Food Across America: Route 66 Days Seven & Eight

Yesterday was a long day that wrapped up nicely at Latitude 26 Tex-Mex.  The food was good and the staff took great care of us.  I'd recommend this spot to others in the area.

We left St. Louis, MO today  ~ heading back to Silicon Valley via I-80.  While off Route 66, we are still deeply interested in the food along the way!  I must say, today has been a banner day.

We started out at the hospital with my father.  It was like the movie "Groundhog Day". I smiled to myself when I saw the breakfast provided to him (pictured below).  Strikingly similar to the buffets along our path so far... 

I have always wondered what "American food" was; I guess the unmistakable pattern we've seen over the past week is the classic American breakfast! 

Dinner tonight was nothing short of stunning.  As a reminder, I'm a vegan and Sean is not.  Lots of compromise happens when we dine.  Tonight was a nearly perfect situation with fantastic meals for each of our individual tastes.

Using Yelp on our iPad, we found a vegan restaurant within minutes from the city's best barbecue.  Both restaurants offered carry-out menus on their web sites, so we were all set.

Sean ordered the rib combo platter (which was enough for 3 people).  It included beef ribs, pork spareribs, pork short ribs and lamb ribs as well as baked beans and french fries.  Nothing was less than excellent, but according to Sean, nothing but the ribs mattered.  The menu itself is incredibly broad; if we were local, Sean would work his way through it.

Star of Show: lamb ribs (due primarily to their novelty; this is the first time he'd seen lamb ribs as an option).

Eden Alley's menu was equally broad. Thankfully their staff was incredibly helpful in narrowing the field of options.  We settled on half orders of the roasted potato burrito (daily special) and the spinach and mushroom loaf.  Truly amazing.

Star of Show: roasted potato burrito; the diablo sauce was incredible.

Food Across America: Route 66 Day Six

The breakfast buffet was on par with the rest of the trip.  From here on out you can assume it is all more of the same unless we note otherwise...

Lunch today was a *very* welcomed, delicious meal. Yelp saves the day again, finding an open restaurant in our area. Today we landed at the City Coffeehouse and Creperie.   On the heels of the last two days I was really hungry and was able to find enough here to get all the way to satisfied...  The leading photo today is the vegetarian sandwich on wheat ~ incredible.

Dinner at Favazza's was good, as was the frozen custard at Ted Drewes.  Both are worth a stop if you are in the area.

Peroni and Pasta at Favazza's

Ted Drewes

We made the trip across the US to be with my father during his deep brain stimulation surgery tomorrow. My sisters, Suzanne and Renee, met us here and tomorrow we go with him for the procedure. He's had Parkinson's Disease for years, tomorrow should be a very good thing.

Perhaps needless to day, I won't be thinking or writing about food tomorrow...

Renee, Fred, Michelle, Suzanne

Food Across America: Route 66 Day Five

Not surprisingly, breakfast was the same. I opted for a banana and the last of the oatcakes. My Flip batteries died during the breakfast scan; here's the iPhone footage:

The pattern is holding true by hotel brand ~ nearly identical regardless of location. Hotel chains appear to have breakfast menus like fast food franchises; same thing, with as little variation as possible, to ensure a consistent experience.  Hmmm.

Lunch at Iron Starr Urban Barbeque was good.  I ordered the veggie plate with collard greens, green beans, cornbread and a salad. Sean had the St Louis style BBQ ribs, reporting them to be the best ribs he's ever had...

Dinner was not good.  We found little open in Joplin besides the big chains (Outback Steakhouse, Chili's, etc.), so tried the closest recommendation from the hotel staff: Cheddar's Casual Cafe.  The menu choices were on par with the breakfast fare we've seen daily.  Difficult choices.  We won't be back and will actively avoid these restaurants if we spot them in other cities.  Much like last night, I opted for a plain baked potato and "steamed" veggies.  The farther east we go, the greater the challenge.  

Tomorrow we reach St. Louis where we stay put for a few days.  I'm looking forward to dinner with my family on the hill at Favazza's.

Food Across America: Route 66 Day Four

The breakfast in Albuquerque was nearly identical to the breakfast in Flagstaff.  The only difference is that Albuquerque offered tortillas in addition to the other bread products.  I am amazed at the lack of variation and the minute amount of local flair.

This morning, the only option for me, oatmeal, was not yet fully cooked so I headed to the market within the lobby to see if there were choices there.  No such luck.  I opted for an apple, an orange, and some oatcakes from the stash I brought from home.

Lunch was really good.  We stopped at Jorge's Tacos Garcia in Amarillo.  I had a margarita and the "Tex-Mex Stir Fry", which consisted of zucchini, summer squash, bell peppers, onions, mushrooms and roasted corn sauteed then served with corn tortillas. After scooping off the cheese and sour cream, I was all set.

