Vacation Examination

One thousand, six hundred and three miles on the open road in a pickup truck with an eight year old and a newly branded teenager, it’s hard to believe we made it through the trip with love in our hearts of one another but we did. The year of 2019 was all about the experiences and this vacation was part of our journey.

I’ve never been to Ohio, Michigan, or Canada. As a matter of a sad fact, the only stamp on my passport is from the BVI back in November 2011. My plan was to soak up what I saw, heard, ate and parlay that back into my business. I was hoping to bring in new ideas, find inspiration or dig up some of my old ones from the memory bank. I was also gathering up plans for what will happen when my commerical kitchen lease is up in 2 1/2 years. Thoughts anyone?

We started our lengthy car ride with a, “happy we are going on a trip selfie.” Although, closer examination of this picture, I’m more like, “what in the world was I thinking when I agreed to driving all the way up to Michigan and back with two kids, nowhere for them to charge their devices or a place for them to run around selfie.”

We decided to break up our 12-13 hour trip to Michigan with a few stops on the way up and the way back. There is no way my a$$ could handle all that sitting. My career choice doesn’t allow for much sitting. I wasn’t sure if I would be that good at sitting, but this trip was going to help me to figure out if I can actually become a sitter.

First stop, Penn Alps Restaurant and Craft Shop in Grantsville, MD. My college roommate, Megan, was there teaching a class with her mentor, Doug. She is a jewelry maker and artist. Check out her work and follow her on social media. #supportsmallbusiness www.mollysmetals.com.

Penn Alps was a delightful little stop. Very old houses dating back to before the 1900’s. Metal workers, wood carvers, quilters and all kinds of beautiful artwork to view and purchase. After we left, I realized the only pictures I got were of my kids and a Hot Turkey Sandwich with Mashed Potatoes and Gravy.

We had lunch at the Penn Alps Restaurant and Crafts. You can order from the menu or choose to eat at their very extensive buffet. Megan told us to get the fried chicken. Fletcher and Michael did as they were told. I saw the Hot Turkey on the menu and immediately felt nostalgic. Hot turkey, gravy and white bread is my childhood on a plate even down to the bowl of canned green beans. The photo looks like the equivalent of wearing all khaki with an army green belt. Bonus: the kids couldn’t have been happier when they found out there was a dessert buffet complete with ice cream.

Next stop, Play House Square in Cleveland, Ohio.

My son, Fletcher turned 13 while on our trip. I wanted to make sure we didn’t do any traveling on his birthday and Cleveland was the midway point to our final Michigan destination. The reason for Cleveland, the one and only Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

I have to say, where we stayed in Cleveland, the cleanest city I have ever seen. There was only one creepy bathroom in the entire city. Which was weird because it was in a grocery/liquor store that would give Whole Foods a run for the money.

Besides reporting on the cleanliness of the Cleveland bathrooms, we also noticed we didn’t come prepared in the clothes department. Everyone seemed to dress up here. Maybe for Clevelanders, this is every day wear, but we were certainly slumming it compared to the rest of the city.

We ate a lot too, of course, that’s what you do while on vacation. One dinner destination was set in a most beautifully designed street. The 77 degree and no humidity weather certainly heightened the experience.

We dined at The Butcher and the Brewer. It’s a small plate communal table type of restaurant attached to a butcher shop. Cool concept, check it out. Charli and I loved the pretzels with beer cheese sauce and roasted garlic caramel. My daughter couldn’t keep her hands out of my photo. Notice her disappearing henna tattoo.

We also devoured brisket burger sliders, Mac and cheese, curry cauliflower, and smoked wings.

Can’t forget to mention the tasty beer. I had the ‘Keep on Keepin On’ Sessions IPA. Delicious.

OOOOOO, the Rock & Roll hall of Fame. This place is so cool, very interactive and worth the trip. You could spend ALL DAY HERE. Worth every cent of the $100 for all of us to get in.

Not only were the music artifiacts amazing, but our favorite part was the “Garage.” It’s a place to play instruments, make band stickers and even play and instrument or sing with a real live band. I can’t believe that is someone’s job, to play in a band in a museum all day. SO COOL! If I could carry a tune better than a broken harmonica, I would be all over that microphone. Alas, I choose to play the key board in a semi-private situation and I stink at that too.

After spending a several hours at the museum, we stopped by a cupcake shop to help us celebrate our son becoming a teenager. Happy Birthday, my love!

Time to hop back in the car to meet up with our trip mates and hit up our lake house for the next couple days.

We stopped by Bell’s Brewery in Kalamazoo for some snacks and tasty brewskis to take with us to the lake house. My favorite is the Bell’s Porter. We also used the brewery as a meet up with our trip mates. They were coming from Pittsburgh. You may recognize this couple from a previous post I did on Fideua.

We arrived at our lake house in Holland, Michigan late in the evening and decided on a local pizza joint, Crust 54, for carry out and a small campfire. You could choose between Chicago deep dish or thin crust. I’ve never had Chicago style pizza, but I got voted off the lake in regards to the style. Thin crust was the popular vote.

Below are the stairs we used to get to and from our private beach area. My calves were on fire for at least 4 days after we got back.

Lake Michigan has the most beautiful water. Chilly, Chilly, Chilly, but oh, so pretty and the sand was as soft as butter.

