Dining OUT!

Despite the urge to spend every waking minute cooped up in a drafty house in Saint Paul, Todd and I ventured from the cool to the cold, cold world outside our door. Todd suggested we head out for a little bit and it was a welcomed suggestion. He sent me a text (yes, from the upstairs to the downstairs), asking if I wanted to go to a local neighborhood eatery...I was knee deep in recipes (or perhaps I was finishing up the text for my capstone book but I want you to think I'm looking at recipes and plotting meals and kitchen take-overs). I texted back, "You read my mind."

I donned my Tuesday best, Todd did too, and we headed out to the Nook (linked to delicious flickr images). This place is the stuff of legends, as Po would say (he's the panda in Kung Fu Panda). People of legends, meals of legends....You know it is a legendary place when they can get away with tshirts that say, "Have you had your nookie today?"

So off we went to the Nook (link to reviews), I in my sweatpants and smartwool top (my "furlough uniform" as I like to call it). He in his cat hair laden fleece and serious goatee, we were warmly welcomed at the Nook...a 21st Century Cheers, really.


Todd and I have now been here about four times so we're at the point where we don't even look at the menu. I have the delectable Juicy Nookie with fried onions and he goes for the California burger (with cheese please, and no mayo). It is a treat like no other, and I cannot believe we JUST discovered this place (thanks Zach) after living in Saint Paul for 3.5 years. We are about 2.5 miles from the joint and my new requirement is "if we want it we gotta walk it". Of course, I made that promise only AFTER I consumed my juicy. It is pure bliss if you're looking for that 1500+ calorie treat. Given that we had our proverbial coffee and cocoa this a.m. and that's about it, I was ready for some calorie overload.

Todd in anticipation:

Cindy's delight:
and from the inside.....
Zach, you drooling? Bill(y), you too? It was even better than it looks. And in no time flat, the Spartans had beat the Wolverines (expected but darn it) and I had decimated my nookie.


And now I'm about to collapse of sodium overload, and I'm really feeling like I've completely negated Sunday's dairy-less dinner. But it was fun to get out and see how the other half lives!

Post Script: Bill(y) was so tempted by our description of the Nook, he decided to venture all the way from Clarkston, Michigan. This photograph is from January's night out at the Nook. He ordered the Paul Molitor (juicy nookie with pepper jack cheese). How was it Bill(y)?