Burger of the Week #193

From the Skyline Diner in Portland Oregon, some classic diner artwork.

Slipper's that are the Cat's Meow

I'm so pleased with these! I made these as part of a Crazy Cat Lady Gift Set for a Christmas present, and I think they turned out adorable!

Now let's be honest, ScrappyLynn actually made them, but I dreamt them up, designed them and helped with production. These Cat Slippers are not unlike the scuff slippers we make for Etsy. Actually, they're exactly like that, but with dimensional ears and a face!

ScrappyLynn might be offering them as part of her Slipper collection next year. Possibly different animals as custom order options. Custom, made to order — because of size/stocking difficulties. We're thinking frogs, cats, monkeys, raccoons and foxes. Look for them in the near future and/or get your requests in now!

Popped.

My first attempt at popovers was NOT a disaster! I followed the recipe's advice and let the batter sit and used warm milk and eggs. My one mistake was not greasing each individual cup enough! And next time I'd take them out two minutes earlier!

The recipe I used was the Neiman Marcus one.

Skated by the Chimney with Care

So one of my favorite things I made this Christmas was something I've wanted to do for awhile... a roller skate stocking for a dear friend (Bidi Bidi Bang Bang) from the Grand Raggidy Roller Girls derby team.

Done free form, it was a work-in-progress experiment, where I was able to use fabric, puff paint, ric rac, shoe laces and ribbon, and really just make it up as I went along. With the exception of the toe stop (which I had to ditch) it honestly came out better than I expected!!

I'm ready to unleash stocking possibilities! And I have 364 days to get it right!

Burger of the Week #192

Another adorable creation from clustercuss on instagram — my new favorite source of food porn. Handmade junk food choclates ... imagine the work the burgers took!!

The Grinch's Nightmare

Speaking of Christmas decorations... these ones may be a little less uniform.... but there's no lacking in Christmas Spirit. 

This is the holiday interior of the Broadway Bar, on the corner of Broadway and Sixth on the west side. The place is a holiday tradition of Grand Rapids' very own.

For 21 years, the family-owned restaurant has gone all out for the holiday. The start the day after Halloween, and take 4 weeks to complete this wonderland of lights, trains, garland, Santas, and reindeer. There;s even a projector screen that plays holiday movies all day long.

Stop on in to get your overdose of Christmas, but be sure to make a reservation first, it takes more than a little effort to get in here this time of year!

When Roy G. Biv Stops Over for Christmas

I'm not one much for holiday decorating myself, but I do appreciate a well-styled tree. And I'm quite fond of Inspired by Charm's ROYGBIV gradient tree here.

This tree is uniform and thoughtful, yet still playful and full of spirit. I especially like the Star Explosion on top.

I feel like Christmas benefits when colors other than Red and Green are added to the palette. This could almost become a year-round decoration.

Delivering Holiday Traditions

On December 6, 1964, families sat down to watch an animated special called Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer for the very first time. The hour-long show went on to become the longest-running and highest-rated Christmas special in TV history.

To commemorate this beloved holiday tradition, USPS and Greg Breeding have designed 2014 Christmas stamps featuring Rudolph and his misfit friends. Still frames of the stop-motion animation produced by Rankin/Bass, will deliver a bit of nostalgia and joy to people all over the country this season. 

In addition to these postal delights, the Post Office has also gone interactive! Visit their website to find out which misfit you are!

I'm Santa! Peppy and resourceful, yet perhaps a little skittish, Santa almost cancels Christmas because of formidable weather. But then he discovers a brilliant solution for his sleigh: the guiding light of Rudolph’s nose.

My favorite part of this is that he almost cancels plans due to incliment weather, cause yes, I do that. Guess I wouldn't be a very good postal carrier...

(Food) Tour de Mexico

Sometimes I get obsessed with food, and eating ALL of it. So this summer we started a Mexican Food Tour of Grand Rapids, trying out many of the many Mexican places that we had never ventured to, in order to experience and compare them.

As means of comparison, with few exceptions, I ordered cheese enchiladas at all the locations. As well as Chips + Salsa.

1. La Huesteca - This place is just around the corner from my house, yet I didn't even know it was there.  This was the universal favorite for the group. Skip the chips, they're no good, but overall, it's very authentic place with decent tamales.
1811 Plainfield Avenue Northeast, Grand Rapids, MI 49505

2. San Jose Taqueria - By far the most authentic of our locations, and overall a fun eating experience. Good food, good tamales, good vibes. And I love drinking Coke out of the bottle.