Dinner was vastly different than the last two nights.  We went to "Big Vern's 66 Steakhouse" just down the street from our hotel and pictured above.  I had a baked potato and a side of steamed vegetables.  Sean went for the ribeye, which by all accounts was better than average...

Today reminded me how hard it is to make good choices when it comes to food.  My preferences aside, if you're looking for a healthy meal (referencing the USDA's guidelines as an example) these buffets and restaurants don't set the average person up for success.   Of course choices infer you have options, which is another, very important discussion in its own right.

Tomorrow night ~ Joplin, Missouri.



At home this week, the box contains:

• Fennel
• Spinach
• Salad OR Little Gem Lettuce
• Strawberries
• Cherry Tomatoes OR Green Beans
• Chives
• Chantenay Carrots
• Basil OR Mystery
• Erbette Chard OR Red Beets

Our good friends David and Marina are picking it up and will share their culiary adventures once complete.

Food Across America: Route 66 Day Three

Much like yesterday, the "food" day started out with some challenges and got better with each meal.  Here were today's breakfast options:

The oatmeal with dried cranberries plus an apple were just the ticket. Lunch was a pinto bean burrito with guacamole and pico de gallo at Casa Blanca in Winslow, AZ.

En route from Winslow, AZ to Albuquerque, NM, we stopped for a break and found the frybread shack pictured above.  We tried two styles ~ salted and sweetened.  Both good, though neither were something I'd eat every day.  Here's the recipe sold by the lovely folks at Chee's, the proprietors of this particular stop.

Navajo Fry Bread
Makes 8-10 bread

4 c flour
1 T baking powder
1 t salt
1/4 c shortening
2 c lukewarm water

Mix dry ingredients together in a large bowl.  Cut shortening into dry ingredients.  Mix well.  Add water and mix with your hands until it forms a soft dough and does not stick to the bowl.  Cover and let it stand.  After 30 minutes knead it some more.  If it's sticky use a little flour then form the dough into small balls about the size of a small peach.  Stretch and pat until dough is flat and round.  Punch a little hole in the center of the bread.  The shape should be a little smaller than the frying pan you are using for deep frying.  If you cannot handle the dough with your hands use rolling pin to roll the dough out until round.

Heat 2 cups vegetable oil in a frying pan.  This needs to be very hot.  Oil should just start to smoke.  Regulate that temperature (the best bread is cooked in a pan on an open campfire over cedar wood).  Place the fry bread in the hot oil until brown on one side then turn it over and fry the other side until golden brown.  We eat bread with our meals like mutton stew and Navajo tacos.  Many people enjoy bread with honey or powdered sugar.

For dinner tonight, once again, Yelp saved the day with solid recommendations. Tonight we chose Jennifer James 101 in Albuquerque.  It was fantastic and thought-provoking.  I'd classify it as local, organic "fusion-fusion" as each course combined different cuisines or unexpected combinations.  For example, I had:

• Grilled giant cremini with celery, capers, lemon and truffle oil
• Poblano stuffed with quinoa and vegetables on black bean sauce topped with pickled radishes and micro-cilantro

Odd, but spectacular.  We'll certainly return if ever in the area again.

I can't wait to see what's in store tomorrow...

Food Across America: Route 66 Day Two

Nutrition was not the name of the game today. This video shows the breakfast options at our hotel; I opted for a banana followed by some oatcakes that I had brought from home.



Lunch was in two parts, both at diners. First course was fried pickle spears at Peggy Sue's just outside Barstow. The second course was a Gardenburger at Jedro's in Needles,CA. Both very tasty, just glad I brought along a lot of spandex.  I am not surprised the US has an obesity problem.

Dinner was a completely different matter.  We used Yelp to find restaurants in our area, sorted by rating, then chose the one that looked like the best match for our taste.  We chose the Tinderbox Kitchen and are extremely glad we did.

The Tinderbox kitchen offered fantastic food and service with a comfortable, slightly trendy atmosphere.  At the hostess station they offered temporary tatoos of their logo and on the speakers you heard mixes assembled by the staff played via iPod playlists. 

Black pepper was a theme throughout the meal, everything highly spiced.  I had the "Black and Blue" Beet Salad (minus the blue cheese) and the Ziti pasta with Campari Tomatoes (minus the goat cheese).  The salad was so good I ordered a second one to go for lunch the next day.  Sean had the Pork Belly Confit on Blue Cheese Grits followed by the Seared Scallops with Poblano Bacon Creamed Corn and a side of Black Pepper Frites (pictured above).  We left no room for dessert, but the options sounded fantastic.