Skip to main content

ta in bloomington, il

I stopped at the Country Pride restaurant at the TA in Bloomington, IL. This entry is posted from their dining room, which is a really great spot - AC power, WiFi from the [new] TA wireless services - TA SpeedZone WiFi

Since I still wasn't really, really hungry, and since it is generally better to eat smaller meals, more often, and infrequent large meals, I seized on the opportunity to get some oatmeal - Country Pride offers a breakfast called "Smart Start" which is a bowl of oatmeal with fresh fruit [seasonal] and coffee - I also ordered a side of wheat toast. The server was great - went and asked what sort of fruit was available, then asked me how I wanted the oatmeal - and she got it perfect - I was relieved that this is not "instant oatmeal" - I believe it was "quick oats" and she managed to get it just about exactly the consistency I make it when I make it myself. Really excellent.

The oatmeal comes with a little pitcher of milk, and a plastic cup with about 2 - maybe 3 - tablespoons full of brown sugar packed into it (homestyle, that) - I don't use either milk or sugar on my oats, so I asked for and got butter.

The fruit turned out to be a big bunch of red grapes and a couple slices of honeydew melon - very nicely arranged - which I continue to nibble on.

This meal was definitely on a par with the chili at Homestead, and the dining room as more power outlets. The buffet closes in the evenings - not sure what time, but it was already shut down when I got here.

Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

Pizza Dough

Basic Pizza Dough Recipe [makes 2 12" crusts] 1 cup lukewarm water plus extra as needed 1/4 cup olive oil plus extra for oiling bowl 1-1/2 teaspoons honey or sugar 1 package dry yeast (2-1/4 teaspoons) 3 cups unbleached all purpose flour, plus extra as needed 1-1/2 teaspoons kosher salt DIRECTIONS: 1. If your kitchen is cool, preheat oven to 150 degrees or the lowest setting. 2. Pour the flour into the work bowl of a large food processor or stand mixer. 3. Sprinkle the oil, sugar, and yeast over the water and pulse the mixer several times until mixed. 4. Add the flour and salt and process until the mixture comes together. 5. The dough should be soft and slightly sticky. (If it is too sticky, add flour 1 tablespoon at a time, and pulse until smooth. If it is too stiff, add water one tablespoon at a time, and pulse until smooth.) 6. Turn the dough onto a slightly floured work surface; knead by hand a few minutes to form a smooth, round ball. 7. Put...
Read more

High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS)

[this message is a cross-posting, some or all of the content is duplicated at http://blogs.earthside.org/earth_tech/2007/07/high-fructose-corn-syrup.html on the earth_tech blog] We've been hearing that "high fructose corn syrup is not good for you" for a couple years now, but up until now it has just been something to avoid if possible (i.e. choose the brands that don't have it in the ingredient list if and when an alternative is available, pass up certain "SALE" items because they contain it, etc), but - at least up until this point, no evidence concerning HFCS has been presented (to me), and no critical warnings have been raised about its use in human food products. Today while moderating a discussion at slashdot.org entitled PubPat Kills Four Key Monsanto Patents , I ran across a post ( #19982005 by an "anonymous" author) which - while substantially directed at the issue of genetically modified (GM) crops, mentions some of the reputed [a...
Read more

metric quantification weirdness

Metric measurements are nice, IMO - they allow me to use nice counting numbers that and up neatly. Most of the time. Here's a bit of weirdness that works in spite of the cross-system measurements: My [current] Recipe for Rice 1 pound of white rice 1 liter of potable water The above measurements, if combined in a pot, brought to a boil, then covered and cooked over the lowest possible fire for exactly 20 minutes will produce enough cocked white rice for 3 people for one day. Earth Time.
Read more