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Dave

The Return of Dave! BBQ Bacon Four Cheese Pizza

by Dave on June 22, 2011 · 2 comments

So, after a lengthy time away from the site, I have returned, and so has my other blog, Tales From a Messy Kitchen. But I have come here to share the wonderful dinner I concocted last night.

My daughter wanted cheese pizza and I decided to up the ante.  Maybe I’ve just been watching too much Epic Mealtime, but I felt the need for lots of bacon on this pizza.

Here’s the end result…

It ain't pretty, but it is tasty...

I started this food creation off by cutting up and frying some bacon (roughly 7 or 8 strips) .

You have to be very brave or very stupid to fry bacon shirtless...or both.

Then I used the bacon grease to saute some sweet vidalia onions…

mmmmm....bacon onions.

By the time I got all that done, the dough had risen.  I poured the remaining bacon grease into the dough. I used Trader Joe’s Whole Wheat Pizza Dough. I misunderstood the instructions and thought I had to knead this stuff in flour.  So I started to do so and it began firming up on me.  Apparently, all you have to do is spread it over a liberally floured area into a 12 inch circle…oh well.  I fought with it a bit and then decided it was supposed to be a deep dish 8-inch pizza.

I added my sauce of choice, Sweet Baby Ray’s Honey Barbecue…

Then a layer of mozzerella…

Then the orgy of bacon and onions…as well as the grease in the bowls I put them in.

Then more mozz, sharp cheddar, and parmesan…plus a slice of muenster that I ripped up.

Into the oven!

The Aftermath!  This is why my blog is so aptly named Messy Kitchen. I’m too focused to clean as I go.

I decided to accompany this meal with a Sam Adams Boston Lager.  Traditional, yet still a bit snobbish.

My girls all enjoyed this, though Audrey (the one with curls) put up a fuss until I picked the onions off of hers.

Don't be fooled by their ambivalent expressions, they loved this.

Tastes great once I throw a fit and demand that the onions be removed!

So there you have it!  I may need to go take some Zantac, but I enjoyed both making and eating this.  BTW, I have a new house.  Check out my other blog for more pics and details.  Okay enough plugging.  Mangia!

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Steak ‘n’ Shake!!!

by Dave on January 4, 2010 · 6 comments

I looked through the archives of this site and was shocked to see that Steak n Shake has never been reviewed on this site!  Of course, it may have something to do with the fact that the one in Ypsilanti is one of the worst in the nation and I have no clue how close Todd is to the ones in his area.  I know there are NONE in VA, which really pisses me off.  So I knew when I went back to Springfield, MO for leave, I would definitely have to make a trip to Steak n Shake.  Why?

Maybe it’s because the five best S n S’s in the country are here due to the fact that the owner of the company lives in Branson, MO.

Maybe it’s because I’m a former employee and I know the standard of service to expect from the place.

Maybe it’s just that I love burgers made from grade A steak cuts rather than ground beef.

Maybe it’s the shoestring french fries or the hand-dipped, home-made Milkshakes.

Maybe it’s…

BEAN CROCK!

Anyway, for a brief history of the place go here, I’m not making this any longer than I have to…

So for our little culinary jaunt to our oldtime haunt, Amy Went with a classic fave…

The Mid-westernly famous Frisco Melt!!!

In case you have trouble reading image captions, that’s a Frisco Melt.  Two Steakburger patties with swiss and cheddar cheese, 1000 Island dressing, and lettuce on sourdough bread.  She also got cheese fries.  In fact, this is pretty much all she ever orders from Steak n Shake.  For her drink, she went with a Vanilla Dr. Pepper (that’s right, you can add cherry or vanilla flavor to your drink at no charge!).

So what did your bespectacled and currently enbearded author order?  Well, usually I go with a Mushroom n Swiss Steakburger with Fries and a cup of chili and have a chocolate shake, but I was feeling a bit adventurous and saw a new menu item that caught my fancy!

The Western BBQ Bacon Steakburger!!!

Yes, once again, I’m doing a review where I ordered a BBQ Bacon Burger.  What can I say?  I love them.  This one wasn’t outstanding but it was pretty good.  It had french fried onions on it, which was pretty tasty.   I used to eat entire cans of that stuff like they were potato sticks.  Anyway, digressing. I also got a cup of chili with cheese and crackers.

Oh yeah, I got this with my meal too...

