Saturday 21 May 2016

Saturday this and that . . .



I earned £25 by having a recipe published in a magazine this month so yesterday we decided to splurge and treat ourselves to a lunch out in Chester, which is something we only ever very rarely do.  I had been wanting to go to Ed's Diner for a very long time.  We did try once at the one in Cheshire Oaks (which is a huge shopping complex about half an hour away from us) but we never did find it.   They recently opened one in Chester and so we hopped onto a bus and went into the city.

Its in the Grosvenor Shopping Arcade which is an indoor mall in the centre of Chester  and quite nice actually.  That seems to be the name they give for an indoor shopping area over here in the UK . . .  Arcade . . .  it sounds fancy smancy doesn't it!  I like it!

 

I was a bit worried that it would be overly busy as we went in at lunch time.  It wasn't all that busy actually, but was really filling up by the time we were finished and on our way out.



The decor was everything you would expect from an American style diner.  All chrome and formica with black and white tiled floors, neon lights and old style rock'n'roll music.  We sat in one of the booths and I was a teenager again sitting in a booth with my friends back in the old Shaker Restaurant in Middleton, Nova Scotia . . .  albeit with a few more wrinkles, grey hairs and pounds along for the ride.

 

It was clean and slick and I really liked it.  Oh what I wouldn't give to have a chrome dining set now.  I had one when I was first married way back when.  It had been my parents old one, which we had refurbished.  I sure wish I had it now!   I remember my sister had one too, except hers had a printed formica top on the table.  It was nice!

 

Each booth has it's own mini Juke Box.  With lots of music on it.  Ours wasn't working though.  Boo Hoo.  It was out of order.  All proceeds from the Juke Boxes go to the charity Action for Hunger, which is a good thing I think.   Each table also had it's own ketchup, mustard, napkin server, etc.  I liked that too, and they were clean.  So often you go into restaurants and the condiment holders, etc. are dirty.  I hate that.

 

The waiting staff were all really polite and cheerful.   I liked that also.   You can't beat cheerful and tidy looking waiting staff with manners.  They seemed to actually like where they were working.



The menus were clean too.  I hate dirty menus.  Hate, hate, hate dirty menus.  Who wants to eat at a restaurant with a dirty sticky menu.  NOT me, that's who.  These were pristine.   I liked that.  The food was a bit pricey though, but food here in the UK is pricey when it comes to eating out.

 

It was really delicious though and we both enjoyed what we had.    Oh to be eating a real North American style hot dog was a real treat for me.  It really was.  (This is not what I had.  I had the plain Classic Dog with grilled onions, which came on a platter with french fries (chips), onion rings and coleslaw for £10.50, or about $15.25.)  With drinks (a diet coke and an orange juice) our bill came to  £26.30 for the both of us ($38.16) (american funds).  We had to eat our hotdogs with knives and forks.  There was no polite way to eat them by  holding them.  They were huge.  They were delicious.  Really delicious!  The chips were just chips.  I had thought maybe they might be hand cut but they were not.   But they were not bad either.  And the onion rings were just a bit greasy, but overall we both enjoyed our meals very much.  It is not something I would want to do very often, and actually probably couldn't afford to do very often, but it was a treat.

I do NOT want to know how many carbs or calories were consumed in that lunch, but it is the only meal we had yesterday.  By evening we were both still so full from lunch all we had was a pot of low fat yogurt each and we were good to go.  Oh, Todd also had a Snickers bar, but he can do that.  I can't.  I can just watch and wish.

  

There was an American Candy store in the Arcade as well so I picked up some lollies to take to the children of a family we were visiting in the early evening yesterday and a candy pizza for the BBQ we are having for all of the young Missionaries in our District today.  (I hope the rain holds off!)  I also picked up a box of Pop Tarts on impulse.   Why?  Why?  They are probably not very tasty, but they were calling my name.  I suppose it was nostalgia.  I can't even eat them.  Sigh  . . .

My youngest son used to love the Pillsbury Toaster Strudels, the apple ones.  They were frozen and you just popped them into the toaster and they came with a little packet of icing that you could decorate them with once they came out of the toaster.  He used to have one of these every morning and I can remember taking great care to put the icing on just so  . . . he was very fussy about things like that.  Even his toast had to be a certain colour.  Yes, he was spoiled, but not in a bad way.  I think I felt a bit sorry for him because by the time he got to Grade 2 he had been in four different schools.  So much upheavel in such a short life.  There was a time when he would only eat things that were white.  His tastes have broadened quite a bit since then!


 

I found this the other day and had to laugh . . . I can remember doing this and thinking it was very sophisticated with it's little inked mixing bowl and pair of eggs.   I would say it is probably circa early 1990's.   I had five children living at home, three boys and two girls. Yes, my name used to be Ramsay, and my family has always called me Alice, which is my second name.  There were too  many Marys and Maries in my family.  All the females have derivative of that as their first names, and the males have Joseph.  It's a French Catholic thing.

Remember how I told you I have always been a list maker?



There.  Proof positive.   There are recipes, yes, all handwritten in my very nice handwriting.  (It's not so nice anymore.  Thanks computer keyboard, you have spoiled me!)  There is a list of my daily chores, with one section of each day of the week, with a very detailed list of exactly what I was going to be doing on that day.  With laundry being done on a daily rotation of girl's laundry one day, boy's the next and Friday being bedchange day so that was what was done on both Friday and Saturday.    I have menus on a two week rotation and shopping lists.  I also have a baking list of what I will bake each week, and how many of each.  For instance 8 loaves of white bread and 4 loaves of brown.  So many dozen cookies a week, and one week a cake and the next a pie.   Oh the plans I made!

