Cincinnati Trip, Part II

After our uneventful stay at a very nice Extended Stay America hotel, my traveling companion and I made our way over to the house of the theater friends who had starred in the production of 1776 we saw last night. Brunch was in order and our hostess was to regale us with her mother's world famous French Toast. Err, pancakes. Err, French Toast. Let me explain.

Normally French Toast is made by soaking day old slices of bread in a custard and then grilled in butter. Pancakes are a mixture of flour, baking soda (or powder), milk, eggs, oil, salt and a little sugar that are griddled in butter. Fundamental difference, no? Our hostess's mother discovered back in her college days that if she combined the methods, you get something totally new. She made a pancake batter with some cinnamon and nutmeg and then dipped slices of bread into the batter and griddled them like French toast. What you end up with is something totally unique, a hybrid that is better than the sum of the parts.

We started with some lovely mimosas while the bacon was being griddled. Once all of the components were ready, we sat down to a feast. Beside the fabulous French Pancakes, we had some lovely crispy bacon (my favorite kind) and scrambled eggs with peppers and mushrooms. A shot of my plate sans syrup:


This was so yummy, I had to have a couple extra strips of that crispy bacon and several more slices of the French Pancakes. We hated to say good-bye, but everyone seemed to have other commitments today that we needed to fulfill, so we were off. But we'll be back soon.

Cincinnati Trip, Part I

Some very good friends from Cincinnati were involved in a community theater production of 1776 that was wrapping up this weekend. A friend and I decided to come down to Cincinnati to help them close out the show. So today, after my friend got off of work, we headed down good 'ol I-71 and managed to make very good time despite Mother Nature's attempt at thwarting our effect by placing a storm consisting of snow and freezing rain in our path. We persevered.

And we arrived in enough time to stop for dinner before the show. Nothing fancy, but we decided on a definite Cincy classic: Skyline Chili. Now I know there are probably better representations of this classic Cincinnati dish than this chain, but unfortunately, I hadn't had time to do my homework ahead of time and by the time we got here, it was the closest thing that Google maps showed us.

My friend decided to go with the 5 way, which consists of spaghetti, chili, cheese, onions, and beans. I went for the classic 3 way, spaghetti, chili and cheese. Not surprisingly, the 3 way and the 5 way look almost identical because they are both covered in a mound of shredded cheese. Here is my 3 way:


This was the large. In retrospect, I probably should've ordered the regular sized plate as I didn't finish this. Even though we do have a Skyline Chili chain up in the Cleveland/Akron area, I don't really eat here, ever. I just don't care for this version very much. However, being in Cincinnati, I figured, "Why not?" The chili had flavors of cinnamon, clove, and various other fairly strongly flavored spices. It's honestly not something I would just sit down and eat an entire bowl. This is also served with a side of oyster crackers. The chili is so spiced (not spicy, spiced) that several times throughout the meal, I had to eat a few oyster crackers just to cleanse my palate a bit.

I guess this is one of those things that I will order here in Cincinnati, but don't really find it something that I would seek out if I were anyplace else. The one thing that both myself and my traveling companion noted was that by the time we got to the end of our entrees, we both really craved something sweet.

When we asked our server what dessert options were available to us, she pointed us to a cooler full of pre-made frozen desserts, still in their wrappers. She did add that the owner made chocolate chip cookies from scratch every day and they had baklava. Now, never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine I would eat dinner at a Skyline Chili and hear that they had baklava for dessert. My friend rightfully pointed out that that Skyline Chili was actually started in the late 1940's by a Greek couple.

So, with a bit of hesitation (and needing something sweet to cut all those spices), we ordered a cookie:


and a baklava:



Honestly, the cookie was ok. It wasn't super fresh, but considering we were ordering from a Skyline Chili, it was ok. The baklava had nice crispy layers of phyllo. My friend felt it didn't have enough honey flavor to it. I actually liked the subdued sweetness. My complaint was there wasn't enough flavor from the nuts. Overall, it was a surprise considering where I purchased it. The waitress did admit that the owner bought the baklava from a local bakery and that they didn't make it in house. Had they made it in house, I would've been fairly impressed.

Overall, I'm glad I got to sample a staple of the Cincinnati food dining scene. However, my choice to only experience this one whenever I am in Cincinnati remains firm in conviction. I know there are some better more local places to experience this delicacy. Next time I come down, I plan on finding some of those spots.

