Another busy week, and today I'm working in the office (about a 30-minute drive, including parking in the parking structure in Birmingham) so I have to crank this week's post out quickly. The weekend is shaping up to be a bit busy too, including a
Ford House tour; I've never been, so I'm interested in seeing it.
 |
| Steak board! At WL Socialhouse, Kzoo |
What I've been up to this week:
- Cooking. We finished up a Blue Apron box from last week and we had Green Chef this week. Green Chef used to be one of my top favorites, but it was a bit expensive; I got this box for $32 or so, which isn't bad, but I do feel like they're a little more limited now in meal choices compared to their sister companies, Hello Fresh and EveryPlate. Last night we cooked an Asian peanut chicken and udon noodles meal, and sometime this weekend we still have chicken tacos to cook.
- Friends get-together. On Saturday night, we headed to South Lyon to hang out with some friends, one of whom is an amazing cook—she made kafta meatballs, an eggplant spread with grilled halloumi (cheese), and more. We picked up some cakes to bring over, including a chocolate Trader Joe's one and a strawberry shortcake one from Meijer, and other friends brought a beautiful chocolate cake from Cannelle, too.
- Conference in Kalamazoo. On Tuesday, I drove to Kalamazoo, MI to attend the Food Marketing Conference, hosted by Western Michigan University (WMU). This was my first time attending it—a colleague attends every year, but it's more geared towards food professionals and WMU marketing students who want to become food professionals. They had some top-tier speakers, from companies like Meijer, Kellanova (formerly Kellogg's), and Hormel Foods, and I stayed one night overnight, which was also fun, and met up with colleagues for dinner (see below).
- Dining out/getting takeout. On Sunday, my parents and I had Hungry Howie's, per usual, and on Tuesday, I met up with colleagues at WL Socialhouse, in Kzoo. I had looked up the menu beforehand and saw they had a steak BOARD, which I had never seen before, so I ordered that, and it was pretty fantastic—it had two different types of steaks (5-oz. of steaks in total) plus various breads, cheese spreads, pickled onion, etc. I think it was meant for 2-3 people because I wasn't able to finish the whole thing, but it was very, very good. On Wednesday, after the conference wrapped up, I headed to Nonla Burger to get takeout—I literally packed an ice pack and a cooler for this. The backstory: I have a good friend who used to live in the Portage (Kzoo) area and we would always get Nonla Burger when I visited her; it's the closest thing I've found in the Midwest to In-N-Out. I got my takeout and then secured it for the two-hour ride home, and then when I got home, I tossed it in the oven, and it was ALMOST as good as dining in there or getting Doordash in Portage. :)
- Watching TV shows. I started The Studio on AppleTV+ yesterday, and the cameos were fantastic; the show is really good, albeit really fast-paced. I've also been watching The Residence, on Netflix, and I'm almost done—I am on episode 7 of 8—which is another show I'd recommend. There was no new Shifting Gears this week (Hulu) but there IS a new season of Survival of the Thickest, on Netflix; I enjoyed season one, although Michelle Buteau's character can get on my nerve sometimes.
 |
| WMU Food Marketing Conference, Kalamazoo |
