Tumbleweed Tavern Revisited

When I stepped out into the kitchen this morning I remembered that we had been stamping yesterday, and that I still have stamping supplies to pick up. Not my favorite way to face the morning. Still, I liked the congratulatory card that I finished last night, and the card that Anne made for Ian. I think the kids enjoyed their stamping, too.

Our Goddaughter had a birthday to celebrate, so last evening we agreed to meet her mom and dad at the Tumbleweed Tavern in St. Anna. One of their boys frequents the place, so they  were game. When they got out of the van I had to remark that they  were all wearing the same color of blue shirt. We had to get a picture. While my previous post about the Tumbleweed was enthusiastic, this latest visit was not so much to write home about. One of the downsides was that our waitress was overextended. Our food took a long time to come, and we had to ask for more silverware. I was looking forward to some kind of fried chicken, which outside of a chicken basket, was not on the menu. I really debated the Buffalo Chicken Wrap after Maria pointed it out, but decided against it because I thought it would be too hot. I had a Cowboy Burger instead. It was good,  but a little bit awkward to eat. Between the round rye bun and the burger it was more like trying to bite into a ball instead of a patty. I pulled out the knife which had been served thrust into the bun, and the knife handle felt greasy. Eeeew. Not so appetizing. I repressed the squeeming and cut my burger in half  so I would have a point to start eating. That worked much better. I did not dare lift the bun to apply catsup or mustard for fear it would fall apart, so I just dipped it in the side of homemade barbeque sauce which I had ordered. The sauce was sweet and delicious. The Cowboy Burger was supposed to have American cheese on it. I did not look to see if it was there, and cannot particularly remember tasting it. The onions were remarkable, tasting like they had been simmered in beer. Hmmm. The one thing I missed on my plate was a nice slice of salty pickle. Arthur ordered a beer of which the waitress had given him a sample, but she was forced to come back and inform him that then they were out.  For some reason the cook thought that Arthur had requested extra crispy onion rings, so his onion rings came burned, and inedible. They gave him a new order, but I noticed that afterwards he and Randy were remarking on the bottom of the basket. Sounded like it was filled with grease. Maria had a peppercorn burger with mac and cheese bites. She commented that it was too hot. She gave me a slice for tasting. I thought the pepper was quite strong. I did not get a macaroni bite in my portion, Mary had the Southwest Cilantro Chicken Wrap, which was too spicy for her taste as well. I am not sure that she knew that cilantro tastes hot before she ordered, or if the wrap was exceptionally loaded. Randy had barbeque ribs with broccoli. He said the broccoli was very good, soaked in the juice from the ribs. He made it sound good to me, too! He took a portion of his ribs home. On a scale from one to ten, I would have rated this visit about a five. Perhaps if we try it again I will go for the Buffalo Chicken Wraps, or the special, whatever it might be.  Randy took some pictures, so you do get a shot of the bottom of the beautiful mural.

Tumbleweed Tavern

Physonata Unipunctata Continued

I am enjoying an accidental picking of the last of one of my delphiniums. I purchased three 3" pots @.99 cents each last spring. This year's flowers were beautiful. However, the bind weed also thrives in that part of the yard. I pulled this part of the plant off as I was dead-heading and weeding around the delphiniums. Today I found two gallon pots of delphiniums in white and lavender on clearance for $2.97 each, so I sprang for them. The more, the merrier.

I believe I am winning the war against my physonata unipunctata, otherwise known as the one-spotted tortoise beetle, or bergamot beetle. I found only four crawling on the leaves. Below is a picture of a ravaged stalk, showing some of the damage. The damage is less visible in the second photo, but many of the leaves are eaten. There are some blossoms. I am hoping that I have curtailed the reproductive process a bit so that next year's plants will be healthier.

The presence of the larvae on new plantings makes me wonder. Were the eggs always present in the soil, waiting for the right host to come along? What would they have  fed on before the monarda, if they have always been around? How far might they have traveled to get to my plants? Did they come from the nursery in the form of eggs in the soil when I bought my plants? I saw an internet reference to the physonata unipuncta eggs in Minnesota soil in 1917, but not much else.

Good Eats

Yesterday Arthur and I went out to Olive Garden for a date night. We did the Two for $25 meal deal, which included soup or salad, bread sticks, our entrees and a dessert to share. I am not a huge fan of ravioli or tortellini stuffed with cheese, but one of the selections was ravioli di portabello, so I decided to try it for something different. I really enjoyed it, enough to comment on it several times after dinner. It had a smokey cheese and tomato sauce with garlic. I also tried the rosato sparkler, which was a rose wine with cranberry juice and a splash of ginger ale. That had a good, tart flavor. I always wonder if we will get enough to eat when I see the "two-fer" entrees arrive, but we had more than enough to feel full. As usual, I had extra salad to try to balance out the pasta!

