Frugal Floozie Friday - Cafe Ollie

I've had the great good fortune to visit Cafe Ollie twice recently - once with my very dear friend Sarah (who just gave birth to a beautiful baby girl this past weekend!), and once with Jeremy and his best buddy, Mitch.  Since the restaurant is so warm and wonderful, and such a supporter of Michigan products, it was time to feature it today for Frugal Floozie Friday.

Sarah and I each enjoyed a refreshing dish of Guernsey Farms Dairy's McGuire's Irish Mint ice cream, produced not too far from Ann Arbor in Northville, which was perfect on one of those way-too-early-to-be-summer days that found their way to Michigan before it was even officially Spring.  A single scoop - in either a cone or a lovely sundae glass - costs only $2.75, leaving plenty of room in our mandatory $5 per person budget to buy a local favorite: Faygo soda "made with real sugar in glass bottles."

Cafe Ollie also features daily soups, an assortment of coffees and teas, and baked goods made from scratch (like the fabulous sweets pictured above).  Sarah and I had originally intended to treat ourselves to cupcakes, but the ice cream was calling more loudly on a hot afternoon.  We met just after 4 p.m., and were having such a grand time - truly, talking about everything from family to antique heating grates to Jewish law! - that we ended up closing the place just before 8 p.m., with only the gentlest nudge from the very sweet waitress just as she started to clean up.  Many places would be loathe to let you loiter for quite that long, but we were welcomed stay right until the end of the day.

The next week, Jeremy and Mitch and I sat in the sun on the deck and enjoyed a late lunch of sandwiches, which are served with Detroit's own Better Made potato chips and Perkins Pickles.  For the exceptional price of $7, Jeremy and Mitch split the Reubenesque, Cafe Ollie's own Reuben sandwich.  (Regular readers know that Jeremy will inevitably order a Reuben if he finds one on a menu, and can pontificate at great length about the pros and cons of each one!)  Jeremy gave this sandwich high points for generosity of filling, tenderness of meat, and - most importantly - excellent flavor.

Cafe Ollie features a menu filled with creative sandwiches and salads, and caters to carnivores, vegetarians, and even vegans specifically.  So whether you're looking for a light meal, a sweet treat, or some combination thereof - and no matter what your dietary preferences - you can absolutely find something delicious to eat.

And once you've finished eating, you want to meander next door to the fabulous shop that's also owned by Cafe Ollie's owners, Danielle Scherwin-Teachout and her husband, Mark Teachout.  (If you don't find them on one side of the doorway, you'll find them on the other.)  I first told you about the Michigan General Store in my post about Buffalo Celery Sticks, in which I used some Cajun-flavored chips I'd found at the shop to create a great variation on the famous wings.  You can find so many, many exceptional items at this store, from salsas and mustards to wines and beers to smoked fish and cherry caramels, all made proudly here in Michigan.

So stop by Cafe Ollie and the Michigan General Store.  Enjoy delicious food and a warm welcome, and support both a local business and the Great Lakes State!

Cafe Ollie
42 E. Cross St.
Ypsilanti, MI 48198
734-482-8050

Monday: Closed
Tuesday - Friday: 8 a.m. - 8 p.m.
Saturday: 9 a.m. - 8 p.m.
Sunday: 11 a.m. - 7 p.m.



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Frugal Floozie Friday - Aubree's

Jeremy, his best friend Mitch, and Stuart (my ex-husband, for those who don't remember that we're actually capable of associating with each other civilly!) went out for an early dinner recently to  Aubree's in Depot Town, today's Frugal Floozie Friday feature. Jeremy chose the location, as he was craving a Reuben - his favorite sandwich - and he knew that this restaurant makes a very good one.

Stuart was feeling particularly agreeable that afternoon, so he offered to just split whatever I ordered.    And I was in the mood for something substantial.  I considered a variety of items, and heeded Jeremy's warning not to order salad (he grows weary of watching me do that, but I love salads!).  And so I settled upon a calzone, which would come in at under $5 per person - our mandatory Frugal Floozie Friday budget - when split with Stuart.

The calzone was huge, and could have fed four with no trouble - the portions were significant.  This was, after all, a 12" pizza folded over and filled with sauce, a blend of five cheeses, and two toppings of our choice - spinach and mushrooms.  Even a hearty eater could be satisfied with one slice.

