Three Generations Severed the Best Pasta

On a cool, gray, rainy morning what would cause 134 people to line up, waiting for over an hour for the doors to open and let them in?

The answer is. . . the best Italian lasagna you have ever tasted. I happened to be one of those people standing in line, I was 51 people from the front of the line.

This building sitting on the corner of Mead Street in Racine, Wisconsin is Toteros' restaurant and it's different from any other restaurant you'd walk into.

The Toteros’ grandfather Achille Totero started the restaurant in 1939.  His son Santo Totero was the second owner, and Albert and Angela brother and sister took over from their father in 1987. Their children have chosen different careers, so there is no fourth generation waiting to take over. 

Nine years ago this iconic restaurant decided to drop dinner service and serve only lunch four days a week.

The menu is simple. Except for the occasional special, the formula is always the same: 

beef, Italian sausage or meatball bomber any day, each day of the week has just one type of pasta, always on the same day of the week. Tuesday is rigatoni day, Wednesday lasagna, Thursday spaghetti and Friday is mostaccioli. Wednesday is the most popular day of the menu week.

After walking up a few stairs to enter the building, you walk through the dining area to the kitchen entrance where you will place your order.

Walking up a few stairs takes you to the bar/dining area.

The dinning area will seat 36 guests and the bar area seats 14.

You walk up to the door but don't enter the kitchen.

Above the door the days menu.

These four hard working women run the kitchen.

Huge pots of freshly made sauce gently simmer on the stove.

Your lunch plate a generous slice of lasagna with two pieces of bread.

In the bar/dining area find an empty seat and sit down. You might share a table with someone you don't know, but at Toteros' everyone is family.

Need something to drink, walk up to the bar and Al will hand you your requested beverage.

Photo Credit
Brother and sister and co owners Al and Angela Totero

The best lasagna with fresh homemade sauce.

I had mine without sauce.

After you finish eating you take your dirty plates and put them on the bar. Al asks you what you ate adds up the total in his head, and you hand him the money. No waitress, no bill, just the best Italian food in the Milwaukee area. 

While I was eating my lasagna, and the line was still very long, they ran out of lasagna, and started serving spaghetti.

We will miss you Al and Angela, enjoy your retirement.

I started standing in line around 10:40 a.m. and I exited the restaurant at 12:23 p.m. Only two more weeks until Toteros' closes its doors, I'm going back next Wednesday, want to join me? My treat!

Langham Anniversary Tea at 1865 Prices

Yesterday Langham hotels worldwide celebrated the 149th anniversary of the first Langham hotel, Langham London, by rolling back the price to what it was originally: 1 shilling and sixpence or 15 cents.

Reservations were required for the limited seating of 10 tables or 40 people, they announced via social media, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook when they would be taking reservations. Within five minutes all seats for the anniversary tea were filled, and I was one of the lucky people to get a table for four!

The Pavilion at the Langham Chicago offers a spectacular view of the city.

Beautifully set table with Wedgwood china.

Our waiter Paul provided awesome service making us feel very special.

The menu featured fourteen teas to choose from, three of us choose their signature tea, Palm Court Blend, featuring Chinese white tea, hibiscus flowers, rosehip and pink rose petals, that was prepared table side. The tea water is heated to 190 degrees and the tea is steeped for several minutes.

What a lovely color this tea has, and it tasted marvelous.

I used the homemade sugar cubes in my tea.

Savory portion of the tea.

Scones

This was a perfect bite of raspberry jam and Devonshire cream.

The sweet portion of the tea

During the tea, this gentleman provided us with soft background music.

Group photo 

This is what the table looked like at the end of the service.

These two gentlemen provide us with a very pleasant experience.

Here is our bill. Four table side teas 66¢.

We chatted, nibbled, relaxed and were pampered during our time at the Pavilion, Langham Hotel, Chicago. Mark your calendars next year they will be celebrating the 150th anniversary. 

Annoying, Pleasant, Joy

Annoying

It's that time of year when I get annoyed by helicopters, not the kind that has a propeller, but rather the seeds with wings, also know as samaras seeds from the Silver Maple tree.