1338 S Division, Grand Rapids, MI 49507

3. El Sombrero - Known for their tamales! In fact, they sell out of tamales daily... not  having known this... we got no tamales. However, we did get delicious, and probably the most unique, chips—though the lack of salsa almost cost them third place! The location and outdoor seating sealed third for them. Overall an authentic taste, great tortillas, and I loved the sauce on my enchiladas.

527 Bridge Street Northwest, Grand Rapids, MI 49504

 

4. El Arriera - A bit more American in flavors and proportions, this place was well rounded. Great salsa, great chips, good tortillas, and just really satisfying Mexican meal. The location prevented El Arriera from stealing the third place ranking!Southridge Center, 2948 28th Street Southeast, Kentwood, MI 49512 

6. Cantina - My favorite as a kid — it had been a decade since I'd been here, and the place had been completely redone. While the atmosphere is fun, it seems more gimmicky than authentic. The food was pretty standard American Mexican fare, BUT they did have some pretty amazing Cheese and Bean dips. Worth going back for more cheese. Good for larger parties. 

2770 E Paris Ave SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546 

7. El Granjero - The food here was good, and may even be more authentic than some of the ones I ranked above it, but in general, it just seemed middle of the road to me. The atmosphere was somewhat lacking and the meal was less memorable. 

950 Bridge Street Northwest, Grand Rapids, MI 49504

8. Maggie's Kitchen – Maggie's was hard to get to because of their weird hours. I ended up just stopping in for carryout one day. Really good tortillas but rather bland rice and beans. And again, skip the chips and salsa. I think this would have been a better as a dine-in experience, and I like to try them again sometime. The interior was surprisingly spacious and clean, would be pretty good for seating larger parties.  
 636 Bridge Street Northwest, Grand Rapids, MI 49504

9. Tacos el Cuñado (Downtown Market) - I think it was a mistake to not try the Cuñado at Bridge and Pine. Because, in my opinion, the one in the Downtown Market isn't Mexican food, it's hipster food. And if you want hipster tacos, go to Donkey.

435 Ionia Avenue Southwest, Grand Rapids, MI 49503

10. Cinco de Mayo - Good chips, good salsa, and overall good food. But I've never really thought Cinco was very authentic Mexican—it's not TexMex, it's just... a lot of cheese. Which has some appeal. 

114 Monroe Ctr NW, Grand Rapids, MI 49503 (+ Rockford)

 

11. Beltline Bar - The first stop on our tour is legendary in GR for their burritos. And yes, the burritos are HUGE... and could probably feed a family for a week. The veggie burrito was good, but didn't strike me as remarkable, and overall, the challenge to eat as much of it as I could, left me a little uncomfortable. However, I would rate their salsa highly (but the not the chips). The Beltline Bar loses points with me for inauthenticity—it seemed based on what Americans think Mexican should taste like and what we think Mexican restaurants should look like. It was also full of (white) Americans.

16 28th Street Southeast, Grand Rapids, MI 49548

The experiment could have gone on forever, and I know we left a few places out. But compromises needed to be made and deadlines drawn. A overall few learnings as takeaways from this adventure

1. The shadier the place looks, the better the food is going to be. 

2. Coke always tastes better from a glass bottle. 
3. Salsa as we know it, is probably not all that authentically Mexican.

Speaking of salsa... if you're looking for a variety of salsa in the American way, try Fajita Republic. I hate to call them out because it's so chain-esque, BUT they do have really fun salsa combinations — you can basically order a flight of salsas!

Anyway... I don't know about you, but I'm full. Time to let the beans and rice settle and plan the next eating adventure. Tiramisu? Mac & Cheese? The perfect fry? 

Burger of the Week #191

From Barney's Drive in Waseca, Minnesota, it's a bit of roadside architecture...

CALENDARS ON SALE UNTIL WED 12/17

You can still get them in time for Christmas! I'm doing Calendars at $10 each thru Wednesday. Two designs available. Find them on my Etsy Shop!

Burger of the Week #190

Baker / product designer, Sam Ushiro, posts her adorable creations on instagram at instagram.com/clustercuss.

