Twisters Soft Serve Ice Cream – South Cedar

10 02 2009
  • 5620 S. Cedar Street
  • Lansing, MI 48911
  • (517) 272-5015
  • Website
  • Menu
Twisters Soft Serve Ice Creams second location on South Cedar Street in Lansing.

Twisters Soft Serve Ice Cream's second location on South Cedar Street in Lansing.

Boy, as soon as the mercury hits 65 degrees, everyone thinks it’s summer.  Just this morning, I saw a story on WLNS.com about ice cream shops opening up…in February!  My day was spent barbecuing so I guess I’m not any better.  After dinner, J suggested we go get ice cream.  Heck, this might be our only chance at sixty degrees for a couple months yet so let’s take advantage of it.

Twisters Soft Serve Ice Cream has two locations in Lansing.  The original is on South Waverly.  The second location and the one closest to us is on South Cedar Street right next to Taco Bell.  The building is a drive-thru only structure with a little patio area set up out front if you choose to get out of the car and order at the window.

It was a nice night, but not nice enough to eat ice cream outside, so we hit up the drive thru.  When you first enter the driveway, there’s a menu board on the side of the building.  It’s not lit up and J had a hard time reading it from the passenger seat, so we drove around to the order speaker.  Again, no light on the menu board and J couldn’t make out most of what it said.  I went with my normal ice cream treat, a peanut butter cup Flurry.  J eventually gave up and ordered the same thing.  We each got a medium Flurry for a cost of $7 for the two of them. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Ice Cream, Lansing, Michigan, Restaurant, Reviews

The First BBQ of the Season – Updated x3

10 02 2009

I love unseasonably warm weather.  J and I were catching up on some missed episodes of Diner’s, Drive In’s, and Dives this morning.  Last night’s show was all about BBQ.  That made me crave a slab of pork.  J kept saying I needed to do something to get out of the house today since it was so freakin nice, so I thawed out a pork loin and decided to fire up the BBQ. 

So, what exactly is my first BBQ of the season?  It’s a Tennesee Pork Loin.  A recipe I took and modified from BBQ U.  I like my dry rub better, but mostly everything else is Steven Raichlen’s.  There was a glaze in the original recipe, but I dropped that to save some calories.  It’s still delicious without out.

Tennesee Pork Loin

1 pork loin
3 Tbsp Tennessee Whiskey
2 Tbsp BBQ Rub
3 Tbsp Dijon Mustard
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 Slices bacon

Butterfly the pork loin.  Sprinkle inside of roast with 2 Tbsp of the whiskey.  Let rest for five minutes.  Sprink BBQ rub on top of whiskey.  Spread Dijon mustard on top of rub then top with brown sugar.  Close up the loin and sprinkle with more rub.  Wrap bacon around the loin and tie with butcher string.

Set up grill for indirect grilling.  Add wood chips and smoke over medium heat for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.  Let rest for 10 minutes.  Serve with BBQ sauce.

Original Recipe – As you can see, I’ve taken a lot of steps out.  Mostly just to take out excess sugars.  The pork loin still tastes delicious.

The Tennesee Pork Loin Butterflied and rubbed down

The Tennesee Pork Loin Butterflied and rubbed downJust before it went on the grill

The pork loin ready to go on the grill
The pork loin ready to go on the grill

It smells like summer in here….. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Michigan

Ice Cream Shops Opening for Season

10 02 2009

Saw this on WLNS.com……yay!

 The warm weather is heating up sales for local ice cream shops. As the snow melts, customers are once again indulging their tastebuds with frozen treats. For local shops, the rise in customers is a sweet topping to the barren winter season. Twisters Ice Cream Shop reopened last week and customers are already coming in to get their frozen fix.


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Categories : Food News, Lansing, Michigan

Press Release – Granholm Smoking Ban Remarks in State of State

10 02 2009

From a Campaign for Smokefree Air press release….

Granholm once again calls on lawmakers to enact smokefree legislation in her State of the State address

LANSING, Mich. –During her State of the State address, Gov. Jennifer Granholm, once again, strongly urged Michigan lawmakers to pass comprehensive smokefree workplace legislation.

