Local Restaurant Inspired Meal Week - Cap City Diner

For our final Local Restaurant Inspired Meal we will be visiting Cap City Diner in Grandview.  Cap City Diner is one of the many restaurants in the Cameron Mitchell Family of restaurants.  The menu features classic comfort food with an upscale twist.

1299 Olentangy River Road, Columbus, Ohio 43212

We have eaten here a few times and it never disappoints.  Prince Charming and I introduces our parents here for the first time.  I decided to try to replicate their famous Meatloaf.  It is a piece of Texas toast, topped with meatloaf, topped with buttermilk-chive mashed potatoes, topped with chili onion straws served with broccoli and a BBQ gravy.  We'll see how it goes.

Cap City Diner's Meatloaf

Here is my recipe.

GRANDMA'S (aka THE QUEEN MUM) MEATLOAF

Serves 6

INGREDIENTS

2-1/2 lbs lean ground beef

2 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup ketchup

1 Tbsp Worcestershire

2 tsp minced garlic

3/4 cup milk

3/4 cup dry bread crumbs (plain or seasoned)

1-1 oz envelope dry onion soup mix

8oz wild mushrooms, finely chopped (Optional)

DIRECTIONS

1.  Preheat oven to 350°F. Combine ground beef, eggs, ketchup, Worcestershire, garlic, milk, bread crumbs, onion soup mix and mushrooms.  Mix thoroughly but do not over work.  Shape into a rectangle or an oval and place into meatloaf pan.

2.  Place on upper oven rack.  Bake 45 to 55 minutes, until instant-read thermometer inserted into enter registers 160°F.  Let stand for 10 minutes.  Cut into slices.

BUTTERMILK CHIVE MASHED POTATOES

Recipe courtesy of Food Network

Serves 6

INGREDIENTS

2 lbs red potatoes, cut into 2-inch chunks

2 Tbsp butter

1 small shallot, chopped

3/4 cup buttermilk

salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 Tbsp chopped chives

DIRECTIONS

1.  Cover the cubed potatoes with cold salted water in a large saucepan and simmer until tender, about 20 minutes.

2.  While potatoes are cooking, add the butter to a small saucepan and saute the shallot until translucent. Add the buttermilk and warm. Season with salt and pepper.

3.  Once tender, drain potatoes, return to pot, and coarsely mash with a potato masher. Stir in the warmed buttermilk mixture, season with salt and pepper and garnish with chives.

ONION STRAWS

Recipe courtesy of Food Network

Serves 2

INGREDIENTS

2 large onions

2 cups buttermilk

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 scant Tbsp salt

Plenty of black pepper

1/4 to 1/2 Tbsp cayenne pepper

Canola oil, for frying

DIRECTIONS

1.  Begin by peeling the onions and slicing very thinly, use a mandoline slicer if you can. Separate the onion slices and place them in a shallow baking dish and pour the buttermilk over the top. Press the onions down so they're submerged as much as possible and let them soak on the counter for at least an hour. If necessary, stir them around a bit halfway through the soaking process. 

2.  In a bowl, combine the flour, salt, black pepper and cayenne, and set aside. 

3.  Pour 1 to 2 quarts canola oil in a pot or Dutch oven. Heat to 375 degrees F, or until a pinch of flour sizzles when sprinkled over the pot. 

4.  Using tongs, remove a handful of onions from the buttermilk and immediately dunk into the flour mixture. Coat the onions in the flour mixture, and then tap them on the inside of the bowl to shake off the excess. 

5.  Plunge the onions in the hot oil. With a spoon, fiddle with them a bit just to break them up, and watch them! They'll be ready to remove from the oil in no time flat. 

 

6.  When they're golden brown (this should take just a minute or two), remove them from the oil and place on a paper towel-lined plate. 

7.  Repeat with the remaining onion slices and serve immediately. 

BBQ GRAVY

Recipe courtesy of Rachael Ray

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

3 Tbsp butter

3 Tbsp flour

2 cups chicken stock

1/4 cup barbecue sauce

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

DIRECTIONS

1.  Heat a saucepan over medium-high heat. Melt the butter then stir in the flour and cook until light brown, about 1 minute.

2.  Whisk in the chicken stock and barbecue sauce, and season with salt and freshly ground pepper.  Continue whisking and cook until thickened, about 3 minutes.

STEAMED BROCCOLI

Recipe courtesy of Simple Recipes

Serves 2-4

INGREDIENTS

1 large bunch of broccoli

Salt and pepper

Butter

DIRECTIONS

1.  Prep the broccoli crowns and stems: Cut the crowns away from the large stems of the broccoli. Break the crown up into bite-sized florets. Rinse the broccoli florets thoroughly.

Peel and discard the thick outer skin of the stems. Slice the stems or cut them into quarters lengthwise.

2.  Bring steamer water to a boil: Place 3/4 to 1 inch of water in a saucepan with a steamer and bring to a boil. (Note that is you don't have a steamer, you can simply put the broccoli directly into an inch of boiling water.)

