Meatball Sandwich Casserole

Meatball Sandwich Casserole

You will need:

! bag of frozen meatballs (I use Mama Lucia Brand, personal preference)
1 jar of marinara sauce or spaghetti sauce if there isn't any marinara on hand
1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 cup Italian blend cheese, shredded
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded
1 loaf of fresh Italian bread, sliced

To prepare:

Preheat oven to 400. Place entire bag of meatballs in pot with sauce (I also add garlic, onion powder, salt and pepper to taste) and cook over medium heat until warmed completely through, about 10 minutes. Stir as needed to keep meatballs from sticking to pot. Once heated through remove from heat. Place meatballs in the center of a 9x13 baking dish, layer mozzarella and Italian blend cheeses over meatballs topping off with the Parmesan. Take the slices of Italian bread and line the pan all the way around with them so that they are kind of keeping the meatballs toward the center of the pan. The bread slices will be standing up in the pan as shown in the picture. You have creative freedom here with the bread...you can lightly butter and garlic the bread prior to placing it in the pan if you prefer or even brush lightly with olive oil and garlic. The choice is yours. I have made it plain and as noted above and all are delicious!

Place in oven and bake for approximately 25 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly. Remove from oven, serve and enjoy!

A side salad goes nicely with this quick meal!

The Best Thing I Ever Ate

I have had some exotic meals in my life. I've had lobster, escargot and Kobe beef. My favorite foods, however, are those dishes, usually ethnic, that are made the way they are supposed to be made. To explain what I mean, my wife and I went to a German restaurant in Winter Park, CO and it was there that I realized that real bratwurst is white. (I also decided then and there that Johnsonville is pretty low-grade.) But fate brought me to the best thing I ever ate in San Jose, CA.

It was 1994-ish. I was working for the cable company producing television commercials. We had gotten some new production equipment and I was sent to the company's official training in Sunnyvale, CA, a suburb of sorts to San Jose.

It was one of the first nights I was there and I hadn't quite connected with any of the other attendees (it didn't help that I was the only one staying at that particular hotel). I stepped out of my room to go to dinner. I had scoped the area and knew there was a burger joint, a steak house and a couple of other unimpressive restaurants within walking distance. I could visit one of those but I wanted something a little more.

I went to the lobby and spoke with the ... bellman? I asked him to recommend a good restaurant. "What kind of food are you looking for?"

"I'm not sure but I'd kinda like something with some local flavor."

"Do you like Italian?" Oh, he'd hit the nail on the head. He recommended a place called Il Postale (The Post Office) and said he could arrange for the hotel van to take me.

Il Postale was a clean, bright, intimate hole-in-the wall place. It was definitely no cookie-cutter chain restaurant. In terms of decor, it was more ice-cream shop than Italian restaurant. I recall it being very white. The doors were open to allow the breeze to blow through and the name was painted in large, black letters along one wall amidst other elements also in black.

I walked in and took a seat at the counter. A very nice gentleman welcomed me and handed me a menu. I glanced over it and everything was described using ethnic language. There was no lasagna and I barely found spaghetti. When the 'waiter' came back and asked me if I knew what I wanted I had to confess that I didn't recognize anything.

They must get that a lot because he was all too happy to help me navigate the offerings. He explained that the owners/chefs had trained in Italy and wanted to offer actual Italian dishes rather than the standard lasagna and spaghetti and meatballs.

The first couple of dishes still didn't register even with explanation. We then got to the farfale which he explained was bow-tie pasta. I said, "Bow-tie pasta. I know what that is. I'll have that." In short order he brought me a bowl and I started eating.

With the first bite I tasted the pasta and the tomatoes and then all of the other spices started blooming against my taste buds. Each and every ingredient had its own place and came through in its own time like a perfectly directed symphony. I had never before in my life tasted anything with so much flavor (and have never since). The German restaurant came in a close second but I have never had a more enjoyable culinary experience.

The BIG Problem

I'm fat. It's no use mincing words, it's the truth. But I'm not alone. For the first time in history, being overweight kills more people than being underweight (according to the World Health Organization). In the United States, I've heard it said obesity is at epidemic proportions.

