Most memorable meal

[Sweet Melissa]

The thread on favorite restaurants got me to thinking about my most memorable meals. Two stand out.

1) I was doing a water quality project in Uganda. Had been there for two weeks, living in pretty primitive conditions. No refrigeration or running water, so we consumed a lot of warm Fanta and bananas. Our hosts decided to take us (myself and a British medical student) to Queen Elizabeth National Park. Anyway, we stayed in a nearby hostel, but there was a nice lodge there where we had dinner that night. We skipped the goat stew and other local delicacies in favor of a pizza and a COLD Pepsi. Beautiful African night, sitting outside, eating the closest thing to comfort food we would have for nearly a month.

2) Applebee's in Klamath Falls. I had just met my now-husband. We went to a movie, then to Applebee's for a late dinner. Sat at a small table in the bar. I ordered fajitas, and we had an amazing conversation. I knew after that night I would marry him. One month later, he gave me a ring. Two months later we were married. Best fajitas I ever had.

[OceanBlue]

First date with Andy. We went to Hales, sat in the lounge and split a Reuben sandwich with a sub of onion rings instead of fries. We pretty much suggested the same thing at the same time. Talked for hours. On the 9th anniversary of that first date, we sat in the lounge enjoying a Reuben sandwich with our sub of onion rings when Andy presented me with a ring and asked me to marry him.

Next to that, the most memorable meal was prime rib at the stock pot with about a hundred former co-workers that I hadn't seen in over 10 years. That was THE best prime rib I have had - ever! Seeing some old friends was good, too

[Just_learning]

It was captain crunch. In a big bowl, eaten with a mixing spoon.

Here is the story. Back in my OSU days after a long Thursday night out drinking at the “The Ranch” (some will know where that is). We loaded up in a car and headed out to a friends house WAY out past 53rd street. At the time I lived on 21st street and from my cloudy memory I thought I could just cut through the field, go through the covered bridge and be home in about half an hour. Well….things didn’t go according to plan. I don’t know what time I had left, but I do know I didn’t make it home until about 7:30 that cold fall day. My earliest “clear” memory came when I was not walking towards OSU, but north in a field with the covered bridge just a speck in the distance with the sun rising from the east. Correcting my path, in my soaking wet shoes, socks, and now jeans, all I could do was thing to myself how screwed I was, and how I should have just called someone for a ride. After a looooong walk I ambled through campus with people seeing a guy who looked like he had been through the ringer, hair messed up, covered in those damn fuzz ball thingys, all wet, barely able to keep his eyes open as he hobbled home. Once I got home I stripped down, poured a big bowl of captain crunch, and got the only spoon left, a big mixing spoon. I will be damned if that wasn’t the best bowl of cereal I have ever had. My roommate had gotten up and saw me at the dinner table sitting with my head in my hand as I sloppily tried to eat. He took one look at me and shook his head in disbelief, corrected his eyes and laughed the whole way to the bathroom. It wasn’t until he came out later that I explained everything. It was the beginning of what was to be an eventful year.

[Fishnfire]

Cold double wopper with cheese at 3:30 in the morning watching the sun come up after being stuck on the side of a hill in a brockendown fire truck and having to bunout around us as the fire made a run twords us. Lucky the pump still worked and we were able to keep the fire away from us as it went by.
That was a long nite and a great burger!

[greenbuttskunk]

probably a 7 course italian "Grazi giving" I did with friends a few years back at thanksgiving. Even printed up menus in italian. It was an all day affair. I cooked a course, served it, ate and drank bottles of wine with eeach course.
Amazing! No way I'll top my food from that day. Food and company was perfect!

[fishinpox]

This is an easy one. It was two years ago, sitting in an undisclosed mountain range in alaska, roasting dall sheep over an open fire. It doesn't get any better than that after a successful hunt!

[Fast Water]

1. When I was very young and my Dad tried to make me eat beef liver and onions. I wan't allowed to leave the table until I ate the meal.

My Mom came out a couple hours after everyone had gone to bed and rescued me.

2. Mama's Fish House on Maui. The server said not to eat the little red chili that was in the marinated coconut. She said it was for decoration only. Wanting to impress and show off to my new Wife I started to eat the chili.

I almost found God right there and then. My new Wife was not impressed in the least bit as I ordered more frosty drinks and water. ( didn't know about dairy then)

[viigfish]

On my first date with my wife of 33 yrs, I went to her place for dinner. She was making meatloaf, and didn't have a clue how. She told me later she just put 3 pounds of hamburger into a baking dish. That made a pretty good fire in the oven. Luckily we were able to put it out ourselves.

She is a great cook now, but the learning curve was steep. We both chuckle when we remember our first meal together!


