Bantu Bistro

4447 N 7th Ave. (at Campbell), Phoenix

West African. Chef/owner is from Cameroon. We had a party of about 15 in a restaurant that recently opened and only seats 30 or so inside. Fortunately we had called ahead and they brought in an extra server just for us. None of us knew what to expect. Different forms of vegetable stews with meat added. I had curry goat with fufu and rice. We were served fried plantains with a mild chili sauce for an appetizer. Being such a large group the dishes were only lukewarm except for the multi bean soup which he brought out for use to try during the meal. With the exception of a couple of Okra dishes everybody was happy and went away full for less than $15 for food (my tab was $20 including tax, tip and a beer).

edited (1/31) to add: The owner and staff went out of their way to make us feel like family. He is open to feedback and if he keeps making edible food and treating his guests properly he should do quite well.

Food , music and a drive around town

I took another Sunday off. Did the sleep in big breakfast thing. Then went and joined a couple of Yelpers at Desert Botanical garden for a concert under the trees. The weather was just lovely and we sat drinking beer and eating crepes listening to the music of Try me Bicycle. Then we wandered through the gardens and took pictures of the blown glass exhibits placed throughout the park by Chihuly. I'll get the pictures up later.

Then I took off by myself to East Scottsdale to Sweet Republic. An ice cream store that is winning accolades in the press and on Yelp. Plus I had met the owners at Dim Sum. Really good ice cream, not as rich as McConnell's but still really good.

Next stop, on the way home, was Sur La Table. I have been staying away from this store because it is too easy to buy more cooking toys. I have been twice to the one in Vegas but this was my first trip to this one. I was tired of having slotted serving spoons bought at the big boxes for $3-5 rusting out in six months. The one I bought yesterday for $10 is stamped made in China so I will see how it holds up.

To finish off the day I watched the Suns break their losing streak.:-)

Cheese pleese

I buy shredded cheddar/jack in 5lb bags from Costco. Even with the chemicals added to make it not clump so easy I cannot quite use it all before it goes bad. So I divide it and freeze half. Last week I used the last of the first half of the current batch. This morning I was making a ham and cheese omelet and put the eggs and ham in the pan and reached for the cheese. It seems somebody forgot to take the bag out of the freezer. And cheese is one of the few foods that just doesn't thaw well in the microwave. So I had a ham omelet with toast.

Pholicious

7582 W. Cactus, Peoria

This review may not even be fair to the restaurant. This being my first Vietnamese food all I can comment on is what I liked without being able to compare it to other Vietnamese restaurants. Until Yelp I was under the false impression that Vietnamese food was too hot and spicy for my tastes so I never even tried it, it certainly wasn't the way it was served to me.

I ordered the vegetarian spring rolls ($3.00) and Pho with beef brisket and meatballs ($7.25). The wrapping on the spring rolls was labeled as rice paper. It was similar to the wrapping I didn't care for on some of the dumplings at Dim Sum so I guess I either need to develop a taste for it or find something else on the menu. I think part of the filling was rice noodles and I didn't care for them cold either. The sauce was, I think, Hoisin based with some chopped peanuts. It was pretty good as is and I left it alone because I wanted to sample the entire meal the way it comes. I think I would add a light splash of fish sauce and another of red pepper sauce, both of which were at the table. I normally do not order appetizers because the entree is more than enough to fill me up but this time I am thinking I am just getting a bowl of soup. This is probably no surprise to most of you, I have bowls this size in my kitchen, I use them as serving bowls when feeding multiple people family style. At this point I wish I was with somebody who knew the ropes better than I. I wasn't sure whether the bean sprouts and stuff that came on a separate plate were supposed to be tossed in the soup or eaten off the plate they came on, I tossed them in the soup. I am no stranger to chop sticks but rice noodles have got to be the hardest thing I have ever eaten with them. I am sure there is a better way than I was handling it and I must have been the source of some humor for the staff as about halfway through one of them quietly laid a fork on the table. Other than spooning the broth out towards the end I finished the meal with chop sticks. I did not care for the meat balls but I tend to not like pork in any meat ball.

The restaurant was not very busy. The Asians occupying a few tables on one side and me, seated in the far corner (the host's choice). The basketball game was on the tv and all of the staff were following it. Even though not a sports venue I was fine with this as that is about all I think a tv is good for. Definitely a family run affair, one corner of the dining room had been set up with a laptop and I could see what looked like homework type stuff near the computer. I was greeted and seated immediately upon entering. and as I got up to leave my server came over and thanked me for coming in.

I wouldn't mind coming here again and I will add Vietnamese to my list of acceptable cuisines.

Dim Sum and Cardinals

I took the entire day off Sunday and met a group for Dim Sum about 10:30 at the Great Wall (35th and Camelback). I had never done this before and was glad several in the group had. All I had to do was say "what next?" and something appeared on my plate with a explanation of what it was. It was interesting using chopsticks on things that were large and had to be taken apart with the them. Many folks gravitated to forks pretty quickly (not me). It was a lot of fun and I ended up eating several things I would never have tried on my own. Some of it was good and some just OK but that is influenced by my Western taste buds. Nothing tasted bad to me. Because I still have no clue what to get from the roaming carts I will stick to going in groups.

Then part of that group met up with some other folks at Gallagher's (16th St, between Glendale and Northern) to watch the NFC championship game. The Cardinals won so it was a rowdy happy bunch. Every sports bar in town, including this one, was packed. I had two Fat Tires and an order of skins. Most of the the younger folks were out eating and drinking me but I was driving and I didn't need all the extra carbs that comes with most bar food. Except for one persons salad the food was ok. The service was a bit slow because they had a full house.

All in all it was a great relaxing day.

Trash

So I was under the weather for a couple of weeks. I managed to empty the under sink can once but house cleaning was not at the top of the list during that time. I was amazed at how many trips (3, fully laden) it took to rid my apartment from trash that had accumulated in just 2 weeks. Tomorrow I will tackle the bathroom. :-(

Vegas, day 4

Got up and hit McDonalds by 6 for a chicken biscuit, hash browns and coffee. I was even ordering before the Starbucks was open in the food court. I think McDonalds and Krispy Kreme in that food court are both 24hr operations. Went back up and finished my coffee and got packed for the trip back. It was about a 2 hour drive to Kingman and I had to cover the time zone change. Just before 8 I headed down to check out and I was ahead of the automated checkout sytem so I had to go to Registration which wasn't too bad except the only coffee from that point between me and my truck was Starbucks so I got a Venti Latte which still sort of sucks but at least it doesn't taste burnt. If I had been thinking I would have waited and grabbed a cup of coffee at the gas station where I filled up instead.

The congestion light was off so I went back over the dam and got clear down to where you see the cars in this picture before I had to stop. Much better than the 8 mile backup going that way on my way over.



Had lunch at Mr Dz diner in Kingman and came home. The last 30 miles in mid afternoon traffic took well over an hour to finish my trip.

