McDuff's on St Pat's Day!

McDuff's Tavern, 59 Market St. in historic downtown Potsdam, NY, was a regular haunt of mine back in the ol college days of the mid to late 80's. It was originally Morgan's when I first came to town my freshman year, but changed hands by the time I had joined my sorority a couple of years later. Though it had closed its doors for a short while sometime over the past 20+ years since I moved back to town, it is still a standby for the local college scene. There are several good taps of craft beer and the pub-style menu is diverse. They do good renditions of the upstate New York regional specialty chicken wings... here served with homemade bleu cheese dressing that is so chunky its hard to call it dressing.

So it was that I was wondering how I was going to find a good "family time" situation to bring Julie here for our Project, McDuff's being listed in the North Country This Week's Restaurant Guide. I have stopped in a few times since moving back to town, but never occasions to bring a 10 year old along. I even came down St Patty's Day 2011... by myself... to get my corned beef and cabbage fix. This year I was prepared to do the same, but then I thought to invite a dear friend (sorority sister) of mine that lives a couple hours drive away. My friend Charlotte is well loved by Julie and it all fell into place that we could all go and it would be a great post for the Project!

Now in my day at college here, all the bars would open at 8 am on St Patrick's Day, whatever day of the week it was. The hard core ones would do 25 cent or even 10 cent "progressions". The first hour, draft beer was 25 cents, the next hour, 50 cents, the next hour, 75 cents, etc. I have a good story of one St Patrick's Day, 10 cent progressions, 8 am bar opening, 100 cups of green beer in the middle of a table full of friends, and a political science class midterm at noon the same day... But that wasn't at McDuff's and this is a family blog!

McDuff's did open at 8 am this day. However, I had no desire to indulge in whatever beer specials they may have had going, though the breakfast specials looked tempting. Irish French Toast gets a dip in Irish Cream, 3 egg omelets with filling options including sausage, asparagus and smoked salmon are served with potato loxey, and the corned beef hash topped with two eggs is homemade. But I was only concerned with going in the afternoon for lunch. I had my own Guinness at home for breakfast. I have to say my mother is full blood Irish and my father is French decent, so the "Irish French Toast" name struck a chord with me, because that is pretty much what I am! ... the toast part being up for interpretation.

We ordered drinks first. I got a pint of Guinness on tap, Julie got a Shirley Temple that came out green and Charlotte got a glass of water that came out clear (thank goodness). There were three lunch/dinner specials and we each got one of them. Julie got the Bangers & Mash, mashed potatoes and white link sausage topped with onion gravy. Charlotte got the Corned Beef Reuben sandwich with potato chips, a tempting option for me. But I had to go with the full on traditional corned beef and cabbage. Julie has never had corned beef, or doesn't remember it, so I traded some with her for some of her bangers. Then the two of us scrounged remains of the Reuben... some bits of corned beef that had blackened on the grill... mmmmm.

While we were eating I tried to explain some of the basics of recent Irish history and culture to Julie. It turned out that the limited information on corned beef and cabbage I told her was kind of wrong, so its a good thing she really doesn't listen to me. I was just pulling up what I had heard or inferred from my Irish-American grandparents because this is very much an Irish-American tradition and not from the homeland. I was more familiar with potatoes and their relation to the homeland and subsistence and the Irish potato famine, but it was a disjointed history I shared. Better to just talk about my grandparents and the fun we used to have on St. Patrick's Day with all of our green stuff.

Julie saw the pool table in McDuff's and wanted to play, as I had occassionally played with her on the tables of my old favorite bar in Hawaii, which was also the last place I enjoyed St Patrick's Day corned beef and cabbage and Guinness in 2010 before McDuff's in 2011 and this year. I decided against it. We had come for our feast, sat in our protected booth and were done with our mission. The college crowd wasn't very much as of yet, but it was having some rowdy outbursts, spurred in part by some March Madness basketball on the TV. I finished my beer and we used the potty before we headed out on a stroll down Elm Street to my and Charlotte's old sorority house. We reminisced along the way while the college student, spring-break stragglers, decked out in green, partied in small groups in front of houses, enjoying the beautiful sunny day.

