Thanksgiving Dinner 2010

I went to my grandma's house in Texas for Thanksgiving. There was a crowd of 26 people there: the Eapens, the Gomez family, all the Thomas'(except for Josh and Renee, Abby and Ruth), and great grandma and great grandpa. There was lots of food-so much that it covered the island and a table. The food was served buffet style. Now get ready for your mouth to water...There was dark and light turkey, with gravy. There was applesauce and marshmellow jello- which is made of colored marshmellows, pineapple and pistatio pudding. Its a Thomas tradition. There was also another kind of jello. It was called blueberry jello. It had blueberries, and a layer of white cream. Grandma made a pretty basic stuffing, and mom made one with sausage, apples and nuts. Mom made cranberry creme dream salad. There was squash (which I don't like) and sweet potato casserole from Mrs. Gomez. There were mashed potatoes and Aunt Dena made a green bean casserole. And last of all there was a relish tray, and cranberry jelly, and rolls. I didn't try everything, but the food I had was awesome. I sat at a round table with all the kids. It was fun! Later, when everyone was hungry again, dessert was served. There was peanut butter pie, Aunt Bekah's cake balls, Mrs. Eapen's spice cake, Grandma's pumpkin pie, and Uncle Seth's strawberry chocolate cake. I like Thanksgiving because I can spend time with my family and remember what I am thankful for. Just to let you know, I'm thankful for delicious food. I give 10 stars for Grandma (and her helpers).

Sharp-Not Cheesy

On Friday, November 19, 2010, I went to Cheddars in Joplin, MO with my family. We were on our way to Texas for Thanksgiving. It was dinner time, and we were hungry. Cheddars is a casual cafe'. Their goal is to sell quality food for a good price. It was loud and busy, but we only had to wait 10 minutes to get seated. On the ceiling were several fan with woven reed paddles that rotated. It was very eye catching. There were some old time pictures by the bathroom. And there was a long fish tank in the wall between two rooms, with lots of big and small colorful fish. I had a grilled cheese sandwich and fries. I tried mom's steak and dad's ribs. I also had tortilla chips and a hot, spicy spinach dip. The food was delicious. Our waitress was nice because she came to ask if the food was good. The appetizer came quickly but the food did not. I wish the food could have come fast. It was good. The service was good. I will go again because the food was awesome and there was nothing wrong with it. I give 4 stars to Cheddars.

It has been a long time since my last blog. My mom has been sick and tired and it hasn't been a priority. We will try to do better.

A Sweetheart Breakfast

On Friday, October 15, I went to one of our old favorites, Cherie Inn, with my family. We went for my mom's birthday. This restaurant is in East Town, a small burg of Grand Rapids. They serve breakfast and lunch, but I came for breakfast. "Cherie" is French for "sweetheart or darling". It is a very old restaurant in a very old building. It is one of the longest running restaurants in Grand Rapids. It is an unusual triangular shaped building. Lining the entrance walls are old pictures of the restaurant throughout the years. This restaurant is not exactly fancy, but it is nice. All the tables had vases of freshly cut flowers. They use clear glass water goblets and also put glass carafes of ice water on each the table. Did you know you can get your finger wet and rub it on the top of goblets and it makes music? You should try it at one of those nice restaurants sometime. The walls were white plaster, and the ceiling had carved plaster corner decorations. I had the lumberman's special which I shared with Elsie and Ethan. It was big. It has fried eggs, scrambled eggs, bacon, oranges and pineapple, and pancakes. It was very good. I also had hash browns-shredded and fried potatoes. The food was presented nicely. At Cherie Inn, breakfast is expensive. Everything was al a carte (that means that everything is paid for separately). But we has a coupon that made it not so expensive. I keep going there because there are good breakfasts, books for kids to read, etch-a-sketches to draw with, and attentive and quick service. I give 5 stars for Cherie Inn.

