Cheeseburger in Paradise

This past weekend, on one of my final days of Spring break, I went to a place near Indianapolis. I hadn't really gone anywhere on my Spring break, so it was a good way to end it. (I was a slave to my work all week, which is why I didn't get to go anywhere.)

My sister, our friend Kayla, and I were all in my car on Saturday afternoon trying to decide what to eat for lunch. This is always a big process for us, because none of us ever know what we want to eat. We're sitting there, driving around my apartment complex, and I'm asking them whether I should go left or right. No one is saying anything. My sister, I think jokingly, says let's go to Cheeseburger in Paradise. At first I was definitely thinking in my head that she was a little crazy. However; about five seconds later, I'm all for the idea. It's something to do, right?

We drive back to my sister's apartment, since we never really got very far in the first place, and pick up her boyfriend, Omar. When we're all in the car, we realize that we don't have directions; but not to worry, I thought I had some in my glove compartment. We look, and I really don't. Instead, I decide to wing it since I think I know how to get there. (We got there ok, except once we got within a one mile radius of Cheeseburger in Paradise it was a little sketchy.)

Cheeseburger in Paradise is a restaurant that is beach themed. In the waiting area, they have wooden beach chairs decorated in neon colors. We go up to the hostess, and she seats us near the back in a booth. The walls are decorated in palm trees and sunsets. It's really quite cool.

Omar and I order homemade lemonade to drink, and Erika (my sister) and Kayla order coconut iced tea. I've never had coconut iced tea, so I tried it. It was really good, suprisingly. The lemonade, however; wasn't the best. To eat, I had to get a cheeseburger. (The name is Cheeseburger in Paradise, is it not?) I decided on the Barbecue Cheddar Burger, with fries on the side. It was quite tasty. The fries are the skinny kind, like McDonald's, only a bajillion times better.

They do not only sell cheeseburgers. They have salads, chicken, shrimp, etc. They also have dessert. While we did not get any this time since we were all stuffed, we have tried the chocolate nachos before. I was not a big fan of these, since I think it's a little weird to be eating chocolate flavored tortilla chips. Everyone else that went thought they were really good though. The chocolate nachos are chocolate and plain tortilla chips topped with chocolate sauce and sprinkles and has vanilla ice cream one the side.

To end our trip, we drove around looking for a mall or something. We didn't find one. The food was well worth the trip, though. If you love the beach, but can't get away to Florida, I suggest you try Cheeseburger in Paradise.

Irish Potatoes

Earlier this week, I received homemade "cookies" from a friend. In honor of St. Patrick's day coming up, she made me something called Irish Potatoes. Sounds weird, right?

When I was first presented with the gift, I was a little skeptical. Something sweet that is called Irish Potatoes? And not only that, but it looked just like a potato. The "potato" was wrapped in aluminum foil. I next opened that foil, and inside was a brown blob, which was, in fact, shaped like a potato. (Surprise, right?!?) The blob was covered in what looked like brown powder.

I was scared to take a bite, no joke. Well, I got over my silly fear, and opened my mouth and took a tiny bite. It was really bitter at first. But then I tasted something slightly sweet. Looking down, I noticed that the inside of the "potato" was white, just like in a real potato. I was amazed at the construction of this.

After the initial shock, I figured out what this little creation was made out of. The inside was white divinity. (For those of you that have never had divinity, it is a really sugary candy that is mainly made out of eggs whites, and well, sugar.) It also contained a few walnuts. The outside turned out to be cinnamon and cocoa powder mixed together, with a few walnuts sprinkled about.

It doesn't sound very good, does it? Well, after the first few bites, you begin to acquire a taste for it. It really grows on you. It is not too bitter and not too sweet, either. If you're feeling like a tasty treat for St. Patrick's Day, I suggest you give these a try.

Two Cookin' Sisters

This past weekend, I took a little trip with my sister, mother, and grandmother. (It was very little, since I almost always have to work on Saturdays.) We went to Brookston, Indiana. Now, for those of you who do not know where this is, it is located about fifteen or twenty minutes away from good, old West Lafayette. Our destination: Two Cookin' Sisters.

Two Cookin' Sisters is a small shop in Brookston that sells a variety of things, mostly homemade. The main item that they sell is homemade jelly. We're not just talking original grape jelly here, folks. They make all kinds. (They have red raspberry and chocolate to hot red pepper jelly.) You are bound to find one that you like.