“We again applaud the governor’s comments tonight and her support for smokefree air,” said Susan Schechter, CSA spokesperson and director of advocacy at the American Lung Association of Michigan. “Many lawmakers have done their research and know that in 2006 U.S. Surgeon General Richard H. Carmona released a report stating the only way to protect Americans from secondhand smoke is through comprehensive smokefree workplace legislation and policies. It’s time for lawmakers to stop dancing around the issue and finally listen to the state’s leader as well as their constituents and pass comprehensive smokefree air legislation this year.” Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Michigan, Politics

Fat Matt’s Pizza

9 02 2009
  • 986 Trowbridge Road
  • East Lansing, MI 48823
  • (517) 324-7000
  • No Known Website
  • Menu
Fat Matts Pizza in the Trowbridge Plaza in East Lansing.

Fat Matt's Pizza in the Trowbridge Plaza in East Lansing.

I’m still on that quest for the perfect pizza.  We’ve found a couple really, really good ones and some really, really just alright ones.  I had been hearing things about a fairly new place in East Lansing called Fat Matt’s.  Since I was in the area, hungry, and tired, I stopped in to Fat Matt’s to see if they could place on my pizza list.

Fat Matt’s Pizza is located in the Trowbridge Plaza in East Lansing.  It’s a little tough to find at first.  It’s not visible from Trowbridge Road.  There’s a little section of the plaza on the side that has a few stores and Fat Matt’s is the last store in this stretch.  It actually sits right next to Goodrich’s loading docks. 

The store itself is pretty small.  Most of the space is taken up by the kitchen, but they do have two tables should you want to sit there and eat for some reason.  I had heard they did pizza-by-the-slice and they had a display for them, but there was nothing in it.  Instead of questioning, I just ordered a large pizza.  Usually, we get just cheese pizza since J doesn’t really like toppings, but I was in the mood for pepperoni, so I got half cheese, half pepperoni.  I got a little bit of sticker shock when the guy told me the price was $17.  I thought that was pretty expensive for a pizza.  I looked at the menu and a large cheese pizza is $13 then it’s almost $2 more for each topping.  To me, that doesn’t seem like a way to compete with the chains. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : East Lansing, Michigan, Pizza, Restaurant, Reviews

Quality Dairy – Michigan Ave, East Lansing

9 02 2009
  • 808 Michigan Avenue
  • East Lansing, MI 48823
  • (517) 319-4121
  • Website
The Quality Dairy on Michigan and Harrison in East Lansing.

The Quality Dairy on Michigan and Harrison in East Lansing.

I’m having a hard time driving past a QD nowadays.  I left McDonald’s with two sandwiches and nothing to drink.  I knew I could go back the way I came and find a Quality Dairy and get whatever I wanted to drink.
This Quality Dairy is on the corner of Harrison and Michigan Avenue in East Lansing near the Michigan State University athletic facilities.  Getting in to the parking lot is a little weird.  If you’re on Michigan Avenue, you turn into the lot on what looks like a sidewalk.  It’s so close to the corner, you wouldn’t think there would be a driveway there. 
This QD is really no different from any of the other ones in town.  The building is a little smaller than some and the inside is a little cramped, but you still get all the doughnuts, coffee, and ice cream.  Read the rest of this entry »

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Categories : East Lansing, Grocery, Michigan, Reviews

Jenison Field House

9 02 2009
  • 248 Jenison Fieldhouse
  • East Lansing, MI 48824
  • (517) 355-1610
  • Website
The entrance to Jenison Fieldhouse on MSUs campus

The entrance to Jenison Fieldhouse on MSU's campus

I wish my first visit to Jenison Field House was thirty years.  When I walked in to the building for the first time, the first and only thing I could think was, “I bet this place was loud.”  I knew of Jenison before I moved to Lansing.  Who hasn’t?  I loved watching the old clips of Magic Johnson in East Lansing.  I can only imagine what the place was like.  Sure, it’s huge, but those big cavernous ceilings had to make the place loud.

Jenison Field House is on the campus of MSU just off Kalamazoo Street.  It’s just a block or so from it’s replacement, the Jack Breslin Student Events Center (review HERE).  It’s a huge building.  At first, I was wondering how they would even do basketball, but figured it out after seeing the wrestling set up. 

