why I love Diners Drive ins and Dives - BlueCheeseBaconBurger

because I learn new tips 

and tricks for awesome goodness 

to serve my man for lunch!

Flat top BlueCheeseBaconBurger

with spicy pepper sauce 

Shoveling out

In between storms and polar vortexes

Make sure you take time to go 

eat ~ drink ~ play

here is a small list of tonights entertainment in 

TRAVERSE CITY

http://eatdrinktc.com/event/angie-berle-and-friends-debut/

Simple Things

You know, when you wake up in the morning to:

 The scent of 

Fresh Brewed Coffee 

in a mug wrapped in leather

  With a bit of honey,cinnamon and cream

The crunch of rustic honey wheat toast

   Covered with coconut oil and DLynnes   homemade strawberry jam

and home grown eggs with a blend of cheese

While snuggled in a mummy blanket watching the snow keep falling and falling and falling... Since yesterday another 18"

5" in October - 33 Plus inches in November and 78" in December and in January 60" as of 1/25

STAY OFF THE ROADS

That's what they are asking us with the latest Blizzard! 

Hubby has been out moving snow since 3:00.... 

So dinner at home means hearty goodness of perked up spaghetti ... 

There is something about garlic, peppers, basil, oregano, fennel and Wests Windy Acres pork 

cooking in red sauce that adds to the comfort of home... 

Break out the vino 

Then hubby comes in and says we have to go to town for fuel! 

Yes the plowman has to be ready to move all this inch an hour snow!! 

Thankfully this meal is better the next day! 

Learning as we go

Some of you know 

we have two business's both run from home - 

A grass fed beef & pork farm 

and a 

machine shop - 

We are HOME all the time 

So our evenings are for DATES 

sometimes just the two of us

sometimes with friends - 

BUT lunch time we eat at home - 

Bruce cooks breakfast every morning

I cook lunch every day - 

Those that know us both well know that we are both good cooks - 

When we go out to eat we get ideas that we duplicate at home

so you might say

we are "Learning as we go" out to eat!!

Todays wonderful goodness was slices of 

Pleasanton Bakery; http://pleasantonbakery.com/

wheat bread- 

a couple slabs of Wests Windy Acres Canadian Bacon (ours)

thin slices of Honey Crisp Apples

and a blend of cheeses - 

with a few sprinkles of 

Briannas Blush dressing - 

Heat till cheese was melted

reaction from the boys - 

THATS A KEEPER

Our Foodie Adventure -

As many of you know we frequent- Harringtons By the Bay;http://www.harringtonsbythebay.com/

in the evening for dinner - 

While the food there is ever fantastic and the service over the top we decided we needed to broaden our taste buds...

So over the last week - hubby and I decided that with all the locally owned restaurants in this town we should make it our goal over the next little while to try them ALL and see what all this town of ours has to offer  - 

We are happy to say we haven't been disappointed 

First on our list was 

The Work Shop Brewing Company - Located where Right Brain Brewery used to be; http://www.traversecityworkshop.com/

we went there to hear The Wilenes; http://www.thewilenes.com/ -

First off let me say The Work Shop Brewing 

completely satisfied our high maintenance need 

for WONDERFUL Organic Locally sourced foods

 and the beverages - DELISH - 

 you will not be disappointed in the prices either!

  Don't expect it to be fancy though... it is a workshop 

~ with us owning our own Machine Shop - www.westsidetool.com 

we were completely at home 

with the table saw tables and "Shop" feel - 

 the servers were friendly and the band ...

well lets just say IF you ever hear they are playing near you

 go hear them - they are FANTASTIC!! http://www.thewilenes.com/performance-schedule

The next stop on our list after having dinner at 

Harringtons and discussing 

what we were doing

with our favorite server/friend

She asked if we have been to 

Northern Naturals Cider House yet

http://www.northernnaturalwinery.com/

We said "no" we hadn't been there yet - 

So the next night we decided to check it out

It was a Monday night -

we never expected there to be music - 

As we settled in  - 

ordered our food

and a flight of cider - 

We listened to two members

of the Appleseed Collective

http://www.theappleseedcollective.com/

Katie Lee and Andrew Brown

They were incredible

they kind of had the chemistry of 

the Civil Wars

Our food came and in between our 

oooooos and ahs 

AGAIN our taste buds were DELIGHTED

our wallet too!

We went there twice this week - 

the second time the food was as good as the first 

and we were blessed to listen to 

EMINOR

https://www.facebook.com/eminor83

it was open mic night and we heard

lots of wonderful sounds!

REALLY with all the talent in and around

Michigan why do we hire anyone 

else for entertainment purposes?

Another evening on the advice of a couple of friends

we decided to try

Georginas

http://www.georginastaqueria.com/

We thought it was reservations only but 

when we drove by we saw a couple of empty

tables and decided to give it a try - 

The owner said Hello and Welcomed us - 

Our server explained the menu and 

then we had to let our eyes decide what 

our tongue and tummy wanted - 

Bruce decided on Asian

Deb on Latin

Impeccable 

seems to be the only word 

just the right amount of food

You will not find beer or wine here 

but thats okay the food will satisfy!

Reasonable too!

With so many choices its hard to decide 

where to go next but on a whim we 

decided to try

Town Plaza

http://www.thetowneplaza.com/

though its been here for awhile 

we hadn't tired it yet 

so last night we did

note this is a little high end

a great place for special occasions

BUT where else can you go that

has Ostrich on the menu - 

We both love Ostrich 

so after ordering veggie small plates;

Broccollini & Root Vegetable Gratin : 

Turnip, rutabega, carrot, parsnip, swiss chard, raclette cheese

Of course we ordered the Broccollini we had to

after all that is one of the things this blog was named after we

ordered the Pork Wings & Ostrich to share

Wonderful - Wonderful - Wonderful

the food was savory ~ hearty 

the perfect warm up 

on a bitter cold winters eve - 

And we were lucky enough to get

one of our favorite waitresses 

from when we used to go up to the 

Leland Lodge to listen to the Windy Ridge Boys

Thank you Kat for a wonderful evening!!

This will not be a place we frequent 

every week as its a bit pricey

but we will be back!

Please check back I will try to be more diligent

in keeping you in the know of the places to go!

Debra 

So true