Happy birthday to my eldest sister!
Monthly Archives: August 2013
Personal Photo Project #183
The Little White City
Another one of Shannon and I’s stops on the Southwest Iowa Road Trip was to Stanton. We went there for two reasons. One was to eat lunch (that ended in abysmal failure, well we did eat lunch, but only the onion rings are worth talking about) and the other was to photograph their world famous teapot and teacup water towers.
The remainder of the The Little White City Series:
My apologies for today’s post coming out so late, but since the website got hacked yesterday, the time and energy it took to get the website back up threw all my timing off. I even had to go drown my sorrows with crab rangoons and a bowl of sweet and sour sauce when it was all said and done. Of course, the extremely rude waitress at King Buffet snatched my bowl of sweet and sour sauce before I was finished. Perhaps I was being cut off. I don’t know. I do know that King Buffet is being downgraded to the “in case of emergency only” restaurant list. Have fun being next to Taco Bell! But that is a story for a different venue.
Next week’s personal photo project is still a bit up in the air. It will probably involve flowers of some ilk. Sunflowers, lilies, or maybe something else.
Slice of Life Vol. 167
Tenderloining – Cole’s – Slater
I’ve wanted to try the tenderloin at Cole’s in Slater ever since I read this article in the Ames Tribune:
Little shop keeps up memory of fallen Marine
But it would seem that every time I ended up in Slater, the only thing on my mind was their delicious ice cream.
This summer I resolved to finally put the tenderloin with the tear jerking story into my belly. I called up my tenderloining buddy Scottie D. and we made our way to Slater on a hot summer afternoon to give the tenderloin our scrutiny.
A few pictures from the trip:
Scott had never been in a phone booth, so we stopped in Kelley on the way down.
You’ve seen the pictures, but you have to be wondering the verdict.
Phenomenal! It is absolutely phenomenal!
It is so great that it actually has split Scott and I for the first time.
Scott is willing to proclaim it his new favorite. I am close on it, but I’m not quite ready to push it past the Country House in Colo and make it my new champion. I need to try the Colo tenderloin again, because right now, they are too close to call.
What really makes this tenderloin stand out is the seasoning in the breading. It gives it a very unique and distinctive flavor. Another important feature of this tenderloin is the passion of the owner. We didn’t get our picture taken with him, but we did talk to him for a long time and his passion for the tenderloin was intense. He spoke about his theories on thickness of the meat and how it impacted the breading.
I believe at first he thought we might be from the Iowa Pork Producers, but unfortunately we are not. I have a fear that they will miss the greatness of this tenderloin as what little respect I had for their opinion was completely crushed recently on a trip to Walcott, Iowa. But that is a tenderloin for another Wednesday.
The only criticism I would have of this tenderloin is the lack of a toasted bun. I will probably request a toasted bun next time I go to Cole’s, but I will feel bad doing it. You wouldn’t tell Van Gogh how to paint, would you?
Everything else about the tenderloin is perfection. The meat is the right thickness. The bun to meat ratio is spot on. They have the exact right set of condiments: mustard, ketchup, pickles, and onions. Don’t come into my house trying to fancy up the tenderloin with lettuce and tomato! The breading, you have to try the breading.
I won’t try to fool you into thinking that Cole’s has a great setup though. It is a small town ice cream shop, so the experience isn’t the greatest. But if you are going to a restaurant for the convenience of having napkins nearby, we probably aren’t friends. Are we?
I would currently rank these as the “Top 3 Tenderloins”
1. Country House – Colo
2. Cole’s – Slater
3. Legal Limit – Boone
I think Scott and I will be trying a tenderloin in Jamaica in the near future, but until then…
Happy tenderloining!
The Archives: Edition #134
365 Day Photo Challenge: 36-42
A continuation of the 365 Day Photo Challenge. A reminder that all pictures are taken and edited on my phone.
Day 36: Early
Day 37: This Means a Lot to Me
Day 42: I Love Doing This! Logan Kahler took this photo for me.