I want to be thinner. I want to be at a healthy weight. I want my tummy troubles to go away. I want to stop taking the prescription medications that I know are necessary because of my weight. Again, I'm not alone. Just ask anyone who has bought any of those ridiculous, gimicky exercise devices profiled on a late-night infomercial that either flat out don't work or become coat racks 30 seconds after they're delivered.

So why, if we're so eager to lose weight are we having such a difficult time doing it? You would think a society that lusts over models with visible rib cages and regularly tunes in to "pretty people" reality shows would know how to make this happen.

We do know how to make it happen. The problem is that the fast-food industry and our microwave convenience culture are in direct opposition to eating properly. The vast majority of food products available to us are loaded with 40% of our RDA of fat, 300% of our RDA of sodium, and 3% of our RDA of vitamins and minerals that have been artificially reinserted because the 10% that are in the product to begin with are stripped out during processing.

I won't go into the problems of "healthy" products trading off fat for sodium or cholesterol for calories. I'll just concentrate on the most important factor in food selection: Price. Eating healthy is expensive. The healthy entrees cost more and have less volume than the regular entrees. Diet programs like Nutrisystem and Jenny Craig, as effective as they may be, cost to be a member and you have to buy your food from them for the program to work. Bottom line is it's difficult and expensive to eat properly.

This country is not going to reverse its obesity problem until the food production and food service industries make it easier to eat properly. A massive nation-wide education program devoted to healthy eating wouldn't be a bad idea, either. But I don't think either one is going to happen until we see a tobacco-style class action lawsuit... and that's not likely to happen anytime soon.

Tea For Two

I really enjoy hot tea. It is a flavorful, hot drink that is not weighed down like hot chocolate or a latte. Tea also tastes wonderful when you're sick with sinus pressure and a cough, like I have been for the past two days.

My favorite experience with tea has to be when we were on a cruise. I don't recall if it was our first cruise, a 4-day cruise to the Bahamas, or our second cruise, a seven day to the Caymans, Jamaica and Mexico. Anyway, they were having a "high tea" or a "captains tea" and I decided to take some time to check it out.

I believe the event was held in the library or someplace similar. I recall there being a lot of wood in the room. There weren't a lot of people, maybe 20 or 30, so it was a rather cozy gathering. I'm pretty sure it was designed to be a get-to-know-you event.

I took a seat, not knowing what to expect, and waited for things to start. The part I really remember and the part that, to me, made it special was the presentation of the teas. A steward of some sort came by with a large, flat, wooden box. The lid was hinged and as he came near the table, he stopped and opened the lid. Inside the box was just about every kind of tea Bigelow makes and it was like he was presenting it just to me. I felt "wealthy" for a moment as if the butler were presenting me with a choice of any of the many teas in my stores.

I selected a tea, I believe it was Earl Grey, and the steward moved on. When I had finished, I rejoined my wife having taken a moment for myself to relax and enjoy a hot cup of tea with some "friends."

Friday Night At The Movies

The massive facade of the Warren Theatre in Moore, OK is impressive. It can easily be seen from I-35 and proclaims itself proudly, especially at night when it is lit up with purple and green neon. As you step inside, you are treated to a richly colored expanse of wood, marble, neon and other decorative elements. It is the first clue that this will not be a regular movie experience.

The next clue you'll get is the staff uniforms. I'm not talking same-color shirts and khaki slacks, here. I'm talking full-on nostalgic usher uniforms complete with green (or white) jackets with brass buttons and shoulder boards paired with black slacks adorned with a satin strip along the outer seam and white gloves. There are a couple variations from this for staff at the concession counters or the bar (yes, there's a bar but I'll get to that later) but fancy jacket and formal slacks is the uniform of the day.

For us, though, this night was going to be extra special. My MIL had purchased a pair of tickets for us to see Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull as an anniversary gift. What's so special about movie tickets, I hear you ask. What's so special is they were balcony seats. Reserved balcony seats.

We crossed the lobby to the base of the stairway where a young gentleman was stationed to assist patrons (and probably act as a gatekeeper). We asked him about the upstairs arrangements: In addition to balcony seating, there is also a lounge where you can order a meal or a drink from the full service bar. Sorry, kiddos, you have to be 21 or older to enjoy the balcony. We also asked him about the location of the elevator. He was very clear in his instructions, very friendly and courteous, and surprisingly articulate. I say surprisingly because he looked to be about 17 and I sometimes have difficulty finding those qualities in people of that age group. We thanked him and moved on.