There is always some new stuff to see in Vegas. I can spend hours just walking through casinos and shopping centers. Companies spend millions to make you want to come to their place of business to spend whatever your budget is with them. As you wander among some of the newer properties be sure to keep filled with fluid so you have a reason to visit the restrooms, some of them are almost to nice to use for their intended purpose. I shot pictures until the battery died which I tend to do every where I go. Because I like food one of the things I do is peruse the menus outside of almost all of the restaurants. I have decided if anybody has ever heard of the chef I cannot afford to eat there. An example would be Delmonico's (Emeril) in the Venetian. 9oz Filet Mignon - $68, and it comes with nothing. And at that price you would think they would have a dress code? I saw a family of 4 come out of there looking like they were at the pool side. I guess the only thing that counts in Vegas is whether you can cover the bill. All in all it was a nice relaxing trip.

Vegas, day 3

Started off with breakfast at Krispy Kreme. Pumpkin spice and a custard filled chocolate covered with a large "rich" coffee. Whatever happened to just ordering a cup of coffee? I ordered my donuts and a large coffee and the lady just sort of looked at me. Turns out they have 4 blends and the one I chose was actually the best coffee I had all trip.

The forecast had called for steadily warming the whole time I was there and the day before the lined coat had gotten a bit warm by midday so my plan was to head North on the sunny side of the street for just over 2 miles and arrive at Fashion Show mall about the time it opened at 10. And so I left my coat in the room. Well there are so many 30 story buildings now on the strip that it really only gets sun for about 3 hours a day at ground level but I managed to survive. It got up over 50° at midday and was over 40° the entire time I was out.

These really are 250cc dirt bikes the city officers use. And I have seen a bunch of them in the larger mall exteriors too. They actually do run these things up and down stairs and across street dividers and all sorts of places a large road bike would not work well on.



I was just sort of strolling and sipping on my coffee. I bypassed most of the casinos on the way up as I had been in them in the last couple of years. I still ended up at Fashion Show mall before 10 so I went over to the Wynn, which I had not yet been in, and the Encore, which just opened. They are connected at ground level so I did the full tour of both in one sweep.



This is entering the gaming room after walking through the store filled entrance hall to the Wynn. The gaming area is very muffled and, like many of the upscale properties, has a whole different atmosphere than the clanging noisy gaming rooms that used to be the norm.



This is a hallway in the meeting room area of the Encore. Being the holidays there were no meetings happening



So by now it is about 10:30 and I head back over the bridge to Fashion Show mall. The bill board you see is 4 giant tv screens that can actually be moved on a track separately. Sometimes they have 4 times the same image and others it is one big wide image. It's mostly advertising for the mall and the stores in it. Inside the mall are 250 stores so even without going in any of them it takes a while to walk the mall.



It's now almost noon so I start scouting places in the mall to eat. Within my budget it came down to an Italian place, a hamburger place or the Food court. Up on the third floor, OMG this has to be the biggest food court I have ever seen. 15 different food choices. They probably had cafeteria style seating for 400+ people. I chose a bourbon chicken plate from a Greek place. For less than $9 including a soda it was pretty good. There were 2 or 3 Asian food places and I was surprised to note a higher percentage of people of all races were using chopsticks for Asian dishes than those at Mizuno's.

Next stop was Palazzo. It is recently opened and connected to the Venetian. I had been in the Venetian before but it is always a nice stroll upstairs along the waterfront so I did both of them. While in Palazzo I came across a performance by a couple of dancers from Cirque du Soleil made up as trees upstairs in the Hall of Mirrors. Judging by the crowd it must have been a planned performance and I just sort of came in near the end on the back side and they passed by my position. All the tree movements were slow and deliberate. It was much prettier in person than on film.




After I left the Venetian I headed back for a nap. By the time I got back I had walked at least 6 miles total in about 6 hours but I had only sat down the one time to eat. One thing I noticed was the Excalibur was the only casino I was cold in. Must be how they keep the rates low.

About 5 I headed off to dinner at the Bayside Buffet. To give an idea to those of you that are not familiar with it, the walk from my room through the Excalibur, through the Luxor and to the far side of the casino in Mandalay bay which is where the buffet is is over 1/2 mile without ever going outside. Some of the trip is on moving walkways. After dinner I stopped at the sports book in Mandalay Bay and watched the second half of the Suns game. On the way back I finally did stop at a slot machine in Luxor and deposited $20 as fast as I could push the buttons. So in the Excalibur I decided to try my luck again and dropped another quick $20, walked across the room and tried another machine, hit a $70 payout pretty quick and played on their money until I was down to $.25 ahead for the trip and cashed it in. Total gaming time on 3 machines was about 30 minutes.

The flu sucks

Today is day 10. I am still stopped up, but not bad. I have a deep chesty cough that makes folks back well away from me. It is a good thing I have homemade turkey soup around, I wanted to try some Pho but was not ready to go sit down in a restaurant and several folks have hinted it does not do as well for take out as other Asian dishes. My energy level is starting to go back up. Over the weekend I slept 10+ hours each of the three nights and took naps. And all of the body aches are gone. Of course that means I am way behind at work. I'll try and get the rest of the Vegas trip up this week.

Vegas, day 2

I sleep in until just before sunup (about 7) do my morning stuff and head down to breakfast. That morning I chose the Sherwood Forest cafe. Bad move. The prices went up, they took corned beef hash off the menu, the chicken fried steak wasn't very tasty and at 8:30 on a Sunday morning they were out of orange juice. I might as well have gone to the buffet and saved a couple of bucks.

First issue of the day was to get some pics of how City Center was coming along.


I then headed out to the East on Harmon. I had never been out that way on foot and I ended up walking all the way to the Hard Rock at Paradise. Went south on Paradise then back West on Tropicana Blvd.. As you can see I was a ways away from the strip and passed right under the flight path at McCarran.






That got my walk (3.8 miles) out of the way for the morning. Before I left I had bet $10 on the Rams so I got rid of my coat in the room and went down to the sports lounge to watch the second half of the game and the afternoon games. The Rams lost but they covered the point spread and I got back $19.50, not bad for my first sports bet. So I spent the bulk of the day drinking beer and talking football with folks and all of a sudden it hit me I had had a lot of beer and no food. NAP TIME! BTW - it has gotten expensive to drink in Vegas. Where I was in the Excalibur a MGD is now $6 bottle. And to get free drinks you have to be gambling some serious money.

After my nap it was time to head over to Mizuno's for dinner. To walk off that I went to find where the next nights dinner was to be. On the way back I went upstairs to the food court in Luxor for Swensen's. I haven't had any of their ice cream in years and almost didn't then. At $3.75 for one scoop or $5.50 for 2 it was more expensive than Cold Stone. A couple of folks in the group in front of me were talking about "Swiss orange chip" as a flavor nobody else came close to. I had chocolate on my mind and I saw theirs looked like chocolate so I asked them about it and they said it indeed was based on chocolate. So I tried one scoop, I wish I had ordered 2 as I wasn't done doing ice cream when the small scoop ran out. It was delicious, chocolate ice cream with shaved dark chocolate chips and a flavor like orange marmalade or orange extract added to it. By then this old man was ready for bed.

