Friday, May 8, 2009

Day Seven...Beer and Fries at the Winner's Circle

At some point in everyone's life, we become a regular. Whether to a bar, restaurant, convenience store, hair salon, coffee shop or whatever, we become a regular. It's a nice feeling being greeted by your name, being asked about kids or your job, and asking the same of the person at the working establishment.

When Pam and I moved up to the North Shore, we found a bar called the Winner's Circle in Salisbury. It had recently opened, selling just beer and serving a few items of food. We would frequent this joint often, often on a night that a sporting event was on so we could watch it on a screen bigger than our 9" TV. Our standard was beer and fries.

Tonight would not be different. Though the place has grown, now having a full liquor license, two floors, and a large food menu, we still made our way to bar where we would always sit. Amazing, one of the original bartenders was still there. We would reminiscent about the old times. Talked about the changes while sipping our beer and munching on the fries, loaded with ketchup! That feeling of belonging quickly came back.

We spent just short of two hours consuming some beer and ginger ale, devouring our fries, watching the end of the Sox opener, and catching the beginning the Bruins game. With all the good conversation, one would have thought it was only five minutes. As in the Cheer's theme song, it's nice going where everyone knows your name!

Links: http://www.winnerscirclema.com/

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Day Six...Best Ice Cream In the World - Kimball Farm

Quarter Kiddie, half kiddie...go NO larger! If you like ice cream, one needs to go no further than Kimball Farm on the Littleton/Westford line. This homemade ice cream is very rich in butterfat and low in air content, giving it the rich, thick creamy taste. Do not ever, I mean ever, ask for a LARGE. The portions are huge.

Not only are the cones large in size, so are are the sundaes and boats. The boats were our specialty. We particularly liked the Kimball Special. Same as a Banana Split, but minus the banana.

Tonight's visit was no disappointment. The lines were long as usual. You try to size up the lines looking for more couples and less families. They move faster. Fourteen windows were open. We chose the fifth from the left. We picked right. Our line moved fairly quickly, keeping our wait to about 10 minutes.

Our order was simple. Kimball's Special with the works. Pistachio, Black Raspberry Lowfat Yogurt, and a Coffee mix that was awesome were our choice of ice cream. The order came to the window. I think they needed to raise the roof to fit it through the screen. We walked it through the staring crowd to a spot on the side where we found a bench to sit. Like before, there really is no good way to attack this monster. Scoop from the top, scoop from the side, scoop from the dish. Didn't matter. No matter how much you ate, it felt like a losing battle. But the nice thing about the Kimball Special is that every scoop has a different taste. Whether it be the ice cream flavor, or the hot fudge sauce, the strawberries or pineapples, or the whipped cream, marshmallow or the nuts...each bite was unique.

Years back the challenge was to be able to finish one on your own. Honestly, I don't remember ever accomplishing that. I think my brother Mike did and my nephew Chip did, but I don't recall many others being able to make the claim (though and Mike and Kerri did finish one together). Despite the fact that two us were now tackling the objective, our mission failed. We maybe finished two-thirds before raising the surrender flag.

Twenty five years ago, after eating your ice cream at Kimball's, you would consider the night over. But boy has this place changed. A little petting farm, several sand volleyball courts, a driving range to work off those calories by trying to smack some golf balls straight, or a pitch and putt 9 hole course for those more ambitious (sorry Steve, no carts, one must walk).

Not forgetting the tourists, they now have a two story high gift shop, complete with a sandwich shop inside for those who prefer food and not ice cream.

After our walk through the grounds, we made it back to car. Our tummies very happy, we MOOOOOVED in the direction of home with some very sweet smiles on our faces.

Links: www.kimballfarm.com
http://sci-toys.com/ingredients/ice_cream.html

Monday, April 20, 2009

Day Five...Scat at Jay and Jerry's

For years Pam and I would venture over to Tewksbury on a Saturday night to play a card game called SCAT (some may know the game by the name THIRTY ONE). We would sit there for hours, betting with our nickles, while swigging down the beer and munching on barbecue chips and a dip made from Lipton Onion Soup mix and Sour Cream. Being we were at Jay's, of course we used the Market Basket brand!

This night was no different. We still used nickles, same dip, same chips, and of course beer (though I drank water). We played four games this night, limiting our time because of the upcoming surgery Jerry is to have. It was a little painful trying to watch him play without wincing, so I tried to ease his pain by feeding him some good cards. No luck! No matter how hard I tried, they would be the wrong suit. He quickly fell to his honor in the first two games in a blink of an eye. And true to form, that Frenchman can last forever on his honor...well almost forever. He eventually bowed out, cursing me for giving him lousy cards. Pam and I took the Lemelin's to town, winning both games.

Game three saw Jerry moving his seat so he wasn't beside me. Didn't help. Pam smoked us all. The last game we up the ante to quarters, trying to give Jerry a chance to go for it all. Same result. He lost! But his wife came to the rescue and took the quarter pot.

We called it night, cleaned up, and headed out. The nice thing about playing this game is that nobody is really a loser. In fact, we're all winners. The conversation is priceless. It's amazing how much talk can occur, how much laughter is had, and yet little we remember what was said. That's the kind of talk this world needs more of!

Links: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirty-one_(game)
http://www.hoovers.com/demoulas-super-markets/--ID__40123--/free-co-factsheet.xhtml

Day Four...Kitty's Restaurant in North Reading

Ok, so money is tight, your hungry, but you want some decent food and lots of it. Where do you go? To Kitty's of course to split a meal. The menu is huge, the portions enough to feed family style, and the food half way between pretty good and excellent. Though we would go here from time to time on our own or with Mike and Kerri, it was more often with our families (cheaper that way) that we would partake in this belly stuffing feast. Never went anyway unsatisfied...no, not once!