We hadn't had dinner yet so we went into the diner. Yep, there's a full-service diner on the premises. It serves everything from appetizers and salads to sandwiches and pasta. We knew we would be able to have service at our seats (one of the perks of the balcony) but wanted to make sure we didn't need to place an order downstairs before proceeding to the balcony. We told the cashier we had balcony seats and asked if we needed to do anything special. She told us, "Oh no, if you have balcony seats you have a waiter who will get you anything you want." Her tone was almost as if to add that if we had paid for balcony seating, we were royalty for the evening and didn't need to mix with the crowd. Cool.

We took the elevator to the second level where we were met and welcomed by no less than four people. We showed one of them our tickets and she pointed out the auditorium we would be in and told us that they would be opening it for seating in about 20 minutes. In the mean time, she invited us to have a seat at the bar and enjoy ourselves (we could have sat at a table in the lounge but it was full up). With all this attention, this was beginning to feel like an old-time movie experience. I thought I should be wearing formal attire but felt perfectly comfortable in my blue jeans.

The back of the bar was a hive of activity. The bar is laid out with a slight curve and is only big enough for about a dozen or so people but there were at least five bartenders and the occasional supervisor (he had a different colored shirt) performing a well executed dance.

I really wanted to have dinner in the auditorium - just because I could - so I ordered a beer for myself, the wife had a malt beverage, and we ordered a plate of cheese sticks. We should have just ordered dinner because the cheese sticks arrived about two minutes before the auditorium opened. No matter, we took our time, I finished my beer, we finished the appetizer and cashed out.

When we entered the auditorium, someone was right there to usher us to our seats. We told her we had never attended a movie there and she explained that the seriously oversize seats were filled with memory foam and were heated. A small switch in the outer armrests clicked up for high or down for low. A small table was set between the seats and could be moved for our convenience. The best part was the little red button. Push the little red button, she said, and it would call her over and she would get us anything we wanted. This was awesome! The only thing we would have to get up for is a bathroom break.

After a few minutes perusing the menu I pushed the call button. About that same time, the lights dimmed and a brief introduction to the Warren Theatres started. As the announcer welcomed us the heavy, red velvet curtain slowly rose to reveal the projection screen. I had forgotten that in my youth, curtains used to cover the screen prior to the show. The invention of multi-screen theaters saw the end of that but Warren has thought of everything to revitalize the in-theater movie experience. When the waitress stealthily arrived, my wife ordered a turtle sundae and I ordered another beer and a sandwich with fries that I happily munched on almost the entire show.

We were treated to three movie previews and then the most amazing thing happened. The feature started. That's right, no advertisements. No Coca Cola short film, no AT&T sponsored turn-off-your-cell-phone blurb, nada. Actually, that's not entirely true. Since every auditorium is THX certified, we were subjected to the THX intro. This was amazing in and of itself. I believe it is the first time in my life that I have actually felt the bass in a movie theater. The low notes during the demo (and a few throughout the movie) actually vibrated the seats.

I enjoyed the movie. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull humorously acknowledges that the good Dr. Jones is getting a bit long in the tooth, takes a trip back to the original Raiders of the Lost Ark with the appearance of Karen Allen as Marion, and includes all of the adventure, cobwebs, and explosions we've come to expect from the franchise. Surprisingly, however, it left me wanting in the whip-cracking department..

This particular chapter in the saga let me down somewhat. While the premise is loosely based in reality (there really are crystal skulls that have been found) the climax is a little beyond my willing suspension of disbelief. In the end, though, it was a fun ride just like the other two have been. Oh, yeah, three... I keep forgetting about that Temple of Doom one. And it introduces elements that may keep the franchise alive a little longer.

Toward the end of the movie, our waitress noiselessly appeared by my side with our bill. She shined a small, single LED light on the total and handed me the holder. I slipped my debit card inside and handed it back. Within a minute she returned and wordlessly handed me a pen to sign for the total while she used her mini light to assist me. It was totally unobtrusive as was the rest of the wait staff. They were trained well.

