2025 Road Trip Restaurant Meals (for now)

 It may look like all I did was eat my way across the country, but these meals, as well as those in the previous posts, were enjoyed over a period of 5 months.  

Once I was back in Sequim, I went to the 7 Cedars Casino and then to the 7 Brothers Restaurant there.  They've had consistently good food when I've eaten there.   And a lot of it is fun as well.    I love a good Chicken Fried steak, but am also in like with Chicken Fried Chicken as well, and really don't like a lot of sauce glopped over it, so I asked for the sauce to be served on the side here.  The veggies were perfectly cooked. As for the chicken, well, I ate it all, along with the mashed taters.    It was my only meal of the day.  And I also won on the slot machines, so my dinner was paid for, 😜.   And if you're a member of the casino,  you also get a slight discount on your meals.  Always a nice benefit. 

There is a little restaurant in Sequim called the Oak Table Cafe.   I decided to go there for Breakfast the next morning.    My realtor introduced me to this little gem last year.   And as usual, there was a line up, but I was ok with waiting, cause I knew there was deliciousness inside.   The bacon was some of the best I think I've ever eaten.  Thick, perfectly cooked, and well, the whole meal was amazing.  

We're not finished with Sequim either.   Or with bacon and eggs.   I tried out the Black Bear Diner the next day and have to say their bacon and eggs were good as well.  And as you can see, I was a hungry person, and started eating before I took the picture.    Bacon and Eggs are such a simple meal, and yet, I think one of the hardest meals to make, and this is speaking as someone who's cooked for people.    I know I'm picky on how my eggs are cooked, and have offered many an egg to the kitchen goddess when I've overcooked or broken the yolk or just didn't like the way the egg was looking at me in the pan.  

I was staying in an Airbnb and didn't feel like cooking much while I was there, so I ate out for many of my meals.  

I did go back to the Dynasty Restaurant for one meal. I really like their Sweet and Sour Pork, and the rice is good as well.  

Have I mentioned the Halfway House restaurant in Brinnon, Washington, yet?  I've only eaten there a couple of times, but I will make the effort to stop in there for a meal when I'm either on my way to Sequim or leaving there.  The Monte Cristo has got to be almost an inch thick, and so good.  I've only ever been able to eat half of it.  And it's cooked all the way through.   

Don't forget the desserts either.  I didn't.  I got a Coconut Cream pie to go, and thoroughly enjoyed it later on.    I would have licked the container, but couldn't get my mouth in there to do so.  It was worth every single calorie.  

And as I was enjoying each mouthful, I kept thinking of a friend who would have loved it as well.  Sorry, Lynn, I ate it all.  

As I said, much of the time, as I was driving across the country, I had fast food.  One night, though, I stopped in Sidney, NE, at a Days Inn, I think it was.  A friend texted me and told me about a Mexican restaurant called Three Margaritas, which was pretty much next door.    I was tired and not hungry, but wanted a drink.  So I headed over there, and ummm, if I'm ever in Sidney, NE I'll be going back to that restaurant.   I ordered their Guacamole Salad and a Margarita and had a lovely end to a long day of driving.  

The margarita was in a very heavy glass, too heavy to pick up, and tasted amazing.   

I stopped in Mansfield, MO, cause I wanted to see the Laura Ingalls Wilder house museum,  and decided to fuel up at the Wingos Cafe.  The clubhouse was huge, and I ended up taking the other half with me and eating it later on.  

The museum was everything you'd want a Laura Ingalls Wilder museum to be, and I'll be writing about it over on my other blog, Sea Palm Treasures.    I've written about my other adventures and posted them there.  

I had to do it, saw that there was a Shoney's restaurant on my way home, and decided to stop for a meal.  We used to go to a Shoney's in Kingsland, Georgia, and so this was a nostalgic stop for me.    I think it was in Clanton, AL.   The offerings were the same on the buffet as I remembered, but the dessert bar was where I got excited.    They offered canned pears with mayo and cheddar cheese sprinkles.   It was a dish I was introduced to after moving to Florida.  I had never liked canned pears, still don't, but there was something about how this was done that appealed to me.   And it's also fun to introduce people to this southern delicacy.  😜  I mean, who puts mayo, grated cheddar cheese, and a maraschino cherry on top of a canned pear and offers it to people?  I would never have dreamed that that particular combo would taste, not only good, but really good.  

