New Haven, MI - Day 2

No Sun and fun today the local forecast is rain with a high of 61 degrees.  The Comfort Suites where we are staying offers the standard continental breakfast but interestingly enough the Dark Roast is really good and they don’t just offer powder creamer they offer real cream or half and half. We grab a cup and we are off to the Golden Brown Bakery. They offer many things like donuts, breads, cakes, cookies and pastries but we are here for the almond logs.  This light and flaky pastry is rolled up around freshly ground almond paste baked and then drizzled with almond flavored glaze and topped with toasted almond slices.  This goes perfectly with the coffee.  We dip and drink and enjoy this quick bite before we are off the Saugatuck Michigan. 

Saugatuck is about 25 minutes north of South Haven.  When we arrive it is still very early and the shops are just starting to open up but the farmers market is beaming with people so we head in and soon we realize we are sniffing all the fruits, veggies and herbs the vendors have to offer.  Too bad we don’t have a kitchen at the hotel because we could have made a feast with what was offered.  We settle on no fruits or veggies but some breads from the local baker.  We got whole wheat, whole-wheat California sour dough and a whole-wheat raisin walnut bread.  I ate mine today for breakfast it was outstanding, no preservatives even better.  We found another olive oil shop like the one in South Haven and this time we couldn’t resist, so we left there a lot lighter in the wallet but we both brought home walnut oil with white peach balsamic aged 12 years and Tuscan herb oil with pomegranate vinegar.

Tracy over heard a gentleman who leads culinary walking tours of the area say there was a spice shop just around the corner so she didn’t need to ask me twice if I wanted to go. I could have spend 100.00 dollars in there but I was good and resisted I limited myself to just at few spices like green chili powder, smoked chili powder and ancho chili powder.  I will be making some type of Mexican dish soon… We sample a candied chili nut that was awesome, first it was sweet then it left the heat in the back of your throat. 

On to what I call a “my porn” store.  I know what you are thinking it’s not really porn it’s a kitchen store.   Yes I said it I have an addiction to these stores.  They are in every outlet mall, in every upscale mall in the world.  I love them, they carry everything I want and don’t need.  You know these stores, pots and pans from France, knives and cutting boards and every and I am every kitchen gadget know to man.  Plus they carry a verity of jellies jams spreads cake mixes you know one of everything you want to make with the utensils to make it with.  Ok I am rambling about it now so you know how much I like the stores.  But we are good we sniff some coffees and taste an apricot jam and some garlic green salsa and we are out, Tracy yanks me out and we move on.

We move through boutiques and wine shops and galleries then we come across the James Brandess studio where I pick up a couple of prints and Tracy nabs a sketchbook.  I love this gentleman’s work it is right up my alley, flowers, beach scenes, mountain scapes and more.  If you get the chance please look at his work its is beautiful, well worth it. (www.jamesbrandess.com)

By this time we covered a few streets and its not even lunch so we decided to forgo another breakfast and move up to Holland MI another 15 mins up the highway.

We are not sure where we are going and we follow exit signs in to Holland and we first notice its like any other medium sized city buy we spy a sign that says windmill island and gardens we follow that through there downtown area and realize that its really an island and it cost to get on and everything is outside. So with the cold weather and rain we head back to the downtown area where there was some interesting shopping to do. 