3.  Add broccoli, steam 5 to 6 min: Add the broccoli to the steamer and cover; reduce heat to medium and let cook for 5-6 minutes. The broccoli is done when you can pierce it with a fork. As soon as it is pierce-able, remove from heat, place in serving dish.

4.  Season with salt, pepper and a couple pats of butter.

STEPS TO MAKING THE MEATLOAF:

1.  Make Meatloaf first.

2.  Next start your potatoes cooking and make your onion straws.

3.  Start making your gravy.

4.  Steam your broccoli.

5.  Cook your Texas toast.

ASSEMBLE THE DISH:

1.  Place Texas toast on plate, put slice of meatloaf on toast, pour some gravy over meatloaf.

2.  Place about 1 cup of mashed potatoes on top of the meatloaf, top with a handful of onion straws.

3.  Place some steamed broccoli around the meatloaf.

4.  Serve immediately.

This was really yummy and filling but oh my gosh was it a lot of work.  I think I used every pan, pot and cooking tool I had.  I ended up with 3/4 of a meatloaf and a lot of mashed potatoes and gravy.  I wrapped everything up and put it in the freezer for another night.

Brownie Meeting 17: Take Action Project Planning

Meeting at a Glance 

Goal:  The Brownie team moves forward with its Take Action Project to make an impact in the community and earn it’s third key.

Toward the Award:  Take Action Key

Supplies: 

See Brownie Supply Schedule

Pre-Meeting (15 min)

-Greet, sign-in, and put on nametags. 

Snack Time (Snacks, Step #4) (10 min)

Opening (5 min)

- Flag Ceremony

-  Gather and greet each other with the Girl Scout handshake. 

Business (10 min)

• In the Girl Scout Brownie Ring, take attendance and collect dues, review rules and assign kapers.
• “Today we are going to start taking the first steps toward our Take Action Project.”

Activity/Exploration (50 min)

• Read Chapter 5 of the Brownie Quest book . 
• Talk about the different ways to promote the event:  posters, flyers, e-blasts, announcements, talking to friends and neighbors, press release.
• Help the girls to write a letter/email to their principal telling them about our project and the ways we would like to promote it at school.  Ask for permission to hang posters and pass out flyers, etc.  We would like to have at least 2 weeks of promotion time.
• Talk about what information should go on the posters/flyers.
• Take a walk around the school building to identify good places to hang our posters.

Clean-up (10 min)

• ALL girls participate in the clean-up time! Remind the girls of kapers and work together to leave the site better than you found it. 
• The Out Scout should be rotating the names on the Kaper Chart to see who will bring the snack and beverage for the next meeting. 

Closing (5 min)

• FRIENDSHIP CIRCLE – Use the Girl Scout Sign again to get the girls’ attention. Ask girls to gather around and form a circle. 
• Let the girls know who will be bringing the snack next time and ask the girls to take the Snack Box home.  Remind girls to show their parent the note inside the snack box.
• Form a Friendship Circle, sing, “Goodbye Brownies,” and do a friendship squeeze. 

-  Collect nametags and sign-out. 

Brownie Meeting 16: Choosing a Take Action Project

Meeting at a Glance 

Goal:  Brownie team members identify a community need that matters to them and begin to create a solution - a way to Fly into Action and accomplish something on behalf of others.

Toward the Award:  Take Action Key

Supplies: 

See Brownie Supply Schedule

Pre-Meeting (15 min)

-Greet, sign-in, and put on nametags. 

Snack Time (Snacks, Step #4) (10 min)

Opening (5 min)

- Flag Ceremony

-  Gather and greet each other with the Girl Scout handshake. 

Business (10 min)

• In the Girl Scout Brownie Ring, take attendance and collect dues, review rules and assign kapers.
• Hand out the Dancer Skill Building Badges that the girls earned at the last meeting.

-“Today we are going to take the first step toward our third key, which is figuring out who needs some help from our Brownie Team.”

Activity/Exploration (50 min)

• Brownie Brainstorm Chart for our Take Action Project (idea: Organize, promote, and operate a food drive for the Food Bank.  Write a letter to the Food Bank asking what items they need and if we could sponsor a food drive for them.  Write to school principals asking to hang posters up in school advertising the food drive.  Send home flyers with students advertising the food drive.  Have a food drive at a Grocery Store on a weekend afternoon.  Take food to Food Bank and volunteer there to help stock the shelves.)

• If needed, vote on a Take Action Project.  We should probably have at least a top 3 list of possible projects in case something falls through or doesn’t work out.
• Read Chapter 4 of Brownie Quest book and fill in pages 31-33.
• Make a Brownie Plan.  IMPORTANT:  Choose a date for the project…Saturday, May 16 or Sunday, May 17.  (I can call both the Food Bank and Kroger to see if they will allow us to do it and if either of these dates will work)
• Make posters for our Home School cafeteria to encourage kids to make healthy choices for breakfast.

