Five Fun Food Facts Meme

I was just tagged by Holly over at 2 Kids and Tired with this food meme.

First I'll post the rules, because they say I have to:
1. Link to your tagger and post these rules.
2. Share 5 food facts about yourself.
3. Tag 5 people at the end of your post and list their names (linking to them)
4. Let them know they've been tagged by leaving a comment at their blogs.

But since I'm feeling rebellious today, I'm picking and choosing which rules I am going to follow--kinda like a food menu (get it?). I'll take a number 1 and a number 2 but hold the number 3 and no number 4.

Five Fun Food Facts About Me

I love black olives (not green ones)

I've loved black olives for as long as I can remember. When I was a toddler, I would put an olive on each finger and call myself the "ollie monster".

I don't do that anymore (Hubby is so happy about that--particularly when we're at a party with olives in the veggie tray). I like my olives dipped in ranch dressing now.

I also like the taste of the "olive juice" in the can (I guess it's called "brine"). I love you, olive juice. Get it? Say it slowly if you don't.

I love tomato products but not fresh tomatoes

Give me a great tomato-based spagetti sauce anyday (even with chunks of tomato in it) but hold the tomatoes on my dinner salad.

I grow a lot of fresh tomatoes every summer, but they are all for Hubby who eats them like candy (particularly the Sweet 100's). I, however, don't like the taste of fresh tomatoes. It's the taste that's the same as the tomato plant smells that I really dislike. But if a bunch of fresh tomatoes have marinated long enough in a salsa then I love them.

Given the choice between a piece of chocolate or a piece of white cake, I'd choose the white cake

Although do have my daily dose of 1 oz. of semi-sweet chocolate a day as suggested by Dr. Cristiane Northrup for a happier Cindy (particularly in winter), I'm not a choc-aholic persay. If given the choice between chocolate and something else, I will almost always choose the "something else". I'm a lover of blonde desserts--plain cheesecake, white wedding cake, white angel food cake, vanilla ice cream... you get the picture. And given a choice between a chocolate dessert and a slice of good boysenberry, cherry, or apple pie? The slice of pie will win hands down! And if it's a cherry cheesecake? Well, there's no contest there! The cherry cheesecake will always get my vote.




My all-time favorite home-cooked meal is Porcupine Meatballs

No, they aren't made with porcupine meat! These meatballs are made with ground beef. My mom started making them from a recipe found in a Betty Crocker pamphlet she had. I've now inherited that pamphlet and dug it out the other night so Hubby could see the origin of my favorite meal (see the scan at right). After having spent the last 10 years reciting the recipe to Hubby from memory so he could make it (he's the cook in the house, not me), Hubby wanted to see the original recipe. And when he did, he was surprised at how much the recipe has been tweaked over the years by my mom and me. I think next time he makes them, he's going to make them exactly like the recipe to see how much of a difference there is between the original version and our tweaked version.

Regardless, porcupine meatballs taste great and make awesome leftovers that are easily microwaved. It's a recipe that indeed is a great way to stretch your budget. Here's the original recipe in case anyone else is willing to try out this great classic and make it a family favorite.

And finally... my last fun food fact!

I make great microwave food

For two years in high school, I worked at Burger King. I learned to make a mean Whopper in record time. I also developed an affinity for making microwave sandwiches and other foods. I really don't like cooking (which is why Hubby "owns" the kitchen at Rosehaven Cottage), but if I can make a microwaved sandwich or other entree, I'm happy. A favorite of mine is a re-creation of a menu item that was on the Burger King menu way back before I worked there. It was the Yumbo. It was basically a hot ham and cheese sandwich (just ham, cheese, and the bun) a lot like the one you can still get at Arby's.

I can make a Yumbo at home with a nice high-quality hamburger bun (whole wheat is the best), about 6-8 slices of good deli ham, and 2 slices of deli-quality American cheese. The meat has to be folded and stacked just right to catch all the juices and melted cheese after it's been microwaved for about 45 seconds on high. Man, is it a great sandwich but it's a little high in the cholesterol and fat department.

A healthier microwave meal option that I really love are my whole grain nachos (photo at right) that are only 6 WeightWatchers points for a whole big plateful.

Here's how to make them:

15 whole grain tortilla chips from Trader Joe's (Salsa Fresca flavor is great!)

1/2 can of fat-free refried beans 1 oz. sharp cheddar cheese

optional carmelized white vidalia onions (I use leftovers from other dishes)

Lay out the tortilla chips in one layer with edges slightly overlapping onto a microwave-safe plate. Put spoonfuls of refried beans evenly spaced over layer of chips. Hand-grate cheddar cheese over top. To regulate the amount, I put the entire plate onto my kitchen scale before putting the cheese on, zero out the weight, and then grate the cheese on until the scale reads 1 oz. Place optional onions over the top. Microwave the plate of nachos for 60-90 seconds on high. Enjoy with a cool glass of water!

Breakfast For Dinner

The other evening, Hubby turned to me and said, "I feel like having breakfast for dinner. How would that be for a blog title?"

