Salsa

I have modified this recipe from a friend of mine for my taste. It's mild but has a kick. The original didn't have the extra can of regular diced tomatoes and used cumin instead of chili powder. You can also add more cilantro if you like a lot of it. I brought this to a family get together at the Cape. I brought six 8oz jars. (Let's face facts here it probably made a full 7 cans but I cleaned one 1/2 out myself before it hit the jar....) I came back with zero of the six. Whatever wasn't eaten there people took home to enjoy. I'd say they liked it!

SALSA

*1 (28 oz) can whole tomatoes diced up

* 2 (10 oz) cans diced tomatoes with green chilies

*1 can diced tomatoes no chilies

*1/4C chopped purple onion

*1 clove garlic minced, or through a garlic press (easier!)

*1 whole jalapeno mined very very fine, no seeds or membranes (if you like hot, add them)

*1/4 tsp sugar

*1/4 tsp chili powder

*1/2C fresh cilantro

*1/2 of a limes juice.

First, I will admit I've always been a little OCD with the cutting up my veggies really super small so they will all be evenly distributed throughout whatever it was I was cooking. I hate having one bite tasting really, say, onion-y then the next hot etc. Consistency people. You could run it through a food processor to achieve this if you're not quite as neurotic with the chopping as myself :) Yes, I even diced the pre-diced tomatoes smaller... and then smashed them up further with a potato smasher as I mixed the ingredients. Do they have a 12 step program for people like me? Seriously though, this recipe isn't supposed to be chunky or thick it's a little thin without being soupy which is how I like it.

The original recipe says to basically cut and combine all ingredients let sit a few hours to meld and enjoy. I did that the first time and it was good but I really had to wait until the next day for it to meld enough for my liking. This time I made it differently simply because I wanted these so that if anyone wanted to take some home it wouldn't get funky on the long drive back home from the Cape i.e. for people going home out of state. So I needed to can it which involved me cooking the salsa for about 10 minutes at a boil. I think this really helped it meld together quickly yet not overcooking it so it gets mushy and weird. I will cook it from now on canning or not.

And they're off...

We also enjoyed lots more good food on this trip. Yum Yum :p

And enjoyed the beautiful scenery in Wellfleet MA on Cape Cod.

All with my wonderful family. Who could ask for more <3

Kool Kone

Kool Kone

374 Marion Rd - Wareham, MA 02571

508- 295- 6638

Date of visit: August 14, 2013

My cousin had seen a review about Kool Kone on one of the local t.v. shows. She forgot which one it was exactly but she was pumped up to try this place out. The t.v. show was raving about how good their fried chicken was. I thought this was odd since, by the name, I was thinking ice cream. But what do I know?

This place it normally pretty out of our way. Luckily, we were in the area while we were all camping at Myles Standish in Carver for the week so we figured what better time for a visit?! We ordered the seafood platter, which is supposed to be for 1 (very hungry) person ($23) and a 12 pc bucket of chicken ($18). Not exactly our cheapest meal but it was split for 4 people.

Oh. My. Word. This seafood plate was so great. I really wish we would have just ordered 2 of these... just for me. I was already really in the mood for clams and no stinkin' clam strips. I wanted the whole sha-bang with the bellies. I got them and boy was my belly happy. The scallops were big and moist and tasty tasty as was the piece of fish. Shrimp could have been pulled out of the oil a little sooner but they were still good. It wasn't greasy AT ALL. I hate greasy food and this was just perfect. I really don't remember the fries. I can't even remember if I actually ate any. I know my daughter was eating them so they must have been good. My brain was too busy doing a happy clam dance too notice I guess. We all agreed this plate was awesome. See evidence of the mauled seafood plate ...

After we finished the seafood plate we remembered we still had the chicken. Like I said my cousin had heard about how great the chicken was. We all tried some. My cousin asked us, "So do you thinks it was award winning?" which was greeted by shrugged shoulders and crooked puckered mouths.... After all the hype we had heard it wasn't what we were expecting. The chicken itself was very very moist and tender and good. The problem was the crust. We all agreed it was just a little too hard, like it was overcooked and dried out. We all ate a piece and packed the rest away to eat back at camp after we swam off some of our food. I will say though, when we had the cold leftovers the coating must have gotten a little soggy and softened up a bit because we all seemed to enjoy it better later.

Okay, here's the deal. We also wanted to try their ice cream since you know Kool KONE implies ice cream. Since we were too full we ended up driving around and wasting some time. We came back for ice cream later on. We were on vacation. The first rite of vacation is to be little piggies. So here we were back for more... sigh.