Jenison was opened in 1940 and was the home to Spartan basketball until 1989.  The facility is now used for Women’s volleyball, gymnastics, wrestling, and indoor track & field as well as a practice facility for a number of MSU sports.  There is permanent seating in an upper deck that runs around the entire facility.  The surface is a multi purpose rubber which is used for track and field.  When other events are held in the Field House, a curtain is dropped to divide the arena into a smaller area and portable bleachers are brought in to fill out the empty spaces.  Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Big Ten Tour, East Lansing, Entertainment Venues, Live Entertainment, Michigan, Reviews

Cold Stone and Tim Hortons To Team Up

7 02 2009

When I read the headline, I was a little shocked, but here it is.

Tim Hortons Inc. and the parent of Cold Stone Creamery said today they will team up to create up to 100 co-branded stores that will offer customers both ice cream and coffee shop fare.

[snip]

The companies said they recently co-branded two existing Tim Hortons locations in Rhode Island with positive results.

Existing Cold Stone and Tim Hortons locations in Michigan, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island, Maine and Connecticut will be picked and reconfigured to offer both brands, the companies said.

The article mentions existing co-branded stores with Dunkin Donuts and Baskin Robbins which are pretty prevelant in the Chicagoland area.  It could work.  I hope they don’t change stores on South Cedar Street and in Holt.  That’s too close to home…


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Categories : Food News, Michigan

Wing Zone

1 02 2009
  • 340 Morgan Lane
  • Lansing, MI 48912
  • (517) 332-9464
  • Website
  • Menu
Wing Zone in the Frandor Shopping Center in Lansing.

Wing Zone in the Frandor Shopping Center in Lansing.

Wings and the Super Bowl go together.  It’s just a fact of life.  For the last five or six years, I have slaved over a deep fryer for hours making wings for my friends on the day of the game.  Every year, I’d come up with a new sauce or way to cook them.  Last year, I skipped the deep fryer all together and went for baked wings.  This year, I just wasn’t in the mood.  I still wanted wings and have been craving them for days.  My two choices were to make a trip to Kroger for wings and oil or let the professionals do all the work.

My favorite wing place, by far has always been Buffalo Wild Wings.  It’s the one chain I don’t mind telling you that I love.  When the company opened their first store in the Peoria area, I spent three or four nights a week there.  I worked second shift and my buddies and I would hit B-Dubs after work for drinks and wings.  Most Tuesday’s, our orders were waiting for us when we got there. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Chains, Chicken, Lansing, Michigan, Restaurant, Reviews, Wings

Sir Pizza : Grand Cafe

31 01 2009
  • 210 E. Grand River Avenue
  • Lansing, MI 48906
  • (517) 484-9197
  • Website
  • Menu
Sir Pizzas Grand Cafe in Lansings Old Town

Sir Pizza's Grand Cafe in Lansing's Old Town

After a late afternoon lunch, neither J or I were really hungry around “dinner time.”  We sat on the couch watching TV until a little after eight.  It was then, we decided we needed to find something for dinner.  I wasn’t really in the mood for another burger and the only thing I had a taste for was pizza.  I was hesitant to suggest that because I seem to always go to pizza if I don’t want bar food.  To my surprise, when I did suggest it, J said she was thinking the same thing.

Our first choice was the newly opened Izzo’s Pizzeria in REO Town.  Unfortunately, we were too late.  When we drove by, it was open.  By the time we parked and walked back to the pizzeria, it was closed, so I went with Plan B. 

The Sir Pizza Grand Cafe is in Lansing Old Town on Grand River Avenue overlooking the Grand River.  When it came to ordering pizza, we always seemed to avoid the Lansing chain.  The other Sir Pizza stores never really looked all that inviting.  The one we always drive by is the Cedar Street/Mt. Hope location and that one looks like it’s abandoned.  The front is all boarded up and you can’t tell that there’s anything going on inside.  So, and I know this is bad, that’s how my perception of Sir Pizza was built, but I had heard good things about the Grand Cafe.  Since we were still in the mood for pizza and Old Town wasn’t really all that far, that’s where we headed. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Lansing, Michigan, Old Town, Pizza, Restaurant, Reviews

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