GF BROWNIES & CHOC CHIP COOKIES; HEIDELBERG

Here's some good news and bad news.

Let's start with the good news.

I made a pan of GF brownies WITH GF chocolate chip cookies (baked on top of the brownies) and they were GREAT!

Here's the scoop:

I went to the store and bought a box of Betty Crocker brownie mix and Betty Crocker choc chip cookie mix.

I like the way they taste, they're easy to make, don't require many additional ingredients and they were on sale!






Directions for brownies
 


                    Directions for cookies


                                                                

I prepared the brownies and put the batter into an 8" x 11" glass pan (spray the pan or they will stick), then prepared the choc chip cookie batter. I placed the cookie batter (after shaping the batter into cookies) ON TOP of  the brownie mix (before putting anything in the oven).

Then I put the entire concoction in the oven for about 25 minutes (keep on eye on them!)
                             

     Here is what the finished product looked like.



Since I couldn't wait - I have no willpower- I started eating them right out of the oven: FANTASTIC!

They're even better with ice cream, hot fudge, nuts and whipped cream!

I was going to frost  them with GF cream cheese frosting, too, but Susan insisted that was "crazy!" Next time.




Here's some BAD NEWS!

I went to the Heidelberg Restaurant (9th Street, downtown Columbia) to enjoy the GF chicken wings and GF french fries.

Except: THEY WERE NOT GLUTEN FREE!

At least, they weren't gluten free on this particular day!

It seems the folks at the Heidelberg sometimes fry the GF menu items in the same oil in which flour-battered products are fried.

Here's the disclaimer on their GF menu:

NOTE: look for the poorly presented (since it ends in mid-sentence!) disclaimer on the back side of the menu. See the little *?






That same * appears next to some of the items on the menu (see the tiny * on the menu below, next to the word WINGS..

I did NOT see the * until AFTER I'd ordered. I DID ask the waitperson, prior to ordering,  if the wings and fries were GF (yes, I was told, they are GF) and then, as I was taking photos of the GF menu for this blog, I noticed the *.


When the waitperson returned I asked if they were cooked in a dedicated oil. She went to the kitchen to check and came back with the sad news: TODAY THEY WERE BEING COOKED IN THE SAME OIL IN WHICH BATTER-FRIED PRODUCTS WERE BEING PREPARED!

BUMMER!

If you go to the Heidelberg (I won't be going back) for the GF products, BEWARE! You MUST ask, before you order, if the GF items are truly gluten free or if they've been cross-contaminated.

I've had the wings at the Heidelberg and they were GREAT (I was told, that time, they HAD BEEN prepared in a dedicated oil).

Here's a look at the wings (one or two are missing; Susan is not GF and went ahead and ate while I watched (agony!).

THE SHED-SPRING GREEN, WISCONSIN

The Shed
123 N Lexington St
Spring Green, WI 53588
608-588-9049

Review


En-route to Baraboo, Wisconsin, Susan and I stopped for lunch at The Shed, located in downtown Spring Green, Wisconsin.




Susan ordered the special from the menu board - deep fried haddock with baked potato and Cole slaw ($6.99).







"This is all 'homemade.'  It reminds me of a Wisconsin Fish Fry" she said. Fish Fries were almost mandatory eating on Friday nights when we were growing up in Wisconsin. "The slaw is just right-not too much vinegar and not too sweet.  I'm giving my lunch a 10/10!"




I ordered the Blooming Idiot burger ($6.99). This is a 1/2 pound cheeseburger with cheddar and Swiss over hot, stacked ham, with chips. My burger was medium (I prefer medium rare) and this one was medium. My burger was nicely seasoned and the ham and two cheeses on top of the burger is a nice touch, adding an excellent flavor.



Interestingly, The Shed offers a gluten free pizza. Of course, I ordered one, intending to re-heat it and eat it for dinner that night (which I did). The gf pizza is 10" and costs the same as the regular 12" pizza. The pizza was...OK.


Owned by Mark and Wynn Dedrick, eating at The Shed was a nice experience. I noticed pizza on the menu, but never thought to ask if they had a gf pizza. Lesson learned! From now on, I'll be asking. Wynn stopped by our table to say "Hi" and told us she made the gf pizza available because of the growing number of customers that had asked for it. "We've had the gf bread, too, but there just wasn't enough demand. The bread kept going bad, so we had to stop offering it."

If you're in the area, stop in and enjoy a meal at The Shed. These are nice folks offering good food.

As always, your comments are encouraged. If you've eaten at The Shed, let us know what you thought. If you've eaten at any restaurant with a gf  menu, please tell us about it; we'd like to hear from you.

