momskitchen's Profile
Upper Peninsula Road Trip
I lived in Houghton for 7 years (undergrad and grad school at MTU) and still go there every other year or so to visit. Here are some good places to eat in Houghton and beyond:
Houghton
Suomi Bakery....It's on Huron St. They do have lots of Finnish specialties like Pannukakku, which is like a baked custard and comes with a thimbleberry sauce. Thimbleberries are like raspberries, and they are a Keweenaw specialty. They also make the best pasty in the world - better than any of the tourist traps on US 2 just over the bridge. By the way, pasty rhymes with "nasty", it is not pronounced "PAH-sty" as is sometimes suggested. If you pronounce it that way, I can guarantee the locals will think you are troll (Yooper slang for a downstater - i.e. someone that lives "under the bridge") trying to fake a Yooper accent. By the way, don't call it a "paste" y, because that's something Gypsy Rose Lee wore in her act. I like pasties with gravy or mustard, but most locals like them with ketchup on them.
B&B Bar - it's on M26 as you are slightly west of downtown toward the Copper Country mall. This is a local dive bar, but they have the very best Yooper bar snack around - the pickled egg.
Great hamburgers can be found at the Downtowner Bar on US41, which is called Shelden Ave in downtown Houghton, near the lift bridge. If you are there in the summer, sit on the deck and watch the bridge go up and down. Definitely the best burgers in the Keeweenaw there.
I also love the submarine sandwiches and the fishbowl cocktails at the Ambassador, which is slightly up the street from the Downtowner. The fishbowl drinks are served in brandy snifters - my favorite is the Quaalude. Be careful - they sneak up on you!
There's a relatively new microbrewery right on Shelden called KBC or Keweenaw Brewing Company. They don't have food, just beer and peanuts in the shell, but it is really good beer.
As you go further up the Keeweenaw, definitely stop at Jampot, as mentioned in the other post and get some thimbleberry jam and any of the monks baked goods. They are heavenly.
I also love the Keweenaw Mtn. Lodge - it is a great place to have a meal or a cocktail. The food is reminiscient of an old time supper club - planked whitefish, steaks, etc. Also, great viewing atop the Keeweenaw Mountain.
In Calumet, I really like this coffee shop the Conglomerate Cafe on 5th Street. It is housed in an old bank. Great sweets!
No tour of the Copper Country would be complete without a stop at the Gay Bar. No, it's not what you are thinking - the Gay Bar is in Gay, Michigan, which is on the east side of the Keeweenaw. When I was a college student in the 80s, you could regularly see the guy that played Jethro Bodine on the Beverly Hillbillies or Ted Nugent there, as they both used to hunt nearby. Now that Tedly's moved to Texas, I'm not sure he visits anymore.
As you get toward Copper Harbor, I like Fitzgerald's in Eagle Harbor. You can dine overlooking Lake Superior. Also good is the Harbor Haus in Copper Harbor for German food, or whitefish. It's right on Lake Superior as well, and the waitstaff will run out on the deck and welcome the boat returning from Isle Royale.
Any strawberries yet? (DTW)
yes - bought some at Ann Arbor Farmer's Market yesterday. Rowe's Produce in Ypsi has U pick now. They are tasty - it's going to be a very good year.
Tomato sauce issue
Hey jjpsw, I didn't know you were canner - me too! Love to see the Michiganders canning! As a canning instructor, I'm puzzled by what you are saying because tomatoes don't really have a lot of pectin in them. In fact, if you are going to make a tomato jam, you'd have to add quite a bit of pectin to it to make it set up. I regulary make a salsa that has some added sugar that doesn''t do this.
So, what IS the best Middle Eastern in Dearborn? [DTW]
Al Ameer is still the best....but I also like Ollie's on Ford Rd. at Mercury Drive. Just tried a new joint called "Shawarma Place" in LaPita's old spot by O'Sushi. It's a diner type place - my husband dubbed it a "coney island of Middle Eatern food". LaPita at one time was just all right, but it has really gone downhill. Thos recommending it - have you been there lately?
Forest Grill--Birmingham, MI [DTW]
I enjoyed the Forest Grill last summer - the only thing I can remember that I ordered was the chacuterie....so it must have been good.
Melissa Clark's Cook This Now - Cookbook report
Thanks for the update! Blood oranges aren't a "pantry staple" in my kitchen. Why not use regular orange juice instead, which actually is found quite often in people's kitchen.
