Vakkotaur

A month or so ago I went looking for the location of a restaurant in Sioux Falls, and wound up having to look through a list of supposedly all of the Sioux Falls restaurants. I eventually found the one I was looking for and confirmed its location, but in the process I saw an entry for a place called Pickle Barrel.

When I was attending UW-Platteville, one of the places I'd eat or order delivery from was Pickle Barrel. They had subs that were, well, substantial. Subway always seemed lacking in comparison. I was disappointed when the establishment was sold and the new owner wasn't as good. He was still better than Subway, but believed that "oil makes a sub" and seemed surprised when people told him to leave it off or only on about a tenth of what he normally did. Too much oil makes a sandwich too slippery to eat.

Yesterday jmaynard and I went to Sioux Falls and among the things we did, we stopped in at Pickle Barrel. I was halfway expecting to discover that it was something entirely other than what I remembered. While it might not have been exactly as I remembered, it was certainly close and nothing beyond what might be expected for changes due to the intervening years and different location.

It's a sandwich place, with big, substantial sandwiches. I ordered a "half" and got a meal. Having the smallest ice cream cone (minty "grasshopper fudge") afterward was indulgence, not necessity. The decor is what one might expect for a place named Pickle Barrel, and there is a barrel with pickles - though the barrel holds ice and the pickles are in plastic containers. I did not have a pickle, though I could have, having ordered a sandwich.

The place is in a small mall that melissasutton told me is expensive. I didn't look around to see how pricey other places in the mall were. Pickle Barrel is probably a bit more expensive than Subway, but I think it's also worth it. I plan on dining at Pickle Barrel again.

Saturday was generally uneventful for me. I did go and see Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, but before that went to KFC for lunch. KFC has "boneless wings" which are indeed boneless and probably are wings, but somehow didn't do much for me. Even with having lunch before going to the theater, I wound up at the concession stand. The movie itself is fairly entertaining and I suppose I'm not the target audience for it. The villain was over the top stereotypical, think Elmer Fudd crossed with Snidely Whiplash and you'll have an approximation. There were plenty of good gags and while the story is simple and even obvious, it wasn't actually bad. It was generally a good ride. There were a number of cultural references and I think there was one that sailed right over many. It was a line that fit the movie and the scene perfectly, but was also a British reference that I would not have gotten had not pharwarner sent me a couple CDs a while back. If you do see this movie, get there a bit early and put up with the stupid advertising, the cartoon short before the movie was shown in amongst the previews rather than immediately before the feature. And then stay through all the credits for a short and to the point gag at the very end.

Today jmaynard and I went to Sioux Falls for a few things. One was lunch with Duane and melissasutton at Taste of India. We all arrived a bit before the restaurant opened and so we all rode in the newly acquired Melissamobile and they showed off the new Siouxland faire site. As Siouxland has not made their official announcement, I'll not spoil it by revealing where it is. I will say that what issues the site may seem to have I have seen addressed at other faires. The good things about the old site seem to still be there, and maybe in greater quantity, and the mud... looks to be a thing of the past that will be happily left in the past.

We got to Taste of India not too long after it had opened and we all ate very, very well. Buffets are dangerous things, and good ones especially so. The only complaint about the Taste of India buffet is that everything (except the mint chutney, I suppose) is mild. Good food, good conversation, good friends, more good food, and the time flew. It was a pleasure introducing the Suttons to Taste of India. It's also amusing that Jay and I get there less than once a month, but the waitress recognizes us.

After that, we parted ways. Jay and I went to the Empire mall where I took care of some holiday shopping while it's still possible to do without going mad. We stopped at a bookstore, not in the mall, and each bought a book on Python (the language). I bought Learning Python and Jay bought the Python Pocket Reference. Next was a trip across town so I could pick up comics for this and last month, and then we went geocaching. The first cache was easy. "No hints needed" was actually true. The second cache was not so easy, as it was a good hike with a good stretch of a fairly steep grade. It was enough of a workout that getting water before the trip home was foremost on our minds on the hike back to the car.

Oh, and then I made this post and showed off the new restaurant/food LJ icon kinkyturtle made for me. Thanks KT!

Sunday I called melissasutton to make sure we'd agree on a time and place to meet for lunch. She suggested the HuHot Mongolian Grill. A couple hours later I was there, not too long after the agreed upon time (it took me longer than expected to get on the road).

The food was good and there was plenty of it, with a very good selection. I've been to a Mongolian place before, but that was in the Twin Cities and I'm not sure I could find it. This place is easy to get to since Sioux Falls is easily navigable.

I enjoyed the food and the good company of Duane and Melissa. It sounds like the Siouxland Renaissance Association is doing pretty good, considering things didn't go so well with the rainy, muddy festival earlier this year. I think we were all amazed that the Sioux City, IA folks are seriously considering putting on a second festival again this year. That's not "they did it last year and they're doing it again" but "they did it this Spring and will do it again this Fall."