Vegas, day 1

OK, so I am caught up on food writing for the moment. Now to bore you with 4 days of my trip. :-)

Right off the bat I had a delay. As I got in my truck I noticed the windshield was dirty and hit the washer, instant ice. Even though it was 8:15 and sunny it was only 37 outside and it is quite common to ice over a windshield at that temperature. So I had to wait for the defroster to work. Uneventful drive to Wickenburg where I stopped at Vulture Mine Rd. and picked up a breakfast sandwich from Jack in the Box. I had my own thermos of coffee to drink for the trip. This gas station, minimart, fast food place opened up just a couple of years ago and is easy to get to. Also much friendlier to travelers than the Chevron that used to be the last place North in Wickenburg. Made a pit/smoke stop in Wikeup. I finally got to see some snow after getting on I40 for the short run in to Kingman.




In Kingman I stopped and grabbed a cheeseburger and fries at In and Out. They do a pretty good job of using fresh stuff and making the food the same way every time and every location. Going in to Kingman the congestion light was off so I took the shorter route over Hoover dam. The bridge is coming along but it seems to be taking forever. Currently they hope to have it usable by the end of 2010.





Traffic may have been easy going Westbound but going the other way it was backed up the full 8 miles from the dam to the light in Boulder City. I got to my hotel, had a beer and took a nap before heading out on the strip in the late afternoon. I never did see a temperature all day over 41 so I was bundled up pretty well. Ended up having dinner at Margaritaville in the Flamingo.




On the way back I stopped and got a souvenir glass full of Piña Colada at Paris. The drink wasn't that great but I spent a bit of time at the outdoor bar chatting with the bartender and some locals getting off work and waiting on the bus. About that time I called it a night.

Bayside Buffet

Las Vegas, Nevada, inside Mandalay Bay

Went there for dinner on Monday night. Not real impressed. The place is not much larger than a Golden Corral. Being sort of cheap I usually stay at Excalibur and at least once each stay go to the buffet. Last Christmas I decided to spend an extra $5 and try the buffet at the Luxor and was well rewarded. So this year I opted to spend yet another $5 ($26.99 +tax) to see what it got me. Last year at the Luxor was much better. Very small salad bar. Limited cooked vegetables. Several meat and starch dishes, almost all were cold or lukewarm. Several of the seafood items (hot and cold) were soggy. I did leave room for dessert and it was very good. This place has all the pieces in place to be good and they just are not pulling it off well. They have several seafood offerings, they use smaller warming trays so they get changed out more often which should keep food warm and not dried out. I ate between the opening rush and the 7PM dinner rush so the place was only about 80% full and the lines were reasonable. My server kept my plates cleared and my Iced tea full. I did notice this trip the entire MGM family seems to be cutting back on quality and value compared to when I was there in July.

Mizuno's

Las Vegas, Nevada, inside the Tropicana

This was my 3rd time eating there and the food and service have always been excellent. They only do one thing, teppanyaki grills, and they do it well. They don't try to cover everybody by having a sushi bar in the other part of the restaurant. Although there is some sushi, if I recall, on the menu. This is the second time I have had the filet mignon ($29.95) and it was cooked a perfect medium. The show at the grill is always good and for teppanyaki on the strip the menu is priced very reasonable.

It has been there for over 30 years and possibly by the same family as the person who seated me has been working there for 30 years. I first went there in 97 with my ex and it was packed and good. When I started going to Vegas by myself a few years ago I thought it had gone away as I didn't know how to find it. Last summer I had the time and searched a little harder. Business is not as great for them as it once was. Partly because of the economy and partly because the Tropicana is no longer the hottest place on the strip. The last two times I was there half the customers were local and sounded like frequent customers.

Now all you have to do is find it. It is in leased space upstairs inside the Tropicana. Because I believe it is the only one of 6 restaurants inside not owned by the casino it does not have a sign outside. You have to follow the directions to the buffet and at the top of the curved escalator there is a sign on the wall directing you up a ramp to your right.

The day the Earth Stood Still

1951, Michael Rennie, Patricia Neal, Sam Jaffe, Francis Bavier.

With the new version available soon I decided to watch the original one first. I may have actually seen it many years ago but do not remember. I don't normally get into old movies but this one was pretty cool. While I enjoy what can be accomplished with CG this movie kept me interested the entire time just with it's acting and the minimal sets available.

Hair

Last evening I had the pleasure of attending the 40th anniversary production of Hair the musical as a guest of Yelp and the ATC. I was in High School when the play first opened in 1968. Thus the sounds and dress were very familiar to me. And to this day I still think the production is an accurate reflection of the times and some of the things that went on. Having spent 4 years in stage crew in school I still watch the mechanics of the people behind the scenes as they are just as much responsible for the show. I saw only one slip and they caught it so quick most folks would not have noticed, very good for opening night on a different stage! The show itself was awesome. One of many things I gauge the quality of a show is whether I check the time or how far along it is in the program. I never once did that.



Last night marked a couple of firsts for me. This is my first visit to the Herberger and I think it is a first class facility in all respects other than the number of folks that can be accommodated at one time in the restrooms. Not that this facility is distinct in that category. The other first was it was my first Yelp event and I got to meet 5 new friends. Wait until they find out I almost always have my camera. :-)

Yelpers:


The Herberger

Mr D'z Diner

105 E Andy Devine Blvd, Kingman, AZ

It's really more of a 3 but I'll get to that. I stopped by on my way back from Vegas based on the recommendations of friends who had eaten there. It is easy to get to going either direction through town, going towards Phoenix continue past I40 on Beale and follow the signs to route 66. Heading towards Vegas get off at Andy Devine (Rte 66) and head West.

I ordered a cheeseburger, salad and a glass of root beer. The salad came and I was about 1/3 of the way through it when I saw my cheeseburger come out. One of the other waitresses picking up a breakfast order mentioned the cheeseburger came up and my waitress just kept on refilling jelly baskets and stuff and she happened to glance up and see the cheeseburger still sitting under the lamp and got it for me. It was still on my part of the counter before I was done with my salad and ready for it so no harm was done. When I mentioned to my friend who my waitress was the first thing he asked was how long my food had sat under the heat lamps. Other than that one item the service was good, I was greeted upon entering, my root beer mug was kept filled and I was asked what condiments I wanted on my burger when it was served as it comes dry. The food was fine, not great. The root beer was great. Where I sat at the counter I could see all the food coming out and even though it was close to 11 most folks were still getting breakfast. I didn't see anything that did not look good. If I lived in the area I might stop on occasion, I bet the tables get scarce for weekend breakfasts.

The building is old but brightly painted and clean. It looks like the second dining room used to be part of the outside dining area. I have yet to be in Kingman when the wind wasn't blowing or it was cold or both so am not sure why they even have outside dining. The whole package is what you would expect from an old diner.

If I were reviewing this place in town I would give it a 3 as a place with average food, reasonable pricing and mostly good service. I gave it a 4 because it is nice to have a place not far off the highway that is not corporate chain food. And I am not the only one that drives from the Phoenix area to Vegas or Laughlin.