At the St. Joe parade today we got a coupon for half an order of onion rings at the Tumbleweed Tavern in St. Anna. Since it was fish day, I suggested to Arthur that we go there for dinner. Kind of a make-up thing for the Joe burgers we did not have after the parade! I do not remember what the name of the bar was before it became the Tumbleweed Tavern. We used to drive past it on our trips up to Flensburg so we were familiar with where it was, but we never stopped in. We opted for the fish sandwich rather than the fish dinner, since the fish sandwich was deep-fried and the dinner fish was not. Also, the dinner came with vegetables, and we are not big fans of restaurant vegetables; they are usually over-cooked. Suffice it to say that we could have split one meal between us. The sandwiches were huge! The fish alone was probably the equivalent of eating two planks of pollack from the Watkins Legion fish fry. Then there were the buns, lettuce and potatoes. The buns were toasted and  buttered. We also received a slice of lemon and tarter sauce on the side. Arthur had the French fries. I decided to pay to upgrade to the side of garlic taters just to try them. I was expecting pre-seasoned tater tots, and instead I got tater tots loaded with minced, sauteed garlic - tons of it. I took one look at it and thought, there would be gastrointestinal repercussions of the foulest kind after this meal! The flatulence, that is. Garlic is great for the heart, and also good for promoting healthy bacteria in the colon! Fortunately for my husband, I only ate a few, and brought the rest home for another meal some other time. Then there was the half order of onion rings. My first thought was to ask the waitress what they did to make the breading stick to the onions, but I refrained so she would not have to reveal any trade secrets. The onion rings had a good beer flavor. Both the fish and the onion rings were piping hot, so much so that we had to eat slowly in order not to burn our mouths. I like my restaurant food hot, so appreciated it. The dining area had a beautiful mural reminiscent of the lakes, hills and farms of the Avon area. The owner of the restaurant introduced herself to us, and told us she and her husband purchased the bar about a year ago. They are slowly working on improving the decor. When we were there we were almost alone, so it was difficult to judge how the noise would be if it were full, but the drive to St. Anna was an easy one, and the fish was as good or better than other fish fries we go to. The price was very reasonable for fish, $8.99. The drinks were also very reasonably priced, $1.75 for a bottle of MGL, and $1.25 for a can of Ginger Ale. They have a clean, sandy volleyball pit in the back, and an enclosed porch with cushy patio furniture for drinks. It looked inviting.

My humble opinions, as ever! Bon Appetit!

Bee Balm Beetles

Here are some images of my bee balm beetles after a week. I am still picking them off in large quantities. As you can see in the second image, there are a few buds on the monarda, but it is well eaten, and full of bug droppings. Each time I go out I see tops which have turned dry because they have been eaten through. The beetles  continue to drown when I knock them in to my water and Basic H mixture.

On a brighter note, my brother had requested that I save some Bleeding Heart seeds from the plants at my mom's house. I was wondering how I would do that. Last Monday when I was at my mom's, I saw a bunch of seed pods hanging off of the plants. I obviously did not remember that they form pods. At any rate, I picked several which were still green as I was heading for my car. I threw the pods into my plastic car cup and drove home. I left the cup in my car for a few days 'til I was ready to bring it into the house. In the meantime, the pods dried and burst open. Seeds, ready to plant. I will mail them off  when I get a "round tuit".

We went to the parade and festival in St. Joe today. I was surprised at all of the people marching in the parade whom I recognized, from homeschoolers to politicians to businessmen. Ariana was afraid of all of the fire and police sirens and the loud trucks. On the other hand, she liked the horses and wanted to pet them. She also liked the water fountain on the Woods Farmer Seed and Nursery float. I wanted to call out to Woods, "Hey! Remember me? I'm the lady who bought the 16 bags of mulch yesterday!" I was dying for a Joe Burger, but the line was very long, and it started raining. The first time I went to the St. Joe festival was when I was working at St. Ben's the summer between freshman and sophomore years. I thought the Joe cones and Joe Burgers quite the riot. I was single then, so did not mind waiting in the blazing sun for a burger. The parish now has a new parish center which they use for the country store and fancy stands. I did purchase a dolly quilt and pillow for the dollies at Grandma's house. Otherwise there was little to do.

Another link on the  horsemint, or bee balm beetle: http://www.fnanaturesearch.org/index.php?option=com_naturesearch&task=view&id=1622