Family style-Italian Style

On Sunday, October 3rd, I went to Pietro's for lunch. We had just had family pictures taken, and I was hungry. Like always, I went with my family. Pietro's is an Italian restaurante' on 28th Street. It specializes in family style dining, which is when you order multiple things and everyone shares. I had "pick a pasta/pick a sauce". I picked fettucini with meat sauce and a giant meatball. The meatball was almost the size of a baseball. It was chewy. The meat sauce was chunky and had lots of garlic. We had calamari with lemon juice squeezed on it. We also had oven fresh bread with olive oil. The olive oil had piles of cheese in it. You can usually watch them making the bread through the lobby window, but they weren't doing it this Sunday. I also tried my brother's pepperoni pizza, my dad's fettucini michael, and my mom's pasta with spicy sausage. Kid's meals are really cheap, only $.99, Sunday-Thursdays. It is a very good deal because it usually costs a lot of money, and you got a lot of food. In the lobby there are cooking pots, pans, and spoons hanging from the ceiling. There were old time photos, probably from Italy. It was kind of dark so they had oil lamps on each table. It was very clean. It wasn't too busy, though it usually is. It might be because people aren't eating out as much these days, or that it was a bit past lunch time and everyone was done. I will go again because the food was awesome! I give 5 stars for Pietro's!

Bravo! Panera

On Friday, September 17, 2010, I went to meet my dad for lunch at the Panera Bread on 44th Street in Grandville. We usually go to the Alpine Panera, but dad was working in Hudsonville, so we went here instead. I went with my parents and siblings. Panera is a fast food restaurant. You order, pay and wait for your food at the front counter. By the way, the menu is on the wall. This Panera is big with a two floors, a two story brick fireplace, plus an extra empty room upstairs with a railing. It was busy and loud, and it reminds my mom of an European cafe'. I had a Bacon Turkey Bravo sandwich. It was like a BLT only with turkey. It has a zingy mayonaise. It came with chips and a pickle. I had french onion soup. It was hot and tasted kind of sweet because onions get sweeter after they've been cooked. I also had a chocolate chip muffie, which is a flat muffin, and a strawberry cream scone. I will go again and again because it is pretty healthy fast food-not like McDonalds' junk food. They have good sandwiches, and great bread. I like the bagette. I never had anything there I didn't like. Its always a good experience. And even if its busy, its always only a short wait. I give Panera Bread 5 stars.

Hanging @ Julio's

On Saturday, September 11, I went to Don Julio's, a Mexican restaurant on 28th street. I went because my Uncle Nate was here, I was hungry, and Miss June recommended it. There were 10 of us, but we still got seated quickly. I went with my family, plus Uncle Josh, Aunt Renee, Uncle Nate and the cousins. Don Julio's has a lot of atmosphere but only a little decor. The rooms were kind of dark. It wasn't really noisy, but maybe it would have been if it were crowded. It was clean. I thought the Aztec crucifix statue thing and sun and moon ceramic frescos were interesting. I had chips and salsa. The chips were salty and I could taste the hot pepper and cilantro in the salsa. The kid's food came with two entree items. I had an all cheese quesadilla and a spicy beef enchilada. It was awesome! Our waiter was attentive. He refilled the chips and salsa, and drinks as much as we wanted. He did a cool trick. He balanced a lot of full plates on his arm. The food came quickly. Hardly a wait at all. What Don Julio's needs, though, is customers. I'm blogging about it, so you can go. You can tell your friends about it too. Its a good value for your money, great food, and it would be a pity if they shut down because people didn't go there. I give Don Julio's 5 stars.

World Famous Breadsticks

This is my first blog in a while. I will be doing more blogging again because I am now back in school.
On Saturday, September 4, 2010, I went to Spanky's Pizza. I went with my family. Spanky's is in Fremont, MI. It is an old restaurant, but they moved into a new building this summer. They have a lot of Coca Cola decor. My favorites are the truck, the radio, the juke box and the different cans. We had their super pack. It comes with a pizza, breadsticks, wings and pop. The pizza was round (like normal) with bacon and green olives. It was good pizza. But let me tell you about their breadsticks. Spanky's has a sign outside that reads, "Spanky's Pizza and World Famous Breadsticks." The breadsticks are awesome! They are spread with butter, and then topped with a thick layer of parmaesan cheese. Then they are baked in the oven. Buttery, cheesy, salty, hot, crispy and soft. Awesome! There are never too many for our family to eat. We had the Italian wings, and washed it all down with some Barq's root beer. Our waitress was nice, but the food took a long time to come. It was worth the wait, and I will definitely go back. I give Spanky's four stars because the food could have come faster. And I like Giordano's pizza better.=) But the breadsticks are worth it all!