Tapenade

I have a second cousin living in London who counts as one of his multi tasked careers that of being a food writer and many of his favorite foods are those found in French Bistros. In one of his reviews he mentioned Tapenade, an olive based spread usually used on bread as an appetizer. He also mentioned that it could now be bought almost anywhere in the states, unlike when he first encountered it. I mentioned I would give it a try and he said even at Trader Joe's prices it was still more expensive than it needed to be and supplied me with the recipe he uses to serve his guests. Well I started out to find some in a jar first just to find out if I liked it. It is found in almost every grocery store and even in Walmart in various forms. Looking at the labels the ingredients were short some items in his recipe and had a bunch of stuff with long, unpronounceable names which I was sure were not all good for me. And what is the point of trying something a food critic recommends if it isn't close to the same recipe. So to plan B. All of the ingredients were readily available for a total of about 150% of the price of one jar of the commercial brands. The one exception was olives, a can of California black olives was under $1.50 and anything labeled Greek, Kalamata, Calamata or Calamon is over $5.00 for a jar. I decided I could make do with the California olives. The total cost of the ingredients is misleading, one batch of homemade is almost twice the volume found in a jar and most of the ingredients will make more than one batch. I happened to use the entire tin of anchovies but I made first a trial batch and then the double batch. Next time, if I only plan on one batch, I will try using fish sauce, which I always have, to lend the same taste. The capers will stay refrigerated for quite a while. The picture is double batch I made for a dinner party. I made it the night before so the flavors would blend and left it out 3 hours to bring to room temperature before going. My trial batch sucked because I did not get out the recipe and left out some stuff. The double batch turned out great and everybody who tried it liked it. One thing I had going against me was for 12 adults there was an entire table of appetizers plus a 20lb turkey, stuffing, potatoes, potato salad, 6 dozen tamales and I am sure I forgot some stuff. Needless to say not everybody tried the funny looking French stuff. :-) If Amy had screwed up the rest of the food maybe a few more folks would have tried the Tapenade.

Tapenade

8 oz black Greek-style olives
2 anchovies or 4 fillets
1 ½-2 tablespoons capers
1-3 cloves chopped garlic
pinch of cayenne
1 teaspoon basil leaves
3-4 tablespoons olive oil

Reduce all the ingredients except the olive oil to a rough paste in a food processor. Add the oil a little at a time, checking the consistency as you go. It should be homogeneous and spreadable, neither wet nor dry.
The anchovies may be preserved in olive oil, or canned, either with olive oil or salt. If the latter, rinse under running water and remove any salt crystals. Likewise the capers, which may be canned either in vinegar or salt. How much salt you add to the recipe, if any, will be determined by the saltiness of these two ingredients.
Cayenne and garlic to taste. Don’t be shy—some rough Provençal types are really macho about it!
Use extra virgin olive oil, of course; it’s a prominent part of the flavor.

Note: This mixture will improve for at least a week, but it probably won’t be around that long. It needn’t be refrigerated if the weather is cool.

Edit 1/31/16.  I continue to make this quite often to take to parties. More than once, my invitation has been tied to bringing some. If I am also supplying the bread I will try to pick up a small baguette and slice it in 1/2" slices.  Over the years I have replaced the anchovies with a bit of salt, because I know quite a few Vegans and Vegetarians, with no apparent loss of flavor. I use well more than a pinch of cayenne with positive comments. I keep all the ingredients on hand.  The cayenne and French basil come from Penseys and I buy large jars of minced garlic as I also use it for hummus.

Vacation time

Hope everyone had a great Christmas. I worked but will be going to a Christmas get together with friends this evening. As most of you know my whole industry shuts down this time of year. So I am off to Vegas for a few days and will not have access to a computer again until the 31st. Hope you all can find something to do with me not posting during that time. LOL

Scrapple

This is from a recipe that my dad clipped from the News Press in the 60s. It remains one of my favorite breakfast foods. Depending on the serving size it will fed 4 to 8 (only 4 servings in my household). It will freeze, and actually slices best when not quite thawed out.

ingredients:
1 1lb bulk sausage
1 cup cold water
1 cup yellow corn meal
1/2 tsp salt (I use a lot less, like a couple of shakes)
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp sage
3 cups boiling water

instructions:
Brown sausage well and drain
combine cold water and dry ingredients
stir slowly into boiling water
continue stirring frequently until thickened
reduce heat and cook another 10 minutes stirring occasionally
mix in sausage
pour into loaf pan
chill overnight
cut into slices (I cut the loaf lengthwise first) and fry until golden brown in a lightly greased skillet. About 15 minutes per side at 375°.

My added notes
I prefer 1/4" slices.
I like it with butter and maple syrup

The Syrup

Of course you didn't think I used bottled syrup? This is what I make.

1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1 Tb water
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp maple extract (or fake stuff if you have to)

I don't really measure any of the ingredients real precise so feel free to alter any of them to your taste.

Bring it slowly to just a simmer and get it off the heat before it foams all over your stove. I keep salad dressing jars around just for this, it refrigerates just like any other syrup and I warm it by placing the jar (LID OFF) in a saucepan of hot water on the stove.




If you will excuse me I think I will go eat now.



edit 11/28/13: A couple of years back I discovered Trader Joe's organic pure maple syrup and have gotten lazy.  I still think homemade tastes better but not by that much.

Sweet Judy brown (?) eyes

I have no idea what color her eyes are. She is a neighbor of mine and we say say hi when we see each other and that is about it. She was one of the folks that got a bag of cookies when I baked them. She did call up to me at Thanksgiving to come over and eat with her family but I was already about finished cooking my dinner so I declined. Christmas eve as her relatives were showing up I was on the patio and she called up she would be over to see me in a few minutes. Well again I got an invite, which I declined as I was going to cook the scrapple and I hardly know her let alone her relatives, but to see I got fed anyway she had a two plate meal and a bottle of wine for me. A veggie/fruit plate with ranch dressing and the other half of that plate was shrimp with cocktail sauce. The dinner plate had a baked chicken thigh, a fresh roll, sliced onions and carrots that were pickled and I tasted vinegar right away and then the hidden heat hit me, I am thinking there were Jalapeños in the pickling jar that got removed to hide the evidence. With the pickled vegetables was finely shredded lettuce. The last item has me baffled, it looked like a chocolate chip cookie so I saved it for last but it was some sort of potato pancake that had a thin filling of some sort of meat in the center. It was really good so I will have to ask her what it was. Anyway, it was much appreciated and I got stuffed and will have to compliment her on her cooking the next time I see her.

Cornbread

Now does this look good or what? Right out of the oven, ready for some butter and maybe a touch of honey.

I got the last one!

OK, so I get excited about small things. Rather than wait until Christmas eve to do last minute groceries I went out last night after work. Because of where I decided to eat I did the all surface streets thing going up 51st to Bell and across on Bell to 83rd. Sure there was traffic on outer Bell but two days before Christmas it should have been a zoo and it wasn't. The right hand lane at each of the mall entrances was only about 8 cars long and moving steadily. After dinner I went to Walmart. The parking lot was about 1/2 full but it didn't seem that busy inside. I had to laugh, one of the shopping "secrets" at Walmart, Kmart or Target for years has been to check out through the garden shop when it is busy. I was over on that side of the store to get toothpaste and propane and the line was 10-12 carts long. In contrast, this store has 6 20 item or less lines and the manager keeps them staffed when needed, there were no more than 3 carts at any of the registers at any time I saw. :-) Anyway there were lots of bare spaces on the shelves and one of the worst aisles hit was the baking aisle. All I could see for shortening was the big 5 pounders and the sticks that look like butter. So I got up on my toes and way in the back, on the top shelf, behind some peanut shortening was one lone 16oz Crisco which is about a years supply for me. To get to it I had to stand on the bottom shelf of the display on my toes. But I got it!

