Half Moon Restaurant & Brewery- Kokomo, Indiana

Half rack of BBQ ribs:
Cubana sandwich with Brewer's chips:

We were over hungry when we settled into a long booth at Half Moon Restaurant and Brewery so we were beyond grateful that our server immediately brought us a basket of soft rolls. The rolls were good, but what made them really memorable was the soft cinnamon butter that was in the basket along with the regular butter. It was absolutely divine and the cinnamon butter and rolls were soon just a faint memory.

We had to order one of their beers since they are a brewery so we tried the Wildcat Wheat. It was ideal, light and refreshing on a hot and humid day. For lunch, we ordered their Cubana sandwich and a half rack of their BBQ ribs. The Cubana was a classic Cuban sandwich with sliced ham, smoked pork, Swiss cheese, pickles, and mustard on a crunchy white bread. It was a really high caliber take on this classic sandwich. The smoky pork was really exceptional. We would have to say this is the best variation of this sandwich that we have ever had.

The ribs came with a choice of two sides. We chose the Caesar salad and baked sweet potato. The Caesar came first; it was a generous bowl of lettuce, croutons and Caesar dressing. The ribs and baked sweet potato arrived soon after. The ribs came with a dry rub. Their sweet, smoky, and spicy sauces were on the table to use at our discretion. We' re normally wet ribs kind of people but this dry rub was so good we would have been happy without the sauces on the table. The ribs were cooked to perfection, moist, and fell off the bone. We tried each of the sauces. They were all excellent, but our favorite was the smoky one. The sweet potato was an appreciated healthy option (although we were cursing ourselves that we didn't save any of that insanely good cinnamon butter for it).

This is quite a gem in Kokomo. We pored over their website to make sure that it isn't a chain and it doesn't seem like it is. We were so glad that we chose Half Moon as our Kokomo dining spot.

Congrats to Indiana's own Batesville Casket for the article about them in USA Today.

As if enough of our time doesn't get sucked into the computer; now TCM has a Media Room page with 350 pages of movie clips, trailers, and featurettes. Old movie fans and those who want to become more familiar with old movies will want to take a look.

Ralph's Great Divide Restaurant- Indianapolis

Click for larger images of the menu:

Hot Pot Aug: their cream of potato soup au gratin- yes, it was as good as it looks:

The light and crispy Veggie Club with pickled beets:

Dave's Bourbon Baked Ham sandwich with German potato salad:

Coconut Cream Pie

The Loaded Brownie:

One of the best things about our blog is that it makes us get out to places that we've been meaning to try for forever but, for whatever reason, haven't. Ralph's Great Divide was one of those places. We finally made it there last night for dinner and had a great experience. We called and found out that dinner service started at 5 o'clock so we got there shortly thereafter. It's a really cozy space. We chose the adorable dining room but the outdoor seating, just beyond the bar side, was more popular with our fellow patrons. We know that this is a neighborhood regulars kind of joint but we couldn't have had a more gracious server. We knew from what we had read about the place that we needed to try the hot pot aug soup. It's a creamy, delicious potato soup with melted cheese on top. It was perfection. We decided to go with a couple of options from the sandwich section of the menu. Mr. WYA! had the renowned Bourbon Ham sandwich with a side of German potato salad and Mrs. WYA! chose the Veggie Club sandwich with pickled beets as her side.

The Bourbon Ham sandwich was thinly sliced and piled high with ham. The bourbon flavor was front and center, without dominating the flavor of the ham, and was served with crisp lettuce, sliced tomato, and mayo on wheat bread. This sandwich was near perfect (if the bread was toasted, it would have been). The German potato salad was served warm as it should be (but too many restaurants don't bother).

The Veggie sandwich was very good with lots of crisp vegetables and not too much bread. That meant that there was room for dessert (even though we got mini candy bars with our sandwiches). We don't order dessert very often but we had read that the desserts here were worth the calories. We're not huge fans of coconut but we had heard so much about their coconut cream pie that we decided to give it a try. It was fluffy with coconut pieces on top and throughout and even we liked it (which means that big coconut fans will really like it). However, the star was the Loaded Brownie; a perfectly proportioned brownie square with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top and drizzled with an amazing rum sauce. It was divine and we appreciated that it wasn't huge.

We couldn't believe that we had all of this (plus a huge iced tea) for $30 and some change. We can't wait to get back but it will have to be on a weekday; they aren't open at all on the weekends.

743 E. New York Street

Indianapolis, IN 46202

317.637.2192

Big news for Indianapolis area yogis and yoginis from Cityoga. First, they are planning to move into their new space in September. If you went to the Winter Farmers' Market, you know right where it is; its the market's former home in the Lincoln Park Shops at 2442 Central Avenue.

Secondly, Rolf Gates will be at Cityoga October 2nd-4th for an intensive and teacher training. You don't have to be a teacher to take part in the intensive. If it's anything like the one Mrs. WYA! went to last year in Louisville, it's some inspiring spiritual teaching followed by a challenging class.

Summer recipes... Curried Salmon Pasta Salad

If you're getting tired of your go-to pasta salad recipe, this is a really nice variation.

1 cup dry pasta, such as macaroni or small shells

8 oz cooked, skinned salmon or 7.5 oz can red salmon, cut into chunks

1/2 cup minced red or yellow onion

1 cup diced celery

1 medium to large red apple, diced

1/2 cup chopped walnuts or dry-roasted, unsalted peanuts

Dressing:

6 oz carton (3/4 cup) fat-free yogurt

2 Tbs. olive oil

1 Tb curry powder

2 tsps. fresh lemon juice

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1 tsp Dijon mustard

1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Cook pasta per package directions; drain and rinse. In a large bowl, combine first six ingredients. In a small bowl, combine dressing and ingredients. Pour dressing over salad; toss. Refrigerate.

Here's another great idea for picnics. The August issue of Food & Wine magazine has a blurb about a product to help you keep ice cream cold on your way to a picnic or party. Zak designs has their Ice Cream Tubbie in a variety of cheery colors and a whole pint of ice cream can fit inside it in case you have to make a lengthy trek to a store for your favorite ice cream and don't want it to be soup by the time you get home. You can also just put some scoops of ice cream in it instead of a whole pint sized container. Food & Wine said that the Tubbie kept the contents from melting for up to 90 minutes. We think that this would be perfect on a hot day when you're enjoying lawn seats at an Indianapolis Indians game.