Ponderosa!

Ponderosa! The name evokes images of tall pine trees out west... ranches, cattle, STEAKS. Here in Potsdam, NY by the Canadian border and across America, it is a chain restaurant serving up the most basic sort of buffet food you can think of. I can't speak for ALL Ponderosas, but this local one is just like every other one I've been to.

The girls LOVE it, particularly Julie (pictured) of The Julie/Mom Project, who chose Pondersoa as her restaurant of choice to go out on her birthday this past New Year's Eve. Yes, that's how old this blog entry is as I watch the wet snow pile up outside in late February. I took the picture of Julie practicing guitar just a couple of days ago, though. I still hadn't figured out how to use my hand-me-down camera from my brother-in-law when we went out to Ponderosa.

Happy 10 years old to Julie as she, I and her sister MJ drove the few blocks up Main Street. Their father, my husband, Tony insisted on walking... as we all should have done, but... hey, we SHOULD'VE rode our horses there, too. Like, if we had horses, which we should to go to Pondersosa.

It was late afternoon... I can't decipher my notes... its either 4:00 or 4:80 pm... and its a Tuesday! Tuesday is kids eat free night (with a paying adult - after all this isn't a government social program)! Pretty good deal in the rural wasteland of the North Country. My only problem with this place is like any other buffet... I want to eat too much to get my money's worth and I end up in a debilitating food coma or IBS issue. I resolve to be more moderate at such places and take it easy... is that a New Year's resolution?

Julie gets a raspberry ice tea as a beverage, MJ gets a root beer. I forget my "Potsdam Sandstoner Discount Card" that would've got me these drinks free. Tony probably got coffee. I drank water.

Julie's first plate had nachos, green jello, croutons (yes, by themselves), grapes, french fry-chip stix, meatloaf and chicken pot pie. The meatloaf ended up left on her plate because she didn't like it. Grrr... I tell them to take only a small bit of something if they want to try it. Oh well... another drop in the great wasted food bucket that is America.

MJ gets pizza, grapes, mashed potatoes and gravy, onion straws and an ice cream cone. Tony gets broccoli, mashed potatoes, cheese pizza, herb-breaded fish, fried ravioli with marinara sauce and a bunch of salad veggies.

I get fried chicken, herb-breaded fish, stuffing and gravy, fried ravioli, broiled fish, mystery loaf (not the same as the meatloaf) with mushroom gravy and went back for salad: spinach leaves (NEVER pay buffet to eat head lettuce), gourmet greens in viniagrette salad mix, shrimp cocktail, seafood salad, red onion, green pepper and bleu cheese dressing.

We all go back for more.

MJ had "the shakes" from not eating all day before we arrived at the restaurant... which freaked me out a bit as all her strange popular cultural attitudes toward eating and food do... but she was doing just fine by the end of the meal being her usual, obnoxiously enthusiastic, healthy self.

Julie saved room for her Birthday chocolate cream pie back home in the fridge, I ate just slightly over enough (perfect - no ill effects) and Tony actually overate. This is something I didn't think was possible, but when he admits to such a thing, it is definitely true! He did power down the last bit of cole slaw on his plate for no waste and trodded his butt home while we drove back with no digestive issues over the three minute trip home.

Sergi's

Officially, it is Sergi's Italian Restaurant Pizzeria & Banquet Hall. It has been around in the exact same location at 10 Market Street since my college days in the mid 80's (originally established in the 60's I believe), in historic downtown Potsdam, NY. I swear I had taken a picture of its storefront the previous fall with my camera that is now lost, but this one of my kids in our yard with the paper placemat map of Italy from our visit will have to do (taken with new cheapo camera). That's Julie, of the Julie/Mom Project, on the left. I remembered I had my new camera with me after we already walked home. It is fun to look at the picture now, in the bleak of winter and remember fondly the fall weather that I love so much.

We actually went here for the Project on October 16, 2011 and I have just been too darn lazy to write it up yet. This is a "no rules" blog and that's just the way it goes. We originally started it to do restaurants listed in the North Country This Week's Spring Restaurant Guide, but since they just published a similar Fall Restaurant Guide, we'll just slide on into that. I think the Fall Guide has added some new places, but Sergi's is in both. The nearby town of Canton, NY also has a Sergi's.

