For your hypin' pleasure: Vanilla Ice's Go Ninja Go
From the moment we docked in Put-in-Bay, The Great Dane (TGD) pointed to this unassuming, neighborhood looking bar, and mentioned that they have pretty awesome pizza. Frostys Bar.
Courtesy of Frostys
Ha ha! Funny TGD. I was willing to bet that it's frozen pizza he was trying to trick me in to eating. With our week long vacay coming to an end, it was time to try this pizza! With an excited grin, TGD brings this box over to our table. I on the other hand, glared at it with overpowering skepticism.
Open sesame! Still sort of unimpressed...but really hungry, and ok, I was salivating at the sight of all that cheese!
Little did I know that the cheese to crust ratio is 5:1 ( I made up this math)!!! Yes my fellow Noshers, this was not a thick crust pizza. It's just simply cheese overload, but in the best way possible. I'm always on the hunt for ooey,gooey,cheesy pizza. Most pizza's I've encountered that claimed to be cheesy, disappoints by only having one layer of cheese that has partially hardened by the time it hits my chompers. Frostys pizza puts all those pizzas to shame! Frostys pizza is not for the folks that are looking for frou frou specialty pizza. It's your good old American, hangover cure, and most likely Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles approved pizza. Go pizza, go pizza, go!
Just look at the cheese stretch! Most of the time, you only see this in perfectly produced pizza commercials or food shows. I think I heard the 3 tenors sing Hallelujah as I wrestled this piece of pizza into my plate. I never thought I would ever get to witness the "cheese stretch" in real life.
As perfect as this pizza is, there is one bone I have to pick with it...WHY ARE YOU 5 HOURS AWAY?! Do you ship? Delivery? Ahhhhh! I guess I'll have to settle with having to arm myself with a thermal bag and drive out to Grand Stand Pizza in Franklin Park, or get my delivery from Peqouds Pizza.
Comment below if you have a pizza place that you think would cure my Frostys blues.
The song that played in my head that day: Lana Del Rey Moi Je Joue (A little play on Bridget Bardot's version)
When The Great Dane (TGD) is away, this mousketeer will play...play "how to get lost in a 2 mile island." This game starts out with a run. I need to sweat out some of this salt that's making me feel like I'm trapped in a sausage casing!
I can't remember the last time I ran without music blasting in my ears, but since my cell service has me roaming in Canada (I'm in Ohio!), it left me running to the rhythm of the wind, while forcing me to listen to my huffing and puffing. Wow! I don't sound that miserable...well at least when I run past people. Red alert! People on coming! Smile and nod. After I know they're far enough away, GAAAAASP!!! Need. Air. Lungs. Work!
I met a few friendly faces along the way that I smiled and nodded to, like this "sleeping" raccoon. Wake up raccoon! The bugs are eating your face! I also saw a man that looked like Santa cruising along in a jeep, who asked me if I know where the synagogue is... or that's what I thought I heard him say. Synagogue? Santa? Clearly, this is not the jolly old man I know. The stranger danger alarm in my head screamed " RUN! this is it...you're going to get kidnapped by Santa and be locked up in his cabin worthy of an 80's horror movie...AHHHHH." So with a nervous smile I hurriedly said no, and ran a 2 minute/mile pace. That's it! Call me a quitter, but Im done trying to get lost. Not to mention that there's signs all over telling people to be nice to the water snakes. Snakes?! Ok, really time to bust out of these woods. Time to hunt for some iced coffee.
After I washed the smell of nature and salt off of me, I was mortified to find that one of my little tootsies is missing it's coat of nail polish. Did santa make me run that hard, it blew the paint off of it? As luck would have it, the ONLY spa in this island was able to fit me in for a polish change. Phew! Crisis averted! After she fixed up my tootsies, the lady at the salon directed me to the place across the street for some good iced coffee. The Old Forge Cafe and Creperie. Coffee and Crepe? Sold! So I waddled on over with my wet toes!
Presenting, the crepe that shall remain nameless!
