Category Archives: Food

Donna’s Diner

Food, Places, Rave, , ,

Occasionally my husband obsesses about one thing or another, usually involving food. Not really in a bad way — just in a slightly annoying way. Once it was about eating at a supper club near Minocqua called Wisconsonaire. Whenever we’d pass it he’d say, “Wisconsonaire.” We eventually ate there and he decided it was not what he’d hoped and now has a slight distaste for “Supper Clubs”. Another of his obsessions was a restaurant we used to pass by when we drove to a couple of wrestling meets to watch our son wrestle. It was a huge lodge-type place in Rockville that he’d eaten at once before and thought I’d enjoy it. He was right about that one. We’ve been to Clyde’s Tower Oaks Lodge a few times and plan to go back again. His latest obsession turned out to be the best: Donna’s Diner in Elyria, Ohio.

When we were discussing when we should leave Bethesda for Oberlin, Ohio to visit our son for Family Weekend, Dean thought we should time it so we could eat lunch at Donna’s Diner. I asked him what Donna’s Diner was and he said he read about it in the NY Times. I thought he’d seen an ad or review for it and that it must be special if a newspaper in New York mentioned a restaurant in Ohio. I did look up Donna’s Diner, and found a Website for one that looked like fun, but then saw that it was in Pennsylvania.

When I searched for “Donna’s Diner” and “Ohio” and “NY Times” I found an article about a down-on-its-heels town and a diner that looked less fun than the one in Pennsylvania. I didn’t have time to read the article, but put it on my to-do list.

We didn’t eat lunch at Donna’s Diner on the way to see Andrew, but did drive through Elyria, Ohio — the subject of the NY Times article — and saw where Donna’s Diner was located. We considered eating dinner there, but were not sure it was open for dinner. What struck me, however, was the fact that they offered a Mac-and-cheese bar: “Your Way!” “Made Fresh”.

The next day Dean suggested we go to Elyria for lunch and Andrew was up for it. We parked close-by and walked into the diner. We were seated right away and asked what was a “must-have” on the menu. The hostess suggested the Donna Burger. I asked about the Mac-and-cheese bar but it was not set up. Our server called back “Nanna —  can you set up the mac-and-cheese bar?” Nanna (aka Donna) called back, “Yes — it will only take me a minute.”

So that’s how Dean, Diane, Andrew and I got to eat at Donna’s Diner and meet the star of a 5-part article from the New York Times. Andrew and I had a nice conversation with her about the article and her plans for a “White Christmas” themed event around Christmas. She hoped to get some Oberlin students involved — perhaps with caroling around the city square.

The food was very good. Dean loved his Donna Burger and Andrew enjoyed his Reuben  My mac-and-cheese was rich and delicious (I opted for garlic, chives and mushrooms) and far too much for me to eat on my own. Andrew got to take it back to his dorm room for later consumption.

I finally read the Donna’s Diner part of the NY Times article this morning. She and I have some things in common — we are nearly the same age, her father was in the Navy.  We both grew up in Midwestern towns that begin with the letter E — and Elyria reminds me a little of Elgin. But about the time I was getting ready to go to England for the first time she was pregnant with her first child. She’s had to struggle. I’ve had life easy. She’s an icon in her hometown. I rarely visit my hometown, having moved away decades ago.

I’m so glad we got to visit Donna’s Diner and I hope that it is around for a long time. I hope that the article helps the diner and the town somehow. We’ll go back for lunch when we visit Oberlin — that much is certain.

Oh, and that other Donna’s Diner? The one in Pennsylvania? I’m sure it is not nearly as nice or friendly or fun or delicious as Donna’s Diner in Elyria, Ohio.

Elyria
Dean and Andrew outside Donna's Diner
Dean and Andrew outside Donna’s Diner
Dean with menu at Donna’s Diner

Vegetarianism Ramblings

Food

I've Had Vegetarians in my Past
Stolen from Brian Andreas' StoryPeople site. I can post this since I was one of those vegetarians in my past. And because vegetarians are not in my past anyway and if they were I'd be very unhappy.

In or around 1976, I attended a family picnic in which a whole pig was roasted. I stopped eating meat that day and declared myself a vegetarian. When I told my mother she said she wasn’t going to cook any differently so I’d better learn to cook. I took that as a challenge, purchased two books about vegetarianism: Diet for a Small Planet and Recipes for a Small Planet. I read all about why vegetarianism was a better option for the Earth than diets that included meat. The book told me that it took much more land to grow food for someone who ate steaks than for those who ate vegetables. It also told me some things that later were proved incorrect, like having to eat complimentary proteins at one sitting. This was later changed to eating complimentary proteins over the course of one day.

