As I Sit Here
I'm sitting here eating the multi-grain pancakes (with suger-free syrup) that I made (almonds, sunflower seeds, wheat flour, low fat buttermilk, etc) along with my own turkey sausage, (yeah, after this week I need to start my diet again), and realized I hadn't updated in awhile. So here it is:
~Me, my two daughters and my parents went up to Sault Ste. Marie, in Michigans Upper Pennisula for a short stay at the Kewadin Casino hotel. AWESOME. I got to see Tesla (yeah, I'm old school like that) in concert on Thursday night, got to spend some time playing some slots, and had the chance to experience some good food, get some menus, and critisize (?) some of the cooks up there. *laughs* The kids were on a mid-winter break and my mom just got back from Texas so she wanted to spend some time with them. I like to shop at resale shops, so we hit all of the ones up there. I got some clothes, (I don't buy new clothes AT ALL), some more cookbooks, (like I needed those), and a few cooking utensils. We did some swimming (Kewadin's pool had to be emptied and refilled; little too cold for my liking), and saw all the awesome pictures that the local Indians had painted and donated to the casino. I love Indian artwork, it is SO beautiful!!!
~On our way journey up to the hotel, we stopped at Cracker Barrel and I got Apple pancakes with a suger free syrup. BEST DAMN SYRUP, PERIOD. Ok, maybe just to me. It has the maple taste to it, and for 2 tablespoons only 10 calories. I bought two bottles on my way back............
~I worked on my menu some, mainly while the kids were sleeping and my parents were down at the casino. When I go out to eat, I usually pay attention to what people order to see what their tastes are. It varies from person to person of course, (like the guy who weighed at least 400 pounds who ordered a Paul Bunyon breakfest (3 eggs over-easy, bacon, sausage, ham, pancakes, hashbrowns and white toast, burnt, extra butter) to the lady who looked like she was bulimic, (3 scrambled egg whites, one piece of turkey sausage and a kids sized orange juice), but I took in (ok, listened to) alot of info. I also gathered about 6 menus from different places to see what the regions' tastes were. For example, we went to this restauarant called Antlers in Sault Ste Marie. They have a bunch of stuffed dead animals all over the place and if you are from Michigan, I'm sure you have seen the pic of the polar bear standing in the glass. Yeah, that is where he is at. The restaurant is right across Lake Superior from Canada, so they had something on the menu that is common over there - Poutin Fries - fries with brown gravey and melted Co-Jack cheese. Those were awesome. I ordered that with my Patty Melt (yeah, I get in those moods to just eat meat once in awhile). The only dissapointment with the restaurant was this - they had an Apple Dumpling for dessert. I NEVER ORDER DESSERT CAUSE I DON'T EAT SWEETS (the Ritz set that in stone for me). But I seen it and I HAD to try it. We waited over 20 minutes for my dessert (Yeah, it might take that long if they had BAKED IT!). Well when I finally got my dessert, said apple dumpling, it was ice cold. They took it out of the refrigerator and put it on the plate with warm (luke warm at that) caramel sauce. My dinner was awesome up to that point. Don't get me wrong, the waitress did say they were short-staffed that night, BUT if you put something on the menu as being Hot with whipped cream, (no, I didn't get that either) then give the customer what they expect or come out and say that it isn't going to be what you anticipated. Oh, and when we ordered our drinks, I ordered orange juice. They didn't have that, either. How are you going to make a Fuzzy Navel or a Screwdriver at the bar then???????
~On our way home, (Friday) we stopped and stayed at a Best Western in Gaylord. There, my friends, the pool was bathwater. We got in the pool at 8 and didn't get out till 10. So relaxing. But we checked in on Friday and there was a hockey tournament and snowmobiling (?) tournaments, also. So we had a bunch of rowdy pre-pubecent hockey players and their over-competitive parents. It still was pretty fun, though. The snowmobilers really didn't cause that much of a stir, surprizingly enough.........
~One of our final stops on the way home was a stop a grocery store in Clare, MI. Clare is a big Amish community, and Caroline loves horses, so we stopped to see if there were any. It is a little local grocery store, but damn it, they had some things I have NEVER been able to find down here!!! For example, smoked salt. I need that to marinate my steaks in. My dad was looking at the spices, and I walked up next to him and said if you see smoked salt let me know. Well I glanced down and THERE IT WAS!!!! You would've thought I won 50 thousand dollars at the casino or something! I also got bulk caraway seeds, bulk bay leaves, and something else I have been searching for, sanding (or course) white suger. Also, I got two bags of these vegetable chips - green beans, taro, sweet potato, carrots, zucchini and one other vegetable I am forgetting. AWESOME!! It is only a 2 and 1/2 hour drive from here, so if I ever run out..............