Gritz Family Restaurant
14 Macon St
McDonough, GA 30253
770-914-0448


BREAKFAST

Susan and I are en-route to Orlando, Florida, for a week at Disney. We're approaching McDonough, GA, at about 10 am when I fire up the GPS in search of a restaurant for breakfast. I'm starving; its been over 8 hours since my last feeding, after all.

I scan the GPS and see a listing for Gritz Family Restaurant. Since Susan and I love local, family run restaurants, I input the address and we pull off the highway.

Gritz is located on the square in downtown McDonough. It's quite scenic, with a statue in the center of the square dedicated to the "...memory of our fallen Confederate Soldiers."

The restaurant is extremely busy at 10 am - the place is packed! We find a table quickly, though, and our waitress tells us we got there at a good time: "As always, there was a line of folks waiting for tables just prior to your getting here. If you think we're busy now you should be here at noon; the line will go all the way around the block; we'll be slammed."


Because Gritz is so busy it takes a bit of time for our food to arrive, but when it does we're incredibly happy we chose this place; our food is superb!

Susan orders the Western Omelette with hash browns ($6.95). It's huge: "Look at the size of this thing; are you going to be able to help me eat some of it? It's really good!"






I order the Cheese Omelette with hash browns ($4.55). I also order a side of grits ($1.50; I am eating at a restaurant named Gritz, after all) once I discover grits are made from corn and are gluten-free. My omelette is huge, too, which makes me a very, very happy man.

My breakfast is excellent! I finish my omelette, hash browns and grits and am happy to help Susan finish hers. That is what husbands are for, right?

If you happen to be in the area, we highly recommend Gritz Family Restaurant.

GRITZ MENU














REVIEWS FROM TRIP ADVISOR

We'd love to hear from you. Tell us what you think of our blog, suggest improvements, and please let us know what you think if you've tried Gritz - do you agree with our comments? - and please tell us about any restaurant (especially restaurants that cater to the gluten-free!) that you would recommend to those that are on the road..

SONNY'S REAL PIT BAR-B-QUE

Sonny's Real Pit Bar-B-Q

6606 Gall Blvd

Zephyrhills, FL 33542

813-782-4272

Susan and I were in Zephyr Hills, Florida, recently, and what  did we find as we were driving through town? A BBQ restaurant! 

Since it's almost impossible for me to drive past a BBQ restaurant, and since it was nearly lunch time, we pulled in to Sonny's Real Pit Bar-B-Q for lunch.

Though we prefer to avoid chains (there are 150+ Sonny's scattered throughout the south) the food and service at this Sonny's was excellent!

And here's more good news: the fries (at this location; check if you're at a different Sonny's) are prepared in their own oil, free of cross-contamination, so they are gluten free! 

See the allergen menu HERE.

SAUCES

Sonny's offers a nice variety of home made sauces. Both Susan and I very much enjoyed Sonny's Sweet and Smokey sauce.

See the Ribs and Specialty menu HERE. On the website there are separate menus for appetizers, sides, desserts, etc.

OUR FOOD

Susan went with the Baby Backs Ribs ($9.49 including two sides and a choice of either garlic bread or cornbread). For her sides she chose the  slaw and beans. She thought her ribs were superb and very much enjoyed the sides.

I went with the chicken ($9.99). For my sides I chose corn on the cob and french fries. Superb!

I'll be watching for other Sonny's Bar-B-Q restaurants as we travel, and if we happen to be near one when it's time to eat, we'll be pulling in to enjoy the BBQ (if that's OK with Susan, of  course).

Sonny's describes itself as "a kick-back, laid back, baby back kind of place...We've spent 40 years perfecting more than taste and flavor, but the heart and soul of Bar-B-Q. No gimmicks. No sports bars pretending to do Bar-B-Q. Because we believe Bar-B-Q Has the power to gather people together. And the boldness to let you enjoy every 'finger-lickin' minute."

And I DID lick my fingers!

Have you eaten at a Sonny's Real Pit Bar-B-Q? If so, let us know what you think. Do you agree with our 'thumbs up' review?

As always, your comments are appreciated. Susan and I would LOVE to hear from you!

D. STARNES BBQ

D. Starnes BBQ
108 Broadway
Paducah, KY 42001
270-442-2122

Susan and I were heading to Disney World in Orlando, Florida, and as usual, I was looking for a BBQ place for lunch as we drove. I used our GPS to find restaurants in the area and found this one. It was locally owned, near the river (no view, though), and not too far from the highway, so we took the appropriate exit and prepared for some good eating!