Mitch and Jeremy each ordered a Reuben, which was generously portioned and tender.  It was served with the customer's choice of side dish: thin-cut fries, sweet potato chips, onion straws, cole slaw, cottage cheese or - the one both chose - the endless steak fries.  For $8.99, this is a stellar deal!  And the platter can easily be shared by two.

We also ordered dessert ... well, why not?  Each offering costs $4.99, so it's either a great Frugal Floozie Friday treat for one or an even greater value if shared.

Jeremy and Mitch split the Rockside Brownie Bites - "Rich brownie bites topped with caramel, toasted pecans & chocolate ganache dipped in a fluffy batter & fried crisp.  Served with vanilla ice cream & chocolate & caramel drizzle."  It was obscenely decadent and absolutely delicious!  Stuart and I shared the Cookie Crisp - "Creamy chocolate chip cookie dough rolled in a flour tortilla and fried," which was also served with ice cream and the sweet, seductive sugary drizzles.  Neither dessert offered any redeeming nutritional value, but both were simply good for our souls.

When our very friendly waitress left the bill, we thought there had been a mistake made; the calzone was listed at $4.99 rather than the $9.99 I'd seen on the menu.  But when I asked about the discrepancy, I received some fabulous and completely unexpected news: during Happy Hour, from 3-6 p.m., the calzones are half-price!  So the entire enormous, delicious array of crust and cheese and sauce and fillings qualified as a Frugal Floozie Friday bonanza without any need for an accomplice to split the cost!  Shared by four hungry eaters, it would come in at only $1.25 per person!

Needless to say, Aubree's offers great value, friendly service, and lots of frugal dishes to choose from.  Enjoy!

Aubree's
39 E. Cross Street
Ypsilanti, MI 48198
734-483-1870




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Versatile Blogging

I was absolutely tickled to receive the Versatile Blogger Award from the self-monikered Volleysoft at I'm Sew Cheap!!! What a lovely surprise ... :)

The rules of the Versatile Blogger Award are as follows:

Leave a comment to thank the person who gave you the award and link back to them in your post.

Did that already, but once again MANY THANKS for the ego boost!

Tell us seven things about yourself.

Award fifteen recently discovered new bloggers.

Having just moved, I'm continuing to settle in and am a tad short of time. So I'm going to still bare my soul (if not other parts of me!) and I'll award some worthy candidates, but only 5 of each to make things a bit easier all around, okay?

Here's some tidbits about lil' ol' me:

1. I love doughnuts. And now that I have the freedom to eat what I want to when I want to, I've developed a rather bad habit of making a couple of cheap (I tell myself I can only buy them if they're on sale!) doughnuts a very satisfying -- albeit very bad for me -- midnight snack before going to bed. I need to simply stop buying them; it's easier to resist them at the store than it is to shut out their Siren song late at night, when my defenses are least able to ignore it.

2. I am so happy in the new apartment and love its location near some very cool, funky shops and cafes! I live very close to Depot Town, part of Ypsilanti's Historic District ([ip-sih-LAN-tee], just down the road from Ann Arbor), which has tremendous charm and character; it hasn't been yuppy-fied with hair salons and phone stores and chain restaurants as Ann Arbor sadly has.

3. I'm looking so forward to shopping at the Ypsi Farmers' Market ([IP-see] -- short for Ypsilanti) each Saturday this summer -- it's only a half-mile's walk away ... :)

4. I am sorely peeved at the New York Times' new policy of limiting non-subscribers (a.k.a.: cheap folks like me) to only 20 online articles per month; I think I used up my quota in the first week of April! (Yes, they have bills to pay ... so do I, which is why I don't subscribe anymore. Information should be free to all.) Anyway, it's a new month, so I've got a new start. I'm trying to save myself for the Wednesday food articles ... we'll see how long I last!

5. I finally -- finally! -- saw "The King's Speech" the other night, and adored it; I think I was the last person in the Western Hemisphere to see it. And to think, I'm a Royal Family addict!!! But I'm also too cheap to pay $10 for a movie, so I had to wait for Netflix; thank you Jeremy for ordering it for me.

And now for the bloggers you should go visit:

1. Go Ahead ... Take a Bite!

2. TexaGermaNadian: My Life in 3 Countries

3. Gluten Free A-Z Blog

4. La Fotografía Efectista Abstracta

5. Sweet As Sugar Cookies

Have a fabulous weekend!!! I'll have a new feature starting next week: Frugal Floozie Friday. Stay tuned ... :)