4.29.2006

Slackin' as usual

Ok – instead of going to my favorite secret place to eat this past week, I went to La Porte, Indiana instead. What is in La Porte, Indiana? Every year a friend of ours has a house party with a live band and a couple of kegs. Everyone attending reverted to about 1/3 of their true age and has a great time. This year the cops even showed up asking us to keep it down. Woohoo! Old people rock!

Here is our friend Mike (in the middle) playing with his band. I do not have any incrimating photos of him the next morning. No really, Mike - I don't. Honest. Well maybe just one....


I also cooked breakfast the following day, since there is no place that will feed twenty hung over people on a Sunday morning in La Porte. Did I take pictures of this grand feast? Hell no – I was busy turning flapjacks, cooking bacon and making coffee. And we went through a lot of coffee.

So a word of advice – four pounds of bacon, five dozen eggs, thirty pancakes and two pounds of coffee is not enough for twenty people with hangovers. Buy more. Lots more.

One of the best things about traveling the same route every year is that we get to eat at tiny places that no one has ever heard about. I am not talking about a hot new chef or food that is stacked up in little pyramids – this is gas station food.

See, in big cities, gas stations really don’t have much in the way of tasty food. When you get out in the boonies, gas stations usually double as a restaurant for the masses. No Micky D’s in your town? Head on down to JP’s Carry Out and get yourself a pizza or some fine broasted chicken! Wait - need something for that man sized appetite? Try a pork fritter sandwich!


Basically, it is a piece of pork loin, pounded thin, breaded and deep fried. Serve it up on a bun with all the fixins and it is a damn fine lunch break for a weary traveler. The one I ate this time-the pork was the size of a small plate. Hmmmmmmmmmmm…too bad I only get it once a year.


In other junk food news, I picked up twenty 2-liters of Kosher Coke. For those of us in the know, it is the yearly chance to buy mass quantities of our favorite beverage made with REAL SUGAR. Yes, no high fructose corn syrup in this product. Does it make a difference - you bet your sweet bippy it does! The cola is less viscous and has a cleaner finish on the palate. IT is just like Coke used to be. Don’t believe me? Check out this recording from NPR.

I am thinking of making my own syrups - I love ginger beer and it is hard as heck to find a brand that I like. My grandfather and his brother-in-law used to run a soda bottling works out of an outbuilding at ye olde family abode. I still have one of the original bottles and a business card. So it runs in the blood. If you want it done right - do it yourself!


Well, maybe this week I will settle down and stop teasing you with my wonderful food finds - time to get back in the kitchen and start cooking!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

LOL!! That was so cool. You got the police out? Way to go. And all that unhealthy food--fabulous. I used to live in lafayette, Indiana. The police were called out for weddings sometimes!

This almost makes up for the fact that Typepad is on the fritz. Argh!!!!!

Rosie said...

I told Mike to invite the cops' wives next year so we don't get busted! Or, conversly, invite the mayor's daughter...that is what we used to do in high school - our parties never really had any problems.

I noticed that Live Journal was messin' up earlier today too - too many people having something to say perhaps?