered, and spent a couple minutes deciding which kind to try first. Every so often, I noticed the drifting sound of bagpipes. The owner was wandering throughout the restaurant, talking to people, and every employee seemed genuinely happy to be there.

Haggis Drambuie served with three kinds of crispy toast — Haggis Drambuie at Balmoral restaurant in Campton Hills, IL

Balmoral’s menu includes two haggis dishes, one as a starter and one as an entree. I’m not particularly fond of turnips (aka “neeps”), which is a key ingredient in the entree combination of “Haggis, Neeps and Tatties,” so I ordered the Haggis Drambuie. It was a tasteful treat to start us off, with three different kinds of crispy toast perfectly proportioned for the amount of haggis and sauce that was served.

In the interest of trying less commonly available dishes, we ordered the Great Granny’s Rabbit Pie and the Perthshire’s Pleasant Peasants Pheasant. Both were delicious. In the interest of exploring the dessert menu, half of the rabbit pie came home with me.

Saving space for the desserts was well worth it. Unfortunately, the trio of mini-desserts we ordered looked so lovely, I forgot to take a photo. Well, that and we were distracted by the bagpipe rendition of “Happy Birthday”. We will definitely make it back to this fabulous restaurant.

Culinary Tourism

White-sided dolphin swimming beside our boat.

I flew back to California for work last week. I arrived Sunday morning and managed to just make it to Oceanside for a boat tour – theoretically, whale watching, but it’s not quite whale season yet. We did see three kinds of dolphins as well as some sea lions. That was the extent of my traditional tourism; the rest of my days were filled with work. Meal times, however, were a great time to explore some of the local options.

It began immediately following the boat ride, with a coupon to Harbor Fish & Chips. I opted for the “small” – a single piece of fish – which was impressively sized; anything larger would have been too much for me. When I arrived at my hotel, I realized it was well-placed for walking to dinner. In addition to four restaurants down the block, there was an outlet mall across the street, with most of their restaurants at the end near the hotel. That said, Pokemon Go rewards you for walking, so I almost always to the long route to and from dinner.

Clockwise from the upper left: seared ahi salad; Wild Alaskan sand dabs with sauteed kale and goat cheese, grilled zucchini, and sourdough bread; "small" fish and chips — Clockwise from the upper left: seared ahi salad; Wild Alaskan sand dabs with sauteed kale and goat cheese, grilled zucchini, and sourdough bread; “small” fish and chips

I had four opportunities to walk to dinner, and a goal of trying somewhere new each night. Being so close to the ocean, I made a point of selecting fish more than I usually would. I started with a fish taco and chicken tortilla soup at Rubio’s, a local fast food chain. My second dinner was a seared ahi salad at BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse, another local chain whose name was new to me. By the third night, I wanted a milkshake, so I walked to Ruby’s Diner, a few doors down from the Rubio’s, and had a delicious burger/fries/onion rings combo with my drink. On my last free night, having walked past its “Now Open” sign for several days, I tried the Parmesan Crusted Wild Alaskan Sand Dabs at the recently remodeled King’s Fish House.

My last night had a work dinner scheduled, and the food was as delightful as the other nights, this time at the Flying Pig Pub & Kitchen. I ordered one of the daily specials – a pasta with sausage that was made in house – after trying a couple appetizers with my co-workers. I highly recommend their Brussels sprouts. Well, and the rest of their food… the whole week’s cuisine was amazing.

Stop for a taste at Journeyman Distillery

Last weekend, we drove to Michigan for a karate tournament. Specifically, we drove to Flint… if I only wanted to drive to Michigan, I can do that in two hours. Driving to Flint more than doubles that driving time. It’s a beautiful, scenic drive this time of year, filled with the changing colors of fall and winery billboards. Wait, what? Yes, really, the sheer quantity of winery billboards in the second half of Indiana and the first hour or so of Michigan along I-94 was astounding. For the most part, they weren’t repeating themselves… there really are that many wineries in the region.

And while I like wine, what caught my eye was the billboard for a distillery. In fact, I think it was the only distillery I saw billboards for. And it advertised food, which was perfect, as we needed to stop for lunch. As we left the highway, the next sign said it was 5 miles to the Journeyman Distillery. That’s really not far in a two lane road with no traffic lights until the turn we wanted.

I suppose you would expect a stiff drink at a distillery, but I still had a couple hours of driving to do and was already a bit tired. Rest assured, they had good coffee. That’s not to say I left without buying a drink – I took home a bottle of Sew Your Oats Whiskey as the most interesting possibility.

