Round Tuit Restaurant

Yesterday, we were bored and didn't have anything pressing so we decided to go for a drive. We contemplated taking the motorcycle, but I wasn't up for it. Anyhow, we decided to take a drive up Route 22. We had to get through street closures and detours just to get out of our town because they were having a St. Patrick's Day parade. Steve was unhappy with that. Nonetheless, we got through it. We drove far up north and entered another county. There were lotsa farms; lotsa cows. We'd noticed the restaurant on the way up. It looked like a single-level, dark green house-like structure. There was a sign out front saying they served breakfast all day long. It was an unattractive sign. The kind where you can change the letters around and not custom-made. It was sort of cheesy. I was unimpressed by its appearance and decided it was a dive. I believed it even more when this very leathery, older gentleman wearing plaid came out just as we were about to go in. And on the inside - Surprise, surprise but it wasn't a dive at all. It was lighter green on the inside and cute. They had hand-written specials up on the wall and signs about yogurt, eggs and milk being from local cows. It was like a little country kitchen on a medium budget.

After reading a review about this place after the fact, I realized that I should've ordered breakfast. One reviewer had the blueberry pancakes and said it was overflowing with blueberries. Steve commented that the place looked like it'd be swarming with farmers and workers coming in for a hearty breakfast early in the morning. We just had cheeseburgers (made with white american) and what they called camp fries. It's fries with cheese and gravy. Again, the cheese they used is white american and the fries were made there. The fries were brown and very soft. It was pretty to look at and surprising that it came from this little place. They were sorta fancy looking. To drink, I had a large diet coke and it was a large diet coke. Steve had a cup of coffee. For dessert, we grabbed a chocolate milkshake and oatmeal raisin cookies on the way out.

Steve loved the burgers. I thought they were just your average little 1/4 lb burgers but Steve said I had too high of an expectation. But I'd eat one again because it was well-cooked, not dry and hot off the griddle. Steve wanted to order more and said he's going to order 2 or 3 next time. The camp fries were okay. They were on the limp side with not one bit of crisp and I wasn't liking that. Again, they used white american cheese. I'd only had cheese fries with either mozzarella cheese or that fake, yellow cheese sauce. I'm good with either. The white american didn't taste bad, it just wasn't what I was expecting. (I know yellow american cheese tastes the same or does it? If it does, psychologically, it would've tasted better to me if it were yellow.) The gravy was decent and I took that as a good sign. Steve liked it. He also liked the coffee. He said it was way better than diner coffee. I tasted it and I'd have to agree. The milkshake was a little thin. I didn't like that so much but the flavor was good. The oatmeal raisin cookies were very, very good. I believe they were freshly baked. They put a hint of coconut in them and I thought that complimented the soft, chewy cookie a great deal. All in all, the experience was positive. On the way out, a couple in a big truck pulled into the parking lot. They were wearing cowboy hats and lookin' mighty farm'ish. And there was this little black & white cow baby (more like teenager) tied to its home on the property. I wanted to go pet it but I didn't. Anyway, we'll definitely go back there and try breakfast one day. Perhaps on the motorcycle this summer. Take a trip, explore, discover and of course, Eat Something Good!

Round Tuit Restaurant
5523 Route 22
Millerton, NY 12546

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Manwich Sloppy Joes

We had a total trash night. I was so looking forward to it. All day even. Sloppy, sloppy joes. All you do is brown some ground beef and then add the Manwich sauce from the can and heat through. It's sooo easy. I added a little salt & pepper to it as well. You know what it was? Those darned commercials. And we hadn't had sloppy joes in several years. The last few times we did, we used hamburger buns. The soft, squishy ones. When I was growing up, this place sold sloppy joes on hard rolls or kaiser rolls. I really liked them and so whenever I thought of sloppy joes, I thought of them on hard rolls. Steve resisted the idea a great deal. But in the end, he gave in and I made him a nice sandwich with wavy lay's potato chips.