I decided to take the girls out before I had to leave for out-of-state work and Sergi's was their choice. They have eaten here before and knew exactly what they wanted. I was feeling a bit under the weather and not really so hungry. I love their pizza, but haven't really tried much else. There are two sides to the restaurant... the banquet hall side, with some fancy chandeliers and nicer furniture (as I recall) and the diner style side that we sat in, with informal booth seating in two rows down the length of the skinny room to the kitchen. Beer and wine is served, though I was having none of that this day.

The girls both ordered the stuffed shells which comes with bread and a house salad, MJ's with no dressing and Julie's with ranch. MJ got her usual root beer and Julie a Diet Coke, not that the "diet" part of her beverage was going to save her much in the calorie total with this meal! I ordered water to drink and appetizers, bruschetta and the sampler platter which consisted of breaded, fried zucchini, mushrooms, mozzarella sticks and buffalo style chicken wings. All these appetizers were pretty standard and there truly is not much one can do to improve on such basics. But the bruschetta was average and has potential for improvement. It was just a mix of olive-oil seasoned chopped tomatoes, red onion, grated parmesan and garlic on toasted bread. The dried basil sprinkling was not very prominent, but the bread itself is home-made and the strongest part of this item. Julie enjoyed it, but was able to discern the considerable difference in quality with the bruschetta she made herself at home.

MJ picked through her salad, removing the tomato wedges and the cucumber. She doesn't like fresh tomatoes, but she loves cucumber. She said that the cucumber "tasted funny" the last time she ate them here. I ate them and they tasted fine. She ate the large, thin slices of carrot as well as the black olives and the bulk of the salad which was chopped head lettuce. She picked out the sparse gourmet greens including spinach and red lettuce, which I thought she liked. Strange kid. Julie picked out her tomato wedges and I ate them. She likes tomato, but I think is spoiled by the home garden ones we had from recent harvest.

Julie shared the appetizers with me and MJ ate one mozzarella stick, the only item palatable to her. Julie still needs to learn how to eat chicken wings like a New Yorker. She leaves too much meat on them. Usually they serve one wing each of the various spicy grades in the sampler platter, but I got them all mild so Julie wouldn't get surprised. She'll work up in the heat scale as she grows, I'm sure. She already does pretty well with spiciness. Julie loves mushrooms and had several of these breaded ones, but didn't venture into the fried zucchini. I bat clean-up and finished her salad as well as all remains of the appetizers. I wasn't very hungry to begin with and I was stuffed now.

Speaking of stuffed, the stuffed shells looked delicious in their boat dish filled with sauce and cheese baked to bubbling and slightly browned. The portion was quite large of such rich food and although MJ claimed to have eaten one of the stuffed shells, I couldn't tell that she had eaten any. Perhaps just not in a growth spirt at this time, since it wasn't like she had filled herself on appetizers. Julie, who had eaten appetizers, but purposely limited them to keep room for her main course, ate noticably more of the shells. Of course, she is stuck in growth spirt mode! All good. They leftover quite nicely and there was no waste.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention Sergi's pizza rolls. Though this is not intended to be a food critic blog, I can't help myself. Sergi's makes their pizza rolls in the deep frier. They have a huge amount of fried dough at their conically tapered ends which results in a very tiny pocket for the filling. The last one I had (brought to me take-out by my husband) was very skimpy on the pepperoni and sauce filling and struck me like a fried dough sledgehammer. I love fried dough, I just wish they could get less of that and more filling. Love you, though, Sergi's! You make really good pizza and your business space is comfortable and friendly.

Ton's Sports Bar

Woo Hoo! It's FOOTBALL season! My favorite time of year/place... autumn in the North Country, upstate New York... And football, of course. I have been a fan of (American) football since I was a kid. I remember my Dad teaching me the concepts and rules of the game while watching on TV Sunday afternoon, sitting in his lap in the easy chair. I used to be the only girl playing in local, neighborhood, pick-up games as a tweener. And the guys liked me on their team. I was agile, fast and understood the strategy.

