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Archive for the ‘For the Love of Food’ Category

Cowboy Day & Flapjacks

03 Dec

We are staying at my parents’ house for the rest of the week/weekend as we attempt to find housing for the big move which is coming up fast.  So far we’ve had lots of great prospects but unfortunately there seems to be something odd or not workable each time we get close….but that’s a whole other “Dr. Phil”.

Last night while making pancakes for supper (with fresh blueberries….. *drools*) we needed more butter.  Mom got some out & put it in the microwave to soften it.  She placed it next to me as I dropped 2 piping hot pancakes onto my plate (everybody else had already had their first round).  I grabbed the knife & proceeded to find that the butter was NOT soft….  ”Well it’s not frozen any more”, Mom retorted to my observation.  ”You know how I feel about butter on my pancakes.”  With the long suffering sigh only a mother possesses, “Yes I know….”  Growing up Mom always made the best pancakes (she still does) and would always spread just the right amount of butter on each one, letting it melt into the golden brown before adding the syrup.  They were always light & fluffy, melting sweetly on your tongue.  It was the best thing in the world to wake up to the smell of the griddle heating for pancakes.  Sometimes we’d get pancakes with faces or ones that looked like Mickey Mouse.

Here’s the story of me & my pancakes….

When I was in kindergarten we had Cowboy Day.  Everybody dressed up like a cowboy or cowgirl & we had flapjacks.  I was so excited for Cowboy Day…Mom even made me a special outfit to wear with my boots (I think I even took a six shooter cap gun…..my how times have changed.  Nowadays a kid taking a cap gun to school would surely be arrested & placed on a terrorist watch list) & of course I had a red handkerchief too.  It was all fun & games til it came time to eat.  One of the mothers who was helping gave me my flapjacks….with a big blob of butter in the center (all cold & unmelty) and promptly doused it in an overly large amount of cold syrup.  I was aghast!  Never had I witnessed such an atrocity….so I did what any 6 year old would do…pitched the mother of all hissy fits.  I was adamant that I would not eat a lukewarm flapjack with a cold butter blob & enough syrup in which to bathe.  There was no admonition, no threat, no “There are starving kids in Africa” speech that would move me….I wasn’t going to eat that flapjack.

I don’t remember what happened after that…it’s possible that I just went without & if so I would have done it with a sense of deep satisfaction at getting my way.  I do know that upon my return home that day Mom asked how my day had gone.  Bursting into tears I recounted my tale of woe & flapjacks improperly prepared.  No doubt Mom comforted me & reassured me that it was indeed okay to not eat the flapjacks.  I am equally sure that I was told to be more polite about not wanting to eat something.

To this day I have a difficult time ordering pancakes in a restaurant because often times they come in a haphazard pile (pancakes should be neatly stacked) with a giant blob of butter in the center.  At least they provide me the option of adding the syrup on my own.


 
 

Seen Your Weiner or Why I Prefer Hooters

09 Nov

Lately life has been hectic & overwhelming to the point where I’m a hot mess.  Recently I’ve been off work quite a bit (ok in the last 2 weeks I’ve worked a total of  5 days) and it has reinforced my need to be done at my current job.  However I digress…this post is a review.  As a recent music reviewer (which I so enjoyed & hope to do again) I now take pen in hand ….ok keyboard in hand…to give you a review of a new restaurant in Sioux Falls, SD.  If you are looking for an adventure in eating I will admit that Señor Wiener is an adventure.  However, it’s a frightening adventure filled with double entendre of the lowest caliber.  There is nothing clever about the innuendo & even less cleverness in the menu.

Purporting to be a novelty hot dog restaurant this place lays on the schtick with a trowel.  Wieners, wieners everywhere & no relief in sight (bring your R O L A I D S–just so you are prepared).

the front window

Now from the outside there’s room for a few snickers & groans at the over the top signs.  Just inside the door is a large statue of Señor Wiener along with posters of our “hero” in iconic places/events.  The menu is basic & has the potential to be pretty good & seemingly inexpensive.  The offerings start with bratwurst, all beef hot dogs, corn dogs or Polish sausage.  Choose your white or whole wheat bun & whether you want grilled, boiled or fried.  For $2.50 it seems like a good deal…then the pick-pocketing begins.  For every additional topping that’s hot (chili, cheese, grilled onions etc) or every cold topping (onions, pickles, peppers, shredded lettuce, shredded cheese, mushrooms, olives etc) it is an additional $.50 & sauces (mayo, hot sauce,barbecue sauce, gravy) are an additional $.25 with the exceptions of traditional ketchup & mustard.  Seriously if you want a Chicago-style dog with all the fixings: onions, relish, tomato, kosher dill pickle & sport peppers your hot dog now costs $5.00 plus tax.  Add in fries at $2.50 & a soda at $1.50 and you are looking at $9.00 plus tax for a very mediocre meal.

Now for the rest of the restaurant…okay I get why Señor Wiener is funny in the most sophomoric of ways.  I mean the first time I heard it & saw it I snickered like a 13 year old.  It’s funny but the over-the-top nature makes Hooters seem less absurd.  Here’s a small taste of what I encountered ….

the booths

the bonfire accessories

using the bonfire accessories--umm YIKES!

for the girl with no shame

stating the obvious

stating the obvious 2.0

I don't know what he's doing but I don't want him parked in front of my house....

All in all I will take a trip to Hooters any day.  Sure there’s more butt cheek on display there than I really care to see & if I wanted to look at that much cleavage I could do it for free at home but their wings are pretty damn tasty. If I am going to tolerate body parts (or pseudo body parts) with my meal I want something that is more like actual food & less like a chew toy for my dogs. Besides let’s be honest–I’d much rather have some hot girls serving my food than a snotty nosed teen with a wiener complex.

 
 
 
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