The easy to determine verdict. Yum! It tasted as I remembered it to be. I love sloppy joes and Manwich's original sauce is the best. Actually, I haven't tried the other varieties like barbecue. That one sounds sorta interesting to me. Hmmm...I don't even know if they have competitors in this field. Steve liked it on the hard roll, but he still prefers hamburger buns. I don't mind them on hamburger buns but you can't get as much meat on a sandwich and I think it's messier. The hard roll tends to soak up a little of the sauce making the sandwich more manageable. And pile the meat in the center'ish and don't go to the edges completely. Then you'll be happy and Eat Something Good!

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Wendy's Double Stack

I kept seeing those commercials for Wendy's double stack. I wanted to try one right away but for some reason I never got around to it. Well, as we were running errands the other day, we happen to pass one by. Neither of us had had breakfast so we were starving. I suggested we try the double stacks and went through the drive-thru. We each had one double stack, large fries and diet coke to share. The double stack was two square beef patties with american cheese, raw onion, ketchup and pickle chips. It was nice and hot and juicy. I liked the topping combination. Usually when I have burgers at home I just use a little sliced onion with ketchup. I never put pickles on it. I don't know why. It's most likely because I don't want to deal with pickles and having the smell of it on your fingers. Anyhow, if you're starved and eating on a budget and are not vegetarian or at all health conscious, then I recommend the double stack. Yeah, Eat Something Good!

Wendy's
1894 Route 6
Carmel, NY

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Broiled Swiss Cheeseburgers

Here's a cute little story. One day, Steve was sick. He had a bad cold. I called him up and he apologized for not being able to come down to see me. So, I went up there. We liked that idea. I asked him if he needed anything like cough syrup. He was so moved when I offered that to him. He said no one's ever done something like that for him. By the time I'd arrived there his spirits were lifted. I remember it was late fall on a day very soon after the rains. So the sun was shining but the ground was wet. Anyway, his mood lifted so much that he wanted to make us some cheeseburgers. Neither of us had too much money so I thought that it was an excellent idea. Little things made us very happy. And they still do. The barbecue. Sigh. Wasn't working. We had to run to our local hardware store. Then we had to get the propane tank filled. Oh, I think we had to go to the hardware store twice because we got the wrong size the first time. It was fun doing all that running around. All that to buy these 'flavor savor' bars. They're like these metal bars you put on the bottom to equally distribute the heat. Once we got that all set up, we were in business!

Steve made me one of the best burgers I'd ever eaten. I don't recall what kind of cheese he used, but I'm quite certain it was Land O' Lakes yellow american. I was so pleased that I decided to give them a name. Then, *ding*, the word 'Pucks' comes to mind. Yes, it has an association to hockey pucks and when referred to a burger - it's way, way too dry, inedible. Anyway, I thought it'd be funny and ironic to name his delicious cheeseburgers that. He was hip to the idea and it stuck around for a while. (Note: He does, on occasion, severely overcook the burgers. I do, too.)

Last night I made broiled swiss cheeseburgers. I used the same kind of meat we almost always get - ground chuck from our local little market. I made them into thin'ish, wide'ish patties. I salt & peppered both sides. Then Steve reminded me that I should probably elevate them somehow so they were closer to the broiler. I flipped over a half-sheet pan. About an inch thick. And threw the burgers on a wire rack over a broiling pan. It fits in perfectly. (And it's great for baking whole chickens.) I didn't wait for the top of the burgers to get charred because, with our oven, bad things happen. (Ie: Things gets overcooked.) So I flipped them when only a touch of browing occurred. I waited for the other side to become similar in color before I put the swiss cheese on top and back it went to the broiler. I only had it on for like a minute more before the cheese melted. On the side, we had salad. Greens mixed with the usual grape tomatoes (these were very small and I liked that) & red onions. We had it with Ken's lite bleu cheese dressing.

