Foodview: Asparagus and Artichoke Omelette

Talk and whisperings of this supposedly amazing Asparagus and Artichoke Omelet have reached my ears, dear readers, and left me with a toss-up between the omelet and the Heavenly Hotcakes to do my next food review on. Obviously, the omelet won out despite the facts - the first being, I love hotcakes, and secondly because Columbus Parent just did a roaring article of praise on the hotcakes here.

Cutting the omelet open revealed the soft artichokes snuggled into their sleeping bag of fluffy eggs folded over. On top of the omelet fold lay sauteed asparagus slightly softened by the chef during the cooking process. Roasted red pepper sauce potent with flavor was thickly drizzled over the asparagus, then came the flavorful feta crumbles sprinkled on top, giving it no small stir of visual and palatable appeal.

Nice crispy whole wheat toast, glistening with warm butter on top and speckled with golden oats on the crust, was put on the side, adding a nice touch of wholesome carbohydrates to the meal and a filling-factor to the flavorful feelings.

I felt stuffed by the end, but I did just have breakfast a couple of hours before. Indubitably, a hungry person would be full by this colorful conglomeration of culinary cunning and creativity! Next time you feel like breakfasting with something other than Marshmallow Mateys, swing on by and give this a try. :)

Adjectives to describe this meal are: balanced (not too eggy and not too much of a carb load), colorful, flavorful (especially the red pepper sauce; yum), and nutritious (veggies).

By the way, did you know that omelette and omelet are both acceptable forms of spelling? While omelette is more commonly used around the world, America has developed its unique spelling of it by dropping off the te at the end, making it omelet. So, if you would like to be culturally savvy, go for the former spelling.

~The Harvest Crier~

Columbus Parent Review of Harvest Moon!

Well readers, it turns out that this humble little shop/eatery I find myself writing in has made it into Columbus Parent, a free newspaper-ish collection of articles with a special focus on family values.

It turns out that one Saturday morning a mom and her son came to this little brick dwelling, excusing themselves from the small town bustle of the historic square and walking into the quaint settings of the caf with a secret agenda of reviewing the place. Actually, it was no secret at all, at least not to Nathan and Kelley, the owners. They were informed that the reviewers were coming weeks before, but they actually completely forgot about it. Oops.

Seeing what it's usually like around here on a Saturday morning (depending on how early you come in) their experience was most likely the mix of regulars and new faces filling the warm inner walls with the buzz of conversations about the weather, the economy, the Buckeyes, and what such and such said about so and so. From the article, I deduced that they most likely came in the late morning, sometime between the acceptable hours for breakfast and lunch, which can be a time that widely swings from incredibly busy to easily steady. The mom ordered our Heavenly Hotcakes and a Roots & Fruits juice. Her son ordered the Real Man's Breakfast and a Strawberry Smoothie. He liked the smoothie so much that he actually ordered a second one! Talk about a full belly!

The article was an inundation of sincere complements and appreciations. They even complemented them on their bathrooms. It's interesting how Nate and Kelley forgot about the big day that Columbus Parent just strolled on by to write a review on the place and probably borrow a cup of sugar while they're at it, and yet the reviews were beaming with delight! No extra attention to detail was given. It was treated as just another Saturday in the team's minds, and wouldn't you know it, the reviews were positively positive!

~The Harvest Crier~

Breakfast

A couple of days ago, I was typing away at my computer while talking with a customer who was enjoying her warm brunch at the same table. She told me of this quandary she was in where she knew that it's important to have an early breakfast, but couldn't bring herself to the task of making it when she gets up.

We all know that breakfast is quite an essential for a productive day, right? When we think of being productive by having an early breakfast in the morning, we tend to imagine an elaborate feast of eggs and bacon and toast and such with a side of milk or orange juice. Thus we get discouraged and hit the snooze button for the nth time while drowsily thinking to self that breakfast is too much work. And in the back of our mind we remember hearing from our parental figures that breakfast is important.

This blog post is not going to be yet another glaring webpage telling you to "Eat your wheaties!" Instead, it's going to be a blog post sharing the good news that eating a breakfast doesn't have to be as complicated as one may think. Your first meal of the day doesn't have to look like Bob Evans on steroids (really elaborate and bountiful). Quite the contrary. While a varied breakfast including toast and eggs and fruit and so on is undoubtedly most nutritious, don't assume that you have to eat a breakfast like that every day to still get some of the benefits of eating breakfast in general.

Obviously not going for the sugary twice sugar-coated sugar flakes made from sugar is a good first step. A second step is to not over-complicate your breakfast menu, but to start with simple nutrition such as a banana, a couple of pieces of whole wheat toast, or maybe some melon. Starting off by eating some fruit or perhaps some granola is a good way to jump start your metabolism in the morning, which will enable you to digest better throughout the day. Hooray, right?

So there you have it. Start simple, start small, start with a couple of strawberries or a handful of raisins first thing (heck, one piece of toast even!) and go from there. You'll have breakfast down in no time.

Or you could always just go over to Harvest Moon for their killer breakfast menu if you'd like.

~The Harvest Crier~