Now back in Potsdam, my daughter Julie (of this project) is doing cheerleading as a 5th grader in Middle School. She cheers in an all ages club for the pre-High School football squad. I, Mom (of this project) am taking her to the games to cheer and realize that neither she, nor most of the younger cheerleaders know ANYTHING about the game!

We don't get cable TV right now (as part of our family budget cuts), so I can't watch the games (insert sad-face smiley emoticon), nor can I sit my kid in my lap and explain the game to her, as my Dad once did for me. Enter Ton's Sports Bar! What a great excuse to bring your kid to a bar! I was wondering how I was going to tackle the bars in our North Country This Week's Restaurant Guide.

Off we headed on our bicycles to 159 Market St from our home just down the street a few blocks away. I told Julie we would stay and watch the first half of a game and I would explain what was going on while we ordered and ate some food for our blog. I knew she would not be interested enough to last an entire 3 hour game. It was a beautiful fall day, warm and sunny. So we were in t-shirts as we rode our bikes along the lane, tree line leaves just starting to change color for the season.

We arrived in time for the kick-off of the Oakland Raiders at Buffalo Bills. We sat in the main table area in front of the big screen we had all to ourselves. There were only six other patrons sitting at the bar itself (where I would rather be), able to also watch the Chicago Bears at New Orleans Saints on the smaller TVs. I noted that Ton's has a pool table, foosball and electronic dart board games. There is a small stage where bands play on Friday and Saturday nights. There is also a free popcorn machine. There looks to be a juke box, but it probably only gets turned on week nights.

Its a good, typical bar menu, better than just the basics, with a real kitchen. It offers chicken tenders, popcorn chix or shrimp, burgers, hot dogs, fish sandwich, poppers, mozerella stix, onion rings, and cold sandwich basics-ham, beef, turkey, tuna or egg salad with potato or mac salad sides and a soup du jour. I am going to add here that I scoped this place out this summer. They make excellent Bloody Marys as I learned while using them to check out some Grand Slam Tennis finals action earlier this year. It is a friendly and even "family" atmosphere, at least in the pre-evening hours, of which is all I can speak to.

I ordered the chicken parmesan sandwich and large fries to split with Julie. Though normally I would have gotten a tasty beer to go with my meal (they have Saranac Pale Ale on tap), I was on a restricted diet for a medical procedure in two days so just went with a 7-Up. Julie got a Shirley Temple (her favorite bar beverage) along with her, fittingly enough, Buffalo chicken wings... mild w/bleu cheese, celery a given. Julie praised them, I tried them and they were excellent. They were deep fried then drenched in a lovely, tasty hot-tangy sauce, dripping and pooling with grease.

This is why I have to say, as I did in our blog for The Bagelry, here is a type of cuisine that seems only to be properly accompished in a regional setting. First thing is that Julie's order of "mild" above, would be considered scalding "hot" in other areas. There may be some rare place, far-flung from the northeast U.S. that pulls off "Buffalo" style chicken wings, but I have never experienced it, despite my extensive living and travels. Most places at least try to cover for their shortcomings by labeling them as just "wings" on their menu. But, you can still tell they are trying to do this... Buffalo style hot wings as popularized in western, upstate NY. Said "wings" or "hot wings" are just wrong on so many levels... the worst ones being done in this odd kind of reddish-colored batter, like quasi-southern fried chicken. They aren't even spicy hot, at least not to my seasoned palate. Bleu cheese dressing is usually not even a choice and you are lucky to get celery on the side. Maybe they give you some other mayonnaise-based dressing to cut the bite (?) of the so-called hot sauce, like ranch. Puhleeez, what a joke.

We watched the game. I tred to explain every play and down. I brought a real football and demonstrated the position of the center hiking it for special plays like the quarterback sneak. Julie and I have thrown the ol' pigskin around in the yard before, so I figure this is like a visual aid to teaching the game. It was 21-3 Raiders at halftime when I asked her if she wanted to go. Of course, she said yes. In my own heart, I knew it could be a blow-out or a fantastic comeback. Alas, it was the latter as I found out later. It seems a little unfair that the only live football I get to see these days are her Middle School cheering games with these sad rules that take away the kicking aspect for lack of skills. But, when I'm there, I empathize with these young kids even if only as a young kid myself at the neighborhood playground field. And I still get into it!

