Have You Ever Eaten a Horseshoe?

One morning I stopped at a local restaurant in a small town outside Springfield, Illinois, and saw a Breakfast Shoe on the menu.  Of course, I wanted to try it. 

When the waitress took my order, I had a choice of:

~ sausage or ham (I chose sausage)

~ gravy, cheese sauce, or both (I chose both)

~ toast or biscuits (I chose biscuits). 

I chose to have my eggs scrambled and hash browned potatoes were also included. 

I took a photo before I started eating.  As you can see, everything is stacked onto the plate (including the hash browns) and then the gravy and cheese sauce covers everything.  It was a huge breakfast, not nutritional at all, but tasty and filling.  I didn't need lunch that day.

When I travel, I love driving through small towns and down country roads. I like to discover restaurants that are not part of a national chain.

Sometimes restaurants are on the main street that goes through a town, but others may be out in the country in a location convenient for local farmers or ranchers. 

I'll often stop at a gas station, town library, or store to ask if there's a good restaurant.  I've always found people friendly and even suggesting what's good on the menu.

If I see something on the menu I've never tried before, I'll order it.  I often carry a small digital camera with me to take a photo of my food (like the one above for the breakfast shoe).  

Besides loving to try new foods, I also love to read cookbooks - yes, I said read cookbooks.  I like to buy local and regional cookbooks, especially if they include  information about the area, and plenty of trivia and photographs.

I've bought several cookbooks at restaurants.  Sometimes the restaurant will produce its own cookbook, but sometimes it might have cookbooks that local organizations put together for fundraisers.