Bill Johnson's Big Apple

7322 W. Bell Rd., Glendale

I have been going to several locations for years for breakfast, I love their chicken fried steak. Last night was my first time for dinner.

I was seated quickly. Server showed up within 3 minutes to take my order. I had my salad about three minutes after that and my burger showed up within 5 minutes of finishing the salad. I would rate that level of service quite good. Restaurant was about 1/3 full on a Tuesday 6-7PM with 2 servers waiting on 8-10 tables. Customers covered all age groups and several tables had 3 generations at them. Because of the many seniors that go in there this location no longer has wood shavings on the floor.

I got the "End of the Trail" burger ($7.79) and it came with a choice of sides (fries, beans, cole slaw....). I chose a salad, I like not having to add a pile of fries to an already big burger. The burger was really good save for a bit too much salt and the meat was med-well instead of medium. Still had stuff running down my arm before I was done. The bun was toasted, which I like. This is one of those huge burgers that is held with two hands (it came with 1/2lb meat, tomatoes, lettuce, purple onion, pickles, grilled onions, bacon, mushrooms, 2 kinds of cheese, bbq sauce)and if you put it down once you start it would most likely fall apart. This is not a place that puts a great deal of emphasis on presentation but for about $2 less than say Red Robin or about $4 less than El Paso for ribs with 2 sides I think it is a good value.

Cheesy rice

I like Risotto. But it takes a lot of work to make unless I want to buy the frozen Trader Joe's version. Nearly as good and much simpler is cheesy rice.

1 cup rice cooked however you usually do.
1 can cream soup. Tomato, celery, broccoli, mushroom (whatever you are in the mood for)
1 hand full shredded cheese, approximately equal to the can of soup.

Add soup and cheese to cooked rice, stir and serve.

I did the tomato version with pork chops, applesauce and steamed cauliflower last night.

The Incredible Hulk

2008, Sci-Fi, Edward Norton, Liv Tyler

From the promos and trailers I was convinced I would not like the movie. I was pretty sure the new version would not live up to the original series. WRONG! 1:54 minutes, no cigarettes, two sips of beer, one restroom break. I was glued to the set.

Stood up

So a bunch of us in the complex have been trash talking each others football teams for a while now. One of the guys comes by Thursday and asked if I wanted to meet up today to have a beer and watch the game. Well I already lost a day of production because of the holiday but it sounds like fun and I said I would try. Fast forward to Sunday: I am in pretty good shape for Mondays deliveries but not quite finished. I forgo my Sunday sleep in, Have a quick bowl of Cheerios instead of a big breakfast, get all my work done, change clothes and get across town to the bar/restaurant right at the kickoff. Don't see his truck, go inside and cannot find him, call his cell and nobody answers. So now I am hungry and am not watching a game. Guess I'll go home, turn on the tv and clean the bathroom or something.

Followup

He was indeed there, there was one more place in the restaurant I did not know about. He took a ration from his buddies at work when I had him look at his cell phone to see the calls he didn't answer before I left to go and while I was looking for him. :-) And because he didn't recognize my number he didn't listen to the voice mails. Anyway I got a cleaner apt..

Nothing but Noodles

8190 W. Union Hills Drive, Glendale

I saw this place last week when I ate at Wok-n-Stix which is about 100' away and it looked interesting on the net so I decided to give it a try.

I would like to give this place 3 stars but one thing kills it. The concept is good. There are plenty of menu choices. I was there on a Tuesday about 7PM and the place had several diners and some folks picking up take out. Of the five tables being used 3 had kids and the noise level was like there were 30 kids in there, not sure why designers lately seem to come up with acoustics that want to drive folks out. Even though the kitchen was open the sounds of cooking had been damped from the seating area. With a combination of booths and different height tables that could be moved around it would be easy to bring in a group of say 20 people. Many of the customers seem to have been there before.

The company website says service in about fifteen minutes after ordering and that was just about spot on. I had had a heavy lunch and wanted something light but hot as it was rainy and cold. I got the Cheesy chicken and vegetables ($7.29). It came in a bowl centered on a large plate which was filled around the bowl with romaine and shredded cheese. The meat and vegetables (mine had mushrooms, carrots, and broccoli) were fine. For the average person that added meat to a noodle dish and a soda or beer I would say $12-14 per person which is the low end of the scale I picked.

Now to the one thing that kills it. For a place that specializes in food with sauce, most of it containing cheese, the sauce sucks. Even when heating stuff from a jar I am one to heat any sauce or soup containing dairy to serving temperature very gently and stirring often. Not sure if this was brought to temp too quickly or left on the heat too long or had hot stir fry oil added to it or what but it just wasn't right. The flavor was off and it looked just about to separate. I'll go back a couple more times over a few months, trying different dishes, and if they fix the sauce I'll update my review. Like I said earlier I like the concept and hope they can work out the bugs.

Holiday lights

I really did get them up this year and a wreath on the front door. Not a real fancy set of decorations but better than nothing which is what 90% of the complex did.

Submarina

6780 W Thunderbird Rd., Ste. 101, Peoria

This was my second trip there in about 3 months. I moved here from California 15 years ago and have looked for a California type sandwich shop ever since. Along the way I found some good deli sandwiches but not a true California sandwich shop. This is the best I have found and I can get real avocados and sliced sourdough. I think the stuff inside should be the star of the sandwich and a thick sub roll takes it away for me.

Everybody gets coupons in the mail and most of mine seem to be buy one get one or it's someplace I just went to last week or something. I had already planned to go there after my haircut and lo and behold on Wednesday I got a coupon I could actually use. How cool is that? :-)

Oatmeal raisin cookies

My favorite cookie. I only make them once or twice a year. Not being really in to sweets a lot I give away most of each batch. Not looking closely I picked up quick oats instead of old fashioned (the recipe calls for either) and I think I like them better.

Wok n Stix

8110 W. Union Hills Dr, Glendale

So Wednesday evening I needed milk and cat food. On my way to the store I realized my stomach was growling. Never a good idea to shop on an empty stomach. A while back in The Savvy Shopper rag in the China Grill ad was a little banner about Wok n Stix being a new location. And because of an event that fell apart this week I had a bug to eat something Asian. So I found it and stopped in.

Chinese fast food. They also have hamburgers and a few other things. I stuck with something I figured I would like, orange chicken ($7.95). Most of my Chinese fast food consists of Panda Express and Ming Gee. This was much better, in addition to the onions and bell peppers listed mine had mushrooms, celery, sprouts and some other stuff. Service was on styrofoam with plastic utensils. Even though I was eating in the rice came in a take out box which I thought was sorta weird. I still hate eating out alone but at least I wasn't the only person in the place. Each side of the place had a long upholstered bench with tables and chairs that could be slid along to make up different seating and two tables in the middle.

