More Food – Dining during a Pandemic (I)

Yes indeed, yet another food post!  This time it’s about take out, a homemade favorite, breakfast and a new favorite commercial snack food…

This will be a big week for me.  I’ll be getting a knee replacement and then spending a lot of time in therapy and just plain healing.  The plan is that this surgery leads to improved mobility so that when the pandemic eases, I’ll be ready to travel and explore the back roads of the USA and Canada.

I’ll start with some take out from our favorite chicken joint…Gus’s World Famous Hot and Spicy Fried Chicken in Knoxville.  Gus’s isn’t located anywhere close to our house but we were in town on an errand so we picked up dinner to go…plus extra chicken for leftovers.

The photo above shows one of our ‘starters’, the Fried Green Tomatoes with ranch dressing.  I thought that they were above average if not great. 

Laurie wanted one of her favorite starters/appetizers…fried pickles.  She prefers pickle chips but she does like Gus’s fried pickle spears.  I much prefer fried pickle chips too.

No disagreement when it comes to the chicken though!  We love Gus’s chicken… It’s just a little spicy and it’s not overloaded with breading.  Laurie goes for the thighs and I always order the breasts.  A couple of days after our initial dinner, I sliced up a stack of chicken and we feasted on some terrific fried chicken sandwiches…

In Knoxville, Gus’s World Famous Hot and Spicy Chicken is located at 3101 Sutherland Avenue.  Phone: 865-200-5468.  This store’s website is found at http://gusfriedchicken.com/knoxville-tennessee-location/#menu.

Yet another healthy salad…spinach with tomato and cucumber. (Before adding the salad dressing) Lately we’ve been hooked on Marie’s Salad Dressings.  They may not be all that healthy but they are very satisfying.  I prefer the Chunky Blue Cheese and Laurie likes the Asiago Peppercorn.  To view all of the other choices offered by Marie’s, just go to https://maries.com/products/.

We paired that salad with sausage ravioli and marinara sauce with sausage. (Can’t get enough sausage…or parmesan for that matter!)

This refrigerated but not frozen store bought ravioli is one of the many ready to boil and serve pastas marketed under the ‘Rana’ brand.  We’ve had several of them over the past few months and we have enjoyed all of them.  To view your dining options with the Rana brand, just go to https://www.giovanniranausa.com/products.html.

This meatloaf is one of Laurie’s culinary specialties and definitely one of my favorites!  Its beef and pork with lots of seasoning including some Italian style bread crumbs, all topped with a thick layer of Parmesan cheese which makes a superb crust!  In this instance, the meatloaf was sided with Laurie's special butternut squash with brown sugar and butter.

Not only is this one of my favorite meals, it’s also one of my favorite leftovers!  Laurie doesn’t eat most leftovers but she does enjoy a nice meatloaf sandwich.  The rest of it is mine…sandwiches, just by itself or topped with an egg…

I know that this steak looks lonely…but don’t feel sorry for it.  The fact is that it was part of a big container of goodies sent to us as part of an Omaha Steak gift pack.  We’d eaten the others and they were all very good…tender with lots of flavor.  This was a 5 – 6 oz. Omaha Cut Ribeye.  To view what items are available from Omaha Steaks, (much more than steaks), go to https://www.omahasteaks.com/shop/.

For another pasta based meal, we had another salad and a bowl full of farfalle with meat sauce.  Comfort food for sure…

One night we had breakfast for dinner…fried ham with over-easy eggs and, in my case, buttered rye toast.  Yes, those little red dots are Tabasco sauce!  We both love having breakfast for our evening meal.  Laurie really likes breakfast as I’m the one doing the cooking.  She usually does clean up afterwards because she’s convinced that I don’t do it right…

This is our new favorite snack food…Unique Pretzel Bakery’s Original “Splits”.  As a hard pretzel, they are far superior to anything we’ve ever enjoyed.  The bakery is based in Reading Pennsylvania. 

The Spannuth family first baked a pretzel in Germany back in 1755.  Their first hard pretzel was introduced here in the USA in 1860.  Unique Pretzel’s was trademarked and incorporated in 1921.  These original ‘splits’ were developed in 1960.  The company bakes a variety of pretzels.  To view their products go to https://www.uniquepretzels.com/pretzels/order-pretzels-online.html.  Unique Pretzels are also available on Amazon.

I thought that I’d close with this selfie that Laurie took of us… This should assure those that have doubts that we are still alive and eagerly wishing for a Covid-19 free year as soon as possible!

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Stay Safe and Take Care, Big Daddy Dave