My mom is practically obsessed with a certain kind of jelly that you can only get at Two Cookin' Sisters, and this was the reason for our adventure. The jelly that my mom likes so much is called Strawberry Margarita. Now, I can't vouch for the goodness of this particular jelly, because I have honestly never tried it. It doesn't sound that appealing to me. However, I did pick up a jar of jelly for myself. It is called "Grandad's Orchard Spiced Peach Jam." Let me tell you, it tastes just like peach pie. It is amazingly good.

Not only do they sell jelly, but they sell homemade barbeque sauce, homemade salsa, pickles, relish, tortilla chips, and homemade applesauce. Along with these items, they sell hand crafted items from Indiana residents. (These range from mounted photography, to ceramics, and also blown glass and homemade paper.)

If you're not going anywhere for spring break, I suggest you take a mini trip and check it out. There is an ice cream parlor attached to the store, and they sell some pretty tasty treats, too.

Donuts Galore

This morning, on my way to campus for class, I stopped at Mary Lou Donuts. Mary Lou has been one of my favorite breakfast stops for as long as I can remember. It's fast, and there is plenty of variety.

Mary Lou Donuts is located on 4th Street, in Lafayette. It is a out-dated looking building, but don't let that fool you. Inside, there is not a lot of room to sit down, so I suggest you take your donuts to go. However, if you feel the need to sit down, there is about a total of maybe twelve seats in the whole place. They are light blue/teal in color, and they are swivel chairs with no backs. They're very retro-esque.

When ordering your donuts, there are many flavors to choose from. They have jelly filled (my personal favorite), cream filled, donuts with no filling, cake donuts, dream horns, apple fritters, and many more. There are about thirty different varieties in all, and they usually have a special donut of the week, too.

To go along with your donuts, you can order milk; which also comes in a few select flavors. They also carry orange juice, coffee, tea, and lemonade; but I strongly suggest the chocolate milk. To me, donuts and milk go together.

Mary Lou opens very early, at around 6 a.m., and closes each day around 5 p.m., except for Sunday. They are closed on Sunday. The donuts range in price from 35 cents to about one dollar, depending on what you get. I've tried many kinds of donuts from here, and they have all been delicious.

Main Street Wine and Cheese Cellar

I'm sure that most of you had a grilled cheese at some time in your life, am I right? A lot of you probably enjoyed it, too. I know that grilled cheese is something I like to make when I don't have a lot of time, but I know that I will enjoy it. For this blog post, I am going to write about a small restaurant called the Main Street Wine and Cheese Cellar. It is located in downtown Lafayette, on Main Street. (What a surprise, right?)

My sister and mother discovered this place only last summer. They then decided that they needed to take me along the next time they went. I am happy that they did. I'm not quite sure how long this place has been located in Lafayette, but I am going to take a guess and say about two or three years.

At Main Street Wine and Cheese Cellar, they prepare the king of all grilled cheeses. They do not use normal sandwich bread. They use a thicker ciabatta bread, with Parmesan cheese on the crust. You can pick from a few different cheeses for the middle of your grilled cheese. ( I suggest the Havarti.) It is then grilled to perfection and brought out to you.

I am not sure how many of you are familiar with Fair Oaks Farms, but it is a large dairy farm in Indiana. The cheeses from this restaurant all come from Fair Oaks Farms. They are available for purchase at a small glass case located inside the restaurant. Also for sale are half gallons of milk (chocolate and white) from the cows at Fair Oaks Farms, as well a variety of bottles of wine. Occasionally, when fruit is in season, they will sell fresh fruit from local farmers outside of the restaurant.

Main Street Wine and Cheese Cellar also has soup for lunch, along with blackened chicken quesadillas and salads.You can have soda to drink, or you can grab a bottle of milk. If you're feeling fancy, and are of age, you can even have a glass of wine.

The atmosphere is great, and the waitstaff are very friendly. I encourage that you check it out sometime soon, and stop by for an amazing grilled cheese sandwich. It never hurts to try something new, now does it?

Pizza King

What college student doesn't love pizza? If you're anything like the average student, you probably eat pizza at least once a week. On Wednesday night of this week, I received a phone call from a friend that I had no spoken to, let alone seen, since we graduated from high school. She wanted to get together over dinner and "catch up" so to speak. I gladly accepted, and we made plans to meet at one of the local Pizza Kings.If you've never had pizza from Pizza King, it is some of the best pizza in Indiana. (There are more Pizza Kings located in a few select places in Indiana.)

