I hop for IHOP

I do not eat in chain restaurants. I just do not. Even when I lived in a really rural area (aka: "the boonies") I was not a fast food/chain place eater. I would rather go to a hole in the wall diner with a guy who looks like he just got out on parole cooking my eggs behind the counter than McDonald's. Considering this, imagine my surprise when I went to IHOP for the very first time this year and fell in love.

I love pancakes. I do. I love everything about them. They are syrup loving food pillows for the likes of mounds of butter and my beloved maple syrup. I love maple syrup so much that I used to drink it as a kid. Poured over some crushed ice, there is nothing better. It's a mountain girl slurpee/snowcone. I know, you're thinking it sounds gross but you are wrong about this. It is mmm, mmm good. My mom used to boil it in the wintertime and drizzle it over fresh snow for a treat for me and my friends. This is a pretty common treat in "the boonies." It taste like a creamy taffy. As it hits the snow it solidifies and gets chewy and almost creamy. It is delicious. Eating this makes me feel like Half Pint from Little House on the Prairie. It's a primitive "we live in the middle of nowhere and these damn kids are making me nuts asking me for candy that I don't have so I'm just gonna feed then some sugar to shut them up" type of treat. The maple syrup that I grew up on was actually made by none other than my high school chemistry teacher, Mr Pop. Bless his tree tapping heart. ...WHOA am I on a tangent today or what? Back to IHOP...

So pancakes, syrup, they are things that are close to my heart. Established. A few months back, my co-worker Miguel said to me one day, "hey, lets go to IHOP". "What's that" said I? "You're kidding, right?"said Miguel. And off we went. We are in NYC, Harlem to be specific, so there are really no national chain type of restaurants present where we are, except IHOP. I entered suspiciously, ready for a sub par feeding. Being in a chain restaurant always makes me feel like a pig sidling up to a trough. I was pleasantly surprised to dig into some wonderful, fluffy delicious pancakes. This piglet was pretty happy. They were very close to what I would make for myself. The syrup wasn't real deal but it was fine in context.

On a return trip I had the seasonal pumpkin pancakes and they were fantastic. If you ever go to an IHOP in the fall, check these babies out, they are like gingerbread cakes on your plate, so good. This past week I had a "healthy" selection, the Harvest Grain N Nut Healthy Combo. It was 2 grain and nut pancakes, egg substitute and fresh fruit. I know, egg sub sounds gross but it wasn't rubbery or strange at all. It was soft and creamy scrambly and I didn't feel like I was short changing myself or missing out on anything. The pancakes were not as good as the regular ones but they were a more filling choice and stayed with me the entire day. I could not finish this plate, I was so full that I even skipped dinner that night.

The only other place I have been that is a chain that I am OK with going to is Cracker Barrel. That place is like jumping into a seductively hypnotizing lake of butter, gravy and cheese while gently floating on a giant flaky biscuit life raft to a bacon and home fry lined shore. You just have to make peace with the fact that when you walk into a Cracker Barrel, you are essentially getting into bed with public enemy #1 of the American Heart Association. It's not an everyday thing but once in a while it is much appreciated. I really wish we had a Cracker Barrel here. I would kill for one. Maybe it's best for me not to have access to a place where the chicken fried steak in massive amounts of gravy seems like a healthy option in comparison to the rest of the menu.

So speaking of mouthwatering goodies, I usually have a tasty treat over the weekend. My week is full of salad, fish, chicken, tons of veggies and fruits. My weekend treat today will be a Juniors Lil' Fella. Do you know Juniors? It's place here in NY (originally Brooklyn to be precise) known for it's cheesecakes. As a former pastry chef I will give Juniors it's due. They do make an excellent product. I first had Juniors cheesecake about 8 years ago when my ex and I got a ticket for subway fare evasion (don't ask, whole other story) and we had to appear in court right down the block from Juniors in Brooklyn. The ex tried to make the court thing up to me ( it was all his stupid fault and he knew it) by promising to take me to Juniors after our appearance. We went and had Rubens (very good) and cheesecake. We then came home and took a massive nap after plunging into a food coma, but that cheesecake was stellar. Juniors also sells these tiny personal sized portion cheesecakes called little fellas. They used to be called LIL fellas. somewhere along the way the lil' became little. I am still going to call them lil' because that adds to their charm for me and quite frankly,it makes them sound a lot less fattening and exponentially more charming to boot. I find anything called lil' to be adorable and the fella added to the lil' almost makes me feel guilty for eating such a cute thing. I said almost. They are fabulous. If you ever have a cheesecake craving and see a lil' fella, jump on it, you won't be sorry.

So that's all I've got for you on a rainy dreary Saturday here. I hope you have a delicious treat yourself this weekend!

That's all for now :)