There was a theater that Cinemark opened in Tulsa a few years ago that, from the descriptions, I thought would be quite impressive. It turned out to be a standard multiplex with a lot of extra window dressing. The Warren Theatre in Moore is everything I expected it to be. It makes the experience of watching the movie in a theater as important as the movie itself and that is how it should be. If you live anywhere near Moore, OK (I live 65 miles away) you should make an effort to go see a movie at the Warren. If you're over 21 and are on a date or out for a night on the town, spend the extra money (our entire evening including tickets, dinner, and drinks was less than $75) and treat yourself right with balcony seating. At the very least, head upstairs and check out the lounge.

It Was A Dark And Stormy Night

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I pulled into the drive thru, got my phone out and dialed in, recorded this entry, still waited another 3-5 minutes and only moved forward 1 car length. I pulled out of line, went inside and was out the door in less than five minutes... no idea what was going on.

We Don't Go To Ravenholm Taco Bell Anymore

Taco Bell is the most anti-customer service corporation it has ever been my displeasure to visit. Consistency requires effort and Taco Bell must place high emphasis on delivering terrible customer service. At first, I thought my difficulty was limited to the restaurant located in Stillwater, OK but tonight I discovered that the negative experience is apparently a corporate mandate.

Let me take you back a few years. It's lunchtime and we decide to visit Taco Bell in Stillwater. We walk in and we're third in line. Curiously, nobody was manning the front counter. This did not surprise me as there are several reasons someone might step away from the counter to assist a customer. The only problem was that all of us were standing there for several minutes before the attendant returned to take the order of the person at the head of the line. Once the order was placed, the attendant disappeared for several more minutes with no explanation.

After another couple of minutes, the line had grown by two or three more groups and I had grown impatient. Loud enough for the employees to hear me, I wondered why no one was attending the front counter at lunch time and when we might expect to have someone take our order. I was met with a rather angry reply from behind the counter that the system would not allow them to process more than a few orders at a time or it would crash. I observed that the drive through seemed to be operating smoothly and was informed that they were different systems. At which time I suggested that our orders be handled at the drive through register. This was met with another excuse and our group, as well as a couple of others, decided to make our exit. I have returned to the Taco Bell in Stillwater only once in the six years since this incident.

Tonight, we decided on Taco Bell for dinner so we visited the location on Broadway Avenue in Boise, ID. I entered the drive-through and sat for five minutes before the line moved forward. I then sat for another five minutes before the vehicle at the window drove off. Curiously, the vehicle in front of me at the menu board did not move. I watched for another three minutes while the vehicle sat at the menu board but did not appear to have ordered. Eventually, she moved forward to the window and I pulled up to the speaker... there was silence. I continued my observation of the vehicle in front of me which eventually drove away.

I waited at the speaker another minute or so with no acknowledgment, then pulled to the window as the previous vehicle had done. When no one acknowledged my presence, I honked the horn... and was met with blank stares. I continued to honk but no one came to the window. I finally drove around, parked and entered the restaurant.

When someone finally came to the register, I asked if she was the manager. She answered in the affirmative so I asked, calmly, if she could explain why I waited in the drive through line for twenty minutes without being acknowledged? She mentioned something about changing out cash drawers, a $50 order at the front, and some other nonsense that I frankly didn't care about because there is no excuse for ignoring customers.

Let me repeat that... THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR IGNORING CUSTOMERS!

At this point, I asked her if she had a comment card or a customer service number that I could call. She walked away, as if dismissing me, and hollered toward the back, "Donna (not her real name), would you come deal with this guy?"

As I waited for "Donna," I noticed that right on the front of the registers was a customer service number. What would have been so hard about pointing that out to me? Anyway, the general manager finally appeared and gave me a similar story about what had happened but offered little in the way of an apology. I told her that she should, perhaps, re-examine the processes they follow in order to ensure that this doesn't happen again. She informed me that she is unable to change how the exchange of cash drawers is handled because the process is a function of software in the register. She missed my point and we had a two minute discussion on how the cash drawer switch requires "only a couple of minutes" to complete. It was then that I started going through her excuses point-by-point. Finally, she acquiesced that someone should have at least acknowledged me (and the other person who drove off) and she would find out why that happened. At no point during the conversation did she inquire as to whether or not I still wanted to place an order.

Don't ask me to go to Taco Bell with you. My answer is no.

I Scream, You Scream...

My wife and I decided to do something this evening that we haven't done in a long time. We made chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream. It's not as difficult as it sounds.

