Archive for "Food and Drink"
First Time at Slim Chickens
Posted on December 4, 2018 by Ching under Food and Drink.
Brian and I finally got around to trying Slim Chickens. The restaurant has been open for some time but, now that we no longer live that way, we really hadn’t ventured out to those parts in a while. That entire Northeast area has completely flourished the last couple of years. When we were driving to the restaurant, I told Brian how I can still remember the days (almost 10 years ago) when there was absolutely nothing out there. For a long time, the only restaurant chain out there was Chili’s and they actually had to close because business was slow — because there was absolutely nothing around them to help bring traffic. The Chili’s is open again — at the same location — along with a plethora of other businesses. There has been quite a boom the last few years that’s brought about all sorts of businesses, including Slim Chickens.
We tried it for the first time on Saturday.
You would think the interest would have died down by now. Slim Chickens has been open almost two years. However, when we were there on Saturday (despite it being already after the lunch rush), we were still greeted by a line that was almost to the door.
I took a couple of pics while we were waiting in line. You basically order at the counter and then they give you a number to bring to your table and then someone brings the food to your table when it’s ready.
Well, except for the dessert which is pre-made. You get that right away.
It was kind of disappointing because we really had our hearts set on the desserts that were pictured on the wall — one was some kind of chocolate mouse dessert in a mason jar and the other was strawberry shortcake in mason jar. They didn’t have those so we had to settle for what was available. I got pecan pie and cheesecake bites in a mason jar and Brian got the Oreo cookies and cheesecake one. They also had a pumpkin pie one, which neither of us were really interested in.
Brian and I shared a meal consisting of five chicken tenders, five chicken wings, fries, and toast. We also shared a bowl of mac and cheese. It doesn’t look particularly appealing but it wasn’t bad otherwise.
As fast food goes, Slim Chickens is not particularly fast. We had to wait quite a while for the food to be brought out. We actually started eating our desserts. The food wasn’t bad. If you like chicken and don’t mind the wait, it would be a good place to check out. I thought the mason jar desserts were kind of cute. We kept ours because we couldn’t finish our desserts. Actually, the rest of mine still in the fridge. Now that I’m thinking of it, I might bring it to work for lunch tomorrow. LOL. It should still be good, right?
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Harvest Feast 2018
Posted on November 24, 2018 by Ching under Events, Food and Drink.
My work usually has an annual potluck on Friday before Thanksgiving. We call it Harvest Feast. It’s a tradition that’s been going on for over two decades. I’ve been with the company for over 16 years and it’s happened every year. Some years I’ve been out of town or on vacation but, when I can, I always try to participate.
This year I was in Topeka all week. When I returned the fleet car back to the office, I found the team had already set everything up. I love this time of year because work always looks so festive.
Everyone chips in some money for meat (usually $5) and then signs up to bring some kind of dish for the potluck. This year I signed up to bring dessert. The brownie cake that Brian made for my VASA staff meeting last month was such a huge hit, I decided to recreate it.
The cake consists of three layers of brownie goodness. We decided to use different chocolate chips for each layer. We did one layer with dark chocolate chips (above pic). Another layer with white chocolate chips (below).
And the third layer had regular milk chocolate chips.
Here are pics of the finished brownie cake layers.
To save time, Brian and I decided to use store-bought whipped icing instead of making our own ganache (which would have had to cool for two hours). I wasn’t about to stay up all night for this cake. LOL.
Here’s the finished product. I thought this cake was super rich the first time we made it. It’s even sweeter and richer with the pre-made icing.
Here are some pictures of my coworkers enjoying the feast on Friday.
We had so much food and a huge selection of desserts.
Sue, Amelia, Erica, and Jeremy were part of the Harvest Feast team.
Erica is kind of hidden in the above photo. Here she is below between Amelia and Jeremy. They were helping serve food to everyone.
Josh was on the team also. It’s great to see all of the young people at work helping and keeping up the Harvest Feast tradition.
Here’s a picture of my plate.
Here’s a picture of Chris’ plate.
Chris normally eats later so we went around 12:30 pm. We made it just in time. There was only one slice of my brownie cake left so we shared it. Belinda said she wanted to try it so we actually split that slice of cake three ways. Even then we still had some left over. The cake was just to rich. I warned them ahead of time and told them to make tiny slices but I don’t think they believed me.
I’m so glad that I got to participate in Harvest Feast this year. With my transfer to special projects last year, I sometimes feel disconnected from the contact center. Plus, it’s not very often that you get to break bread and catch up with coworkers. We are all always so busy and heads down on work. Harvest Feast last Friday was a welcome break from it all. I look forward to it every year. GNG.