There was nobody being served at the front counter when I was finished so I stopped and talked to the woman there and found out she is an owner. They have had the place for 6 months and are the same family that owns China Grill not far away.

Steel toed slippers?

Seems I am need of some. For some reason this is the third fall in a row I have banged a toe in the apt. First year I broke the middle toe in my left foot on a dining room chair. Last year I caught the post of the bed. And this year I managed to find the doorway to the closet.

Ironman

2008, Action/adventure, Robert Downey Jr., Terrence Howard, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jeff Bridges.

I liked it. Actually I have liked just about all the Marvel features the last few years. Plenty of action. Not too bloody. I gave it a 4 on Netflix.

Fatburger

2815 W. Peoria, Phoenix

So yesterday I found myself without a lunch at work. Normally my driver goes for take out so when that happens I will just order something from wherever she is going. Well it turns out she had brought lunch. I had walked by the Fatburger in Tempe and on Las Vegas Blvd several times but had not tried either. I had the time so decided to make the 15 minute drive over there.

I did take out so I would not be away from the shop for too long. I arrived about 11:45 on a Friday which should have been a busy lunch crowd. With todays economy I am not sure that is a normal statement any more. The manager was having a smoke on the patio and greeted me on the way in. Three tables were occupied, two full and one with one person. As I walked in and was looking at the order board one of the customers came up to the two people working in the cooking area with a problem. Seems his hamburger wasn't right and there seemed to be a problem describing what he really wanted or by the employees understanding what he was trying to explain. The manager saw the exchange and came in immediately, figured out what was needed and the next hamburger off the grill was prepared correctly and delivered to the table by the manager with apologies. In these days of patrons expecting free meals and future discounts I feel this was the proper way to fix things, the customer was not rude and he got the correct, fresh, not reworked, hamburger in short order, problem fixed without any fuss.

The manager then came over to the register and took my order, sensing it was my first time he guided me through the options. I ordered a Fatburger less mustard, plus cheese ($4.49) and onion rings ($3.29). As he was taking the order he hollered each item out to the staff and when complete took them the paper copy. Must be the corporate way to do this. The order was ready in about 10 minutes. The burger was good but not fantastic, the bun was fresh and soft. I consider it a good thing not to succumb to pressed onion rings however these folks have found a way to squeeze the maximum number of rings per onion. The thin rings of onion with one exception were barely enough there to hold the batter and you could not taste the onion. The oil was at the correct temperature so the batter did not absorb grease or have any off flavor. I would definitely pass on the onion rings next time and try the fries.

Overall it is not a place I would go out of my way for but if it was convenient it wouldn't be out of the question to go again.

I am Legend

2007, Will Smith. I should know better. It is listed as a thriller and me and scary movies just do not do well. At the first sign of suspense I turned it off on Saturday night and didn't go back to it until Sunday. I was awakened several times in the night Sunday being chased by the mutants. I guess maybe that is the mark of a good screenplay that it will stick in your mind. I had seen an earlier adaptation of the same novel (The Omega Man, 1971, Charlton Heston) and not thought it scary at all and wanted to see how modern cinematography had changed it. CG has done things to the mutants no makeup artist could ever do. As scary movies go it wasn't bad, just not my thing.

Turkey omelet

First is the prep of chopping up turkey and green onions. They will get tossed in the microwave for about 15 seconds before being added to the eggs. And I realize the cutting board is stained, it has been bleached, vinegared, Simple Greened and run through the dishwasher and clean stained it will likely remain.



Here is the omelet in the pan. The pan was preheated with shortening, lightly wiped and 1tbs of butter heated until clear before the ingredients were added. All the ingredients except the cheese were brought up to room (65°) temp before cooking.



Here it is with the cheese after being tossed. You will have to take my word I flipped it in the air. Flipping it is one thing, flipping it while trying to get a picture in the air with the other hand just isn't going to happen. :-)



Here it is presented on the plate.




And here it is ready to eat. Yep, that is gravy on top, if you don't do gravy for breakfast you can use sour cream too. And that plate really is 11" across. :-)

My Thanksgiving feast

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I started cooking the night before. The candied yam recipe came from my brother and was based on our grandmothers recipe. I omitted the nuts as I don't care for nuts in cooked stuff. I had a cup of raisins left over from the cookies I haven't baked yet so I tossed them in. It came out great even though I forgot about the vanilla *oops*. After chilling overnight I added the marshmallows and browned them. Maybe I am just getting old or have lost my appetite for really sweet stuff but I didn't like it with the marshmallows on it. I may have added too many or whatever but after the first serving I scraped most of them off. As for "to taste" I used a heavy 1/2 teaspoon of each spice. I bought a 3 lb bag of sweet potatoes and after peeling ended up with about 2-1/2 lbs. Word of caution: don't measure 1/4 teaspoon of salt in hand with cut in finger joint. :o)

2-3 pounds of sweet potatoes
1/2 stick real butter (not margarine or spread) at room temp., per pound of potatoes
1/4 teaspoon salt
ground cinnamon (to taste)
ground nutmeg (to taste)
ground allspice (to taste)
OR 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice instead of cinammon, nutmeg,
and allspice
1 or 2 cups brown sugar (enough to turn potatoes from orange to burnt-orange/golden brown)
1 or 2 flat cans of crushed pineapple
1 tablespoon REAL vanilla extract (not vanilla flavoring)
1 cup crushed pecans (Grandmother used walnuts, but pecans taste better)
1 bag miniature marshmallows enough to cover (or cut large ones in half, but that's a PITA)


Peel, chunk, and steam the sweet potatoes just until al dente (15-18 minutes), the drain thoroughly. (do not boil them)

Blend spices into the butter first. (The butter will carry the spices throughout the dish to ensure even distribution. The spices will bloom overnight, so be modest about it.)

In large mixing bowl with hand mixer, add sweet potatots, spiced butter, sugar, salt and vanilla. Start slow to combine, then speed up to whip up to fluffy.

Fold in pecans and pineapple, turn into casserole, top with marshmallows.

Can be stored in refrigerator overnight to allow it to set. Bring to room temp an hour (eliminates condensation) before browning tops, then brown marshmallows in hot oven 5-8 minutes, or just until tops begin to brown.




