American Retains the Mustard Yellow Belt…

4 07 2008

…and that’s something as a nation, we can all be proud of (did the sarcasm come through)?  For the second year in a row, Joey Chestnut defeated Takeru Kobayashi at the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest in New York.  But this year, the shorter time limit made things interesting.

The men tied at 59 frankfurters in 10 minutes, before being made to gobble another five dogs in a last-minute tiebreaker. They consumed 64 hot dogs total and were looking quite peaked after the competition. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Food News

Orignal Meijer Superstore to be Replaced…

4 07 2008

…with the first new Meijer in Grand Rapids city limits in over a decade.

The Grand Rapids Press reports Friday that the store is scheduled to be replaced. Grand Rapids-based Meijer plans to keep the supercenter open while it builds a new store next to the existing site, with the new store opening in 2010.

The building began as a 17,000-square-foot grocery store in 1958. It became the retail chain’s first supercenter in 1962, adding 75,000 square feet to house non-grocery items.

That’ll be a piece of history being torn down.


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Categories : Food News, Grand Rapids, Grocery

Useless but Interesting 4th of July Facts

4 07 2008

Today is just like any other day at the world headquarters of Mid-Michigan Dining.  I’m sitting on the couch watching a King of the Hill marathon on FX.  I almost forgot today was actually a holiday.  I was forwarded the following press release from the U.S. Census Bureau just in case you’re at all curious about the chances of your side dish coming from North Dakota or how much it costs Americans to import.  I actually find it very disturbing that we import $4.3 million worth of flags from China.

The Fourth of July 2008

On this day in 1776, the Declaration of Independence was approved by the Continental Congress, setting the 13 colonies on the road to freedom as a sovereign nation. As always, this most American of holidays will be marked by parades, fireworks and backyard barbecues across the country.

2.5 million
In July 1776, the estimated number of people living in the newly independent nation.
Source: Historical Statistics of the United States: Colonial Times to 1970 <http://www.census.gov/prod/www/abs/statab.html>

304 million
The nation’s population on this July Fourth.
Source: Population clock <http://www.census.gov/main/www/popclock.html> Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Food News

Buy Local First Week

3 07 2008

I got a mailer today from Rep. Barb Byrum (D-Lansing) proclaiming July 13th thru 19th Buy Local Week.   Since I can’t find it on-line, I’m just going to copy the bulk of the mailer which is 10 Reasons to Buy Local.

  1. Invest in the Community: Local businesses are owned by people who live in our community.  They are invested in the future of our town.
  2. Help Support Local Orfanizations: Nonprofit organizations recieve two and a half times more support from small, local business owners than they do from large, chain businesses.
  3. Encourage a Prosperous Community: Research has shown that in an increasingly homogenized world, entrepreneurs and skilled workers are more likely to invest and settle in comunities that preserve their one-of-a-kind businesses and distinctive character. Read the rest of this entry »

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Categories : Food News, Michigan

Wal-Mart – Delta Township

3 07 2008
  • 409 N. Marketplace Blvd.Walmart Delta Township
  • Lansing, MI 48917
  • (517) 622-8036
  • Website

Wal-Mart is evil….or so I’m told.  I know the arguments.  My dad’s a union  guy and my girlfriend’s parents are both union workers.  Her mom is a union grocer.  We’ve done really good about not running to Wal-Mart every other day like we did when we lived near Peoria, IL.  The problem there was there were only two grocery stores in town.  Both were chains (the other store being Kroger) and Wal-Mart was within walking distance of our apartment, so we shopped there out of convience more than anything.  We would still make special trips to Schnuck’s (a St. Louis-based chain) for produce, but the majority of our shopping was done at Wal-Mart.

The closest Wal-Mart to us now is in the Delta Township and it’s about a 10 minute (give or take a few) drive.  We made Wal-Mart a weekly stop right before we go to Horrock’s (review HERE), but not for any reason you might suspect.   Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Grocery, Lansing, Reviews

Sawyer’s Gourmet Pancake House

3 07 2008
  • 608 W. Saginaw St.Sawyer\'s Gourmet Pancake House
  • Lansing, MI 48933
  • (517) 485-9410
  • Website
  • Menu

I am not a morning person so the fact that I even got up for breakfast is kind of amazing.  We had some early morning errands to run and since we were up before eight o’clock, I suggested we go to breakfast before doing our shopping.  I’ve drove by Sawyer’s Gourmet Pancake House many times and saw a review on Runs With Spatula.  We headed down Saginaw to find Sawyer’s little, quaint building for some “early morning” grub.

