Travels in Chicago –

 Did

 you think I was done highlighting some of the wonderful food mom/dad tried when they were visiting Illinois last November?  Of course not – snorts with piggy laughter.  How could

any visit be complete to the Chicago area without trying some of their famous Chicago deep dish pizza?  And of course, there was only one place they had to go for that –

Lou Malnati’s Pizzeria

First up, Aunt Tina said they had the best calamari.  So everyone ordered the Calamari Fritti which was lightly breaded and fried to perfection.  They serve this delectable appetizer with a side of cocktail sauce.  Of course, Aunt Tina made sure to spritz lemon all over these yum-yum’s before everyone dug into them.

And then everyone dug into some salad.  See even Aunt Tina made daddy eat some vegetables – mom was so proud.  Of course mom told daddy he had to eat the salad because the pizza takes time to cook.  That’s right.  Deep dish pizza takes longer to cook than the regular pizzas you might order from your fast food place.

 Then after a while, mom/dad/Aunt Tina said they heard angels singing and their individual pizzas were delivered.  Instead of getting one huge pizza, they all got individual ones with side salads.  These pizzas had sausage and black olives – and lots of sauce.

What did mom/dad think about this Chicago style deep dish pizza?  Dad is a huge pizza person.  He said that he ‘thinks’ he liked it but he would have to try one again to be sure.  That sounds like dad, huh?  But in the end, he said he would give it about an eight.

Mom said it was okay.  Mom is not a fan of a lot of sauce on her pizzas and of course this one is fully loaded with sauce.  And the crust is thick and a there is a lot of it surrounding the pizza.  Mom said the crust was kind of hard too.  There was lots of flavor but this pizza left mom on the it was okay side.  So for these reasons, mom gave it about a four.

But overall, everyone had a fantastic time at a famous landmark.  Would they go back again – of course they would!  There is more to the menu than just pizza.  And if you know anything about my mom/dad, they are professional eaters – snorts with piggy laughter.

 

Don’t Come Knocking On My Door

Today for my afternoon nap, dad tucked me in bed with some celery and carrots and I watched The Three Little Pigs on my flatscreen.  I know it’s old school from the 1930’s but I love Mr. Disney and his movies.  This is like the upteenth time I’ve seen movie and I have some thoughts.

Let’s talk about the pig names first.  Practical Pig, Fiddler Pig and Fifer Pig.  Really?   Did you know that they even had names?  Couldn’t come up with something unique like Bacon, huh?  Ham, Sushi and Maxwell were taken?

So Fiddler Pig plays the fiddle and Fifer Pig plays the flute.  – puts my hoove to my head – how original.  They went the cheap way and made their houses of straw and sticks.  They did it quickly so they could play their lovely musical instruments all day long.  What a party that must have been!

Then let’s discuss something that’s kind of ironical.  Did anyone else notice this scene in the movie?  Do you see “Father” in the photograph on the wall?  Really?  Mr. Disney bravo to you for having such a wicked sense of humor.  Goodness, it took me almost 3 times watching to catch this.  I asked mom what did it mean?  Was that their father?  I didn’t quite understand.  Mom said that when I got older she would explain.  Translation – it’s something bad.

Leave it to Practical Pig to build his house of brick.  He tried to warn his two little brothers who wanted to play all day but they didn’t listen.  They went on with their little jamboree while Practical Pig spent the extra money and time and built for the future not for the moment.Then enter the big bad wolf.  Practical Pig tried to warn Fiddler and Fifer Pig but they didn’t want to listen.  That big bad wolf puffed and huffed and blew the house of sticks and house of straw down.  What did the brothers do?  Run to brother’s house to have him save them.  Of course, Practical Pig *always* has an exit plan.  Big Bad Wolf didn’t want to listen and tried his best to get in the house finally thinking he had a way through the fireplace.  I bet he was surprised when he dropped in for dinner and HE was the dinner!

So bottom line on this story.  Apparently this big bad wolf didn’t meet my ancestors – PigBrutus, PigSpartacus and PigDynomite. They don’t put up with much bull from anyone. They learned from great, great, great, great Uncle PiggyJohnWayne.

So, do you see the story in a different light now?  Do you understand my thoughts?  What are your views?

 

 

 

 

Pig in a Blanket Day

Journalist Rocky the Squirrel here –

Keeping his paws on the nuts of the world –

April 24th  is Pig in a Blanket Day.  Okay – so maybe it’s not exactly the Pig in a Blanket Day you were thinking .  I can’t report about sausage wrapped in a pancake.  I mean, that would be weird and everything being on Bacon’s blog, right? – wink – So just have pancakes today to celebrate – chitter chatter

But, I can report to you the original Pig in a Blanket for this great holiday.  That’s right – the original.  As in Bacon wrapped up in a blanket – ha!   That seems to be the oinker’s favorite position – pig wrapped up in a blanket.

So on this day, think of the little booger and enjoy.  And yes, on top of that pig in a blanket is Sir Hemi passed out sleeping too.  See, proof is in the picture that they all get along at the Hotel Thompson.

 

Travels in Chicago

Last week we talked further about our trip to Chicago, Illinois and a visit to a little restaurant called Portillo’s.  Portillo’s has great Italian beef sandwiches… however, they also have great dogs.  You might be asking yourself at this point just how good is the food at this joint?  Well, I can tell you a short story and you decide.  We went one day to try this restaurant and its great food.  The next morning we planned to eat at a different restaurant after my sister ran an errand.  While my sister was running her early morning errand, a decision was voted on in her absence.  When my sister returned, we explained to her that the breakfast place was a most followed by a second breakfast back at Portillo’s.  Yep, you heard that right… a second breakfast.  That’s how great Portillo’s is to eat.  Now don’t worry, the first breakfast place will be highlighted next week.  But this week, let’s finish up Portillo’s.