Pork cracklings, an amazing selection of mostly alcohol in the Journeyman Distillery gift shop, distillery, and hummus — Pork cracklings, selection in the Journeyman Distillery gift shop, distillery, and hummus

And yet, that’s not what I was gushing about when I told my friends about the place. We weren’t terribly hungry when we got there, though it was past a normal lunch time, so we ordered from the appetizer menu. I ordered a Southwestern chicken soup and pork cracklings, and was hooked from the first bite of the cracklings. If you’ve ever bought pre-packaged chicharrones, you have an idea of what these taste like. They are described on a package as “rendered out pork fat with attached skin.” But these… well, these were fresh. When you bite into them, they crackle, somewhat like a salty Pop Rocks. The pork cracklings alone are worth the two hour drive to Michigan.

(In other news, the tournament was fun, the drive home was just as scenic, and I got the boiler fixed on Tuesday so my house is now properly heated again.)

Planning a trip to Niagara Falls

I may post more about our trip to Niagara Falls on later days, but here are some of the thoughts that went into planning it.

Transit

Selecting an airline isn’t usually difficult; Southwest is my preferred airline if it services an airport in the right area. Even when we fly carry-on only, like we did for our Philadelphia trip, I like the option of checking bags for free. The pricing is almost always comparable to the other airlines, so it comes down to selecting times I like for direct flights. (Chicago to Buffalo is just over an hour, an indirect flight doesn’t really make sense.)

I researched options for getting from the Buffalo airport to the Canadian side of Niagara Falls. Quickly dismissed was the Greyhound option; that’s from downtown Buffalo, and only at set times, so it would have required too many transfers. The airport shuttle was more appealing until I realized that I could rent a car for less than it would cost for both our fares one-way. Our lodging included free parking, so renting a car turned out to be a no-brainer.

On the other hand, I didn’t want to drive around all weekend, or bother to pay for parking multiple times in the Fallsview area. We picked up 48-hour WeGo passes, parked the rental car by our cabin, and rode the bus into the downtown area multiple times. When I returned the rental car, they thought I had filled the gas tank because I had driven it so little.

Lodging

I’ve had a KOA (Kampgrounds of America) membership since 2013, when we went on a 13-day road trip; two-thirds of our nights were at KOA sites. On a whim, I checked to see if there was a KOA in the Niagara Falls area. As it turns out, there’s one on each side of the Falls. Having never visited Canada before, I was set at staying on the Canadian side. I didn’t really want to pack a tent (even with free baggage), so I booked a cabin… well, a Kamping Kabin. Because it’s at a Kampground.

KOA Kamping Kabin - outside and inside views — KOA Kamping Kabin – outside and inside views

Camping cabins are minimalist in nature. There’s a roof over your head, a door that locks, beds (one double and a bunk bed), and a table with a chair. There’s also a picnic table and seating on the deck. You bring your own linens or sleeping bags, which was most of our luggage needs for this trip. You also have to walk outside to get to the bathroom and the shower stalls. (Pack your own towels too.) In good weather, this works out nicely… and we had amazing weather at Niagara Falls last weekend.

Activities

Niagara Falls - Horseshoe Falls at night, when the falls are lit up with multicolor lights — Niagara Falls – Horseshoe Falls at night

Other than “see the Falls,” I had no idea what we would be doing in the area for two and a half days. I reached out to a friend in Toronto who mentioned that there’s a wax museum with movie stars in the area. Actually, there are two. And a rock stars one. While researching the museum, I discovered that they offered a Fun Pass that combined the museum, the SkyWheel (2 rides if you buy online!), some virtual rides, and a choice of indoor (wizards) or outdoor (dinosaurs) mini-golf. The pass allows you to do each activitiy once, any time within a year from when you activate it. Since we have no immediate plans to return to the area, we did them all Friday and Saturday.

Everything else we did was based on what we found when we got there. We ate at a mix of local (Tim Horton’s, Queen Victoria Place Restaurant) and speciality chain restaurants (Margaritaville and Hard
Rock), watched the nightly fireworks over the Falls, spent some time at the local Ripley’s Believe It or Not museum, and spent Sunday morning at Bird Kingdom. We did some shopping, and then visited the Falls from the U.S. side Sunday afternoon before flying home.

We packed up and went.

Several months ago, a co-worker of mine mentioned a website she had heard of – Pack Up & Go – that will plan a 3-day vacation for you. The catch is that you don’t find out where you’re going until you go. We thought that sounded like fun, so as a spring break option we picked a price range in the “plane, train, or bus” option and filled out their survey about our interests, recent trips, and upcoming trips – they want to avoid places you’ve gone recently or are going to soon.

One week before the trip, we received some hints so we know what to pack, the weather forecast, and when and where we’re departing. Based on the weather and departure details (flying out of Midway and we’re allowed two free checked bags each), I guessed we were heading to Baltimore – Southwest (the airline for free checked bags) had four flights leaving at 8:00 AM that day, and the other three were to warmer climates. Cassandra’s guess was Philadelphia. You're going to Philadelphia! PA As it turns out, she was right – that flight was at 7:55.

