Houlihan's Restaurant Savannah, GA

Houlihan's is a chain restaurant and usually, I don't write about chains but this is a yearly stop for us so I thought I would include it in my blog. The location of this restaurant is key. It is in the parking lot where the Fairfield Inn and the SpringHill Suites are located off of I-95 at exit 94 in Savannah, GA.

We used to have a local Houlihan's so I was familiar with them before we made this year trek to Florida. I almost always order the same thing, they have a Chicken Asian Chop Chop Salad that I love. Great dressing and very tasty chicken. But this time they had a dinner special with a filet, baked potato, green beans and I got gazpacho with it. Al had the same thing but of course, his steak was a lot less well done than mine. 

It was a delicious meal and we had good service. I can say with confidence that we will be stopping here again the next time we pass through, it is too good to pass up. 

Ebenezer's Tavern Publick House Histroric Inn Sturbridge MA

Ebenezer's Tavern is everything you would expect from a historic inn. Lots of wood and atmosphere. While all that is charming, that is not what keeps us coming back. It is the food.  I love Thanksgiving and having turkey dinner is something I really enjoy. They have a wonderful turkey dinner and an open-faced turkey sandwich. I am in turkey heaven when I am there. 

When you stay at the Publick House you get a 10% discount on your lunch or dinner there. Since we were staying there we got a discount. In addition to the discount for $10 you can add two of the following:

• Soup
• Salad
• Dessert

We decided to go for it, I added the raspberry salad to my meal and Al added a wedge. My goodness, these were some very good salads. The raspberry dressing was phenomenal, and they give you more than you could possibly use. 

This is served with a bread basket that includes their amazing pecan rolls, love them. It also has cornbread, rolls and pumpkin bread. 

I had the turkey dinner, all-white meat (you can choose all white, all dark or a combo) cornbread stuffing, mashed potatoes and butternut squash. With the gravy and cranberry sauce, it was the ultimate dinner. Al had the sirloin steak and they cut it for me into wonderfully bite-sized pieces. It was cooked to perfection. 

We both had leftovers, and luckily our room had a fridge. 

For dessert, we got a chocolate lava cake with vanilla ice cream and got the peanut butter decadence to go. The lava cake was the low point of the evening, no molten lava so back it went. The second one was slightly better but still not as molten as it should be. The peanut butter decadence which we ate later the next day was awesome. 

I ended with a cup of coffee and a very satisfied smile on my face. 

Apple Rhubarb Pan Dowdy

I love apples and I love rhubarb, they are a natural combination. This is the time of year when rhubarb is fresh in the store so a great time to actually use it in some home-baked goods. I have a freezer filled with frozen rhubarb from last year so this is what I used. 

I peeled 8 medium Macintosh apples and sliced them. Don't worry too much about how thin, all of mine aren't identical. The rhubarb I had cut into the correct size pieces before I froze them. I threw them in a bowl and added nutmeg, cinnamon and sugar to taste. I used about a half cup of sugar, a 2 teaspoons of nutmeg and a teaspoon of cinnamon. But taste the apples and make sure they are seasoned to your personal taste, I never measure anything. 

I used Pillsbury refrigerator dough. I rolled it out, brushed it with half and half, sprinkled it with sugar and cut it into about 20 pieces. 

I used a 10-inch square pan. Put the apple mixture in and cover with the pieces of dough. 

Bake in a 350 oven for about an hour. 

Restaurant review: Weathervane Seafood Restaurant, Kittery Maine

What could be a better combination than outlet shopping and delicious seafood? Kittery Maine offers this in abundance and one of our favorite restaurants is Weathervane. It has a rustic nautical decor and is often very very busy. The food is abundant and very good.

We arrived on Black Friday at about 2 p.m., we thought that perhaps at this time which was late for lunch and early for dinner, we would not find it too busy. We were wrong, it was very busy. The told us we would have at least a 20-minute wait for a seat. Since we wanted to eat here, we were more than willing to be patient. In reality, it was only about 10 minutes.

We were escorted to a booth and our drink order was taken. The menu is extensive and deciding what to eat is not easy. I decided to start with clam chowder and we ordered onion rings to share among the four of us. Kasey and I decided to share the Lazy Man Lobster, which is the meat of two lobsters served with drawn butter, choice of potato and a fresh side. Al ordered the fish and chips and Alex got the fried seafood combo.

I have to say that everything was absolutely delicious, the coating on the onion rings is light and you don't feel weighed down with the fact that they are fried. The chowdah is as thick and luscious as you could want but it is the lobster that was the star of the meal. It was the sweetest most tender lobster I have ever eaten and well worth the 2.5-hour drive even if we didn't go shopping.

Lunch at Nags Head Pub Covent Garden

How we ended up at the Nags Head Pub is a story in and of itself. We had spent the morning at the Family History Center and frankly I was getting a bit peckish. Looking back we should have just walked back up to the tube stop because there certainly were some restaurants there but we hopped on a bus and headed down toward Piccadilly. I spied a Rainforest Cafe and decided that this was where we were would eat (I know, what was I thinking).