The swiss cheeseburgers. They were damn good as per Steve. I was pretty pleased with them myself. I actually didn't cook the heck out of them. Let me tell you about the first bite. I took a big one and as I was doing it a whole bunch of oh-so-good brown liquid fell onto my cheap paper plate. (The white, uncoated kind.) It bursted with juices. Oh my goodness was my first thought. The juice leakage continued to happen until I was half-way through eating it. When Steve took his first bite, the same exact thing happened and he made happy noises after a slightly startled one. Oh, Steve had his burger with lettuce, red onion, mayo, ketchup, s&p. I had mine with red onion and get this, A-1 steak sauce. I crave the stuff every now and then though I only use it for steak. And I only have steak, real steak, once in a while. And I only use sauce occasionally for part of the steak - the rest I eat with just salt & pepper. The A-1 steak sauce and red onion combo was good. I was so used to having the thickness of ketchup that I wasn't prepared for all the sauce to get absorbed back into the bun. I had to add a little more. It was a nice departure from ketchup. I enjoyed it. Didn't love it though and I won't be craving one for a long while. The salad was just a salad last night. I couldn't care less about it after eating the delicious burger. I suppose I should've let the burgers sit for a few minutes so the juices would redistribute. I was too hungry to wait. And if you're hungry now, Eat Something Good!

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Tuna Melt Bagels

I asked Steve to take a picture of both the tuna melts & chicken salad melts. I was going to post it but he made a comment about them being on paper plates and I sorta agreed with him. Anyway, yes, I made two types of melts last night. Tuna (albacore, red onion (finely chopped), celery seed, worchestshire sauce and s&p.) American cheese on top. For the chicken salad (Pulled cooked chicken, parsley, mayo, s&p) with provolone cheese. These were both served atop onion bagels. Some pieces had tomato on top of them. They looked pretty.

I baked up the bagels. Then I did a not so good of a job splitting them in half. At this point, I should've thrown on the broiler and toasted both sides. I had fears of over cooking them and drying them out too much. Anyway, I placed about 3/4" worth tuna & chicken salad on one bagel at a time. Yes, they were piled pretty high. The tuna salad was them covered with american cheese and the chicken salad was covered in the provolone cheese. I threw them under the broiler. Afterwards, again concerned about the texture of the bagel and the temperature of the salad, I set the oven to bake.

So, the melts. They were pretty good, not great. Usually, they hit the spot but we made the error of using Ray's frozen bagels. Can you believe they're not pre-sliced? Who wants the extra labor of cutting it in half? Anyway, the first one I had was the chicken salad melt. The cheese looked like it'd been bubbling and there were little burnt spots on it. It was pretty good. Then the tuna, that too, was pretty good. The yellow american cheese was burnt (dark, dark brown and very, very edible) on one little side. The edge. The problem with this dish is that these bagels weren't as light as say Lender's frozen bagels. Or I didn't toast them up enough which could've really been the problem. That's what sorta undid the greatness of the melts. The bagels.

Sidebar: I forgot something critical in yesterday's blog about Dottie's Zucchini, Chicken & Rice Casserole. I goofed. I forgot to mention one of the main ingredients: the cubed, cooked chicken. I'd made the chicken the previous night for our salad greens with baked chicken. When I looked in the 'fridge for the salad bag, I discovered that there wasn't one. Darnit! Now what?

So I made it into chicken salad and once again, pulled the meat apart with two forks. Steve said it was light. And it was very juicy. He said it tasted like it was from a fine, hotel restaurant. I was flattered. So that's the chicken I used for Dottie's casserole. I'm sure it imparted its own flavors into the dish. I used olive oil, salt-free McCormicks seasoning mix, dried tarragon, s&p.

I nuked some leftover casserole for Steve the day after and he loved it. It'd thickened up quite a bit. Makes one think twice about this dish. Oh, I almost forgot and this is important. The chicken in the casserole became a little too well done (slightly overcooked). Probably because it was already cooked and then got baked again for an hour. Thank goodness Steve made them into small pieces. Okay, here are some stupid words. I forgot. Oh well, Eat Something Good!

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Beef Patty Melt

We went to one of our regular'ish diners, Central Plaza Diner in Yonkers, NY. Anyway, we thought we'd have a nice repeat of the other day's meal - beef patty melts. (We had a surprisingly yummy one at IHOP.) Burger, swiss, fried onions on grilled rye. We had them with a side of fries, cole slaw, and a pickle. The patty melt at this diner was...a disappointment. I wanted to punch the chef a little. The onions. They were these big, diced chunks. Too big and they ruined the sandwich. Also they weren't cooked enough. I like to see a nice brown color on some pieces. Thin slices. With good carmelization going on. That's how I'd make it. Oh, we started off with a side of okay mozzarella sticks with a thin tomato sauce for dipping. Alrighty folks, Eat Something Good!