My cousin ordered the Graham Central Station ice cream which she had at another place before and she loved it then (review to come) so she was going to have it again. She said it fell short this time but not quite sure why exactly. Her son and I, and I split mine with my daughter, had the special of the week "Cookie Monster Sundae". It was cookie dough ice cream, cookie crumbles, caramel sauce, whipped cream and a cherry. Sounded good to us. What could go wrong? Well... I guess it just seemed too much like something we could have whipped up at home. Maybe I'm just spoiled. Which is probably quite true. It tasted like ice cream from a box with crushed chips a' hoy and wicked overly sweet and fake tasting caramel sauce with standard whip cream and cherry. Like I said not necessarily bad but certainly not farm fresh ice cream with real caramel sauce.

Then my cousin found an ice cube. A literal ice cube in his sundae. 

My daughter clearly thought this was the weirdest and grossest thing ever. Her face was priceless. I believe this is the same reason my cousin probably though her ice cream wasn't so great.. just an over all iced over taste. Oh well. Mixed reviews on this place. I'd definitely come back for that seafood but probably won't be getting the other stuff again. It was pretty busy the whole time we were there on our two trips. Filling more as it got closer to dinner. It sure isn't hurting for business. They have a nice little patio area to eat outside which was surprisingly clean as far as outside patio eating goes. And a bathroom! Woohoo!

koolkone.com

Just saying...

The best part of camping.

Lauren's Restaurant

Our meal date: July 27, 2013

Lauren's Restaurant

601 Metacom Avenue - Warren RI 02885

401-245-0735

Lauren's restaurant hold a special little place in our hearts as it was the first place we took our daughter out to eat at when she was just a tiny peanut. That time we had breakfast so we decided to hit it up again for an early dinner while peanut was with the grandparents in nearby Bristol.

Lauren's is a cute little place. It's very cozy and is quiet enough to hold conversations in a pretty laid back atmosphere. Unfortunately, we had the rudest seating we've ever had. The lady who sat us practically ran to our table and took off. I don't like to have to scamper along behind my husband like a child. I like to have a little dignity as I walk through the restaurant. As I am not 6 feet tall I can not see over my husbands shoulder and I heard him say to me, "Uh, I guess here" as he turned to sit I was going to smile at the woman and say thank you but *poof* she was already gone. Like down the aisle, around the corner heading to the back. That lady was quick. No word from her mouth. Ya' know, usually they say something like, "Your waiter/ waitress will be with you in minute."  or... something. Nope. My husband just said, "Wow. That was the rudest seating ever..." Yeah, we sure don't want to have to disturb her with us being customers and giving money to the place that gives her her pay check. Those pesky paying customers!

Luckily we didn't see her again and was replaced by the sweetest waitress ever. I loved her. My husband ordered Ben's Bacon Burger with fries. You can also get it with chips or, for an extra buck, sweet potato fries. He liked it, especially the fries. I believe they had a very light bit of coating/ batter on them that gave them a little extra something.

I had the lasagna. Boy was there a lot!  I was a little overwhelmed with the amount of sauce at first glance. It wasn't overwhelming when you actually dug in though and I enjoyed a little extra to dip my bread in. The bread was nice and crisp yet tender and buttery. I enjoyed the sauce on this. It was simple, light and fresh tasting. It wasn't too filled with herbs or too sweet and it wasn't super heavy and thick, like it had been sitting in the pot for a million years. Very good. The lasagna itself was tender and light- in a heavy lasagna sort of way. I'm very much used to my mother's lasagna that you could anchor a boat with due to the amount of cheese and meat. This was not like that. I love my mothers but this was a nice alternative. Even though it was lighter than my mothers I still couldn't finish it because of the shear volume of food.

The prices were reasonable. The grand total being $24.80 for the two meals and two cokes. We left an $8 tip for our sweet waitress. I think we threw in an extra "pity" buck because she had to work along side Sunshine and Happiness all day. That made the total $32.80

I'm sure we will be back to Lauren's in the future. I hope whatever chip was on Sunshine and Happiness's shoulder will be gone next time. The food was good and our waitress was a doll.

laurensrestaurant.com

The Ice Cream Barn

The Ice Cream Barn

289 Locust Street - Swansea MA 02777

508-567-6278

This place is just plain cute. Unfortunately, I could not get the greatest pictures in there. Mainly because I had a hoard of my own family with me. They do not know I started this blog and since I'm mysterious (ha) I want to keep it a secret... for now anyway. So that means I could not get pictures of all the ice cream that was had on this trip lest they think I'm a weirdo. Which isn't too far from the truth. 