And now I'm home and back to cooking for myself.   Mostly.  I did go to the Legion for Burger Night

and then out to breakfast at a local restaurant the next day.    I got the Yoghurt Parfait 

and a bread pudding with a caramelized whiskey sauce.  

and that's it for my 2025 Road Trip.   

Halloween Focaccia

Can anyone say Challenge?  Cause this was a challenge, at least for me, and it resulted in several offerings to the 'kitchen goddess', aka garbage can.   

To start with Amy of Amy's Cooking Adventures  is the hostess for this Month's  week's Sunday Funday event.    She said 'Main dish, drink, or treat - let's share some Halloween fun!'  So I put on the thinking cap, even if it's not the right size, and came up with this, Halloween Focaccia.    I've made Focaccia in the past and it was good, but my late husband didn't like it, so I made it rarely.   

And it seems like just about everyone makes sweet stuff for Halloween, but I wanted something different, just like me.    I've done some fun stuff for Halloween in the past.  You can check them out here, here, and here.     As you can see, I've had a lot of fun making, baking, and creating.    

So this year, I decided to play, and ended up making a few attempts at Halloween Focaccia.  And as I said earlier, a few made it as offerings to the kitchen goddess.  

This one was BLAND, and didn't rise really well.  

This is how it looked before it went into the oven.   I'd actually made the dough 3 days before to let it 'ripen' a little, and wow, was I disappointed.  It also stuck itself to the pan so hard, I had to soak it free.  Not one of my better attempts.  sigh

 This is the before picture, and then the after for Attempt #2. It rose, but I guess I got too enthusiastic with the salt, because it tasted like it had lingered too long at the salt lick.  

 

After baking...  I lined the pan with parchment paper this time round, cause I didn't want to have to soak or chisel another attempt out of the pan. 

And the winner is...

And that was when I decided, I'm really not that fond of focaccia to begin with.  This one rose really well, but all that oil just felt 'greasy' to me.   And that was when I remembered I'm not that fond of focaccia.  

I will say that I didn't achieve the doughy, lovely, jiggly part that most people aspire to.  I think my house was just too cold.     Or I just tried to hurry it up too much.   

I guess I just don't know when to leave something alone, cause I had to make one more attempt. 

And ummm, this time, it was almost perfect, except I thought it was a touch too pale, so I turned on the broiler, got distracted and this was the result.   

It became a burnt offering. 😜The lower third of the focaccia is actually edible, and the other part, well, I didn't need the calories anyway.😉 The recipe, though, is spot on, even with the burned bits (you could cut those off, but the kitchen goddess will be getting another offering.  

Halloween Focaccia

Yield: 4-6

Author: Sid's Sea Palm Cooking adapted from many recipes

Have fun with some focaccia and decorate it in Halloween style.

Ingredients

Focaccia

• 2 cups flour, can be AP or Bread
• 1 cup water
• 1/2-1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon Active Yeast
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 cup lukewarm water
• 1/2 cup + good olive oil
• Assorted veggies for decoration, including black olives, green onions, butternut squash, etc.

