Halloween, plus Noodles & Company

Last night was Halloween in Brookfield, where we respect the actual dates of holidays. So trick-or-treat was on the correct evening here. Did you ever try to buy a pumpkin ON Halloween? Don’t. I wanted the kids in my ‘hood to realize we were home and with candy. If they didn’t come, I’d have to eat all those M&M’s myself. First I stopped at Pick ‘N Save. No pumpkins. The guy gathering carts from the parking lot told me that they’d run out two weeks ago. YIKES! So I ran to my favorite gourmet grocery store, Grasch’s. The only pumpkins they had left were a couple of HUGE ones with their tops cut and their guts scooped, for the convenience of rich, little old ladies who still like to carve scarey faces. I bought them. And then I thought... All the young parents in my neighborhood walk around with their kids. Wouldn’t it be nice to treat them too? So I bought a half dozen bottles of South African wine (in remembrance of our recent winery tour there), and, as I can’t really cook sans kitchen, I picked up some cheeses, sausages, olives, pretzels, plus a helium-filled Halloween balloon. I ran home and set up my party in the driveway. It was a hoot! I met lots of neighbors – and I fed M&M’s to 110 kids.

By the time the trickers had finished, The Man Who Had Discovered Beef Sausage Bites Being Served In His Driveway was no longer hungry. So wine and sausage was dinner on Wednesday.

The night before we hit yet another walk-up-to-the-counter-for-service kind of restaurant on Bluemound Road. Can there possibly be a need for so many fast food establishments in Brookfield? Apparently so. Noodles and Company seems to be a very popular one. Though it appears from the outside to be a small spot in a shopping center, it’s actually quite spacious. And busy. We felt quite hip and trendy when we ate at Noodles Tuesday night. Everyone was so young and attractive – just like us.

The menu offers noodle dishes of many nationalities – Japanese, Thai, Italian, American. I had their Whole Grain Tuscan Fettuccine with the addition of shrimp – actually quite a few shrimp – in a yummy light cream sauce plus a side Caesar salad (total $6.95). I didn’t notice on the menu board until I’d finished eating that for $.75 you can add one of ten different vegetables to your dish. Cooked broccoli! With nary a backward glance, I would have blown three quarters from the collection of The Man Who Has Six Piles Of Quarters-From-Each-State That No One Is Allowed To Mess With.

The Man Whose Tastes Remain At Those Of A Five-Year-Old ordered a mammoth bowl of macaroni and cheese ($5.25) – and ate the whole thing, purring all the way. What could possibly be more satisfying than macaroni and cheese and a Diet Pepsi? I guess it must have been good. I wouldn’t know. I couldn’t get my fork in it without risking the loss of my arm.

I’ve returned to my habit of not using public bathrooms, but I stuck my head in the ladies room at Noodles just so I could give you a report. Same old, same old... Full waste paper container; faucets and sink in need of scouring. Most people would say it was clean enough for public use, but let me tell you... I’ve just returned from South Africa. As you could see from the photo I attached recently, many people in that country are desperately poor. Where there are so many people in need of work, the public bathrooms everywhere are Clean. With all of the wealth we have in this country, our restaurants, be they fast food or not, could afford to hire someone to keep their bathrooms – and their kitchens – CLEAN. At least at Noodles I could see into the kitchen and it was clean. Not as spotless as my new one will be, but pretty darned good for a Bluemound Road fast food establishment.

Kitchenless in Brookfield