Rollie Guacamole Kalkaska, MI

      This is not something I would normally do, a food review in my own home town.  Probably a bit paranoid, but I heard such good reviews of the management/cook coming in I had to try it.  In fact I discovered this is run by the parents of a former student of mine.  They previously owned The Farm Golf Course in nearby Bellaire.  This is the third food truck that has set up shop in our little village.  All our located across Oak Street from the hardware store in Railroad Square.  Plenty of parking is available.
      This Taco Truck will be the first of it's kind in our area.  Not part of the bigger Traverse City food scene we have only occasionally experienced eclectic availability.  Kalkaska has a lot to offer in a small, hometown setting.  I hoped this would further enhance that.  So far they only have a social media presence online, but I look for that to change with success.  Their menu is quite varied and even offer delivery service, out of the norm for our town.  They also offer a 'Rewards Program'.

      My wife and I had just arrived from our yearly winter southern sojourn so we took advantage of a free afternoon for lunch.  Interestingly, this was their opening week as well.  The menu is pretty straight forward allowing us to peruse it at our leisure before stopping by.  They offer Tacos, Wet Burritos, Taco Salad, Quesadillas, Nachos, and dessert Churros.  Due to our travels we have quite a bit of experience with the many varieties and flavors of Hispanic Cuisine we wanted to sample something we felt would test the cook's mettle.  By this I mean Tex-Mex, Sonoran, Chihuahuan, and Jalisco.  Anybody and everybody offers a Wet Burrito these days so we decided to stick to the Taco Meals.  

      On the day of our visit Barb chose the Chicken Tacos while I went with a Beef Taco.  Both meals would normally come with soft shells, beans, and rice.  There are jalapenos on the tacos which I love, Barb not so much.  We also got a shared side order of Chips n Guacamole.  The menu was seriously curtailed this weekend for Trout Festival so they could keep up.  

Chicken Taco

Beef Taco w/hot veggies

      It is, after all, a Taco Truck.  There were 3 folks on duty and all were working hard.  We found them to be courteous, prompt, friendly, and informative.  Barb and I both enjoyed our meal. These are very much 'street tacos';  delicious, warm soft shells and tasty ingredients.  Much better than Taco Bell.  For the most part the sides and extras are prepackaged.  A bag of tortilla chips, a small container of Guacamole or Salsa.  Only the entrees are fresh.  The total for our lunch tab was $13.  It is Trout Festival Week so there was plenty of FIESTA.         In all fairness it was also their first week on the job getting all the kinks in the system worked out.  Trout Festival Weekend they were constantly changing their menu to be able to more efficiently meet the needs of the lines of people.  I think they'll do just fine.  I would love to come back and try it again once their entire menu is in place.  Always a challenge to rate, let alone in your own town, but I give Rollie Guacamole a solid......

 

"If this country wants to elect somebody with no political experience who is racially insensitive and golfs.....in my first 100 days I will make Taco Tuesdays the law"  

George Lopez 

WiFi courtesy of Verizon MiFi 

Gator Medallions Over Corncakes w/Boudin

      As I have stated so many times on here I love Cajun or Creole food.  It is my favorite to eat and prepare.  I make no claims to being an expert chef in this area, but have learned plenty over the years.  Cream or grease in the roux?  Tomatoes or no?  Yes, I have Sassafras.  Of course that's not enough garlic!  I know the drill.  Barb and I love our gator and every once in awhile something new comes along that isn't just bread and fry.  More Creole than Cajun, this is one of those recipes.  I'm sure I'll get some grief over using packaged corn bread mix with sugar.  We like it sweet so deal with it.  These days you can find gator meat at many specialty meat shops throughout the US.  It is always tail meat, which is tender.  As I prepare this meal we are still in Manistee, MI where it's 33 and snowing.  We're still not home yet, but this warm meal made the RV feel like we were.

 

12 ounces of alligator tail, pounded thin
8 ounces of Boudin
3/4 cup of seasoned flour (salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder)
2 ounces of cooking oil or clarified butter   I USE EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL
1ounce of bourbon whiskey (this is to your taste, of course)
4 ounces of heavy cream
16 ounces of corncake batter I USE JIFFY CORNBREAD MIX/SUGAR
4 ounces of butter
4 ounces of green onion, sliced
dash paprika

      Make the cornbread mix in advance; set aside.  Pound alligator into 12 medallions.  Heat saucepan with oil.  Lightly dredge medallions in flour and sauté in hot pan for 10 seconds on each side.  Remove from pan and reserve on plate.

     Sauté whole boudin links in saucepan.  Cook for 1 minute, add bourbon and flame.  Add butter an melt while swirling pan.   Add cream and whip with whisk till smooth.

      On heated plate put corn cake in the middle.  Put gator on top, place boudin link on the side and ladle sauce over all.  Sprinkle with green onions, paprika and serve.

