sara mcguyer

I ate out at some fancy places throughout the year, but as the calendar winds down and I think back on it, some of my favorite dinners out were pretty low key, but interesting experiences.

Holly Hock Hill on College Avenue is a must if you like fried chicken. It started out as a private country cottage, where its owners hosted occasional special dinners. 80 years later, they’re still going strong, if a little bit trapped in another time. The female servers wear jumpers from another era, everything is lace and floral. For your leftover fried chicken, they’ll provide the most charming doggie bag.

The fried chicken has a thick, crisp breading, and is served with a “salad” of iceberg lettuce and their house dressing, pickled beets, cottage cheese, a relish tray (whole radishes, baby carrots, celery sticks) and family style bowls of corn, green beans and mashed potatoes and gravy, plus biscuits with apple butter. And the strangest of all things – a small glass of tomato juice. We went with our Supper Club, and as you can see, we had a nice toast with the juice. The dinner is capped off with a single scoop of vanilla ice cream with a trio of sauces – chocolate, butterscotch or an electric green mint.

We went to Mama’s House Korean Restaurant, another Supper Club pick, to try our hands at the grill tables. As we sat down, the chefs came rushing over with flaming coals to start our grill. It seemed edgy, dangerous to see those hot coals flash over our shoulders, into the pits. It’s a lot of work, and even a little smoky to grill your own meat table side, but it’s definitely a unique and fun experience.

The best part of this meal was we really didn’t know what each side dish was, so every bite felt like a bit of an adventure. I still don’t know what all we ate, but no matter. It was all tasty.

In a visit home to Evansville, we took a detour to check out a place I’d been hearing about for years – Bon Ton Mini Mart. Their fried chicken has been raved about by everyone from the New York Times, to the Travel Channel, to my own mother, who makes pretty amazing fried chicken herself. With an unassuming facade, an ac box hanging out of the window and a rough gravel drive, you’d never want to venture in based on looks alone. Inside, mismatched dining furniture and an odd assortment of roosters.

It’s all a part of the experience though, and besides, the fried chicken is the real deal. Served piping hot, the chicken is extra crispy, juicy and salty, and has a bit of a kick from cayenne pepper. It’s sort of an assault on your mouth, but in a good way. The ice box lemon pie was out of this world. Our server, and the daughter of the owner said, “Nobody makes pie like my mama.”

The North Market in Columbus, Ohio is chock full of delicious. We walked through slowly, and ate our way through the market. On our first trip, I was too stuffed by the time we made it to Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams, but I decided we had to go back a second time. I’d had Jeni’s before, but I’d spied these macaron ice cream sandwiches in their display case and couldn’t get it out of my mind. It was definitely worth the second trip. Consider yourself warned – it’s big enough to split, even for those with a big sweet tooth.

Locally Grown Gardens has become that place I go back to more than any other – an especially impressive feat, since they only have a few items on the menu, but still keep me coming back. Coming in at less than $13, this platter of grilled salmon with cole slaw is one of the best values I’ve found in Indy. For less than ten bucks, you can get what I can only all an intimidating mound of smoked pork on a thick slice of bread smothered in BBQ sauce.

This is not the place to go if you want fancy service. It’s best to go on a nice night when you can sit on one of the giant wooden tables outside and watch people go by on the Monon Trail. Or, if you can go on a rainy night, sit in the library with the candles lit. Once at dinner we got to do just that, and watch the storm rage on through the window.

And don’t even think about walking out of there without a slice of sugar cream pie. Or, better yet, buy a whole pie and take the rest home.

Note: I know the prompt called for one meal. I couldn’t pick just one. it’s amazing I was able to narrow it down as much as I did!

This post is part of Think Kit by SmallBox
Lifeline prompt: “Did you eat an amazing meal this year? What did you eat? Who was with you?”

There doesn’t seem to be much story to this photo – just my feet, and a thin dusting of snow. It was Thanksgiving, before everyone gathered for the big meal. The dogs would do better with all of the excitement, I thought, if I got them out for a quick walk. It wasn’t for me, so I thought.

We walked, and it was cold, and the sun was out. The sky seemed white and sharp. The dogs, they sniffed, we ran a few blocks down the suburban streets, then walked some more til they tired out. I breathed deep, we stopped a moment. A stillness. Peace and calm.

I hadn’t been looking, didn’t know I needed it then. This unexpected moment of quiet content.