We park in front of guess what else a coffee shop were we get a tip on where have lunch and we get a chocolate espresso.  It’s truly a shot of espresso and a piece of ghiradelli dark chocolate that you break up and stir in the shot.  It zoomed us right down the street around to the next block where we ended up at our lunch destination, The City Delicatessen.  This was a soup and sandwich shop and nothing more and nothing less.  I had the tuna and Tracy got the chicken salad and we shared.  The chicken salad wins here.  Roasted chicken with dried sweet cherries onions and celery in a creamy mayo on a chibatta roll yes this was clearly the winner. They serve a peppered kettle chip with the sandwich, which was something I would never have thought to buy, but I will if I see them in the store now.  They offer a frozen yogurt bar 44 cents an ounce but we wanted some chocolate from the corner store we passed on the way.  So it was off to the powder room before we left.  Ok here is where the story kind of goes in a different direction please go along for the ride.  This bathroom didn’t belong to this sandwich shop it couldn’t have because it was beautifully decorated. It had a stone sink with puter finishes very luscious.  When I went to the toilet the seat lifted up as if to great me hello… I sat down and then almost jumped back up the seat was heated and very warm I laughed to Tracy and told her what was going on.  Ok I did my business and went to grab some toilet paper when I noticed a fixture on the wall it said clean front, clean back, blow dry, there were a few up and down buttons and something that said flush.  Hum.. What to to?  I said Tracy I think this is a bidea as I pushed the button that said clean front and what did you know, warm water came out and I couldn’t find the stop button because I was laughing so hard but after pushing everything on the gismo I found the stop button and thought great, now what?  I guess the blow dry was in order. Needless to say after the blow dry I found the toilet paper but wouldn’t give it to Tracy because she needed the same attention I got. 

We shopped and shopped and then drove back to South Haven and back to the Warner Winery store because you know we didn’t get enough wine the first time.  Lol

Our time in the beaches of Michigan was fun and quick 3 and ½ hour drive from Indianapolis is a great getaway.   So tomorrow we head home… Cant wait to do the guy vs. gal Friday night fights pulled pork challenge.  See you all next week….

VACATION

The gals are on vacation this week.  We thought we would leave hot and stormy Indianapolis for the beaches of Michigan, South Haven to be exact but wouldn’t you know it its raining here.  South Haven is a quaint little beach style town of course there is no true beach because it’s a lake not an ocean but hey it’s the closest to what Tracy and I grew up with in Manhattan Beach California without actually going there.  

So this rainy day we decided to do our own version of Diners Drive In’s and Dives.  We really wanted to start out with a latte from our favorite coffee place Starbucks but to no avail there is no starbucks in this town but we were told the best place to get coffee is at the coffee beanery which is located in a village market a local grocery store. Boy were the locals right our latte’s were very similar to our favorite drink and they gave us the kick we needed to cruise the streets for treats.

We found ourselves at a place called the wild blueberry. Everything you can imagine done with blueberries even blueberry coffee.  We tasted some lovely very chunky preserves on vanilla wafers.  Then we were off to the Olive Bar its not really an olive bar its carries olive oils and vinegars.  The best thing about this place is you get to taste all the oils and vinegars; there are plenty to choose from. We tasted a buttered olive oil and we said buttered popcorn, there was orange flavored and lime flavored rosemary, garlic and Chile and so many more but the best thing we tasted was the peach and white balsamic vinegar and cherry Chianti balsamic vinegar.

Then we shopped in and out of all the local chic stores with lots of fun jewelry, clothes purses (a favorite of mine) and of course the typical souvenirs too choose from.  With all the shopping it made us hungry, so we asked at the visitor’s bureau and they told us the best place for dinner was Su Casa, a really cool Mexican restaurant.  It’s in an old building with beautiful wooden floor and high seelings with exposed brick.  There is a large bar with a large tequila list.  We ordered the chicken soft tacos rice and beans. I am getting ahead of myself here.  They delivered chips and salsa not your standard blended salsa and warm chips they brought us crispy tortilla chips with three condiments. A fresh tomato, onion cilantro salsa, and pickled carrots with jalapenos this is very California style and a great tomatillo/avocado sauce/salsa, which was refreshing.  Now back to the chicken taco’s, I have eaten my fair share of Mexican food and chicken taco’s are one of my favorites and these taco’s were right up there with some of the best I have had.  Warm corn tortilla’s stuffed full of chicken some of the tomato onion salsa and lettuce. You get three tacos rice and beans for 8.50.  We love this fresh style of what I call California Mexican style food. 

