free pizza (or beer) on your birthday month for signing up for an email list

so right where antelope creek runs near 48th & normal, on the west side of 48th, there's an establishment that is both a barbecue place called buster's, and a pizza place called ramos, and then a sports bar on top of that. i confess i have been here in the past, when i lived within walking distance, and they had some sporting events on their televisions that i didn't have on mine. anyway, it had been a while.

but i signed up for their email list here once, and so just got an email for either a free personal size pizza or a free draft pint. considering the value, i went for the pizza. i mean, do the math here.

deep dish, not at all spicy-- and i do prefer spicy-- but tasty nonetheless. pretty doughy and good for the chicago style.

they have maybe a dozen televisions for sporting events, two pinball machines (spiderman and addams family), and i've heard rumors of karaoke-- though not witnessed it myself. and according to the menu, they deliver until 2am! holy cats.

the thrift store in lincoln where your dog can accompany you. and wayne thiebaud.

i might not have noticed cause for paws if it weren't right next to my vet, namc, whom i also recommend--but that's talk for a dog blog i don't have (yet). cause for paws thrift is within that south 56th/old cheney/ highway two snakepit of busy streets, all with a morass of lanes-- an area where, once again, one appreciates the general gridlike nature of most of the urban planning in lincoln. the quickest hint i can give is: same building as juice stop, other side. so it might take you a minute to find it the first time. or two. but it's worth it.

website here, with hours that have changed recently--but now include sundays, on the limited side. and yes, you can take your well-behaved dog into the store with you-- even off-leash. and the money earned (check their website for current information, and hours of operation) goes to pet-related causes.

they're doing that summer/winter switch of clothes and housewares, and most things are half-price if not less. i bought some good work clothes that were quality and inexpensive. the shoe selection stands out, and i generally avoid second-hand shoes.

of course i looked for a kitchen item so i could write about this store here, and found something that i had already wanted: a sheldon cookbook, which made me quite happy. (of course you should buy a copy at the sheldon gift shop given the opportunity yourself; the sheldon needs your money too! i invite any of my friends in other cities to show me a better free museum. and the kaneko exhibit right now is fantastic, so at least go see that.)

somehow haven't bought it before, but like i said, always wanted it. the picture on the cover-- from the sheldon's permanent collection-- is of course by wayne thiebaud, who was one of my first favorite modern artists as a child. of course he was! look at it! he painted cake! and bubblegum! with those thick, frosting-like strokes! he was my introduction into appreciating pop art the way the beatles were my introduction into appreciating pop music. they catch your eye, they catch your ear, and it goes from there.

the cookbook was a dollar at the thrift store. go buy some some stuff there, or drop stuff off! and you can take the dog along.

i hope there's something in there i want to make...

good news for local vegetarians: college back in session

yes, school back in session changes the dining options on the weekends downtown. it also changes take-out options in the college view neighborhood, with the hours at the union college dining hall going back to regular (longer) hours.

their dining hall site is here. the college is seventh-day adventist, which means traditionally vegetarian. and anyone from the public can go get a tray of food either to eat there or take with them. one aspect of the religion that makes this dining option more convenient for vegetarians in town is that the religion's day of rest is saturday-- meaning, pretty decent hours on sunday around mealtimes.

the salad bar, represented up top, is fantastic (yes, that's edamame) and 3.99/#. they cut the broccoli and cauliflower into bite-size, which is a basic standad for any salad bar. i put the dressing on at home, you know, even though they have nice choices. so the salad was just over three bucks.

the middle pic is some bread from their bakery which turned out to be quite delicious and not too carrot-heavy in taste at all, and obviously cheap. they have a large baked goods selection. you can tell some has been frozen and re-thawed, which bothers me; but i also understand the reasoning. i would just like to be able to decode their sale-date a little better. they have many many sweets for those wh0 seek those out-- i hear good things about the cinnamon rolls.

the last picture is some food from their hot bar, which still confuses me-- as i apparently always pick out sides (in this case: brown rice, asparagus, cheesy steamed cauliflower, some semi-spicy garbanzos and a spoonful of something that looked tasty), and i seem to avoid the meat-like but meatless entrees; and this causes confusion at the register. i'll get it worked out. that plate was just over $5. right now i'm wondering why i didn't just just load up with steamed asparagus.