I'm very much looking forward to the best French Toast ever tomorrow morning with my friends from the show! More pictures to come.

The Sub Station: A Has Been?

As a rule, I will generally favor local mom-and-pop style restaurants over a chain any day. In fact, if I have the option, I will generally seek them out. It isn't necessarily because the food is always better in these places, but because they will generally offer the diner something unique that can only be found in that restaurant or in that geographical area.

Like Marie's pizza, another longtime favorite of mine has been The Sub Station, located at 126 Main St, Wadsworth, OH 44281. In fact, I've been going here since I first moved to Wadsworth back in 1986. I don't get to eat there as often as I did back in high school, but every now and again when I am in Wadsworth and in need of a submarine sandwich, this is where I turn. And even though it is more expensive than say, Subway, I always justified this by telling myself that I would rather spend a little more on a local place that put uniqueness and quality over quantity.

I experimented with the menu quite a bit throughout high school and by the time I had graduated back in 1990 (no comments please), I had settled on what would become my standard order. First, a shot of the counter area that has changed very little since the mid-1980's.


The ordering process has also changed little from what I first encountered: place your order, pay the bill, grab the "call number" tab off the bottom of the order slip and wait for your number to be called.

Here is a shot of what I normally order ...


Half a turkey club, an order of onion rings, and a large root beer from the soda fountain and not from the can. This is one of the few times I will knowingly order a beverage with high fructose corn syrup. Although if they offered something in a bottle or can that used sugar instead of HFCS, I would order that instead. It just doesn't feel the same without a root beer from the fountain.

The turkey club comes with turkey, mayo, bacon, lettuce and tomato. The tomato is not so good this time of year (no surprises there).


What did surprise me this time (and maybe I just haven't been paying enough attention over the last couple of years) is that the bacon was pre-cooked and then warmed for service. Now I don't know if it was purchased pre-cooked or they cooked off a batch that morning for service later. Honestly I don't really care. It detracts from the original experience. I don't know if this was a cost cutting move or a labor cutting move, but unfortunately, it's the start down a slippery slope. Otherwise, the experience now was the same as I remember from high school.

I also want to say something about the cost. Since I've been coming here for over 20 years, clearly I expect the prices to go along with the economy. But my half sandwich, order of onion rings, and large root beer finally exceeded the $10 mark (no tipping required here). While that doesn't necessarily bother me from a cost perspective, I have to ask myself whether I am willing to pay nearly $6 for a half-sandwich that has pre-cooked bacon on it.

Nostalgia is a powerful force. The funny thing is that I would pay more for the real thing. And I know it's a delicate balance right now with the economy the way that it is, but I can only say that if they change the taste too much, if they finally reach a point where they violate the spirit of the original, I have no problem cutting my losses and just living with my memories.

The Butterfinger Cake

My grandmother's 86th birthday was actually on Thursday, February 12th, but today was the first day that my aunt from Columbus, my mother and I could get together to help celebrate. We started out with lunch at The Mill at our local Wadsworth location of Buehler's grocery store. Nothing was particularly noteworthy (or photo worthy) so I won't say anything more than this: The Mill's hollandaise was way better than The Grotto's was.

After lunch, we returned to my grandmother's condo to do cake and presents. My mother decided to make the cake this time instead of the normal way-too-sweet version at Giant Eagle. I present you with ... the Butterfinger cake:


And now, Mr. Deville, your close-up shot:


This is actually a pretty straightforward cake. Use a recipe for your favorite German chocolate cake (my mom's was from a mix). Personally I would make sure that you don't overcook the cake as it can get a little dry. As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, poke holes in the cake using the back of a wooden spoon or a dowel rod. Take a jar of your favorite caramel sauce (or you could make your own caramel -- even better!) and pour it over the still hot cake. Then cover with a layer of crushed Butterfinger candies. My mom said that two normal sized Butterfingers fit this bill nicely. Now let cool completely to room temperature.

At this point, cover with Cool Whip (or lightly sweetened whipped cream) and then garnish with some additional crushed Butterfinger bars.

It was a nice cake and the less sweet topping (whipped cream / Cool Whip) was nice as the caramel could make the cake seem too sweet at times for me. Really the only thing I would have changed ingredient-wise would have been to add a little cocoa powder to the box mix. The cake just didn't seem chocolate-y enough to balance out the other flavors in the cake. But, that being said, I actually had two pieces and plan on taking some home with me as well.

Oh, yeah, Happy Birthday, Grandma!