It is nearly fall again in the Midwest. I love this time of year. Football on TV, crisp chilled air outside and I can once again cover my legs with blue jeans which I know is pleasing to the rest of the world out there. This past Sunday was the first NFL Sunday of the season. It is a day that I look forward to for weeks. It's a day when you can have a couple of beers and just kick back and watch your favorite team (or players --- okay, I am a fantasy football nut... sue me) on television.
This year was a little different though. My wife and I had been discussing taking our daughter to an apple orchard for a day of fun soon. The issue is, our weekends are a hot commodity lately with my wife's work schedule and our travels. Not to mention that the hot St. Louis weather this summer hasn't exactly been conducive to traveling outdoors. This past weekend though brought with it a taste of Autumn with cooler air and sunny weather. Saturday we went to the St. Louis Art Fair (see previous post) so that wasn't an option. Consequently, yesterday (the first NFL Sunday) was the day we chose for our family fun day at Eckert's in Illinois. I know, I know... I say I am and NFL fan, but I am a bigger fan of family and if you could have seen the look on my daughter's face when we informed her of our Sunday plans, you would know that it was totally worth it!
And that brings me to my point today, you should go to Eckert's in the fall for apple picking and family fun. It is by far one of the best family activities you can do here in St. Louis this time of year. To start, the apples are in season and quite tasty. Secondly, Eckert's has a ton of stuff for kids to do. You can pick apples (obviously), ride pones or camels, do arts and crafts and they have an entire carnival style kids play area complete with bounce houses and rides. My daughter loved the play area (again, obviously) and was able to ride one of the rides by herself. That and her superb apple picking skills gave her a ton of confidence yesterday and things like that are what parenting is all about.
I realize this is a food blog and I haven't gotten to the food (other than apples). Trust me, I have saved the best for last. I wanted to make sure that if you just skipped to the bottom of the post, you would see what I wanted to say about the food at Eckert's and I wanted to make sure my point was clear:
ECKERT'S HAS ST. LOUIS' BEST FRIED CHICKEN!!!
There, I said it. Yes I know there are great restaurants that boast some of the area's premier poultry, but I am here to tell you that if you can make the jaunt over to Illinois and go looking for some Granny Smiths, you will find one of the best kept culinary secrets in the area. Eckert's has this country style restaurant that provides great country cooking. They start with these fried biscuits and apple butter that are just awesome. You can then peruse the menu for your dining options but pay no attention. I can tell you what to get. FRIED CHICKEN!!!
They dredge their fried chicken in seasoned flour and then pressure fry it. This creates a perfectly crispy piece of chicken that is very juicy and tender on the inside. It is simple but delicious. Like I've said before, simple cooking creates great food. They serve the chicken along side mashed potatoes and green beans that are very good as well. You won't notice the sides though. That's just how good the chicken is. They offer the chicken two ways: a two piece meal with 2 sides or all you can eat family style for a few dollars more. Either way you order it, it is wonderful fried chicken that should be the standard in the area for how fried chicken should taste.
So before the weather gets too cold, or the apples and pumpkins go away for the season, load up the kids in the family automobile and make the trek over to the Illinois side and visit Eckert's for the perfect family fun day and the astonishingly great fried chicken. Come back and thank my later.
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This year was a little different though. My wife and I had been discussing taking our daughter to an apple orchard for a day of fun soon. The issue is, our weekends are a hot commodity lately with my wife's work schedule and our travels. Not to mention that the hot St. Louis weather this summer hasn't exactly been conducive to traveling outdoors. This past weekend though brought with it a taste of Autumn with cooler air and sunny weather. Saturday we went to the St. Louis Art Fair (see previous post) so that wasn't an option. Consequently, yesterday (the first NFL Sunday) was the day we chose for our family fun day at Eckert's in Illinois. I know, I know... I say I am and NFL fan, but I am a bigger fan of family and if you could have seen the look on my daughter's face when we informed her of our Sunday plans, you would know that it was totally worth it!And that brings me to my point today, you should go to Eckert's in the fall for apple picking and family fun. It is by far one of the best family activities you can do here in St. Louis this time of year. To start, the apples are in season and quite tasty. Secondly, Eckert's has a ton of stuff for kids to do. You can pick apples (obviously), ride pones or camels, do arts and crafts and they have an entire carnival style kids play area complete with bounce houses and rides. My daughter loved the play area (again, obviously) and was able to ride one of the rides by herself. That and her superb apple picking skills gave her a ton of confidence yesterday and things like that are what parenting is all about.
I realize this is a food blog and I haven't gotten to the food (other than apples). Trust me, I have saved the best for last. I wanted to make sure that if you just skipped to the bottom of the post, you would see what I wanted to say about the food at Eckert's and I wanted to make sure my point was clear:
ECKERT'S HAS ST. LOUIS' BEST FRIED CHICKEN!!!
There, I said it. Yes I know there are great restaurants that boast some of the area's premier poultry, but I am here to tell you that if you can make the jaunt over to Illinois and go looking for some Granny Smiths, you will find one of the best kept culinary secrets in the area. Eckert's has this country style restaurant that provides great country cooking. They start with these fried biscuits and apple butter that are just awesome. You can then peruse the menu for your dining options but pay no attention. I can tell you what to get. FRIED CHICKEN!!!
They dredge their fried chicken in seasoned flour and then pressure fry it. This creates a perfectly crispy piece of chicken that is very juicy and tender on the inside. It is simple but delicious. Like I've said before, simple cooking creates great food. They serve the chicken along side mashed potatoes and green beans that are very good as well. You won't notice the sides though. That's just how good the chicken is. They offer the chicken two ways: a two piece meal with 2 sides or all you can eat family style for a few dollars more. Either way you order it, it is wonderful fried chicken that should be the standard in the area for how fried chicken should taste.
So before the weather gets too cold, or the apples and pumpkins go away for the season, load up the kids in the family automobile and make the trek over to the Illinois side and visit Eckert's for the perfect family fun day and the astonishingly great fried chicken. Come back and thank my later.
Follow us on Twitter @LifeGastronomic and like us on Facebook!
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