Factor in the Cheese(cake)

On Saturday, August 7, I went to the John Hancock building in Chicago. It is the second tallest building in Chicago. We went up 94 floors to the top. I saw the whole city of Chicago. It was awesome! After I went to the top of "Big John", I went all the way down to the very bottom to go to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner. We had to wait 1 hour and 10 minutes to get seated. That wasn't fun because I had to just sit around (until near the end when dad let us watch Bugs Bunny on his iPod) plus I was hungry. But it was worth the wait. Finally we got seated. Soon our waiter arrived with fresh bread. There was plain sourdough, and a pumpernickel with a nice chocolate flavor. We ate a lot of bread-like 6 or 7 loaves. I had corn dogs and fries for dinner. Corn dogs are hotdogs on a stick dipped in cornmeal batter, and then fried. It was really good. The service was good, and our waiter was friendly, but he seemed kind of distracted. He did bring my food quickly, before the adult entrees were ready. My parents and I both appreciated that. The dining room was big, busy, and very loud. The were bread decorations all around. I will go again so I can have some cheesecake. I didn't have any this time because Elsie was asleep, and Ethan was being cranky. I give Cheesecake Factory 3 stars. The food was good, but the wait was really long.
This will be my last blog as a 7 year old. I turn 8 on Thursday. Presents are optional, but gift cards to restaurants would be appreciated.=) Just kidding.

Everything's bigger in Texas

Last week I went to Texas to visit my grandma and grandpa. I was invited to my Great Aunt Sara's house while I was there to write a review on her cooking. I don't usually go to people's houses to do reviews but I made an exception for Aunt Sara. It was a fun time. Everyone should have an Aunt Sara like mine. She put a lot of work into making it a special experience. Before I arrived, Aunt Sara put out a lot of snacks. There was a fruit basket carved out of a watermelon that was filled with cantaloupe, watermelon, honeydew, grapes, blueberries, raspberries and pineapple. It was juicy and delicious and looked awesome. There was also chips and salsa and cheese dip. There were crackers and cheese. There was a vegetable tray with ranch veggie dip. And this was just the snack. I took a break from eating to swim in her backyard pool. Then we had dinner. She made pork and chicken shish kabobs and baked beans. Grandma made pasta salad. I got to get my own food. It was really good. There was a t.v. in the room and I watched Prince Caspian while I ate. I got to drink sprite, and eat lots of candy. There were flashlight suckers, mini m&ms, hershey's chocolate bars, and kit kats. It was great. For dessert she made eagles out of coconut coated marsh mellos on chocolate cookies, with cashews for beaks. They were very cute. I have a picture that I will try to post later. I know everyone can't go to Aunt Sara's, but if she was a restaurant I'd give her 7 stars. Thanks, Aunt Sara!

Stuck a feather in his cap and called it Macaroni

On Sunday, June 20th, I went to Macaroni Grill. We were celebrating Father's day by taking my dad out for dinner. Macaroni Grill is an Italian restaurant like Olive Garden and Carinos. But that's okay, because Italian is good. Its kind of fancy, kind of rustic. The outside of the building is yellow stucco. The inside walls are field stone. The booths were raised up a little bit. The napkins are fabric, but the tablecloth is paper. But we'll get to that later. Macaroni Grill is one of those restaurants that serves you fresh bread and dipping oil. It was great. I also had olives. Kalmata and green. They were kind of bitter. For my entree, I had chicken scallopini, sole, and couscous. Sole is fish. It's good too! It was lemony tasting. The outside was crunchy, and the inside was juicy. The couscous had large grains. It was Italian couscous. I normally have Moroccan couscous, whose grains are smaller. I think I like the smaller grains better. For dessert, I had the gelato. Gelato is ice cream. Vanilla. It is creamy like custard. Our waitress and her service were awesome. Her name was Allie. She wrote her name with a crayon on the tablecloth. She said some of our picks were her favorite. She brought our food quickly. Macaroni Grill is fun because you can color on the tablecloth. Not every restaurant lets you do that. Using the tablecloth as a coloring sheet gives you lots of coloring space. I will go again anytime I can. I give 5 stars for Macaroni Grill.

A Fishy Experience

Last night, I went to a new restaurant in town, Fuji Yama, with my dad and brother. Fuji Yama is a Japanese Steakhouse that serves Japanese, Thai, and Chinese food. I heard about it from my mom who went to Bible study with one of the owners. We decided it was worth a try. It was fantastic. There were tables with huge pans in the dining room. They are called hibachi grills. We sat at one of those. First, we ordered sushi. I had fatty tuna and California rolls. I had four pieces of fatty tuna because I liked it. I called it "striped" sushi. Next I ordered sushi soup. It has sushi, tiny cheese blocks and seaweed in it. It was amazing. Then I had salad. Just normal salad, but with a different kind of dressing. It was oranges and mustard mixed together. Even though it sounds weird, I would have it again. It was great. After we got through with this stuff, our hibachi chef came to our table so he could cook our entrees and do a show. I had salmon, fried rice, vegetables, and noodles with ginger sauce. I loved it! Ginger sauce is great. I also tried seafood sauce and wasabi. I didn't like the wasabi because it was very, very, VERY spicy. Our cook was a good cook, and a very good performer. He did lots of tricks for us. He spun his flipper on his meat fork. He made a volcano using onions, oil and alcohol. He made a train by pushing smoke around. He cut an egg in half by flipping it into the air, and having it hit the edge of his flipper. At the end of his show, the cook tossed two shrimp at me. The first time I missed, but the second time I caught it in my mouth. I think he must have had to practice a lot to learn his tricks. Ethan would say about these tricks, "don't try this at home."=) I had a lot of fun! I think other kids would like Fuji Yama too. The dinner and show are a very interesting experience.
I give 5 stars to Fuji Yama.

"Wok" On

On Sunday, May 30, 2010, I went to First Wok on Alpine. On Sundays, you always get complimentary soup and egg roll. Its a good deal, which is why we go on Sundays. For my drink, my waiter gave my 3 glasses of Red Grapefruit Sierra Mist. I didn't ask for it, but I sure liked it. It made me wild. That didn't make my mom happy. For my soup, there were two choices, egg drop or hot and sour. I chose egg drop soup, but I did try dad's hot and sour. It wasn't that hot, but it was sour. For my appetizer, I had crab cheese rangoon (my favorite) and egg roll. I tried ketchup and hot mustard on the egg roll. It was spicy. It burned my tongue. For my entree, I ordered Phoenix Dragon Chicken. I thought it would be hot, but it wasn't. It had shrimp, pea pods, chicken and lots of other veggies. I liked that it had lots of vegetables. I used chopsticks to eat it. It was easy. I also tried some of my dad's Mongolian chicken, and my mom's pork with black mushrooms. They were good, but I liked my entree the best. First Wok has some interesting decor. When you walk in the door, you see a golden Fat Buddha. In the dining room there was a sculpture of a school of fish. The service was excellent. Our waiter joked with us. My dad asked for Dr. Pepper, and our waiter said, "no doctors in the house." Then dad asked for root beer. Our waiter said, "we have beer, but not root." He also brought us extra egg rolls and soup. These are the nice touches that keep me going back. The food came quick. I will go again soon. Its a great restaurant. They have good food. They also do nice, little things that make your experience awesome. I give 5 stars for First Wok.

You should "Wok" on too!

A is for Arnie's

On Saturday, May 1, I went to the 54th street Arnie's for breakfast. We attended mom's race to cheer her on, and then we went to Arnie's because we were hungry and wet. Watching a race is hungry work. Oma and Opa came to the race too, so we took them with us to breakfast. I had orange juice to drink. It was very sour. I ordered off the children's menu. Mom doesn't usually let me do that for my blog. I had good scrambled eggs, greasy bacon and greasy sausage, and toast. It had LOTS of butter on it. It looked like they used an ice cream scoop to put it on. The windows were really cool. They had square glass blocks. I saw a sign that said "Route 66." I have a movie about Route 66. Its called "Cars".There's also a funny song by Nat King Cole, "Get your kicks on Route 66." The service was good. My waitress let my pick three crayons. Most restaurants only let you have 2 crayons. She was pretty patient because we kept changing our orders. The food came quickly. I will maybe go again, but Wolfgang's definitely has a better breakfast. I will have to get my parents to take me to Wolfgang's so I can review that. I give Arnie's four stars because it was good, but could be better. The food was good, but the company was awesome! Love you Oma and Opa!

I love Olives!

On Mother's Day, I took my mom to Olive Garden with the rest of my family. It was very busy. Dad called ahead though, so we only had to wait about 10 minutes. I definitely recommend "call ahead seating." We had a delicious, four course Italian dinner. For my appetizer, I had breadsticks. I love their salty, buttery goodness. With my breadsticks, I had salad. The salad has black olives. I like them. I always ask for them. For the entree, I had the Steak Fonduta. It had small bow ties, green onions, steak and tomatoes with a cheese sauce. It was a little bit like a fancy macaroni and cheese. I also tried the Stuffed Chicken Marsala with mashed potatoes. Both entrees were equally tasty. For dessert, I had zeppolis. Zeppolis are sugary donuts shaped like pillows. They came with raspberry sauce and chocolate sauce for dipping. Our waitress suggested that we first dip them in the chocolate, then the raspberry. Awesome! The dining room had flowers and a plaster medallion carving of Roman Charioteers. The service was great. Our food came quickly. Our waitress was Katelyn. She was fun and bubbly. She checked my muscles to show that I had enough room for all my food. I like going to Olive Garden. Its one of my favorites. The food, the breadsticks, the coloring and the chocolate mints that come with the bill. I will go a lot. I give five stars for Olive Garden.
I've been to a few Italian restaurants lately, but next time I will do a different kind.

Very Italian

Yesterday I went to Johnny Carinos where I had a delicious four course dinner with my family. I started with freshly baked bread and dipping oil. It is my favorite appetizer. Next, I had Caesar salad. Did you know that Caesar salad was created by a man named Caesar Cardini in 1924. He was an Italian born in Mexico. He made it up when he ran out of ingredients for other food. Then, for my entree I had then Chicken Pesto Pasta. It was made of fettucini, broccoli, chicken and mushrooms with a creamy pesto sauce. I really liked the pesto sauce. Last of all, I had a "divine" dessert. I had Italian chocolate cake. It was cut in triangles, with a thick layer of chocolate icing, and topped off with toffee bits and almonds. It was served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream dusted with cocoa powder. I shared the cake with my brother, sister and dad, but not the ice cream. It was scrumptious! The dining room was fine. It had lots of cooking tools hung on the wall. The service was good. Our waitress was friendly. She brought us lots of bread. The food came quickly. I will go again. I give five stars for Johnny Carinos!

All Stuffed

This weekend I was in Chicago for the Palos Hills Spring conference, and I decided to go to Giordano's for dinner. I traveled to Giordano's with my family on Friday night. I had their famous deep dish pizza. It was over an inch thick stuffed with Canadian bacon, sausage, cheese and pepperoni and topped with a chunky tomato sauce. It was good pizza! I also had thin crust pizza with green olives and pepperoni. I liked it because it had my favorite kind of olives and it was crispy. For my appetizer I had calamari, with lemon juice squeezed on it. Delicious! My dad told me it was chicken, and when I was done he asked me, "so, how did you like your octopus." I had some more because I liked it. Its good to try new things. The dining room has a sign that hangs from the ceiling that says, "Thou shalt eat pizza-the 11th commandment." I agree. It isn't the 11th commandment though. Our waitress was friendly. She let us order before we got to the restaurant so we didn't have to wait very long for our pizza. I will visit Giordano's the next time I'm in Chicago. You should visit Giordano's too, if you are ever in Chicago. Its a long drive but its definitely worth it. I give Giordanos 5 stars!

Little Mexico

I went to Little Mexico for lunch on Sunday, April 11, 2010. I went with my family. We started with chips and salsa. They have really good salsa-not too spicy for me and other young kids. I had a quesadilla with cheese inside. It tasted lemony. It was big. I also had rice and guacamole. It was the first time I tried guacamole. I liked it. It tasted like avacados-go figure. The dining room at Little Mexico is interesting. It has paintings on the walls of Mexicans and the Pyramid at Chichen Itza. The service was good. Our waiter was friendly. The food came quick. I like to go there. I will go there again because I love Mexican food. I give 5 stars for Little Mexico!