I thought it was a grand idea. At that point, we just needed to decide where it was that we were going to go to get breakfast for dinner at almost 9 o'clock at night. It had to be somewhere that we wanted to write about so it couldn't be a chain place that would be a snooze for our readers.

After going through some potential options, a light bulb went on in Hubby's head (I could see it in his eyes). "Let's go to Giant Chef [formerly Chef Burger] in Pleasant Hill! I used to go there years ago, and they have great breakfasts served all day and night!"

So it was off to Giant Chef we went.

Hubby ordered the Ham Breakfast ($6.95) that includes, ham, of course, 3 eggs any way you like them, hash browns and toast. It was delivered hot and made to order. This ham steak was probably the most tender ham he had ever had. The browns were crispy outside and fluffy inside, almost like shredded baked potato rather than the usual oily mass that other places tend to serve...how did they do it? The eggs were fresh and cooked to order - he likes them over medium with a dash or two of Tobasco Brand sauce. He ordered rye toast. They only had light rye, which was okay but he prefers dark rye. It was great toast nonetheless. He said that whenever we feel like breakfast for dinner we know exactly where we'll go.

I ordered the Ham Breakfast as well only I had my eggs scrambled and I had wheat toast. I also ordered a side of pancakes--the Short Stack. My goodness were those great pancakes! They smelled like the handmade waffle cones and had a taste that was kind of like vanilla except with another nuance I couldn't quite identify. The two pancakes in a Short Stack are huge! They measured about 7-8" in diameter. I only had half a piece of my toast so I would have room for the pancakes and even then I wasn't able to eat them all.

The service at Giant Chef is very personable with a down-home-small-town feeling. The establishment has been around since the 1940's, so it is a landmark in the community. We observed a number of California Highway Patrol officers and other local law enforcement coming in or going out. If it's popular with the cops than it's gotta be a pretty good place, right?

At the end of our meal, we unknowingly tried to pay with a credit card. Oops! Giant Chef only excepts cash! Remember, they ONLY ACCEPT CASH! We were both short on cash, so I sat in the booth while Hubby ran across the street to an ATM. It was either that or do some dishwashing in back.

The Original Mel's Diner: Home of American Graffiti

A rainy evening a couple of days ago, Hubby and I realized later than usual that we hadn't eaten dinner yet. Hubby wasn't in the mood to cook anything and wanted us to just get out. So off to Walnut Creek we went to dine at Mel's Diner--a perfect late night eatery as it is open until 3 a.m.!

Mel's Diner is a classic 50's-style diner based on the drive-in featured in the early George Lucas film American Graffiti. The original eatery where the filming of the movie actually occurred was located in the Central Valley town of Modesto, California. Since that time, other Mel's Diner locations have opened around the West with most being company-owned. However, the Walnut Creek establishment is actually a franchise (which we just learned on this visit).

The decor is classic 50's diner decor with lots of American Graffiti memorabilia and photos gracing the walls. Even if you aren't a fan of the film, Mel's Diner is sure to be a treat because of its easy-going atmosphere, nostalgic charm, and great food. And the service has never been anything less than superb in all our visits even to other locations.

Hubby chose to order the Mel's Classic Burger. The burger was served hot and juicy--just right to curb the craving for the "perfect burger". The bun was very impressive. It held together being was more like a dinner roll than a bun in its density. A large pickle spear being served on the side was refreshing as pickle on the burger is sometimes overpowering. The large leaf of lettuce was fresh and crisp. The burger came without mayo--which made it a refreshing change as one doesn't always want the added calories (although there may have been some butter on the bun).

I ordered my favorite, the French Dip sandwich. The sandwich is offered as a traditional French Dip with roast beef only on the bun or for a nominal charge one can order it Philly style with bell peppers, onions, and cheese. I ordered mine with grilled onions and cheese. Of course the sandwich is served with a small bowl of au jus. Au jus can make or break a French Dip sandwich, and I found Mel's au jus to be very tasty but not too salty. The roast beef was succulent, tender, and perfectly sliced making bites into the sandwich easy.


Instead of the standard side of fries or cole slaw, we chose the beer-battered onion rings (that cost a little extra). The generous portions of rings were hot, crispy, and tasted wonderful. Hubby ate his without condiments while I chose to eat mine like I always do with lots of ketchup. And as really good onion rings should be, they were almost too big to eat in a polite manner. That's the way diner food should be in our estimation--not too fussy and a little bit messy.

The overall ambience of Mel's Diner is always enhanced by the music that plays in the background from the old jukebox that's been converted to play CD's. Many times during our meal, we would be sitting there and then realize that we were quietly humming along to a favorite old tune that we've heard so much throughout our lives that's it's just become a part of the fabric of who we are. I think that's why Mel's Diner appeals to us (and many others). It represents a slice of Americana that has actually been woven into the fabric of our lives. It is who we are. And reconnecting with that part of ourselves is always a great way to spend a rainy evening when it's late, we're hungry, and Hubby doesn't want to cook.

To see any one of the images in this review larger, just click on it. All photographs were taken by permission of the management of the Mel's Diner in Walnut Creek, California.