This post from October 28, is a mini pumpkin in a burger costume. It's so precious, I just can't get enough of the clustercuss feed!

Ever wonder what a tear looks like up close?

In The Topography of Tears, photographic artist Rose-Lynn Fisher has captured, dried and studied one of her tears under a microscope. The results are beautiful and interesting on their own. 

BUT, she didn't stop there:

"Eventually, I started wondering—would a tear of grief look any different than a tear of joy? And how would they compare to, say, an onion tear?"

Tears of Laughter

Tears of Grief

Onion Tears

The results show the emotional terrain of tears, and the chemical and hormonal make-up that changes as the body undergoes various stresses. 

I know that no two snowflakes are the same, but I find in interesting that this applies to tears as well, and even more interesting, that the situation and conditions that cause the tears affect this make-up — which I'm sure is true in the case of snowflakes too!

Oh, Science. 

Originally seen on the Smithsonian

A Felt Family

This afternoon I saw the most intricate and adorable (and in some cases creepy) felted creatures at the UICA Holiday Art Market. 

"Needle Felted Fancies" by Aron Lowe are completely handmade creations by a Saugatauk artist. They are full of whimsy and vary in size from quite tiny (1 inch) to quite large (12 inches). 

Needle felting is something I get, but I don't fully understand. I have no idea the amount of materials or time that goes into each character. But I have a feeling it's a lot. The intricacies and the detailing baffles me. 

Lowe's work here is some of the more complex felting that I've seen. Each face has such individual charm and character, I feel like her selling them must be like parting with a beloved family member. Check out the family of characters on her Etsy page. 

The Market continues through Sunday at the Steelcase Town Hall, so stop on by and check it out. Aside from Lower, there's many other very impressive and unique artists. Great opportunity for some Holiday shopping!

Reclaiming Ground in Easttown

Rebel Reclaimed has always been one of my favorite gift buying destinations in GR. It's a eclectic mix of handmade and vintage with an on-trend, yet unique flare. 

Until this year, they resided in a tiny tiny tiny location in a shared space with Urban Exchange on Fulton. But now, Rebel Reclaimed has moved to Robinson Road, right near Brandywine and Argos Books. The new space must be at least three times the old space, I love being able to turn around with no fear of bumping over something precious, and I also love that they now at least 3X as many treasures for me to look at. 

The store is a great mix — everything from furniture to jewelry — in a style that is only what I can describe as "exactly what i want my life to be". It's whimsical, it's light-hearted, it's sometimes sarcastic, and it's always colorful. 

The owners are two delightful gentleman who chat and share ideas with their customers. To go along with their new store, they also have a new website, and while you can't shop on the site (yet) you can get a feeling for what Rebel is all about. 

They want their store to be a happy place, and success boys, it is definitely my happy place. 

Burger of the Week #189

It's not a burger, but it's fries and it makes me think of a McDonald's hamburger. The shadow and ketchup pile is also s also pretty great. This tasty little NYC creation is from Andrea G Portolés and Bea Crespo. Their yummy work can be found on Brunch City. (make sure you take a peak at Rome's gelato - yum!). 

This is such a neat idea. I applaud their cleverness and craftmanship. And I shouldn't be at all surprised that America's representation is greasy and fast. 

On the American Road

Stumbled across this amazing library yesterday....  RoadsideArch.com ... buildings, signs, and statues from all over the country. 
Kampvilla RV Park in Bear Lake, MI

Mainly focusing on architecture from the 1950s to 1970s, the content is sorted by genre. I, of course, gravitated to the Burgers and Hot Dogs section... that is until i found the mini golf section... 
Happy Golf in Elwood, Indiana.

Mini golf is something my family always had an unnatural obsession with, and the kitcshier the better. So basically, this website is a gold mine. And I automatically give them mad props for knowing about Rosie's Dinerland.  
Santa's Land, in Putney VT. Opened in 1957, closed in 2011. 

I live just blocks from this one! Fat Boy in Grand Rapids!

Pinkie, from Marquette, IA: Built in 1963 for the Pink Elephant Supper Club

This website basically outlines my new bucket list. I feel like my life now has new purpose and once the snow melts, a road trips shall ensue. It's devastating to see how many of these historical gems have already been removed. I hope American roads can hang on to their personality as long as possible.