The Best Peanut Butter and Banana Sandwich

It had been a long day, we were both exhausted.

With about an hour left until our flight back to Tampa, we needed food. But not that nasty overpriced airport food. We wanted something good, satisfying and comforting.

As we stood reading over the large airport terminal map of all the restaurants and shops in our terminal, nothing seemed good. Finally something stood out.....something original, different and just what we were looking for: Gourmet PB&J

We both looked at each other clearly thinking the same thing....Gourmet PB&J...is that possible? What does that even mean?

However, regardless of how odd it might sound, we were both convinced we needed to have it. The unfortunate part however was that the Gourmet PB&J restaurant was on the complete opposite end of the terminal....and it seemed like we walked forever. Who knew that I would ever go to this length just for a Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich.

When we arrived we were both pleasantly surprised by the unexpected variety of choices. I really didn't know what we would find on the menu aside from peanut butter and jelly.

However, they offered an array of bread choices including white, sourdough and 8 grain, several different types of jelly, crunchy or creamy peanut butter, and the best part of all...extra toppings: banana, honey, chocolate, marshmallow fluff and bacon. Yes, bacon.

If you know anything about peanut butter you probably know that the best peanut butter combination is with bananas. So I chose the toasted 8 grain bread, with crunchy peanut butter, bananas and honey. They toast your bread by sending it through a toaster similar to something you would see at Quizno's. Then they smother the peanut butter on, slice up the banana and top it all off with honey.

The end result was both expensive and fantastic. I was shocked that it cost close to $5 for a peanut butter and banana sandwich (I'm assuming it was due to an airport up charge). However, it was well worth the slightly ridiculous price. The thick crunchy peanut butter spread over the delicious bread and topping with bananas and honey moved my soul. It was completely delicious.

I don't want to over exaggerate however, it might have been the best peanut butter and banana sandwich I have ever had. Clearly we weren't the only ones craving a good old fashion peanut butter sandwich. The PB&J gourmet restaurant was situated in the middle of 4 other restaurants and it was the busiest, the line was filled with people all willing to spend $5 for a PB&J.

My question is, why don't more restaurants like this exist? It would be perfect for a mall food court when all people want is some comfort food. I know personally I would be there all of the time. Obviously you could always make a sandwich like this at home, however for some reason it just tastes better coming from a restaurant.

Maybe it was the bread, or the banana, or the honey but whatever it was it made me wish I had a reason to go to the Detroit airport more often.

Eating with the Amish

When my wife first told me that she wanted to drive an hour south to Sarasota, FL to visit "the Amish country" I thought she had lost her mind.

"What do Amish people have to offer that's worth an hour drive?" I asked out of curiosity

She answered: "Cheese"

Well, cheese isn't the only thing. They also serve up pies, homemade mashed potatoes, and fried chicken.

At the word "cheese" she had me sold. We needed to go to Sarasota, now.

Believe it or not, there are actually a variety of Amish owned restaurants throughout Sarasota. However, after some deep research we settled on Yoder's Amish Home Cooking

From what we could gather, Yoder's seemed to be the most authentic and had the most history. Not to mention they were also recently featured on Travel Channel's Man vs. Food.

Yoder's is a quaint restaurant with a market to the right that sells fruit, vegetables, cheese, jams and bread. To the left of the restaurant is a store where you can purchase stuff for your house that you don't really need.

It became clear upon our arrival that Yoder's was a very popular place. The line to get in was out the front door and the parking lot was jammed packed.

We finally ended up getting seated at a table and we were greeted by our server. I talked to her quite a bit because while I had already studied the menu in detail and I really didn't know what to order. Sometimes when you visit restaurants you don't know what to order because nothing looks good, other times (and this rarely happens) you don't know what to order because you want to try everything.

This was one of those special situations where I wanted to eat everything on the menu. The decision was very tough, however with our server's counseling I decided on the 2 Piece Fried Chicken dinner with a side of mashed potatoes and homemade sweet potato fries.

My wife ordered the far less exciting "Vegetable Plate" which consisted of a salad, side of mashed potatoes and two corn muffins.

