Saturday, July 23, 2011

Green Gables

For dinner today, Greedy Eater 2 and I went to Green Gables (Lake Bloomington). If you've been following the blog, you will remember that we have been on a quest to find the best non-chain cheeseburger in Central IL. Green Gables has achieved this spot, which isn't really a surprise to Central IL natives. Everyone that I have talked to prior to going to Green Gables has told me that they have the best cheeseburgers and even cheese balls. For Greedy Eater 2, it had been 20 years since she had eaten at Green Gables, and it was just like she remembered it 20 years ago. It was my first time eating at Green Gables, and I was looking forward to getting a good, greasy cheeseburger.
 
Greedy Eater 2 and I both ordered a bacon cheeseburger with everything on it and an order of cheese balls. You know a burger is good when you don't have to put ketchup or mustard on it. The juiciness of the patty took care of any need to put anything else on it. The cheeseburgers were hot and super greasy. The bacon was actually real bacon, which is the only way to go for any burger. I'm a fan of greasy cheeseburgers, so I was in heaven. The cheese balls were really good. They're just deep-fried balls of cheddar, and  we just popped them in our mouths like tic tacs.

I have tried cheeseburgers at many places, and I have my favorites for different locations, but I have to say that Green Gables is my favorite in Central IL. For me, Green Gables is tied with The Spot when it comes to the best cheeseburgers I've had so far in the Midwest.




Thursday, July 21, 2011

The Red Oak Comfort Food & Pie Co. - CLOSED

This past Tuesday for lunch, two co-workers and I went to The Red Oak Comfort Food & Pie Co. I remember reading an article about The Red Oak opening a restaurant in downtown Bloomington. It is located on Main St. across from Reality Bites.

The menu was full of Swedish "comfort food" dishes. We each decided to order a sandwich which came with a choice of salad, applesauce, or cottage cheese for a side.

I ordered Linnea's Delight which consisted of sliced turkey, lingonberries, dilled cream cheese, and candied pecans served on a croissant. I never had lingonberries before, and neither had my co-workers, but I have to say the sweet taste of the lingonberries with the other ingredients on the sandwich meshed very well. To me, lingonberries are a cross between raspberry, cranberry, and strawberry. It has a sweet jam/preserve taste. I chose a salad as my side and got Creamy Bacon (Yummy!) for the dressing.



One co-worker ordered The Biff, an open faced sandwich, that consisted of slices of roast beef topped with cucumber salad, and mayo-mustard sauce. The other co-worker ordered the Chicken Salad, another open faced sandwich, that consisted of chunks of chicken, crunchy almonds, celery, and cucumber and tomato slices. Both co-workers also chose a salad as their side and selected the house dressing.

All three of us really enjoyed our lunch. While we were waiting for our food to come out, we looked at the pie menu and decided to each get a slice. One co-worker ordered a slice of Dutch Apple and the other co-worker and I ordered a slice of Cherry. We all agreed that the pies were very good and that we would be back to take a whole one home.




We definitely recommend this place for lunch. The prices are reasonable and the service is good. They are open M-F from 11am-3pm and will be open in the fall for breakfast on Saturdays.

Monday, July 18, 2011

The Spot

The Spot is an old-time favorite in Kenosha, WI. Back in the day, I went to high school in Kenosha, and The Spot was the number one place to get a good greasy burger. It's been a long time since I've ate at The Spot. This weekend, I thought it would be a good place to stop to grab something to eat since: 1) I wanted to see if they still served the same greasy burger I remember and 2) I wanted to get their Root Beer Float (oh so good).

The Spot isn't anything fancy. It's on the corner of 75th and 22nd St. It's like Sonic, but it isn't bright and colorful. You pull up into a spot that's open, the waitress comes and takes your order, and then brings it out to you when it's ready. You just sit there in your car and marvel at the masterpiece (i.e. a sloppy greasy cheeseburger) that is in front of you and the Root Beer Float you have to wash it down with.

The order consisted of a double cheeseburger with bacon, an order of breaded mushrooms and a root beer float. The patties on the burger was nice and flat. I could tell these were not the frozen patties you get at a McDonald's or even a place like Copper Top. Normally I'm not a fan of American cheese, but the cheese on the burger was awesome, but it should be expected since Wisconsin is known for producing good cheese. The bacon was thick and flavorful. It wasn't the thin pieces that you get on a Culver's bacon cheeseburger. I requested that everything be put on the burger, which consisted of ketchup, mustard, and onions. There was no lettuce, which I think gets in the way of a burger anyway. As you can tell from the pictures below, the badness in between the bun was thicker than the bun itself, which is a good thing. The breaded mushrooms were good. They were a good size so you could pop them in your mouth like tic tacs. The root beer float was just like I remember it. The root beer soda by itself was strong, which makes for good belching, but with the vanilla ice cream, it just creates a nice cold float. Overall, the meal didn't disappoint.

For me, The Spot has the best greasy cheeseburger in the Midwest. I've been told that Green Gables is the best, but I have not tried their burger yet (I will soon).

So if you're ever close to Kenosha, WI, check out The Spot. You will not be disappointed.






Monday, July 4, 2011

Bacon Meatballs

This holiday weekend, Greedy Eater 2 and I have wanted to try this recipe I ran across from an Allbacon tweet that had a link to the following: http://www.evilshenanigans.com/2011/03/super-evil-bacon-meatballs/

I have to say, even though it was quite a process, the meatballs turned out AWESOME! My house smelled like bacon all day, which was fine with me. The recipe was tweaked a little. The recipe called for fennel, but we didn't have any so we just added chopped onions instead. The flavor of the meatballs was great. Combining bacon, ground beef, and ground pork to form a meatball is just deadly...in a good way.

If you love meat and meatballs, we would highly recommend this recipe. Here are some pics.

Before the skillet:


In the skillet:


After the skillet and before the oven:


After the oven:



Sandwich: