Ramen Reimagined

The holidays are upon us and while I struggle to get All The Things done in time for the big event, there just isn't room for a whole lot of anything else. I am working on a lot, but as they are Christmas presents, I can't talk about any of them until after December 25th. Rest assured, there are interesting blogs ahead. This just isn't one of them.

 

In the meantime, due to a month-long cold epidemic in my household, I have been in a ramen noodles kind of mood. As a veggie, the only kind I can consume is the Asian flavor. The other night, I made ramen for supper for myself, while the boys both enjoyed their leftover ham dinners. Of course, ramen is somewhat lacking in nutritional value, so to make it a little more health-conscious, I added some peas and carrots from a frozen veggies mix into the boiling water with the noodles. Then, after adding the little packet of MSG.... I mean, flavoring... I emptied the contents of the pan into a bowl and then fried an egg to plop in for some protein. The end result looked (and tasted) a lot better than just-plain-old ramen.

 

 

I'm sure poor dorm-bound college students learned this particular lesson long before I stumbled across it, but as I was never lived in a dorm, I take delight in the discovery now that I'm six months away from 30.

 

Blue Skies and an Abundance of Cake

Blue Sky is a quiet little diner located in the busy urban corner of Amherst, OH, 40 minutes away from the center of downtown Cleveland. The walls house murals of agricultural and natural landscape. The booths are well-maintained, the atmosphere is friendly, and the menu, expansive. Moreover, in the angled walk in front of the kitchen, there is a gigantic display case full of cake. This is my new local eatery and I'm in love with it, as are my offspring and husband and my parents.

Part of the reason for this is that it's a small local place that serves simple food, mostly from scratch. The other part is that they serve this food in copious amounts. First, there's the soup and sald course. I can't eat their soups, as all of them (even the clam chowder) contain chicken stock. The salad's fresh and that's enough for me.

However, all the soups are made that day onsite and everyone I've eaten with there who has had the soup tells me, regardless of what soup it happens to be that day, that it's delicious. You can also opt for other options instead of the salad, like coleslaw and applesauce. The soup and rolls are complimentary and so, don't allow for substititions, so I just go without soup. There's plenty of food to go around.

Then, the meal comes. Often, this includes a smattering of either white, brown, or sausage gravy, though you can opt out of the gravy if you so choose. My husband nor my son ever chooses this. Apparently, the gravy is also quite delightful. The sausage gravy is so good that my son insists on this particular meal every time we go:

It's called "The Bomb" and involves a full order of biscuits and gravy on top of eggs (cooked any way) and home fries. It's under six dollars. For my part, if my appetite is small, I get the brocolli quiche, a wide slice of egg pie with brocolli and cheese cooked in a flakey, homemade crust, also under six dollars. Otherwise, I get the eggplant parmesan, which is under ten dollars.

Finally, there is the real reason to come to Blue Sky, though sadly often after the meal there isn't room for it: the dessert. These guys have a wide assortment of handmade, fresh baked cakes and pies, and I do mean wide:

That crust of the quiche? It's just a good on the dessert pies, though my personal favorite is a two-tiered shortcake with strawberries in the center and on top with whipped cream instead of frosting. While I thought the chccolate cakes were a bit dry, my son swears he's never had better. And the hot chocolate may actually be athentically made, though I cannot confirm this for sure.

Local food, laid-back people, simple atmosphere. Give Blue Sky a try and if you do, save room for dessert.