Perkins for Girl Talk

A few years ago, I decided with a few "ladyfriends" the best time to get together and talk it over may very well be Sunday breakfast/brunch.  No men, no kids, nothing but us and our conversation.  We rotate through a cycle of locations including local diners and Perkins.  I love the breakfast potatoes at Perkins, but sometimes the crowd forces us to end our time together a bit sooner than we may be ready. 

This visit was timed perfectly and we were left alone for quite some time in a booth out of the way of traffic.

I look forward to these times and whether it is my hyper-type A personality or simply an organized mind that needs to clear away the clutter and chaos of small decision, I have already decided what I will order.

Perhaps I will leave the reveal until the end.  For readers who know me fairly well, it should be easy to see which order is mine.  

Is it the eggy, yet crisp French Toast...

 

 with a side of sausages,

 

or the tomato and mozzarella omelet (which is not on the menu, but an attentive server checked with the kitchen and though the mozzarella is designated for sandwiches, they can certainly cook it on the eggs) with breakfast potatoes and a side of fruit?

We talk the way women do, about life, love, family, vacations, work, the Steelers and the Jets.  I know, you are probably very surprised to hear we discuss work, but sometimes women simply have to share and get it off their chests, woman to woman.

A coffee refill, an order of orange juice, a few laughs and surprises, we really talk it all over. 

Yes, it was I who ordered the custom cheese omelet.  I have this thing for tomatoes & mozzarella as well as eggs and potatoes - so to enjoy 2 of my favorite pairings is a treat for the mind and palette.  Sharing this time with a pair of wonderful ladies keeps me feeling Fed Well.

Chicken Soup for the Reconciliation Soul at Goshen Diner

All relationships have their ups and downs.  Some have higher highs, some have lower lows and we are faced with decisions about staying or going.  Can pain and hurt be forgotten, forgiven, worked through?  Should they be or is sometimes walking away the most gentle, humane and kindest answer?

After about 3 months apart, a reconciliation is being considered and with it are thousands of feelings in various degrees.  How do you take baby steps with someone you have had a relationship with for oh, thirty years or so?

Well, you start at a diner.

First step, tea and coffee at the Quickway Diner for a talk that lasts about 2 hours.

Second step, tea, coffee and chicken soup at the Goshen Diner and a walk on the Heritage Trail.  You talk, you listen, you think and then you go home alone to think some more.

You think some more.  You feel a lot.

Chicken soup really does have magical powers for the mind and soul. 

You decide if you will remember being hungry or being Fed Well.  You wonder if you will both choose to be Fed Well together.

Ken's Superior Apple Crisp

Cooking, birthdays, cake and pie - all of these things came to mind when my older son decided after a trip to an orchard with his girlfriend that he would be baking his first apple crisp.  I have to really resist all temptation to join them in the kitchen as they laugh and prepare their treat.

I remember baking a customize apple pie for his birthday a few years ago - you can read more about the adventure here:

Tradition yes - cake -no

The couple begin their baking journey by prepping the apples.  For some reason I think it is funny that my son uses my Pampered Chef Apple Corer/Slicer.

They found the recipe in her mom's Pillsbury Cookbook and the funny thing is, I have the same one but have never attempted an apple crisp.  I love to cook, hesitate to bake other than apple pie and holiday cookies.

Bottom line, my son and his firlfriend baked a superior apple crisp which we topped with vanilla bean ice cream - dessert heaven.

The experience was so positive, I thought I could surely duplicate it with all of the remaining apples from their orchard trip.  Well, I followed the same recipe, but sadly mine was in no way as wonderful as theirs and I am confident enough to admit it. In fact, they have made a second crisp and I am proud to say the other was not simply beginner's luck.

 Recognizing wonderful food prepared by others is a first step in knowing when one is Fed Well.

Chocolate Drizzled Strawberries

A million years ago, when I was a teenage baby sitter, I was hired to watch over twin boys.  I had never met the family before but was recommended by a dear friend and so I was hired over the phone.  (Can you even imagine this practice today, being asked to watch someones children when they have never even met you?)

The boys were fine and once they went to sleep in their bunk beds I was quickly bored and wanted a snack to fill the time.  I had no idea I was in a "healthy house."

NO SNACK FOODS.