Oh, btw, we have transitioned into the Fall Restaurant Guide now. As this "no rules" blog goes, we will piddle our way through as we see fit or the moment strikes us.

Larry's Fish Truck

OK, so its not a restaurant. But it IS in the North Country This Week every week, as a little advertisement for "Fresh Seafood Thursdays". Larry's Fish Truck is "at the park" from 9:30am-1pm in Canton and parked at the corner of the Market Street bypass in Potsdam, NY from 2-5:15pm every Thursday. The bypass is a road bridge that parallels the railroad bridge over the Racquette River for traffic to go around the downtown area of the tiny village of Potsdam. Going through the historic downtown or going over the river is a quaint experience, but either way, you can get to Larry's on Thursday afternoon. Well, you have to go over the river even if you go through the historic downtown, just a different bridge (two actually, but not through the woods to grandmother's house).

The Julie/Mom Project was inspired by the Julie & Julia movie, a favorite scene of which is the cooking of the live lobsters. We also watched many episodes of the original French Chef With Julia Child and a favorite is "The Lobster Show". My daughter Julie (of this blog) and her sister MJ have both been wanting to try lobster ever since. There is the "Lobster House" just three miles away from us that is in our Spring Restaurant Guide, but I have hesitated to go there any time soon, knowing how particualry expensive lobster is in a restaurant and also knowing how particularly finicky miss Maryjane is about all sorts of foods. We may get there some day.

But in the meantime, I got a better idea while noting that "live lobsters", with a cute painting of a lobster, are advertised on the side of Larry's truck along with "fresh seafood". Its still expensive, of course, but this is a very special thing to do for our blog. Larry's Fish Truck business is up for sale, too. Don't know if it will be around much longer if nobody buys it and it is very cool to be able to get our own lobsters, support a small business and do a Julia Child thing all at the same time. I hope to go down to Larry's again before I believe he stops for the season because there are all kinds of yummy things there and Julie and Mom do loooove fish! The smoked trout pate looked especially appealing, but we are partial to salmon as well. He also has oysters and just lots of stuff. I love cod which is available, though it is ironically rare in modern times as these fisheries have collapsed.

In the past, it was believed to be impossible to over-fish cod, a staple food resource for many societies and a basic for feeding slaves in the Caribbean. The science of the day did not predict the exponential effect of human population rise and technology advancements in fishing that ultimately led to exactly that outcome. Now, even with moratoriums in the Atlantic, it appears that cod may never come back to meaningful levels. The entire ecosystem has been altered too greatly by the overkill. And I've heard that lobsters used to regularly grow quite large... like up to five feet long. I've also heard that the original pilgrims that first came to America would not have come so close to starving in the winter if their cultural food avoidance prejudices did not cause them to shun lobster! But I digress...

We watched "The Lobster Show" again on Youtube and accordingly for the simple "recipe" she did, Julie and I went down and got two 1 1/2 pound lobsters. The recipe that the Julie Powell character did in the movie appeared to be Lobster Thermidor, though, after reading the recipe, it was depicted incorrectly as the lobsters for that have to be cut in half while still alive, then baked. It is a very complex recipe and, after all, this is a restaurant blog, not a cooking blog! Its also a "no rules" blog, which allows us to take this little divergence.

We boiled a big pot of water. That took a looong time. I chased the girls around the house with the live lobsters. I felt a bit guilty for that, but considering their ultimate bondage (uh, the lobsters'), it seemed pretty harmless. They really are insects of the sea... like huge cockroaches that happen to live in the ocean. But there they are... their beady little eyes looking at you. How is this different from seeing a pig in the face before you eat your bacon or seeing a cow in the eye before your tasty burger? Hmmmm? As per Julia Child's lesson, we checked to see if they were male or female. They were both males and disturbingly enough, my girls decided that this was justification enough to kill them as individuals! Shit you not. And, yes, I DID question this concept with them!