On this Friday night, we wanted to share the night with Karen and Mike. Karen has been a big part of our life for some twenty three years. Mike came along some ten years ago. We asked them to meet us around 7pm. I knew they would show because they have Keno. Pam and I arrived a few minutes early to get our name in...the wait can be long sometimes. We got seated just minutes before they rolled in. We ordered our beverages and went off to play our keno numbers. We were so busy yakking that the waitress needed to come back four times before taking our orders. Guess what, we forgot about the portions and ordered an onion ring for an appetizer. It was delicious...and huge!

Our meals came on a platter that in many restaurants would carry food for two tables. But this platter was all ours! We shared a little tasting with each other, trying to keep the food moving down by drinking some extra fluids. It was futile. By meals end, our plates were still full, onion rings still aplenty, and the waitress asked, "desserts". OK, I know what your thinking...but you have to know Pam and I portioned our food to save room for this. It was a hot fudge/strawberry sundae with whipped cream and nuts. We made a dent, but we left the dish either half empty or half full depending on your view of things.

Only one last thing to do...check our keno tickets. Unfortunately none of us made any profits with our wagers, but we all felt winners after spending a nice night out amongst good company.

Links: www.kittysrestaurant.com
www.masslottery.com/games/keno.html

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Day Three...April 2, 2009...Weaver Honey Battered Chicken

"Weaver Honey Battered Chicken"....oh I how remember the times Pam would make this for me. She timed it perfect coming out of the oven just as I came home from a late night at work. We would sit there, eating them dipped in ketchup, while watching some of our favorite shows like MASH. But I pondered.... do they still make this product?

So our friend Karen went on line to check it out. She googled it and to our surprise up popped that infamous blue carton box we all recognized. Great, they still do make it. However, the website did not have a store locator but I figured it shouldn't be that hard to find. Wrong! I had to go to FIVE different stores before I found that box...and how lucky I was because it was the last one in the freezer! Thank you Stop and Shop.

This Thursday was the final show for ER. A show that we watched together over the years. We thought it would be a cool idea to add in the Weaver Chicken as we watched the show. So twenty minutes before the show started, in went the Weaver Honey Battered Chicken in to the oven. The timing was perfect. The chicken arrived on the coffee table, with the ketchup, just as ER started. It tasted just like before, our memories, taste and smelling senses reliving our times before. Though different show, it was the same ending....they disappeared in our tummies very quickly.

Links: www.weaverchicken.com
www.stopandshop.com
www.nbc.com/ER

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Day Two...April 1, 2009...Fribble and Parking

The evening started off innocent enough. We met at the new Wayside Mall in Burlington, splitting the difference between our work places. Before embarking upon the evening, we visited several shops (of course grandchild related). At Swoozies, we ran into someone we knew from the Iceliner skating program that Kerri once belonged to. We reminiscent about the shows and trips and fundraisers and caught up on what each child was now up to. It was a nice start to the evening.

We headed out to find our Friendly's. No longer do they exist in Burlington so we needed to head west out towards the Lexington/Waltham line. Our travel sent us through the Town of Lexington, a town we would often visit for the Revolutionary War Reenactments or visiting the Old North Bridge. Crossing under Route 2, we saw ahead of us that familiar Friendly's logo. Our taste buds longed for that Fribble. We decided to order one and share - one straw. It was delicious. Every last slurp!

The road trip now took us back to Burlington. The Northeastern University Campus was a favorite parking spot. Plenty of tucked away corners throughout the parking lot. But funny, they didn't seem as tucked away, or private as they did back then. We circled the lot several times, nervous to stop. Finally I decided to go INTO the school as if I was searching for grad school info.

Gaining enough courage, I made it back to car and navigated over to a corner of the lot. We looked into each others eyes, titled our heads, and locked lips while wrapping our arms tightly around each other. Our kiss came to a stop, but our hug continued. Pam broke the silence after a few minutes when she said, "wow, I really felt like I went back in time and we were 18 again...". I knew what to do next, I gave her one last teddy bear hug and a sweet little peck on the lips and said "thank you"! And with that we drove off feeling like teenagers once again.

Links: www.swoozies.com
www.friendlys.com
www.cps.neu.edu/about-cps/locations/burlington

Day One...March 31, 2009 Bookstore and French Fries

Tonight we spent the evening browsing through the Jabberwocky Book Shop in Newburyport, MA. We would often spend hours bringing Mike and Kerri to various bookstores, watching them pull books off the shelves and sitting on floor totally immersed in their reading. They loved to read, Pam loved to read, I liked just looking at the covers. We never left a bookstore without a book. Tonight was no exception. Pam picked out three books tonight, two being gifts and one for herself. She couldn't wait to go to work the next day to present one of her gifts.

We left the bookstore and took a stroll through the Tannery Mall, making sure to look through the Eureka Toy Store for something special for our grandson Mmamoon ( seven months).

The trip home took a little detour. Those Golden Arches just stared us straight in the eyes and said "FRENCH FRIES". This was another favorite of ours, going through the drive thru for some fries and a shake or soda and driving around looking for friends to bump into to. We decided to go for one large fry and no drinks. After exiting the drive thru, we knew there would be no bumping into old friends like before, so we headed home not trying to get the ketchup spilling on our clothes.

It was a nice start to Thirty Years In Thirty Days...

Links: jabberwocky.booksense.com
eurekatoys.com
www.mcdonalds.com