Not sure Wether to Laugh or Cry

How do you know you partially failed on the parental front? When your three year old initiates a conversation where he mentions that food comes from restaurants. That we don't have food in our home. When you correct him and say yes, of course we have food in our home, silly. He retorts with, well yea, Raven has food in our home. DOH!

Yes, we eat out often. Much more, often than we should. However, we have food in our home. We also go to the grocery store at least weekly. He has even been to farms and the farmer's market. I like to chalk it up to him just being silly. He does, like to test us like that. But I guess we got the message... well maybe.

Have a Menu, or Maybe Not

Brian and I decided to try a different restaurant in Frederick today. We have been eying it since we have moved here, but never made it in the doors. One of the main reasons is because it is in downtown Frederick and you need to pay to park. Nothing ever seems worth it enough to find quarters.

Well today was the day! We finally visited that Cuban Place. Upon entering, we were immediately asked "what would you like?" We said we have never been there before, so we needed a minute. To this she seemed shocked. She proceeded to ask "never, never?" Yes, we have NEVER eaten here. Hence why would kinda like a menu. So she asked what we like to eat. Being the only people there we couldn't sneak out, so we just had to go with it. I ended up getting a chicken sandwich and Brian got a steak sandwich.

We sat there waiting for our orders, wondering what might appear. Caedan seemed enthralled by the case with the chocolate cake. He stood on his tip-toes peering in, probably licking the case. It did look amazing, but I was able to control myself.

We finally found a menu randomly placed behind the counter. We grabbed it curious as to what our bill might be like and what might even come on or with our sandwiches. The menu was odd. The prices were completely random. Like bottled water - $1.33, Steak Sandwich - $9.01. Cuban - $8.56. Interesting. I guess they had their pricing down to an exact science. Doubly strange, chicken sandwich wasn't even on the menu. Uh-oh.

As we sat their waiting for our orders, we realized why they had no menu, they go with the flow on pricing. As one lady got her $3 back from a $7 even order, she wondered how much a slice of the amazing looking cakes were. The lady replied $3 something, would you like me to look it up? The customer said oh well, I won't have enough for tax. Surprisingly, the cake was exactly $3! Exit happy customer.

The food was good, however EXTREMELY greasy. I will remember the atmosphere more. However the staff was extremely friendly and loved Caedan.

Saying Goodbye

We seem to be saying goodbye to more and more stores, restaurants and other establishments in this economy. Some hit home more than others. The other day I saw that Lotus had closed. Lotus was a Chinese restaurant near our home. I was immediately hit with a feeling of grief. Even though we rarely eat Chinese food, this restaurant had been tied to our family in a special way.

We ventured to Lotus a few times while I was pregnant. Always ordering the same thing. Lotus was also, where we ordered from for Valentine's Day when Caedan was only five days old. It was not a very good meal, but very memorable. The dish with "crispy potatoes" turned out to be Lay's potato chips. Probably the most memorable visit for us, was Caedan's first Christmas. We ate there after our big meal and celebration, as the day was winding down. They had some great crispy beef.

I am surprised it lasted this long though. Last time I was there, I swear the Board of Health was giving them a long list of things to improve. The service was impeccable though. Even though we were the only diners, literally, the food always took an hour to arrive at our table. Oh how I will miss you Lotus.