They have awesome dogs!  My hub *had* to try an original Chicago style dog.  It came with mustard, relish, celery salt, freshly chopped onions, sliced red tomatoes, kosher pickle and sport peppers on a steamed poppy seed bun.  Doesn’t it look awesome?  Of course we learned really quick that a true Chicagoan refers to this style of a hot dog as “dragging the dog through the garden“.  Fitting huh?

Now, I found fascination in the char-grilled Maxwell Street polish sausage dog.  You can also get this dog filled high with grilled onions.  This day, I passed on the onions and just went mustard and sausage dog.  I couldn’t get enough of these dogs!!  You could hear and feel the ‘snap’ of the casing of the sausage.  That is a true sign of greatness in my book.

It didn’t matter which side you go on these dogs, both of them were great on their own… even if it was a second breakfast of the day – giggles.

 

Travels in the South

One night last week, mom was craving pasta.  Not just any pasta but a New Orleans Pasta from a local restaurant.  Look at this picture.  Wouldn’t you crave it too?  Mom doesn’t usually crave pasta but when she does, she always goes for this one.  It has penne pasta, shrimp, chicken, smoked sausage, peppers, onions and a spicy homemade Cajun alfredo sauce.  Doesn’t it look yummy?

The only thing mom hates about this pasta are the shrimp.  Why do they keep tails on the shrimp when they serve it in a pasta like this?  Mom has to stop and take the time to remove all of the tails so she can jump right in and eat.  What do you think about this pasta?

 

Travels in the South

Living in the south, there are lots of comfort foods. But sometimes on a cold and rainy day, you want something that soothes your soul. Mom’s choice for that is grits with cheddar cheese and crumbled up turkey sausage. It’s hot, gooey and delicious. I hear your naysayers turning your nose up at grits. But let me tell you something. When done right like this, grits can be delicious! 😋

 

Travels in the South

Doesn’t that look delicious?  A couple of weeks back mom/dad were craving pizza which is unusual.  Well not for dad.  He’s always craving pizza of any sort.  But mom, she never craves pizza.  So when she does, dad takes full advantage of the situation.  So today I’m going to let daddy finish this Travels with the South.

When the wifey craves pizza, I know exactly where to head to make us both happy.  There is a local pizza joint that has stuffed crust pizza.  The wife loves stuffed crust – all of that extra cheese in the crust of the pizza.  It somehow makes eating pizza seem so much more of a delightful experience.  This day I even went one step further for my honey.  This pizza place also offers seasoned crusts.  So today I got stuffed crust with a pretzel crust.  Can you say yum because that’s exactly what we both said… almost at the same time.

And we know that I’m a meat eater so I added my favorite toppings:  pepperoni, italian sausage, ham, bacon, beef and black olives.  I have to admit that this pizza came out amazing!  Even the waitstaff was drooling.

 

Travels in the South

They say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day and I agree.  Mom has fixed me omelettes for breakfast and dinner.  However, I’ve never had an omelette like this one before.  It seems mom likes something called a Colorado Omelette.  It has all kinds of wonderful yummy stuff in it – some things I can’t mention because well I’m an oinker and it wouldn’t be good for me so I’m letting mom take it from here.

For obvious reasons – this omelette is loaded.  Loaded with goodness that is.  It has bacon, sausage, shredded beef, ham, onions, green peppers, mushrooms and cheddar cheese.  And let’s not forget to top off that deliciously wonderful omelette with salsa.  Yum.  Have you ever had an omelette topped with salsa?  It just brings so much more to the table.

 

 

Pig in a Blanket Day

Journalist Rocky the Squirrel here –

Keeping his paws on the nuts of the world –

.

.

April 24th  is Pig in a Blanket Day.  Okay – so maybe it’s not exactly the Pig in a Blanket Day you were thinking .  I can’t report about sausage wrapped in a pancake.  I mean, that would be weird and everything being on Bacon’s blog, right? – wink – So just have pancakes today to celebrate – chitter chatter

But, I can report to you the original Pig in a Blanket for this great holiday.  That’s right – the original.  As in Bacon wrapped up in a blanket – ha!   That seems to be the oinker’s favorite position – pig wrapped up in a blanket.

So on this day, think of the little booger and enjoy.  And yes, on top of that pig in a blanket is Sir Hemi passed out sleeping too.  See, proof is in the picture that they all get along at the Hotel Thompson.

 

Travels in the South

Hello sweet friends to the first Travels in the South for 2017!  Today I want to show you something that comes from the kitchen of the Hotel Thompson.  You are going to love this!

When my pet rock was visiting Miss Harper Lee and Tallulah Bee in New Orleans, Louisiana, Bashful got hooked on a specialty there named Red Beans and Rice.  If you look here, you will find the recipe and pictures from that trip.

Well when Bashful came home, there were some of those amazing Camellia beans in his package.  So you know mom had to try them.  So this past Monday, mom put on a huge pot just like Miss Harper Lee’s mom does on Mondays.

When it was ready to serve, mom whipped up some rice and of course her homemade cornbread to go with dinner.  And let me tell you, it is an awesome recipe.  Dad had two bowls!  Does that tell you anything?

So friends – there you go.  A dish from mom’s kitchen!  Thanks Miss Harper for the recipe and wonderful beans.  This just might be our weekly dinner on Monday’s now.  ❤