I totally spaced out and got way too excited to have iced coffee, and just inhaled this french fluffery, without thinking about my Noshers!
Nosher challenge! Find me the name of this dish. Your clue is that this thing is stuffed with chicken, bathed in pesto. The pesto had a good balance of an earthy, nutty flavor and tang. I've had greasy pesto before. This one was not. To add to the heartiness of the crepe stuffing, some sort of cheese joined the party. I believe it was Feta. Need I mention the crumbles of bacon atop this crepe? The overall bite was cheesy and satisfying. It definitely did not trick me in to thinking that I was not canceling out my run, but it was oh so worth it! With my plate licked clean, and my tooties dried, it was time to walk back home to hydrate and reclaim the sausage casing feeling. Ha!
To help transport you in to vacay mode: Beach Boys
Kokomo
What is summer without a week long vacation to get some sun damage? This sun damage was brought to you by the wonderful state of Ohio. Yes! You read that right. O.H.I.O! I decided to tag along with The Great Dane for a trip to Put-in-Bay, OH. It's an island on it's own, needing a quick hop on a ferry to get to it. Think of it as the smaller version of Lake Geneva, or for you East Coast folks, the smaller version of the Hamptons with a splash of Jersey Shore. It's about a 2 mile stretch from end to end, and according to the census, population 138! Ok, enough with the faqs, and on to the fun!
Arriving late in the afternoon, it was clear that we had to catch up on some fun and hydration. Fast forward to the dehydration of the morning after. I think the first words out of my mouth was "water," followed by "ice cream." Armed with my sunglasses, we started our foot journey in the direction of ice cream. A long the way I spotted this... The Keys
It's kinda hard to pass up a waterside restaurant bursting with colorful umbrellas. Brunch before ice cream it is!
Unsure of my capacity to ingest real food, and knowing that the next meal time is just around the corner, we decided to split the nosh.
Island Calamari: I wasn't expecting much from this, since I was well aware that I'm floating on Lake Erie, and not the ocean. To my surprise, the calamari was fresh, not chewy, perfectly seasoned coating, and not greasy at all! It was flavorful enough that the pineapple chili sauce was just an added bonus. My mouth is craving the crunch as I write this! How come this calamari tasted 200x fresher than the calamari I had in Seattle, when the ocean is right there?! I guess there's squid in Lake Erie. Ha!
Grouper Reuben: Laying in between grilled marbled rye was the sweet symphony of the grilled grouper, coleslaw, swiss cheese, swiss chili tartar, and GUACAMOLE! My ailment was screaming for the health benefits of guac. The combination was nice and hearty, that I almost forgot I was eating fish. Another fresh catch! Oh and the fries... TGD vetoed sweet potato fries, so we kept it normy. I'm not one to finish off fries, but they were seasoned so well, I could not help myself. The seasoning had great balance of salty and a hint of pepper spice? Now I'm wondering how epic the sweet potato fries would have been.
The tropical themed meal was complimented by this view. I said I wanted water, and water was what I got. How come I'm still so thirsty? Well done Ohio! I actually felt like I was in Florida.
No! I'm not calling my father a monkey! This picture reminds me of the giant artwork that hung above my father's office desk, but his was way cooler. It was a monkey smoking a cigar, answering the phone, and looking like The Boss Man! ( The internet did not have a replica of it. This is the closest one.)
I got my thirst for the OhMyGosh! from my father. My father taught me to work hard and play hard. I remember spending countless hours sitting next to him at his office watching him write numbers, and more numbers and more numbers, and talk business talk. While I was most likely stuffing my face and leaving watermarks on his desk, I looked in amazement at how awesome my father was. He made working look cool. On weekends, my father and I would go to off-road, motocross, and slalom competitions, and of course drag racing. He also taught me how not to shoot my eye out, and how to peel out before I could drive a straight line. He is also the coolest father in the hood, who trusted me to have the wits and coordination to ride a scooter at age 9. He was not wrong! ( My mother was probably in church praying to all the angels and saints as well.)
