All she wants is a little respect...

That's right!  Respect the Waffle of Insane Greatness...

Or the massive pile of cheesy eggs and Applewood bacon...

The potatoes are tossed with jalapenos that give them just enough heat to be exciting, but not so much you can't taste the rest of the meal.  The biscuits are also gargantuan.  Real cheddar cheese on the eggs is a plus.  Nothin' against American cheese, but sometimes you want the real thing.  And the bacon, oh my, the bacon.  Crunchy in consistency and rich in color, with a hint of happiness and love... Jim Gaffigan would be proud.

Aretha's has a cozy, friendly feel.  Make sure you have time to relax and enjoy a coffee or beer or a mixture of both, because the wait is long... but worth it!  - my mug shot courtesy of a good friend

Next time I fully intend to beat this guy's record (7 monster pancakes in 20 minutes), because these pancakes would totally be worth the pain...

One more thing! At the risk of sounding like a complete freak, I must say, bathrooms are very important to me... temperature, color, accents and hooks!  Golly, hooks are cheap and so many restrooms are sorely lacking a proper place to hang my purse.  Aretha's passed this test with flying colors!

Well, folks, as always, our annual Tennessee trip was embellished by delicious food with delightful friends. Can't wait to go back and eat pancakes until I can no longer move!

Happy Eating!

Tasty indeed...

Could this place possibly have picked a more appropriate name?  I submit that they could not.  Tasty's is the place to go in Fernandina for fresh, messy, sloppy, sauce-running-down-your-wrists burger!  And the fries...  I need a moment... 

ok, I'm back from my fry-dream.  As I was saying, the fries are delectable, delicious and demanding of a lot of napkins.  The place has a great diner feel to it and I love chilling at a picnic table outside.  We watched a storm roll in while feasting like burger kings and queens.  No, not the greasy fast food kind of "burger royalty". The "Fit for Queen Elizabeth's Jubilee" kind of meal.  

Here's where you go to order...

That's where we sat...

And here is what I gorged myself on...

Would you like a closeup?

These fries were incredible... I mean, LOOK at them! They should be outlawed.  I'm not kidding.  Well, maybe I'm kidding, because I would hate to have a criminal record because of french fries.  ANYWAY, what I particularly liked about these babies were the fact that they were Chili Cheese Fries without the chili.  Dusted in chili powder, they give the impression of chili without the soggy, greasy sauce.  The cheese is creamy and melty, but still allows the fries to maintain the perfect consistency... that fantastical realm between soft and crunchy.  Oh yeah, you know what I'm talkin' 'bout. 

I'm not ashamed, well, maybe a little ashamed, to say that I very literally had to cover them with a napkin to keep from hurting myself.  I really wanted to eat every last one and then bang on the door until they served me more.  

Which leads me to one more 'kudos' for Tasty's:  if the customers are coming, they keep cooking.  We arrived at 2:30 not knowing they closed at 2.  However, the very cheerful lady at the counter said that as long as the grill is hot, they keep 'em coming.  How cool is that?!  

My only complaint is that they are in Fernandina... and I'm not. 

Happy Eating!

Happiness is a warm cast iron skillet

So a couple of friends have been going on about how wonderful the Fried Chicken and Waffles are at Metro Diner here in Jacksonville.  And doggone it!  Now I have a hankerin’!  (With talk like that, you’d think I was from the South... oh wait! I am!)

Anyway, I found a simple recipe for Panko Fried Chicken from Eat, Drink, Man.  Pretty straight forward.  But since my waffle maker is still being held hostage (long story), my hubby whipped up a batch of his magically delicious pancakes.

Behold the transformation from naked tenderloins to golden-fried goodness, from blobs of lumpy batter to sun-shaped cakes of happiness. 



And thus was laid before us a feast of such glorious proportions, that we almost felt the need to pray 
twice. 

While it may appear that I had only three pancakes on my plate, I am ashamed, positively mortified, to tell you how many I ate.  And so I will not!   

Tchau!  Happy Eating!