RV

[julezilla]

A basket of fries and a pitcher of Terminator. I'd been bugging this cute, lonely looking guy at work to take me fishing with him. He finally got over his shyness and took me on my first sturgeon fishing trip. We had a fantastic day out of Columbia City, and stopped at the Cornelius Pass Roadhouse on the way home. That was almost 9 years ago. Now, he takes me fishing all the time p And we still stop at the Roadhouse on the way home from fising every now and then for a pitcher and a basket of fries.

[Irish Pennant]

There are so many of them and I count my blessings for having the memories.
There was this time when it was my wife's birthday and I invited some of our friends to go the Black Angus with us and for some reason there was magic in the air, the laughter was special and the conversations were great. Another time when at hunting camp I cooked up some elk back strap on an old propane bbq under a poorly lighted tarp in the rain, it was the best tasting meat I have ever had. Another time when I was on board ship in a storm, sitting at the dining table with my elbow in one compartment of the dining tray holding a cup of coffee and with the free hand eating my meal, this was s.o.p. for a few days. Another time I was up at Sekiu with a couple of buddies. On the way we stopped at Hama Hama and bought some oysters. I had brought some elk and a friend brought some salmon and the other brought some home raised chicken. While we were there we cought some halibut and ling cod. The people that had the cabin next to ours were some of the people that were trying to get in the way of the Machaw Indians (SP) from harvesting a whale. Interesting charaters to say the least. We bbq all we had and shared it with them, drank micro brews, played guitars and bs'ed all night long. We had a great time. Another time my wife and I went to Maine and had some blue drinks and lobster pizza, they didn't mix very well but we still laugh at our selfs. While in Maine we went to a lobster pound and pigged out on a 3 pound lobster each. Then there was this time..........like I said there are so many and there will be more.

[StickFish]

Antelope Tenderloin in a blackberry sour cream sauce - Buffalo Mountain Lodge Banff Canada - September 26th 1989. The following nights dinner at Post Hotel near Lake Louise was almost as good as I recall, but I'll never forget the Antelope.

OK was on our honeymoon - waitress made an interesting statement when she asked how our honeymoon was going, we had no idea she knew and asked how she knew - "When you come to Banff you are either newly wed, or nearly dead." Ya were were in the minority that week.

[Tick Camper]

The Pine Room in Burns, Oregon after six days of eating boil food backpacking in the Pueblo Mountains.
Yes I can still remember the taste of a fresh salad, home made biscuits a Chicken fried steak smoothered in gravey with real mashed potatoes and green beans.

[IDWITHELD]

My senior prom. I accidentally left a (cash) 100 dollar tip at the restaurant. I get to the prom and realize I only have a 10 dollar bill in my wallet. DOH!

[jvp]

my mothers 80th birthday at cactus creek southwestern steakhouse. i stop in everytime i am in reno just for the 7 layer chocolate cake and some coffee.

[byebyeducky]

So many, I don't know which to choose

Thanksgivings at my moms, (you know the meal)

The first time my wife made Salmon. (It turned out to be the best I ever had!!!)

Funny thing is, my wife and Family are such good cooks, I really don't have any memorable meals in restaurants.

My wife is a Midwest girl and had no idea what kinds of foods are out there. When we first got married she was veeeerrrrrrry picky. As time went on, item by item, she would sit down, take a bite and then say "you know? this is kind of good!" This happened with all sorts of seafood, avacados, mexican food, and so many other things, I don't even remember. Now she is wanting to try new things!

[CATCH AND EAT]

Most memerable meal was a result of being a bad boy teenager. Was out one afternoon washing my car just before my mom got home from work. As she walked up the driveway she smartly said, "next". So I quickly turned the hose and gave her a squirt. Man I just thought that was funny and I laughed out loud. Well she said she "would get me back for that" and just left it at that.

Now, never bite the hand that feeds ya folks and I found this out the hard way. That evening she fixed dinner which was some BBQ'd burgers, french fries and chilli. I remember that the burger tasted great but was a little chewy for some reason. Of course mom knew how to time things just right so she came into the family room and asked how everything was and specifically looked at me. "mines a little chewy" I said, "but still tastes good". "oh really", she exclaimed. "Chewy huh?" It was then that I decided to investigate as her uncontrolable laughter had me a bit worried that I had been duped. I looked over the last two remaining bites of my burger to discover the boxtop of a cheerios package wedged into the meat and cooked to a soggy medium just like the rest of the burger.

I'd been had by a master of payback. To this day I will remember to check for additional filler in my hamburger patties when at mom's for dinner. Never bite the hand that feeds you.

[Kevin M. Kelly]

November 8, 1972

30,000 ft over the Pacific, a runny, airline food, cheese omlet




on the way home from Saigon.

Plenty of good meals since, but that one still sticks in my mind.

[Bluto]

Double Muskee in Girdwood, AK. Wife was lucky enough to let us stop going down the pennisula & also on the trip back. Hasn't changed a bit. Can still taste that bernaise sauce...