Central Plaza Diner
1686 Central Park Ave
Yonkers, NY 10710

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Boca Chik'n

We haven't had boca burgers in a couple of months. During the summer and while we were trying to be healthy, we ate a whole bunch of them. Then the last time around, Steve decided that he didn't really like them anymore. (We were off of our diet at that point.) He said they have an aftertaste. True, they are a little weird in flavor but I didn't mind their texture. It was almost meat-like. And I like meat. So we have a few boxes in the 'fridge that'll probably go untouched for a long while.

But last night I had the Boca chik'n patties as a sandwich on whole wheat pita with lettuce and mayo. They weren't bad. The texture isn't exactly reminiscent of chicken. It's more like a fake crab - not the imitation crab stick kind. But as a sandwich, I think it gets away with it. I got the plain kind not the spicy. Though I like the spicy ones. They have a little kick to them. Steve had a toasted multigrain bagel with butter and reduced fat cream cheese. Then I remembered that we had leftover beef bourginon. Yes, we hit that hard! It was still sooo delicious. (I didn't even give Sid any.) *oink* Steve said that if there were a little more herb flavor in it, he'd say it's restaurant quality. I did add thyme as the recipe called for - but next time I'll need to add a little more. We only had a little left. I wonder if potency decreases with time. It probably does but how much time? Need a food scientist. And I bet the scientist would tell you to Eat Something Good!

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Pulled Chicken Salad

It was soup & sandwiches last night. We didn't have any cooked chicken lying around so I had to cook some up. I decided to bake it cause I think it cooks more evenly then. I seasoned the boneless breasts with olive oil (and I almost always mean extra virgin), garlic powder, tarragon and s&p. As it was cooking, I hit it generously with white wine. White wine goes so nicely with tarragon in my opinion. Ok, I baked the chicken for like 20-25 minutes on 350F. Once cooked, I used two forks to pull the meat apart. It was nice and tender. Some juices formed in the sheet pan I was preparing the chicken on. I smothered the pulled chicken in it before I transfered it to a bowl. Then I added mayo (almost always Hellmann's), Maille dijon mustard, a hint more tarragon (would've loved fresh for this but dried sufficed) and a bit more salt. I served it on sesame seed rolls that I'd heated in the oven. It gave the crust a very slight crisp and the inside was nice and warm. It would've been nice to have some celery and carrot, finely diced for this salad but I didn't have any on hand.

On the side, I heated up a can of Progresso Italian-style wedding soup. They're the ones with the little meatballs with pasta in chicken broth. I'm not sure if it's the same thing, but we used to like Progresso Chickarina soup. The ingredients were similar. I'm still shopping for soup ideas and I'm spacing. Oh well, it'll come when it's ready.

The dinner was a success. We both really, really enjoyed the sandwich. Again, the finely diced veggies would've been nice but I didn't feel like I was missing anything. And believe me, it was a fat, satisfying sandwich. Steve actually put a slice of american cheese on his sandwich. I'm sure it was good. I just didn't go for it because I was overwhelmed by the very same cheese the night before. For dessert, I had a few pieces of no sugar added canned pears (store brand). I guess that was sorta healthy'ish. Alright guys, don't forget to take a break and Eat Something Good!

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Steak burgers

When we go to our little local market (about a mile away), we usually get their ground chuck. I love it when Steve orders, he calls it chopped meat. I'm not sure why I get such a kick out of it. I always ask for the ground chuck. Anyway, off to the side they have prepackaged burgers. Steak burgers as it's written on the package. We were psyched all day long thinking about dinner. We had them very simply. Pan fried with american cheese and ketchup (also mayo for him.) Both on fresh kaiser rolls. The burgers were pretty big as were the rolls. They were poofier than usual. Still good.

On the side, we had Kay and Ray potato chips. Sometimes our little market carries strange, unusual products. We never see these anywhere else and they only get them once in a while there. The special thing about these chips are that they're fried in lard. Yes, you heard correctly. Lard. They are dark brown, thin and lightly salted. We were addicted to them when they first came out. They're even darker than Cape Cod Russet Brown (?) potato chips. I love those as well too. Maybe even more.