That was my vacation in a nutshell. Ok, time to play catch up on the laundry. :(
Currently listening :
Paint the Sky with Stars: The Best of Enya
By Enya
Release date: By 11 November, 1997
~Me, my two daughters and my parents went up to Sault Ste. Marie, in Michigans Upper Pennisula for a short stay at the Kewadin Casino hotel. AWESOME. I got to see Tesla (yeah, I'm old school like that) in concert on Thursday night, got to spend some time playing some slots, and had the chance to experience some good food, get some menus, and critisize (?) some of the cooks up there. *laughs* The kids were on a mid-winter break and my mom just got back from Texas so she wanted to spend some time with them. I like to shop at resale shops, so we hit all of the ones up there. I got some clothes, (I don't buy new clothes AT ALL), some more cookbooks, (like I needed those), and a few cooking utensils. We did some swimming (Kewadin's pool had to be emptied and refilled; little too cold for my liking), and saw all the awesome pictures that the local Indians had painted and donated to the casino. I love Indian artwork, it is SO beautiful!!!
~On our way journey up to the hotel, we stopped at Cracker Barrel and I got Apple pancakes with a suger free syrup. BEST DAMN SYRUP, PERIOD. Ok, maybe just to me. It has the maple taste to it, and for 2 tablespoons only 10 calories. I bought two bottles on my way back............
~I worked on my menu some, mainly while the kids were sleeping and my parents were down at the casino. When I go out to eat, I usually pay attention to what people order to see what their tastes are. It varies from person to person of course, (like the guy who weighed at least 400 pounds who ordered a Paul Bunyon breakfest (3 eggs over-easy, bacon, sausage, ham, pancakes, hashbrowns and white toast, burnt, extra butter) to the lady who looked like she was bulimic, (3 scrambled egg whites, one piece of turkey sausage and a kids sized orange juice), but I took in (ok, listened to) alot of info. I also gathered about 6 menus from different places to see what the regions' tastes were. For example, we went to this restauarant called Antlers in Sault Ste Marie. They have a bunch of stuffed dead animals all over the place and if you are from Michigan, I'm sure you have seen the pic of the polar bear standing in the glass. Yeah, that is where he is at. The restaurant is right across Lake Superior from Canada, so they had something on the menu that is common over there - Poutin Fries - fries with brown gravey and melted Co-Jack cheese. Those were awesome. I ordered that with my Patty Melt (yeah, I get in those moods to just eat meat once in awhile). The only dissapointment with the restaurant was this - they had an Apple Dumpling for dessert. I NEVER ORDER DESSERT CAUSE I DON'T EAT SWEETS (the Ritz set that in stone for me). But I seen it and I HAD to try it. We waited over 20 minutes for my dessert (Yeah, it might take that long if they had BAKED IT!). Well when I finally got my dessert, said apple dumpling, it was ice cold. They took it out of the refrigerator and put it on the plate with warm (luke warm at that) caramel sauce. My dinner was awesome up to that point. Don't get me wrong, the waitress did say they were short-staffed that night, BUT if you put something on the menu as being Hot with whipped cream, (no, I didn't get that either) then give the customer what they expect or come out and say that it isn't going to be what you anticipated. Oh, and when we ordered our drinks, I ordered orange juice. They didn't have that, either. How are you going to make a Fuzzy Navel or a Screwdriver at the bar then???????
~On our way home, (Friday) we stopped and stayed at a Best Western in Gaylord. There, my friends, the pool was bathwater. We got in the pool at 8 and didn't get out till 10. So relaxing. But we checked in on Friday and there was a hockey tournament and snowmobiling (?) tournaments, also. So we had a bunch of rowdy pre-pubecent hockey players and their over-competitive parents. It still was pretty fun, though. The snowmobilers really didn't cause that much of a stir, surprizingly enough.........
~One of our final stops on the way home was a stop a grocery store in Clare, MI. Clare is a big Amish community, and Caroline loves horses, so we stopped to see if there were any. It is a little local grocery store, but damn it, they had some things I have NEVER been able to find down here!!! For example, smoked salt. I need that to marinate my steaks in. My dad was looking at the spices, and I walked up next to him and said if you see smoked salt let me know. Well I glanced down and THERE IT WAS!!!! You would've thought I won 50 thousand dollars at the casino or something! I also got bulk caraway seeds, bulk bay leaves, and something else I have been searching for, sanding (or course) white suger. Also, I got two bags of these vegetable chips - green beans, taro, sweet potato, carrots, zucchini and one other vegetable I am forgetting. AWESOME!! It is only a 2 and 1/2 hour drive from here, so if I ever run out..............
That was my vacation in a nutshell. Ok, time to play catch up on the laundry. :(
Currently listening :
Paint the Sky with Stars: The Best of Enya
By Enya
Release date: By 11 November, 1997