Except, not so much.

I've since looked up consumer reviews of this place, most of which are positive, and all I can think is: we must have been there on a bad (very bad) day. 

The place was 100% empty at noon when we walked in. That should have been a warning.

I ordered the turkey BBQ ($8.00) and got this.

Wow. I think this is sandwich meat from the local deli. What a disappointment! No flavor, no quantity, and as far as I can tell, not bar-be-qued. The turkey was cold and flavorless. The slaw was OK.

I believe what I ordered was gluten-free, but I can't guarantee that. My advice: don't eat here.

Susan ordered the tamale  with chili ($6.50) and said "It's not very good."







Two BBQ sauces were made available to us; one was sweet and the other  was spicy. They were fine.

Here's the menu.

We won't be going back.

HEIDELBERG, COLUMBIA, MO

Heidelberg Restaurant 410 S. 9th St. (On Mizzou Campus) Columbia, MO 65201 573-449-6927
EXCELLENT GLUTEN FREE MENU

Susan and I visited the Heidelberg recently (the menu is available on there site in sections; you can see the appetizer menu here) and I was thrilled to discover they offer a very nice gluten free menu  (I don't see it online; suggestion to the good folks at the Heidelberg: the gf community really appreciates restaurants that provide gf items; please include your entire gf menu on your web site.).

I ordered Marty's Seasoned Wings, as did Susan ( tell your wait person you want them gluten free) and fries (again, tell your wait person you want gf).

 As you can tell, too much fried food is not enough for me!

 GF FRIED CHICKEN WINGS

I love deep fried chicken wings, but rarely get a chance to order them at restaurants. The Heidelberg offers two types, and let me say, Marty's Seasoned Wings are delicious! I'll be going back for more! Wonderful seasoning, crispy on the outside, tender and juicy on the inside: fabulous! And a good sized order, too!

SERVICE

Our wait person was familiar with celiac disease and was excellent at letting the folks in the kitchen know about my need for my food be gf. 

The manager was kind enough to come to our table to discuss several of the seasonings used on the wings to make sure they are gf (they are), but try as I might, I couldn't get the wing recipe from the chef (if it were my restaurant I wouldn't share the recipe, either).

While our first order of fries was cold and a bit soggy, as soon as she realized it our waitperson was quick to replace them with a new order. Like the wings, the fries are excellent!

Susan and I recommend The Heidelberg! 

Let me know what you think about The Heidelberg, what you think about their gf menu and the food you ordered. 

As always, your comments are welcome and encouraged!

 THE VORTEX BAR & GRILL 






878 Peachtree St, NE

Atlanta, GA 30309 

404-875-1667 

There are two locations (location #2 is at Little Five Points, Atlanta).

See the menu here.

After seeing it featured on Man vs Food, I was eager to try a burger at the Vortex Bar and Grill. After all, how many chances will I get to eat a burger named the Coronary Bypass?

I was excited when I was told The Vortex was was "only a mile or so"  from our hotel and even happier to find out it's on the same street as our hotel. At first Susan and I thought we would walk, but we soon decided to take a cab (thankfully; it turned out to be a long mile and a chilly evening), paying $12 each way (standard rate for downtown Atlanta).

We had a GREAT view of downtown Atlanta from our hotel room on the 44th floor. The city lit up beautifully as the sun set.

 

My Coronary Bypass burger w/potato salad ($10.50; 1/2 pound sirloin, 3 slices of American cheese, 4 slices of bacon, an egg fried over-easy, tomato, sweet onion and pickles, w/o bun). Cooked medium, with a pink, warm center, my burger was big, juicy and delicious!

Susan decided to go with the Mac N Cheesey ($7.95; flour tortilla with mac n cheese, BBQ pulled pork, deep fried and topped with cheesy cheese goo and more BBQ sauce). Susan reports this is excellent and "just enough."

The Vortex Bar and Grill is NOT gluten free (I went sans bun) and the fries are cooked in the same oil in which flour-battered products are prepared.

This is an 'adults only' place (18+) because smoking is allowed (and it IS a bar, after all). Some folks (see the reviews) denigrate the wait staff, saying they are rude, etc., but I think that's the point: the ambiance is based on this place being a favorite of area stripper and folks interested in having good food with a beer (or ten). 

If you get the chance, I highly recommend you give The Vortex Bar & Grill experience a try!

Have you been to The Vortex? What did you think? Any other infamous burger places you think I should try out? I'd love to hear from you: feel free to comment!