Howie's Diner

In the small town of Lawrenceburg, Indiana sits the little gem called Howie's Diner. When I first dined here, it was explained to me that it was a "truck stop diner" and if I didn't like it, we didn't have to stay. I love little diners and dives, but only if they are good. I have been to places that a rat wouldn't even eat from...

I was skeptical at first. Surely a diner at a gas station will be nothing to write home about, let alone be good enough to consume anything that came out of it. Being used to the typical "trucker" stereotype, I definitely had my doubts.

Its a cutesy, stereo typical diner. Pictures of Elvis and Marilyn Monroe on the walls, 1950's feel to it. The staff are friendly and, the boyfriend being a local, even talked to a cook whom he knows. The sweet tea is freshly brewed and some of the best I have ever had. I love Southern Sweet Tea, but not when it tastes like you are licking a sugar cube. This tea was sweet but still have a robust tea flavor.

There are certain rules I follow when going to eat at a diner when I don't know what the food is like. I normally get something that is familiar and hard to screw up. So, I got an open-faced roast beef sandwich with mashed potatoes and gravy. Let me tell you, this made me fall in love. The mashed potatoes were ever so slightly lumpy, giving it that homemade feel. The gravy was a slightly peppery beef gravy that I would eat on a flip flop. The roast beef....mmmm.

The place was also clean, which is a huge factor for me. Not like clean for a truck stop, but a nice restaurant clean (which is hard to find at a truck stop nowadays) I was in love at first bite. A 24 hour location in the truck stop area of a small town in Indiana is the best place to go to eat when I am visiting the boyfriend's family. I actually got a little sad this weekend when we did not stop for a bite. I just goes to show that you can't judge a book by its cover. Or even a diner by its gas station.

AdSense for Morons

So, because Google is run by complete incompetent mongrels, my AdSense account had been deleted. So those little annoying ads on my blog will no longer be there. This was a way of earning money through anyone who clicked on these ads (something I am allowed to share with you now because I was excommunicated from the program.) I was almost to my first payment when they banished me, unlawfully I might ad.

When I would go to work, I would pull up my blog on the computers for people to see. I would leave it up to gain more traffic to VIEW the blog. I wasn't expecting anyone to actually read it or even click on anything. But apparently people did. Great, I was going to get my first pay check from Google and have my time and effort into it justified. However, I was about $4-6 away from a payment this month when my account was suspended. I appealed the suspension but Google, being the money grubbing imbeciles they are, rejected my appeal and banned me for life. Anyone whose AdSense account has been disapproved is not allowed to make another account.

So, I will never be paid by Google for the amount of traffic I provided their paying customers. They get free advertising and I get banned for life. How is this fair? I am about to get paid and WAM my account is deemed to be in violation of illegal clicks. I didn't do anything I wasn't supposed to and I get penalized for.....doing nothing. I would imagine this is a regular practice, to keep bloggers from getting paid. It took me almost a year to build up enough funds for a paycheck and right before I would have received it, they pull this.

Now this is the dilemma I am in: do I continue on with a blog that no one reads, which is basically here for my own amusement, or do I just shut it down and forget about it? I now I am not going to get an answer back because no one reads this except me....and my mom. But really, maybe its not worth it :/

New Concept of Eating

If you knew me personally, you would know I am not a stick-like person. I have what society calls "curves". Attributed to a not-so-healthy diet, lack of consistent exercise, love of unhealthy food, and slow metabolism, I have struggled with weight all of my life. However, I heard some "diet" advise that kind of blew my mind.

Now I know people who live in the real world normally don't have time to make a big breakfast in the morning, let alone eat one. However, this concept is ideal. One lady I saw lost 100 lbs (or so she says) this way. Eat your biggest meal in the morning. Eat leftovers, or cook food for the next day to eat for breakfast. Then, instead of eating a large dinner, like most Americans are accustom to, eat small, like cereal or a sandwich. The change in eating habits will let your body function how it supposed to.