Starting with the standard Campbell's recipe for the green bean casserole I used cheddar cheese soup and added shredded cheese on top. Not sure I particularly cared for the outcome. I used some sour cream instead of milk with the butter in the mashed potatoes. I had also intended to saute some garlic in butter for the potatoes but by that time I was tired of cooking. The gravy is the last of the McCormick's jar from Costco, now I will get starter from Better than Bullion like I have for beef gravy. I have a real gravy boat but is was just me and the measuring cup is easier to wash. The turkey is a breast I grilled too dry, but that is what the gravy is for. :-)



I was stuffed after just this one plate full.
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Dogs

Nothing against them, but I wouldn't have one in an apartment. They have needs too and as an owner you have to schedule around them. So here it is Thanksgiving morning. Time to sleep in late and wander around the apartment sort of half dressed and have a leisurely breakfast. WRONG! I got the sleep in late (7:00AM) part down but as soon as I got out of he shower I had to run downstairs and take Duchess out to do her thing. No coffee, no clean teeth, sort of thrown together. At least I wasn't alone, I saw several folks in various states of dress and awakeness doing the same thing, all hoping nobody was going to see them and mumbling good mornings under their breath lest their breath knock somebody over. :-) As dogs go Duchess is pretty cool, hardly ever barks, doesn't chase cats, is always ready to go for a walk or any where for that matter. We have one ongoing disagreement however: her owners walk her without a leash and I won't take her out without one more for her protection than anyone else's as she loves everybody. She has been taught to stay away from the dumpster and so she normally waits at the walk while her "baggage" gets tossed. So I go trying to get her close enough to toss the bag in and have to drag her kicking and squirming over there. If nobody is around I will give in and just drop the leash and she goes over to the walk. *sigh*

edit for those who didn't know: Duchess belongs to neighbors downstairs who were away for the week. I quite often take care of her when they go out of town unless I go out of town with them. Duchess is getting older and stumbles going back down the stairs so I don't really "have" her so much as taking care of her needs.

Ahhhh warmth !

So following my plan I picked up a heated mattress pad a couple of weeks ago. This weekend it got just a bit of a chill at night so I used installing the pad as a reason for my semi annual bedding change. Cranked that sucker up to 2 and snuggled in. Had to drop a bit of air out that I had recently put in as it expanded with the heat. Only problem is I don't want to get out of it in the morning. :-)

I could get used to this

Six weeks ago I paid $3.499 a gal in California for gas (It was about $3.25 here). Two weeks ago I paid $2.429 in Tucson. This morning, just two weeks later I paid $1.999 a gal! I understand when the economy picks back up again demand will cause it to rise some but meanwhile I will enjoy it while I can.

Walmart

So I got tired of the one at 59th & Northern. 59th and Bell is getting remodeled to a Supercenter but it will take another year. That leaves 79th & Peoria and 83 & Union Hills, neither of which I knew about until I went looking on the website even though I shop regularly at the Costco just 1/2 mile South on 83rd. I mentioned to a customer that lives in my neighborhood about the two stores and that my neighbor shops at the one at 83 & Union Hills and he said they really keep that store nice. So last night off I went on my way home from work. It is a newer store layout much like the one at Camelback & 101 (I went there once and never again, I never saw a larger collection of over weight women with white spandex and bright colored thongs in my life). This store shares a parking lot with Sam's Club and of course I went in on the wrong end and had to traverse the parking lot.

What a difference! Just in general the store is brighter lit, everything is cleaner and fully stocked and neater displayed and there is more open floor space. And the people! Both employees and customers are more friendly and smiling. With the impending Holiday and folks looking for stuff they do not normally buy there were employees and customers helping find stuff. And conversations amongst strangers as to the variations in green bean casserole and candied yam recipes. The whole experience was a good one. I mentioned the differences between the stores to the young man checking my order and he said it was driven by the managers concept of what the shopping experience should be and he had the entire store caught up in it.

The difference in the more open layout is a corporation thing. Much like the newer Targets which is why I shop at Northern & 91st rather than 79th & Bell. But beyond that it is up to the manager to make it a positive shopping experience. I just hope corporate realizes that and compensates the entire range of employees at that store for their efforts.

Just like many folks I was shopping for some stuff I do not buy often. I knew I had flour on my list and fortunately this new to me store is a 90% mirror image of my old one. Started out with flour which I could read the aisle sign that said flour, then off to bread then I needed marshmallows which after searching I found my self back in the same aisle as the flour. Then I found crushed pineapple in the canned fruit aisle but it took searching about 4 aisles to find raisins about 2 feet from the marshmallows back again in the flour aisle :-).

Egg Surprise

Last week I was in Costco and went by the eggs. I knew I had eggs on my regular grocery list and I use them fast enough I could use up 18 before they went bad. The price looked good (it turned out 10 cents cheaper than Walmart) and they were extra large rather than large like I was used to. I found out three extra large eggs are considerably heavier than 3 large as I attempted to toss an omelet, the first try netted one little corner making it up to edge of the pan. I pushed the edges all back together and was much more successful on the second try. :-) Now I am worried the next time I have large eggs I will splat them on the bottom of the microwave again like I did once learning to toss them.

With so much discrepancy in egg volume I do not recall recipes calling for a certain size egg(s). I wonder if it is a given that a certain size is assumed when writing recipes?

Ah-So

16610 N 75th Ave (at Paradise), Peoria. There are several now in the valley and I was to find out they are locally franchised rather than a chain. The atmosphere seemed a bit antiseptic and bright for a Teppan style restaurant but I got over it. Whoever issued the building permit with that few parking spaces should be shot, the restaurant was only half full and I counted 2 open spaces in the lot before I took mine. Part of the parking is taken over by valet services. That seems to be a big thing here in Arizona because of the summer heat. We had a reservation for 6PM on a Friday which is the latest they will accept reservations. They used to have an hour or more wait on Friday and Saturday nights and advised Manuel to take advantage of the reservation. Not a good move on their part, we would have had 3 more people in our party if we could have made a reservation later or had been told they never fill the place up nowadays because of the economy. The Sushi bar and regular service side of the restaurant was busier but still not full. We left just before 8 and noticed they were seating 1/2 full tables at the grills and most of the grills were going unused.

The dinner itself was excellent, I had a filet and a Kirin along with the normal soup,salad,rice and veggies. Even though stated on the menu we were not offered white rice as an option but the fried rice was made right there on the grill and was good. Priced appropriately (the bill was about $4 less than at Mizumo's for an identical meal in July). At a table of 9 only a gentleman about my age and I were using chopsticks for most of the meal (I never picked up my fork!). The show was a bit on the weak side but the cook (Korean, raised in D.C.) was more open and friendly than many of the Teppan chefs I have been served by. His favorite take out is Mexican 24hr taco shop. :-). The wait staff was attentive without getting in the way. Unless I find a Teppan grill in the area I like better I would go back again. It would be interesting to go to the one closer to where I live just to see any differences between one of the original ones and this, one of the newer ones.

And the occasion for a dinner that was a bit more expensive than I would normally do? Happy Birthday Amy!!!!

Cold feet

Last winter I started only heating my apt for a short time when I got up in the morning and setting it at 60° the rest of the time. So yesterday morning is the first time the apt was really chilly and on the way in the shower I hit the heat button. When I opened the shower curtain to dry off I noticed the air was full of steam. This doesn't seem correct (I find it not to make any sense to climate control the place and push all the heat or cooled air out the vent so when the HVAC system is running I don't use the bathroom vent) so I check and the circuit breaker popped. I reset it and this morning it worked fine but I hope this is not an ongoing problem. The cool nights are serving as a reminder that I was going to get a heated spread this year. Air beds share one thing with water beds in that they get cold or warm depending on the room temp and it is hard for the body to warm them up.

Arizona sports night

Two close home games last night. Suns over the Grizzlies 107 - 102 and the Cardinals over the 49rs 29 - 24. Both games could have gone the other way at the end, it was like the home teams couldn't handle being ahead and did stupid things to keep the opponents in it. Of course that kept me bouncing back and forth the entire time and ended up staying up past my normal bedtime.