Stuffed to the gills we head out for more shopping and we find ourselves at Warner Vineyard store.  They have a local winery and this is were you can by there wines without visiting the winery.  They also have wine tasting you get to try 6 of their wines for free, so of course Tracy bought 6 bottles. We cruised around town a bit more just to work up a small appetite for some of the best ice cream we have ever tasted at Sherman’s Dairy bar.  Tracy got mocha fudge and I got chocolate peanut butter.  Now if I love California Mexican style food a lot, I love ice cream even more.  This ice cream is so creamy and flavorful its in the top ten of my favorite places not to mention the size of the scoop its huge.  Unlike other ice cream shops were scoops are getting smaller and the price is going up this place gives you a softball size scoop and we paid less than 7 dollars.   Stuffed we had just enough energy to make it back to the hotel where we decide if its raining tomorrow we are off to Saugatuck/Holland to check out there eats. 

Well until next time when we are having the Friday night fights Gal vs. Guy in pulled pork…  See you all then.

AMBITION IN THE KITCHEN

When Tracy and I cook and freeze for a later date we always decide on 3 or 4 things to cook in one day.  Usually its stuff like Chile, Spicy Chicken taco filling, Meatballs, pulled pork so when I throw in Cheesy ham and pasta bake it’s never a problem to get it all done with time to spare to go out to dinner because washing another dish is not acceptable.

  I said Trac we’ve got to get this kids section done in the book it’s very simple and will make great dinners for the week.  She was totally into it because it’s what we’ve done before and it’s going to be HOT HOT HOT this week and who wants to come home and cook when you want to be at the pool.  We thought heat up the house once and eat for a few days via the microwave…
We skipped the Pretzels (page 347) we will have to talk about baking at a later date.

GUY-TALIAN NACHOS    pg. 351

There are lots of ingredients and we substituted tortilla chips for the fried wontons because we are going to eat this on Tuesday for dinner.  We made a small batch for testing loved the salsa plus bonus we didn’t have to buy basil or parsley since Tracy is growing basil on her patio garden and I brought parsley from my garden.


I’VE GOT THE NEED, THE NEED FOR FIRED CHEESE!    Pg.352

Really you can’t go wrong with fried cheese and salami is a bonus just don’t cook it too long.  This was a great dinner with some anti-pasta stuff we got off the olive bar at Whole Foods.

MALTY STRAWNANA    pg. 353
Come on its ice cream.  My husband added chocolate syrup to his he is a sucker for chocolate malts.  Taste’s pretty yummy to me.

HOT WIENERS, RHODE ISLAND STYLE     pg. 354

We did this recipe last week and if you didn’t read that blog you missed out on some childish hot weenah/gaggah humor.
 

BLAZY’S PEPERONI STUDDED LASAGNA      pg. 356

Ok, so I am not a fan of Italian sausage because of the fennel.  Look all you traditionalist don’t bug me it’s a flavor I just don’t get like some of you don’t like cilantro and I love it. Anyways I found some sausage that only has a hint of fennel and we used that and I will say for quick lasagna this was tasty and will be good for Thursday night dinner.
 

HUNTERS HERO              pg. 358

My son is the meatball roller in our family and he did it justice today.  These meatballs are very similar to mine except I grate the onion instead of dice I find it gives the meatball a better texture so we did it that way, sorry guy. These are gonna rock on Monday night.

I know what you are thinking what’s for dinner Sunday and Wednesday will NOT ITALIAN!!!  LOL  You are also probably wondering what was the comment about the baking. Well I am not a baker, it has to do with the measuring but we plan to conquer the pretzel along with some of guys other pretzel recipes that we found in an old issue of food network magazine.  It will be beer and pretzel time real soon.  Look for us next time when we will have Friday night fights Gal vs. Guy pulled pork….

