Granola!

I owe this one all to Diana B., as she posted this recipe via facebook,
then proceeded to answer all my questions and give me pointers on how to
find these items (I had NO clue about wheat germ!) at the store.
I really love knowing exactly what's going into my food, and not reading
scary things from a box at the store (partially hydrongenated wha?
Yellow food dye #6?). Now I can make my own granola.... fancy that!
I did modify it a bit for me. I don't do walnuts (see? Tastebuds of a
child.) So I used almonds. As for the dried fruit I used cranberries
for the first batch and cherries for the second. I dunno, I'm kind of
raisined out I guess. I wonder what mango would be like. Mmmmmm.

Okay, so I haven't asked permission to repost this, but I hope she
doesn't mind. I'm 100% sure I'm the only one who reads this anyway.
I'd probably faint of shock if I was proven otherwise!

4 c. Quick oats
1/2 c. Wheat germ
2 c. Dried fruit
1/2 cup finely chopped nuts (I used almonds)
1 t. Cinnamon sugar
3/4 c. Honey
6 T. Butter

Preheat the oven 300 degrees. Mix the first 5 ingredients in bowl. Mix
last 2 in separate bowl. Add honey mixture to the dry stuff and stir
well.
Pat down into a well greased pan and bake 30 minutes-ish (my oven cooks
things fast, so adjust based on what you've got!). Pop it out, let it
cool a bit, then cut (warning, it probably won't cut very well/evenly.
If yours does, let me know the secret!) or crumble up for trail mix or
yogurt or to add with cookie mix.

This was quite fantastic - I took it to my parents house and the whole
family chowed down. I felt good knowing my mom (a diabetic who does NOT
take care of herself like she should) liked it a lot. Yeah, it's got
some honey in it, but it's better for her than the jellybeans she likes
to munch on.

Thanks Diana!
--
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Soooo good

The first post from the Walls Family Restaurant. :)
I know it doesn't look very healthy, and maybe it's not, but it sure is
good.
Last week I made stuffed peppers. Twice, actually. The past few years
I've learned I really like peppers, which is a big deal when you still
have the taste buds of a kid (read: I don't like vegetables). I found a
recipe from my mom's very old betty crocker cookbook, then I modified
it. And modified it. Now I just mix a bunch of different things we
have in our kitchen together, and my stuffed peppers turn out different
every time. I kind of like that, when you know something so well you no
longer need a written recipe, or when you have enough confidence about a
dish that you can modify without worry of what the end result will
become.
Anyway, peppers + grapefruit + loaded baked potato (not mine. I can't
wat one that big. This is Carl's plate!) = a heavenly dinner!
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Coit's

There's what, three or four of these in the metro, so there's really no
excuse for not trying one out. This is one of those greasy dives where
your food is served via styrofoam doggie bag. But it's pretty tasty all
the same. What I like is that they're a drive in but also a sit down
place, so you get the best of both worlds.
What these guys are known for is their root beer, so you can't visit
without getting one. I don't particularly even like root beer, but
Coit's is so smooth and creamy that I find myself enjoying it anyway.
I was surprised to find that a drive in like this has southern style
foods. They have chicken fried chicken, okra and sweet potato fries (I
love those!) along with the regular burgers, fries, and floats. Their
portions are quite large for me - I had to take mine home.

If nothing else, at least get a root beer next time you pass by. It's
better than the bottle!
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Okarche - good as can be!

Okay, first of all, I love how the first thing you see when you come into town is this:

Aa plane nose sticking up outta the ground at the army surplus store. Folks, we've entered small town America.

25 miles NW of Oklahoma City in Okarche lies two amazing dives of equal
but completely different dimensions.
Eischen's Bar has been around since 1896. It's a little place off of
2nd and Oklahoma that serves THE best chicken I have ever had. And if
you know me, you know I'm a poultry girl.

The menu is rather limited (roast beef and bbq sandwiches, whole fried
chicken, nachos, chili, and okra), but everything they make that we've
tried is impeccable. Credit/debit cards are not accepted, so bring
cash with you. Also, coffee and tea are not served - they offer 'beer,
pop, and water' on all their signs. Another bit of a warning: the place
is called Eischen's BAR for a reason. There's a huge old fashioned bar
that's the focal point of the restaurant, and the drinks are flowing.
So if you are at all uncomfortable with eating in a bar like atmosphere
(and some people are) or you have little ones, go during the day when
it's less busy and you have more room to spread out.
The first time Carl and I went was in 2006 for our 6 monthish
anniversary. It was a Friday afternoon and the place was dead. We had
the video arcade inside the restaurant to ourselves, including the
packman machine, which Carl of course thoroughly enjoyed.
Not so tonight! We brought some friends with us, and it was so busy we
felt lucky to get a seat! We ordered a whole chicken (8 pieces) and a
side of okra. It all comes with bread, onions dill pickles and bread
and butter pickles. We had to take home some leftovers, obviously -
that's a lot of food! It's perfectly golden fried wonderfulness. It's
a wonder Okarchians aren't all 600 lbs..... the food is so addictingly
amazing!

