Sister and I went to Little Falls, Minnesota, yesterday---a town on the Mississippi River with little waterfall which we forgot to look at.
We were busy at the West Side Café.
The classic bathroom-mirror selfie:
Chalkboard menu, dairy from cows, orange booths--the real deal.
I had the Chopped Steak Plate Special:
hamburger steak with A1 sauce (it has raisins in it!), green beans, mashed potatoes (real) with gravy, white bread and butter, $11.
Then we were busy looking around the Polish Catholic Church, started by citizens from Poland but named Our Lady of Lourdes (she's French), even though Poland has some very fine Marys, including the Black Madonna of of Częstochowa.
A big, jeweled icon of the Black Madonna hangs a prominent side altar, where we lit candles:
Our field trips are always organized around a library visit. Sister has researched all the Carnegie Libraries in driving distance--but that's just the hook to hang the trip on.
This library was kind of boring, not photo worthy. We sat inside and addressed and wrote our Xmas cards.
As we were leaving the library, a Santa was setting up to greet kids, and kids were lining up, dressed up and excited to meet Santa.
MOST EXCITING FOR A DOLL:
The big (big!) Coburn's grocery store. Some soldiers from the nearby base were shopping in uniform.
Spike was most amazed at the Little Debbie snack cakes!
I almost bought some boxes for their beauty, but I was afraid I might eat them in the middle of the night, even though they are almost inedible, being mainly wax, you know.
BUT... I am like that with sugar. If it's in the house, I ferret it out and eat it.
I am trying (again, again, again) to eat more complex carbs, proteins, and fat, and NOT to eat white flour and sugar.
A main problem for me is bothering to SPEND THE TIME––to shop, plan, and cook real food. I end up scrounging junk at work, and the like.
If someone would make me meals such as salmon, vegan collards with shitake mushrooms, and wild rice every night, I believe I would not be tempted by Little Debbies. Or, not so much.
We'd stopped at the grocery store because I needed to buy a 9 x 13 cake pan to make Mr Furniture a peach cobbler. I'd told him I'd make him one for his birthday last weekend, and then... I didn't.
I thought he wouldn't remember, or care.
But on Monday, when I came back to work, the first thing he said was,
"Where's my peach cobbler, San Francisco?"
So now I will make it. As in, now, this minute.
Bye!
i hear you about sugar in the house! although for me it's chocolate but not icky milk chocolate (you cheap brands know who you are!!)
ReplyDeletemy dad used to get mad at me as i would eat a piece of his homemade fudge (candy thermometer kind--recipe lost!) before breakfast.
you visit the coolest places -- cool to me because they aren't modernized. i am becoming such a luddite.
kirsten
KIRSTEN: I'm loving going to little towns outside of this big city! Luckily sister had a car and likes to drive, and she's retired so has the time. She also likes to research---I am like a big ol' dog, just along for the ride.
ReplyDeleteBUT... I do have an eye for the ordinary, unmodernized things--"Let's go see if the church is open," I said to Sister.
Fudge is the breakfast of gods.
Frex = Fresca
The one Little Debbie snack cake that I will never not love are the oatmeal cakes. Are they cakes? I don't know. Oatmeal somethings with a creamy substance in the middle. I adore the chemically taste.
ReplyDeleteWhite sugar and white flour are our devils. I hear you.
There's a Carnegie Library within driving distance of here. I should go visit it.
a great outing! I have spent most of the morning admiring your photo.
ReplyDeleteSpike knows how to dress for any occasion, I am sure, The others might pump her for info about Debbie cakes...you may have to buckle....
Your co worker is a lucky person- late better than never for peach cobbler! you are a gem, San Francisco.
MS MOON: Oh, please, if you visit the Carnegie Library, will you take a photo for me and my sister? They usually have a brass plaque saying their history...
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean about loving the chemical taste--I feel that way about some Hostess snacks (Twinkies)...
The Oatmeal Creme Pies are more like real food than the Xmas Trees because there's no "chocolate" [brown wax] involved. Still, I was [naive] surprised to see that corn syrup is the 1st ingredient.
Product description
Little Debbie Double Decker Oatmeal Creme Pie
Ingredients Corn Syrup, Enriched Bleached Flour, Palm and Soybeans Oils, Dextrose, Whole Grain Oats, Water, Sugar, Molasses, Raisins
LINDA SUE: Spike actually was a bit overdressed (not that she minded)--she'd gotten the idea it was a "formal town" (?) but really it was not.
Mr Furniture was pleased with the cobbler, so it was worth it.
FREX = FRESCA
Haha! Not much oatmeal in those oatmeal creme pies is there? Oh well. I rarely, rarely eat them but think about it with pleasure.
ReplyDeleteYes. If I make it to that library, I will definitely take pictures.
MS MOON: At least there IS oatmeal in Little Debbie Oatmeal Creme Pies. There's certainly no cream, just "creme" (oil + sugar).
ReplyDeleteAh well, they don't market them as "health food". :)