We were seated and given a menu by the host and that was the last service we got. 15 minutes later we got up and walked out and nobody even noticed. We headed up to Piccadilly Circus and got on the tube for Covent Garden where there are a variety of good choices for dining.

The first pub we saw was the Nags Head and that’s how they won the coin toss. The pub was quite crowded and it wasn’t easy to find a table. We finally found a small one with two high stools. Not wanting to be too brave and daring I went over to the bar and ordered two orders of scampi and chips. Al always says just order something for me that I will eat. It being a pub and all, we also ordered two lagers. There was a menu but I didn’t take the time to check out the specials board until after I had ordered.

In case you aren’t familiar with the terms of English dining, scampi is breaded fried shrimp. This is a safe choice, every pub I have ever been to serves it and it usually is quite good. As it was here as well, a generous portion with French fries and green peas. We also got a little paper cup of tartar sauce. The green peas were really the high point, firm and tasty, Al liked them better than the chips can you believe it?

Pluses: the meal was on our table within ten minutes. The cost was a little over seven pounds each. Not a bargain but not outrageous either.

Atmosphere: very typical pub, large bar, wooden tables, atmospheric in a very British way. I love the British, I was sitting writing down some of the menu items when a young man asked if he could pinch the menu. Luckily for him, I knew what that meant.



 I have no complaints, the Nags Head Covent Garden was exactly what I expected. It is owned by McMullen and therefore serves their beers. I being me, tried to order a Stella Artois and I am sad to say it isn’t served here. I have found in my experience with English pubs, it is less expensive to just order a beer than soda.

Baking pork chops in the oven

Pork, The Other White Meat, was an advertising slogan developed for the National Pork Board and it successfully made pork a household word. For many years people were somewhat afraid of pork. 

The fear of trichinosis, caused homemakers to cook their pork so long that it was usually served dry and tough, not a very appealing combination. While trichinosis still exists, the US government has set standards for the way that hog feed is prepared and the risk has been greatly reduced. It is known that if you are still wary of the parasite, all you really need to do is cook your port to a temperature of 140 degrees. The parasite cannot survive beyond a temperature of 137 degrees.

You can choose lots of great ways to bake pork chops. You can opt for the long slow method which produces a fall apart chop that is fork-tender and loaded with flavor. It is given a milk and egg bath and dredged in flavored bread crumbs before being placed in a 9 by 13 roasting pan and covered with aluminum foil. 

It is cooked for hours in a low heat oven and the results will blow you away. It is luscious as most pork chops are not and just so that you can relax and just enjoy this wonderful pork, use a meat thermometer to be sure you have exceeded 130 degrees. If you steer clear of pork because you think it is dry, give this method a try, you will be a convert. 

Another way to bake pork chops is in water. Get out your roasting pan and cube up a couple pounds of any white potatoes and two or three yellow onions, place these in the pan with six nice center-cut bone-in pork chops. Don't go for the thin chops, get a nice thick cut. Cover everything with about 2 inches of water and 2 tablespoons of Gravymaster. Place the pan in a 350-degree oven and cook for about an hour and a half uncovered. You will know that it is done when the water is gone and the potatoes and onions are starting to get crispy.  

These pork chops have a very deep flavor and the potatoes and the onions are just the best. You can add other vegetables if you want such as carrots or other root vegetables. This is a hearty meal and makes a great fall or winter dish. It can be done on the counter in an electric frypan as well.

  

Baking pork chops is a good way to pull all the flavor out of them. Breaded or not, they are the perfect meal without having to do a whole lot of extra work, they cook themselves with very little attention from you.

Farfalle with garlic chicken and spinach

Necessity is the mother of invention and we will be leaving soon to head back north. I had some fresh spinach and a chicken breast and I didn't want to waste them I decided to boil some farfalle and make an olive oil sauce with garlic and spinach to pour over it. I cooked the chicken in the air fryer.




This pasta dish served 2.


Chicken breast:

Salt and pepper and garlic powder on both sides. Preheat the air fryer for 3 minutes. Place the chicken on the tray and cook for three minutes. Pause the machine, turn over the chicken and cook for another 3 minutes. Slice and set aside.




Boil about half a pound of pasta.




In a frying pan pour in olive oil, I mixed chili garlic oil with just regular olive oil, sorry I never measure but put enough so that the spinach won't stick, add prewashed spinach, and cover. When the spinach has wilted add a tablespoon of jarred garlic, the juice of half a lemon and salt and pepper. Place on warm. Add some of the pasta water and more olive oil to make enough to constitute a sauce.




Pour over pasta, add sliced chicken, add another squeeze of fresh lemon, and if you like grated cheese. Eat and enjoy.