The verdict on the burger. Well, Steve couldn't stop apologizing for overcooking the burgers. He commented that not one drop of juice came out of it. That was true but I didn't think it was as bad as he made it out to be. He's done far more damage as I have in the past. And for some reason, I wasn't liking that he put so much cheese on it. On three bites, the center ones, I was overwhelmed with the flavor of Land O' Lakes yellow american cheese. I kept telling myself that that's about how much cheese I'd be eating if it were a grilled cheese sandwich and that made it a little better. It didn't occur to me to just take some of it off and feed it to Sid. About the chips, I mentioned that the Kay & Ray potato chips were thin. I didn't mention that they are possibly the thinnest potato chip I've ever had. Unfortunately you pay a small price for that. It settles during shipping and breaks up into smaller pieces more than regular chips. Nonetheless, they were a nice side to the burgers. See you guys later and Eat Something Good!

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Meatball Inconsistency

I took Steve to the place that had great meatballs. It's in Yonker's NY. He hesitated a little but because I spoke so highly of it - he decided to give it a try. And oh my gosh. I was so embarrassed. The parm sucked. The meatballs were overcooked. Hard and a little dry. I was upset. This happened once before. I raved about Sal's pizza in Mamaroneck, NY and the day I took Steve there - the pizza was horrible. Soggy even. Again, I don't know what happened. Anyway, Steve always talks about consistency. We avoid many pizzerias in the area fearing that 'it won't be good this time'. And too many times we're proven correct in thinking so. We feel so rewarded when it's right on. So the meatball fiasco - what the heck happened to them? On a more positive note, their regular slice was very good and Steve said their white slice was excellent. So take my reviews with a grain of salt. It's always possible that the back up cook is there ruining business. Eat something good!

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the Blazer Pub

We drove for 45 minutes last night for a part for the pellet stove when there was a place 15 minutes away. Steve tries to be loyal to small, mom & pop businesses. He dislikes the large, mile a minute talking, sale, sale, sales people. Anyway, we got the part and decided to grab a bite as it was getting late. We had dinner after 9p.

This pub serves great burgers. They're often rated one of the best burgers in the area. I got one with swiss and bacon. Steve ordered the Blazer burger which came with lettuce, tomato, bacon, american cheese and fried onions. They put a good amount of fried onions on it so he gave me some. It was too much for one burger. Their onions were nicely fried with some "burnt" pieces. The burger was a little hard to eat. The meat patty itself is about an inch thick. And then with the stuff on top, it gets even taller. I must note that when it first appeared, it looked a little small. But when I picked it up and saw how thick it was and how heavy it was - I new I'd be sated. The fries, (which you have to order separately) are different from your typical fries. These were obviously hand cut wedges (and unevenly cut I might add.) They fry them beyond golden brown. It's a darker brown. They have a little crispiness to them on the outside. On the inside, it's a dense, meaty potato. This is one of those places that charges for each little item separately. There's a charge for lettuce and tomato even. And cole slaw which typically comes with a burger at a diner. But it's okay simply because this is a place that only does burgers and sandwiches and appetizers that include yummy buffalo wings.

We started with them. Steve wasn't loving the idea but I pressed on cause I really wanted them. And I thought they were delicious. The wings were good sized. Steve thought they were way big. I didn't think so. The buffalo sauce had just the right amount of heat for me. Not too hot but definitely not mild. Steve liked them but he didn't think they were anything to write home about. I have to admit that my taste buds are a little off these days as I'm feeling under the weather. Anyway, I washed the meal down with some diet coke (no beer for us last night) and I was content. I want you guys to feel content today so Eat something good!

The Blazer Pub
Route 22
Purdys, NY 10578

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IHOP

Yes the International House of Pancakes. That is where we had dinner last night. It'd been like over a year. Maybe more. I almost always get the same thing when I go there. The breakfast sampler. Two eggs, two bacon strip, two sausage links, two pieces of ham, 2 hashbrowns and two fluffy buttermilk pancakes. That's what Steve had. I strayed from the norm and got an actual non breakfast item. I don't know where this choice came from but I ordered a patty melt. Ya know, a burger with american cheese and fried onions grilled on rye. The last time I had one was over two years ago. For Steve's breakfast sampler, they usually give you hashbrowns - the kind McDonald's has, but this time they gave him the shredded kind. I like them but only when they're well done. And that was the problem with it, Steve always likes his home fries/ hash browns well done. My patty melt was very good. I was sorta surprised with it being IHOP and all. Steve loved it. I gave him some. The fries were good too.

