Creative Gruel, plus Restaurant Web Sites!

I have continued to experiment with rice cooked in water. I have made a variety of broths and ingredients for white rice porridge. Deviating from the simple is usually a mistake. I have not tried brown rice (I just think, yuck!) I WILL try Wild rice one of these days. I tried purple rice, which used to be available at the United Noodle. It made a gruel that was delicious, but just kept puffing up and getting bigger and bigger. Too much too eat.

I first had purple rice at Nokomis Restaurant on the North Shore. It was paired with a lake fish in coconut milk. It was so great, that every bite I took, I just relaxed and went, "Ahhh...." I was amazed and delighted. Have you ever been to a restaurant and had a dish that you never forgot? Like, you were just sent to Heaven for a little while and never wanted to leave? Nokomis gave that experience to me. Not only was my food fantabulous, but so was the atmosphere. It was low-lit, and calm, with diners who were vacationing on or around Lake Superior.

I tried to recreate that dish at home, with some success. I wish the chef would publish the recipe. Their website was no help.

Lately, I have been looking at restaurant web sites. Mostly because I want to find good places to eat. Since I don't get to go out to eat very often, and I LOVE to go out to eat, I want to find the places that are going to satisfy me the most. I don't want to do a restaurant review blog, but I'm starting to think there might be a need for a blog that compares restaurant web sites with the actual restaurant.

First of all, what browser are these web sites created with? I know I need reader glasses, but seriously! I have to push Command + about 4 times just so I can read them. And why is it hard to find menus on some sites, and reservations on others?

Plus, as a mom, I have to find out if this place is kid-friendly. PLEASE, people, just state that up-front.

Lastly, the photos on restaurant web sites are always so elegant. And then it turns out the place is just like a diner or food hall.

Oh, well, what do I expect? This is America.

Oh, BTW, I just watched the documentary movies "Corn King" and "Food, Inc." It's no wonder my Grandpa got out of farming.