I had to laugh when I saw it because there on those pages were the ideals of a mum who was trying to do her best and more often than not the list was abandoned within a couple of days because nobody could have ever kept up with it.

But I tried.  And thats what counts.

A thought to carry with you through today  . . .

 `*.¸.*´Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ`*.¸.*´Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ`*.¸.*´
The most beautiful people
we have known
are those who have known defeat,
known suffering, known struggle,
known loss, and have found their way
out of the depths.
~Elizabeth Kubler Ross
 `*.¸.*´Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ`*.¸.*´Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ`*.¸.*´

Spiritual Enlightenment


 photo DSCN7088_zpsl51t8idi.jpg

In The English Kitchen today  . . .  Apple and Prune Crumble with a Hazelnut and Oat Topping.   Served with lashings of cream, Todd really enjoyed this!


Have a great Saturday!! Don't forget . . .


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and I do too!



9 comments:

  1. Good morning Marie. I don't have my lists and books. I made plans and soon after writing them I failed. But as you say I tried, Your restaurant experience sounds like fun and I am glad you and Todd took the time to enjoy life a little. A treat now and then is good for you.

    This morning Pip and I went on a tour throughout the stores etc of our Queensland Museum. We saw recent donations that were yet to be catalogued, masses of packing materials and a few of the artifacts that are held in the anthropology section. None of my beloved textiles. Then we moved onto the greeblies. Bugs, snakes and so on. The one thing that really peaked my interest was the spirit room. This is where specimens that are preserved in alcohol are stored. It is on the top floor and and the floor itself is sloped so that any spills do not contaminate the rest of the place. Even though the place should be dark there are blow out windows in case there is an explosion and the room would fill with halogen if there was a fire. They have a huge freezer stuffed with items awaiting processing. They pulled out an albino snake that was found in the wild here but does not belong here. No one has identified it yet. It was a recent find and proof that smugglers will go to huge lengths to break our laws to keep our bio security. Pip took one photo but most of the stuff was aboriginal and they don't like that so it is disallowed now.

    That is the main story of my day. I came home exhausted and slept. Tonight I shall be washing and cleaning because not much has been done this week.

    God bless and I hope that the barbie goes ahead with much fun. Last night we lit the fire pit and had burgers by the fire and sat up very late for us watching the embers glow.

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  2. It sounds like you have had a nice couple of days Suzan! What a fascinating visit to the museum, and a cookout by the fire sounds fabulous! Hope you get all the things done that you need to do tonight! Love and hugs. xoxo

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  3. Oh my goodness!
    I so enjoyed this today!
    The diner you ate at looks divine!!!!
    It looks nicer than anything I have visited here in the US!
    I think I would have ordered a cheeseburger, plain, and a vanilla shake. : )
    I love your notebooks...
    Would you believe I have some of the exact things?
    I used to do that as well...
    But now, at 46 years old, I am more relaxed...
    And my children are older and help out too.
    I always enjoy visiting here. : )
    Have a cozy day!

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  4. Very fun for you..happy you got to go..looks like something in Grease:) Adorb..I see many vintage kitchen sets for sale on FB..they run around $250.
    Cute cute..

    you would love one my ex clients home..his real one was a gem..but he sold it to live in his ex-wife's home because the dog Merlin loved the windows..(he had promised to take care of her dog..so sweet..) anyways..so he moved into her house..which was in effect really his also..and the kitchen is a booth:) w/ the table you like..I loved that kitschy kitch:)

    Glad you went out..fun fun fun..
    and that book♥Bon weekend!

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  5. Why thanks Billie Jo! Oh, I do wish I was only 46! haha At the age of 60 I am still making lists! I guess it is just one of my things! The restaurant was real cute. We really loved it and the music was so nice. Much better than what you get in a lot of the restaurants we go to which has horrible music just blaring away. This made you want to get up and dance! xoxo

    Oh, I am sure I would love your ex client's home too Monique! Especially if you think I would, then I know I would. I love kitschy kitch too. But you know that! Love and hugs! xoxo

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  6. Marie, Ed's Diner looks SO much like a chain of restaurants here in California called Ruby's. It's a flashback to the 50's I guess, same color scheme and may be a similar menu with hot dogs, hamburgers. It used to be a favorite place my hubby and I went for breakfast. Here's the link to their website: http://www.rubys.com/index.html
    Although they don't have many photos of the interior so you could compare the appearance. Anyway, it was fun reading about your excursion, pricey though it was.

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  7. OH, they have a great breakfast menu at Ed's also Carolyn! Your Rubt's looks very similar. This was a real flashback to the 50's, American style! I still remember the lovely meal you, Dave, Todd and I had at the Hotel Banastre. It was probably the best meal I have ever had over here. xoxo

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  8. Oh, I used to make list just like these. I think it is awesome that you found the book and the little bit of nostalgia joy that it brought to you. I really loved the place you went to eat. It looks so nice and clean. The good looked yummy too. My husband loves hot dogs and shouldn't have them at all but every once in a while he gets one. He would love this place. It also reminded me of the small cafe that my parents owned in the 50's. It had juke boxes at the tables and they had the best cheeseburgers in town.
    I for got to tell you I loved the photo of your district meeting. It is so fun to be with the Elders and Sisters each week.
    Blessings, love and hugs for you!

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  9. What fun that your parents owned a cafe in the 50's LeAnn! I am betting you got to work in it sometimes! I can almost taste those cheeseburgers! We have hotdogs only ever very rarely also. These were exceptionally good! I love spending time with the Sisters and Elders also! Blessings, hugs and love to you too! xoxo

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