I'd planned to have our usual monthiversary out dinner on the 30th and to make garbanzo cakes on the 31st. We did go out on the 30th. We decided it would be good to have some kind of dinner in honor of my mother-in-law's birthday. I was thinking we might go to a steakhouse or Ruby Tuesday, since Lucy really liked those places. Jeannene, however, thought her mom might have been pleased for us to go to a home-cooking kind of place, so we popped over to The Golden Nugget in Oxford. My in-laws used to love to order the fried veggies when they went out, so we started with an order of some of the best fried cauliflower I've ever had. For her main course, she had turkey cutlets with mashed potatoes and carrots while I opted for the (very good) roasted turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and carrots. We both just barely managed about a third of our meal, so the rest came home for lunch. I had wanted to get some pie, because it's almost always really good in places like that, but the waitress was in a hurry to finish her shift and dropped off the bill without asking about dessert. Since she never came back, I was left with a pie craving.
I expected to make flank steak & manchego bruschetta and garlic soup for our Friday supper, but our youngest and his girlfriend were going to their favorite restaurant & invited us to tag along. This place is just around the corner from where they live in Auburn Hills and they swear it's called simply "Restaurant." That's certainly what the big yellow sign says. It's official name is Four Korners, but it's kind of cute to hear Pie talking about going to get grilled cheese and grilled ham and cheese (he always orders one of each, nothing else needed) at Restaurant. The prices are low, with the four of us eating for $40, and the service is very, very friendly and on top of everything. It's nothing to look at and you can expect other customers to eavesdrop and even chime in on your conversation. This is actually kind of fun, if you're expecting it.
I followed Pie's advice to get the grilled cheese, although I didn't also order a grilled ham & cheese, as he advised me to do. He got his usual and let me taste the ham version, which was delicious. My grilled cheese was seriously the best grilled cheese I've ever had. I like fancy grilled cheese with real cheese and good bread just fine, but my favorite grilled cheese is the sort with American cheese (and not a ton of it) and cheapo white bread (the kind I object to so strongly when it's used for communion). This rendition was perfectly proportioned and exactly the right degree of doneness. It was the kind of beautiful crisp I seldom encounter in a restaurant grilled cheese. The other food looked good, but frankly, I can't imagine ordering anything but this Platonic ideal of grilled cheese there. Pie's girlfriend, Bubbles, almost always orders seafood of some sort when someone else is paying and, given the Sunday dinner choice between fish and just about anything else, will always choose the fish. True to form, she got the salmon. It's fun to watch her dig into her fish because she so obviously enjoys every single bite. I don't think they do a lot of cooking at home, so I don't think she gets to have seafood often. Jeannene made all the rest of us shudder when she ordered the veal cutlets. She loved them, though. And I finally got my pie, a beautiful piece of lemon meringue. Jeannene's coconut cream pie was even good & I don't like coconut. Both were incredibly light and flavorful. We'll definitely return!
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