Why would we want to do this, you might ask? The first time we did it we had just returned from a trip to Vermont - the state where Ben & Jerry's was born. We got a taste of chocolate chip cookie dough when we toured the factory. At the time, B&J was the only company making CCCD ice cream and they weren't widely distributed. You couldn't buy the pints at Wal-Mart yet and it wasn't available, in any flavor, in Oklahoma.

They say necessity is the mother of invention, but it could also be cravings. When we returned home, we set to making our own version of the favorite flavor. Here's the recipe:

1/2 gallon chocolate chip ice cream
1 tube chocolate chip cookie dough (standard size, not jumbo)

Place ice cream in a large bowl and allow to soften. You may wish to break it up some with a spoon to allow air into the center portion. Once the softening starts, you can also use the beaters on your hand mixer to push into the ice cream.

When it's still firm but not quite soft enough, you can turn your mixer on low and blend the soft melty parts together with the firm parts to get a relatively even consistency.

Once the ice cream is softened, add 1/3-1/2 of the cookie dough in small chunks and blend together. Once the dough is mixed in fairly well, add more dough and repeat until all of the dough is in the ice cream.

Blend well and transfer to a sealable container. Place mixed ice cream into the freezer, at least overnight, to harden.

What you end up with is a CCCD ice cream that is permeated with the cookie dough flavor, rather than having small chunks of dough randomly implanted into the mix.

Something's Bothering Me

Something has been bothering me about Boise ever since we moved here. I haven't quite been able to settle in completely because of it and I haven't been able to nail it down. I think I've finally identified it... it's the food.

Those of you who know me know I love food. I really love good food. I will seek it out and will sometimes pay a premium price for it. I'm not complicated when it comes to food, either. Sometimes, the simple things are better. In Stillwater, some of my favorite places to eat were Eskimo Joe's, Rib Crib, McAlister's Deli, and El Chico. But these people in Boise just don't seem to get it.

Our first dining experience, outside of fast food, was this family-owned Mexican restaurant called Andrade's. It was fantastic. Authentic mexican food, efficient and extremely friendly service, and a comfortable atmosphere. Not a cheap meal but worth it. ($$$) I'd give it four and a half spoons (out of five) but so far, Andrede's has been the exception.

Since then, our dining experiences have consisted of the following:

• A French bistro downtown - The food was decent but the menu was limited and it was mildly overpriced. ($$$) The atmosphere was laid back. A good place to have a light lunch if you're in the area. Three spoons.
  
• A French cafe on the outskirts of downtown - Excellent coffee (Illy), limited menu with odd sandwiches, trendy atmosphere. Decent food but, again, mildly overpriced. ($$$) Two and a half spoons.
• A Basque restaurant - Expensive. Really expensive. ($$$$) Ethnic food that, perhaps, I'm not used to. I had a bowl of prawns that were drowning in a soup of butter and LOTS of garlic. Tasty but it gave me a stomach ache. Two spoons (mostly because of the prices).
• A micro distillery - Good prices ($$+) but it's a burger joint that distills it's own rum, vodka and gin. Nothing to write home about in the food department. Three spoons.
  
• A sixties Polynesian-themed restaurant - Nice atmosphere (they really know how to go with a theme), slightly overpriced, ($$$) lousy drinks, mediocre food. One and one half spoons.
• Trendy restaurant in historic district - Good French fries. Mediocre service, somewhat expensive, ($$$) bland food, odd deserts (who puts anise in a chocolate cake, adds a berry compote, then has the audacity to name it "Chocolate Overload Cake"?). I was non-plussed. One and one half spoons. (The wife wanted me to be sure to point out that she has had good food the two times she's been there)
  

It seems that the point of a restaurant around here is to create an atmosphere where people want to be and, oh yeah, we serve food, too. But you pay for the atmosphere. Besides Andrade's, my absolute, hands down, favorite place to eat in Boise is... get ready for it... Jack In The Box. Seriously!! They have great service, a staff with a FANTASTIC attitude, good food (try the Sirloin Burger or the BBQ Ranch salad), and cheap prices. Plus, they serve breakfast any time. What more could you want?

If you live in or have visited Boise, please tell me where the good restaurants are. I like to eat and I really like to eat good food. I'm STARVING!!