Outback Steakhouse

Scrumptious.  Have I used that word before?  My only complaint with this restaurant is that their lighting is atrocious.  Seriously, if I want to dine in the dark, I'll go to one of those wacky restaurants that blindfolds its patrons.  Oye!

They have really great bread that they bring out to you after you order.  It's dark, but sweet, and served w/ softened butter.  Oh so delicious!  Of course, because it's dark and the restaurant was so dark, not so much of a good picture to be had.  Harrumph!  *laugh*

Mom ordered steak w/ veggies, Leyton had a cheeseburger & fries (I really wish Mom would start ordering some different things for him to try.  I know he WILL try new things, he does it all the time!), and I ordered salmon w/ garlic mashed potatoes.  Mmmm!  I took a cue from the hibachi grill & put a little butter on the salmon.  Ohhhhhmmmmmm!!!!  : )

Ironically, I thought the steak at Applebee's was more flavorful than Mom's here tonight, but the salmon was loaded with goodness, so there's that.  : )

And Leyton mostly had a fun time.  He is SO POLITE, and I have to commend all the adults in his life for continuing to encourage that.  I love hearing him say please and thank you when he orders his food and asks for things.  LOVE it!

Until next time - what're your thoughts on Outback's lighting?  Are ALL Outbacks like that?  Please share!  : )

Pickles!

Last night I made ham & cream cheese pickles for today's food day at work.  (Then I ended up not feeling well this morning & not going to work, so I'll bring them for a tastey treat tomorrow!)  (Please pay no attention to the random assortment of spices, pills, toothpaste(?!), etc. on the island.  LOL)

What you need: 

Budig honey ham, ham, or beef

Kosher Dill pickles (Stackers work great!)

Cream cheese, preferably whipped for easy spreading

I hadn't meant to get Stackers, usually I work with the little ones or the regular spears.  But they worked out alright, other than being crazy long!  

Start out with two or three pieces of meat to give you a stronger canvas to paint on the cream cheese.  An alternative is to begin w/ a tortilla, spread cream cheese on that & then add the meat.  Obviously I really do enjoy my cream cheese!  : )  

Next, add the pickle, and roll.  As you can see, the Stacker is a little wide and long... So you can remedy that by making a few precise cuts.

Voila!  Your pickles are ready for wrapping!  : ) 

Layer into/onto your serving dish of choice.  

Now, if you're using midgets or baby kosher dills, you can cut them up into smaller portions.  Really, I could have cut them into smaller portions.  I like big bites of this treat, tho, so there ya go!  

I made a separate batch for my midnight snack last night & they are gooooood!  

Until Next Time... What's your favorite appetizer?  

Breakfast!

I love breakfast!  I'll eat it any chance I get.  Eggs & bacon, toast & sausage, pancakes & warm, warm syrup.  Waffles!  Bagels & cream cheese (and smoked salmon if I can get it).  Coffee w/ cream & sugar.  Leyton likes to pour in the cream & sugar.  : )

Today before our trip to Dubuque, we went to Village Inn for breakfast.  I ordered toast & fruit, extra crispy bacon & eggs over easy.  Then I put the eggs on the toast, cut up the bacon & it was so yummy, all the yellow yolk & bread & mmmmm!  I know, you're thinking, "It's eggs & bacon & toast, come on!"  LOL  But I enjoyed it.

Also had fun w/ the boys.  I gave them my grapes, which they scarfed up!  Anthony had a HUGE glass of OJ, and Leyton got the kid size.  Kinda a big discrepency in sizing there...

Gramma showed them a spoon game while we waited, after we looked through the pictures from yesterday.  Apparently it was from Minute To Win It...!

I think I have bacon & eggs & I know I have bread, so I'm thinking that's what'll be for breakfast tomorrow, too!  : )

Until next time, what's your favorite breakfast food??

Cousin Lunch at Dawn's

My cousin Kathy & her daughter, Jenni, are in town from New Mexico for a couple weeks.  We decided to get together for a cousin lunch, and Dawn offered her home for the gathering.  It was so amaaaaazing to hang out w/ Dawn & her brood - hubs Brad, and Boo, Bran, Bay, Bradley & Blake, Kath, Jen, Aunt Janie (Kathy's mom), Shawna & her daughter, Misha.

We had a delicious spread of salads, lunch meat & cheese.  For dessert, there was watermelon.  Everything was tastey, but the most important part of today's meal was the time spent with cousins too spread apart to see often!

The strawberries were beautiful AND sweet!

More fun pictures & things at Musings.  : )  As much as I love to eat out, it's these family affairs that are my favorite!

Until next time - do you have big family gatherings full of food, games & fun?

Osaka

Hello Blog Buddies!  Long time no write!  It's not that I haven't been eating at interesting places, it's just that my pictures have been crappy lately.  These are still kinda crappy, and I apologize for their quality!  But rest assured, this meal was enjoyed greatly!  : )

I started off with a tastey Budweiser, because I'd been craving a beer for weeks.  I normally stick with water w/ lemon at dinner, and I know there are better other brands of beer out there, but for some reason I just like Bud-wei-ser.  *laugh* 

All week I thought I would order the peanut roll (deep fried California Roll) because that's what I enjoyed so much last time.  However, the crab & cucumber roll sounded better, so that's what I went with. I love the crunch of cucumber!  And it was nice to have just the crab & cucumber flavor, altho I did miss the avacado of the California roll.  Next time I'm thinking Philedelphia roll w/ some cream cheese... mmmm!  : )

For my entree, grilled salmon with soy sauce and fried rice w/o onion or veggies.  Next time I'll get the other veggies, tho!  They grill the salmon w/ butter, making it all ... smooth and ... buttery.  LOL

I might also get shrimp next time... but probably not.  I like shrimp, but I LOVE salmon!  : )

Tune in next time for Cousin (and Aunt Janie) Lunch!