[Pilar]

Tequila, a restaurant in San Jose del Cabo. Fish we carried in the door and a bottle of wine which they gave us once they found out we were newly engaged. We brought too much Dorado and they served what was left to the other customers. I still smile when I remember the guy writing "Fresh fish of the day - Dorado" on the chalkboard. She had steak with Gongonzola on it. Why can't you carry your own fish in the door here?

That memory is bittersweet.

And by far the best was at Charlotte Amalie, St Thomas in the Frenchtown quarter. 1987 on vacation. I found myself down by the waterfront and followed my nose to the hole in the wall cafe. There were boats and boat stuff piled everywhere outside and on the wooden sidewalk. I was probably the only anglo within a mile of the place. Everywhere on the street and in the shops you heard the rich creole patois of the west indies. I walked in and a huge black woman sat me down and told me what I was having for dinner.

~Yellow-Tail snapper, deep fried whole.
~Fungi .. a west indies thing like a cross between grits and cornbread stuffing.
~Mustard greens with pickled peppers.
~Black eyed peas.
~cornbread dripping with butter and honey.

I did not argue with her .. she just knew what I would love for dinner.

Oh and a bottle of Hatuey beer. I can still see the sweat on that bottle. I watched them cook another fish for the next diner. Cut the sides to the back bone in two or three places, dust with cornmeal and flour and into the hot oil.

After dinner I enjoyed the locals playing the guitar and singing. Many bottles later we walked down the street together still singing and playing. I have no idea what we were singing in creole but it was fun. I found my rental car the next day after I walked up the hill to spend the night at my hotel. When I went back in 1989 .. the day before hurricane Hugo destroyed the island .. it had changed little.

I had a whole grouper that night and ate alone. The place was deserted but the food was amazing. Same awesome woman .. she had changed very little.

Gone now. After the storm that waterfront was a big pile of kindling.

Get off the road and follow your nose.

[uhmw]

cabo-after we caught ton of mahi-mahi, tuna and albacore the resturaunt next to the charter co. made us a feast from our catch prepared 4 different ways in return for our fish- mexican sushi the best I have ever had with my wife on our honey moon.

[Deeman]

1983, Basel Switzerland. I had all my amex checks, and luggage stolen from my room. The gals I was traveling with were not going to arrive until the next day and I had not eaten since the night before. I walked into a restaurant that seemed to be the Swis equal of Dennys, and told the waitress my tale of woe and asked what 2 crumpled dollar bills and 50 cents US would get me. She sat me down at a family style table and brought out a huge plate of sauerkraut with about 20 sausages around it and what is the largest pitcher of beer I have yet to see. I had never eaten kraut and didnt like it, but was to hungary to care. To this day I eat kraut every chance I get, and think back to the kindness of a woman I will never meet again, in a country i may never get back to.

[Deeman]

2nd most memorable. Bread sandwiches on the Crooked River because we were to poor as high school students to afford both the gas to get over there and food to eat when we arrived. Cheap, week old, on sale bread, a box of butter and you better catch fish, or put one slice between two more and save the butter for desert. I have lived for three days on bread sandwiches when the jerks at the Dam were playing with the water level.

[dampainter]

out hunting deer with a couple families when I was a kid...after scoring a couple deer we had a BBQ and than some....there was these rings of meat on a platter of lots of meat, I ate all the rings it was the best meat I have ate to this day, after I polished off all the rings one of the guys mom told me it was the heart....the rings almost came back up. man, soooo tasty!!

[Clyde]

Years ago when I was still in High School, I went to Taiwan to visit my relatives during summer vacation. A friend of my cousin's had an orange farm that was about to be completely submerged due to a new dam being built. We decided to make it an overnighter...just laying out with some blankets and such. The caretaker at the orchard was in his late sixties and lived in a very tiny shack with no water or electricity. To get water he had to hike down to the river about 100 yards away. He was in amazing shape to do that every day but hunched over from years of toil. He was extremely happy to have visitors and insisted that we have dinner with him. He made a meager meal of eggplant, some greens and a chicken that was just previously pecking around the shack (one of only three). Perhaps the greatest meal I have ever had to date because of how little he had and how much he was willing to share. We had brought a little hooch to share and ended up giving him anything and everything we had on us but he would not accept any money. As we left the next morning, we stashed about $75 (all that we had beyond the bus fare back) under his pillow while he was out getting water.

[gill_cutter]

When I was about 10 years old my mom made a great steak dinner. After dinner she told us that we just ate Cows Tongue. Still don't know to this day if she was serious or not but I will never forget it.

[wsuweston]

The last one I had

[Troutinator]

I have had the priveledge of eating in many fine restaurants and had many a memorable meal. Corny as it sounds, the two most memorable were not in restaurants..