I also learned that there were different types of vegetarianism. Since I chose to still eat dairy and eggs I was what was called an ovo-lacto vegetarian. I made sure to make that distinction when I spoke to others especially other vegetarians (although in the late 1970’s they were hard to find), not wanting to have people think I was being a hypocrite — that I knew my place.

I don’t think I was too obnoxious as a vegetarian that time, but I probably was to some people. I do remember a Thanksgiving where my Aunt Leila and I got into a shouting match in which she asked if I thought I was too good to eat the food on the table. We didn’t speak again until she was dying of lung cancer.

I began to eat meat again as a testament that I was a different person after a 3-month stay in England and after breaking up with my fiancé. It was on a British Airways flight from London. The meal was beef tips. It was probably awful (1979’s British airplane food) but I ate it and ate meat for the next few years afterwards.

The second time I quit eating meat was when my boyfriend (now husband) and I lived in Pittsburgh. I don’t recall the reason or length of time I was an ovo-lacto vegetarian this time, but it was a while. Now that I think about it, I think it was until our honeymoon in Europe. I figured it would be hard to be a vegetarian on a budget whirlwind tour of Europe.

The third, and final, time I quit eating meat was at an event on the National Mall in Washington DC. I came across a PETA tent and stopped to look at the displays. That night I announced to my husband I was done eating meat. By this time I’d acquired several books, in addition to the Diet for a Small Planet books. I had a copy of Lauren’s Kitchen and at least one of the Moosewood cookbooks, so I had a lot to choose from. This time I was a little more obnoxious about my diet. I remember telling a workmate that I was a vegetarian so many times that she finally told me to shut up about it.

At some point, however I decided to start eating fish again. Then I even added poultry to my diet (even though the PETA display involved chickens). At this point I knew I was not a vegetarian any longer, but a person who didn’t eat red meat. I’d gone from someone who altered my diet because of my concern for animals to one who was more concerned about my health and red meat was linked to colon cancer and possibly connective tissue disease. When I discovered I was pregnant with my first child I gave up the red meat restriction, claiming I was concerned that I wouldn’t get enough nutrition to the baby without meat.

These days it is so much easier to be a vegetarian or vegan or ovo-lacto vegetarian or even pescatarian. More people believe in it. More restaurants cater to it. More friends and family members are willing to alter menus for their vegetarian friends.

Except if you turn to the Internet, which I did the other day to get ready for a gathering for which I’d be serving appetizers, dinner and desert to a group of friends, three of which are some degree of vegetarian. I knew I’d make two cottage/shepherd’s pies: One was a lentil shepherd’s pie and one would contain beef.  I also knew I’d serve various cheeses from England for appetizers and  a trifle for dessert.

I always use Jello in my trifles butI didn’t want to serve it to vegetarians so looked for recipes for vegetarian trifles. I learned that unless one uses artificial sweeteners they cannot make even an ovo-lacto vegetarian trifle. It seems that most white sugar is filtered through bone charcoal. I didn’t tell my guests about the sugar thing — and served it without Jello.

So, what was the point of this post? Not much. Just some things I’ve been thinking about lately.

Tea for two. Or three. Or four.

Food,
tea for two

I’ve written before about my tea stash. I may have also mentioned my teapot collection. I like tea. I like tea but I rarely drink it. I was thinking about this fact the other day and wondered why that was and came to the conclusion that, to me, drinking tea is not a solitary undertaking. I like to drink tea with others.

See, I don’t necessarily use tea to wake up. I drink coffee in the morning — and often do it alone since I’m not all that social in the morning. When I drink tea it is usually in the afternoon or evening.

When I’d spend time in England we’d always have a cup of tea and cookies before bedtime. To this day, thinking about those moments in front of the gas stove, drinking PG Tips and eating digestive biscuits makes me feel all warm and cozy inside.

When Clare was in middle school and high school we’d often sit down to a cup of tea when she got home from school, before she began her homework. It was a great time for her to decompress from her day at school and for me to catch up on what was happening in her life. I looked forward to those few minutes we shared over a cup of tea.

Andrew didn’t join us in our tea drinking until after he’d been to Ireland twice in the same year. He went with his rugby team during spring break and then again that summer with us. We all got into the habit of having a cup of tea together in the evenings after dinner and carried it home for a few months. Even today, if I ask Andrew if he’d like a cup of tea he’ll often say yes.

So, I rarely drink tea anymore. Not because I don’t like it, but because I see no reason for it if I cannot make a social ritual out of it. Dean doesn’t like drinking caffeine after noon and doesn’t particularly like herb tea. He sometimes joins me in a cup of tea, but I suspect he only does it because he knows how much I like to drink tea with others.

Last night, as the Steelers lost the Superbowl, my friend Maria asked me if I’d like a cup of tea to warm me up. I did and together we drank cups of green tea and it was good.