We plunged them in head first, or as Julia Child said, where all their thoughts and feelings are, so they die immediately, which we all know they do not. Their cold bodies immediately cool the rolling boiling water to less than boiling and they stay alive just a bit until the water comes back to full boil, which Julia never mentions how long will take, which is actually some time. They kick a bit... or is that just the boiling water (oh, its not boiling though)... or "nerves"? Yeah. I'd have some "nerves" if I was being boiled alive.

We took one of the lobsters to eat immediately and cooled and put the other in the refrigerator. Following "The Lobster Show" we cut the thing in half with scisssors. We had cooled it a bit anyway, so we scooped out the greenish guts for the "sauce" and the removed the leg and thoracic cavity meat. The guts get mixed with mayonnaise, dijon mustard and green onions (fresh from grandma's garden) as sauce to the rest of the meat. I find that sauce goes best with the thoracic cavity meat, that still has some guts clinging to it. I dip the tail and pitiful but delicisous leg meat into melted butter and also the huge bounty of big claw meat... possibly more delicious than the tail meat.

It was all delicious... MJ hated it. Julie and I savored it over the course of that night and a few evenings later when we did the same to the other chilled, cooked cockroach... I mean lobster. Yum.

Post Script: Julia Child's Lobster Show included a segment where you remove the "sand sack"... the stomach... of the lobster after you cut it in half. This is one of the things you doooo when you follow a Julia Child show. The firsrt (male) lobster we executed on his death row had a piece of rubber in his sac we could see before we cut the transparent stomach open. I speculate this is something that happens in lobster tankes where the only thing you might eat is a bit of rubber band off your fellow mate's claws as you starve yourself (?) cleaning out your intestinal tract much like a human awaiting their colonoscopy... don't want folks seeing the filled GIT... or culinary gods forbid... EATING a filled GI tube?!?! Anyway... after you cut open the stomach, you can see an image of a "madonna".. a woman's dressed figure with the transparent/translucent stomach lining as a gown... awe-inspiring.

Subway

Though the Spring Restaurant Guide in the North Country This Week only lists two locations for Subway (180 Market Street in Potsdam and University Shopping Center in Canton), we're counting our stop at the Walmart in-store location for the Project.

It was late August and time to get some new sneakers for the girls for the start of the school year. So, it was off to our only real option locally... Walmart... as it would not really be worth the gasoline money to head to a store in Massena or Ogdensburg for similar cheap shoes made in China.

As we checked out with our booty from the Walmart in Potsdam, NY, the smell of pepperoni pizza wafted into our hungry nostrils from the deli counter in the front of the store. Our stomachs grumbled and our mouths salivated as we walked past the Subway nook looking for the source of the tantalizing odor. We could not find any pizza counter though I was certain I'd seen it right there on previous trips. By this time, I was too hungry to wait the five minute drive back home to get something to eat and the girls are always ready to suggest dining at the first place they see. Subway, it was! Well, it's a good follow-up to our last Julie/Mom Project blog of another famous submarine sandwich chain.

Julie and MJ ordered half subs this time and both decided to get ham and cheese. I didn't have my blog notebook with me and I forgot which kind of cheese they got. I forgot to make them get it on wheat, so white rolls again. This is plain Maryjane's standby order for a sandwich, but I was surprised Julie got it, too. Julie does like everything, though. It was still late summer hot outside and a cold ham and cheese seemed seasonal. MJ got chopped pickles and lettuce on hers and Julie got black olives and lettuce... hold any dressing on both. The "meal deal" came with either chips or cookies on the side and a drink. They both got cookies, chocolate chip for MJ, M&M for Julie. Root beer and fruit punch filled out their late lunch meals.

We have already covered in this blog how I like to really go for it when it comes to sandwiches... no plain maryjane for me! I still had the pepperoni smell enticement going in my head, so I ordered a whole italian sub (pepperoni and genoa salami) on wheat. After choosing provolone for my cheese duh... its an italian sub), I was asked if I wanted it toasted. Why YES! Perfect choice to satisfy the craving brought on by the heated pepperoni smell that brought us to this place after all. I think this is the main difference I can think of between Subway and Jrecks as toasting is not an option at the latter. Well that and black olives as a topping, which I got as well as lettuce, tomato, onion, hot pepper relish, italian oil, herb sprinkles and parmesan. Side bag of potato chips and a lemonade made up my meal, both of which I took home after being quite satisfied consuming my whole sub.

