jessyratfink's Profile
Louisville kid-friendly...but not chain!
The Irish Rover is very nice - it is a pub as well, but I see families there quite often. It's a local favorite. The food is amazing and well priced for the portion sizes you get. It's off Frankfort Ave, about 10 minutes from downtown. ( http://www.theirishroverky.com/ )
There's also a place downtown in Old Louisville called Third Avenue Cafe that has pretty kid friendly food and really fun decor. I've been there several times and loved it - they have the best fries! And there's always been at least a couple families with small children. ( http://www.thirdavecafe.com/Default.aspx )
And, of course, Lynn's Paradise Cafe. Lots of fun things to play with while waiting for your food, 100% kid friendly, and one of the biggest tourist attractions here. Around Derby it gets crazy! Pretty close to downtown too... maybe 15 minutes away. ( http://www.lynnsparadisecafe.com/ ) They have great fried green tomatoes and cheese grits.
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Irish Rover
2319 Frankfort Ave, Louisville, KY 40206
Third Avenue Cafe
1164 S 3rd St, Louisville, KY 40203
Lynn's Paradise Cafe
984 Barret Ave, Louisville, KY 40204
I now have recipes for Toast, "Cereal Coffee," "Invalid Cookery," "Camp Cookery," "Saccharin Pickles..."
I work at a used bookstore, and we get in a lot of old community/church cookbooks. Being that it is Kentucky, it's amazing to see what some of the recipes include. There's a lot of small game, a lot of lard, and a lot of butter. :P
One recipe in particular called for 15 squirrels and enough onions and lard to kill a man. I wish I would have kept that one.
Foods that unreasonably gross you out...
Mushrooms. I want to like them. I do. I feel bad that I love food so much and that also I hate them.
I had a terrible experience when I was little though... a Dairy Queen around where I grew up serves fried mushrooms. (Pretty sure they just fried the ones out of the can. Yeuckugh.) My mom LOVES them. They look yummy from the outside, like a cheese curd! I begged for one, and when I bit into it, it was the most awful rubbery squeaky earthy soggy thing I've ever putty in my mouth.
I've tried them so many times. I am persistent. I have stopped gagging for the most part, but I have never had one that will make me want to eat another. :P
Also, mayo. It is disgusting beyond words and the smell or it makes my stomach to flips.
Cooking Disorganization - help!
I think the most important thing is knowing your ingredients and being honest about how good you are at preparing them.
it's always useful to know the cooking times for each dish, as well. Always start with the big things first if you can - if something takes an hour to cook and everything else takes a half hour, do all the prep for the big thing and throw it in the oven first, and then start the smaller dishes. Chances are that big thing can spend some time resting covered in foil if nothing else. ;)
Or, if all of your dishes cook for the same amount of time, do the prep work for everything and then multitask your way through them.
And always, always remember to preheat the oven and start water boiling before you start your prep!
I never write out a program or time things to a T. I do use a digital timer, but that's about it. I find that overplanning can actually lead to more stress. :P
Oh, one more tip - try to limit the number of dishes with multiple steps - don't make a ton of overly complicated dishes. Try to stick to things that can be thrown together in a roasting pan, or roast vegetables in the oven and pan-fry some fish, meat, etc. while that's happening. Don't think you can braise, roast, fry, and saute ten dishes all at once without any help.
Just keep practicing! It'll come to you. :D