How could this be?  I felt I was on a quest.  Opening kitchen cabinets.  Moving things around on the pantry shelves.  Rechecking the refrigerator.  No chips.  No sugar.  No cookies.  Nothing.

Ah, but wait...an unopened bag of chocolate chips.  Of course they were destined for a wholesome batch of home baked cookies, but would they miss a few chips in a desperate situation?  I paced.  I worried.  I tried to wait it out.

Exactly 30 minutes later I cut the bag open and poured out a handful.  I was a fiend.  I had ruined the ratio of chocolate chips to cookie dough but I was calmer.  I confessed my crime when the parents arrived, right after I explained how their one son bumped his head on the wooden bunk bed but seemed fine.  I was paid and brought home - I was never invited back.  I wonder, was it the injury or the snacking?

I was reminded of this experience when I was recently hit by a tsunami size chocolate craving.  It doesn't happen often, but when it does, chocolate is the only thing that will help.  I rummaged through my stock and couldn't find a single morsel until I thought a bit more creatively.

I did have strawberries....

I did have Hershey's chocolate syrup...

and so a substitution was made for chocolate covered to chocolate drizzled strawberries. 

The insane and desperate feelings dissipated as I swirled the sliced red fruit around in the pool of chocolate.  I felt like a lady in control instead of a maniac needing a fix.

Chocolate can be a powerful drug and to feel Fed Well one must sometimes be a bit creative to satisfy the inner junkie.

Sharing: Plates, Thoughts and Tequila

A week night out with two great gal friends begins with a Cosmorita - a Cosmopolitan (my favorite) brightened with tequila.  The tequila also makes the drink a bit more edgy and I hope it doesn't impair me for work the next day.  It is wonderful.

Some nights, ordering food is simple and others you can scan a menu of hundreds of items, dozens of times and still not have any idea what sounds appealing.

Some nights, it is far easier to let someone else make the decisions.

Tonight, one friend and I talk it out and agree we want soup and to share a dish.  The soup special is chicken orzo but the broth has a bit of tomato as well.

What goes best with soup?  A bit of girl talk comfort and of course a sandwich, so we order the crispy chicken wrap to share with french fries.  Have I ever mentioned my love affair with french fries?  I am quite obsessed and possessive of crispy, golden, salty, deep fried strips of potatoes. 

The food, the friends, the warming effect of the drink and I am comforted, satiated, content and soothed.  It has been a bumpy journey recently, but with an unshakable support team, I have been able to remain Fed Well.

McDonald's Big Mac Monday

The desire for a fast food fix is fairly rare, but when it flares up it must be obeyed.

And, if one must have golden delicious deep fried potatoes in the iconic cardboard container,

they certainly must be paired with the classic heart attack on a bun, the Big Mac.

Yes, I sometimes sing the song in my head.  Especially if I have to wait for fast food.  2 all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun. Oh yeah.

A customer spills soda, a child leans on the booth behind my friend and I, same child whines and walks along the window sill as the parents eat mindlessly.  Yes, McDonald's is the place to be.

How could we possibly follow up our lunch date?  You guessed it, with a lunchtime trip through Wal-Mart. 

How can I begin to compose or post about a lunch at McDonald's on a blog titled, "Fed Well?"  Life is about balance and moderation and making good choices.  For food and diet it may also include giving in to an occasional craving without a boatload of guilt or falling completely out of the boat into a sea of unhealthy eating.  Family members have made fun of me for my ability to only eat a handful of M & M's and put the individual snack size bag away. 

I came, I saw, I ate the Big Mac, now I can move on and continue to be Fed Well.

Solo Breakfast Burger

Wanna know a secret?  Sometimes, I eat alone.  Yeah, with nobody else.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpzqQst-Sg8

(Sorry George Thorogood fans)

But seriously, when my friends aren't at work who take the "breakfast train" with me, it is a little bit lonelier.  I love though when my biggest decision is what to order.

I have a few favorites like a hard boiled egg on whole wheat toast, but it was time for what I have nicknamed, "The Breakfast Burger."

Sausage on a grilled hard roll (no butter) and cold tomato slices.

For the past few years I have discovered I have a real thing for having tomatoes in the morning. 

No topics of conversation when I eat solo... but I confess, that is when I like to surf the internet for a few minutes and check a few fellow bloggers or a bit of celebrity gossip. 

What's your go-to breakfast?

How do you pass the time when you are eating alone?