The Highland Bar

One of my regular stops (there are many..) is The Highland Bar in West View.  The Highland is a local's type place that is known for down right cheap food specials and very inexpensive drinks.  It's one of those old U shaped bars with red vinyl stools, a Formica bar top and knotty pine paneling.  Old School.

I stopped in on a Friday and decided to order a fish sandwich.  This is another good one!  A huge fish, with a choice of two sides went for $8+.  Take a look at this monster:

Please note that while this is an old place and on top of that it's a smoking bar, it's also very clean.  I'm not a smoker so sometimes these places bother me but I've never had a problem here. In the afternoon or around happy hour time the crowd is basicly older locals.  At night it get a bit younger (and louder).  The Highland is located on Route 19 in West View.

I was in State College Pa this week, and as I was about to leave, found myself in the middle of quite a snowstorm.  The weather report had called for only 2 to 4 inches, but within an hour it looked like they really missed on this forecast.  I love State College, so making the decision to stay wasn't hard!

One of the meals I enjoyed was a great lunch at Spats Cafe & Speakeasy.   Spats is New Orleans, cajun type food and they have always done it well.

I ordered a lightly breaded catfish served with tasty greens and very smooth grits.  My lunch partner chose the muffaletta sandwich.  A muffaletta is typically several meats with a spicy olive spread, served on a bread similar to a focaccia.  While I didn't get the chance to taste it, it sure looked good and got raves from my guest.

In addition to the great food, Spats also frequently hosts jazz bands on the weekends and has a comfortable bar if thats what you prefer.

Another reason that I love All Clad...

I've owned a lot of All Clad cookware for many years now, and love the way it cooks and it's durability.  I'm also fortunate enough to live close to the factory and have been able to take advantage of the factory sales that they hold twice a year which has allowed me to buy these at significant discounts.  At the sales they sell first quality and also factory seconds, although I've never been able to see the defects on any of the pans that I've purchased.  In addition, they provide the full factory warranty on the seconds also.

I had two sauce pans that had a non-stick coating which started to peel slightly around the top edges.  By slightly, I mean that the coating has peeled between an 1/8 of an inch to about a 1/4 inch in the worst spots, over about a ten year period.  I contacted the company and they sent me a prepaid postage label to ship them back.  A couple of weeks later, look what arrived!  Two new sauce pans, along with two new lids, which I did not even send to them!

I know that you pay for this service in the purchase price, but it's nice to see that they come through.

Stopped for lunch in Somerset...

at the Summit Diner and when the young ladies at the table next to mine left they chose to leave their tip in this fashion...

The waitress later explained that one of the girls was her granddaughter.  Quite generous too!

Happy New Year!

Our wonderful neighbors came to the door with a New Years good luck pretzel.  While I've heard of this tradition, I think this is the first time I've ever had one.  I know that they are sold at bakery's all around Pittsburgh but am not sure where this tradition originated.  

The "pretzels" are made with a buttery bread dough and topped with icing, sweet dried fruit and maybe some walnuts or sliced almonds.

Tradition says that it will bring good luck and prosperity if you eat this at midnight on New Years Eve or for breakfast on New Years day.

Burgatory

I love a good burger and over the past few years a ton of new up-scale burger restaurants have opened around the Pittsburgh area.  At least they are as "up-scale" as a burger joint gets.  I've touted the great burgers at Winghart's, BRGR, the Union Grill, and of course my favorite, Tessaro's.  Well, I have a new favorite-Burgatory.

I recall making the trip to the original location in Fox Chapel.  When we got there and realized it was in a shopping center we made the decision to have lunch down the road at Bob's Garage (another great place too!).  Turns out, leaving the shopping center was a mistake.

This time we went to the newest location in Robinson Township.  The restaurant is a comfortable, modern decor with a mix of tables surrounded by booths and a large bar in the middle.  While they offer full bar service it appears to me that this place is mostly about the food.  The menu offers 10 burger selections or you can build your own from a checklist where you choose each ingredient to create your own custom creation.

Stacy and I ordered off the menu and went with the Standard Deluxe and the Morty's Steakhouse.  Here are the descriptions from the menu:

STANDARD DELUXE* $9
All Natural Beef Burger with White American Cheese, Lettuce, Tomato, Onion & our House Burger Sauce.

MORTY’S STEAKHOUSE* $11

Peppercorn Crusted Beef Burger with Horseradish Cheddar, Haystack Onions & Cabernet Sauce. Like the greatest steak dinner you’ve ever had reincarnated as a burger

When you order, instead of the ambiguious rare, med rare, med, med well, and well you simply choose to have you burger cooked either red, pink, or no pink.  I like that.  In addition, the burgers are served with homemade potato and sweet potato chips.  Of course fry's and a variety of other sides are available.  There are also a few salads and a veggie and crab burger, but none of those options were considered by us!

Both of us loved our burgers.  Really loved our burgers.  To the point that we each think these may have been the best we have ever had...(sorry Tessaros).  Since it was only one trip, I'm not going to rate it the best, but I'm going back, for sure.

Burgatory is located near the WalMart in the Robinson Town Center.

New Christmas Toys!

 The All Clad Factory sale is currently going on at the Washington County Fairgrounds, just South of Pittsburgh.  I usually go every year and search for values.  The problem with cookware that lasts forever, is that pretty soon you run out of things you need.  Then you start to buy stuff like a roasting pan with a 3 tier rack.