We woke up at 4am and opened our envelope before heading to the airport. By the time we parked, we had an email with our boarding passes and some additional details. I glanced through the sightseeing and food recommendations before breakfast, and really dug into them on the plane.

Our package also included directions to our hotel, a dinner reservation and gift card, museum tickets, and an Uber credit. And most importantly, a map of the downtown area. I marked our hotel and dinner spot, and scoped out where the recommendations landed on the map.

We stopped at the hotel before lunch, planning to leave our bags with the concierge, but lucked out because our room was ready. We took a little longer as a result, then hit the streets heading towards the Reading Terminal Market. It was lunchtime and the whole market felt packed, so instead of exploring its’ entirety, we slipped out the other side and found a lovely Ramen restaurant in Chinatown.

After lunch, we wandered towards the Liberty Bell with a stop in a chocolate shop. Despite three chocolate shop stops, we didn’t buy any chocolate on this trip! (Self-restraint is easier when traveling carry-on only.) When we reached the Liberty Bell, we saw a long line inside the building. And outside. And turning the corner. We decided to wait our visit until Sunday morning, though we did pick up postcards at the gift shop. We wandered our way around town and back to the hotel before our dinner reservation at Garces, and managed to visit a couple shops on the way to that.

Dinner was amazing, starting with sourdough bread and a selection of olive oils and vinegars, then appetizers, soups, and entrees that landed at our table. We even saved room for dessert, which went nicely with the Auchentoshan Three Wood (Scotch) I selected. As we strolled back to the hotel, we laughed as a young gentleman sang to someone in his group, then asked who else needed to be serenaded.

Sunday morning, well before the Liberty Bell opened, we descended to Urban Farmer, the hotel’s restaurant, where the waiter talked me into having a homemade English muffin… because it came with the blue crab omelette. The muffin was easily double the size I expected. It made a lovely lunch; I barely finished the omelette.

Our line strategy worked – we strolled right in when we reached the Liberty Bell shortly after 9:00 am. Next on the agenda was The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, a block away from our hotel. There were casts of dinosaurs fossils as we entered, and information on any number of animals elegantly displayed in life-sized dioramas, as well as an indoor butterfly exhibit. We bypassed the live crocodiles, since we had already decided to visit both the Adventure Aquarium (across the Delaware River in Camden, New Jersey) and the Philadelphia Zoo. We stopped at the hotel to grab my leftover English muffin from the room fridge and summoned a ride using Uber. Our driver did warn us that the area surrounding the aquarium is unsafe, and to get our return ride directly from the entrance.

We arrived just in time for the hippo feeding. I don’t know about you, but I’ve mostly seen hippos lounging at zoos, so this was a treat. Both hippos were in the water. From the below water level viewing area, we could see them pushing off the floor to snatch half a head of cabbage in their mouths. We moved from there to the shark exhibit, glancing at jellyfish and other creatures on the way. The final part of the shark exhibit is the optional Shark Bridge – a rope netting bridge with metal supports over the shark tank. (Yes, we most certainly did walk it.)

Then it was time for a hands-on exhibit, reaching into a tank of rays before popping outside for one of the two penguin enclosures. And back inside for the touch-a-shark tank – significantly smaller than the ones below the shark bridge – and an exploration of reptiles and amphibians. We went back outside with the crowd at penguin feeding time before visiting the hands-on kids area. (Yes, we’re above the target age range. But still welcome.) That included yet another touch tank, this time with starfish, shrimp, and fish.

An Uber ride later, we were back at the hotel trying to pick a dinner spot from the long list Pack Up + Go provided. With assistance from my phone (“that one doesn’t have an available table for two hours”, “that has no openings tonight”), we selected El Rey as our destination, and enjoyed interesting Mexican food, including a rice pudding flan.

Having reached our final morning without, we decided a Philly cheesesteak sandwich was an appropriate breakfast option at the appropriate named Spataro’s Cheesesteaks restaurant at Reading Terminal Market. And having already walked over 40,000 steps during the weekend, we chose the reasonable option of… no, wait, we walked some more. You can’t really sit down while exploring a zoo. We packed up, checked out of the hotel, and spent the next few hours at the Philadelphia Zoo. (With our luggage. Good thing it was just carry-on.)

They have some pretty interesting exhibits, including their 360 view tunnels for various animals. I can’t emphasize enough how cool it is to walk under the jaguar or the red pandas. Sadly, the trip had to end, so we headed to the airport, thoroughly satisfied with our first Pack Up + Go experience.