Wasem Fruit Farm

Happy October!! Fall is here, and in Michigan that means hot donuts and spiced cider. It also means a very happy Nari :)

Very very happy! This weekend was both unexpectedly and unusually cold. The past week, actually, has been uncharacteristically chilly and rainy. If memory serves me correctly, it's not usually this cold in October. Good news is, temps are expected to go back up for the rest of the month. And thus ends the weather forecast portion of this entry. Despite the cold, it was a gorgeous and sunny day, and every day is a perfect 80 when you're in good company (partly cheesy, part clichely, 100% true).

There are a LOT of cider mills and orchards anywhere in Michigan. The one we went to on Saturday is a called Wasem Fruit Farm in Milan (pronounced MY-len, therefore not the one in Italy... more like the conductive sheath of the axon of a neuron), just 20 minutes from Ann Arbor.

A line of eager customers starts outside the building. The setup is pretty interesting. When you hit the inside of the building, on your left you get to observe the donut-making process - from the batter being poured into the piping machine, the machine piping out the rings into the fryer, certain lucky donuts being cinnamon-sugared. Then you'll hit the display/ordering window. You get to pick from quite an array of donuts: plain, apple, and pumpkin; plain, glazed (vanilla, chocolate, maple), cinnamon sugar. You can order donuts by the [half] dozen. We ordered a dozen between the four of us, each getting three of our choice. I had cinnamon sugar apple, plain apple (why didn't I get plain pumpkin?), and chocolate glazed plain. SO GOOD. ALL OF THEM. So soft. Not too dense. Not too bland, not too sweet. Perfect. And no doubt all the other flavors are just as amazing. I think our turn to order was between batches, so the donuts weren't piping hot... so can you imagine how exponentially more heavenly that would be? I have to move on to something else before I drool all over my keyboard. This is also where you can order cups of cold cider, hot cider, or hot spiced cider. Further to the right you'll find a market area where you can buy [half] gallons of cider and fresh seasonal fruits. I didn't explore the rest of the building, but I imagine they also have butters/jams/jellies? Maybe pies? I'm sure this info is on the website. Or just go to the farm to find out! But for sure right now you can buy various apples and pears by the [half] peck and [half] bushel. This is still food talk... still salivating more than is natural. Change topic. Continuing with setup. Once you've picked up your vittles, work your way in reverse back out to the entrance where you'll pay at the register at a table on the porch.

There are a few picnic tables and benches outside so you can take in the nature around you while you tantalize your tastebuds with the tasty tushy-tender treats and warm your body (and the cockles of your heart) knowing that the trees behind you bear the treasure with which the cider steaming in your cup was made. Longest sentence ever. But hopefully you get the picture.

And if the kiddies are restless after filling up on these sweet goodies (or if you're just a kid at heart), there's a corn maze just a stone's throw away. We didn't do the corn maze that afternoon, but maybe one day... hmm...

After an exhaustive and exhausting Google search (I'm apparently into double-adjectives today), I found that there isn't a good place to find cider and donuts in the DC area. Most are deeper into Maryland or Virginia. I found one relatively close that has been given my approval in Baltimore. So anyone in the area, give Weber's Cider Mill a try.

Having grown up in Saudi Arabia and spent my high school years in Houston, I love fall in Michigan- a season you don't really get to experience in either Saudi or Texas. The spectrum of yellow to red trees, people bundled up in a light North Face and hat, and hot donuts and spiced cider will forever have a place in my heart lovingly labeled Michigan. And now I can look forward to moving on with fall having had my first taste of autumn :) Yummers!!!!

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www.wasemfruitfarm.com
www.talladayfarms.com
www.webersfarm.com

Tastee Diner - Silver Spring

Oh Tastee Diner - it's seen me at my worst, yet always there for me. I visit Tastee Diner after a long night of bartending for some chocolate chip pancakes, or most often, on Sundays after hardcore partying the night before and I need to eat something before I pass out from the vodka fumes being emitted from my mouth.

A couple of months ago, Nari was visiting, and in celebration of her 21st birthday, JC and I got her...hammered. The next day we ended up at Tastee Diner, where we had our breakfast and Nari vomited all over the floor at the table. Thank goodness we were sitting outside - nevertheless, it was embarrassing beyond belief.