For dessert, we had crepes. I had a strawberry crepe with cream cheese - it came with whipped cream on top too. Steve had an apple cinnamon crepe. They were both pretty good but I liked mine better because, as with my cheesecakes, I like strawberries with crepes. I like savory crepes as well. But they never seem to fill me up. Reminder: Eat Something Good!

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Mohegan Diner

Early on in my relationship with Steve, we frequented the Mohegan diner. We had to drive a little further than the diner closer to us, but the Mohegan's food is much better. I remember blogging about how diner prices are rising but portions getting a little smaller. Steve and I were nearly shocked when we saw the prices of even appetizers. Like up to and over $10.

The food. We were going to get our Mediterranean salad with steak. We've had it many times in our past failed attempts to eat healthier. I know, red meat - not healthy. We were just glad it had something green in it. Hehehe. Anyway, the best part is the taramasalata. I'd never had it before: I'd never heard of it before. Fortunately Steve's Greek side came in handy and he knew what it was. It's like fish eggs, perhaps salmon based on its color mixed into a very smooth, creamy and fluffy mashed potato. It's texture is so light that I didn't even think potatoes were involved at all. I kept thinking that it was some sort of whipped dairy product. Yeah.

When the waitress came to take our order one of my default choices came out of my mouth. I ordered the Kos Island wrap which is a hot wrap with grilled, marinated chicken, feta cheese and spinach. I had it once before and had a positive experience so out of my mouth it came when pressed. I got french fries for it. It didn't come with fries. Tell me how crazy that is in a diner not to serve fries with sandwich type things. Their fries were good. Steak cut wedges with the skin on. Steve commented that they didn't give me very many fries but I actually couldn't finish them. Steve even had some. Steve, planning on ordering that salad, decided to change his mind after he'd heard my order and got a regular stand by meal. I can't tell you how many times he's ordered a cheeseburger (no fries) and 2 eggs over with well done home fries and toast. He said the home fries were good. I could see the golden brown crust on the top layer of fries. His burger looked even a little too medium for me. Nearly rare. That was weird because after we'd ordered Steve realized she didn't ask him how he'd like his burger done. And we had a conversation about how it doesn't matter what you say cause it always comes out well done. I offered to give my half wrap to Steve and that I'd eat the burger because he gets upset if things aren't cooked enough. He's not a well done guy. He's a medium to medium well guy. I'm a medium girl myself (occasionally medium rare). He didn't say anything to me regarding the offer and happily tore into his burger. I think that meant he was liking it. To imagine, I wanted an appetizer before this meal too. We passed only because they were ridiculously expensive. And I had intentions to eat strawberry cheesecake for dessert.

Well, I was so full that I passed on dessert. Then Steve convinced me to get it so we could split it but he wanted chocolate cheesecake. I wasn't keen on the idea for some reason. I feared it wouldn't be chocolately enough. Diner desserts are usually just okay. Then we agreed on getting a plain slice. When the waitress came back, he ordered cheesecake...with strawberries! :) That made me so happy and Steve and I inhaled it. We needed that blast of sweet. We had dinner past 9p and I hadn't eaten anything all day. I think I just made the kcal cut off. Phew. Have a nice Saturday and Eat something good!