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, add the flour, water, and salt, and mix to combine.
2. Soften and activate the yeast in the half cup of lukewarm water with sugar. As soon as it starts to foam, add it to the bowl with the flour. Mix well and place in a large bowl that has a tablespoon of olive oil inside, turning the dough to cover completely. Place in a warm place to prove for at least one hour. This dough is very wet.
3. Prepare the pan by adding a couple of tablespoons of olive oil to an 8x8 pan, and turning the dough into the pan. It'll kinda glob down, but as it proves, it will spread out and cover the pan. You can also use your fingers to press the dough out towards the side of the pan, before it proves. Place it in a warm spot for another hour or so, and once it's risen and looks all bubbly, it's time to decorate and dimple.
4. And here's the fun part. Cut some thin slices from the neck of a butternut squash, cut a jack o lantern face into it, then make a couple of bats, by cutting a black olive in half, then cutting the half of the black olive into quarters. Make notches into the quarter slices, and place next to the half olive, as the wings. I used some green onions for the grass and tree, along with some slices of cherry tomatoes for the flowers. I also cut some garlic into strips and inserted them into the dough, and drizzled a little olive oil onto each garlic slice. To finish it off, I chopped some fresh rosemary up and sprinkled it over the top.
5. Let it prove just a little while longer, then bake in a 425-degree oven for about 20 minutes. It will be a pale golden color.
6. Just don't put it under the broiler and forget it like I did, cause I wanted a little more color on it.

 

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 If you want some more fun ideas for Halloween, take a look at the following.   I know I will be, looking that is, even if I don't have anything planned for this year, yet...

This week’s Sunday Funday is hosted by Amy by Amy’s Cooking Adventures

Sunday Funday

Halloween Recipes

• Black and Orange Cookies by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Halloween Focaccia by Sid's Sea Palm Cooking
• Keto Halloween Quesadilla by Sneha's Recipe
• Mummy Dogs by Culinary Cam
• Necromancer Gnocchi by Amy's Cooking Adventures
• Pumpkin and Apple Soup by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Sloppy Monster Sandwich by Palatable Pastime

Restaurant Meals, 2025 Road Trip, Part Two

 When I'm traveling, doing my road trips, I like to try local restaurants, not chains, but local restaurants, although, I've also been known to stop at chains.  

Here are just a few of the places I've stopped at.  

I stopped in at the Moon Palace in Sequim.   Can't say I really loved the almond chicken, cause the sauce was a bit much, but the rest of the plate was good.   

Not super excited by this, but it was edible.   

I had breakfast at the Sunshine Cafe in downtown Sequim.   I'd ordered the sausage and eggs, but when the owner asked me how I liked my meal, I had to confess I didn't care for the sausage. She then brought me some of the best-tasting bacon I've ever eaten.   And the little pot of deliciousness there was some homemade tasting Marionberry preserves.  The sourdough toast was also pretty awesome.  I took a big bite before I took the picture.

And then we come to Vancouver Island.   My sisters told me about the Roast Beef Special every Sunday at the Mount Brenton Golf Course.   Look at the size of that Yorkshire Pudding.  

It was so good, I asked to go back the following week.  

And it was just as good.    The scenery was amazing as well.   We sat outside and looked over the golf course.  

Next on my wish list was Just Jakes, for their Greek Caesar with Shrimp.   I wasn't too impressed with the shrimp this trip; it was pretty pale and lackluster.   But the salad was just as good as I remembered it. 

It may seem like an odd combo, but if you're a fan of either salad, try combining them sometime.  You'll be glad you did. 

I also found out that a former favorite restaurant was back and serving food, so I got takeout from them one night.    The Dragon Juan Cafe was back. In its former iteration, it was not only a Chinese Restaurant but also a disco, back in the day.  And I was a semi-frequent customer of both the restaurant and the disco.  And yes, I know that dates me.  The Dragon also featured local bands, and I also have to admit to sitting in awe and watching the drummer on some of my favorites.  I had a mad crush on one young man, and now cannot recall his name, but if their band was playing, I was there.    And enough of the maundering around.  I ordered the combo and it ended up feeding me for three meals.   It was a more than generous portion.   

I also hit a few other favorite restaurants.    The CVI was one of them.  CVI stands for Cowichan Valley Inn.   

One night for dinner with one of my sisters, we ended up at the CVI and shared the Nacho platter.  Gotta say, I had more than enough to eat.   It was a very generous platter.   

I also hit a few other favorite restaurants.   Back when I was a teen, there was a restaurant called Romeo's in town; they used to have a disco there, along with the restaurant.  Well, times change, the restaurant and disco got shut down, and then it was opened up again, and as it turned out, it was a great place for me to meet my sisters for a meal, and we did meet there several times for a meal, that is.   

