WAKING UP THE STRAW-WRAPPER WORM

Today I went to lunch with two characters. I will call them Child Bride and Skinny Pants. Child Bride wasn't really a child bride but she looks like it. And Skinny Pants was wearing skinny pants but she denies it. If you are going to have skinny pants and look great in them you ought to fess up, that's what I think.

Anyway, we scrunched our straw wrappers up--Her Excellency of Mousehole showed me how some months ago and it is my only new talent. After the straw is sufficiently scrunched you add a drop of water...

...it wakes up the worm and he squirms around--maybe he even yawns. You can call him a snake if you want. Kids love watching the worm/snake wake up. Or maybe it's me that likes watching and I make the grandkids watch.

I told Child Bride and Skinny Pants that I know which straws in which restaurants have the best straw wrappers. The tight ones are almost impossible to scrunch--that would be the straws at Mimi's--but the loose ones, like at Heaps (Brick Oven), where we ate today, are the best.

Skinny Pants said it was pretty pathetic that I know where the best straws are at all the restaurants.

Now if I knew where the best cake was, well that might be valuable information and non-pathetic. Actually, I probably do.

That's not pathetic, is it? Is it?

She doesn't know where the best cake is and THAT'S WHY SHE HAS SKINNY PANTS.

Go forth and make some straw-wrapper worms/snakes of your own.

Love,

Your blogger friend, Lynne, who knows what restaurants have good and bad straw wrappers and which ones have good cake.

GOT TAMALES?

There's a new restaurant in town and it's a good one. It's called Got Tamales and is in North Orem, Utah at 1462 North State Street.
This is the owner, Roman Lopez. He and his charming wife have been open just two months. I didn't get a picture of her because she had gone to the post office to see if their son's mission call had come. He will be serving a two year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints--The Mormons. Roman and his wife both served missions for the church and they met in the Missionary Training Center--The MTC. After their missions they dated and married. If they hadn't both served missions they might not have met.
'This is how tamales are cooked and served on the streets of Mexico City, where Roman is from.
The menu--the Tamale part. The menu,--the burrito and chips part. And the drinks part. Here are the specialty drinks, being kept ice cold. We didn't try them but will next time.

I forgot to take a picture of the food! I can't believe I didn't do that but take my word for it, it was good. Only one suggestion for you, Roman. Leave the corn husks on the tamales. I want to take them off myself. That is part of the romance. I'm all about the romance. Especially hot romance--and the tamales were hot, both heat-hot and one of mine was a little bit spicy-hot. Roman can tell you which ones have some spicy-heat and which ones don't.

By the way, they DO NOT use lard in their tamales but use canola oil. I am not a fan of canola oil but am less of a fan of lard. I had the spinach tamale and the black bean one so my meal was vegetarian--actually, probably vegan.
The kitchen is spotless and right where you can see it. Here's the history of the tamale.
And the write up that was in our local newspaper, The Daily Herald.

We will go back. The restaurant was very clean, the food was good and the owner was charming.

Congratulations Roman on a job well done.

If anyone wants to start a Got Tamales in their neighborhood contact Roman. He is ready to franchise.

PS I just received an email from Roman. His son has been called to serve in the Riverside California mission. They are excited for their son and he is excited too. The son will serve for two years at his own expense, teaching people about Jesus Christ.

SIX WORD WEDNESDAY 6-11-08

Tango House--Argentine food--and Tangoing.

TANGO HOUSE--AN ARGENTINE RESTAURANT

There's a new--four months old--restaurant in town: Tango house, serving Argentine food. The food is very good. The address is 1700 North State in Provo, Utah.



I don't remember the name of the little shopping mall, it's changed names a few times anyway but here are some of the stores practically next door. Weight Watchers.

Dallis Roberts.

Dollar General.

This is what Tango House looks like inside.

They have a projection TV that shows Argentine shows. I understood about four words.

This is Leo--his name is actually Leonardo. He and his lovely wife, which for some reason I did not photograph, own Tango House.

We started with some empanadas. They looked like this but we were so hungry we started to devour them before I took a photo... Don't tell but I snitched this photo from someone else's blog.

...so this is what ours looked like, almost gone. This was the onion and cheese one. They were very yummy.


This is a photo of the food they serve. This serves ONE person. I know, it's hard to believe. The mashed potatoes were divine.

Delicious!

And more deliciousness.

Phil, who is NOT OFF sugar, ordered flan for dessert. I stopped being off sugar for 20 seconds and had one bite. It was heavenly. Then I climbed back on the "no sugar wagon," and grumbled and tried not to watch his face, which was disgustingly satisfied.

So, if you want a new place to eat, or if you have Argentine ties--maybe your son or daughter is serving a mission there--try Tango House.

They also host missionary reunions.

The food is good.

Leo is charming.

What more could you ask for?

Tell Leo I said, "Hello."

GLORIA'S LITTLE ITALY--MY NEW FAVORITE RESTAURANT

This is my new favorite restaurant, Gloria's Little Italy. My other favorites are Brick Oven--I call it that in case there are newcomers in the Provo/Orem/Happy Valley area and don't know it is really called "Heaps." Ottavio's, Carrabbas--they have the best dish I have ever tasted, honest it is, J-Dawg--can't really call this a restaurant but the hot dogs, and the price, can't be beat. Chuck-A-Rama is on the list because you can eat whatever you want and the food is always good. I know there are folks who say, "What? Chuck-A-Rama?" But they go there themselves so I better not hear from them.

But today's new favorite is Gloria's Little Italy on 279 East 300 South in Provo, Utah. Phone number 801-805-4913. I will be calling to see what the daily special is . When we went it was eggplant Parmesan, my all time favorite choice at Italian restaurants.


Here are the owners, Mauro Bonfanti and Gloria. They met in Italy at the beach when Gloria was only 13 years old and Mauro was 21. She lived in Piza and he lived in Pistoia. He was finished with his military service and knew a good thing when he saw it. I think her friend was dating his cousin so he got to know her through them and after a while he asked if she would be his girl. "My mother wouldn't like it," she said. But he was patient and when she was old enough she did become his girl and when she was 18 they were married in the Mormon Temple. They are both converts to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

They had friends in Utah and came for a visit a few years ago. They loved it here and applied for green cards. After three years they were successful.

Mouro is a jeweler and works for a highly respected jewelry store in the area. Maybe his experience with jewels has helped make this restaurant the little jewel that it is.


This is Gloria with her daughter, Letizia who is 21 and available, in case any Mommas have a young man who needs a date for Friday night. Letizia was delightful, cheerful, her English was perfect and she is smart--she will graduate from BYU next April. She was our waitress. Gloria and Mauro have two other children, a boy, Samuele, 25 and a girl, Katy, 13. They all work at the restaurant when they are not in school. Now I ask you, does Gloria look old enough to have a 25 year old boy? No, she doesn't.

Here are the things you see as you walk in the door.

Then you walk down these steps to the first dining room.

Here is Phil, checking out the lunch menu. I know what I want--the daily special.

Phil ordered a panini. I didn't get a photo before her hungrily took some bites.

I chose wisely. Mmm. Eggplant Parmesan. I was not disappointed. It was delicious and affordable--$7.99.

This is the romantic room upstairs. There are skylights and at night you can see the moon.

I will leave you with this beautiful shot of the fruit tart. Just like a jewel, perhaps like some that Mauro sets into silver or gold.

If you live in the area you owe it to yourself to check out Gloria's Little Italy. The food was good and Letizia and her parents were simply delightful.