1. Dozens of small 6" trout dipped in flour and deep fried until crispy in a giant cast iron skillet... by grandpa. On the banks of the Rogue River, circa 1965... we ate trout until I thought I was going to pop. And I still smell those frying trout in my dreams sometimes...

2. Picnic lunch at Bervery Beach with my future wife... simple bread, cheese, salamis, crackers and a bottle of cheap blush. It was the second day we were face to face after years of online contact through a professional chat room. And I'm pretty sure it was that lunch where I realized it was all done but the shouting... I was gone on her. Still am for that matter.

[Big Willie]

Easy...

Gazing at the Tetons at sunset through huge windows in the Mural Room, Jackson Lake Lodge, Teton National Park. The meal and service was impeccable. We retired to the Moran Suite...it was our honeymoon.

Gary

[RODACTION]

Every elk camp meal.

Thanksgiving with my girls when they were little.

Dinner when I was a kid, we would eat right when dad got home from work, they seem so old fashioned to me now. Today we eat as a family at the same table together maybe 3 times per week, there is always so much going on in our lifes, and kids lifes, sitting down as a family seems to be drifting away.

[Walleyer]

Breakfast at SW WA Hospital,after having a wisdom tooth pulled and getting a bad infection my jaw would only move far enough to fit a vicodin between my teeth,didnt eat for 3 days and drank about 1 qt of water,never thought hospital food could taste so good

[PapaHog]

Mom's Thanksgiving Dinner between 50 and 60 years ago. Probably because all the family was together. 15 or 20 people every year.

[fishgirl]

I have to agree with Big Willie, since I shared that meal with him!! The view and the food was the best ever. Ever.

[OR Coast Range]

Elk steaks that my parents smuggled into the hospital after I broke my leg in the 5th grade.

A few days before school was supposed to start I managed to fall over 50ft out of a tree and break my leg. It was a bad break - my femur actually separated and the bone slipped so that it was lying side by side. Needless to say - it was EXTREMELY painful.

I never passed out (I remember wishing that I would because it was so painful - also remember asking the paramedics to put me out once they arrived), so I remember looking over and seeing my Dad's CJ7 go racing by. He had been out elk hunting that morning, so he had no idea what was going on. He was excited though because he had just killed his first elk with his bow - a nice 5x5 Roosie with a dark rack. I'm sure that it was a buzz kill to come home ready to brag about his elk, only to find his son writhing on the ground delirious with pain.

I was in the hospital in traction for two weeks with my leg in a traction device. We all know about hospital food, but after a week and a half of the stuff I was sick of it. Those elk steaks though were the highlight of my hospital stay.

[codyor448]

I actually have two;

First one, Hubby and i were caught in cancun in 2005, during hurricane wilma. We celebrated our 10th wedding aniversary, in a parking garage, sleeping on the floor, (the second shelter as the roof collapsed on the first one during the hurricane, and we were moved to the parking garage). Dinner for our 10th was Old wheat bread, with oily tuna, slapped between the two pieces of bread. We passed.

The second, was 5 days later, Flying home on United. Cold Pop, Hot coffee, Ice water, and the best cheese and crackers i have ever had. The stewardess' couldnt understand why everyone on the plane was ordering multiple Ice Drinks, and Hot coffee, until i explained that we had had neither for a week. lol.

[FastAction]

Oct 2001 I stood cold, wet, and weary on the banks of the Kalama river. A friend and I had a long day of catching Many Silvers. We just got done Gutting our limit of 12 fat chrome fish. I was so hungry I could of eat'n the eggs. I was Handed a king sized Snickers bar, Quite Possibley the best thing I have ever eaten. That Snickers bar ened my 10 month diet in which I lost over 70lbs, and ruined my running for the Men of Ifish calendar!

[Chrome Bumper]

Oct 4 I will have lunch with 1/2 dozen of my closest friends at the Culinary institute.

[northrivergrn]

Sep 24th 2005, the day I got back from Iraq I went to dinner with family and lots of friends at Red Robin. I had the Whiskey river BBQ chicken Burger. Boy did it taste good!!!

[MikeN]

1. Dinners on the cruise to Mexico on Princess Cruise line my family took last Spring Break. Best food I have ever had--bar none!

2. Morton's Steak House in Portland

3. Rogue River Breakfast on the boat with Tom and Travis Howard--incredible!! Nothing like elk steak, pepper bacon, eggs and potatoes cooked while on anchor with the most beautiful scenery in thee world!

[alaskan]

April 1st, 1997 My friends took me out to the Outback Steakhouse on my way to the airport to start my new life here in Ak. It was hard to say goodbye to them, but exciting to be moving to a new place.

The best part of the night is when one of my friends decided to order prime rib, well done. When it showed up, still a bit red and juicy, he asked the waitress if she would have them throw it back on the grill. We all had a long laugh over this, and it still comes up whenever we get together.