Menage à Trois Bingo

Last week Amanda and I made plans to go out for sushi today. We decided to go to Asian Cafe, a newish place that she likes. Shortly after we got there three people came in: mom, dad and crying toddler. Amanda commented that it was just our luck that there be a baby. They joined a big table; ten or twelve people were already seated. (The baby, incidentally, ceased crying right away and was never a problem. She did come visit me for a minute and try to take my cutlery but I took it away from her and her mama came and got her.)

We read the lunch menu, asked some questions ("What's in a South Beach roll?" The waiter didn't know, because it's not listed on the full menu either.) and ordered the lunch special 2 for 1 sushi rolls.

Then we waited. A long time. Just about when we started to wonder where our food was, the waiter came back to say "we're out of rice." *boggle* He explained that the big table had ordered "a lot" and sushi rice takes a long time to make (which is true enough). Ooooohkay...so we ordered from the Vietnamese/Chinese side of the menu. Both of us wanted hot & sour soup.

More waiting. Another reappearance by the waiter. "We're out of hot & sour soup. Do you want egg drop?" No, we really didn't. "Would you like miso?" Yes, actually, we would.

The eventual food was tasty, but wow, that was a two-hour lunch that normally should have taken less than one, and still NO SUSHI!

Three fabulous women among our framily have birthdays in March: tempesttea, reannon, and lavendargrrl. To celebrate, Tammie put together the Triple Birthday Pie and Cider Crawl. First stop was to be PieTown Stompin Grounds in Alton IL, as seen on Feasting on Asphalt. Sadly, we had just reached my favorite bridge when we got a call from sungazing. "Um, we're standing outside the PieTown and it's closed. People inside doing renovation."

So we went directly to the second stop, Cane Bottom My Just Desserts, a mile or so down the road. This in itself was already a modification from the original plan, as we had intended to visit the Elsah location but it had closed. However, Cane Bottom, or My Just Desserts, or whatever you call it, turned out to be a lovely little place in the first floor of what appeared to be a converted old house. They were a little taken aback to be descended upon by a group of fourteen people, but were quite friendly and accommodating all the same.

The menu is a chalkboard. The left side lists all the currently-available pies, and the righthand side lists sandwiches and soups and such. Our waitress warned us that we should order our pie at the same time as our food, as they erase items from the board willy-nilly.

The day's special soup was "Springtime Asparagus", and as big asparagus fans Tammie and I had to have that. Choosing a pie was a bit more difficult, involving much negotiation. We ended up ordering the "Mrs. Ledbetter": a baked chocolate pie with coconut and pecans, akin in some ways to a German Chocolate cake and in others to a pecan pie.

The soup was a delightful surprise: it was not creamy in any way, but instead had asparagus and rice in a light broth. And the pie was also wonderful: thick chocolate filling laced with coconut and pecan topping. My only quibble might be with the crust: a touch on the hard side and not as flaky as I might like.

Many items disappeared from the board while we ate and even while we ordered, but toward the end a new item jumped on: Radically Cherry. So tempesttea, lavendargrrl and I shared a piece of that as well. It had the most delicate lattice top I've ever seen on a pie, and the filling was lusciously tart.

Next we went sightseeing. At Jamie's suggestion, we visited the Robert Wadlow statue and took lots of pictures there.

Then we drove up the Great River Road to Pere Marquette State Park, stopping here and there for more pictures; none of mine are worth sharing. I did get a few decent shots at the park, though. The Mississippi is a couple feet above flood stage right now.

After hanging out at the park and its lodge for a couple hours, we headed back down the river to the Rotten Apple for dinner and the aforementioned cider. Between the eight of us who remained (various people having left earlier in the day), we tried several of the available ciders. The universal favorites were Woodchuck Dark and Dry and Wyder's Raspberry Cider.

Food was quite the tasty. I ordered us an appetizer of Pig Wings (barbecued pork shanks) and they were very quickly made to disappear. Hush puppies were almost as big a hit, though Tammie complained that hers was underdone; everyone else seemed to have no such issue. Tammie and I ordered the crab cake appetizer as a meal, and she supplemented hers with Cream Cheese Grits with Tasso Gravy (none for me, thanks, I am not a grits fan) and I supplemented mine with a cup of the thickest gumbo I may have ever seen. Chicken and andouille, this one, with nary a sea critter to be found, but it was quite zingy and tasty and I ate every speck.

We all agree that the Rotten Apple should be added to the go-again restaurant list, though it may not be a common destination given the distance.

1. What is your favorite restaurant and why?

It's a tie between Puerto Solis, one of the best Mexican restaurants anywhere, and Brazie's, one of the best Italian. And they're both within a mile of my house.

2. What fast food restaurant are you partial to?

Jack in the Box, I guess. I eat far more fast food than I'd actually prefer to, but none of it is worth going out of my way for.

3. What are your standards and rules for tipping?

I used to tip at just over 14% when I was a poor college student. Then I went up to 18%, and now it's closer to 20%, or even more when either the bill is unusually small or I am feeling generous. Why those numbers? Divide the total bill by 7 to get 14%. Divide by 6 to get 18%. Divide by 5 to get 20%.

4. Do you usually order an appetizer and/or dessert?

I try not to, but very often do. I order appetizers far more often than dessert, because I'm hungry when I arrive at the restaurant but full by the time dessert comes around. I'm especially fond of spinach and artichoke dip, or anything involving mushrooms.

5. What do you usually order to drink at a restaurant?

Coke at lunchtime, sometimes (very rarely) iced tea. At dinner, usually either wine or just tap water.