My father taught me that life is one big adventure, and not to sweat the small stuff...except traffic! Hey adventure is waiting, and the slow drivers are holding us down! Move! or get crushed! Oh...ohhhhm~
As hard working as my father is, he always had time to drive us to and from school, plan off the beaten path road trips, and never fails at Sunday Funday festivities. Why didn't I inherit his energy?
Thank you Papa for your constant support, for laughing at my cheesy jokes, the fun and unique adventures, being my food guinea pig (remember the scones that turned into "stones" and the flan that turned into soup?), and teaching me not to fear life...but to party with it! I am my awesome self, because you made me that way!
To all the fathers and father figures
Happy Father's Day!
May your kids grow up and think you're awesome. Ha!
A cancelled appointment and my disdain for waiting in line led me to an early supper. I started my trek in the direction of Green St. in the hopes that I would not find a crowd that resembled the stock exchange floors. It's 6 P.M. and Green St. looks free and clear and all is a go!
As I entered the door of Green Street Smoked Meats, I was greeted by a tattooed man with an impressive beard, who makes sure you know the laws of the meat! You don't mess with the meat!!!
This is not the bearded man
The bearded man told me to get hooked on phonics and order under the signage that says "Order Here." What? This is an actual functioning sign? and not just kitsch? I don't know what kind of affliction I have, but ordering fast food style somehow stresses me out! This better be worth it!
As I stressed over the ordering process, I stressed over the amount of times my mind changed as to what my belly wants in it. Everything looks so good! it doesn't help that I'm watching this man cut meat, and every piece looks so scrumptiously barbeque-ey.
OK..my turn...I ended up getting the Frito Pie. yes it has Frito chips in it, and it's even served in the Frito bag! I can't remember the last time I've had Fritos, and what they did here is amazing! It reminded me of loaded nachos, but with perfectly smoked pulled pork and BACON!
This was my tray of food. I thought the tray and butcher paper was a nice touch. Yes, you are seeing Wonderbread WHITE BREAD!!! Whole grain wheat, 10 million grain bread does not live here!
To answer the meat conundrum I was dealt with, I thought that there was no better way to go but...PORK BELLY!!! It's basically very thick cut bacon, and it was perfectly seasoned with...uh..smoke and deliciousness?
What's meat without it's blanket of sauces. Here at Green Street Smoked Meats, they give you four sauces to bath your meat with. Coffee, Texas, Vinegar, & Spicy. I was expecting the coffee to have a hint of coffee. I'm not sure If my taste buds are paralyzed, but I did not get coffee. The Texas is the barbeque sauce for people who refuse to stick their foot outside of the line. The Spicy was my favorite. It was sweet, smokey, and spicy. The vinegar was something I somehow skipped. Find out on your own I guess.
Oh you see this fun beverage right here? This IS your awesome grandma's sweet tea...if your grandma loves hiding bourbon in her tea. My starving self should not have started with bourbon. This might have been the reason why my taste buds were paralyzed and I skipped the vinegar sauce. Did I mention you can order a pitcher of this sweat tea?! Uhhm yes! Grandma knows how to party!
And for dessert... ice cream! During my internal stress out session in the "Order Here" line, I spied with my twitching eye, the signage...ICE CREAM! I ordered it along with my meal, and was given the mark of the super meat hero. You get "VIP treatment" when you order ice cream. You get to cut in line after your meal to collect your sugar.
Meal time done!!! Time to flash my pig stamp like a super power...whooosh...it's ice cream time! Look at that delicious hard (butterscotch?) coating on this creamy little thing...but to my disappointment...it tasted like "meh." Once again, should I blame my paralyzed taste buds?
Despite the "meh" ending to my meal, I would go back to get more meat, but maybe not be so buttoned up next time. Barbeque sauce on your sleeve is not a good look. You can however rock the sauce in plaid and your beard, which was a common sight during that night. It's one way to save the flavor for later. Oh yah...I would even line up and "Order Here."
