I have to wonder if the person who invented ice cream knew they made the world a happier place. I mean, tell me, how such a simple thing, an ice cream cone, be such fun? I have to thank McDonald's for a fun ice cream experience we had in Arizona. Nothing is better than an ice cream with friends, young or old.
When I was little, my mom taught us kids to sing this song and I have vivid memories of my oldest brother singing it too. It goes :
I scream
You scream
We all Scream,
for
Ice Cream.
Needless to say, my mom loved iced cream and she made sure to pass on the tradition by letting the babies "just have a little taste." whenever she could. My kids definitely like it too and as for me, I have some great ice cream memories in my own life.
I remember being able to buy a triple scoop, three-different-flavored cone at the Payless drug store for 15 cents. I had a neighbor who would load up the back of a pick up truck and sometimes the station wagon with kids in the neighborhood to go and get ice cream there. I remember me and my friend raiding the freezer, eating more than our share, and my mom complaining because we didn't lave any for her.
Today I carry a digital photo of my grandson licking the first ice cream cone he ever had. It was at an ice cream party for my birthday in 2009 and I remember him asking, "How do you eat it?" We got a great photo of him demonstrating the way you eat it too.
We took the folks out, through the McDonald's drive thru for a cone while we were visiting them and it was extremely fun. I have seen a lot of people have fun with ice cream but this was just about the best.
The grandpa had a hot fudge sundae, and the grandma had a cone. You would have thought they both died and went to heaven right then and there. We were all quietly sitting in the car minding our own ice cream, when between licks the grandma announced, "This is a dream!" As she continued to intently enjoy her cone, the grandpa said, "How come we never done this before?"
Surprised, I had to ask, "What, you two never went out to have an ice cream cone?"
"Nope." came the response.
"Wow!" I thought to myself, thinking of how I knew so many people who enjoyed ice cream, and I decide to make note that if you ever want to have some cheap fun with a grandma or a grandpa, ice cream sure would be a winner.
Going out for a cone costs a little more these days than a nickel per scoop, but I tell ya, for 1.79 at McDonald's those two had a lot of fun and we did too. I am not big on Macdonald's, but I have been known to go there for ice cream, especially soft ice cream cones. I am sure there are many ice cream places around, but I cannot think of anyplace where a soft serve ice cream cone is less that the $ .79 cone at McDonald's. The hot fudge sundae, with or without nuts, was only $1.00, and it came with a free spoon.
Does it get any better than that? What a deal!
Thank you Mickey D!
Now I know where to take both the older folks and the kids to have some fun!
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Red Lobster
Sometime this past May, Red Lobster opened a store in Spokane. We did not go to the one in Spokane, but we did visit Red Lobster Restaurant, and it was really good. I can hardly wait to try the local one as well.
While we were visiting relatives in Arizona, we asked mom if she wanted to go out with us and what she wanted to eat. I have to tell you that this mom is one who loves to cook, is a very good cook, and will seldom take an offer to dine out, but after being sick for so long and finally starting to feel better she was excited to go somewhere with us. She wanted to have some lobster and steak, so after exploring options in the phone book, we decided to try the Red Lobster in Scottsdale.
The service was exceptional. They made us feel welcomed and were attentive to the needs of the grandma with the walker too. Not only that, the food was great and we all had a wonderful time talking, laughing and eating.
Between four of us we ordered lobster, clam chowder shrimp, salmon, flounder, scallops and shrimp scampi, and we ate everything except for one biscuit, which we took home and ate the next day. Everything was scrumptious and we decided that even if you just went there for the chowder, it would be worth it.
While we were visiting relatives in Arizona, we asked mom if she wanted to go out with us and what she wanted to eat. I have to tell you that this mom is one who loves to cook, is a very good cook, and will seldom take an offer to dine out, but after being sick for so long and finally starting to feel better she was excited to go somewhere with us. She wanted to have some lobster and steak, so after exploring options in the phone book, we decided to try the Red Lobster in Scottsdale.
The service was exceptional. They made us feel welcomed and were attentive to the needs of the grandma with the walker too. Not only that, the food was great and we all had a wonderful time talking, laughing and eating.
Between four of us we ordered lobster, clam chowder shrimp, salmon, flounder, scallops and shrimp scampi, and we ate everything except for one biscuit, which we took home and ate the next day. Everything was scrumptious and we decided that even if you just went there for the chowder, it would be worth it.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
New Harbor
This restaurant has been in Spokane for 16 years...and so have we. Having driven past it hundreds of times we have never stopped to consider eating there. Part of the reason being that we had already found the places we liked the best and go there, but since we began trying new things, "New" Harbor came into view. Tonight we decided to drop anchor and see what the Chinese/America food this establishment offered was all about.
