Mongol

Today in Casper, I visited one of the top tourist spots. Well, it may not be for some people, but for me it is a must-see in Casper, WY. It is the Mongolian Grill. Here is the deal, for 9.99 you get a gigantic bowl and then go down what looks like a buffet line, putting whatever you want in. They have veggies, chicken, pork, beef, and some other random nasty looking stuff. Then, comes the noodles. The trick to the noodles is to use your hands(yes your hands) to stuff as many noodles as possible into your bowl. This is more of an art-form than just a task. With your enormous bowl overflowing with noodles and other fixings, you hit the sauce bar. They have a Mongolian sauce(not sure exactly what this is, but it seems like a staple to have, so what the heck right?), barbeque sauce, lemon butter sauce, ginger, curry, garlic, hot sauce etc. You scoop whatever you want onto your bowl, for whatever flavor you want.

Then comes the fun part. Two oriental(Mongolian I guess) looking guys take your bowl and dump it onto a very large round, hot stone. They use what can only be described as very long sticks, to push your food around slowly on this stone. They add water to cook the noodles and will add pretty much as much spicy sauce as you want. Once the food is cooked they do the coolest thing. They get your noodles and fixings into a big pile and then with the most amazing finess, push it into your bowl. My description doesn't even do this part justice, you just have to see it.

The large bowl is enough to feed a family of four (not kidding on this people) but they do let you take leftovers with you. The most amazing thing about this whole ordeal is that the "mongol" (translation: food from Mongolian Grill) tastes just as good or even better when it is cold. So, take home your leftovers and eat it for a while.

Somehow, the best Mongolian food in the entire world is in Casper, WY. It is one of the strange tragedies in history how that happened, but it is the truth. If you are ever driving by, or passing through, or know someone that is from there, it is worth the stop. Jeremy's ratings: 4 1/2 thumbs up. (Why not 5 you ask? Well, the after effects on my digestive tract from all the spices is better left not posted online, but you can let your imagination take it from there!)

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever

Friends and family,

Kelly and I are spending this Christmas in Casper, WY. For me, things are a bit different, while im used to snow and cold, I am definately not used to the wind. Wyoming has crazy wind. We are having a really good time here and are just taking a few minutes before opening some Christmas Eve presents.

The McQuade family has a tradition to read a book called "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever" a classic story. For those of you who have never read this book, you should do it. It is fairly short, and very cute. Kelly's dad reads it out loud and everyone gets quite choked up. The author is Barbara Robinson.

I hope that all of you out there are having a good Christmas season and are getting to spend it with those you love. If not, I hope you are safe and that you can return to your loved ones soon. Merry Christmas!