New Providence

Have you ever been to an old soda fountain where the community gathers for breakfast every month? If not, it may be time for a trip to New Providence (below). During the summer of 2016, I visited this charming little town with my grandma Siripon (Yai) and sister Charity.

Food selections included biscuits and gravy, pancakes, pastries and omelets. And, wow, were those omelets good. (I still remember them a year and a half later...haha! I'm on the brink of forgetting though, so I figured I should get this posted.)

Mai Pho & Cedar Rapids Leatherjackets Part 2

After completing the first day of the Cedar Rapids Leatherjackets tournament, we spent the night at the DoubleTree. In the morning, we did some running on the sidewalks in town. We returned to the hotel and took the stairs up to our room on the 9th floor. But...we didn't stop there. The hotel has 16 floors, so we headed up to the top! Before long, I was thinking of A Stairway Chase on Studio C! I started out running, but by the last floor I was slowly walking. The view from the 16th floor was beautiful.

For lunch, we stopped at Mai Pho in Cedar Rapids, which is a favorite with my family because of their bubble teas and other sweet beverages. 

Pho All Seasons

We stopped at Pho All Seasons in Des Moines in November after I ran the Hungry Turkey 5K, and my parents and sister had run the Hungry Turkey half marathon.  The place had a pleasant family atmosphere.  

I ordered a medium bowl of chicken pho for $6.95.  It was ok, but I missed the lime slices I could squeeze into the soup at Pho 515.  Without a little citrus, it seemed rather bland, but then that's just my tastes.  My mother ordered beef pho and thought it was delicious.

7 Stars Family Restaurant in Hampton

In late October, we stopped at the 7 Stars Family Restaurant in Hampton, Iowa for a family dinner after setting up for the train show.  The restaurant had a pleasant environment, and the waitresses were very nice and provided excellent service.

I ordered grilled chicken, which came with a potato and a choice of soup or salad with a roll.  If I recall correctly, you could also choose from a variety of ways to have your potato fixed.  I chose mashed potatoes with gravy, and salad.  I would have preferred a slightly larger portion size, but the whole meal only cost $6.95.  Everything was very good.  Afterward, I tried their pecan pie with ice cream ($3.25).

A Few of My Favorite Bloggers

One of my favorite parts of blogging is the wonderful people I've met while blogging.  So, today I'm taking a moment to share about my recent meetup with long-time blogging friend Cryslyn, her husband Andy, and baby Emilia, my meetup with Kathleen and her husband Gordon, and an awesome giveaway I won from Carrie!  I'm also going to answer a few questions from Paige.

Meetup with Kathleen and Gordon Franck

I met Kathleen indirectly through blogging, as she was at many of the same campaign events as I when I did my series on the presidential candidates.  I later interviewed her here.  She's also shared a recipe for Coffee Time Cake, which I posted on my blog.

Grandma's Seven-Layer Salad

Here's another family favorite Grandma graciously showed me how to make.  It's on the complicated side for a salad (at least for someone who usually just sticks with plain-old lettuce), but it sure is good!

Grandma's 7-layer Salad

Grandma's Goulash

I don't particularly enjoy cooking, but I do enjoy eating.  And being a family history buff, I've talked Grandma Carson into showing me how to make a few of her other delicious recipes: the family culinary tradition must be preserved.  [In other words, I must not go hungry!]

Grandma is always very gracious, and here is her latest wonderful recipe:

Grandma's Chili

My all-time favorite of Grandma Colleen Carson's recipes is her chili.  I've eaten it on chilly winter evenings at Grandpa and Grandma's ever since I was a little girl.  So...I asked Grandma if she'd share her recipe with me and my readers.  (Seems if I want to remember a recipe, it's best to post it here, so I can Google it later!)  She kindly agreed.

Chili Soup

Pho 515 in Des Moines

My mom's favorite food is pho, a Vietnamese rice noodle soup.  With my grandmother's visit ending, my mom decided to take us out to a pho restaurant for a farewell dinner before seeing Yai off at the airport.

My mom is a pho expert, and she wanted to make sure she got good authentic pho.  We went through the reviews of several of the Des Moines pho restaurants on Trip Advisor and Yelp, and she decided Pho 515 would be our best bet.

Manly Drug Store: Grundy Center Soda Fountain

Above my desk, I have a bulletin board with several lists.  One list is filled with suggestions of neat places to visit.  Another is my to-visit list, and the final list notes everything I've already done the foot-work for and just need to post.  The Grundy Center Soda Fountain spent a long time on my  "I really should stop there sometime" list.

So, toward the end of July, Yai and I stopped for sandwiches!  I ordered a sliced turkey sandwich ($2.50).  Yai ordered a tuna salad sandwich ($2.50), and we both ordered Green Rivers ($0.80).  

Thai Basil Chicken

At the risk of this becoming a food blog (considering six of the eight posts this past month directly involve food), I'd like to share one of my grandmother's wonderful recipes, Thai Basil Chicken.

