My Introduction

Welcome!

If you have not yet read the about me section for this blog, you might want to skim it over. I do not wish to rehash who I am, but rather go into a little more detail about why I decided to do this blog.

You may remember me from such blogs as The Evil Twin Experience and um, well...I guess that's about it. My love for writing has combined with my love for eating and so, here I am.

I took the name mancakes for this blog from an episode of Man Vs Food, (Travel Channel), where the host, Adam Richman, travels around to all the pig-out spots and eating challenges he can find around the country. In one particular episode, he is visiting a restaurant that serves HUGE pancakes, although because of the size, they are called mancakes instead of pancakes. I loved the idea of that and dream of the day I can open my own restaurant and serve only extra large portions of everything.

My girlfriend and I love to travel, which is a good thing because we live in Indiana and my sons' mother lives in Missouri. So as we rack up the driving miles we also need to stop and eat along the way. We have had some interesting experiences at some of the places we have been and I began to think, "Why not share these experiences with the public?" Some good, some bad, and some were nothing special. I thought how nice it might have been if we had known about some of these places before we ever stopped. By reading this, maybe you'll find a new favorite place to eat, or maybe you'll find a place to steer clear of in the future. This blog should help you make a more informed decision.

Why is this important? I'll tell you. Last winter, my son and I ate dinner at a new oriental buffet restaurant that had opened here in Muncie. The selection was amazing, the food was wonderful, the price was about what you might expect to pay. However, when it comes to buffet style restaurants, I have a personal policy with regards to tipping. Since I have to physically get up and get my own food, there really isn't much else for the wait staff to do for me except keep my soda glass full and the table cleared of dirty dishes. That's it. If they can do a good job of that, then they get a tip. If not, then what have they done to earn it? Anyway, after our meal that night, service had not really been that great so as we were leaving, the waitress brought me the check and after signing it she noticed I had not entered a tip amount and questioned me about it.

"What, no tip?" she asked me.

I tried to be polite and said no, sorry, not this time. Then she said the words that forever cemented my relationship with that restaurant.

"If you (sic) not happy, you don't have to come back."

I thought, you're right. I don't. And I haven't been back since.

In addition to those little anecdotes, I will also be sharing some of our favorite creative recipes. We love to cook and experiment and just maybe you will enjoy some of these ideas as well.