You could say that when you buy a roasting pan with a 3 tier rack, you already have too much All Clad.  I choose to not think so.

I have had some people ask me if the sale is worthwhile.  First off, you will have to wait in line, but if you go at the right time the wait will be minimal.  People tend to get there in the morning thinking the selection will be better, but I've found that going at 2 or 3 in the afternoon works best.  As far as selection, the nice folks at the sale restock the sales room continually throughout the day, so selection is pretty much the same.  

This is an example of one of my purchases this year.  It is an 8 quart, stainless stock pot.  The list price for this is $380.00 while the sale price was $89.99.

Realistically, I don't think many of these are sold for $380, but I did see this one in Macys for $259.99.

You may think that even with a serious discount, spending almost a hundred dollars for a stock pot is crazy, and you may be right, but these are really great kitchen utensils that provide great performance and will last a lifetime.

Nied's Hotel

Stacy and I went to Lawrenceville last night to catch some music and decided to stop at Nied's Hotel on Butler street.  Nied's has been a landmark for many years, and it's been so many years since I've been there that I couldn't even remember which door served the restaurant and which one went to the bar.  We chose the right one, and had a great view of the band (Jimmy Alder Blues Band) from our seats at the bar.




I was hungry and couldn't resist the fish sandwich which is the house specialty.  So typical of Pittsburgh fish, it was great!  Pretty big too.

The menu was interesting with notable choices in addition to the fish such as Fried Jumbo, Pierogies, and Braunschweiger on Rye.  All at rock bottom prices.  This really is a great local restaurant and bar.  A few years ago, the Pittsburgh Post Gazette called Nied's "Perhaps the most perfect neighborhood bar in a city full of 'em".

Nied's is right on Butler Street in the Lawrenceville section of Pittsburgh.

The winter All Clad factory sale is almost here!  This year it will be held on December 6th and 7th at the Washington County fair grounds, which is about 30 or 40 miles south of Pittsburgh.  If you are a fan of their cookware and are in the area, it's worth the trip.

Imported Seafood!

Just thought I would share this.  It's one of the funniest menu notes I've seen.  I'm not going to mention the name of the restaurant...Actually it's one of my favorite places, much more for the atmosphere than the food though!

Sweet and Spicy Pumpkin Seeds

It's pumpkin time again, and one of my favorite treats is roasted pumpkin seeds.  I've tried several different recipes, but here is my favorite.  The flavor should be a bit sweet, and a bit spicy at the same time.  Be careful not to use too much cayenne to start...You can always add a bit more!

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  Take about 1 1/2 cups of washed pumpkin seeds and spread on a lightly oiled baking sheet, lightly salt and bake for 25 minutes.

While they are baking, mix together in a bowl two tablespoons of sugar with 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon, ginger and cumin, then add just a pinch of ground cayenne pepper and set aside.

When the seeds are baked, add a couple of teaspoons of olive oil to a frying pan along with 2 tablespoons of sugar.  Heat until the sugar is dissolved.  Add the pumpkin seeds and cook until the sugar starts to caramelize and the seeds are slightly brown.  Stir the caramelized seeds into the spice mixture in the bowl.  Taste and add a bit more cayenne if desired. 

Sugar and Spice, Waterford PA

Sugar and Spice is a little restaurant in the Northwest PA town of Waterford. Although I have not been there for several years I was in the area last week and decided to stop for lunch.  It was just as good as I remembered.  The food is advertised as Amish home style.  I remembered seeing the fish sandwich on a previous visit.  I also remember that it was huge, so Stacy and I decided to split one. As you can see, it was big!  The fish was probably two feet long!!!  Pretty good too.  I can't wait to go back and try some of the more Amish style food.

I know this doesn't have anything to do with 'Burghfeeding but it's interesting!  This week we had a GIANT RUBBER DUCK arrive in Pittsburgh.  I'm not sure why, but you can read the following story to get some insight: http://m.theatlanticcities.com/neighborhoods/2013/10/youve-heard-party-bus-pittsburgh-has-party-bridge/7099/

My sister and I went down for a late lunch/early happy hour, and by chance the Duck was making it's way up the river toward us, and gave me the chance to snap the picture above.  Pretty awesome!

When I was much younger, there were a number of White Castle restaurants in and around our city.  They are all gone now, but as I travel across Indiana I passed a number of them.  After my GPS failed to locate me a restaurant (that was still open), I gave up and decided to stop at White Castle.

As I waited in line, the woman in front of me ordered 30 burgers!  The famous sliders are as remembered...About an 1/8 inch of beef (maybe 3/16" but that's generous), onions, and pickle slice on a soft bun.  Great? not even close, but I'm still glad I stopped.

I was travelling through Northern Pennsylvania this week and stopped for lunch in Bradford.  While the town doesn't have a lot of choices, Kelly's stood out on the main street.  It was a bit of a treat because I noticed immediately that they served one of my favorite sandwiches that we can't get around Pittsburgh, Beef on Weck.  This is served all over Buffalo, and is usually sliced beef on a weck bun which is a soft bun with kosher salt and caraway seed on top.  While the beef at Kelly's was chopped, not sliced, it was still very good.  Usually these are served with au jus and horseradish.  Excellent!