This is the source of my angst, my neighbors Silver Maple tree.

Every Spring these trees produce twin seed pods that twirl down scattering themselves all over the neighborhood.

The seeds are looking for a new home to take root.  Aggh!

They can quickly be swept up from the cement. . .

but often get caught in the cement lines and sprout baby trees.

The grandkids have a blast tossing these into the air and watching them twirl around like a helicopter. Sigh, I dislike them!

Pleasant

Yesterday my friends harvested their camellia flowers and stems from their garden. I just missed the whole process, darn it.

This is a camellia plant. The flowers look similar to a Daisy.

They pick the flowers and stems, put them in small clusters, wrapping a few stem around the whole bunch securing them all together.

The camellia will be placed outside in the sun for a few days to start the drying process, and then hung upside down to finish drying.

This is a bunch from last year. You place the camellia into water bring it to a boil, strain and enjoy one of the best teas I have ever tasted. 

Joy

My one month old grandson is just one of my sources of joy!

Hope you find pleasure and joy in your day.

Stationery

When was the last time you received a handwritten letter on stationery?  Heck, I can't even remember when the last time I wrote a letter on stationery. I use social media, email, text messages, or I purchase cards with a printed saying inside that conveys my sentiment, jot a quick line or two and send it off.

Here is some pretty stationery set that I have found at the thrift stores over the years.

This is how I see these sets being used. . .

There is no doubt this vintage stationery set belonged to a woman, it's decorated with butterflies has scalloped edges on the stationery, note cards, and the envelope flaps. This is the kind of stationery that if you were writing a love letter you would mist the paper with your best perfume so when the letter was opened the fragrance would escape from the envelope and remind the recipient of the person who wrote the letter.

Do men keep love letters like women do? I still have the letters my husband wrote me while we were dating. 

What a delightful design on the flap of this envelope. I would guess this set would be used to write to your pen pal, or grandparents.

Flowers and butterflies must have been a popular design for stationery. I can see a girl writing a letter home to her parents after she got married and lived in a different state. They are living from paycheck to paycheck, but she splurged and bought pretty stationery to make her letters appear that things are better than they really are.

There is a beautiful tree printed on the inside of the envelope, you can see the faint design on the front of the envelope. So pretty.

These two boxes of stationery would be used by a man or a boy, they would be jotting a quick note to a college friend and bragging or writing to that favorite wealthy relative so they would remain in their good graces.

Now I'm sure my imagination is way off, who do you see using theses pretty stationery sets? Which one is your favorite set?

I think I'm going to sit right down and write a letter today, maybe it will be you!

Thrift Finds

My first mid century 

Arabia Finland Finel Hearts Bowl

a Kaj Franck Design

As I was driving around from open garage door  to the next in this subdivision of condos I was feeling a little disappointed that everything for sale was newer items, I didn't see anything vintage. I almost passed up the last garage, but I figured I might as well stop, you never know. As I walked up the short driveway towards the open garage door, I saw the bowl sitting on the table. I walked towards the bowl to see what the price tag said. Be still my heart the piece of blue painters tape stuck inside the bowl read $3.00! I hugged this fabulously fun bowl as I paid the lady and skipped to my car. It has some flea bites around the rim, but the rest of the bowl inside and out is perfect. I have had this on my list of items I wanted to find forever. *happy*

I've had so much fun making different shapes with this collapsible wire egg basket. This vintage wire egg basket was made in France by Erdecor has its original tag still attached and only cost me 50¢.

This scalloped bottom vintage hand hammered aluminum butter dish came with the glass butter plate. I was  fascinated by the marble handle on the lid, 50¢.

I will be visiting these parties and to see what treasures were found by everyone else.

Sir-Thrift-A Lot:  Thriftasaurus

A Living Space: The Nifty Thrifty

Costal Charm:  Show and Share

Me and My Shadow: Magpie Monday

We Call It Junkin: We Call It Olde Link Up

ColoradoLady: Vintage Thing Thursday

Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson: Share Your Cup Thursday