For my beverage, I got…

A Hershey's Syrup Special Dark ChocolateMilkshake

Oh yum…  Seriously, that was an amazing shake!  I don’t know if it’s worth $5, but it’s a damn good shake (100 pop culture cool points to the first person other than John or Todd to name that quote).

On the subject of their shakes, they have over 20 different varieties of milkshakes.  I mean, it’s half their name, so one would expect some quality and variety, am I right?

Here’s a few pics I took of their selection…

These ones are candy inspired...

Some classic shakes: Chocolate, OrangeFreeze, Strawnana side-by side, Root Beer Float, and Turtle sippable Sundae

They have your regular shakes in Chocolate, Vanilla, Mocha, Strawberry, Spec Dark, and an

Orange Freeze which is made by mixing vanilla ice cream with water and orange flavor instead of milk.

Then they have the specialty shakes such as Butterfinger, Cookies n Cream, Cookie Dough, T urtle Nut Supreme, Mint Cookies and Creme, Double Fudge, Peanut Butter Cup and Banana Split.  These are called Sippable Sundaes.  They also have strawberry and raspberry smoothies.  My favorite thing they do with their shakes though, is the Side-by-Side.  You can take two flavors of shakes and have them side by side in the same glass.  Create flavors such as Banocolate, Strawnana, Chocnilla, or MochaChocolate.

Another thing I like about the location I went to today is the fact that if you sit at the counter, you can see the food being made on the line.

View from the side

ORDER UP!

So if you’re ever in any of the states from Texas to Pennsylvania (excluding LA, VA, NJ, and MD), check this place out for a fun, nostalgic, good food served fast experience.  And if you want the best service from Steak n Shake, come to Springfield, MO.  Seriously, I scarcely had time to think “where’s the food?” when it was in front of me.  Excellent service. I leave you with some pics of my kids playing with the fold up cars  they gave us.

Amelie's car

Steak n Shake
Various locations throughout the Mid-West to East Coast

http://www.steaknshake.com/

{ 6 comments }

Jillian’s – Norfolk, VA

by Dave on December 15, 2009 · 2 comments

Please allow me to introduce myself, I am a man of wealth and taste…I mean, I’m an old hometown friend of Todd and John who now lives in Norfolk,  VA, serving in the Navy aboard the mighty warship USS Nitze.  Recently, I was asked to contribute to the blog.  I have my own blog and will continue it, but also will be contributing here.

Enough of the pleasantries, down to business.  This afternoon, my division on the ship had our Christmas party at Jillian’s, a Dave & Buster’s-esque restaurant in the Waterside building in downtown Norfolk.

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For those unfamiliar with D&B’s, it’s like Ruby Tuesday’s meets Chuck E. Cheese.   Basically, a family restaurant/bar with a huge arcade.   Basically, you can eat great food, drink beer and play videogames and skee-ball all in the same place.

I started my meal with a 23 oz Guinness

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Never a wrong time...

and ordered a BBQ Bacon Burger, one of Jillian’s signature entrees.

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stuid blurry camera phone!

Sadly, the only camera I had with me was my phone and the quality is lacking.

My two oldest kids both got mac and cheese with fruit punch.

almost as good as Mom's...

almost as good as Mom's...

My wife, Amy, ordered the damn near biggest taco salad I’ve ever seen (another Jillian’s specialty).

Eat your heart out, Taco Bell...

Eat your heart out, Taco Bell...

My meal, as well as the girls’ included a $10 game card, so after enjoying our meals, we played some games.

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After some gameplaying, which I neglected to  take pictures of, one of my fellow sailors ordered Jillian’s Killer Cake

It's bigger than you think...

It's bigger than you think...

We all (about 10 of us) shared it and there was still this much left…

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Overall, this place was pretty cool.  The girl’s meals were only $4.99 and with a $10 game card, it was basically free twice over.  Mine was $14.99 with the game card (would have been about $10 without it).  Amy’s salad was about $8. My ginormous Guinness was $5.95, which is pretty decent for the area.  Overall, with tax and tip, I spent about $50.   Pretty decent lunch for 4, plus games.   My kids won a bunch of tickets and we got some prizes.  I got some Bubba teeth, Audrey, my oldest, got a bottle pop.  Amelie, my middle girl, got a paper fan, and we also got some Mike and Ike’s.  I noticed after we spent all the tickets (357) that had I been selfish, I could have gotten a Jillian’s pint glass.  Oh well, next time…

http://norfolk.jilliansbilliards.com/

333 Waterside Drive
Norfolk, VA 23510
757.624.9100 Phone
757.624.9500 Fax

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