The last time there I tried their fish taco's and they were good. 

I was good, and just ate the fish, but the tacos, while tasty, were also a trifle messy to eat.  

I do like a good fish taco, and tried the ones at the Cook and Butcher in Cowichan Bay as well.  We were there for my sister's birthday, and umm, I ended up wearing most of a caesar drink, due to a glass implosion, no fault of the server, but the glass decided it was done being a glass just as she put it down on the table.  

I did get a picture of another one, that did not implode.   Look at this, it's a meal in itself.  

 I didn't order the drink, my nephew did, but the fish tacos I ordered were pretty darn good.  

And since I was on Vancouver Island, and it's a bit of a seafood heaven, I also enjoyed some fresh-caught crabs, courtesy of a nephew.   Heck, I even made the family my 😜 award-winning crabcakes one night, with some fresh caught Dungeness crab.  

Would you believe I almost got too much of a good thing with all that crab? Well, I did, but I am hoping my nephew is just as generous when I get up there next year.  Cause I will take advantage of him and his generosity. 

And staying with the fishy side, I also stopped in at a favorite local'ish pub in Crofton and had their cod bites a couple of times.  While enjoying the view over the bay.   This is at the Osborne Bay Pub in Crofton, B.C. 

I also tried a few more dishes off their menu, cause I wanted to make sure their food was good enough to brag on.  

They have daily specials and some incredible soups.  

I tried Montreal Smoked Meat for the first time there, and ummm, if it's all like this, I'm a big fan. 

This was such a generous-sized bowl of soup, I ended up taking some of it back to my place and reheated it the next day.  

I also tried the wings another time along with the soup of the day, and again, it was more than I could eat and I took the rest home to reheat.  I can't remember what this soup was called other than delicious. 

I tried the wings cause my sister had ordered them one time and they looked good, and I love wings. 

I did eat at a local White Spot in Campbell River, it's a local'ish chain, and has consistently decent food. 

One of my last meals with my sisters this trip was at the iconic Doghouse restaurant.    I'd not had any curry this trip, and when one of my sisters mentioned she'd not been here for a while for their curry, I jumped on the idea of getting their chicken curry.    This was a half order.  I hate to think what a full order would be, cause I ended up not even eating half of this.   This is also one of those semi-iconic dishes.  It consists of breaded deep-fried chicken cubes covered in very mild curry gravy, over your choice of rice, coleslaw, fries, or any combo thereof.   I like it with half rice and half coleslaw, but you do you.   As I've said, the serving is very generous and more than I can eat.  

And that does it for this trip down my culinary memory bank.  I'll share more meals at a later date.  Mainly cause I headed back to Sequim, Washington and then drove back across the country, and have to admit that many of my meals were the fast food variety, but I did eat at a few places that were good enough to blog boast about.   BTW, none of the restaurants mentioned here know who I am, and any reviews are purely my own.  

Peppered Short Ribs.

I'm finally home, cooking and baking in my own kitchen, and it feels so good.  In fact, it felt so good, I had to make the following for myself.  And since the topic for Sunday Funday was either a slow-cooker meal or a slow-cooked meal, this was a perfect choice to make.  

It's actually been quite a few years since I first made this.  I made it for my sister, Tania, for her birthday, and, well, she was nice and said it tasted good, and it did, but it needed improvement.    So I played with it a few times over the years.  I think I've finally hit it out of the park.  

At least my mouth did a happy dance when I was eating it the other day.  

I used a couple of different colored peppers, but you can just use green peppers if you like.  

And the leftovers, well, let me just say they were delicious, and I still have a couple of meals in the freezer for future meals.  

And I think it's really easy to make cause you basically put it into a crockpot or in my case, a Dutch Oven, bung it into the oven, set it and forget it for a few hours.   

To start with, cut up an onion. I actually measured it, and it came out to a heaping cupful.  Add it to a hot pan along with the same amount of sweet pepper, and saute in a little oil until the onions are translucent.  I happened to have a couple of orange peppers, so I used one of them here, but you can use a green pepper if you like.  