Mohegan Diner
1888 E Main St
Mohegan Lake, NY 10547

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Bologna

I just made myself (and Sid) an egg sandwich (2 eggs) with american cheese on Home Pride whole wheat bread. The bread is really fluffy and soft. Takes me back to my Wonder bread days. That's the bread my mom used to buy along with Home Pride and Sunbeam. They were all squishy white breads. Steve picked up this loaf randomly at our local little market. And last night, we had more sammies. Boar's Head bologna with american cheese on whole wheat bread. I had mine with mustard and mayo. Him just mayo. I don't eat bologna too often. The thought of it is usually unappealing. I used to especially dislike having it the way we did last night. I guess I'm a cold cut snob. But Steve likes bologna sandwiches so we had them. When I was younger, a neighbor friend of mine used to fry salami and make sandwiches with mayo on them. I thought it was weird but when I tasted it, it was pretty good. I got the idea to fry bologna one day and I don't remember but I think I liked it better than it straight up. I don't think I'll eat bologna for a while. I'm already having icky memories of last night. Thank goodness I used the rest for Steve's lunch today. Oh, for dessert (to continue on our naughty eating path), we had Nestle Toll house chocolate chip cookies. The premade roll kind. We had them when they were quite warm. I think I ate like five. They were good sized cause I spooned it onto the sheet pan. When Steve makes them, he makes them a little smaller. This morning Steve told me he saved me a cookie. He was all proud and sweet about it. He had a big smile on his face. When he asked me if I'd already eaten it (this morning) I said yes. He's gonna get quite a treat when he opens up his lunch today because, out of love, I stuck it in there. I'm so sweet :) Hehehe. Eat something good!

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Pan-fried Burgers

We were sooo bad last night. Yes, burgers pan-fried in a little butter flavored generic Pam type spray. It may sound weird to have done that, but many top steak houses serve their steaks with melted butter. With lotsa melted butter. I even once had steak au poivre with an herbed butter. One pretty shaped piece right on top of the steak. It melted slowly and coated the meat nicely. (I actually had it in France many years ago.) Anyway, I hit our burgers with provolone cheese and served it on fresh Kaiser rolls from a local little market.

The verdict. They were good, good, good. I had mine without ketchup. Yes, the ketchup glutton had it with just plum tomatoes, red onions and mayonnaise. They were half-pound burgers and I was swearing to Steve that I could've eaten another whole one. That's how I felt last night. I was a bottomless pit. And the burgers were really good. Nice and juicy. We had the burgers with Wavy Lays potato chips. That's when I had ketchup. I dipped the chips in. All in all, it was a satisfying meal. Don't forget to Eat Something Good!

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Bagel Place

I met Steve for lunch today because I happen to be in the area. We went to the bagel place and I got chicken salad on an everything bagel. Sigh. I was disappointed. The chicken salad was ok. It was plain with a little celery. Similar to the way Steve would make it. The bagel. It was very dense throughout and the crust didn't have that little crispiness it did last time. And I should not have gotten the sandwich on an everything bagel. One of the seeds or maybe the garlic didn't blend well with the chicken salad. It tasted like dirt. I mean, fresh soil - earth. Fortunately for me Steve wasn't that hungry and I ended up eating half of his panini. Grilled chicken, tomatoes, roasted red peppers and pesto dressing. It was pretty good. Steve gets it all the time. I thought it needed a little salt. We split some chips and I had a Tropicana orange pineapple juice to drink. That didn't go well with the sandwich either. I brought home a chocolate muffin. Ok, I did take a little nibble of it and I was satisfied. It's good enough for me.

Bagel Emporium of Tarrytown
350 S Broadway
Tarrytown, NY 10591

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Not McDonald's Filet-O-Fish

I tried to re-create the fish sandwich from McDonald's last night. The fish part was pretty good. It surprised me. It was quite meaty. And would you believe we bought store brand battered fish? Yes, stop n shop. I'd buy it again if the urge so strikes me. We don't eat fried fish that often. Actually, we don't have fish very often. I wish I could be disciplined enough to go to the store one extra time per week and have a fish night. So the fish sandwiches. I threw the battered fish filets on hamburger buns (no seeds) with american cheese and tarter sauce. I heated up the buns with the cheese in the oven before I put the batter fish filet and sauce on it. I wish I could say I really loved it. I mean I really wanted to - I put pressure on myself to like it. BUT! We made the fatal error of using McCormick's fat-free tartar sauce. It was too sweet and lacked depth. Just awful. I will never buy it again. It totally ruined the whole sandwich. I was a little bumbed.

So if you attempt to make something similar but are still trying to "diet" the way Steve & I do, stay away from McCormick's fat-free tarter sauce! Yeah, don't eat that stuff...Eat Something Good!

