I will start with an apology to my small band of dedicated readers and especially to our good friends Jennie and Dan. As they were the instigators of our 2020 President's Day pilgrimage. Many moons ago my lovely wife and I would join another couple and venture down to Cincinnati on President's Day to visit the IKEA store there as well as Jungle Jim's. Everyone besides me had a holiday at work and I was able to schedule a vacation day without much difficulty. Of course, the only reason I was willing to use a vacation day only to suffer through the seemingly endless maze of an IKEA store was the promise of a healthy portion of delicious Swedish meatballs for lunch. Turns out they have some pretty cool kitchen stuff there too. (sheepish grin) Even if there wasn't a single good reason to spend 2 - 3 hours at IKEA, I would do it anyway as the price of a visit to Jungle Jim's. Many of you are probably already aware that Jungle Jim's rivals any IKEA store in terms of the complexity of the store layout. Big difference is that Jungle Jim's is all about FOOD.
I feel the best way to describe Jungle Jim's is to say that it is a grocery supermarket on The Clear. That's right. Jungle Jim's is not just on garden variety steroids, but hyper-effective professional -grade designer steroids. Fortunately, in this case you don't have to submit to screening for performance-enhancing substances when you are done shopping. Although if you did have to, their restrooms are best in class. Perhaps that would somewhat temper the indignity of it all. It seems as usual, I have bounced out of orbit just setting up the focus of this post. It has been a number of years since we made the Cincy pilgrimage. Mostly because we now have an IKEA store practically in our neighborhood. No Jungle Jim's yet, but one can dream.
Our 2020 President's Day jaunt was a much shorter drive. We needed to connect with Jennie and Dan to take delivery on some farm-fresh eggs. I am not sure how I was unaware of it until recently, but Jennie's Mom Rosie has quite a large flock of laying hens. I suppose the reason I was unaware was that I already had another good friend who also happened to be a great source for farm-fresh eggs. Her name is Cheryl and I have told her a hundred times or more that she is the hardest working person I know. Works a demanding day job and is an exceptional farmer too. Unfortunately, the predators had taken a toll on Cheryl's flock over the summer. So I experienced a temporary supply shortage until she could get a replacement flock into production. Cheryl's ducks seemed to be taking a long Christmas vacation too. I rationed my supply as best I could, but Cheryl has me hooked. I just can't buy eggs in the grocery store anymore. I have yet to find one that even offers duck eggs. Nothing against the chickens, but a couple of over-easy duck eggs for breakfast (or lunch or dinner) is the stuff dreams are made of.
Since Jennie and Dan live near Plain City, we quickly established Der Dutchman as a suitable rendezvous point. We simply couldn't leave without at least hitting the bakery counter and grabbing a donut for each of us. I am sure you are asking yourself... Why only one? It is because the donuts at Der Dutchman are four times the size of your average donut. Maybe Der Dutchman donuts are on The Clear too? (sly grin) While waiting our turn at the counter, Jennie also mentioned their next stop would be Yutzy's Market. I didn't realize they were open year-round. I always thought of them as strictly a produce market open in the summer and early fall. It didn't take much arm-twisting for us to join them at the next stop. And, yes, I stood beside the car in the parking lot and thoroughly enjoyed every morsel of that donut. No way I would eat it in the car as it was coated with granulated sugar and it would have been ALL OVER the interior of Beth's car and my shirt too. Luckily, it was an unseasonably warm day with no precipitation.
Much to my joy and amazement, Yutzy's has a plethora of year-round offerings. Amish specialties, gourmet munchies, sauces, pickles and other canned goods, and a deli that makes me want to drive there every other day. The selection of meats and cheeses they offer is a cut above your ordinary supermarket and the prices are substantially lower. Their staff work with the speed and precision of a NASCAR pit crew. In spite of their efficiency, there was still quite a long line of customers waiting. It was well worth the wait. I don't mind waiting in line in good company anyway. When I am alone, I try to make friends while I wait. Have I mentioned I met my best friend (and Best Man) Mat in the registration line at Purdue - North Central? (big smile and story for another day) I am embarrassed to report that prior to this writing, we have consumed nearly all the goodies we purchased at Yutzy's. I use the word almost because I had to put the pastrami in the freezer where it will shiver away like a scared schoolchild until I can find a good loaf of pumpernickel bread to go with it. Nothing quite like a good pastrami Reuben. Mmmmm. Hopefully, this post is worth the wait too.
In the meantime, please join me on Saturday, February 29 from 11:30 am - 1:30 pm at the American Legion Post in Worthington. The Buckeye Military Moms are hosting a chili cook-off and yours truly is signed up. Exact details are available at the link below.
Your Dining Scout and Shadetree Chef,
Michael Hurd, aka Big Mike
Der Dutchman
445 S. Jefferson Route 42
Plain City, OH 43064
Yutzy's Market
6010 Converse Huff Road
Plain City, OH 43064
Chili Cook-Off Flyer
http://www.buckeyemilitarymoms.org/uploads/3/4/4/3/34433719/chilicookoffflyer2020.pdf
PS - It occurred to me that my prior apology to Mr. Profitt and Mrs. MacCorkle and all English teachers in between was misdirected. It should have been an apology strictly to Mrs. MacCorkle. She was my senior (high school) English teacher and she is the one who taught me how to write for others. Since this post already feels a bit long, I will save details on how she influenced my writing style for later.
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