Yum. The whole trend of submarine sandwiches as an alternative fast food to hamburgers is a great trend in our popular culture I think. I like chain restaurant burgers well enough, but its nice to have these options.

Jreck Subs

Jreck Subs is an old standby, especially for me at the location we are writing up for the Julie/MomProject at 61 Market St., Potsdam NY. It was here over twenty years ago when I was attending college and its still here, though most other business offices adjacent to it have switched hands or are unoccupied now.

This popular chain has locations listed in the North Country This Week's Spring Restaurant Guide for Canton, Massena, Ogdensburg, Gouverneur and Malone. As I see these other towns listed, I note that the Guide's listings are all in St Lawrence County (New York State's largest) but certainly is not inclusive of all restaurants in the county. This is a good thing for the Project, because we really can't go tooling off to Gouverneur all the time to eat out. Thankfully, most of the places are in reasonable distance to, or in Potsdam, where we live.

It was early in August and I had taken my girls out shopping for dresses for them to wear for the upsoming season of weddings and bridal showers. We walked the two blocks to downtown from our house to the used clothing stores, Kidz Closet and the CORC, then hit the Isle of You's summer sale. Though we passed Jreck Subs along the way, we still had to drive to Walmart as we had only found one dress, no shoes and there are no other options for clothes in town. After successfully completing our shopping, we were hungry and Jreck's was calling. It was about 7:30 PM and the long summer daylight was still with us for the pleasant stroll back downtown.

Its a pretty good place for fast food. The rolls, cold cuts, cheeses and toppings are fresh while there is still the selection for greasy fried hot food as well. MJ and Julie both got the "meal deal" that gets you a drink and side with your submarine sandwhich. Both got the curly fries side, a personal favorite of mine which they shared with me, thus reducing the overall fat and salt content of their meals.

And Julie could use some reducing... she ordered the fried chicken on a white roll with nothing else on it, no lettuce or tomato or cheese, nothing. I guess it could've been worse since she didn't have mayo either, but wow. White bread around batter fried chicken just seems like a bland, fiber-free, carbohydrate/fat calories, bludgeon of doom. She got a lemonade. MJ always gets the same thing here, ham and swiss on a white roll with lettuce and diced pickle. She got a root beer, always her beverage of choice when allowed to have a soda pop eating out. I usually force the girls to at least get their subs on a wheat roll, but I didn't think in time before they ordered.

I went with the sandwich du jour - Turkey Bacon Ranch. Oh yes. All ya gotta say is BACON to me! I had it put on the roll du mois, garlic and dill... WITH some extra Thousand Island dressing to go with the Ranch dressing. It turns out they will actually put on ALL of the dressings if you really want and I was tempted to just slap some mayo on there too, but thought better of it. My waistline has paid the worst price of a year away from the physical work I am accustomed to doing, though at this point the extra mayo could hardly make that much of a difference. Especially since I was helping to reduce Julie's fat calorie load by eating most of her curly fries. I chose provolone cheese to go with the usual suspects, lettuce, onion, tomato, and hot pepper.

I was thinking there should be more toppings, like bell pepper and black olives, but I guess it is one of the those smaller versions of Jreck's. They still have the grill for all the hot sub variteies. I usually get the "Philly" steak and cheese with grilled onions and peppers... dripping greasy goodness! Julie has done the hot meatball sub, too. (MJ always gets the plain ham and cheese.) But, it was a hot August night and cold subs were the way to go. The hot bacon I got on mine quickly cooled off in the bath of cold fat dressings.

We all ordered whole subs and I wondered "what the heck was I thinking?" as we went to sit down with this massive tray of food. As it turns out, MJ and Julie ate their whole subs and I took most of one half of mine home. It was delicious the next day, Homer Simpson's voice in my head saying, "mmmmmm... saaandwiiich".