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Radius Brewing Company
Posted on November 12, 2018 by Ching under Food and Drink.
I got to try a new place in Emporia a couple of weeks ago when Darcy and I were out there for a meeting. She suggested going to Radius Brewing Co. She’d been there before but I’d never been. It’s pretty cool. I might take Brian there.
It’s not a big place but it’s cute inside. The exposed brick walls and wood floors give it a nice atmosphere.
If Brian and I go, we’ll definitely have to get the Scottish eggs. Darcy and I had some and they were delicious!
Darcy and I both had the salad. Except she had chicken with her and I had smoked salmon with mine. Pictures of both below.
Anyway, no trip to Emporia is ever complete without stopping at the Sweet Granada. Darcy bought almost $50 worth of truffles and other treats. I spent only half that. Speaking of, I’m thinking I might have some right now… Until next time!
Here’s a short video clip of what all we got. Enjoy!
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Nortons with My Rotary Club
Posted on November 6, 2018 by Ching under Food and Drink.
Brian and I recently attended a club social with the Andover Rotary Club at Nortons Brewing Co. It was a Thursday night so I had to miss pickle ball but it was totally worth it. We got to enjoy great food and company.
Here are some pics…
This is our current president, Alison Couey.
The Harmons — they used to own Andover Veterinary Clinic.
I never think to order a salad when I’m at Nortons because there’s so much delicious, unhealthy stuff on the menu. LOL.
A couple of people ordered salads, though.
I think this is the peanut butter and jelly.
I got the corndogs, which Brian enjoyed immensely. He ate one and I was supposed to eat the other one. I didn’t get through mine though because the dough was undercooked. Brian lucked out and got the one corndog that was completely done. He said it was very good.
Brian also got the club sandwich. Neither of us can remember what it’s called on the menu. He gave me one of the sandwich halves. It was just okay for me. I still like the BLT the best. They use chicken-friend bacon. Actually, they chicken-fry just about everything in that sandwich, including the tomatoes.
I’ll have to remember to just stick to what’s tried and tested next time so I’m not disappointed. I don’t know what came over me but I decided that I wanted to be adventurous that night. It totally backfired. Oh, well. That’s all for now. GNG.
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Open Streets ICT
Posted on October 8, 2018 by Ching under Events, Food and Drink, Things to Do.
Just a few pictures from Open Streets ICT a few weeks ago… But first, what is it exactly? Open Streets ICT is a FREE community-building event that closes a Douglas Avenue to traffic and opens it for biking, walking, running, dancing, yoga, and more! Everyone is welcome to join in the fun, and to stop at the local businesses, restaurants, and street vendors along the four-mile stretch.
We started our day with breakfast at our usual place, Dempsey’s Biscuit Co, which also happens to be along the route.
Here are some pictures of our delicious breakfast.
We decided meet up for breakfast later than usual. Normally we go when Dempsey’s Biscuit Co first opens at nine o’clock but decided to go later that day so we could move right into Open Streets ICT mode. We didn’t think of the street being blocked because the official street closing was advertised from noon to five o’clock in the afternoon. However, they started closing the streets earlier that day and our cars almost got trapped in the Dempsey’s Biscuit Co parking lot (except for Jeff who planned ahead and arrived on his bike). Good thing Brian knew his way around the neighborhood.
After breakfast Brian and I took off and parked our car in my work parking lot. My office building is a long the route and right in the thick of the action.
We also purposely planned it this way because there’s a Bike Share ICT station right outside my office and our plan was to use my promo code for 2 hours of FREE bike rental. You can cover more ground and you get to see so much more by biking rather than being on foot.
We ran into one of Brian’s Edward Jones coworkers, Brandi. She had a tent along the path, right by the Alzheimer’s Association office.
There was FREE outdoor yoga on Douglas and Pattie.
There were lots of people walking and biking and there were vendors everywhere.
They even had sections of street blocked off for games such as pickle ball.
We would have taken more pictures but it was difficult to do so while riding the bikes. We only took photos at stops along the way. And, we didn’t really have enough time to see everything because we had to set aside enough time to get out of downtown so I could make it back to Andover for my two o’clock Zumba class.
There were four main hubs with lots of activities besides what’s pictured above. The City of Wichita even had a dunk tank featuring Mayor Jeff Longwell. There was also plenty to do in between hubs.
Though we missed the event last year because we just couldn’t squeeze it into our busy schedule, we heard it was a huge success so we did our best to squeeze it in this year. Next year I may have to sub out my Zumba class because I didn’t feel like we had enough time to take it all in.
Anyway, Open Streets ICT is one of those events/initiatives that we hope the city continues year after year because it’s a huge hit and people love it.
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