Food memories keeping arriving!

My favorite restaurant in West Lafayette for breakfast , lunch or dinner is Christos. This family owned business is a mainstay in my family for their variety of dishes and their signature Greek specialties. - Jason Dombkowski, Chief of Police for the City of West Lafayette





What is your favorite food memory from Childhood? (I still remember this.)
As a Child growing up in the state of Iowa, Our family would visit my Grandparent’s Farm in Chariton, Iowa. Occasionally, my Grandmother would bake an Apple pie made from the apples grown on their farm. On one visit, Grandmother made an Apple pie. After that visit and while all of us were in the car going home, I made the comment “I love Grandmother’s Apple pie.”
My Mother turned around and said. “But she doesn’t put butter on top of the Apples before she cooks it!” My comment to that was: “I don’t care, Grandmother made it!”
Later, my Father told my Grandmother what I had said and every time after that visit, Grandmother made two different pies one of course being an Apple pie!
Moral of story (from a Child’s point of view): If Grandmother bakes it, it’s pretty special! - Phyllis Heath, West Lafayette Public Library



What is your favorite food memory from when you were a child? Awwwww, my Grandma’s homemade noodles! My mouth just watered thinking of them. I remember Grandma wasn’t allowed to show up at a family gathering without a big bowl of noodles!

What is your favorite food grown in Indiana and why? Definitely sweet corn! It's sweet, delicious and absolutely exemplifies summer in Indiana. It is something you look forward to because it is at its best for such a short time. Yum! - Betina Cochran, City Hall, West Lafayette



What is your family’s greatest food-related tradition? Where did the tradition come from? Does it relate to a special time of year?
Cinnamon rolls! My grandmother operated a tea room in Alabama during the Depression. Cinnamon rolls were her signature offering. In the 1950s, she made them for my family on the weekends, and now I make them for my children and grandchildren when we are all together on Christmas and other holidays. Every time I spoon on the icing, I see my grandmother coming into our kitchen, bearing white cardboard boxes filled with warm cinnamon rolls, the white confectioner's sugar icing still dripping down their sides. - Sarah Powley is English Department Chair at McCutcheon High School (Lafayette) and Co-Chair of the Greater Lafayette Holocaust Remembrance Conference.



What is your favorite place to dine in West Lafayette – currently or in the past? Why do you/did you enjoy dining there?
Thai Essence--currently. I sometimes play there as a performer, and this got me there in the first place. So I like that ambiance. Then the owner Ake Waratap befriended me, and that kept me coming back. And finally, the underlying reason, is I love ethnic world foods, especially Asian vegetarian food, and Thai cuisine combines lovely elements of Chinese and Indian in its own unique way.

What food best describes home for you? Probably all the fixins associated with Thanksgiving (past). Chinese stir-fry and dumplings (current).

What is your favorite food grown in Indiana and why? Sweet corn...nothing like it anywhere else in the world! - Joe Peters, Performing Songwriter





What food best describes Home for you?
Pork Tenderloin rib-end, stuffed with vegetables - Jeff Hoon, West Lafayette Public Library Outreach staff