We began with an appetizer of "spring rolls," which when they came, were looking more like "egg rolls". When I commented on this to Geo, the waitress she said their egg roll and spring rolls are the same. That was odd to me. Spring rolls are usually smaller and fluffier, at least that hs been my experience. The eggroll/spring rolls came with a sauce that looked a little the the sauce our local Zips hamberger stop makes to go with their fries, only it had a horseradish, or hot mustard "kick" in it's flavor. (We affectionately called it, Chinese Zip dip.) Geo liked the sauce, and the rolls, which I thought were rather greasy. They were also really, really, really hot; like just-out- of-the-fryer hot.
It's a pretty restaurant with pretty Chinese lantern looking decorations over the tables, which reminded me of chandeliers. The menu choices looked good; all of our favorite Chinese eats were advertised there. The menu was even translated into Vietnamese, so they obviously have a lot of oriental patrons.
The service was great and the dinner items, like the egg rolls that came before them, were served hot. It tasted good, but it was a little different than we were used to when we order the same items elsewhere. Maybe it's because it was "Hong Kong " style food or maybe just different family recipe...or technique... I don't know. Anyhow...the dishes were prepared differently than how I have seen them served other places. I will explain:
Geo ordered Mu Shu Pork. I would have liked to order Chow Mein, but I am still learning about it, and do not want to oder something I do not want to eat, so I went with my old standby, Kung Pao Chicken. (We also figured that ordering this way was good for comparison.) I realize that all restaurants and cooks will have their variations, but there were no Kung Pao peppers in the Kung Pao Chicken.
Even without peppers, the Kung Pao was spicy enough. It also had water chestnuts which I like, as did our soup which started the meal. (The teeny tiny slivers of chestnut were a very nice variation I might add....) The Mu Shu Geo ordered, did not have a lot of gravy and it had a lot of Tofu. The pork was more like thin sliced pork chops as opposed to ground pork. So you see, things were different than we expected, not bad, just different. We ate it happily just the same.
Will we ever come back?
With so many places to try, and some places we really like, I doubt we would make a special trip back to this place, but I didn't really plan on going there tonight either... and did anyhow. So, I will just say, if it's the right time the right season and who knows what the reason...we might end up here again. I wouldn't mind, but It would not be my first choice. Instead, I look forward to either going back to one of our old favs or another someplace "new" next time.
I might try the American food one day.. just for fun. Somehow, I just never thought of ordering "American" at a Chinese place. Besides eating Chinese food seems like quite the American thing to do...
We began with an appetizer of "spring rolls," which when they came, were looking more like "egg rolls". When I commented on this to Geo, the waitress she said their egg roll and spring rolls are the same. That was odd to me. Spring rolls are usually smaller and fluffier, at least that hs been my experience. The eggroll/spring rolls came with a sauce that looked a little the the sauce our local Zips hamberger stop makes to go with their fries, only it had a horseradish, or hot mustard "kick" in it's flavor. (We affectionately called it, Chinese Zip dip.) Geo liked the sauce, and the rolls, which I thought were rather greasy. They were also really, really, really hot; like just-out- of-the-fryer hot.
It's a pretty restaurant with pretty Chinese lantern looking decorations over the tables, which reminded me of chandeliers. The menu choices looked good; all of our favorite Chinese eats were advertised there. The menu was even translated into Vietnamese, so they obviously have a lot of oriental patrons.
The service was great and the dinner items, like the egg rolls that came before them, were served hot. It tasted good, but it was a little different than we were used to when we order the same items elsewhere. Maybe it's because it was "Hong Kong " style food or maybe just different family recipe...or technique... I don't know. Anyhow...the dishes were prepared differently than how I have seen them served other places. I will explain:
Geo ordered Mu Shu Pork. I would have liked to order Chow Mein, but I am still learning about it, and do not want to oder something I do not want to eat, so I went with my old standby, Kung Pao Chicken. (We also figured that ordering this way was good for comparison.) I realize that all restaurants and cooks will have their variations, but there were no Kung Pao peppers in the Kung Pao Chicken.
Even without peppers, the Kung Pao was spicy enough. It also had water chestnuts which I like, as did our soup which started the meal. (The teeny tiny slivers of chestnut were a very nice variation I might add....) The Mu Shu Geo ordered, did not have a lot of gravy and it had a lot of Tofu. The pork was more like thin sliced pork chops as opposed to ground pork. So you see, things were different than we expected, not bad, just different. We ate it happily just the same.
Will we ever come back?
With so many places to try, and some places we really like, I doubt we would make a special trip back to this place, but I didn't really plan on going there tonight either... and did anyhow. So, I will just say, if it's the right time the right season and who knows what the reason...we might end up here again. I wouldn't mind, but It would not be my first choice. Instead, I look forward to either going back to one of our old favs or another someplace "new" next time.
I might try the American food one day.. just for fun. Somehow, I just never thought of ordering "American" at a Chinese place. Besides eating Chinese food seems like quite the American thing to do...
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