I rarely eat a hearty breakfast on any normal day. But I relish it when I do. This is what a whole package of bacon looks like when cooked. Bacon is amazing. And M cooked down romaine lettuce with chicken broth and this is what we got. Cooked romaine? Delicious! There was also scrambled eggs, peaches, and hot dog bun toast to round out this breakfast. It was excellent fuel for our 14-mile bike ride along Lehigh gorge.
When we got back, it was time to eat again. There’s nothing like nature, clean air, and exercise to make you just want to eat all the time. More romaine! And random veggies like green beans, eggplant, and tomatoes.
Corn on the cob! I ate two.
M cooked up some chicken breast with an orange – soy marinade.
We didn’t have much bacon left over for the next morning, so we had to opt for sausage instead.
But the real star of that breakfast was the french toast made from hot dog buns. There was french toast from double fiber bread (!?!) too, but the hot dog buns worked out great! I’m a big fan of just working with what you have, so if hot dog buns is all you have, then by all means, use them!

Labor day weekend at the poconos was relaxing, nature-filled, and full of good home-cooked meals. How can you not relax seeing ducks cruising around a lake?
Since M is an awesome cook, she made us a stew where she basically threw things together. To start, take your stew meat and cut it into cubes. Dredge it in flour and then brown in your pot.
Browned stew meat. Nom.
Then in a big old pot throw in the meat, some broth (there was one can of chicken so we used that), onions, celery, sweet potatoes (because we didn’t have regular potatoes), carrots, tomatoes, crushed garlic, dried chives, sage, bay leaf, a couple of yuenglings, and maybe a little cooking wine. Then we just let it cook for hours. It does not get any easier.
Once we got back from kicking it at the lake and beach and doing pretend gymnastics, there was a giant pot of delicious stew awaiting us. The meat was super tender. There was a thick and delicious broth. The sweet potatoes were amazing. It was perfect! I never realized how easy it was.

I fell in love with doner kebabs when I took a couple of business trips to germany years back. They were unlike anything I had before, and it was instant love. I had many of them throughout germany, but the best one I’ve ever had was in a random shop in Schwabisch Hall. I still dream about it. If you’re ever there, go to the main public parking lot in the city center and when you walk right out of it, past the pay machines, there’s a doner kebab shop. That’s the place. BEST. DONER. KEBAB. EVER. I haven’t had one for a long time. I’ve tried reasonable but disappointing facsimiles in Ireland and Italy, but it’s nothing like a genuine german doner kebab. They’ve somehow taken a turkish street food and evolved it all into an amazing german treat. I haven’t yet experienced a real doner kebab shop in the US. Years ago, there was a random coffee shop on Chestnut Street that supposedly served them, but when I went back there a few weeks later, it had already become a purse shop. Cue the sad face. So when I read that Brauhaus Schmitz was serving them during the soccer season, I had to give it a whirl! They’re only available on the weekend, and only for the soccer season. We enjoyed some delicious beers while we waited, patiently.
They’re typically served with fries, but you can also substitute other sides. I got the cabbage. This doner kebab surprised me. First, the bread was great. It’s actually pretty damn important how the bread is. It’s definitely not thin, limp, pita bread. It’s called fladenbrot, and it does have some heft, but it’s not thick like a regular sandwich roll. They got the bread just right. On the inside they have lamb, along with shredded red onions, red cabbage, pickles, and tomatoes, along with a yogurt-based sauce. While it tasted fairly good, I would have changed a few things. There was way too much meat in here, and it was in really thick slices, like a brisket, but not nice and evenly sliced. It was just random hunks of thick slices. It just ended up being overly stuffed and made it difficult to maneuver. If you get genuine doner kebabs, the spits of meat have slices of the meat wrapped up into a cylinder shape. And the meat is literally shaved off, by something not too far off from clippers, so the meat actually ends up being in little pieces… resembling the shape of slivered almonds, but a little bigger. And the pickles were strange to me. I was much more used to cucumbers. Also, in germany, you always have the option of getting a spicy sauce as well. And there is also some spicy flakes you can shake on, but I have no idea what it’s made of. It still remains a mystery to me. Oh, and the thing is huge! I could not finish it! Also, the fries that come with are great. And my cabbage was plentiful and delicious… if you’re into sour cabbage!
I thoroughly appreciate their valiant effort in serving up doner kebabs in philadelphia. It really made me happy, and a bit wistful. Now I really want to go to germany to have the real thing! But if this is as close as I can get, then it’s still a great substitute. Thanks Brauhaus Schmitz!