You are getting sleepy~~~wooooh. On any given weeknight, you'll find either the Food Network or the Cooking Channel tucking me in bed. One night, while fighting the sleep fairy like a kindergarten tike, the Cooking Channel's Unique Sweets , woke me up from my daze with the words Danish and Seattle. What?! Do they have these enchanted aebleskivers The Great Dane keeps talking about?
Aebleskivers: TGD described it as basically spherical pancakes
There was only one way to find out...Go there! To Nielsen's!
Boo! No sightings of the mystical Aebelskivers, but I found a Potato and Sara Bernhardt.
Ok, I have to admit, the only reason why I got the Potato was because this was what Unique Sweets raved about. I have great faith in their choices; and how could you mess up sugar?
I took the first chomp, and the marzipan was like a sweet, soft shell on top of the puff pastry. After breaking through the Marzipan barrier encasing the soft fluffy whip cream and custard combination, I found my shirt and everything around me covered in the cocoa powder that this thing is sprinkled with, it also did not help that I was dancing around singing "Hot potato, hot potato"( housekeeping tip increase) This pastry reminds me of a profiterole, but 3x bigger, and much more delicious than the profiterole. This pastry is so light and airy, yet decadent, and it almost does not seem too sinful to have more than one, or two or three. The only sin you can commit is not getting more than one, which I was miserably guilty of.
A bite off Sarah Bernhardt sparked a delicious memory that I could not put my finger on. Then it clicked. Am I eating a dark chocolate covered macaron, filled with chocolate mouse?! I basically was! Hidden underneath the chocolate and mouse layer is indeed an almond macaron. This pastry was supposed to be created in honor of that French actress, Sarah Bernhardt. I like how this is a bigger and better version of a macaron. Yep, another unfortunate mistake of just getting one.
I couldn't just leave Nielsen's without picking up these fun little marzipan fruit dopplegangers. This will fulfill the ADA fruit requirement right? I declare yes!
I can't wait to have one or a few of these cute little pink boxes tied with twine, and filled with yummy deliciousness again!
For your full Noshing experience: Summertime by Billie Holiday
If you've skimmed through The Eat List, you've read about Nomi's Creamsicle Tumbler. Well, as luck would have it, we were a block away from Nomi, when my friend declared that she's "thirsty." I hurriedly led her to the watering hole, in the guise of being conscientious. In reality, I was really leading myself to get some dessert. Elevator take me up!
I looked at the menu confused. Nothing is standing out to me! During my confusion, I could not for the life of me remember what THAT dessert was called. All I could remember was that it had some citrus type flavor in it. Ah! I think it's the Whipped Choco-Macchiato? It's got lemon in it.
Then this arrived in front of me. Umm, how deep into my food coma was I the last time I came here?! I don't remember it looking like this! I sat there for a long while, trying to convince myself that this is it. The convincing was halted by the sight of my chocolate dome collapsing like the demise of "Death Star."
( Nerd alert!)
My spoon sped up the collapse of the dome, and inside was the creamy lemon panna cotta, which was nestled on a bed of caramel. It was one heavenly spoonful. The chocolate crumble trail, provided a nice crunch contrast to the creamy texture.
As I shamelessly licked my spoon clean, I concluded that this was not an outdoor summertime dessert! The whole time I was eating it, I had a sneaking suspicion that my face looked like this...
Speaking of wine...It seemed as though Rose was the wine of choice for the day. It seemed that everyone was drinking this wine! I was not a fan of it. It just did not give me the "oh that's refreshing" kind of feeling.
Needless to say, I found out that the Creamsicle Tumbler was only served for dinner, and indeed the Whipped Choco-Macchiato was not the creamsicle. I was a wee bit disappointed by the lack of lemony tartness that brings a pucker to your face. Nonetheless, it gave me my sugar fix. Guess I'll take a food coma nap while waiting for them to serve dinner! Ha no...I'll just come back.
