Bob Evans Summer Menu Review

Yep, it's hard to be me!

Last night, I was one of the lucky few to be invited to preview the summer menu at Bob Evans, which I was excited about because the chain is making major changes to keep up with the times – including the use of social media in its marketing strategies, which is how I came to be invited.

Bob Evans has undergone major changes – from redecorating the dining rooms to revamping the menu. When asked why these changes were necessary, Executive Chef, Restaurant Division, Brian Murphy told me that the core deomographic of the typical Bob Evans customer is shifting and they are trying to appeal to a younger customer who doesn’t want to “trade down.”

When I think of Bob Evans, I think of the hokey experience I have had there my entire life – overly country decor and servers who are likely to say “howdy” at least once during my time in the store. However, the newer, hipper Bob Evans was a welcome change – smaller, more intimate dining areas painted in soft colors complete with brushed nickel pendant lights, wall-mounted flatscreen TV’s, and contemporary artwork. The menu itself reflects a more contemporary feeling, too – “homestyle” dishes with a contemporary flair. The restaurants now offer free wifi and the chain can be found on both twitter and facebook.

So, without getting overly gushy, here are the highlights of the new summer menu. Mark your calendar – it hits stores May 14th.
Appetizers

Blue Ribbon Apple Pie Fries ($3.99) These remind me of what I remember McDonald’s apple pies tasting like years ago, and I mean that in the best possible way. I probably wouldn’t order these as an appetizers, but I’d definitely order them for dessert.

Loaded Baked Potato Bites ($4.99) These are the ultimate in comfort food. Lightly breaded and fried potato bites with cheddar cheese and bacon, and served with a side of ranch dressing.

Itsy Bitsy Sandwiches ($6.99) This is a trio of slider-like sandwiches (pot roast, pulled pork, and sausage), served atop a pile of fries. Of the three sandwiches, the sausage one was my favorite – mild sausage, topped with American cheese and a pickle. I could eat these for breakfast and be a very happy girl, indeed.


Bob-B-Q is back, baby!

Oven-Roasted Chicken ($9.99) This is the juciest barbecued chicken I have ever had. Just one complaint: as good as the sauce is, I wish it has a little more “oomph!” to it. The sauce is a perfect blend of spicy and sweet, but something named “Wildfire” deserves to have a little ore kick.

Baby Back Ribs ($11.99) Topped with Bob Evans award-winning Wildfire Sauce, these slow-roasted ribs literally fall off the bone.

Just Desserts

Red, White, and Blueberry Supreme Pie hits stores in mid-June and is a luscious blend of creamy cheesecake-like filling, strawberries, blueberries, and whipped cream.

Two minor complaints
I was lukewarm about the pulled pork sandwich (Itsy Bitsy Sandwiches) because the pork was slightly on the mushy side and the hamburger bun it was served on didn’t help things, plus, I didn’t think the American cheese and pickle slice worked with it. If I were to build this sandwich, I would put it on brioche and top it with coleslaw.

Also, the menu design itself is a tad generic and doesn’t fit with the brand’s redesign. Also, there was no nutritional information to be found, so do your homework ahead of time if you need to know which entrees are low-cal, etc, because Bob is not about to share that bit of info with you.

Overall grade: A-

Political Correctness Run Amok?

I don’t know if you follow Advertising Age like I do (well, I have to!), but the latest ad under fire comes from our friends at Snickers.

Seriously, people are all worked up, saying that this is a direct attack on the gay community. I, for one, take this as it was intended – entertainment that sells. First of all, Mr T = AWESOME, pure and simple. Sheer genius to bring this icon of the 80’s into the next generation. Second, I applaud any and all attempts to lampoon speed walking. Finally, and this really irritates me, why do people feel the need to look for something by which to be offended? Isn’t it time for people to get over themselves and just have a laugh?

Tonight, the ladies next door are having yet another cornhole tournament. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – no one should love cornhole that much. It’s been four nights in a row. Enough already! I’m about to kidnap their scarlet and grey cornhole boards and burn them! Pipe down, already!

