Day 182: Quarter Chicken Dinner with Spinach Salad
Because:
a) it’s far too hot to cook
b) I just didn’t want to
3) I have 2 articles to finish tonight, plus a blog post
d) we’ve had a $25 Swiss Chalet gift card since Christmas, and I was determined not to let it expire
5) SC is one of the few places I don’t feel sheepish walking into with a 2 year old
6) they have the best fries in the world, especially if you ditch the Chalet sauce (I never understood the appeal) and ask for gravy and sour cream instead to make this delicious but slightly grotesque Swiss Chalet poutine (with sour cream instead of curds – hey, it works on a baked potato)
But half a dinnerplateful is too many, so I got a spinach salad and we shared Mike’s.
We used to go to Swiss Chalet when I was a kid, and were allowed to order a dessert that was under a dollar. A decade or so later it was the place Mike’s Nana brought the extended family to when she wanted to treat us all to a real special restaurant dinner. (Those were the days when the sundes were a dollar and came in little frosty stainless steel dishes and the waitresses wore those little Swiss blouses with the poufy off-the-shoulder sleeves.)
Besides the uniforms and decor it (thankfully) hasn’t changed much; we usually go once a year, for the Festive Special (I’ll do anything for a free Toblerone) but the air conditioning was extremely motivating. I think we still had at least 30 years on everyone in the place.
But now I have nothing to offer. The spinach salad was quite good though – baby spinach leaves, canned Mandarin orange segments, dried cranberries and slivered purple onion. I’d add toasted sliced almonds, but I’m sure that raises nut allergy issues in a large chain. It had a poppy seed dressing, which you can buy or make by shaking up equal parts canola oil and white wine vinegar, half as much poppy seeds, and a pinch of salt, pepper and sugar or honey.
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I never went to SC when I was a kid b/c my Dad hated it, but my hubby’s grandma likes to go there. And I agree with the 2 year old thing. We’ve gone there for a night off cooking without worrying about dirty looks from everyone! 😉 Now I want some fries…. 😉
This is the first comment ever that I’ve made on your blog, and unfortunately it has nothing to do with your wonderful creations!
Rather it is about -You don’t like the Chalet Sauce!!??? I have learned from the past 5 or so years of becoming a SC convert that the Chalet Sauce is an acquired taste. I have for years referred to it as the “soapy sauce”. I love that sauce…I crave that sauce. Be good to me, give it another try.