And just for the record the football team I root for, the Rams, lost 47 - 3 on Sunday. :-(

What happens in Vegas

2008. Romantic comedy. Cameron Diaz, Ashton Kutcher, Rob Corddry, Lake Bell, Dennis Miller, Queen Latifah. My first notion when I had it in my queue was why, given the subject and trailers, was this PG-13 rather than R. Must be the dirty old man in me :-). But seriously, not many romantic comedies are PG-13 any more. Most rely on some sexual content to attract and keep the audience. This movie was funny from start to finish! When I settle in to watch a movie I have an empty ashtray and a full beer next to my easy chair. An hour and 41 minutes later I still had an empty ashtray and an almost full beer. Talk about cheap sets, two scenes were shot in what was supposed to be a commercial cabinet shop. I am sure they were just in the studio wood shop, but it was cool they had woodworking.

Tucson woodworking show

Semi business trip yesterday. Got to have breakfast with some really nice folks that, with one exception, I had only met online before. Wandered the show for about an hour. My pocket book this year said no tool buying. I did buy a replacement drill bit for my Kreg jig. This was the first time the show had been held in Tucson rather than Phoenix. Attendance was down for both buyers and vendors because of the economy. The new owners of the show have done a better job this year of having demos and classes but fell short in some other areas.

This was the first time I had ever been to Tucson and the first time I had driven through it in daylight. I imagine now that my son moved there yesterday I might be back again. The drive is just over 2 hours. They are undergoing a complete rebuild of the freeway through town that is supposed to take another two years, glad I do not have to deal with that mess during the week. I kept hearing how gas is much cheaper down there so I pulled in to fill my 1/2 tank, 3¢ cheaper per gallon, big whoopee. This morning on the way in to work I noticed my normal station is 2¢ cheaper than that. oops.

Turkey, I hope the weather is good

Made an impulse buy last night. One Butterball frozen 6lb turkey breast. Walmart is not my choice for most meat but no matter where you buy major brands of frozen turkeys most have added water and salt. I'll be at home this year and Duchess will be in my care. Weather permitting I'll bring out the electric Patio Caddy and grill it. I'll have to remember to ask if Duchess can have a piece, I am always hesitant to give dogs food not on their normal diet. Have no clue other than sourdough bread for sandwiches afterward what I'll be having with it but I have 21 days left to decide. The scraps will end up in soup.

Phoenix Ranch Market

The other day I was at Manuel and Amy's and mentioned I had read some reviews in Yelp about Phoenix Ranch Market and asked if they had ever been there. They said fairly often, would I like to go with them sometime. Sunday afternoon they stopped by work and drug me away to the one at 5802 W Thomas. Not in a good part of town and several security officers wandering around, this place is supposed to represent a Mexican Mercado. Never having been to Mexico I couldn't say but it when you say Mercado I envision noisy and crowded and this certainly fit the bill. The reason for the trip was to eat at the restaurant inside. I had a chicken quesadilla, not really on the menu, and a carne asada taco. Amy had a carnitas burrito that looked small but was 100% meat inside and Manuel had 6 carne asada tacos. The food was great, the burrito and quesadilla came with a salad (small bit of finely shredded lettuce with a watery dressing topped with grated Parmesan. The liquid moved over and made parts of my quesadilla soggy and Amy asked why I didn't move them apart as she did to prevent that. I countered that is why I went with folks that had been there so they could show me the ropes. :-) You definitely have to speak Spanish or go with someone who does or you will go hungry, the order taker was bilingual but the person who called out the order number did so in Spanish. To go with the meal we went to the Aquas Frescas bar and Manuel suggested Horchata, a sweet rice milk drink. It was very good but he ordered three large ones that must have been like 40oz at least. Way too much milk product and it did as much to over stuff me as the food did. Overall the food was good and really inexpensive, there were some pieces of gristle to work around but they were small and few.

After we ate it was time to shop. The whole store shows signs of constant wear from being crowded and having loose kids running around. I noticed several staff members working clean up duty full time. There is Mexican music playing fairly loudly. To enjoy the experience you cannot be in a hurry. The store includes a bakery, an outdoor barbecue, the restaurant, A totillaria, a service deli, a seafood market and a full service butcher. The aisles are narrow and crowded. Anything you want to prepare traditional Mexican dishes was there. I noticed that just like Oriental markets the fish, meat and deli departments had wares that were prepared for cooking Mexican dishes and packaged differently than similar products in an American market. I got a pint of crema con sal (salted sour cream), Manuel got 3 lbs of marinated carne asada and Amy could not pass on some fresh baked goods and fresh tortillas. Before we went over I mentioned I was going to pick up some beer as I was out and didn't want to make another stop and joked they probably don't have anything but Bud Light in that part of town. Amy assured me there was a good selection. Sure enough at least half of their beer cabinet was Bud Light and the rest was Bud and some Mexican beers. Not an MGD in sight. I like Corona but dislike dealing with bottles so I got a case of Milwaukees Best by Miller. Not really great beer but it wont give me a headache like Bud does.

I would go again. Next time I would like to try the barbecue.

Pumpkin dump cake

I came across a recipe that sounded good while roaming blogs. I had never hear the term "dump cake" before so I Googled it and came up with all sorts of variations on a theme. Basically mix most of the ingredients and put in a 9x13 baking dish, greased on the bottom only, sprinkle a box of cake mix on the top, pour a melted stick of butter over the whole thing and bake at 350° for about 45 minutes or until brown. The ingredients for this one called for large can pumpkin pie mix, 8oz evaporated milk, 2 eggs. It also called out for pecan halves on top but I don't care for nuts in my baked goods so I omitted them . The cake mix called out was yellow. I had no clue what would be considered successful. So I mixed it up and tossed it in the oven for 45 minutes and it wasn't brown and even after 60 minutes I still didn't consider it brown but I pulled it out anyway. Most of the cake mix absorbed moisture and in some spots was crumbly and in others real hard and some of the cake mix was still sort of powdery. The real test is if people liked it. After 6 servings all 6 liked it. It seems to be better chilled, a couple of folks would have liked whip cream on top. It didn't taste as sweet as the ingredients would lead one to believe and it was agreed that was a good thing. One caution about mixing things: I totaled the volume of all the ingredients in my head and picked a mixing bowl which indeed held everything. Ever try mixing ingredients in a bowl filled 1/4" from the rim?

Tums, a pondering

Calcium carbonate in all it's different brand names. I keep some at work, home and in the truck when I travel. Good for mild indigestion and as a calcium supplement. Initially each tablet was 250mg. Then came extra strength at 500mg. Now the regular is 500mg and you can seldom find it on the shelves. Extra is now 750mg and Ultra is 1000mg. No matter what strength you get the serving size is always 2 tablets. So how do you decide which strength to buy? My typical usage is down one every 5 minutes, with a glass of water when available, until I feel better. Thanks to Google I finally found the maximum usage is 7,500mg in a 24 hour period. And to further confuse the issue if it says 750mg on the front only about 1/2 that is calcium carbonate which may be why original used to be 250mg and is now 500mg (gotta love creative labeling). No way have I ever some close to the maximum so I am thinking maybe this is all more than I needed to know. :-)