Finally, Hubs has channeled his inner Lance Armstrong and is now totally into his new bike. Yay!!! He’s sure it will make him buff and happy in no time. I’ll settle for happy!

Speaking of Hubs, he always gives me a hard time about the house “smelling like a Hallmark store” whenever I burn candles. Sound familiar?

Taunted By My Lunch

Today, Hubs got me a piece of cracktastic ecstacy known as a Lean Cuisine flatbread melt thingie for lunch (and potato chips to go with it, but we won’t go there!). So I was looking forward to it all morning. When lunch rolled around, I grabbed my little box out of the freezer, ripped and rolled back, per the directions. But when it came time to break the damned thing out of the plastic, it just wasn’t happening. Seriously, I could hear it snickering, “work for it, fatty!” That’s why they call it Lean Cuisine – you can’t open it, hence the lean part because there is no cuisine happening if you can’t break the f*cker out of the package! For the record, I love these things, although my last experience wasn’t so great – another “yeah, right, you’re going to open this” experience followed by boiling-lava-hot bleu cheese sauce dripping down the front of my black blouse and staining it a la Monica Lewinsky. I’m pretty sure my lunch laughed at me that day with a hearty, “neener, neener, neener!” I should have known better!

Hubs is still having issues. He hates his job and is getting sucked into the mentality of how hopeless it is and that he’s never going to do any better. I try to buoy him, but it’s not working. Does anyone else have a depressed spouse/SO? Is there a light at the end of the tunnel? Last night, he accused me (after having stood up for myself and telling him that I was not going along with another one of his harebrained schemes he only comes up with in a fit of desperation, of wanting to leave him. Where did that come from? I’m pretty sure those words never escaped my lips! And just because he came up with it, that doesn’t make it a good idea!

Off the Wagon, Dang It!

Yep, I’m smoking again. But, before you scold me, can I just say that I picked the absolute WORST week ever to quit smoking? Hubs is still going through his whatever and he’s trying to figure out who and what he wants to be when he grows up…between bitching about his job, bitching about money, and giving up in general because of the hopelessness of it all. So, really, what do I do? Pick a calmer time to try to quit? Or keep up with my current quit effort with the help of my soon-to-be-BFF, Nicorette? I’m just so tired of being angry with him all the time – had he actually put in a decent effort in finding a job, we wouldn’t be in this mess. He’s always looking for a quick fix, rather than weighing his decisions carefully and realizing that today’s quick fix could quickly become a nightmare in the span of a few short weeks.

Today, I was home with the kidlets and I’m amazed there wasn’t a homicide. The SD still hasn’t grasped the fact that she’s the kid and that we’re the adults. She helps herself to our stuff and ruins it, tries to tell us where she’s going, rather than asking. But the coup de gras would have to have come this afternoon. After I made her ask if she could go to her friend’s house (for the record, I said yes, but only AFTER she cleaned her room), she huffed up to her room to clean. After she’d been upstairs for about 3 hours, I went up to see what was going on. She didn’t do anything. So, she was grounded today – no computer, movies, or leaving the house for any unsanctioned activity. I even had her cleaning the baseboards and windows to get rid of dog snot. Sadly, I don’t think she’s ever going to realize that she’s not in charge, which always makes for interesting power struggles.

Right now, I’m baking banana bread and it smells soooo good!

Tag, You’re It!

Beans and Caviar has tagged me for this meme, which is the Peeps I Want To Know More About meme. Here are my responses.

The rules: Each player answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5-6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.

1) What was I doing ten years ago?
10 years ago, I was a news anchor/reporter at 610 WTVN/Clear Channel Columbus. I was in the midst of a serious relationship, which ultimately ended in tragedy. I do look at this time as one of the best times of my life.
2) What are five (non-work) things on my to-do list for today:
Gardening, go for a walk (I just joined a walking group, so I’m pretty enthusiastic about it), cook dinner, do laundry, start cleaning my house for my in-laws’ arrival next weekend.