You've got to stop at the Tower Cafe on your way back to the city and
have yourself a cinnamon roll. These are rumored to be the same rolls
served at the state fair. However, they are super fresh from the
kitchen, not bused into the city. The cafe and bakery also serves some
good sounding burgers and a buffet. I've never had anything else there
besides their rolls, but someday I hope to come back to the Tower for a
burger or salad. They sure look tasty.

So if you're in the metro area and want something new that's not far
away, check Okarche out. You'll be pleasantly surprised.

Krebs

Okay, if you're whole or part Italian and you've never been here, shame
on you.
And if you're an Oklahoman..... double shame.
And if you're one or both of the above mentioned and you've never heard
of Krebs, something is very very wrong. With you.
Krebs is a tiny town about 1 mile outside of McAlester. Wikipedia says
that the population is 2.051. Small town. But in this town are 3 of
the most fabulous Italian restaurants:

Isle of Capri
Pete's Place
Roseanna's

Handmade Italian food. So good. I was lucky enough to have a good deal
of family from McAlester, so we ate at these places often. There's
another Italian place in McAlester (or as grandma called it, 'in Tandy
Town'), Gia Como's, which is also authentic.
All places boast the best food and Italian sauce, and are in friendly
competition with each other. Many times a reservation is required to
guarantee a table. A warning though - if you try to go for a meal
during the lunch hours, you'll be disappointed - half of the restaurants
are open for dinner only.
All the restaurants have their own special exclusive delicacies. Gia
Como's has great golden chicken, hand rolled ravioli, and homemade
sauce. Pete's Place has their own Choc beer and some darn good lamb
fries (yep, I'm an Okie, so I eat lamb fries!!). Roseanna's has great
homemade sauce and gnocchi. I don't believe any of the other
restaurants even have gnocchi. And as for Isle of Capri..... you know,
I haven't eaten there since before my granda died in 1997.... I couldn't
really tell you what delicacies they boast about.
If you want food that looks and tastes like something from Carino's or
Olive Garden, it's not the place for you. But if you want REAL Italian
food with a homey atmosphere (no joke, all of the restaurants are
actually IN converted houses), you're reading about the right place.

No visit to Kreb's is complete without stopping by Lovera's Italian
grocery store. You can get some amazing Made in Oklahoma Italian
products to take home with you, including olives, pickled okra and
peppers. They also sell meats and cheeses, but by then you've stuffed
yourself with so much Italian food at the restaurants that you're not
too interested in more food! Still, it's an interesting little place to
visit. Go at least once!

For this visit to Krebs, we ate lunch at Roseanna's. Mmmmm.
Picture explanation:

1. My Italian sausage sandwich I ordered. To give you an idea of their
humongous portions, this made FIVE meals for me. Crazy, right?
2. Carl's half size portion of the Italian dinner. It came with
spaghetti, lasagna, gnocchi, a meatball, ravioli, and a salad. It's
hard to see covered in all that yummy sauce, but it's a huge meal.....
and that's only the half portion!!
3. Carl victoriously finishes his meal. He's the only one of our group
to have done so. I don't know how he did it!
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Cafe 7

Last Friday we decided to try a new place that was mentioned in the
gazette several months ago. Cafe 7 is just north of the May and
Memorial intersection. It's a cool little 'build your own' kind of
place, where they prepare sandwiches, pastas, salads, and pizzas as you
like them. Cafe 7 claims to make your order in 7 minutes or less, and
each meal costs about 7 dollars. Nifty idea, yes?
I ordered pizza made with pesto, chicken, bacon, fontana cheese,
pineapple, and fresh basil.

This combination was heavenly, and it makes
me realize that more places would do good to have a pesto based sauce
option rather than the tomato based or alfredo sauces. Carl got an
alfredo based pasta that he said was yummy.

Cafe 7 is good food at a great price!!

Happy Belated Pi Day!

Picture explanation:

1. Carl ravaging a pecan pie that never had a chance.

2. Me, excited about my vanilla moonpie. Wahoo!

3. John is clearly enjoying himself. :)

4. Two things every southerner should have. There's nothing like an RC
Cola and a moonpie!

5. Just waiting for us - one reason 7-11 beats the pant off Walmart:
moonpies.

Yes, happy 3.14 everyone! Most people probably don't know it, save for
the true geeks, but March 14th is Pi day (and if you need further
explanation, leave this blog because your daftness is beyond help).
Last year the husband and I celebrated in transit to Europe. As it can
be difficult to find Pies of sorts in international airports, we had to
get creative. Therefore a pizza pie was how we celebrated this geekful
event.
This year it nearly passed us by. Last night we stood outsode 7-11 at
11:57 PM and celebrated Pi day the hick way - eating moonpies and pecan
pies by our pickups! John Teasley joined in the merriment with us.
What fun!

I hope to always celebrate Pi day a different way every year.
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