Melissa Clark's Cook This Now - Cookbook report
You don't have to soak beans - just cook them longer if you don't.
Pork belly masterstock pressure cooker
Pork belly is essentially unsmoked bacon. Not sure how you cook fat so that it is "tender and falling apart". I'd suggest you bake it or fry it instead. If your pork belly didn't look like a slab of bacon, maybe you were sold something else.
DTW - best coffee bean roasters
Where do you get cheeky monkey or chazzanos? I should state I get my Roos from the Rooster himself at the Ann Arbor Farmer's Market or Sparrow.
Caterer in mid-Michigan?
Have you considered the Kellogg Center at MSU? I've had several good wedding meals there.
DTW - best coffee bean roasters
I adore Roos Roast in Ann Arbor. http://roosroast.com/ What is your favorite local purveyor?
DTW - where to get deep fried pickles
I just wrote that Blue Tractor and Red Smoke had chips, not spears. Chips are way more common than spears.
DTW - where to get deep fried pickles
@boag, you will have to try them - they are very good. Hot and crispy on the outside, tart and spicy and salty on the inside. I like them dipped in ranch dressing.
DTW - where to get deep fried pickles
I had some last week at the Blue Tractor in A2. They were chips, not spears. Also, Red Smoke in Greektown has them, too.
DTW - where to get deep fried pickles
I love deep fried pickles - many moons ago, I started a thread on the subject, but it's time to consider it again, because I am noticing more and more restaurants are serving them. Where is southeast Michigan can I get some?
DTW - where to get pierogi
Polish VIllage is great - and I like their food better than Polonia.
DTW - where to get pierogi
Do you mean the Jennies on Middlebelt in Garden City? http://jenniespierogies.com/
DTW - where to get pierogi
What are some of your favorite restaurants to get pierogi?
DTW - best Friday fish fries
Much has been said about Scotty's for sure. I went once a few Lents ago myself for lunch. But how about some other places? I have heard about the cook at Howell's Bar in Dearborn making a great fish fry, in addition to some spectacular fried chicken. Any other places I should try?
DTW - best Friday fish fries
It's Lent - tell me about the best Friday fish fries in your neighborhood.
Fried Bologna sandwiches in metro Detroit
Your mom was right about not frying a bologna sandwich to pack as a lunch. A fried bologna sandwich must be served PIPING HOT!
I have not had one since I was a kid, and I just realized that I have not shared this Detroit delicacy with my own children yet. I need to make some this weekend!
keeping roasted red bell peppers
You can store vegetables in oil in the fridge without worry. Botulism can't grow below 40F. What you are remembering is people would put garlic cloves in oil and then leave that on the shelf unrefrigerated. That has been implicated in botulism, not refrigerated items. It's perfectly fine to store them in the fridge in oil.
I preserve a lot of food and peppers tend to get mushy when canned. However, roasted and frozen works much better. Or in oil in the fridge.
Buffalo Cheddar Popcorn in Ann Arbor?
It's my favorite flavor of Popcorn, Indiana (made inexplicablyt in New Jersey)! But I still prefer homemade popcorn (Amazin Pop Popcorn popped in safflower oil on my stovetop)
Buffalo Cheddar Popcorn in Ann Arbor?
Found it! Walmart at 14 Mile and Van Dyke in Warrent/Sterling Hgts.
Wintertime Eastern Market [DTW]
@VTB, I have never tried to pickle kohlrabi, but it sounds like a good idea. Maybe this season, I will. I'm officially ready for summer...too bad winter just decided to show up on the scene!
Frida Mexican Cuisine- W. Dearborn (DTW)
Hi Kevin - I went there the other day myself and I liked it. I got some kind of beef dish. I like all the Frida Kahlo artwork, too.
Wintertime Eastern Market [DTW]
I have blogged about pickling very often - chowhound rules prohibit me from linking directly to the post, but if you vist my blog motherskitchen.blogspot.com and search on canning you will find out how to make your own kraut. It is the easiest pickle in the world to make. You can make it in any food grade container - in Ann Arbor, you can get a plastic ice cream bucket at Kilwins for less than a buck and that makes a great pickling crock. Also, a gallon size Ball jar works well, or a ceramic insert from a crock pot. You can expect to take at least a month to get some completed kraut. After you are done, you can put it in the fridge or freezer or can it. I keep my pickles out in the garage once they are done - it's cold enough out there to slow down fermentation. It's my suburban root cellar! Good luck and if you have any questions, feel free to email me at momskitchen at comcast dot net.