This post is part of Think Kit by SmallBox
Today’s prompt: “Share a photo from your year that highlights giving, thankfulness, traditions, or finding peace.”

I am grateful for this day, a singular day that can never be exactly repeated. I am grateful for this bright blue sky, and a brisk walk along the Ohio River. A chance meeting with an old neighbor. A deep nap. For chopping cauliflower to roast with capers and sage. For dancing and singing while cooking with my mom in her kitchen.

I started an inventory of gratefulness, thinking about the sum of this past year. As I compiled a mental list, I realized, with a full heart, that this is a list which I cannot finish. The scope of another year on this earth is simply too overwhelming to quantify neatly.

I am grateful for another full year of days, that just like this one, is full of moments and thoughts particular to a time and place. I am grateful for reflecting on this year – the good, the bad and the in-between. For soaking it all in and realizing, again, as deeply as ever, to not take one day for granted.

This post is part of Think Kit by SmallBox
Today’s prompt: “What are you grateful for this year?”

 

I have a slight obsession with the things that get handed down from one generation to the next. Of all the possessions that pass through our lives, some get that special status of keepsake. When I visit my parents’ house, I wander back to the heirlooms, the things someone in my family cherished, kept safe. I want to know their stories. Who did this belong to? Where did it come from?

In the hall by the front door, there’s a cabinet of tiny treasures. These little figurines have been winking at me since I was a kid, moving from one house, to the next.

The green glass toothpick holder belonged to my great-grandmother, Tylene Elizabeth Dunning a.k.a. Mimi. My mom says she was very particular about it, wouldn’t let anyone touch it. She was so afraid it might get broken.

I have a grainy image of Mimi in my mind, probably from photos I’ve seen rather than memory (she died when I was three years old). I imagine her gasping, watching me take her beloved toothpick holder out of the china cabinet, taking photos of it with my phone. The tea set was Mimi’s too – my great uncle brought it back to her when he was in the army in Germany.

The little lady above belonged to my great-great grandmother, Ina Prince. The stamp on the bottom, a relic from a world I can’t imagine. Made in Occupied Japan. Ina lived in Lamasco, Kentucky, in a house without indoor plumbing. It’s hard for me to picture this fancy figurine in her country house – she kept a chicken coop, farmed. But Ina did have a parlor with a piano. My mom says no one spent any time in there. Everyone worked and talked in her big country kitchen.

I was born on my grandfather, Guy Griffith Jr.’s birthday. This tin was his easter basket as a boy. Later, he scrawled the word “hooks” into the top. He loved to fish.

The older of these two Bibles, the one from 1897 with the flowery scrolls, belonged to my great-grandfather, Floyd Bee Dunning, a.k.a. Beezer. He was a railroad man, and his work brought the family from Kentucky to Indiana. The Bible with the plain front cover was given to Guy Jr. at Sunday school in 1927. Maybe I get my inclinations to doodle from my grandpa? I love his little sketches hidden in the pages.

One last treasure (I could go on forever diving into these stories, but this is the last one for tonight). My mom’s favorite Christmas ornament from her childhood.

This post is part of Think Kit by SmallBox
Today’s prompt: “Look at your surroundings as if you’re seeing them for the first time – take a walk in your ‘hood, explore your basement, or visit a favorite spot. What do you notice?”

 

If I had to guess, I’d say I’ve spent an extra 2-3 hours facing the screen this month. Between daily writing and trying like mad to keep up with reading posts from the Think Kit community, I’m beginning to feel like I’ve baked my brain with the electromagnetic waves seeping from my laptop.

I’d been thinking off and on throughout the day about this question. If money, time or other commitments were no obstacle, what would I do? I faced a blank screen. For, like, a really long time. Stalled. Empty. Shouldn’t dreaming big be the easiest thing to run with? Think, think, think.

Well, I guess I’d travel more. I’d not get so tired. I’d always have the space for daily making. Is my brain really that taxed that this is all I got?

Maybe it is actually this: as I struggled to choose something big and undoable, I realized that much of what I want out of life is already within my reach. The life I’ve built has grown closer to the one I imagined. I don’t have it all figured out, and I don’t lead some charmed, silver spoon existence. But I’m pretty… content.

This, a lucky place to be.

This post is part of Think Kit by SmallBox
Today’s Prompt: “If money, time or other commitments were no obstacle in 2014, what would you do?”