Dessert was... big. I think if I go for any dessert there again I'll see about splitting the "cheesecake rangoon" a few ways. After that we all had things to do and so they went to deal with what they needed to do and I went and picked up my comics. The comics were unfortunately rather disappointing all around this month, and that was the only low of the trip.

On a whim I stopped at a supermarket in Brandon (town east of Sioux Falls) and looked around. Bought some Sioux City cream soda and such that I've not had for a while, some coconut juice to try, and a can of black-eyed peas (stinky beans!) for Jay. I still have quite a supply of licorice Altoids thanks to irpooh so I didn't get any more, but to my surprise I could have. Alas, they did not have any ginger Altoids or I'd have bought some.

Unlike last time today's trip to Sioux Falls didn't have any lengthy setbacks. Thus I was able to dine at Taste of India. I opted not to do the buffet thing though it was early enough and would have been cheaper. Instead I ordered off the menu and got exactly what I wanted rather than the luck of the buffet. I had a glass of mango juice along with the standard ice water, roti (flat bread), mint chutney, and chicken vindaloo. The waitress asked if the vindaloo was spicy enough and giving it some thought, it was perhaps a bit less spicy than I might have liked, but it was quite respectable and not worth complaining about. Dessert was gulab jamun.

I will go back again. The meal was quite good. To my surprise, they didn't charge me for the mint chutney as it was on the buffet. I wasn't about to argue. I think I will try the buffet next time since it'll be less expensive and will let me sample a few things I might not otherwise order.

At the cash register there is a bowl of seeds available as a "mouth freshener." I think it was all or mostly fennel seed, which was interesting, but I doubt jmaynard would like them as they have a very anise-like flavor which surprised me. I'd never had fennel before as far as I know and hadn't been expecting that flavor from it.

Oddity: LJ's spellchecker flags vindaloo yet the first thing it suggests instead is vindaloos.

Friday: Cleaned up the dining room some. Various boxes and packing material are now taking up much less room and the boxes can be picked up on the next recycling day. The table is still strewn various bits of computers, but that's not likely to change until the office is sorted out - and that won't be for a while, mainly due to furniture requirements.

Saturday: De-cluttered, cleaned, and re-arranged the living room. jmaynard wired up the speakers he'd brought back from Houston this Summer. A clock, a mirror my grandmother had, and a picture that my grandmother had painted were also hung on the wall. Actually the mirror isn't quite in the living room, but in the front entryway. It fits well there. While the living room isn't anything likely to make Better Homes & Gardens, it now looks much more like a normal living room.

After all that was done, we relaxed and watched History of the World - Part I which I had not seen before. I recognized many bits that I'd seen in clips, but this was the first time I'd seen the whole thing.

Sunday: Jay and I went to Sioux Falls and, since Nap's had closed (a column [See: Surprise endings] in the Argus Leader mentioned they'd lost their lease and hadn't found a new location yet - we both hope they re-open soon) we went to Famous Dave's. Verdict: Acceptable, but not great. We want Nap's back! We also did a bit of Christmas shopping and have more of that out of the way. Yay! I'd like to be done with it before Thanksgiving and avoid the madd(en)ing crowds of December. I expect I can, with one probable exception.

As Jay mentioned we saw the aurora borealis Sunday night. From southern Minnesota it seemed not to change too fast and was rather monochrome. It was both intense and not intense. While it was intense enough to be seen here and be visible south of the zenith, it wasn't 'active' with fast shimmering or much color. It was, if anything, a dull reddish, looking rather like the glow from a large city - only there wasn't one. From my father's description, it seems that a couple degrees north there was a better show.

Well, jmaynard's folks are in the Fairmont area this week. We saw their new motorhome last night. They saw our house. And we all had a supper at the local Mexican restaurant (which was the third night in a row for me & Jay - not bad, but I'm ready for something else now).

We'll be making our way, though not all together, to Sioux Falls on Friday. Current plans are to meet up with Billie & James for supper at Nap's Alabama Barbecue, then we all spend Saturday at the Siouxland Renaissance Festival. Depending on the weather they may well be another potluck there Saturday evening. I'm not doing the M&M thing again, though. Maybe I'll just get some bread spreads (peanut butter, Nutella, jellies and such) and if it rains, well, they can be used in Osceola, IA in a couple weeks.

Jay & I will stay for Sunday, or most of it, at the festival. His folks will be going on their way to see a bit of the Fargo area. We will likely see them again in Minneapolis next week for supper at Lindey's.

This weekend should be quite interesting. Last year was Siouxland's first year and they got more right than many well-established faires do. Sure, they had a few misfires, but they didn't have any big misfires. It seems as if everyone (performer, vendor) asked to be invited back. And the Siouxland folks not only took notes, so to speak, but sought out ideas of what could be done better - and have since then set to work to fix those things. The only real problem they may have is one they can't control: the weather.

If you don't care how I spent Saturday, then ( skip this )