Can you guys imagine how heavenly it has been to eat authentic Thai food on a regular basis for the past couple months?  I asked Yai to show me (and my readers) how to make one of my favorites of her delicious dishes.  She graciously obliged.

Waterloo Chick-Fil-A

On a shopping and site-seeing trip in Waterloo, Iowa, Yai and I decided to stop for lunch at Chick-Fil-A.  I had only eaten at a Chick-Fil-A once before in my life--and loved it.  So, I was excited to try another chicken sandwich.

I couldn't remember what I had ordered last time (years back), so I went for a grilled chicken sandwich meal, which included waffle fries and a drink for $7.39.  Yai ordered the same.  With my sandwich, I had honey mustard sauce.

Rite on 175

Right on Highway 175 in Eldora, Iowa, there is a little diner called Rite on 175.  Since I live near Eldora, I've stopped there before for ice cream treats; their ice cream sandwiches are particularly refreshing on a hot day!

This June, we had to take a vehicle in to the tire shop next door.  Since this diner was on my list of places to blog about, my brother Daniel (who had to take care of the tire), grandma Siripon Schunk (who is visiting for the summer from Nevada), and I decided to go out and have lunch together.

Meetup at Plaza Veracruz

Nela Holmes, who blogs at Beloved Star, and I have been friends for the past six years.  Occasionally we meet up to chat and review a restaurant.  Recently, when I asked her out, she recommended the Plaza Veracruz in Hampton, Iowa as a great place for some authentic Mexican food!

When we arrived shortly before 5:00, we were apparently the first customers to show up for dinner.  A lady showed my grandma (Yai) and I to a table, and brought us menus, water, chips, and salsa.  Nela soon joined us.

Serendipity Ice Cream

St. Louis Trip, Day 6, Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Wednesday evening in St. Louis, our friend Kate, Karen's rommate, said she had noticed an ice cream shop on her way in to town, and suggested we stop there.  So, we walked the few blocks from our dorm to Serendipity Ice Cream.

It had been very warm all week (except for whenever it rained), so ice cream was a welcome treat.  We had spent the evening before at the volleyball court, which was a lot of fun--but had left us drenched in sweat.  Eating ice cream was a much less strenuous activity!

Coffee Time Cake

Some of you may remember my friend Kathleen Franck, whom I interviewed last year in November (you can read the interview and see Kathleen's amazing photography here).  I first ran into Kathleen on the campaign trail, as she and I both were stalking presidential candidates.

Recently she gave me a copy of her church's cookbook, Let These Gifts to Us Be Blessed by St. John Lutheran Church and Preschool, and told me it had a couple of her own recipes in it.  Neither Kathleen or I particularly love to spend copious amounts of time cooking, so I figured her recipes would be safe to try.  

Cole's Foods & Ice Cream Shop

On our way to deliver concrete pads to a coop near Des Moines this June, Papa and I stopped for lunch at Cole's in Slater, Iowa.  Visiting little diners, you never know what to expect, which makes for a much more exciting culinary experience than chain restaurants offer.

 A sign outside the building advertised the Hall of Fame burger, which appeared to be "free if you can eat it all."  I wasn't up to an eating marathon, so to stay on the safe side, I ordered a chicken sandwich ($6.35) and a bottle of water ($1.00).  Papa ordered a double burger ($7.59) and fries ($2.80). 

Tea Cup Exchange

After reading posts over the past couple years from many bloggers who have participated in Stephanie's tea cup exchange, I finally decided to give it a try.  

After all, why should I spend my life wondering what it would be like to join in, never do it, and then as a wrinkled old lady have to tell the youth of that era that the greatest regret of my life was never joining in a tea cup exchange?

SPGI 2015 - The Cafeteria

St. Louis Trip, Day 2 - Day 7

As I noted in my post about our dorm, our $300 (per person) for the week covered room *and* board: 3 meals a day at the Webster University cafeteria. I do not generally eat three full meals every day. I eat breakfast and lunch (dinner), and then have a light snack for supper, and I snack any time throughout the day when I may be hungry.

So, eating three meals a day (since they were already paid for!) was a challenge.  The first couple days I did it, but by the end of the week, I really had to lighten up on how much I ate every meal!  We became convinced that were it not for all the walking a person has to do on campus, students who eat regularly at a cafeteria would be quite overweight.  

Thanksgiving 2015

My family and I do not celebrate many holidays, but one we do look forward to every year is Thanksgiving.  Grandma brought her specialty, seven-layer salad.  My sister Charity and my mom made turkey, mashed potatoes, and bread rolls.  My youngest sister (who sells pies) made pecan, apple, pumpkin, and raisin pies, and chocolate chip cookies.

I made my super-fast homemade cranberry sauce and carrot salad, opened a can of green beans, a bag of frozen cream corn, and a can of pineapples, and set the table... This time, I adhered to tradition, resisting my e̶v̶i̶l̶  humanitarian urge to set paper plates in an effort to a̶v̶o̶i̶d̶ ̶w̶a̶s̶h̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶d̶i̶s̶h̶e̶s̶  conserve water.