Walking Tacos, Ludington-Style
Posted on 13 May 2008 under Food Destinations, Michigan Cuisine, Picnics, Recipes | 13 Comments
Click on this image for a larger version.
Back a couple months ago, Dawn Shock retired as librarian at the Rasey Memorial Library here in Luna Pier. She’d been here for quite some time, and was an incredibly hard worker. She set up the hours at the Rasey Library in such a way that it mirrored the hours at the library over in Erie. That way, she could operate both libraries at separate times! She was also Luna Pier’s official historian, and had things stashed and catalogued all the way back to the Prohibition era and before. Her retirement has left a huge space in how things work in those areas.
So it was a pleasant surprise last week to run into her again! Of course she and I talk food on occasion, and she had a good one this time.
It seems up in Ludington, Michigan, and places near there, they offer a thing called a “Walking Taco“. (In looking into this thing, I even found it on the lunch menu for the Catholic school in Ludington.) The way she described it, Fritos are crushed into a lunch sack, taco meat is dumped on top, then lettuce, tomatoes, shredded cheese … you then just grab a fork and eat it out of the bag. Dawn said she’s had others and there’s nothing as good as the ones in Ludington.
I looked into this thing, and it’s real easy. I did find a few variations on the theme depending on the target eaters, but really, there’s nothing to it.
Basically, you make a Walking Taco it the way Dawn described. That’s all, plain and simple.
Another method is to crush the Fritos withing their own individual serving bag, leave ‘m in there, and pile everything on top.
Just use a commercial taco seasoning such as Old El Paso or whatever. I make it a bit drier, only adding 1/4 cup water vs. the 1 cup of water the package calls for. But for this batch I used the bulk mild taco seasoning from GFS Marketplace, mixing 1/3 cup water and 1/3 cup taco seasoning for each pound of browned ground beef. I also added mild banana pepper rings and sliced black olives to mine, along with a bit of chopped onion.
This is a good mix-and-match meal that would make a great little taco bar for a picnic buffet, particularly for kids. And one of these days, we’ll get up to Ludington for what retired librarian Dawn Shock calls “the good stuff”.
‘People-to-People’ China Trip: A Huge Bon Voyage Picnic
Posted on 15 July 2007 under Picnics | 8 Comments
On Tuesday, Mary’s 17-year-old son John will leave with a couple dozen other high school students to be Student Ambassadors to China with People To People International. Founded by President Eisenhower in 1956, the purpose of the now-private program, “is to enhance international understanding and friendship through educational, cultural and humanitarian activities involving the exchange of ideas and experiences directly among peoples of different countries and diverse cultures … Today, President Eisenhower’s granddaughter, Mary, serves as President and Chief Executive Officer.”
Yesterday, we attended the Bon Voyage Picnic and Final Meeting for the group headed to China. (Note: There are many similar groups around the country headed elsewhere.) The location for this picnic was simply amazing. The fact this sits on private property makes it even more interesting.
One of the first things I noticed (of course I noticed it!) was this immense pot of corn-on-the-cob. You can get a good feeling for how large this aluminum pot is, once you realize the pot contains full-size cobs of corn! I haven’t seen a pot this large very often, and it’s fun to find one in-use. Once this thing started boiling, the smell coming from it was maddeningly-good. The owner of this place kept an excellent eye on this pot as the corn was boiled, and when finished, the corn was about as perfect as could be. This is a great way to prepare corn for dozens of guests in a fairly short period of time.
Before you click the link to go to the rest of the eleven photos in this post, I need to warn you: most are as large as I could make them for this blog (72 dpi, 425 pixels wide). I did this because, with anything smaller, I doubt you could really appreciate the beauty of this location. If you have dial-up, click the link to continue reading the rest of this post, then go cook an omelet or something before coming back.
Lunch, Maumee Bay State Park, and a B&B With A Railroad
Posted on 23 June 2007 under Day Trips, Picnics | 5 Comments
On Thursday, fellow Monroe News blogger Mike Ingels reviewed the Monroe Street Grille on his Expatriate Monroe blog.
Well, just for that, yesterday, we went for a hike!
Ok, I have to admit, the hike had been planned for a few days. And we did it partly as a way to actually have our first picnic of the summer in an amazing location. Mike’s review really had nothing to do with it. Sure is a strange coincidence though … 
What we found after leaving Maumee Bay State Park was also … well, keep reading, and you’ll see what I mean …
The afternoon started with a late picnic lunch at the top of the massive steps at the Lake Erie lakefront of the lodge at Maumee Bay State Park on Cedar Point Road east of Oregon, Ohio.
The cooler on the left is a heater/cooler made by Coleman. It plugs directly into the cigarette lighter (or, as they’re labeling them now, “power port”) of a vehicle and can switch between heating and refrigeration functions. The juice pouches we’d put in the thing were so cold they were partly frozen!
Here’s a better look at how these steps run along the lakeshore:
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