they also have a sandwich-to-order bar, a pizza-to-order bar, and a coffee bar. not sure about the selections there. also a huge fruit bar that i wished i had grabbed a plate from, just to show here. to-go containers cost 25c but they'll let you re-use your own.

so, don't be frightened-- they're friendly and no one's tried to convert me. and it's seriously the healthiest option in college view, when they're open-- check that website.

until saturday 9/19 at target: buy 5 kashi products, get $5 target gift card

most of the kashi products at target are on sale for 2.88 as well-- again, just through saturday. (if you aren't familiar with kashi as a product line, you might be interested to know about their whole-grain approach to convenience foods.) also, look for some coupons on some product boxes themselves... and at their website... and from their facebook fan page. i got $2 more off the purchase using those today.

the 2.88 price provides the biggest savings on the frozen foods. which, as frozen dinners go, are probably some of the tastiest available.

the sale price applies to (again, most but not all) cookies, crackers, cereals, energy bars, and other products. and if you buy five items from the brand, the target cashier hands you that nice little "thank you" gift card you see there. you don't have to take your receipt to customer service, you don't have to take the card there to get it activated, and you don't have to wait for a $5 rebate check in the mail 6-8 weeks from whenever you get around to maybe applying for it.

so once, again, target amazes me with taking a racket (like rebates) and making it cusotmer-service oriented. and then, also, the design of the gift card itself-- tell me no one's going to re-gift that as an actual thank-you present. brilliant.

this should be at all targets nationwide, i believe. if you're in lincoln, the one on south 40th has the biggest food section.

answer to kfc's double down: lnk's trouble town, pierogi pwn?

i wrote about the fabulously tasty, and nutritionally fantastic, double down sandwich from kfc on another food blog i have (a blog that i haven't used in a while. taking pictures of food that wouldn't work together was fun, but the options were frighteningly limitless and potentially dangerous).

whichever way, the double down is a sandwich from kfc that uses fried chicken as bread. so i used leftovers to make a couple of these little sandwiches that i called trouble towns in homage to the original unimaginable sandwich:

bread-parts: waffle fries
protein-ish: cheese & potato pierogis
dressing: what the watering hole serves with pierogis. blue-cheesy. not bad.
extra layer: some caramelized onions.
side: sauteed mushroom caps.

thanks to t for bringing me back to the watering h0le for the first time this century, and thanks to j for the waffle fries!

the eagle is abierto: d'leon's at 27th & randolph open

finally open. i'm not sure why d'leon's remodel of the old drive-thru seemed to take so long. perhaps because i drive past so frequently? they just come into the neighborhood, paint the building bright yellow and throw up "opening soon" signs; and then, nothing for weeks. i was going to stage a sit-in.

just south of randolph on south 27th (on the northbound side of 27th street), the locally-owned, seemingly-unstoppable d'leons has finally opened this location. open 24 hours a day. drive-thru 24 hours, walk-in 6am to midnight (if i remember, 5 tables).

yes, this is within seeing/hearing/smelling distance from the amigo's at 27th & capital parkway. the two locations are so close, they are within wrapper-wafting distance of each other (not that anyone in lincoln, nebraska would ever litter). amigo's-- another locally-owned, seemingly-unstoppable mexican fast food chain. odd choice of location for d'leon's? perhaps not, considering how little one wants to deal with a u-turn on 27th st.

given the opportunity to seize upon an impulse burrito at this intersection, you will not be provided with much of a dilemma, if you practically consider each establishment. amigo's is cheaper, your choices are more limited (this can make it much faster depending on who's in your car), and the palate presented is one step more complex than taco bell. d'leons is what people like to call "authentic"-- can we get a better word for that, please?-- slightly more expensive but quite resonable for the quality. and while more inconsistent-- still ten times better. your wallet and taste buds, and which direction you're heading on 27th, will work it out for you.

for me, it's also a question of, "do i want my nostalgic fast food from high school, or do i want a burrito?" pictured: their lincoln breakfast burrito (breakfast served all day). potatoes, bacon, sour cream, and cheese. 3.99.