You’re not more than a stone through away from a brewery in Michigan. For lunch one afternoon, while checking out what the local scenery has to offer, we stopped at New Holland Brewery. The Banh Mi-chigan (get it?) was the highlight. Maple-soy glazed pork belly, country pate, pickled carrots/cukes, sambal mayo and on a crusty French baguette. Hubby and I split the banh mi and a hot brown. Most of the places in Michigan offered a hodge podge of cuisine. Cherry picking dishes from the south, like the Hot Brown, tossing around a choice of NY style or Chicago Style pizzas, and right in the middle of all this, a banh mi……mmmm….banh mi!

I ordered the Lake & Trail Copper Lager. While It was a tasty beer, it was not my favorite of the whole trip.

After a day of water balloon fights, whiffle ball and sparklers, we tasted a bit of Michigan cuisine. Apparently, they are known for the “Pasty,” which rhymes with “Nasty.” A local farmers’ market provided us with this tasty treat, gotta support local! Chicken and beef are usual fillings. We were told traditionally the pie is served with ketchup or gravy. We ate it as is and all decided something other than ketchup or gravy was needed. The filling had chopped sirloin, potatoes and carrots wrapped in a flaky and buttery crust. We all thought it was delicious and I decided to test this out and share on this post. See below!

We were able to enjoy most of our last evening outside with the gorgeous view and most amazing weather and the bitiest flies, EVER! Thank goodness, Laura is always thinking because she picked up fly catchers to hang up outside. However, it wasn’t long before the rain across the horizon made its way to our side of the lake.

Two nights and three days later, we were back in the car headed to Canada. Next stop, Niagra Falls. The kids really wanted to go to Canada. My daughter was adorable and couldn’t wrap her head around the fact we were no longer in the USA. If you didn’t know, Canada looks much like the USA. LOL. I was a little disappointed our passports didn’t get stamped. It still only looks as if I’ve only traveled to the BVI almost 10 years ago. My sad little passport. Next year, I have to get it renewed. Then there will be NO stamps. I should get out more. After about 7 hours in the car, we made it to Naigra Falls. AMAZING!

We had to ride the boat! It was fun waving to the USA’s boat as we passed by them. Again, a concept my daughter was totally floored by.

I know this couldn’t be any more touristy, but whilst in Canada, I had to have poutine. MMMMM…..Poutine. For those not in the know, its simple; French fries, gravy, cheese curds. Maybe one day, when I have my own store front, I will offer this as a special. ‘Cause, why not!

We left Canada after a few hours and headed back home. We wanted to get a leg up on our 8 hour ride home. The kids had been great, but we could only squeeze three more hours in the car that night. We all had enough of being in the car. I can not stress enough how good our kids were on the trip. There was so much driving. By the way, I am not a good sitter!

And now for the Michigan Fare, THE PASTY. The best part about this easy dinner, I used what I had on hand in the house. So feel free to play around with seasonings and fillings. If you like mushrooms, add mushrooms. How about some bacon? There are no rules here.

The Dough:

3 cups of all purpose flour

1 cup of shortening, butter flavored shortening, lard, duck fat or schmaltz

2 teaspoons of kosher salt

1 tablespoon of sugar

1 cup of ice water (you will not use this whole amount, but best to have more than not enough)

The Filling:

1 pound of ground beef or sirloin, chipped

1 large carrot, diced

1 sweet onion, chopped

Handful of chopped parsley

1 teaspoon of granulated beef boullion

2 pinches of French Thyme (you can really use any seasonings you love for this)

1-2 tablespoons of ketchup (only if you are using ground beef)

1 gold potato or sweet potato

Egg wash (water whisked with egg to seal the pies and to top before baking)

Ketchup or Gravy for serving

At least an hour or up to 2 days before, pulse the flour, salt, fat in a food processor until it looks sandy. I do recommend not using plain shortening for this dough. The crust is flaky, but there is no real flavor. You could use butter, but it has a lower smoke point than the other fats. The crust will get very dark during cooking.

While the food processor is running, slowly add the water until the dough forms into a ball.

Pull the dough from the food processor and wrap it in plastic wrap until ready to use. You want the dough to rest at least 1 hour up to 2 days. You can also freeze the dough at this point too, and thaw overnight in the refrigerator.

When you are ready for dinner, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and throw the potatoes, onions, carrots, seasonings and meat into a bowl. If you are using chipped beef, simply take a steak and put it in the freezer for about 30 minutes. Take it out and slice it very thin. I would prefer the steak, but had ground beef at the house.

Cut the dough into 6 equal parts and roll out the dough into circles.

Stuff each one of the dough circles with 1/6 th of the meat mixture, brush egg wash around the edges of the circle and close shut. Have fun with the crimping of the edges. Use a fork or fold. Then transfer the pies to a baking sheet covered with parchment paper.

Cut a few vent holes on the top of each pastry. At this point, you can freeze the pastries you don’t think you will eat. When you are ready to bake, just reduce the oven to 300 degrees and add 20 minutes. If you want to eat them now, egg wash the pies and pop them in the oven for about 45 to one hour or until the center reads 165 degrees and the outside is golden brown.

Traditionally, the pasty’s are served with ketchup or gravy. We liked the brown gravy the best.