Saying Goodbye / Key West 14

EATING DOWN HIGHWAY ONE


With Gene Morgan and his favorite traveling companion Nancy

On our last sad day in Key West, we just had to lunch at Hog’s Breath Saloon. (Hog’s breath is better than no breath at all...) We probably drink brew here more than we eat. It is another fine live music bar. It is one of those half inside half outside places so common on Duval Street. (Even though it’s main entrance in on Front Street.) It is a lively joint, and it is often hard to find a place to sit.

I know I probably say this too often, but the Hog’s Breath chicken sandwich is the best in the whole world. (I must not get out much) It is always fresh and juicy on a crisp sesame seed roll. Throw in a strong dill pickle and some chips and you got the perfect bar food. I had a big cold bottle of Hog’s Breath beer with mine. We toasted goodbye to Key West and shuffled off with the rest of the gloomy and broke tourist down Duval and across the harbor walk smelling salty seawater and boiling shrimp one last time.

We will leave you with this proud rooster sitting on Hog’s Breath’s roof watching us eat our last meal. I always kid that the chicken is so good at Hog’s Breath because the birds run wild and free all over town and that all you gotta do is grab one and you got a sandwich. This rooster was either happy that he didn’t have to fight all night as his cock fighting ancestors did or sad because we were eating his favorite hen.

Thanks for tuning in for our highway one eating tour and thanks to Carrie for asking us.

Bon Ton Roulett Y’All (“Let the good times roll” as the say in New Orleans )

Gene and Nancy Morgan

(Carrie's Note: This photo was added by me, and was taken at Sancho's after their return.  I just think it's a cute picture & wanted to share!)  : ) 

Thank you both for taking the time to create these posts for me to share with the world (or the 10 ppl who read this blog...lol)!  I appreciate you and love you both! 

Turtle Kraals ... Time For Brisket / Key West 13

EATING DOWN HIGHWAY ONE


With Gene Morgan and his favorite traveling companion Nancy

OK, Turtle Kraals is an odd name for a bar and grill. In the old days there were lots of sea turtles in the Keys. This is the dock where they used to brings loads of turtles to be butchered and cut up for turtle soup. The smell is almost gone. (I know I used that before, but I just call ’em as I see ‘em.) There aren’t many turtles left in the surrounding waters. I guess more people like turtle soup than I ever imagined. (Carrie's note: Aww, poor turtles!  Save the turtles!!*sniffle*)

Nancy does not usually like crab meat, But they had some great crab cakes in a buffet up on Duval Street. They had really fresh crab in them and were nice and sweet and she tried them. When out late one night after a sunset catamaran cruise we stopped at Turtle Kraals for little snack. I talked Nancy into trying their crab/spinach dip. Nancy’s exact words were: “Awesome, Dude!” The weird skinny crackers were decent as well. The dip was so tasty we took half of it back to our cottage with us and ate it on sandwiches the next day.

We eat seafood as much as we can when we are in the Keys, but after a few days we are actually ready for a bit of a modification to our all crustacean diet. There used to be a great restaurant uptown next to the Green Parrot Bar called The Meteor Smokehouse. They had the best Texas brisket I have ever tasted. Unfortunately they went out of business. We hunted all around the Keys for some good beef, and were surprised to find it on the Turtle Kraals’ menu.

This brisket was a fine hunk of cow that came with rice, yellow squash, and jalapeno corn bread. The bread made me sad because I love the corn, but just can’t handle those hot Mexican peppers. What a shame. But the bread was all that was left on the plates when we were done.

Shrimp...On A Stiiiick! / Key West 12

EATING DOWN HIGHWAY ONE

With Gene Morgan and his favorite traveling companion Nancy

Within an hour from getting off our flight in the Key West airport we were eating shrimp on a stick at BO’s fish wagon.

It is not really a wagon, but a crazy building that looks like it was put together with pieces of junk found on the beach after the last hurricane. This is Key West fancy. How it looks doesn’t matter, they got shrimp on a stick for 5 bucks a hit. Believe me folks, it’s a drug.

We ate here more times than anywhere else in the Keys. Every Friday night they would have a jam session featuring the coolest band on the island, and good music always makes us hungry.

Shrimp on a stick is shrimp grilled on a stick. (skewers for you elegant folks.) Wow, who would have guessed? It can be either barbeque, teriyaki, or plain. (that is the way I like it, I want to taste my seafood!) Their french fries taste just like the one mom used to make. That and an import beer, and you got a feast made in paradise.

We ate so much shrimp on a stick that one time we came in and they told us they weren’t gonna have it on the menu anymore. They gave us some kind of rap about how they had too many kinds of grilled shrimp on their menu and the boss wanted to cut back. I think they just wanted to sell more of their more expensive dinners and grouper sandwiches. Boy did we complain. The next time we came in the shrimp was back where it belonged, on a stick. These shrimp on a stick pictures are probably the worse we took. We were new to the island and too hungry to take great photos.

We did have one of their grilled shrimp dinners one time. It was big and juicy and came with a simple lettuce salad. You notice the usual cocktail sauce, but we never dipped in it. They had their own homemade key lime mayonnaise sauce. It was tangy and sweet.

Man, writing all this really makes me hungry. Have I said that before?