Last Sunday, JC and I found ourselves at Tastee Diner again. As usual I ordered coffee and half a grapefruit, followed by pancakes and turkey sausage. JC had the same except she chose waffles instead of pancakes. At the last minute we added on an order of fries. The coffee isn't excellent, but it's not terrible - it's diner coffee. Grapefruit was precut and it was a good size. My favorite was the turkey sausage, they were sausage patties, nicely spiced with good texture. I like the pancakes at Tastee Diner, what's strange is this time, the pancakes had a grainy, cornmealy texture, which I had never gotten before - it was still tasty. JC's waffles was a little tragic, it looked perfectly good, but she put the butter on it and nothing happened - it was cold. She tried to eat it, but couldn't get it down, which was sad because she was hungry. Oh, and we never got our fries. :(

A few days later, I ended up there again for a midnight breakfast with my friend DC. I tried chocolate chip pancakes and turkey sausage. I loved the pancakes, I didn't even use syrup, just a lot of butter. I was expecting the sausage patties, except this time I got the sausage links, which were good, but not as good as the patties. DC had eggs, bacon, and grits - I think he enjoyed his food, couldn't be sure since he didn't finish eating (we had a few drinks before, which could have hindered the hunger sensors). As usual the service was quick and friendly and the server came by several times to make sure we didn't need anything else.

Tastee Diner is usually reliable with quick service at a very reasonable price. If I'm hungry for breakfast or unusually late, you'll find me there. Did I mention they're open 24 hours? Tasty tasty!!

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www.tasteediner.com

Spring Garden

I've been sick for almost a week and a half. What a bore, I say (try saying it with a British accent, Professor McGonagall style). I haven't stepped out of my apartment unless absolutely necessary, and feeding myself was easy enough with foodler.com at my fingertips. One of my favorite places to order from is Spring Garden in the strip mall at 16th St and Spring St in Silver Spring. They're consistently fast at delivery and their food is mostly decent.

I always get soup, and my favorite is sweet and sour - good flavor and lots of vegetables and tofu. The wonton soup is alright, but the broth is a bit bland. My second favorite soup is the egg drop soup - I know, it's so boring, but I love the tissue paper thin sheets of eggs floating about the gently viscous soup. I usually add a bit of soy sauce and just a touch of sesame oil to it and it makes a pretty good soup about 10 times better. Now, I ordered their seafood soup as an experiment one day, and it was blech, gross, ew. It had quite a bit of shrimp, scallops, imitation crab meat, and calamari, as well as water chestnuts, bamboo shoots, carrots, and celery. But the broth was so boring and no matter what kind of condiments I added to it, I couldn't make myself eat the damned thing.

Their lo mein is pretty good - I have tried their beef, chicken, and shrimp lo mein, and I think shrimp is the best. Overall good seasoning, not too oily and the noodles have a good texture. Hunan chicken's pretty good also - lots of veggies and chicken doesn't taste as fake as some other Chinese delivery places. I don't know if you know what I mean, sometimes the chicken seems synthetic in texture and flavor - same goes for beef. I wish the hunan chicken was a bit more spicy, but that can be amended with some red chili oil or sriracha. My favorite thing about their food is that their sauces don't have the thick, goopy texture of sauces that most Chinese delivery places have - one can almost convince oneself to believe that they don't come in a gigantic tub labeled "brown sauce."

They also have sushi on the menu, so I decided to try it. After browsing through a bunch of items that you can find everywhere, my eyes stopped at crazy roll. It was salmon, avocado, and cucumber rolled in nori and rice, tempura battered and fried, then cut into 8 pieces, and sprinkled with chopped scallions and tobiko. It looked pretty good, but it didn't taste so good. Actually, it was pretty nasty. It was squishy and mushy in texture and there was no flavor - the salmon was pretty flavorless, and the rice was too soft. Even after being dunked in way too much soy sauce it was bland. After 2 pieces, I was forced to throw it out. It's called crazy roll for a reason, you have to be crazy to eat it!!

The almond cookies that I got for dessert was quite good. Nice and crispy but not hard, and you can definitely taste the almonds. I love that it's not that sweet - it goes perfectly with a cup of coffee. There are 4 cookies in an order and out of tonight's order, it was my favorite item.

If you're ever looking for food to be delivered, check out foodler.com. And if you're looking for Chinese food in Silver Spring, definitely give Spring Garden a try, but stay away from crazy roll. Seriously. Do try the lo mein and the almond cookies. Tasty tasty!!

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www.foodler.com/MD/Silver-Spring/Chinese/Spring-Garden/1507.html