Clean-up (10 min)

• ALL girls participate in the clean-up time! Remind the girls of kapers and work together to leave the site better than you found it. 
• The Out Scout should be rotating the names on the Kaper Chart to see who will bring the snack and beverage for the next meeting. 

Closing (5 min)

• FRIENDSHIP CIRCLE – Use the Girl Scout Sign again to get the girls’ attention. Ask girls to gather around and form a circle. 
• Connect Key Celebration Ceremony.  Hand out the Connect Key patches.
• Let the girls know who will be bringing the snack next time and ask the girls to take the Snack Box home.  Remind girls to show their parent the note inside the snack box.
• Form a Friendship Circle, sing, “Goodbye Brownies,” and do a friendship squeeze. 

-  Collect nametags and sign-out. 

*This would be a good meeting to have a parent iron-on session.

Brownie Outing: Dancer Skill Building Badge

Since our Brownie Quest Journey is all about healthy eating and lifestyles I thought that this would be the perfect time to work in the Dancer Skill Building Badge and talk to the girls about dancing as exercise.

Since one of our Leaders takes ballet and her older daughter is an Irish Step dancer we figured they could run a little workshop for the girls to complete the steps for the Dancer badge.  I reserved a large room at our branch of the public library and we had the workshop there.

Step 1:  Warm up and get moving

Step 2:  Try a new dance
The girls learned a little bit about the history of Irish Step dance and learned some steps.

learning about the Irish Step dancer's dress

Step 3:  Take to the floor like a dancer
The girls learned the 5 positions of ballet as well as the ballet carriage and bow.

Step 4:  Make up your own dance
Step 5:  Show your move

We played some different styles of music (ie.  country, folk, rock-n-roll and modern favorites) and the girls did their own little dances and then had a dance party.

Brownie Meeting 15: Connecting and Taking Action

Meeting at a Glance 

Goal:  Brownies earn the Connect Key by first exploring the “circles” of their lives and then expanding their caring to their community by writing a letter to a school or town official to seek a healthy-living improvement.

Toward the Award:  Connect Key

Supplies: 

See Brownie Supply Schedule

Pre-Meeting (15 min)

-Greet, sign-in, and put on nametags. 

-Color one of the pictures in the back of the GGGS Book.

Snack Time (Snacks, Step #4) (10 min)

Opening (5 min)

- Flag Ceremony

-Gather and greet each other with the Girl Scout handshake. 

Business (10 min)

-In the Girl Scout Brownie Ring, take attendance and collect dues, review rules and assign kapers.

Activity/Exploration (50 min)

• Gather the girls around for the Creating Circles of Caring activity
• Have the girls talk about what they did with their families for the Healthy-Living Family Activity.  Tape each family commitment card to the “Family Circle”

• Read “The Case of the Broken Sidewalk” on page 64 of the Girls Journey book.  Discuss.
• Talk to the girls about the sugar content in the school breakfasts.

Daily recommended about 26grams or 6 sugar cubes

• Brainstorm some ideas of what may need fixing in their neighborhoods or school.  (idea:  write a letter to the School Superintendent asking for healthier school breakfasts and copy all three school principals)
• Write the letter.
• If time, read Chapter 3 of the Brownie Quest book.

Clean-up (10 min)

• ALL girls participate in the clean-up time! Remind the girls of kapers and work together to leave the site better than you found it. 
• The Out Scout should be rotating the names on the Kaper Chart to see who will bring the snack and beverage for the next meeting. 

Closing (5 min)

• FRIENDSHIP CIRCLE – Use the Girl Scout Sign again to get the girls’ attention. Ask girls to gather around and form a circle. 
• Connect Key Celebration Ceremony.  Hand out the Connect Key patches.
• Their will be an outing on March 29, 2015 from 1:15pm-2:45pm at Library for complete our Dancer Skill Building badge.
• Let the girls know who will be bringing the snack next time and ask the girls to take the Snack Box home.  Remind girls to show their parent the note inside the snack box.
• Form a Friendship Circle, sing, “Goodbye Brownies,” and do a friendship squeeze. 
• Collect nametags and sign-out. 

Brownie Outing: Healthy Cooking Class (Brownie Quest)

Since our Brownie Quest Journey is all about healthy eating and lifestyles I thought having the girls take a healthy cooking class would be fun.  We participated in a Hands on Cooking Experience at Whole Foods Market. The class is $5 per student. 

Learn basic sanitation, measuring and cooking skills in a professional kitchen. Tour of the Produce Dept. & talk about the color of foods and the nutrients they provide 

We will be making Healthy Muffins made with shredded – choose one: carrots( Sunrise Muffins) zucchini ( Chocolate Chip Zucchini Muffins) apple(Apple Crunch Muffins) additional ingredient such as dates or raisins are included in these recipes- no nuts!  

Tour of Produce Department while they are baking. Juice and water will be served as your group sits to eat their creation.  

This activity is to reinforce the Journey the girls are starting and is for a fun badge.

squeezing oranges for juice