When we arrived at the small restaurant, we seated our selves. The menus are located at the tables, and you get to press an intercom button to order. After decided what we would like to eat, we ordered. The only thing that is brought to you at your table are your drinks. They arrive on a small train located behind glass next to the tables. It is really quite neat, and makes the restaurant unique.

Your food is prepared very quickly, and your intercom at the table tells you when it is ready. You go to the counter, where you pick up your food and pay for it. You then go back to your table and eat your pizza.

The pizza is not cut into triangle shaped slices. The pizza is cut into little square shaped pieces. If you're not used to your pizza being cut like this, it takes a little bit of getting used to. Also, the pizza is a very thin type of crust pizza. I read on the menu the other day that they now have thick crust pizza, but I cannot vouch for it because I have never tried it.

Their bread sticks are pretty yummy, and I recommend getting the nacho cheese to go with them. Also on their menu are submarine sandwiches. I am not a big sandwich fan, but their Texas Barbecue sub is just about to die for. Another item on their menu, if you're not in the mood for pizza, is their Pizza King Salad. It is loaded with cheese, ham, turkey, radishes, croutons, and green onions; plus your choice of dressing.

The atmosphere is good, and I am sure that you will enjoy the food. It is in between not expensive and expensive, if that makes any sense. Their hours and locations are listed in the link above, if you click on the words Pizza King.

If you're in the mood for a little driving..

This past Saturday, I went to Indianapolis. It was a very spontaneous idea. While working on Saturday, one of my co-workers, Jeff, and I decided to try and convince our new boss to let us leave work early and go to Indianapolis to pick up another co-worker and bring him back to town so that he could work on Sunday. We honestly did not think that our plan would work. (I work at the mall, and we get pretty busy on Saturdays. I was scheduled to work from 1 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., so asking to leave at 5:30 was a little excessive.) None the less, we were surprised when our boss, Danny, said that we could both go.

We decided to take my car, which in all honest wasn't the smartest idea in the world. You see, it had just snowed that morning, and it was supposed to continue snowing late. I drive a Firebird, and it has absolutely no traction when there is anything on the ground expect the road. However, with me driving like a normal person, we got to Indianapolis just fine.

We picked up our co-worker from his brother's, and started to head back to Lafayette. We didn't get very far, because we passed Circle Center Mall. We made a spur of the moment decision and decided to go and visit our old boss from work, Jason. I'm not very experienced with driving in "big" cities, so this adventure wasn't very easy for me. At one point, I was taking up three lanes of traffic because it was so confusing to me. We find a parking garage, and have to park on the fifth floor. We finally reach the inside of the mall, and go and see Jason. It was around 7 p.m., and he asked us to stay until 10 p.m., which was when he got off work. We decided to, and went to walk around the mall.

We went shopping, and witnessed a petty crime. (A young girl decided to steal a woman's shoe from her as she was sitting on a bench and ran away with it.) Soon after this, we met Jason soon after, and decided to go get something to eat. We took his car, and we drove to Greenwood, Indiana. It isn't too far from Indianapolis. We stopped first at Ruby Tuesday's, but found out that it closed at 11 p.m., which was in a half hour. We then drove to the mall in Greenwood, where we decided to eat at a place called BJ's.

None of had ever been there before, but Jason had heard good things about it. Also, it was open late. We went inside, and were seated almost immediately. After looking over their extensive menu, we ordered an appetizer to start with, as well as our drinks. The appetizer consisted of some amazing spinach-artichoke dip and chips, and also some avocado wraps and southwestern egg rolls. I wasn't a real fan of the avocado wraps, but they eggs rolls were surprisingly good. I got strawberry lemonade to drink, and it was very fruity. I had almost four glasses, if that tells you how good it was.

For dinner, I ordered Broccoli Chicken Pasta, and the other guests ordered a pizza called "Sweet Pig." The pizza had ham and pineapple on it. When the food arrived, they set my plate in front of me, but the waitress served the pizza to them. It was very nice. My food tasted pretty good, but it was nothing out of the ordinary. However, the pizza was out of this world.

After finishing up, we decided that it was too late to do anything else. We went back to the parking garage, where everyone except Jason got into my car. We left the parking garage, and drove home. We made it home safely, even though it snowed pretty bad the last twenty minutes of the drive.

If you are ever near Greenwood, Indiana, I strongly suggest this restaurant for a meal at anytime of the day. It had a very enjoyable atmosphere, a good waiting staff, and pretty wonderful food. And if you're old enough, they even brew their own beer.