Happy New Year

Happy New Year to you and all of yours. Been a while since I've been here but I'm back. This morning, I struggled out of bed and called up my siblings and we met at Home Plate Diner here in Des Moines. 

We went to the original location on 30th right across from the fairgrounds. There is another location at 3900 E. 14th St, where the old "Maid-Rite" used to be, in that little strip mall. 

So we met at the one near the fairgrounds, 304 E. 30th. Nice little place, decorated with a baseball theme. Framed shirts and caps, wooden decorations and plenty of display cases with not a lot in them.

Reminds me of when I was a kid and we went to restaurants around town. Chewing gum and candy bars at check out and friendly waitresses.

The waitresses are very friendly. I felt comfortable there, she wasn't pushy and she came back just the right amount of times to ask if we needed anything more. Middle aged women that weren't overly made up or chewed gum, there was no Flo in this restaurant. 

Our food came out in a timely manner with television to distract us while we waited. Well, that and good conversation with my siblings. Thing is, the other customers were friendly too. We didn't know them and they joined in the conversation. Not often and not annoyingly.

The food was okay. It was good, like your Momma used to make, if Momma wasn't the best cook ever. My pancakes were a little overdone, just a tiny bit but my eggs were perfect, they understand over medium with no runny white stuff. 

The whipped butter in the little cups were perfect, no torn pancakes and a good amount of butter for each pancake. Warm syrup, the runny kind with a good taste. I like the runny kind, it doesn't take forever to get it out of the bottle. 

My sister-in-law doesn't like breakfast, so she ordered a French Dip and they accommodated her. This was at 8:30 in the morning. And it looked good and had their version of chips with it. The meat was generous and it looked well-prepared. 

They brag that they have the best fried chicken around but I haven't tried that yet. I will let you know. 

So good food, no greasy spoons to be found and friendly staff and customers. All around nice, comfortable place to eat.

JoElla

Dinner and a Movie

We went to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2-The End of it all. Good movie, probably best of the series. We will go back and see it again.
I am 54 years old and I found myself sobbing in the theatre, feeling a little self-concious that no one else was crying. But the next day, several TV shows assured me that I was not the only one with tears-maybe in that theatre for that show I was, but across the nation, the theatre floors definitely got washed with salt water.
Jordan Creek Movie Theatre is a great place to see a movie. It has a better selection of movie treats than the average theatre and it is decorated beautifully. It has a great arcade room and tables in the lobby to sit and eat or wait for the movie to start.
The thing that makes it great is the fact that you can bring food into the theatre and eat it in there. I don't mean just the popcorn and other stuff they sell, I am talking food from the mall food court or even, if you were so inclined, food from home.
Really, you have their blessing to go over to Panera Bread or Cheesecake Factory or even Charlie's Subs and bring in your food, into the actual theater and eat it while watching the movie.
It's not easy, you kind of have to leave a seat between you and your seatmate to use as a table but it is definitely doable and so decadent. I love to do things that feel like I'm breaking the rules and getting by with it. And for me, this is an example of that behavior.
This time I was glad the meal was over before the movie started though. All those tears would have made my sandwhich soggy and ruined my chocolate chip cookie.

Post Deathly Hallows at Panera Bread-Jordan Creek

I am late middle aged. Tail end of the baby boomers. I was born into a Des Moines without shopping malls. I was two when they opened Merle Hay Mall. So for me, malls were shopping for Christmas and birthday gifts, period.
Last night, my older-than-me husband and I went to see The Deathly Hallows part one. Harry Potter-love that guy, love the movies and the video games. We went to Jordan Creek Mall to see this latest offering and it was worth the effort.
However, when we got out, it was about nine o clock and  I needed to run to Panera Bread for bread. Needed some stuffing material for the turkey. You know what day is coming up real soon. Anyway, Panera is about 150 feet or so from the movie theater. Felt like more. You have to walk past the beginning of the food court to get there. Also a major entrance to the mall.
What has all this got to do with buying a French miche for my stuffing?
I had to run the Gauntlet of Teenagers to get there. I swear, every teen in the Des Moines area was there last night. And they were all stuffed into that 150 foot walk. And they all had on the same suede leather half boot with fur trim. There were variations in the colors and the lengths up the ankle but all the girls were wearing them. And the ones that weren't, were glaring jealously at the ones who were.
Most of them didn't say excuse me when they pushed past but hey, I remember being sixteen and in a crowd. No time for manners, gotta get to my friends sides or get that boy to notice me. However, I did walk in a relatively straight line when I was that age, something these teens couldn't seem to be able to do.
When I walk through a crowd, which is as infrequently as possible, I anticipate the people in front of me and their moves so I can get through to my destination with as little jostling as possible. That was mission impossible last night. These youngsters danced and twirled and stopped on a dime, changing directions like a cheetah on an African plain.
So we got to Panera with a minimum of bruises and glares. Guess who is behind the counter there. Teens again, a little older than the ones inhabiting the mall and they seemed more tame. That is until another teen walked in. Specifically a teen of the opposite sex.
So I waited my turn, noting the mating behaviors of the girls giggling in the line behind me whenever one of the boys behind the counter would look at them. Then I was next, nice french mise, staring at me from the shelf. The associate(that's what they call the boy teens behind the counter, well the girls too but at my end it was all boy teens) offered to slice it while shooting a smile over my shoulder to the girls behind me.
I took him up on it and ordered some pastries to take home for breakfast. Another boy teen went to get the pastries while chatting with the girl teens behind me.
I had a taste of the French loaf this morning. It is fresh and has a wonderful French bread taste. Yeasty with good color and it will work out wonderfully for my stuffing. The bird will happily accept it you know where. Not really, like a good safe cook, I do my stuffing in a pan, not inside the bird but you get the idea.
I am not mentioning how the pastries tasted this morning. That is because last night,  the boy teen offered me a sack and I took him up on it, thinking the pastries were in there with the bread. Au contraire, amid all the mating confusion of the North American teens last night, they forgot to put them in my bag. Didn't find out til this morning cause I went straight to bed last night.
So gonna have em tomorrow morning along with another slice of that lovely French mise.
The moral of this story is to go to Panera at a different location or early morning when the North American teens are still curled up, asleep in their dens, looking ever so cute with their suede low cut boots with fur trim tucked under their little beds.