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Bacon & Cheddar Burgers

The burger urge hit us last night and we went to the grocery store. It was kinda late, after the crowds. A lot of their stuff had been wiped out. Believe it or not, but the entire ground beef section was empty except for these preformed patties. They had flavors like jalapeno and onions. We chose the bacon-cheddar burgers. All the stuff was mixed into the patty. Ok, where do I start? The one word I can use to describe these burgers is weird. They were weird. The taste. It was like eating a hot dog. It was such a strange experience. My guess was that they literally ground up the bacon with the beef. It would sorta explain the springy texture of the meat. Though I ate one of my burgers with ketchup and diced red onion, I was trying to figure out if it was good or not the entire time. Steve and I decided that, yes, it was too weird. I mean, hot dogs are yummy but not as a burger especially when you have a burger craving. Oh, I forgot. We hit it with pepper jack cheese as well. I wasn't loving it. I mean, I usually enjoy pepperjack but this brand, Sargento, was dryer and hotter than I'm used to. So the burgers weren't great. We made up for it again by eating an oreo cookies & cream flavored klondike bar. Ok, I won't lie. We had two. Another one right before bed. I'm going to blame that one on Steve cause it's convenient to do so. Hehehe. Anyways, I hope you have a positive food experience today. Eat something good!

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Pastrami Sandwich

Today's lunch was pretty good. I went to the grocery store and picked some stuff up for dinner and Steve's lunches. When I got home, and after I put away the groceries, I set out to make myself a really good sandwich. Hot pastrami and swiss on a poppy seed kaiser roll with Gulden's brown mustard. At first, I couldn't find the pastrami. I thought maybe I'd left it in the trunk, but no luck. Then I saw it was in the refrigerator in the same bag as the ground sirloin. I was so worried then so psyched.

I nuked the meat and cheese before putting it on the bread. And that's how I like my pastrami sammies. I don't really like lettuce and tomatoes and stuff on it. I like it straight up. It'd been on my mind for several weeks now after having read someone else's blog about this awesome sounding pastrami sandwich.

The best pastrami I've ever had is from Katz Deli in NYC on Houston Street. It's pretty well known and their cafeteria like setting is relaxing. I feel comfortable there. I mean it's decorated with pictures of celebrities who've eaten there and there were quite a few. I think even Bjork (singer) had a pic up there. They make a pretty fat sandwich. And their pastrami just melts in your mouth. It's delicious. If ever in NYC, I highly recommend that you get a pastrami on rye from there. I'm overdue for one. I'll dream about for a little longer...Eat something good!

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Clairmont Diner

Diners around here are steadily increasing their prices. I no longer feel like I get a good value from them. (I think the portions are getting smaller too - it's been my suspicion. So the Clairmont Diner - in Yonkers, NY. It was crazy. They had a twin cheeseburger deluxe for $7.75. That's dirt cheap around here. And they were good sized burgers. They were thin and wide. As wide as the bun which wasn't too small. I must've used like a pint of ketchup tonight. Oh, Steve had the other twin. The burger. We both thought they were pretty good. I ate the fries on the deluxe platter. Steve had fries with his turkey club (fresh turkey, bacon, lettuce, tomato and mayo on white toast.) I had half of it. It needed a good amount of mayo on it but it was pretty good. OR we were just starving. No, it couldn't have been just that. You can tell. I usually can. I mean there are times I'm eating something yucky'ish but I keep eating cause I'm starving and I can't stop even though I want to. Red flag. Eating disorder? Who knew...I'm probably a compulsive overeater. I pretty sure that I exhibit that kind of behavior at times, not all the time but a lot.

Dinner was worth the long motoride down there. Now Steve's wanting a sweet treat. He had a brilliant idea while we were motoring the way home. Take marshmallows and toss in simple syrup and then roll them in sugar in the raw and cinnamon. Then deep fry. I don't know if that'd work. I think the marshmallow would just melt hitting the hot oil. And the thought overall for me is that it'd be way too sweet. I mean rolling a sweet in more sweet? I guess it can be done. It gets done with say, ice cream bars all the time. And I do love a good Hagaan Daaz chocolate dark chocolate ice cream bar. I'm gonna go watch a show about how to make tomato paste now. Wow, pretty tomatoes! See yas. Eat something good!

Clairmont Diner
929 Yonkers Ave

Yonkers, NY 10704

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