The next 7 themes are:
Day 43: Macro
Day 44: Fast
Day 45: Trash
Day 46: The Best
Day 47: Cooking
Day 48: Exercise
Day 49: Someone You Spoke to Today
Personal Photo Project No. 182
Unceasing Effort – 2013
This week’s Personal Photo Project was to photograph some of my Mom’s and my alliums. Okay, truthfully, I only have one allium, but it is one of my sincerest hopes that it multiplies in 2014.
The rest of the Unceasing Effort – 2013 Series:
Next week’s Personal Photo Project will return to the Southwest Iowa road trip and involve tea pots.
Slice of Life Vol. 166
2013 Mission Trip
A couple weeks back I went with my church’s youth group to Kansas City on their annual mission trip. Here is the video I put together to show the congregation on Sunday:
Of course, if you subscribe to this blog via RSS Feed or email, you will actually have to go to the website to view the video.
We weren’t allowed to take cameras on the trip, but our facilitator Joe (an Iowa State Man) took several pictures for us. I also was able to snap a few with my phone.
Here are some of my favorite pictures from the trip:
Jake showing off the meal we prepared on Thursday Night.
Our spaghetti feast. We had a communication breakdown with Urban Plunge and didn’t realize that we were responsible for the meal on Thursday night. Thankfully, Jim Jordan donate $40 for the trip that we were able to use to buy and create a perfectly edible spaghetti feast.
Ryan, Shawn, Joe, and Gabe in line for food.
Curtis assigning us work to do.
Moving mattresses to the attic.
Corbin and C.J. moving a trunk.
Corbin, Shawn, Ryan and I moving a exam table.
Amber and her injured fingers.
Emily C., Grace, and Maddie serving breakfast/
Sarah and Jordan prepping lunch.
Corbin and Carter doing dishes.
Paige and Emily W. sorting clothes.
On the stairs to the Game Room at Hope/Faith.
Getting instructions on how to bag flour.
Sarah cutting open a 25 lb bag of flour.
Jordan and Maddie bagging flour.
Corbin and Carter bagging flour.
Sarah and Emily C. outside of Harvesters.
Group photo outside of Harvesters.
Shawn, Carter, and I breaking rock.
C.J., Jake, and Gabe cleaning glue out of a tub.
Gabe, Jake, and C.J. cleaning glue out of a tub.
Grace and Maddie working with neighborhood kids.
Paige working with neighborhood kids.
Katelyn waiting to break up more rock.
Ryan and Shawn goofing around.
Emily W., Katelyn, Shawn, Ryan, C.J., Gabe, Corbin, and I loading the truck up with rock.
Emily C., Amber, and Sarah posing with neighborhood kids.
Carter and Paige taking a break.
Paige and Alisa having their hair braided.
Emily C. and Ryan vacuuming the floor.
Corbin and Carter cleaning the boys room.
Gabe and C.J. playing “interrogation”.
Grant preparing to cut down vines.
Gabe and Katelyn weed “whacking”.
Shwan, Alisa, Jake, Nancy, and Pastor Sarah putting cots together.
Ryan and I doing something I don’t wish to discuss.
Grace nursing Pastor Sarah’s head injury.
Paige, Jordan, Maddie, and Grace showing some of the kids at the shelter some dance moves.
Grace, Maddie, Gabe, and Ryan enjoying breakfast at homeless shelter.
Sarah defying the laws of physics.
Katelyn, Emily C., Grace, and Maddie on The Viking.
Paige and Alisa were very impressed by “bro-tanks”.
All in all, the pictures don’t really do the experience justice. I have many stories to tell about this trip. It was one incredible experience after another.
The Archives: Edition #133
These images come from the following folder:
Backup/My Pictures/Sports/I Cubs
These pictures were taken on June 11, 2005 and August 7, 2005.
If you look closely you might see a picture of a future MLB All-Star. Hint (but no surprise): It isn’t an Iowa Cub.
Next week’s folder will be:
Backup/My Pictures/Sports/ISU Football/at Nebraska