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Rhode Island Hot Weiners - The End

So it’s a Gaggah not a Gagger.  What I want to know is what came first Rhode Island Gaggah’s or Cincinnati Coney dogs.  They are similar in taste both have cinnamon but Cincinnati’s Coney dogs have more of a Greek flavor and are covered in a mound of mild cheddar, which doesn’t add any flavor.  The Rhode Island Gaggah is bursting with extra flavor from the yellow mustard, onion and celery salt sprinkled on top, reminds me of Portillos in Chicago, excellent Italian beef and Chicago dogs by the way.  Sum it up girl it what you are all saying.  Tracy and I liked the Gaggah’s so did my husband and daughter… Would we eat them again, sure maybe even try the meat sauce on a hamburger, I hope that doesn’t offend the Rhode Islanders… By the way order the autocrat coffee mix for coffee milk it goes great with the WEENAHS.

Stay tune for the next episode of Gal Fieri…..

Rhode Islands Hot Weiners #2

After a short trip to the market for a few seasonings we didn’t have on hand along with ground beef, dogs and buns we are back home chopping onions and measuring out the spices.  So lets just put it out there, I HATE TO MEASURE! This is the reason I don’t bake from scratch often and the reason I tried to put a full tablespoon of dried mustard in the mix.  Lucky I had my OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) on high alert and I read and re-read the recipe and Tracy kept asking me are you sure are you sure?  She has the right to ask and ask.  This Christmas when we were making biscotti I forgot the baking powder in on of the batches so we quickly took it out of the fridge where it had been chilling to sprinkling baking powder on it and re-mixed it. The biscotti was good non the less. We have now browned the onions added the spices and ground beef it smells very interesting. I know what you are thinking interesting huh? Like when you get told your date has a great personality and you are thinking what did I get myself into?  This is how I kind of feel now, what will this taste like? It smells sort of like a Middle Eastern/ Greek/ Indian restaurant thus the allspice, cinnamon and curry powders are all middle eastern ingredients, which I love these restaurants.  So in a short time I will be chowin down on some Rhode Island Gaggah and I will let you know if the Gaggah is a Gaggah or a Gagger….lol

Hot Wieners, Rhode Island Style

Tracy and I were trying to figure out what to cook first from Guys book and we decided on page by page.  I wanted to look ahead to see what was coming our way when I came across page 354 Hot Wieners, Rhode Island Style.  I don’t know if it was the twelve year old in me or not but I laughed out loud, Hot Wieners.  There was a story attached with a somewhat easy recipe where Guy says his father-in-law told him that they like to eat Grinddahs or go get a Gaggah. Now I know the twelve year old in me is present at this time.  I read aloud the story to Tracy in my best Rhode Island accent only knowing a little bit of what it sounds like because Tracy lived in Rhode Island for 5 years.  I quote “What is a Gaggah?” And he said it’s a hot WEENAH you never had a Gaggah before? At this time I was laughing so hard the my mouth was open and nothing was coming out, you all know what I am taking about the head is bobbing up and down the face is hot red and your cheeks hurt like you have smiled for a week. I couldn’t look at Tracy because it only made me laugh more. After I got out of my twelve year old state I was able to finish the story about how Guy and his father-in-law went to Onleyville New York System for a Gaggah and coffee milk.  By the way, Tracy and I drink coffee milk by Autocrat it’s like an iced latté. Totally yummy! You can order it on line from Only In Rhode Island (http://www.onlyinrhodeisland.com/). So needless to say we are not going page by page, we are starting with the Hot Wieners, Rhode Island Style… cant wait to try them… buy the way I am getting Guy’d today, highlights… hehe

Dara's Idea

While shopping at Wal-Mart, my sister Tracy found the new Gui Fieri Cookbook (AWESOME!)  We both love Diners, Drives and Dives, and have been to the Indianapolis locations shown on "Triple D".  After scanning over the book, I had a great idea.  Tracy & I love to cook and experiment so...I suggested that we do a spin off of "Julie &Julia" (funny movie)  but it would be called Gal Fieri.

After discussing this idea with Tracy, we bought the book, and decided to cook all the recipes of the book and video blog our experiences.  We enlisted my husband to film the cooking shots and my daughter to edit and maintain our website.

Stay tuned for our first episode.....coming soon.