Finally the glorious moment arrived and our food was delivered to our table. The fried chicken was amazing, it's pressure cooked, crispy and extremely juicy. Every bite of the chicken was absolutely succulent.

The sweet potato fries were equally unbelievable....a full plate of homemade fries with a side of cinnamon sugar to sprinkle onto the fries. (Let's just say I sprinkled plenty on).

Knowing how famous Yoder's was for their homemade pies I didn't have any hesitation in placing my dessert order while I was still eating my entree.

We ordered one slice of peanut butter pie (see above) and a piece of cheesecake. The peanut butter pie is simply to die for. I'm going to make a bold statement and say it's some of the best pie I ever tasted.

After we ate ourselves into an oblivion, we went next store to the market and picked up some homemade strawberry jam, and baby swiss and muenster cheese.

The Amish know how to eat, how to cook and how to provide amazing service. The entire experience can be summed up by me simply saying: I wish I was Amish.

Addicted to the Orange Dream Machine

I have a new addiction. And it's a rather expensive one.

What started out as an innocent journey to purchase a gift card for a friend turned into a mind numbing relationship that I simply don't know how to escape from.

This addiction is with Jamba Juice....something I never dreamed would happen. I'm not a huge smoothie guy. I don't need special energy boosters or doses of nutritional fruit, or shots of wheat grass.

We recently visited Jamba Juice with one intention: buy a gift card and leave. I made a terrible mistake though and started looking at the menu. About half way through the menu review, I almost lost interest until my eyes came upon the section titled "Creamy Treats".......now this is more my language.

There are only three choices in the Creamy Treats section and the smoothie called "Orange Dream Machine" caught my interest. Orange Juice, orange sherbet, non fat frozen yogurt and ice.

After some good hard thinking (after all, this "drink" cost over $4) and a strong recommendation from the Jamba employee, we decided to order an Orange Dream Machine.

Upon the sweet orange taste touching my lips I knew that I was forever enslaved to this phenomenal smoothie. Don't be fooled by the simple description of sherbet, yogurt and Orange Juice. This smoothie tastes like a melted down Orange Creamsicle. It's creamy, smooth, thick and completely delicious. Nothing is better than an Orange Creamsicle, especially when you can drink it through a straw.

My wife and I fought over every single ounce of the Orange Dream Machine smoothie and we were sucking down every last drop.

Now.....the Orange Dream Machine owns me. I can't get it out of my mind. I think about Jamba Juice and that stupid orange smoothie all the time. When I drive by Jamba Juice I get lost in my gaze and I almost drive off the road. I need help, or maybe I just need to go buy some more Orang Dream Machines.

Who knew a fat man could be addicted to a smoothie?

The Traveling Bib

We all know that the best place aside from the airport to "people watch" is the mall Food Court.

This past weekend while we were sitting in our local Food Court watching people and enjoying our Chick-Fil-A we saw something more shocking than usual.

A few tables to the right were two elderly woman eating chili from Wendy's. But, they had plastic Red Lobster bibs on.

That's right...in order to protect their outfit from getting chili on it they somehow had gotten plastic Red Lobster bibs to wear while eating it.

Slowly as the woman ate, my wife and I watched more and more closely in shock and awe. Where did they get Red Lobster bibs at the mall and why were they wearing them in the middle of a Food Court?!?!

Here is the really alarming part: After they were done eating, they took off their bibs, wiped them clean with a napkin, folded them up neatly and put them back in their purse.

These women carry their Red Lobster bibs around with them!

As you can imagine this launched a series of questions in my mind.

Why do grown women feel the need to use a bib?
Why does Red Lobster offer bibs....is lobster really that messy?
Why would someone steal a plastic bib from Red Lobster, clean it after use and carry it around with them?

I'm a pretty messy guy. My wife spends many of her evenings getting stains out of my clothes, however, I would never consider wearing a plastic bib or carrying one around with me at every restaurant I visit.

It seems absurd to tie a plastic bib around your neck before eating....I would feel more like a baby than anything else.

Have you used a bib? Do you know anybody that carries one around with them!?