Not being a morning person, I’m not really a breakfast person either.  I’m bad.  Most days breakfast is a Pepsi before lunch, but I like eggs.  In fact, I’ll cook omeletts or fried eggs for dinner sometimes.  Since we were at a “gourmet pancake house” I thought it’d be best to try the pancakes.  I went simple and ordered three buttermilk pancakes which come with real maple flavored syrup and whipped butter.  The thing I notice about breakfast places is the never give you enough butter with the pancakes.  There was just a tiny scoop on the top.  Not enough to really do any damage on the top pancake let alone the two underneath it.  That was initially a disappointment.  That is, until I took a bite.  These were the best pancakes I’ve had in a long time and much better than anything I’ve ever made myself.  They were light and fluffy and there was still a bite to them.  The inside was perfectly cooked as far as I’m concerned.  They were just a little “doughy” which made them heavy and very filling.  I also ordered two eggs over easy and I ended up stuffed with a few bites left on my plate.  I really needed a nap after that meal. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : breakfast

Leo’s Lodge

2 07 2008
  • 2525 E. Jolly Rd.Leo\'s Lodge
  • Lansing, MI 48910
  • (517) 882- 3850
  • Website
  • Menu

OK, so I’ve spent our day playing our new Wii.  Before I knew it, it was dinner time and I had nothing laid out or any energy to actually cook a meal.  I went and picked my girlfriend up from work and decided we needed a night out.  I had drove by Leo’s Lodge several times and figured it was time to actually stop in. 

The decor of Leo’s should be pretty obvious from the name.  It’s a lodge.  Very cool rustic feel with a faux log cabing design.  When you walk in, you sort of walk into a small dining room connected to the bar.  There are a few tables and a pool table.  We started to head that way, but my girlfriend called an audible at the last minute and we went over to the other dining room which was no smoking.  We took a seat right in front of a big screen TV.  If we played the stock market, we could have gotten caught up during dinner as they had CNBC on that particular TV.  First thing we both noticed was the chairs.  It was a very cool design with a woven rope seat and back on a rustic wood frame.  Very cool addition to the log cabin feel. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Burgers, Lansing, Local Flavor, Michigan, Pub, Restaurant, Reviews, Sandwiches, Stanton

Blogging May Be Light

2 07 2008

FedEx came this morning with a Wii and a Wii Fit.  We’ve been playing for five hours now.  I may not leave the house for the next couple weeks. 🙂


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Categories : Michigan

Quality Dairy – Holt

1 07 2008
  • 2233 Cedar St.Quality Dairy
  • Holt, MI 48842
  • (517) 694-8653
  • Website

I got to admit.  I was shocked when I saw regular commentor Adam say Quality Dairy was on of the things he couldn’t live without.  Since moving here, I’ve drove by QD many times thinking they were just another 7-11.  When I asked why he couldn’t live with Quality Dairy, he replied the premium ice cream and baked goods baked fresh daily were the things he would miss the most. 

I had an ice cream craving and my excursion to L & L Food Center (review HERE) to get Moomer’s Ice Cream was a bust, so I went a little farther down Cedar to Quality Dairy.  My suspicion was correct.  Quality Dairy is a convience store very similar to 7-11.  They have booze.  They have pantry items.  Like 7-11, but different. 

Quality Dairy got it’s start in Lansing in 1936 as a place where people could buy milk.  At that point in time, milk was delivered in glass bottles.  Quality Dairy changed that delivery system by offering milk at small milk stores on a cash and carry basis.  Four years later, they expanded to ice cream which was the purpose of my visit. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Grocery, Holt, Ice Cream, Reviews

L & L Food Center – Holt

1 07 2008
  • 2380 Cedar St.L & L Food Center in Holt
  • Holt, MI 48842
  • (517) 694-5929
  • Website

L & L Food Center is uniquely Lansing.  Founded in 1931 by the Levandowski family, L & L Food Center has grown to eight Lansing area locations.  While I was at the Lansing City Market last week, I saw a booth for Moomers Ice Cream and a sign saying Moomers was sold at L & L.  I was sitting on the couch watching Family Guy (again) and wanted ice cream.  There’s an L & L just down the street so I thought I’d go check it out.

L & L isn’t a huge grocery store.  It’s sort of a hybrid between a local grocer and a chain supermarket.  The layout shares some design elements as the large stores, but I had a hard time finding what I was looking for.  However, that did give me a chance to check out other things in the store.  I sort of blew through the produce section and found my way to the meat section.  Most of their beef is cut by their own butcher department.  Their line of beef is packaged under the name of the founders and sold exclusively at L & L.  Besides a butcher shop, there’s also a line of smoked meats, hams, and sausaged packaged under the brand Levandowski Sausage Company.  They also carry the same line of chicken as the Kroger down the street, but the prices were much cheaper.  Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Grocery, Holt, Reviews

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