3) Snacks I enjoy:
Chocolate, but only really great chocolate.
Anything involving cheese
4) Things I would do if I were a billionaire:

Have plastic surgery to make me thinner. Damn, I miss “the Swan!”

Buy a stunning wardrobe of designer originals

Two words: Jimmy Choo
Fly my friends into an exotic locale for a girl’s away long weekend.

5) Places I have lived:
Upper Arlington, OH

Clintonville, OH

Westerville, OH

6) Jobs I have had:

Talk show producer

Reporter

News Anchor

Morning show co-host

Mortgage consultant

Marketing coordinator

Copywriter

 

7) Peeps I want to know more about:

Alaina, my friend, and one of the bravest mommies I know: http://mssinglemama.wordpress.com/

The mastermind behind all things Caucasian: http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com/

The little devil herself, Diabolina, whose taste in fashion I greatly admire: http://diabolinafashiondiary.blogspot.com/

Dreams

I’ve often heard that a dream is only interesting to the person who has it, but since this is my blog, ha ha, you’re going to hear it anyway. I have been dreaming about dead people mistreating me – my mom and my beloved B. Why is that?

Last night, I dreamed about B. In my dream, he sent a message through a waitress, saying that he wanted to slow our relationship down and that I shouldn’t count on an engagement ring, but then, later in the dream, somehow, the message that he wanted to marry me more than anything came to me. What does that mean? Does that mean that he deliberately slowed our relationship down because he somehow knew he wasn’t going to be around? Is he trying to send me a message now – 7 years later?

And, what I’ve been struggling with is how do you say to someone who’s no longer here, “I’m not over you  yet and I don’t know if I ever will be?” How do you know if, despite the fact that you’ve done your best to go on with your life, you’re truly happy? I admit that I am monumentally screwed up that way. Sometimes, I don’t know which way is up and now, this. What does all of this mean?

Yep, I’m Becoming One of THOSE Women!

Ever since the hubs got a new job, we’ve been in a desperate search for daycare. I’ve known for a while that she needs more than in-home daycare. She’s way too smart and, for all we know, may even be planning world domination as we speak, so the search began. I have spoken to way too many daycare centers this week and they either don’t have immediate openings or else they want a huge deposit (and maybe even a kidney) to hold her place in a class. For some reason, shelling out $200 per week AND handing over an extra $500 seems to a bit excessive. Then, I found THE place! It’s really close to my office and the staff is incredibly nice! They’ll be evaluating her Monday morning as I’m standing there, weeping that I’m handing my baby over to a group of strangers. I’m already getting a little sad about it. My baby’s starting school Monday. There, I said it.

So the hubs turned 40 this week and pretty much insisted that I treat his birthday like it was just any other day. No hoopla, no presents, nothing. Huh. I have had to explain to him that just because he’s that way, he needs to not expect everyone else to suffer from that same affliction (for the record, my birthday is next month, and I fully intend to celebrate it. Quite possibly even for a month or so!). I am, hoxever, considering an ambush celebration of some sort. You know, make a cake while he’s out, etc, but I’m not sure how well it would go over. Incredibly sweet, yes. Appreciated, I’m not sure. In any case, here is the recipe. I call it “OMG Cake” because it is THAT good!

2 cups sugar
1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup cocoa
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
½ cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water
“Perfectly Chocolate” Chocolate Frosting

Heat oven to 350. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans. Sift together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla; beat on medium speed of electric mixer for 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.

Cupcakes: Line muffin cups (2 ½ inches in diameter) with paper liners. Heat oven to 350. Fill cups 2/3 full with batter. Bake 22 to 25 minutes. Cool completely. Frost. Makes about 30 cupcakes.

“Perfectly Chocolate” Chocolate Frosting

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter or margarine
2/3 cup cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Melt butter. Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency. Add small amount of additional milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla.

Makes about 2 cups frosting.

Not much else on the agenda for the weekend – mani/pedi, hiding from the children, and maybe some highlights.