They had a nice selection of ice cream. They even had a decent selection of alternatives for those more health conscious than myself :) such as No Sugar Chocolate, Cinnamon and Vanilla. They also have Frozen Yogurt, which is 95% fat-free Lemon Blueberry and Four Berry Vanilla. I on the other hand had the Kahlua Brownie. Quiet frankly I don't really know why I ordered this because I don't care for Kahlua that much. But that's my own personal beef, because the ice cream was very good. It was very Kahlua-ey for me but in no way overpowering for someone who actually loves this stuff. Very creamy and fresh tasting. This is the small waffle cone... yeah it's not that small!

My cousin ordered the Ancient PB (peanut butter) Museum in a waffle bowl. This flavor, I noticed, isn't listed on their website. Maybe it's temporary? Not sure. He really liked it even though it took him forever to eat it because it was so large. I'm pretty sure he did order the large. 

My daughter ordered the "Small" Smores waffle cone. Since it was ginormous I ended up eating most of it. Let's just say after this trip I didn't eat for a long time. This ice cream was fantastic! I think I ended up eating this and pawned my ice cream off on my other cousin. I don't quite remember now... Ice cream brain fog I guess. 

My mother ordered the Gardner's Brownie pieces, sorry no pic. My Aunt and Uncle and other cousin got... ice cream... of some kind. I don't remember. Too many people to keep track of. The point is everyone was raving about how good it was. This place quickly moved to one of our top places to get ice cream. The battle will rage on... 

theicecreambarn.com

Mirasol's Cafe: Chippi

Mirasol's Cafe

439 State Rd - Dartmouth, MA 02747

508-996-2323

The CHIPPI

We had only drove about 2 minutes down the road and this much was gone already.

Let's face it. I'm not bringing anything new to the table here. This thing is awesome and everyone knows it. You drive around long enough in this area and I guarantee you will see someone with a Chippi bumper sticker on their car. Or the Chippi Mobile itself. 

 Their website says " Our secret recipe combined with a luscious richness makes this a true dessert in a cup as well as a potent punch to get you through your day or night….most likely BOTH.

Come in and ask for a sample, you’ll be hooked……….’cause some say it tastes like a coffee frappe, other say melted coffee ice cream….but trusts us, it does have a serious caffeine boost"

I didn't know they gave out samples. My opinion? Just don't waste your time. Get the largest one and sit down and enjoy. There is no way you will be disappointed.

mirasolscafe.com

Johnny's Hometown Diner

Our meal date: June 22, 2013

Johnny's Hometown Diner

625 East Washington Street - North Attleboro, MA 02760

508-316-0901

My husband and I were driving around aimlessly (and half lost) when we drove by this little gem and I sure am happy we did! This is the place that inspired me to start this blog. Now that's saying something. I am almost never in the Attleboro area so I had no idea this place existed until we drove by.

Unfortunately, I did not get a picture of the exterior. But it's what's on the inside that counts right? Food! I really liked the inside of Johnny's. It's the quintessential 50's diner feel. I liked the chalkboard napkin dispenser a lot. Of course, my perpetual downer husband  had to point out that it is not in fact a chalkboard but a paper that looked like a chalkboard. I slapped him around and said it's probably better that it's not real because you know some jerk would draw something vulgar on it. That someone being my husband. But I digress...

The place wasn't exactly hopping but there were customers behind us, not pictured. Past the jukebox was a row of counter seats besides the booths on our side of the place. We came at an oddball time so I expected it not to be packed. We like to try and time our dinners out for when it's not too loud and crowded. We have a three year old. We value all the quiet we can cram into the afternoon she's visiting the grandparents :)

I ordered the Cheesy Burger. Do I need to say more? cheeeeeese. And onions. My favorite things. It was delicious. The fries were great. The bun was nice and tender. I notice this type of bun has a tendency to be a little tough or dry for me but this one was great. I even had enough cheesey melted goodness to dip a few fries in. My husband shook his head at my cheese obsession. He's lucky I didn't lick the plate. Oh, and  a pickle. You always win me over with a pickle! (I might have also ate my husbands)

THE CHEESEY

Cheddar, red onion, lettuce & tomato, and extra cheese sauce.

.

.

.

Drool

My husband ordered the

THE ROUTE 66

Bacon, BBQ, & hand-battered rings on top!

If there was a list of things to stick in a burger that would make my husband happy this would be it. Really, what's not to like. We did have to wait a little while for our food but nothing too crazy. I'd much rather wait an extra 5-10 minutes and have actual hand made real food than something they throw at you in 3 minutes and you sit there wondering how long it had been under the heat lights in back waiting to be ordered. We both ordered ours medium and they were made just as we liked.

The prices were pretty common fair. Two burgers, two Pepsi total $23.93. Not too bad. We left $6.50 for a tip for a grand total of $30.43 The waitress, Christin, was pleasant and accommodating.

We'll be back!

johnnyshometowndiner.com