I think the correct term is 'sweating' the onion, but I think that's just rude, 😉   I mean, who wants a sweaty onion?  

After the onion and pepper had cooked together for a bit, I put them into my brand new 2 quart Dutch Oven, and sauteed some sliced garlic in a little oil, just until they turned translucent.  I didn't want any color on them; just wanted to get them cooking a little bit.   Fun fact: depending on how you cut up the garlic, the flavor changes a bit.  I sliced them here, as I didn't want the flavour to be too aggressive.  If I'd crushed it, the garlic would have been more pronounced.   And wow is that picture ever blurry.   

I then added the garlic to the sauteed onions and pepper and proceeded to brown the ribs in the remaining oil, adding them to the pot with the pepper and onions.  I quartered a few small tomatoes and added them to the pot before putting the lid on and placing them into a 275 degree oven.  

After letting them roast for about 2 hours I pulled the pot out of the oven, added a few more quartered tomatoes and let them slow cook for an additional 2 hours.   Along with the remaining coarsely diced red, green and orange peppers along with a few more quartered tomatoes.  What can I say, I like cooked tomatoes.  

I used my tongs to turn the meat over and mix up the peppers, tomatoes, etc.   It was only then that I added a half teaspoon of salt to the pot.  

The majority of the flavour here is from the slow-cooked peppers and tomatoes.   There was no added liquid, so after removing the pot from the oven, I placed the cooked meat on a plate and thickened the tomato/onion mixture with a little flour slurry.    You do need to cook it for a few minutes to cook the flour and get the floury taste out.  

I cooked a small pot of Basmati Rice as my carb.   And served the peppers and onions over the rice.   I even sprinkled the plate with some fresh chopped parsley.  

Can I just say, my sister would have loved this latest iteration of the dish.  Cooking it low and slow in the oven rendered out the fat and broke down the connective tissue beautifully.  

 

Peppered Short Ribs

Yield: 4

Author: Sid's Sea Palm Cooking

Prep time: 20 MinCook time: 4 HourTotal time: 4 H & 20 M

A lovely slow cooked meal, ready in just a few hours in the oven or in a crockpot.

Ingredients

Short Ribs

• 1 1/2 lbs. Beef Short Ribs, with bone if possible.
• 1 cup Sweet Onion, cut into coarse dice
• 1/2 green pepper, cut into coarse dice
• 1 1/2 orange pepper, cut into coarse dice
• 1/2 red pepper, cut into coarse dice
• 8-10 small tomatoes cut into quarters
• 3-4 cloves garlic, sliced
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Oil for sauteeing 1-3 teaspoons
• 1 tablespoon flour and 2-3 tablespoons water, stirred together.

Instructions

1. To start with, cut up an onion. I actually measured it, and it came out to a heaping cupful. Add it to a hot pan along with the same amount of sweet pepper, and saute in 1 tsp oil until the onions are translucent. I happened to have a couple of orange peppers, so I used one of them here, but you can use a green pepper if you like.
2. Set the remaining pepper and tomatoes aside.
3. Place the onion and one pepper into an oven-safe pot or into a crockpot.
4. Slice up the garlic and saute it in 1/2 teaspoon of oil in the same pan, then add it to the onion and pepper.
5. Sauté the beef ribs in the remaining oil, and brown well on both sides.
6. Add to the pot and top with 4 or 5 small tomatoes that have been quartered.
7. Put the lid on and place in a 275-degree oven and bake for 2 hours.
8. Remove the lid, and add the remaining peppers. Top with the rest of the tomatoes. Sprinkle with the 1/2 teaspoon salt and put the pot back into the oven.
9. Let it cook for another two hours and remove from the oven. Take the meat out and set it aside while you thicken the pepper and tomatoes with the flour slurry. Let it cook for a couple of minutes so that the flour cooks out.
10. Serve with rice, potatoes, or your choice of starch.
11. Sauté any leftover peppers and onions with some mushrooms and make my Extra-Ordinary Grilled Cheese.  Recipe and instructions on this blog.  

Estimate only

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