"We don't measure our seasoning.  We just sprinkle and shake until the spirits of our ancestors whisper....Dat's enough, chere"  

Katley Broussard

WiFi courtesy of Little River Casino

Waiting on the Sunrise of Hope

Ann Arbor VA Medical Center

       Leaving Poplar Bluff, MO we couldn't get into Iowa due to the Des Moines River Bridge closure and if so we couldn't have left due to the rising Mississippi from Minneapolis to Memphis.  Add to this the RV converter problems with one OTR repair bill and this has been one hell of a winter.  So we sashayed east, stopping at Effingham, IL and Straughn, IN on our way back here.  We arrive once again in Monroe, MI setting up camp at Harbortown RV Park so that we may finish out Barb's medical appointment follow ups at VA Hospital Ann Arbor.  It is surreal that we just left here 87 days ago.  We arrived a day early so that we may establish ourselves and settle the pets before a schedule of 3 appointments in 3 days.  40 miles each way from Monroe to Ann Arbor and return; we've been though this before.  I pretty sure we know our way around the area.
      Barb has been feeling much better since her last visit here.  The meds the VA prescribed really worked well.  She discovered that she still has difficulty with spicy food or anything tomato based.  An easy fix, menu wise.  It really hasn't been much of a winter vacation for us.  67 days here, then south to get away for awhile by ourselves as well as visit friends and family.  Not wasted time, just too damned fast.  At least we came back with our freezers loaded with goodies, new tires, and the truck checked out head to toe for whatever works out for us this summer.
      Monday, the 25th came soon enough.  Up early and off to Ann Arbor we were.  She had a follow up Endoscopy in the morning and a bone density scan, normal for newly anointed senior citizens in the afternoon.  We were incredibly relieved that she would be seen by the same doctor as our last visit.  Dr. Prahbu is an excellent specialist with a good manner and fully open about everything.

Yes, Dr. Prabhu is a Michigan Guy

      The Endoscopy came back fine with the ulcer fully healed.  The bone scan was very normal with final results in a few weeks.  In fact we got into Nuclear Medicine 3 hours early due to a cancellation!  Doc still wants another Scan with a Contrasting fluid to track things.  This will be scheduled in the next 2 weeks.  We treated ourselves to lunch at Red Robin, the first time we'd been there;  pretty good, but a bit pricey.  We both LOVED the nap we got when we returned to the RV early.  We hoped the next day would go not only just as smoothly, but be much more conclusive. 

      We arrived at the hospital bright and early at 8 a.m. We were both a bit nervous about this one.  Doc just said there is a spot he wants to look at on the small intestine they can't see with the Endoscopy.  This is an easy, painless procedure, but can be noisy.  MRI scanners use strong magnetic fields, magnetic field gradients, and radio waves to generate images of the organs in the body.  I had one on my torn knee a few years ago and it sounds like a monkey trying to beat his way out of a 55 gallon drum with a hammer.  It takes about an hour.  The patient just lays there.

      The MRI and associated blood work went fine, but it will take a couple of days for results. Another day of hope.  We were once again rewarded with an early arrive back at the RV and unexpected opportunity to nap, although today was more for Barb.  Poor girl is just tuckered out.  So now we wait.  We further updated our rent to include at least the next 12 days so we can comfortably wait it out for results and the next appointment.
      Barb's last appointment was April 1st.  They once again looked at the upper GI Tract, this time with a contrasting fluid.  They were trying to rule out a leak even the though the ulcer is healed.  Doc came to meet us and read the results as soon as she was done.  The MRI was clean, the spot on the small intestine was nothing.  Her lab work came back negative for the bacteria that caused the ulcer.  The Upper GI Tract showed no fistulas, leaks, or sepsis contamination.  SHE HAS A CLEAN BILL OF HEALTH.  How wonderful tears of joy taste.  We're back at the RV now and Barb is taking a long, well deserved nap.  I'm sure she's mentally exhausted.  I am.  For now we'll be staying here as we are paid up for the next week.  I talked to my neighbor today we're still not getting up our driveway.  Ces't la vie....
      During our stay here I prepared  Broccoli Sausage Casserole, Crock Pot Chorizo Casserole, Cordon Bleu, Croque Madame, and Green Chile Tamales n Refried Beans to name a few.  We also enjoyed foot long Coney Dogs from Sonic Drive In and one of the best take out pizzas in the country, Jet's Pizza.  Sometimes healthy eating gets over ruled by cravings......yeah.  Additionally, we picked up a Dearborn Ham for our freezer.  We had one of these last fall for Thanksgiving and it was wonderful.  I also solved our only shortcomings for the freezers. Found a fish market in Erie, MI (right on the Ohio border) that stocked not only fresh catfish, but turtle soup as well.  Finished off our freezers with 9 pounds of beautiful catfish fillets and 1 quart of turtle soup.

Broccoli Sausage Casserole

Green Tamales, Sauce, Refried Beans, Cotija Cheese

Croque Madame

     I can't say enough for the care that we received from the VA here in Ann Arbor and Dr. Prabhu in particular.   We'll be here 2 more days then we will head north, but it is still 'destination unknown.'   We will probably stop a couple of days at Little River Casino in Manistee.  They have a reasonably priced campground.  It is still white at home and there is plenty of snow to preclude our getting up the driveway to the house.  For us, it's just finding somewhere to hang out till we can get home.  I check with my neighbors weekly so we'll just see what we'll see.  

Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement.  Nothing can be done without hope and confidence"

Helen Keller

WiFi courtesy of Harbortown RV Park