By eating the biggest meal of the day in the morning, it will give your body the time to burn it off throughout the day. Also you get the most energy in the morning and not dragging your heels because all you had was a sip of OJ and a bite of toast. Eating the biggest meal of the day at night lets the fats settle and when you go to sleep, they work on plumping you up. If you eat a small meal at night, your body has less to weight it down when you go to bed. It will burn the most food and calories when you are most active in the day.

To me, this  just makes sense. Why load up with 2, 3, 6 courses of food right before you are going to be stationary for 6-9 hours? Especially if you are trying to lose some weight. If your energy is up, then you can do more and be more productive. Your brain will be working properly instead of having day dreams of your pillow.










(Disclaimer: MiniChef and ViewtothePoint is not, in any way, trained, medically or otherwise, to advise people on their health. This is simply an opinionated article of the creator. Do not start a diet regime or life style without first consulting with your doctor. MiniChef also does not condone intentional eating disorders of any kind. If you think or know you have an eating disorder, MiniChef urges you to contact your doctor.)

Excerpt from the "Book"

I decided to put up a few excerpts here and there from the book I am working up. This is part of what I wrote today. I am also working in some recipes here and there so I guess its kinda like a cook book as well. Would still like some input and contributions would be appreciated as well.

“Seniority”

This is just a fancy way of saying “you were hired last so F$@% YOU!”. No matter how many people are so much better, no matter how horrible those people are, no matter how many times they cuss out the chef, stop doing their work, screw everyone else and break every rule everyone else is held to, they are still held in a better regard. They are given the best hours. They are given the best days off. They don't have to stay for rushes, don't have to work the holidays, and they have no reason to do more work than they deem necessary. They think they can walk all over you just because you were hired after them. Even though you could cook better and faster brain dead and strapped to a chair, they are still pampered like the spoiled brats they are.  

Saint Patrick's Day

March 17th, Saint Patties Day. While some will be drinking and worshiping the porcelain throne, I will be making traditional Irish food and watching Boondocks Saints. Every St. Patty's day, I make Shepherds Pie. I know corned beef and cabbage is more traditional, but I don't like cabbage unless its in an egg roll. As for corned beef, I have only liked it made by one person.

This is one I have based my pie off of before:

http://www.food.com/recipe/traditional-irish-shepherds-pie-302120

Of course this one turns out too watery. I reduce the liquid by about 1/4-1/3 the amount they suggest. The wine is optional. It might turn out a little better if instead of the full glass of wine, just using beef stock, au jus, or french onion soup. It would make it a little different. Or, if you are still wanting to go for the St. Patty's theme, substituting the wine for Guinness.

Whenever I make this recipe, it always comes out tasting delicious. I also make my potatoes a little dry because they always seem to soak up too much moisture. Also, I make sure the dish is almost double the size of what I need. Boiling over has always been a problem with my pies.

Happy Saint Patty's Day!

Update

Wow! Its been quite a while since I last posted. I have decided to write a book. Its about chefs: what they like, dislike, can't stand, do, what bugs them, etc. Its going ok, but I need more points of view. Any input on this would be fantastic.

I am also trying to figure out the title. A few votes are for "Yes Chef". Any suggestions would be appreciated. 

Ronetti's, London Ohio

Tonight we went to Ronetti's for dinner. The hubby has never been there and has been wanting to try the place. It was kind of busy and the table we got had $5.00 in quarters left there by the previous customers, as well as a few cheerios and sticky spots. The floor around the table was sticky and covered in food. The only server there was a woman who was the manager at Wendy's when I worked there. She is lazy and has a bad attitude. She greeted the family that sat down before us but refused to come to our table. She disappeared while we were waiting for her to take our drink orders and looking through the menu. We sat there for about 15-20 minutes, giving her a chance because it was busy. By the time we walked out she was nowhere to be seen, the table and floor was still filthy and the money was still on the table. I later remarked that we should have taken the tip because she is so horrible.

I give this place a complete zero.